^•ilt llkllV/CDC>%.
 
 i/tJ 
 
 
 -Mrtt-UNIVEkVA 
 
 £ 1 <><C x 
 
 
 
 ^0133K 
 
 4^-uw 
 


 
 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 % gliliiarg gamatta. 
 
 BY 
 
 JAMES GRANT, 
 
 author of 
 
 "thb bomauce of w1b," "the captain of the guabd," 
 
 "the yellow fbigate," etc. etc. 
 
 IN THREE VOLUMES. 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 LONDON : " 
 HOUTLEDGE, WABNE, AND KOUTLEDGE, 
 
 BROADWAY, LTJDGATE HILL. 
 
 NEW YORK: 129, GRAND STREET. 
 
 1864.
 
 
 * *
 
 1 37 s 
 
 i 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 In the following pages, and in delineating 
 the character of my hero, I have chosen 
 the ranks of the 2nd Dragoons, not 
 because of any national partiality, but 
 from the desire to describe the adventures 
 of a soldier in a brave old regiment, 
 which has served with distinction in 
 every war since its formation — in short, 
 from the battles of the Covenant to those 
 in the Crimea ; which had the proud dis- 
 tinction of capturing the Colours of the 
 Eegiment du Roi at Ramillies, the White 
 Standard of King Louis' Household Troops 
 at Dettingen, and the Colour and Eagle of 
 Napoleon's 45th Foot at Waterloo. 
 
 ■ 

 
 IV PREFACE. 
 
 Several historical incidents, and one or 
 two traditions of the Service are inter- 
 woven with the story of Basil Gauntlet, 
 the Scots Grey. 
 
 I may mention that the misfortunes of 
 his comrade Charters are nearly similar 
 to those which befel an officer of the 
 15th Hussars prior to the war in the 
 Peninsula ; and that the dark story and 
 death of the engineer Monjoy and of 
 Madame d'Escombas formed one of the 
 causes celebres before the Parliament of 
 Paris during the middle of the last 
 century. 
 
 Edinburgh, 1st May, 1864.
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 OF 
 
 THE FIRST VOLUME. 
 
 CHAP. PAGE 
 
 I. BY THE WAYSIDE 1 
 
 II. RUTH WYLIE 19 
 
 III. THE SEQUEL 30 
 
 IV. MY COUSIN TONY 40 
 
 V. THE INN 53 
 
 VI. ENLISTMENT 70 
 
 VII. MY COMRADES 90 
 
 VIII. HEAD QUARTERS 112 
 
 IX. MY HOPE FOR THE FUTURE . . . .129 
 
 X. THE FRENCH DESERTERS 139 
 
 XI. WANDSWORTH COMMON 159 
 
 XII. THE RACE 176 
 
 XIII. THE HANDKERCHIEF 188
 
 VI CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAP. PAGE 
 
 XIV. THE BED LION AT GUILDFORD . . .197 
 
 XV. SAIL FOR FRANCE 216 
 
 XVI. THE LANDING AT CANCALLE . . \ . 232 
 
 XVII. THE VIDETTE . 243 
 
 XVIII. HALT AT ST. SERVAND 260 
 
 XIX. THE SACK OF ST. SOLIDORE . . . .271 
 
 XX. AN EPISODE 286 
 
 XXI. JACQUELINE 299
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 BY THE WAYSIDE. 
 
 My adventures were my sole inheritance 
 long before I thought of committing them 
 to paper for the amusement of myself, 
 and — may I hope — for the instruction of 
 others. 
 
 Wayward has been my fate — my story 
 strange ; for my path in life — one portion 
 of it at least — has been among perils and 
 pitfalls, and full of sorrow and mortifica- 
 tion, but not, however, without occasional 
 gleams of sunshine and triumph. 
 
 vol. 1. p
 
 2 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 On an evening in the month of Fe- 
 bruary — no matter in what year, suffice 
 it to say that it was long, long ago — I 
 found myself near a little town on the 
 Borders between England and Scotland, 
 with a shilling in my hand, and 
 this small coin I surveyed with certain 
 emotions of solicitude, because it was 
 my last one. 
 
 I sat by the wayside under an old 
 thorn-tree whereon the barons of Nether- 
 wood had hung many a Border outlaw 
 and English mosstrooper in the olden 
 time ; and there I strove to consider what 
 I should do next ; but my mind seemed a 
 very chaos. 
 
 In this unenviable condition I found 
 myself on the birthday of my eighteenth 
 year — I, the heir to an old title and to a 
 splendid fortune — homeless, and well-nigh 
 penniless, without having committed a
 
 SECOND TO NONE. & 
 
 crime or an error of which conscience 
 could accuse me. 
 
 The rolling clouds were gathering in 
 grey masses on the darkening summits of 
 the Cheviot hills in the hollows of which 
 the snows of the past winter lay yet 1111- 
 melted. The cold wind moaned in the 
 leafless woods, and rustled the withered 
 leaves that the autumn gales had strewn 
 along the highway. The dull February 
 evening crept on, and the road that wound 
 over the uplands was deserted, for the 
 last wayfarer had gone to his home. The 
 sheep were in their pen and the cattle in 
 their fold; no sound— not even the bark 
 of a dog — came from the brown sides of 
 the silent hills, and, affected by the gloomy 
 aspect of Nature, my heart grew heavy, 
 after its sterner and fiercer emotions passed 
 away. 
 
 The last flush of sunset was fading in 
 
 b 2
 
 4 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 the west ; but I could see about three 
 miles distant the gilt vanes and round 
 turrets of Netherwood Hall shining above 
 the orove of leafless trees that surrounded 
 it, and I turned awav with a sio-h of 
 bitterness, for adversity had not yet 
 taught me philosophy. I was too young. 
 
 With the express intention of visiting 
 Netherwood Hall, I had travelled several 
 miles on foot ; but now, when in sight of 
 the place, my spirit failed and my heart 
 sickened within me ; and thus, irresolute 
 and weary, I seated myself by the side 
 of the way, and strove to arrange my 
 thoughts. 
 
 To be brief, I shall describe in a few 
 pages, who and what I am, and how on 
 that sombre February evening I came to 
 be on such unfortunate terms with old 
 Dame Fortune. 
 
 My grandfather, Sir Basil Gauntlet, of
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 5 
 
 Netherwood, had so greatly resented 
 his eldest son's marriage with a lady who 
 had no fortune save her beauty, that he 
 withdrew all countenance and protection 
 from him. So far did he carry this un- 
 natural enmity, that by will he bequeathed 
 all his property to the son of a In-other, 
 and, with great barbarity, permitted my 
 father to be consigned to the King's 
 Bench prison, by which his commission 
 in the cavalry was forfeited ; and there, 
 though a brave and high-spirited officer, 
 who had served under the Marquis of 
 Granby, he died of despair ! 
 
 My mother soon followed him to the 
 land that lies beyond the grave ; and thus 
 in infancy I was left, as the phrase is, to 
 the tender mercies of the world in general, 
 and my old bruin of a grandfather in par- 
 ticular. 
 
 Yet this upright Sir Basil, who was so
 
 (J SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 indignant at his son's penniless marriage, 
 had been in youth one of the wildest 
 rakes of his time. He had squandered 
 vast sums on the lovely Lavinia Fenton — 
 the original Polly Peachum — and other 
 fair dames, her contemporaries ; indeed, 
 it was current in every green-room in 
 London, that he would have run off with 
 this beautiful actress, had he not been 
 anticipated, as all the world knows, or 
 ought to know, by his grace the Duke of 
 Bolton, who made her his wife. 
 
 Sir Basil had been wont to drink his 
 three bottles daily, as he said, "without 
 a hair of his coat being turned." He had 
 paraded three of his best friends, on three 
 different occasions, for over-night insults 
 of which he had a very vague recollection 
 in the morning ; but then " after what 
 had occurred," what else could he do ? 
 und so after bathing his head and right
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 7 
 
 arm in vinegar to make liis aim steady, 
 lie winded them all at Wimbledon 
 Common, or the back of Montagu House. 
 
 In London he was the terror of the 
 watch, and would smash all the lamps in 
 Pall Mall or elsewhere, when, after losing 
 perhaps a thousand guineas at White's 
 among blacklegs and bullies, or after 
 carrying the sedan of some berouged fair 
 one through the streets with links flaring 
 before it, he came reeling home, probably 
 with a broken sword in one hand, a bottle 
 in the other, and his pockets stuffed with 
 brass knockers and other men's wigs ; 
 consequently Sir Basil should have 
 remembered the days of his youth, and 
 have tempered the acts of his old age 
 with mercy ; but it was otherwise. 
 
 I do not mean to detain the reader by 
 a long history of my earlier years ; for if 
 those of a Csesar or an Alexander have
 
 8 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 but little in them to excite interest, still 
 less must the boyhood of one who began 
 the world as a simple dragoon in the 
 king's service. 
 
 The good minister of Netherwood, and 
 the English rector on the south side of 
 the Border, frequently besought Sir Basil 
 to be merciful to the orphan child of his 
 eldest son. 
 
 " I pray you to recollect, Sir Basil," 
 urged the rosy-faced rector, " that your 
 own marriage was a love-match." 
 
 " It must have been so, if all you scan- 
 dalous fellows at Oxford said truth." 
 
 "Why?" 
 
 " For there you said I loved the whole 
 female sex." 
 
 The jolly rector laughed so much at 
 the poor jest of the old rake, that the 
 latter actually became commiserate ; or it 
 may be that my mother's death and my
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 9 
 
 utter desolation, stirred some emotion of 
 shame — pity lie had none — in Sir Basil's 
 arid heart ; so, to keep me at a distance 
 from himself, he consigned me on a 
 pittance to the care of his country agent, 
 a certain Mr. Nathan Wylie, who was 
 exceedingly well-named, as he was a 
 canting Scotch lawyer — in truth "a 
 cunning wretch whose shrivelled heart was 
 dead to every human feeling," and who by 
 the sharpness of his legal practice was a 
 greater terror on both sides of the Border 
 than ever the mosstroopers were of old. 
 
 He was the person who had prepared 
 and executed the will which transferred 
 my heritage to my cousin, Tony Grauntlet 
 — a will which he framed with peculiar 
 satisfaction, as he hated my father for 
 making free with his orchard in boyhood, 
 and in later years for laying a horsewhip 
 across his shoulders at the market-cross
 
 10 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 of Greenlaw, so in his sanctified dwelling 
 I was likely to have a fine time of it ! 
 
 For ten years I resided with the godly 
 Nathan Wylie, a repining drudge, ill-fed, 
 ill-clad, and poorly lodged, in one of those 
 attics which he apportioned to Abraham 
 Clod, his groom, his pigeons and myself — 
 uncared for by all ; and not unfrequently 
 taunted with the misfortunes of my 
 parents for whom I sorrowed, and the 
 neglect of my grandfather whom I had 
 learned to abhor and regard with boyish 
 terror. 
 
 I picked up a little knowledge of law 
 — at least such knowledge as one might 
 learn in the office of a Scotch country agent 
 in those days. I mastered, I believe, 
 even "Dirlton's Doubts/' and other equally 
 amusing literature then in vogue ; while 
 Nathan Wylie took especial care that I 
 should know all the shorter catechism,
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 11 
 
 and other biblical questions by rote, that 
 I might be able to repeat them when the 
 minister paid us his periodical visit, though 
 my elbows were threadbare, my shoes none 
 of the best, and my eyes and brain ached 
 with drudging at the desk far into the 
 hours of the silent night, penning prosy 
 documents, preparing endless processes, 
 and not unfrequently writing to dicta- 
 tion such an epistle as the following, 
 which I give verbatim as it actually ap- 
 peared in a Border paper : — 
 
 " Dear Sir, — I am directed to raise an 
 action against you to-morrow for the sum 
 of one penny, together with the addi- 
 tional sum of three shillings and four- 
 pence, sterling, the expense of this notice, 
 if both sums be not paid me before 9 a.m. 
 " Yours, faithfully in the Lord, 
 
 "Nathan Wylie. 
 
 " To Farmer Flail, &c."
 
 12 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 In early life lie had married an old 
 and equally devout female client for the 
 money which he knew well she possessed; 
 and as that was all he wanted, after her 
 death he never married again, but devoted 
 himself manfully to the practice of the 
 law and extempore prayer — an external 
 air of great sanctity being rather con- 
 ducive to success in life in too many 
 parts of Scotland. 
 
 Poor Nathan has long been laid six 
 feet under the ground ; but in fancy I 
 can still see before me his thin figure, 
 with rusty black suit and spotless white 
 cravat ; his sharp visage, with keen, rest- 
 less, and cat-like eyes, that peered through 
 a pair of horn spectacles, and with shaggy 
 brows that met above them. Moreover, 
 he had hollow temples, coarse ears, and a 
 tiger-like jaw, which he always scratched 
 vigorously when a case perplexed him, or
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 13 
 
 with satisfaction when some hapless client 
 was floored in the field of legal strife. 
 
 As years stole on, that keen and honest 
 sense of justice, which a boy seldom fails 
 to feel, inspired me with indignation at 
 the neglect with which my family treated 
 me, and the story of my parents and their 
 fate redoubled my hatred to my op- 
 pressors. 
 
 My cousin Tony, a harebrained fool, 
 whose mad fox-hunting adventures formed 
 the theme of all the Border side, and who, 
 by my grandfather's lavish and misplaced 
 generosity, was enabled to pursue a career 
 of prodigality and extravagance, came in 
 for a full share of my animosity, for he 
 was wont to ride past me on the highway 
 without the slightest recognition, save 
 once, when, flushed with wine, he was 
 returning from a hunting-dinner. 
 
 On that occasion he was ungenerous
 
 14 SECOND TO NOME. 
 
 enough to draw the attention of his crroom 
 and whipper-in to the somewhat dilapi- 
 dated state of my attire, as I was trudging 
 along the highway on some legal message 
 to Parmer Flail at the Woodland Grange. 
 
 On hearing their derisive laughter, nry 
 heart swelled with suppressed passion, 
 and had a weapon heen in my hand, I 
 had struck them all from their saddles. 
 
 This crushing existence was not the 
 glorious destiny my hoyish ambition had 
 pictured ; but what could I do for a time, 
 save submit ? I had none to guide me — 
 nor father, nor mother, nor kindred were 
 there ; and as a child, I often gazed wist- 
 fully at other children who had all these, 
 and marvelled in my lonely heart what 
 manner of love they had for one another. 
 
 I was conscious of possessing a fund of 
 affection, of kindness and goodwill in my 
 own bosom ; but there it remained pent
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 15 
 
 up for lack of an object whereon to lavish 
 it, or rather it was thrust hack upon me by 
 the repulsive people by whom I was sur- 
 rounded. 
 
 Business over, I would rush away to 
 solitude. Sunk in reveries, vague and 
 deep, I would stroll for hours alone in the 
 starlight along the green and shady lanes, 
 or by the silent shore, where the German 
 sea rolled its creamy waves in ceaseless 
 and monotonous succession on the shinsrles, 
 or from whence it rippled in the splendour 
 of the moonlight far away — reveries filled 
 less with vain regrets than with visions 
 of a brilliant future, for my heart was 
 young, inspired by hope and thoughts 
 that soared above my present condition, 
 and sought a brighter destiny ! 
 
 I could remember a time — alas ! it 
 seemed a dream to me now — when I used 
 to repose in a pretty little bed, and when
 
 16 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 a lady, who must have been my mother, 
 pale and thin and gentle-eyed, and 
 richly-attired too, for her satin dress 
 rustled, and her presence had a sense of 
 perfume, was wont to draw back the 
 curtains of silk and white lace to caress 
 and to kiss me. Once a tear fell on my 
 cheek — it was hot — and she brushed it 
 aside w T ith a tress of her gathered hair. 
 
 Was all this a reality, or a dream ? I 
 strove to coDJure up when and where I 
 had seen this ; but the memory of it was 
 wavering, and so indistinct, that at times 
 the treasured episode seemed to fade away 
 altogether. 
 
 In the long nights of winter I saved 
 up my candles — no easy task in the house 
 of a miser like Nathan Wylie — and, re- 
 treating to my attic, read far into the 
 hours of morning ; poring over such novels 
 and romances as were lent me by the
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 17 
 
 village milliner, a somewhat romantic old 
 maiden, who had been jilted by a recruit- 
 ing officer, and for whose memory she 
 always shed a scanty tear, for he fell at 
 the bombardment of Carthagena. These 
 books I read by stealth, such literature 
 being deemed trash and dangerous pro- 
 fanity in the godly mansion of Nathan 
 Wylie. 
 
 Then when the wind, that tore down 
 the rocky ravines of the Cheviots, howled 
 in the chimneys, or shook the rafters 
 above me, I loved to fancy myself at sea, 
 for the life of a sailor seemed to embody 
 all my ideas of perfect freedom — a bold 
 buccaneer, like Sir Henry Morgan — a 
 voyager, like Drake or Dampier — a con- 
 queror, like Hawke or Boscawen — a wan- 
 derer, like dear old Eobinson Crusoe, or 
 worthy Philip Quarll ; and then I went to 
 sleep and to dream of foreign lands, of 
 
 vol. i. c
 
 18 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 lovely isles full of strange trees and won- 
 drous flowers, where scaly serpents crawled, 
 and spotted tigers lurked ; of cities that 
 were all bannered towers, gilded cupolas 
 and marble temples, glittering in the sun- 
 shine far beyond the sea. 
 
 A lonely child, I ripened into a lonely 
 lad, and so passed my life, until the 
 coming of Ruth Wylie, an event which 
 fully deserves a chapter to itself.
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 19 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 RUTH WYLIE. 
 
 XiOVE occasioned my first scrape in life, 
 and thus it came to pass. 
 
 About the period of my aimless exist- 
 ence, detailed in the last chapter, the 
 mansion of Mr. Nathan Wylie received a 
 new, and to him, in no way welcome in- 
 mate, in the person of an orphan niece 
 from London, the daughter of a brother 
 who had died in circumstances the reverse 
 of affluent, bequeathing this daughter — 
 then in her sixteenth year — to his care. 
 
 This brother's letter — one penned on 
 his death-bed in an agony of anxiety for 
 the future of his orphan Ruth — was deeply 
 
 c 2
 
 20 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 touching iii its simple tenor ; and some of 
 the references therein to years that had 
 long passed away, and to the pleasant 
 days of their boyhood, should have been 
 more than enough to soften even the 
 heart of Nathan AVylie ; but he read it 
 unmoved, with a grimace on his thin 
 mouth and his beetle brows knit. 
 
 Then he carefully folded and docketed 
 it among others, with a gleam of irritation 
 in his cat-like eyes ; and equally unmoved 
 Ly sympathy or compassion did he receive 
 his charge, when she arrived by the stage- 
 coach from London, pale with sorrow, 
 weary with travel, and clad in cheap and 
 simple mourning for the father she had 
 lost. 
 
 One generally imagines a Ruth to be 
 solemn, demure, and quiet — something 
 between a little nun and a Quakeress ; but 
 Ruth Wylie sorely belied her name, being
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 21 
 
 a merry, kind, and affectionate girl, with 
 bewitching dark eyes, full of fun and 
 waggery, especially when uncle Nathan 
 was absent, for she failed to conceal that 
 his hard, short, and dry manner, and his 
 cold, immoveable visage chilled and sad- 
 dened her. 
 
 New and strange thoughts came into 
 my mind now ; and soon I conceived a 
 regard for Ruth, notwithstanding her 
 hideous relation, the lawyer; for to me 
 old Nathan was a bugbear — an ogre ! 
 
 Despite his angry and reiterated in- 
 junctions, she frequently brought her 
 workbasket or book into the room where 
 we plodded with our pens, day after day, for 
 she loved companionship, and Nathan's 
 churlish old housekeeper bored her. 
 
 Then sometimes, when 'we would be 
 writing, and she was sewing or reading 
 near us, I might pause, for irresistible
 
 22 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 was the temptation to turn to the soft and 
 downcast face of Ruth ; and it was strange 
 that however deeply interested in her 
 book — however anxious about her needle- 
 work, by some hidden or magnetic influ- 
 ence, she, at the same time paused, and 
 raised her eyelids with a bright in- 
 quiring smile, that never failed to thrill 
 my heart with joy, to make my hand 
 tremble, and every pulse to quicken, as 
 our glances instantly met and were in- 
 stantly withdrawn. 
 
 "Here is a little bit of romance at 
 last !" thought I ; " already our thoughts 
 and aspirations draw towards each 
 other." 
 
 So I resolved to fall in love — most des- 
 perately in love with Ruth Wylie — and 
 did so accordingly. 
 
 In the full bloom of girlhood, she was 
 at an age when all girls are pretty, or may
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 23 
 
 pass for being so ; but Euth was indeed 
 charming ! 
 
 She had very luxuriant hair of a colour 
 between brown and bright auburn; its 
 tresses were wavy rather than curly, and 
 her complexion was of the dazzling purity 
 which generally accompanies hair of that 
 description, while her eyes were dark, and 
 their lashes black as night. 
 
 Our residence in the same house brought 
 us constantly together, and my love 
 ripened with frightful rapidity. In three 
 days my case was desperate, and Ruth 
 alone could cure it. I was sleepless by 
 night — -feverish and restless by day ; yet 
 I dared scarcely to address Euth, for love 
 fills the heart of a boy with timidity. 
 
 On the other hand, it endues a girl with 
 courage, and so Euth talked to me gaily, 
 laughed and rallied me, while my tongue 
 faltered, my cheek flushed or grew pale,
 
 24 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 and my heart ached with love and new- 
 born joy. 
 
 There is a strange happiness in the 
 first love of a boy and girl — the magnetic 
 sympathy which draws heart to heart, and 
 lip to lip, in perfect innocence, and without 
 a thought of the future, or of the solemn 
 obligations of life, and of the world — the 
 weary world, which, with all its conven- 
 tionalities, is more a clog to us than we 
 to it. 
 
 However, I soon perceived that Ruth 
 changed colour, too, when we met ; and 
 my heart leaped joyously, when playfully 
 she kissed her hand to me at parting. I 
 felt that I loved her dearly and deeply, 
 but how was I to tell her so ? 
 
 In all the romances lent to me by my 
 friend, the milliner, the tall and handsome 
 heroes, cast their plumed beavers and 
 ample mantles on the ground, and flung
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 25 
 
 themselves on their knees before their 
 mistresses, beseeching them, in piercing 
 accents, to make them the happiest of 
 men, by giving them even the tips of 
 their snowy fingers to kiss ; but I lacked 
 the courage to imitate these striking pro- 
 ceedings; moreover, I possessed neither 
 velvet mantle nor ostrich plume. 
 
 One evening, old Nathan was absent on 
 business, and Euth and I were seated in 
 the recess of a window, looking at a col- 
 lection of Hogarth's prints. We sat close, 
 very close together, for the window was 
 narrow, and then the volume was so large 
 that we both required to hold it. I felt 
 Euth's breath at times upon my cheek, 
 and our hands touched every time we 
 turned a leaf. 
 
 Her pretty bosom, that heaved beneath 
 her bodice, which was cut square at the 
 neck, and somewhat low in front ; her
 
 26 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 snow-white arms, that came tapering forth 
 from the loose falling sleeves of her black 
 dress, and her delicate little hands so be- 
 wildered me, that I never saw the prints 
 with which we were supposed to be en- 
 grossed. I saw Ruth — Ruth only, and 
 felt all the joy her presence inspired. 
 
 I knew that we both spoke at random, 
 and were somewhat confused in our ques- 
 tions and answers ; still more confused in 
 our long pauses. I would have given the 
 world to have clasped this plump little 
 Ruth to my breast ; yet I dared scarcely 
 to touch her hand. 
 
 As we stooped over the print of " Love 
 a la Mode," her bent head, her white 
 temple, and rich soft hair touched mine, 
 and she did not withdraw. 
 
 For a few seconds we sat thus, head 
 reclined against head; then I panted 
 rather than breathed, as my arm stole
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 27 
 
 round her waist, and my trembling lips 
 were pressed upon her pure forehead. 
 
 Mr. William Hogarth was permitted to 
 fall ignominiously on the carpet ; and we 
 sat thus entwined in each other's arms for 
 a long time — I know not how long — till 
 the twilight deepened round us, and we 
 were roused from our dream of happiness 
 by a harsh and croaking voice, which ex- 
 claimed : 
 
 " Fool that I am, not to have foreseen 
 this !" 
 
 We started and found ourselves con- 
 fronted by Mr. Nathan Wylie, whose 
 grey eyes glared in the dusk like those of 
 a polecat, through the rims of his horn 
 spectacles. 
 
 Poor Euth uttered a cry and fled ; but 
 I turned boldly and faced the enemy. 
 
 " So, sir," he exclaimed, in a voice that 
 trembled with silly rage ; "so, sir, this is
 
 2S SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 the way you conduct yourself in the house 
 of a Grod- fearing man, who has saved you 
 from destruction, when your whole family 
 abandoned you ! Is this your gratitude, 
 Master Philander — this the result of those 
 pious lessons which I have sought to in- 
 stil into you? But hark you, sirrah, so 
 
 sure as I stand here " 
 
 "Mr. Wylie," I began, with all the 
 coolness I could assume ; "I beg that 
 
 you 
 
 " Peace, you young villain, and don't 
 attempt to bully me !" he thundered 
 out ; but, immediately adopting his usual 
 whining tone, he added : " Peace I say, for 
 I stand here as a rampart between you and 
 destruction — as a watchman unto Israel. 
 But what virtue or honour, piety or 
 morality am I likely to find in one who 
 bears the name of Basil Gauntlet ? After 
 what I have seen to-night, Ruth shall
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 29 
 
 remain a prisoner in her own room, and I 
 must consult with your grandfather about 
 having you sent off to sea, or away from 
 here on any terms." 
 
 This would have been welcome intelli- 
 gence some time ago ; but the presence 
 of Euth had altered the aspect of every- 
 thing, and I retired to my attic, less to 
 ponder over the rough manner in which 
 we had been wakened from our dream of 
 joy, than to repeat, react and dream it 
 over and over again, with the sweet con- 
 viction that Euth permitted me to love 
 her, and loved me in return.
 
 30 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 CHAPTEE III. 
 
 THE SEQUEL. 
 
 Nathan Wylie was as wicked as his word ; 
 and a letter, rehearsing in forcible terms 
 my sinful 3 Tingracious, and godless conduct, 
 was duly despatched to my grandfather at 
 Nether wood Hall. 
 
 Pending a reply thereto, Ruth was con- 
 fined to her own room, and kept securely 
 under lock and key, while I was all hut 
 chained to my desk, for Nathan Wylie 
 had an old dread of the enterprising na- 
 ture of the Gauntlets, and knew not what 
 I might do next. 
 
 In our mutual loneliness of position, 
 our hearts naturally drew together, and
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 31 
 
 our love was strengthened by the very 
 barriers her uncle raised between us ; 
 hence I resolved to see Ruth in her own 
 room — her prison it seemed to me ; but 
 this could only be done by the window, 
 and under cloud of night, as her door was 
 locked, and the key was in old Wylie's 
 pocket. 
 
 On coining to this resolution, I pro- 
 ceeded at once to put it in practice. Heaven 
 knows, I had no desire but to circumvent 
 old Wylie, and to see my pretty Ruth — 
 to hear her gentle voice, and to be with 
 her, for her smile was the first ray of light 
 that had fallen across my hitherto dark 
 and solitary path. 
 
 It was on a gloomy night, early in 
 February, and when the little household 
 were supposed to be all in bed, that by 
 slipping from the window of my attic, I 
 reached the roof of the stable, the ridge
 
 32 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 of which I knew to be immediately under 
 the window-sill of Ruth's apartment. 
 
 My heart beat lightly, happily, and 
 rapidly, when I saw the shadow of Ruth's 
 figure thrown in a somewhat colossal out- 
 line, however, upon the curtains ; and, 
 fortunately, without disturbing Abraham 
 Clod, the groom, I reached the window, 
 before Ruth had either retired to rest or 
 extinguished her light. 
 
 I know that this clandestine visit was 
 rather a wrong proceeding ; but in ex- 
 tenuation I have only to plead the rash- 
 ness of youth on one hand, and Nathan 
 Wylie's severity on the other ; besides, at 
 eighteen one does not value the opinion 
 of the world much, or scan such matters 
 too closely. 
 
 On peeping in I saw Ruth pinning up 
 her bright brown hair, and beginning to 
 unfasten the hooks of her bodice ; then
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 33 
 
 her dimpled elbows and tapered arms 
 shone white as alabaster in the li«\ht of 
 her candle ; so I hastened to tap on the 
 window. 
 
 " Good Heaven !" she exclaimed, start- 
 ing round with alarm expressed in her 
 pretty face, and her dark eyes dilated ; 
 " what is that — who is there ?" 
 
 " I, I — don't you know me ?" said I, 
 with my nose flattened against a pane of 
 glass. 
 
 "Basil— is it Basil?" 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " At my window, and at this time of 
 night !" said she, blushing and hastening- 
 forward to open the sash ; " wait until 1 
 get a shawl — I was just about to undress. 
 How very odd; but what do you want ?" 
 
 " To see you — to speak with you — " 
 
 " But, Basil, consider " said she, 
 
 trembling. 
 
 vol. i. d
 
 34 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 " I consider nothing," I exclaimed, 
 throwing my arms round her, and kissing 
 her at the window. 
 
 " Mercy ! take care lest you fall." 
 
 " This separation renders me miserable ; 
 for two whole days I have not seen you." 
 
 Her kiss, so tender and loving, agitated 
 me so deeply that my voice was almost 
 inarticulate. 
 
 " And mewed up here, I have been so 
 wretched too, dear Basil," she murmured, 
 while placing her arms caressingly round 
 my neck, as I crept in and closed the 
 window ; " how cruel of uncle Nathan to 
 treat us so." 
 
 " He has written to my grandfather, 
 and in such harsh terms that more mis- 
 chief will be in store for me," said I, 
 bitterly. 
 
 " Take courage, dear Basil," whispered 
 Euth. as we sat with our arms entwined
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 35 
 
 and cheek pressed against flushing cheek ; 
 " those wicked people would seem to have 
 done you already all the harm that is 
 possible." 
 
 " I know not ; for your uncle spoke of 
 having me sent to sea ; and I have heard 
 at times of people being kidnapped by the 
 pressgang." 
 
 " The pressgang — you !" exclaimed 
 Euth, her fine eyes filling with pity and 
 indignation ; " they dare not think of such 
 a thing. Are you not the heir to a 
 baronetcy ?" 
 
 " True — one of our oldest Nova Scotian 
 baronetcies ; but so is my cousin Tony, 
 if— if " 
 
 "What?" 
 
 " I were sent out of the way or disposed 
 of for ever." 
 
 "Of that title, dearest Basil; neither your 
 grandfather's wicked hatred, nor the cun- 
 
 d 2
 
 3() SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 ning of my uncle — alas ! that I should 
 have to say so of one so near — can deprive 
 you." 
 
 "Between them, however, they have 
 willed away the estates to my cousin Tony 
 Gauntlet, who bids fair to make ducks and 
 drakes of them, even before his succession 
 comes to pass, for he is deeply involved 
 with jockeys and Jew money-lenders. But 
 I care not what happens, if I am not 
 separated, my sweet little love, from you." 
 
 I pressed her to my breast long and pas- 
 sionately. 
 
