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SERGEANT JULIAN WVAl'J RECEiVES THE CROSS OF THE 
 LEGION OF HONOUR. 
 
THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 A STORY OF 
 
 NAPOLEON'S RETREAT FROM MOSCOW 
 
 BY 
 
 G. A. HENTY 
 
 Author of "Beric the Briton," "One of the 28th," "Condemned as a Nihilist,* 
 " For Name and Fame." " In the Heart of the Rockies." etc. 
 
 WITH EIGHT ILL US TR A TIONS BY IV. H. OVER END 
 
 AND THREE MAPS 
 
 NEW YORK 
 CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 
 
 1902 
 

 Copyright, 1895, by 
 CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SON* 
 
 &U 
 
 THE CAXTON PRESS 
 NEW YORK. 
 
lib 
 
 R5-*. 
 
 ) S<?5 
 
 PREFACE 
 
 There are few campaigns that, either in point of the im- 
 mense scale upon which it was undertaken, the completeness 
 of its failure, or the enormous loss of life entailed, appeal to 
 the imagination in so great a degree as that of Napoleon 
 against Russia. Fortunately, we have in the narratives of Sir 
 Robert Wilson, British commissioner with the Russian army, 
 and of Count Segur, who was upon Napoleon's staff, minute 
 descriptions of the events as seen by eye-witnesses, and be- 
 sides these the campaign has been treated fully by various mili- 
 tary writers. I have as usual avoided going into details of hor- 
 rors and of acts of cruelty and ferocity on both sides, surpassing 
 anything in modern warfare, and have given a mere outline of 
 the operations, with a full account of the stern fight at Smol- 
 ensk and the terrible struggle at Borodino. I would warn 
 those of my readers who may turn to any of the military works 
 for a further history of the campaign, that the spelling of Rus- 
 sian places and names varies so greatly in the accounts of dif- 
 ferent writers, that sometimes it is difficult to believe that the 
 same person or town is meant, and even in the narratives by 
 Sir Robert Wilson, and by Lord Cathcart, our ambassador at 
 St. Petersburg, who was in constant communication with him, 
 scarcely a name will be found similarly spelt. I mention this, 
 as otherwise much confusion might be caused by those who 
 may compare my story with some of these recognized author- 
 ities, or follow the incidents of the campaign upon maps of 
 Russia. 
 
 Yours sincerely, 
 
 G. A. HENTY. 
 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 I. Two Brothers, 
 
 II. Before the Justices, 
 
 III. In a Fresh Scrape, 
 
 IV. The Smuggler's Cave, 
 V. Following a Trail, 
 
 VI A Commission, . 
 
 VII. A French Prison, . 
 
 VIII. Pistol Practice, 
 
 IX. A Duel, . 
 
 X. Smolensk, . 
 
 XI. With the Russian Army, 
 
 XII. Borodino, . 
 
 XIII. With the Rear-guard, 
 
 XIV. Ney's Retreat, 
 
 XV. In Comfortable Quarters, 
 
 XVI. An Unexpected Meeting, 
 
 ii 
 SO 
 
 48 
 
 67 
 S4 
 103 
 122 
 140 
 153 
 177 
 195 
 213 
 242 
 263 
 292 
 309 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Sergeant Julian Wyatt receives the Cross of the Legion 
 
 of Honour, ...... Frontispiece^ 253 
 
 44 Mark my words, you young scoundrel, i will be even 
 
 WITH YOU YET," . . . .' 57 
 
 Julian finds himself a Prisoner among the Smugglers, . 64 
 
 " Captain Marshall's pistol fell to the ground, and he 
 
 staggered back a pace," 162 
 
 41 On the march little Stephanie often chose to be car- 
 
 ried on Julian's shoulder," 260 
 
 44 1 am the Countess Stephanie Woronski. I am glad to 
 
 see you," 278 
 
 The Last of a Veteran of Napoleon's Grande Armee, . 310 
 
 Julian introduces Stephanie to his Brother Frank, . 321 
 
 Map showing the Route of Napoleon's March to Moscow, . .180 
 
 Plan of the Battle of Smolensk, 186 
 
 Plan of the Battle of Borodino, ....... 214 
 
THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 TWO BROTH ERS 
 
 IHEN Colonel Wyatt died, all Weymouth agreed 
 that it was a most unfortunate thing for his sons 
 Julian and Frank. The loss of a father is always 
 a misfortune to lads, but it was more than usually 
 so in this case. They had lost their mother 
 years before, and Colonel Wyatt's sister had since kept house 
 for him. As a housekeeper she was an efficient substitute, as 
 a mother to the boys she was a complete failure. How she 
 ever came to be Colonel Wyatt's sister was a puzzle to all their 
 acquaintances. The Colonel was quick and alert, sharp and 
 decisive in speech, strong in his opinions, peremptory in his 
 manner, kindly at heart, but irascible in temper. Mrs. 
 Troutbeck was gentle and almost timid in manner ; report 
 said that she had had a hard time of it in her married life, 
 and that Troutbeck had frightened out of her any vestige of 
 spirit that she had ever possessed. Mrs. Troutbeck never 
 argued, and was always in perfect agreement with any opinion 
 expressed, a habit that was constantly exciting the wrath and 
 indignation of her brother. 
 
 The idea of controlling the boys never once entered her 
 
 ii 
 
12 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 mind. So long as the Colonel was alive there was no occasion 
 for such control, and in this respect she did not attempt after 
 his death to fill his place. It seemed, indeed, that she simply 
 transferred her allegiance from the Colonel to them. Whatever 
 they did was right in her eyes, and they were allowed to do 
 practically whatever they pleased. There was a difference in 
 age of three years and a half between the brothers ; Julian at 
 the time of his father's death being sixteen, while Frank was 
 still a few months short of thirteen. Casual acquaintances 
 often remarked that there was a great likeness between them ; 
 •and, indeed, both were pleasant-looking lads with somewhat 
 fair complexions, their brown hair having a tendency to stand 
 up in a tuft on the forehead, while both had grey eyes, and 
 square foreheads. Mrs. Troutbeck was always ready to assent 
 to the remark as to their likeness, but would gently qualify it 
 by saying that it did not strike her so much as it did other 
 people. 
 
 "Their dispositions are quite different," she said, "and 
 knowing them as I do, I see the same differences in their 
 faces." 1 
 
 Any close observer would, indeed, have recognized it at 
 once. Both faces were pleasant, but while Julian's wore an 
 expression of easy good temper, and a willingness to please and 
 to be pleased, there was a lack of power and will in the lower 
 part of the face ; there was neither firmness in the mouth nor 
 determination in the chin. Upon the other hand^ except 
 when smiling or talking, Frank's lips were closely pressed to- 
 gether, and his square chin and jaw clearly indicated firmness of 
 will and tenacity of purpose. Julian was his aunt's favourite, 
 and was one of the most popular boys at his school. He liked 
 being popular, and as long as it did not put him to any great 
 personal trouble was always ready to fall in with any propo- 
 sal, to take part in every prank, to lend or give money if he 
 had it in his pocket, to sympathize with any one in trouble. 
 
TWO BROTHERS 13 
 
 " He has the most generous disposition of any boy I ever 
 saw!" his aunt would frequently declare. "He's always 
 ready to oblige. No matter what he is doing, he will throw 
 it aside in a moment if I want anything done, or ask him to 
 o-o on an errand into the town. Frank is very nice, he is 
 very kind and all that sort of thing, but he goes his own way 
 more, and I don't find him quite so willing to oblige as 
 Julian; but then, of course, he is much younger, and one 
 can't expect a boy of twelve to be as thoughtful to an old 
 woman as a young fellow of nearly seventeen." 
 
 As time went on the difference in their characters became 
 still more marked. Julian had left school a year after his 
 father's death, and had since been doing nothing in particu- 
 lar. He had talked vaguely of going into the army, and his 
 father's long services would have given him a claim for a 
 commission had he decided upon writing to ask for one, but 
 Julian could never bring himself to decide upon anything. 
 Had there been an old friend of his father's at hand ready to 
 settle the matter for him he would have made no opposition 
 whatever, but his aunt was altogether opposed to the idea, and 
 so far from urging him to move in the matter she was always 
 ready to say, whenever it happened to be mentioned, " There 
 is no hurry, my dear Julian. We hear terrible stories of the 
 hardships that the soldiers suffer in Spain ; and although, if 
 you decide upon going, of course I can't say no, still there 
 can be no hurry about it." 
 
 This was quite Julian's own opinion. He was very comfort- 
 able where he was. He was his own master, and could do as 
 he liked. He was amply supplied with pocket-money by his 
 aunt ; he was fond of sailing, fishing, and shooting ; and as 
 he was a general favourite among the boatmen and fishermen 
 he was able to indulge in his fondness for the sea to as large 
 an extent as he pleased, though it was but seldom that he had 
 a chance of a day's shooting. Julian had other tastes of a less 
 
14 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 healthy character; he was fond of billiards and of society, he 
 had a fine voice and a taste for music, and the society he 
 chose was not that most calculated to do him good. He 
 spent less and less of his time at home, and rarely returned of 
 an evening until the other members of the household were in 
 bed. Whatever his aunt thought of the matter she never re- 
 monstrated with him, and was always ready to make the ex- 
 cuse to herself, " I can't expect a fine young fellow like that 
 to be tied to an old woman's apron-strings. Young men will 
 be young men, and it is only natural that he should find it 
 dull at home." 
 
 When Julian arrived at the age of nineteen it was tacitly 
 understood that the idea of his going into the army had been 
 altogether dropped, and that when a commission was asked 
 for, it would be for Frank. Although Julian was still her 
 favourite, Mrs. Troutbeck was more favourably disposed 
 towards Frank than of old . She knew from her friends that 
 he was quite as popular among his schoolmates as his brother 
 had been, although in a different way. He was a hard and 
 steady worker, but he played as hard as he worked, and was 
 a leader in every game. He, however, could say " no " with 
 a decision that was at once recognized as being final, and was 
 never to be persuaded into joining in any forbidden amuse- 
 ment or to take share in any mischievous adventure. When 
 his own work was done he was always willing to give a quarter 
 of an hour to assist any younger lad who found his lessons too 
 hard for him, and though he was the last boy to whom any 
 one would think of applying for a loan of money, he would 
 give to the extent of his power in any case where a subscrip- 
 tion was raised for a really meritorious purpose. 
 
 Thus when the school contributed a handsome sum towards 
 a fund that was being raised for the relief of the families of the 
 fishermen who had been lost, when four of their boats were 
 wrecked in a storm, no one except the boys who got up the 
 
TWO BROTHERS 15 
 
 collection knew that nearly half the amount for which the 
 school gained credit came from the pocket of Frank Wyatt. 
 
 The brothers, though differing so widely in disposition, 
 were very fond of each other. In his younger years Frank 
 had looked up to his big brother as a sort of hero, and Julian's 
 good-nature and easy-going temper led him to be always 
 kind to his young brother, and to give him what he valued 
 most — assistance at his lessons and a patient attention to all 
 his difficulties. As the years went on, Frank came to per- 
 ceive clearly enough the weak points in his brother's char- 
 acter, and with his usual outspokenness sometimes remon- 
 strated with him strongly. 
 
 " It is horrible to see a fellow like you wasting your life as 
 you do, Julian. If you don't care for the army, why don't 
 you do something else ? I should not care what it was, so 
 that it but gave you something to occupy yourself, and if it 
 took you out of here, all the better. You know that you are 
 not doing yourself any good." 
 
 "I am not doing myself any harm, you young beggar," 
 Julian replied good temperedly. 
 
 " I don't know, Julian," the boy said sturdily ; " you are 
 not looking half as well as you used to do. I am sure late 
 hours don't suit you, and there is no good to be got out of 
 billiards. I know the sort of fellows you meet there are not 
 the kind to do you any good, or that father would have liked 
 to see you associate with if he had been alive. Just ask your- 
 self honestly if you think he would. If you can say ' yes,' I 
 will shut up and say no more about it ; but can you say 
 'yes'?" 
 
 Julian was silent. "I don't know that I can," he said 
 after a pause. " There is no harm in any of them that I 
 know of, but I suppose that in the way you put it, they are 
 not the set father would have fancied, with his strict notions. 
 I have thought of giving it up a good many times, but it is an 
 
16 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 awkward thing, when you are mixed up with a lot of fellows, 
 to drop them without any reason." 
 
 " You have only got to say that you find late hours don't 
 agree with you, and that you have made up your mind to cut 
 it altogether. ' ' 
 
 " That is all very well for you, Frank, and I will do you 
 justice to say that if you determined to do a thing, you would 
 do it without minding what any one said." 
 
 " Without minding what any one I did not care for, said," 
 Frank interrupted. " Certainly; why should I heed a bit 
 what people I do not care for say, so long as I feel that I am 
 doing what is right." 
 
 " I wish I were as strong-willed as you are, Frank," Julian 
 said rather ruefully, " then I should not have to put up with 
 being bullied by a young brother." 
 
 " You are too good tempered, Julian," Frank said, almost 
 angrily. " Here are you, six feet high and as strong as a 
 horse, and with plenty of brain for anything, just wasting your 
 life. Look at the position father held here, and ask yourself 
 how many of his old friends do you know. Why, rather 
 than go on as you are doing, I would enlist and go out to the 
 Peninsula and fight the French. That would put an end to 
 all this sort of thing, and you could come back again and 
 start afresh. You will have money enough for anything you 
 like. You come into half father's ^16,000 when you come 
 of age, and I have no doubt that you will have Aunt's 
 money. ' ' 
 
 "Why should I?" Julian asked in a more aggrieved tone 
 than he had hitherto used. 
 
 "Because you are her favourite, Julian, and quite right 
 that you should be. You have always been awfully good to 
 her, and that is one reason why I hate you to be out of an 
 evening ; for although she never says a word against you, and 
 certainly would not hear any one else do so, I tell you it 
 
TWO BROTHERS 17 
 
 gives me the blues to see her face as she sits there listening 
 for your footsteps. ' ' 
 
 "It is a beastly shame, and I will give it up, Frank ; 
 honour bright, I will." 
 
 " That is right, old fellow ; I knew you would if you could 
 only once peep in through the window of an evening and see 
 her face. ' ' 
 
 "As for her money," Julian went on, "if she does not 
 divide it equally between us, I shall, you may be sure." 
 
 " I sha'n't want it," Frank said decidedly. " You know 
 I mean to go into the army, and with the interest of my 
 own money I shall have as much as I shall possibly want, and 
 if I had more it would only bother me, and do me harm in 
 my profession. With you it is just the other way. You are 
 the head of the family, and as Father's son ought to take a 
 good place. You could buy an estate and settle down on it, 
 and what with its management, and with horses and hunting 
 and shooting, you would be just in your element." 
 
 " Well, we will see about it when the time comes. I am 
 sure I hope the old lady will be with us for a long time yet. 
 She is as kind-hearted a soul as ever lived, though it would 
 have been better for me, no doubt, if she held the reins a 
 little tighter. Well, anyhow, Frank, I will cut the billiards 
 altogether. ' ' 
 
 They exchanged a silent grip of the hand on the promise, 
 and Julian, looking more serious than usual, put on his hat 
 and went out. There was a curious reversal of the usual re- 
 lations between the brothers. Julian, although he always 
 laughed at his young brother's assumption of the part of 
 mentor, really leant upon his stronger will, and as often as 
 not, even if unconsciously, yielded to his influence, while 
 Frank's admiration for his brother was heightened by the un- 
 failing good temper with which the latter received his re- 
 monstrances and advice. "He is an awfully good fellow," 
 
18 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 he said to himself when Julian left the room. " Anyone else 
 would have got into a rage at my interference ; but he has 
 only one fault ; he can't say no, and that is at the root of 
 everything. I can't understand myself why a fellow finds it 
 more difficult to say no than to say yes. If it is right to do a 
 thing one does it, if it is not right one leaves it alone, and 
 the worst one has to stand, if you don't do what other fellows 
 want, is a certain amount of chaff, and that hurts no one." 
 
 Frank, indeed, was just as good tempered as Julian, although 
 in an entirely different way. He had never been known to 
 be in a passion, but put remonstrance and chaff aside quietly, 
 and went his own way without being in the slightest degree 
 affected by them. 
 
 Julian kept his promise, and was seen no more in the 
 billiard saloon. Fortunately for him the young fellows with 
 whom he was in the habit of playing were all townsmen, 
 clerks, the sons of the richer tradesmen, or of men who owned 
 fishing-boats or trading vessels, and others of that class — not, 
 indeed, as Frank had said, the sort of men whom Colonel 
 Wyatt would have cared for his son to have associated with — 
 but harmless young fellows who frequented the billiard-rooms 
 as a source of amusement and not of profit, and who therefore 
 had no motive for urging Julian to play. To Mrs. Trout- 
 beck's delight he now spent four or five evenings at home, 
 only going out for an hour to smoke a pipe and to have a chat 
 with the fishermen. Once or twice a week he would be 
 absent all night, going out, as he told his aunt, for a night's 
 fishing, and generally returning in the morning with half a 
 dozen mackerel or other fish as his share of the night's 
 work. 
 
 Sometimes he would ask Frank to accompany him, and the 
 latter, when he had no particular work on hand, would do so, 
 and thoroughly enjoyed the sport. 
 
 Smuggling was at the time carried on extensively, and no- 
 
TWO BROTHERS 19 
 
 where more actively than between Weymouth and Exmouth 
 on the one hand, and Swanage on the other. Consequently, 
 in spite of the vigilance of the revenue men, cargoes were 
 frequently run. The long projection of Chesil Beach and 
 Portland afforded a great advantage to the smugglers ; and 
 Lieutenant Downes, who commanded the revenue cutter 
 Boxer, had been heard to declare that he would gladly sub- 
 scribe a year's pay if a channel could be cut through the 
 beach. Even when he obtained information that a cargo was 
 likely to be run to the west, unless the winds and tides were 
 alike propitious, it took so long a time to get round Portland 
 Bill that he was certain to arrive too late to interfere with 
 the landing, while, at times, an adverse wind and the ter- 
 rors of the "race" with its tremendous current and angry 
 waves would keep the Boxer lying for days to the west of the 
 Island, returning to Weymouth only to hear that during her 
 absence a lugger had landed her cargo somewhere to the 
 east. 
 
 " Job himself would have lost his temper if he had been a 
 revenue officer at Weymouth," Lieutenant Downes would ex- 
 claim angrily. "Why, sir, I would rather lie for three 
 months off the mouth of an African river looking for slavers, 
 than be stationed at Weymouth in search of smuggling craft, 
 for a month ; it is enough to wear a man to a thread-paper. 
 Half the coast population seem to me to be in alliance with 
 these rascals, and I am so accustomed to false information 
 now, that as a rule when one of my men gets a hint that a 
 cargo is going to be run near Swanage I start at once for the 
 west, knowing well enough that wherever the affair is to come 
 off it certainly will not be within ten miles of the point 
 named. Even in Weymouth itself the sympathy of the popu- 
 lation lies rather with the smugglers than the revenue men." 
 
 The long war with France had rendered brandy, French 
 wines, lace, and silks fabulously dear, and the heavy duties 
 
20 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 charged reduced to a minimum the legitimate traffic that 
 might otherwise have been carried on; therefore, even well- 
 to-do people favoured the men who brought these luxuries to 
 their doors, at a mere fraction of the price that they would 
 otherwise have had to pay for them. Then, too, there was an 
 element of romance in the career of a smuggler who risked his 
 life every day, and whose adventures, escapes, and fights with 
 the revenue men were told round every fireside. The revenue 
 officer was not far wrong when he said that the greater por- 
 tion of the population round the coast, including all classes, 
 were friendly to, if not in actual alliance with, the smugglers. 
 Julian was well aware that many of the fishermen with whom 
 he went out often lent a hand to the smugglers in landing 
 their goods and taking them inland, or in hiding them in 
 caves in the cliffs known only to the smugglers and themselves. 
 He had heard many stories from them of adventures in which 
 they had been engaged, and the manner in which, by showing 
 signal lights from the sea, they had induced the revenue men 
 to hurry to the spot at which they had seen a flash, and so 
 to leave the coast clear for the landing of the goods. 
 
 " It must be great fun," he said one day. " I must say I 
 should like to take part in running a cargo, for once." 
 
 ''Well, Master Julian, there would not be much difficulty 
 about that, if so be you really mean it. We can put you up 
 to it easy enough, but you know, sir, it isn't all fun. Some- 
 times the revenue men come down upon us in spite of all the 
 pains we take to throw them off the scent. Captain Downes 
 is getting that artful that one is never sure whether he has 
 been got safely away or not. A fortnight ago he pretty nigh 
 came down on a lugger that was landing a cargo in Lulworth 
 Cove. We thought that it had all been managed well. Word 
 had gone round that the cargo was to be run there, and the 
 morning before, a woman went on to the cliffs and got in talk 
 with one of the revenue men. She let out, as how her husband 
 
TWO BROTHERS 21 
 
 had been beating her, and she had made up her mind to pay 
 him out. There was going, she said, to be a cargo run that 
 night at a point half way between Weymouth and Lyme Regis. 
 
 " I know she did the part well, as she acted it on three or 
 four of us afterwards, and the way she pretended to be in a 
 passion and as spiteful as a cat, would have taken any fellow 
 in. In course the revenue chap asked her what her name was 
 and where she lived, and I expect they did not find her when 
 they looked for her afterwards in the place she told him. He 
 wanted her to go with him to the officer of the station, but she 
 said that she would never do that, for if it got to be known 
 that she had peached about it, it would be as much as her life 
 was worth. Well, a boy who was watching saw the revenue 
 chap go off, as soon as she was out of sight, straight to the 
 coast-guard station, and ten minutes later the officer in charge 
 there set off for Weymouth. 
 
 " The boy followed and he saw him go on board the Boxer. 
 Directly afterwards Captain Downes came ashore with him 
 and had a long talk with the chief of the coast-guard there ; 
 then he went on board again, and we all chuckled when we 
 saw the Boxer get up her anchor, set all sail, make out to 
 Portland, and go round the end of the rock. Two hours later 
 a look-out on the hills saw her bearing out to sea to the south- 
 west, meaning, in course, to run into the bay after it was dark. 
 On shore the officer at Weymouth got a horse and rode along 
 the cliffs to the eastward. He stopped at each coast-guard 
 station, right on past Lul worth, and soon afterwards three 
 parts of the men at each of them turned out and marched 
 away west. 
 
 "We thought that we had fooled them nicely, and that 
 evening: half a dozen of our boats sailed into Lulworth har- 
 bour and anchored there quiet. One of them rowed ashore 
 and landed two hands to look round. They brought back 
 news as there were only two or three revenue men left at the 
 
22 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 station, and it would be easy enough to seize them and tie 
 them up till it was all over. In course, everything worked for 
 a bit just as we thought it would. The lugger we were ex- 
 pecting showed her light in the offing and was signalled that 
 the coast was clear. It was a dark night, and the two revenue 
 men on duty in the cove were seized and tied up by some of 
 the shore band without a blow being struck. Two or three 
 chaps were placed at the door of the station, so that if the two 
 men left there turned out they would be gagged at once. 
 Everything was ready, and a big lot of carts came down to 
 the water's edge. The lugger anchored outside the cove ; we 
 got up our kedges and rowed out to her, and a dozen shore- 
 boats did the same. As soon as we got alongside they began 
 to bundle the kegs in, when not three hundred yards away 
 came a hail, ' What craft is that ? ' 
 
 " It struck us all into a heap, and you could have heard a 
 pin drop. Then came the hail again, ' If you don't answer I 
 will sink you,' whereupon the skipper of the lugger shouted 
 out, ' the Jennie of Portsmouth.' < Lend a hand, lads, with 
 the sails,' he whispered to us; 'slip the cable, Tom.' We 
 ran up the sails in a jiffy, you may be sure, and all the sharper 
 that, as they were half-way up, four guns flashed out. One 
 hulled the lugger, the others flew overhead. Close as they 
 were they could not have seen us, for we could scarce see 
 them and we were under the shadow of the cliffs, but I suppose 
 they fired at the voices. 'Sink the tubs, lads,' the skipper 
 said as the lugger glided away from us. There was a nice 
 little air blowing off shore, and she shot away into the dark- 
 ness in no time. We all rowed into the mouth of the cove 
 for shelter, and were only just in time, for a shower of grape 
 splashed the water up a few yards behind us. 
 
 "We talked it over for a minute or two, and settled that 
 the Boxer would be off after the lugger and would not pay 
 any more attention to us. Some of them were in favour of 
 
TWO BROTHERS 23 
 
 taking the kegs that we had got ashore, but the most of us 
 were agin that, and the captain himself had told us to sink 
 them, so we rowed out of the cove again and tied sinkers 
 to the kegs and lowered them down three or four hundred 
 yards west of the mouth of the cove. We went on board 
 our boats and the other chaps went on shore, and you may 
 guess we were not long in getting up our sails and creeping 
 out of the cove. It was half an hour after the first shots 
 were fired before we heard the Boxer at it again. I reckon 
 that in the darkness they could not make out whether the 
 lugger had kept along east or west under the cliffs, and I 
 expect they went the wrong way at first, and only found 
 her at last with their night-glasses when she was running out 
 to sea. 
 
 " Well, next morning we heard that the shore men had not 
 landed five minutes when there was a rush of forty or fifty 
 revenue men into the village. There ain't no doubt they had 
 only gone west to throw us off our guard, and, as soon as it 
 was dark, turned and went eastward. They could not have 
 known that the job was to come off at Lulworth, but were on 
 the look-out all along, and I reckon that it was the same with 
 the Boxer. She must have beaten back as soon as it was dark 
 enough for her not to be seen from the hills, and had been 
 crawling along on the look-out close to the shore, when she 
 may have caught sight of the lugger's signal. Indeed, we 
 heard afterwards that it called back the coast-guard men, for 
 they had passed Lulworth and were watching at a spot between 
 that and St. Alban's Head, where a cargo had been run a 
 month or two before, when they caught sight of the signal off 
 Lulworth. Well, you may guess they did not get much for 
 their pains. The carts had all made off as soon as they heard 
 the Boxer' s guns, and knew that the game was up, for the 
 night anyhow, and they found every light out in Lulworth, 
 and everyone, as it seemed, fast asleep. I believe, from what 
 
24 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 I have heard, that there was a great row afterwards between 
 Captain Downes and the revenue officer ashore. The chap 
 ashore would have it that it was all the captain's fault for 
 being in such a hurry, and that if he had waited an hour they 
 would have got all the carts with the cargo, even if he had 
 not caught the lugger. 
 
 " Well, that was true enough ; but I don't see that Downes 
 was to blame, for until he came along he could not be sure 
 where the lugger was, and indeed she was so close in under 
 the cliff that it is like enough he would have missed her 
 altogether and have gone on another two or three miles, if 
 it had not been that they caught the noise of the boats 
 alongside her taking in the kegs. The lugger got away all 
 right ; she is a fast craft, and though the Boxer can walk 
 along in a strong wind, in a light breeze the lugger had the 
 legs of her altogether. That shows you, Mr. Julian, that 
 Captain Downes has cut his eye-teeth, and that it is mighty 
 hard to fool him. He was never nearer making a good 
 capture than he was that night. The lugger ran her cargo 
 two nights afterwards at the very spot where the woman had 
 told the revenue man that she was going to do it. There was 
 a little bit of a fight, but the coast-guard were not strong 
 enough to do any good, and had to make off, and before they 
 could bring up anything like a strong force, every bale and keg 
 had been carried inland, and before morning there was scarce 
 a farmhouse within ten miles that had not got some of it 
 stowed away in their snug hiding-places. Downes will be 
 more vicious than ever after that job, and you see, master, 
 you are like to run a goodish risk of getting your head broke 
 and of being hauled off to jail. Still, if you would like to 
 join some night in a run we can put you in the way." 
 
 ''Yes, I should like it very much," Julian said. "There 
 can't be much risk, for there has not been anything like a 
 regular fight anywhere along this part of the coast for the 
 
TWO BROTHERS 25 
 
 last two years, and from what I have heard, there must have 
 been twenty cargoes run in that time." 
 
 • • All that, sir, all that ; nigher thirty, I should say. There 
 is three luggers at it reg'lar." 
 
 1 ' Are they French or English ? ' ' 
 
 "Two of them is French and one English, but the crews 
 are all mixed. They carry strong crews all of them, and a 
 longish gun in their sterns, so that in case they are chased they 
 may have a chance of knocking away a spar out of anything 
 after them. They would not fight if a cutter came up along- 
 side them — that might make a hanging matter of it, while if 
 none of the revenue chaps are killed it is only a case of long 
 imprisonment, though the English part of the crew generally 
 have the offer of entering on a king's ship instead, and most 
 of them take it. Life on board a man-of-war may not be a 
 pleasant one, but after all it is better than being boxed up in 
 a prison for years. Anyhow, that is the light in which 1 
 should look at it myself." 
 
 " I should think so," Julian agreed. " However, you see 
 there is no great risk in landing the kegs, for it is very seldom 
 you get so nearly caught as you did at Lulworth. Let me 
 know when the next affair is coming off, Bill, and if it is any- 
 where within a moderate distance of Weymouth I will go 
 with you if you will take me. Anyhow, whether I go or 
 not, you may be quite sure that I shall keep the matter to 
 myself." 
 
 " The most active chap about here," Bill said after he had 
 hauled his nets, and the boat was making her way back to 
 Weymouth, " is that Faulkner. He is a bitter bad one, he is. 
 Most of the magistrates about here don't trouble their heads 
 about smuggling, and if they find a keg of first class brandy 
 quite accidental any morning on their doorstep, they don't 
 ask where it comes from, but just put it down into their 
 cellars. Sometimes information gets sworn before them, and 
 
26 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 they has to let the revenue people know, but somehow or 
 other, I can't say how it is," and the fisherman gave a por- 
 tentous wink, " our fellows generally get some sort of an idea 
 that things ain't right, and the landing don't come off as 
 expected ; queer, ain't it ? But that fellow Faulkner, he ain't 
 like that. He worries hisself about the smugglers just about 
 as much as Captain Dowries does. He is just as hard on 
 smugglers as he is on poachers, and he is wonderful down on 
 them, he is. Do you know him, sir ? " 
 
 " I know him by sight. He is a big, pompous man ; his 
 place is about two miles up the valley, and there are some 
 large woods round it." 
 
 "That is so, sir; and they say as they are choke-full of 
 pheasants. He has a lot of keepers, and four years ago there 
 was a desperate fight there. Two keepers and three poachers 
 got shot, and two others were caught ; they were tried at the 
 'sizes for murder and hanged. He is a regular bully, he is, 
 but he ain't no coward. If he was he would never stir 
 out after sunset, but instead of that he is out night after 
 night on the cliffs, when there is any talk of a cargo 
 being run. He is known to carry pistols about with him, 
 and so though his life has been threatened many times, 
 nothing has ever come of it. One thing is, he has got a 
 big black horse, about the best horse there is in this part of 
 the country, and he always rides mighty fast down into the 
 town or up on to the cliffs, where he gets among the revenue 
 men, and in course he is safe enough. He was down with 
 that lot at Lulworth that night, and they say he cussed and 
 swore loud enough to be heard all over the village, when they 
 found that they had got there too late. He is a bitter bad 
 weed, is Faulkner." 
 
 " I know he is very unpopular even in the town," Julian 
 said. " He is the hardest magistrate on the bench, and if it 
 were not for the others not a man brought before him would 
 
TWO BROTHERS 27 
 
 ever get off. I have heard that he is very much disliked by 
 the other magistrates, and that some time ago, when he wanted 
 to join the club, they would not have him at any price. I 
 can't make out why a fellow should go out of his way to make 
 himself disliked. I can understand his being down on 
 poachers ; no one likes to be robbed, but the smuggling can- 
 not make any difference to him one way or the other." 
 
 "No; that is what we says. It don't concern him, 'cept 
 that magistrates are bound in a sort of way to see that the law 
 is not broken. But why shouldn't he do like the others and 
 go on his way quiet, onless he gets an information laid before 
 him, or a warning from the revenue people as he is wanted. 
 You mark my words, Master Julian, some night that chap will 
 get a bullet or a charge of shot in his body. ' ' 
 
 After this Julian went on more than one occasion with Bill 
 and other fishermen to look on at the landing of contraband 
 cargoes. If the distance was within a walk they would start 
 from Weymouth straight inland, and come down by the road 
 along which the carts were to fetch the goods up, for it was only 
 occasionally that the fishermen would take their boats. At Lul- 
 worth, of course, there had been no risk in their doing so, as 
 boats, when fishing to the east, would often make their way 
 into the cove and drop anchor there for a few hours. But 
 when the run was to be made at lonely spots, the sight of fish- 
 ing boats making in to anchor would have excited the sus- 
 picions of the coast-guard on the cliffs. The number of fish- 
 ermen who took part in the smugglers' proceedings was but 
 small. All of these had either brothers or other relations on 
 board the luggers, or were connected with some of the smug- 
 glers' confederates on shore. They received a handsome sum 
 for their night's work, which was at times very hard, as the 
 kegs had often to be carried up steep and dangerous paths to 
 the top of the cliffs, and then a considerable distance across 
 the downs to the nearest points the carts could come to. 
 
28 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 It was the excitement of the adventure, however, rather 
 than the pay, and the satisfaction derived from outwitting the 
 revenue men, that was the main attraction to the fishermen. 
 Julian took no share in the work. He went dressed in the 
 rough clothes he wore on the fishing excursions at night, and 
 heartily enjoyed the animated bustle of the scene, as scores of 
 men carrying kegs or bales on their backs, made their way up 
 some narrow ravine, silently laid down their loads beside the 
 carts and pack-horses, and then started back again for another 
 trip. He occasionally lent a hand to lash the kegs on either 
 side of the horses, or to lift a bale into the cart. No one ever 
 asked any question ; it was assumed that he was there with 
 one of the carts, and he recognized the wisdom of Bill's advice 
 the first time he went out. 
 
 "It is best not to speak till you are spoken to, Master 
 Julian ; there is more chaps there besides yourself, as are 
 thought to be sound asleep in their beds at Weymouth, and it 
 is just as well to keep yourself to yourself. There is never 
 no knowing when things may go wrong, and then it is as likely 
 as not that some one may peach, and the fewer names as comes 
 out the better. Now you mind, sir, if there is an alarm, and 
 the revenue chaps come down on us, you just make a bolt at 
 once. It ain't no business of yours, one way or the other. 
 You ain't there to make money or to get hold of cheap 
 brandy ; you just go to look on and amuse yourself, and all 
 you have got to do is to make off as hard as you can go di- 
 rectly there is an alarm. Everyone else does the same as gets 
 a chance, I can tell you. The country people never fight ; 
 though the smugglers, if they are cornered, and can't get back 
 to the lugger without it, will use their weapons if they see a 
 chance; but you have got nothing to do with that. Don't 
 you wait a minute for me and my mates, for we shall bolt too. 
 If we were on the shore when they came on us we should em- 
 bark with the crew and get on board the lugger. In course. 
 
TWO BROTHERS 29 
 
 if just a few of the revenue men were fools enough to come on 
 us, they would be tumbled over in double quick time, and tied 
 up till the goods were all taken inland, and be left till some 
 of their mates found them in the morning. 
 
 ''That is how it is, you know, that we get most of our 
 cargoes run. One of the chaps on the cliff may make us out, 
 but you see it takes a long time to send along the line and get 
 enough of them together to interfere with us. Unless they 
 have got a pretty good strong force together, they ain't such 
 fools as to risk their lives by meddling with a hundred men 
 or more, with a lot of valuable goods to land, and the knowl- 
 edge that if they are caught it is a long term in jail. The 
 men know well enough that if there is anything on, there will 
 be a watch kept over them, and that if they were to fire a 
 pistol as a signal, there would be news of it sent to the smug- 
 glers in no time. Sometimes, too, the coast-guards nearest 
 the point where the landing is to be, are pounced on suddenly 
 and tied up. I reckon, too, that a good many of them keep 
 an eye shut as long as they can, and then go off pretty leisurely 
 to pass the word along that they have heard oars or have seen 
 signals, especially if they have got a hot-headed boatswain in 
 charge of their station, a sort of chap who would want to go 
 down to meddle with a hundred men, with only five or six at 
 his back. A man with a wife and some children, perhaps, 
 don't relish the thought of going into a bad scrimmage like 
 that if he can keep out of it ; why should he ? He gets a bit 
 of money if they make a good seizure, but he knows well 
 enough that he ain't going to make a seizure unless he has got 
 a pretty strong party ; and you take my word for it, four times 
 out of five when we make a clear run, it is because the coast- 
 guard keep an eye closed as long as they dare. They know 
 well enough that it ain't such an uncommon thing for a man 
 to be found at the bottom of the cliff, without anything to 
 show how he got there, and the coroner's jury finds as it was a 
 
30 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 dark night and he tumbled over, and they brings in a verdict 
 according. But it ain't every man as cares about taking iht 
 risk of accidents of that kind, and, somehow or other, they 
 happens to just the chaps as is wonderful sharp and active. 
 They have all been sailors, you know, and are ready enough 
 for a fight when they are strong enough to have a chance, but 
 that is a very different thing from walking backwards and for- 
 wards on a dark night close to the edge of a cliff, three or 
 four hundred feet high, without a comrade within a quarter of a 
 mile, and the idea that an accident of this kind might occur 
 any time." 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 BEFORE THE JUSTICES 
 
 ONE morning when Frank was dressing, the servant came 
 up and told him that a fisherman, who said his name was 
 Bill Bostock, wanted to speak to him. As he had often been 
 out with Julian in the man's boat, he put on his jacket and 
 ran to the door. 
 
 " Good morning, Bill ! " he said ; " what is it? " 
 " I will talk with you outside, sir, if you don't mind." 
 A good deal surprised Frank put on his cap and went out 
 with him. 
 
 ' ' There has been a bad business, Master Frank, a mighty 
 bad job." 
 
 "What sort of a job, Bill ? " 
 
 "A smuggling affair, Master Frank. There was a fight. 
 I hears one of the revenue men was killed. I don't know as 
 that is so, but some of them have been knocked about, and 
 have got some pistol wounds, no doubt. But that ain't the 
 worst part of the business. Mr. Julian is among those as has 
 been caught." 
 
BEFORE THE JUSTICES 3] 
 
 "Julian!" Frank exclaimed in astonishment. "Why, 
 what in the world had Julian got to do with it ? " 
 
 " Well, sir," the sailor said apologetically, " you see it was 
 like this. Mr. Julian is a young gentleman as loves a bit of 
 a spree, and he has been out many a night with some of us to 
 see a cargo run. ' ' 
 
 Frank uttered an exclamation of surprise and consterna- 
 tion. 
 
 " I thought perhaps as you knowed it, sir." 
 
 "I never dreamt of such a thing, Bill. How could Julian 
 have been so mad as to mix himself up in such a business ? I 
 suppose this is your doing ; you must have led him into this 
 mischief. ' ' 
 
 "No, sir," the sailor said in an aggrieved voice. " How 
 was I to lead a young gentleman like your brother into a thing 
 as he didn't choose to do ? I don't say as I didn't mention to 
 him, promiscuous like, that I lent a hand some times in running 
 a cargo ; but how was I to know as he would up and say, • I 
 will go with you some night, Bill.' Well, I argues with him, 
 and I points out to him as he might get into a scrape ; but, 
 says he, ' I am not going to take no share in it, but just want 
 to look on and see the fun,' as he calls it. I points out to him 
 as it was not always fun, but he puts that aside, and, says h^- 
 it would not be fun unless there was a little excitement about 
 it. He promised me faithful that he would always cut and run 
 as soon as he heard there was any talk of the revenue men 
 a-coming, and what was I to do? I don't say, sir, as how if 
 it had been you I would have taken you with me, 'cause you 
 are young, you see, and I should have felt as I was 'sponsible 
 for you. But Mr. Julian is a man now, and when he says, ' I 
 mean to go with you anyhow, Bill.' it was not for me to say, 
 you sha'n't go. Mr. Julian, he is a sort of gent that gets over 
 one somehow, and there ain't no saying ' no ' to him." 
 
 " Well, it is of no use talking about that now," Frank said 
 
32 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 impatiently. " First tell me all about it, and then we will see 
 what had best be done. ' ' 
 
 " Well, Master Frank, it was eight miles to the west. The 
 chaps concerned in it thought they had managed to throw dust 
 into the eyes of Captain Downes, and to get the Boxer away 
 to Swanage, and how he got wind of the affair, and where it 
 was to be, is more nor I can tell. Everything was going on 
 smooth enough, and half the cargo was in the carts, when all 
 of a sudden there was a shout * Surrender, you scoundrels ! ' 
 and that fellow Faulkner dashed up with a pistol in his hand, 
 and behind him came a score of revenue men. I dodged 
 under a cart and bolted. I heard some pistol shots fired, for 
 just at that time a lot of the smugglers had come up to the carts 
 with kegs. As if the firing on shore had been a signal, I 
 heard directly after some guns down by the water, and knew 
 that Downes and the Boxer had come on the lugger. I made 
 straight back, but I could not sleep all night for wondering 
 whether Mr. Julian had got off too, and I was up afore it was 
 light, and went round to one or two of the other chaps as was 
 there. One had not come back ; the other had only been in 
 half an hour. He had hid up, close to where we was surprised. 
 
 " After it was over the revenue chaps lit a lot of lanterns 
 and then made a big fire, and by its light my mate could see 
 pretty well what was going on. They had got about twenty 
 prisoners. Most of the country people and carts had, luckily 
 enough for them, gone off with their loads a few minutes afore 
 the revenue men came up. A dozen pack-horses and three or 
 four carts had been took, and, in course, all the loads the men 
 were carrying up. Among those who was took was Mr. 
 Julian. He was standing close to me when they came up, 
 and I expect he was collared immediate. Faulkner, he sat 
 down on a tub by the side of the fire and takes out a book, 
 and the prisoners was brought up one by one and questions 
 asked them. Mr. Julian was one of the last. Faulkner got 
 
BEFORE THE JUSTICES 33 
 
 up from his seat and rowed him tremendous. What he said 
 my mate could not catch, but he could hear his voice, and he 
 was going on at him cruel ; then I suppose Mr. Julian lost his 
 temper, and my mate says he could see that he was giving it 
 him back hot. I expect it was something wonderful hard and 
 nasty he said, for Faulkner jumped at him and hit him in the 
 face. Then your brother threw himself on him. My mate 
 says he would have thrown him backwards into the fire, if 
 some of the revenue men had not seized him and dragged 
 him off. 
 
 " After that there was a row between Faulkner and Captain 
 Downes, who had come up just before with half a dozen 
 sailors. I expect Downes was telling him that he ought to 
 be ashamed of himself. Anyhow they got to high words, as 
 was easy to be heard. Half an hour later most of them started 
 with the prisoners, leaving half a dozen of the officers to look 
 after the things they had taken. When they had gone, my 
 mate went down close tj the water, and was able to make out 
 the cutter and the lugger anchored close together — so she has 
 been caught. There was nothing else to wait for, so he 
 tramped off home and had only been in a few minutes before 
 I came to him." 
 
 " This is awful," Frank said, in dismay. " The only thing 
 I see that can be done is for me to go and have a talk with 
 Captain Downes. He was a friend of my father's ; and I 
 think he is a kind-hearted man, though, of course, he has to 
 be sharp in carrying out his duty of trying to put down 
 smuggling. Well, I will run in for breakfast now, or my aunt 
 will wonder what has become of me; then I will go straight 
 on board the Boxer. 
 
 "She is not in yet/' Bill said. "She would not start 
 until daylight ; and I don't suppose she will be round for an- 
 other two hours. You see she is not clear of Portland Bill 
 vet." 
 
34 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 • * That is unfortunate. However, I hope I shall see him 
 before the magistrates sit. What time do they meet? " 
 
 "They generally sit at eleven o'clock; but it ain't their 
 day, and they will have to be summoned special. I should 
 not wonder if they don't meet till two o'clock ; because they 
 could not be sure what time the Boxer will get round, and, as 
 he will have taken some prisoners in the lugger, they would 
 not begin until he arrived." 
 
 "Very well; I will go round to the court-house after 
 breakfast, and inquire what time the sitting will be. Any- 
 how, I hope to be able to see the lieutenant before they meet. 
 I don't know that any good can come of it ; for, as he had 
 nothing to do with Julian's capture, he certainly would not 
 be able to save him from appearing, especially after that row 
 with Faulkner." 
 
 "He's a bad un that, Master Frank, and I wish your 
 brother had chucked him into that fire. A bit of burning 
 might have done him good ; and, if ever a chap deserved it, 
 he did." 
 
 Frank went back into the house. 
 
 "My dear Frank," Mrs. Troutbeck exclaimed, "where 
 have you been? I have never known you keep breakfast 
 waiting before. Why, what is the matter, dear? Nothing 
 about Julian, I hope ; hasn't he come home yet ? " 
 
 " No, Aunt ; and I am sorry to say that he has got into an 
 awkward scrape. It seems that he went out, for the fun of the 
 thing, to see a cargo run. The revenue people came up, and 
 he was one of those who were caught. Of course he had 
 nothing to do with the smuggling part of the business, nor 
 with a bit of a fight there was. Still, as he was there, I am 
 afraid there is no doubt that he will have to appear before the 
 magistrates with the others." 
 
 Mrs. Troutbeck sat in speechless consternation. 
 
 "Oh, dear! oh, dear !" she exclaimed at last. "How 
 
BEFORE THE JUSTICES 35 
 
 could he have been so silly? It is dreadful, my dear, and it 
 will be such a disgrace. What shall we do ? " 
 
 " There is nothing to do, Aunt, that I can see. As to the 
 disgrace, that is nothing very dreadful. Xo end of people 
 are mixed up in smuggling ; and I have heard that many of 
 the gentry wink at it, and are glad enough to buy a keg of 
 brandy cheap without asking any questions where it comes 
 from. So the mere fact that Julian went to have a look at a 
 cargo being run is not anything very serious. I suppose it was 
 against the law even to be present, but there was nothing 
 disgraceful about it. It is lucky my holidays began last 
 week, and if there is anything to be done I can do it." 
 
 " Could not Mr. Downes get him off? He used often to 
 be here in your father's time, though I have not seen much of 
 him since ; but I am sure he would do anything he could." 
 
 "I have been thinking of that, Aunt. The Boxer was 
 there last night and captured the smuggler, but her crew had 
 nothing to do with the fight on shore ; and, therefore, I don't 
 think there is any chance of his being able to interfere in the 
 matter. Still, I will see him as soon as the cutter comes in. ' ' 
 
 On going down to the court-house, Frank found that the 
 magistrates would meet at two o'clock. Then, as the Boxer 
 had only just appeared round Portland, he went and saw the 
 chief officer of the coast-guard to endeavour to obtain permis- 
 sion to have an interview with Julian. 
 
 " I am sorry I can do nothing in the matter, lad," he re- 
 plied. ••' It is out of my hands, owing to a magistrate being 
 present at the capture. It was, indeed, his business more than 
 ours ; for it was he who obtained information of the affair, and 
 called upon us to aid him in the capture of men engaged in 
 unlawful practices. Therefore, you see, the prisoners are in 
 the hands of the civil authorities. I hear he has given strict 
 orders that no one is, on any pretence, to speak to the pris- 
 oners. ' ' 
 
36 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 " I hear that he struck my brother." . 
 
 " I don't know how you heard it, lad, but it is true. How- 
 ever, I do not feel at liberty to say anything about it. I am 
 very sorry for your brother, who is a fine young fellow. 
 However, I hope that as he was unarmed, and was not, I sup- 
 pose, actually concerned in the smuggling business, the mat- 
 ter will be passed over lightly, even if he is not discharged at 
 once. At any rate, we shall in no way press the case agamst 
 him." 
 
 Frank, indeed, afterwards learned that the officer dropped 
 a hint to the men to make as little as possible of Julian's 
 capture, and of the vigorous resistance he had made when 
 first seized. 
 
 The Boxer dropped anchor off the town at twelve o'clock, 
 and the lieutenant landed at once. The officer of the coast- 
 guard went down to meet him on the quay, and for half an 
 hour they walked up and down the parade together, in earnest 
 conversation. Frank remained on the opposite side of the 
 road until they stopped, and the commander of the Boxer 
 beckoned to him. 
 
 " Well, lad," he said, as Frank came up, " this is a nasty 
 scrape that your brother has got into ; but I don't think they 
 can do anything to him. Mr. Moorsby has been telling me 
 that you have been to him ; but neither he nor I can do any- 
 thing in the matter — it is in the civil hands. If it had been 
 anyone else but Faulkner who had been in charge, I have no 
 doubt it could have been managed. Of course, your brother 
 ought not to have been there, but as he was only looking on, 
 and taking no active part in the affair, he might have been 
 released without any difficulty. However, I don't think you 
 need worry yourself. Certainly, we shall not press the case 
 against him. It is unfortunate that he used his tongue as 
 sharply as he did to Mr. Faulkner, though I don't say but 
 that he had great provocation, or that what he said was not 
 
BEFORE THE JUSTICES bl 
 
 perfectly true ; still, it would have been much better left un- 
 said. However, I question if before the hearing is over 
 Faulkner will not have cause to regret that he did not let 
 your brother go home as soon as they got back here. ' ' 
 
 He nodded, and Frank understood that there was no more 
 to say, and, thanking the officer, turned and walked off home. 
 The fisherman met him on the way. 
 
 ' < You keep up your heart, Mr. Frank. Me and some of 
 die others have been having a talk with the coast-guards, and 
 they will be all right. Of course, there is not one of them 
 that does not know Mr. Julian, so they won't say more than 
 they can help against him ; and every one of them is glad to 
 hear that he gave it to that Faulkner hot. He ain't no more 
 a favourite with them than he is with other people, and it was 
 not by their own will that they ran in and pulled your brother 
 off him. If they hadn't, he would not have been sitting on 
 the bench to-day, nor for many a week, I reckon ; for he 
 would have been pretty badly burned if he had fallen across 
 that fire. So you may be sure that they will make it easy for 
 Mr. Julian, and I expect you will have him back home this 
 evening. They would never have took him at all if they had 
 known who he was ; but, of course, being dark, and he in his 
 fishing togs, they did not see it was him." 
 
 Frank returned home in much better spirits than he had left. 
 His aunt was standing at the window, and hurried to the door 
 to let him in. 
 
 " Well, Frank, have you got him out? I hoped you would 
 have brought him home with you." 
 
 ''There was no chance of that, Aunt. Of course, when 
 anyone is taken and locked up, he cannot be discharged until 
 the case has been gone into. But I have seen Mr. Moorsby, 
 the coast-guard officer on shore, and Captain Downes, and 
 they both say that the case will not be pressed against him, 
 and that, as he was not taking any part in the affair, and 
 
38 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 merely looking on, they don't think anything will be done 
 to him. The coast-guardsmen who will have to give evidence 
 all know him, and will not say anything against him if they 
 can help it. So I should not be at all surprised, Aunt, if we 
 have him back here this afternoon." 
 
 " Oh, I do wish," Mrs. Troutbeck said tearfully, " that it 
 could have been managed so that he would not have been 
 obliged to be placed in the dock with smugglers and all 
 sorts of people. ' ' 
 
 " It would, no doubt, have been better if it could have been 
 avoided, Aunt, but there is no helping it ; and if he is dis- 
 charged it won't go for much against him — certainly not here, 
 where nobody regards smuggling as a crime. ' ' 
 
 At half-past one Frank went down to the court-house. It 
 was already crowded, but Captain Downes, who came up at 
 the same moment, took him in, and obtained a place for him 
 at the solicitors' table. The seizure had created quite a sen- 
 sation in Weymouth, not only because two or three Weymouth 
 men were among the prisoners, but because, owing to the fight 
 that had taken place, the matter was very much more serious 
 than a mere capture of contraband goods. There was a gen- 
 eral buzz of conversation until three magistrates came in and 
 took their places, and there was a little murmur of satisfaction 
 as Colonel Chambers, the chairman, took his seat ; for, had 
 he not been present, Mr. Faulkner, who was next in seniority, 
 would have taken the chair. A minute later, twelve prisoners 
 were brought in. Five Frenchmen and two Englishmen were 
 a portion of the crew of the smuggler ; two were farmers' men, 
 the drivers of the carts ; one was a local fisherman ; the eleventh 
 was one of the party that had gone from Weymouth ; Julian 
 Wyatt made up the number. 
 
 Two or three of the party had their heads bandaged up ; 
 one had his arm in a sling ; several others had marks of hard 
 knocks, and Julian a pair of black eyes. When the little 
 
BEFORE THE JUSTICES 39 
 
 murmur that followed the entry of the prisoners had subsided, 
 and the crier had called out " Silence in court," the inquiry 
 began. 
 
 Mr. Moorsby was the first witness. He deposed that hav- 
 ing received information that a landing of contraband goods 
 was likely to take place, he, accompanied by Mr. Faulkner, 
 who represented the civil authorities, went to the spot. They 
 perceived that a landing of goods was taking place ; but, as it 
 had been arranged that his party should not show themselves 
 until the revenue cutter came up and seized the lugger, they 
 remained in hiding until they heard from a man placed down 
 oy the shore that the cutter was coming in. Then they rushed 
 out and seized the parties engaged in the proceedings. Some 
 of them resisted violently, and a serious fray took place. 
 Three of his men were wounded with pistol shots, one of 
 them very seriously. One of the smugglers had been killed, 
 and three were so seriously injured that they could not at pres- 
 ent be placed in the dock. 
 
 "Are any of the prisoners represented in court?" the 
 chairman asked. 
 
 A solicitor sitting next to Frank rose. "I represent Mr. 
 Julian Wyatt," he said. Frank looked up at him in surprise. 
 The idea of obtaining legal assistance for Julian had not oc- 
 curred to him, and he wondered how his brother had been 
 able to communicate with a solicitor. "I would suggest, 
 your honour," the latter went on, " that the evidence should 
 be taken separately in the different charges, as there is a con- 
 siderable difference in the position of prisoners." 
 
 Another solicitor rose. " I appear for John Turnbull and 
 William Sims," he said, "and I would support the appeal of 
 Mr. Probert. My clients, who are farming men, took no part 
 whatever in the fray, which is the serious portion of the affair. 
 While I am ready to admit that they were engaged in the 
 illegal operation of aiding in the landing of contraband goods, 
 
40 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 I shall be able to prove that they are innocent of the more 
 serious charge of resisting by force their capture by the revenue 
 officers, and with using deadly weapons against the representa- 
 tives of the law, and that their case stands in an altogether 
 different category to that of the main body of the prisoners. ' ' 
 
 "You do not intend, I hope," Mr. Faulkner said, " to ex- 
 press a wish that we should have what would practically be 
 twelve investigations instead of one, or that the witnesses 
 should all be obliged to go that number of times into the box. 
 
 "By no means, your honour ; I am only intimating my 
 intention of cross-examining each witness as to the share my 
 clients took in the affair, and pointing out beforehand that 
 their case stands on an entirely different footing to that of the 
 men who took part in the more serious charge of resisting the 
 officers. ' ' 
 
 One after another of the coast-guard men gave their evi- 
 dence, each identifying one or more of the prisoners in whose 
 capture they had taken a personal part. None of the first five 
 had anything to say regarding Julian. Then James Wingfield 
 entered the box. After stating that he was the coxswain of 
 the Weymouth coast-guard boat he proceeded : 
 
 " When Mr. Moorsby gave the order I ran forward. I saw 
 a biggish man standing with his hands in the pockets of his 
 pea-jacket. He seemed to be looking on, and was not at 
 work ; but, thinking that he might be a leader, me and Harry 
 Wilkens ran at him and seized him. It was not until after- 
 wards we knew that he was Mr. Julian Wyatt. After we had 
 caught him I handed him over to Wilkens, and that is all I 
 know about him." 
 
 He then proceeded to testify against several of the other 
 prisoners in whose capture he had taken part. When he had 
 finished his evidence, Julian's solicitor rose. 
 
 " You say that the prisoner you first took, Mr. Wyatt, was 
 taking no active part in the affair? " 
 
BEFORE THE JUSTICES 41 
 
 " No, sir, he was just standing there looking on." 
 
 " And did he resist the capture ? " 
 
 " Not to say resist, sir. When we first clapped hands on 
 him he gave a start, for we had come upon him sudden, with- 
 out noise. He just tried to shake us off, not knowing, I 
 reckon, who we were ; but as soon as I said, ' In the King's 
 name, you are my prisoner,' he was just as quiet as a lamb." 
 
 The solicitor sat down. Then the chairman asked the 
 witness if any arms were found on the prisoner. 
 
 "No, sir." 
 
 ' ' Not even a stick ? ' ' 
 
 " I won't say as he may not have had a bit of a stick, your 
 honour, though I did not notice it, his hands being in his 
 pockets ; anyhow, he did not try to use it." 
 
 Wilkens was the next witness, and his evidence, as far as 
 Julian was concerned, was precisely similar to that of the cox- 
 swain. Against the seven men of the lugger the evidence 
 was conclusive. All had resisted desperately, and this had 
 enabled several of their party to make their escape in the dark- 
 ness. The Weymouth fisherman had been caught coming 
 up from the beach with a keg on his shoulder, and had thrown 
 it down and attempted to run away, but had made no resist- 
 ance when he had been taken ; the two farm men had been 
 captured at their horses' heads, and had at once surrendered. 
 When the evidence had been gone through, Mr. Probert ad- 
 dressed the court on behalf of Julian. He urged that there 
 was no evidence whatever to show that he was concerned 
 either in the smuggling operations or in the resistance to the 
 revenue officers. 
 
 " I do not pretend," he said, " that he was there by acci- 
 dent ; but I maintain that he was there simply in the capacity 
 of a looker-on. He stands, in fact, precisely in the same 
 position that any member of the general public might do, who 
 had been present as a spectator at any sort of riot. It is un- 
 
454 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 questionably a very unwise action on the part of any individual 
 to attend a meeting of any sort at which it is possible that 
 riotous proceedings may take place, but I maintain that, 
 however imprudent and foolish, there is nothing criminal in 
 his doing so, and I am sure that there is no case on record in 
 which a man has been punished for his presence at a riot in 
 which he did not participate. My client acted foolishly, but 
 I ask the court to say that his foolishness was not criminal. He 
 had accidentally learned that there was to be a landing of con- 
 traband goods, and, with the thoughtlessness of youth, he went 
 to see what he considered the fun. Even if there had been a 
 shadow of criminality in his being present, I should ask you 
 to say that the unpleasant experience that he has undergone — 
 his detention for twelve hours in a police cell, and his appear- 
 ance here — is ample punishment for his boyish escapade, which 
 might have been committed by any high-spirited young fellow 
 of nineteen." 
 
 After the other solicitor had addressed the court on behalf 
 of the two farmers' men, the magistrates consulted together. 
 The spectators, watching them attentively, saw that for a time 
 they seemed unanimous, then it was equally evident that there 
 was a difference of opinion on some point or other, and they 
 presently rose and left the court. 
 