 For several nights I visited liuth's win- 
 <low in this clandestine manner; and 
 became so expert in the matter, that I 
 actually rubbed the sash of my casement 
 with soap, that it might run smoothly and 
 noiselessly. As yet there came no reply 
 from Sir Basil, but Abraham Clod brought 
 a message from Netherwood, that " he had
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 37 
 
 the gout in both feet, and consequently 
 was unable to write." 
 
 Dear to us, indeed, were those stolen in- 
 terviews, and wild and vague were the 
 plans we began to form for the future, plans 
 chiefly drawn from our romances ; but one 
 night we were roused from our happiness 
 by an unlooked for catastrophe. 
 
 Just as I was approaching Euth's win- 
 dow, a voice exclaimed — 
 
 " A thief — a thief ! I see un — dang thee, 
 tak that !" 
 
 Then followed a shriek from Ruth, with 
 the explosion of a gun, and a bullet shat- 
 tered the panes in both sashes, just above 
 my head. 
 
 It was the voice of Abraham Clod our 
 Yorkshire groom, who had been out in the 
 evening crowshooting, and had his gun 
 undischarged, and who in a moment of evil 
 had seen me creeping along the roof of the 
 
 .
 
 38 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 stable, from his attic window, where I saw 
 him peering forth, with a candle in one 
 hand, and his gun in the other. 
 
 Fearing that if I attempted to return to 
 my own room he might shoot me in earnest 
 — for I saw the fellow was quickly reload- 
 ing — fearing also to stay, lest I should place 
 Ruth in a false position, I lingered for a 
 moment irresolutely, and preferred being 
 taken for the housebreaker which I have 
 no doubt honest Clod believed me to be. 
 
 At that time I felt that I would rather 
 die than the honour of Ruth should 
 suffer ! 
 
 I dropped on the roof of the stable 
 just as a second shot broke the tiles under 
 my feet, and confused by this incident, I 
 tumbled heavily to the ground — luckily 
 not into the stable-yard but into a ploughed 
 field. 
 
 I rose unhurt, but found that to enter
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 39 
 
 the house by the door, and to regain my 
 attic window, were both impossible now. 
 I struck across the fields, gained the high- 
 road, and took my way into the open 
 country with sorrow and rage in my heart 
 — sorrow for Kuth,, and rage at her uncle, 
 whose drudge and fool I resolved no 
 longer to be.
 
 40 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 MY COUSIN TONY. 
 
 " Under the roof of his home," says a 
 pleasing writer, "the boy feels safe ; and 
 where in the whole realm of life, with its 
 bitter toils and its bitterer temptations, 
 will he ever feel safe again ?" 
 
 I had no roof-tree — I had never felt 
 this charming safety or security — this 
 sublime knowledge of home, and keenly 
 came this conviction to my heart, as I 
 walked on that dark February night 
 along the solitary highway, with the rain 
 plashing in my face ; for now, as if to add 
 to the misery of my situation, the clouds 
 had gathered in heaven and the rain fell 
 heavily.
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 41 
 
 An old fir-tree with its thick dark 
 foliage sheltered me for a time. Towards 
 daybreak the weather became fair, and 
 after sleeping for some hours in a hayrick, 
 I set forward again. I knew that I must 
 present but a sorry figure, but cared not. 
 I was always a lover of effect, and hoped 
 it might aid me in my purpose, which was 
 to urge Sir Basil to make some fitting 
 provision for me. 
 
 Alas ! I was ignorant that lie had 
 actually written to Nathan Wylie, desiring 
 that the pittance allowed me should be 
 withdrawn, and that he was to turn me 
 adrift for ever. The old minister of 
 Netherwood, who was with him when 
 this severe answer was despatched, be- 
 sought him to "be clement, and to re- 
 member that he too had once been young." 
 
 "Yes," growled the gruff baronet, "but 
 it is so very long ago that I have for-
 
 42 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 gotten all about it. Zounds I" he added, 
 flourishing his crutch, and smashing a 
 wine decanter, " I'll make that young dog 
 smart for this, as I made his father smart 
 before him !" 
 
 His orders Mr. Nathan Wylie would 
 cheerfully have obe} r ed ; but in the end I 
 may show how the lawyer, even in the 
 matter of the will, outwitted himself , as he 
 might, but for his hatred of my father's 
 memory, and his slavish obsequiousness to 
 Sir Basil, have made little Euth one day 
 Lady of Netherwood, and me, perhaps, 
 his friend for ever. 
 
 On that dull February eve I knew 
 nothing of all this, and so trod on for 
 several miles with hope in my breast — 
 hope that I might stir some chord of sym- 
 pathy in the withered heart of Sir Basil ; 
 but when I drew near Netherwood, and 
 saw its copper vanes and antique turrets
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 43 
 
 shining above the trees, my spirit failed 
 me, and I thought with just indignation 
 of my favoured cousin Tony, of his pro- 
 bable mockery at the sorry figure I pre- 
 sented, and the quiet insolence of the 
 domestics ; so I sat by the wayside inspired 
 only by that bitterness and irresolution 
 which I have described in the opening of 
 my story. 
 
 To Nathan Wylie's house I would never 
 return. 
 
 I sorrowed for poor Euth, the sweet 
 companion of so many stolen interviews 
 — the secret love of my boyish heart. 
 But to what end was this sorrow ? Mar- 
 riage and the responsibilities of life had 
 never occurred to me. I felt, like a boy, 
 that I loved Euth dearly, and that was all. 
 
 I would go away somewhere — where, it 
 mattered not; I would seek a path for 
 myself ; another time — a year hence, per-
 
 44 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 haps — I would come Lack and see Ruth 
 again, if Fortune smiled on me. And 
 with such thoughts as these, my sadness 
 and dejection gave place to the springy 
 and joyous conviction of a young heart — 
 that I was free — absolutely Free — the 
 master of my own person — the arbiter of 
 my own destiny ! 
 
 The wide world was all before me, and 
 to leave care and trouble behind should 
 be now my task and duty. 
 
 How was this to be achieved ? I was 
 the possessor only of a shilling; but 
 greater men than I have begun the world 
 with less. 
 
 As these ideas occurred to me, I per- 
 ceived in the twilight a gentleman with 
 two valets in livery, all well mounted, 
 coming along the road with their nags at 
 a trot. He wore a green sporting suit, 
 with large gilt buttons, yellow buckskin
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 45 
 
 breeches, a jockey cap, and carried a heavy 
 hunting-whip. 
 
 As the two valets were not riding 
 behind, but were abreast with their master, 
 and conversing- with him in loud and noisy 
 familiarity, I soon recognised my cousin 
 Tony the Foxhunter, an interview with 
 whom I would fain have avoided ; but he 
 knew me at once, and came brusquely up, 
 checking his horse, with foam upon its 
 bit, so close to me, that I was nearly 
 knocked over. 
 
 " Zounds, cousin Basil !" said he, in- 
 solently, and in the hearing of his valets, 
 " you are in a fine scrape now !" 
 
 " How, sir ?" said I, sourly. 
 
 " So you have levanted from old Wylie's 
 — or been turned adrift — 'tis all one, for 
 making love to his niece — eh — is this 
 true?" 
 
 " I have no confidences to make to you,
 
 46 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 sir," said I, haughtily, for the idea that 
 I had placed Ruth — she so innocent and 
 pure — in a position so false, filled me with 
 remorse and rage. 
 
 "No confidences," stammered Tony; 
 " eh — damme ?" 
 
 " None." 
 
 " Oh, it is of no use denying it ; 
 we have just ridden from old Wylie's 
 this morning-. We don't Maine you 
 for making love to the girl — she is 
 deuced pretty, and we all agreed it was 
 just what we should have done our- 
 selves." 
 
 " We — who do you speak of?" 
 
 "Why, Tom, Dick, and myself," he 
 replied, pointing to his servants ; " and 
 no bad judges either of the points and 
 paces of a woman or a horse." 
 
 "Rein hack from the footpath if you 
 please, Mr. Gauntlet, and permit me to
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 47 
 
 pass," I added, for he had me completely 
 hemmed against a hedge. 
 
 " Well, but what are you going, to do 
 now, for we can have no onhangers idling 
 about Netherwood Hall?" he exclaimed, 
 imperiously. 
 
 Instead of replying, I took his horse 
 by the bridle, thrust its head aside, and 
 passed disdainfully on, for I saw that he 
 had been dining, and was flushed alike 
 with wine and insolence. Anthony was 
 four years older than I, and had seen 
 much more of the world ; yet, so far as 
 education or accomplishments were con- 
 cerned, this pet of my grandfather was 
 nearly as ignorant as the grooms and 
 stable-boys who were his constant com- 
 panions and chosen friends, and who, in 
 those capacities, fleeced him of large sums 
 on the turf, in the tavern, and at the 
 gaming-table.
 
 48 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 " Did you hear me speak, fellow ?" he 
 thundered out, with an oath, while urging 
 his horse close behind me, as if to ride 
 me down. 
 
 Instead of turning, I quickened my 
 pace; but he and his [ grooms put spur to 
 their nags and followed me. 
 
 "S'blood!" exclaimed Tony, "but this 
 will make you feel if you cannot hear me !" 
 and he dealt me a heav} r lash across the 
 shoulders with his hunting-whip. 
 
 With all the strength and fury that a 
 long sense of unmerited VvTODg, hardship, 
 neglect, and opprobrium could inspire, I 
 rushed upon this usurper of my patrimony, 
 and in a moment he was torn from his 
 saddle and stretched upon the highway. 
 I wrenched away his whip, and, twisting 
 the lash round my wrist, beat him soundly 
 with the handle. 
 
 Being stronger than I, he scrambled up,
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 49 
 
 with his green coat covered with dust and 
 his features inflamed by rage ; he closed 
 with me, swearing frightfully, while his 
 two mounted followers assailed me in the 
 rear with their clubbed whips. 
 
 " Lay on, Dick ! lay on, Tom !" he 
 cried repeatedly ; " d — n him, beat the 
 beggarly rascal's brains out !" 
 
 I received several severe blows on the 
 head and shoulders, while Tony actually 
 strove to strangle me by twisting my neck- 
 tie ; and in a combat so unequal I must 
 have been defeated and severely handled in 
 the end, had not two men who were clad in 
 long scarlet cloaks, and were mounted on 
 grey horses, interposed, and one who had 
 drawn his sword, exclaimed — 
 
 " Hold, fellows, hold ! What the devil 
 . do you mean — is it murder ? Back ! on 
 your lives, stand back ! Why this cowardly 
 attack of three upon one?" 
 
 vol. i. e
 
 50 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 On this the valets precipitately with- 
 drew a little way ; but Tony still grasped 
 my collar, and on perceiving by their dress 
 and accoutrements that the interposers 
 were two Horse Grenadiers or Dragoons,, 
 he swore at them roundly, and said — 
 
 " What value do you put upon your 
 ears that you dare to accost me upon the 
 highway ?" 
 
 " Dare ?" repeated the soldier, con- 
 temptuously. 
 
 " Yes, dare !" exclaimed my cousin, 
 foaming with rage. " Be off with you. 
 Do you imagine that a scurvy trooper 
 can scare me? I am Anthony Gauntlet 
 of Netherwood Hall, and in the commis- 
 sion of the peace for this county ; so 
 begone I say, or d — n me 111 put you 
 both in the stocks at the nearest market 
 cross." 
 
 The dragoon laughed, and placed the
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 51 
 
 bare blade of his sword so close to Tony's 
 neck that he hastily released me and 
 slunk back. 
 
 "If you are what you say, sir," ob- 
 served the other dragoon, with a singular 
 hauteur in his tone and manner, " a justice 
 of the peace, you should not be brawling 
 thus with people on the king's high- 
 way." 
 
 " Rascal, to whom do you presume to 
 give advice, eh?" roared Tony, choking 
 with passion. 
 
 " Double rascal, to you !" thundered 
 out the soldier, as he wrenched away by a 
 single twitch of his right hand one of the 
 valets' whips, and lashed Tony and his 
 fellows so soundly, and with such rapidity, 
 that they scarcely knew whether they 
 were on the highway or in the air. 
 
 He fairly drove them off, while his 
 comrade, who had now sheathed his 
 
 e 2
 
 52 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 sword, sat in his saddle and laughed 
 heartily as he looked on. 
 
 " Come with us, my lad," said he, 
 " lest those cowardly curs return and fall 
 on you again. There is an inn some- 
 where near this, I believe — or at least 
 there was when last we marched into 
 England." 
 
 " Yes, } T ou mean the ' Marquis of 
 Granby,' : said I, while applying my 
 handkerchief to a cut on my left temple, 
 which bled profusely. 
 
 " Ah ! that is the place I mean ; we 
 must find our quarters there for the night. 
 You will share a glass with us and tell 
 us how this battle came to pass ?" 
 
 And to this invitation I assented.
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 53 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE INN, 
 
 My protectors proved to be two of the 
 Second Dragoons, or Scots Greys — a, 
 corporal and a private — who had been 
 escorting a couple of prisoners, captured 
 smugglers, to the Tolbooth of Dunbar, 
 and who were proceeding to rejoin their 
 regiment, which was then quartered at 
 the nearest market town on the English 
 side of the Border. 
 
 " Kirkton, what did that fellow with 
 the jockey cap call himself?" asked the 
 corporal. 
 
 " I scarcely heard ; but he said he was 
 a justice of the peace."
 
 54 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 " A rare one, certainly ! Bnt lie cannot 
 meddle with us, Tom, for we are on duty 
 until we rejoin. Why did he attack you, 
 my lad ?" asked the corporal, turning- to 
 me ; " were you poaching ?" 
 
 " No," said I, angrily, though the 
 state of my attire perfectly warranted the 
 inference ; " but here is the inn." 
 
 It was a common wayside hostelry, 
 where the Berwick stages changed horses 
 in those days — a two-storied house, with 
 a large stable-yard behind and an ivy-clad 
 porch in front ; over the latter hung a 
 square signboard that creaked in the wind 
 on an iron rod, and bore a profile of the 
 Marquis of Grranby in a bright red coat 
 and white brigadier wig, with the informa- 
 tion beneath, that within was "good 
 entertainment for man and beast." 
 
 The landlord knit his brows and mut- 
 tered something surly, under his breath
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 55 
 
 however, on seeing the two dragoons 
 approach; but Jack Charters, the cor- 
 poral, presented a slip of printed paper, 
 saying — 
 
 " How are yon, old boy ? Here is our 
 billet order." 
 
 " From whom ?" growled Boniface. 
 
 " The billet master. . To-morrow it will 
 be from a constable, but then we shall be 
 in England." 
 
 Perceiving that the host scowled at the 
 document — 
 
 " It is quite correct, my dear friend," 
 began the corporal, in a bantering tone, 
 " and quite in the terms of the Billeting 
 Act, which extends to all inns, livery 
 stables, and houses of persons selling 
 brandy, strong waters, cider and metheglin, 
 whatever the devil that may be." 
 
 And then, laughing merrily, they rode 
 straight into the stable-yard, where they
 
 5G SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 unsaddled, stalled and groomed their 
 horses with soldierlike rapidity, and 
 taking care to stand by while each had 
 its feed of corn, for they knew too much 
 of the world to trust to an ostler's nice 
 sense of honour. 
 
 Then we repaired to the bar of the inn, 
 where the entrance of a couple of dashing 
 dragoons in braided uniforms and high 
 bearskin caps, with all their accoutre- 
 ments rattling about them, created some- 
 what of a sensation. 
 
 The rosy-cheeked barmaid smiled with 
 pleasure, the plump landlady curtsied 
 twice, even the ungracious host pushed 
 forward a couple of chairs — I was per- 
 mitted to find one for myself — and 
 several bumpkins took their long clay 
 pipes from their mouths, and gazed with 
 admiration, for the appearance of two 
 scarlet coats in this peaceful quarter of
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 57 
 
 Great Britain was quite an epoch in its 
 history. 
 
 " Bustle, landlady, if you please," said 
 the corporal, " and get us something to 
 eat by way of supper." 
 
 " Supper for three," added the private, 
 with a quick glance at me ; " nay, no 
 refusal, my lad," he added, interrupting 
 some apology I was about to make, with 
 an empty purse, an aching heart, and a 
 burning cheek ; " many a time I have 
 known the pleasure of supping, yea, and 
 dining too, at a friend's expense." 
 
 These dragoons were men who had an 
 air, bearing, and tone far above their 
 subordinate rank in the service, and there 
 was a mystery about this that could not 
 fail to interest me. 
 
 They were both bold and handsome fel- 
 lows, with eyes that looked steadily at men, 
 and saucily at women ; slashing troopers,
 
 58 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 with long strides, huge spurs, and steel 
 scabbards that made a terrible jingling. 
 
 The corporal pinched the landlady's 
 chin, and then gave the landlord a slap 
 on the back which nearly made him 
 swallow a foot-length of his clay pipe, as 
 they seated themselves. 
 
 " For shame !" said the barmaid, as our 
 enterprising non-commissioned officer 
 slipped an arm round her waist ; " I fear 
 you are a very bad fellow." 
 
 " I would rather be that than a sad 
 fellow," said he ; " but get us supper 
 quick, my pretty one ; we have had a long 
 ride on a cold February day ; but pray 
 don't make a fuss, my dear — for me at 
 least ; I have long been used to take the 
 world as it comes." 
 
 The landlord, who had not yet digested 
 his mouthful of pipe, grumbled, as if to 
 say that " private soldiers were not the
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 59 
 
 kind of guests they were used to make a 
 fuss about ;" but lie dared not speak aloud, 
 for the aspect of his two unexpected 
 visitors rather awed him, and the female 
 portion of the household were all in their 
 favour. 
 
 A piece of roasted beef, cold, some 
 bread, and the materials for manufacturing 
 whisky toddy, were rapidly laid for us 
 within a snug recess that opened off the 
 bar. A large fire which blazed within 
 the wide arched fireplace, filled the whole 
 apartment with a ruddy light, that was 
 reflected from scores of plates in a rack, 
 and rows of polished tin and pewter mugs 
 and tankards ; but I selected a seat that 
 was in shadow, for Farmer Flail, who was 
 seated in an arm-chair close by, and had 
 wakened up at the noise of our entrance, 
 had dozed off to sleep, and I had no wish 
 to be recognised if he awoke again.
 
 CO SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 Although I was scarcely a mile from the 
 avenue of Netherwood, old Eoger Flail 
 was the only person in that district who 
 knew me. 
 
 " The last time I was in this quarter, 
 a strange affair happened," said the 
 corporal. 
 
 "How?" I inquired. 
 
 " Our chaplain fought a duel." 
 
 " A duel — your chaplain ?" 
 
 " Yes — with a cornet of Bland's Horse." 
 
 " About some point of scripture ?" 
 
 "About a pretty girl, and the poor 
 cornet was run through the body, and 
 left dead, near the gate of a hall — Nether- 
 wood, I think 'tis called." 
 
 " Were you in the Greys, then ?" I 
 inquired. 
 
 "No — I was in the Dragoon Guards, 
 and I had not the honour to be a cor- 
 poral," he replied, while a dark expression
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 61 
 
 stole over his handsome and sunburnt 
 face. 
 
 " Have you seen service ?" I asked. 
 
 The troopers laughed. 
 
 " Seen service !" repeated the corporal ; 
 " I have seen everything — the devil him- 
 self, I believe ; but we have both smelt 
 powder in Flanders, and hope to do so 
 soon again. Another slice of the beef, my 
 boy ? No more, you say ? At your age, I 
 could have eaten a horse behind the 
 saddle." 
 
 I begged to be excused ; I had but little 
 appetite. 
 
 " I hope you can drink, at all 
 events," said Tom Kirkton, the private, 
 pushing the jug of hot water and 
 the whisky bottle towards me ; " make 
 your brewage and be jolly while you 
 may." 
 
 Then while stirring his steaming
 
 02 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 punch, in a full, deep, manly voice, he 
 began to sing, while the corporal clanked 
 his spurs and clinked his glass in 
 tune to the favourite camp song of the 
 day. 
 
 " How stands the glass around ? 
 For shame, ye take no care, my boys ! 
 
 How stands the glass around ? 
 
 Let mirth and wine abound ! 
 
 The trumpets sound, 
 And the colours flying are, my boys, 
 
 To fight, kill, or wound ; 
 
 May we still be found, 
 Content with our hard fare, my boys, 
 
 On the cold ground ! 
 
 " Why, soldiers, why 
 Should we be melancholy, boys ? 
 
 Why, soldiers, why, 
 
 Whose business 'tis to die 1 
 
 What, sighing 1 — fie ! 
 Shun fear, drink on, be jolly, boys ! 
 
 'Tis he, you, or I, 
 
 Cold, hot, wet, or dry, 
 We're always bound to follow, boys, 
 
 And scorn to fly.
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 03 
 
 " Tis but in vain 
 (I mean not to upbraid you, boys) 
 
 'Tis but in vain 
 
 For soldiei's to complain ; 
 
 Should next campaign, 
 Send us to Him who made us, boys, 
 
 We're free from pain ; 
 
 But should we remain, 
 A bottle and kind landlady 
 
 Cures all again." 
 
 As he concluded, Kirkton kissed the 
 hostess, and ordered another bottle. 
 
 " When I was in the Dragoon Guards, 
 at the siege of Maestricht," said the 
 corporal, with something sad in his tone, 
 " six of us sang that song one night in my 
 tent ; before the noon of next day, there 
 was but one alive of all the six — myself — 
 who could better have been spared." 
 
 " You look downcast, my lad," said 
 Kirkton to me. 
 
 " Ay," added the corporal ; " what is 
 the matter ? have you done aught that is
 
 G4 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 likely to make you seek a healthier atmo- 
 sphere ?" 
 
 "Don't jibe the poor fellow, Jack," 
 said the other on perceiving a flush of 
 annoyance cross my face. 
 
 " Is love at the bottom of it ?" 
 
 " See how he reddens — of course it is." 
 
 " You mistake," said I, with a bitter 
 sigh ; " my funds are at zero." 
 
 " Is that all ?" observed the corporal, 
 laughing ; " mine have been so many 
 times, for Fortune is a fickle wench ; but, 
 egad ! the dice-box, a little prize money, 
 a present from a pretty woman, or some- 
 thing else, always made the silver rise 
 again to blood heat. Well — and so your 
 purse is empty ?" 
 
 " As you see — there is but a shilling 
 in it. 
 
 " When mine was thus, I took another 
 in the king's name, and then I had two —
 
 SECOND TO NONE. G5 
 
 by that stroke I exactly doubled my 
 fortune. What is your profession ?" 
 
 " I have none." 
 
 " Relations ?" 
 
 " Yes," I replied, flushing to the temple? 
 with anger. 
 
 " Friends, I should have said." 
 
 " None." 
 
 " Right !" exclaimed Corporal Charters, 
 bitterly ; " friends and relations are often 
 very different people." 
 
 " Come," added Kirkton, " be one of 
 us — you are just a lad after old Preston's 
 heart." 
 
 " Old Preston — who is he ?" 
 
 " Zounds, man ! don't you know ? He is 
 Colonel of the Greys — our idol ! we all 
 love the old boy as if he was our father — 
 and a father he is indeed to the whole 
 regiment. Come, then, I say, be one of 
 us — the lads who are second to none." 
 
 VOL. I. F
 
 66 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 " Second to none /" echoed the corporal, 
 draining his glass with enthusiasm, for 
 this is yet the proud motto of his regi- 
 ment ; " you have still your brave heart, 
 boy — the king will give you a sword, and 
 you will ride with us against the French 
 as a Scots Grey dragoon." 
 
 The fumes of the potent alcohol I was 
 imbibing had already mounted to my 
 head ; tVie idea of becoming a soldier had 
 freouentiy occurred to me, and these 
 roopers had only anticipated a proposal I 
 was about to make them. 
 
 " I will — I will !" I exclaimed, and gave 
 each my hand upon the promise. Another 
 jorum of punch was ordered, and long 
 before it was finished, I found myself 
 wearing the corporal's grenadier cap and 
 aiguilettes, girded with his comrade's sword 
 and belt, seated on the table, and singing 
 most lustily, I know not what.
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 67 
 
 Then I thought of Ruth, and becoming' 
 sad related to them my love affair, at 
 which they shocked me very much by 
 laughing loudly, and for their own amuse- 
 ment made me describe her hair, eyes, hands 
 and voice again and again, as I had drunk 
 too deeply to perceive how they quizzed 
 me. However after a time, it seemed to 
 me, that they too became maudlin, as 
 they rehearsed several of their tender 
 experiences. 
 
 " There was a time," said the Corporal, 
 " when I too imagined I could love a girl 
 for ever." 
 
 "For ever is a long time, Jack !" 
 
 " I still love with ardour — '' 
 
 " For a da}%" suggested Kirkton, and 
 then he added, with a tipsy air of senti- 
 mental sadness, "love sheds a halo over 
 everything, and brings us nearer heaven." 
 
 " Indeed ! By Jove, it nearly sent me 
 
 f 2
 
 GS SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 the other way once, and almost brought 
 me to a General Court Martial." 
 
 " Oh — you mean your scrape with — " 
 
 "The countess — yes — but silence on 
 that matter, Tom," replied the corporal, 
 whc«° ace Pushed, and he gave a bitter 
 smile. 
 
 There was a pause during which, though 
 very tipsv, I surveyed him with interest, 
 for every line of his face expressed stern 
 loftiness, and then something of sadness 
 and mortification. 
 
 " Well — well," said Kirkton, " drink 
 and forget." 
 
 " No — no more for'me, and you, Tom, 
 have had ouite enough." 
 
 " Bah ! another glass — for sobriety, 
 there is not my equal in the service — in 
 the Greys most certainly — " 
 
 " How stands the glass around 1 
 For shame, ye take no care, my boys !"
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 69 
 
 Of this night I remember no more, than 
 falling asleep — I am ashamed to say — 
 across the table, during Kirkton's song, 
 completely overcome by what I had im- 
 bibed ; and thus ended tiie hrst episode of 
 my new career.
 
 70 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 ENLISTMENT. 
 
 Early morning brought sobriety, with a 
 headache, a burning thirst, and deep re- 
 flection. 
 
 I had enlisted as a private dragoon : I, 
 the heir to a baronetcy; but it was a 
 baronetcy that would not bring with it an 
 acre of land, and by the enmity of its pre- 
 sent possessors, I was then on the verge of 
 total want. What other path was open 
 to me than this, which it seemed as if the 
 hand of destiny now indicated ? 
 
 " Yes — yes," thought I, " it is the dic- 
 tum of fate!" 
 
 My position had been one of extreme 
 difficulty. I could not dig, and to beg
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 7l 
 
 — even from Sir Basil — I was ashamed 
 besides, I had a spirit that revolted at the 
 idea of eating bread that was won eitner 
 by falsehood or servility. 
 
 " 'Tis done !" said I, thinking aloud, " in 
 the plain red coat of a trooper, none will 
 ever discover Basil Gauntlet — the disin- 
 herited heir of Nether wood !" 
 
 " So you are still resolved to be one o 
 us ?" said Charters, when we met early in 
 the morning. 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " 'Tis well ; life is a lottery — let us go 
 and draw," he observed, figuratively. 
 
 " I would rather go and drink," added 
 Kirkton, who, after our late potations, 
 looked rather red about the eyes. 
 
 "Try a dram — and then hey for the 
 road ; but we must have our new comrade 
 attested. Landlord, where is a justice of 
 the peace to be found ?"
 
 72 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 " Plague on them — they're thick as 
 blackberries on both sides o' the Border," 
 growled the host. 
 
 " For one, there is Nathan Wylie, the 
 writer at — " began the hostess. 
 
 " No — no — I go not before him /" said 
 I, with a pang of sorrow in my heart, as 
 I thought of Ruth, whose sweet image 
 came upbraidingly to my memory. 
 
 " Well — who next ?" asked the corporal, 
 while buckling on his sword. 
 
 " Sir Basil Gauntlet, at the hall — or his 
 nephew, the young Laird that is to be." 
 
 "Worse still!" I exclaimed, passionately; 
 " I shall not go before them either." 
 
 " Zounds, but you are hard to please," 
 said Charters as he eyed me keenly, but 
 with something of commiseration too. 
 " What is your name ?" 
 
 " That I shall tell the magistrate," I 
 replied, evasively, not having yet thought
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 73 
 
 of a nom dc guerre. Then the corporal 
 asked me — 
 
 " Is this Sir Basil a relation, a connec- 
 tio n, or what ?" 
 
 The landlord laughed while eyeing my 
 scurvy appearance, as if he thought it very 
 unlikely I could be either; my breast 
 burned with suppressed mortification and 
 rage, but I continued calmly, 
 
 "It matters little — I go not before 
 him." 
 
 " You are regularly enlisted, my lad," 
 said the corporal, soothingly, " and must 
 go before some one." 
 
 " Try the rector," said I. 
 
 " We have no rectors in Scotland," 
 said the landlord, bluntly. 
 
 " Well, there is one over the Border, a 
 few miles from this " 
 
 "On the road to Bothbury — good," 
 said Charters.
 
 74 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 " He is a justice of the peace, and such 
 a one ! Odsbucl ! he sent a child, four 
 years old, to hard labour for having a 
 tame pheasant for a pet." 
 
 "How?" 
 
 "As a poacher," added Boniface, with 
 a rough malediction. 
 
 " Will he do?" asked the Corporal. 
 
 " Yes," said I, briefly; "and now let us 
 begone." 
 
 " Bravo ! Now, Kirkton — brandy and 
 water — boot and saddle, and let us be off. 
 Our new comrade shall share our horses 
 alternately, for we have nearly twenty 
 miles to travel to-day before we reach 
 head-quarters." 
 
 As the troopers brought from the stable 
 to the inn door their two stately grey 
 chargers, in all the trappings of a heavy 
 dragoon regiment, with saddle-cloth, 
 scarlet valise, long holsters, powerful
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 75 
 
 bits, and chain bridles, an old horse that 
 was passing, heavily laden with the wares 
 of an itinerant basket-maker, pricked up 
 his ears, and switched his short shorn 
 tail, and seemed to eye us wistfully. 
 
 " That is an old trooper," said Kirkton; 
 " by Jove, the poor animal actually re- 
 cognises our red coats, and, doubtless, his 
 heart warms to the colour. Landlord, a 
 feed of oats, and here is the money for 
 it — a feed of oats for the old nag-tailed 
 trooper. He has been a heavy dragoon 
 horse — see here are the white spots where 
 the carbine has galled him. Well, well ! 
 it makes one sad to think that the dashing 
 horse, which has perhaps borne a brave 
 fellow in many a charge, which has fed 
 from his hand, and slept beside him in 
 the bivouac, comes down to the sand cart 
 and knacker's yard at last !" 
 
 "After all, his rider's fate is seldom
 
 70 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 better in the end," said tlie corporal, 
 " and I don't think either you or I, Tom, 
 will have our tombs in Westminster 
 Abbey. But bring the brandy ; confound 
 care and reflection ; let us live while we 
 can and be jolly, too !" 
 
 I rode each of their horses alternately 
 after we crossed the Border, as we pro- 
 ceeded southward, along the road towards 
 the Rectory. 
 
 My comrades were rather silent now, 
 and I was often left to my own reflections. 
 The day was gloomy and lowering, and 
 the wind came in gusts ; dark clouds 
 rolled in masses across the grey, sullen 
 sky; the distant Cheviot hills looked 
 brown and sombre ; but nature's aspect 
 failed to impress me with gloom as on 
 the preceding day. 
 
 I felt a glow of new enthusiasm kind- 
 ling in my heart. The hopes inspired by
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 77 
 
 ambition, pride, and all a boy's visions of 
 military pomp and glory, grew strong 
 witliin me. To wear a fine uniform — to 
 ride a showy horse — to be a captain in a 
 year — to return to the village — to marry 
 Ruth — and to flaunt my finery before the 
 people, were my most prominent ideas. 
 A year ? Amid all this, I remembered 
 that my dashing comrade, Jack Charters, 
 spoke of having been a soldier for ten 
 years, and was only a corporal still ! 
 
 This was far from encouraging ; but 
 then I should be certain to prove so much 
 more sober, steady, and industrious than 
 Jack ; and so I rode on scheming out 
 my future career, with great brilliance 
 and rapidity, and much to my own satis- 
 faction. 
 
 I was full of such thoughts when we 
 reached the gate of the Eectory, which 
 was a quaint old building, having its
 
 78 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 deeply embayed and mullioned windows 
 nearly hidden by luxuriant masses of 
 ivy, vine and clematis. It was small, and 
 covered simply with bright yellow thatch; 
 but its walls were thick and strong, though 
 they had often been subjected to fire by 
 the invading Scots, in the stormy times 
 of old. 
 
 We left the horses at the gothic porch, 
 and, by a servant in livery, were ushered 
 into the library, where the Rector was 
 seated at luncheon, with a decanter of 
 port before him, and he had been evi- 
 dently dozing over his books and papers. 
 
 To attest recruits at once, without the 
 many formalities of medical inspections 
 and so forth, was common in those 
 days, and for long after. Had it been 
 otherwise, the public would never have 
 been favoured with the memoirs of 
 Phoebe Hassel, who served seven years in
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 79 
 
 H. M. 5th Foot, or of Mrs. Christian 
 Davis, another woman, who served in all 
 the battles of Marlborough, as a trooper 
 in the Scots Grreys, who had her head 
 fractured by the splinter of a shell at 
 Ramifies, and who enjoyed a pension of 
 one shilling per diem till she died, and 
 was buried with military honours in the 
 ground belonging to Chelsea Hospital.* 
 
 The Rector was a fine old gentleman, 
 with a mild and rubicund visage ; and he 
 had been, I knew, my father's early friend 
 and schoolfellow; so I resolved to enter the 
 service under some such name as Smith 
 or Brown instead of my own. 
 
 He started from his waking dream as 
 the two dragoons clattered in. I can still 
 see, in memory, that quaint old library in 
 
 * "Records of the Scots Greys," pp. 49-51. 
 Phcebe Hassel was alive at Brighton in 1821. She 
 served in the West Indies, and at Gibraltar.
 
 80 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 which he received us, with its dark oak 
 shelves of goodly folios and quartos, in calf 
 bindings, dark and brown; some partial 
 gleams of sunlight streaming through the 
 lozenged window panes and carved stone 
 mullions fell on the old man's shining- 
 head and scattered silver hairs — on the 
 floor of polished oak, on the furniture of 
 walnut wood, and on the russet tints that 
 time had cast over everything. 
 
 " What bring you here, my friends — 
 not a deserter — this boy?" stammered 
 the Rector, with sadness and pity in his 
 eye and tone, while wheeling his elbow 
 chair half round. 
 
 " No, no, reverend sir, a recruit," re- 
 plied Charters, with a military salute ; 
 " a recruit whom we wish you to attest." 
 
 " That slender boy for the cavalry !" 
 exclaimed the Rector. 
 
 " He will do excellently for the troop
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 81 
 
 of light horse which Captain Lindsay of 
 ours is raising," suggested Kirkton. 
 
 I was then slightly formed, and looked, 
 I knew, wan, dejected, and poor. The 
 good rector surveyed me through his 
 gold-rimmed spectacles with an unmis- 
 takeable expression of pity on his benign 
 and fatherly face ; after a pause — 
 
 "Have you considered this matter 
 well ?" he asked ; " but you look weary, 
 my poor lad ! take some wine — there are 
 glasses on the buffet — corporal, help your- 
 self." 
 
 " I thank your Reverence," said Char- 
 ters, who never required a second invita- 
 tion of this kind, and so filled our 
 glasses with port — his own twice in 
 succession, and drank, muttering, " Good 
 stuff this ! I've tasted worse — in a palace 
 too." 
 
 ' Have you weighed well the step you 
 
 VOL. I. g
 
 82 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 are about to take ?" continued the rector, 
 impressively. 
 
 " Yes," said I, firmly. 
 
 " But your parents " he urged 
 
 gently : " think of them." 
 
 " I have none," said I, in tones that 
 faltered as my heart swelled with emotion, 
 and the old man shook his head sadly. 
 
 "You will never be able to undergo 
 the hardships of foreign service," said he, 
 shaking his head. 
 
 " Then I will help to fill the trenches,'' 
 said I, with that spirit of bravado which 
 we so often feel or assume in youth. 
 
 The corporal said something appro- 
 vingly ; then the rector sighed, as he 
 dipped a pen in an inkhorn, and placed 
 on his desk a printed document, prepara- 
 tory to filling up the blanks, or fifteen 
 replies to questions always asked of a 
 recruit at attestation.
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 83 
 
 " What is your name ?" he began. 
 
 Now it was that my heart failed me, 
 and the question had to be repeated three 
 times, as I could not tell an untruth. 
 
 " Do you hear me," he added, gently ; 
 "your name ?" 
 
 " Basil Gauntlet." 
 
 He threw down the pen and half rose 
 from his chair. 
 
 "The son of Major Gauntlet, of 
 Granby's Dragoons ?" 
 
 " Yes," I replied, while both of the 
 soldiers turned, and faced me inquiringly, 
 and with unconcealed interest in their 
 eyes. 
 
 ' Oh, Basil," exclaimed the rector, who 
 knew at once both me and my story, 
 " this is sad, most sad. Consider, I pray 
 you, consider well. I have some right to 
 say this, for your father was one of my 
 dearest and earliest friends." 
 
 g2
 
 84 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 " Sir, you know how his father has 
 treated me ; thus, that which might have 
 been dire necessity at first, has now 
 become my choice. I am resolved to be 
 a soldier, so I beg of you to hasten over 
 this most mortifying scene, and let me 
 begone." 
 
 In the irritation I felt at my position, 
 I spoke somewhat sternly, even ungra- 
 ciously, to this good man ; so Charters 
 came to my aid, and urged that time 
 pressed, so the formal oath was admin- 
 istered, which bound me " faithfully and 
 honestly to defend his Majesty King 
 George, his heirs and successors, in 
 person, crown, and dignity, against all 
 enemies, and to obey all the orders of his 
 Majesty, his heirs and successors, and of 
 the generals and officers set over me," &c. 
 
 This oath made me irrevocably a 
 soldier.
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 85 
 
 The old rector shook my hand, and his 
 voice faltered, for he felt more emotion 
 than I did, as he accompanied us to the 
 porch of his house, where he kindly bade 
 us adieu. 
 
 " We shall have a most disastrous war 
 ere long," said he, " and I may say in the 
 words of Goldsmith, ' Go, my boy, and if 
 you fall, though distant, exposed and un- 
 wept for a time, by those who love you, the 
 most precious tears are those with which 
 Heaven bedews the unburied head of the 
 soldier.' Farewell, my friends. God bless 
 you! 
 
 " We thank you, sir," replied Charters, 
 with a profound salute, and with an air 
 that had something lofty and noble in 
 it, as he sprang on his horse and gathered 
 up his reins ; " a good man's blessing can 
 never be given in vain, especially to such 
 reckless dogs as we are ; but, believe me,
 
 86 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 sir, that though but poor soldiers now, 
 my comrades and I can never forget that 
 we have been, and may again be, gentle- 
 men ! 
 
 We were once more on the open high- 
 way. I was glad the scene was over, but 
 I still seemed to see the mild and bene- 
 volent face of the old rector, and to hear 
 his parting words. 
 
 " So we have really had the honour of 
 enlisting the heir to a baronetcy?" said 
 Kirkton. " You were right to come with 
 us. I thought you were meant for better 
 things than to be squire to a knight of the 
 bluebag." 
 
 " What is that ?" 
 
 "A lawyer. Were we quartered in 
 Bath your story would make your for- 
 tune. Any heiress would marry you for 
 the prospect of the title." 
 
 " That is flattering," said I ; and then
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 87 
 
 thinking of Ruth, I added, " Why not for 
 love ?" 
 
 " Bah !" said Charters, " people don't 
 marry for that, except in plays and 
 novels." 
 
 " Jack, you are a misanthrope in spite 
 of yourself," said Kirkton ; " but as this 
 youth is the heir to a baronetcy " 
 
 " I beg to have your promises of keep- 
 ing the matter a secret when we reach 
 the regiment?" said I, with great ear- 
 nestness. 
 
 "Why?" asked they. 
 
 " Because I owe nothing to my family, 
 and hate them as they hate me — the 
 living at least. Whatever I may do to 
 gain honour or promotion, will never be 
 acknowledged by my comrades, who will 
 be certain to attribute success to the 
 fortuitous circumstance of family and 
 name."
 
 88 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 " Egad ! j'-ou are right, boy, and I love 
 and respect your spirit," said Charters. 
 " I have more than once seen a poor 
 fellow gain the ill-will and malevolence of 
 his comrades for being better born or 
 better bred than those among whom his 
 lot was cast, and thus bitterness came 
 with prosperity." 
 
 "Your solemn pledge, then, that you 
 will keep my secret ?" said I, earnestly. 
 
 They promised, and I may add that 
 the worthy fellows never betrayed it ; but 
 they too had each a secret, which they 
 confided to me as we sat together over a 
 glass of beer in a wayside tavern, a few 
 miles from Eothbury. 
 
 " If I had not had the misfortune to 
 have been born a genius, I should perhaps 
 never have been a soldier," said Kirkton. 
 
 " A genius — you ?" exclaimed the cor- 
 poral, laughing.
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 89 
 
 " Sorry am I to say it, for 'tis the fate 
 of geniuses to be restless and unfor- 
 tunate. True ; Boetus, who wrote on 
 the battle of Philippi, died in prison ; 
 Plautus was a baker's drudge and turned 
 a hand-mill ; Terentius Publius was the 
 
 slave of a Roman senator . And I, 
 
 Thomas Kirkton, am a private in the Scots 
 Greys !" 
 
 " 'Tis an ungrateful world, my friends," 
 added the other, with an air of tragi- 
 comedy that made us both laugh.
 
 90 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 CHAPTEE VII. 
 
 MY COMRADES. 
 
 Tom Ivirkton was the son of a thrifty and 
 prudent Scottish clergyman, who had edu- 
 cated him for the Church, in the hope 
 that he might be his assistant and suc- 
 cessor ; but the wild life led by Tom when 
 at college, a natural impetuosity of temper, 
 a genius for everything but application — 
 rash adventures and excitements — with 
 stories of nights spent in gambling and 
 carousing, and rumours of various intrigues 
 a" amour, led to his formal expulsion by the 
 Reverend Principal, and ultimately drove 
 him into the ranks of the Scots Greys. 
 Time and experience had somewhat
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 91 
 
 tempered the reckless tenor o(' his ways, 
 and, though his boisterous manner was 
 rather startling at times, I could not but 
 deem myself fortunate in having a com- 
 panion so well educated as he. 
 
 The story of Charters was indeed a 
 singular one. 
 
 Five miles north-east of Dumfries there 
 stands a tall, square, and ancient fortress 
 called the Castle of Amisfield, between the 
 two head streams of the Lochar. For 
 centuries this great tower had been the 
 stronghold and residence of the Scoto- 
 Norman family of Charters, of whom my 
 comrade, the corporal, was the last repre- 
 sentative. 
 
 In that tower he was born and reared, 
 until he joined the army as an officer. 
 At the age of eighteen he found himself 
 a lieutenant in the 1st Dragoon Guards, 
 and the inheritor of a splendid fortune,
 
 92 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 which he lavished in London with the 
 reckless prodigality of a Timon. He was 
 at that time on leave of absence, seeking 
 a transfer into a light dragoon regiment. 
 
 When rambling one night near Hyde- 
 park Corner, he heard the cries of a lady 
 whose carriage had been stopped by foot- 
 pads. He hurried to her rescue, and 
 narrowly escaped a pistol-shot; but, closing 
 with the fellow who fired it, struck him 
 down, on which his companions fled, 
 leaving Charters in possession of the field 
 of battle. 
 
 The rescued lady proved to be a foreigner 
 of very attractive face and figure, with 
 bright blue eyes, and a profusion of fair 
 hair, amid which, as well as on her neck 
 and arms, many diamonds were sparkling. 
 She was richly dressed, and was returning, 
 apparently, from a ball. 
 
 " You will permit me, madam, to escort
 
 SECOND TO NONE. Oo 
 
 you home ?" said Charters, bowing, hat in 
 hand. 
 
 She entreated that he would not give 
 himself so much trouble. 
 
 "But, madam," urged Charters, "those 
 fellows may return, and I cannot rest until 
 I know that you are safe in your own 
 residence." 
 
 " But which is your way, sir ?" 
 
 " Your way is mine, madam — nay, I 
 insist upon it." And with great gallantry 
 he sprang up beside the servant on the 
 footboard behind the carriage, and the 
 lady, pleased, perhaps, to see that he was 
 a handsome young man, made no further 
 objection to his escort. 
 
 " Drive home," said she. 
 
 Pleased with the adventure, and con- 
 siderably attracted by the personal charms 
 of the lady, especiall}' by her broken 
 English, which had a child-like lisp in its
 
 94 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 sound, Charters slipped a handsome 
 douceur into the hand of the footman as 
 the carriage rumbled along, and asked the 
 name of his lady ; but the man proved to 
 be a foreigner also, and replied in German, 
 of which the questioner knew not a word. 
 
 " Good !" said Charters ; " the mystery 
 increases." 
 
 Indeed it grew greater still when the 
 carriage, after traversing the Park by the 
 bank of the Serpentine, drew up before 
 the lighted portal of a large and handsome 
 edifice of brick, having no less than three 
 spacious quadrangles, ornamented with 
 columns, quoins, and elaborate cornices 
 of stone. Charters immediately recognised 
 Kensington Palace. Save the porch — 
 near which stood two sentinels of the Foot 
 Guards in their boxes — and one or two 
 windows, the whole facade of the 
 building was enveloped in darkness, for
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 95 
 
 the king was absent, having gone on 
 what proved to be his last visit to 
 Hanover. 
 
 Charters assisted the fair unknown to 
 alight, and led her to the door of the 
 palace, with an air of confidence so perfect, 
 that anyone might have supposed the 
 house to be his own. Then she perceived 
 that he wore the Windsor uniform, at that 
 time the usual dress of all officers when 
 on leave or on half-pay. Attracted, no 
 doubt, by his air, which, though gentle 
 and soft to her, was proud, dashing, and 
 careless, she paused upon the threshold to 
 thank him for his ready courage and escort 
 — then, after a little pretty hesitation, 
 added, that she could not think of per- 
 mitting him to retire without joining her 
 at supper. 
 
 "I cannot but accept, madam," said he, 
 kissing her right hand, from which she had
 
 ( jC) SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 coquettishly drawn the kid glove, as if, 
 perhaps, to show its beauty. 
 
 "You have no fear?" she whispered, 
 with a soft side-glance in her clear blue 
 eye, as she took his proffered arm. 
 
 " None, madam ; moreover, I am the 
 foe of all restraint and prejudice." 
 
 " Then you should not have become a 
 soldier." 
 
 " I can understand the restraints of the 
 service, but I cannot abide the shallow 
 and hackneyed usages of society." 
 
 It seemed to Charters that her little 
 hand pressed his arm rather palpably at 
 that moment, and she whispered — 
 
 " If seen here — if known — " 
 
 " By whom ?" asked Charters, hastily. 
 " You have no husband, I hope ?" 
 
 "No — nor lover — none here at least," 
 replied the lady, laughing, as she threw 
 off her white silk capuchin or hood, and
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 97 
 
 then Charters saw quite enough of fair 
 ringlets, and a neck and shoulders of great 
 beauty and wondrous delicacy, to remove 
 any scruples or fears which had occurred 
 to him. He was in for an adventure 
 now, and felt himself compelled to go 
 through with it. A retreat was not to 
 be thought of. 
 
 "By what name am I to have the 
 honour of addressing you?" asked Charters, 
 in a half-whisper, as they sat down to 
 supper, with the German valet in close 
 attendance, and in a snug little room in 
 that portion of the palace which had 
 been built by the Lord Chancellor Finch. 
 It was panelled and richly gilded, and 
 from the walls one or two dark Holbeins 
 looked grimly down upon their tete-a-tete. 
 "Pray tell me, madam," he urged; "for 
 I am dying of curiosity." 
 
 " Call me Sophia," said the lady, looking 
 
 VOL. I. H
 
 98 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 down for a moment, and then bending her 
 bright eyes on him smilingly; "and you?" 
 she inquired. 
 
 " I am Lieutenant Charters, of the 1st 
 Dragoon Guards," replied the other. 
 "Sophia?" he repeated, in a soft, low 
 voice, as he mentally ran over all the 
 names of the female members of the royal 
 family, for he concluded that his new 
 friend must be a princess at least. Thus 
 some very wild ideas began to float 
 through his busy brain ; but at that 
 moment he could remember no Sophia 
 among all the ladies who were about the 
 Court. 
 
 Amid all the rings that glittered on her 
 hand — and a beautiful little hand it was — 
 he could see no plain marriage hoop ; so 
 his mind felt considerably relieved on that 
 score. The valet in attendance wore the 
 royal livery; but an earl's coronet and
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 99 
 
 the letter Y were on all the plate, and 
 graven somewhat ostentatiously, too. 
 
 Though some years his senior, this 
 lady, by the charm of her manner, 
 her wit, and conversation, bewildered 
 Charters so much, that in less than an 
 hour he was desperately in love with her ; 
 but she seemed resolved to preserve her 
 incognita, and they separated, with an 
 arrangement, however, to meet next day 
 in Hyde Park, at an early hour, and before 
 it was thronged by promenaders. 
 
 In short, they met frequently there, 
 and oftener still in the green alleys of old 
 Kensington Gardens — I mean that portion 
 of them which was laid out by Wise, the 
 gardener of Queen Anne ; and Charters' 
 love for his unknown became a confirmed 
 passion, so much so that he thought of 
 visiting the Horse Guards and with- 
 drawing his application for a transfer to 
 
 h 2
 
 100 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 a light dragoon regiment, as he now an- 
 ticipated with dread a separation from his 
 captivating Sophia. 
 
 As she expressed a Avish to visit the 
 opera one night, he begged permission to 
 escort her there ; and on their entrance all 
 eyes were turned towards them. Her line 
 hair was dressed to perfection ; her bright 
 eyes sparkled ; her soft cheek was flushed 
 with pleasure, and the richness of her 
 dress and the splendour of her diamonds 
 so enhanced her fair and remarkable 
 beauty, that Charters was enchanted and 
 felt proud of her. 
 
 Yet he could not conceal from himself 
 that she was the object of more than 
 common — and more than well-bred — 
 interest. The ladies whispered to each 
 other behind their fans, and some of 
 the gentlemen looked at Sophia so 
 boldly and so laughingly, that Charters felt
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 101 
 
 inclined to teach them a rough lesson, if 
 he could but fix upon one or two in 
 particular. 
 
 They had seats next the royal box, 
 which was empt}', as the king was still 
 absent, though expected to arrive at St. 
 James's next day. 
 
 The opera over, Charters escorted Sophia 
 to her carriage, and proposed to accom- 
 pany her home, for he was resolved to 
 remain in a state of suspense no longer. 
 If her rank was so great that she con- 
 cealed her name from him, why accom- 
 pany him to the opera, where she was 
 certain of recognition ? The mystery was 
 now greater than ever ! 
 
 On attempting to step into her carriage 
 she said — 
 
 " You must not — you cannot come with 
 me — to-night at least." 
 
 " Why ?" he asked, with surprise.
 
 ]02 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 " The kin<r returns to-morrow from 
 Hanover." 
 
 " The king !" repeated Charters, in a 
 bewildered manner. " What has he to 
 do with the love I bear you — the love you 
 have made me so happy by accepting." 
 
 " Alas ! I cannot tell you here ; but we 
 must meet no more," said she, sighing 
 deeply. 
 
 The pressure of carriages compelled 
 them to separate. Sophia sank back upon 
 her cushioned seat, and covered her face 
 with her handkerchief, as if she wept 
 bitterly. The heart of Charters was filled 
 with acute sorrow and vague alarm ; but 
 could he have seen her fair little face, he 
 would have found it convulsed with — 
 laughter ! 
 
 " Hallo, Charters ! so your fair one is 
 gone ?" said some one whose voice he 
 recognised ; and turning angrily, he found
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 103 
 
 himself face to face with Frederick Shirley, 
 a cornet of his own regiment. " A rare 
 scrape you are in !" the cornet added, with 
 a loud laugh. 
 
 " How so, sir ?" asked Charters, sharply. 
 
 " What on earth tempted you to appear 
 in an opera box with that woman ?" 
 
 " That woman ?" he repeated, fiercely ; 
 "what woman — who?" 
 
 " She who just left yon in that absurd 
 turn out — for it is absurd — horses, har- 
 ness, and all," continued the unabashed 
 Shirley ; " coronets, plating, and panels." 
 
 " Who is she ?" asked Charters, some- 
 what crestfallen. 
 
 " What — is it possible that you do not 
 know?" queried Shirley, with an air of 
 utter bewilderment.. 
 
 " I know that she is adorable, and is 
 ealled Sophia " 
 
 " Sophia Amelia de Walmoden, Coun-
 
 104 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 tess of Yarmouth, and bosom friend of 
 his majesty the king !" added Shirley, 
 with another burst of laughter, as he took 
 the arm of Charters and led him away. 
 
 Charters was stupified ! 
 
 He had been thusfooled by the mere mis- 
 tress of this very unattractive king, some of 
 whose " amorous sallies" in Hanover had 
 excited her jealousy, and she was now 
 anxious to revenge herself by exciting his 
 in turn ; for she was certain that the De- 
 fender of the Faith would hear of her 
 appearance at the opera with a handsome 
 young cavalry officer. So Charters trem- 
 bled with rage at the thought of his own 
 folly, and began to school himself — how- 
 ever difficult and unpalatable the task — 
 to hate her as much as he had formerly 
 loved her. 
 
 Shirley's laughter galled him to the 
 soul at first ; but afterwards, over their
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 105 
 
 wine, he showed about a dozen of little 
 pink and peagreen notes, which he had 
 received from his faithless Walmoden, all 
 signed " Sophia." 
 
 His appearance in public with the 
 Countess of Yarmouth had given rise to 
 much speculation and gossip in the vi- 
 cinity of Kensington Palace, and St. 
 James's too ; and Shirley was unwise 
 enough to boast frequently of having seen 
 the notes in the possession of Charters ; 
 consequently, the latter soon found a 
 secret influence at work against him at 
 headquarters, and that there was little 
 chance of obtaining either a transfer to 
 another corps, or an extension of leave. 
 This was unpleasant, as his funds were so 
 much impaired by extravagance, that he 
 could scarcely rejoin the Dragoon Gruards. 
 
 While he was in this dilemma, Shirley 
 called at his hotel one morning, and men-
 
 106 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 tioned in confidence, that if he would 
 give up Walmoden's letters, he would find, 
 on looking at the Gazette, the position of 
 his affairs materially altered. 
 
 Further information he stated himself 
 to be unable, as yet, to afford ; so poor 
 Charters, though not of a temper to be 
 threatened even by the king, was scared 
 by the thought of his creditors, and 
 gave up the letters of the Countess to 
 Shirley. 
 
 Impatiently he waited for the next 
 Gazette; but on opening it, how great was 
 his astonishment and rage to find the 
 following notice : — 
 
 "1st Dragoon Gruards. Cornet Frederick 
 Shirley to be Lieutenant, vice Charters, 
 who resigns /" 
 
 For some time he could scarcely believe 
 his eyesight. Then he called for his horse 
 and rode to the Horse Gruards ; but neither
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 107 
 
 the Commander-in-Chief nor the military 
 secretary would receive him, and for weeks 
 he remained a prey to despair and morti- 
 fication. He sought in vain for the 
 perfidious Shirley, who kept sedu- 
 lously out of his way, and had now left 
 London. 
 
 "My commission, the pride of my 
 heart, was gone," said Charters with a 
 sigh, as he concluded his story ; " and by 
 my own folly and extravagance, together 
 with the active assistance of others, my 
 fortune was nearly gone too. Friends 
 disappeared as my purse emptied, and ere 
 long I knew not what to do, or whither 
 to turn me. 
 
 " As for Shirley, my lieutenancy availed 
 him but little, as he was dismissed from 
 the service soon after for declining to go 
 out with a brother officer. Gradually he 
 became a gambler, a blackleg — in fact, a
 
 108 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 common robber in London, and his fate 
 was a fearful one ; so in my heart, I now 
 forgive him. 
 
 " Was he executed?" I inquired. 
 
 " Worse. His brother, Sir Jasper 
 Shirley, being out of town, at his place 
 in Hants, the household plate was lodged, 
 as usual, at his banker's. It was valuable, 
 for among it was a princely service he had 
 received from the empress-queen when he 
 was our Ambassador at Vienna ; and when 
 a sudden order came to the wary old 
 butler, desiring him to get it all out, as 
 Sir Jasper was returning to town, he 
 showed the letter to my ci-devant friend, 
 Fred Shirley, who said ' it was all right, 
 as his brother would be in London to- 
 morrow.' 
 
 " The butler, however, still had his 
 secret fears ; and after bringing home the 
 plate, borrowed from a friend a bulldog
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 109 
 
 — a surly and savage brute of great 
 strength and ferocity, which he chained 
 to the chest over night. 
 
 " Shortly before daybreak, a dreadful 
 noise was heard in the apartment where 
 the plate lay. Lights were procured — 
 the butler and other servants hurried to 
 the place, and found that a window had 
 been forced by the usual implements of a 
 housebreaker, who lay on the floor dead, but 
 still warm, and in a pool of blood, for his 
 throat and tongue were completely torn 
 out by the fangs of the ferocious dog ; and 
 who think you he proved to be ? Sir 
 Jasper's younger brother — Frederick 
 Shirley. 
 
 " So," added Charters, through his 
 clenched teeth, " so perished he who be- 
 trayed me ! 
 
 " Drinking, gambling, and reckless dis- 
 sipation among the condottieri of London
 
 110 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 society, soon brought me like the prodigal 
 of old to the husks and the swine trough ; 
 till one day, when my better angel 
 triumphed over the evil spirit who had 
 guided me so long, I conceived the 
 idea of endeavouring to regain, by 
 mere force of merit, the commission 
 of which I had been so lawlessly de- 
 prived. 
 
 "Inspired by this resolution, so con- 
 sistent with my warm and sanguine tem- 
 perament, I enlisted in the Scots Greys ; 
 but my evil genius still follows me, for 
 I have never got beyond the rank of 
 corporal. 
 
 " I am not the man I once was, and 
 may never rise higher. Perhaps I am 
 too reckless, too much soured in temper, 
 and too much of a misanthrope, to deserve 
 a commission, or it may be that the 
 secret vengeance of the king and his
 
 SECOND TO NONE. Ill 
 
 devil of a Walmoden, still pursues me 
 even here. I cannot see my future, but, 
 happily, 
 
 " ' There is a Providence doth shape our ends, 
 Rough hew them how we will.' '
 
 112 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 HEAD QUARTERS. 
 
 Having now related how I became a 
 soldier, almost in desperation and mis- 
 anthropy, I shall soon show how such 
 emotions gave place to better, to braver, 
 and to higher aspirations, fanned by that 
 blessed hope which never dies in the heart 
 of youth. 
 
 I learned— but not for a long time after 
 this period — that when news of the step 
 I had taken was brought by the sorrowing 
 old Rector to Xetherwood, it gave great 
 satisfaction to my worthy grandfather, 
 and still more to my affectionate cousin 
 Tony, who drained a full bumper to the
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 113 
 
 health of the Frenchman whose bullet 
 should rid them of me for ever ; and then 
 Sir Basil was actually barbarous enough 
 to shake him by the hand and say — 
 
 ■ " Zounds ! Tony, my boy, you may be 
 heir to my title as well as acres, and die a 
 baronet yet !" 
 
 After travelling eighteen miles we 
 reached Iiothbury, a quaint old market 
 town of Northumberland, pleasantly sit- 
 uated in a valley overlooked by a lofty 
 ridge of rocks. Our head-quarters were 
 here, but some of our troops were billeted 
 at Bickerton, Caistron, and other town- 
 ships of the parish. 
 
 The Coquet flowed through the town, 
 and every morning one of our first duties 
 was to take our horses there to water, 
 , which was done by beat of kettledrum, for 
 as yet the Greys, being Horse Grenadiers, 
 had no brass trumpets. 
 
 vol. i. I
 
 114 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 On the morning after our arrival at 
 Kothbury, I was brought before my com- 
 manding officer, Colonel George Preston. 
 Tall, handsome, and venerable in aspect, 
 he was a noble veteran officer, though 
 somewhat of an eccentric character in his 
 way. He was now far advanced in life, 
 and had been from his boyhood in the 
 Scots Greys, having entered the regiment 
 as a kettledrummer in the last years of 
 Queen Anne. 
 
 He was a captain at the battle of Val, 
 where, at the head of only thirty Greys, 
 he made so furious a charge upon a great 
 body of French cavalry, that he routed 
 and drove them fairly off the field. He 
 then pulled out his purse, and gave each 
 trooper a ducat with his left hand, for his 
 right was so swollen by the vigorous use 
 he had made of his broad sword, that the 
 hilt had to be sawn in two by the regi-
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 115 
 
 mental armourer before lie could be re- 
 leased from it. 
 
 Under his old-fashioned scarlet uniform, 
 which was cut somewhat in the mode of 
 Queen Anne's days, he wore a buff coat, 
 and this was, no doubt, the last appearance 
 of such a garment in any European army. 
 
 He received me gravely but kindly, and 
 said, 
 
 " So, boy, you have resolved to become 
 a soldier?" 
 
 " Yes, noble sir," said I ; for as Charters 
 had informed me, this was then the mode 
 of addressing the commanding officer of a 
 regiment. 
 
 " You are very young, and seem some- 
 what different from the common run of 
 our recruits. Your name is rather un- 
 common, too. I presume that your 
 
 parents " 
 
 'They are in their graves. I have 
 
 i 2
 
 116 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 none to advise or regret me — none whom 
 I can regret." 
 
 (Did no thought of Poor Euth arrest 
 this sweeping speech ?) 
 
 " Good ! yon are then the best of food 
 for gunpowder. Your age '* 
 
 " I am about eighteen, sir." 
 
 " You look older than that — in face, 
 especially." 
 
 " Sir, those who have undergone such 
 years as I have, frequently do so.'' 
 