 "It is Faulkner against the other two," Mr. Probert whis- 
 pered to Frank. " Of course they were unanimous about the 
 smugglers, but I expect they differed as to the others. It is 
 lucky that the Colonel is in the chair. Harrington is a mild 
 little fellow, and Faulkner would be able to twist him round 
 his finger if there were only the two of them, but there is no 
 fear of that with the Colonel there to keep him straight. ' ' 
 
 In ten minutes they returned, and by the flushed, angry 
 face of Mr. Faulkner, Frank judged at once that he had been 
 overruled. The chairman briefly announced the decision of 
 the court, and committed the seven smugglers for trial on the 
 
BEFORE THE JUSTICES 43 
 
 whole of the charges. The Weymouth fisherman was also 
 committed, but only on the charge of being engaged in the 
 unlawful act of defrauding His Majesty's revenue, and was al- 
 lowed out on bail. The two farm labourers were fined fifty 
 pounds apiece, which their solicitor at once paid. 
 
 "The majority of the bench are in favour of your imme- 
 diate discharge, Mr. Wyatt, being of opinion that the evi- 
 dence has failed altogether to prove any of the charges against 
 you, and, being of opinion that you have already paid dearly 
 enough for your reckless folly in attending an unlawful opera- 
 tion of this kind, they trust that it will be a lesson to you for 
 life. The other and more serious charge against you will now 
 be taken." 
 
 Frank, who was in the act of rising from his seat in delight 
 at Julian's acquittal, sank down again in dismay at the con- 
 cluding words. He had no idea of any further charge. 
 
 " What is it? " he whispered to Mr. Probert. 
 
 "Faulkner has charged him with an attempt to murder 
 him. Have you not heard of it? Don't be frightened. I 
 have seen the witnesses, and have no doubt that this case will 
 break down like the other." 
 
 After all the prisoners but Julian had been removed from 
 the dock, Mr. Faulkner left the bench and took his seat in the 
 body of the court. The charge was then read over by the 
 clerk, and Mr. Faulkner's name was called ; as he stepped into 
 the witness-box, a low hiss ran through the fishermen who 
 formed a large proportion of the spectators. 
 
 " Silence !" the chairman said angrily. " If I hear any 
 repetition of this indecent demonstration, I will have the 
 court cleared at once." 
 
 Mr. Faulkner then proceeded to give his evidence. " He 
 had," he said, "spoken severely to the prisoner in his quality 
 as a magistrate, upon his taking part in smuggling transactions. 
 At this the prisoner became violently abusive and uttered such 
 
44 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 murderous threats that he thought he would have struck 
 him, and in self-defence he (the witness) gave him a blow, 
 whereupon the prisoner had sprung upon him like a tiger, had 
 lifted him in his arms, and had carried him bodily towards the 
 fire, and would assuredly have thrown him into it had he not 
 been prevented from doing so by some of the coast-guards- 
 men." 
 
 Mr. Probert rose quietly. ' ' You are a magistrate, Mr. 
 Faulkner, I believe ? " Mr. Faulkner gave no reply to the 
 question, and after a little pause the solicitor went on : " Do 
 you consider that, as a magistrate, Mr. Faulkner, it comes 
 within your province to abuse a prisoner unconvicted of any 
 crime ? ' ' 
 
 " I deny that I abused him," Mr. Faulkner said hotly. 
 
 "There is no occasion for heat, sir," Mr. Probert said 
 quietly. " You are in the position of a witness at present and 
 not of a magistrate, and must reply like any other witness. 
 Well, you deny having abused him. Do you consider that 
 calling a gentleman of good standing in this town, the son of 
 a distinguished officer, a loafing young scoundrel, not abuse ; 
 or by telling him that six months in one of His Majesty's jails 
 would do him a world of good ? ' ' 
 
 " I deny that I used those words." 
 
 " Well, sir, that is a question of pure credibility. It is 
 possible that I may be in a position to prove to the satis- 
 faction of the bench that you did use them, and many others 
 of an equally offensive character. Mr. Wyatt naturally re- 
 sented such language, which you had no more right to address 
 to him than you would have to address to me. If a magis- 
 trate forgets his position, and abuses a prisoner in the language 
 of a fish-fag, he must expect to be answered in the same way 
 by anyone of spirit. You say that, thereupon, he became 
 abusive and used murderous threats? Now we should like te 
 hear a little more about this. First of all, let us hear the 
 
BEFORE THE JUSTICES 45 
 
 abuse, will you ? Tell the court, if you please, Mr. Faulkner, 
 what were the abusive expressions," he added. 
 
 " He said, sir, that I was a disgrace to the bench." 
 
 There was a general laugh in the court, which was instantly 
 repressed. Mr. Faulkner's eyes ran furiously over the crowded 
 benches. 
 
 " I must ask you to look at me, Mr. Faulkner," the solici- 
 tor said mildly. " Well, he said that you were a disgrace 
 to the bench. That is scarcely, perhaps, as much a matter 
 of abuse as one of private opinion. What did he say 
 next?" 
 
 " He said I was a curse to the whole neighbourhood." 
 
 " Again a mere matter of opinion." 
 
 " And after that that I was a sneaking, meddlesome, inter- 
 fering old fox." 
 
 There was again a buzz of laughter, mingled with exclama- 
 tions of " So you are," "He wasn't far wrong ; " upon which 
 Colonel Chalmers directed the constable to turn all the offend- 
 ing parties out of court. Some fishermen nearest to the door 
 were hustled out. 
 
 "Well, I am afraid that I must admit," Mr. Probert said, 
 " that to call you a meddlesome old fox was abusive, although 
 nothing like so abusive as to call a man a loafing young 
 scoundrel. Now as to the threats." 
 
 " He said that I would be brought home one of these days 
 with a bullet in my body." 
 
 " That is purely a matter of prophecy, Mr. Faulkner, and 
 not a threat, unless he intended you to understand that it was 
 he who would fire the bullet. Do you mean to tell the court 
 that you had any reason to suppose that this young gentleman, 
 whose reputation is untarnished, and who has never had a 
 charge brought against him except the ridiculous one that has 
 just been dismissed, intended to imply by those words that he 
 himself had any idea of taking your life ? " 
 
46 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 "It might bear that construction." 
 
 ' < It might bear any construction in the mind of a man de- 
 termined to see everything in the worst possible light. It is 
 a matter of public notoriety, Mr. Faulkner, that you have re- 
 ceived several threatening letters, and that the active part you 
 have taken against poachers and smugglers has caused some 
 feeling against you. Do you not think it likely that when 
 Mr. Wyatt used the words you have repeated he referred to 
 this circumstance ? ' ' 
 
 ' ' A magistrate who does his duty must necessarily be un- 
 popular with the criminal classes." 
 
 " Possibly, Mr. Faulkner, though I have known many 
 magistrates who did their duty and who were by no means un- 
 popular ; but you have not answered my question. Do you 
 not think that in saying what he did Mr. Wyatt simply al- 
 luded to the fact of your well-known unpopularity, and to the 
 threatening letters that you have received ? ' ' 
 
 "Possibly he did," Mr. Faulkner admitted reluctantly, 
 " although that was not my impression at the time." 
 
 "Well, then, unless there were further threats, as you call 
 them, I think we have disposed of the alleged abuse and the 
 alleged murderous threats. Now we come to the other charge. 
 You thought that he was about to strike you, and in self- 
 defence gave him a blow. What made you think that he was 
 going to strike you? " 
 
 " He made a step towards me with a threatening gesture." 
 
 " Oh, I dare say that he was angry, but a gentleman who 
 has been called a loafing young scoundrel is somewhat apt to 
 lose his temper. You might even do so yourself, Mr. Faulk- 
 ner, if so addressed. Well, then, he made a step towards 
 you ; thereupon you struck him in the face, and judging from 
 his appearance you struck him pretty hard, and then you say 
 he caught you up and carried you along. It says a good deal 
 for his strength that he was able to do so. Now you say he 
 
BEFORE THE JUSTICES 47 
 
 carried you towards the fire, and would have thrown you upon 
 it had not some of the coast-guardsmen interfered in time. 
 Now, how do you know that that was his intention? " 
 
 " I firmly believe that it was so." 
 
 " It is not a question of belief. You might believe that 
 he was going to throw you up to the moon. You struggled, I 
 suppose — you would scarcely submit to be carried like a baby 
 — I imagine that is about the long and short of it. But even 
 if he had intended to throw you on the fire, which certainly 
 seems to be merely a matter of your imagination, you can 
 hardly pretend that had he carried out this intention that it 
 would have been murder. Surely with a score of your friends 
 standing by, you would have been hauled out immediately, 
 none the worse except for a few singes and a burn or two. 
 This was not a burning fiery furnace, Mr. Faulkner, but 
 merely a bit of a bonfire from a few sticks that had been set 
 on fire in order to throw a little light on the proceedings." 
 
 " I might have been very seriously burnt." 
 
 "Well, even supposing that you had been, that is not a 
 question of murder. I presume that you framed this indict- 
 ment you have charged the prisoner, not with an intention of 
 committing grievous damage upon you, but with murder, and 
 if you now admit that, under the circumstances, death could 
 hardly have resulted by any possibility from this imaginary 
 intention of throwing you on the fire being carried out, it is 
 clear that the charge of murder must drop through. I have 
 no further questions to ask you, though I may have some re- 
 marks to make after having heard your witnesses. ' ' 
 
48 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 IN A FRESH SCRAPE 
 
 THE first witness called by Mr. Faulkner was Captain 
 Downes. 
 
 < ' Will you tell us what you know about this affair ? ' ' the 
 chairman said. 
 
 " After having captured the smuggler, I took six men and 
 went up to see if I could be of any assistance to Mr. Moorsby, 
 and also to hear whether he had been as successful with his 
 capture as I had. I found that everything was over, and that 
 a fire had been lighted. I was talking to Mr. Moorsby when 
 my attention was excited by loud words between Mr. Faulkner 
 and Mr. Wyatt, with whom I am acquainted. Mr. Faulkner 
 struck him in the face, and there was a scuffle, the prisoner 
 lifting the magistrate, although a much heavier man, com- 
 pletely off his feet. In the course of the scuffle they ap- 
 proached the fire, and being afraid that they might fall into 
 it, I ran up with Mr. Moorsby and some of the men, and 
 pulled them away." 
 
 " Did it seem to you, Captain Downes, that the prisoner 
 was carrying Mr. Faulkner straight to the fire ? ' ' 
 
 "He was certainly going straight in that direction, but 
 whether intentionally or not I am unable to say." 
 
 " Do you think that if you and your men had not interfered 
 they would have fallen into the fire ? ' ' 
 
 " I think they would certainly have done so." 
 
 " Do you think that the prisoner intended to throw Mr. 
 Faulkner into the fire ? ' ' 
 
 " That I cannot say." 
 
 " Have you any questions to ask the witness, Mr. Faulkner ? " 
 the chairman asked. 
 
IN A FRESH SCRAPE 49 
 
 "You do not think it likely, I suppose, that the prisoner 
 could have intended himself to tumble into the fire ? " 
 
 " I should think it very unlikely." 
 
 Mr. Faulkner sat down, and Mr. Probert rose. 
 
 "You think it very unlikely, Captain Downes, that Mr. 
 Wyatt would deliberately have walked into the fire, and I 
 quite share your opinion ; but it has not yet been proved that 
 he was deliberately going towards the fire at all. You say he 
 lifted Mr. Faulkner in his arms. Now it seems to me that, 
 having done so, he would not be able to see at all which way 
 he was going, as Air. Wyatt' s eyes would both be on a level 
 with Mr. Faulkner's chest ; moreover, it must be evident that, 
 judging from his present appearance, he could scarcely have 
 seen anything at all, after receiving such a blow. Does it not 
 strike you as being still more likely that, partially blinded as 
 he was, and being unwilling to strike the magistrate in return, 
 however much the latter had forfeited all claim to respect, he 
 closed with him, and in the heat of passion lifted him up and 
 carried him along at random ? " 
 
 " I think that very likely," the lieutenant replied. 
 
 " Had you yourself been struck as the prisoner was struck, 
 Captain Downes, what course do you think it would have been 
 proper for you to pursue ? ' ' 
 
 " I don't know what would have been proper, but I know 
 what I should have done. Magistrate or no magistrate, I 
 should have knocked my assailant down, or at any rate I should 
 have tried to." . 
 
 "Asa naval man, Captain Downes, you have had some ex- 
 perience of the conduct gentlemen generally observe to their 
 prisoners. I presume that it is not their custom to strike them, 
 even if they did make a somewhat free use of their tongues ? " 
 
 " Certainly not," Captain Downes said emphatically. 
 
 " Would you go so far as to say that you would consider it 
 to be a disgraceful and cowardly act ? ' ' 
 
50 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 " I should so consider it." 
 
 There was again a murmur of applause in court, which was 
 instantly arrested when Mr. Probert held up his hand depre- 
 catingly. " Thank you, Captain Downes," he went on. 
 " Now we come to the question of the quarrel that gave rise 
 to this affair. Mr. Faulkner has not thought fit to ask you 
 any questions about it. Were you standing close enough to 
 hear what passed ? ' ' 
 
 " I was standing close by, and both Mr. Faulkner and the 
 prisoner spoke loudly enough to be heard at such a distance. ' ' 
 
 " The magistrate first began the conversation ? " 
 
 "He did." 
 
 ' ' He used very strong language, did he not ? ' ' 
 
 " Very strong." 
 
 " Did you think that he was justified in using such strong 
 language ? ' ' 
 
 " Certainly not ; I thought that it was most improper." 
 
 " And do you think that a gentleman accosted so improperly 
 is to be greatly blamed if he uses strong language in return? " 
 
 " It would no doubt have been better if he had held his 
 tongue at the time, and have called him to account after- 
 wards. ' ' 
 
 "Still the provocation was very strong, Captain Downes, 
 and you could not altogether blame him. " 
 
 " I did not blame him at all," the witness said curtly. 
 
 "And what did you think when Mr. Faulkner suddenly 
 struck his prisoner in the face ? ' ' 
 
 "Am I to answer that question ? " the witness asked the 
 bench. 
 
 "I do not think that it is an improper question," the 
 chairman replied. 
 
 "Very well, sir. Then, if I must say it, I thought it was 
 one of the most blackguardly and cowardly things I ever saw 
 done." 
 
IN A FRESH SCRAPE 51 
 
 " Thank you, Captain Downes. I do not think it necessary 
 to ask you any further questions." 
 
 " Have you any more witnesses to call, Mr. Faulkner?" 
 the chairman asked coldly. 
 
 Mr. Faulkner's face was white with rage. " I have a dozen 
 other witnesses," he said hoarsely, "but I have no doubt they 
 will all follow the lead their officer has set them. I shall there- 
 fore call no more." 
 
 " I do not think, your worships," Mr. Probert said, rising, 
 " that it is necessary for me to address you. I would only 
 submit to you that there is not a shadow of evidence to support 
 the charge of an attempt to murder. As to the abusive lan- 
 guage, I cannot say that my client's words were a retort cour- 
 teous, but they were only a retort natural, and were simply 
 the consequence of the extraordinary conduct of Mr. Faulkner, 
 acting at the time in his capacity of magistrate. As to the 
 charge of threatening language, it is altogether absurd. My 
 client simply asserted what is true by common report— that 
 Mr. Faulkner had been threatened, and that it was possible 
 that those threats might some day or other be carried into 
 effect. I have only, therefore, to leave the case in the hands 
 of your worships. ' ' 
 
 The two magistrates put their heads together for a short 
 time. Then the chairman said : ' ' The bench is of opinion 
 that the charge of attempted murder is altogether without 
 foundation, and that of abusive language and the use of threats 
 should never have been brought, seeing that they were the re- 
 suit of what we cannot but consider the very ill-judged and 
 improper conduct of the plaintiff. You are therefore dis- 
 charged, Mr. Wyatt ; but my colleague and myself cannot but 
 again express a hope that this and the preceding charge may 
 prove a lesson to you to avoid taking part, even as a spectator, 
 in such breeches of the law as those which led to this very 
 regrettable occurrence. ' ' 
 
52 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 As the magistrate concluded, a roar of applause rose in the 
 court. In vain the constables shouted for silence. The chair- 
 man at once ordered the room to be cleared, and at the same 
 time motioned to Julian not to leave the court, as he was pre- 
 paring to do. When the court was cleared, he called Julian 
 up to him. 
 
 "I think, Mr. Wyatt," he said, "it would be as well for 
 you to remain here for a time, and then go out by the back 
 way. It would be very unfortunate if any demonstration took 
 place. Enough harm has been done already ; do not let us 
 make it any worse. ' ' 
 
 " Certainly not, sir. I am heartily sorry for what has oc- 
 curred," and beckoning to Frank, who was still seated at the 
 solicitors' table, he retired with him to a waiting-room. 
 
 "Thank goodness, Julian, you have got out of that 
 scrape. ' ' 
 
 " Thank goodness, indeed, Frank. I behaved like an 
 awful fool, but I never dreamt that anything like this would 
 come of it. I have been to see cargoes run several times. It 
 was very good run. I never helped in any way, and had 
 always made up my mind that I would make myself scarce if 
 the revenue people should turn up, but it all happened so 
 suddenly that I was a prisoner before I knew what was going 
 on. As to the other affair, no doubt it would have been 
 better for me to have said nothing, but of course I knew 
 that he had no right to say what he did, and I had not 
 the least idea that he would hit me ; when he did, I went at 
 him in a fury, and I don't mind acknowledging that I did 
 intend to chuck him in the fire — not with any idea of kill- 
 ing him, you know, though I did think he would be burnt a 
 bit." 
 
 "It was lucky you sent for Probert, Julian ; I had never 
 thought of it." 
 
 " No more did I, Frank. I was perfectly astonished when 
 
IN A FRESH SCRAPE 53 
 
 he got up and said that he appeared for me, but I supposed 
 that Aunt or you had sent for him." 
 
 « I am sure Aunt didn't, or she would have told me." 
 ' k I should not be surprised, Frank, if it were Captain 
 Downes. In the first place, he was a friend of Father's, and 
 in the next place, because he is heartily sick of Faulkner's 
 constant interference and the way he goes on. I expect that 
 if Mr. Moorsby had got up he would have said just the same 
 
 things. ' ' 
 
 " I will leave you here for a few minutes, Julian. I must 
 run round and tell Aunt ; she is in a fearful stew about 
 you." 
 
 Frank ran out at the main entrance. A number of 
 fishermen were hanging about outside. Bill came -up to 
 him : 
 
 " Isn't Mr. Julian coming out, Master Frank? " 
 
 "Not at present. The magistrates don't want any fuss 
 in the streets, no more does my brother, and he will stay 
 there till every one has cleared off, so the best thing you can 
 do, Bill, is to persuade the others to go off home. Julian 
 knows well enough that you are all pleased that he has got 
 off, but you see if there were a fuss got up about it in the 
 streets it would do him harm and not good." 
 
 < ; All right, sir, I will get them off. They just wanted to 
 give him a cheer." 
 
 " Well, they did that in Court, Bill, and you know that he 
 appreciates their good intentions. Well, I must be off." 
 
 Mrs. Troutbeck was still on the watch. However, she did 
 not come to the door. Frank opened it, and ran into the 
 parlour. His Aunt had dropped into a chair, with her hand- 
 kerchief to her eyes. 
 
 " So he has not come back with you, Frank. It is dread- 
 ful. What are they going to do with him ? ' ' 
 
 " They are not going to do anything, Aunt. He has been 
 
54 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 acquitted. Only he did not come home with me because 
 there are a lot of sailors waiting outside to cheer him, and 
 the magistrates did not want a row over him, nor did Julian 
 either. I have just run home to tell you that it is all right, 
 and now I am going back for him. I expect by the time I 
 get there they will all have gone, and we may be home in a 
 quarter of an hour, so I think, Aunt, the best thing you can 
 do is to get tea ready, for I don't expect he has had much to 
 eat there, or any appetite to eat it." 
 
 It was good advice, for Mrs. Troutbeck was on the point 
 of going into hysterics from joy and relief. However, the 
 thought of the necessity for getting a good meal to welcome 
 Julian on his arrival turned her thoughts into another channel, 
 and, wiping her eyes hastily, she rose and gave directions, 
 while Frank started again for the court-house. The fishermen 
 had left, but there were still a number of boys about the place. 
 The private entrance was, however, free from observers, and 
 the brothers started at once, keeping to the back streets until 
 they neared the house. 
 
 " My dear Julian," Mrs. Troutbeck exclaimed as she threw 
 her arms round his neck, " what a relief it is to have you back 
 again. It has been terrible for you." 
 
 " It hasn't been very pleasant, Aunt," he replied cheerfully, 
 " but it is all right now, and certainly I ought not to grumble. 
 I have had better luck than I deserved. I was a fool to go 
 there, but I did not think that there was any real chance of 
 the revenue people coming down upon us. It was thought 
 they had been thrown off the scent altogether." 
 
 " What a dreadful face you have got, Julian ! " 
 
 "Oh, that is nothing, Aunt; it will go off in a few days, 
 and until it has I must either stay indoors or keep out of the 
 town altogether." 
 
 "lain afraid tea won't be ready for a few minutes, Julian. 
 You see I have had such a very short notice. ' ' 
 
IN A FRESH SCRAPE OO 
 
 " I can hold on comfortably, Aunt; besides, I have got to 
 have a change and a wash. That is of more importance than 
 tea just at present." 
 
 After the meal was over, Frank gave the details of the ex- 
 amination, the narrative being very frequently stopped by 
 exclamations and questions on the part of Mrs. Troutbeck. 
 
 " I have never heard of such a wicked thing. The idea of 
 that man charging you with attempting to murder him ! Julian, 
 he ought to be punished for it." 
 
 " I fancy he has been punished, Aunt. I don't see how he 
 is to keep his commission as a justice after what was said in 
 court. Still, it is a bad thing for me. I was discharged, but 
 it will always be against me. If I ever get into any sort of 
 trouble again, people will say : ' Ah, yes ; he was charged 
 with attempting murder when he was a young fellow, and al- 
 though he was lucky enough to get off then, there must have 
 been something in it. He is evidently a man of ungovernable 
 temper.' " 
 
 "But, my dear Julian, everyone knows that you have a 
 very sweet temper." 
 
 " I was not in a sweet temper then at any rate, Aunt." 
 
 " Of course not, Julian. I should not have been so my- 
 self if anyone had hit me such a terrible blow as that in the 
 face." 
 
 Her nephews both laughed, for they had never seen her 
 ruffled out of her usual serenity. 
 
 " Well, Aunt, don't let us talk any more about it," Julian 
 said. " I would give a good deal if it hadn't happened. As 
 it is, one must make the best of it, and I hope that it will be 
 forgotten in time. I wish now that I had gone into the army, 
 but it is too late for that. I shall think over what I had best 
 take to. I should certainly like to get away from here until it 
 has blown over altogether." 
 
 On the following morning Frank met Captain Downes, and 
 
56 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 learned that he was right in his conjecture, and that it was he 
 who had retained Mr. Probert's services in Julian's behalf be- 
 fore the magistrates. 
 
 For the next few days Julian kept in the house, except that 
 after nightfall he went out for a long walk. The report of the 
 proceedings in the court had caused a great sensation in Wey- 
 mouth, and the feeling was so strong against Mr. Faulkner 
 that he was hooted in the streets when he rode into the town. 
 The general expectation was that he would resign his position 
 on the bench ; and when at the end of a week he did not do 
 so, a private meeting of the other magistrates was held, and it 
 was whispered in the town that a report of the proceedings at 
 the court had been sent to the Home Secretary, with an ex- 
 pression of opinion that Mr. Faulkner's brother magistrates 
 felt that they could not sit again with him on the bench after 
 what had taken place. 
 
 Ten days after the affair Julian started early one morning 
 for a day's rabbit-shooting at the house of a friend who lived 
 some six miles up the valley. Some snow fell in the course of 
 the afternoon and put a stop to shooting, and he started to 
 walk home. When he was within a few hundred yards of Mr. 
 Faulkner's place he heard a horse coming along behind him. 
 The snow that had fallen had deadened the sound of the hoofs 
 on the road, and, looking round, he saw Mr. Faulkner riding 
 fast, at a distance of but fifty yards away. Had he caught 
 sight of him sooner Julian would have left the road and en- 
 tered the wood to avoid him, but it was too late now, and he 
 hoped that at any rate the man would pass on without speak- 
 ing. The horseman had apparently not recognized Julian 
 until he came abreast of him, when, with a sudden exclama- 
 tion, he reined in his horse. 
 
 " So it is you, Julian Wyatt? " he said, in a tone of sup- 
 pressed fury. 
 
 "It is I, Mr. Faulkner," Julian replied quietly; "and as 
 
' |X^^c w 
 
 " IvIARK MY WORDS, YOU YOUNG SCOUNDREL, I WILL BE EVEN WITH 
 
 YOU VT£T." 
 
IN A FRESH SCRAPE 57 
 
 I don't want to have anything to say to you, I think that you 
 had better go on your way without interfering with me." 
 
 " Mark my words, you young scoundrel, I will be even 
 with you yet." 
 
 " The debt is not all on your side, Mr. Faulkner. I, too, 
 have got a debt to pay ; and perhaps some day we may square 
 matters up, when you have not got a score of coast-guardsmen 
 at your back. However, I am content to leave matters as 
 they are so long as you do the same. As to your owing a 
 debt to me, it is yourself you have to thank for the trouble 
 you have got into ; it was no doing of mine. However, I 
 warn you that you had better abstain from insulting me again. 
 I did not strike you back when you hit me last time, but if 
 you call me scoundrel again you shall see that I can hit as 
 hard as you can. and I will teach you to keep a civil tongue 
 in your head." 
 
 " You mark my words," Mr. Faulkner repeated. "I will 
 have you watched, and I will hunt you down, and if I am not 
 mistaken I will put a rope round your neck one of these 
 days." So saying, he struck spurs into his horse and gal- 
 loped on. 
 
 Julian stood looking after him until he saw him turn in at 
 his gate. The drive to the house led, as he knew, diagonally 
 through the wood, and as he walked forward he heard the 
 horse's galloping hoofs grow louder and louder. Suddenly 
 there was the report of a gun some seventy or eighty yards 
 away. It was mingled with that of a sudden cry, and Julian 
 heard the horse galloping on even faster than before. With 
 an exclamation of " Good heavens ! something has hap- 
 pened ! " he broke through the hedge and ran in the direction 
 of the sound. As he approached it he thought that he caught 
 sight of a man running through the trees, but he kept straight 
 on until he came upon the drive. Twenty yards away Mr. 
 Faulkner lay stretched on the ground. He went up to him, 
 
58 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 and stooped over him. His eyes were closed, and as he lay 
 on his back Julian saw blood oozing through a bullet-hole in 
 his coat high up on the left side of the chest. 
 
 Feeling sure that Mr. Faulkner was dead he started up, and 
 without a moment's hesitation ran into the wood again, in 
 the direction where he had thought that he had seen a figure. 
 A minute later he came upon some footprints on a bare spot 
 between the trees, where the snow had fallen lightly. Noting 
 the direction they took, he followed at once. He saw no 
 more signs of footprints, but followed the direction as nearly 
 as he could until he came to the farthest side of the wood ; 
 then he leaped out into the field beyond, and followed the edge 
 of the wood until he again reached the road. He then turned 
 and went back again, and fifty yards from the point where he 
 had first run out he came upon the footprints again. 
 
 " He was going to take to the hills, he muttered," as he set 
 off along the track. He ran at a trot, and as he went, 
 loaded both barrels of his gun. "Very likely the villain 
 will show fight," he said to himself; " I must take him by 
 surprise if I can." 
 
 After a quarter of a mile's run he reached the foot of the 
 hill, and near its crest, three-quarters of a mile away, caught 
 sight of the figure of a man. A moment later he had passed 
 over the crest. Julian started at full speed up the hill. There 
 was no need to folio w the footprints now ; indeed the strong 
 wind that w T as blowing had swept the snow into the hollows, 
 and the face of the hill was bare. When he reached the top 
 of the hili he had decreased his distance considerably. He 
 saw to his surprise that the man was bearing to the right, a 
 course that would ere long bring him to the edge of the cliff. 
 The run up the hill had left him breathless, and for some 
 time the man, who was also running, fully maintained his 
 lead. Then Julian began to gain upon him. The man had 
 again changed his course, and was now going parallel with 
 
IN A FRESH SCRAPE 59 
 
 the line of cliffs. Three miles from the point where he had 
 reached the top Julian was within a quarter of a mile of him. 
 He would have caught him before this, had he not been 
 obliged at times to make detours so as to avoid passing high 
 ground, where the man, if he looked back, would have per- 
 ceived him. By this time he was almost sure that the fugitive 
 was a poacher, who had been recently released from a term of 
 two years in prison for poaching in Mr. Faulkner's preserves. 
 At last he saw him turn sharp to the right again. " Where 
 on earth is he going ? " Julian said to himself. " The cliffs 
 are not many hundred yards away." 
 
 Hitherto he had supposed that the man was keeping away 
 from the cliff to avoid meeting any of the coast-guards who 
 would be on duty there, but this change of direction puzzled 
 him completely. Keeping his eye on the poacher, he saw 
 him enter a small clump of bushes, from which he did not 
 emerge. Julian at once slackened his pace down to a walk. 
 It was likely enough that the man had noticed that he was 
 being pursued, and had determined to rid himself of the pur- 
 suer. It was not a pleasant idea, that the fellow might now 
 be kneeling among the bushes with his gun at his shoulder. 
 
 " It could hardly be that either," he said to himself, " for 
 if he intended to shoot me he would have turned the other 
 way ; for the sound of his gun would be probably heard by 
 some of the coast-guard, and they could not fail to see him 
 running away. At any rate," he muttered, " I am not go- 
 ing to turn back after such a chase as I have had. ' ' 
 
 Standing still and looking at the spot, he saw that the clump 
 of bushes grew in a slight hollow, and that by turning to the 
 right he would be able to approach within twenty or thirty yards 
 of it without exposing himself to view. This he did, and in a 
 short time lost sight of the bushes. Moving with great cau- 
 tion, he made his way towards them, and when he approached 
 the slope into the hollow, lay down and crawled along, keep- 
 
60 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 ing his gun in front of him. As he neared the spot he lay 
 down on his stomach in the short turf and wound himself along 
 until he could see down into the bushes. With his gun at his 
 shoulder, and his finger on the trigger, he gazed down into 
 the hollow. To his surprise he could see no signs of the fugi- 
 tive. The leafless boughs afforded but slight shelter, and after 
 gazing fixedly at them for two or three minutes, he became 
 convinced that the man was no longer there. As soon as he 
 came to this conclusion he stood up and looked over the sur- 
 rounding country. It was bleak and bare, and entirely desti- 
 tute of hedges or any other shelter. 
 
 It was but for five or six minutes at the utmost that he had 
 lost sight of the bushes, and in that time the man could not 
 have got far. "Where on earth has he hidden himself ? " 
 Julian muttered. 
 
 He went down to the clump of bushes, still holding his gun 
 in readiness for instant use. The patch was but some thirty 
 feet long by half as wide. He walked backwards and for- 
 wards among the low bushes, but the fugitive was certainly 
 not there. Going to the end of the patch he could see plainly 
 enough the track where the man had entered, for although 
 there was little snow on the top of the ground it lay among the 
 tufts of grass. He walked round the clump, but there were 
 no signs of any footsteps leaving it. " This is the rummest 
 thing I ever saw," he muttered ; "the fellow can't have flown 
 away ; yet, he certainly has not walked off." 
 
 Thinking it over, an idea suddenly occurred to him. When 
 sailing along the coast with Bill, the latter had one day pointed 
 out to him a hole in the cliff some twenty feet above high- 
 water mark. " Do you see that hole, Mr. Julian ? " 
 
 "Yes, I see it plain enough. What of it ? " 
 
 " Well, sir, if I owned all the goods that have been taken 
 into that hole on dark still nights I should be a rich man." 
 
 " Do you mean to say that they run cargoes there, Bill? " 
 
IN A FRESH SCRAPE 61 
 
 "Not kegs — they are too heavy and too awkward to get 
 away — but laces, and silks, and such like. Many a lugger 
 when she comes from abroad lands all them sorts of things 
 here, and then sails away and takes her chance of running 
 the rest of the cargo somewhere else. ' ' 
 
 " But how can anyone get up there? I see nothing like 
 a path." 
 
 " There ain't no path, sir. The revenue men would have 
 found it out long ago if there had been. The boat comes 
 along, as I said, of a dark night, when there is no swell on, 
 and the chaps inside show a tiny light to guide them to 
 the spot. When the boat comes, they lower a rope down and 
 haul the bales up ; and then the boat goes back to the lugger, 
 and she ups sail, and no one is the wiser. ' ' 
 
 " But what do they do with the stuff? I don't mean, where 
 do they stow it, but how do they get it away ? " 
 
 " There is a passage somewhere," Bill replied. " I don't 
 know where it goes out. I reckon there ain't half a dozen 
 men in Weymouth who do know. I should say, except the 
 men whose business it is to take the goods inland and for- 
 ward them to London, there is only one chap who is in the 
 secret ; and he is not in Weymouth now — he is in jail. That 
 is Joe Markham. He is in for poaching. But for a good 
 many years he sailed in one of those French luggers. Then, 
 as I have heard, he was keeper of the cave for a bit ; but he 
 had to give it up — he was too well known to the coast-guard, 
 and they kept too sharp an eye on him for him to venture to 
 go out. He had had enough of the sea, and no doubt he had 
 got some money laid by ; anyhow, he took a cottage by the 
 river, and took to poaching, more for devilment, I should say, 
 than because he wanted the money. I expect he was well 
 paid by the smugglers, for he used to get up half the stories 
 to put them off the scent, and never missed being present 
 when a run was made." 
 
62 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 This conversation came back to Julian's memory, as he 
 stood by the clump of bushes wondering what had become 
 of the man that he had pursued, and it flashed upon him 
 that the spot where he was standing could not be far from the 
 smugglers' cavern, and that the entrance to this might very 
 well be among these bushes. The man knew where that en- 
 trance was, and nothing was more likely than that he should 
 make for it as a place of concealment until an opportunity 
 occurred to get on board a lugger and cross the channel. It 
 was a very likely place ; men could come and go at night 
 without risk of being seen or heard by any of the coast-guards- 
 men on the cliff, and would not be likely to encounter anyone 
 within two or three miles of it. Years might pass without 
 anyone happening to enter the bushes. 
 
 Laying down his gun, Julian began to search in earnest. It 
 was half an hour before, feeling about in the coarse grass, he 
 came upon a handle. He pulled at it, gently at first, then as 
 it did not yield, he exerted his strength, and it gave way, 
 and a section of the rough herbage rose, while three feet 
 away it sank in the same proportion. Raising it higher, he 
 saw that the trap-door — for such it was — was two feet wide 
 by about five feet long and eighteen inches deep ; it was, 
 in fact, a deep tray pivoted on the centre and filled with 
 earth, on which grass grew as freely as in the ground ad- 
 joining. 
 
 The greater portion of the trap was overhung by bushes, 
 which grew so thickly around the part which sank that the 
 probability was small indeed that anyone would tread upon 
 it. Julian saw, too, that under the handle was a bolt that, 
 when fastened, would hold the trap firmly down. No doubt 
 the man in his haste had forgotten to fasten it before he 
 descended. Looking down, Julian saw a circular hole like a 
 well, evidently artificially made in the chalk ; a ladder was 
 fastened against one side. 
 
JULIAN FINDS HIMSELF A PRISONER AMONG THE SMUGGLERS. 
 
IN A FRESH SCRAPE 63 
 
 Julian hesitated. Should he return to Weymouth, inform 
 the authorities that he had traced the murderer of Mr. Faulk- 
 ner to a place of concealment, and bring them there to arrest 
 him, or should he go down and encounter him single-handed ? 
 Although of a fearless disposition, he would have decided on 
 the more prudent course had it not been that to have done so, 
 would have let the authorities into the knowledge of the 
 smugglers' cave. Although he had determined to have 
 nothing more to do with them, this he felt would be an act of 
 treachery, for it was only because he had been believed by 
 Bill to be absolutely trustworthy, that the latter had told him 
 of the existence of this cavern and of the secret exit, and 
 without that information he would never have searched for 
 and discovered the trap-door. Then, too, the thought that the 
 credit he would gain by the capture of the murderer single- 
 handed would go far to efface the memory of the disgrace that 
 had befallen him. helped to decide him. 
 
 He fetched his gun and slung it over his shoulder, got upon 
 the ladder, and pulled the trap-door down behind him. As 
 he did so he found that it moved easily, and that he could 
 push it up again without any difficulty, and feeling the bolt, 
 discovered that it had been partially shot, but not sufficiently 
 to catch fairly, although containing so far a hold of the frame, 
 that it had torn a groove in the somewhat rotten wood with 
 the force that he had used to raise it. He went down the 
 ladder very cautiously, until, after descending for some thirty 
 steps, his foot encountered solid ground. After a moment's 
 consideration he knelt down and proceeded on his hands and 
 knees. Almost immediately he felt the ground slope away in 
 front of him. He got on to his feet again. Holding out his 
 arms he found that the passage was about four feet wide, and 
 he besran to descend with extreme care, feeling; his wav alone; 
 both walls. He had gone, he thought, about fifty yards when 
 the passage made a sharp turn, still descending, and at a con- 
 
64 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 siderable distance ahead the light streamed in through a rugged 
 hole. He walked more confidently now, and soon the light 
 was sufficient to enable him to see the path he was following. 
 
 On arriving at the aperture, he saw that, as he expected, he 
 was looking over the sea. On one side of the hole there was 
 a shelf cut in the chalk. This was stained as if by oil, and 
 he guessed at once that it was a look-out and a spot for sig- 
 nalling a craft in the offing. The path here turned again and 
 ran parallel with the face of the cliff. There was no occasion 
 to exercise care in walking now, as here and there the light 
 streamed in through openings a few inches long. He now 
 unslung his gun, stooped and took off his boots, and then 
 proceeded noiselessly. The descent was considerable, and in 
 some places steps had been cut. At last he arrived at a door. 
 It was roughly but very solidly made, and would doubtless 
 sustain an attack for some time before it yielded, and so would 
 give time to the occupants, in case the trap-door was discov- 
 ered, to make their escape by the lower entrance on to the beach. 
 There was a latch to it. Lifting this quietly, he found the 
 door yielded, and, holding his gun in his right hand ready to 
 cover the fugitive the moment he entered, Julian threw the 
 door wide open and sprang forward. 
 
 He had not calculated on a further descent, but the floor 
 of the cave was five feet below him, and he fell heavily upon 
 it, the gun going off as it struck the floor. Instantaneous as 
 the fall had been, his eyes had taken in the scene. Several 
 lanterns faintly lit up the cave ; while in the centre a table, 
 at which several figures were sitting, was illuminated by three 
 or four candles. He was partly stunned by the heaviness of 
 his fall, but vaguely heard shouts of surprise and alarm, and 
 was, a minute later, roughly seized and dragged along. Then 
 he felt that he was being tightly bound. For some minutes 
 he was left to himself, but he could see three men with guns 
 in their hands standing near the door by which he had en^ 
 
IN A FRESH SCRAPE 65 
 
 tered, listening attentively. Presently he heard steps coming 
 down the passage and two other men came through the door, 
 shut and bolted it carefully, and then came down the steps 
 into the cabin. 
 
 They spoke to their comrades as they came in, and the news 
 was evidently satisfactory, for the men leaned their guns 
 against the wall and came to the table. There was some talk 
 for a few minutes, and then Julian was raised and placed in a 
 sitting position on the head of a cask by the table. One of 
 the men then addressed him in French. Julian, who by this 
 time had recovered from the effects of his fall, shook his head. 
 The other then spoke to the poacher, who had seated himself 
 opposite Julian, and the latter then said : 
 
 < ' You are the young fellow who was tried in court three 
 weeks ago, are you not? " 
 
 "Yes, I am." 
 
 " I thought so ; I was there. It was the very day I got to 
 Weymouth. Well, what the deuce are you doing here ? You 
 are the chap who has followed me all the way up the hill ? M 
 
 Julian nodded. 
 
 *' What did you follow me for? " 
 
 "Because I was in the road when you shot Faulkner. I 
 heard the gun, and ran in and found him dead. I caught 
 sight of you in the wood, and went in chase of you." 
 
 " What did you intend to do, you young fool? " 
 
 " I intended to capture you," Julian said fearlessly. 
 
 " What for ? I have done you a good service as well as my- 
 self. You had no reason to bear him any good-will, and some 
 of the men who were there told me that though Downes got you 
 off, it was true that you were going to throw Faulkner into the 
 fire." 
 
 " So I was ; but he had just struck me and I was in a furious 
 passion ; but that was a different thing altogether to shooting 
 a man in cold blood." 
 
66 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 "He got me two years' imprisonment," the man saia, 
 " which to my mind was a good reason for shooting him when 
 I got the chance ; and another thing was he would never leave 
 us alone, but was always on our heels. There are two or three 
 men in prison now that he got sent there, and eight more are 
 waiting their trial. He made war on us, and I have turned 
 the tables on him. 
 
 1 ' I heard that you had been at several of the runs, and of 
 course you are in with some of our fellows. How did you get 
 to know about the entrance to this place ? ' ' 
 
 " I only knew that there was a cave here, that it was used by 
 the smugglers, and that it had an entrance somewhere. The man 
 who told me knew well that I was to be trusted, but it was only 
 because you disappeared among those bushes, and that there 
 were no footprints to show that you had left them, that it 
 appeared to me that the passage might be there, and so I looked 
 about until I found the handle to the trap-door." 
 
 " Why didn't you go and call the coast-guard? There was 
 a station not a quarter of a mile away." 
 
 " Because I could not have done that without betraying the 
 secret of the cavern. I found the entrance myself, but I should 
 never have done so, if I had not been told about the cave and 
 the secret passage, and I felt that it would be an act of treach- 
 ery to betray it." 
 
 " And you were really fool enough to think that if you capt- 
 ured me single-handed I should walk with you like a lamb to 
 the gallows ? ' ' 
 
 " I didn't intend to give you a chance of making a fight. 
 I intended to rush straight in and covered you with my gun." 
 
 "Well, you have plenty of pluck, young fellow, if you 
 haven't much wisdom; but if you think that after getting in 
 here. I shall let you go out again to bring the constables down 
 on me you are mistaken altogether." 
 
THE SMUGGLER'S CAVE 67 
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 THE SMUGGLER'S CAVE 
 
 JOE MARKHAM had, as soon as he arrived, told the 
 French smugglers that he had shot the magistrate who had 
 for the last five or six years given them so much trouble and 
 caused them so much loss, and who had, as the last affair 
 showed, become more dangerous than ever, as he could only- 
 have obtained information as to the exact point of landing by 
 having bribed someone connected with them. 
 
 " It was a case of his life or our business, " he said. " If 
 he had not been got out of the way we must have given up 
 the trade altogether on this part of the coast ; besides, he has 
 been the cause, not only of several seizures of cargoes, but of 
 the death of eight or ten of our comrades and of the im- 
 prisonment of many others. Now that he is out of the way 
 we shall find things a great deal easier. ' ' 
 
 " It served him right," the leader of the party said, "and 
 you have rendered good service ; but what are you going to 
 do ? Do you think that any suspicion will fall upon you ? ' ' 
 
 " Yes ; I have put myself in an awkward position, I am 
 afraid. I thought that the job had been so well managed that 
 it could never be traced to me, but when I got up to the top 
 of the hill I saw a fellow just starting from the bottom. I did 
 not think much of it at the time, but he came up so quickly 
 after me that he must have run all the way up. He has chased 
 me hard, and as he got nearer I could see that he had a gun 
 too. He was not more than a quarter of a mile away when I 
 got to the trap-door." 
 
 < ' Why didn' t you hide yourself in the bushes and put a 
 bullet into him, Markham ? " 
 
 "For several reasons. In the first place, the gun might 
 
68 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 have been heard by some of those cussed revenue men. Then 
 there would be an inquiry and a search. They would have 
 seen by the direction he had been going, that he must have 
 been shot from the bushes, and as no one would have been in 
 sight when they ran up, the thing would have been such a 
 puzzle to them that you may be sure they would have sus- 
 pected there must be some hidden way out of the clump. 
 Besides, they would probably have hunted every inch of the 
 ground to see if they could find anything that would give 
 them a clue as to who had fired the shot. That is one 
 reason." 
 
 " And quite good enough without any others," the French- 
 man said. 
 
 " Well, there was another one that went for almost as much 
 with me. I shot down Faulkner because he was a curse to 
 us all. He had imprisoned several of my pals, and done a 
 lot of damage to the trade, and was likely to break it up 
 altogether, besides which I had a big grudge against him on 
 my own account. But I should not have liked to shoot down 
 this fellow in cold blood. I had no feeling against him ; he 
 has done me no harm ; I did not even know who he was. If 
 he had overtaken me in the open, you may be sure that T 
 should have made a fight of it, for it would have been my life 
 against his. I don't pretend to be soft ; there is little enough 
 of that about me, and I have fought hard several times in the 
 old days when we were surprised ; but I could not have shot 
 down that fellow without giving him a chance of his life. If 
 there had not been the trap-door to escape by I should have 
 stood up, given him fair warning, and fought it out man to 
 man. As it was — " at this point the conversation had been 
 arrested by the sudden entrance of Julian. 
 
 " Who is he ? " the chief of the smugglers asked Joe when 
 he had finished his conversation with the prisoner. "Is he 
 a spy?" 
 
THE SMUGGLER'S CAVE 69 
 
 " No ; he is a young chap as lives down in the town. He 
 is a pal of some of our friends there, and has been with them 
 at the landings of goods. He was caught in that last affair, 
 but got off because they could not prove that he was actually 
 engaged in the business. He is an enemy of Faulkner's too ; 
 they had a row there, and Faulkner hit him in the face. You 
 can see the mark still ; and he would have thrown Faulkner 
 on to the bonfire they had lit if he had not been prevented 
 by some of the coast-guards. It is through what he had 
 heard from our friends of this cavern, and there being an en- 
 trance to it somewhere, that he came to look for the trap-door. 
 I certainly pushed the bolt forward when I came down, but 
 I was in a hurry, so I suppose it could not have caught 
 rightly." 
 
 " Well, what is to be done, Joe?" 
 
 "I don't know. You see he knows about my shooting 
 Faulkner. I would trust him not to peach about this cavern 
 or the trap-door, but I don't know as I would about the other 
 thing. It seems to me that he is just as likely to be suspected 
 of having a hand in it as I am. His row with Faulkner is the 
 talk of the place, and when Faulkner is found with a bullet in 
 him, he will be the first fellow to be suspected. Well, if that 
 was so, and you see he would not be able to account for him- 
 self for three or four hours afterwards, he might be driven to 
 peach on me to save his own life, and he would be obliged to 
 give all the story about following me and coming down here. 
 There would be an end of the best hiding-place m the coun- 
 try, and I should not be able to show my face on this side of 
 the Channel again." 
 
 ' ' I should say the safest plan would be to cut his throat 
 and chuck him into the sea, and have done with it." 
 
 "No, I won't have that," the poacher said positively. 
 "Your lugger will be in to-night, and we will take him across 
 with us to France." 
 
70 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 " That is all very well," one of the men said ; " but what 
 is to prevent his coming back again ? ' ' 
 
 " We could prevent it somehow or other. We could get 
 up a tale that he was an English sailor we had picked up at 
 sea, and hand him over to the authorities, and tell them his 
 story was, that he had fallen overboard from an English ship 
 of war. Then they would send him away to some place in 
 the interior where they keep English prisoners of war, and 
 there he might lie for years ; perhaps never get back again. 
 He does not know a word of French, as you saw when you 
 spoke to him, so he can't contradict any story we may tell, 
 and if by chance any questions should be asked, I can just say 
 what suits us. ' ' 
 
 " He might ruin us all if he came back," the smuggler 
 growled. 
 
 " It ain't likely that he will come back," the poacher said. 
 " I have heard that they die off like flies in those prisons of 
 yours ; and, besides, I will guarantee if he does, he will never 
 split about this place. He is a gentleman, and I will get him 
 to swear to me, and you may be sure he will not break his 
 oath." 
 
 " But how about yourself? " 
 
 "Well, as he won't come back for some years, I will take 
 my chance of that. He has got no evidence against me ; it 
 would be his word against mine. He would tell his story and 
 I should tell mine, and mine would be the most likely. I 
 should say I met him on the hills with his gun, and, knowing 
 who I was, and what cause I had got to hate Faulkner, he told 
 me that he had shot him, and asked me to get him on board 
 a smuggler craft and across the Channel, and that I had done 
 so : and that is all I should know about it. No, I am not 
 afraid of anything he might say when he comes back again." 
 
 Julian had watched the speakers anxiously during this con- 
 versation. He was wholly ignorant of French, but from the 
 
THE SMUGGLER'S CAVE 71 
 
 tone and manner of the speakers, he gathered that the poacher 
 was speaking in his favour. He had expected no mercy ; his 
 life was nothing to these French smugglers ; and he was sur- 
 prised to find the man, whose life he thought he held in his 
 hand if released, apparently pleading his cause. 
 
 "Look here, young fellow!" the poacher said, turning 
 towards him. " In the first place, these men are afraid that 
 you may betray the existence of this place, and their opinion 
 is that the best thing to make us safe would be to cut your 
 throat and throw you out of the mouth of the cave into the 
 sea. I told them that you knew of the cave from one of our 
 friends, and could be trusted to keep the secret ; at any rate 
 they demand, in the first place, that you shall take an oath 
 never to split about it." 
 
 " I will do that willingly enough," Julian said, with a great 
 feeling of relief. 
 
 Joe Markham then dictated a terrible oath, which had been 
 always taken by all those made acquainted with the existence 
 of the cave, and this Julian repeated after him. The poacher 
 then told the smugglers what Julian had sworn to. 
 
 " Now, young fellow, I may tell you that we are going to 
 take you over to France to-night. You may think I shall be 
 asking you to take another oath, like that, not to say anything 
 against me, but I ain't going to. I shot the man, and I don't 
 pretend to be sorry for it. He was a hard, bad chap, and he 
 got what he deserved. I owed him a long score, not only for 
 myself, but for others, and if I had not shot him, someone else 
 would have done so sooner or later. I shall do what I can to 
 prevent you coming back here, though I don't think you will 
 say anything against me when you do come back. In the first 
 place, like enough I shall take to the sea again, and may be 
 settled in France before you return. In the next place, I may 
 be dead ; and, most of all, you have got no evidence against me. 
 If I were here, and you told the story, of course I should say 
 
72 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 that it was a lie, and that you had shot the man yourself, and 
 I had got you out of the way by sending you across to France 
 in a lugger, so I think you will see that it is best to keep a quiet 
 tongue in your head ; anyhow I am ready to take my chance 
 of it." 
 
 " They will be horribly alarmed when I don't get home to- 
 night," Julian said. 
 
 " Well, they must be alarmed," the poacher said carelessly. 
 " You have interfered in this business, which was none of yours, 
 and you have got to take the consequences ; you may think your- 
 self a lucky fellow that you are not by this time drifting about 
 on the tideway." 
 
 ' ' I feel that, ' ' Julian said ; * ' and though I did not under- 
 stand a word of what you said, I am sure that it was owing to 
 you that I am not there. I could not have promised that I 
 would never say a word to anyone about you, because one can 
 never tell how one may be placed ; but, after what you have 
 done, I think that I can safely promise that I will never go out 
 of my way to denounce you." 
 
 " I don't want any promise about it,*' the poacher replied. 
 " I have made up my mind to leave Weymouth, for, after hav- 
 ing been in jail two years, I shall always have the constables as 
 well as the revenue men keeping their eye on me, so I had in- 
 tended all along to take to the lugger again, and live on board 
 her as I did before, and I only stayed here until I could settle 
 accounts with Faulkner. I have no doubt that they will sus- 
 pect me of this business. There are plenty of men who know 
 that I had sworn to be even with him, and my disappearance 
 is sure to be put down to that. Now, in the next place, will 
 you promise not to try to escape, because if you do, I will get 
 them to take these ropes off you ? I dare say you have been 
 thinking that if you could get free you would make a run for 
 the mouth of the cave and dive in, for it is about high water 
 now." 
 
THE SMUGGLER'S CAVE 73 
 
 Julian had, in fact, been thinking so, but as he saw that un- 
 less he gave his promise he would have to remain in the cords 
 that were cutting into his wrists, he at once took the required 
 oath. Joe told the Frenchmen, and they then unfastened 
 Julian's cords. 
 
 " We may as well carry up the bales at once," their leader 
 said, " before it gets dark. It is no use giving anyone at sea 
 a chance of seeing a light. Tell him to take one and come up 
 with us. I am not going to leave him here by himself, promise 
 or no promise." 
 
 The poacher translated the order to Julian. Some bales 
 were taken out from beneath a tarpaulin at the end of the cave, 
 and, each shouldering one, they proceeded up the passage 
 until they reached the foot of the ladder. Here they laid the 
 bales down, and then returned to the cave. 
 
 " Is that all? " Julian asked. 
 
 * ' Yes, those bales are worth a lot of money. There is fif- 
 teen hundred pounds worth of lace in one of them. The 
 others are silks and satins, and worth another five hundred. 
 To-night, when we hear the signal, I and three of the French- 
 men will go up. We shall find two men there, and shall carry 
 the bales to a place a mile and a half away, where they will be 
 hidden until it is convenient to send them up to London, or 
 wherever they are going to dispose of them — that is their 
 business ; ours is finished when they hand us over the money 
 for them. They will come at eight o'clock, and at ten the 
 lugger will be off the coast here and send a boat ashore for us. 
 So you have got five or six hours yet, and I should say the 
 best thing you can do is to turn in and sleep till then. There 
 are plenty of blankets in that corner and a pile of sheep-skins 
 that you can sleep on." 
 
 Julian nodded, threw two or three of the sheep-skins down 
 in a corner, rolled another up for a pillow, drew a blanket 
 over h ; m, and for the first time looked round the cave. It 
 
74 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 was lighted only by a small hole used as a look-out ; at present 
 a blanket hung before this. There was a door similar to that 
 by which he had entered from above leading to the lower cave. 
 How far that lower entrance might be below them Julian had 
 no means of knowing, but from the view he had obtained of 
 the sea through a large loop-hole he had passed in his descent, 
 he did not think that the cavern he was in could be less than 
 seventy or eighty feet above the water. The sole ventilation, 
 as far as he could see, was the current of air that found its way 
 in through the door from below, and passed up through that 
 above, and what could come in through the loop-hole sea- 
 wards. Doubtless in warmer weather both the doors stood 
 open, but were now closed more for warmth than for any other 
 purpose, although he had noticed that the lower one had been 
 bolted and locked after he had been first captured. 
 
 As he lay down he wondered how it was all going to end. 
 His position was at once perilous and uncertain. He had, so 
 far, escaped better than he could have expected, for from the 
 looks the Frenchmen had given him, he had no doubt what 
 his fate would have been had not the man he had been chas- 
 ing spoken in his favour. His life therefore seemed for the 
 present safe, but the future was very dark. The poacher had 
 spoken as if he was not likely to return for some years. They 
 surely could not intend to keep him on board ship all that 
 time. Could they mean to put him upon some vessel sailing 
 abroad ? What a way Frank and his aunt would be in ! They 
 would learn that he had started for home early in the after- 
 noon, and it would be absolutely certain that he could not 
 have strayed from the road nor met with any accident coming 
 along the valley. It would certainly be awkward his being 
 missed on the same day Faulkner had been shot, especially as, 
 according to the time he had started for home, he would have 
 come along the road somewhere about the time the magistrate 
 was shot. 
 
THE SMUGGLER'S CAVE 75 
 
 It was a horrible thought that suspicion might fall upon 
 him. Those who knew him would be sure that he could have 
 had nothing whatever to do with the murder; still, the more 
 he thought of it the more he felt that suspicions were certain 
 to rise, and that he would find it extremely difficult to explain 
 matters on his return. The memory of his quarrel with the 
 magistrate was fresh in everybody's mind, and even his friends 
 might well consider it singular that his words to Faulkner 
 should so soon have been carried into effect. It is true that 
 Joe Markham would be missing too, and that the man's own 
 acquaintances would have no great difficulty in guessing that 
 he had carried out his threats against Fauikner, but they 
 would certainly not communicate their opinion to the con- 
 stables, and the latter might not think of the man in connec- 
 tion with the murder, nor notice that he was no longer to be 
 seen about the town. 
 
 Even were he himself free to leave the cave now and 
 return to Weymouth, he would find himself in a most awk- 
 ward position. There was, of course, no shadow of evidence 
 against him save that he was known to have quarrelled with 
 Faulkner, and must have been very near the spot the moment 
 he was killed, but how could he explain six or seven hours' 
 absence ? He could but say that he had caught sight of a 
 man in the plantation and followed him for miles among the 
 hills, and had lost sight of him at last. He had not a shadow 
 of evidence to produce in confirmation of his story ; in fact 
 there was no direct evidence either way. There could be no 
 doubt he would have to remain under a cloud of suspicion. It 
 was bad enough before, but this would be altogether intolera- 
 ble, and it was perhaps best, after all, that he was to be taken 
 away, and his future decided for him. 
 
 He should have gone anyhow, and no doubt he would be 
 able to get some opportunity of writing to Frank and setting 
 his mind at rest as to his safety, and telling him something 
 
76 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 about what had happened, and that he had been kidnapped and 
 carried over to France. He had acted like a fool, no doubt, 
 but Frank would understand why he had followed his first im- 
 pulse and gone alone after the man who committed the 
 murder, instead of going to the constables and telling them 
 that some unknown man had killed the magistrate. One thing 
 seemed certain, he should never be able to go back to Wey- 
 mouth again unless the affair was cleared up, and he did not 
 see how that ever could be. 
 
 At this point Julian's thoughts became confused. The 
 voices of the men talking at the table seemed to get further 
 and further away, and then he was conscious of nothing 
 more until he heard a bell tinkle faintly somewhere over- 
 head. There was a movement in the cave, and he sat up. 
 All the men went out by the upper door. When they had 
 left he got up and went to see if the lower door was so 
 fastened that he could not open it. He had no idea of 
 breaking his word, but did so out of curiosity rather than 
 from any other feeling. He found that the bolts could be 
 pulled back, but that the lock was a very strong one, and 
 the jamb was, at the point where the bolt shot into it, cov- 
 ered with a piece of iron, so that no instrument could be used 
 for forcing back the bolt. 
 
 " It may be," he thought, " that some other prisoner has 
 been confined here at some time or other, or possibly this has 
 been done in order that if the trap-door above should be 
 found, and the revenue men come down that way, the smug- 
 glers in their flight might lock the door behind them and so 
 have time to get away in a boat or along at the foot of the 
 cliffs before their pursuers could get down to the lower en- 
 trance and open fire upon them." 
 