 In truth, I looked older than my age. 
 My figure was tall, well formed and de- 
 veloped, while my face had a matured 
 expression, and somewhat resolute aspect, 
 especially about the eyes. Colonel Preston, 
 though a stern man, and a strict discipli- 
 narian, felt a deep interest and pride in 
 his regiment, and thus he narrowly ex- 
 amined every recruit before passing him 
 into the ranks, and everv man's name and
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 117 
 
 character there, were graven on his 
 memory. 
 
 " I like both your spirit and bearing, 
 boy," said he. " Sixty years ago, I was a 
 poor and penniless lad, so I e'en became a 
 private trooper in the Scots Greys, and 
 behold me now ! I am Lieuteuant-Colonel 
 of the regiment, and hope, please God, to 
 die a General, and go to my grave under 
 a salute of cannon. Ere long, my lads," 
 he continued to me, and several other 
 recruits, who had just been ushered 
 into the Orderly room, " we must all be 
 in France or Germany, and there we shall 
 find what the fortune of war has in store 
 for us. Remember that the sword of a 
 brave man is always sharp, but that of a 
 coward for ever wants grinding ! Stand 
 by me, my lads, and I shall never fail 
 you, and in me you see a living example 
 •of the reward that may await sobriety,
 
 118 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 steadiness, and a strict obedience to orders. 
 Put Basil Gauntlet into Captain Lindsay's 
 troop ; attach the rest to Captain Cun- 
 ninghame's. The tailor and the rough- 
 rider will soon make dragoons of them 
 all." 
 
 I was conducted to my billet. For- 
 tunately it was in the same tavern where 
 Kirkton and Charters were quartered, and 
 with them I shared the first instalment of 
 my pay, which at that time was small 
 enough, when a cornet had but a half- 
 crown per diem, and a lieutenant-colonel 
 of Dragoons only eight shillings and six- 
 pence ! 
 
 My bounty-money was soon dissipated, 
 for under pretence of fraternising with 
 me, or teaching me many matters that 
 might be useful, several of those rogues 
 who are usually known in barracks as 
 " old soldiers," or " knowing ones," stuck
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 119 
 
 close to me and to the other recruits, so 
 long as our cash lasted. 
 
 The next day saw me arrayed in full 
 uniform. The largest mirror in the tavern 
 (it measured only six inches each way) by 
 no means afforded me sufficient scope for 
 the admiration of my own person in this 
 new attire ; though I could view it, when 
 reflected at full length, in the shop- 
 windows, while passing along the streets, 
 into which I at once issued, as Kirkton 
 said, " to exhibit my war-paint." 
 
 In those days — this was in the year 
 before we fought at Minden — the Greys 
 wore double-breasted scarlet coats, lined 
 with blue, having slit sleeves ; long slashed 
 pockets Avere in each skirt, and a white 
 worsted aiguilette dangled from the right 
 shoulder. We wore long jack-boots, and 
 tall grenadier caps, with the Scottish 
 Thistle and circle of St. Andrew in front.
 
 120 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 Our cloaks were scarlet lined with blue 
 shalloon, and in front they had rows of 
 large flat buttons set two and two, on 
 white frogs, or loops of braid. On our 
 collars we wore a grenade in memory that 
 at its formation, a portion of the regiment 
 had been armed with that formidable 
 weapon, the same as the Scots Horse 
 Grenadier Guards. 
 
 Everywhere the proud motto of the 
 corps met my eye ; on the standards and 
 kettledrums, on our caps, carbines, and 
 pistol-barrels, and on the blades of our 
 long straight broadswords, I read the 
 words — 
 
 Second to None ! 
 
 That short sentence seemed full of haughty 
 spirit ; it gave me a new life, and fired 
 my heart with lofty inspirations. I 
 repeated it, dreamed and pondered over
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 121 
 
 it, and as our departure for the seat of 
 war was daily looked for, I longed for 
 active service, and for the peril and adven- 
 ture ever consequent thereto. 
 
 The brusque manners, rough words, 
 oaths and expletives used by some of my 
 comrades, certainly shocked and somewhat 
 blunted my chivalry. To be sure all 
 gentlemen then swore to their hearts 
 content : and I am sorry to say the army 
 carried the fashion to an extreme, and 
 there a quiet fellow was sure to be 
 mocked and stigmatized as a methodist or 
 quaker. 
 
 In all the many wars which succeeded 
 its first formation, when it was raised by 
 Sir Thomas Dalyell and Graham of 
 Claverhouse, in 1678, to fight against the 
 hapless covenanters, our regiment had 
 borne a great and glorious part. At the 
 battle of Drumclog and at Airsmoss
 
 122 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 where Richard Cameron the field-preacher 
 fell, the Greys were, unhappily, the terror 
 of their own countrymen ; and even now, 
 after the lapse of so many generations, 
 traditions of those dark days still lingered 
 in our ranks — handed orally down from 
 veteran to recruit. 
 
 In better times they had served in the 
 wars of Anne and of the earlier Georges, 
 and always with honour, for in every 
 campaign they captured a colour, and at 
 the battle of Ramilies surrounded and 
 disarmed the French Regiment du Roi, 
 capturing no less than seventeen stan- 
 dards* 
 
 Our officers were all gentlemen of high 
 spirit, who belonged to the best families 
 in Scotland ; and so attached were their 
 men to them, that the corps seemed to be 
 but one large family. Punishments — 
 
 * Fact : vide " Regimental Record."
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 123 
 
 especially degradations — were almost un- 
 known ; yet " auld Geordie Buffcoat," as 
 they named Preston, was one of the most 
 strict colonels in the service. 
 
 Every regiment has its own peculiar 
 history and traditions, just as a family, a 
 city or a nation have ; these are insepa- 
 rably connected with its own honour, 
 achievements and badges, and with the 
 military glory of the country, and thus 
 inspire and foster the fine sentiment of 
 esprit du corps. 
 
 But to resume : — 
 
 We marched southward by easy stages, 
 and during the spring of the year were 
 quartered at Newmarket, where the inns 
 have ever been proverbial for the excellence 
 of their stabling and other accommodation, 
 and where the race-ground and extensive 
 heath were so admirably adapted for train- 
 ing the cavalry, who were all subjected to
 
 124 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 severe drill in anticipation of foreign 
 service. 
 
 By this time I had gone from, squad to 
 squad, rapidly through all the phases 
 which a recruit has to pass — position-drill 
 and sitting up till my spinal column was 
 erect as a pike ; club-exercise to expand 
 the chest and strengthen the muscles of 
 the arm. Then came pacing and march- 
 ing ; then equitation, embracing all the 
 skilful and ready aids by which to guide 
 and control my horse in all his paces, and 
 to acquire a firm seat in every variety of 
 movement — to govern him also by my legs 
 and bridle hand, so as to leave my right 
 at the fullest liberty for the use of my 
 weapons. Then I had the exercise of the 
 latter to acquire — the sword, carbine, and 
 pistol. Other hours were devoted to lance, 
 post, and stick practice. Even a smattering 
 of farriery was not omitted ; so the first six
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 125 
 
 months which followed my debut as a 
 Scots Grey left me little leisure for reflec- 
 tion, or for the study of ought else than 
 would conduce to make me a perfect 
 draeroon, skilled in all the science of des- 
 troying human life. I learned, moreover, 
 that a perfect dragoon is not made in 
 a day. 
 
 Colonel Preston daily superintended in 
 person the training of his recruits ; and 
 the presence of the fine old man, with his 
 mingled kindness and enthusiasm, kindled 
 a kindred spirit even in the breast of the 
 dullest fellow among us. 
 
 It seemed to me — but it might be fancy 
 — that he took particular interest in my- 
 self, for he frequently spoke to me with 
 such words of encouragement or praise, 
 that my young heart swelled with grati- 
 tude ; and I felt certain when the time 
 came, that I would follow the brave old
 
 126 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 man, even to the cannon's month, with 
 the devotion of a son, rather than the 
 mere obedience of a soldier. 
 
 An anecdote of our veteran colonel, 
 then current, related that when George II., 
 who frequently displayed much favour 
 and partiality for the Greys (notwith- 
 standing his hatred of the Scots), was 
 reviewing them in Hyde Park one day 
 before the Marshal Duke de Broglie 
 and a prince of the House of Bourbon, 
 Louis Philippe, Duke of Orleans, he 
 said — 
 
 " Monseigneur le Prince, did you ever 
 see a finer regiment ?" 
 
 " They are fine indeed," replied the 
 Prince, as the royal staff passed along the 
 line ; " but pardon me if I think them 
 inferior to our Gendarmes de la Garde. 
 Did your majesty ever see them ?" 
 
 " No," replied the king ; " but I have
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 127 
 
 little doubt that my Scots Greys have — 
 eh, Colonel Preston ?" 
 
 "Yes," said the Colonel, grimly, "we 
 have seen them." 
 
 " Where?" asked Louis Philippe. 
 
 " At Dettingen, when auld Jamie 
 Campbell, who was killed at Fontenoy, 
 led us to the charge against them." 
 
 " Well — well," said the king, im- 
 patiently, " and what followed?" 
 
 " We cut them to pieces, and there I 
 took their white standard, cleaving the 
 bearer down to the breeks ; and the prince, 
 if he chooses, may see it now, hanging in 
 Westminster Hall." 
 
 At Newmarket my chivalry received a 
 severe shock, by being present at the 
 execution of a Light Dragoon who was 
 shot for desertion. He had been sentenced 
 to three hundred lashes by a regimental 
 court-martial. On this, he appealed to a
 
 128 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 general court, which, instead of confirming 
 the former sentence, inflicted the penalty 
 of — death ! 
 
 It was long before I forgot the horrors 
 of that scene ; the grey light of the early 
 morning — our pale faces on parade — the 
 ominous silence — the almost whispered 
 words of command — the pallid prisoner, 
 as he knelt beside his black deal coffin, 
 and the shriek with which he fell within 
 it as the death volley rang across the far 
 extent of the open heath, and then the 
 trumpet sounding to form open column 
 and pass the poor corpse by files, an- 
 nounced that all was over.
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 129 
 
 CHAPTEE IX. 
 
 MY HOPE FOR THE FUTURE. 
 
 I have stated that I was placed in the 
 troop of Captain Francis Lindsay, which 
 for a time separated me from my friends, 
 Charters and Kirkton. This was one of 
 the nine troops of Light Horse, or Hussars, 
 lately formed, one of which had been added 
 to every regiment of heavy cavalry. 
 
 In a speech recently made in Parliament, 
 His Majesty observed "that the late 
 success of his ally in Germany had given 
 a happy turn to his affairs, which it would 
 be necessary to improve." 
 
 The loyal Commons took the hint and 
 liberally granted new supplies, both tor 
 
 VOL. i. k
 
 130 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 the service of Frederick of Prussia, who 
 was then at hostilities with the French 
 monarch, and for enabling the army in 
 Hanover to co-operate with him vigo- 
 rously ; and war having two years before 
 been declared against France, an expe- 
 dition — of which we were to form part — 
 was prepared for a descent upon the coast 
 of that country. 
 
 We were detached from the regiment, 
 and ordered from Maidenhead to Southsea 
 Common, where we were encamped 
 and brigaded with the light troops of 
 other dragoon corps, for instruction in 
 the Prussian exercise ; and I may state 
 without vanity that the light troop of the 
 Greys in aspect, mount, and discipline, 
 were allowed by those who saw them far 
 to excel every other in the camp.* 
 
 " Tb Q flower of the Hussars is the troop com- 
 manded by Captain Lindsay, quartered at Maiden-
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 131 
 
 Eesolved to rise in the service by my 
 own merit alone, I strained every energy 
 io become master of my drill in all its 
 principles and theory. The sword or foil 
 was never out of my hand when I could 
 find an antagonist ; thus I became an 
 expert swordsman, as well as an excellent 
 horseman, and a decidedly good average 
 shot with pistol or carbine. With either, 
 I would put a bullet through a common 
 playing card, when passing it on the 
 ground at full gallop. This devotion to 
 my profession, and my rapid progress did 
 not fail to recommend me to Captain 
 Lindsay, a brave and high-spirited officer, 
 
 Lead, where they have been practising the 
 Prussian exercise, and for some days have been 
 digging large trenches and leaping over them ; also 
 leaping high hedges with broad ditches on the 
 other side. Their captain on Saturday last swam 
 his horse over the Thames and back again, and the 
 whole troop were yesterday to swim the river." — 
 Weekly Journal, May 23, 1758. 
 
 K 2
 
 132 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 to whom we were all devoted. He was a 
 handsome fellow too, and generous as a 
 prince — to use a common phrase — espe- 
 cially when on service, sharing whatever 
 he possessed with his men. 
 
 It was while here under canvas, work- 
 ing hard, drilling, trenching and ditching, 
 teaching myself and my horse — a noble 
 grey, sixteen hands high, and a model of 
 temper and courage — to swim when fully 
 accoutred, that in a tavern near the camp, 
 an old, tattered, and liquor-stained copy 
 of the " Weekly Journal'* one evening 
 fell in my way. Books, periodicals, and 
 papers were then almost unknown in camp 
 and barracks, though the gallant General 
 Wolfe had striven hard to encourage the 
 formation of regimental libraries, and 
 since I had donned the red coat, I had 
 neglected everything connected with lite- 
 rature, save a French grammar, of which
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 133 
 
 during my scanty leisure hours, or when 
 on guard, I laboured hard to make myself 
 master. 
 
 While lingering over a pint of beer, I 
 read every word of the " Journal," even 
 to the obituary ; and in the column of 
 the latter, was a notice that gave me a 
 shock, as if struck by a bullet. 
 
 It recorded the death of my grand- 
 father four months ago by a sudden 
 attack of gout in the head, caused, it was 
 stated, by the grief he experienced on 
 hearing that his well-beloved heir, Mr. 
 Anthony Gauntlet, had been killed by a 
 fall from his horse when riding furiously 
 near Kirk Yetholm. " Thus," continued 
 the paper, "the estates of Netherwood, 
 worth thirty thousand per annum, pass 
 to Mr. Anthony's onty sister, the charm- 
 ing Miss Aurora Gauntlet, who becomes 
 one of the richest heiresses on the Border,
 
 134 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 and thus disappears one of our oldest 
 baronetcies, the first Sir John Gauntlet of 
 that ilk, having been one of those, in/eft 
 in lands in Canada with power of castle, 
 pit and gallows, in the usual form, by the 
 earth and stone of the castle hill of Edin- 
 burgh, and by the hand of Charles I., in 
 person, in 1633." 
 
 " Disappears !" I muttered, through 
 my clenched teeth. " True, the title dis- 
 appears ; but only for a time I trust." 
 
 I sat long buried in thought after this. 
 Thirty thousand pounds per annum ! 
 That money by right was mine ; this 
 cousin, this Aurora, whom I had never 
 known, never seen, and whom I hated in 
 my heart as a fresh usurper, would doubt- 
 less be married by some one — a fortune- 
 hunter, a needy adventurer perhaps — and 
 thus my patrimony would go to the 
 enrichment of strangers, while I
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 135 
 
 Thick and fast, fierce thoughts 
 crowded upon me ; I had little more 
 than enough to pay for the poor glass 
 of beer I had drunk, but I threw it 
 on the table, and walked sullenly oft' 
 without waiting for the change. 
 
 As I walked along the road, other 
 emotions came over me — emotions that 
 were prouder, better, more lofty and more 
 soothing, for I saw the white tents of the 
 camp — my new home — shining in the 
 setting sun, as they dotted all Southsea 
 Common. 
 
 I remembered the story of one • whose 
 fate was somewhat, if not exactly, similar 
 — the poor Scottish baronet, Sir Robert 
 Innes, who became a private in the foot 
 regiment of Colonel Winram, of Liberton, 
 and remained there long in obscurity, as 
 private Robert Innes, till a former frien 
 recognised him when on duty as sentinel
 
 136 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 one day before the quarters of the 
 colonel. 
 
 On discovering that he was thus 
 honoured by having a baronet to guard 
 his door, Winram obtained Innes a com- 
 mission, and gave him in marriage his only 
 daughter and heiress, Margery. I thought 
 I would strive to be like him, and until 
 the lucky spoke of Fortune's wheel turned 
 upmost, I would relinquish, save in my 
 secret heart, all pride of birth or position 
 of family, and the past, and forget too 
 the important monosyllable, of which 
 my unnatural grandfather had left nothing 
 undone to deprive me. This was a bril- 
 liant bit of romance, no doubt, but 
 unlike Winram, poor old Colonel Preston 
 had no inheritance save his sword and his 
 quamt uniform ; and no beautiful daughter 
 to bestow. I had no former friends to 
 recognise me, and bring about a striking
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 137 
 
 denouement, so I might be sentinel at his 
 door for a hundred years before he could 
 befriend me as Sir Robert Innes was 
 befriended by Colonel Winram. 
 
 As a supplement to the notice I had 
 seen, next day on parade the trumpet- 
 
 * 
 
 major of the Light Horse, who usually 
 acted as our postman, handed me a large 
 thick letter. It bore the Berwick post- 
 mark, and was addressed in the familiar 
 handwriting of Mr. Nathan Wylie. 
 
 My heart sprang to my lips, but I had 
 only time to thrust the missive into one 
 of my holsters, for the trumpets sounded 
 to "fall in " and I was kept in an agony 
 of suspense and anxiety to learn the 
 contents — which seemed rather bulky — 
 during the whole of a long and tedious 
 morning parade, with its subsequent drill 
 on the common. 
 
 What could this letter be about, what
 
 138 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 its contents ? Money ? It seemed too 
 hard for bank-notes. Was it about Entli 
 — poor little Ruth whose soft image now 
 rose so upbraidingly before me ; for sooth 
 to say, in the hurly-burly of camp and 
 quarters, I had quite forgotten her. 
 
 The moment parade and drill were over, 
 I rushed away to a quiet nook, and tore 
 the packet open. It contained a letter 
 from Nathan Wylie, short, dry, and pro- 
 fessional, together with an old parchment, 
 snuff-coloured by time. 
 
 It briefly stated that in his last will 
 and testament, my respected grandfather 
 had cut me off with the sum of one shilling 
 sterling, which the writer herein inclosed, 
 together with a document which he sent, 
 doubtless as a taunt upon my private's 
 uniform — the diploma of the Netherwood 
 baronetcy.
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 139 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE FRENCH DESERTERS. 
 
 Lord Anson, Vice-Admiral of the Red, 
 having put to sea with seventeen sail of 
 the line (one of these was the hapless Boyal 
 George, which afterwards sunk in Ports- 
 mouth harbour), and several frigates, with 
 some smaller craft, to block up Brest, and 
 favour the descent to be made on the 
 French coast, our expedition was prepared 
 with great rapidity, and Charles Spencer, 
 Earl of Sunderland, who had lately suc- 
 ceeded to the Dukedom of Marlborough, 
 arrived in camp, to take command of the 
 troops. 
 
 Our recent successes by land and sea,
 
 140 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 the territories and victories won by our 
 armies in America, the East and West 
 Indies ; the almost daily processions 
 through the streets of London, escorting 
 Spanish treasure to the Tower or to the 
 Mint, accompanied by the captured 
 ensigns of French and Spanish admirals, 
 gradually filled all Britain with a fiery 
 enthusiasm, and fanned the passion of 
 glory in the usually phlegmatic breast of 
 John Bull to such a degree, that nothing 
 now was talked of but war and conquest, 
 and the strange resolution was come to of 
 carrying hostilities into the heart of 
 France ! 
 
 There were mustered on South sea 
 Common, sixteen regiments of the line, 
 nine troops of Light Horse (ours included) 
 six thousand marines, and three companies 
 of artillery, the whole under the Duke of 
 Marlborough, with Lieutenant-Grenerals
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 141 
 
 Lord George Sackville, and William, Earl 
 of Ancrura,K.T.,witli four Major-Generals, 
 Dury, Mostyn, Waldegrave, and Elliot, 
 the future Lord Heatlifield, and " Hero of 
 Gibraltar," who led the Light Horse, six 
 hundred in number. 
 
 The noble harbour of Portsmouth, which 
 is so deep and so sheltered by high land 
 that the largest ships of the line may 
 there ride out the roughest storm without 
 touching the ground even at the lowest 
 ebb of the tide, presented a scene of un- 
 usual bustle and preparation. 
 
 It was crowded by craft of every 
 description ; ships of the line, frigates, 
 gun-brigs, tenders, store-ships, and tran- 
 sports ; its waters being literally alive 
 with man-of-war boats, barges, and 
 launches, skimming to and fro, filled 
 with seamen and marines, or laden with 
 stores, water-casks, and ammunition which
 
 142 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 were being conveyed from the town or 
 arsenals to the fleet. 
 
 Twelve flat-bottomed boats, each capable 
 of holding sixty-three men, were prepared. 
 These were to be rowed by twelve oars 
 each, and were not to draw more than 
 two feet of water. Meanwhile a vast 
 number of scaling ladders, sandbags to 
 form batteries, baskets for fascines, 
 waggons for the conveyance of wounded, 
 of stores and plunder, had been brought 
 to Portsmouth from the Tower. 
 
 Several launches and many bridges, 
 each sixty yards in length, together with 
 floats and stages, for landing the troops, 
 horses, and horse artillery, were made in 
 all haste. 
 
 Nothing was omitted that might ensure 
 the success of this daring expedition, for 
 which the departure of Lord Anson's fleet 
 to Brest was certain to open the way, as
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 143 
 
 we had long since swept tlie fleet of 
 France from the seas ; and so great was 
 the enthusiasm in London, that Viscount 
 Downe, Sir John Armytage, Sir James 
 Lowther, and many other English gentle- 
 men of distinction joined the fleet and 
 army to serve as private volunteers. 
 
 And there, amid that bustling scene in 
 Portsmouth harbour, lay the Monarque, 
 on the quarter-deck of which, the brave 
 Admiral Byng had been judicially mur- 
 dered, in the preceding year, not as his 
 sentence had it, "for an error in judgment," 
 but to cloak the errors of a ministry ! 
 
 The infantry destined to serve on our ex- 
 pedition, were three battalions of the Foot 
 Guards ; the Eighth, or king's regiment ; 
 the famous Twentieth, or Kingsley's ; 
 the Welsh Fusileers ; the Edinburgh regi- 
 ment ; the Twenty-fourth ; Thirtieth ; 
 Thirty-third; Thirty-fourth; Thirty-sixth,
 
 144 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 Sixty-eighth, and the regiments of Rich- 
 mond and Talbot. 
 
 From Southsea Common the whole force 
 was ordered to the Isle of Wight, where 
 for a short time a camp was formed ; but 
 on the same night that the order for this 
 movement was issued, I was despatched 
 on duty to London, bearer of a letter from 
 Commodore Howe to the Lords of the 
 Admiralty. 
 
 I knew not what its contents were 
 then, but departed on my mission with 
 the document in my sabretasche, my 
 orders being simply to deliver it at the 
 Admiralty office, and to bring back the 
 answer without a moment of delay. I 
 shall now 'proceed to relate how I was 
 personally concerned in the contents of 
 the document entrusted to me for delivery. 
 From the day I joined the army, I was 
 full of eagerness to bring myself pro-
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 145 
 
 minently before my leaders ; but my first 
 essay was singularly unfortunate in its 
 sequel. 
 
 One evening when on duty as sentry 
 on foot with my carbine, posted near some 
 sea-stores that were piled on the beach, 
 not far from Southsea Castle, I observed 
 two men of a foreign and somewhat sus- 
 picious aspect, who were loitering near, 
 and observing with unmistakeable interest 
 the shipping in the harbour, the distant 
 camp on the common, and the stores that 
 were piled near the castle-gate. On per- 
 ceiving that I observed them they came 
 directly up to me, and touched their hats 
 with great politeness. 
 
 'Mon camarade," said one, in very 
 good French, " we are French sailors " 
 
 ' Then you have no business to be 
 loitering here," said I, bluntly and 
 hastily. 
 
 VOL. I. l
 
 146 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 " Pardonnez-moi, camarade ; but we 
 cannot help it." 
 
 " Then you are prisoners of war ?" 
 
 " Nay " stammered the other." 
 
 -What then?" 
 
 " Deserters," was the candid response. 
 
 " You are very rash to be here at such a 
 time." 
 
 " We have escaped from the castle of 
 St. Malo, where we were shamefully 
 treated, and are anxious to offer our 
 services and our knowledge of the coast." 
 
 "To us?" 
 
 " Out — mon brave," said the fellow, with 
 
 a grimace. 
 
 " Against your own country ?" 
 
 " Sacre ! our country deserves nothing 
 
 better at our hands," he continued, smiling 
 
 and bowing. 
 
 My disgust was so strong that I felt 
 
 tempted to club my carbine and knock
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 147 
 
 the traitor down: but I restrained the 
 emotion and said — 
 
 " I am only a private dragoon, and can 
 in no way assist you — so please to move 
 off. It is contrary to orders for me to 
 converse thus, and for you to loiter here." 
 
 " We are aware of that," said one, in a 
 deep, growling voice, who had not yet 
 spoken ; " but monsieur will perhaps direct 
 us to whom we can apply." 
 
 "If you have been in the French 
 Marine service, }^ou should know that 
 well enough yourself." 
 
 I paused, and then thinking that, 
 though these men were traitors and ras- 
 cals, their services or information might 
 be valuable to the general and commodore, 
 I said — 
 
 " Messieurs, I may be able to assist 
 you, when relieved from guard. What 
 are your names ?" 
 
 l 2
 
 148 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 " Mine is Theophile Damien," said the 
 first speaker. 
 
 " And mine, Benoit Bossoit." 
 
 "We have both been seamen, and have 
 served on board the privateer ship, le 
 Marechal Due de Belleisle, under the 
 famous M. Thurot, in that battle off the 
 Firth of Forth, with your two frigates, the 
 Solehay and Doljj/tin, in May last." 
 
 Next day, when relieved from guard, I 
 met those men, by appointment, at a quiet 
 tavern, where we had some wine, for 
 which they paid liberally, seeming to be 
 very well furnished (especially for de- 
 serters) with Louis d'ors; and in the 
 course of conversation I spoke freely — 
 far too freely — of the number, strength,, 
 and probable objects of our expedi- 
 tion. 
 
 The name of one of these men — a 
 tall, muscular, dark, and coarse-looking
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 149 
 
 fellow, whose subdued manner belied his 
 savage aspect — struck me as being 
 singular. 
 
 " You are named Damien, are you 
 not?" I said to him. 
 
 "Theophile Damien — at monsieur's 
 
 service." 
 
 " It seems familiar to me." 
 
 "As to the most of Europe," said he, 
 bitterly, and he ground his strong white 
 teeth as he spoke. 
 
 "What causes your hatred to your 
 country — this disloyalty to your king ?" 
 
 " Tudieu ! have I not told you that we 
 were slaves — galley slaves — and confined 
 in St. Malo?" 
 
 (I find myself in honourable company, 
 thought I.) 
 
 " Slaves without a crime," growled 
 Bossoit. 
 
 "At least I had no crime," said the
 
 150 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 other, " save that I bore the hated name 
 of Damien." 
 
 " What," I exclaiined, as a sudden light 
 broke upon me; "are you a kinsman of — " 
 
 " Exactly, monsieur, of Robert Francis 
 Damien, you would say — of that unfor- 
 tunate peasant of Tieuloy, who, in January 
 last year, stabbed Xing Louis, just as he 
 was stepping into his state coach at Ver- 
 sailles, and so nearly rid France of a 
 tyrant — yes, I am his brother." 
 
 " Was not this would-be regicide de- 
 ranged ?" said I, as fresh doubts of the 
 value of such a pilot occurred to me, and 
 I feared for my own honour, if found in 
 company with Frenchmen of such a 
 character, and especially at such a con- 
 jecture. 
 
 "His reason was wavering — poverty 
 and the long wanderings of an unsettled 
 life had made it so j but instead of con-
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 151 
 
 fining him in a prison or fortress, he died 
 of the most dreadful tortures," replied the 
 first Frenchman. 
 
 " So I have heard." 
 
 "The king's wound was slight; but 
 
 my brother was beaten to the earth by 
 
 the sword hilt of Guillaume de Boisguiller, 
 
 a captain of the French Guards, several 
 
 of whom in the first transports of their 
 
 zeal and fury, burned him severely with 
 
 their torches, while he lay prostrate at 
 
 their feet. A fortnight after this he was 
 
 tried and tortured. Shall I tell you what 
 
 followed?^ Tete Dieu ! my blood boils, 
 
 and my heart sickens at the memory of 
 
 it. After making the amende honorable 
 
 in the Church of Notre Dame, he was 
 
 conveyed to the Place de Greve, where 
 
 vast multitudes were assembled; where 
 
 every window was filled with eager faces — 
 
 and every housetop bore a living freight.
 
 152 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 " The Provost of the merchants, the 
 Echevins and other magistrates of Paris, 
 in their robes, with all the great lords and 
 ladies of the court, occupied the windows 
 of the gloomy Maison aux Piliers, or Hotel 
 de Ville, on the spire and pavilions of 
 which banners waved as for a festival. 
 In the square, beyond the scaffold and the 
 troops who circled it, scarcely was there 
 breathing space, so closely, so densely were 
 the spectators massed ; but a silence like 
 that of death hushed every tongue, for they 
 knew that a scene of horror was about to 
 
 ensue." 
 
 The Frenchman paused ; the perspira- 
 tion stood in bead-drops on his brow ; his 
 face was deadly pale, and I could not fail 
 to feel deeply interested, while thinking 
 at the same time, that the language and 
 bearing of himself and his companion 
 were very different from what one might
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 153 
 
 expect to find in a couple of runaway 
 privateersmen. 
 
 " If, on that terrible day," he resumed, 
 " voices were heard, it was the murmur of 
 those at a distance — those who were 
 too far off to see — the thousands who 
 crowded the narrow vistas of the Rue 
 de la Tannerie, the Rue de la Mor- 
 tellarie, the Rue du Mouton, and the 
 Quai de la Grreve, for all Paris had 
 flocked to witness my brother's execu- 
 tion. 
 
 " At five o'clock, just as the grey light 
 of a dull March morning stole over the 
 pale-faced multitude, the punishment be- 
 gan. My brother's right hand was half 
 consumed by fire, and then struck off. 
 Amid the agony, though his limb shrivelled 
 and blood burst forth, mon Dteu ! the 
 poor soul neither winced nor asked for 
 nercy ; but when pincers, red hot and
 
 154 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 glowing, and ladles filled with boiling oil, 
 molten lead and flaming resin, were ap- 
 plied to his arms, thighs, and breast, he 
 uttered shrieks so piercing that every 
 heart grew sick and every face grew 
 pale. On his bones the very flesh was 
 broiled, and his blood hissed in steam 
 around him ! He was then disem- 
 bowelled." 
 
 " Assuredly that must have put a 
 period to his sufferings ?" said I, in a 
 low voice. 
 
 " No — the principle of life was strong 
 within him, for my poor brother was one 
 of the most athletic of our peasants in 
 Artois. These agonies — this butchery 
 were insufficient to glut the rage of the 
 courtiers and the fury of his judges. Four 
 strong young horses were now harnessed 
 to his four limbs, and lashed in opposite 
 directions, but failed to sever his manglec
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 155 
 
 frame, and lie had now ceased to cry or 
 
 moan." 
 
 "Failed, say you?" I exclaimed, be- 
 coming more and more interested, in spite 
 of myself, by the Frenchman's detail of 
 this revolting execution. 
 