 Then he lay down again. He wondered whether the pull 
 of the bell he had heard could be hidden in the grass like 
 the handle of the trap. It might only be a very small knob, 
 
THE SMUGGLER'S CAVE 77 
 
 but he had looked so closely among the bushes that he won- 
 dered it had escaped him. In three or four minutes the 
 French captain came down again, and walked across to where 
 he was lying : 
 
 " Pauvre diable / " he muttered, and then went back to the 
 table, filled himself a glass of spirits and water, and lit his 
 pipe. A moment later a thought seemed to strike him, and 
 he came across to Julian again and touched him. He at once 
 sat up. The Frenchman motioned him to come to the table, 
 went to a cupboard, brought out a wooden platter with a 
 large lump of cold beef and a loaf of bread and some cheese, 
 poured him out a horn of brandy and water, and motioned him 
 to eat. Julian attacked the food vigorously. He had had 
 some lunch with his friends before starting for his walk back 
 to Weymouth, but that had been nearly seven hours before, 
 and his run across the hills in the keen air had given him a 
 sharp appetite, so he did full justice to the food. 
 
 " This is not a bad fellow after all," he said to himself, as 
 the smuggler, when he had finished, brought out a box of 
 cigars and placed it before him. " He would have knocked 
 me on the head without compunction, in the way of business ; 
 but now when he has concluded that I am not dangerous, he 
 comes out as a good fellow." He nodded pleasantly to the 
 Frenchman as he lit the cigar, which was an excellent one, 
 and far better than any Julian had been accustomed to smoke 
 with his associates in the billiard room. 
 
 The Frenchman's thoughts were not dissimilar to his own. 
 " He is a brave garfon," he said to himself, " and makes the 
 best of things. He is a fine-looking fellow, too, and will be 
 a big man in another year or two. It is a misfortune that we 
 have got to take him and shut him up in prison. Why did 
 he mix himself up in this affair of Markham ? That is the 
 way with boys. Instead of being grateful to the man that 
 had killed his enemy, he must needs run after him as if he had 
 
78 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 done him an injury. Well, it can't be helped now; but, at 
 least, I will make him as comfortable as I can as long as he is 
 on board the lugger." 
 
 In another half hour Joe Markham returned with the French 
 sailors. " There is a big stir down in Weymouth," he said 
 to Julian. " I heard from our friend that the place is like a 
 hive of bees. I tell you, Mr. Wyatt, that it is a lucky thing 
 for you that you found the trap-door and came down here. 
 You mayn't like being our prisoner ; but it is a lot better than 
 being in a cell down in Weymouth with a charge of murder 
 hanging over you, which you would have been if you had gone 
 straight back again. ' ' 
 
 " A charge of murder ! " Julian repeated, springing to his 
 feet. " How could such a charge be brought? It could not 
 have been known so soon that I was missing. I must go back 
 and face it. If I run away, now I have been openly accused, 
 everyone will make sure of my guilt." 
 
 " Well, sir, I should say it is a sight better that they should 
 suspect you, and you safely over in France, than that they 
 should suspect you with you in their hands ; but at any rate, 
 you see you have no choice in the matter. You could only 
 clear yourself by bringing me into it; though I doubt, as 
 things have turned out, that that would help you a bit." 
 
 " I warn you that I shall make my escape, and come back 
 again as soon as I can," Julian said passionately. 
 
 " Well, sir, if you have a fancy for hanging, of course you 
 can do so ; but from what I hear, hanging it would be, as 
 sure as you stand there. There is a warrant out against you, 
 and the constables are securing all the country." 
 
 " But what possible ground can they have to go upon ex- 
 cept that smuggling affair ? ' ' 
 
 " Well, if what our friend told me is true, they have very 
 good grounds, as they think, to go on. He was talking with 
 one of the constables, and he told him that Faulkner is not 
 
THE SMUGGLER'S CAVE 79 
 
 dead yet, though he ain't expected to last till morning. His 
 servants came out to look for him when the horse came back 
 to the house without him. A man rode into Weymouth for 
 the doctor, and another went to Colonel Chambers and Mr. 
 Harrington. By the time they got there Faulkner was con- 
 scious, and they took his dying deposition. He said that he 
 had had a row with you a short distance before he had got to 
 his gate, and that you said you would be even with him. As 
 he was riding up through the wood to his house, he suddenly 
 heard a gun and at the same moment fell from his horse. A 
 minute later you came out from the wood at the point where 
 the shot had been fired. You had a gun in your hand. 
 Feeling sure that your intention was to ascertain if he was 
 done for, and to finish him off if you found that he was not, 
 he shut his eyes and pretended to be dead. You stooped 
 over him, and then made off at full speed. Now, sir, that 
 will be awkward evidence to get over, and you must see that 
 you will be a long way safer in France than you would in 
 Weymouth." 
 
 Julian sank down, crushed by the blow. He saw that what 
 the poacher said was true. What would his unsupported as- 
 sertion go for as against the dying man's deposition ? Xo 
 doubt Faulkner had stated what he believed to be the truth, 
 though he might not have given quite a fair account of what 
 had taken place in the road ; still, there would be no cross-ex- 
 amining him as to what had passed there, and his statement 
 would stand unchallenged. As things now stood, Julian's own 
 story that he had pursued a man over the hills, and had lost 
 him, would, wholly unsupported as it was, be received with 
 absolute incredulity. He had been at the spot certainly at 
 the time. He had had words with Faulkner ; he had had a 
 gun in his hands ; he had come out and leaned over the 
 wounded man within less than a minute of the shot being 
 fired. The chain of evidence against him seemed to be com- 
 
80 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 plete, and he sat appalled at the position in which he found 
 himself. 
 
 " Look here, youngster," the poacher said, "it is a bad 
 job, and I don't say it isn't. I am sorry for you, but I ain't 
 so sorry as to go and give myself up and get hung in your 
 place ; but I'll tell you what I will do. When I get across to 
 France I will draw up a statement and swear it before a mag- 
 istrate, giving an account of the whole affair, and I will put it 
 in a tin case and always carry it about with me. I will direct 
 it to Colonel Chambers, and whenever anything happens to 
 me it shall be sent to him. I am five-and-twenty years older 
 than you are, and the life I lead ain't likely to give me old age. 
 To make matters safer, I will have two copies made of my 
 statement — one I will leave in the hands of one of our friends 
 here. The craft I am in may be wrecked some day, or sunk 
 by one of the cutters ; anyhow, whichever way it comes, he is 
 certain to hear of my death, and I shall tell him that when he 
 hears of it he is to send that letter to Chambers. ' ' 
 
 " Thank you," Julian said earnestly. " It may not come 
 for a long time, but it will be something for me to know that 
 some day or other my name will be cleared of this horrible 
 accusation ; but I would rather have gone and faced it out 
 now. ' ' 
 
 " It would be just suicide," the man said. "Weymouth 
 ain't the only place in the world ; and it is better for you to 
 live out of it, and know you will get cleared some day, than to 
 get hung, with only the consolation that perhaps twenty years 
 dence they may find out they have made a mistake." 
 
 " It isn't so much myself I am thinking of as my brother 
 and aunt. My going away and never sending them a word 
 will be like confessing my guilt. It will ruin my brother's 
 life, and kill my aunt." 
 
 " Well, I'll tell you what I will do," Markham said. " You 
 shall write a letter to your brother, and tell him your story, 
 
THE SMUGGLER'S CAVE 81 
 
 except, of course, about this cave. You can say you followed 
 me, and that I and some smugglers sprang on you and captured 
 you, and have carried you across to France. All the rest you 
 can tell just as it happened. I don't know as it will do me 
 any harm. Your folks may believe it, but no one else is likely 
 to do so. I don't mean to go back to Weymouth again, and 
 if I did that letter would not be evidence that anyone would 
 send me to trial on. Anyhow, I will risk that." 
 
 "Thank you, with all my heart," Julian said gratefully. 
 " I shall not so much mind, if Frank and Aunt get my story. 
 I know that they will believe it if no one else does, and they 
 can move away from Weymouth to some place where it will 
 not follow them. It won't be so hard for me to bear then, 
 especially if some day the truth gets to be known. Only 
 please direct your letters to ' Colonel Chambers, or the Chair- 
 man of the Weymouth magistrates,' because he is at least ten 
 years older than you are, and might die long before you, and 
 the letter might never be opened if directed only to him." 
 
 " Right you are, lad. I will see to that." 
 
 Just at this moment one of the sailors came down from the 
 look-out above, and said that the signal had just been made 
 from the offing, and that the lugger's boat would be below in 
 a quarter of an hour. All prepared for departure ; the lower 
 door was unbolted, the lights extinguished, and they went 
 down to the lower entrance. It was reached by a staircase 
 cut in the chalk, and coming down into a long and narrow 
 passage, at the further end of which was the opening Julian 
 had seen from the sea. The party gathered at the entrance. 
 In a few minutes a boat with muffled oars approached silently ; 
 a rope was lowered, a noose at its upper end being placed 
 over a short iron bar projecting three or four inches from the 
 chalk a foot or two inside the entrance. 
 
 The French captain went down first. Julian was told to 
 follow. The sailors and Markham then descended. A sharp 
 
82 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 jerk shook the rope off the bar, and the boat then rowed out 
 to the smuggler, which was lying half a mile from shore. As 
 soon as they were on board the sails were sheeted home, and 
 the craft began to steal quietly through the water, towing the 
 boat behind it. The whole operation had been conducted in 
 perfect silence. The men were accustomed to their work ; 
 there was no occasion for orders, and it was not until they 
 were another mile out that a word was spoken. 
 
 " All has gone off well," the captain then said. " We got 
 the laces and silks safely away, and the money has been paid 
 for them. The revenue cutter started early this morning, and 
 was off Lyme Regis this afternoon, so we shall have a clear 
 run out. We will keep on the course we are laying till we 
 are well beyond the race, and then make for the west. We 
 have sent word for them to be on the look-out for us at the 
 old place near Dartmouth to-morrow night,, and if we are not 
 there then, the night after ; if there is danger, they are to 
 send up a rocket from the hill inland." 
 
 The wind was but light, and keeping a smart look-out for 
 British cruisers, and lowering their sails down once or twice 
 when a suspicious sail was seen in the distance, they approached 
 the rocky shore some two miles east of the entrance to the bay 
 at ten o'clock on the second evening after starting. A lantern 
 was raised twice above the bulwark, kept there for an instant, 
 and then lowered. 
 
 " I expect it is all right," the captain said, " or they would 
 have sent up a rocket before this. Half-past eight is the time 
 arranged, and I think we are about off the landing place. 
 Ah, yes, there is the signal ! " he broke off as a light was 
 shown for a moment close down to the water's edge. " Yes, 
 there it is again! Lower the anchor gently; don't let it 
 splash." 
 
 A light anchor attached to a hawser was silently let down 
 into the water. 
 
THE SMUGGLER'S CAVE 83 
 
 " Now, off with the hatches ; get up the kegs." 
 
 While some of the men were engaged at this work, others 
 lowered the second boat, and this, and the one towing behind, 
 were brought round to the side. Julian saw that all the men 
 were armed with cutlasses, and had pistols in their belts. 
 Rapidly the kegs were brought up on deck and lowered into 
 the boat. 
 
 " Ah, here comes Thompson," the captain said, as a very 
 small boat rowed up silently out of the darkness. " Well, my 
 friend, is all safe?" he asked in broken English as the boat 
 came alongside. 
 
 " Safe enough, captain. Most of the revenue men have 
 gone round from here to the other side of the bay, where they got 
 news, as they thought, that a cargo was going to be run. The 
 man on duty here has been squared, and will be away at the 
 other end of his beat. The carts are ready, a quarter of a 
 mile away. I made you out with my glass just before sunset, 
 and sent round word at once to our friends to be in readi- 
 ness." 
 
 The boats started as soon as their cargoes were on board, 
 and the work went on uninterruptedly for the next two hours, 
 by which time the last keg was on shore, and the boats re- 
 turned to the lugger. The men were in high spirits. The 
 cargo had been a valuable one, and the whole had been got 
 rid of without interruption. The boats were at once hoisted 
 up, the anchor weighed, and the lugger made her way out 
 to sea. 
 
 " What port do you land at? " Julian asked Markham. 
 
 " We shall go up the Loire to Nantes," he replied ; " she 
 hails from there. To-morrow morning you had best put on 
 that sailor suit I gave you to-day. Unless the wind freshens 
 a good deal we sha'n't be there for three or four days, but I 
 fancy, from the look of the sky, that it will blow up before 
 morning, and, as likely as not, we shall get more than we want 
 
84 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 by evening. There is generally a cruiser or two off the mouth 
 of the river. In a light wind we can show them our heels 
 easily enough, but if it is blowing at all their weight tells. I 
 am glad to be at sea again, lad, after being cooped up in that 
 cursed prison for two years. It seems to make a new man of 
 one. I don't know but that I am sorry I shot that fellow. I 
 don't say that he didn't deserve it, for he did; but I don't 
 see it quite so strongly as I did when I was living on bread 
 and water, and with nothing to do but to think of how I 
 could get even with him when I got out ; besides, I never 
 calculated upon getting anyone else into a mess, and I am 
 downright sorry that I got you into one, Mr. Wyatt. How- 
 ever, the job is done, and it is no use crying over spilt milk." 
 Markham's prediction turned out correct. A fresh wind 
 was blowing by the morning, and two days later the lugger 
 was running along, close under the coast, fifteen miles south 
 of the mouth of the Loire, having kept that course in order to 
 avoid any British cruisers that might be off the mouth of the 
 river. Before morning they had passed St. Nazaire, and were 
 running up the Loire. 
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 FOLLOWING A TRAIL 
 
 FRANK had started early for a walk with one of his school 
 friends. Returning through the town at three in the 
 afternoon, he saw people talking in groups. They presently 
 met one of their chums. 
 
 " What is going on, Vincent? " 
 
 "Why, have you not heard? Faulkner, the magistrate, 
 has been shot." 
 
 "Shot ! " the two boys exclaimed. "Do you mean on 
 purpose or accidentally ? ' ' 
 
FOLLOWING A TRAIL 85 
 
 " On purpose. The servants heard a gun fired close by, 
 and a minute later his horse galloped up to the door. Two 
 men ran along the drive, and, not a hundred yards from the 
 house, found him lying shot through the body. Three of the 
 doctors went off at once. Thompson came back ten minutes 
 ago, for some instruments, I believe. He stopped his gig for 
 a moment to speak to the Rector, and I hear he told him that 
 it might be as well for him to go up at once, as there was very 
 little probability of Faulkner's living through the night." 
 
 " Well, I can't say that I am surprised," Frank said. " He 
 has made himself so disliked, there are so many men who have 
 a grudge against him, and he has been threatened so often, 
 that I have heard fellows say dozens of times he would be shot 
 some day. And yet I suppose no one ever really thought that 
 it would come true ; anyhow it is a very bad affair." 
 
 Leaving the other two talking together, Frank went on 
 home. Mrs. Troutbeck was greatly shocked at the news. 
 
 " Dear, dear ! " she said, " what dreadful doings one does 
 hear of. Who would have thought that a gentleman, and a 
 magistrate too, could have been shot in broad daylight within 
 a mile or two of us. I did not know him myself, but I have 
 always heard that he was very much disliked, and it is awful 
 to think that he has been taken away like this." 
 
 "Well, Aunt, I don't pretend to be either surprised or 
 shocked. If a man spends his life in going out of his way to 
 hunt others down, he must not be surprised if at last one of 
 them turns on him. On the bench he was hated ; it was not 
 onlv because he was severe, but because of his bullying way. 
 See how he behaved in that affair with Julian. I can't say I 
 feel any pity for him at all, he has sent many a man to the 
 gallows, and now his time has come." 
 
 At five o'clock it was already dusk, the shutters had been 
 closed, and the lamp lighted. Presently the servant entered. 
 
 " There is someone wants to speak to you, Master Frank." 
 
86 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS. 
 
 Frank went out into the hall. The head of the constabu- 
 lary and two of his men were standing there. Much surprised, 
 Frank asked the officer into the other sitting-room. 
 
 " What is it, Mr. Henderson ? " he said. 
 
 " It is a very sad business, a very sad business, Mr. Wyatt. 
 Your brother is not at home, I hear ? ' ' 
 
 " No. Julian went over this morning to have a day's rab- 
 bit-shooting with Dick Merry weather. I expect it won't be 
 long before he is back. There is nothing the matter with 
 him ? " he asked, with a vague feeling of alarm at the gravity 
 of the officer's face. 
 
 " It is a very painful matter, Mr. Wyatt ; but it is useless 
 trying to hide the truth from you, for you must know it short- 
 ly. I hold a warrant for your brother's arrest on the charge 
 of attempted wilful murder." 
 
 Frank's eyes dilated with surprise and horror. 
 
 "You don't mean — " he gasped, and then his faith in his 
 brother came to his aid, and he broke off indignantly : " it is 
 monstrous, perfectly monstrous, Mr. Henderson. I suppose it 
 is Faulkner, and it is because of that wretched smuggling busi- 
 ness that suspicions fall on him, as if there were not a hundred 
 others who owe the man a much deeper grudge than my 
 brother did ; indeed he had no animosity against him at all, 
 for Julian got the best of it altogether, and Faulkner has been 
 hissed and hooted every time he has been in the town since. 
 If there was any ill-feeling left over that matter, it would be 
 on his part and not on Julian's. Who signed the warrant ? 
 Faulkner himself? " 
 
 "No; it is signed by the Colonel and Mr. Harrington. 
 They took the dying deposition of Mr. Faulkner. There is no 
 harm in my telling you that, because it must be generally 
 known when your brother is brought up, but till then please 
 do not let it go further. He has sworn that he overtook Mr. 
 Wyatt two or three hundred yards before he got to his own 
 
FOLLOWING A TRAIL 87 
 
 gate. There was an altercation between them, and he swears 
 that your brother used threats. He had a double-barrelled 
 gun in his hand, and as Faulkner was riding up the drive to 
 the house he was fired at from the trees on his left, and fell 
 from his horse. Almost directly afterwards Mr. Wyatt ran 
 out from the spot where the gun had been fired. Thinking 
 he would finish him if he thought he was still alive, Mr. 
 Faulkner closed his eyes and held his breath. Your brother 
 came up and stood over him, and having satisfied himself that 
 he was dead, ran off through the trees again." 
 
 " I believe it is a lie from beginning to end," Frank said 
 passionately. "Julian has brought him into disgrace here, 
 and the fellow invented this charge out of revenge. If it 
 had been in the road, and Faulkner had struck Julian as he 
 did before, and Julian had had his loaded gun in his hand, I 
 don't say but that in his passion he might have shot him; 
 still, I don't believe he would, even then. Julian is one of 
 the best-tempered fellows in the world ; still, I would admit 
 that, in the heat of the moment, he might raise his gun and 
 fire, but to say that he loaded his gun after Faulkner had 
 gone on — for I am sure it was empty as he came along, as I 
 have never known him to bring home his gun loaded — and 
 that he then went and hid behind a tree and shot a man down. 
 Why, I would not believe it if fifty honest men swore to it, 
 much less on the oath of a fellow like Faulkner." 
 
 " I can't say anything about that, Mr. Wyatt ; I have only 
 my duty to do." 
 
 "Yes, I understand that, Mr. Henderson. Of course he 
 must be arrested, but I am sure no one will believe the accusa- 
 tion for a minute. Oh ! " he exclaimed, as a fresh idea struck 
 him, " what was Faulkner shot with ?" 
 
 " It is a bullet wound." 
 
 "Well, that is quite enough," Frank exclaimed triumph- 
 antly. ' ' Julian had his double-barrelled gun with him, and 
 
88 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 had been rabbit-shooting ; and if it had been he who fired it 
 would have been with a charge of shot. You don't suppose 
 he went about with a bullet in his pocket to use in case he 
 happened to meet Faulkner, and have another row with him. 
 Julian never fired a bullet in his life, as far as I know. There 
 is not such a thing as a bullet-mould in the house. ' ' 
 
 The officer's look of gravity relaxed. " That is important, 
 certainly," he said, "very important. I own that after hear- 
 ing the deposition read it did seem to me that, as the result of 
 this unfortunate quarrel, your brother might have been so 
 goaded by something Mr. Faulkner said or did, that he had 
 hastily loaded his gun, and in his passion run across the wood 
 and shot him down. But now it is clear, from what you say, 
 that it is most improbable he would have a bullet about him, 
 and unless it can be proved that he obtained one from a gun- 
 maker or otherwise, it is a very strong point in his favour. I 
 suppose your brother has not returned this afternoon ? ' ' 
 
 "No. I asked the servant, when I got home at three, 
 whether he had returned, though I did not expect him back so 
 soon, and she said that he had not come in, and I am sure he 
 has not done so since." 
 
 " Then I will not intrude any longer. I shall place one of 
 my men in front of the house and one behind, and if he comes 
 home his arrest will be managed quietly, and we will not bring 
 him in here at all. It will save a painful scene." 
 
 When the officer had left, Frank returned to his aunt. 
 
 " What is it, Frank? " she asked. 
 
 " Well, Aunt, it is a more absurd affair than the other ; but, 
 absurd as it is, it is very painful. There is a warrant out for 
 the arrest of Julian on the charge of attempting to murder 
 Mr. Faulkner." 
 
 Mrs. Troutbeck gave a cry, and then burst into a fit of 
 hysterical laughter. After vainly trying to pacify her, Frank 
 went out for the servant, but as her wild screams of laughter 
 
FOLLOWING A TRAIL 89 
 
 continued he put on his hat and ran for the family doctor, who 
 lived but a few doors away. He briefly related the circum- 
 stances of the case to him, and then brought him back to the 
 house. It was a long time before the violence of the paroxysm 
 passed, leaving Mrs. Troutbeck so weak that she had to be car- 
 ried by Frank and the doctor up to her room. 
 
 " Don't you worry yourself, Aunt," Frank said, as they 
 laid her down upon the bed ; " it will all come out right, just 
 as the last did. It will all be cleared up, no doubt, in a very 
 short time." 
 
 As soon as the maid had undressed Mrs. Troutbeck, and had 
 got her into bed, the doctor went up and gave her an opiate, 
 and then went down into the parlour to Frank, who told him 
 the story in full, warning him that he must say nothing about 
 the deposition of Mr. Faulkner until it had been read in court. 
 
 "It is a very grave affair, Frank," the old doctor said. 
 " Having known your brother from his childhood, I am as 
 convinced as you are that, however much of this deposition be 
 true or false, Julian never fired the shot ; and what you say 
 about the bullet makes it still more conclusive, if that were 
 needed — which it certainly is not with me. Your brother had 
 an exceedingly sweet and even temper. Your father has often 
 spoken to me of it, almost with regret, saying that it would be 
 much better if he had a little more will of his own and a little 
 spice more of temper. Still, it is most unfortunate that he 
 hasn't returned. Of course, he may have met some friend in 
 the town and gone home with him, or he may have stayed at 
 Mr. Merryweather's." 
 
 " I don't think he can have stopped in the town anyhow," 
 Frank said ; "for the first thing he would have heard when he 
 got back would have been of the shooting of Faulkner, and he 
 would have been sure to have come home to talK it over with 
 me. Of course, he may have stopped with the Merryweathers, 
 but I am afraid he has not. I fancy that part of Faulkner's 
 
90 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 story must be true ; he could never have accused Julian if he 
 had not met him near his gate — for Julian in that case could 
 have easily proved where he was at the time. No, I think they 
 did meet, and very likely had a row. You know what 
 Faulkner is ; and I can understand that if he met Julian he 
 would most likely say something to him, and there might then 
 be a quarrel ; but I think that his story about Julian coming 
 out and looking at him is either pure fancy or a lie. No doubt 
 he was thinking of him as he rode along ; and, badly wounded 
 as he was, perhaps altogether insensible, he may have imagined 
 the rest." 
 
 " That is all quite possible," the doctor agreed ; "but in 
 that case Julian's not coming home is all the more extraordi- 
 nary. If he met Faulkner between two and three o'clock, 
 what can he have been doing since ? ' ' 
 
 This was a question Frank could not answer. 
 
 "I can't tell, sir," he said after a long pause ; "I really 
 can't imagine. Still, nothing in the world would make me 
 believe that Julian did what he is charged with." 
 
 Several times Frank went outside the door, but the con- 
 stable was still there. At last, after sitting and looking at the 
 fire for some time he put on his cap and went to the residence 
 of the chief constable. 
 
 " Excuse me, Mr. Henderson, but I have been thinking it 
 over ever since you left. Whoever did this murder did not 
 probably return to the road, but struck off somewhere across 
 the fields. There was snow enough in the middle of the day 
 to cover the ground; it stopped falling at two o'clock, and 
 has not snowed since. Might I suggest that in the morning a 
 search should be made round the edge of the wood. If there 
 are footprints found it might be of great importance." 
 
 "You are quite right, Mr. Wyatt. and I had already deter- 
 mined to go myself, with a couple of constables, at daylight." 
 
 ' ' May I go with you, sir ? " 
 
FOLLOWING A TRAIL 91 
 
 " If you please. But you must remember that the evidence 
 of footprints which we may find may be unfavourable to your 
 brother." 
 
 ' ' I have not the slightest fear of that, ' ' Frank said con- 
 fidently. 
 
 "Very well, then, Mr. Wyatt. The two constables will be 
 here at half-past seven, and I shall be ready to start with them 
 at once. Should you by any chance be late, you will, no 
 doubt, be able to overtake us before we get there. ' ' 
 
 The next morning Frank was at the office half an hour be- 
 fore the appointed time. Fortunately no snow had fallen in 
 the night. The chief constable looked grave and anxious 
 when the search began ; Frank was excited rather than anxious. 
 He had no fear whatever as to the result of the investigation ; 
 it would disclose nothing, he felt certain, to Julian's disad- 
 vantage. The continued absence of the latter was unaccount- 
 able to him, but he felt absolutely certain that it would be 
 explained satisfactorily on his return. 
 
 The moment they got across the hedge into the fields skirt- 
 ing the wood the chief constable exclaimed : 
 
 " Stay, men • here are footprints by the edge of the trees ! 
 Do not come out until I have carefully examined them. Do 
 you not think," he went on, turning to Frank, " that it would 
 be much better that you should not go further with me, for 
 you see I might have to call you as a witness ? ' ' 
 
 "Not at all, Mr. Henderson; whatever we find, I shall 
 have no objection to being a witness, for I am certain that 
 we shall find nothing that will tend to incriminate my broth- 
 er. I see what you are thinking of — that these footprints 
 were Julian's. That is my own idea too. At any rate, they 
 are the marks of a well-made boot of large size, without heavy 
 nails." 
 
 The constable nodded. "There are two sets," he said, 
 "one going each way; and by the distance they are apart, 
 
92 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 and the fact that the heel is not as deeply marked as the rest 
 of the print, whoever made them was running." 
 
 " Certainly," Frank agreed ; "he ran up to the hedge and 
 then turned. Why should he have done that ? ' ' 
 
 " Probably because he saw some vehicle or some persons 
 walking along the road, and did not wish to be seen." 
 
 " Possibly so, Mr. Henderson; but in that case, why did 
 he not keep among the trees both coming and going, instead 
 of exposing himself, as he must have done running here ; for 
 the hedge is thin, and any one walking along, much less driv- 
 ing, could have seen him, ' ' 
 
 Mr. Henderson looked at Frank with a closer scrutiny than 
 he had before given him. 
 
 "You are an acute observer, Mr. Wyatt. The point is an 
 important one. A man wishing to avoid observation would 
 certainly have kept among the trees. Now, let us follow these 
 footprints along; we may learn something further." 
 
 Presently they came to the point where Julian had come 
 out from the wood. 
 
 "You see he was in the wood, Mr. Wyatt," the constable 
 said. 
 
 " I quite see that," Frank said. " If these are the marks 
 of Julian's boots — and I think they are — we have now found 
 out that he came out of the wood at this point, ran for some 
 purpose or other, and without an attempt at concealment, as 
 far as the hedge ; then turned and ran back again, past the 
 point where he had left the wood. Now let us see what he 
 did afterwards — it may give us a clue to the whole matter." 
 
 Fifty yards further they came on the spot where Julian had 
 turned off on the poacher's track. 
 
 " There it is, Mr. Henderson ! " Frank exclaimed triumph- 
 antly. "Another man came out of the wood here — a man 
 with roughly -made boots with hob-nails. That man came 
 out first ; that is quite evident. The tracks are all in a line, 
 
FOLLOWING A TRAIL 93 
 
 and Julian's are in many places on the top of the other's. 
 They were both running fast. But if you look you will see 
 that Julian's strides are the longest, and, therefore, he was 
 probably running the fastest." 
 
 "It is as you say, Mr. Wyatt. The lighter footprints 
 obliterate those of the heavier boots in several places. What 
 can be the meaning of this, and what can the second man 
 have been doing in the wood? " 
 
 "The whole thing is perfectly plain to me," Frank said 
 excitedly. "Julian was in the road, he heard the report of 
 the gun close by in the wood, and perhaps heard a cry ; he 
 jumped over the hedge and made for the spot, and possibly, 
 as Mr. Faulkner said, ran into the drive and stooped over 
 him ; then he started in pursuit of the murderer, of whom he 
 may possibly have obtained a sight. There was not enough 
 snow under the trees for him to follow the footprints, he 
 therefore ran to the edge of the wood, and then to the road, 
 in search of the man's track. Then he turned and ran back 
 again till he came upon them leaving the wood, and then 
 set off in pursuit." 
 
 " By Jove ! Mr. Wyatt," the officer said, " I do think that 
 your explanation is the right one. Give me your hand, lad ; 
 I had no more doubt five minutes ago that your brother had, 
 in a fit of passion, shot Mr. Faulkner than I have that I am 
 standing here now. But I declare I think now that he acted 
 as you say. How you have struck upon it beats me alto- 
 gether." 
 
 " I have been thinking of nothing else all the night, Mr. 
 Henderson. I put myself in Julian's position, and it seemed 
 to me that, hearing a gun fired so close at hand, even if he 
 did not hear a cry, Julian knowing how often the man had 
 been threatened, might at once have run to the spot, and 
 might have behaved just as Faulkner says he did. All that 
 seemed to me simple enough ; Julian's absence was the only 
 
94 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 difficulty, and the only way I could possibly account for it, 
 was that he had followed the murderer." 
 
 " It was very imprudent," Mr. Henderson said gravely. 
 
 " Very : but it was just the sort of thing Julian would have 
 done." ' 
 
 "But, however far he went, he ought to be back before- 
 this." 
 
 " That is what I am anxious about, Mr. Henderson. Of 
 course he ought to be back. I am terribly afraid that some- 
 thing has happened to him. This man, whoever he was, must 
 have been a desperate character, and having taken one life 
 from revenge, he would not hesitate to take another to secure 
 his own safety. He had a great advantage over Julian, for, 
 as we know, his gun carried bullets, while Julian had nothing 
 but small shot. Which way shall we go next, Mr. Henderson 
 — shall we follow the track or go into the wood ? ' ' 
 
 " We will go into the wood ; that will take us a compar- 
 atively short time, and there is no saying how far the other 
 may lead us. But, before we do so, I will call up my two 
 men, take them over the ground, and show them the dis- 
 coveries we have made. It is as well to have as many 
 witnesses as possible." 
 
 The two constables were called up and taken along the line 
 of track, and the chief constable pointed out to them that 
 the man with well-made boots was evidently running after the 
 other. Then they entered the wood. Carefully searching, 
 they found here and there prints of both the boots. They 
 went out into the drive, and, starting from the spot where Mr. 
 Faulkner had been found, made for a large tree some thirty 
 yards to the left. 
 
 "Just as I thought," Mr. Henderson said. "Someone 
 has been standing here, and, I should think, for some little 
 time. You can see that the ground is kicked up a bit, and, 
 though it was too hard to show the marks of the boots plainly, 
 
FOLLOWING A TRAIL 95 
 
 there are many scratches and grooves, such as would be made 
 by hob-nails. Now, lads, search about closely; if we can 
 find the wad it will be a material point." 
 
 After five minutes' search one of the men picked up a piece 
 of half-burned paper. Frank uttered an exclamation of 
 satisfaction as he held it up. 
 
 " Julian always used wads. This never came from his gun. 
 Now let us go back to the tree, Mr. Henderson, and see which 
 way the man went after firing the shot." 
 
 After careful search they found the heavy footprints at 
 several spots where the snow lay, and near them also found 
 traces of the lighter boots. The trees then grew thicker, but 
 following the line indicated by the footprints, they came to 
 the spot where he had left the wood. 
 
 "You see, Mr. Henderson," Frank said, "Julian lost the 
 footprints just where we did, and bore a little more to the 
 left, striking the edge of the wood between where the man 
 had left it and the road. Now, sir, we have only to find the 
 spot where Julian first left the road, and try to trace his foot- 
 steps from there to the spot where Mr. Faulkner was lying. 
 We know that the shot was fired from behind that tree — and 
 if my brother's footsteps miss this spot altogether, I think the 
 case will be absolutely proved." 
 
 They went back into the road, and found where Julian had 
 crossed the untrodden snow between it and the hedge, and 
 had pushed his way through the latter. It was only here and 
 there that footprints could be found ; but, fortunately, some 
 ten yards to the right of the tree there was an open space, and 
 across this he had evidently run. 
 
 "You have proved your case, Mr. Wyatt," the chief con- 
 stable said, shaking Frank cordially by the hand. "I am 
 ^-ndeed glad. Whoever the man was who shot Mr. Faulkner, 
 it was certainly not your brother. Now let us start at once 
 on the tracks." 
 
96 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 Frank's face became more serious than it had been during 
 the previous search, as soon as they took up the double track 
 across the fields. Before, he had felt absolutely confident 
 that whatever they might find it could only tend to clear 
 Julian from this terrible accusation ; now, upon the contrary, 
 he feared that any discovery they might make would confirm 
 his suspicions that evil had befallen him. Scarcely a word 
 was spoken as they passed along the fields. 
 
 "The man with the hob-nailed boots is taking to the 
 hills," the chief constable remarked. 
 
 "I am afraid so, Mr. Henderson; and as they are bare of 
 snow there will be no chance of our following him. ' ' 
 
 When they came to the point where the snow ended they 
 stopped. 
 
 " There is an end of our search, Mr. Wyatt. We must re- 
 turn to the town. The magistrates will meet at eleven o'clock, 
 and I and the constables must be there. But I will send off 
 two men directly we get back, to go along the cliffs and ques- 
 tion all the men who were on duty yesterday afternoon as to 
 whether they saw two men with guns crossing the hills, one 
 being probably some distance behind the other. I think, 
 perhaps, you had better come to the court. I don't say that 
 it will be absolutely necessary, but I think it would be better 
 that you should do so ; and you see it would be useless for 
 you to be hunting over those hills alone. As soon as the 
 court is over I will take four men and will myself start to 
 search for him. There is no saying whether we may not find 
 some sign or other. I shall be glad if you will go with me ; 
 you have shown yourself a born detective this morning, for 
 had you been trained to it all your life you could not have 
 followed the scent up more unerringly." 
 
 " I will certainly go with you, Mr. Henderson, and I will 
 be at the court-house. I would start at once for the hills, but 
 I have had nothing to eat this morning, and, what is much 
 
FOLLOWING A TRAIL 97 
 
 #nore important, I want to ease my aunt's mind. Of course, 
 she was as certain as I was that Julian had nothing whatever 
 to do with this, but naturally it will be an immense relief to 
 her to know that the suspicion of so dreadful a crime no longer 
 rests on him." 
 
 When Frank returned home he found that Mrs. Troutbeck 
 was so prostrated with the shock that she was still in bed, 
 where the doctor had ordered her to remain. As soon, how- 
 ever, as she heard that Frank was back, she sent down for him 
 to come up. Her delight was extreme when he told her of 
 the discoveries he had made, and that the constables had no 
 doubt the warrant for Julian's arrest would be withdrawn. She 
 became anxious again when she found that Frank could give 
 no satisfactory explanation of his long absence. 
 
 " I would not trouble about it, Aunt," he said, soothingly; 
 " no doubt we shall hear of him before long. Let us be con- 
 tent that he has come well out of this terrible accusation, just 
 as he did from the former charge, and let us hope that the ex- 
 planation of his absence will be just as satisfactory when we 
 hear it. Even if I thought that Julian had got into any trouble, 
 it would be infinitely easier to bear than a knowledge that he 
 was suspected of murder, for it would have been murder, Aunt. 
 I heard just now that Faulkner died last night." 
 
 The meeting of magistrates was an informal one, as they 
 agreed, directly they heard that Julian was not in custody, 
 that they could proceed no further in the matter. Mr. Hen- 
 derson, after answering their first question, followed them 
 into their private room. 
 
 "So you did not lay hands on him last night," Colonel 
 Chambers said. " We shall have to alter the warrant, for I 
 find that Mr. Faulkner is dead." 
 
 "I think, gentlemen," the chief constable said quietly, 
 " that after you have heard what I have to tell, you will have 
 to withdraw the warrant altogether." 
 
98 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 " Eh ! what? Do you mean to say, Henderson, that you 
 think the young fellow did not fire the shot after all ? I would 
 give a hundred pounds if I could think so, but, with Faulk* 
 ner's deposition before us, I don't see how there can be any 
 possible doubt in the matter. Besides, I was present when he 
 gave it, and though it may have been coloured a good deal by 
 his feeling against young Wyatt, I am convinced that he be- 
 lieved, at any rate, that he was speaking the truth." 
 
 "I have no doubt he did, sir, and I had no more doubt 
 than you have as to Mr. Wyatt's guilt; indeed, until his 
 brother pointed out one very important fact, nothing would 
 have persuaded me that he did not fire the shot. I don't say 
 that it was at all conclusive, but it sufficed to show that the 
 matter was by no means so certain as it seemed to be. I 
 found him at the house when I went there to arrest his brother. 
 Of course, the young fellow was greatly shocked when I told 
 him the nature of the charge, and declared it to be absolutely 
 impossible. So certain was he, that even when I told him 
 the nature of Mr. Faulkner's depositions, he was more puzzled 
 than alarmed. The first question he asked was whether Mr. 
 Faulkner had been killed by shot or by a ball. When I said 
 by a ball his face cleared up altogether. His brother, he 
 said, and as we know, had been rabbit -shooting at Mr. Merry- 
 weather's. He would have had small shot with him, but 
 young Wyatt said that he did not think his brother had ever 
 fired a bullet in his life. He knew there was not such a thing 
 as a bullet in the house. Mr. Wyatt could not possibly have 
 known that he was likely to meet Mr. Faulkner on his way 
 back from shooting, and therefore, unless upon the rather im- 
 probable theory that he went about with the intention of 
 shooting Mr. Faulkner whenever he met him, and that he had 
 bought a bullet in the town and carried it always about with 
 him for the purpose, it was clear that he could not have fired 
 that shot." 
 
FOLLOWING A TRAIL 99 
 
 " There is something in that, Mr. Henderson. A good 
 deal in it, I am ready to admit, but nothing that would really 
 counteract the effeci of Faulkner's direct testimony, given 
 when he knew that he was dying." 
 
 " No, sir ; still it is a point that I own I had entirely over- 
 looked ; however, that is not now so important. I will now 
 tell you what has taken place this morning. ' ' 
 
 And he then related the story of the discovery of the tracks, 
 that proved that Julian had not gone near the tree behind 
 which the murderer had for some time been standing, and 
 how, after running in and finding Mr. Faulkner's body, he 
 had set out in pursuit of the scoundrel. 
 
 " I have the two constables outside who were with me, 
 Colonel, and if you like to question them, they will, I am 
 sure, confirm my statement in all respects." 
 
 " I am glad indeed to hear your story, Mr. Henderson," 
 Colonel Chambers said warmly. "The lad's father was an 
 old friend of mine, and it was terrible to think that his son 
 could have committed such a dastardly crime. What you say 
 seems to me quite conclusive of his innocence, and, at the 
 same time, is not in any way in contradiction with the deposi- 
 tion. I give you very great credit for the manner in which 
 you have unravelled this mystery." 
 
 " The credit, sir, is entirely due to Mr. Wyatt's brother. 
 He had formed the theory that, as in his opinion his brother 
 was certainly innocent of the crime, the only possible way in 
 which he could account for his absence from home that night 
 was that, upon hearing the gun fired so close at hand, Mr. 
 Wyatt had at once run to the spot, found the body of Mr. 
 Faulkner, and had then immediately started in pursuit of the 
 murderer. Setting out with me on the search with this theory 
 strongly fixed in his mind, young Wyatt seized at once every 
 point that confirmed it, and pointed out to me that the man 
 with heavy boots had crossed the fields at a run, and that the 
 
100 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 other had followed as soon as he came upon the footprints, 
 after searching for them up and down by the edge of the 
 wood. Once we had got this clue to follow up, the matter 
 was then plain enough. The search through the wood showed 
 us the whole circumstances of the case, as I have related them 
 to you, just as plainly as if we had witnessed the affair. But 
 if I had not been set upon the right trail, I say honestly that 
 I doubt whether I should have unravelled it, especially as the 
 snow is rapidly going, and by this afternoon the footprints 
 will have disappeared." 
 
 "Well, as a matter of form, we will take down your 
 statement, Mr. Henderson, and then take those of the 
 constables. ' ' 
 
 < ' Young Mr. Wyatt is outside, if you would like to hear 
 him, sir." 
 
 " Certainly we will," the Colonel said. " He must be a 
 wonderfully shrewd young fellow, and I think we ought to 
 take his statement, if only to record the part he played in 
 proving his brother's innocence. But where is the brother, 
 Mr. Henderson ; hasn't he come back yet? " 
 
 "No, sir; and I own that I regard his absence as alarm- 
 ing. You see the murderer, whoever he is, was armed with 
 a rifle, or at any rate with a gun that carried bullets, while 
 Mr. Wyatt had only a shot gun. Such a fellow would 
 certainly not suffer himself to be arrested without a struggle, 
 and when he found that he was being followed across the 
 hills, would be likely enough to shoot down his pursuer 
 without letting him get close enough to use his fowling- 
 piece. I have sent two constables up to inquire of the 
 coast-guard men along the cliffs whether they observed any 
 man with a gun crossing the hills yesterday afternoon, and 
 whether they heard a gun fired. As soon as you have before 
 you the statements of the constables who were with me this 
 morning, I intend to take them and two others and start 
 
FOLLOWING A TRAIL 101 
 
 myself for a search over the hills, and I am very much afraid 
 that we shall come upon Mr. Wyatt's body." 
 
 " I sincerely hope not," Colonel Chambers said; " but I 
 own that I can see no other way for accounting for his 
 absence. Well, if you will call the clerk in, he will take 
 down your statement at once. What do you think, Harring- 
 ton ? It seems to me that when we have got the four state- 
 ments we shall be fully justified in withdrawing the warrant 
 against young Wyatt." 
 
 "I quite think so, Colonel. You see, the facts will all 
 come out at the coroner's inquest, and, when they do so, I 
 think there will be a good deal of strong feeling in the place 
 if it is found that young Wyatt has been killed while bravely 
 trying to capture Faulkner's murderer, while at the same time 
 our warrant for his apprehension for the murder was still in 
 force." 
 
 " Yes, there is a good deal in that, Harrington. If Faulk- 
 ner had not died I think that it would have been best merely 
 to hold the warrant over in order that when Wyatt comes 
 back, if he ever does come back, all these facts might be 
 proved publicly ; now that will all be done before the 
 coroner." 
 
 The statements of Mr. Henderson and the two constables 
 were taken down. Frank was then called in. 
 
 " I congratulate you most heartily upon the innocence of 
 your brother having been, to our minds, so conclusively 
 proved, and, as Mr. Henderson tells us, chiefly owing to your 
 shrewdness in the matter. Before you begin, you can repeat 
 your opinion about the bullet that you pointed out to the 
 chief constable last night, in order that the point may be 
 included in your statement. After that you can tell us the 
 story of your search in the wood." 
 
 When Frank had finished, Colonel Chambers said : " This 
 is a very awkward thing about your brother's disappearance. 
 
102 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 While giving him the fullest credit for his courage in follow- 
 ing a desperate man armed with a rifle, it was certainly a 
 rash undertaking, and I fear that he may have come to 
 harm." 
 
 " I don't suppose when he started, that it was so much the 
 idea of capturing the man, Julian had in his mind, as of 
 seeing who he was. Had my brother come back with only 
 the statement that some man unknown had shot Mr. Faulkner, 
 his story might not have been credited. Certainly, in the 
 teeth of Mr. Faulkner's depositions, it would not have been 
 believed when there was no evidence to support it. Still, I 
 don't suppose it had even entered Julian's mind that any sus- 
 picion could possibly fall upon him. I am greatly afraid that 
 he has been killed or badly hurt ; if not, I can see but one 
 possible way of accounting for his absence. Mr. Faulkner 
 was extremely active in the pursuit of smugglers, and had, we 
 know, received many threatening letters. If the man was a 
 smuggler, as seems to me likely, he may have gone to some 
 place where he had comrades awaiting him, and, Julian pur- 
 suing him, may have been seized and made prisoner. You 
 see, sir, he knew many of them, and, after the affair the other 
 day, was probably regarded as a friend, and they may hold 
 him in their keeping only until the man who fired the shot 
 can get safely out of reach. ' ' 
 
 "I hope that this may prove so indeed," the magistrate 
 said. " It is at any rate possible. And now we will detain 
 you no longer, for Mr. Henderson told me that you were go- 
 ing to accompany them in their search among the hills. I see 
 that it is just beginning to snow, which will, I fear, add to 
 your difficulties." 
 
 For some days an active search was maintained, but no 
 trace was discovered of Julian Wyatt, or of the man whom he 
 had followed. From inquiries that had been instituted in the 
 town, the chief constable had learned that the man Markham, 
 
A COMMISSION 103 
 
 who had a few weeks before returned after serving out his sen- 
 tence for poaching in Mr. Faulkner's preserves, had disap- 
 peared from his lodgings on the day of the murder and had not 
 returned. As he was known to have uttered many threats 
 against the magistrate, a warrant was issued for his arrest on 
 the day after the coroner's jury, having heard the whole of the 
 evidence, brought in a verdict that Mr. Faulkner had been 
 wilfully murdered by a person or persons unknown. 
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 A COMMISSION 
 
 ABOUT a week after the coroner's inquest, the servant one 
 evening brought in a letter that had been left at the door 
 by a man who looked like a fisherman. Frank gave a shout of 
 joy as he glanced at the address. 
 
 "It is Julian's handwriting, Aunt," he shouted, and then 
 exclaimed, as Mrs. Troutbeck, who was on the sofa, gave a low 
 cry and fell back fainting, " What an ass I am to blurt it out 
 like that ! " Then he rang the bell with a vigour that brought 
 down the rope. " Here, Mary," he exclaimed, as the servant 
 re-appeared at the door with a scared face, " Aunt has fainted ; 
 do what you can for her. I will run round for the doctor di- 
 rectly ; but I must look at this letter first. It is from Mr. 
 Julian." 
 
 " Lor', sir, that is good news ! " the girl exclaimed, as she 
 hurried across to her mistress. After the custom of her class, 
 she had hitherto looked upon the matter in the darkest possible 
 light, and had joined in the general conviction that Julian had 
 been killed. 
 
 Julian's letter was written on board the smuggler. 
 
 " My dear Frank, I am afraid you must all have been in a 
 
104: THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 horrible fright about me, and no wonder. I am a most un- 
 fortunate fellow, and seem to be always putting my foot in it, 
 and yet really I don't think I was to blame about this. In 
 the first place, I may tell you that I am on board a French 
 smuggler, that we have just entered the Loire, and that in a 
 few hours shall be at Nantes. The smugglers will bring this 
 letter back to England, and as they say they shall probably 
 sail again a few days after they get in, I hope it will not be 
 very long before it comes to hand. And now as to how I got 
 here." 
 
 Julian then related the story of the quarrel with Mr. Faulk- 
 ner, of hearing the gun fired, of running in and finding the 
 body, and of his pursuit of the murderer. 
 
 ' ' After a long tramp on the hills he took to a place of 
 hiding. I am bound by oath to afford no clue as to where 
 that place is, and can only say that upon my following him 
 in, I was pounced upon by some French smugglers who were 
 there with him, and trussed up like a fowl. Then there was 
 a discussion what to do with me, in which the man I had 
 been following joined. Of course I did not understand the 
 language, but I could see that the smugglers were in favour of 
 cutting my throat for having discovered their hiding-place, 
 and that the man himself was, contrary to what I should have 
 expected, arguing in my favour. He had been a smuggler as 
 well as a poacher, but although he had murdered Mr. Faulk- 
 ner, and knew that I had pursued him for that crime, he 
 undoubtedly saved my life. They first made me take an 
 oath not to reveal their hiding-place, and then said that they 
 should carry me over to France, and would take steps so that 
 I should not return to England for some years. 
 
 " What those steps will be I cannot say, but I feel sure that 
 they will in some way prevent my coming back for a long 
 time. They can't keep me themselves, but may nand me 
 over as a prisoner to the French authorities. Before we sailed 
 
A COMMISSION 
 
 105 
 
 the man told me he had learnt that a warrant was out against 
 me for the murder of Faulkner, and that Faulkner had de- 
 clared it was I who shot him. If I could possibly have 
 escaped I would have come back to stand my trial, though I 
 can see plainly enough that it might go very hard with me, 
 for there would be only my word, which would go for 
 nothing against Faulkner's accusation, and the fact of our 
 quarrel. However, I would have come rather than disappear 
 with this awful charge against me. The man has given me 
 permission, not only to write and tell you this story, but even 
 to give you his name, which is Joseph Markham. He had 
 only been a short time out of prison, where he had been sent 
 for poaching, and he killed Faulkner simply for revenge. He 
 told me that he did not mind my getting his name as, in the 
 first place, he had no idea of returning to Weymouth, and 
 intended making France his home ; and, in the second place, 
 because, although you might believe my story, no one else 
 would, and even if he showed himself in Weymouth, this let- 
 ter, written by a man accused of the murder, would not be ac- 
 cepted for a moment against him. However, there is no doubt 
 that the fellow has behaved extremely well to me, and I should 
 be sorry to get him into trouble over this business with Faulk- 
 ner, which is no affair of mine. 
 
 "You can, of course, show this letter to whom you like, 
 but I don't expect anyone except you and Aunt to believe it. 
 I have hopes of being cleared some day, for Markham has 
 promised me to write out a full confession of his shooting 
 Faulkner, and to swear to it before a French magistrate. He 
 is going to write it in duplicate, and carry one copy about 
 with him, directed to Colonel Chambers, or the senior magis- 
 trate at Weymouth, and to send the other copy to someone 
 at home, who will produce it in case of his death in France, 
 or by drowning at sea. I do not think that, if I get away, 
 I shall return to England until I hear of his death. I am 
 
106 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 awfully sorry for you, old fellow, and for Aunt. But with 
 this frightful accusation hanging over me, I don't think your 
 position would be better if I were to come back and be hung 
 for murder ; and I see myself that the case is so strong against 
 me that it would almost certainly come to that if they laid 
 hands on me. I am specially sorry that this trouble should 
 come upon you now, just as you were going to try to get a 
 commission, for of course they could hardly give one to a 
 fellow whose brother is accused of murder, and if they did, 
 your position in the army would be intolerable. Now, good- 
 bye, dear old Frank ; give my fond love to Aunt, who has 
 always been too good to me. If I get an opportunity I will 
 write again, but I hardly fancy that I shall get a chance to do 
 so, as, even if I were free to write I don't see how letters can 
 be sent from France except through smugglers. God bless 
 you, old fellow. 
 
 "Your unfortunate brother, 
 
 "Julian." 
 
 Happily, by the time he had finished reading the letter, the 
 servant had succeeded in restoring Mrs. Troutbeck. 
 
 "It is exactly what we thought, Aunt. Julian was seized 
 by smugglers, and has been taken over to France, and I am 
 afraid it will be some time before he gets back again, especially 
 as he believes that this charge is hanging over him. I won't 
 read you the letter now, but to-morrow when you are strong 
 enough you shall read it yourself. I must take it the first 
 thing in the morning to Colonel Chambers, who will, I am 
 sure, be very glad to hear that Julian is safe, for I know that 
 he thinks he was shot by the man he pursued. He will be in- 
 terested, too, and so will Mr. Henderson, at seeing how exactly 
 we were right in the conclusions we arrived at." 
 
 Mrs. Troutbeck was quite satisfied with the explanation, 
 and was at once taken up to bed by the servant, while Frank, 
 
A COMMISSION 107 
 
 seeing that it was as yet but eight o'clock, put on his cap and 
 ran to Mr. Henderson's. The latter was at home, and re- 
 ceived with great pleasure the news that Julian was alive. He 
 read the letter through attentively. 
 
 " If we had seen the whole thing happen, we could not have 
 been closer than we were in our conclusion as to how it all 
 came about. Well, the news that it is Markham who shot 
 Mr. Faulkner does not surprise me, for, as you know, I have 
 already a warrant out against him on the charge. I fear that 
 there is little chance that we shall lay hands on him now, for 
 he will doubtless learn from some of his associates here of the 
 evidence given at the coroner's inquest, and that your brother 
 has been proved altogether innocent of the crime. I can un- 
 derstand that, believing, as he did, the evidence against Mr. 
 Wyatt to be overwhelming, he had no great objection to his 
 giving his name ; for, as the matter then stood, your brother's 
 story would only have been regarded as the attempt of a 
 guilty man to fix the blame of his crime on another. As it 
 has turned out, the letter is a piece of important evidence that 
 might be produced against Markham, for all the statements in 
 it tally with the facts we have discovered for ourselves. Still 
 I congratulate you most heartily. I certainly thought that 
 your brother had been murdered, though our efforts to find 
 any traces of the crime have failed altogether. I am afraid, 
 as he says, it will be a long time before he manages to get 
 away ; still, that is a comparatively unimportant matter, and 
 all that I can hope is that this fellow Markham will come to a 
 speedy end. Of course you will show this letter to everyone, 
 for now that nobody believes for a moment that your brother 
 was Mr. Faulkner's murderer, everyone will be glad to hear 
 that the mystery is cleared up, and that he is simply in France 
 instead of being, as all supposed, buried in some hole where 
 his body would never be discovered. 
 
 " All that can possibly be said against him now is that he 
 
J.08 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 behaved rashly in following a desperate man instead of coming 
 back to us for assistance ; but I quite see that, under the cir- 
 cumstance of his relations with the magistrate, he was doubly 
 anxious to bring the latter' s murderer to justice, and, as we 
 now know, the latter would certainly have got away unsus- 
 pected had your brother not acted as he did." 
 
 Colonel Chambers was equally pleased when Frank called 
 upon him the next morning, and begged him, after showing 
 the letter to his friends, to hand it over to him for safe keeping, 
 as, in the event of Markham ever being arrested, it would be 
 valuable, if not as evidence, as affording assistance to the pros- 
 ecution. 
 
 " Do you think, Colonel Chambers, that they will be able 
 to keep Julian away for a long time ? ' ' 
 
 " If his supposition is a correct one, and they intend to 
 hand him over to the French authorities as a prisoner of war, 
 it may be a long time before you hear of him. There are 
 many towns all over France where English prisoners are con- 
 fined, and it would be practically impossible to find out where 
 he is, or to obtain his release if you did find out, while the 
 two nations are at war. There are very few exchanges made, 
 and the chances of his being among them would be very small. 
 However, lad, things might have been a great deal worse. 
 This tremendous war cannot go on for ever. Your brother is 
 strong and healthy ; he seems to be, from all I hear, just the 
 sort of fellow who would take things easily, and although the 
 lot of prisoners of war, whether in England or France, cannot 
 be called a pleasant one, he has a fairer chance than most, of 
 going through it unharmed. 
 
 ' ' The experience may be of benefit to him. Of course, 
 when this matter first began, I made close enquiries in several 
 quarters as to his character and habits. I need not say that 
 I heard nothing whatever against him ; but there was a sort of 
 consensus of opinion that it was a pity that he had not some 
 
A COMMISSION 109 
 
 pursuit or occupation. As you know, he mixed himself up to 
 some extent with smugglers, he spent his evenings frequently 
 in billiard-rooms, and altogether, though there was nothing 
 absolutely against him, it was clear that he was doing himself 
 no good." 
 
 " He had given up the billiard-table," Frank said. " He 
 promised me that he would not go there any more, and I am 
 sure he wouldn't." 
 
 "lam glad to hear it, lad ; still I think that this experi- 
 ence will do him good rather than harm. He was a kindly, 
 good-tempered, easy-going young fellow, a little deficient, 
 perhaps, in strength of will, but very generally liked, and with 
 the making of a fine man about him ; and yet he was likely, 
 from sheer easiness of temper and disinclination to settle down 
 to anything, to drift with the stream till he ruined his life. 
 That is how I read his character from what I have heard of 
 him, and that being so, I think this complete break in his life 
 may ultimately be of considerable benefit to him. 
 
 " Perhaps it will, sir. A better brother never lived, but he 
 may have been too ready to fall in with other people's views. 
 I think that it was a very great pity that he did not apply for 
 a commission in the army. 
 
 "A great pity," Colonel Chambers agreed. " A young 
 fellow who will start in pursuit of a desperate man who is 
 armed with a gun, would be the sort of fellow to lead a for- 
 lorn hope. And what are you going to do, Frank? " 
 
 "lam going to try and get a commission, sir, now that 
 Julian is completely cleared. I shall set about it at once. I 
 am sixteen now. Colonel Wilson, with whom my father 
 served in Spain, wrote at his death, and said that if either of 
 us wished for a commission, he would, when the time came, 
 use his influence to get him one, and that after father's services 
 he was sure there would be no difficulty about it." 
 
 "None whatever. Colonel Wyatt's sons have almost a 
 
110 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 right to a commission. If you will write to Sir Robert Wil« 
 son at once, and let me know when you get his reply, I will 
 write to a friend at the Horse-guards and get him to back up 
 the request as soon as it is sent in." 
 
 Three weeks later Frank received an official document, in- 
 forming him that he had been gazetted to the 15 th Light Dra- 
 goons, and was to join the depot of his regiment at Canterbury 
 immediately. Mrs. Troutbeck had been consulted by Frank 
 before he wrote to Colonel Sir R. Wilson. As it had, since 
 Julian decided not to enter the army, been a settled thing 
 that Frank should apply for a commission, she had offered no 
 objection. 
 
 "It is only right, my dear," she said, with tears in her eyes 
 and a little break in her voice, " that one of my dear brother's 
 sons should follow in his footsteps. I know that he always 
 wished you both to join the army, and as Julian had no fancy 
 for it, I am glad that you should go. Of course it will be a 
 trial, a great trial to me ; but a young man must go on his 
 own path, and it would be wrong indeed for an old woman 
 like me to stand in his way." 
 
 " I don't know, Aunt, that it is so. That is my only doubt 
 about applying for the commission. I can't help thinking 
 that it is my duty to stay with you until Julian comes 
 back." 
 