 " Yes — so the chief executioner, with 
 a sharp knife, severed the sinews at the 
 joints of the arms and thighs. Anew, the 
 long whips were cracked — again the horses 
 strained upon their traces, and a leg and 
 arm were torn from the body of my 
 brother, who looked — mother of mercy ! — 
 yes, looked after them, as they were drag- 
 ged along the pavement, with the blood 
 spirting from vein and artery ; but on the 
 severance of the other two limbs, he 
 expired. 
 
 " His remains were then cast into a 
 fire, which was kept burning all day, and 
 all the succeeding night."
 
 156 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 "Were you present at this horrible 
 scene ?" I asked, after a pause. 
 
 "No — I was with Monsieur de Thurot, 
 cruising off the coast of Scotland. On 
 my return to France, I found my brother's 
 family and name, even to the most remote 
 degree, proscribed, and the cottage in 
 which we were all born, at Tieuloy, in 
 Artois, razed to its very foundations in 
 token of infamy, and the place where it 
 stood had been salted and sown with grass. 
 On hearing of all this, some bitter words 
 escaped me, so I was placed in the castle 
 of St. Malo. There I made a vow to 
 achieve both freedom and revenge. I have 
 fulfilled the first part of that vow, and, 
 Dieu-merci ! I am here." 
 
 A peculiar glance, the meaning of which 
 at that time I could not understand, 
 passed between the speaker and his 
 companion ; and as the story of the
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 157 
 
 former seemed a strange one, I conducted 
 them at once to Captain Lindsay of our 
 troop. 
 
 He questioned them in a manner that 
 displayed considerable contempt for the 
 new character they wished to assume ; 
 and then sent them with a note to Com- 
 modore Howe, who at once accepted their 
 services, and it was with a dispatch con- 
 taining some real or pretended informa- 
 tion they had given, that I was sent to 
 London, on the evening when the troops 
 began to move for the Isle of Wight ; and 
 I departed, happy in heart and high in 
 spirit, furnished with an order to the con- 
 stables of parishes and others, to furnish 
 me with such relays of horses as I might 
 require. 
 
 Four days' pay were given to me in 
 advance ; but as I left the camp, Captain 
 Lindsay generously and kindly put a
 
 158 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 half-guinea in my hand, and desired me 
 to "make myself comfortable, and for 
 the honour of the corps, to avoid all 
 scrapes and doubtful company by the 
 way."
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 159 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 WANDSWORTH COMMON. 
 
 It was a lovely May evening when I left 
 busy Portsmouth. The shadows of the 
 tossing branches of the old limes and 
 sycamores that bordered the wayside were 
 cast far acros the yellow corn ; the white 
 and purple lilacs, the golden laburnum 
 trees, and the tall hollyhocks with their 
 gorgeous crimson flowers, made beautiful 
 the gravelled avenues that led to many a 
 villa and farm, while the fertile uplands 
 that sloped in distance far away, were 
 half hidden in the warm haze of the sum- 
 mer sunset. 
 
 I felt proud of my showy uniform,
 
 160 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 proud of my beautiful grey charger, and 
 proud of the mission on which I was de- 
 parting, though in the humble capacity of 
 an orderly dragoon; and I was happy in the 
 prospect of two days of perfect freedom 
 from the routine and trammels of the 
 camp, for a soldier, however young and 
 enthusiastic, soon learns that he is no 
 longer "the lord of his own proper person." 
 My chain bridle and steel scabbard 
 jangled in unison to the clank of my 
 horse's hoofs, as he trotted rapidly along 
 the level highway, and in my young heart 
 swelled anew all the pride of being a 
 soldier, a horseman, and an armed one. 
 
 Within a week I should probably be 
 treading the soil of hostile France, even 
 as I was then treading the soil of peace- 
 ful and happy England. France ! might 
 I ever return from thence ? Many of us 
 were fated there to find our last home,
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 161 
 
 and might I not be one of the doomed ? 
 I thrust aside the thought — not that I 
 feared death, I was too young and too 
 hopeful for that; but shrunk from the 
 idea of perishing with the mass, before 
 I had achieved what I conceived to be 
 my mission ; before I had won myself 
 a right to bear with honour the name my 
 forefathers had bequeathed to me, and 
 before I had resumed that title, the 
 diploma of which the miserable Nathan 
 Wylie had sent in mockery to the private 
 soldier ! 
 
 Night came on and the road grew dark 
 and lonely ; there was no light save that 
 of the stars, which I saw reflected at times 
 in the bosom of the Wye, and twelve 
 tolled from the steeples of St. Mary and 
 St. Nicholas, as I entered the quaint old 
 market town of Guildford, and rode 
 straight to the Red Lion, where I stabled 
 
 vol. i. M
 
 1G2 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 my horse and ordered a relay for the 
 morrow. 
 
 A forty miles' ride gave me a good 
 appetite ; I supped and retired to bed, 
 where I slept without a dream even of the 
 future, for I was weary. 
 
 The next day was far advanced before I 
 set forth again ; but I proceeded slower 
 now, the hack furnished to me by the 
 innkeeper proving very different in mettle 
 from my fine grey charger. In short, the 
 animal nearly broke down by the way, 
 and though the distance between Guild- 
 ford and the metropolis is only about 
 thirty miles, evening closed in before I 
 saw at a distance the vast and dusky 
 dome of St. Paul's, rising in sombre 
 grandeur from amid the yellow haze, 
 formed by the smoke and by the myriad 
 lights of London. 
 
 I had left behind me the little village
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 163 
 
 of Wandsworth, which is finely situated 
 on the declivities of two small hills, and 
 was traversing the common, then a wild 
 and open waste covered with grass, gorse, 
 and tall waving weeds through which the 
 roadway passed. Clouds had now obscured 
 the stars, and the night was so dark that 
 I had some difficulty in tracing my path, 
 though the accumulated glare of the innu- 
 merable street lamps and other lights of the 
 vast city was very distinct but a few miles 
 off, rendering the foreground darker. 
 
 When about the middle of the common, 
 I heard the sharp report of a pistol and then 
 the scream of a woman. These alarming 
 sounds, and the flash of the explosion, came 
 from the very path I had to traverse, so I 
 spurred on my jaded hack, and found a 
 carriage stopped on the common by two 
 armed and mounted highwaymen, with 
 crape masks on their faces. fSuch gentry 
 
 m 2
 
 1G4 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 were at that period still in the zenith of 
 their perilous fame. 
 
 They had fired a shot to make the 
 postillion pull up, and were now stationed 
 one at each window of the carriage, 
 demanding the purses and other valuables 
 of the travellers. 
 
 My holster pistols were at the demi- 
 pique saddle of my troop horse, which I 
 had left at Guildford ; so drawing my 
 sword, I rode boldly up and demanded 
 what was the matter, and who fired the 
 shot I had heard. 
 
 " You had better ride on and attend to 
 your own affairs," replied a surly fellow, 
 with a horrible oath, as he coolly reloaded 
 his pistol. 
 
 " Surrender your weapon, rascal," I 
 exclaimed, resolutely, " or I shall cut you 
 to the teeth !" 
 
 " Fire at him, Bill," cried he to his
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 165 
 
 comrade. " Zounds ! are we both to be 
 cowed by a saucy shoulder-knot?" 
 
 On hearing this, his comrade urged his 
 horse furiously round from the other side 
 of the carriage. Then I heard another 
 female shriek as he levelled a bright- 
 barrelled blunderbuss, the bell-muzzle of 
 which was so near my face that the light 
 flashed on it as he drew the trigrsrer, for 
 happily it only burned priming ; other- 
 wise my head would have been blown to 
 atoms, as on inspection afterwards I found 
 this formidable firearm was loaded with 
 slugs of lead and iron. 
 
 " Hung fire, by all that's infernal !" 
 exclaimed the fellow ; but his exclamation 
 of wrath ended in a howl of agony, when 
 by a stroke of my sword I hewed off half 
 of his right hand, and the weapon fell on 
 the road, together with three of his 
 fingers. On this they put spurs to their
 
 1G6 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 horses and galloped away at a break-neck 
 pace. 
 
 With a shout of victory I pursued them 
 for a few hundred yards across the 
 common, and then returned at a canter 
 to the carriage, the occupants of which 
 proved to he two ladies, who, by then 
 manner and difference of years, appeared 
 to be mother and daughter. They had 
 with them a waiting-maid, and it was she 
 whose cries I had twice heard. 
 
 Then air was distinguished; the 
 younger was a very beautiful girl with 
 fair hah and a delicate complexion, but 
 this was all I could discern by the light 
 of a carriage lamp, which one of the foot- 
 men — a rascal who had hitherto hidden 
 himself among some fern — now held 
 within the window, while the ladies were 
 putting on their rings, gloves, and brace- 
 lets which the}' had drawn off to surren-
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 167 
 
 der at the moment I came so luckily to 
 their rescue. 
 
 " Mamma, dear mamma, all danger is 
 past. They are gone, and we are safe ; 
 be assured, be satisfied," I heard the soft 
 voice of the younger say imploringly to 
 the elder, who was excessively agitated. 
 
 " Ladies," said I, touching my cap, " be 
 composed now, I pray you ; those fellows 
 have fled, and are not likely to return. 
 Fortunately, I have put a mark upon one 
 that he will not easily efface." 
 
 " Sir," replied the elder lady, in a voice 
 still tremulous with alarm, " accept our 
 deepest gratitude. To you we owe our 
 rescue. Our money and jewels would 
 have been a trifling loss, but how know 
 we that these men might not have mur- 
 dered us here on this lonely heath ? and 
 we hear of such dreadful things in these 
 days."
 
 1C8 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 " But was your servant here without 
 pistols ?" 
 
 " No, a pair of loaded horse-pistols are 
 always in the rumble with John," replied 
 the young lady. 
 
 " Why did you not use them, fellow ?" 
 said I, turning sharply to the valet. 
 
 He reddened and stammered something 
 about the danger or rashness of one man 
 encountering two, but his knees were 
 trembling under him, and the hand which 
 held the carriage lamp shook as if with 
 palsy. In fact, he seemed so convulsed 
 with fear that the young lady and I 
 could not forbear laughing at him. 
 
 " When passing this way again, I shall 
 take care to travel by daylight, or with a 
 bolder escort than you, John Trot," said 
 she, while the maid-servant, whose face I 
 had not yet seen, as she sat in a dark 
 corner, loudly and bitterly expressed her
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 169 
 
 contempt for the unfortunate knight of 
 the shoulder-knot, and for his lack of 
 valour. 
 
 " We left the residence of a friend near 
 Croydon about sunset, and should have 
 been in London long since," observed her 
 mother, "but a wheel came off at the 
 cross road which leads to Kingston, and 
 thus we were detained until this unplea- 
 sant hour. Have you, sir, also come from 
 Croydon?" 
 
 " Nay, madam, I have just come from 
 Portsmouth." 
 
 " Portsmouth 1" echoed both ladies, 
 with voices expressive of interest and 
 animation. 
 
 " With despatches from Commodore 
 Howe for the Lords of the Admiralty," 
 said I, with an emotion of vanity 
 difficult to repress, especially at my age 
 then.
 
 170 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 " Are you one of those who are bound 
 for France ?" 
 
 " Yes, madam." 
 
 "When does the fleet sail with the 
 army r 
 
 "Next week, 'tis said; but nothing 
 definite has yet transpired," I replied, 
 with all the air of a staff officer. 
 
 " Poor boy !" I heard her say, with 
 something like a sigh, and with winning 
 softness of tone, as the valiant John 
 Trot asked if the carriage was to move 
 on. 
 
 "As the night has become* so dark, 
 madam," said I, " you must allow me 
 to have the honour of escorting you to 
 town. You have still to pass Clapham 
 Common, and its reputation for safety is 
 somewhat indifferent. Even in Lambeth 
 I have heard that robberies have been 
 frequent of late."
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 171 
 
 " But how can we trespass so far upon 
 your kindness, sir ?" urged the young 
 lady, whose voice made my heart beat 
 faster. 
 
 " Believe me, madam, I deem it a great 
 honour and happiness to have been of 
 service to you, and for to-night, at least, 
 your way shall be mine. I am pretty well 
 mounted, and very well armed." 
 
 " Fortunately, you are also proceeding 
 to London," said her mother ; " therefore 
 I accept your polite offer with gratitude." 
 
 I bowed nearly to my horse's mane, and 
 then said to the valet — 
 
 " Hand up that blunderbuss, John ; it 
 may serve as a trophy, and remind your 
 lady of to-night's engagement on Wands- 
 worth Common." 
 
 " And the three fingers — oh — ugh ?" 
 asked John, with chattering teeth. 
 
 " Those you may pocket, if you please,"
 
 172 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 said I, while withdrawing the charge, 
 which, as I have said, proved to be slugs. 
 I put the weapon in the rumble, and then 
 the carriage was driven off. 
 
 As it rolled over the dark heath, I rode 
 at a quick trot behind it ; but frequently, 
 when our pace became slower as we 
 ascended a slope and the horses walked, 
 the ladies conversed with me, and then I 
 rode abreast of the open windows. 
 
 It was evident that by being muffled in 
 my trooper's cloak, and having on a small 
 foraging cap, I was taken for an officer ; 
 thus the elder lady gave me her card, and 
 expressed, in the usual polite terms, the 
 delight it would afford them to see me at 
 their residence in some modish square 
 (I failed to catch the name), if I had leisure 
 to-morrow morning, as they had to leave 
 town a^ain at mid-dav. 
 
 I felt piqued, and an emotion somewhat
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 173 
 
 of bitterness and mortification stole into 
 my heart ; and while secretly cursing alike 
 the rules of society and my own false 
 position, I thanked her for the kind in- 
 vitation, but without the least intention 
 of availing myself of it. After this, I 
 became a little reserved; but it was a 
 difficult task to be so with the young lady, 
 who was a lovely girl, and lively too. She 
 conversed with me gaily, and asked if I 
 longed for foreign service ; if I thought 
 the war would be protracted ; if we were 
 sure to beat the French; if I was not 
 afraid — she begged pardon for such a silly 
 question — of being shot in battle ; and a 
 hundred other pretty nothings, while her 
 sweet face and sparkling eyes seemed to 
 come out of the gloom of the travelling 
 carriage, and then to fade into it 
 again, as we passed an occasional dim 
 street-lamp, all of which in those by-
 
 174 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 gone days I need scarcely say were lighted 
 by oil. 
 
 At the bridge of Westminster, which 
 had been built about ten years before, I 
 bade them adieu, and with something like 
 a sigh of regret, departed in search of 
 some humble hostelry wherein to pass the 
 night. 
 
 This brief meeting — the whole episode 
 in all its details interested me deeply. 
 Those women so highly bred, so delicately 
 nurtured, so richly dressed, so gentle and 
 winning in manner, were so different from 
 those whom I was now compelled to meet, 
 in camp and barracks, at the canteen and 
 sutler's tent, that for the first time my 
 heart repined at the prospect before me. 
 
 "Pshaw!" said I, "let me think of 
 this no more." But near a lamp I reined 
 up to examine the lady's card, and searched 
 my pockets in vain. I had lost it !
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 175 
 
 " It matters little," thought I ; " and 
 yet, withal, I should like to have known 
 their names." And amid the roar and 
 bustle of the lighted streets of London, 
 I still seemed to hear the merry laugh and 
 gentle voice of the fan-haired girl whose 
 hand I had so recently held in mine.
 
 17G SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 THE RACE. 
 
 All the adventures of the preceding night 
 appeared but a dream, when early next 
 morning — at least so early as I could hope 
 to find any high officials at their office — 
 I rode through the crowded streets of 
 London, and delivered the despatch of 
 Commodore Howe at the Admiralty. 
 
 " Immediate" being written on the 
 envelope, I had to remain in a waiting- 
 room for more than an hour, after which 
 the answer was entrusted to me, addressed, 
 " On H.M. Service," to Commodore Howe. 
 As I afterwards learned from the public 
 prints, this document, among other in-
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 177 
 
 structions, empowered him to avail himself 
 of " the services and information of the 
 two French deserters named on the 
 margin — Theophile Damien and Benoit 
 Bossoit." 
 
 I consigned it to my sabretasche, re- 
 mounted, and quitted London at a quick 
 pace about two p.m. 
 
 On leaving the greater thoroughfares 
 behind, when traversing the suburbs I 
 easily lost my way, and at a tavern, near 
 which a number of fellows in their shirt- 
 sleeves were playing skittles, I drew up to 
 inquire the way to Portsmouth. 
 
 I questioned one who was seated at the 
 door smoking ; he was a man with a very 
 sullen and forbidding expression of face, 
 who had his left hand thrust into the 
 breast of his vest. He wore a shabby 
 snuff-coloured suit with large steel buttons ; 
 his legs were incased in long riding-boots 
 
 VOL. I. N
 
 17S SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 spotted with mud, and I perceived the 
 brass butts of a pair of pistols, peeping 
 from his square flapped side pockets. 
 
 I was somewhat surprised when this 
 sinister-looking stranger, after giving me 
 a long and ferocious stare, started from 
 his seat, uttered a deep imprecation, and 
 entered the house. I then called to the 
 skittle players, and repeated my question 
 to them. 
 
 On this they simultaneously abandoned 
 their game, and gathered about me. 
 
 " The Portsmouth road lies straight 
 before you," said one ; " be you going to 
 France, my lad ?" 
 
 On my replying in the affirmative, they 
 gave a simultaneous cheer, and, amid cries 
 of " Old England for ever !" and " Down 
 with the Johnny Crapauds !" I had to drink 
 with them all, and they continued to wave 
 their hats as long as I was in sight, while
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 179 
 
 galloping along the road they had indi- 
 cated. 
 
 Being anxious to reach Portsmouth and 
 to rejoin, I rode at a hard trot ; the road 
 was good, the country open and level. 
 Two mounted persons appeared at times 
 behind me ; but I continued to keep in 
 advance of them. Some association of 
 ideas made me think of the sulky fellow 
 I had seen at the tavern door, and of the 
 two highwaymen of the preceding night ; 
 but after a time I perceived that one of 
 the riders was a lady, and that both were 
 coming along at a rasping pace, as if de- 
 termined not to be distanced and left 
 behind by me. 
 
 I had taken the Epsom road, thus a ten 
 miles' ride brought me to Ewell, near 
 which, in a pleasant green lane, where the 
 plum and apple trees that bordered the 
 way intertwined their branches overhead 
 
 n2
 
 180 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 — one of those quiet, dewy, and shady 
 green lanes that are so peculiarly English, 
 where the bees hum, and the gossamer 
 webs are spun — I drew bridle to breathe 
 my horse. 
 
 I now heard the sound of hoofs coming 
 rapidly along the road, and in a minute 
 after, there swept past me the fair traveller 
 I had seen, and some yards behind her 
 rode a man in livery. They were botli 
 admirably mounted on blood horses. Her 
 ample skirt, her long fair hair, and the 
 ostrich plume in her hat streamed behind 
 her. I could see with a glance that she 
 had her horse well in hand, though it flew 
 almost at racing speed, causing mine to 
 rear and strain upon the bit, as she passed 
 me with a merry ringing laugh of delight, 
 and with a nourish of her whip, so much 
 as to say, "A challenge — we have dis- 
 tanced you at last !"
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 181 
 
 This I was not slow in understanding, 
 and feeling somewhat piqued, put spurs to 
 my nag, and dashed off in pursuit by the 
 highway that led to Epsom. 
 
 Twice I saw her looking back, which 
 her valet, though a good horseman, scarcely 
 dared to do ; and each time she plied her 
 little riding- switch with no very sparing 
 hand, and like a girl of spirit. 
 
 Copsewood in full foliage, thatched cot- 
 tages half buried among ivy, hops and 
 flowers, ripe corn fields, and red brick 
 houses, seemed to fly past, and in a very 
 short space we found ourselves traversing 
 Banstead Downs. I gained on them fast, 
 for my horse had been thoroughly breathed. 
 I soon passed the livery servant, and a 
 few more bounds brought me neck and 
 neck with his mistress, who turned to me 
 laughingly, a flush — the genuine flush of 
 youth, pleasure, and exercise glowing in
 
 182 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 her soft cheek — and simultaneously we 
 pulled in our horses on recognising each 
 other. 
 
 She was the charming blonde I had met 
 on Wandsworth Common — the heroine of 
 my last night's adventure ! 
 
 My cavalry cloak was rolled and strapped 
 to my saddlebow ; and I thought there 
 could be no mistaking myprivate's uniform 
 now, and indeed, her countenance changed 
 very perceptibly as she said, half breath- 
 lessly — 
 
 " Good morning, my friend. So I have 
 actually been running away from the 
 person to whose courage mamma and I 
 owe so much !" 
 
 "It would almost seem so," said I, 
 bowing. 
 
 "Believe me, sir, I knew not that it 
 was you," she resumed, colouring deeply, 
 and casting down her eyes (how fair her
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 183 
 
 soft loveliness looked by day !). "I saw- 
 but a horseman before me, and could 
 not resist the temptation of passing him." 
 
 " Nor could I resist the desire of ac- 
 cepting your very palpable challenge," I 
 replied, just as the valet came up, fearfully 
 blown, and in his crimsoned face I recog- 
 nised the features of the valiant Mr. John 
 Trot. 
 
 " But I was not altogether trying a race 
 with you," said the young lady, still 
 blushing deeply, and beginning to move 
 her horse away ; " I was riding fast to 
 overtake mamma, who is in yonder car- 
 riage. She is come to drink the waters 
 of Ashted Spa, and I doubt not will be 
 glad to tender you once again her thanks." 
 
 With these words, and with an air that 
 seemed to say, "This interview, or this mis- 
 take, has lasted long enough," she bowed 
 and urged her horse towards the carriage,
 
 184 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 which was standing about fifty paces dis- 
 tant on the high road, and from a window 
 of which I saw a lady observing us. 
 
 The young girl's figure showed to per- 
 fection on horseback, and her riding- 
 habit, which was of light green cloth, 
 trimmed with narrow gold braid, suited 
 well her blonde beauty and golden-coloured 
 hair. She wore a broad black beaver hat, 
 from which a single ostrich feather drooped 
 gracefully on her left shoulder. Loosened 
 by the roughness of the gallop, her 
 soft hair flowed over her neck in silky 
 ripples — I know no more fitting term — 
 of light golden brown, that glittered in 
 the sunshine. Her riding-gauntlets were 
 of yellow leather, and her hands, as they 
 grasped the reins and riding-switch, 
 seemed small, compact, and beautifully 
 formed. 
 
 " I thought we had lost you, madcap!"
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 135 
 
 said her mamma, with annoyance in her 
 tone and manner ; " what caused you to 
 gallop thus along the Downs, as if riding 
 a race r 
 
 " I was running something very like it, 
 certainly, mamma ; but do you not see 
 that we have been overtaken by — the — 
 the gentleman who saved us from robbery 
 last night ?" 
 
 "lam hastening back to Portsmouth, 
 madam," said I, with a profound salute. 
 " In my ignorance of the country I have 
 taken the road to Epsom instead of that 
 which leads to Cobham, and to this mis- 
 take I owe the good fortune of meeting 
 with you again." 
 
 " You had not time, probably, to visit 
 us before leaving town this morning?" 
 said she. 
 
 " I had the mischance, madam, to lose 
 your card."
 
 186 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 At that moment, a man of sinister as- 
 pect, and shabbily attired, bnt with 
 holsters at his saddle, looked fixedly at ns, 
 as he rode slowly past, on a bald-faced bay 
 horse. 
 
 His left hand was bonnd np by a red 
 handkerchief, and, consequently, he held 
 the reins of his bridle with the rigid. He 
 glared at me, with a glance of such un- 
 disguised ferocity, that I had not a doubt 
 he was the wounded rascal of last night's 
 adventure — the same man, he of the snuff- 
 coloured suit and steel buttons, whom I 
 had seen with the skittle players in the 
 suburbs of London. 
 
 Was he dogging me ? 
 
 If so, 'twere well to be prepared. All 
 this flashed upon my mind with the usual 
 rapidity of thought ; but I was too much 
 interested by my new friends to attend 
 to him then, and, ere our interview was
 
 SECOND TO NONE. ] 87 
 
 over, lie had disappeared upon the way 
 to Guildford — the road I was to pursue. 
 
 " Zounds ! I must look out," thought 
 I, " or there may be a blank in Lindsay's 
 muster-roll to-morrow."
 
 18S SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 THE HANDKERCHIEF. 
 
 " It is, indeed, singular that we should 
 meet again, and so soon, too !" said the 
 elder lady, who, notwithstanding the 
 silver tinge amid her auburn hair, still 
 bore unmistakable traces of a beautiful 
 person ; " your regiment is, I think, a 
 Horse Grenadier one ?" 
 
 "Yes, madam." 
 
 " The Guards ?" 
 
 " No — it is the Scots Greys, or Second 
 Dragoons — yet we boast ourselves ' Second 
 to None.' " 
 
 " A proud vaunt," said she, smiling at 
 my manner.
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 189 
 
 She was silent for a few moments, 
 during which I was conscious that her 
 daughter was observing me with some 
 interest. As our officers did not then 
 wear epaulettes, but simply a silver 
 aigruilette, her next observation was an 
 awkward one for me. 
 
 " You are a captain, I hope?" said she, 
 smiling. 
 
 " Nay — I am too young," I replied, 
 with a hesitating manner and a glowing 
 cheek. 
 
 " Yet Wolfe, whom I once knew, was 
 a colonel at twenty. Then you are a 
 cornet ?" 
 
 I felt the blood rushing to my temples — 
 yet wherefore should I have blushed 
 " for honest poverty ?" 
 
 " Curiosity is the privilege of our sex,'' 
 said the young lady, coming to my 
 rescue ; " thus mamma is most anxious
 
 190 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 to know to whose bravery we owed our 
 safety." 
 
 " Madam, I have not the honour to be 
 more than a private trooper," said I, with 
 a bearing of pride that had something 
 stern in it. 
 
 Mamma did not lose her presence of 
 mind, though the colour in her daughter's 
 cheeks grew deeper, but replied — 
 
 " All, indeed ! I believed you by your 
 bearing to be an officer." She drew her 
 head within the carriage. 
 
 " I thank you, madam ; I was not 
 always what I am to-day," said I, sadly. 
 
 " And now, my good fellow, if you will 
 favour me with your name, Colonel Preston 
 shall be duly informed, by letter, of your 
 courage." 
 
 There was another pause, during which 
 I shortened my reins, and was turning 
 my horse, when the winning voice of her
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 191 
 
 daughter, which had a singularly sweet 
 chord in it, arrested me, as she said — 
 
 " You belong, you state, to the Greys ?" 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " Do you know a soldier named Gaunt- 
 let — Basil Gauntlet ?" 
 
 It was now my turn to feel confusion 
 and extreme surprise. 
 
 " Yes ; but how has he the honour, the 
 happiness to be known to you?" I in- 
 quired, with growing astonishment, while 
 gazing into her clear, bright eyes. 
 
 " I have an interest — have we not both 
 an interest in him, mamma ?" said she, 
 with confusion. 
 
 "You — in a poor unfriended trooper?" 
 I exclaimed. 
 
 " He is from our neighbourhood — that 
 is all," replied the young lady, with a 
 hesitating manner. 
 
 I scanned her face in vain ; its soft ex-
 
 192 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 pression and lovely features, her hair of 
 golden-brown, her eyes of dark blue-grey 
 — eyes full of faith, of truth and merri- 
 ment withal, were quite unknown to 
 me, and my heart beat quicker while 
 my bewilderment increased, as she 
 said — 
 
 "We have heard that this ill-starred 
 lad has become wild, rakish, bad, incor- 
 rigible and ugly." 
 
 "Ugly? Come, I am sorry you say 
 so," said I, with something of pique. 
 
 " Why ?" asked the mamma, raising her 
 eyebrows and eyeglass. 
 
 " Gauntlet and I are alike as twin 
 brothers could be, and I don't like to hear 
 him reviled.'' 
 
 " Ah, indeed," said she, glancing at me 
 leisurely through her eyeglass. Then, as 
 thoughts of Jack Charters' countess, and 
 the scrape she had lured him into occurred
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 193 
 
 to me, I resolved to become reserved ; but 
 could not help inquiring — 
 
 " Permit me, ladies, to ask how poor 
 Gauntlet is so fortunate as to interest 
 you?" 
 
 " We are namesakes — that is all," re- 
 plied the elder lady, rather coldly. 
 
 "Namesakes!" echoed I; but at that 
 moment, as the arms on the panel of the 
 carriage door caught my eye— a shield 
 argent charged with a gauntlet gules — a 
 new light broke upon me. Anger — 
 sudden, fierce, and glowing anger — was 
 my next impulse, and, turning to the fair 
 rider, I stammered, but my voice almost 
 failed me, " You are — you are " 
 
 " The granddaughter of Sir Basil 
 Gauntlet, of Netherwood," said she, with 
 haughty surprise. 
 
 I was silenced and confounded ! This 
 lovely girl whom I had twice met so 
 
 VOL. I.
 
 194 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 singularly and so abruptly, was my cousin 
 Aurora, the new usurper of my patrimony 
 — one whom I had schooled myself to 
 hate and in my soul revile ; and this elder 
 lady, so noble, so courtly, and still so 
 handsome, was the mother of my late 
 fox-hunting cousin Tony — my aunt by 
 marriage — she who doubtless believed me 
 to be — if she ever thought of me at all — 
 the outcast, runaway, and worthless wretch 
 my unnatural grandfather had sought to 
 make me. 
 
 Pride and a just sense of indignation 
 swelled up within me, and I sat on my 
 horse, silent, irresolute, and stern. Aurora 
 and her mother knew little of the stormy, 
 the fierce conflict of nameless emotions 
 that raged in my heart. 
 
 "Adieu, soldier," said the mamma, 
 " with a thousand thanks for the service 
 so bravely and politely rendered. If you
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 195 
 
 will not give us your name, at least do me 
 the favour of accepting this," she added, 
 drawing forth her — -purse. 
 
 I uttered a scornful laugh, and reining 
 back my horse, said — 
 
 " Nay, nay, ladies, though impoverished 
 and humbled, I cannot submit quietly to 
 the degradation of being offered money." 
 
 " This is most singular !" 
 
 " How is mamma to reward you ?" 
 asked the young lady, with something of 
 surprise and, as I thought, pleasure in her 
 tone. It might be that I nattered myself. 
 
 " By permitting you to give, and me to 
 accept — " said I, taking a lace handker- 
 chief from her hand, for I was always a lover 
 of effect, and resolved to produce one now 
 — " of this trifle as a remembrance " 
 
 " Of what ?" she asked, blushing to the 
 temples ; " a remembrance of what ?" 
 ' That Basil Gauntlet has been of some 
 
 o 2
 
 196 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 service to Aurora, the beautiful cousin who 
 has done him a grievous wrong in un- 
 wittingly depriving him of his heritage 
 and birthright. Three days, now, may 
 find me on the seas for France ; so adieu, 
 aunt and cousin, adieu for evermore 1" 
 
 Then I cut short this remarkable inter- 
 view by spurring my horse with such 
 energy that he made a wild bound, and 
 sprang away at a dashing pace along the 
 road to Guildford. 
 
 Impulse had made me take Aurora's 
 handkerchief, and impulse now made me 
 regret having done so. 
 