 " Not at all, Frank. It would make me much more un- 
 happy seeing you wasting your life here, than in knowing you 
 were following the course' you had marked for yourself. I 
 shall do very well. Mary is a very good and attentive girl, 
 and I shall get another in to do most of her work, so that she 
 can sit with me and be a sort of companion. Then, you 
 know, there are very few afternoons that one or other of my 
 friends do not come in for an hour for a gossip or I go in to 
 them. I take a good deal of blame to myself for all this trouble 
 that has come to Julian. I think that if, three years ago, I 
 
A COMMISSION 111 
 
 had pressed it upon him that he ought to go into the army, he 
 would have done so ; but certainly anything that I did say 
 was rather the other way, and since he has gone I see how 
 wrong I was, and I certainly won't repeat the mistake with 
 you. Even now Julian may come back long before you go. I 
 don't mean before you go away from here, but before you go 
 out to join your regiment, wherever that may be. You are 
 sure to be a few months at the depot, and you know we have 
 agreed to write letters to Julian, telling him that the matter is 
 all cleared up, and that everyone knows he had nothing to do 
 with the murder, so of course he will try to escape as soon as 
 he gets one of them." 
 
 " Yes, when he gets one, Aunt. I will give the letters to 
 men who are, I know, connected with the smugglers, and pos- 
 sibly they may be taken over, but that is a very different thing 
 from his getting them. We may be sure that the smugglers 
 who have taken Julian over will not trouble themselves about 
 detaining him. They would never go to all the bother of 
 keeping and watching him for years. If they keep him at all 
 it will be on board their craft, but that would be a constant 
 trouble, and they would know that sooner or later he would 
 be able to make his escape. If they have handed him over to 
 the French authorities he may have been taken to a prison 
 hundreds of miles from Nantes, and the smugglers would not 
 know where he was and would be unable to send a letter to him. 
 No, Aunt, I feel confident that Julian will come home, but I 
 am afraid that it will be a long time first, for as to his escap- 
 ing from prison, there is no chance whatever of it. There are 
 numbers of English officers there ; many of them must be able 
 to speak French well, and the naval officers are able to climb 
 ropes and things of that sort that Julian could not do. It is 
 very rare indeed that any of them, even with these advantages, 
 make their escape, and therefore I cannot hope that Julian will 
 be able to do so." 
 
112 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 " Well, then, my dear, I must wait patiently until he does. 
 I only hope that I may be spared to see him back again." 
 
 "lam sure I hope so, Aunt. Why should you always call 
 yourself an old woman? when you know that you are not 
 old in years. Why, you said last birthday that you were fifty- 
 nine, and it is only because you are such a hand at staying 
 indoors, and live such a quiet life, that it makes you think 
 yourself old. I should think this war won't last very much 
 longer. If it does all the men in Europe will be used up. 
 Of course, as soon as peace is made Julian will be sent home 
 again." 
 
 The same day that the post brought Frank the news of his 
 commission, it brought a letter from Colonel Wilson saying that 
 he was at present in town, and giving him a warm invitation 
 to come up and stay with him for a week, while he procured 
 his necessary outfit. A fortnight later Frank arrived in town 
 and drove to Buckingham Street, where Colonel Wilson was 
 lodging. He received Frank very kindly, and when the lad 
 would have renewed the thanks he had expressed in the letter 
 he had written on receiving the news of his having obtained 
 his commission, the Colonel said : 
 
 ' ' It was a duty as well as a pleasure. Your father saved 
 my life at Aboukir. I had been unhorsed and was guarding 
 myself as well as I could against four French cuirassiers, who 
 were slashing away at me, when your father rode into the 
 middle of them, cut one down and wounded a second, which 
 gave me time to snatch a pistol from the holster of my fallen 
 horse and to dispose of a third, when the other rode off. 
 Your father got a severe sabre wound on the arm and a slash 
 across the face. Of course, you remember the scar. So you 
 see the least I could do, was to render his son any service in 
 my power. I managed to get you gazetted to my old regi- 
 ment, that is to say, my first regiment, for I have served in 
 several. I thought, in the first place, my introduction would 
 
A COMMISSION 113 
 
 to some extent put you at home there. In the second, a 
 cavalry man has the advantage over one in a marching regi- 
 ment that he learns to ride well, and is more eligible for staff 
 appointments. As you know, I myself have done a great 
 deal of what we call detached service, and it is probable that 
 I may in the future have similar appointments, and, if so, I 
 may have an opportunity of taking you with me as an aide. 
 Those sort of appointments are very useful. They not only 
 take one out of the routine of garrison life and enable one to 
 see the world, but they bring a young officer's name promi- 
 nently forward, and give him chances of distinguishing him- 
 self. Therefore I, as an old cavalry man, should much 
 prefer taking an assistant from the same branch, and indeed 
 would almost be expected to do so. From what I hear, I 
 think that, apart from my friendship for your father, you are 
 the kind of young fellow I should like with me." 
 
 Frank looked rather surprised. 
 
 " I had a letter,'' Colonel Wiison went on, " from Colonel 
 Chambers, who was a captain in the 15th when I joined. 
 He spoke in very high terms of you, and sent a copy of the 
 proceedings and reports connected with the murder of that 
 magistrate, and said that it was almost entirely due to your 
 sharpness that your brother was cleared of the suspicion that 
 had not unreasonably fallen upon him, and the saddle put 
 upon the right horse. There is a sort of idea that any dash- 
 ing young fellow will do for the cavalry, and no doubt dash 
 is one of the prime requisites for cavalry officers, but if he is 
 really to distinguish himself and be something more than a 
 brave swordsman, more especially if he is likely to have the 
 opportunity of obtaining a staff appointment, he needs other 
 qualities, for on a reconnaissance a man who has a quick eye, 
 good powers of observation and thoughtfulness, may send in 
 a report of a most valuable kind, while that of the average 
 young officer might be absolutely useless. 
 
114 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 li Having said this much, I would advise you strongly to 
 devote a couple of hours a day regularly to the study of 
 French and German. You may find them invaluable, espe- 
 cially if you are engaged on any diplomatic mission, and much 
 more useful at first than the study of writers on military tactics 
 and strategy. There will be plenty of time for that after- 
 wards. At Canterbury you will have no difficulty in finding 
 a master among the many French emigres, and as there are at 
 present two or three troops of one of our German Hussar regi- 
 ments there, and some of these men belong to families who 
 preferred exile and service in the ranks to living under French 
 domination, you may find a soldier who will be glad enough 
 to add to his pay by a little teaching. A draft went out only 
 a fortnight or so since to your regiment, and you are therefore 
 likely to be some time at Canterbury before you are ordered 
 out, and as the time in a garrison town hangs heavily on hand, 
 a little steady work will help to make it pass not unpleas- 
 antly." 
 
 " I will certainly do so, sir. We had a French master at 
 school. It was not compulsory to learn the language, but I 
 thought it might be useful if I went into the army, and so took 
 it up. I don't say that I can speak well at all, but I know 
 enough to help me a good deal." 
 
 "That is right, lad. Ah, here is supper. I am sure you 
 must want it after being eighteen hours on the outside of a 
 coach in such weather as this, though I daresay as far as food 
 went you did not do badly. ' ' 
 
 " No, sir; there was plenty of time at the stopping-places 
 for meals, and as I was well wrapped up the cold was 
 nothing." 
 
 Frank, however, could not deny that he felt very stiff after 
 his journey, and was not sorry to retire to bed as soon as he 
 had eaten his supper. There were few men in the army who 
 had seen so much and such varied service as Colonel Sir Rob^ 
 
A COMMISSION 115 
 
 ert Wilson. Joining the army in 1793, he served through the 
 campaigns of Flanders and Holland. In 1797, having at- 
 tained the rank of captain, he was detached from his regiment 
 and served on Major-general St. John's staff during the re- 
 bellion in Ireland. Two years later he rejoined his regiment 
 and proceeded to the Helder, and was engaged in all the bat- 
 tles that took place during that campaign. On the Conven- 
 tion being signed he purchased a majority in one of the regi- 
 ments of German Hussars in our service. He was then sent 
 on a mission to Vienna, and having fulfilled this, went down 
 through Italy to Malta, where he expected to find his regi- 
 ment, which formed part of General Abercrombie's command. 
 He joined it before it landed in Egypt, and served through 
 the campaign there. He then purchased his lieutenant- 
 colonelcy, and exchanged into the 20th Light Dragoons. He 
 was with that portion of his regiment which formed part of 
 Sir David Baird's division, and sailed first to the Brazils and 
 then to the Cape of Good Hope, which possession it wrested 
 from the Dutch. 
 
 On his return to England he was directed to proceed on the 
 staff of Lord Hutchinson to Berlin, but on his arrival at 
 Memel was despatched to the Russian headquarters as British 
 commissioner. He continued with the Russian army during 
 the next two campaigns, and on the signature of the treaty of 
 Tilsit returned to England, and made several journeys to St. 
 Petersburg with confidential despatches, and brought to Eng- 
 land the first news that the Czar had concluded an alliance 
 with Napoleon and was about to declare war against England. 
 In 1808 Sir Robert Wilson was sent to Portugal to raise the 
 Portuguese legion, and, acting independently as a Brigadier - 
 general, rendered very valuable services, until in 1809 the 
 legion was absorbed in the Portuguese army. He was now 
 waiting for other employment. 
 
 The colonel went out with Frank after breakfast next morn- 
 
116 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 mg and ordered his uniform and equipments. Frank was well 
 supplied with money, for by the terms of his father's will either 
 of his sons who entered the army was entitled to draw two 
 hundred pounds a year to pay for outfit, horse, and as allow- 
 ance until he came of age,. when he would receive his share of 
 the capital. Mrs. Troutbeck had, when he said good-bye to 
 her, slipped a pocket-book with bank-notes for a hundred 
 pounds into his hands. 
 
 " Money is always useful, Frank," she said, when he pro- 
 tested that he was amply supplied, "and if you should ever 
 find that your allowance is insufficient write to me. I know 
 that you are not in the least likely to be extravagant or foolish, 
 but you see what a scrape your brother has got into, without 
 any fault of your own, and you may also find yourself in a 
 position where you may want money. If you do, write to me 
 at once." 
 
 After the orders had been given, Sir Robert Wilson took 
 Frank about London to see some of the sights. At dinner he 
 asked him many questions as to his studies and amusements, 
 and the way in which his day was generally spent. After din- 
 ing at Sir Robert's club they returned to his lodgings. 
 
 "lam very pleased, Frank," he said as he lighted a cigar, 
 " both with what I have heard of you and with what I see for 
 myself. Now I will speak to you more freely than I did be- 
 fore, but mind, what I say is strictly confidential. Govern- 
 ment have obtained secret information which points surely to 
 the fact that Napoleon is meditating an offensive war against 
 Russia. He is accumulating troops in Germany and Poland 
 out of all proportion to the operations he has been carrying on 
 against Austria. When that war will break out is more than I 
 or anyone can say, but when it does take place I have Lord 
 Wellesley's promise that I shall go out there in the same posi- 
 tion I held during their last war, that is, as British commis- 
 sioner with the Russian army. Now, lad, in that position I 
 
A COMMISSION ilf 
 
 shall be entitled to take a young officer with me as my assistant, 
 or what, if engaged on other service, would be called aide-de- 
 camp. One cannot be everywhere at once, and I should often 
 have to depend upon him for information as to what was taking 
 place at points where I could not be present. 
 
 " He would, too, act as my secretary. It may possibly be 
 a year before Napoleon's preparations are completed ; but even 
 in a year I should hardly be justified in choosing so young an 
 officer from my old regiment, unless he had some special quali- 
 fications for the post. Now, for your father's sake, Frank, 
 and because I like you and feel sure that you are just the man 
 I require, I should like to take you, but could not do so unless 
 you had some special knowledge that I could urge as a reason 
 for applying for you. There is only one such qualification that 
 I know of, namely, that you should be able to speak the Rus- 
 sian language. When I spoke to you about learning French 
 and German I did so on general principles, and not with a 
 view to this, for it did not seem to me that I could possibly 
 select you to go with me on this service ; but I have since 
 thought it over, and have come to the conclusion that I could 
 do so, if you did but understand Russian. It is a most diffi- 
 cult language, and although I can now get on with it fairly 
 after my stay out there, I thought at first I should never make 
 any headway in it. It would, therefore, be of no use what- 
 ever for you to attempt it unless you are ready to work very 
 hard at it, and to give up, I should say, at least four hours a 
 day to study. ' ' 
 
 " I should be quite ready to do that, sir," Frank said ear- 
 nestly, "and I thank you indeed for your kindness. But 
 who should I get to teach me?" 
 
 "That we must see about. There are, I have no doubt, 
 many Russian Poles in London who speak the language well, 
 and who have picked up enough English for your purpose. 
 The Poles are marvellous linguists. We will go to-morrow to 
 
118 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 the headquarters of the Bow Street runners. They are the 
 detectives, you know, and if they cannot at once put their 
 hands upon such a man as we want, they will be able to ferret 
 out half a dozen in twenty-four hours. One of these fellows 
 you must engage to go down to Canterbury and take lodgings 
 there. They are almost always in destitute circumstances, 
 and would be content with very moderate pay, which would 
 not draw very heavily on your resources. Thirty shillings a 
 week would be a fortune to one of them. Even if this war 
 should not come off — but I have myself no doubt about it — 
 the language might in the future be of great value to you. I 
 don't suppose there is a single officer in the English army, 
 with the exception of myself, who knows a word of Russian, 
 and in the future it might secure you the position of military 
 attache to our embassy there. At any rate it will render it 
 easy for me to secure you an appointment on my mission when 
 it comes off, and in that case you will be a witness of one of 
 the most stupendous struggles that has ever taken place. You 
 think you can really stick to it, Frank ? You will have, no 
 doubt, to put up with a good deal of chaff from your com- 
 rades on your studious tastes." 
 
 "I sha'n't mind that, sir. I have often been chaffed at 
 school, because I used to insist on getting up my work before 
 I would join anything that was going on, and used to find 
 that if I took it good temperedly, it soon ceased." 
 
 The next day they went to Bow Street. Sir Robert's card 
 was sufficient to ensure them attention, and several of the de- 
 tectives were questioned. One of them replied, "I think 
 that I know just the man. He occupies an atttic in the 
 house next to mine. He is a young fellow of four-and- 
 twenty, and I know he has been trying to support himself by 
 giving lessons in German, but I don't think that he has ever 
 had a pupil, and I believe he is nearly starving. His land- 
 lady told me that he has parted with all his clothes except 
 
A COMMISSION 119 
 
 those that he stands upright in. Of late he has been picking 
 up a few pence by carrying luggage for people who land at the 
 wharves. I have not spoken to him myself, but she tells me 
 that he is a perfect gentleman, and though sometimes, as she 
 believes, he has not so much as a crust of bread between his 
 lips all day, he regularly pays his rent of a Saturday." 
 
 "I should think that he would be just the man for us. 
 Would you see him when you go home this afternoon, and 
 ask him to come to Xo. 44 Buckingham Street, either this 
 evening at nine, or at the same hour to-morrow morning? I 
 have written my address on this card." 
 
 At nine o'clock that evening the landlady came upstairs 
 and said, rather doubtfully, that a young man had called 
 to see Sir Robert, and that he had one of Sir Robert's 
 cards. 
 
 " That is right, Mrs. Richards. I was expecting him." 
 
 The Pole was brought up. He was a pale young man, 
 dressed in a thin suit of clothes that accorded but ill with 
 the sharp frost outside. He bowed respectfully, and said in 
 very fair English, "I am told, sir, that you wish to speak 
 to me." 
 
 " Take a seat, sir. By the way, I do not know your 
 name. ' ' 
 
 " Strelinski," the man said. 
 
 " I am told that you are desirous of giving lessons in lan- 
 guages." 
 
 "I am, sir, most desirous." 
 
 "Mr. Wyatt, this gentleman here, is anxious to learn 
 Russian." 
 
 . The man looked with some surprise at Frank. " I should 
 be glad to teach it, sir," he said doubtfully, " but Russian is 
 not like French or English. It is a very difficult language to 
 learn, and one that would require a good deal of study. I 
 should not like to take money without doing something in re- 
 
120 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 turn, and I fear that this gentleman would be disappointed at 
 the small progress he would make." 
 
 " Mr. Wyatt has just obtained a commission, and he thinks 
 that as thei£ are few, if any, officers in the army who speak it 
 fluently, it might be of great advantage to him. He is, there- 
 fore, prepared to work hard at it. I myself," he went on in 
 Russian, " speak it a little, as you see ; I have already warned 
 him of the difficulty of the language, and he is not dismayed. 
 He is going down to Canterbury to join the depot of his regi- 
 ment in the pourse of a few days, and he proposes that you 
 should accompany him and take a lodging there. ' ' 
 
 The young man's face had a look of surprise when he was 
 addressed in the Russian language, and Frank saw a faint flush 
 come across his face and tears flow to his eyes as he heard the 
 offer. 
 
 " What terms would you ask? He might require your ser- 
 vices for a year. ' ' 
 
 1 ' Any terms that would keep me from starving, ' ' the man 
 saM. 
 
 ' ' May I ask what you were in your own country, Mr. Stre- 
 linski?" 
 
 " I was educated for the law," the Pole said. " I took my 
 degree at the University of Warsaw, but I was suspected of 
 having a leaning towards the French — as who had not, when 
 Napoleon had promised to deliver us from our slavery — and 
 had to fly. I had intended at first to enter one of the Polish 
 regiments in the French service, but I could not get across the 
 frontier, and had to make north, getting here in an English 
 ship. The war between you and France prevented my cross- 
 ing the sea again, and then I resolved to earn my living here, 
 but — " and he stopped. 
 
 " You have found it hard work. I can quite understand 
 that, Mr. Strelinski. It is terribly hard for any foreigner, 
 even with good introductions, to earn a living here, and to 
 
A COMMISSION 121 
 
 one unprovided with such recommendations well-nigh impos- 
 sible. Please to sit here for a moment. Frank, come into the 
 next room with me." 
 
 "Well, what do you think?" he asked when they were 
 alone. 
 
 " I should think that he will do splendidly, sir, and his being 
 a gentleman will make it very pleasant for me. But I should 
 not like to offer him as little as thirty shillings a week." 
 
 " I have no doubt that he would be delighted with it, 
 Frank, but as he will have to pay his lodgings out of it and 
 furnish his wardrobe, we might say two pounds, if you can 
 afford it." 
 
 " I can afford it very well, sir. My aunt gave me a hun- 
 dred pounds when I came away from home, and that will pay 
 for it for one year. I am sure I shall like him." 
 
 " He impresses me very favourably too," Sir Robert said, 
 "and perhaps I may find a post for him here if we go out, 
 though we need not think of that at present. Well, let us go 
 in to him again. I have no doubt that the poor fellow is on 
 thorns." 
 
 " I have talked it over with Mr. Wyatt," he went on when 
 they had returned to the sitting-room; "he will probably 
 require your services for a year, though possibly he may have 
 to join his regiment sooner than that. He is willing to pay 
 two pounds a week for your services as his instructor. Will 
 that suit you ? ' ' 
 
 "It is more than sufficient," the Pole said in a broken 
 voice. " For half of that I could keep myself." 
 
 "Yes, but there will be your lodgings to pay, and other 
 matters ; and if you are willing to accept two pounds, which 
 appears to us a fair rate of remuneration, we will consider 
 that as settled. It is a cold night, Mr. Strelinski. You had 
 better take a glass of wine and a biscuit before you vent- 
 ure out." 
 
122 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 He fetched a decanter of port and a tin of biscuits from the 
 sideboard, and placed them in front of him ; then he made a 
 sign to Frank to leave the room. In a few minutes he called 
 him back again. Frank found the Pole standing with his hat 
 in his hand ready to leave. There was a look of brightness 
 and hope in his face, which was a strong contrast to his ex- 
 pression on entering. He bowed deeply to Sir Robert, and 
 took the hand that Frank held out to him. 
 
 " You have saved me," he said, and then, without another 
 word, turned and left the room. 
 
 " I have insisted upon his taking ten pounds on account of 
 his salary, as I told him that he must have warm clothes and 
 make a decent figure in Canterbury. You are to deduct ten 
 shillings a week from his pay till it is made up. The poor 
 fellow fairly broke down when I offered it to him. There is 
 no doubt that he is almost starved, and is as weak as a rat. 
 He is to come to-morrow at twelve o'clock. I have business 
 that will take me out all day, so you can have a quiet chat 
 with him and break the ice." 
 
 CHAPTER VII . 
 
 A FRENCH PRISON 
 
 JULIAN WYATT had expected that there would be 
 some formalities on his arrival at Nantes — that he should 
 probably be taken before a court of some sort, — and he de- 
 termined to make a protest, and to declare that he had been 
 forcibly brought over from England. At the same time he 
 felt that to do so would make little difference in his position. 
 When Holland was overrun with the French, all English 
 residents were thrown into prison, and the same thing had 
 happened after the short peace ; still he determined to make 
 
A FRENCH PRISON 123 
 
 the effort, for he thought that as a civilian he might not be 
 placed in a military prison, and might, therefore, have a 
 better chance of making his escape. He had, however, no 
 opportunity for protest or remonstrance. The captain of the 
 lugger and two of his men went ashore as soon as the craft 
 was moored alongside the quay. 
 
 A quarter of an hour later they returned with a sergeant and 
 two soldiers. The captain pointed him out to the sergeant. 
 The latter crossed the plank on to the deck, put his hand on 
 Julian's shoulder, and motioned to him to follow him ashore. 
 
 "Good-bye, young fellow! " Markham said, as, feeling 
 the uselessness of protest or resistance, Julian moved towards 
 the plank. "I am very sorry for you, but there is nothing 
 else to do, and you will be as well there as anywhere, for you 
 couldn't show your face in Weymouth. I will keep my 
 promise, never fear ; and some day or other everyone shall 
 know that you had nothing to do with giving that fellow the 
 end he deserved." 
 
 Julian was marched along the quay for some distance, and 
 then through the streets till they came to a large building. 
 The sergeant rang the bell at the gate. When it was opened 
 he entered with Julian, leaving the two soldiers without. A 
 sub-officer of the prison came up, and the sergeant handed to 
 him a paper, which was an order signed by the mayor for the 
 governor of the prison to receive an English sailor, name 
 unknown, age twenty-one, who had been picked up at sea by 
 the master of the French lugger Lucille. The official gave a 
 receipt to the sergeant for the prisoner, and a warder then led 
 Julian away to a vaulted hall, where some forty or fifty men 
 were either lying on some straw or were walking up and 
 down in the endeavour to warm themselves. Julian saw at 
 once that they were English sailors, although their clothes 
 were for the most part ragged and torn. 
 
 " Hulloa, mate!" one of them said as the door closed 
 
124 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 behind him. "Have you come all alone? For the most 
 part we arrive in batches. Where do you hail from, and 
 what was your ship ? ' ' 
 
 "I hail from Weymouth," Julian replied cheerfully, his 
 habit of making the best of things at once asserting itself. 
 " I don't know that I can be said to belong to any ship, but 
 I made the passage across in a French smuggling lugger, the 
 Lucille. I suppose I ought to feel indebted to them, for they 
 brought me across without asking for any passage-money ; 
 but they have played me a dirty trick here, for they have 
 handed me over to the authorities, as far as I can understand 
 the matter, as a man-of-war sailor they have picked up." 
 
 " What were you doing on board ? " another sailor asked. 
 " Did you have to leave England in a hurry? " 
 
 " I left in a hurry because I could not help it. Going 
 across the hills I came quite accidentally upon one of the 
 smugglers' hiding-places, and was seized before I had time to 
 say a word. There was a little discussion among themselves 
 as to what they would do with me, and I should have had 
 my throat cut if an Englishman among them had not known 
 that I was friends with most of the fishermen there, and had 
 been present once or twice when a cargo was run. So they 
 finally made up their minds to bring me over here, and as 
 they feared I might, if I returned, peach as to their hiding- 
 place, they trumped up this story about me, and handed me 
 over to the French to take care of. ' ' 
 
 " Well, that story will do just as well as another," one of 
 the sailors laughed. "As to their taking care of you, be- 
 yond looking sharp that you don't get away, the care they 
 give you ain't worth speaking of. We are pretty nigh 
 starved, and pretty nigh frozen. Well, there is one thing, 
 we shall get out of it in two or three days, for we hear that 
 we are all to be marched off somewhere. A batch generally 
 goes off once a fortnight." 
 
A FRENCH PRISON 125 
 
 " Are you mostly men-of-war's men ? ** 
 
 " None of us, at least not when we were taken, though I 
 reckon most of us have had a spell at it one time or other. 
 Xo ; we all belong to two ships that were captured by a 
 couple of their confounded privateers. The one I belonged 
 to was bound for Sicily with stores for some of the troops 
 stationed there ; the other lot were on their way to the 
 Tagus. They caught us off Finisterre within a couple of 
 days of each other. We both made a fight of it, and if we 
 had been together when they came up, we might have beaten 
 them off ; but we had not any chance single-handed against 
 two of them, for they both carried much heavier metal than 
 we did. I don't think we should have resisted if we had not 
 thought that the noise of the guns might have brought one 
 of our cruisers up. But we had no such luck, and so here 
 we are." 
 
 "I suppose, lad, you haven't got anything to pay your 
 footing with ? They did not leave us a sou in our pockets, 
 and I don't suppose the smugglers were much more generous 
 to you." 
 
 "Yes, they were," Julian said. "I have a guinea and 
 some odd silver. I will keep the odd silver for the present, 
 for it may come in handy later on ; but here is the guinea, 
 and if there are any means of getting anything with it, order 
 what you like." 
 
 There was a shout of satisfaction, followed by an animated 
 debate as to how the money should be spent. Julian learnt 
 that there was no difficulty in obtaining liquor in the prison, 
 as one of the warders had permission to sell it in quantities 
 not exceeding one glass, for which the charge was four sous, 
 and also that prisoners with money could send out for food. 
 After much discussion, it was finally settled that forty-five 
 pints of soup and the same number of rations of rum should 
 be obtained. The soup was but three sous a pint, which 
 
126 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 would leave them enough for a tot of grog all round next 
 day. One of them, who had been first mate on board — 
 for Julian found that only the masters had separate treat- 
 ment as officers — went across to the man who supplied 
 liquor. The warder soon returned with him, carrying four 
 bottles, a large stone jar of water, and two or three small 
 tin cups. The mate, who spoke French pretty fluently, had 
 a sharp argument with him as to the amount in French 
 money that he should receive as change out of the guinea ; 
 and as he had learnt from one of the last batch that had been 
 sent away, the proper rate of exchange in the town, he finally 
 got the best of it, and the work of serving out the liquor then 
 began. 
 
 A few of the sailors tossed off their allowance without 
 water, but most of them took it half and half, so as to make 
 it go further. Undoubtedly if the warder would have sold 
 more than one allowance to each man the whole of the 
 guinea would at once have been laid out, but he was firm on 
 this point. Soon afterwards the prisoners' dinner was brought 
 in. It consisted of a slice of black bread to each man and a 
 basin of very thin broth, and Julian was not surprised at the 
 hungry look that he had noticed on the men's faces. 
 
 " Pretty poor fare, isn't it, mate ? " one of them said as he 
 observed the air of disfavour with which Julian regarded his 
 rations. " It has been a matter of deep calculation with these 
 French fellows as to how little would do just to keep a man 
 alive, and I reckon they have got it to a nicety. This is 
 what we have three times a day, and I don't know whether one 
 is most hungry when one turns in at night, or when one turns 
 out in the morning. However, we shall be better off to- 
 night. We get our supper at six, and at eight we shall get in 
 that stuff you paid for. It is a precious deal better than this, 
 I can tell you ; for one of our chums managed to hide two or 
 three shillings when they searched us, and got some in, and 
 
A FRENXH PRISON 127 
 
 it was good, and no mistake ; and they give half a slice of 
 bread with each pint. It is better bread than this black stuff 
 they give us in prison. Though an English dog would turn 
 up his nose at it, still it helps to fill up. ' ' 
 
 The second supper was voted a great success, and after it 
 was eaten, the men, cheered by its warmth, and freed for a 
 time from the annoying feeling of hunger they generally ex- 
 perienced, became quite merry. Several songs were sung, 
 but at the conclusion of a grand chorus an armed warder 
 came in and ordered them to be silent. 
 
 " If the governor hears you making that row," he said, 
 " you will have one of your meals cut off to-morrow." 
 
 The threat was effectual, and the men lay down in the straw 
 as close as they could get to each other for warmth, as by this 
 means the thin rug each had served out to him sufficed to 
 spread over two bodies, and their covering was thus doubled. 
 Julian had really another guinea besides the silver in his 
 pocket, but he had thought it better to make no mention of 
 this, as in case of his ever being able to make his escape, it 
 would be of vital service to him. The following day there 
 was another council over the ten francs still remaining. A 
 few would have spent it in another allowance of rum all 
 round, but finally, by an almost unanimous vote, it was deter- 
 mined that fifteen clay pipes should be obtained, and the rest 
 laid out in tobacco. The forty-five were solemnly divided 
 into three watches. Each member of a watch was to have a 
 pipe, which was to be filled with tobacco. This he could 
 smoke fast or slow as he chose, or, if he liked, could use the 
 tobacco for chewing. At the end of half an hour the pipes 
 were to be handed over to the next watch, and so on in regu- 
 lar order until evening. 
 
 This plan was carried out, and afforded unbounded satisfac- 
 tion, and many loudly regretted that it had not been thought 
 of at first, as the money spent on grog would have largely ex- 
 
128 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 tended the time the tobacco would hold out. So jealous did 
 the men become of their store of tobacco that the mate was 
 requested to fill all the pipes, as some of the men in helping 
 themselves rammed their pipes so closely that they held double 
 the proper allowance of tobacco. This treat at once established 
 Julian as a popular character, and upon his lamenting, when 
 talking to the mate, his inability to speak French, the latter 
 offered to teach him as much as he could. Directly he began 
 three or four of the younger sailors asked to be allowed to 
 listen, a school was established in one corner of the room, and 
 for several hours a day work went on, both master and pupils 
 finding that it greatly shortened the long weary hours of idle- 
 ness. 
 
 Three weeks passed without change. Then they were told 
 that next morning they would be marched away to make room 
 for another batch of prisoners that had been brought into the 
 fort that afternoon. All were glad of the change, first, be- 
 cause it was a change, and next, because they all agreed they 
 could not be worse off anywhere than they were at Nantes. * 
 They were mustered at daybreak, formed up in fours, and 
 with a guard of twenty soldiers with loaded muskets marched 
 out from the prison gates. The first day's journey was a long 
 one. Keeping along the north bank of the Loire, they 
 marched to Angers, which they did not reach until night was 
 falling. Many of the men, wholly unaccustomed to walking, 
 were completely worn out before they reached their destina- 
 tion, but as a whole, with the exception of being somewhat 
 footsore, they arrived in fair condition. Julian marched by 
 the side of the first mace, and the lesson in French was a long 
 one, and whiled away the hours on the road. 
 
 " It would not be difficult for us, if we were to pass the word 
 down, to fall suddenly on our guards and overpower them," 
 the mate said in one of the pauses of their talk. " A few of 
 us might be shot, but as soon as we had knocked some of 
 
A. FRENCH PRISON 129 
 
 them over and got their arms, we should easily make an end 
 of the rest. The difficulty would be what to do after- 
 wards. ' ' 
 
 "That is a difficulty there is no getting over," Julian said. 
 
 " With the exception of yourself, there is not one who speaks 
 French well." 
 
 " I don't speak it well," the mate said. " I know enough 
 to get on with, but the first person that I addressed would see 
 at once that I was a foreigner. No ; we should all be in the 
 same boat, and a very bad boat it would be. We should all 
 be hunted down in the course of twenty-four hours, and I ex- 
 pect would be shot twelve hours afterwards. I think that in- 
 stead of sending twenty men with us they might safely have 
 sent only two, for it would be simply madness to try to es- 
 cape. If one alone could manage to slip off there would be 
 some chance for him. There is no doubt that the Bretons are 
 bitterly opposed to the present state of things, and have not 
 forgotten how they suffered in their rising early in the days of 
 the Republic. They would probably conceal a runaway, and 
 might pass him along through their woods to St. Malo or one 
 of the other seaports, and thence a passage across might be 
 obtained in a smuggler, but it would be a hazardous job." 
 
 " Too hazardous for me to care to undertake, even if I got 
 the chance to slip away," Julian said. 
 
 "You are right, mate; nothing short of a big reward 
 would tempt any of the smugglers to run the risk of carrying 
 an escaped prisoner out of the country ; and as I have not a 
 penny in my pocket, and nothing to draw on at home — for 
 there is only my pay due up to the date we were captured 
 when we were only eight days out — I should not have the 
 slightest chance of getting away. No ; I shall take whatever 
 comes. I expect we are in for it to the end of the war, 
 though when that will be is more than any man can tell." 
 They were marched into the prison at Angers, where they 
 
130 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 were provided with a much more bountiful meal than they 
 had been accustomed to, a good allowance of straw, and two 
 blankets each. To their great satisfaction they were not 
 called at daybreak, and on questioning one of the warders 
 who brought in their breakfast, the first mate learnt that after 
 the march to Angers it was customary to allow a day's rest to 
 the prisoners going through. They were ready for the start 
 on the following morning, and stopped for that night at La 
 Fleche. The next march was a long one to Vendome, and a* 
 this place they again halted for a day. Stopping for a night 
 at Beaugency, they marched to Orleans, where was a large 
 prison. Here they remained for a week. The guards who 1 
 had accompanied them from Nantes left them here at Orleans 
 and returned by water. 
 
 From Orleans they struck more to the north, and after teif 
 days' marching arrived at Verdun, which was, they learned, 
 their final destination. Here there were fully a thousand Eng- 
 lish prisoners, for the most part sailors. The greater portion 
 of them were lodged in wooden huts erected in a great court- 
 yard surrounded by a high wall. The food was coarse, but 
 was much more abundant than it had been at Nantes. The 
 newly arrived party were quartered together in one of th? 
 huts. 
 
 Night and day sentries were posted on the wall, along 
 which a wooden platform, three feet from the top, permitted 
 them to pass freely ; on this sentry-boxes were erected at short 
 intervals. As soon as their escort had left them, the new- 
 comers were surrounded by sailors eager to learn the last 
 news from England — how the war was going on, and what 
 prospect there was of peace. As soon as their curiosity was 
 satisfied, the crowd speedily dispersed. Julian was struck with 
 the air of listless indifference that prevailed among the pris- 
 oners, but it was not long before he quite understood it. 
 Cut off from all news, without hope of escape or exchange, 
 
A FRENCH PRISON 131 
 
 it was difficult for even the most light-hearted to retain their 
 spirits. 
 
 As sailors, the men were somewhat better able to support 
 the dull hopelessness of their lives than others would have 
 been. Most of them were handy in some way or other, and 
 as they were permitted by the authorities to make anything 
 they could, they passed much of their time in working at 
 something or other. Some cut out and rigged model ships, 
 others knitted, some made quilts from patches purchased for 
 a trifle by the warders for them in the town, some made 
 fancy boxes of straw, others carved walking-sticks, paper- 
 cutters, and other trifles. 
 
 Each day, two or three of their number had permission 
 to go down into the town to sell their own and their com- 
 rades' manufactures, and to buy materials. There was a fair 
 sale for most of the articles, for these were bought not only 
 by the townspeople, but by pedlars, who carried them through 
 the country. The prices obtained were small, but they af- 
 forded a profit over the money laid out in materials, sufficient 
 to purchase tobacco and other little luxuries — the introduction 
 of spirits into the prison being, however, strictly forbidden. 
 Of more importance than the money they earned, was the 
 relief to the tedium of their life in the work itself. Julian 
 found a similar relief in studying French. There were some 
 among the prisoners who spoke the language far better than 
 did the mate, and after three months' work with the latter, 
 Julian was advised by him to obtain a better teacher. He 
 found no difficulty in getting one, who spoke French really 
 well, to talk with him three or four hours a day on condition 
 of being supplied with tobacco during that time ; and as 
 tobacco was very cheap, and could be always bought from 
 the soldiers, Julian's store of money was not much diminished 
 by the outlay. 
 
 He himself had now regularly taken to smoking ; not at 
 
132 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 first because he liked it, but because he saw how much it 
 cheered and comforted his comrades, who, however, generally 
 used it in the sailor fashion of chewing. Escape was never 
 talked of. The watch kept was extremely strict, and as on 
 getting outside of the walls of the courtyard, they would but 
 find themselves in a town girt in by walls and fortifications, 
 the risk was altogether too great to be encountered. It had 
 been attempted many times, but in the great majority of cases 
 the fugitives had been shot, and their bodies had always been 
 brought back to the prison in order to impress the others with 
 the uselessness of the attempt. A very few, indeed, had got 
 away; at least, it was supposed that they had done so, as 
 their bodies had not been brought back ; but it was generally 
 considered that the chances were enormously against their 
 being able to make their way over the wide extent of country 
 between Verdun and the sea, and then to succeed in obtaining 
 a passage to some neutral port, from which they could make 
 their way to England. Several times offers of freedom were 
 made to such of the prisoners as volunteered to enter the 
 French army or navy, but very few availed themselves of 
 them. 
 
 At the end of ten months, Julian was able to speak French 
 fluently. Large bodies of troops were continually marching 
 through the town bound for the east, and the prisoners learned 
 from the guards that the general belief was that Napoleon in- 
 tended to invade Russia. 
 
 " I have a good mind to enlist," Julian said one day, to 
 his friend the mate. " Of course, nothing would persuade 
 me to do so if it were a question of fighting against the 
 English. But now that I have learnt French fairly, I begin 
 to find this life horrible, and am longing intensely to be do- 
 ing something. There are the reasons that I have already told 
 you of why, even if I were free, I could not go home. I 
 might as well be taking part in this campaign as staying in 
 
A FRENCH PRISON 133 
 
 prison. Besides, I should have infinitely better chances of 
 escape as a soldier than we have here, and if I find I don't 
 like it, I can at least try to get off." 
 
 " Well, placed as you are, Wyatt, I don't know that I 
 should not be inclined to do the same. At any rate, you 
 would be seeing something of life, instead of living like a 
 caged monkey here. Of course, as you say, no one would 
 dream of such a thing if one would have to go to Spain 
 to fight our fellows there. Still, if by any chance, after this 
 Russian business, your regiment was ordered back to France, 
 and then to Spain, you would at any rate have a fair chance 
 of escaping on such a journey. I would not do it myself, 
 because I have a wife at home. One hopes, slight as the chance 
 seems to be, that some day there will be a general exchange 
 of prisoners. But as you can't go home, I don't know but 
 that it would be a good plan for you to do what you propose. 
 At any rate, your life as a soldier would be a thousand times 
 better than this dog's existence." 
 
 " I could put up with that for myself, but it is awful seeing 
 many of the men walking about with their heads down, never 
 speaking for hours, and the pictures of hopeless melancholy. 
 See how they die off, not from hunger or fever, for we have 
 enough to eat, but wasting away and dying from home-sick- 
 ness, and because they have nothing to live for. Why, of the 
 forty-five of us who came up together, ten have gone already ; 
 and there are three or four others who won't last long. It is 
 downright heartbreaking; and now that I have no longer any- 
 thing to keep my thoughts employed a good part of the day, I 
 begin to feel it myself. I catch myself saying, what is the 
 use of it all, it would be better make a bolt and have done 
 with it. I can quite understand the feelings of that man who 
 was shot last week. He ran straight out of the gate ; he had 
 no thought of escape ; he simply did it to be shot down by 
 the sentries, instead of cutting his own throat. I don't be- 
 
134 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 lieve I could stand it much longer, Jim ; and even if I were 
 certain of being killed by a Russian ball I think I should 
 
 go-" 
 
 " Go then, lad," the man said. " I have always thought 
 
 that you have borne up very well ; but I know it is even 
 worse for you than it is for us sailors. We are accustomed to 
 be cooped up for six months at a time on board a ship, with- 
 out any news from outside ; with nothing to do save to see 
 that the decks are washed, and the brasses polished, except 
 when there is a shift of wind or a gale. But to anyone like 
 yourself, I can understand that it must be terrible ; and if 
 you feel getting into that state, I should say go by all 
 means." 
 
 ' ' I will give you a letter before I enlist, Jim ; and I will 
 get you, when you are exchanged, to go down with it your- 
 self to Weymouth, and tell them what became of me, and 
 why I went into the French army. Don't let them think 
 that I turned traitor. I would shoot myself rather than run 
 the risk of having to fight Englishmen. But when it is a 
 choice between fighting Russians and going out of my mind, 
 I prefer shouldering a French musket. I will write the letter 
 to-day. There is no saying when they may next call for vol- 
 unteers ; for, as you know, those who step forward are taken 
 away at once, so as to prevent their being persuaded by the 
 others into drawing back." 
 
 The next day Julian wrote his letter. He recapitulated the 
 arguments he had used to the mate, and bade Frank and his 
 aunt a final farewell. "I may, of course, get through the 
 campaign," he said. ''The French soldiers here seem to 
 think that they will sweep the Russians before them, but that 
 is their way. They talked of sweeping us out of the Penin- 
 sula, and they haven't done it yet ; and there is no doubt 
 that the Russians are good soldiers, and will make a big fight 
 of it. I hope you won't feel cut up about this, and really I 
 
A FRENCH PRISON 135 
 
 care little whether I leave my bones in Russia or not. It 
 may be twenty years or even longer before that fellow Mark- 
 ham's letter arrives to clear me. And until then I cannot re- 
 turn to England, or at any rate to Weymouth ; indeed, where- 
 ever I was, I should live with the knowledge that I might at 
 any moment be recognized and arrested. Therefore while 
 others here have some hope of a return home, either by an 
 exchange of prisoners or by the war coming to an end, I have 
 nothing to look forward to. So you see, old fellow, that it is 
 as well as it is. 
 
 " I have to earn my own living somehow, and this way will 
 suit me better than most. Only, of one thing be sure, that 
 if at the end of the Russian war I return alive, and my regi- 
 ment is sent where there is a chance of fighting our people, I 
 shall take an opportunity of deserting. As I have told you, I 
 can speak French fairly well now, and after a few months in a 
 French regiment I shall be able to pass as a native, and should 
 l\ave a good chance of making my way somehow through the 
 country to the frontier. My idea at present is that I should 
 make for Genoa and ship there as a sailor on board an Italian 
 vessel, or, better still, if we happen to be masters of the place, 
 or our fleet near, should either enlist in one of our regiments, 
 or ship on board one of our men-of-war. I should, of course, 
 take another name, and merely say that I had been captured 
 by the French at sea, had been a prisoner at Verdun, and had 
 managed to get free, and make my way across the country. 
 Probably in any case I shall do this when the regiment re- 
 turns from Russia. Two or three years' absence, and a fair 
 share of the hardships of a soldier's life, and a disguise, might 
 enable me without detection to travel down to Weymouth and 
 see Aunt, and learn if there had been any news from Mark- 
 ham. 
 
 " Whether I shall find you there or not I can't tell. I have 
 but little hope that you will be able to get a commission. 
 
136 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 This affair of mine will be, I fear, an absolute bar to that. 
 But, wherever you may be, I shall do my best to find you out, 
 after I have seen Aunt. This will be given you by a good 
 fellow named Jim Thompson. He has been a first mate, and 
 has been a good friend to me ever since I have been over 
 here. If he is exchanged, he will bring it to you ; if not, he 
 will give it to one of the men who is exchanged to post it on 
 his arrival in England. I shall direct it both to you and 
 Aunt, so that if you are away from Weymouth she will open 
 it. God bless you both." 
 
 Three days later a notice was posted in the prison saying 
 that any of the prisoners who chose to volunteer for service in 
 Germany were at liberty to do so. They would not be 
 called upon at any future time for service against British 
 troops, but would have the liberty to exchange into regiments 
 destined for other service. Eight men, including Julian, came 
 forward, when, an hour later, a French officer entered and 
 called for volunteers. Julian had already announced his in- 
 tention of doing so to his comrades in the hut, and to his 
 other acquaintances. 
 
 " You see," he said, " we shall not be called upon for ser- 
 vice against the English, and I would rather fight the Russians 
 than stay in this place for years." 
 
 Hitherto the men who had volunteered had been hooted by 
 their fellow -prisoners as they went out, but the promise that 
 they should not be called upon for service against British 
 troops made a great difference in the feeling with which the 
 offer was regarded, and had it not been for the hope that 
 everyone felt that he should ere long be exchanged, the num- 
 ber who stepped forward would have been greatly increased. 
 A strong French division had marched into Verdun that morn- 
 ing, and the new volunteers were all divided among different 
 corps. Julian, who now stood over six feet, was told off to a 
 Grenadier regiment. A uniform was at once given to him 
 
A FRENCH PRISON 137 
 
 from those carried with the baggage of the regiment, and the 
 sergeant of the company in which he had been placed took 
 him to its barrack-room. 
 
 "Comrades," he said, "here is a new recruit. He is an 
 Englishman who has the good sense to prefer fighting the 
 Russians to rotting in prison. He is a brave fellow, and 
 speaks our language well, and I think you will find him a good 
 comrade. He has handed over twenty francs to pay his foot- 
 ing in the company. You must not regard him as a traitor to 
 his country, my friends, for he has received from the colonel 
 a paper authorizing him to exchange into a regiment destined 
 for other service, in case, after we have done with the Rus- 
 sians, we should be sent to some place where we should have 
 to fight against his countrymen." 
 
 In half an hour Julian felt at home with his new comrades. 
 They differed greatly in age : some among them had grown 
 grizzly in the service, and had fought in all the wars of the 
 Republic and Empire ; others were lads not older than him- 
 self, taken but a month or two before from the plough. After 
 they had drunk the liquor purchased with his twenty francs, 
 they patted him on the back and drank to the health of Jules 
 Wyatt, for Julian had entered under his own surname, and his 
 Christian name was at once converted to its French equivalent. 
 With his usual knack of making friends, he was soon on excel- 
 lent terms with them all, joined in their choruses, and sang 
 some English songs whose words he had as an exercise trans- 
 lated into French, and when the men lay down for the night 
 on their straw pallets it was generally agreed that the new 
 comrade was a fine fellow and an acquisition to the com- 
 pany. 
 
 The division was to halt for two days at Verdun, and the 
 time was spent, as far as Julian was concerned, in the hands of 
 a sergeant, who kept him hard at work all day acquiring the 
 elements of drill. On the third morning the regiment marched 
 
138 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 off at daybreak, Julian taking his place in the ranks, with his 
 knapsack and firelock. After the long confinement in the 
 prison he found his life thoroughly enjoyable. Sometimes they 
 stopped in towns, where they were either quartered in barracks 
 or billeted on the inhabitants ; sometimes they slept under 
 canvas or in the open air, and this Julian preferred, as they 
 built great fires and gathered round them in merry groups. 
 The conscripts had by this time got over their home-sickness, 
 and had caught the martial enthusiasm of their older comrades. 
 All believed that the Grande Armee would be invincible, and 
 fears were even expressed that the Russians would not venture 
 to stand against them. Some of the older men, however, as- 
 sured them that there was little chance of this. 
 
 " The Russians are hardy fighters, comrades," one of the 
 veterans said. " Parbleu / I who tell you, have fought 
 against them, and they are not to be despised. They are slow 
 at manoeuvring, but put them in a place and tell them to hold 
 it, and they will do it to the last. I fought at Austerlitz 
 against the Austrians, and at Jena against the Prussians, and 
 in a score of other battles in Germany and Italy, and I tell 
 you that the Russians are the toughest enemies I have met, 
 save only your Islanders, Jules. I was at Talavera, and the 
 way your people held that hill after the cowardly Spaniards 
 had bolted and left them, and at last rolled us down it, was a 
 thing I don't want to see again. I was wounded and sent 
 home to be patched up, and that is how I come to be here 
 marching against Russia instead of being under Soult in 
 Spain. No, comrades, you take my word for it, big as our 
 army will be, we shall have some tough fighting to do before 
 we get to Moscow or St. Petersburg, whichever the Little 
 Corporal intends to dictate terms in." 
 
 " It is as you say, Victor," one of the other veterans said, 
 "and it is all the better. It would be too bad if we had 
 to march right across Europe and back without firing a shot, 
 
A FRENCH PRISON 139 
 
 but I, who know the Russians too, feel sure that that will 
 never be. " 
 
 Many a merry martial song was sung at the bivouac fires, 
 many a story of campaigns and battles told, and no thought 
 of failure entered the minds of anyone, from the oldest veteran 
 to the youngest drummer-boy. Of an evening, after halting, 
 Julian generally had half an hour's drill, until, three weeks 
 after leaving Verdun, he was pronounced fit to take part in a 
 review under the eyes of the Emperor himself. His readiness 
 to oblige, even to undertaking sentry duty for a comrade who 
 had grown footsore on the march, or was suffering from some 
 temporary ailment, his cheeriness and good temper, had by 
 this time rendered him a general favourite in the company, 
 and when he was dismissed from drill the veterans were always 
 ready to give him lessons with the sabre or rapier in addition 
 to those he received from the maitre d'armes of the regiment. 
 Julian entered into these exercises with great earnestness. 
 Quarrels between the men were not infrequent, and these were 
 always settled by the sabre or straight sword, the officers' per- 
 mission being necessary before these duels took place. It was 
 seldom that their consequences were very serious. The maitre 
 d' amies was always present, and put a stop to the fight as soon 
 as blood was drawn. At present Julian was on the best terms 
 with all his comrades, but he felt that, if he should become 
 involved in a quarrel, he of all men must be ready to vindicate 
 his honour and to show that, Englishman as he was, he was 
 not a whit behind his comrades in his readiness to prove his 
 courage. Thus, then, he worked with ardour, and ere long 
 became able to hold his own even with the veterans of the 
 regiment. 
 
140 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 PISTOL PRACTICE 
 
 " \ 70U are a rum fellow, Wyatt," one of the captains of 
 I the depot of his regiment said to Frank a fortnight 
 after he joined. 
 
 " How am I rum? " 
 
 " Why, about that Russian fellow. I never heard of a 
 young cornet setting-to to work like a nigger, when there 
 is no occasion in the world for him to do so." 
 
 "There is no absolute occasion perhaps, but you see 
 Russian may be very useful some day." 
 
 " Well, yes, and so might any other out-of-the-way lan- 
 guage." 
 
 " It is an off-chance, no doubt ; still it is better to be do- 
 ing something that may turn out useful than to be walking up 
 and down the High Street or playing billiards. I don't spend 
 much time over it now, for there is a good deal to do in learn- 
 ing one's work, but when I once get out of the hands of the 
 drill-sergeant and the riding-master I shall have a lot of time 
 to myself, and shall be very glad to occupy some of it in get- 
 ting up Russian." 
 
 ' ' Of course it is your own business and not mine, Wyatt ; 
 but I am afraid you won't find things very pleasant if you take 
 a line of your own and don't go with the rest." 
 
 " I have no wish not to go with the rest," Frank protested. 
 " When there is anything to be done, whether it is hunting or 
 any sort of sport, I shall certainly take my share in it ; but 
 don't you think yourself, Captain Lister, that it is much bet- 
 ter for a fellow to spend part of his time reasonably than in 
 lounging about, or in playing billiards or cards ? " 
 
 " I don't say that it isn't better, Wyatt, but that is hardly 
 
PISTOL PRACTICE 
 
 141 
 
 the question. Many things may be better than others, but 
 if a fellow doesn't go with the run he gets himself disliked, 
 and has a very hard time of it." 
 
 " I used to hear a good deal of the same thing when I was 
 at school," Frank said quietly, "but I don't think I was 
 disliked for sticking to work sometimes, when other fellows 
 were playing. Surely when one is from morning till night 
 with other men, it can matter to no one but himself if he gives 
 two or three hours a day to work." 
 
 " It does not matter to anyone, Wyatt. I am quite willing 
 to grant it, but for all that, I am afraid, if you stick to it, you 
 will have to put up with a great deal of chaff, and not always 
 of a good-natured kind." 
 
 " I can put up with any amount of chaff," Frank replied ; 
 " I mean chaff in its proper sense. Anything that goes 
 beyond that, I shall, I hope, be able to meet as it deserves. 
 Perhaps it would be better if I were to take half an hour a 
 day off my Russian studies and to spend that time in the pis- 
 tol-gallery." 
 
 Captain Lister looked at him earnestly. " I think you will 
 do, youngster," he said approvingly, " that is the right spirit. 
 There is a lot of rough fun and larking in a regiment, and the 
 man that goes through it best, is he who can take a joke 
 good-temperedly as long as it does not go beyond the bounds 
 of moderation, but who is ready to resent any wilful insult : 
 but I think you would be very wise to do as you say. Half 
 an hour in a pistol -gallery every day is likely to be of vastly 
 more use to you than any amount of Russian. The reputation 
 that a man is a crack shot with a pistol will do more than any- 
 thing in the world to keep him out of quarrels. Here at the 
 depot at any rate, where the fellows are for the most part 
 young, it would certainly save you a good deal of annoyance 
 if it were known that, although not by any means a quarrel- 
 some fellow, you were determined to put up with nothing 
 
142 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 beyond good-humoured jokes. Well, lad, I don't want to 
 interfere with your hobby, only I advise you not to ride it 
 too hard, at any rate at first. When the men all know you 
 and get to like you, and see that, apart from this fancy of 
 yours, you are an all-round good fellow, as I can see you are, 
 they will let you go your own way. At any rate, as captain 
 of your troop, I will do all I can to make things pleasant for 
 you, but don't forget about the pistol practice. At a depot 
 like this, where there are half a dozen regiments represented, 
 you will meet with a larger proportion of disagreeable men 
 than you would in your own ante-room. You see, if colonels 
 have such men, they are glad enough to rid the regiment of 
 them by leaving them at the depot, and any serious trouble 
 is more likely to come from one of them than from anyone in 
 your own regiment." 
 
 "I will take your advice, certainly," Frank said; "the 
 more so that the time spent in learning to be a good shot 
 with a pistol will be most useful in a campaign, even if there 
 is no occasion ever to put it to the test when at home." 
 
 "There is a gunsmith in St. Margaret's Street. It is a 
 small shop, but the man, Woodall is his name, has got a long 
 shed that he uses as a pistol-gallery, a quarter of a mile out 
 beyond the gate. He is an admirable shot himself as well as 
 an excellent workman, and you can't do better than go to 
 him. Tell him that you want to become a good shot with the 
 pistol, and are willing to pay for lessons. If he takes you in 
 hand it won't be long before he turns you out as a fair shot, 
 whether you ever get beyond that depends on nerve and eye, 
 and I should think that you have no lack of either. ' ' 
 
 " I hope not," Frank said, with a smile. " At any rate I 
 will see him this afternoon." 
 
 " Put on your cap at once, and I will go down with you," 
 Captain Lister said; "and mind, I think if I were you I 
 should say nothing about it at the depot until he tells you 
 
PISTOL PRACTICE 143 
 
 that he has done with you. Knowing that the man is a 
 learner might have just the opposite effect of hearing that he 
 is a crack shot." 
 
 In a quarter of an hour they arrived at the gunsmith's. 
 "Woodall," Captain Lister said, " my friend, Mr. Wyatt, 
 who has lately joined, has a fancy for becoming a first-rate 
 pistol shot." 
 
 "He couldn't have a more useful fancy, Captain Lister. 
 My idea is, that every cavalry-man — trooper as well as officer 
 — should be a dead shot with a pistol. The sword is all very 
 well, and I don't say it is not a useful weapon, but a regi- 
 ment that could shoot — really shoot well — would be a match 
 for any three French regiments, though they were Boney's 
 best."' 
 
 " He wants you take him in hand yourself, Woodall, if you 
 can spare the time to do so ; of course, he is ready to pay 
 you for your time and trouble, and would meet you at any 
 hour you like to name in the afternoon at your shed." 
 
 " All right, sir. It is a rum thing to me that, while every 
 officer is ready to take any pains to learn the sword exercise, 
 they seem to think that pistol-shooting comes by nature, and 
 that, even on horseback, in the middle of the confusion of a 
 charge, you have only got to point your pistol and bring 
 down your man. The thing is down-right ridiculous ! It 
 will be a pleasure to teach you, Mr. Wyatt. I should say, 
 from your look, you are likely to turn out a first-rate shot." 
 
 " It won't be for want of trying if I don't," Frank replied. 
 
 '* If you will take my advice, sir, you will learn to shoot 
 with both hands. For a civilian who never wants to use a 
 pistol except in a duel, the right hand is all that is necessary, 
 but for a cavalry-man, the left is the useful hand. You see an 
 officer always carries his sword in his right hand, and if he 
 has got to shift it to his left before he can use his pistol, he 
 could never use it at all, if hard pressed in a fight. Another 
 
144 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 thing is, that the left side is the weak side of a horseman. 
 His sword is all right in defending him if attacked on the 
 right, but if he is attacked on the left he is fighting under a 
 big disadvantage. He has much more difficulty in guarding 
 himself on that side, and he has nothing like the same reach 
 for striking as he has on the other." 
 
 "That is quite true, now I come to think of it," Frank 
 said; " though I never gave it a thought before. Yes, I see 
 that the left hand is the most useful one, and I will practice 
 with that as well as with the other. Well, what hour will 
 suit you ? ' ' 
 
 " It don't make much difference to me, sir; the evenings 
 are getting longer ; you can see well enough until five. ' ' 
 
 " Well, then, shall we say half-past four? " 
 
 " Half-past four will suit very well, Mr. Wyatt. It is four 
 o'clock now, so if you like to take your first lesson to-day I 
 will meet you at the shed in half an hour. You cannot miss 
 the place, it is on the right side of the road and stands by 
 itself, and there is my name over the door." 
 
 " Thank you; I will be there," Frank replied. 
 
 "I may as well come with you, Wyatt," Captain Lister 
 said. " I will fire a few shots myself, for I have had no prac- 
 tice for the last two years, and I have a fancy to see what I 
 can do with my left hand. I have never tried with it, and I 
 quite agree with Woodall that it is the left hand that a 
 cavalry-man should use." 
 
 Frank was a good deal surprised at first to see how much 
 more difficult it was to hit a mark, even at the distance of 
 twelve paces, than he imagined that it would be. Woodall 
 would not allow him to take aim. 
 
 " You will never get a chance to do that, Mr. Wyatt, in a 
 fight ; you have got to whip out your pistol, to throw up your 
 arm and fire. It has got to be done by instinct rather than 
 by aim. It is all very well to aim when you are on your feet 
 
PISTOL PRACTICE 145 
 
 and standing perfectly steady, but on a horse half-mad with 
 excitement, and perhaps going at a gallop, you could no more 
 hold your arm steady on a mark than you could fly. Put 
 down the pistol for a time. Now you know, sir, when you 
 point at a thing with your first finger extended, however 
 quickly you do it, you will be there or thereabout, and it is 
 the same thing if you have got a pistol in your hand. You 
 see that black patch on the wall to the right of the target. 
 Now turn your back to it. Now, when I give the word, turn 
 on your heels, and the moment your eye catches that patch 
 throw up your arm with your forefinger extended and point to 
 it. When you get it up there, hold it as steady as you can. 
 Now, sir! " 
 
 Frank did as he was ordered. 
 
 " Now, sir, look along your arm. You see you are point- 
 ing very nearly at the centre of the patch. You are just a 
 little high. Now try it with your left. There, you see, you 
 are not quite so accurate this time — you are six inches to the 
 left of the patch, and nearly a foot high. Remember that 
 it's always better to aim a little low than a little high, for the 
 tendency of the hand in the act of pulling the trigger is to 
 raise the muzzle. Now, sir, try that half a dozen times, using 
 the hands alternately. Very good ! Now take this empty 
 pistol — no, don't hold it like that ! Not one man in twenty, 
 ay, not one in a hundred, holds a pistol right, they always 
 want to get the first finger on the trigger. Now, you want 
 the first finger to point with, the second finger is quite as 
 good to pull with, in fact better, for going straight, as it 
 does, with the arm, there is less tendency to throw up the 
 muzzle. Now take it like this ; you see my fore-finger lies 
 along in the line of the barrel, that is the really important 
 point. Get into the way of always grasping your pistol so 
 that the first finger is in an exact line with the barrel, then, 
 you see, just as your finger naturally follows your eye and 
 
146 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 points at the spot, so your pistol must be in the same line. 
 It is best to have the middle and third fingers both on the 
 trigger, and the little finger and thumb alone grasping the 
 butt. 
 
 " You will find that a little difficult at first, but you will 
 soon get accustomed to it, and your little finger will rapidly 
 gain strength, and, you see, the hold of your first finger 
 along the barrel helps the other two to steady it. By having 
 the middle and third fingers both on the trigger, you give a 
 pressure rather than a pull to it, and they will soon come to 
 give that pressure at the very moment when the first finger 
 gets on the mark aimed at. Now try it half a dozen times 
 with the pistol unloaded, and after pressing the trigger keep 
 your hand and arm in as nearly the same position, so as to see 
 if it is pointing truly at the mark. Very good ! Now try 
 with the left hand. There, you see, that hand is not so ac- 
 customed to its work, and though you might have hit the tar- 
 get, I doubt if either of the shots would have struck the inner 
 circle. Now we will try with the pistol loaded." 
 
 Six shots were fired alternately with the right and left 
 hand. Those of the former were all within a few inches of 
 the bull's-eye, while none of the others went wide of the out- 
 side. 
 
 " Very good, indeed," the gunsmith said. " I don't hesi- 
 tate to say that in a very short time you will become a fair 
 shot, and at the end of three months, if you practise regularly, 
 a first-class one. Your hand is very steady, your eye true, 
 and you have plenty of nerve. Now, sir, I should advise you 
 to keep that unloaded pistol in the drawer of your table, and 
 whenever you have nothing else to do, spend five minutes in 
 taking quick aims at marks on the wall, using your hands al- 
 ternately. x Now, Captain Lister, will you try a few shots?" 
 
 Taking a steady aim, Captain Lister put his bullets almost 
 every time into the bull's-eye, but, to Frank's surprise, when 
 
PISTOL PRACTICE 143 
 
 he came to try quick firing in the way he had himself done, 
 the captain's shooting was much less accurate than his own. 
 
 "It is a question of eye," the gunsmith said next day, 
 when Frank was alone with him. " You see Captain Lister's 
 shooting was fair when he took a steady aim, but directly he 
 came to fire as he would in action, and that without the dis- 
 turbing influences of excitement and of the motion of his 
 horse, he was nowhere. He did not even once hit the target 
 in firing with his left hand. He would certainly have missed 
 his man and would have got cut down a moment later, and 
 even with his right hand his shooting was very wild." 
 
 Captain Lister himself was evidently disconcerted at finding 
 how useless his target practice would be to him in the field, 
 and, two or three times in the next week, went with Frank to 
 practise. He improved with his right hand, but did not seem 
 to obtain any accuracy in firing with his left, while Frank, at 
 the end of a month, came to shoot as well with one hand as 
 with the other. 
 
 Frank worked steadily at Russian, and although he found it 
 extremely difficult at first, soon began to make progress under 
 his teacher, who took the greatest pains with him. He soon 
 got over the good-tempered chaff of the subalterns of his detach- 
 ment, who, finding that he was at other times always ready to 
 join in anything going on, and was wholly unruffled by their 
 jokes, soon gave it up. They agreed among themselves that 
 he was a queer fellow, and allowed him to go his own way 
 without interference. At the end of three months he was dis- 
 charged from drill and riding school, and had thenceforth a 
 great deal more time on his hands, and was able to devote 
 three hours of a morning and two of an afternoon to Russian. 
 
 He was delighted with his master, whom he came to esteem 
 highly, finding him a most intelligent companion as well as an 
 unwearied teacher. Strelinski, indeed, would have been glad 
 to have devoted twelve hours a day instead of five, could 
 
148 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 Frank have afforded the time. He was a very different man 
 now to what he was when he had first called at Sir Robert 
 Wilson's lodgings. He looked well and happy ; his cheeks 
 had filled out, and he carried himself well ; he dressed with 
 scrupulous care, and when Frank had no engagement with his 
 comrades, the Pole accompanied him on long rides on his 
 spare charger, he having been accustomed to riding from his 
 childhood. From him Frank learned a great deal of the state 
 of things in Poland and Russia, and gained a considerable in- 
 sight into European politics, besides picking up a more inti- 
 mate colloquial knowledge of Russian than he gained at his 
 lessons. Of an evening Frank not unfrequently went to par- 
 ties in the town. The gallant deeds of our troops in Spain 
 had raised the military to great popularity throughout the 
 country, and the houses of all the principal inhabitants of Can- 
 terbury were hospitably opened to officers of the garrison. 
 
 Many of the young men preferred billiards and cards in the 
 mess-room, but Frank, who declined to play billiards, and had 
 not acquired sufficient skill at cards to take a hand at whist, 
 was very glad to accept these invitations. He specially en- 
 joyed going to the houses of the clergy in the precincts of the 
 cathedral ; most of them were very musical, and Frank, who 
 had never heard much music at Weymouth, enjoyed intensely 
 the old English glees, madrigals, and catches performed with 
 a perfection that at that time would have been hard to meet 
 with except in cathedral towns. 
 
 After three months the gunmaker no longer accompanied 
 Frank to his shooting-gallery. 
 
 " It would be robbing you to go on with you any longer, Mr. 
 Wyatt. When a man can turn round, fire on the instant and 
 hit a penny nine times out of ten at a distance of twelve paces, 
 there is no one can teach him anything more. You have 
 the best eye of any gentleman I ever came across, and in the 
 twenty years that I have been here I have had hundreds of 
 
PISTOL PRACTICE 149 
 
 officers at this gallery, many of them considered crack shots. 
 But I should go on practising, if I were you, especially with 
 your left hand. It is not quite so good as the right yet, al- 
 though very nearly so. I will come down once a week or so 
 and throw up a ball to you or spin a penny in the air ; there is 
 nothing like getting to hit a moving object. In the meantime 
 you can go on practising at that plummet swinging from the 
 string. You can do that as well by yourself as if I were with 
 you, for when you once set it going it will keep on for five 
 minutes. It is not so good as throwing up a penny, because 
 it makes a regular curve ; but shooting, as you do, with your 
 back to it, and so not able to tell where it will be when you 
 turn round, that don't so much matter." 
 
 " What is the best shooting you ever heard of ? " 
 
 " The best shot I ever heard tell of was Major Rathmines. 
 He could hit a penny thrown up into the air nineteen times 
 out of twenty." 
 
 "Well, I will go on practising until lean do that," 
 Frank said. "If a thing is worth doing it is worth doing 
 well." 
 
 "And you will doit, Mr. Wyatt ; there is nothing you 
 could not do with practice." 
 
 " There is one thing I wish you would do for me — that fig- 
 ure you have got painted as a target is ridiculous. I wish you 
 would get some one who has an idea of painting to do another 
 figure. I want it painted, not standing square to me, but 
 sideways, as a man stands when he fights a duel. I want it 
 drawn with the arm up, just in the same position that a man 
 would stand in firing. I hope I shall never be called upon to 
 fight a duel. I think it is a detestable practice ; but unfort- 
 unately it is so common that no one can calculate on keeping 
 out of it — especially in the army. 
 
 " Well, sir, you need not be afraid of fighting a duel, for 
 you fire so mighty quick that you would be certain of getting 
 
150 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 in the first shot, and if you got first shot there would be an 
 end of it." 
 
 " Yes, but that would be simple murder — neither more nor 
 less, whatever people might call it — and I doubt whether, ac- 
 customed as I am to fire instantly the moment I catch sight of 
 a thing, that I could help hitting a man in the head. Now 
 what I want to become accustomed to is to fire at the hand. 
 I should never forgive myself if I killed a man. But if ever 
 I did go out with a notorious duellist who forced the duel up- 
 on me, I should like to stop his shooting for the rest of his 
 life. So I want to be able to hit his hand to a certainty. Of 
 course the hand is an easy enough mark, and by getting ac- 
 customed to the height and the exact position it would be in, 
 I should get to hit it without fail." 
 
 "A very good idea, sir. The hand is not much of a mark 
 when holding a pistol, still it is a good bit bigger than a penny 
 piece, and you would soon get to hit it just as certainly." 
 
 For the next three months Frank fired fifty shots a day — 
 twenty-five with each hand — and at the end of that time could 
 hit a penny thrown up by Woodall, eighteen times out of 
 twenty. 
 
 " That is good enough," he said ; " now I shall only prac- 
 tise once a week, to keep my hand in." 
 
 Frank had not been without an incentive to gain exceptional 
 proficiency with a pistol. Although he got on very well with 
 his comrades of his own depot, there was a captain of a lancer 
 regiment who had not unfrequently taxed his patience to its 
 farthest limit. The man was a noted duellist, and was known 
 to be a dead shot. On the strength of this, he was in the habit 
 of making remarks so offensive, that they would have at once 
 been taken up, if uttered by anyone else in barracks. For 
 the last two months he had made a special butt of a young 
 cornet, who had recently joined the depot of the Dragoons. 
 He was a pleasant lad, with plenty of spirit and pluck, but he 
 
PISTOL PRACTICE 151 
 
 had a slight impediment in his speech, although when giving 
 the word of command he never hesitated. It was this defect 
 that was the object of Captain Marshall's ill-natured remarks- 
 The lad tried to laugh them off and to ignore the offensiveness 
 of the tone, but he felt them deeply, and confided to Frank — 
 to whom he had specially taken — that he could not stand it 
 much longer. 
 
 " I never used a pistol in my life until you advised me the 
 other day to take some lessons from Woodall, and of course he 
 would put a bullet through my head; but I can't help that. 
 As it is, everyone must think me a coward for standing it, 
 and at any rate I can show them that I am not that." 
 
 "Don't you mind, Wilmington," Frank said one day, 
 "and don't make a fool of yourself. You put up with it a 
 little longer, and something may occur to put a stop to it. 
 He may go away on leave, or he may get a hint that he had 
 better retire from the service. I have heard that it is likely 
 enough that he will get a hint the next time he has an affair 
 of this sort. The last two were with civilians, and I believe 
 that is the reason why so few accept our invitations to mess ; 
 but I fancy if he gets into trouble again with one of ourselves 
 he will have to go." 
 
 " Well, I will try to go on a little longer if you say so, 
 Wyatt, but—" 
 
 " There are no ' buts ' in it, Wilmington. You must give 
 me your word of honour that you will go on as you have 
 done. Don't be afraid of anyone thinking you a coward. 
 There is no cowardice in refusing to fight a man who is so 
 much your superior in skill that it would be nothing short of 
 suicide in standing up against him. I have a private reason 
 for believing that it won't last long." 
 
 " In that case I will give you my word of honour, Prank." 
 
 A week later there was an unusually large party at mess, 
 the depots were very strong, and some forty officers sat 
 
152 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 down ; and it being a guest night, four or five civilians were 
 present. Dinner went on without incident until one of the 
 mess waiters asked Wilmington whether he would take sirloin 
 of beef or goose. He replied, " B-b-b-b-beef. " There hap- 
 pened to be a slight lull in the conversation at the moment, 
 and Wilmington's effort to get the word out made him raise 
 his voice so that it was generally heard. 
 
 " Waiter," Captain Marshall said loudly, " bring me seme 
 g-g-g-g-goose." 
 
 Wilmington's face flushed and then turned deadly pale. 
 He looked appealingly at Frank, who was sitting next to him. 
 The latter whispered, " Remember your word of honour. 
 Get up and leave the room." There was a dead hush from 
 those present as the young cornet rose and left the room, and 
 then a low murmur of indignation. Captain Marshall looked 
 round searchingly, as if to pick out one of those who had 
 thus shown signs of resentment. But directly the door 
 closed upon Wilmington, Frank rose to his feet. 
 
 " I wish, Mr. President," he said in a clear, steady voice, 
 "to ask you, whether a man who, relying upon his skill 
 with the pistol, wantonly insults another, is not a blackguard 
 and unfit for the society of gentlemen ? ' ' 
 
 Had a thunderbolt fallen in the room those present could 
 not have been more surprised. Some of Frank's comrades 
 knew that he often went to Woodall's shooting-gallery to 
 practise with the pistol, but they had no idea that he had 
 attained any great skill in its use, and their impression when 
 he spoke was that he must have gone out of his mind thus 
 publicly to insult Marshall. The latter was at least as much 
 astonished as anyone else. He started as if struck with a 
 blow, and then, leaning across the table, he said in a low 
 voice to Frank, who was sitting just opposite to him : 
 
 " Of course, you are prepared to answer to me for this, Mr. 
 Wyatt?" 
 
PISTOL PRACTICE 153 
 
 " Certainly," Frank said carelessly ; " and at any time you 
 please." 
 
 There was a strange hush in the dining-room until the 
 cloth was removed. The guests, under one excuse or another, 
 took their departure almost immediately after the king's 
 health had been drunk; the officers talked in low tones 
 together, and very soon rose from the table. 
 
 " Will you act for me, Captain Lister? " Frank said, going 
 up to him quietly. 
 
 " Certainly, lad; but this is a horrible business. If it had 
 been merely an ordinary quarrel the colonel would have 
 interfered to stop it, but after what you said before us all, and 
 with strangers present too, I am afraid it must go on. You 
 must be mad, lad. I have not seen you shoot since that first 
 evening when we went down, and two or three times shortly 
 afterwards. Woodall told me that you were getting on well ; 
 but however well you may have got on, you can be no match 
 with a pistol for a man like Marshall ; and you may be sure 
 he won't spare you after so public an affront." 
 
 "I must take my chance," Frank said quietly. He had 
 himself begged the gunmaker to say little to anyone about 
 his shooting. " Come across to my quarters. I suppose he 
 will be sending over there at once." 
 
 They had just taken their seats when there was a hurried 
 knock on the door, and Wilmington came in, pale and agi- 
 tated. 
 
 " This cannot go on, Wyatt ! " he exclaimed. "You put 
 me on my word of honour and then take it up yourself. 
 Don't you see that I am hopelessly disgraced in letting you 
 be Marshall's victim for what he said of me. I shall go to 
 him and insist upon my right to take the matter up myself. ' ' 
 
 " Sit down a minute, Wilmington, and be reasonable. If 
 I get shot you can, if you like, go out and get shot next day. 
 But I don't mean to get shot. There is one broad distinction 
 
154 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 between you and me — you can't shoot, and I can. Marshall 
 could kill you without the slightest risk to himself, and I 
 flatter myself that if I chose to do so, I could kill him with 
 the same certainty. I shall not choose to do so. I don't 
 want the blood of any man — not even of a ruffian like this — 
 to rest upon my head. I shall simply prevent him from ever 
 fighting another duel." 
 
 Captain Lister and the young cornet gazed at Frank as if 
 they doubted his sanity. 
 
 "Do you quite know what you are saying, lad?" the 
 former said kindly, after a pause. " You don't look as if you 
 had been taking anything before dinner, and we know that 
 you are always abstemious at mess ; still you are talking 
 strangely." 
 
 " I daresay you think so," Frank replied with a smile. 
 " You fancy the excitement of this quarrel has a little turned 
 my head. But it has not done so. In the first place, I have 
 learnt to be so quick in firing that I am sure to get first shot." 
 
 "Yes, you might do that, lad," Captain Lister said sadly; 
 " but it would be the very worst thing you could do. With 
 a hurried shot like that it would be ten to one you missed 
 him, and then he would quietly shoot you down." 
 
 " Not only shall I not miss him," Frank replied, " but I will 
 lay you any wager you like that I will carry off his trigger- 
 finger, and probably the second and third. Feel my hand. 
 You see I am perfectly cool — as cool as I shall be to-morrow 
 — and I do not think there is anything wild about my eye. 
 It is simply as I say : I am a first-rate shot — probably as much 
 better than Marshall as he is better than Wilmington. Ah, 
 here is his man ! Please arrange it for to-morrow morning, 
 if possible. The sooner it is over the better." 
 
 Captain Lister nodded and went out. He returned in a 
 quarter of an hour. 
 
 " It is to come off to-morrow," he said, " at six o'clock. 
 
PISTOL PRACTICE 155 
 
 It is to be in the field outside the wall, on the other side of 
 the town. I have told my man to have the dogcart ready at 
 half-past five. It did not take us long to arrange matters. 
 His second is Rankin, of his regiment; and I don't think he 
 liked the job at all. He began by saying : 
 
 " ' I am afraid, Captain Lister, that there is no chance of 
 our arranging this unhappy business. Nothing short of a pub- 
 lic apology, and the acknowledgment that Mr. Wyatt was in 
 liquor when he uttered the words will satisfy my principal, and 
 I had great difficulty in bringing him even to assent to that. ' 
 
 " I said that you had not the most remote idea of making 
 any apology whatever. Therefore, we had only to arrange 
 the preliminaries of a meeting. 
 
 " This was soon done. I could see that the young fellow 
 was very much cut up over the affair, and that he had under- 
 taken to act for Marshall because he was afraid to refuse. It 
 did not take us five minutes altogether. I looked in at the 
 doctor's after we separated, to ask him to go with us. 
 
 " ' It is none of my aid you are likely to want, Captain 
 Lister,' he said, ' and I protest against the whole affair; it 
 is nothing short of cold-blooded murder. Still, of course, I 
 will go.' 
 
 "And now, lad, let us hear something more about your 
 shooting." 
 
 " It is just as I told you, Captain Lister. I suppose I have 
 an unusually good eye and steady hand, and have a sort of 
 natural aptitude for shooting. Woodall said that he consid- 
 ered me as good a shot as any man in the country, if not bet- 
 ter. I am afraid we mustn't fire a pistol here, or I think I 
 could convince you." 
 
 " No, we mustn't fire in barracks at this time of the even- 
 ing, Wyatt. But if you are as good as that, the prospects are 
 better than I thought they were. What can you do, lad ? " 
 
 " I can hit a penny spun up into the air eighteen times out 
 
156 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 of twenty with my right hand, and sixteen or seventeen with 
 my left." 
 
 < ' Is that so ? Well, that ought to be good enough for any- 
 thing," Lister said. " It sounds almost miraculous. Now, 
 let us have a look at your pistols, lad." 
 
 " They are all right," Frank said. " I was using them this 
 afternoon, and cleaned them when I came back." 
 
 " And you really mean to aim at his hand? " 
 
 Frank nodded. 
 
 " Well, of course, if you go a little high or a little low you 
 will still have him ; but if you go an inch or two wide you 
 may miss him altogether. 1 would much rather, lad, that you 
 aimed at the body. The fellow has never shown mercy to 
 anyone, and there is no reason why you should show mercy to 
 him." 
 
 " Don't be afraid of my missing him." And Frank spoke 
 so confidently that his hearers felt satisfied he must at least 
 have some good foundation for his faith in his skill. 
 
 " Well, I think you had better turn in now, Wyatt. Will 
 you come across and have a cup of coffee with me before you 
 start ? ' ' 
 
 " Thank you. Will you mind sending your servant across 
 to call me at a quarter to five ? I am not at all good at wak- 
 ing myself. ' ' 
 
 "All right, lad; I don't think I am likely to get much 
 sleep." 
 
 " Don't say much to the others when you go out," Frank 
 said. " You can tell them that, from what I say, it won't be 
 such a one-sided affair as they seem to think." 
 
 " All right. I will tell them as much as that, for they are 
 in such a state of mind about it that it would be kind to give 
 them a little consolation." 
 
 ' ' By the way, Captain Lister, do I go out in uniform or ir , 
 mufti?" 
 
PISTOL PRACTICE 157 
 
 "In mufti, lad. Put on a gray or dark-coloured suit. 
 Gray is the best; but, above all, don't take a coat with con- 
 spicuous buttons or anything to catch the eye, that would be 
 a fatal mistake. Good night, lad \ I shall turn in in better 
 spirits than I expected to do." 
 
 Wilmington did not speak, but grasped Frank's hand 
 warmly. 
 
 " Don't come out to-morrow," Frank said. 
 
 "I couldn't," the lad replied in a broken voice, '-'but I 
 shall see you before you start." 
 
 • k The major will come on with the doctor," Captain Lis- 
 ter said, as, after taking their coffee next morning, they went 
 out to the trap standing at the door. Frank looked round 
 the barrack vard, but no one was about. " I sent them all 
 away before you came, Wyatt. The lads all looked so woe- 
 begone that I put it to them whether they considered that the 
 sight of their faces was likely to improve your nerve. As to 
 young Wilmington, he was like a ghost. I had almost to 
 threaten to put him under arrest before I could persuade him 
 to go without seeing you. No one will be there but the major. 
 He told me that he considered it his duty to represent the 
 regiment, but he quite approved of all the others staying away. 
 He said the fewer there were present at an infamous business 
 like this the better. By the way, I made a condition with 
 Rankin that you were to be placed back to back, and neither 
 was to move until the signal was given ; and I insisted that 
 this should be by pistol shot, as otherwise you could not both 
 see the signal equally well. I said that this was fairer than 
 for you to stand face to face, and would increase the chances 
 of the affair not being a fatal one." 
 
 "Thank you, Lister. I was wondering whether you had 
 made that condition, for if we stood ready to fire he might draw 
 his trigger before I did. and things might go quite differently to 
 what I had decided on. A bad marksman might hold his 
 
158 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 fire, but Marshall would rely so implicitly on his skill that he 
 would be sure to try and get first shot ; for if I fired first and 
 missed, he would know that the feeling against him if he shot 
 me down afterwards would be very strong. ' ' 
 
 " Now jump up, lad ; I will take the reins. All right." 
 The soldier servant standing at the head of the horse re- 
 leased the hold of the reins, swung himself up behind as the 
 horse started and they drove out through the barracks gates, 
 followed by the eyes of all Frank's comrades who, as soon as 
 they heard the sound of the wheels, ran to their windows or 
 doors to take, as they believed, their last look at him. They 
 had, indeed, obtained slight consolation from the words with 
 which Captain Lister had sent them off to their quarters — 
 " Keep up your spirits, lads. There is many a slip between 
 the cup and the lip, and I have strong hopes that the affair is 
 not going to turn out as bad as you fancy." 
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 A DUEL 
 
 CAPTAIN LISTER was very much more nervous than his 
 principal as they drove on to the ground. In spite of 
 Frank's confidence he could not bring himself to believe that 
 the young fellow could be a match for a practised duellist, 
 although he had, after he had left Frank's room the evening 
 before, gone into the town and knocked up the gunmaker, 
 who had sometime before gone to bed. When, however, 
 Captain Lister confided to him the nature of his errand, he 
 fully confirmed what Frank had said. 
 
 " Of course, I have not seen him stand up before a man 
 with a pistol in his hand," he said, " but as far as shooting 
 goes I would back him against any man in England ; and I 
 
A DUEL 159 
 
 don't think, Captain Lister, that you need be afraid of him 
 in the matter of nerve. Pistol shooting depends upon two 
 things — nerve and eye ; and he could never be the shot he is 
 if he had not an extraordinary amount of both qualities. I 
 will wager that he will be as cool as a cucumber. How are 
 they to stand ? ' ' 
 
 " Back to back, and to turn at the signal of a pistol shot." 
 
 " Then he is all right, Captain. You need not worry about 
 him. He is as quick as lightning, and he will get first shot, 
 never fear, and more than that, I wouldn't mind betting that 
 he carries off one of the fellow's fingers." 
 
 " Why, how do you know that? " Captain Lister asked in 
 surprise. " He can't have been here since I left him." 
 
 " No, sir, he has not been here ; but he told me that if he 
 ever got into a duel he would aim at his opponent's hand, 
 and he has been practising specially for that. He had a target 
 made on purpose, but that did not please him, and we rigged 
 out an arm holding a pistol and fixed it to the target just in 
 the position it would be if the painted figure were firing at 
 him. We had to have a rough sort of hand made of iron, 
 for it would have cost a fortune if had been made of anything 
 else. Sometimes he would have it painted white, sometimes 
 gray, sometimes black, either of which it might be, if a man 
 wore gloves, but it did not make any difference to him ; and 
 I have seen him hit it twenty times following, over and over 
 again." 
 
 All this had been very reassuring to Captain Lister, and if 
 it had not been for Marshall's reputation he would have gone 
 to the place of meeting feeling confident that all would go 
 well, but the fact that it was Frank's first duel, while Mar- 
 shall had been in some eight or ten affairs, prevented his 
 feeling otherwise than nervous as to the result. They were 
 first upon the ground; the major and doctor arriving two 
 minutes later. 
 
lOO THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 " You may as well tell the major, Captain Lister, that he 
 need not be alarmed. He is looking terribly anxious, and so 
 is the doctor." 
 
 Captain Lister nodded, and went up to them as they dis- 
 mounted from the gig. " I fancy that it is going to be all 
 right, doctor," he said, " Wyatt tells me so himself, and what 
 he says is confirmed by Woodall, the gunsmith. It seems the 
 lad is an extraordinarily good shot. I told you last night 
 that he had been practising a good deal, but I did not like to 
 raise your hopes too high until I had seen Woodall. I will 
 bet you a guinea that Wyatt comes out of it all right. ' ' 
 
 " I could not bet on it, Lister, though I would pay the 
 guinea with greater pleasure than I ever felt at winning one ; 
 but I hear that Marshall is a very quick shot." 
 
 "So is Wyatt, major, and as the young 'un has been 
 practising regularly, I fancy he will be as quick or quicker 
 than the other. ' ' 
 
 " Well, I hope to heaven that it may turn out so. Nothing 
 would please me more than that Wyatt should put a ball into 
 the fellow's head. Men like him are a curse to the army." 
 
 " I don't think he will put a ball in his head, major, but I 
 shall not be surprised if he carries off one of his fingers. He 
 has conscientious scruples about killing the man, and he is go- 
 ing to aim at his hand." 
 
 The Major shook his head. "I am afraid that settles it, 
 Lister. It may do for a good shot to try experiments of that 
 sort with a bad one, but not against a man like Marshall. It 
 would be far better for him to aim at the body. That is a 
 good big mark, and if he is as good a shot as you say, and is 
 quick enough to pull his trigger first, it would make matters 
 safe, but as to aiming at his hand it would be sheer madness. 
 You tell him what I think of it. Ah ! here comes the 
 others." 
 
 As soon as Captain Marshall and his second alighted, the 
 
A DUEL 161 
 
 latter came forward and spoke to Captain Lister. They talked 
 for a minute together and then proceeded to choose the ground. 
 This was quickly done, as there were no trees, and it being a 
 cloudy morning neither party would have any advantage from 
 the light. The two cases of pistols were then examined. They 
 were of the same calibre and about the same weight, and Mar- 
 shall's second at once agreed to Captain Lister's proposal that 
 each should fire with his own pistol, so that neither should be 
 placed at the disadvantage of using a weapon that he was un- 
 accustomed to. Captain Lister proposed that they should toss 
 which of the two seconds should fire the signal, but Rankin 
 said, " I would rather not do it, Captain Lister. I need 
 hardly tell you that I would give anything not to be here in 
 my present capacity, and I would very much rather that a 
 third party should fire it — either your major or the surgeon." 
 
 Lister went across to the major, who at once consented to 
 give the signal. The pistols were then loaded, the ground 
 measured, and the principals placed in position. The major 
 took two pistols — one loaded with ball, the other with powder 
 only, and then placed himself some ten paces on one side of 
 the line of fire. 
 
 " Now." he said, " gentlemen, I shall say ' Are you ready ? ' 
 and on receiving no answer shall fire ; but mind I am deter- 
 mined that if either of you makes a move to turn, or raises his 
 arm by as much as an inch from his side before he hears the 
 shot I will shoot him down at once. Do you both understand 
 that?" 
 
 Both answered " Yes." 
 
 He waited a moment, and then said "Are you ready?" 
 Then a second later he fired. Both the antagonists turned 
 swiftly on their heels, their arms going up as they did so. 
 Then the two shots rang out. They seemed almost simultane- 
 ous ; but Captain Lister, whose eyes were fixed on Marshall, 
 saw that his hand jerked in the act of firing, and that his ball 
 
162 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 must have flown high. At the same moment his pistol fell to 
 the ground, and he staggered back a pace. Then, with an 
 exclamation of fury, he caught his right hand in his left, and 
 stood rocking himself in pain. His second and the surgeon 
 ran up to him. 
 
 " Are you hit, Marshall ? " the former said. 
 
 "Of course I am hit," he said savagely. "You don't 
 suppose I should have dropped the pistol if I hadn't been. I 
 believe that young villain has carried off one of my fingers." 
 
 " I must protest against this language, Marshall," Lieuten- 
 ant Rankin said indignantly. " I am bound to bear testimony 
 that your opponent has acted extremely well, and that his 
 conduct has been that of an honourable gentleman." 
 
 At this moment Captain Marshall turned deadly pale and 
 would have fallen had not Rankin and the doctor caught him, 
 and lowered him gradually to the ground. 
 
 " He will do no more shooting," the surgeon said grimly, 
 " the ball has carried off his trigger finger. Cut his coat- 
 sleeve off, Rankin. Don't you see he is bleeding a great 
 deal ? Lister, please bring me those bandages at once. ' ' 
 
 Captain Lister, — who had, as soon as he saw Marshall's 
 pistol fall, run up to Frank and grasped his hand warmly, 
 saying, " Thank heaven, my dear lad, that it has turned out 
 as you said it would. I congratulate you with all my heart," 
 — at once ran to fetch the bandages, and they all gathered 
 round the wounded man, Frank turning very white as he saw 
 him lying insensible. 
 
 " What is it, doctor? I aimed at his hand. I hope it has 
 not done any serious damage, except there." The latter was 
 too busy to answer. " Bring the tourniquet," he said to 
 Rankin, and as he ran off he looked up at the major. 
 
 ' ' The ball evidently struck the first finger on the knuckle, 
 and went in between the first and middle finger and then ran 
 up the wrist and along the arm, and has gone out, as you see r 
 
" CAPTAIN MARSHALL'S PISTOL FELL TO THE GROUND, AND HE 
 STAGGERED BACK A PACE." 
 
A DUEL 163 
 
 above the elbow, cutting an artery as it went, and smashing 
 the bone just above the elbow. The first thing is to stop the 
 bleeding. ' ' 
 
 He took the tourniquet from Rankin, and applied it two 
 or three inches above the elbow, and continued to screw until 
 the rush of blood ceased. Then he bandaged the arm and 
 hand and fastened it across Marshall's chest. " That is all I 
 can do now," he said. " I think there is no doubt I shall 
 have to amputate above the elbow ; but we will take him back 
 first. I wish we had a stretcher." 
 
 " We have a stretcher," the major said. " I told off four 
 men with one half an hour before we started. I thought we 
 should want it to bring Wyatt back. ' ' He put a whistle to his 
 lips and blew loudly. A minute later four troopers ran out 
 from behind a cottage a hundred yards away. They had, no 
 doubt, been furtively observing the combat, for there was an 
 expression of gladness and triumph on their faces as they ar- 
 rived. 
 
 "Lay Captain Marshall on the stretcher," the surgeon 
 said. " Lift him carefully and carry him to his quarters. I 
 will drive on at once and get things ready. I suppose, Mr. 
 Rankin, you will go with him. You had better cover him 
 up with a rug. Have either of you any brandy ? I forgot 
 to bring any with me." 
 
 " I have a flask," the major replied. " I will get it for you 
 at once." 
 
 " We may as well be off, Wyatt," Captain Lister said to 
 Frank ; "it is of no use your waiting here any longer. We 
 can do no good." 
 
 " I am sorry he is hurt so," Frank said, as they drove off. 
 
 " Then you will be the only man that is," Captain Lister 
 replied. " You have rid the army of a pest ; that is to say, 
 you have rendered him harmless. Possibly he may not re- 
 tire. There are plenty of men in the service who have lost an 
 
IQ4: THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 arm \ however, I should think he will go. The disgrace will 
 be worse to him than the wound." 
 
 "Still, I am heartily sorry that I hurt him so much," 
 Frank repeated. "I meant to take off one or two of his 
 fingers, and spoil his shooting for the rest of his life ; but I 
 never thought of the ball going up his arm as it did." 
 
 "Well, if you had not hit him where you did, you would 
 be lying on that stretcher now. It was a close thing between 
 the two shots, not more than a fifth of a second, I should 
 say, and if you had only hit him in the body, I have no doubt 
 that he would have fired before he fell ; and if ever a man 
 meant to kill another, he did. I could see it in his eye, as he 
 stood there waiting for the signal. Well, AVyatt, you can stop 
 in the army until you get to be a general, but one thing is 
 morally certain, that after this affair no one will venture to 
 insult you, and your first duel is likely to be your last." 
 
 "I sincerely trust so," Frank said gravely. "I think I 
 can say that assuredly I shall never be the first to insult any- 
 one else, and that if ever I fight again, it will, as in this case, 
 not be in my own quarrel." 
 
 As they drove along the straight road towards the barracks, 
 they saw a number of men clustered outside the gate. 
 
 " They are on the look-out," Captain Lister said. " They 
 will have heard from the mess waiters the news of the quarrel 
 last night, and I don't suppose there w r as a soul in barracks 
 that did not know, what our errand was when we drove out 
 this morning. I expect if you had been killed they would 
 have had to move either the Lancers' depot or ours away 
 from Canterbury, for the men of the two regiments would 
 have been sure to have fought whenever they met each other. ' ' 
 
 As soon as they were near enough to the gates for their 
 figures to be made out, there was a sudden movement among 
 the men. Several took off their caps and waved them, while 
 others threw them into the air. 
 
A DUEL 165 
 
 "This is not exactly discipline, Wyatt," Captain Lister 
 said, with a smile; "but it shows conclusively enough that 
 you are a favourite with the men." 
 
 There were roars of cheering as they went in through the 
 gates, in spite of Captain Lister holding up his hand and 
 shaking his head. As they drove across the barrack square to 
 Frank's quarters the subalterns came rushing out. " Glad 
 indeed to see you back again, Wyatt," the first who run up 
 exclaimed ; " so it was arranged without fighting after all ? ' : 
 
 "Not at all, Macalister," Captain Lister replied, as he 
 reined in the horse at Frank's door. " Wyatt did exactly 
 what he told me he was going to do — carried off Marshall's 
 trigger-finger. But the bullet did what he had not intended 
 it should — ran up the arm and smashed it above the elbow, 
 and the doctor says that he thinks the arm will have to come 
 off." 
 
 A shout of satisfaction rose from the group, and Wilmington 
 grasped Frank's hand as he leapt down. 
 
 "Thank God that you are safe, Wyatt," he exclaimed. 
 ' c I should never have forgiven myself if anything had hap- 
 pened to you. Of course, what you said last night cheered 
 me a good deal, but I could hardly help thinking afterwards 
 that you had made the best of it for that purpose." 
 
 "No, I did not, Wilmington. I felt absolutely confident 
 that I should hit him on the hand. Now, I want some break- 
 fast ; I ordered it to be ready before I started." 
 
 " Well, you are a cool hand, Wyatt," Lister said. " If we 
 ever get into a hand-to-hand affair with the French, I hope 
 you will take me under your protection." 
 
 "We will see about it," Frank laughed. "Well, come 
 up now. I ordered the breakfast for two, and I see Smith is 
 bringing the dishes across from the kitchen." 
 
 " Oh, I say, Wyatt, you must let the rest of us up too. 
 We can't wait to hear all about it until you have done." 
 
166 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 " Come up, by all means. There is really nothing to tell 
 you." 
 
 However, as the breakfast was being eaten, Captain Lister 
 answered all questions. 
 
 " So he did not take it well," one of the subalterns said. 
 " That is just what you would expect from a fellow like that." 
 
 " 1 don't think we should be too hard on him in that re- 
 spect. It is very trying to any man's temper when he makes 
 absolutely sure of doing a thing and is beaten by a novice. It 
 was surprise, no doubt, as well as pain — and I fancy the pain 
 was pretty sharp — that caused him to lose his temper. I ex- 
 pect that if he had been fighting with an old hand whom he 
 thought dangerous, he would have borne the wound in a very 
 different way. Now, look here, lads, there is one thing that 
 you must bear in mind. Don't treat this affair as if it were a 
 sort of triumph for the corps. I have no doubt that all the 
 fellows in the Lancers will be every bit as much pleased as we are, 
 at the way things have turned out ; but we must not assume 
 that. I should say you had much better not make any allusion 
 to the affair, unless others speak to you about it. Of course, 
 it will make a great deal of talk ; there is no getting over that. 
 But don't let it be a subject to be discussed in the mess-room. 
 Duels between officers of different regiments have, before now, 
 led to a lot of bad feeling, and I have known one such duel 
 lead to half a dozen others. The Lancers are in no way to 
 blame for Marshall's conduct ; but, if they found any disposi- 
 tion among us to crow over it, it might give rise to ill-feeling, 
 which would be bad enough if it were merely two regiments 
 in garrison together, but would be a terrible nuisance in a 
 depot where there is a common mess. Therefore, when the 
 matter is talked over, as it is sure to be, it is best to let the 
 talking be done by others, and to keep your own mouths 
 closed. Wyatt is the last fellow in the world to wish to pose 
 as a conquering hero." 
 
A DUEL 167 
 
 11 Thank you, Lister," Frank said. "I am sure I never 
 wish to hear the thing mentioned again. I have taken a lot 
 of pains to become a good shot, and it seems that I have a 
 natural aptitude that way. There is nothing more to feel 
 boastful about than if nature had made me a giant, and I had 
 thereby been able to thrash a man of ordinary strength. I am 
 very glad that I have put it out of Marshall's power to bully 
 other men, and, as he had several times done, to force them 
 into duels, when his skill gave him such an advantage that it 
 was nothing short of murder. I think that I shall go across 
 to the major, and ask him to give me a fortnight's leave. I 
 have not been away since I joined, and I had a letter yester- 
 day saying that my aunt was not very well ; so I should like 
 to run down to Weymouth to see her. ' ' 
 
 " It would be a very good plan, Wyatt, and I am sure the 
 major will give you leave at once." 
 
 When he had finished his breakfast, Frank went across to 
 the major's quarters. 
 
 " I have not had time to congratulate you yet, Wyatt," 
 the major said warmly, as he entered. " You have rendered 
 a service to the army in general, and to our regiment in par- 
 ticular ; for it would have been a nasty thing if it had got 
 about that one of us had been grossly insulted without taking 
 the matter up. If you had not interfered, the commandant 
 told me that he should have reported the matter at headquar- 
 ters. Had Wilmington taken it up, he would have refused to 
 let the matter go on, until he had received an answer from the 
 Horse-guards ; and he would have done the same in your case, 
 if you had not used such strong language. Your words prac- 
 tically forced Marshall into challenging you. Still, although 
 we, who were present, should all have approved of Wilming- 
 ton's not being allowed to throw away his life by going out 
 with Marshall, one can't deny that it would have caused un- 
 pleasantness. Those who only heard that one of our fellows 
 
168 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 had put up with a gross insult without taking any steps, and 
 had, so to speak, sheltered himself under the authority of the 
 commandant, would have considered it an ugly business, and 
 we should have found it very unpleasant when we joined the 
 army in Spain. Therefore, we all feel very much indebted to 
 you for having championed the honour of the regiment. You 
 are a marvellous shot, lad, and you will have one satisfaction, 
 which is, that when this affair is talked about, and it is known 
 that you said beforehand that you intended to take off Mar- 
 shall's trigger-finger, and that you did it, there is no chance 
 of your ever being forced into a quarrel as long as you remain 
 in the army." 
 
 " Thank you, Major. I have just come across to ask you 
 if you will allow me a fortnight's leave of absence. I really 
 want to pay a visit to my aunt at Weymouth, and I think it 
 will be a very good plan for me to get away from here until 
 this affair has blown over a little." 
 
 " A very good plan indeed, my lad. Certainly, you can 
 have your leave. I will draw it out this moment, and take 
 it over to the commandant, who will, I am sure, countersign 
 it at once. Which way do you think of going ? " 
 
 " I think I will go by the coach, that comes along here at 
 twelve o'clock, to Dover; that is, if I see in the paper that 
 there is any hoy sailing for the west this evening or to-morrow. 
 The wind is in the east, and, with luck, I should get down there 
 sooner than by going up to town and taking the coach." 
 
 " Here is the list of sailings," the major said, taking up a 
 broad -sheet from a side table. " Yes, the hoy Keepsake will 
 sail, weather permitting, from Dover this evening for Ply- 
 mouth, touching at Southampton and Weymouth. That 
 would just suit you. You had better not have more than a 
 fortnight, for I think it likely we may get orders for the two 
 troops to sail before long. Be sure and leave your address at 
 the orderly-room." 
 
A DUEL 
 
 169 
 
 From the major's Frank went straight to Strelinski's lodg- 
 ing, and told him that he would have a fortnight's holiday. 
 
 " I do not want it," the Pole said ; " but I am glad that 
 you should have one, for you have been working very hard 
 lately, and it is now nearly nine months since you came down 
 here." 
 
 " I will get you to write an account of my progress, Stre- 
 linski. I told Sir Robert Wilson that he should have one 
 every three months, and the third is nearly due now. He was 
 very pleased at your last report." 
 
 1 < This will be even better, for you have been able to give 
 a good deal more time to it, since you have not had so many 
 drills. Besides, progress is not so manifest at first, until one 
 is able to converse a little ; after that it goes on rapidly." 
 
 Strelinski at once sat down and wrote the report. 
 
 Frank read it with some interest, for Strelinski was not in 
 the habit of saying what he thought of his progress. 
 
 " I think you have made this too strong," he said, as he 
 laid it down. 
 
 " Not at all," the Pole replied. (< We are able to talk 
 freely now, and it is very seldom that you are at a loss for 
 a word. lean say conscientiously that you are now able to 
 converse rapidly and well in it. I could not say that your 
 writing leaves nothing to be desired. Having acquired it so 
 much by ear and conversation, you are not perfect in your 
 grammar or construction when you write it ; but that is of 
 little consequence. Sir Robert Wilson will naturally write in 
 his own language, and is not likely to have despatches to 
 send in Russian. You are quite fit to act as an interpreter to 
 deliver messages, and to carry on any ordinary conversation. 
 There is a report that there has been a duel this morning, and 
 that an officer was carried through the town on a stretcher. ' ' 
 
 " Yes. The wound is not a very serious one, but he will 
 probably lose his forearm." 
 
170 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 "And it was you who hit him," the Pole said quietly. 
 
 " How do you know that, Strelinski ? " 
 
 " I guessed it. You have told me how you were practising, 
 and how well you were getting on. I guessed you had some 
 special purpose for taking so much pains, and you did not come 
 in yesterday evening as usual. Then, too, you tell me he was 
 hit in the arm, and you mentioned the other day that you were 
 practising at that, and showed me the iron hand you had had 
 made to hold a pistol." 
 
 " Well, yes, it was I. The fellow insulted a young comrade 
 in my regiment, knowing well that he could not shoot ; so I 
 took it up, and there was an end of it." 
 
 "lam glad I knew nothing about it until it was all over. I 
 should have been very unhappy if I had known that you were 
 going to risk your life." 
 
 " I do not think there was any risk in it. As I told you, I 
 have practised shooting very quickly, and felt sure that I should 
 get first shot, and knew that there was no chance of my miss- 
 ing. The man was a dangerous fellow, and has fought many 
 duels, but he will not now fight any more ; and he will, I 
 should think, leave the service. Well, I must not stay any 
 longer, for I go by the twelve o'clock coach, and have to write 
 a letter to Sir Robert Wilson before I start." 
 
 Frank caught the coach without difficulty, and on arriving 
 at Dover went down and took his berth on board the hoy. 
 
 " We shall start at eight sharp," the skipper said. 
 
 " I will be on board in good time. I think you are likely 
 to have a quick passage." 
 
 "Yes, if the wind holds we shall be at Southampton to- 
 morrow evening. I shall get out the cargo by torchlight, for 
 with this wind I don't want to lose an hour. I don't know 
 how much there will be to take in, but I reckon anyhow that 
 we shall be off by nine o'clock in the morning, and if we have 
 luck shall be at Weymouth before dark." 
 
A DUEL 171 
 
 Frank went on shore to the hotel and dined, and spent the 
 time until the hour fixed for sailing in going over the fortifica- 
 tions. The voyage was a quick and pleasant one, and although 
 the accommodation was rough it was vastly superior to that 
 which he had been accustomed to when going out in the fish- 
 ing boats. The skipper's calculations as to time were verified, 
 and they entered the river at Weymouth forty-eight hours after 
 leaving Dover. Mrs. Troutbeck was delighted to see Frank. 
 He had indeed written a fortnight before, saying he hoped to 
 be able before long to get a few days' leave and should come 
 down to see her, and she was therefore not greatly surprised at 
 his arrival. 
 
 "You have grown a good deal, my dear boy," she said 
 after they had chatted together for some time, "but you are 
 not changed so much as I expected." 
 
 "Well, Aunt, I don't see how I can change much till the 
 hair begins to grow on my face. Putting on uniform doesn't 
 in itself make one a man; but of course I feel older, and 
 I think I have grown a bit. But there is no chance of my 
 ever shooting up like Julian. Of course, you have heard 
 nothing from him, Aunt, or you would have written to me at 
 once ! " 
 
 " Nothing, Frank. That fisherman, Bill, came in the other 
 day, and said he had only heard what we knew before, that he 
 had been sent to gaol, and that he had been marched away 
 with a batch of prisoners somewhere inland. The smugglers 
 could not learn what prison they had gone to. They said that 
 the people of Nantes did not know that, as the guards who 
 went with them from there only received orders to take them a 
 short distance, and they were then handed over to other 
 soldiers, who went so much further with them, and as their 
 escort might be changed a dozen times not even the officials 
 at Nantes had an idea where they were taken to at last." 
 
 " No news of Markham, Aunt? " 
 
172 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 " Only that he is one of the regular crew of that French 
 lugger now." 
 
 Frank looked up all his old friends and spent a pleasant 
 week. His visit did his aunt a great deal of good, and the 
 servant told him that she was quite a different woman since he 
 had come home again. 
 
 " She missed you wonderful, Master Frank, and though 
 she used to go about as usual, she did not seem to take an 
 interest in things as she did before. I expect, now that she 
 has seen you again, and has perked up a bit, she will fall into 
 her old ways more regular. Now she has heard from you all 
 about what you are doing, and your friends, and such like, 
 and she knows that you are well and not changed, she will feel 
 more comfortable, and won't be always worriting herself. 
 Mr. Henderson often comes in and talks about you, and that 
 always seems to do her good. And Colonel Chambers, he 
 looks in sometimes, and she tells me that they both think a 
 great deal of you, and of course that pleases her ; and she 
 looks forward wonderful to your letters coming regular once a 
 week. I don't think you need trouble yourself about her, 
 Master Frank. She has not really much the matter with her ; 
 only you know it was always her way to worrit about things, 
 and you can't expect her to be otherwise, and I do think your 
 coming here will do her a lot of good." 
 
 Two mornings later one of the coast-guard came in. 
 " Captain Downes will be glad, sir, if you will go on board ; 
 there is something particular that he wants to speak to you 
 about. ' ' 
 
 Frank at once put on his hat. 
 
 ' ' We had a sharp fight with the smugglers last night, your 
 honour," the sailor said as they started. " We had been 
 cruising about for two days to the west, and yesterday morning 
 we made out to sea and held east, and at ten o'clock came into 
 Swanage Bay. We came upon the lugger that has fooled us 
 
A DUEL 173 
 
 so many times, and for once we caught her napping. They 
 were at work unloading a cargo when we came up, and she 
 did not make us out until we were within a couple of cables' - 
 length of her, then she slipped and ran ; I expect she would 
 have shown us her heels as usual, but we gave her a broadside, 
 and that big spar of hers came down with a run, and we were 
 alongside in no time. They made a tough fight of it, but 
 pretty nigh half her crew were ashore with the kegs. How- 
 somever we were not long in beating them below, though two 
 or three of our chaps were pretty badly hurt, and three of 
 theirs killed before the scrimmage was over. We did not 
 trouble about the chaps ashore. I expect they were accounted 
 for all right, for we heard some pistol shots there, but we came 
 back here at once with the lugger, and got in two hours ago." 
 
 " Are the prisoners all French ? " Frank asked eagerly. 
 
 " Ay, sir, just as French as can be. I was one of the party 
 as took them ashore and lodged them in jail ; and there was 
 no doubt about their all being French. They had all got 
 rings in their ears ; besides, you could tell from the cut of their 
 jib that they were Frenchies." 
 
 In ten minutes Frank stepped on to the deck of the Boxer. 
 Captain Downes met him there. " I congratulate you, Mr. 
 Wyatt," he said warmly. " I suppose you have been hearing 
 that we had a sharp tussle with the smugglers, and at last 
 captured that confounded lugger that has given us so much 
 trouble for the past two years. Though I am mightily pleased 
 at that, I am more pleased still that among those on board was 
 that fellow Markham. He fought like a tiger. I reckon he 
 knew that his neck was in a noose, for he would, of course, 
 have heard from his friends here that the matter of Faulkner's 
 murder had been cleared up, and there was a warrant out 
 against him. Well, he got a pistol shot in his chest, and after 
 it was all over we found that he was pretty near gone. As 
 soon as a lantern was put to his face two or three of the men knew 
 
17-i THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 him at once, and I went up to him. He was pretty well past 
 speaking, but as I stooped over him he said, ' You have got 
 me this time, Captain Downes, and no mistake. Well, it don't 
 make much matter ; I was getting sick of the life. You look 
 in the pocket of my jacket when I am gone, and you will find 
 a letter there. I swore to young Wyatt that I would clear him 
 of that charge of shooting Faulkner. I shot him myself, and 
 I have put it all down there. ' 
 
 ' ' He died a quarter of an hour later, and here is the letter. 
 I am going to take it over to Colonel Chambers, but I thought 
 you would like to go with me. Of course, your brother was 
 really cleared of all suspicion, but it is just as well to have got 
 it under the real man's own hand." 
 
 "lam delighted, Captain Downes. When I was told, as 
 I came along, of the lugger being captured, I hoped that you 
 might possibly have something like this to tell me, for I had 
 heard, since I came here, that he was still on board her, and as 
 it was not likely he would risk going ashore, I thought per- 
 haps you had got him prisoner. But this is better altogether, 
 for if he had been put on trial for Faulkner's murder, he would, 
 no doubt, have accused Julian, and though I think the evi- 
 dence was strong enough to fix the guilt on the man, there 
 might have been some who would have believed what he said. 
 Now it will be altogether cleared up. Though when Julian 
 will be found and brought home is more than anyone can 
 say." 
 
 " Well, we need not trouble about that, lad, just at present. 
 He is cleared, which is the principal thing, and sooner or later 
 he is sure to find his way back again." 
 
 Frank landed with Captain Downes. Taking a trap they 
 drove to the magistrate's, where fortunately they found Mr. 
 Henderson, who had gone up to arrange for the examination 
 of the prisoners. Both were greatly pleased when, on the let- 
 ter being opened, it was found to contain a full confession of 
 
A DUEL 175 
 
 the murder, attested by a French magistrate, and corroborat- 
 ing in every respect the facts contained in Julian's letter, and 
 as proved by the evidence given at the coroner's inquest. " I 
 will give this letter to the Weymouth paper to insert," Colonel 
 Chambers said, " and will send copies to the London papers, 
 with a few lines recalling the facts of the murder and the 
 proofs that had accumulated of Markham's share in it, and 
 which show beyond all doubt the dona-fides of the confession." 
 
 "Thank you very much, Colonel," Frank said. "I only 
 wish I knew where to send a copy to Julian." 
 
 " I am sure I wish that you could do so," the colonel said. 
 "Poor fellow! he has paid dearly indeed for his well-meant 
 though rash attempt to seize Faulkner's murderer. I shall 
 have finished my business in two or three minutes, and shall 
 be glad if you will stop to have a chat with me." 
 
 As soon as the magistrate had concluded his talk with Mr. 
 Henderson, and the latter had gone off to carry out the ar- 
 rangements, Colonel Chambers turned to the captain and said, 
 " Have you seen any of the London papers, Downes? " 
 
 " No, Colonel. I have had enough to think of this morn- 
 ing since we moored up. Is there anything of importance in 
 them?" 
 
 " Nothing perhaps extraordinarily important, but something 
 certainly interesting at the present moment. Here is the 
 Morning Herald. This is the item : ' Our correspondent at 
 Canterbury states that much excitement has been lately caused 
 in military circles there by an affair of honour — ' " "Oh, 
 that is too bad ! ' ' Frank broke in hotly — ' ' ' between an offi- 
 cer of the Lancers, Captain M — 1, and a cornet of the 15th 
 Light Dragoons, Mr. W — t. It is said that Captain M — 1 has 
 been engaged in several similar encounters, and is famous for 
 his skill with the pistol. The affair began, we understand, at 
 a mess-dinner of the cavalry depot a few days since, at which 
 several well-known gentlemen of the town were present. Cap- 
 
176 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 tain M — 1 used insulting language to a recently-joined young 
 officer of the Dragoons. Mr. W — t took the matter up hotly, 
 and rising, denounced Captain M — 1 in such strong language 
 that a duel became inevitable. In view of the youth and sup- 
 posed inexperience of Mr. W — t, the affair was regarded with 
 extreme disapprobation by the officers of Captain M — l's regi- 
 ment, as well as by those of the Dragoons. It seems, however, 
 that Mr. W — t had for some time been practising with the 
 pistol under the tuition of our respected townsman, Mr. 
 Woodall the gunsmith, and before the parties met he confided 
 to the officer who acted as his second that he intended to aim 
 at his opponent's trigger-finger and so to incapacitate him 
 from further adventures of the kind. Extraordinary as it may 
 appear, this intention was carried out. Captain M — 1 not 
 only lost his finger, but the bullet passed up his arm and broke 
 it above the elbow. We understand that the limb has been 
 successfully amputated by the surgeons of the two corps. This 
 singular feat on the part of the young officer, when opposed to 
 so skilled a duellist as Captain M — 1, has created a profound 
 sensation throughout the garrison.' 
 
 "Well, Master W — t, what have you to say to that? " 
 " I don't know that I have anything to say to it, Colonel," 
 Frank replied, " except that it is a great nuisance that such a 
 thing should be talked about. I suppose I have a good eye 
 and a steady hand. I have practised steadily every day since 
 I joined, and have got to shoot pretty straight. The man 
 was a notorious bully, and if the young fellow he had insulted 
 had gone out with him, it would have been nothing short of 
 murder ; and yet if he had not gone out with him I believe 
 he would have shot himself, rather than suffer the disgrace of 
 putting up with an insult. So as I felt pretty certain that I 
 could disable Marshall without having to do him any serious 
 injury, I took it up and hit him in the hand as I intended to." 
 "Well, Downes," Colonel Chambers said, "it seems to 
 
SMOLENSK 177 
 
 me that these two brothers are born to get into adventures 
 and to get well out of them. However, Frank, 'although you 
 have acted very creditably, and must certainly be a wonderful 
 shot with a pistol, don't do this sort of thing too often." 
 
 "lam not going to, sir. I hope that I shall never fight a 
 duel again, and I didn't practise for that, but to be able to 
 use my pistols on service." 
 
 Three days later Frank said good-bye to his aunt and 
 friends, and returned to Canterbury, travelling this time by 
 coach, as no craft happened to be sailing for Dover. 
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 SMOLENSK 
 
 JULIAN'S regiment arrived at Konigsberg early in March, 
 and found that it was to form part of Ney's division. 
 The whole country round had been turned into an enormous 
 camp, and every town was the centre round which a great 
 array of tents was clustered. The troops were of many 
 nationalities — French, Poles, Bavarians, Saxons, Prussians, 
 Austrians, and even Spanish. Never since the hordes of 
 Attila swept over Europe had so vast an army been gathered. 
 The total force collected for the invasion of Russia amounted 
 to 651,358 men, of whom some 520,000 were infantry, 
 100,000 cavalry, and the remainder artillery and engineers. 
 They had with them 1372 guns. 
 
 April passed without any movement. The troops became 
 impatient, and even the veterans, whose confidence in Na- 
 poleon was implicit, shook their heads. 
 
 " We ought to be across the frontier before this," an old 
 sergeant of Julian's company said to him, as they smoked a 
 pipe together over two mugs of German beer. 
 
178 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 " It isn't that I think there will be much fighting, for what 
 can Russia do against such an army as this ? They say Alex- 
 ander has been busy since the peace of Tilsit, but at that time 
 he could scarce place 50,000 men in the field. No one fears 
 the Russians ; but it is a big country, and they say that in 
 winter the cold is horrible. We shall have long distances to 
 march, and you know how much time is always wasted over 
 making a treaty of peace. If we are to be back again before 
 winter we ought to be off now. Of course, the Emperor may 
 mean to hold St. Petersburg and Moscow until next spring, 
 and I daresay we could make ourselves comfortable enough in 
 either place ; but when you come to winter six hundred and 
 fifty thousand men, and a couple of hundred thousand horses, 
 it is a tremendous job ; and I should think the Emperor would 
 send all this riff-raff of Spaniards, Germans, and Poles back, 
 and keep only the French as a garrison through the winter. 
 Still, I would much rather that we should all be back here 
 before the first snow falls. I don't like these long campaigns. 
 Men are ready to fight, and to fight again, twenty times if need 
 be, but then they like to be done with it. In a long cam- 
 paign, with marches, and halts, and delays, discipline gets 
 slack, men begin to grumble ; besides, clothes wear out, and 
 however big stores you take with you, they are sure to run 
 short in time. I wish we were off." 
 
 But it was not until the 16th of May that Napoleon arrived 
 at Dresden, where he was met by the Emperor and Empress 
 of Austria, the Kings of Prussia and Saxony, and a host of 
 archdukes and princes, and a fortnight was spent in brilliant 
 fetes. Napoleon himself was by no means blind to the mag- 
 nitude of the enterprise on which he had embarked, and enter- 
 tained no hopes that the army would recross the frontier before 
 the winter. He had, indeed, before leaving Paris, predicted 
 that three campaigns would be necessary before lasting terms 
 of peace could be secured. Thus an early commencement of 
 
SMOLENSK 179 
 
 the campaign was of comparatively slight importance ; but, 
 indeed, the preparations for the struggle were all on so great 
 a scale that they could not, with all the energy displayed in 
 pushing them forward, be completed before the end of June. 
 