 Pride resumed its sway, and thus, while 
 riding furiously along the road, I never 
 turned once to look behind me.
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 197 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 THE RED LION AT GUILDFORD. 
 
 As I rode on, anger, pride, a keen sense 
 of the foul injustice with which my family 
 had treated me, and of the false position 
 in which they had placed me with the 
 world, prompted me with a desire to cast 
 Aurora's handkerchief to the wind ; but 
 the knowledge that she was an unwitting 
 participator in the act by which my grand- 
 father had transferred my heritage to her 
 late brother, Tony ; the memory of her 
 kind manner, the gentle expression of her 
 eye ; together with certain high-flown 
 ideas I had gathered from novels, tales 
 of chivalry, and other romantic lore,
 
 198 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 prompted me to retain it. Edged with 
 lace, it was of the finest cambric, and 
 " Aurora," marked by her own hand, no 
 doubt, appeared on one of its corners. 
 
 It was strange, but certainly not un- 
 pleasing, that she should think of and ask 
 for me, whom she had never seen ; and 
 the tones of her winning voice yet lingered 
 in my ear. My mind soared into airy 
 regions, and became filled with tumultuous 
 and undefined thoughts, for I was a famous 
 architect of castles in the air. 
 
 " Ah, that I had the lamp of Aladdin, 
 or even his ring, for ten minutes !" I ex- 
 claimed. 
 
 Aurora — who was well named so, with 
 her pure complexion and golden hair — was 
 the only living relative who had ever 
 bestowed a thought upon me, so I placed 
 the relic of her in my breast, and rode on, 
 little foreseeing that on a future day that
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 191) 
 
 handkerchief would prove the means of 
 saving my life. 
 
 On reaching Guildford, I repaired at 
 once to the inn, where, on entering the 
 stable, I remember well how my noble 
 grey welcomed me by neighing, by licking 
 my hand, and rubbing his forehead against 
 me, when I greeted him as an old friend. 
 
 In the next stall there was a bald-faced 
 nag with eyes askance, surveying us over 
 the trevice boards, and his aspect seemed 
 familiar to me. 
 
 The Red Lion at Gruildford was one of 
 those huge, misshapen, queer old galleried 
 houses which still survive the Tudor days 
 in many parts of England. It had acute 
 wooden gables, with stacks of clustered 
 chimneys that started up in picturesque 
 confusion. The walls were plastered and 
 whitewashed, and had varnished beams of 
 ancient oak, in some instances richly and
 
 200 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 grotesquely carved, j)laced in them hori- 
 zontally, perpendicularly, and diagonally. 
 On the side which faced the stable-yard 
 there opened a triple row of bedroom 
 galleries, having twisted balustrades ; and 
 all this quaint superstructure rose from 
 an arcade composed of octagonal stone 
 pillars and ponderous beams of good old 
 English oak elaborately carved. Grigs, 
 chaises, covered carts, and red four-wheeled 
 waggons, occupied the sheds around the 
 yard; and the sound of hoofs and the 
 rattle of stall collars evinced that the 
 stables were well filled. 
 
 When I arrived night was closing in, 
 and a bright red light streamed cheerily 
 through the windows of the bar into the 
 outer darkness as I entered by the porch, 
 which had a flight of steps down, instead 
 of up to the door, for so old was the 
 edifice that the soil had gradually accu-
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 201 
 
 mulated far above its original base- 
 ment. 
 
 I am thus particular in describing the 
 house, in consequence of a startling inci- 
 dent which occurred during the few hours 
 I sojourned there. 
 
 I inquired of the ostler to whom the 
 bald-faced nag belonged, and he replied 
 to a gentleman who had retired to bed, 
 weary with a long journey. 
 
 The host of the Eed Lion was so 
 patriotic that he insisted upon having me 
 to sup with him, and he would make no 
 charge for my own or horse's entertain- 
 ment. He drank deeply, and anon was 
 soon borne away to bed by the ostler and 
 waiter, while shouting vociferously, 
 " Britons, strike home !" and " Down with 
 the Johnny Crapauds !" 
 
 After this, I retired immediately, being 
 anxious to reflect a little over the passages
 
 202 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 of the day, to sleep, and if possible to 
 depart by daybreak. 
 
 As the waiter, candle in hand, was 
 conducting me along one of the bedroom 
 galleries, which I have described as over- 
 looking the stable-yard, a dark figure 
 appeared to hover at the further end ; and 
 there from amid the shadow a human 
 face seemed to peer out as if observing us. 
 
 The hour was late, and the place in all jits 
 features strange to me. I stepped towards 
 this eavesdropper, but he or she imme- 
 diately disappeared. 
 
 If ghosts there were in Gruildford, the 
 upper regions of the quaint old tumble- 
 down Eed Lion seemed to be the very 
 place in which one might take up its 
 quarters, but other thoughts than of 
 ghosts were in my head, so I inquired 
 where the rider, or proprietor of the bald- 
 faced nag was located.
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 203 
 
 " In number six," replied the waiter. 
 " On this gallery ?" 
 "Yes, sir." 
 "And mine?" 
 
 " Is number twelve — the oak room. His 
 is at yonder end." 
 
 " 'Twas there the figure disappeared." 
 " Figure ? Well, there ain't no ghosts 
 or ghostesses either in the Eed Lion that 
 ever I heard of, and I have been here both 
 man and boy these many years." 
 
 "How is this traveller dressed?" I 
 continued. 
 
 "In brown broadcloth, I think, 
 master." 
 
 " With a rusty old cocked hat ?" 
 " Yes, bound with black galloon." 
 " Is his left hand wounded?" 
 "Don't know," replied the waiter, 
 yawning, " for he keeps it always in his 
 weskit pocket."
 
 204 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 My suspicions now amounted to cer- 
 tainty. He was my acquaintance of 
 Wandsworth Common — the highwayman, 
 beyond a doubt. We were certainly in 
 too close proximity, but the landlord of 
 the inn was too tipsy to be referred to, and 
 I had no desire to be detained upon the 
 morrow, charged as I was with important 
 papers for the commodore at Portsmouth, 
 thus I made no more remarks, but took 
 the candle, entered my room, and shut the 
 door. 
 
 The apartment was entirely pannelled 
 with dark wainscot, hence its aspect was 
 quaint and gloomy; the furniture was 
 uncomfortably antique, for this being one 
 of the upper and cheaper lodgings of the 
 Red Lion, the whole appurtenances were 
 the oldest in the house, having gradually 
 retired from story to story, till their last 
 service was to be spent in the attics.
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 205 
 
 The fireplace was wide, lined with, blue 
 Dutch tiles, and had a little old-fashioned 
 basket grate, set upon square blocks of 
 stone. 
 
 From the latticed window I could see 
 the Wye winding under the bridge, the 
 dark arches of which were clearly reflected 
 in its starlit current beneath. 
 
 Two strong bolts secured my door, so 
 there was no danger of being surprised by 
 my friend in the snuff-coloured suit 
 through that avenue. I threw off my 
 belts and uniform, and slipped into a bed 
 that felt cold, damp, and old, for the 
 moths flew out of the russet-coloured 
 canopy and hangings, to flutter about the 
 candle end, the light of which expired 
 just at the moment when I had no further 
 use for it. 
 
 I felt feverish, wakeful, and full of 
 many thoughts. Then there were strange
 
 206 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 sounds in this old house rather calculated 
 to banish sleep ; the night wind moaned 
 in the wide chimneys : rats scampered 
 about behind the decaying wainscot, scat- 
 tering fragments of lime in their career. 
 It might be fancy, but twice some one 
 seemed to lift the latch of my door softly 
 as if attempting to open it. 
 
 Ere sleep began to weigh my eyelids 
 down, I had mentally rehearsed over and 
 over again the two unexpected interviews 
 with my cousin Aurora ; and again I 
 repented having condescended to take her 
 handkerchief even in a spirit of gallantry. 
 
 It was very cavalier-like no doubt — 
 very romantic and all that ; but in my 
 heart I linked her and her mother with 
 those who hadoutraged and wronged me, 
 and pride dictated that I should have left 
 them in ignorance of who I was, and then 
 have ridden off on my lonely way. How-
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 207 
 
 ever, now the deed was done, and regret 
 was unavailing. 
 
 Would they — Aurora and her stately 
 mother — triumph over the temporary, 
 alas ! it might be permanent, obscurity 
 and humility of my position ? There are 
 human hearts wicked enough to feel such 
 triumph, for many persons hate those 
 whom they wrong ; but Aurora's gentle 
 voice and tone of sympathy when address- 
 ing me removed the supposition that she 
 could be guilty of this. 
 
 I had met with so little kindness in 
 the world that the circumstance of her 
 remembering even my existence impressed 
 me deeply. 
 
 These two interviews dwelt long in my 
 memory. I was now excluded from the 
 society of polished and educated women : 
 indeed, from the force of that evil destiny 
 to which I had been abandoned, I had
 
 208 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 hitherto seen little of either; thus the 
 charm of my cousin's manner and the 
 beauty of her person filled my heart with 
 new aspirations, and a keener desire to 
 assume my place in society ; but at pre- 
 sent the die was cast, and to France must 
 I go as a private dragoon. 
 
 My half-drowsy ruminations had been 
 frequently disturbed by sounds too strange 
 to escape my observation. At last they 
 impelled me to sit up in bed, to listen and 
 to look around me. 
 
 The room was dark as a tomb, save 
 where through the fantastic iron tracery of 
 the antique window I could see the clouds, 
 like masses of black crape, float past the 
 twinkling stars. 
 
 On the wind, which came down the 
 old chimney, there were borne sounds 
 like sobs and sighs — like fierce mutterings 
 and groans that became deep, hollow, and
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 209 
 
 agonizing ; and they seemed to be emitted 
 from the wall immediately above the fire- 
 place. 
 
 My ears tingled and drops of perspi- 
 ration started to my forehead, for I must 
 confess that, at the moment, I was weak 
 enough to fear the supernatural, until 
 there came the decidedly earthly sound of 
 a huge piece of plaster falling heavily into 
 the empty grate. 
 
 After a time the noises entirely ceased 
 and I was about to drop asleep, when a 
 hoarse and despairing cry, as of some one 
 being strangled close to my bed, rang 
 through the panelled chamber, and 
 brought me again to a sitting position, 
 with all my pulses quickened to the 
 utmost by apprehension and the vague 
 sense of sudden alarm. 
 
 ' This can no longer be borne !" I ex- 
 claimed. 
 
 vol. i. p
 
 210 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 Starting from bed I drew my sword, 
 and unbolting my door issued forth into 
 the gallery which overlooked the stable- 
 yard. 
 
 The night, or rather the morning-air, 
 was mild and balmy ; the wind had died 
 away, and all was calm and still. I heard 
 the clock of the Guildhall strike the hour 
 of two. No other sound stirred the air ; 
 and as noises at that still hour are so 
 deceptive — though there was something 
 in that hoarse cry which impressed me 
 with horror — a dread of ridicule, or of 
 being the victim of some piece of waggery, 
 prevented me from summoning the 
 domestics of the inn ; so once more I 
 bolted the door, put my sword at the 
 head of the bed, and therein ensconcing 
 myself, soon fell sound asleep. 
 
 The next day was rather far advanced 
 when I woke up and started from bed, on
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 211 
 
 instantly remembering that I must be gone 
 without delay. 
 
 During a hasty breakfast I could not 
 refrain from speaking to the landlord of 
 the noises which had disturbed me so 
 much in my chamber. 
 
 " Was the wind high or stormy last 
 night ?" I began. 
 
 " No; the weatherwas rather calm," said 
 he, with his mouth full, for he was making 
 a hearty, old-fashioned breakfast of sliced 
 beef, and nut-brown, home-brewed ale. 
 
 " Were any persons quarrelling or fight- 
 ing hereabout ?" 
 
 " When ?" 
 
 " Why, all night ; till two in the morn- 
 ing at least." 
 
 " I heard not a sound — the house was 
 perfectly quiet." This statement the 
 waiter, ostler, and landlady hastened to 
 corroborate. 
 
 p 2
 
 212 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 " Then," said I, " by Jove your inn is 
 haunted." 
 
 " Take care what you say, my good 
 fellow," replied the landlord, becoming 
 angry ; "for lookee, my house has as good 
 a reputation as any in the county of 
 Surrey, so none of your tricks, soldier." 
 
 " Then the devil was in my chimney 
 all last night, say what you will," I 
 responded with equal, if not greater, irri- 
 tation. 
 
 On hearing this the landlord's colour 
 changed visibly. He went immediately 
 to my room, accompanied by a servant, 
 who soon returned making a great outcry, 
 and stating that a man had been found 
 wedged in the chimney, that by looking 
 up with a lighted candle, his heels could 
 be seen dangling some five feet or more 
 above the mantelpiece. 
 
 On hearing these tidings, the whole
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 213 
 
 household became excited, and crowded 
 to the apartment I had so lately quitted. 
 
 On looking up I could see, amid the 
 obscurity of the chimney, the feet of a 
 man, but they were beyond our reach. 
 Workmen were soon procured ; the 
 panelling was removed ; then the bricks 
 were taken out, a breach made, and in 
 something less than an hour, the dead 
 body of a man was exhumed, all begrimed 
 and covered with soot and lime. 
 
 He had evidently died of suffocation, 
 having reached a portion of the chimney 
 where he could neither descend further 
 nor work his way up again, and had there 
 miserably perished ; being literally choked 
 by the soot and lime, of which he had 
 inhaled such quantities in his fruitless 
 struggles and painful gaspings, that his 
 foam-covered mouth and bloodshot eyes 
 were quite filled with them.
 
 214 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 His left hand was found to have been 
 recently mutilated ; his right still grasped 
 a sharp clasp knife, which was doubtless 
 intended for my behoof, as an examination 
 proved the body to be that of the traveller 
 who had occupied No. 6, in the upper 
 gallery — the figure I had detected, watch- 
 ing in the gloom, when retiring to rest. 
 
 As some housebreaking implements 
 were found in his pocket, the landlord 
 averred that he had been in search of the 
 strong-box and plate-room ; but I had my 
 own idea of his too probable errand, and 
 thus the terrible sounds which had so long 
 disturbed me, and that last hoarse cry of 
 despair and death, were completely 
 accounted for. 
 
 Fearing that I might be detained until 
 a coroner's inquest had been held, con- 
 cerning the death of this highwayman and 
 would-be assassin, while all the inn people,
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 21.5 
 
 guests, and servants, were full of dismay 
 by the discovery, I saddled my grey, and 
 set forth for my destination at a spanking 
 pace which soon left Guildford far behind. 
 
 Before the evening gun had boomed 
 from Southsea Castle I had reached 
 Portsmouth, delivered my despatches and 
 reported myself at head-quarters. 
 
 I was heartily welcomed by Charters 
 and Kirkton, who had been sent by 
 Colonel Preston to join Lindsay's light 
 troop. I rejoiced at this, having sorely 
 missed their society and companionship. 
 
 My few hours of freedom and romance 
 — for there was something of romance in 
 Aurora possessing my fortune, and I only 
 her handkerchief — were now at an end, 
 and again I was simply Basil Gauntlet the 
 private dragoon.
 
 21 C SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 
 SAIL FOR FRANCE. 
 
 By the last day of May, all the troops 
 destined for the hostile expedition were 
 embarked on board of the ships of war 
 and transports. In all there were thirteen 
 thousand fighting men, with sixty pieces 
 of cannon, and fifty mortars. 
 
 The embarkation of our horses was 
 an object of peculiar care, and General 
 Elliot, with Captain Lindsay, of ours, 
 superintended this duty in person — for on 
 the manner in which it is performed, de- 
 pends all the chance of cavalry being em- 
 ployed with success in the field after 
 landing.
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 217 
 
 They were conveyed on board the 
 various ships, after a short march of exer- 
 cise, and when perfectly cool. On the 
 first night after embarkation, each received 
 a mash mixed with some nitre, and bran 
 was supplied to every trooper, as the chief 
 portion of his horse's daily ration. 
 
 Every day each dragoon had to wash 
 with care the hoofs and fetlocks of his 
 horse, and to sponge* its face, eyes and 
 nostrils with cold water. We had ample 
 wind sails rigged up for air, and spare 
 slings and bands all ready in case of ill- 
 ness or accident, but, fortunately, neither 
 occurred among the nags of our troop at 
 least. 
 
 At daybreak, on the first of June, a 
 
 gun from the commodore gave the signal 
 
 for sea ; and in less than ten minutes every 
 
 vessel had her anchor apeak or atrip, and 
 
 her head sails filled, and soon after, with
 
 218 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 nine hearty cheers, the whole armament, 
 consisting of twenty-four ships of war, and 
 one hundred and forty transports, cutters 
 and tenders, stood out into the channel, 
 and a glorious sight they presented. 
 
 The Essex, a sixty-four gun -ship, com- 
 manded by our commodore, the Honour- 
 able Richard (afterwards Earl) Howe, led 
 the van, and closely in her wake followed 
 the Brilliant of thirty-six guns, commanded 
 by Captain Hyde Parker, who was after- 
 wards knighted for his services off the 
 coast of America. 
 
 As the Essex bore across Sandown Bay, 
 I have been told that the French deserter, 
 Theophile Damien, assisted with his own 
 hands to steer the ship, as if in token 
 of the good service he meant to perform 
 for us in future. 
 
 There was a pretty stiff breeze on this 
 morning, and I had a dread of sea sick-
 
 SECOND TQ NONE. 219 
 
 ness, as the vessel rolled heavily, her 
 main-deck being encumbered by stores ; 
 but the novelty of the scene and of the 
 situation, together with the activity of 
 the seamen, as they swarmed up aloft and 
 lay out upon the yards, occupied all my 
 attention for a time ; and to our tars of 
 after years, the Jacks of Anson and of 
 Howe, in their little low cocked hats, 
 Dutch-cut pea-jackets, petticoat trousers, 
 and brass-buckled shoes, would present a 
 very unusual spectacle. Certainly their 
 costume was scarcely fitted for sending 
 down the topgallant yards, or lying out 
 on the man-rope to close-reef topsails in 
 a gale of wind ; but they were true tars, 
 nevertheless. 
 
 Ere long the breeze, which had fa- 
 voured us so much that the shores of 
 England had lessened astern, veered some- 
 what ahead ; the weather became stormy
 
 220 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 and wet, and I was glad to keep below, 
 and share the stall of my horse. While 
 Kirkton, Charters, and others, who had 
 been frequently at sea before, sat out upon 
 the booms to leeward, and smoked to fill 
 up the time. 
 
 In their mirth and cheerfulness, they 
 formed a contrast to the unfortunate sea- 
 sick troopers, who were all huddled away 
 in groups, seeking shelter under the lee of 
 anything that offered itself, and who re- 
 mained there in discomfort and misery, 
 till the drum beat for all but the watch to 
 go below and turn in. 
 
 Next day I came on deck about dawn, 
 and joined Charters, who was one of the 
 morning watch, and here I may mention, 
 that when on boardship, troops are divided 
 into three watches, and must take their 
 share of all deck duty with the seamen. 
 A subaltern officer has charge of each
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 221 
 
 watch, and there are also, when the num- 
 bers embarked will permit it, a captain 
 and subaltern of the day. 
 
 " Gauntlet, my lad, you look pale," 
 said Charters, as he trod to and fro to 
 keep himself warm ; for though the month 
 was June, the air upon the morning sea 
 was cold, and the chill spray came flying 
 in showers over the weather cat-heads, as 
 the Brilliant sped upon her course, like 
 all the fleet which covered the open chan- 
 nel, close hauled ; " the morning watch is 
 a devilish cold one, and we have no chance 
 here of getting a hair of the dog — eh ?" 
 added my friend, laughing. 
 
 " What land is that ?" I asked, with 
 chattering teeth, while clutching the 
 rigging with one hand, and pointing 
 southward with the other. 
 
 " The land of France — that is Cape 
 La Hogue," replied Charters.
 
 222 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 "Ay," growled an old quartermaster; 
 " yonder is the fort, with the flag flying." 
 
 The old tar's eyes must have been 
 better than mine, which, could discern 
 neither fort nor flag; but I muffled my 
 trooper's cloak about me, and set myself 
 to watch the hostile shore. 
 
 The outline of the land looked dim and 
 low, and like a dark cloud, as it rose from 
 the grey morning sea, which was all of a 
 dusky tint and flecked with masses of 
 foam. The whole aspect of the fleet was 
 gloomy and cheerless now ; the decks and 
 canvass were wet and dripping with the 
 rain of the past night, and with the spray 
 of the waves, for there was a heavy sea 
 running in the channel ; but anon the sun 
 began to rise through successive bars or 
 streaks of purple and saffron cloud ; then 
 the long lines of waves rolled after each 
 other glittering in light. The canvass
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 223 
 
 aloffc became whiter; the hulls of the 
 vessels shone and became instinct with 
 life, as the red port lids were triced up, 
 the snowy hammocks placed in their net- 
 tings, and the scarlet coats crowded on 
 the decks ; drums and bugles were heard 
 from time to time, warnings for parade, 
 orders or messing, as the swift fleet flew 
 on at the rate of eight knots per hour, 
 and now and then, by a signal from the 
 commodore, the best sailers were ordered 
 to cast a tow-line to the more slow, espe- 
 cially our deeply laden storeships. 
 
 On the evening of the 3rd of June we 
 came to anchor, between Sark and Jersey, 
 for what reason I know not. In the nig-ht 
 we had a hurricane ; one transport lost a 
 mast, another lost her bowsprit, and a 
 third, crowded with foot soldiers, was totally 
 lost by running foul of a sunken rock. 
 The boats of the Brilliant were piped away
 
 224 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 with great celerity, and all the troops 
 were saved before the wreck went to pieces; 
 hut I shall never forget that horrible 
 night — the darkness of the atmosphere, 
 the bellowing of the wind and the roaring 
 of the sea, while the frigate leaped, 
 plunged and strained on her cables, like a 
 restive horse ; and then, amid all this, the 
 danger and excitement caused by the 
 sinking of the transport amid the obscurity 
 of that stormy midnight sea, and the loss 
 of life that might have ensued but for the 
 skill and bravery of our seamen. 
 
 Jersey is so surrounded by reefs of 
 sunken rock, that it was a miracle no 
 more of our armament perished on this 
 occasion. 
 
 On the morning of the 5th, the com- 
 modore signalled to weigh anchor and 
 pursue our course. 
 
 The whole fleet ran with a fair breeze
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 225 
 
 along the coast of Normandy, and so close 
 were we in shore, that the houses, farms, 
 and even the inhabitants could he seen 
 distinctly without the aid of glasses. At 
 one place we saw a column of French 
 Infantry on the march, with all their 
 bayonets glittering in the sunshine ; at 
 another, where the land opened near 
 Sainte Soule, a regiment of dragoons 
 riding at full gallop in the direction we 
 were pursuing. 
 
 "Tom, we shall be under fire to-morrow," 
 said Charters, thoughtfully, as he knocked 
 the ashes from his pipe into the palm of 
 his left hand and scattered them to lee- 
 ward. 
 
 " All the better," replied Kirkton, " the 
 see-saw of home service has sickened me." 
 
 " And me too," added I, " and I long 
 for some keen excitement." 
 
 " Excitement," replied Charters, " then 
 
 VOL. I. Q
 
 226 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 you are likely to have it with a vengeance, 
 my boy ! Think of thirteen thousand men 
 invading France !" 
 
 By two o'clock p.m. we came to anchor 
 in Cancalle Bay, on the coast of Brittany, 
 nine miles eastward of St. Malo. The 
 Brilliant lay not far from the famous rock 
 of Cancalle, so celebrated for its oysters, - 
 the fishing of which forms one of the chief 
 sources of local wealth. 
 
 Commodore Howe, it would appear, had 
 now questioned narrowly the two French 
 deserters, Theophile Damien and Benoit 
 Bossoit, whom I had been the humble 
 means of introducing to his notice, and 
 discovering that they were profoundly 
 ignorant of the whole locality, he began 
 to suspect both then* veracity and inten- 
 tions, and therefore ordered them to be 
 made close prisoners, while, accompanied 
 by the Duke of Marlborough, Colonel
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 227 
 
 Watson our quarter-master-general, and 
 Thierry the pilot, he went in the Grace, 
 an armed cutter, to reconnoitre the Bay. 
 
 The information of two pretended 
 deserters, as to the position and strength 
 of batteries, and so forth, having proved 
 perfectly erroneous, on his return the com- 
 i modore ordered the Frenchmen to be 
 searched ; and then, on papers detailing 
 the number and object of our armament 
 being found upon them both, he forthwith 
 ordered them to be put to death in the 
 most summary manner. 
 
 Posted as sentinel on the poop of the 
 Brilliant, I was in ignorance of all this, and 
 was treading to and fro carbine in hand, 
 with my eyes fixedon the roughand wooded 
 shore of Brittany, when Captain Lindsay 
 came on deck, harnessed in full regimentals 
 with sword and gorget on. 
 
 " Well, Gauntlet," said he, " your two 
 
 n 9,
 
 22S SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 Frenchmen have, unfortunately, proved to 
 be impostors and spies, after all." 
 
 "Spies!" I reiterated, with some dismay. 
 
 " Yes ; of the most dangerous kind." 
 
 "And what is to be done with them, 
 sir r 
 
 " That which the laws of war direct — 
 ah ! look yonder !" 
 
 He pointed to the Essex, the ship of 
 the commodore, and a thrill of horror ran 
 through me, on beholding two human 
 forms run up simultaneously by the neck, 
 to the arms of the foreyard, where they 
 dangled for a minute in mid-air ; but they 
 were not meant to be hanged, as each had 
 a cold thirty-two pound shot at his 
 heels. 
 
 This must have been a pleasant spec- 
 tacle for Thierry the pilot, who w T as 
 also a Frenchman, and consequently a 
 traitor.
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 229 
 
 A gun was fired from the bow of the 
 Essex; solemnly the echoes of the sea 
 and shore replied, and ere the last had died 
 away, both culprits had vanished under 
 the waves, whose ripples closed over them 
 and left no trace behind. Then, as the 
 pale and fierce dark face of Damien came 
 in memory before me, I turned to my 
 leader and said — 
 
 " Captain Lindsay, the fate of Damien 
 forms a terrible sequel to the story of his 
 brother." 
 
 " That story was falsehood — all," replied 
 the captain ; "he was no relation whatever 
 of the famous would-be regicide, who was 
 a peasant of Artois. The name of the 
 spy was Theophile Hautois, not Damiens, 
 and he never was a privateersman, nor 
 served under Thurot, but was a forester of 
 Brittany, and, as some suppose, a robber 
 among the Menez Mountains. His whole
 
 230 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 narrative, so far as he was concerned, 
 proves an artful forgery, and, like his 
 companion, he was a fully accredited spy 
 of the French authorities, employed to 
 obtain information which his lips can never 
 render them now." 
 
 The boom of a second cannon now 
 pealed across the Bay. 
 
 " The commodore has fired another gun 
 and hoisted a signal," said an officer 
 close by. 
 
 The signal midshipman raised his tele- 
 scope to the bunting which we saw 
 fluttering at the mainmast-head of the 
 Essex. 
 
 "What is it now — what says the order?" 
 asked several, with the impatience and 
 curiosity natural enough at such a 
 time. 
 
 " All ships having flat-bottomed boats 
 and landing-stages, to hoist them out!"
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 231 
 
 replied the middy, with a kindling 
 
 eye. 
 
 "Bravo," added Captain Lindsay; 
 "that seems like work! Ere long we 
 shall have to look to our spurleathers and 
 spatterdashes."
 
 232 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 CHAPTEE XVI. 
 
 THE LANDING AT CANCALLE. 
 
 It was very singular that though our 
 armament had been visible off the coasts 
 of Normandy and Brittany for four days, 
 no preparations were made anywhere to 
 oppose us. A strong French fleet lay in 
 the harbour of Brest, but was there blocked 
 up by the squadrons of Lord Anson and 
 Sir E. Hawke, so it might as well have 
 been in the Yellow Sea. 
 
 Just as the commodore's last signal 
 concerning the boats was hoisted, two 
 troops of French cavalry, and a regiment 
 of infantry, appeared on the heights above 
 the Bay of Cancalle, where we saw their
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 233 
 
 appointments and weapons glittering ; but 
 after a time they fell back and disappeared 
 inland. 
 
 The flat-bottomed boats were soon 
 launched, and the grenadier companies of 
 eleven regiments rendezvoused on board 
 of them, around the Essex, the head- 
 quarter ship. 
 
 The commodore now shifted his broad 
 pennant on board the Success, a frigate of 
 twenty-two guns, which got under weigh, 
 and stood close inshore to silence a battery 
 of only three guns, which had begun to fire 
 across the bay. 
 
 These were the first hostile shots I had 
 heard ; and I must own that they caused 
 my pulses to quicken, and created an un- 
 defined anxiety in my heart ; yet I had 
 already stood fire, when so narrowly 
 escaping Abraham Clod's gun on the roof 
 of old Wylie's stable, and that adventure
 
 234 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 made me smile when I thought of it 
 then. 
 
 Those three cannons — two 24's and one 
 12 -pounder — were all we had as yet to 
 oppose, and they were in position at the 
 landing-place of the fisher- town or village 
 of Cancalle, which consisted of a group 
 of picturesque little houses, situated at 
 the base of a green hill that overhangs 
 the sea. 
 
 The French cannoniers who handled 
 them were brave fellows, for they killed 
 several men on board the Success, nor were 
 they silenced, and the beach swept of the 
 inhabitants, till the commodore's ship, 
 together with the Rose, Flamborough, and 
 Diligence, opened their broadsides to the 
 land, and filled the whole bay with smoke, 
 making every rock and mountain echo to 
 the reverberations of a cannonade that 
 lasted till seven in the evening, for we had
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 235 
 
 a dread of masked batteries among the 
 shrubberies and hedgerows near the shore. 
 
 Under cover of this fire, the flat- 
 bottomed boats, with three battalions of 
 the Guards, and eleven grenadier com- 
 panies of the Line, commanded by Lord 
 George Sackville (son of Lionel, Duke of 
 Dorset) and General Dury, rowed inwards, 
 and landed on the beach in safety. 
 
 Those ships which contained the cavalry 
 and artillery were now ordered to draw 
 closer inshore. Our horses were slung 
 over into the flat-bottomed boats alongside 
 — each trooper, fully accoutred, standing 
 in the wooden stall by his charger's head. 
 It was about eleven at night before the 
 light troop of the Greys, in four large flat 
 barges, put off for the harbour, towards 
 which we were slowly towed by the boats 
 of the Brilliant. 
 
 The night was a lovely one. High
 
 236 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 sailed the moon in heaven, with clouds 
 of fleecy whiteness flying past her silver 
 disc. The beach and the blue sea were 
 light as if at noonday, and on the far ex- 
 panse of yellow sand, in that secluded 
 cove, where the aged oak and lime trees 
 spread their summer foliage on the ripples 
 — sand so soft, so smooth and golden that 
 one could only think of nymphs or fairies 
 disporting in fantastic dances there — we 
 were disembarking Horse, Foot, and 
 Artillery, with loaded arms and lighted 
 matches, in all the grim array of war. 
 
 Slowly the huge boats, with their freight 
 of Cavalry crept inshore. Streaming 
 from behind the dark mountains, the 
 moonlight fell in long and tremulous 
 lines of silver sheen, in which our weapons 
 and the trappings of man and horse glit- 
 tered gaily, and the whole scene was 
 picturesque and impressive.
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 237 
 
 Each after each, the lights that whilome 
 twinkled in the little town went out, as 
 we supposed the people were taking to 
 flight, and soon obscurity veiled it all, 
 save where one or two tapers seemed to 
 indicate a sick room, or a student's vigil — 
 if, indeed, at such a time, one could be 
 philosopher enough to study. 
 
 Our Foot, already formed in quarter 
 distance columns, after their colours were 
 uncased, their flints and priming inspected, 
 were silent and still ; thus, save the oc- 
 casional neigh of our horses, as they 
 snuffed the land, with necks outstretched 
 and nostrils quivering, there was no sound 
 along the ba} r , but the murmur of the 
 rising tide, when it chafed on the steep 
 Kock of Cancalle. 
 
 Beside me stood Jack Charters, tall, 
 erect, and soldier like. One hand grasped 
 his horse's bridle, the other rested in the
 
 238 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 steel basket hilt of his long broad sword. 
 With a keen, bright eye, and a proud smile 
 on his lip, he was looking at the shore, 
 where — like myself — he hoped to regain 
 by bravery and courage the position he 
 had lost by his own youthful folly and 
 the injustice of others. 
 
 At last we were along-side the rough 
 pier of Cancalle, and some of Kingsley's 
 Grenadiers, who were ordered to assist in 
 getting the Cavalry and Artillery disem- 
 barked, ran the landing stages on board 
 for our horses. The first of ours, on terra 
 firma, mounted, and sword in hand, 
 was our gallant leader, Captain Frank 
 Lindsay. 
 
 "Quick, my lads — get on shore and 
 join the captain," said Charters, who, al- 
 though a corporal now, could not forget 
 the authority he had once wielded ; " he 
 is a man to stand by, for true it is that
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 239 
 
 a good officer to lead makes a good soldier 
 to follow." 
 
 " Ay, ay," added Kirkton, as lie, too, 
 leaped joyously into bis saddle, and made 
 his horse curvet, while he sung : — 
 
 " Tis he, you, or I, 
 Cold, hot, wet, or dry, 
 "We're always bound to follow, boys, 
 And scorn to fly." 
 
 " Fall in, my lads — fall in as you come 
 ashore — and take up your dressing by the 
 standard," cried Captain Lindsay. 
 
 A seaman, a good-natured fellow, was 
 assisting me with my horse across the 
 landing stage, when there was a whizzing 
 sound, and a shot that came, no one knew 
 from where, shattered his right elbow. 
 He uttered a groan, and would have fallen 
 between the boat and pier, had not Ser- 
 geant Duff, of the Greys, caught him in 
 his arms.
 
 240 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 " Never mind, mates," said lie, cheer- 
 fully ; " tie up the stump, some one — I'm 
 in for a pension at Chatham Chest, 
 boys!" 
 
 I remember that my first emotion was 
 a selfish thankfulness that the shot had 
 not struck me. 
 
 So strong was the ground by nature, 
 in the neighbourhood of our landing, that 
 two thousand determined men might have 
 cut to pieces ten times their number from 
 behind the thick hedgerows, the houses 
 and the rocks ; yet we encountered not 
 the slightest opposition, save from the 
 little battery already mentioned. 
 
 By the noon of the 6th of July, every- 
 thing belonging to onr small army — its 
 whole material of war — was ashore, and 
 we encamped on an eminence which was 
 crowned by a picturesque old windmill. 
 
 It overlooked Cancalle, from whence
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 241 
 
 the people — all hard-featured, ungainly, 
 and squalid-looking Bretons — had now 
 entirely fled, leaving their houses to the 
 mercy of our soldiers and sailors, who 
 pillaged them of everything they could 
 find or destroy. 
 
 On the night of the 6th, with twenty 
 other Scots Greys, I was detailed for out- 
 picket; and under a Captain Wilmot 
 Brook, of the 11th Light Dragoons, with 
 twenty men of that regiment, all supplied 
 with one meal of cooked food for ourselves 
 and forage for our horses, we rode two 
 miles to the front, on the road that leads 
 from Cancalle to St. Malo. There the 
 captain chose a position for his picket, 
 and threw out a line of videttes, whose 
 orders were to keep a sharp look-out, on 
 peril of their lives ; to fire their carbines 
 on the approach of any armed party, but 
 to permit all persons who came singly, 
 
 vol. i. R
 
 242 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 bearing provisions for sale, to pass to their 
 rear, without exacting a fee for their 
 passage — to observe well the country in 
 their front, and to communicate whatever 
 they saw that seemed hostile or suspicious, 
 by signal or otherwise, to each other, and 
 at once to the officer in command of the 
 outpost. 
 
 These orders were rhymed rapidly over 
 to me about nightfall, and I was left for a 
 two hours' vigil, in a gloomy hollow way 
 between two hills, about eight hundred 
 yards in front of the mainbody of the 
 picket. This was my first responsible 
 duty, and it so nearly ended in bringing 
 me to a disgraceful and violent death, 
 that the narration of that night's adven- 
 ture deserves a chapter to itself.
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 243 
 
 CHAPTEE XVII. 
 
 THE VIDETTE. 
 
 To a young soldier few duties or situations 
 are more trying than the post of advanced 
 sentinel by night, in a strange place and 
 foreign country, in time of war and danger 
 — all the more so, perhaps, if the said 
 soldier be a Scotsman, imbued with some 
 of those superstitions, which few of his 
 countrymen are without. 
 
 " Keep your ears and eyes open, young 
 man," said Captain Brook as he left me. 
 " Remember that you are not now a sentry 
 at the gate of a home-barrack, which no 
 one thinks of attacking, but that you are 
 an advanced vidette, on whose vigilance 
 
 r2
 
 244 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 and acuteness depend the safety of the 
 picket, the honour of the army, and hence, 
 perhaps, of the nation itself." 
 
 " Does he deem me stupid, or what ?" 
 thought I, with some pique, as he rode 
 off, accompanied by Sergeant Duff of ours, 
 and I was left alone — alone to my own 
 reflections. 
 
 The moon which shone so brightly last 
 night was now hidden by masses of cloud, 
 yet a few stray beams lighted the land- 
 scape at a distance. In the immediate 
 foreground, and around me, all was sunk 
 in darkness and obscurity ; but after my 
 eyes became accustomed to the gloom, I 
 could make out the form of the two 
 rugged eminences or hills which over- 
 hung my post, and the pathway that 
 wound from thence into the defile between 
 them. 
 
 Beyond that defile I could see the
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 245 
 
 distant country, lighted at times, as I 
 have said, by the fitful gleams of the 
 moon. 
 
 All was still and I heard only the 
 champing of my horse upon his powerful 
 military bit, as I sat with the butt of my 
 carbine planted on my right thigh, gazing 
 steadily at the darkened pass in my front. 
 
 The time passed slowly. 
 
 Twice I threw the reins across my left 
 arm, and twice cocked and levelled my 
 carbine, for on each occasion figures 
 seemed to enter the pass, some on horse- 
 back and others on foot ; but the next 
 moment showed them to be only fashioned 
 by my overheated fancy, out of the long 
 weeds and nettles that waved to and fro 
 on the night wind between me and the 
 faint moonlight beyond. 
 
 On each of these occasions I made a 
 narrow escape ; to have fired my carbine
 
 246 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 would have drawn the whole line of 
 pickets to the front, and brought the 
 entire army under arms ; but then to give 
 a false alarm is a crime to be punished, 
 though not quite so severely as to omit 
 an alarm when necessary ; so my position 
 was sufficiently perplexing. 
 
 Silence, night, and loneliness induced 
 reverie, and from the present and from 
 the future, memory carried me back to 
 the past — that period which possessed so 
 little that was bright for me. 
 
 But a few months before, how little 
 could I have imagined, or anticipated, 
 that I should become a soldier and be 
 situated as I was then — a lonely sentinel 
 amid the mountains of Brittany ! I 
 thought with some growing repugnance 
 of war, its cruelties and stern necessities — 
 the precipitate execution of the two un- 
 fortunate spies, and the mangled corpses
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 247 
 
 of the slain seamen, whom I had seen 
 flunsr like lumber from the lower deck 
 ports of the Success, after she engaged 
 the battery in the Bay of Cancalle, and a 
 shudder came over me, for I was young 
 to such work as this. 
 
 I thought of the green mountains of 
 my native land — that lovely t Borderland, 
 and its chain of hills that rise from sea to 
 sea, between the sister kingdoms, with 
 their fertile glens where herd and hirsel 
 grazed in peace ; where the brown eagle 
 had his eyry in the grey rocks, and the 
 black raven soared high in mid-air or 
 came swooping down when the silvery 
 salmon, or the spotted trout leaped up 
 from the plashing linn — the land where 
 every cairn and wood, tower and tree, had 
 some wild or warlike legend of the past. 
 
 Old Netherwood, too, with the lazy 
 rooks that cawed among its oaks, or
 
 248 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 roosted on the creaking vanes of its time- 
 worn turrets. Then I turned away my 
 thoughts in anger to the secluded Border 
 village, where I had been so long a drudge, 
 yea a very slave ; but with the memory 
 of old Nathan's inky desk, came a pleasant 
 vision of the pretty little Ruth — Ruth 
 whom I had well-nigh forgotten. 
 
 Was Ruth unmarried still? Did she 
 ever think of me ? I could almost lau^h 
 at my first love already, for to this heresy 
 will the mind come at times, and in 
 barracks I had reached it alreadv. 
 
 And then Aurora — my gay and dashing 
 cousin Aurora — the fair usurper of all 
 that was mine, did she ever think of me, 
 and our race on Banstead Downs ? And 
 so, soaring away into the realms of fancy, 
 I forgot all about the pass in my front 
 and the picket in my rear, till the sudden 
 and confused explosion of some twenty
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 249 
 
 carbines about a hundred yards distant, 
 on my right, all flashing redly through 
 the darkness, gave me a start, a shock, as 
 if struck by lightning ; and before I had 
 time to think or act, there came the rush 
 of many hoofs, and then a party of 
 French Hussars, all fleetly mounted, 
 swept past me from the rear, and fled 
 towards the pass, pursued by our picket, 
 which was led by Captain Brook in 
 person ! My horse reared wildly as they 
 all passed me, and for about ten minutes 
 I remained irresolute and ignorant what 
 to do, until the captain with the main 
 body of the picket all safe and un- 
 touched, but breathless and highly ex- 
 cited, came back at a hand gallop. 
 
 Now, for the first time I discovered 
 that during my luckless reverie a party 
 of French light horse, commanded, it 
 afterwards appeared, by the Chevalier de
 
 250 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 Boisgniller, an officer of dashing bravery, 
 had crept past me at the distance of fifty 
 yards or so, and unmolested and unchal- 
 lenged, had actually ridden so close to 
 Brook's picket, that they were first disco- 
 vered by their sabres glittering in the 
 light of the watch-fire, near which the 
 captain was seated. 
 
 Brook's face was crimson, and his voice 
 hoarse with rage and passion when he 
 accosted me, and in a minute more I 
 found myself dismounted, disarmed, and 
 standing a prisoner before him, a dragoon 
 being on each side of me with his carbine 
 loaded. 
 
 The captain was a handsome and 
 soldierlike man, somewhere about forty- 
 five years of age, and the blue uniform of 
 the 11th Light Dragoons, faced and 
 lapelled with buff to the waist, and richly 
 laced with gold, became him well. His
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 251 
 
 features, though naturally of a grave and 
 mild cast, were now stern, and his eyes 
 sparkled with anger. I could see all this 
 by the light of a torch, held by one of the 
 11th, and I could perceive also that my 
 comrades of the Greys regarded me with 
 aught but pleasant faces, as I had involved 
 the honour of the corps by my negligence. 
 
 " So — so — s' death, you are a line fellow 
 to act as a vidette !" began the captain, 
 with scorn and wrath in his tone ; " thanks 
 to you, we have had an alert with a ven- 
 geance ! You are now aware, that while 
 asleep you have permitted a body of the 
 enemy's cavalry to pass your post — a 
 body which, if strong enough, would 
 have cut this picket to pieces." 
 
 " Under favour, sir, I was not asleep," 
 said I, firmly. 
 
 " Zounds, sirrah, it matters little ! But 
 do you know what the ' Articles of
 
 252 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 War' say concerning conduct such as 
 yours r 
 
 I was silent. 
 
 "Shall I tell you?" asked the captain, 
 earnestly, and in a lower tone. 
 
 "If you please." 
 
 " They state that any officer or soldier 
 who shall shamefully abandon any fortress, 
 ■post or guard, committed to his charge, or 
 who shall be found sleeping on his post, 
 whether upon the land or the sea, shall 
 suffer Death, or such other punishment as 
 a court martial may award." 
 
 I was so completely stunned by all 
 this as to be incapable of speech ; but 
 Duff of ours, a kind and grey-haired old 
 sergeant, said — 
 
 " Captain Brook, the lad is a good lad, 
 and a steady one ; we have few better in 
 the Greys — " 
 
 Then I am very sorry for the Greys !" 
 
 « Tl
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 253 
 
 "I do hope, sir," continued the ser- 
 geant, " that his life, at least, may not be 
 forfeited ?" 
 
 " My life !" I exclaimed, mechani- 
 cally. 
 
 " Yes, that may be forfeited^and I dis- 
 graced !" said Captain Brook, bitterly. 
 " I have commanded many a post, but 
 never one that was surprised before. To- 
 morrow I shall hand you over to the guard 
 of the provost marshal. What is your 
 name, fellow?" 
 
 " Basil Gauntlet." 
 
 On hearing this, he started and became 
 so visibly affected, that the soldiers of the 
 picket who crowded round us holding 
 their horses by the bridle, glanced at each 
 other with inquiry and surprise. Brook 
 surveyed me keenly for a moment, and 
 then a sorrowful frown seemed to deepen 
 on his features.
 
 254 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 " Was your father ever in the service ?" 
 he asked, abruptly. 
 
 " He was an officer of Granby's 
 Dragoons." 
 
 Then a malignant light sparkled in the 
 eyes of Captain Brook, and he struck his 
 spurred heel into the turf. 
 
 " Was my father your friend ?" I asked, 
 with hesitation. 
 
 " Friend I" he reiterated, bitterly ; " no 
 — no — not my friend. But your mother, 
 what of her?" he added, in an altered 
 voice. 
 
 " She is in her grave," I replied, with 
 faltering accent ; " else, perhaps, I had 
 not stood before you thus to-night, a 
 private soldier and a prisoner." 
 
 After a pause — 
 
 " My God !" said Brook, in a low voice, 
 as he took off his helmet and passed a 
 hand across his flushed brow. Then
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 255 
 
 seeming to recollect himself, lie said, 
 " Fall back, sergeant ; and fall back, men 
 — picket your horses, and lie down if you 
 please till daybreak, when the outpickets 
 are called in. Leave the prisoner with 
 me. Gauntlet," he continued, after we 
 were somewhat alone, " step with me 
 this way. I shall do all in my power to 
 serve you, and to be your friend." 
 
 " Sir, you astonish me," I exclaimed ; 
 " how am I so fortunate ?" 
 
 " I will tell you a secret, boy — a secret 
 long buried in my heart," he continued, 
 in a voice that grew soft and kind ; " your 
 father and I were rivals — rivals for the 
 love of the same girl, long, long years 
 aso ; but he was the successful wooer — I 
 the discarded one ! She was your mother, 
 boy, and now, for her sacred memory, and 
 the memory, too, of that early love, which 
 brightened for a time the first days of my
 
 256 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 soldiering, I will save you, my poor lad, 
 if I can. Nay more, I have some in- 
 terest at head-quarters, and will serve 
 you as if you had been my own son, and 
 this will I do for her sake." 
 
 The voice of Captain Brook trembled, 
 and I bowed low, for I could not speak. 
 
 " You know what the rules of the ser- 
 vice prescribe," he resumed, " in such a 
 case as yours ?" 
 
 " You have already told me, sir." 
 
 " Death !" 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " Yet, you shall not die, and your 
 future promotion shall be my peculiar 
 care. Comrades," cried he, to the men of 
 the picket, "in Basil Gauntlet I have 
 discovered the son of an early and dear 
 friend. He is but a young soldier — a 
 mere boy, and I would save him if I 
 can.
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 257 
 
 " You may command us, sir," said 
 Sergeant Duff. 
 
 " We will do anything for you, Captain 
 Brook," added the men of the 11th, with 
 enthusiasm. 
 
 "I do not mean to report his 
 dereliction of duty — so give me your 
 words that you will be silent in the 
 matter." 
 
 "We swear it, sir!" they exclaimed, 
 with energy, and that honest pledge was 
 never broken. 
 
 " Now, Basil Gauntlet," said Captain 
 Brook, as he gave me back my sword, and 
 grasped my hand, while speaking rapidly 
 and energetically ; " you, doubtless, have 
 your father's courage and spirit of honour. 
 These are hereditary, and old Sir Basil 
 could not mil them away as he did the 
 acres of Netherwood, the family pictures, 
 and the silver spoons. Be a man, and a 
 
 vol. i. s
 
 258 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 brave one, as your father was — I knew 
 liim well and hated him — God rest 
 him now, for all that. To-morrow, 
 I shall see that you are taken out of 
 the ranks ; for, to-night, I can but 
 share with you the contents of my 
 canteen." 
 
 An aide-de-camp now came galloping 
 from Cancalle to inquire the meaning of 
 the firing. Some explanation, I know 
 not what, was made, and so ended this 
 remarkable episode, which had a gloomy 
 sequel on the morrow, when all the bright 
 future, which the sudden friendship of 
 Captain Brook had opened to me, was 
 rapidly overcast. 
 
 About noon the poor man was killed 
 by a shot from a French sharpshooter, as 
 we were advancing through a thick wood. 
 Dr. Lancelot Probe of ours was speedily 
 at hand, but my new friend was gone for
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 259 
 
 ever, and I was one of those who 
 assisted to wrap his remains in a 
 horse rug, and to inter them by the 
 wayside, as we marched towards St. 
 Malo. 
 
 a s - 
 
 a
 
 260 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 HALT AT ST. SERVAND. 
 
 During the 7th of June the whole 
 force (save one regiment, which was left 
 at Cancalle to cover our re-embarkation, if 
 necessary) marched towards St. Malo, 
 through a rough and woody country. 
 A dense mist from the ocean enveloped 
 the scenery for some miles inland, and 
 through this we were advancing when 
 Captain Brook was killed. The soil 
 seemed barren, with black sheep grazing 
 among the rocks and boulders ; old and 
 ruinous bridges lay across deep swamps 
 and rugged watercourses, that rushed 
 towards the sea. Without molestation
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 261 
 
 we passed several quaint, old manor 
 houses, girdled by weedy fosses and moss- 
 grown oaks — and some whose embattled 
 porte cocher and grated casements opened 
 to long and shady avenues of sycamore 
 trees. 
 
 Ere long, we came to more open parts 
 of the country, covered with pink heath 
 and spotted with yellow flowers ; in others, 
 with fields, snow white with the bloom of 
 buckwheat. In these flat places rose 
 here and there, exactly as in Scotland, 
 great battle stones of the Druids or the 
 Celtic Bretons, that stood grim, grey, 
 erect, solemn and silent ; and so a march 
 of nine miles through scenery such as this 
 brought us in sight of St. Malo. 
 
 The men of our troop were so much 
 occupied in scouring the district through 
 which the infantry advanced, covering 
 both flanks, reconnoitring and so forth,
 
 262 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 that it was not until sunset when our 
 small army encamped at the village of 
 St. Servand, two miles from St. Malo, 
 that I had an opportunity of relating to 
 my two chief friends, Tom Kirkton and 
 Jack Charters, the strange adventure of 
 the preceding night. 
 
 They listened to me with astonishment, 
 as we sat by the foot of a large tree under 
 which our horses were stabled (if I may 
 use such a term), and where we were re- 
 galing ourselves with ration biscuits and 
 the contents of a gallon keg of French 
 wine, of which Charters had become pro- 
 prietor on the march. 
 
 Around us the whole force, horse, foot, 
 and artillery, were busy cooking or pre- 
 paring for the bivouac of the night. 
 Countless little fires, lighted beside trees, 
 hedges, and low walls, glared and reddened 
 in the evening wind, and when the dusk
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 263 
 
 set in, they shed a wavering gleam on the 
 piles of arms that stood in long ranks, on 
 the white bell-tents and the red-coated 
 groups that loitered near. The whole 
 scene was picturesque, lively, and striking, 
 and in the distance lay the town and 
 fortress of St. Malo, quaint and worn by 
 time and the misty storms that came from 
 the open sea. 
 
 Its harbour is one of the best seaports 
 in France, but is extremely difficult of 
 access. The town is small, gloomy, and 
 dull, but populous and wealthy, and crowns 
 a rock which the sea encompasses twice 
 daily — thus St. Malo is alternately insular 
 and peninsular, as the tide ebbs, flows, and 
 churns in foam against its fetid rocks, 
 whereon the russet -brown seaweed rots in 
 the sunshine; and far around it lies a 
 barrier of sharp white reefs, the foe of 
 many a ship ere beacons were invented.
 
 264 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 It was guarded by a strong castle, 
 flanked by OTeat towers, on the battlements 
 of which the last light of the setting sun 
 yet lingered with a fiery gleam. The town 
 had usually a good garrison ; but His 
 Grace the Duke of Marlborough had now 
 learned that there were not quite five 
 hundred troops in the whole of this 
 neglected province of Brittany, which, 
 though forming a portion of the kingdom 
 of France, had long been under its 
 hereditary dukes, and was now governed 
 by a States General, with provincial 
 privileges of its own.* 
 
 For ages so separate had its interests 
 been from those of France, that James III. 
 of Scotland was requested by Charles VIII. 
 to send thither a body of troops to capture 
 and annex Brittany to his northern king- 
 dom ; but the Scottish parliament declined 
 
 * It continued so until the Kevolution in 1792.
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 265 
 
 to sanction the subjugation of a free 
 people; so this strange scheme was 
 abandoned. 
 
 A strong wall surrounded St. Malo, and 
 every night twelve dogs of great size and 
 ferocity were led round it by a soldier of 
 the city watch, that their barking might 
 give notice if brigands or an enemy ap- 
 proached. 
 
 The last ray of sunlight soon faded 
 upward from the cathedral spire of St. 
 Vincent, and the shades of twilight were 
 already casting into obscurity the rocky 
 basement of the whole city and its weedy 
 reefs amid the chafing sea, when in a lonely 
 part of our camp by St. Servand my two 
 comrades and I reclined on the turf beside 
 our accoutred horses, and drank the con- 
 tents of the wine-keg, using one horn — 
 for we possessed but one — fraternally by 
 turns.
 
 266 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 "It is very true," continued Charters, 
 with reference to my adventure of the 
 preceding night ; " egad, friend Gauntlet, 
 you had a narrow escape ! In other hands 
 — particularly those of old Preston — you 
 had assuredly been brought to the drum- 
 head and had a volley of ten carbines for 
 dereliction of duty. To fall asleep on 
 one's post before an enemy " 
 
 " But I was not asleep," I persisted. 
 
 " Well, well ; but to let the enemy pass 
 vou 
 
 " I was thinking of other times, Jack." 
 
 " Very likely," said Kirkton ; "on such 
 a lonely duty, and at such a time, by night, 
 I have too often found the thoughts of 
 other times, and images of those I have 
 loved or lost, who are dead, or far, far 
 away, all come unbidden before me." 
 
 " It is unwise to look back regretfully 
 — for the past can never come again. Oh,
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 267 
 
 never more !" continued Charters, sadly, 
 as he thought of some cherished episode 
 of his own life ; " so the wiser and the 
 manlier way is to improve the pi'csenf 
 (pass the keg, Tom), and look boldly at 
 the future." 
 
 " You are right, Jack," said I, as this 
 military philosopher proceeded to light his 
 pipe and groom his horse, which he care- 
 fully covered with his cloak; " but I fear 
 it will be long before I can school myself 
 into your cool way of taking things. I 
 have seen but little of the world, Jack, 
 and have only learned to enjoy life since 
 embracing the profession which sets no 
 value upon it." 
 
 " Time and travel will improve your 
 views, my boy ; and ' all travel,' says Dr. 
 Johnson, ' has its advantages ; if it lead 
 a man to a better country, he learns to 
 improve his own ; if to a worse, to enjoy
 
 268 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 it.' I have travelled much in my time — 
 steady, old horse, steady ! — and as I did 
 so with sundry rounds of ball cartridge 
 at my back, I have learned much that 
 Dr. Johnson never thought of." 
 
 " In what way, Jack — to handle a dice- 
 box and make love to the barmaids ?" 
 asked Tom. 
 
 " I have learned more than that/' re- 
 torted Charters, somewhat coldly ; " travel 
 taught me to be charitable ; for one finds 
 good people everywhere, abroad as well as 
 at home, for as it takes a great many men 
 to make an army, so many people are re- 
 quired to make a nation." 
 
 " Bah I" shouted Tom Kirkton, who 
 was in his shirt- sleeves and attending to 
 our cooking ; " we have had enough of 
 musty moralising. This is like one of old 
 father's sermons, poor man ! and a sermon 
 sounds oddly in your mouth, Jack. Here
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 2G9 
 
 is a rasher of bacon, broiled on a ramrod 
 and done to a turn. Come here while 
 it is hot and savoury, for we may 
 say with the fool in the Scripture, 
 ' Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow 
 we die.' 
 
 "Boot and saddle! To horse, you fellows 
 there !" cried the loud and authoritative 
 voice of a staff officer as a strange sequel 
 to Tom's ominous speech. He proved to be 
 General Elliot, who was passing through 
 our bivouac at a hand gallop, accompanied 
 by his aide-de-camp, both plumed and 
 aiguiletted. " To horse — the Light Dra- 
 goons !" 
 
 " Fall in — the Scots Greys !" added 
 Captain Lindsay, coming up at a trot ; 
 " we are ordered to the front." 
 
 So Tom's dainty rasher was eaten in a 
 trice ; the last of Charters's wine was 
 drained, the keg tossed into the nearest
 
 270 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 watch fire, we sprang on our horses, 
 and at the first ruffle on the kettle- 
 drum, formed line on the left of our 
 standard.
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 271 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 THE SACK OF ST. SOLIDORE. 
 
 Like all who are so subordinate in rank, 
 Ave fell in and formed, in total ignorance 
 of where we were going, or what we were 
 to do ; who Ave were to attack, or by Avhom 
 we might be attacked ; and, perhaps, not 
 caring much about the matter, provided 
 we were to do something. 
 
 In the dusk the roll was called ; the 
 troop " proved" and formed in column 
 with the other light troops under Elliot, 
 the future " Cock of the Rock." We 
 loaded our carbines and pistols, and then 
 the order Avas given — 
 
 " Threes right — forward — trot !" and 
 aAvay we Avent.
 
 272 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 Though we had been imbibing only 
 French wine, we three comrades were not 
 in a very reputable condition ; but, fortu- 
 nately, this could not be perceived in the 
 twilight ; though Charters was unusually 
 lively, and my skill was frequently tested, 
 as I was generally the flanker of a squadron, 
 being completely master of my horse. 
 
 In the leading section of three, there 
 was a gigantic trooper before us, named 
 Hob Elliot. 
 
 " By Jove, Hob, what a noble pair of 
 shoulders you have !" said Charters, as we 
 trotted on ; " what a mark your back will 
 be for our friends the French !" 
 
 "If they ever see it," growled the 
 Borderer, for he was a Liddesdale man. 
 
 "Bravo, Gauntlet," hiccupped Char- 
 ters, then turning to me ; " head up, and 
 thumb on the bridle — you have quite the 
 air of a soldier!"
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 273 
 
 " I always study to he what I wish to 
 seem," said I. 
 
 " So said Socrates," added Torn Kirkton, 
 remembering his classics. 
 
 " Ugh ! he quotes Socrates on the line 
 of march." 
 
 " "Well," rejoined Tom ; " he was a pri- 
 vate soldier like ourselves, and saved the 
 life of Xenophon." 
 
 "Be silent, my lads," said Captain 
 Lindsay ; " we have work in hand that 
 requires you to be so." 
 
 As we quitted our bivouac, I was more 
 than ever struck with its picturesque 
 aspect. Some regiments of infantry 
 (among them the Sth, 20th, and 25th), 
 which had not yet been ordered under 
 arms, were lying around their watckfires 
 in a green clover field. These fires could 
 not have been less than ninety or a hun- 
 dred in number, and then united glare fell 
 
 VOL. I. t
 
 274 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 redly on the sunburned faces and scarlet 
 uniforms of the scattered groups who sat 
 around them ; on the lines of those who 
 lay asleep with their knapsacks for pillows ; 
 on the long rows of muskets, piled with 
 bayonets fixed, and on the silk colours, 
 that drooped before the guarded tent of 
 each commanding officer. 
 
 Beyond these were the dark figures of 
 the active artillery, limbering up, tracing 
 their horses to the field guns, and pre- 
 paring for immediate service ; and as fresh 
 fuel was cast on those watchfires, and the 
 weird light flared up anew, it brought out 
 in strong relief objects at a greater dis- 
 tance ; trees and rocks were visible for a 
 time, and then, as the flame wavered and 
 sunk, they faded into obscurity. Add to 
 all this, that the night was intensely dark, 
 and the atmosphere dense and sulphury. 
 
 Nor moon nor star were visible ; the
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 275 
 
 wind was still, and the flames of the crack- 
 ling watchfires burned steadily and high. 
 
 " Where are we going — what are we to 
 he about?" we now inquired of each 
 other as we rode on ; and ere long, from 
 mouth to mouth, as the staff officers, 
 perhaps, unwisely informed those com- 
 manding troops, and these, in turn their 
 subs, we learned that the Duke of Marl- 
 borough had, during the day, reconnoitred 
 the harbour and suburbs of St. Malo, with 
 the shipping and government stores, and 
 had resolved on their destruction; so we 
 were now to cover the advance of a body 
 of infantry and artillery who were to 
 perform this duty, with shot, shell, and 
 hand grenades. 
 
 While advancing, I overheard Captain 
 Lindsay say to Cornet Keith of ours — 
 
 "Marlborough has heard that the 
 youngest and favourite daughter of the 
 
 t 2
 
 276 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 Marshal de Broglie, who now commands 
 in Germany, resides in a chateau near St. 
 Malo ; and he thinks she would prove an 
 important capture." 
 
 " Nay — pshaw — zounds, gallantry for- 
 bid !" responded the cornet, who was 
 carrying the standard. 
 
 "I heard him say he would give a 
 hundred and fifty guineas for her," con- 
 tinued Lindsay. 
 
 "For what purpose?" asked Keith, 
 laughing. 
 
 " To send to London as a trophy, like 
 the brass guns we hope to take at Cher- 
 bourg." 
 
 "A sorry capture, unless the girl is 
 beautiful." 
 
 After proceeding about half a mile, our 
 troop was ordered to press forward to the 
 front, while the others reined up ; then, 
 as the artillery halted, and the deep hoi-
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 277 
 
 low rumbling of the wheels and shot- 
 laden tumbrils ceased, we could hear the 
 flowing tide chafing in the dark on the 
 bluff rocks of St. Malo, and, ere long, we 
 saw the red lights that twinkled in its 
 streets and fortress which towered above 
 the ocean. 
 