 Thus, then, while Napoleon delayed in Paris and feasted at 
 Dresden, the roads of Germany were occupied by great hosts 
 of men and enormous trains of baggage waggons of all descrip- 
 tions, moving steadily towards the Russian frontier. On the 
 1 2th of June Napoleon arrived at Konigsberg. Ney's division 
 had marched forward a fortnight before, and the Emperor on 
 his route from Konigsberg to the frontier reviewed that division 
 with those of Davoust and Oudinot, and also two great cavalry 
 divisions. 
 
 To oppose the threatening storm Alexander had gathered 
 three armies. The first, stationed in and round Wilna under 
 General Barclay de Tolly, comprised 129,050 men; the sec- 
 ond, posted at Wolkowich, and commanded by Prince Bagra- 
 tion, numbered 48,000'; the third had its headquarters at 
 Lutsk, and was commanded by Count Tormanssow ; while 
 the reserve, which was widely scattered, contained 34,000 
 men. Thus the total force gathered to oppose the advance of 
 Napoleon's army of 650,000 was but 211,050. It had, too, 
 the disadvantage of being scattered, for it was impossible to 
 foresee by which of the several roads open to him, Napoleon 
 would advance, or whether he intended to make for St. Peters- 
 burg or Moscow. 
 
 During the next few days the divisions intended to form 
 the advance moved down towards the Niemen, which marked 
 the frontier, and on the 24th of June three bridges were 
 thrown across the river near Kovno, and the passage began. 
 The French cavalry drove off the Cossacks who were watching 
 the passage, and the same evening the Emperor established his 
 headquarters at Kovno, and the corps of Davoust, Oudinot, 
 and Ney crossed the bridges, and with the cavalry under Mu« 
 
180 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 rat, composing altogether a force of 350,000 men, marched 
 forward at a rapid pace on the 26th for Wilna, seventy-five 
 miles distant. It was not until a few days before Napoleon 
 crossed the frontier that the Russians obtained any definite 
 information as to the force with which he was advancing, and 
 their commander-in-chief at once saw that it would be hope- 
 less to attempt to oppose so large a body. A great mistake 
 had been committed in occupying a position so near the fron- 
 tier, but when the necessity for retreat became evident, no 
 time was lost in carrying it into effect, and orders were de- 
 spatched to the commanders of the various armies to fall back 
 with all speed. Thus, although the French accomplished the 
 wonderful feat of marching seventy-eight miles in two days, 
 which was done in the hope of falling upon the Russians be- 
 fore they had time to concentrate, they found the town 
 already evacuated, and the whole of the immense magazines 
 collected there destroyed. 
 
 Almost simultaneously with the passage of the Niemen by 
 the three corps under the French marshals, those of Prince 
 Eugene and the other generals also crossed, but further south, 
 and also advanced at full speed in hopes of interposing be- 
 tween the three Russian armies, and of preventing their con- 
 centration. For the next week the French pressed hard upon 
 the rear of the retreating Russians, but failed to bring on a 
 battle, while they themselves suffered from an incessant down- 
 pour of rain which made the roads well-nigh impassable. The 
 commissariat train broke down, and a hundred pieces of cannon 
 and 5000 ammunition waggons had to be abandoned. The 
 rain, and a bitterly cold wind that accompanied it, brought 
 on an epidemic among the horses, which were forced to de- 
 pend solely upon the green rye growing in the fields. Several 
 thousands died ; the troops themselves suffered so much from 
 thirst and hunger that no less than 30,000 stragglers fell out 
 from the ranks and spread themselves over the country, burn- 
 
SMOLENSK 181 
 
 ing, ravaging, plundering, and committing terrible depreda- 
 tions. Such dismay was caused by their treatment that the 
 villages were all abandoned, and the whole population retired 
 before the advance of the French, driving their flocks and 
 herds before them, and thus adding greatly to the difficulties of 
 the invaders. 
 
 The greater portion of these straggling marauders belonged 
 not to the French corps, but to the allies, who possessed none 
 of the discipline of the French soldiery, and whose conduct 
 throughout the campaign was largely responsible for the 
 intense animosity excited by the invaders, and for the suffer- 
 ing that afterwards befell them. 
 
 As the pursuit continued even Napoleon's best soldiers were 
 surprised at their failure to overtake the Russians. However 
 long their marches, however well planned the operations, the 
 Russians always out-marched and out -manoeuvred them. It 
 seemed to them almost that they were pursuing a phantom 
 army, a will-o'-the-wisp, that eluded all their efforts to grasp 
 it, and a fierce fight between the rear-guard of Barclay de 
 Tolly's army and the advance-guard of Murat's cavalry, in 
 which the latter suffered severely, was the only fight of impor- 
 tance, until the invaders, after marching more than half-way 
 to Moscow, arrived at Witebsk. 
 
 Nevertheless they had suffered severely. The savage feroc- 
 ity with which, in spite of repeated proclamations and orders, 
 the invading army treated the people, had exasperated the 
 peasantry almost to madness, and taking up arms, they cut 
 down every straggler, annihilated small parties, attacked bag- 
 gage trains, and repeated in Russia the terrible retaliation 
 dealt by the Spanish guerillas upon their invaders. 
 
 On the right of the French advance there had been heavier 
 fighting. There General Schwarzenberg with his 30,000 
 Austrians had advanced against the third Russian army, 
 under Tormanssow. A brigade of the division under Re- 
 
182 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 gnier, which was by Napoleon's order marching to join 
 Schvyarzenberg, entered Kobrin, where it was surrounded by 
 Tormanssow, and after a brave resistance of nine hours, in 
 which it lost 2000 killed and wounded, the remainder, 2300 
 in number, were forced to surrender. Tormanssow then took 
 up a strong position with his 18,000 men, and awaited the 
 attack of the united forces of Schwarzenberg and Regnier, 
 38,000 strong. 
 
 The battle lasted all day, the loss on either side being be- 
 tween four and five thousand. Tormanssow held his position, 
 but retired under cover of night. On the 3rd of August the 
 armies of Barclay and Bagration at last succeeded in effecting 
 a junction at Smolensk, and towards that town the French 
 corps moved from various quarters, until 250,000 men were 
 assembled near it, and on the 15th of August, Murat and Ney 
 arrived within nine miles of the place. 
 
 Smolensk, a town of considerable size, on the Dnieper, 
 distant 280 miles from Moscow, was surrounded by a brick 
 wall thirty feet high and eighteen feet thick at the base, with 
 loopholed battlements. This wall formed a semicircle of 
 about three miles and a half, the ends resting on the river. 
 It was strengthened by thirty towers, and at its forts was a 
 deep dry ditch. The town was largely built of wood. There 
 were no heavy guns upon the walls, and the city, which was 
 completely commanded by surrounding hills, was in no 
 way defensible, but Barclay de Tolly felt himself obliged to 
 fight. 
 
 The greatest indignation prevailed in Russia at the retreat 
 pf the armies without attempting one determined stand, the 
 abandonment of so large a tract of country to the French, and 
 the suffering and ruin thereby wrought among the population 
 of one of the richest and most thickly-peopled districts of 
 Russia. Barclay's own plan had been to draw the enemy 
 farther and farther into the country, knowing that with every 
 
SMOLENSK 183 
 
 mile of advance their difficulties would increase and their 
 armies become weakened by fatigue, sickness, and the assaults 
 of the peasantry. But the continued retreats were telling 
 upon the spirit of his own troops also. To them the war 
 was a holy one. They had marched to the frontier burn- 
 ing to meet the invader, and that, from the moment of his 
 crossing the Xiemen, they should have to retreat, hunted 
 and harassed like beaten men, goaded them to fury. The 
 officers were no less indignant than the men, and Barclay 
 found that it was absolutely necessary to make a stand. 
 
 The French were as eager as the Russians to fight, and 
 when it became known that the enemy seemed determined to 
 make a stand at Smolensk they were filled with exultation. 
 Ney's corps was the first to appear before the town, and took 
 up its position on rising ground a short distance from the 
 suburbs lying outside the wall and next to the river. 
 Davoust's corps was to his right, Poniatowski's division came 
 next, while Murat with his cavalry division completed the 
 semicircle. 
 
 "The Russians must be mad," was the comment of the 
 veterans of Julian's regiment. " The place is of no strength; 
 the artillery will breach the walls in no time. They have but 
 one bridge by which to retreat across the river, and we shall 
 soon knock that to pieces with our guns on the right, and shall 
 catch all who are in the town in a trap. 
 
 The obstinate resistance, however, that had been given by 
 the Russians to the attacks on their rear-guard had impressed 
 the invaders with a respect for their foes, that was in strong 
 contrast to the feeling entertained when they crossed the 
 frontier, save only among the soldiers who had met the 
 Russians before, and who knew with what dogged valour they 
 always fought, especially when on the defensive. 
 
 " It is going to be tough work, Jules, I can tell you," one 
 of them said to Julian, whose English birth was now almost 
 
184 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 forgotten, and who, by the good temper he always manifested, 
 however long the marches and however great the fatigues, had 
 become a general favourite. * ' I guess we are only going to 
 fight because the Russians are tired of retreating, just as we 
 are tired of pursuing them. They can gain nothing by fight- 
 ing here. We outnumber them tremendously. The great bulk 
 of their army lies on the heights on the other side of the river, 
 and there is nothing to prevent their retreating to some strong 
 position, where they might give battle with advantage. On the 
 other hand, there is no reason why we should fight here. We 
 have come down thirty or forty miles out of the direct road to 
 Moscow, and if, instead of doing so, we had crossed the river, 
 and had gone straight on, the Russians must have evacuated 
 the town and pushed on with all speed in order to get between 
 us and Moscow. But this marching about without getting a 
 battle discourages men more even than defeat, and I hope that 
 it will do something to restore discipline among the Germans 
 and Austrians, ay, and among our own troops too. I have 
 been through a number of campaigns, and I have never seen 
 such disorder, such plunder, such want of discipline as has 
 been shown since we entered Russia. I tell you, Jules, even 
 a defeat would do us good. Look at the Russians; they 
 never leave a straggler behind them, never a dismounted gun, 
 while the roads behind us are choked up with our abandoned 
 guns and waggons, and the whole country is covered with our 
 marauders. I should be glad if one of the brigades was 
 ordered to break up into companies and to march back, spread- 
 ing out across the whole country we have traversed, and shoot- 
 ing every man they met between this and the frontier, whether 
 he was French, German, Austrian, or Pole." 
 
 "It has been terrible," Julian agreed, "but at least we 
 have the satisfaction of knowing that Ney's corps d'armee has 
 furnished a smaller share of stragglers than most of the others. ' ' 
 
 "That is true enough, but bad is the best, lad. Some of 
 
SMOLENSK 185 
 
 our battalions are nearly all young soldiers, and I can't say 
 much for their conduct, while the seven battalions of Span- 
 iards, Wurtemburgers, and men from the Duchy of Baden 
 have behaved shamefully, and I don't think that the four 
 squadrons of Polish cavalry have been any better. We have 
 all been bad ; there is no denying it ; and never should we 
 have conquered Germany, crushed Prussia, and forced Aus- 
 tria to submit, had our armies behaved in the way they have 
 done of late. Napoleon would soon have put a stop to it 
 then. He would have had one or two of the worst 
 regiments drawn up, and would have decimated them as 
 a lesson to the rest. Now his orders seem to go for nothing. 
 He has far too much on his mind to attend to such things, 
 and the generals have been thinking so much of pressing on 
 after the enemy that they have done nothing to see the orders 
 carried into effect. It was the same sort of thing that drove 
 the Spaniards into taking to the mountains, and causing us in- 
 finite trouble and great loss of life. Fortunately, here we are 
 so strong that we need fear no reverse, but if a disaster oc- 
 curred I tell you, Jules, we should have good cause to curse 
 the marauders who have converted these lazy peasants into 
 desperate foes." 
 
 " I should think we ought not to lose many men in taking 
 that town, sergeant. There seem to be no guns on the walls. 
 We have the suburbs to cover our advance, and attacking them 
 on all sides, as we shall do, we ought to force our way in with- 
 out much trouble." 
 
 " It would seem so, lad; yes, it would seem so. But you 
 know in Spain it once cost us five days' fighting after we got 
 inside a town. I allow it was not like this. The streets were 
 narrow, the houses were of stone, and each house a fortress, 
 while, as you can see from here, the streets are wide and at 
 right angles to each other, and the houses of brick, and, I 
 fancy, many of them of wood. Still, knowing what the Rus- 
 
186 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 sians are, I would wager we shall not capture Smolensk with a 
 loss of less than ten thousand men, that is if they really de- 
 fend it until the last." 
 
 The following day, the 16th of August, a cannonade was 
 kept up against the walls by the French artillery, the Russians 
 replying but seldom. The next morning it was discovered 
 that Prince Bagration had marched with his army from the hills 
 on the other side of the river to take post on the main Moscow 
 road so as to prevent the position being turned by the advance 
 of a portion of the French army by that route. During the 
 night Barclay had thrown two pontoon bridges across the river 
 in addition to the permanent bridge. At daybreak a dropping 
 fire broke out, for both Davoust and Ney had sent bodies of 
 troops into the suburbs, which they had entered without op- 
 position, and these now opened an irritating fire on the Rus- 
 sians upon the wall. At eight o'clock the firing suddenly 
 swelled into a roar. Doctorow, the Russian general in com- 
 mand of the troops in the town, made a sortie, and cleared 
 the suburbs at the point of the bayonet. Napoleon, believing 
 that the Russian army was coming out to attack him, drew up 
 Ney and Davoust's troops in order of battle, with 70,000 in- 
 fantry in the first line, supported by Murat's 30,000 cavalry. 
 
 Partial attacks were continued against the suburbs, but the 
 Russians obstinately maintained themselves there. Finding 
 that they showed no signs of advancing to attack him, Napo- 
 leon at two o'clock gave orders for a general assault, and the 
 whole of the French troops advanced against the suburbs. 
 The attack of Ney's corps was directed against the Krasnoi 
 suburb, which faced them, and against an advanced work 
 known as the citadel. For two hours a terrible struggle went on. 
 The Russians defended all the suburbs with desperate tenacity, 
 every house and garden was the scene of a fierce encounter, men 
 fought with bayonet and clubbed muskets, the cannon thun- 
 dered on the heights, and Poniatowski established sixty guns 
 
French 
 
 A. Ml. Ney 
 
 B. M.Davoust 
 
 C. P.Poniatouiski 
 
 D. Grouchy 
 
 E. Montbrun 
 
 F. Mansout.y 
 
 v, G. Guarde Imp. 
 H. Cavalry 
 
 Russian 
 a. Bragraiien 
 b. 3rd. Corps Caualry 
 C. 4th. Corps 
 
 d. 2nd. Corps 
 
 e. 2nJ. Cavalry 
 L 1st. Cavalry 
 
 g. Detachments of 
 h. C.Strogonoff 
 1. 5t/i. Corps 
 
 
 
 
 PLAN OF THE BATTLE OF SMOLENSK. 
 
SMOLENSK 187 
 
 on a hill on the French right, but a short distance from the 
 river, and with these opened fire upon the bridges. It seemed 
 that these must soon be destroyed, and the retreat of the Rus- 
 sian troops in Smolensk entirely cut off. In a short time, how- 
 ever, the Russians on the other side of the river planted a 
 number of guns on a rise of equal height to that occupied by 
 Poniatowski's artillery, and as their guns took his battery in 
 flank, he was ere long forced to withdraw it from the hill. 
 
 It was only after two hours' fighting that the Russians with- 
 drew from the suburbs into the town itself, and as the bridges 
 across the river had not suffered greatly from the fire of the 
 great French battery, Barclay sent Prince Eugene of Wurtem- 
 berg across to reinforce the garrison. As soon as the Russians 
 retired into the town a hundred and fifty guns opened fire on 
 the wall to effect a breach, and at five a desperate assault was 
 made upon one of the gates, which was for a moment captured, 
 but Prince Eugene charged forward with his division and re- 
 captured it at the point of the bayonet. The French shell and 
 grape swept the streets and set fire to the town in a score of 
 places, and several of the wooden roofs of the towers upon the 
 wall were also in flames. After a pause for a couple of hours 
 the French again made a serious and desperate assault, but the 
 Russians sternly held their ground, and at seven o'clock made 
 a sortie from behind the citadel, and drove the French out of 
 the Krasnoi suburb. At nine the cannonade ceased. The 
 French fell back to the position from which they had moved 
 in the morning, and the Russians reoccupied the covered ways 
 in front of the wall to prevent a sudden attack during the 
 night. 
 
 1 ' What did I tell you, Jules ? ' ' the old sergeant said mourn- 
 fully, when the shattered remains of the regiment fell out and 
 proceeded to cook their food. "I said that the capture of 
 that town would cost us 10,000 men. It has cost Xey's corps 
 alone half that number, and we have not taken it ; and yet we 
 
188 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 fought well. Had every man been as old a soldier as myself 
 they could not have done their duty better. Peste / these 
 Russians are obstinate brigands. ' ' 
 
 " It was desperate work," Julian said, "more terrible than 
 anything I could have imagined. How anyone escaped alive 
 is more than I can say. Every wall, every house seemed to 
 be fringed with fire. I heard no word of command during 
 the day ; all there was to do was to load and fire — sometimes 
 to rush forward when the rest did so, sometimes to fall back 
 when the Russians poured down upon us. Shall we begin 
 again to-morrow? " 
 
 "I suppose so," the sergeant replied. "We certainly 
 sha'n't march away until we have taken it. Perhaps the 
 enemy may evacuate it. The whole town is a sea of flames ; 
 there is nothing to fight for, and next time we shall no doubt 
 breach the walls thoroughly before we try. You see, we un- 
 dervalued the Russians, and we sha'n't make that mistake 
 again. Well, lad, we have both got out of it without serious 
 damage, for that bullet you got through your arm will soon 
 heal up again, but there is one thing, if you remain in the 
 army for the next twenty years you are not likely to see harder 
 fighting." 
 
 That night, indeed, Smolensk was evacuated by the Rus- 
 sians, contrary to the wishes of both officers and men, Prince 
 Eugene and General Doctorow declaring that they could hold 
 on for ten days longer. This might doubtless have been done, 
 but Barclay was afraid that Napoleon might sweep round and 
 cross the river somewhere to his left, and that in that case he 
 must fall back, and the town would have to be evacuated in 
 the day time when the enemy could sweep the bridges with 
 their fire. By three o'clock in the morning the whole force 
 in the city had crossed, and the bridges were burnt behind 
 them. The flames acquainted the French with the fact that 
 the city had been evacuated, and at daybreak they entered the 
 
SMOLENSK 189 
 
 town, and soon afterwards their skirmishers opened fire on the 
 Russians on the other side of the river. At eight o'clock a 
 Spanish brigade crossed the river waist deep, and entered the 
 suburb known as St. Petersburg, on the right bank ; but they 
 were at once attacked ; many were killed or taken prisoners, 
 and the rest driven across the river again. 
 
 General Barclay then withdrew his army to the heights, 
 wishing to tempt the enemy to cross, intending to give them 
 battle before all had made the passage ; but Napoleon kept his 
 troops in hand, except that his artillery maintained a fire to 
 the right against the Russians. At eight o'clock in the even- 
 ing some skirmishers crossed the river, and fires shortly broke 
 out in St. Petersburg, and in an hour several hundred houses, 
 extending for a mile along the river, were in a blaze, while 
 those in Smolensk were still burning fiercely. At night the 
 Russians again fell back. The direct road lay parallel with 
 the river, but as it was commanded by the enemy's guns Gen- 
 eral Barclay directed the force, divided into two columns, to 
 march by cross roads. These led over two steep hills, and, 
 owing to the harness breaking, these roads soon became blocked, 
 and the march was discontinued till daylight enabled the 
 drivers to get the five hundred guns and the ammunition 
 trains up the hills. 
 
 The French, finding that the Russian army was going off, 
 crossed the river in force and furiously attacked their rear- 
 guard, and tried to penetrate between it and the main body 
 of the army, but Prince Eugene's division was sent back to 
 assist General Korf, who commanded there. In the meantime 
 two columns of the French moved along the main road to 
 Moscow with the evident intention of heading the Russian 
 army at Loubino, the point where the cross road by which 
 they were travelling came into it. This they might have ac- 
 complished owing to the much shorter distance they had to 
 travel and the delays caused by the difficulty of getting the 
 
J90 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 guns over the hills, but a small Russian corps under TouchkorT 
 had been sent forward to cover that point. Ney had crossed 
 the river early by two bridges he had thrown over it, and 
 TouchkorT, as he saw this force pressing along the main road, 
 took up a position where he covered Loubino, and for some 
 hours repulsed all the efforts of the French to pass. 
 
 At three o'clock the pressure upon TouchkorT became so 
 severe that several regiments from Barclay's column, which 
 was passing safely along while he kept the road open for them, 
 were sent to his assistance, and the fight continued. Napoleon 
 believed that the whole Russian force had taken post at Lou- 
 bino, and sent forward reinforcements to Ney. The woods 
 were so thick that it was some time before these reached him, 
 the guns of one of the columns being obliged to go a mile and 
 a half through a wood before they could turn, so dense was 
 the growth of the trees. Ney now pressed forward with such 
 vigour that TouchkorT was driven from his position in advance, 
 upon the village itself, where he was again reinforced by four 
 infantry battalions, two regiments of cavalry, and heavy guns. 
 Murat with his cavalry endeavoured to turn the Russian left, 
 but the two Russian cavalry regiments, supported by their ar- 
 tillery, maintained their ground. Soon after five o'clock the 
 French had received such large reinforcements that the Rus- 
 sians were forced to give way, and were in full retreat when 
 Barclay himself arrived upon the scene, and rallied them. 
 The battle was renewed, and the last effort of the French was 
 repulsed by a charge with the bayonet by the Russian grena- 
 diers. 
 
 In the charge, however, General TouchkorT, by whose 
 valour the Russian army had been saved, was carried too far 
 in advance of his men, and was taken prisoner. It was not 
 until midnight that the rear of Barclay's column emerged 
 from the cross road, in which it had been involved for twenty- 
 four hours. In this fight the French and Russians lost about 
 
SMOLENSK 191 
 
 6000 men each. Had Junot joined Ney in the attack on 
 Touchkoff's force the greater part of the Russian army must 
 have been destroyed or made prisoners. 
 
 The Russian army now pursued its march towards Moscow 
 unmolested save by some attacks by Murat's cavalry. Ney's 
 corps d'armee had borne the brunt of the fighting at Loubino, 
 and had been diminished in strength by another 4000 men. 
 In this battle, however, Julian's regiment, having suffered so 
 heavily in the attack at Smolensk, was one of those held in 
 reserve. Napoleon was greatly disappointed at the escape of 
 the Russian army from his grasp. Only 30,000 Russians had 
 been engaged both in the action in their rear and in that at 
 Loubino, while the whole of the French army round Smo- 
 lensk, with the exception of the corps of Junot, had in vain 
 endeavoured to break through the defence and to fall upon 
 the main body of the army so helplessly struggling along the 
 road. 
 
 In the attack on Smolensk 12,000 of Napoleon's best sol- 
 diers had fallen. Loubino cost him 6000 more, and although 
 these numbers were but small in proportion to the total strength 
 of his army, they were exclusively those of French soldiers be- 
 longing to the divisions in which he placed his main trust. It 
 was now a question with him whether he should establish him- 
 self for the winter in the country he occupied, accumulate 
 stores, make Smolensk a great depot that would serve as a base 
 for his advance in the spring, or move on at once against 
 Moscow. On this point he held a council with his marshals. 
 The opinion of these was generally favourable to the former 
 course. The desperate fighting of the three previous days had 
 opened their eyes to the fact that even so great a force as that 
 led by Napoleon could not afford to despise the Russians. The 
 country that was at present occupied was rich. There were 
 so many towns that the army could go into comfortable quar- 
 ters for the winter, and their communications with the frontier 
 
192 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 were open and safe. It was unquestionably the safer and more 
 prudent course. 
 
 With these conclusions Napoleon agreed in theory. It 
 had originally been his intention to winter in the prov- 
 inces that he had now overrun, and to march against St. 
 Petersburg or Moscow in the spring. He had, however, 
 other matters besides those of military expediency to con- 
 sider. In the first place, the Poles were exasperated at his 
 refusal to re-establish at once their ancient kingdom, a 
 refusal necessitated by the fact that he could not do so 
 without taking from Austria and Prussia, his allies, the Polish 
 districts that had fallen to their share. Then, too, the 
 Poles felt the terrible pressure of supporting the army still 
 in Poland, and of contributing to the vast expenses of the war, 
 and were the campaign to continue long their attitude might 
 change to one of open hostility. In the next place, the con- 
 clusion of peace, brought about by the efforts of England, be' 
 tween both Sweden and Turkey with Russia, would enable the 
 latter to bring up the whole of the forces that had been engaged 
 in the south with the Turks, and in the north watching the 
 Swedish frontier, and would give time for the new levies to be 
 converted into good soldiers and placed in the field. 
 
 Then, too, matters were going on badly in Spain. He could 
 place but little dependence upon Austria, Prussia, or Germany. 
 Were he absent another year from France he might find these 
 countries leagued against him. Therefore, although recogniz- 
 ing the justice of the arguments of his marshals, he decided 
 upon pushing on to Moscow, and establishing himself there 
 for the winter. He did not even yet recognize the stubborn- 
 ness and constancy of the Russian character, and believed that 
 the spectacle of their ancient capital in his hands would induce 
 them at once to treat for peace. The decision was welcome to 
 the army. The general wish of the soldiers was to get the 
 matter over, and to be off home again. The obstinacy with 
 
SMOLENSK 193 
 
 which the Russians fought, the rapidity with which they 
 marched, the intense animosity that had been excited among 
 the peasants by the cruel treatment to which they had been 
 exposed, the recklessness with which they threw away their 
 lives so that they could but take vengeance for their sufferings, 
 the ferocity with which every straggler or small detachment 
 that fell into their hands was massacred — all these things com- 
 bined to excite a feeling of gloom and anxiety among the sol- 
 diers. 
 
 There were no merry songs round the bivouac fires now ; 
 even the thought of the plunder of Moscow failed to raise 
 their spirits. The loss of so many tried comrades was greatly 
 felt in Key's division. It had at first numbered over 40,000, 
 and the losses in battle and from sickness had already re- 
 duced it by more than a fourth. Even the veterans lost 
 their usual impassive attitude of contentment with the existing 
 state of things. 
 
 1 'What I don't like," growled one of the old sergeants, 
 " is that there is not a soul in the villages, not a solitary man 
 in the fields. It is not natural. One gets the same sort of 
 feeling one has when a thunderstorm is just going to burst 
 overhead. When it has begun you don't mind it, but while 
 you are waiting for the first flash, the first clap of thunder, 
 you get a sort of creepy feeling. That is just what the sight 
 of all this deserted country makes me feel. I have campaigned 
 all over Europe, but I never saw anything like this." 
 
 A growl of assent passed round the circle, and there was a 
 general repetition of the words, " It is not natural, comrade. 
 Even in Spain," one said, "where they hate us like poison, 
 the people don't leave their villages like this. The young 
 men may go, but the old men and the women and children 
 remain, and the priest is sure to stop. Here there is not so 
 much as a fowl to be seen in the streets. The whole popu- 
 lation is gone — man, woman, and child." 
 
194 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 " It makes one feel," another said gloomily, "as if we 
 were accursed, infected with the plague, or something of that 
 sort." 
 
 " Well, don't let us talk about it," another said with an 
 effort at cheerfulness. "There is Jules, he is the merriest 
 fellow in our company. Come here, Jules. We are all 
 grumbling. What do you think of things?" 
 
 " I don't think much about them one way or the other," 
 Julian said as he came up. " We have not a great deal 
 further to go to Moscow, and the sooner we get there the 
 better. Then we shall have the satisfaction of seeing some 
 people. ' ' 
 
 "Yes, Jules, that is what is vexing us, that everyone runs 
 away at our approach. ' ' 
 
 "And no fools either," Julian replied, "considering the 
 villainous way in which they have been harried. Even peas- 
 ants have some feeling, and when they are treated like wild 
 beasts they will turn. It seems to me that instead of ill- 
 treating them we ought, with such a march as this before us, 
 to have done everything in our power to show them that, 
 although we were going to fight any armies that opposed us, 
 we had no ill-feeling against the people at large. If they 
 had found us ready to pay for everything we wanted, and to 
 treat them as well as if they had been our own country 
 people, there would have been no running away from us. 
 Then, as we advanced we could have purchased an abundant 
 supply of food everywhere. We should have had no fear as 
 to our communications, and might have wandered a hundred 
 yards outside our sentries without the risk of having our 
 throats cut. However, it is of no use going over these argu- 
 ments again. The thing has been done and cannot be 
 undone, and we have but to accept the consequences, and 
 make the best of them. A man who burns a wood mustn't 
 complain a month afterwards because he has no fuel. How- 
 
WITH THE RUSSIAN ARMY -195 
 
 ever, I hope that in another day or two we shall be moving on. 
 As long as we are going there is no time to feel it dull ; it is 
 the halt, after being so long in motion, that gives us time to 
 talk, and puts fancies into our heads. We did not expect a 
 pleasure excursion when we started." 
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 WITH THE RUSSIAN ARMY 
 
 WHEN Frank arrived at Canterbury he found things in 
 confusion, and received the news that two troops had 
 orders to march the next morning for Portsmouth, where they 
 were to embark for Spain. 
 
 "Why, the major said he would write!" he exclaimed. 
 "His letter must have missed me somehow. I shall have 
 enough to do to get ready to-night." 
 
 "You are not going, Wyatt," Wilmington, who was his 
 informant, said. "The order expressly stated that Cornet 
 Wyatt was not to accompany his troop, as his services were 
 required in another direction, and that another officer was to 
 take his place, and I am going with your troop. Lister has 
 been grumbling desperately. What on earth can they want 
 you for? However, there is a batch of letters for you in the 
 ante -room, and I daresay you will learn something about it 
 from them." 
 
 Frank ran in. There were two letters. One was an official 
 document ; the direction of the other was in Sir Robert Wil- 
 son's handwriting. He opened this first. 
 
 "My dear Wyatt, your letter inclosing Strelinski's certifi- 
 cate came in the nick of time. I had already made an appli- 
 cation that you should be attached to me for service, on the 
 ground mat you belonged to my old regiment, and knew some- 
 
196 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 thing of Russian ; but your age and short service were against 
 you, and I doubt whether I should have succeeded, as the post 
 is considered an important one. However, when I went and 
 showed them the Pole's report as to your knowledge of Rus- 
 sian, and pointed out that this was a far more important matter 
 in the present case than any question of age or service, the 
 commander-in-chief at once agreed, and you will no doubt 
 receive an intimation that you are appointed my aide-de-camp. 
 I have been made a brigadier-general. It is not as yet settled 
 when we shall start. I have only just received my official ap- 
 pointment, and there is no saying when I may get my final 
 instructions ; for it is to a certain extent a political affair, and 
 this sort of thing always drags on for a long time before it 
 comes to a head. It is lucky that your matter is arranged now, 
 for I hear at the Horse-guards that your troop is ordered out 
 to Spain. No doubt, just at the moment, you will be sorry 
 that you are not going with it, but I can assure you that this 
 business will be vastly more useful to you in your profession, 
 than anything you would be likely to meet with as a cavalry 
 subaltern in Spain." 
 
 For a moment, indeed, Frank did regret that he was not 
 going to accompany his troop. He was so sure, however, that 
 Sir Robert Wilson was acting for the best that he put aside this 
 feeling. The official letter was a simple notification that he 
 was appointed aide-de-camp to General Sir Robert Wilson, but 
 that he was to remain at the depot and continue his ordinary 
 duties until a further intimation reached him. The excitement 
 of departure had, Frank was glad to find, quite thrown that 
 caused by his duel into the background. All the officers who 
 were to go were busy with their preparations, and Frank was 
 occupied until a late hour that night in assisting them in pack- 
 ing not only the baggage that was to be taken, but the heavy 
 cases that were to be stored away until their return. Many 
 were the regrets expressed by the officers who were going out 
 
WITH THE RUSSIAN ARMY 197 
 
 that Frank was not to accompany them, and much curiosity 
 expressed as to the reason for which he was kept behind. He 
 felt that, although Sir Robert Wilson had not specially enjoined 
 silence, it would be undesirable that any information as to the 
 probability of his proceeding to Russia should be given. He 
 therefore said : 
 
 " I only know that Sir Robert Wilson, who was a great friend 
 of my father's, and who obtained my commission for me, is 
 going to have a command somewhere, and has asked for me as 
 one of his aides-de-camp on the ground of his friendship for 
 my father, and his former connection with our regiment." 
 
 " Well, then, very likely we shall see you out there before 
 long, Wyatt," Captain Lister said. " Of course, it is a com- 
 pliment to the regiment, but I daresay you feel it as a nuisance 
 at present." 
 
 " I should like to be going with you all, Lister; but I sup- 
 pose this is best for me in the long run." 
 
 " Of course it is. It is always a good thing for a fellow to 
 serve on the staff. You have ten times as good a chance of 
 getting mentioned in the despatches, as have the men who do 
 all the fighting. Still, I have no doubt you will deserve any 
 credit you may get, which is more than is the case nine times 
 out often." 
 
 " How is Marshall getting on? " 
 
 " He is going on all right. He has sent in his papers, and I 
 suppose he will be gazetted out by the time he is able to travel. 
 I can assure you that there was quite as much satisfaction in 
 the Lancers at the turn the affair took as there was with us." 
 
 " Does the major go with you, Lister? " 
 
 " No ; he remains in command of the depot for the present. 
 Of course, he will go out if a vacancy occurs above him ; but 
 in any case he will go with the next draft, and the next two 
 troops will be wound up to service pitch in another couple of 
 months, so I expect by the spring he will be out there. I 
 
198 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 should not have minded if we too had waited until then, 
 for of course the army have gone into its winter quarters, 
 and there will be nothing doing for the next three 01 four 
 months ; and I take it we should be a good deal more com- 
 fortable here, than posted in some wretched little Spanish 
 town till operations commence again. No doubt you will be 
 out there long before the first shot is fired." 
 
 Another three months passed, and on the 28th of March, 
 181 2, Frank received an official order to join Sir Robert Wil- 
 son at once, and a letter from the general, informing him that 
 they were to sail on the 8th of April. The letter was written 
 in haste, and gave no intimation whatever as to their destina- 
 tion. During this three months Frank had worked almost 
 incessantly at Russian. He had informed the major in confi- 
 dence that he believed Sir Robert Wilson was going as British 
 Commissioner to the Russian army when the war broke out 
 with France. 
 
 " Ah ! that accounts for your working so hard at Russian, 
 Wyatt," the major said in reply. "I suppose you had re- 
 ceived a hint from Sir Robert." 
 
 " Yes, Major. He told me that as he had been commis- 
 sioner with the Russians in their last war, it was probable 
 that, if the rumours that Napoleon intended to invade Russia 
 proved correct, he might be appointed again, and said that if 
 I could get up enough of the language to speak it pretty flu- 
 ently, he would apply for me. ' ' 
 
 "Well, you deserve it, Wyatt; for there is no doubt that 
 you have worked hard indeed ; and it will be a capital thing 
 for you. Is there anything I can do? " 
 
 "Yes, sir. I thought, perhaps, that when you knew what 
 I am going to do, you would relieve me of some of the ordi- 
 nary drills, as I should like to spend as much time as possible 
 before I go, in getting up Russian." 
 
 " Certainty," the major said. " After the official informa- 
 
WITH THE RUSSIAN ARMY 199 
 
 tion that you were not to proceed with the draft, as you would 
 be required for special service, I have a right to consider you 
 as a supernumerary here, and will relieve you of all ordinary 
 drills and parades. You must, of course, take your turn as 
 officer of the day, and if there are any special parades ordered, 
 or any field days with the Lancers, you will attend, but other- 
 wise you will be free of all duty. The two next troops to go 
 have their full complement of officers, so that really you are 
 not wanted." 
 
 As soon as Frank received Sir Robert Wilson's letter he 
 went to Strelinski. 
 
 " It has come," he said. "I have to go up to town to- 
 morrow, as I embark on the 8th. I am awfully sorry that our 
 lessons have come to an end. However, they have lasted over 
 the year that we talked of at first." 
 
 "lam sorry too, Mr. Wyatt ; though really I feel that in no 
 case need you have continued your studies any longer. The 
 last three months has made a great difference, for you have 
 been talking Russian some eight or ten hours a day, and are 
 now sufficiently acquainted with the language for any purpose 
 whatever, except perhaps writing a book in it. If I had not 
 known that you might leave at any time, I should myself have 
 told you that I considered there was no advantage to be gained 
 by your going on with me any longer. I shall, of course, go 
 up to London with you to-morrow." 
 
 "lam sorry for your sake, as well as my own, that our les- 
 sons are over, Strelinski." 
 
 " It cannot be helped," the Pole replied. " It has been a 
 God-send to me. When I first met you, I was well-nigh 
 hopeless. Now I shall begin the battle again with fresh cour- 
 age. I have saved enough money to keep me, with care, for 
 many months, and doubtless your recommendation that you 
 have learned Russian from me, will make matters more easy 
 for me than they were before." 
 
200 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 On arriving in town Frank went at once to Sir Robert Wil- 
 son's lodging. He found the general in, and after the first 
 greetings, learned from him that they were to accompany the 
 newly-appointed ambassador to Constantinople. " Our object 
 there," Sir Robert said, "is to arrange, if possible, a peace 
 between Russia and Turkey. There is no doubt whatever that 
 Napoleon intends war. It is not declared yet, but it is abso- 
 lutely certain, and it is of vital importance that Russia should 
 have her hands free in other directions. As soon as this is 
 arranged, — and I have no doubt that it will be managed, for 
 it is so necessary to Russia that she will grant any terms, in 
 reason, that Turkey can ask, — I am to journey north and join 
 the headquarters of the Russian army." 
 
 This was delightful news to Frank. European travel in 
 those days was rare, and to have the opportunity of visiting 
 Constantinople, as well as being present at the tremendous 
 encounter about to take place, was an unexpected pleasure 
 indeed. 
 
 " There is one thing I want to speak to you about, Sir Rob- 
 ert," he said presently. " It is about Strelinski. I have been 
 thinking that perhaps, as war is about to break out between 
 Russia and France, you might be kind enough to get a post 
 for him as interpreter at the War Office or Foreign Office." 
 
 " I have already thought of that," the general said. "You 
 wrote so highly of him in your letters, that I felt I could thor- 
 oughly recommend him, and I spoke about it only the day 
 before yesterday to the Marquis of Wellesley, and he said at 
 once that they should be glad to have such a man, as it would 
 enable me to send over official documents and other Russian 
 statements without the trouble and loss of time in translating 
 them, and as the man is from Russian Poland, he could give 
 information concerning the country and the roads and other 
 matters that would help them to understand what is going on, 
 especially as, until my arrival there, they will have to depend 
 
WITH THE RUSSIAN ARMY 201 
 
 upon Russian documents sent over by our ambassador at St. 
 Petersburg. Tell him to be here at eleven o'clock to-morrow 
 morning, and be here yourself in uniform. I have an appoint- 
 ment with Lord Wellesley at half-past." 
 
 Frank had put up at the hotel where the coach stopped, and 
 had invited Strelinski to stay there with him until he started ; 
 and on his return he delighted the Pole by telling him that 
 there was some chance of Sir Robert Wilson obtaining for him 
 an appointment as interpreter. The next day Frank and Stre- 
 linski accompanied Sir Robert Wilson to the War Office. 
 They remained in the ante-chamber while the general went 
 in to Lord Wellesley's apartments. In half an hour an officer 
 came out and called Frank in. 
 
 " Sir Robert Wilson has spoken very warmly in your favour, 
 Mr. Wyatt," Lord Wellesley said, holding out his hand, sl Sir 
 Robert introduced him, " and his report is confirmed by your 
 commanding officer, Major Tritton, who gives an excellent ac- 
 count of you. But you must not deprive His Majesty's army 
 of the services of any more of its officers, Mr. Wyatt. Of 
 course I received full details of that affair, and I am bound to 
 say that it seems you behaved admirably, and you must be a 
 wonderful shot. You don't look like a fire-eater either. It is 
 a bad practice, Mr. Wyatt, a very bad practice. Well, well," 
 he broke off, seeing a slight smile on Sir Robert's lips, " I sup- 
 pose I have no right to say anything about it, having been an 
 offender myself. However, from what I have learned, if ever 
 a duel was justified, yours was. Well, sir, I hope that your 
 future career will correspond with' the reports that I have re- 
 ceived of your past conduct. You are very fortunate in hav- 
 ing been chosen for so important a service as that upon which 
 you are now embarking, and I need hardly say that it will be 
 of great value to you in your profession." 
 
 Frank expressed his thanks, and then retired. Strelinski 
 was then called in, and in a few minutes returned radiant. 
 
202 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 "What do I not owe to you," he said, "to you and 
 General Wilson ? I have been appointed interpreter on a 
 salary of two hundred a year. Think of it 1 my fortune is 
 made." 
 
 " I congratulate you indeed," Frank replied warmly. " I 
 did not like to raise your hopes too high, but I felt sure, by 
 what Sir Robert said, that it was as good as settled. I am 
 almost as pleased as you are, for I should have been awfully 
 sorry to go away, without knowing that you were comfortably 
 settled here." 
 
 ' ' What are you going to do, Wyatt, till you start ? ' ' General 
 Wilson asked, as they left the War Office. 
 
 ' ' It depends whether I can be useful here ; if so, I am of 
 course ready to do anything, but if you will not in any way 
 warn me, I shall start this evening by the coach for Weymouth, 
 and join you at Portsmouth. I will send my baggage off at 
 once by waggon." 
 
 " Do so by all means, Wyatt. Direct it ' Care of General 
 Wilson, His Majesty's ship A?go.' > You had better be there 
 on the afternoon of the 7th, and go on board at once. We 
 shall be down that evening, and shall sleep at the George, and 
 go on board the first thing in the morning." 
 
 Frank found his aunt in good health. He stayed there 
 three days, and then posted to Portsmouth, getting there early 
 on the morning of the 7th. The Argo was lying at Spithead. 
 Taking a wherry he went out to her at once. He found that 
 all was in readiness, and that a small cabin had been assigned 
 to him next to that of Sir Robert Wilson. His trunk was al- 
 ready there, and leaving his small portmanteau in his cabin, he 
 went ashore and took up his quarters at the George. The am- 
 bassador, his secretary, and General Wilson arrived together 
 in a post-chaise in the evening, and at eight o'clock next 
 morning they all went on board. 
 
 The voyage was long and tedious, but Frank was very glad 
 
WITH THE RUSSIAN ARMY 203 
 
 of a stay for two or three days at Gibraltar, and as long at 
 Malta. 
 
 The Argo arrived at Constantinople at the end of June, 
 and they found that the treaty of peace between Turkey and 
 Russia had been already arranged. A month was spent in 
 vexatious delays, which were the more irritating as it was 
 known that Napoleon had arrived at the frontier, and was on 
 the point of crossing the Niemen, if he had not already done 
 so. At last the British ambassador succeeded in overcoming 
 the inertness of the Porte; on the 14th of July the treaty 
 was finally ratified, and on the 27th Sir Robert Wilson was 
 sent by our ambassador to Shumla to arrange details with the 
 Grand Vizier. Thence he went to the Congress at Bucharest, 
 which was the headquarters of the Russian Admiral, Tchicha- 
 gow. who commanded their army of the Danube. 
 
 After having finally arranged these matters, he started 
 north with Frank, furnished with an order to postmasters 
 on the road to supply them instantly with relays of horses. 
 Travelling night and day without a stop, they arrived at 
 Smolensk on the day before the French attacked the place. 
 Sir Robert had expected to find the Emperor here, but learnt 
 that he was still at St. Petersburg. Being personally ac- 
 quainted with all the Russian generals he was received with 
 the greatest courtesy, and at once placed himself at the dis- 
 posal of the commander-in-chief, while Frank was introduced 
 to the members of the staff. 
 
 Sir Robert Wilson found that a very grave state of things 
 was prevailing. The generals were in open dissension with 
 Barclay for having suffered the enemy to overrun so many 
 provinces, and for not making any dispositions to defend the 
 line of the Dnieper. 
 
 Next morning the Englishmen were awakened by a roar of 
 musketry. They had been furnished with horses, and, dress- 
 ing hastily, mounted, and joined the commander-in-chiefs 
 
204 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 staff, which was taking up its position on the hill, whence a 
 general view could be obtained of what was passing on the 
 other side of the river. An aide-de-camp was on the point 
 of starting as they rode up to ascertain the exact position of 
 things in the town, and Sir Robert ordered Frank to accom- 
 pany him. Frank had been introduced to the aide-de-camp 
 on the previous day, and as they dashed down towards the 
 bridge, he said : 
 
 " The fighting seems very heavy." 
 
 "It will be heavier before they take Smolensk," the Rus- 
 sian said. " There are 20,000 men in the town, and rein- 
 forcements can be sent across as required. At present the 
 fighting is in the suburbs, but they won't drive us out of them 
 as quickly as they expect. ' ' 
 
 After crossing the bridge they made their way to the head- 
 quarters of General Doctorow, and were at once shown in. 
 The Russian saluted: "The commander-in-chief sends his 
 compliments to you, general, and wishes to know how things 
 are going on, and whether you need reinforcements. He 
 desires that you should send messengers every ten minutes 
 acquainting him with the progress of affairs." 
 
 "All goes well at present. The troops are everywhere 
 doing their duty. As yet we need no reinforcements. They 
 are making but little way in any of the suburbs, but of course 
 their attack is not yet fully developed." 
 
 " Allow me to introduce to your Excellency this British 
 officer, Mr. Wyatt, aide-de-camp to General Wilson, who 
 arrived in our camp yesterday afternoon as British commis- 
 sioner." 
 
 " You have come at an opportune moment, sir, to see fight- 
 ing. If you had come sooner you would have seen nothing 
 but running away. If you would like to make a tour of the 
 walls to see what is going on, an officer shall accompany you." 
 
 Frank accepted the invitation with thanks. He had noth- 
 
[WITH THE RUSSIAN ARMY 205 
 
 ing at present to report more than the aide-de-camp would 
 take back, and he knew that Sir Robert would be glad of fur- 
 ther particulars. He therefore asked him to tell Sir Robert 
 why he had stayed, and at once proceeded to the walls, accom- 
 panied by an officer of Doctorow's staff. From there, little 
 could be seen of the fighting. The musketry fire, indeed, 
 had almost ceased, and the French could be seen retiring up 
 the hill, where dense masses of troops were drawn up. Re- 
 turning to the general's quarters he mounted and rode back to 
 the commander-in-chiefs staff. 
 
 " The affair has scarcely begun yet," he said to Sir Robert, 
 " but the whole of the French army is drawn up in line of 
 battle, and, I should say, is about to assault the town in full 
 force." 
 
 For some hours there was a lull, but about mid-day heavy 
 masses of troops were seen descending from the French posi- 
 tions, and as they approached the suburbs a roar of musketry 
 broke out. Twice in the course of the next two hours Frank 
 was sent down into the town. He reported that, although 
 resisting with the greatest obstinacy, the Russians were being 
 driven out of the suburbs. Just as he returned the second 
 time, Sir Robert Wilson, who was examining the enemy's 
 position with a telescope, observed that ten batteries of artil- 
 lery were making their way up the steep hill on the other side 
 of the river. He at once reported this to the general, adding : 
 " They will very speedily knock the bridges into pieces and 
 isolate the garrison altogether. But I think, sir," he added, 
 " if you place some batteries on the hill on this side, you will 
 take them in flank. The two hills are both about the same 
 height, and they will be completely exposed to your fire. ' ' 
 
 " Very well," General Barclay replied, " I will order eight 
 batteries up there at once, and you will oblige me if you will 
 accompany them and indicate the best position for them to 
 take up. Colonel Stellitz, you will at once carry the order to 
 
206 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 the artillery, and request the officer in command of the bat- 
 teries to post them as General Wilson may advise." 
 
 Sir Robert and the colonel, followed by Frank, at once 
 rode off. Just as they reached the artillery, the French bat- 
 tery opened fire. Exclamations of rage burst from the soldiers 
 as the shot splashed into the water round the bridges and the 
 shell burst over them. The general in command of the artil- 
 lery, on receiving the order, directed eight batteries to follow 
 General Wilson. At a gallop they dashed up the hill, and in 
 ten minutes had unlimbered and opened fire upon the French. 
 The effect was visible at once. Much confusion was observed 
 among the artillery-men, and in a short time several of the 
 guns were dismounted, and four or five powder waggons blown 
 up. Then a loud cheer burst from the Russian artillery-men 
 as they saw the French bring up the horses from behind the 
 shelter of the crest, limber-up and drive off with the guns. 
 But from other points of vantage 150 guns were now pouring 
 their fire into the town, and, as the flames broke out from 
 several quarters, exclamations of grief and fury were heard 
 from the Russian soldiers. 
 
 Smolensk was, like Moscow, considered a sacred city, and 
 the soldiers were affected rather by the impiety of the act than 
 by the actual destruction that was being wrought. As Gen- 
 eral Wilson and Frank rode back to the spot where Gen- 
 eral Barclay was stationed, a mass of Russian infantry moved 
 down the hill towards the bridges, and at once began to 
 cross. 
 
 " Whose division is that? " Sir Robert asked an officer as 
 they joined the staff. 
 
 "It is Prince Eugene's," he replied. " They are pressing 
 us hard now, having driven Doctorow's men out of the 
 covered way, and are massing for an assault on one of the 
 gates. ' ' 
 
 The fire continued unabated until seven o'clock. Then a 
 
WITH THE RUSSIAN ARMY 207 
 
 messenger came across with the news that the French were 
 drawing off, and that the covered way was being reoccupied. 
 General Wilson was warmly thanked by the Russian com- 
 mander-in-chief for having silenced the batteries that had 
 threatened the bridges. That evening, when he issued the or- 
 der for the evacuation of Smolensk, the disaffection with Bar- 
 clay de Tolly broke out with renewed force, and during the 
 night a body of generals came to Sir Robert Wilson's tent. 
 He was at the time occupied in dictating a despatch to Frank, 
 whom he requested to retire directly he saw the rank of his 
 visitors. As soon as they were alone they said that it had been 
 resolved to send to the Emperor not only the request of the 
 army for a new chief, but a declaration in their own name and 
 that of the troops " that if any order came from St. Peters- 
 burg, to suspend hostilities and greet the invaders as friends ' ' 
 — for it had all along been believed that the retrograde move- 
 ments were the result of the advice of the minister, Count 
 Romanzow — " such an order would be regarded as one that 
 did not express his Imperial Majesty's real sentiments and 
 wishes, but had been extracted from his Majesty under false 
 representations or external control, and that the army would 
 continue to maintain its pledge and to pursue the contest till 
 the invader was driven beyond the frontier." 
 
 "We are here, General Wilson," one of the generals said, 
 " to beg you to undertake the delivery of this message to the 
 Emperor. It would mean death to any Russian officer who 
 undertook the commission, but, knowing your attachment to 
 the Emperor, and his equally well-known feelings towards 
 yourself, no person is so well qualified to lay the expression of 
 our sentiments before him. Your motives in doing so cannot 
 be suspected ; coming from you, the Emperor's self-respect 
 would not suffer in the same way as it would do, were the 
 message conveyed to him by one of his own subjects." 
 
 One after another the generals urged the request. 
 
208 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 Sir Robert listened to their arguments, and then said : 
 " This is altogether too grave a matter for me to decide upon 
 hastily. I know thoroughly well that there is no thought of 
 disloyalty in the mind of any of you towards the will of the 
 Emperor, but the act is one of the gravest insubordination, 
 and it is indeed a threat that you will disobey his Majesty's 
 commands in the event of his ordering a suspension of hostili- 
 ties. As to the conduct of the commander-in-chief, I am not 
 competent to express any opinion whatever, but as a soldier I 
 can understand that this long-continued retreat and the 
 abandonment of so many provinces to the enemy, without 
 striking a single blow in their defence, is trying in the ex- 
 treme, both to yourselves and your brave soldiers. I shall not 
 leave the army until I see it fairly on the march again, but 
 before I start I will give you my reply. ' ' 
 
 The generals thanked Sir Robert warmly, and then with- 
 drew. 
 
 "1 shall write no more to-night, Wyatt," the general said 
 when Frank entered the tent. " I have other grave matters 
 to think about. You had best lie down at once, and get a 
 few hours' sleep. To-morrow is likely to be an eventful day, 
 for the operation of withdrawing the army from this position 
 and getting on to the main road again will be full of peril, and 
 may indeed end in a terrible disaster." 
 
 As soon as the Russian army had repulsed the attacks of 
 the French and resumed its march towards Moscow, Sir 
 Robert Wilson left it and proceeded to St. Petersburg, where 
 he had promised the Russian generals to inform the Czar of 
 the opinion and disposition of the army, their dissatisfaction 
 with the general, and their determination to continue the 
 combat and to refuse to recognize any negotiations or armis- 
 tice that might be made with the enemy. 
 
 " I shall leave you here, Wyatt," the General said, on the 
 morning after the desperate defence of Loubino had saved 
 
WITH THE RUSSIAN ARMY 209 
 
 ^he army. " There is little chance of the French pressing 
 the Russians any further. I think it probable that they may 
 go into winter quarters where they now are; but in any case 
 they cannot hope to outmarch us, and, if they follow, the 
 battle will be in the position the Russians may choose. 
 Even were there more fighting imminent, I should still start to- 
 day for St. Petersburg; I only came round by Smolensk, as you 
 know, because I thought that the Emperor would be found 
 there. My first duty is to see him, and to report to him 
 the arrangements that have been made on the Danube with 
 the Grand Vizier and his people, by which the whole of the 
 Russian army there will be able to join in the defence against 
 the French. As soon as I have done so and explained to 
 his Majesty the position here, I shall rejoin ; and I hope the 
 Czar will also be coming down here, for his presence would 
 be most useful — not in the military way, for no men in the 
 world could fight better than the Russians are doing, — but 
 the army fears, above all things, that peace will be made 
 before it has an opportunity of wiping out, what it considers 
 its disgrace, in allowing the French to overrun so many rich 
 provinces without striking a blow. 
 
 " In point of fact, the defence of Smolensk, and the way in 
 which some 20,000 men yesterday withstood for hours the 
 assault of three or four times their number, would be sufficient 
 to prove to the world their fighting qualities. In my own 
 mind, I consider that Barclay has acted wisely in declining to 
 hazard the whole fortune of the war upon a single battle 
 against an enemy which, from the first, has outnumbered him 
 nearly threefold, but he should never have taken up his posi- 
 tion on the frontier if he did not mean to defend it. Any 
 other army than this would have become a disorganized 
 rabble long ago. There is nothing so trying to troops as to 
 march for weeks hotly chased by an enemy. Three times in 
 the Peninsula we have seen what a British army becomes under 
 
210 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 far less trying circumstances. If the Russians did but know 
 it, this retreat of theirs, and the admirable manner in which 
 they have maintained their discipline, is as creditable as win- 
 ning a great victory would be ; still one can understand that the 
 sight of this flying population, the deserted fields, this sur- 
 render of provinces to an enemy, is mortifying in the highest 
 degree to their pride. 
 
 " Nevertheless, Barclay's policy, though I think it has been 
 carried a great deal too far — for with troops who will fight as 
 ours did yesterday he might have fought a dozen battles like 
 that of Loubino, and would have compelled the French to 
 advance slowly instead of in hot pursuit — has been justified 
 to a great extent. From all I hear, the invading army has 
 already suffered very great losses from fever and hardship, the 
 effect of the weather, and from the number of stragglers who 
 have been cut off and killed by the peasantry. Their trans- 
 port has especially suffered, vast numbers of their horses 
 having died ; and in a campaign like this, transport is every- 
 thing. In the various fights that have taken place since they 
 entered Russia, they have probably suffered a heavier loss 
 than the Russians, as the latter have always fought on the 
 defensive ; and the French loss has fallen on Napoleon's best 
 troops, while the Russian army is all equally good. 
 
 " Lastly, although the Russians are discontented at their 
 continued retreat, their 7norale does not seem to have suffered 
 in any way, and it is probable that the long marches, the ina- 
 bility to bring on a general engagement, the distance from 
 home, and the uncertainty about the future has told heavily 
 upon that of the French, who are vastly more susceptible to 
 matters of this kind than are the Russians. You will remain 
 with the headquarter staff, and I wish you, while I am away, 
 to obtain accurate details of the movements of the various 
 columns, and to write a full report every evening of the march 
 and of all matters of interest. I do not want you to forward 
 
WITH THE RUSSIAN ARMY 211 
 
 these to me, but to keep them for future reference. I hope to 
 rejoin before any further fighting takes place." 
 
 Sir Robert reached St. Petersburg on the 24th of August, 
 but it was not until ten days later that he saw the Emperor, 
 who had gone with Lord Cathcart, the British Ambassador, 
 to meet the King of Sweden, and to conclude the negotiations 
 that secured his co-operation. The information that General 
 Wilson had brought of the admirable behaviour of the army 
 did much to allay the alarm that prevailed in St. Petersburg / 
 and, after dining with the Emperor on the evening of the ar- 
 rival of the latter at his capital, he had a long private inter- 
 view with him. The Emperor had already been made ac- 
 quainted with the dissatisfaction in the army, and Marshal 
 Kutusow had been sent to replace General Barclay, and he asked 
 Sir Robert whether he thought the new commander would be 
 able to restore subordination and confidence in the army. Sir 
 Robert replied that he had met the marshal, and had informed 
 him of the exact state of things there : that the latter had con- 
 jured him to acquaint the Emperor with the fullest details, and 
 in accordance with that request, and in order to prevent his 
 Majesty having the pain of hearing it from the lips of one of 
 his own subjects — who perhaps would be less able to convince 
 him of the intense feeling of loyalty to himself that still pre- 
 vailed — he had consented to be the mouthpiece of the generals 
 of the army. He then reported to him the interviews that he 
 had had with the general officers, suppressing the names of those 
 present, and the message they had desired him to deliver. 
 
 The Emperor was greatly moved. However, the manner in 
 which the general fulfilled the mission with which he was 
 charged, and his assurances that the act of seeming insubordi- 
 nation and defiance of the imperial authority was in no way 
 directed against him, but against his advisers, whom they be- 
 lieved to be acting in the interests of Napoleon, had their 
 effect, and the Emperor promised to give the matter every con- 
 
212 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 sideration, and to answer him definitely on the following day. 
 At the next meeting he gave Sir Robert his authority to assure 
 the army of his determination to continue the war against 
 Napoleon while a Frenchman remained in arms on Russian 
 soil, and that, if the worst came to the worst, he would re- 
 move his family far into the interior, and make any sacrifice 
 rather than break that engagement. At the same time, while 
 he could not submit to dictation in the matter of his minis- 
 ters, he could assure them that these should in no way influence 
 him to break this promise. 
 
 During Sir Robert's stay in St. Petersburg the Emperor 
 took every occasion to show him marked favour, as if anxious 
 to assure those whose views Sir Robert had represented, that 
 he was in no way displeased with them for the attitude they 
 had assumed ; and upon his leaving to rejoin the army the 
 Emperor directed him to repeat in the most formal manner 
 his declaration that he would not enter into or permit any 
 negotiations with Napoleon ; and added that he would sooner 
 let his beard grow to his waist, and eat potatoes in Siberia. 
 