 Girt as it was by deep waves and 
 lofty walls, " the city of the corsairs," as 
 some one names it, was secure from us then; 
 so we rode on till we reached an open 
 space, when the order came to form line 
 on the leading section, and then the whizz, 
 whizz, whizzing of balls, together with 
 the rapid flashing of carbines in front, 
 announced that the foe was before us. 
 
 My temples throbbed ; there was a wild 
 glow in my heart, and then an emotion of 
 terror, as a bullet struck me fairly in the 
 centre of the breast, above my pouch belt. 
 For an instant I thought it was through
 
 27S SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 me, and breathlessly dropped my reins; 
 then, instinctively, I placed my hand 
 within my coat, and expecting to find it 
 covered with blood, drew forth — what ? 
 Aurora's handkerchief. It had saved me 
 from the ball, which pierced my coat, 
 though half spent. 
 
 I pressed it to my parched lips in grati- 
 tude ; and perfume was lingering about 
 it still. I had scarcely replaced it and 
 recovered my equanimity, when I heard 
 the clear, firm voice of Captain Lindsay, 
 as he rode to the front, with young Keith 
 by his side, carrying the standard ad- 
 vanced. 
 
 " Cavalry are before us, and we must 
 clear the way. March — trot ! keep your 
 horses well in hand — press on by leg and 
 spur ! 
 
 We advanced, with drawn swords, the 
 troop riding on, boot to boot, and thigh
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 279 
 
 to thigh — moving like a living wall. Then 
 rapidly followed the words — 
 
 " Gallop — charge !" mingling with the 
 sharp blast of the trumpet, and totally 
 ignorant of what was amid the darkness 
 in our front, whether a column of cavalry, 
 a yawning chasm, or a stone rampart, we 
 rushed blindly and furiously on. with a 
 loud and ringing cheer. 
 
 We charged with tremendous force, and 
 in the heat, hurry, and confusion of such 
 a moment, performed at racing speed, I 
 sat in -my saddle and guided my horse 
 with a combined coolness and steadiness 
 that certainly resulted from mere instinct 
 or force of habit, rather than reason. I 
 felt as in a dream, till suddenly, out of 
 the darkness in front, there came before 
 me a line of horses' heads, with another 
 line of human faces, and uplifted swords 
 above them. Then there was a wild crash,
 
 280 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 as if the earth had opened, when horse 
 and man went tumbling under us, as we 
 swept over the enemy, cutting and treading 
 them down. 
 
 "Tub/ TueT cried they ; "St. Malo 
 for Brittany !" But their provincial patron 
 availed them not. 
 
 They proved to be a mere handful of 
 hussars, led by the Chevalier de Boisguiller, 
 who was nearly killed by the sword of 
 Charters ; but escaped by having an iron 
 calotte cap within his fur cap. We lost 
 only three men in this charge ; but found 
 nine of the enemy lying dead on the 
 ground next day. 
 
 In vain the Chevalier, an officer of the 
 most romantic courage, endeavoured to 
 rally his men. 
 
 " En avani, mes camarades — Mes enfans, 
 en avant /" we heard him shout, while bran- 
 dishing his sabre ; " Voila — voila, dest la
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 281 
 
 voye a riwtincur, a la gloire, a la victoire ! 
 Vive le Hoi/" 
 
 As they fled there was no pursuit, for 
 the trumpet sounded to recal stragglers. 
 
 Then we reformed line and wheeled 
 back, to permit the infantry and artillery 
 to pass to the front. After this, our orders 
 were simply to guard and patrol the ap- 
 proaches to St. Solidore, against which our 
 comrades on foot commenced the most 
 active operations. 
 
 I have no intention of detailing the 
 whole of these, nor could I do so, perhaps, 
 if willing ; hut never shall I forget the 
 splendour of the terrible scene which en- 
 sued, when the fires of destruction spread 
 along the suburbs of St. Solidore and St. 
 Servand, and all around the harbour of 
 St. Malo. 
 
 Through the dark sky we saw the shells 
 fired by our artillery describing long arcs
 
 2S.2 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 of light, and bursting like fiery stars or 
 flaming comets among the rigging of the 
 ships in the basin, or on the roofs of the 
 stores and houses on the quay. Then the 
 shrieks and cries of the fugitive people 
 came towards us through the still night 
 air, together with the incessant explosion 
 of the hand grenades, which our grenadiers, 
 as they advanced alongside the ships, threw 
 point blank on their decks, and down the 
 open hatchways. 
 
 The most deadly missiles were the anchor 
 balls, fired by our artillery. 
 
 These were filled with powder, saltpetre, 
 sulphur, resin, and turpentine, and had 
 an iron bar, one half of which was within 
 and the other outside the shell. The lat- 
 ter half was armed with a grappling-hook, 
 which caught the rigging of the ships, 
 or the walls or roofs of houses, as the 
 heaviest end flew foremost, and by these
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 283 
 
 chiefly the whole place was soon sheeted 
 with flaming pyramids, amid which we saw 
 walls crumbling* and descending, and masts 
 and yards disappearing amid mountains of 
 sparks and burning brands, while torrents 
 of red fire poured from every door and win- 
 dow round the whole circle of the harbour. 
 
 The sky was full of red clouds and 
 sheets of red sparks ; the harbour and the 
 bay beyond were all ruddied, as if changed 
 to port wine, and the whole air became 
 filled with roaring flame. 
 
 Hig;h over all this towered St. Malo on 
 its rock, and on its embattled walls, its 
 gothic spires and storm-beaten cliffs, 
 redly fell the glare of destruction ; while 
 at times we heard the barking of the watch 
 dogs, and could see the gleam of arms 
 along the ramparts, for every citizen was 
 in harness, and from mouth to mouth 
 went the cry.
 
 284 SECOND. TO NONE. 
 
 " St. Malo for Brittany ! the women 
 to their homes, and the men to their 
 muskets !'' 
 
 But, though they knew it not, we had 
 no idea then of assailing a place so strong 
 by art and nature. 
 
 The naval storehouses, full of sails, 
 ropes, tar, pitch, oil, paint and powder, 
 blazed the whole night, exhibiting every 
 variety of prismatic colours, but ere morn- 
 ing, ships, houses, and magazines were 
 all confounded in one mass of charred and 
 blackened ashes. 
 
 We destroyed in the docks and in the 
 harbour thirteen vessels of war, mount- 
 ing two hundred and thirty-four guns, 
 with seventy-three merchant ships, and 
 £800,000 worth of property, after which 
 we retired with the loss of only twelve 
 men, three of whom were seamen, killed 
 by a single random shot from St. Malo.
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 285 
 
 During this wild scene, there was 
 something singular, almost touching, in 
 the terror of the poor birds, when the air 
 became alive with soaring and bursting 
 shells, with showers of shot, thick with 
 smoke, laden with the booming of the 
 ordnance and the ceaseless roar of the 
 conflagration. 
 
 Crows, larks, pigeons, and sparrows 
 seemed to become paralysed by fear ; they 
 fluttered, panted, and grovelled among the 
 long grass and under the hedgerows, in 
 some instances crouching and hiding 
 themselves in little coveys close to the 
 dead and wounded Hussars (who lay 
 where we had charged), as if to rebuke 
 the spirit in man that made of earth a 
 
 hell! 
 
 And so thought I, when weary, wan, 
 and pale, I retired with the troop towards 
 our camp on the hills of Parame\
 
 2S6 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 AN EPISODE. 
 
 As the column of light cavalry wheeled 
 off by sections to return to the camp and 
 bivouac, a staff officer who was riding 
 hurriedly past in the dark addressed me — 
 
 " Young man," said he, " do you see 
 those lights twinkling in the hollow 
 yonder?" 
 
 " Yes, sir ; the port fires of the artil- 
 lery." 
 
 " Exactly ; ride with all speed to the 
 officer commanding the brigade of guns, 
 anfl say it is the order of General 
 Elliot that he falls back at once towards 
 the hills of Parame."
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 287 
 
 I bowed, for the speaker was the general 
 in person. 
 
 To execute this order, I had to ride 
 nearly a mile to the rear, skirting the wide 
 stretch of sand that lies between St. Malo 
 and St. Servand. The morning was still 
 quite dark, and the fires yet smouldered 
 redly in the dockyards and harbour, while 
 a heavy smoke and odour of burning 
 loaded the air, which was very still and 
 oppressive. 
 
 I rode towards the place, where the 
 matches of the artillery shone brilliantly ; 
 but I had scarcely reached the flank of 
 the brigade, when the whole force got into 
 motion at a rapid trot, the gunners on 
 their seats, and the drivers plying well 
 their whips, as they wheeled off towards 
 the hills with a tremendous noise, chains, 
 shot, rammers, spunges, and buckets all 
 swinging and clattering. Thus I had
 
 288 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 no occasion to deliver the anticipated 
 orders of General Elliot; but as the 
 artillerymen were driving with such fury, 
 I reined np to let them pass, and followed 
 leisurely in their rear. 
 
 Day was now beginning to break, and 
 the summits of the hills and the spires of 
 the city of St. Malo — in the dark ages 
 the abode of saints, in more modern 
 times the asylum of criminals — were 
 brightening in the ruddy gloom ; but 
 smoke hung like a sombre pall over all 
 the harbour below. 
 
 From time to time I could hear in the 
 distance the hollow bay of the fierce dogs 
 which watched the city walls, a custom 
 that was not abolished until 1770, when 
 one night they tore to pieces and devoured 
 a naval officer. 
 
 The sound of water plashing by the 
 wayside drew my horse towards it. The
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 289 
 
 poor animal was thirsty after the long and 
 weary patrol duty of the past night. The 
 stream poured from a rock, and through 
 a moss-green wooden duct fell into the 
 stone basin of a wayside well, and there, 
 while my horse drunk long and thirstily, I 
 heard the rumble of the artillery as they 
 passed away among the echoing mountains 
 and I was left alone in the rear. 
 
 By the roadside near the fountain, there 
 grew a dense thicket of mulberry trees 
 and wild broom-bushes, from amid which — 
 just as I was turning my horse to ride off — 
 there rung a half-stifled cry, followed by a 
 fierce and very unmistakeable malediction 
 in French — for that language, and not 
 the old Armoric, is spoken by the Bretons 
 of Dol and St. Malo. 
 
 Supposing that some unfortunate 
 English straggler or wounded man might 
 be lying there at the mercy of some of 
 
 vol. i. u
 
 290 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 the enemy, I drew a pistol from my 
 holsters and dismounted. My horse was 
 so well trained, that I knew he would 
 remain where I left him, while penetrating 
 into the thicket. The gloom of the latter 
 was excessive, but day was breaking, and 
 a faint light stole between the slender 
 stems of the trees. 
 
 Two figures now appeared — those of a 
 man and woman. Having come close 
 upon them unobserved, I now shrunk 
 behind a bush to watch. The woman 
 was on her knees, and her left shoulder 
 reclined against the root of a tree ; her 
 whole attitude indicated weariness or 
 despair, or both together. Her hands 
 were tied with a scarf or handkerchief, 
 and her dark hair hung over her face so 
 as to conceal her features entirely. 
 Close by her, and with one hand resting 
 against the same tree, the man stood
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 291 
 
 erect, but looking down, and surveying: 
 her with some solicitude, or at least with 
 interest. He wore a peasant's frock of 
 blue linen, girt at the waist by a belt 
 with a square buckle. He was armed 
 with a small hatchet and couteau de 
 chasse, and carried in his right hand a 
 knotted cudgel. 
 
 They were quite silent ; at least I heard 
 only from time to time the half-stifled 
 sobs of the female. 
 
 " Here is some mystery or premeditated 
 mischief," thought I ; " let me watch 
 warily." 
 
 At last the woman said faintly — 
 
 " Release me !" 
 
 The man uttered a growling guttural 
 laugh. 
 
 " Release me, I implore you !" she con- 
 tinued in a voice of great softness and 
 pathos. 
 
 u2
 
 292 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 "For the hundredth time you have 
 thus implored me, mademoiselle, and for 
 the hundredth time I reply — never." 
 
 " My father " 
 
 " Tonnerre de Ciel ! don't speak to me of 
 your father," said the man, grinding his 
 teeth ; "I was an honest woodcutter in 
 the Black Forest of Hunandaye till he 
 ruined me." 
 
 " Impossible ! my good father is inca- 
 pable of such a thing." 
 
 " Nothing is impossible to dukes and 
 peers of France, who have the Bastille 
 and the dungeons of their own chateaux 
 at their command." 
 
 " But he ruined you ? Alas ! how ?" 
 
 " By permitting his nephew — the 
 Comte de Bourgneuf — to carry off my 
 sister ; and because I resented the act, 
 he had my cottage demolished, my 
 mother driven into the ibrest where she
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 293 
 
 was devoured by wolves, and myself lie 
 chained to work like a felon on the roads 
 and ramparts of St. Malo and the aque- 
 ducts at Dol." 
 
 " Alas ! monsieur, I swear to you that 
 my father was blameless in all this, and 
 even were it not so, why are you so 
 merciless to me — why make me thus 
 your prisoner?" 
 
 " Because you are beautiful," said the 
 fellow, with a grating laugh. " Despite 
 these wrongs, I risked my life for France, 
 or rather for Trench gold. I have been 
 at the bottom of the sea, par (lieu! and 
 am now on firm land. I have been dead, 
 and am come alive again ! Ha ! ha ! 
 Bourgneuf carried off my sister. I carry 
 off you — chacun a son gout — (every man to 
 his taste.") 
 
 " Ah ! have mercy. See how I 
 weep."
 
 294 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 " Of course ; weeping is a complaint 
 that is very common among women. The 
 count took my sister to Paris, and she 
 was never heard of again. I shall take 
 you to the Black Forest of Hunandaye, 
 and never shall you be heard of either, 
 unless your friends are rash enough to 
 seek you in the subterranean torrent of 
 St. Aubin du Cormier." 
 
 " This fellow is mad ; but whether mad 
 or not, I must save the poor girl at all 
 hazards," thought I, while shaking the 
 priming in the pan of my holster pistol. 
 
 "Have you no dread of punishment, 
 for thus daring to molest me ?" demanded 
 the lady. 
 
 "No. Neither here nor hereafter. 
 You shall live with me in the forest, and 
 when tired of you " 
 
 " I shall escape and proclaim you." 
 
 " Pardieu ! you wont, my beauty ;
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 295 
 
 because I shall kill you, and your disap- 
 pearance will, like the king's ships, be 
 set down to the score of these pestilent 
 English, who have come hither to turn 
 our Brittany upside down. Besides, who 
 knows that /have carried you off?" 
 
 " And you will kill me — I, who never 
 harmed you in thought, in word, or 
 deed ?" said she, with a shudder. 
 
 " Yes," he hissed through his clenched 
 
 teeth. 
 
 "Oh, horror! Will no one rescue 
 
 me?" 
 
 " Qui I Sacre! Kill you quietly and 
 secretly, even as I killed quietly and 
 surely the English captain of the Chevaux 
 Legers in the wood near Cancalle yes- 
 terday." 
 
 I started on hearing this, for the as- 
 sassin of poor Captain Brook of the 
 11th was now covered by the muzzle of
 
 296 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 my weapon. The speaker was a tall, 
 rawboned fellow, whose form exhibited 
 great strength and stature ; he had a 
 shambling gait, and a dirty visage of a 
 very bilious complexion. His hair was 
 black and shaggy ; he had dark lack- 
 lustre eyes and large, fierce, blubberlike 
 lips, yellowed as his broken fangs were by 
 coarse tobacco juice. I had somewhere 
 before seen this hideous face, the features 
 of which gradually came to view as the 
 increasing light stole gradually through 
 the mulberry wood. How was it that 
 this countenance, so pale and repulsive, 
 the forehead which receded like that of a 
 hound, the immense frontal bones, and 
 the square jaw like that of a tiger, were 
 in some sort not unfamiliar to me ? 
 
 Though torn and in wild disorder, the 
 dress of his prisoner, grey silk brocaded 
 with white, evinced that she was of some
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 297 
 
 rank, and her arms, which her tattered 
 sleeves displayed almost to the shoulder, 
 were beautiful in form and of exceeding 
 delicacy. 
 
 " Nombril de Belzebub /" said he, sud- 
 denly, as he ground his teeth. " Come, 
 come, we've had enough of this. Let us 
 begone, lest those English wolves 
 return." 
 
 Then the girl uttered a pitiful cry, as 
 his huge knotty hand grasped her slender 
 wrists. 
 
 "Kill me now!" she implored; "for 
 mercy's sake, kill me now 1" 
 
 " By no means, my beauty — you must 
 first see the black dingles of Hunandaye. 
 I may kiss you as often as you please, 
 but as for killing, until I weary of you, 
 pardieu! there is no chance of that." 
 
 He was now proceeding to drag her 
 along the ground, when I rushed forward,
 
 298 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 and by a blow of my sword, felled the 
 savage to the ground. A small cap of 
 thick fur which he wore saved him from 
 being cut, but not from the weight of a 
 stunning blow. 
 
 With a dreadful Breton oath he 
 leaped up, and with uplifted cudgel was 
 springing on me, when on seeing my 
 levelled pistol he paused and shrunk back, 
 with a terrible expression of baffled rage 
 and ferocity in his eyes. 
 
 Judge then of my astonishment on 
 recognising in this hideous fellow the 
 pretended French deserter, the spy, 
 Theophile Damien or Hautois, whom I 
 had met at Portsmouth — whom I had 
 seen run up to the yardarm of the Ussex, 
 and from thence consigned to the deep 
 with a cold thirty-two pound shot at his 
 heels !
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 299 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 JACQUELINE. 
 
 Had this man a charmed life ? was he a 
 vampire, a devil, or what ? thought I, as 
 we surveyed each other, and I have no 
 doubt he recognised me, as he had seen 
 me thrice before. I released the lady's 
 hands from the handkerchief which bound 
 them, and then raised her from the 
 ground. 
 
 Hautois again lifted his bludgeon 
 menacingly, but lowered it when I levelled 
 my pistol straight at his head. 
 
 " Pass on, fellow — begone," said I, " or 
 I shall pistol you without mercy. After 
 our work last night, you cannot imagine
 
 300 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 that taking a Frenchman's life — especially 
 yours — is a matter of much importance 
 to me." 
 
 " Sangdieu!" he growled, "what busi- 
 ness have you to interfere here ?" 
 
 " Business — rascal !" 
 
 "Yes — this woman is my wife, who 
 wishes to run away from me." 
 
 " Oh, horror! oh, absurdity!" exclaimed 
 the young lady, as she gathered her dark 
 hair back from her face with her pretty 
 hands, and shrunk close to me. 
 
 " Sangdieu — yes, my wife, I tell you," 
 shouted the fellow, with a hand on the 
 couieau de cltasse in his girdle ; but I 
 replied — 
 
 " I have overheard enough to prove that 
 you lie, villain ; so begone at once, I say, 
 or be punished as you deserve. Come, 
 madam, permit me to assist you ; my 
 horse is close by, and from our camp at
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 301 
 
 Parame you shall have a safe escort to 
 your home." 
 
 She took my proffered hand with a 
 very mingled or doubtful expression of 
 face, for I was a stranger, a soldier, an 
 enemy ; but she had only a choice of evils, 
 and knew that probably she could not 
 fall into worse hands than those from 
 which I took her. Then as I was leading 
 her away, with her dark eyes fixed in 
 terror and aversion on Hautois, she uttered 
 a shrill cry which made me start and turn 
 round ; and I did so just in time to escape 
 a deadly thrust aimed at my back. In- 
 deed, the sharp blade of the couteau de 
 chasse passed through my coat, grazing 
 my left ribs, and almost severing my buff 
 waist-belt. 
 
 Exasperated by this, I resolved to pistol 
 the ruffian at once, and shot him through 
 the jaws. On this, he fell on his face,
 
 302 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 wallowing in blood, and rolled among the 
 long grass, with his hands pressed npon 
 the wound in each cheek. The wretch 
 was only wounded, however, not killed. 
 The girl whom I had rescued was fainting 
 with terror at this scene, so I hurried her 
 off to where my horse still stood quietly 
 by the wayside well. 
 
 Day had completely broken now, and I 
 could perceive that my fair companion was 
 undoubtedly a young lady of great beauty 
 and polished manners. She was ghastly 
 pale, doubtless with the terrors of the past 
 night, and the extreme darkness of her hair 
 and eyes served but to increase, by con- 
 trast, the pallor of her complexion. Her 
 hands, which were without gloves, proved 
 her high breeding and delicate nurture, 
 by their charming form and whiteness. 
 The morning air was chill and damp, for 
 the dews of night yet gemmed every leaf
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 303 
 
 and blade of grass ; and she shuddered 
 with cold or fear, for she was without a 
 head-dress, and her general attire was 
 rather thin and scanty. 
 
 " You will permit me," said I, taking 
 the cloak from my saddle and wrapping it 
 round her ; " and now say, to where can I 
 escort you?" 
 
 " Not to the British camp, if possible, 
 I pray you," she replied, while beginning 
 to weep freely. 
 
 " I dare not be absent long," said I ; 
 " my duty leads me there, and by strag- 
 gling, or loitering here " 
 
 " True — true, a/k, mon Dieu ! how selfish 
 of me ! you risk your life, perhaps, at the 
 hands of our exasperated peasantry." 
 
 " Madam, I risk my life daily for a 
 trooper's pay," said I, smiling : " so freely 
 may I peril it for one so — so lovely as 
 you.
 
 304 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 She coloured at this reply, and drew 
 back, on which I added, with a low bow, 
 while my cheek reddened also — 
 " Pardon me — I forget myself." 
 " This is not the bearing or the lan- 
 guage of an English private soldier," said 
 she, approaching me again, placing her 
 pretty hand upon my arm, and looking 
 pleadingly in my face. 
 
 " Madam, though but a simple soldat — 
 tin Ecossais Gris, I am a gentleman, and 
 have never done aught to disgrace my 
 name." 
 
 " Then you will protect me, sir, will 
 you not ?" 
 
 " As I have already done, at the peril 
 of my life." 
 
 " And not take me to the camp ?" 
 " Not if safer shelter can be found." 
 " Even if I tell you who I am ?" she 
 continued, with a proud smile.
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 305 
 
 " Yes ; but who " 
 
 " I am the daughter of a French sol- 
 dier." 
 
 " Thus you have an additional claim on 
 my honour, madam." 
 
 " Mademoiselle — I am unmarried," she 
 urged, with the faintest approach to 
 coquetry in her dark eyes. 
 
 " And the daughter of a soldier, say 
 you? 
 
 " Le Marechal Due de Broglie." 
 
 " Wlio now commands in Germany ?" 
 I continued, with growing interest. 
 
 " The same, monsieur." 
 
 The scrap of conversation I had over- 
 heard between Captain Lindsay and Cornet 
 Keith, during the night march, now 
 flashed upon my memory. 
 
 " Pray tell no one else who you are," 
 said I, hurriedly, while looking around 
 me. 
 
 vol. i. x
 
 306 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 " Pourquoi, monsieur?" she asked, with 
 almost hauteur. 
 
 "Because I heard an officer of rank 
 say, that he would give a hundred 
 and fifty English guineas to have you 
 taken prisoner, and sent to London as a 
 trophy." 
 
 She trembled and shrunk back on 
 hearing this, lifting up her white hands 
 dejDrecatingly. 
 
 " Oh be not alarmed, Mademoiselle de 
 Broglie," said I, " for I would rather die 
 than betray you." 
 
 " And how much may this reward be 
 in French money ?" 
 
 " About two thousand livres." 
 
 " Two thousand livres," she exclaimed, 
 with a haughty laugh and a flashing eye ; 
 "they hold me cheap, indeed, who offer 
 this i" 
 
 f< Pardon me, mademoiselle," said I,
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 307 
 
 anxiously, " but I have no time to lose in 
 having you conveyed to a place of safety. 
 If absent from morning roll call, ray 
 punishment will not be slight. The 
 
 peasantry have all fled inland " 
 
 " But surely in some farmhouse or 
 cottage I may find shelter." 
 
 " How comes it to pass the ruffian 
 Hautois is still alive ?" I asked, as we 
 walked along the road with the bridle of 
 my horse over my arm. " He was cast into 
 the sea from the yard-arm of our commo- 
 dore's ship, with a cannon shot at hisheels." 
 "From which the shot parted, by the rope 
 giving way, as he sank into the water." 
 " Parted ?" 
 
 " Out, monsieur ; so he told me ; and 
 thereupon lie immediately rose to the 
 surface and swam to the shore, while his 
 less fortunate companion was instantly 
 drowned." 
 
 x 2
 
 30S SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 " And how came you to be in his 
 power ? pardon my curiosity." 
 
 "It is most natural ; I shall tell you, 
 monsieur. Fearing that the province was 
 to be overrun by your troops, we left our 
 Chateau of Bourgneuf " 
 
 
 " We, mademoiselle V 
 
 " My aunt, Madame de Bourgneuf, and 
 myself, to take shelter in the city of St. 
 Malo ; but our carriage arrived at St. 
 Solidore too late last night, and Captain 
 de Boisomiller, commandant of the re- 
 doubt at Cancalle " 
 
 " Ah, that little redouot cost us some 
 trouble." 
 
 ••' Gave us his own residence. You 
 know what ensued. Cannon shot fell 
 through the roof of the house, on which 
 my aunt, our servants, and I rushed forth 
 into the streets, and were separated by a 
 crowd ot terrified fugitives. Ignorant
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 309 
 
 alike whither to turn my steps, or where 
 to seek shelter, while shells were bursting, 
 flaming rockets and hand-grenades flying 
 about in every direction, I rushed into a 
 lonely alley, where I met a man who, by 
 his attire, seemed to be one of our Breton 
 peasantry — a woodcutter ; but ah, mon 
 Dieu! he proved to be that wretch, 
 Theophile Hautois. Politely enough he 
 offered to conduct me to a place of safety, 
 and led me from St. Solidore, away out 
 into the fields, where the country wa^ 
 open and lonely. There he spoke of love, 
 and attempted to kiss and caress me ; but 
 I resisted, though sinking with terror, 
 and struck him in the face with my 
 clenched hand. Then he grew enraged, 
 and tying my wrists, dragged me into that 
 mulberry grove, where heaven surely sent 
 you to my rescue." 
 
 " I am, indeed, most fortunate in having
 
 310 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 been of such service to you, mademoiselle ; 
 and I shall ever remember with pride that 
 I have seen and had the honour of speak- 
 ing with a daughter of the great Marshal 
 de Broglie, the hero of Sangerhausen." 
 
 She bowed and coloured with 'pleasure; 
 but when the sound of wheels was heard, 
 she clasped her hands and exclaimed — 
 
 " Ah, mon Bleu, how fortunate ! Now, 
 my kind friend, you shall be relieved of all 
 further trouble with me, for here comes 
 good and kind Father Celestine, le Cure of 
 St. Solidore." 
 
 While she spoke, a dhobligeant (as those 
 small chaises which hold only one person 
 are not incorrectly named in France) was 
 driven rapidly along the road ; but the 
 driver pulled up when my companion 
 called to him by name : 
 
 "Jacquot — Jacquot Tricot — where is 
 M. le Cure?"
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 311 
 
 "Here, mademoiselle. Oh, Clemen tis- 
 sime Jesu / what has happened ? how are 
 you here ? — who is this man ? — why in 
 such company ? and who has dared — 
 what has he done to you ? my dear child, 
 Jacqueline, what is the meaning of all 
 this?" cried an old gentleman, all in a 
 breath, as he opened the door of the desobli- 
 (jeant and sprang agilely out. As he 
 approached us, hat in hand, and bowing 
 low at every pace, I could see that he was 
 a fine looking old man — a priest, evidently, 
 as he wore a black silk soutan, with at 
 least fifty little buttons in front ; he wore 
 also a tippet and small gold cross, and had 
 his white hair tied behind by a black 
 ribbon. His pale countenance was mdil 
 and pleasing, though he surveyed me with 
 an expression of eye which evinced that 
 he had no particular desire to cultivate 
 my acquaintance ; and maitre Jacquot from
 
 312 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 his box regarded me with undisguised 
 animosity and alarm. 
 
 " Ah, dearest Pere Celestine," said the 
 young lady, clasping his proffered hand 
 between both of hers, " I have been saved 
 from great peril by this kind soldier ; but 
 take me away with you — oh, take me away 
 — and I shall tell you all about it." 
 
 " Kind — ha — hum. Monsieur le Soldat, 
 I thank you/' said the Cure, making a bow 
 so profound, that a cloud of hair-powder 
 flew about his head, and his little cocked 
 hat, which he was too polite to assume 
 before a lady, swept the road in his right 
 hand ; " from my soul I thank you, for 
 Mademoiselle Jacqueline is my dearest 
 child." 
 
 " Have I the honour of addressing " 
 
 I began, for this phraseology bewildered 
 me. 
 
 " Le Pere Celestine," said Mademoiselle
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 313 
 
 de Broglie ; "so I am now in perfect 
 safety, thanks to your kindness and 
 courage, monsieur ; and now permit me 
 to offer you that reward which any soldier 
 may accept without reproach." 
 
 She drew a ring from her finger, and 
 placed it in my hand, saying, with a bright 
 coquettish smile — 
 
 " There is a language of precious stones, 
 as well as of beautiful flowers, and if 
 learned in such matters, you will know 
 what this srem is significant of." 
 
 The old clergyman waved his hat, and 
 laughed with great good humour, while 
 the graceful girl bowed to me again and 
 again as he handed her into the des- 
 obligeant and shut the door. The Cure 
 then placed his hat on his head, for the 
 first time during our interview, and with 
 true French gallantry sprang on the 
 narrow footboard behind his little carriage,
 
 314 SECOND TO NONE. 
 
 which was rapidly driven off, Jacquot 
 evincing, by his lavish use of the whip, 
 his desire to place as great a distance as 
 possible between himself and me. 
 
 The whole affair was like a dream. I 
 placed the ring on my smallest finger, and 
 thought with delight of the lovely little 
 hand from which it had just been drawn. 
 I gave a lingering glance after the fast- 
 retreating dhohligeant, which was bowling 
 along the road towards the ruined village 
 of St. Solidore, and then, springing into 
 ray saddle, galloped in the direction of our 
 camp, the white tents of which were 
 shining in the rising sun, as they dotted 
 the southern slope of the hills of Parame. 
 
 The stone was a fine emerald. 
 
 " Of what is it significant ?" thought 
 I, remembering her words and her charm- 
 ing smile. 
 
 Charters, whom I met with three
 
 SECOND TO NONE. 315 
 
 mounted Greys, coming in search of me, 
 by order of the adjutant, told me that, 
 " according to an old superstition, the 
 emerald was supposed to ensure success in 
 love." 
 
 Be that as it may, this gift of Jacqueline 
 de Broglie has yet an important part to 
 play in the story of my adventures. 
 
 END OF VOL. I. 
 
 CD 
 
 en 
 o 
 en 
 ro 
 
 CO
 
 LONDON: 
 
 8AVILL AND EDWARDS, PRINTERS 
 
 CHANDOS-STEEET.
 
 mis book is DUE on the last date stamped below 
 
 -.•muj
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 L 007 449 204 2 
 
 
 SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARV ' FAGOTY 
 
 AA 000 369 656 4