 Frank had been active during the battle of Loubino. Sir 
 Robert Wilson had taken up his post with TouchkorT during 
 the action which was so desperately fought to cover the retreat 
 of the main army, and Frank had acted as aide-de-camp, and, 
 having carried orders to various parts of the field, had excel- 
 lent opportunities of seeing the whole of the battle ; and the 
 Russian general in making his report of the engagement had 
 mentioned his name among those who had rendered distin- 
 guished services. His horse had been shot under him, his 
 cap had been carried away by a bullet, and he had received a 
 slight flesh wound in his leg. Although this was of small 
 consequence, it had caused the insertion of his name among 
 those of the officers wounded in the battle. He was to see no 
 more fighting for a time ; for, although the army of Wittgen- 
 stein fought two or three severe actions with the divisions of 
 
BORODINO 213 
 
 St. Cyr and Oudinot, the main army fell back without again 
 fighting until it took up the position that Marshal Kutusow 
 had selected for giving battle. 
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 BORODINO 
 
 BARBAROUSLY as the French army behaved on its ad- 
 vance to Smolensk, things were even worse as they left 
 the ruined town behind them and resumed their journey 
 towards Moscow. It seemed that the hatred with which they 
 were regarded by the Russian peasantry was now even more 
 than reciprocated. The destruction they committed was 
 wanton and wholesale ; the villages, and even the towns, 
 were burnt down, and the whole country made desolate. It 
 was nothing to them that by so doing they added enormously 
 to the difficulties of their own commissariat ; nothing that 
 they were destroying the places where they might otherwise 
 have found shelter on their return. They seemed to destroy 
 simply for the sake of destruction, and to be animated by a 
 burning feeling of hatred for the country they had invaded. 
 
 Since the days of the thirty years' war in Germany, never 
 had war been carried on in Europe so mercilessly and so de- 
 structively. As he saw the ruined homes or passed the bodies 
 of peasants wantonly shot down, Julian Wyatt regretted bit- 
 terly that he had not been content to remain a prisoner at 
 Verdun. Battles he had expected ; but this destruction of 
 property, this warring upon peaceful inhabitants, filled him 
 with horror ; his high spirits left him, and he no longer 
 laughed and jested on the march, but kept on the way in the 
 same gloomy silence that reigned among the greater part of 
 his companions. When half way to Moscow a fresh cause of 
 
214 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 uneasiness manifested itself. The Russians no longer left 
 their towns and villages for the French to plunder and burn, 
 but, as they retreated, themselves applied fire to all the houses, 
 with a thoroughness and method which showed that this was 
 not the work of stragglers or camp-followers, but that it was 
 the result of a settled plan. At last news came that the Rus- 
 sians had resolved to fight a pitched battle at Borodino, and 
 the spirits of the army at once rose. 
 
 Napoleon halted them for two days, in order that they might 
 rest and receive provisions from the baggage trains following. 
 On the 4th of September they marched forward as before, in 
 three columns, preceded by Murat's cavalry, which brushed 
 aside the hordes of Cossack horse. Half-way to Gratz, a Rus- 
 sian division stoutly held for some time a height up which the 
 road wound, but after some sharp fighting was forced to re- 
 treat. 
 
 The Russian position at Borodino was a strong one. The 
 right was covered by the rivulet of Kolocza, which was every- 
 where fordable, but ran through a deep ravine. Borodino, a 
 village on the banks of this rivulet, formed their centre, and 
 their left was posted upon steeply rising ground, almost at right 
 angles with their right. Borodino itself — which lay on the 
 northern side of the Kolocza — was not intended to be held in 
 force. The rivulet fell into the river Moskwa half a mile be- 
 yond Borodino. Field-works had been thrown up at several 
 points, and near the centre were two strong redoubts com- 
 manding Borodino and the high-road. Other strong works 
 had been erected at important points. 
 
 Considerably in advance of the general line of the position 
 a strong work had been erected ; this it was necessary to take 
 before the main position could be attacked, and at two in the 
 afternoon of the 5 th, Napoleon directed an assault to be made 
 upon this redoubt. It was obstinately held by the Russians. 
 They were several times driven out. but, as often, reinforce- 
 

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BORODINO 215 
 
 ments came up, and it was captured by them ; and finally, 
 after holding it until nightfall, they fell back to their main 
 position, the loss having been heavy on both sides. The next 
 day was spent by Xapoleon in reconnoitring the Russian posi- 
 tion and deciding the plan of attack. Finally he determined 
 to make a strong demonstration against the village of Borodino, 
 and, under cover of this, to launch his whole army upon the 
 Russian left wing. On the morning of the 7th, Xapoleon 
 posted himself on an eminence near the village of Chewar- 
 dino. Near the spot, earthworks were thrown up during the 
 night for the protection of three batteries, each of twenty-four 
 guns. Davoust and Xey were to make a direct attack on the 
 enemy's left. Poniatowski was to endeavour to march through 
 the woods and gain the rear of the Russian position. The rest 
 of the force were to keep the Russian centre and right in check. 
 The Imperial Guard formed the reserve. 
 
 On the Russian side Bagration's army formed the left, Ben- 
 ingsen's the centre, and Barclay's the right. The French force 
 numbered about 150,000, the Russian from So, 000 to 90,000. 
 The French had a thousand guns, the Russians 640. At six in 
 the morning of the 7th of September the French batteries 
 opened fire along the whole line, and the Russians at once re- 
 plied. The roar of artillery was incessant, and ere long the 
 rattle of musketry swelled the din, as Davoust launched the 
 division of Desaix, and Xey that of Campans, against three 
 small redoubts in front of the Russian position. Impetuous as 
 was the assault, the Russians received it with unflinching: cour- 
 age ; two of the Russian generals were wounded, but the as- 
 sault was repulsed. Ney moved up another division, and after 
 severe fighting the redoubts were carried. They were held, 
 however, but a short time, for Woronzow led forward his 
 grenadiers in solid squares, and, supporting the advance bv a 
 charge of cavalry, recaptured them, and drove the French back 
 across the ravine in front of them. 
 
216 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 There was now a short pause in the attack, but the roar of 
 artillery and musketry continued unbroken. Poniatowski now 
 emerged from the wood, and fell upon the Russian left rear, 
 capturing the village of Outitska. Touchkoff, a brother of 
 the general who had been captured at Loubino, who com- 
 manded here, fell back to a height that dominated the village 
 and the ground beyond it, and maintained himself until mid- 
 day. On the French left, where the Viceroy Beauharnois 
 commanded, the advance was stubbornly opposed, and the 
 French artillery was several times silenced by the guns on the 
 eminence. At last, however, the Russians were driven across 
 the rivulet, and the French occupied Borodino. Leaving a 
 division of infantry to protect his rear, the Viceroy crossed 
 the stream and advanced against a great battery in front of 
 the village of Gorki. Davoust and Ney remained motionless 
 until nine o'clock, as Napoleon would not forward the rein- 
 forcements they had asked for until he learned that Poniatow- 
 ski had come into action, and that the Viceroy had crossed 
 the stream and was moving to the attack of the Russian centre. 
 Now, reinforced by the division of Friant, they moved for- 
 ward. 
 
 For an hour the Russians held their advanced works, and 
 then were forced to fall back ; and the French, following up 
 their advantage, crossed a ravine and occupied the village of 
 Semianotsky, which had been partially destroyed on the pre- 
 vious day by the Russians, so that if captured it would afford 
 no cover to the French. It was but for a short time that the 
 latter held it. Coming up at the head of his grenadiers, 
 Touchkoff drove them out, recrossed the ravine, and recapt- 
 ured the advance works they had before so obstinately con- 
 tested. In turn the French retook the three redoubts ; but, 
 again, a Russian division coming up wrested the position from 
 them, and replanted their flag there. Napoleon, seeing that 
 no impression could be made on the Russian left, now sent 
 
BORODINO 
 
 217 
 
 orders to the Viceroy to carry the great redoubt before Gorki. 
 In spite of the difficulties presented by the broken ground, the 
 three French divisions pressed forward with the greatest gal- 
 lantry, and, heedless of the storm of grape poured upon them, 
 stormed the redoubt. But its late defenders, reinforced by 
 some battalions from Doctorow's corps, dashed forward to 
 recover the position, and fell with such fury upon the French 
 that the regiment that had entered the redoubt was all but 
 annihilated, and the position regained, while at the same mo- 
 ment two regiments of Russian cavalry fell upon reinforce- 
 ments pressing forward to aid the defenders, and threw them 
 into disorder. 
 
 The Viceroy now opened fire on the redoubt with all his 
 artillery, inflicting such loss upon the defenders that it was 
 soon necessary to relieve them with a fresh division. Ney, 
 finding it impossible to carry and hold the three redoubts in 
 front of him, directed Junot to endeavour to force his way 
 between the main Russian left and Touchkoff's division ; but 
 he was met by Prince Eugene's Russian corps, which brought 
 his advance to a standstill. Junot's presence there, however, 
 acted as a support to Poniatowski, who, covered by the fire of 
 forty pieces of cannon, advanced against Touchkoffs division. 
 For a time he gained ground, but the Russian general, bring- 
 ing up all his troops, assumed the offensive, and, driving 
 Poniatowski back', recovered the lost ground. The brave 
 Russian leader, however, was mortally wounded in the fight. 
 It was now twelve o'clock, and so far the French had gained 
 no advantage. Napoleon felt the necessity for a decisive 
 effort, and concentrating his whole force, and posting 400 
 guns to cover the advance, sent it forward against the Russian 
 left. 
 
 The Russians, perceiving the magnitude of the movement, 
 despatched large reinforcements to the defenders, and at the 
 same time, to effect a diversion, sent the greater portion of 
 
218 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 their cavalry round to menace the French rear at Borodino. 
 Three hundred Russian guns opposed the four hundred of the 
 French, and amidst the tremendous roar of the guns, the great 
 mass of French infantry hurled themselves upon the Russians. 
 For a time no impression could be made, so sternly and fiercely 
 did the Russians fight, but Bagration, their commander, with 
 several other generals, were badly wounded and forced to re- 
 tire. Konownitsyn assumed the command, but the loss of the 
 general, in whom they placed implicit confidence, told upon 
 the spirits of his troops, and Konownitsyn was forced to 
 abandon the three redoubts, and to take up a new position 
 behind Semianotsky, where he re-established his batteries and 
 checked the progress of the enemy. 
 
 A portion of the French cavalry now made a desperate at- 
 tempt to break through the Russian left, but two regiments of 
 the Imperial Guard, throwing themselves into squares, main- 
 tained their position until five regiments of Russian cuirassiers 
 came up and forced their assailants back, At this critical 
 moment the great mass of Russian cavalry that had been sent 
 round to attack the Viceroy fell upon his rear, drove his cav- 
 alry into the village with great loss, and pressed the infantry 
 so hard that the Viceroy himself had to take refuge in one of 
 his squares. Having thus succeeded in distracting the enemy's 
 attention, arresting his tide of battle, and giving time to the 
 Russians to reform and plant their batteries afresh, the Rus- 
 sian cavalry withdrew. The Viceroy recrossed the stream 
 again, and prepared to make another attack upon the great 
 bastion he had before captured, and the whole line again 
 advanced. While the Viceroy attacked the great redoubt in 
 front, Murat sent a division of his cavalry round to fall upon 
 its rear, and, although swept by artillery and infantry fire, 
 the brave horsemen carried out their object, although almost 
 annihilated by the fire of the defenders of the redoubt. 
 
 The French infantry took advantage of the attention of the 
 
BORODINO 219 
 
 defenders being diverted by this attack, and with a rush 
 stormed the work ; the four Russian regiments who held it 
 fought to the last, refusing all offers of quarter, and main- 
 taining a hand-to-hand conflict until annihilated. The 
 Russian artillery, in the works round Gorki, swept the re- 
 doubt with their fire, and under its cover the infantry made 
 repeated but vain attacks to recapture it, for their desperate 
 bravery was unavailing against the tremendous artillery fire 
 concentrated upon them, while the French on their part were 
 unable to take advantage of the position they had gained. 
 Napoleon, indeed, would have launched his troops against the 
 works round Gorki, but his generals represented to him that 
 the losses had already been so enormous, that it was doubtful 
 whether he could possibly succeed, and if he did so, it could 
 only be with such further loss as would cripple the army alto- 
 gether. 
 
 At three o'clock Napoleon, whose whole army, with the ex- 
 ception of the Imperial Guard, had been engaged, felt that 
 nothing further could be done that day, and ordered the 
 battle to cease. He had gained the three redoubts on the 
 Russians' left and the great redoubt captured by the Viceroy, 
 but these were really only advanced works, and the main 
 position of the Russians still remained entirely intact. At 
 night the French retired from the positions they had won, 
 to those they had occupied before the battle begun, retaining 
 possession only of the village of Borodino. The loss of the 
 combatants during the two days' fighting had been nearly 
 equal, no less than 40,000 men having been killed on each 
 side, a number exceeding that of any other battle in modern 
 times. Napoleon expected that the Russians would again 
 give battle next morning, but Kutusow, contrary to the 
 opinion of most of his generals, decided on falling back. 
 Beningsen, one of his best officers, strongly urged him to 
 take up a position at Kalouga, some seventy miles to the 
 
220 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 south of Moscow. The position was a very strong one. 
 Napoleon could not advance against Moscow, which was in a 
 position to offer a long and determined resistance, until he 
 had driven off the Russian army. At Kalouga they could at 
 any moment advance on to his line of communication, cut 
 off all his supplies, and isolate him from France. 
 
 The advice was excellent, but Kutusow, who was even more 
 unfitted than Barclay for the post of commander-in-chief, re- 
 fused to adopt this course, and fell back towards Moscow, fol- 
 lowed by the French. The sufferings of the latter had already 
 become severe — the nights were getting very cold, the scarcity 
 of food was considerable, the greater part of the army was al- 
 ready subsisting on horse-flesh, the warm clothing, which was 
 becoming more and more necessary, was far in the rear, their 
 shoes were worn out, and it was only the thought that they 
 would have a long period of rest and comfort in Moscow, that 
 animated them to press forward along the fifty miles of road 
 between Borodino and that city. 
 
 Julian had passed through the terrible battle unscathed. It 
 seemed to him, when fighting had ceased for the day, that it 
 was almost miraculous a single man should have survived that 
 storm of fire. While the fight had actually been going on, the 
 excitement and the ardour of battle had rendered him almost 
 insensible to the danger. With the soldiers as with their gen- 
 erals the capture of the three small redoubts became, as the day 
 went on, a matter on which every thought was bent, every ener- 
 gy concentrated ; it was no longer a battle between French and 
 Russians, but a struggle in which each man felt that his per- 
 sonal honour was concerned. Each time that, with loud cheer- 
 ing, they stormed the blood-stained works, they felt the pride 
 of victory ; each time that, foot by foot, they were again 
 forced backwards, there was rage in every heart and a fierce 
 determination to return and conquer. 
 
 In such a struggle as this, when men's passions are once in- 
 
BORODINO 221 
 
 volved, death loses its terror; thickly as comrades may fall 
 around, those who are still erect heed not the gaps, but with 
 eyes fixed on the enemy in front of him, with lips set tightly 
 together, with head bent somewhat down as men who struggle 
 through a storm of rain, each man presses on until a shot strikes 
 him, or he reaches the goal he aims at. At such a time the 
 fire slackens, for each man strives to decide the struggle, with 
 bayonet or clubbed musket. Four times did Julian's regiment 
 climb the side of the ravine in front of the redoubts, four 
 times were they hurled back again with ever-decreasing num- 
 bers, and when at last they found themselves, as the fire slack- 
 ened, masters of the position, the men looked at each other as 
 if waking from some terrible dream, filled with surprise that 
 they were still alive and breathing, and faint and trembling, 
 now that the exertion was over and the tremendous strain re- 
 laxed. When they had time to look round, they saw that 
 but one-fourth of those who had, some hours before, advanced 
 to the attack of the redoubt of Chewardino remained. The 
 ground around the little earthworks was piled thickly with 
 dead Frenchmen and Russians, and ploughed up by the iron 
 storm that had for eight hours swept across it. Dismounted 
 guns, ammunition boxes, muskets, and accoutrements were 
 scattered everywhere. Even the veterans of a hundred battles 
 had never witnessed such a scene, had never gone through so 
 prolonged and terrible a struggle. Men were differently af- 
 fected, some shook a comrade's hand with silent pressure, some 
 stood gazing sternly and fixedly at the lines where the enemy 
 still stood unconquered, and tears fell down many a bronzed 
 and battle-worn face ; some sobbed like children, exhausted 
 by their emotions rather than their labours. 
 
 The loss of the officers had been prodigious. Eight gene- 
 rals were killed and thirty wounded, and nearly two thousand 
 officers. The colonel and majors of Julian's regiment had 
 fallen, and a captain, who was but sixth on the list when the 
 
222 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 battle began, now commanded. Between three o'clock and 
 dusk the men were engaged in binding up each other's wounds, 
 eating what food they carried in their haversacks, and search- 
 ing for more in those of the fallen. Few words were spoken, 
 and even when the order came to evacuate the position and 
 retire to the ground they had left that morning, there was not 
 a murmur ; for the time no one seemed to care what happened, 
 or what became of him. Once on the ground where they were 
 to bivouac, fresh life was infused into their veins. The chill 
 evening air braced up their nerves ; great fires were lighted 
 with brushwood, broken cartridge-boxes, and the fragments 
 of gun-carriages and waggons ; and water was brought up from 
 the stream. Horse-flesh was soon being roasted, and as hunger 
 and thirst were appeased, the buzz of conversation rose round 
 the fires, and the minds as well as the tongues of men seemed 
 to thaw from their torpor. 
 
 "Well, comrade, so you too have gone through it without 
 a scratch," Julian's friend, the sergeant, said to him. ' ' Well, 
 you will never see such a fight again if you grow gray in the 
 service. Where are those who scoffed at the Russians now ? 
 They can fight, these men. It was a battle of giants. No one 
 could have done more than we did, and yet they did as much ; 
 but to-morrow we shall win." 
 
 "What! do you think we shall fight again to-mor- 
 row ? ' ' 
 
 " That is for the Russians to say, not for us. If they stand 
 we must fight them again. It is a matter of life and death for 
 us to get to Moscow. We shall win to-morrow, for Napoleon 
 will have to bring up the Imperial Guard, 20,000 of his best 
 troops, and the Russians put their last man into the line of 
 battle to-day, and, never fear, we shall win. But I own I 
 have had enough of it. Never before have I hoped that the 
 enemy in front of us would go off without a battle, but I do 
 so now. We want rest and quiet. When spring comes we 
 
BORODINO 223 
 
 will fight them again as often as they like, but until then I for 
 one do not wish to hear a gun fired." 
 
 " I am sure I do not, sergeant," Julian agreed; "and I 
 only hope that we shall get peace and quiet when we reach 
 Moscow. ' ' 
 
 " Oh, the Russians will be sure to send in to ask for terms 
 of peace as soon as we get there," the sergeant said confi- 
 dently. 
 
 " I hope so, but I have great doubts, sergeant. When 
 people are ready to burn their homes rather than that we should 
 occupy them, to desert all that they have and to wander away 
 they know not where, when they will fight as they fought to- 
 day, I have great doubts whether they will talk of surrender. 
 They can bring up fresh troops long before we can. They 
 will have no lack of provisions. Their country is so vast that 
 they know that at most we can hold but a small portion of it. 
 It seems to me that it is not of surrender they will be think- 
 ing, but of bringing up fresh troops from every part of their 
 empire, of drilling and organizing and preparing for the next 
 campaign. I cannot help thinking of what would happen to 
 us if they burnt Moscow, as they have burned half a dozen 
 towns already." 
 
 " Xo people ever made such a sacrifice. What, burn the 
 city they consider sacred ! — the old capital every Russian 
 thinks of with pride ! It never can be, but if they should 
 do so, all I can say is, God help us all. Few of us would ever 
 go back to France." 
 
 " So it seems to me, sergeant. I have been thinking of it 
 lately, and after the way in which the Russians came on, 
 careless of life, under the fire of our cannon to-day, I can be- 
 lieve them to be capable of anything." 
 
 The next morning it was found that the Russian lines were 
 deserted. So the French army set forward again on its march, 
 and on the morning of the 14th arrived within sight of Mos- 
 
224 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 cow. Kutusow had at one time seemed disposed to fight 
 another battle in front of the city, and had given a solemn 
 promise to its governor that he should have three days' notice 
 of any change in his determination, and so allow time for him 
 to carry out his intention to evacuate the town, when the 
 municipal authorities were, methodically and officially, to pro- 
 ceed to destroy the whole city by fire. This promise Kutu- 
 sow broke without giving any notice whatever. On the 13th, 
 at a council of war, he overruled the objections of his generals, 
 and determined to retreat, his arguments being that the ground 
 was unsuited for defensive operations ; that the defeat of the 
 one disciplined army would endanger the final success of the 
 war ; and that it was for Russia, not for any one city, they 
 were fighting. 
 
 The argument was not without reason ; but, if he had re- 
 solved not to fight again, he should have accepted the advice 
 to take up a position on Napoleon's flank. Had he done 
 this, the French could have made no advance, and Moscow 
 would have been saved from destruction. 
 
 As the army began its passage through the capital the 
 exodus of the inhabitants commenced. Already the wealthier 
 classes had removed their effects, and the merchants the greater 
 part of their goods. Now the whole population poured out 
 into the streets, and thousands of carts and vehicles of all de- 
 scriptions, packed closely with household furniture, goods, 
 and effects of all kinds, moved towards the gates. Out of 
 200,000 inhabitants 180,000 left the city, with 65,000 vehi- 
 cles of every kind. In addition to these were enormous 
 quantities of fugitives from every town and village west of 
 Smolensk, who had hitherto accompanied the army, moving 
 through the fields and lanes, so as to leave the roads unen- 
 cumbered for the passage of the guns and trains. 
 
 Every Russian peasant possesses a roughly-made cart on two 
 or four wheels, and as their belongings were very scanty, 
 
BORODINO 225 
 
 these, as a rule, sufficed to hold all their property. The 
 greater portion of the fugitives had passed out of the city at 
 two o'clock in the afternoon, and shortly afterwards Murat 
 with his cavalry passed across the river by a ford and entered 
 the town. A few desperate men left behind opened fire, but 
 were speedily overpowered and killed, but a number of citi- 
 zens, mad with fury, rushed so furiously upon Murat and his 
 staff, that he was obliged to open fire upon them with a couple 
 of light guns. 
 
 At three o'clock Napoleon arrived with his guards, expect- 
 ing to be met on his arrival by the authorities of the city 
 with assurances of their submission and prayers for clemency 
 for the population. He was astounded with the silence that 
 reigned everywhere, and at hearing that Moscow had been 
 evacuated by the population. Full of gloomy anticipations 
 he proceeded to the house Murat had selected for him. Strict 
 orders were issued against pillage, and the army bivouacked 
 outside the city. The troops, however, were not to be re- 
 strained, and as soon as it was dark stole away and entered 
 the town in large numbers and began the work of pillage. 
 Scarcely had they entered when in various quarters fires broke 
 out suddenly. The bazaar, with its ten thousand shops, the 
 crown magazines of forage, wines, brandy, military stores, 
 and gunpowder were speedily wrapped in flames. There were 
 no means of combating the fire, for every bucket in the town 
 had been removed by the orders of the governor. 
 
 Many a tale of strange experience in all parts of Europe was 
 told around the camp-fires of the grenadiers of the Rhone that 
 evening. Several of the younger men had been among those 
 who had gone into Moscow in search of plunder. They had 
 returned laden with goods of all sorts, and but few without a 
 keg of spirits. The colonel had foreseen this, and had called 
 the sergeants together. 
 
 " My braves/' he said, "lam not going to punish anyone 
 
22G THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 for breaking orders to-night. If I had been carrying a musket 
 myself I have no doubt that I should have been one of those 
 to have gone into the town. After such a inarch as we have 
 had here, it is only natural that men should think that they are 
 entitled to some fun ; but there must be no drunkenness. I 
 myself shall be at the quarter-guard, and six of you will be there 
 Avith me. Every bottle of spirits brought in is to be confis- 
 cated. You will take it in your charge, and serve out a good 
 ration to every man in the regiment, so that those who have 
 done their duty and remained in camp shall fare as well as those 
 who have broken out. I have no doubt there will be sufficient 
 brought in for all. What remains over, you can serve out as a 
 ration to-morrow. It is good to be merry, but it is not good 
 to be drunk. The grenadiers have done their share of fighting 
 and deserve their share of plunder, but do not let pleasure go 
 beyond the line of duty. Give a good ration to each man, 
 enough to enjoy the evening, and to celebrate our capture of 
 Moscow, but not enough to make them noisy. It is like 
 enough that the general will be round to-night to see how 
 things are going on, and I should wish him to see us enjoying 
 ourselves reasonably. Anything else that is brought in, with 
 the exception of spirits, can be kept by the men, unless of 
 course there is a general order issued that all plunder is to be 
 given up." 
 
 As fully half the regiment were away, and as every man 
 brought back one or more bottles or kegs of spirits, the amount 
 collected at the quarter-guard was very considerable. Those 
 of the men who, on coming back, showed any signs of in- 
 toxication were not allowed a share, but half a litre of spirits was 
 served out to every other man in the regiment ; and although a 
 few of those who had brought it in grumbled, the colonel's de- 
 cision gave general satisfaction, and there were merry groups 
 round the bivouac fires. 
 
 " I have marched into a good many capitals," the old ser- 
 
BORODINO 227 
 
 geant said. " I was with the first company that entered 
 Madrid. I could never make out the Spaniards. At one time 
 they are ready to wave their hats and shout " Viva ! " till they 
 are hoarse. At another, cutting your throat is too good for 
 you. One town will open its gates and treat you as their 
 dearest friends, the next will fight like fiends and not give in 
 till you have carried the last house at the point of the bayonet. 
 I was fond of a glass in those days ; I am fond of it now, but 
 I have gained wit enough to know when it is good to drink. 
 I had a sharp lesson, and I took it to heart." 
 
 "Tell us about it, comrade," Julian said. 
 
 " Well it was after Talavera. We had fought a hard battle 
 there with the English, and found them rough customers. 
 The Spaniards bolted like sheep. As soldiers, they are the 
 most contemptible curs in the world. They fought well 
 enough in the mountains under their own leaders, but as 
 soldiers, why, our regiment would thrash an army of 15,000 
 of them. The English were on the top of the hill — at least at 
 the beginning there were a few of them up there, and we thought 
 that it would be an easy job to drive them off, but more came 
 up, and do what we would, we could not manage it ; so it 
 ended with something like a drawn battle. We claimed the vic- 
 tory, because they fell back the next morning, and they claimed 
 it because they had repulsed all our attacks. However, we 
 reaped the benefit ; they really fell back, because those rascally 
 Spaniards they were fighting for, starved them ; and, besides 
 that, we had two other divisions marching to interpose between 
 them and Portugal, and that old fox Wellington saw that un- 
 less he went off as fast as he could, he would be caught in a 
 trap. 
 
 " They got a good start of us, but we followed, and three 
 nights after Talavera two companies of us were quartered for 
 the night in the village right out on the flank of the line we 
 were following. Well, I got hold of a skin of as good wine as 
 
228 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 ever I drank. Two or three of us stole out to enjoy it quiet- 
 ly and comfortably, and so thoroughly did we do it, that I 
 suppose I somehow mistook my way back to my quarters, 
 wandered aside, and then lay down to sleep. I must have 
 slept soundly, for I heard neither bugle nor drum. When I 
 awoke the sun was high, and there was a group of ugly-look- 
 ing Spaniards standing near me. I tried to jump up on to my 
 feet, but found that my arms and legs were both tied. How- 
 ever, I managed to sit up and looked round. Not a sign of 
 our uniform was there to be seen ; but a cloud of dust rising 
 from the plain, maybe ten miles away, showed where the 
 army had gone. 
 
 " Well, I gave it up at once. A single French soldier had 
 never found mercy at the hands of the Spaniards, and I only 
 wondered that they had not cut my throat at once, instead of 
 taking the trouble to fasten me up. I knew enough of their 
 language to get along with, and, putting as bold a face as I 
 could on it, I asked them what they had tied me up for. 
 They laughed in an unpleasant sort of way, and then went 
 away. ' Let me have a drink of water,' I said, for my throat 
 was nearly as dry as a furnace. They paid no attention, and 
 till sunset left me there in the full heat of the sun. By the 
 time they came back again I was half mad with thirst. I sup- 
 posed then, as I have supposed ever since, that they did not cut 
 my throat at once, because they were afraid that some other 
 detachment might come along, and that if they found my body 
 or a pool of blood, they would, as like as not, burn the village 
 over their heads. Anyhow at sunset four men came, cut the 
 ropes from my feet, and told me to follow them. I said that 
 I would follow willingly enough if they would give me a drink 
 of water first, but that if they didn't they might shoot me if 
 they liked, but not a step would I walk. 
 
 " They tried kicking and punching me with their guns, but 
 finding that I was obstinate, one of them called to a woman 
 
BORODINO 
 
 229 
 
 down by the village to bring some water. I drank pretty 
 near a bucketful, and then said I was ready to go on. We 
 went up the hill and then on some ten miles to a village stand- 
 ing in the heart of a wild country. Here I was tied to a post. 
 Two of them went away and returned in a few minutes with 
 a man they called El Chico. I felt before that I had not 
 much chance, but I knew now that I had none at all, for the 
 name was well enough known to us as that of one of the most 
 savage of the guerilla leaders. He abused me for ten minutes, 
 and told me that I should be burnt alive next morning, in re- 
 venge for some misconduct or other of a scouting party of ours. 
 I pointed out that as I was not one of that scouting party it was 
 unfair that I should be punished for their misdeeds ; but, of 
 course, it was of no use arguing with a ruffian like that, so he 
 went away, leaving me to my reflections. 
 
 " I stood all night with my back to that post. Two fellows 
 with muskets kept guard over me, but even if they hadn't 
 done so I could not have got away, for I was so tightly bound 
 that my limbs were numbed, and the cords felt as if they were 
 red hot. In the morning a number of women brought up fag- 
 gots. El Chico himself superintended their arrangement, tak- 
 ing care that they were placed in a large enough circle round 
 me that the flames would not touch me; so that, in fact, I 
 should be slowly roasted instead of burned. I looked about in 
 the vague hope one always has that something might occur to 
 save me, and my heart gave a jump when I saw a large body 
 of men coming rapidly down a slope on the other side of the 
 village. They were not our men, I was sure, but I could not 
 see who they were ; anyhow there might be someone among 
 them who would interpose to save me from this villain. 
 
 " Everyone round me was too interested in what was going 
 on to notice anything else ; and you may be sure that I did 
 not look that way again, for I knew well enough that if the 
 guerilla had noticed them he would shoot me at once rather 
 
230 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 than run any risk of being baulked of his vengeance. So it 
 was not until they began to enter the village that anyone no- 
 ticed the new arrivals. A mounted officer, followed by four 
 troopers, dashed down ahead and rode up to us, scattering the 
 crowd right and left. I saw at once by his uniform that he 
 was an English officer, and knew that I was saved. I fancy I 
 must have been weak, for I had had nothing to eat the day 
 before, and had been tied up all night. For a time I think I 
 really fainted. When I recovered some soldiers had cut my 
 bonds, and one was pouring some spirits down my throat. 
 The English officer was giving it hot to El Chico. 
 
 " ' You dog ! ' he said, ' it is you, and the fellows like you, 
 who bring discredit on your country. You run like sheep 
 when you see a French force under arms. You behave like 
 inhuman monsters when, by chance, a single man falls into 
 your power. I have half a mind to put you against that wall 
 there and have you shot ; or, what would meet your deserts 
 better, hang you to yonder tree. Don't finger that pistol, you 
 scoundrel, or I will blow your brains out. Be off with you, 
 and thank your stars I did not arrive ten minutes later ; for if 
 I had come too late to save this poor fellow's life, I swear to 
 you that I would have hung you like a dog. Who is the head 
 man of the village ? ' 
 
 A man stepped forward. 
 
 " 'What do you mean, sir,' said the officer sternly, 'by 
 permitting this villain to use your village for his atrocities? 
 As far as I can see you are all as bad as he is, and I have a 
 good mind to burn the whole place over your ears. As it is, 
 I fine the village 800 gallons of wine, and 4000 pounds of 
 flour, and 10 bullocks. See that it is all forthcoming in a 
 quarter of an hour, or I shall set my men to help themselves. 
 Not a word ! Do as you are ordered ! ' 
 
 "Then he dismounted, and was coming to me, when his 
 eye fell on El Chico. ' Sergeant,' he said to a non-commis- 
 
BORODINO 231 
 
 sioned officer, ' take four men and march that fellow well out- 
 side the village, and then stand and watch him ; and see that 
 he goes on, and if he doesn't, shoot him.' Then he came 
 over to me. ' It is well that I arrived in time, my lad,' he 
 said in French. ' How did you get into this scrape ? ' 
 
 " ' It was wine did it, sir. I drank too much at our bivouac 
 in a village down the plain, and did not hear the bugles in the 
 morning, and got left behind. When I awoke they had tied 
 me up, and they kept me lying in the sun all day, not giving 
 me as much as a drop of water. At sunset they marched me 
 up here and tied me to that post, and El Chico told me that 
 I should be roasted in the morning ; and so it certainly would 
 have been if you had not come up. 
 
 " I learned that he was a Colonel Trant. He commanded 
 a force of Portuguese, and was a daring partizan leader, and 
 gave us a great deal of trouble. I was never more pleased 
 than I was at seeing the disgust of those villagers as they paid 
 the fine imposed on them, and I should imagine that when El 
 Chico paid his next visit there, his reception would not be a 
 cordial one. The brigade had been marching all night, and 
 halted for six hours, and the bullocks, flour, and wine fur- 
 nished them with a good meal all round. It was an hour or 
 two before I was able to stand, but after a while the circula- 
 tion got right, and I was able to accompany them when they 
 marched. They did not know until I told them that our force 
 had passed on ahead of them in pursuit of Wellington. I 
 made no secret of that, for they would have heard it from the 
 first peasant they met. When we started, the colonel asked 
 me what I meant to do. 
 
 " ' I don't want to keep you prisoner, my man,' he said. 
 ' In the first place, I don't wish to be troubled with looking 
 after you ; and in the second, you cannot be considered as a 
 prisoner of war, for you were unarmed and helpless when we 
 found you. Now, we are going to march all night. I am not 
 
232 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 going to tell where we are going ; but I think it likely that we 
 shall pass within sight of your camp-fires, and in that case I 
 will leave you to make your way down to them, and will hand 
 you back your musket and pouch, which you may want if you 
 happen to fall in with a stray peasant or two.' 
 
 " I had noticed that they had taken along my musket and 
 pouch, which had been brought up by the fellows that guarded 
 me. They were strapped on to a mule's pack, of which they 
 had about a couple of dozen with them, but I little thought 
 the gun was going to be given me again. 
 
 " ' Monsieur le Colonel,' I said, ' I thank you from my 
 heart. I should have felt disgraced for ever if I were to go 
 into the camp unarmed. Now, I shall be able to go in with 
 my head erect, and take my punishment for having got drunk, 
 and failing to fall in at the assembly, like a man. On the hon- 
 our of a French soldier, I swear that I shall for ever regard the 
 English as the most generous of foes. ' 
 
 " It was noon when we started, and at nine o'clock at 
 night, as we were keeping along high up on the hills, I saw 
 our bivouac fires. A minute or two later, the colonel rode 
 up. 
 
 " ' There are your fires, lad,' he said. ' I don't fancy there 
 is any village between us and the spot where your people are 
 encamped. However, as there is a moon, you will be able to 
 avoid one if you come upon it ; and seeing you are armed, any 
 peasants you may meet will scarcely venture to attack you 
 within musket-shot of your own lines. Here is a note I have 
 written to the colonel of your regiment telling him of the 
 plight I found you in, and expressing a hope that what you 
 have gone through may be considered a sufficient punishment 
 for your indulgence in too much wine. Good-night. ' 
 
 " Well, I got down safely enough. Of course, when I got 
 to our line of pickets, I was challenged, and sent in a prisoner. 
 In the morning I was taken before the colonel. He rated me 
 
BORODINO 233 
 
 soundly. I can tell you. When he had finished, I saluted and 
 handed him the note. He read it through, and handed it to 
 the major. 
 
 " ' A letter from the enemy,' he said. ' It is from Trant, 
 who must be a good fellow as well as a brave soldier, as we 
 know to our cost. Tell me more about this, Rignold.' 
 " I told him. 
 
 " ' I agree with the Englishman,' he said. ' You have had 
 a lesson that will last you all your life. I wish I had means of 
 sending an answer back to this English colonel, thanking him 
 for his generous treatment. If he ever falls into our hands, I 
 will take care that this action of his shall be brought to the 
 general's notice. You can go.' 
 
 " Well, you see, that lesson has lasted all my life ; and I am 
 certainly not likely to forget it here, where the peasants are 
 every bit as savage as the Spaniards. But as for the English, 
 though I have fought with them half a dozen times since, and 
 have been beaten by them too, I have always had a liking for 
 them. That was one reason why I took to you, youngster, 
 from the first." 
 
 " They fight well, do they? " one of the other sergeants 
 asked. " I never was in Spain, but I thought from the bulle- 
 tins that we generally beat them." 
 
 " Bulletins ! " growled Rignold, " who can believe bulle- 
 tins? We have got so accustomed to writing bulletins of 
 victory that when we do get thrashed we can't write in any 
 other strain. Why, I tell you that we who have fought and 
 conquered in Italy and Austria, in Prussia and on the Rhine, 
 have learned to acknowledge among ourselves, that even our 
 best troops were none too good when it came to fighting the 
 English. I fought a dozen battles against them, and in not 
 one of them could I honestly say that we got the best of it. 
 Talavera was the nearest thing. But we were fairly thrashed 
 at Busaco and Salamanca. Albuera we claimed as a drawn 
 
234 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 fight, but such a drawn fight I never wish to share in again. 
 The day had been going well. The Spaniards of course 
 bolted, horse and foot. But at last matters cleared up, and 
 we advanced against them in heavy columns. Soult called up 
 all the reserves. We had captured six of their guns. Our 
 columns had crowned the hill they held, and we cheered 
 loudly, believing that the battle was won, when an English 
 brigade in line fell upon us. Our guns swept them with grape, 
 and that so terribly that for a time they fell into confusion. 
 But to our astonishment they rallied, and came down on us. 
 We were four to one, but we were in columns, and strove in 
 vain to form into line to meet them. Volley after volley 
 swept away the head of our formation. Soult exposed himself 
 recklessly. Officers and men ran forward, and we kept up a 
 fire that seemed as if it must destroy them, and yet on they 
 came, cheering incessantly. Never did I see such a thing. 
 Never did any other man there see such a thing. They came 
 down upon us with the bayonet. We strove, we fought like 
 madmen ; but it was in vain, and we were hurled down that 
 hill in utter confusion. 
 
 " We heard afterwards that of the 6000 British soldiers who 
 began the day, but 1800 stood unwounded at the end. They 
 had with them 24,000 Spaniards, but, of course, we never 
 counted them as anything, and they did their allies more 
 harm than good by throwing them into confusion in their 
 flight. We had 19,000 infantry, all veteran troops, mind 
 you, and yet we could not storm that hill, and drive those 
 6000 Englishmen off it. We lost over 8000 men, and that in 
 a battle that lasted only four hours. Our regiment suffered so 
 that it was reduced to a third of its number. We fought them 
 again at Salamanca, and got thrashed there ; soon after that 
 we were sent back to France to fill up our ranks again, and I 
 for one was glad indeed when we were sent to the Rhine and 
 not back to Spain ; for I tell you I never want to meet the 
 
EORODIXO 235 
 
 English again in battle. Borodino was bad enough, and for 
 stubborn, hard fighting, the Russians have proved themselves 
 as tough customers as one can want to meet ; but the English 
 have more dash and quickness. They manoeuvre much more 
 rapidly than do the Russians, and when they charge, you have 
 either got to destroy them or to go." 
 
 "You are right there, comrade," another said. "I was 
 with my regiment, the 5th, at Badajoz. It was a strong place. 
 Phillipson, who was in command, was a thoroughly good offi- 
 cer. He had strengthened the defences in every way, and 
 the garrison was 5000 strong. We reckoned we could hold 
 out for three months anyhow. 15,000 men sat down before 
 us on the 17th of March, and began to open trenches against 
 a strong outlying fort. We made several sorties, and did all 
 we could to hinder them, but on the 25th they stormed the 
 fort. It was defended desperately, but in an hour it was all 
 over. Still, that was only an outlying work. Soult was 
 known to be advancing to our relief; but he waited to gather 
 as large a force as possible, believing, reasonably enough, that 
 we could hold out a month, while we still calculated on hold- 
 ing out for three. The English worked like demons, and on 
 the 6th of April they had made two breaches. We had pre- 
 pared everything for them. We had planted mines all over 
 the breaches. We had scores of powder barrels, and hun- 
 dreds of shells ready to roll down. We had guns placed to 
 sweep them on both flanks and along the top. We had a 
 stockade of massive beams in which were fixed sword blades, 
 while in front of this the breach was covered with loose planks 
 studded with sharp iron points. 
 
 "Every man behind the stockade had half a dozen spare 
 muskets. A legion of devils could not have taken the place. 
 They did not take it, but never did mortal men try harder. 
 Even when they felt that it was absolutely impossible, they 
 stood there amid that storm of shot and shell, exploding 
 
236 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 powder barrels, and bursting mines. Two thousand men 
 were killed in that breach, and yet they still stood there. 
 Our own triumph was but a short one, for another British 
 division had carried the castle. While we were exulting in 
 victory, the town was lost. Thus, you see, they had in 
 twenty days captured the fortress that we and everyone else 
 made sure we could defend for at least three months. Fort- 
 unately we were exchanged a short time afterwards, and so I 
 escaped being sent to an English prison. I agree with you, 
 Rignold. I am ready to do my share of fighting, but I 
 would rather do it against any one, even against these 
 Russians, than against the English ; and I think you will find 
 that every man who has served in Spain would say the 
 same. ' ' 
 
 " After all, comrades," another veteran said, "it seems to 
 me that it does not make much difference who you have got 
 to fight against, for you see the generals make things about 
 even. If one of our generals finds that there are say 50,000 
 Spaniards marching against him, while his force is only 
 10,000, he gives battle. Well, he won't give battle to 50,000 
 Austrians unless he has got something like 35,000. I should 
 say that after Borodino he would like to have 40,000, at least, 
 against 50,000 Russians. No doubt the English calculate the 
 same way, and, in Spain,. we must admit that we always found 
 them ready to fight when, as far as numbers went, we out- 
 matched them. So I take it that the difference between the 
 fighting powers of armies is not felt so much as you would 
 think by each soldier, because allowance for that is made by 
 the generals on both sides, and the soldiers find themselves 
 always handicapped just in proportion to their fighting 
 powers. So you see there is a big element of luck in it. The 
 question of ground comes in, and climate, and so on. Now, 
 taking Spain, though 10,000 against 50,000 would be fair 
 enough odds in a fight in the open, if a hundred of us were 
 
BORODINO 237 
 
 attacked by 500 Spaniards among the mountains, it would go 
 very hard with us. And, again, though 1000 Frenchmen 
 might repulse 3000 of those Mamelukes if they attacked us 
 in the cool of the morning or in the evening, yet if we were 
 caught in the middle of the day, with the sun blazing down, 
 and parched with thirst, we might succumb. Then, of course, 
 the question of generals counts for a great deal. So you see 
 that even supposing both sides agree, as it were, as to the 
 fighting powers of their troops, the element of luck counts for 
 a lot, and before you begin to fight you can never feel sure 
 that you are going to win." 
 
 " Well, but we do win almost everywhere, Brison." 
 
 " Yes, yes ; because we have Napoleon and Ney and Soult 
 and the rest of them. We have had to fight hard many and 
 many a time, and if the battle had been fought between the 
 same armies with a change of generals, things would have gone 
 quite differently to what they did." 
 
 " You were with Napoleon in Egypt, were you not ? ' ' Julian 
 asked. 
 
 "Yes, I was there; and, bad as this desolate country is, I 
 would anyhow rather campaign here than in Egypt. The sun 
 seems to scorch into your very brain, and you are suffocated 
 by dust. Drink as much as you will, you are always tormented 
 by thirst. It is a level plain, for the most part treeless, and 
 with nothing to break the view but the mud villages, which 
 are the same colour as the soil. Bah ! we loathed them. 
 And yet I ought not to say anything against the villages, for, 
 if it had not been for one of them, I should not be here now. 
 I will tell you the tale. Two hundred of us had been de- 
 spatched to seize some of the leading sheiks, who were said to 
 be holding a meeting in some place fifteen miles away from 
 where we were encamped. We had a squadron of horse and 
 a hundred of our men. We afterwards found that the whole 
 story was a lie, invented to get us into a trap. We were guided 
 
238 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 by a villainous-looking rogue on a camel, and beyond the fact 
 that we were marching south-east, we had no idea where we 
 were going. Half the cavalry kept ahead. We had marched 
 four hours, when, on coming on to the crest of one of the 
 sand-hills, we saw about half a mile away a little clump of mud 
 huts. Near the foot of some high hills to the right were some 
 tents. 
 
 " 'There it is,' the guide said, pointing to the tents. And 
 the cavalry set off at a gallop, followed by the guide, who soon 
 fell far into their rear. Just as the cavalry reached the tents, 
 we saw two great masses of horsemen appear from behind the 
 sand-hills on either flank, and with loud yells ride down upon 
 them. With a shout of fury we were about to break into a run, 
 but the major who was in command said, ' It is useless, com- 
 rades. There is but one hope. Make for that village. We 
 can hold that ; and there, if any of our comrades escape, they 
 will find shelter. Double, march. ' Off we went, but it was 
 against the grain. We could hear the cracking of pistols, the 
 shouts of our brave fellows, the yells of the Arabs, and our 
 hearts were there ; but we felt that the major was right. There 
 must have been fully a couple of thousand of the Arabs, and 
 we should have but thrown away our lives. It was a terrible 
 run. The heat was stifling ; the dust rose in clouds under our 
 feet. We could scarce breathe, but we knew that we were 
 running for life. As we neared the village, we heard yells 
 behind us. 
 
 " 'A hundred yards further, lads,' the major shouted. We 
 did it, and when we reached the first house we halted. Three 
 hundred yards away were a dozen of our troopers, followed by 
 a mob of Arabs. The Major faced twenty men about, and 
 ordered the rest of us to divide ourselves among the huts. 
 There were but nine of these. The villagers, who had seen 
 us coming, had bolted, and we had just got into the houses 
 when we heard the rear -guard open fire. There was a young 
 
BORODINO 
 
 239 
 
 lieutenant with the troopers, and, as they rode in, he ordered 
 them to dismount, and to lead their horses into the huts. A 
 moment later the rear-guard ran in. We felt for a moment 
 like rats caught in a trap, for, in the hut I was in, there were 
 but two rooms. One had no light but what came in at the 
 door ; the other had an opening of about nine inches square, 
 and that not looking into the street. In a moment, however, 
 we saw that there was a ladder leading up to the flat roof, and 
 we swarmed up. These houses are all built with flat roofs made 
 of clay like the walls. Some of them have a parapet about 
 a foot high ; some of them none at all. In better-class vil- 
 lages some of the parapets are a good deal higher ; so that the 
 women can sit there unobserved from the other roofs. 
 
 " The hut we were in had a low parapet, and we threw our- 
 selves down behind it. The street was full of horsemen, yell- 
 ing and discharging their guns at the doors ; but when, almost 
 at the same moment, a rattling fire broke out from every roof, 
 the scene in the street changed as if by magic. Men fell from 
 their horses in all directions. The horses plunged and strug- 
 gled, and so terrible was the melee that, had the houses stood 
 touching each other, I doubt whether a man of those who en- 
 tered would have got out alive. As it was, they rode out 
 through the openings, leaving some sixty or seventy of their 
 number dead in the street. We had breathing time now. 
 The whole of the Arab horsemen presently surrounded us, but 
 the lesson had been so severe that they hesitated to make another 
 charge into the village. The major's orders, that we were not 
 to throw away a shot, unless they charged down in force, were 
 passed from roof to roof round the village. We were ordered 
 to barricade the doors with anything we could find, and if 
 there was nothing else, we were, with our bayonets, to bring 
 down part of the partition walls and pile the earth against the 
 door. Each hut was to report what supply of water there was 
 in it. This was to be in charge of the non-commissioned 
 
240 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 officer, or the oldest soldier if there was not one, and he was 
 to see that it was not touched at night. It was to be divided 
 equally among all the huts. 
 
 " ' You will understand, men,' he shouted from his roof, 
 ' that our lives depend more upon the water than upon your 
 arms. We could defend this place against that horde for a year ; 
 but if water fails altogether, there will be nothing to do but to 
 sally out and sell our lives as dearly as we can.' Fortunately, 
 we had still water with us, for it was not known whether we 
 should find any on the march, and we had been ordered to leave 
 our kits behind, and to carry, in addition to the water-bottles, 
 a skin holding about a gallon. In our hut we found eight po- 
 rous jars, each of which would hold about a couple of gallons. 
 Six of them were full. The empty ones we filled up from our 
 skins, for these jars keep the water wonderfully cool. In none 
 of the other huts had they found so good a supply as ours, but 
 all had more or less water ; and, on totalling them up, it was 
 found that there was an average of four jars in each hut, with- 
 out, of course, counting that which we had brought. As there 
 were a hundred and ten of us, this gave a total supply of a hun- 
 dred and eighty-two gallons ; rather better than a gallon and 
 a half a man. 
 
 " The major ordered that the allowance was to be a pint 
 night and morning for the first four days. If help did not 
 come at the end of that time, it was to be reduced by half. 
 We could see where the water came from. There was a well- 
 worn path from the village to a hollow about three hundred 
 yards away, and we could see that there was a great hole, and 
 it was down this that the women went to fill their water-jars. 
 It was a consolation to us that it was so close, for, if the worst 
 came to the worst, half of us could go down at night and refill the 
 jars. No doubt they would have to fight their way, but, as the 
 rest could cover them by their fire, we felt that we should be 
 able to manage it. For the next four days we held the place. 
 
BORODINO 241 
 
 We slept during the day. The Arabs did not come near us then ; 
 but as soon as it got dusk they began to crawl up, and flashes 
 of fire would break out all round us. 
 
 " Unfortunately, there was no moon, and as they came up 
 pretty nearly naked, their bodies were so much the colour of 
 the sand that they could not be made out twenty yards away. 
 They were plucky enough, for they would come right in among 
 the houses and fire through the doors, and sometimes a number 
 of them would make a rush against one ; but nothing short of 
 bursting the doors into splinters would have given them an 
 entry, so firmly did the piles of earth hold them in their places. 
 In the middle of the fifth day a cloud of dust was seen across 
 the plain from the direction in which we came. Xo one had 
 a doubt that it was a party sent to our relief, and every 
 man sprang to his feet and swarmed up on to the roof, as soon 
 as the man on watch above told us the news ; directly after- 
 wards the major shouted, ' Each man can have a ration of 
 water.' 
 
 "In a few minutes we saw the Arabs mount and ride off, 
 and it was not long before five hundred of our cavalry rode 
 into the village. We had only lost five men ; all had been 
 shot through the head as they were firing over the parapet. 
 We had each night buried those who fell, and in five minutes 
 after the arrival of the cavalry, were ready to start on our 
 march back. If it had not been for that village, and for 
 the quickness with which the major saw what was the only 
 thing to be done, not a single man would ever have got back 
 to camp to tell what had happened. They were brave fel- 
 lows, those Arabs ; and, if well drilled by our officers, would 
 have been grand troops on such an expedition as this, and 
 would have taught the Cossacks a good many things at their 
 own game. 
 
 " The Egyptian infantry were contemptible, but the Arabs 
 are grand horsemen. I don't say that in a charge, however 
 
242 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 well drilled, they could stand against one of our cuirassier 
 regiments. Men and horses would be rolled over ; but for 
 skirmishing, vidette duty, and foraging, no European cavalry 
 would be in it with them. They are tireless, both horses and 
 men, and will go for days on a little water and a handful of 
 dates ; and if the horses can get nothing else, they will eat 
 the dates just as contentedly as their masters." 
 
 Several times as these stories had been told, the group had 
 risen to their feet to watch the fires that were burning in 
 various parts of the town, and just as the sergeant brought 
 his story to a close, the assembly sounded. 
 
 " I have been expecting that for some time," Brison said. 
 " As our division is nearest to the city, I thought they would 
 be sure to turn us out before long, to put out those fires. 
 They must be the work of some of our rascally camp-followers, 
 or of some of the ruffians of the town, who have been breaking 
 into deserted houses and plundering them. Well, the liquor 
 is finished, and there is always interest in fighting a fire." 
 
 Five minutes later, the Grenadiers of the Rhone and six 
 other regiments of their division marched into Moscow to ex- 
 tinguish the flames. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 
 WITH THE REAR-GUARD 
 
 NAPOLEON had as yet no idea that the fires were other 
 than accidental, and the next morning removed his 
 headquarters to the Imperial Palace, the Kremlin, from which 
 he fondly hoped to dictate terms of peace to Russia. But it 
 was not long before the truth became evident. Every hour 
 fresh fires broke out, and, spreading rapidly, by nightfall the 
 whole city was in flames. On the following day the Kremlin 
 itself became so uninhabitable from the heat, that the Emperor 
 
WITH THE REAR-GUARD 243 
 
 was forced to withdraw from it, and could not return till the 
 20th, when heavy rain extinguished the flames, which had 
 already consumed nine-tenths of the city. Of 48,000 houses 
 only 700 escaped; of 1600 churches 800 were destroyed 
 and 700 damaged; of 24,000 wounded French and Russians 
 in the hospitals more than 20,000 perished in the flames. In 
 the meantime Kutusow had tardily adopted the advice he had 
 before rejected, had moved round with his army and taken up 
 his position on the Oka river, near Kulouga, where he men- 
 aced the French line of communication. Already the Cossack 
 cavalry were hovering round Moscow, intercepting convoys 
 and cutting up small detachments, while the horses of the 
 French cavalry were so worn out by fatigue and famine that 
 in several affairs with the Russian cavalry the latter gained de- 
 cisive advantages. 
 
 " You are right again, comrade," the old sergeant said to 
 Julian, who had been promoted to the rank of sergeant after 
 the battle of Borodino, as they stood together on the night of 
 the 15th gazing at the terrible spectacle of the city enveloped 
 in flames. " Peste ! these Russians are terrible fellows. Who 
 could have thought of such a thing ? It is a bad look-out for 
 us." 
 
 "A terrible look-out, there is no denying it," Julian 
 agreed. "It is impossible for the army to stay here without 
 food, without forage, without shelter, with our communica- 
 tions threatened, and the Russian army on our flank. I see 
 nothing for it but to retreat, and the sooner we are out of it 
 the better. Were I the Emperor I would issue orders for the 
 march to begin at daylight. In another month winter will be 
 on us, and none can say what disasters may befall the army." 
 
 Had the order been given that day the French army might 
 have made its way back to the frontier, with heavy loss doubt- 
 less, but without disaster. But Napoleon could not bring 
 himself to believe that the Russians would refuse to enter into 
 
244 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 negotiations. He tried through various sources to send pro- 
 posals to Alexander, and even opened secret negotiations with 
 Kutusow, and had arranged for a private meeting with him, 
 when the matter was stopped by Sir Robert Wilson, who had 
 received specific instructions from the Emperor Alexander to 
 interpose in his name to prevent any negotiations whatever 
 being carried on. Thus week after week of precious time 
 passed, and then a portion of the army moved against the 
 Russians. Several engagements took place, the advantage 
 generally resting with the Russians, especially in an engage- 
 ment with Murat, who suffered a decisive repulse. 
 
 Julian had, as soon as the fire in Moscow burnt itself out, 
 employed himself in endeavouring to buy some warm garments. 
 Money was plentiful, for there had been no means of spending 
 it since they entered Russia, and he was fortunate in being 
 able to buy some very warm under-garments that had been 
 looted by the plunderers on the night of their first arrival be- 
 fore Moscow. He also purchased a peasant's sheep-skin caf- 
 tan with a hood, and sewed this into his military cloak so as 
 to form a lining, the hood being for the time turned inside. 
 From another sheep-skin he manufactured a couple of bags to 
 be used as mittens, without fingers or thumbs. Many of his 
 comrades laughed at him as he did his work, but as the days 
 grew colder most of them endeavoured to follow his example, 
 and the skins of sheep brought in occasionally by the cavalry 
 were eagerly bought up. Encouraged by his success, Julian 
 next manufactured a pair of sheep-skin leggings, with the 
 wool inside. They were sewn up at the bottom, so that they 
 could be worn over his boots. The shape left much to be de- 
 sired, but by cutting up a blanket he made two long bands, 
 each three inches wide and some twenty feet long. These he 
 intended to wrap tightly round the leggings when in use. 
 
 The leggings, gloves, and bands were stowed away in his 
 knapsack, almost everything else being discarded to make room 
 
WITH THE REAR-GUARD 24:5 
 
 for them j for he felt sure that there would be no inspection 
 of kits until the frontier had been crossed. 
 
 Still, Napoleon could not bring himself to issue a general 
 order for a retreat, but corps after corps was moved along the 
 western road. Mortier's division remained last in Moscow, 
 and marched on the 23rd of October, after having, by Napo- 
 leon's orders, blown up the Kremlin, the Church of St. Nich- 
 olas, and the adjoining buildings. The safest line of retreat 
 would have been through Witebsk, but Napoleon took the 
 more southern road, and the army believed that it was in- 
 tended to fight another great battle with the Russians. 
 
 The weather at first was fine. On the 24th the vanguard, 
 under the Viceroy, came in contact with Doctorow's division, 
 and a fierce fight took place near Malo Jaroslavets. The 
 French were checked, and Kutusow, coming up with the main 
 army, it was apparent to all, that the French vanguard could 
 be overwhelmed and Napoleon's retreat brought to a standstill. 
 But, just as the generals were all expecting the order to attack, 
 Kutusow, whose previous conduct in entering into secret ne- 
 gotiations with Napoleon had excited strong suspicions of his 
 good faith, announced that he had changed his mind, and 
 ordered the Russian army to draw off, thus for a time saving 
 the French from complete disaster. 
 
 The battle, however, had been a sanguinary one, no less 
 than ten thousand being killed on each side. After the retire- 
 ment of the Russians the retreat was continued. Davoust 
 commanded the advance ; Ney's division was to cover the 
 rear. The French army at first moved very slowly, for it was 
 not until the 29th that Napoleon reached Borodino. He 
 himself had long been in ill-health ; bodily pain had sapped 
 his energy. He had for a long time been unable to sit on a 
 horse, and had travelled in a close carriage. Consequently he 
 seemed to have lost for a time all his energy and quickness of 
 decision, and after five weeks thrown away at Moscow, another 
 
246 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 was wasted in slow movements when haste was of the greatest 
 importance. The French suffered, too, from the disadvantage 
 that, while their every movement was discovered and reported 
 by the ubiquitous Cossacks, they themselves were in absolute 
 ignorance of the strength and movements of the enemy. 
 
 On the 6th of November a bitter frost set in, and the sol- 
 diers awoke chilled to the bone, and with gloomy anticipations 
 of what would happen when the full rigour of a Russian winter 
 was upon them. In some respects the frost was an advantage, 
 for it hardened the roads, that were before often almost im- 
 passable from the amount of heavy traffic that had passed over 
 them. But, upon the other hand, floating masses of ice speed- 
 ily covered the rivers, rendering the work of fording them 
 painful and difficult in the extreme. A Russian division had, 
 on the 3rd, pressed hotly on the retreating column just as they 
 reached the Wiazma river. A sanguinary conflict took place, 
 the corps of the Viceroy passed through the town on its banks, 
 and crossed the river in fair order, but that of Davoust broke 
 and crossed in great confusion, covered by Ney's division, 
 which retreated steadily, facing about from time to time, and 
 repulsing the infantry attacks, but suffering heavily from the 
 artillery. Ney set the town on fire to cover his retreat, crossed 
 the bridges, and there stemmed the further advance of the 
 Russians. 
 
 The French loss in the engagement was 6000 killed and 
 wounded, and 2000 prisoners. The Viceroy was directed to 
 march on Witebsk, but he was overtaken by the enemy when 
 endeavouring to throw a bridge over the half- frozen little river 
 called the Vop. The bridge, hastily made, gave way. The 
 banks were extremely steep. The Grenadiers waded through 
 the river, though the water, full of floating ice, came up to 
 their breasts; but the artillery following were unable to climb 
 the bank, and the guns were soon frozen fast in the river, and 
 they and the whole of the baggage had to be left behind. A 
 
WITH THE REAR-GUARD 
 
 241 
 
 similar misfortune befell another of the Viceroy's divisions, 
 which had remained behind to cover the retreat, and of the 
 14,000 soldiers who commenced the march but 6000 remained 
 with their colours, and but 12 of the 92 guns that had accom- 
 panied them. 
 
 The condition of the French army rapidly deteriorated. 
 The cold had already become intense, and the soldiers being 
 weak with hunger were the less able to support it. The 
 horses died in great numbers, and their flesh was the principal 
 food upon which the troops had to rely. No one dared strag- 
 gle to forage, for the Cossacks were ever hovering round, and 
 the peasants, emerging from their hiding-places in the forests, 
 murdered, for the most part with atrocious tortures, everyone 
 who fell out of the ranks from wounds, exhaustion, or frost- 
 bite. 
 
 Julian had, since their retreat began, again recovered his 
 spirits. He was now not fighting to conquer a country 
 against which he had no animosity, but for his own life and 
 that of the thousands of sick and wounded. 
 
 "I am glad that we are in the rear-guard," he said to a 
 number of non-commissioned officers who were one evening, 
 when they were fortunate enough to be camped in a wood, 
 gathered round a huge fire. 
 
 "Why so, Jules? It seems to me that we have the hard- 
 est work, and, besides, there is not a day that we have not to 
 
 fight." 
 
 "That is the thing that does us good," Julian replied. 
 " The columns ahead have nothing to do but to think of the 
 cold, and hunger, and misery. They straggle along ; they no 
 longer march. With us it is otherwise. We are still soldiers ; 
 we keep our order. We are proud to know that the safety of 
 the army depends on us; and, if we do get knocked over with 
 a bullet, surely that is a better fate than dropping from ex- 
 haustion, and falling into the hands of the peasants. ' ' 
 
248 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 "You are right, Jules," several of them exclaimed. "It 
 is better a thousand times." 
 
 "We have a bad prospect before us," Julian went on. 
 " There is no denying that ; but it will make all the differ- 
 ence how we face it. Above all things we have got to keep 
 up our spirits. I have heard that the captains of the whalers 
 in the northern seas do everything in their power to interest 
 and amuse their crews. They sing, they dance, they tell 
 stories of adventures, and the great thing is to keep from 
 brooding over the present. I am but a young sergeant, and 
 most of you here have gone through many a campaign, and it 
 is not for me to give advice, but I should say that above all 
 things we ought to try to keep up the spirits of our men. If 
 we could but start the marching songs we used to sing as we 
 tramped through Germany, it would set men's feet going in 
 time, would make them forget the cold and hunger, and they 
 would march along erect, instead of with their eyes fixed on 
 the ground, and stumbling as if they could not drag their 
 feet along. We should tell them why we sing, or they might 
 think it was a mockery. Tell them that the Grenadiers of 
 the Rhone mean to show that, come what may, they intend 
 to be soldiers to the last, and to face death, whether from the 
 Russians or from the winter, heads erect and courage high. 
 Let us show them that, as we have ever done our duty, so we 
 shall do it to the end, and that it will be a matter of pride 
 that throughout the division it should be said, when they 
 hear our songs, ' There go the Grenadiers of the Rhone, brave 
 fellows and good comrades ; see how they bear themselves.' " 
 
 " Bravo, bravo, Jules ! bravo, Englishman ! " the whole of 
 the party shouted. "So it shall be, we swear it. The Grena- 
 diers of the Rhone shall set an example." 
 
 Suddenly the voices hushed, and Julian was about to look 
 round to see the cause of their silence, when a hand was laid 
 on his shoulder, and, turning, he saw Ney standing beside 
 
WITH THE REAR-GUARD 249 
 
 him, with three or four of his staff. They had come up 
 unobserved, and had stopped a few paces away just as Julian 
 began to speak. 
 
 "Bravo, comrade!" the marshal said; "spoken in the 
 true spirit of a soldier. Were there a dozen men like you in 
 every regiment I should have no fear for the future. Did 
 they call you Englishman ? ' ' 
 
 "Yes, General. I was a prisoner at Verdun, though 
 neither an English soldier or sailor, and when a call came 
 for volunteers, and I was promised that I should not be called 
 upon to fight against my own countrymen, I thought it better 
 to carry a French musket than to rot in a French prison." 
 
 " And you have carried it well," the marshal said. " Had 
 you not done so you would not have won your stripes among 
 the men of the Grenadiers of the Rhone, where every man 
 has again and again shown that he is a hero. Carry out your 
 brave comrade's idea, lads. We all want comforting, and my 
 own heart will beat quicker to-morrow as I ride along and 
 hear your marching song, and I shall say to myself, ' God 
 bless the brave Grenadiers of the Rhone ; ' I trust that others 
 will follow your example. What is your name, sergeant? ' ! 
 
 " Julian Wyatt, General." 
 
 "Put it down in my note-book," Xey said to one of his 
 staff. " Good-night, comrades, you have done me good. By 
 the way, a hundred yards to your left I marked a dead horse 
 as I came along ; it may help your suppers." Then, amid a 
 cheer from the soldiers, Ney moved on with his staff. 
 
 It was not many minutes before portions of the horse were 
 cooking over the fire. 
 
 " I feel another man already," one of the younger sergeants 
 laughed, as they ate their meal. " Jules is right ; good spirits 
 are everything." 
 
 "Bear that in mind to-morrow, Antoine," another said. 
 "It is easy enough to be cheerful when one is warm and has 
 
250 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 got some meat, even though it be only horse-flesh and mightily 
 tough at that, between your teeth ; but it is harder to be so 
 after sixteen hours of marching and fighting. 
 
 " Well, we will try anyhow, Jacques." 
 
 Another quarter of an hour and the circle broke up, the 
 non-commissioned officers going off to the companies to which 
 they belonged. 
 
 Wood being plentiful, great fires were kept blazing all night, 
 and round each was told what Julian had said, the commenda- 
 tion Ney had given the regiment, and his warm approval of 
 the plan. As soon as the order was given to march in the 
 morning, and Julian started one of their old marching songs, 
 it was taken up from end to end of the column, to the aston- 
 ishment of the officers and of the men of other regiments 
 within hearing. The effect upon the men themselves was 
 electrical. The dogged look of determination with which 
 they had before plodded along was supplanted by an air of 
 gaiety. They marched along in time to the music with a 
 step that was almost elastic. Not since they had crossed the 
 Niemen had the song been heard ; occasionally a singer was 
 silent for a minute or two, and passed his hand across his eyes 
 as he thought of the many voices of comrades, now hushed 
 for ever, that had then joined in the chorus. Half-an-hour 
 later Ney, followed by his staff, rode along past the column. 
 As he reached the head he spoke to the colonel, and the order 
 was at once given for the regiment to form up in hollow 
 square. When they had done so the colonel shouted, "Atten- 
 tion ! " Ney took off his plumed hat and said, in a voice 
 loud enough to be heard by all : 
 
 "Grenadiers of the Rhone, I salute you. All honour to 
 the regiment that has set an example to the army of cheerful- 
 ness under hardships. You will be placed in the order of the 
 day with the thanks of your marshal for the spirit you have 
 shown. Maintain it, my friends; it will warm you more 
 
WITH THE REAR-GUARD 251 
 
 thoroughly than food or fire, and will carry you triumphantly 
 through whatever fate may have in store for us." 
 
 A deep cheer burst from the regiment as the gallant soldier 
 bowed to his horse's mane and then rode on with his staff, 
 while the regiment, again breaking into a song, continued its 
 march. Late in the afternoon they were again engaged. The 
 long columns ahead were delayed by crossing a narrow bridge 
 over a river, and for two hours the rear-guard had to stand 
 firm against constant attacks by the Russians. At one time a 
 heavy column of Russian infantry moved down upon them, 
 but Ney, riding up to the grenadiers, said : 
 
 "I give you the post of honour, comrades. Drive back 
 that column." 
 
 The colonel gave the order to charge, and the regiment 
 rushed forward with such ardour to the attack, that the Rus- 
 sians were compelled to fall back with heavy loss, and shortly 
 afterwards news came that the bridge was clear, and the rear- 
 guard followed the rest of the army. Forty of the grenadiers 
 had fallen, among them their colonel and two other officers. 
 The next morning, before the regiment marched, the major 
 as usual read out to it the order of the day. The marshal 
 expressed his approbation of the spirit which the Grenadiers 
 of the Rhone had manifested. 
 
 " This fine regiment," he said, " has ever merited eulogium 
 for the manner in which it has sustained the honour of its flag 
 in every engagement in which it has taken part. The marshal 
 considers, however, that even higher praise is due to it for its 
 bearing in the present stress of circumstances. Good spirits, 
 and the resolution to look at things in a cheerful light, is the 
 best method of encountering them, and it cheered the hearts 
 of all near them to hear them singing their marching songs. 
 The marshal in passing them was struck with the renewal of 
 their martial appearance, as they marched, head erect, in time 
 to their songs, and he hopes that their example will be fol- 
 
252 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 lowed by the other regiments of the corps, and is sure that not 
 only will it be to the advantage of the discipline and efficiency 
 of the troops, but it will greatly conduce to their own well- 
 being, and the manner in which they will be able to support 
 cold, hunger, and fatigue." 
 
 The marshal had brought the conduct and fine bearing of 
 the Grenadiers of the Rhone under the attention of the Em- 
 peror. In spite of the fact that the soldiers of Ney's corps 
 had to endure a larger amount of hardship than that of 
 the rest of the army, from the necessity of constant vigilance, 
 and from the long hours they were upon the road, their health 
 suffered less than that of other troops. In the first place, they 
 had an absolute faith in their commander ; in the next, they 
 were in the post of honour, and on them the safety of the 
 whole army depended. Thus the constant skirmishing, and, 
 occasionally, hard fighting that went on, braced them up, and 
 saved them from the moody depression that weighed upon the 
 rest of the army. They had, too, some material advantage 
 from the broken-down waggons and vehicles of all sorts that fell 
 behind. Every day they obtained a certain amount of stores, 
 while from the bodies of those who had dropped from exhaus- 
 tion, sickness, or cold they obtained a supply of extra clothing. 
 
 The morning after the reading of Ney's order of the day 
 commending the regiment, an order from Napoleon himself 
 was read at the head of the regiment, Ney taking his place by 
 the side of the newly promoted colonel. The Emperor said 
 that he had received the report of Marshal Ney of the conduct 
 and bearing of the Grenadiers of the Rhone, together with a 
 copv of his order of the day, and that this was fully endorsed 
 by the Emperor, who felt that the spirit they were showing 
 was even more creditable to them than the valour that they had 
 so often exhibited in battle, and that he desired personally to 
 thank them. The marshal had also brought before his notice 
 the conduct of Sergeant Wyatt of that regiment, who had, he 
 
WITH THE REAR-GUARD 253 
 
 was informed, been the moving spirit in the change that he so 
 much commended, and, as a mark of his approbation, he had 
 requested the marshal himself, as his representative, to affix to 
 his breast the ribbon of the cross of the Legion of Honour." 
 
 The colonel called upon Sergeant Wyatt to come forward. 
 Julian did so, saluted, and stood to attention, while the mar- 
 shal dismounted and pinned to his breast the insignia of the 
 order, while the regiment saluted, and, as Julian returned to 
 his place in the ranks, burst into a hearty cheer. As soon as 
 the marshal had ridden off, and the regiment fell out, the 
 officers gathered round Julian and congratulated him upon the 
 honour he had received, and, at the same time, thanked him 
 heartily for the credit that the regiment had gained, through 
 his means, while the enthusiasm of the soldiers knew no 
 bounds. A word of praise from the Emperor was the dis- 
 tinction that French soldiers and French regiments most cov- 
 eted, and to have been named, not only by their marshal in 
 his orders, but by the Emperor in a general order to the 
 army, was an honour that filled every heart with pride. 
 
 Julian had been a favourite before, but henceforth his popu- 
 larity was unbounded. Many of the other regiments followed 
 the example of the grenadiers, and, in spite of the ever-in- 
 creasing cold and the constantly augmenting hardships, Ney's 
 corps retained their discipline and efficiency. Their appear- 
 ance, indeed, was no longer soldierly. Their garments were 
 in rags. Many wore three or four coats. Their legs were 
 encased in hay-bands, strips of blanket, or sheep-skins. Ju- 
 lian now took out for the first time from his knapsack the leg- 
 gings that he had manufactured, and, with the strips of blanket 
 that he wound round them, they differed in appearance in no 
 degree from the leggings of some of his comrades, except that 
 they enveloped the feet also. On the day following the read- 
 ing of Napoleon's order, the grenadiers came upon an over- 
 turned caleche. It had been ransacked by a regiment that 
 
254 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 had preceded them. The driver and a woman lay dead beside 
 it, and they would have passed on without paying any atten- 
 tion to it, had it not been for a faint cry that met the ears of 
 Julian, as his company passed close by it. He dropped back 
 a few paces to an officer, and asked leave to fall out for a 
 minute. Going to the carriage he found lying there among 
 the cushions a little girl some five or six years old. Her cloak 
 had been stripped off her, and she was blue with cold. Julian 
 hesitated. 
 
 " I will try anyhow," he muttered to himself. He first 
 ripped open one of the cushions, pulled out the woollen stuff- 
 ing, and wrapped it round the child's arms and legs, binding 
 it there with strips of the velvet covering the cushions. Then 
 he took off his cloak, and raised her on to his back, having 
 first cut off one of the reins. With this he strapped her se- 
 curely in that position, put on his warm cloak again, and then, 
 hurrying forward, soon overtook the rear of his regiment. 
 
 " Bravo, Jules ! " many of his comrades said, as he passed 
 along the column; while others asked, " Why do you en- 
 cumber yourself with that child ? It is enough now for 
 every man to look to himself, and you cannot carry her 
 far." 
 
 " I will do what I can," he replied. " She is not so heavy 
 as my knapsack when it is full, and it is empty now ; I am 
 only keeping it because it is useful as a pillow. I can't say 
 how far I can carry her, but as long as I can go she shall. 
 We have taken lives enough, heaven knows. It is as well to 
 save one if one gets the opportunity. ' ' 
 
 In half an hour Julian felt a movement on the part of his 
 little burden, whose hands he had been chafing with his own 
 unoccupied one. Presently something was said in Russian. 
 He did not reply, and then there was a little struggle, and the 
 voice said in French: "Nurse, where am I? Where are 
 you taking me? Where is the carriage ? " 
 
WITH THE REAR-GUARD 25o 
 
 " Do not fret, little one," Julian replied in the same 
 language. " I am a friend, and will take care of you. 
 Your carriage broke down, and so I am carrying you until 
 we can get you another. Are you warm ? ' ' 
 
 ''Yes," the child said. "I am quite warm, but I want 
 my nurse." 
 
 " Xurse can't come to you now, my dear; but I will try 
 to be a good nurse to you." 
 
 " I want to see what you are like." 
 
 " You shall see presently," he said. "It would be very 
 cold if you were to put your head outside. The best thing 
 that you can do is to try to get to sleep. ' ' 
 
 The warmth doubtless did more than Julian's exhortation, 
 for the child said no more, and Julian felt certain after a 
 short time that she had gone off to sleep. He was now in his 
 place with his company again, and joined in the song that 
 they were singing, softly at first, but, as he felt no movement, 
 louder and louder until, as usual, his voice rose high above 
 the chorus. Nevertheless, his thoughts were with the child. 
 What was he to do with her ? how was she to be fed ? He 
 could only hope for the best. So far Providence had assur- 
 edly made him the means of preserving her life, and to Prov- 
 idence he must leave the rest. It might be all for the best. 
 The weight was little to him, and there was a sense of warmth 
 and comfort in the little body that lay so close to his back. 
 What troubled him most was the thought of what he should 
 do with her when he was engaged with the Russians. He 
 decided that she must stay then in one of the carts that car- 
 ried the spare ammunition of the regiment, and accompanied 
 it everywhere. "At any rate, if I should fall," he said, 
 "and she be left behind, she has only to speak in Russian 
 when the enemy come up, and no doubt they will take care 
 of her. Her father must be a man of some importance. The 
 carriage was a very handsome one. If she can make them 
 
256 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 understand who she is, there is no doubt they will restore her 
 to her parents." 
 
 There was but little fighting that day, and when the regi- 
 ment fell out, fortunately halting again in a wood, Julian 
 waited until the fires were lighted, and then unloosened the 
 straps and shifted the child round in front of him. She 
 opened her eyes as he did so. 
 
 "Well, little one, here we are at our journey's end," he 
 said cheerfully. " You have had a nice sleep, and you look 
 as warm as a toast." 
 
 She was indeed changed. A rosy flush had taken the place 
 of the bluish-gray tint on her cheeks ; her eyes were bright, 
 and she looked round at the strange scene with a face devoid 
 of all fear. 
 
 " Are you my new nurse? " she asked. 
 
 "Yes, dear." 
 
 "You look nice," she said calmly, "but I should like 
 Claire, too." 
 
 " She can't come at present, little one, so you must put up 
 with me." 
 
 " Are you one of those wicked Frenchmen ? " she asked. 
 
 "I am an Englishman. Some of them are Frenchmen, 
 but all Frenchmen are not wicked. You will see that all my 
 friends here will be very kind to you, and will do everything 
 they can to make you comfortable, till we can send you to 
 your friends again." 
 
 The child was silent for some time. 
 
 "There was a great noise," she said gravely, " and guns 
 fired, and the coachman fell off the box, and then nurse called 
 out and opened the door and jumped out, and then the horses 
 plunged and the carriage fell over, and I don't know any 
 more. ' ' 
 
 "There was an accident," Julian said. "Don't think 
 about that now. I will tell you about it some day." 
 
WITH THE REAR-GUARD 257 
 
 "I am hungry," the child said imperiously. "Get me 
 something to eat." 
 
 "We are going to cook our suppers directly, dear. Now 
 let us go and sit by that fire. I am afraid you won't find the 
 supper very nice, but it is the best we have got. What is 
 your name ? ' ' 
 
 "I am the Countess Stephanie Woronski," the little maid 
 said ; " and what is your name ? " 
 
 "My name is Julian Wyatt." 
 
 " It is a funny name," the child said ; " but I think I like 
 it." 
 
 Julian carried her to the fire, and seated her with her feet 
 before it. 
 
 "Where is my cloak," she asked, as on setting her down 
 she perceived the deficiency; "and what are those ugly 
 things ? " and she looked at the swathing round her arms and 
 legs. 
 
 "Some bad men took your cloak," he said; "none of 
 these men here did it ; and you were very cold when I found 
 you, so I put some of the stuffing from the cushions round 
 you to keep you warm, and you must wear them till I can get 
 you another cloak. Comrades," he went on, to the soldiers 
 who had gathered round to look at the little figure, " this is 
 the Countess Stephanie Woronski, and I have told her that 
 you will all be very kind to her and make her as comfortable 
 as you can as long as she is with us." 
 
 There was a general hum of assent, and when the child went 
 gravely among them, shaking hands with each, many an eye 
 was moistened, as the men's thoughts went back to their own 
 homes, and to little sisters or nieces whom they had played 
 with there. Soon afterwards the colonel came by, and Julian, 
 stepping forward, saluted him and said : 
 
 " I have picked up a little girl to-day. Colonel." 
 
 " So I have been told, Sergeant. I think it was a mistake, 
 
258 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 but that is your business. Everyone is getting weaker, and 
 you are not likely to be able to carry her for long. However, 
 of course, you can take her if you like, and as long as there 
 are horses to drag the ammunition carts you can put her in 
 them when you choose. ' ' 
 
 ''It is only when we are fighting that I should want to 
 stow her away. She does not weigh more than a knapsack, 
 Colonel." 
 
 " Well; just as you like, Sergeant. If you wanted to take 
 along ten children I could not say no to you. She is a pretty 
 little thing," he added, as he went nearer to her. 
 
 " Yes, Colonel. She says that she is a countess." 
 
 " Poor little countess ! " the colonel said tenderly. " She 
 will want something warmer than she has got on now. ' ' 
 
 " We will manage that, Colonel. She will be warm enough 
 as long as she is on the march with me ; but as, even before 
 that fire, she has not enough on her, we will contrive some- 
 thing. In the first broken-down baggage-waggon that we 
 come across, we are pretty sure to find something that we can 
 fit her out in." 
 
 As yet the pressure of hunger had not come severely upon 
 the grenadiers. In the fights with the Russians some of the 
 horses of their own cavalry and artillery, and those of the 
 enemy, were daily killed, besides the animals which dropped 
 from fatigue were at once shot and cut up. Moreover, a small 
 ration of flour was still served out, and the supper that night, 
 if rough, was ample. Julian sat facing the fire with his cloak 
 open and the child nestling up close to him. As soon as sup- 
 per was over half a dozen of the soldiers started off. 
 
 " We will bring back a fit-out, Jules, never fear. It will be 
 strange if there is not something to be picked up in the snow 
 between us and the next corps. ' ' 
 
 In half an hour they came in again, one of them carrying a 
 bundle. By this time the child was fast asleep, and, taking 
 
WITH THE REAR-GUARD 259 
 
 off his cloak and wrapping it round her, Julian went across to 
 them on the other side of the fire. 
 
 "What have you got? " 
 
 "A good find, Jules. It was a young officer. He was 
 evidently coming back with an order, but his horse fell dead 
 under him. The lad had lost an arm, at Borodino I expect, 
 and was only just strong enough to sit his horse. We think 
 that the fall on the hard snow stunned him, and the frost soon 
 finished the work. He had been well fitted out, and some of 
 his things will do for the little one. He had a fur-lined jacket 
 which will wrap her up grandly from head to foot. Here are 
 a pair of thick flannel drawers. If we cut them off at the knee 
 you can tuck all her little clothes inside it, and they will button 
 up under her arms and come down over her feet. She will 
 look queer, but it will keep her warm. This pair of stockings 
 will pull up her arms to her shoulders, and here is another 
 pair that was in his valise. They are knitted, and one will 
 pull down over her ears. You see they are blue, and if you 
 cut the foot off and tie up the hole it will look like a fisher- 
 man's cap, and the other will go over her head and tie up un- 
 der her chin." 
 
 "Splendid, comrade! That is a first-rate fit-out. I am 
 obliged to you indeed." 
 
 "You need not talk of a little thing like that, Sergeant. 
 There is not a man in the regiment who would not do a good 
 deal more than that for you ; besides we have all taken to the 
 child. She will be quite the pet of the regiment. Moreover, 
 the lad's valise was well filled. We have tossed up for choice, 
 and each of us has got something. Henri got the cloak, and 
 a good one it is. I had the next choice, and I took his blanket, 
 which is a double one. Jacques had the horse rug, Ferron 
 had another pair of drawers and his gloves, and Pierre, who 
 has got a small foot, took his boots. So we have all done 
 well." 
 
260 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 As Julian lay* down with his hood over his head and the child 
 held closely in his arms under his cloak, he felt strangely warm 
 and comfortable, and breathed a prayer that he might be spared 
 to carry the little waif he had rescued, in safety across the 
 frontier. 
 
 " I will keep her with me," he said, " until she gets a bit 
 bigger. By that time the war may be all over, and I will send 
 her to my aunt, if I dare not go home myself. She will take 
 care of her, and if she should have gone, I know Frank will 
 do the best he can for the child, and may be able, through the 
 Russian embassy, to send her back to her friends." 
 
 The cold was so intense in the morning that the child 
 offered no objection to her novel habiliments. Some inches 
 had to be cut from the bottom of the jacket to keep it off the 
 ground, and the strip served as a band to keep it close round 
 her waist. 
 
 "It is too big," she said a little fretfully. 
 
 "It is large, Stephanie," Julian said, "but then, you see, 
 there is the advantage that when you like you can slip your 
 arms altogether out of the sleeves, and keep them as warm as a 
 toast inside. Now you get on my back, and we will fasten 
 you more comfortably than I could do yesterday." 
 
 This, with the assistance of a couple of soldiers, was done. 
 Then, putting on his cloak again, Julian fell in with his com- 
 rades, and, as usual, striking up a merry song, in which the 
 rest at once joined, continued his march. 
 
 Day passed after day. The Russians pressed hotly on the 
 rear, and many times Ney's corps had to face about and repel 
 their attacks. Sometimes when the fighting was likely to be 
 serious Julian handed his charge over to the care of the driver 
 of one of the ammunition carts, but as a rule he carried her 
 with him, for she objected strongly to leaving him. On the 
 march she often chose to be carried on his shoulder — a strange 
 little figure, with the high fur collar of the jacket standing up 
 
ON THE MARCH LITTLE STEPHANIE OFTEN CHOSE TO BE CARRIED 
 ON JULIAN "S SHOULDER." 
 
WITH THE REAR-GUARD 261 
 
 level with the top of her head, and a yellow curl or two making 
 its way through the opening in front. She soon picked up the 
 songs that were most often sung, and her shrill little voice 
 joined in. She was now a prime favourite with all the men. 
 
 Food became scarcer every day. The cavalry were now al- 
 most wholly dismounted, the horses still available being taken 
 for the guns. Among the divisions in front the disorganiza- 
 tion was great indeed. It was a mob rather than an army, 
 and only when attacked did they form up, and with sullen 
 fury drive off the foe. At other times they tramped along 
 silently, ragged, and often shoeless, their feet wrapped in rough 
 bandages. Whenever one fell from weakness, he lay there 
 unnoticed, save that sometimes a comrade would, in answer to 
 his entreaties to kill him rather than to leave him to the mercy 
 of the peasants, put his musket to his head and finish him at 
 once. No one straggled, except to search a deserted cottage 
 on the line, for all who fell into the hands of the peasants — 
 who followed the army like wolves after a wounded stag — were 
 either put to death by atrocious tortures, or stripped and left 
 to perish by cold. All the sufferings inflicted by the army in 
 its advance upon the peasantry were now repaid an hundred- 
 fold, and the atrocities perpetrated upon all who fell into their 
 hands were so terrible that Sir Robert Wilson wrote to the 
 Czar, imploring him for the honour of the country to put a 
 stop to them. Alexander at once issued a proclamation of- 
 fering the reward of a gold piece for every French prisoner 
 brought in, and so saved the lives of many hundreds of these 
 unfortunates. In the French army itself all feelings of hu- 
 manity were also obliterated. The men fought furiously 
 among themselves for any scrap of food, and a dead horse 
 was often the centre of a desperate struggle. Those who fell 
 were at once stripped of their garments, and death came all 
 the sooner to put an end to their sufferings. The authority 
 of the officers was altogether unheeded. 
 
262 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 Day by day the numbers dwindled away. The safety of the 
 French army thus far was chiefly due to the vacillation, if not 
 the absolute treachery, of Kutusow. Moving on by roads 
 well supplied with provisions, and perfectly acquainted with 
 the movements of the enemy, he was able to outmarch them, 
 and several times had it absolutely in his power to completely 
 overwhelm the broken remains of Napoleon's army. But, in 
 spite of the entreaties of the generals and the indignation of 
 the army, he obstinately refused to give the order. The 
 French army no longer travelled by a single road ; sometimes 
 the corps were separated from each other by great masses of 
 Russian troops. Numerous detached battles were fought ; but 
 in each of these the French troops, although suffering heavily, 
 displayed their old courage, and either by hard fighting cut 
 their way through obstacles, or managed by long and circuit- 
 ous marches to evade them. 
 
 Napoleon's plans, which, if carried out, would have saved 
 the army, were brought to nought by the incapacity of the 
 generals charged with the duty. The vast depots and stores 
 that had been formed at various points fell successively into 
 the hands of the various Russian armies now operating against 
 the French. Bridges of vital importance on the line of retreat 
 were captured and destroyed, and repeated defeats inflicted 
 upon the armies that should have joined Napoleon as he fell 
 back. Everywhere fatal blunders were made by the French 
 commanders, and it seemed as if Heaven had determined to 
 overthrow every combination formed by Napoleon's sagacity, 
 in order that the destruction of his army should be complete. 
 The army of Macdonald, that should have joined him, was 
 itself warmly pressed by the forces of Wittgenstein and the 
 garrison of Riga, which had been greatly reinforced. Schwar- 
 zenberg, with the Austrian army, fell back without striking a 
 blow ; for the Austrians, in view of the misfortunes that had 
 befallen Napoleon, were preparing to cast off their alliance 
 
ney's retreat 263 
 
 with him ; and to aid in his discomfiture, Wittgenstein was 
 ordered by Alexander to withdraw at once from his operations 
 against Macdonald and to march upon Borizov on the Bere- 
 zina, the point towards which Napoleon was making ; while 
 Admiral Tchichagow, with the army of the Danube, that had 
 been engaged in watching the Austrians, was to march in the 
 same direction, and also interpose to cut off the French retreat. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 ney's retreat 
 
 NEY'S corps, as usual, had remained at Smolensk as the 
 rear-guard of the army. The rest and abundance of food 
 did much to restore their morale. Ney had utilized the time 
 they remained there to see that the arms were examined, and 
 new ones served out from the magazines in place of those 
 found to be defective. A certain amount of clothing was also 
 served out to the troops, and discipline restored. The 
 numerous stragglers belonging to the divisions that had gone 
 on were incorporated with his regiments, and all prepared for 
 the toilsome and dangerous march before them. They be- 
 lieved that at Krasnoi they should come up with the main 
 body of the army. But Krasnoi had already fallen, and the 
 enemy were mustering thickly along the road. 
 
 "We have a rough time before us, Jules," one of the 
 veterans said. "I should not say as much to any of the 
 youngsters, but your spirits seem proof against troubles. You 
 see, in the first place, we know really nothing of what is going 
 on. For the last four days we have heard the sound of cannon 
 in the air. It is a long way off, and one feels it rather than 
 hears it ; but there has certainly been heavy and almost con- 
 stant fighting. Well, that shows that there are Russians 
 
264 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 ahead of us. Never was I in a country before where we could 
 get no news. It is all guess-work. There may be 50,000 
 Russians already between us and Davoust's division, and there 
 may be only a handful of Cossacks. It is a toss-up. Nothing 
 seems to go as one would expect in this country. We are at a 
 big disadvantage ; for the skill of our generals is thrown away 
 when they are working altogether in the dark. 
 
 " Do you know, this reminds me a good deal of our pursuit 
 of your army to Gorunna ; only there I was one of the hun- 
 ters, while here we are the hunted. When we entered the 
 towns they had quitted we heard that they were altogether 
 disorganized — a mere rabble of fugitives. But whenever we 
 came up to them they turned round and fought like their own 
 bull-dogs; and never did they make a stionger stand than 
 they did when we came up at last and caught them at Corunna. 
 There was the army we had been told was a disorganized mass 
 standing in as good order, and with as firm a front, as if they 
 had but just landed from their ships. And it was not in ap- 
 pearance only. They had 16,000 men; we had 20,000. 
 They had only six or eight cannon, having embarked the re- 
 mainder on board their ships ; we had over fifty guns ; and 
 with Soult in command of us, there was not a man but regarded 
 the affair as being as good as over, and considered that the 
 whole of them would fall into our hands. Well, it wasn't so. 
 We were on higher ground than they were, and soon silenced 
 their little guns ; and the village of Elvira, in front of their 
 position, was carried without difficulty. 
 
 " Suddenly their reserve marched round, fell on our flank, 
 and threatened our great battery that was in position there. 
 They drove us out of Elvira, and for a time held us in check 
 altogether. The fight round there became very hot ; but they 
 pushed forward and continued to attack us so desperately that 
 they partly rolled our left up, and if it had not been that night 
 set in — the fight had not begun until two o'clock — things 
 
ney's retreat 265 
 
 would have gone very badly with us, for we were falling back 
 in a great deal of confusion. There was a river behind us 
 with but a single bridge by which we could retreat, and I can 
 tell you we were glad indeed when the English ceased to press 
 us and the firing stopped. All night their picket-fires burned, 
 and we were expecting to renew the battle in the morning, 
 when we found that their position was deserted, and that they 
 were embarking on board their ships. That shows that al- 
 though troops may be greatly disorganized in a retreat they do 
 not fight any the worse when you come up to them. 
 
 " The English had practically no guns, they had no cavalry, 
 they were inferior in numbers, and yet they beat us orT. Their 
 back was against a wall. You see, they knew that if they 
 didn't do it there was nothing but a French prison before 
 them. It is the same thing with us, lad; we don't want to 
 fight — -we want to get away if we can. But if we have got to 
 fight we shall do it better than ever, for defeat would mean 
 death ; and if a soldier has got to die, he would a thousand 
 times rather die by a musket-ball or a bayonet-thrust than by 
 cold and hunger. There is one thing in our favour, the coun- 
 try we have to cross now is for the most part forest ; so we 
 shall have wood for our bivouacs, and if we have to leave the 
 road it will cover our movements and give us a chance of 
 making our way round the enemy. You will find that child 
 a heavy burden, Jules. I do not blame you for bringing her 
 along with you, but when things come to such a pass as this a 
 man needs every ounce of his strength. ' ' 
 
 " I am aware of that," Jules said, looking at Stephanie as 
 she stood laughing and talking with some of the soldiers at a 
 fire close by; " but I believe that I shall save her. I cannot 
 help thinking she would never have given that little cry which 
 met my ears as I passed by the broken carriage, if it had not 
 been meant that she should be saved. To all appearance she 
 was well-nigh insensible, and she would have suffered no more 
 
266 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 pain. It would have been a cruel instead of a kind action to 
 save her, when she was already well-nigh dead. I firmly be- 
 lieve that, whoever falls during the struggle that may be before 
 us, that child will get through safely and be restored to her 
 parents. I don't say that I think that I myself shall go 
 through it, but my death does not necessarily mean hers. If 
 she falls into the hands of the peasants, and tells them who 
 she is, they may take care of her for the sake of getting a 
 reward, and she may in time be restored to her friends. At 
 any rate, as long as I have strength to carry her I shall assur- 
 edly do so ; when I cannot, I shall wrap her in my cloak and 
 shall lie down to die, bidding her sit wrapped up in it till she 
 sees some Russians approaching. She will then speak to them 
 in their own language and tell them who she is, and that they 
 will get a great reward from her parents if they take care of 
 her and send her to them." 
 
 " You are a good fellow, comrade — a man with a heart. I 
 trust that, whoever gets out of this alive, you may be one of 
 them. To most of us it matters little one way or the other. 
 We have had our share of good luck, and cannot expect that 
 the bullets will always avoid us. Now let us turn in, for we 
 march at daybreak. At any rate, we may think ourselves 
 lucky to have had five days' rest here, with no more trouble 
 than was needed to keep the Russians from occupying that 
 place across the river." 
 
 Julian called Stephanie to him, lay down by the side of his 
 comrade near the fire, and was soon fast asleep. They were 
 under arms before daylight broke, and in a few minutes were 
 on the way. They had marched but half a mile when a series 
 of tremendous explosions were heard — the magazines left behind 
 at Smolensk had been blown up, together with such buildings 
 as the fire had before spared. 112 guns had been left behind, 
 there being only sufficient horses remaining to draw twelve. 
 The fighting force was reduced to 7000 combatants, but there 
 
ney's retreat 267 
 
 were almost as many stragglers, more or less armed, with them. 
 The march led by the side of the Dnieper, and they 
 bivouacked that night at Korodnia. The next day they ar- 
 rived at a point within four miles of Krasnoi, where, on a hill, 
 fronted by a deep ravine, 12,000 Russians, with forty guns, 
 had taken up their position. 
 
 A thick mis'" covered the lower ground, and the advance 
 of the French was not perceived by the enemy until they were 
 within a short distance of its crest. Then the forty guns 
 poured a storm of grape into the leading regiment. The sur- 
 vivors, cheering loudly, rushed forward at the batteries, and 
 had almost reached them, when a heavy mass of Russian in- 
 fantry flung themselves upon them with the bayonet, and after 
 a short but desperate struggle hurled them down the hill again. 
 The Russian cavalry charged them on the slope, and swept 
 through their shattered ranks. Ney, ignorant that Napoleon 
 had already left Krasnoi, and that the whole Russian army 
 barred his way, made another effort to force a passage. He 
 planted his twelve guns on a height above the ravines, and 
 sent forward several companies of sappers and miners to en- 
 deavour to carry the battery again. Gallantly they made their 
 way up the hill through a storm of fire. But the Russians 
 again fell upon them in great force, and few indeed were en- 
 abled to make the descent of the hill and rejoin their com- 
 rades. 
 
 Darkness had set in now, and Ney, finding it impossible to 
 make his way further, and feeling sure that had the Emperor 
 been still at Krasnoi he would have sent a force to his assist- 
 ance, fell back into the forest. His position was a desperate 
 one ; the scanty supply of provisions with which they had 
 started was exhausted, and they were in an unknown country, 
 surrounded by foes, without a guide, without carriage for the 
 wounded, without an idea of the direction in which to march. 
 The Russian general sent in two flags of truce, offering him 
 
268 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 terms of capitulation which would save the life of himself and 
 of his brave soldiers. Ney, however, was not yet conquered. 
 He detained the messengers with the flags of truce, lest they 
 might take news to their general of the position of his force, 
 and then, with all capable of the exertion, continued his 
 march. They passed in silence within half a mile of the Cos- 
 sack fires, and reaching a village on the Dnieper, attempted 
 the passage ; but the ice broke under the first gun, and it was 
 necessary to abandon the whole of the artillery and every 
 vehicle. 
 
 Before the entire body had passed, the Cossacks, attracted 
 by the sound made by the troops marching across the ice, 
 arrived and captured several hundred prisoners, for the most 
 part stragglers. In a village further on they found temporary 
 rest, surprising a few Cossacks and capturing their horses, 
 which afforded a ration to the troops ; but on the next morn- 
 ing a great swarm of Cossacks appeared on the plain and 
 opened a heavy artillery fire. Unable to advance in that 
 direction the column turned towards a wood on its left, but as 
 it was about to enter the refuge, a battery concealed there 
 poured a volley of grape into them. The column hesitated, 
 but Ney dashed to the front, and they rushed forward and 
 drove the battery from the wood. All day they continued 
 their march through the forest, until, coming upon a village, 
 they obtained a few hours' rest and shelter and some food. 
 
 It had been a terribly heavy day, for the snow here was not, 
 as on the road, trampled down, and the marching was very 
 heavy. Julian had carried the child the greater part of the 
 day. The grenadiers had not been actively engaged, as they 
 formed the rear-guard, and several times his friend the ser- 
 geant relieved him of Stephanie's weight. 
 
 " This is better luck than I looked for, comrade," he said 
 as they cooked the food they had found in the village, filled 
 their pipes, and sat down by a blazing fire. " Peste / I was 
 
ney's retreat 269 
 
 frightened as we crossed the river last night. We knew the 
 ice was not strong, and if it had given way as we crossed, not 
 a man upon it would have reached the other side. However, 
 it turned out for the best, and here we are again, and I believe 
 that we shall somehow get through after all. Ney always has 
 good luck. There is never any hesitation about him. He 
 sees what has to be done and does it. That is the sort of man 
 for a leader. I would rather serve under a man who does 
 what he thinks best at once, even if it turns out wrong, than 
 one who hesitates and wants time to consider. Ney has been 
 called ' the child of victory,' and I believe in his star. Any- 
 one else would have surrendered after that fight yesterday, and 
 yet you see how he has got out of the scrape so far. I believe 
 that Ney will cross the frontier safe, even if he carries with 
 him only a corporal's guard." 
 
 Julian was too exhausted to talk, and every moment of rest 
 was precious. Therefore, after smoking for a short time, he 
 lay down to sleep. At daybreak the next morning the march 
 through the forest continued. When from time to time they 
 approached its edge, the Cossacks could be seen hovering 
 thickly on the plain ; but they dared not venture into the 
 wood, which was so close that their horses would be worse 
 than useless to them. At three o'clock, when within twenty 
 miles of Orsza, two Polish officers volunteered to push ahead 
 to that town on some peasant's horses that had been brought 
 from the village where they had slept to acquaint the com- 
 mander of any French force that might be there with their 
 situation, and to pray for assistance. After a halt of an hour 
 the column pushed on again. When they had marched 
 another twelve miles the forest ceased. Night had long since 
 fallen, and a thick fog hung over the ground. This served to 
 hide their movements, but rendered it difficult in the extreme 
 for them to maintain the right direction. 
 
 Their way led over a steep hill, which was climbed with 
 
270 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 great difficulty by the exhausted troops ; but on reaching the 
 summit they saw to their horror a long line of bivouac fires 
 illuminating the plain in front of them. Even the most san- 
 guine felt despair for a moment. Ney himself stood for a few 
 minutes speechless, then he turned to his men. 
 
 " There is but one thing to do, comrades," he said. " It 
 is death to stay here. Better a thousand times meet it as sol- 
 diers. Let us advance in absolute silence, and then rush 
 upon our enemies and strive to burst our way through. They 
 cannot know that we are so near, and, aided by the surprise, 
 we may force a passage. If we fail, we will, before we die, 
 sell our lives so dearly that our enemies will long bear us in 
 remembrance. ' ' 
 
 In silence the column marched down the hill. No sound 
 proclaimed that the enemy had taken the alarm. When with- 
 in charging distance, the line levelled its bayonets and rushed 
 forward to the fires. To their stupefaction and relief, they 
 found no foe to oppose them. The fires had been lighted by 
 order of the Cossack general to make them believe that an 
 army lay between them and Orsza, and so cause them to ar- 
 rest their march. Half an hour was given to the men to warm 
 themselves by the fires, then the march was resumed. Three 
 miles further the sound of a large body of men was heard, 
 then came a challenge in French, " Qui vive f" A hoarse 
 shout of delight burst from the weary force, and a minute 
 later they were shaking hands with their comrades of Davoust's 
 division. The Polish messengers had, in spite of the numer- 
 ous Cossacks on the plains, succeeded in reaching Orsza safely. 
 The most poignant anxiety reigned there as to the safety of 
 Ney's command ; and Davoust, on hearing the welcome news, 
 instantly called his men under arms and advanced to meet them. 
 
 The delight on both sides was extreme, and Ney's soldiers 
 were supplied with food that Davoust had ordered his men to 
 put in their haversacks. A halt of three or four hours was 
 
ney's retreat 271 
 
 ordered, for the column had been marching for eighteen hours, 
 and could go no further. At daybreak they completed the re- 
 maining eight miles into Orsza. Napoleon himself was there. 
 Here they rested for five days. Food was abundant, and 
 arms were distributed to those who needed them. Ammuni- 
 tion was served out, and Napoleon employed himself with 
 great energy in reorganizing his forces and in distributing the 
 stragglers, — who were almost as numerous as those with the 
 standards, — among them. Ney's corps was now too small for 
 separate service, and henceforth was united to that of Davoust. 
 The halt did wonders for the men. They were billeted among 
 the houses of the town, and warmth and abundant food re- 
 vived their strength. They looked forward with some confi- 
 dence to reaching the spot where great magazines had been 
 prepared, and where they would take up their quarters until 
 the campaign recommenced in the spring. 
 
 Napoleon's plans, however, were all frustrated by the in- 
 conceivable blunders and follies of the generals, to whom were 
 entrusted the task of carrying them out. Everywhere, in turn, 
 they suffered themselves to be deceived and caught napping. 
 The important positions entrusted to them were wrested from 
 their hands. Minsk, where there were supplies for the whole 
 army for months, had been captured, and now Borizow, 
 where the passage of the Berezina was to be made, was capt- 
 ured almost without resistance. Well might Napoleon when 
 he heard the news exclaim in despair : 
 
 " Will there never be an end to this blundering ? " 
 Great as the cold had been before, it increased day by day 
 in severity. Happily for the French, Kutusow, with the main 
 Russian army, was far in their rear, and they might well hope, 
 when joined by Victor, who was to meet them near the Bere- 
 zina with his division, to be able to defeat the two Russian 
 armies that barred their way, either force being inferior to 
 their own. 
 
272 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 Stephanie had borne the march wonderfully well. Since 
 leaving Smolensk, she had had no walking to do. The cold 
 was so great that she was glad to remain during the day snug- 
 gled up beneath Julian's cloak. The marching songs had 
 ceased. Hunted as they were, silence was imperative, and 
 indeed the distances traversed and the hardships endured were 
 so great that even Julian felt that he had no longer strength to 
 raise his voice. Few words indeed were spoken on the march, 
 for the bitter cold seemed to render talking almost impossible. 
 
 Being in ignorance of the forces concentrating to cut him 
 off, Napoleon ordered Oudinot's corps to march forward to 
 secure the passage at Borizow, and Victor that at Studenski, 
 but Tchichagow arrived at Borizow before Oudinot, and began 
 to cross the bridge there. Oudinot, however, fell upon him 
 fiercely before his whole army had passed over, and the Rus- 
 sians drew back across the bridge, destroying it behind them. 
 Napoleon on his arrival found the Russian army of the Danube 
 drawn up on the opposite bank ready to dispute his passage. 
 He at once sent bodies of troops up and down the river to 
 deceive the Russian admiral as to the point at which he in- 
 tended to force a passage. Victor had already come in con- 
 tact with Wittgenstein and had fought a drawn battle with 
 him, and now moved to join Napoleon at the spot decided 
 upon for the passage of the Berezina, near Studenski. 
 
 On the evening of the 25th of November Napoleon arrived 
 there with Oudinot's corps. The engineers immediately 
 commenced the construction of two bridges, and the cavalry 
 and light infantry crossed the river to reconnoitre the enemy, 
 and some batteries were established to cover the work. Mate- 
 rials were very scarce, and it was not until noon on the follow- 
 ing day that the bridges were reported practicable. Oudinot's 
 corps crossed at once, but the rest of the troops passed over in 
 great confusion, which was increased by the frequent break- 
 ing down of the bridges. Victor took up a position to cover 
 
ney's retreat 273 
 
 the rear, but one of his divisions was cut off by Wittgenstein, 
 and eight thousand men forced to surrender. The main body 
 of the French army, completely panic-stricken by the thun- 
 der of guns in their rear, crowded down in a confused mass. 
 The passage was frequently arrested by fresh breakages in the 
 bridges ; hundreds were pushed off into the river by the press- 
 ure from behind ; others attempted to swim across, but few 
 of these succeeded in gaining the opposite bank, the rest 
 being overpowered by the cold or overwhelmed by the float- 
 ing masses of ice. Thousands perished by drowning. By the 
 28th the greater part of the French army had crossed, Vic- 
 tor's corps covering the passage and repulsing the efforts of 
 Wittgenstein up to that time ; then being unable to hold the 
 Russians at bay any longer he marched down to the bridge, 
 forcing a way through the helpless crowd that still blocked the 
 approaches. 
 
 Altogether the loss of the French amounted to 28,000 men, 
 of whom 16,000 were taken prisoners. 
 
 On the same day Tchichagow attacked in front with his 
 army, but, animated by Napoleon's presence, and by despair, 
 the French fought so fiercely that he was repulsed with much 
 loss, and the way lay open to Wilna. The intensity of the 
 cold increased daily, and the sufferings of the army were 
 proportionately great. On the 5th of December Napoleon 
 handed over the wreck of the army, now reduced to 45,000 
 men, to Murat ; while the Viceroy was to have the chief 
 command of the infantry. 
 
 By the time they reached the Berezina, Davoust's corps 
 had been diminished to a few thousand men, and on Victor 
 taking the post of rear-guard, they were relieved from that 
 arduous task, and were among the first who crossed the fatal 
 bridge. From there to Wilna there was comparatively little 
 fighting. Kutusow's army was still far behind, and although 
 Wittgenstein and the Admiral hung on their rear, the French 
 
274 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 army still inspired sufficient respect to deter them from 
 attacking it in force. 
 
 As the army approached the Berezina, scarce a hundred 
 men of the Grenadiers of the Rhone still hung together, and 
 these were so feeble that they staggered rather than marched 
 along. Rations had ceased to be issued, and the troops 
 depended solely upon the flesh of the horses of the waggons 
 conveying the military chests, treasure, and artillery, and 
 from what they could gather in the deserted villages. So 
 desperate were they now that even the fear of falling into the 
 hands of the peasants was insufficient to deter them from turn- 
 ing off, whenever a village appeared in sight, in the hope of 
 finding food, or, if that failed, at least a few hours' shelter. Not 
 one of them was in such good condition as Julian, who had 
 been sustained not only by his naturally high spirits, but by 
 the prattle of the child, and by the added warmth of her 
 sleeping close to him at night. 
 
 She now, for the most part, trotted beside him, and it was 
 only when very tired that the child would allow him to take 
 her up. She herself had never been short of food, for how- 
 ever small the portion obtained, enough for her was always 
 set aside before it was touched. One day Julian had, with 
 some of his comrades, entered a village. The others had in- 
 sisted on lying down for a sleep, after devouring a little food 
 they were fortunate enough to find in one of the houses. 
 Julian's efforts to induce them to continue the march were in 
 vain. They lighted a huge fire on a hearth with wood ob- 
 tained by breaking up some of the doors, and declared that 
 they would be warm for once, whatever came of it. The 
 column was already some distance off, and night was closing 
 in. Julian therefore started alone. He was carrying the 
 child now, and for an hour he kept on his way. Still there 
 were no signs of a road, and he at last became convinced that 
 he must have gone in the wrong direction. He walked for 
 
ney's retreat 275 
 
 half an hour longer, and then coming upon a small hut, he at 
 once determined to pass the night there. 
 
 Laying the sleeping child down, he covered her over with 
 his cloak. Then he broke up some woodwork, cut a portion of 
 it into small pieces, mixed the contents of a cartridge with a 
 little snow and placed it among them, and then drew the 
 charge from his musket, put a little powder into it, and dis- 
 charged it into the heap. In a few minutes a bright fire was 
 blazing, and taking the child in his arms, he lay down before 
 it, and was soon asleep. He was awakened some time after- 
 wards by a strange noise. He sprang up at once, threw some 
 fresh wood on the embers, and, grasping his musket, stood 
 listening. In a minute the noise was renewed ; something 
 was scratching at the door, and a moment later he heard a 
 pattering of feet overhead. Then came a low whimper and a 
 snarl, and the truth at once rushed upon him. He was sur- 
 rounded by wolves. 
 
 For a long time the march of the army had been accom- 
 panied by these creatures. Driven from the forest by cold 
 and hunger, and scenting blood from afar, they had hung 
 upon the skirts of the army, feasting on the bones of the 
 horses and the bodies of the dead. Julian examined the door. 
 It was a strong one, and there was no fear of their making an 
 entry there. The roof, too, seemed solid ; and the window, 
 which was without glass, had a heavy wooden shutter. 
 Hoping that by morning the wolves, finding that they could 
 not enter, would make off, Julian lay down by the fire again, 
 and slept for some hours. When he woke daylight was 
 streaming in through a crack in the shutter. On looking 
 through this and through the chinks of the door, he saw to 
 his dismay that the wolves were still there. Some were sitting 
 watching the house; others were prowling about. It was 
 clear that they had no intention whatever of leaving. The 
 child had been roused by his movements. 
 
\ 
 
 276 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 "Stephanie wants breakfast," she said decidedly, as he 
 broke up some more wood and rekindled the fire. 
 
 " I am afraid, dear, you will have to wait," he said. " I 
 have not got any to give you. ' ' 
 
 ' ' Let us go and get some, ' ' she said, standing up. 
 
 " I would, Stephanie; but there are some wolves outside, 
 and we can't go until they move." 
 
 " Wolves are bad beasts. Stephanie was out riding in the 
 sleigh with papa, when they came out from a wood and ran 
 after us, and they would have killed us if the horses had not 
 been very fast. Papa shot some of them, but the others did 
 not seem to mind, and were close behind when we got home, 
 where the men came out with forks and axes, and then they 
 ran away. Stephanie will wait for her breakfast." 
 
 Julian thought for some time, and, then going to the win- 
 dow, opened the shutters and began to fire at the wolves. 
 Several were killed. They were at once torn to pieces by 
 their companions, who then withdrew to a safe distance, and 
 sat down to watch. Julian had not even hoped that it would 
 be otherwise. Had he waited, it was possible that they would 
 at last leave the hut and go off in the track of the army ; but 
 even in that case, he would not, he felt, be able to overtake it 
 alone, for, weak as he was, he felt unequal to any great exer- 
 tion, and he and his charge might be devoured by these or 
 other wolves, long before he came up with the column, or 
 they might be killed by Cossacks or by peasants. The last 
 were the most merciless enemies, for death at their hands 
 would be slower and more painful than at the hands of the 
 wolves, but at least the child might be saved, and it was in 
 hopes of attracting attention that he opened fire. He con- 
 tinued therefore to discharge his gun at intervals, and to his 
 great satisfaction saw in the afternoon a number of peasants 
 approaching. The wolves at once made off. 
 
 "Stephanie," he said, "there are some of your people 
 
ney's retreat 277 
 
 coming. They will soon be here, and you must tell them 
 who you are, and ask them to send you to your father, and 
 tell them that he will give them lots of money for bringing 
 you back to him." 
 
 "Yes," the child said, " and he will thank you very, very 
 much for having been so good to me." 
 
 " I am afraid, Stephanie, that I shall not go back with you. 
 The people kill the French whenever they take them." 
 
 " But you are not French; you are English," she said, in- 
 dignantly. " Besides, the French are not all bad ; they were 
 very good to me. ' ' 
 
 ' ' I am afraid, dear, that it will make very little difference 
 to them my being an Englishman. They will see that I am 
 in French uniform, and will regard me as an enemy just as if 
 I were French." 
 
 " I will not let them hurt you," she said sturdily. " They 
 are serfs, and when I tell them who I am they will obey me, 
 for if they don't I will tell them that my father will have them 
 all flogged to death." 
 
 "Don't do that, dear. You are a long way from your 
 father's house, and they may not know his name ; so do not 
 talk about flogging, but only about the money they will get if 
 they take you back. They are poor men, they have had a 
 great deal to suffer, and have been made very savage ; so it is 
 best for you to speak kindly and softly to them. Now, dear, 
 let us turn down that collar, so that they can see your face, 
 and take your things off your head, and then go out and 
 speak to them. They are close here. ' ' 
 
 The child did as he told her, and as he opened the door 
 she stepped out. The peasants, who were only some twenty 
 yards away, stopped in surprise at the appearance of the 
 strange little figure before them. Her golden hair fell over her 
 shoulders, and the long loose jacket concealed the rest of her 
 person. She spoke to them in Russian, in a high, clear voice : 
 
278 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 "I am the Countess Stephanie Woronski. I am glad to 
 see you. I was travelling to go to my father, when there was 
 an accident, and my nurse and the coachman were both killed ; 
 and I should have died too, but a good man — an Englishman 
 . — took me up, and he has carried me many days, and has fed 
 me and kept me warm and been my nurse. He must go with 
 me back to my father ; and my father will give you lots 
 of money for taking us both to him, and you must remember 
 that he is an Englishman and not a Frenchman, although 
 somehow he has been obliged to go with their army; and he 
 is very, very good." 
 
 All this time Julian was standing behind her, musket in 
 hand, determined to sell his life dearly. The peasants stood 
 irresolute ; they conferred together ; then one of them ad- 
 vanced, and took off his fur cap and bowed to the child. 
 
 "Little mistress," he said, "we are but peasants, and do 
 not know the name of your honoured father ; but assuredly 
 we will take you to our village, and our priest will find out 
 where he lives, and will take you home to him ; but this man 
 with you is a Frenchman, and an enemy." 
 
 The child stamped her foot angrily. " Pig of a man ! " 
 she exclaimed passionately, "Do I, then, lie? I tell you he 
 is English. I have a French coat on, just as he has. Will 
 you say next that I am a French girl ? I tell you that my 
 friend must come with me, and that when I come to my father 
 he will give you much money. He is a friend of the Czar, 
 and if I tell him that you have hurt my friend, he and the 
 Czar will both be angry. ' ' 
 
 A murmur broke from the group of peasants. The anger 
 of the Czar was, of all things, the most terrible. Doubtless 
 this imperious, little countess was a great lady, and their 
 habitual habit of subservience to the nobles at once asserted 
 itself, and, while they had hesitated before, the threat of the 
 Czar's anger completed their subjugation. 
 
" I AM THE COUNTESS STEPHANIE WORONSKI. I AM GLAD TO SEE YOU. 
 
ney's retreat 279 
 
 " It shall be as the little mistress wills it," the peasant said 
 humbly. " No harm shall be done to your friend. We can- 
 not promise that the troops will not take him away from us, 
 but if they do not he shall go with you when we find where 
 your father lives. If he has saved your life, he must be, as 
 you say, a good man, and we will take care of him." 
 
 " They will take care of you," the child said in French, 
 turning to Julian. " I told them that my father would reward 
 them, and that the Czar would be very angry with them if 
 they hurt you ; and so they have promised to take you with 
 me to him." 
 
 Julian at once placed his gun against the wall, and, taking 
 her hand, walked forward to the peasants. 
 
 " Tell them," he said, " that the English are the friends 
 of Russia, and that there are some English officers now with 
 their army, for I have several times seen scarlet uniforms among 
 the Russian staff." 
 
 The child repeated this to the peasants. One of them went 
 into the hut, and looked round ; and then securing Julian's 
 musket, rejoined the others, who at once started across the 
 snow, one of the party carrying Stephanie. On her telling 
 them that she was hungry, some black bread was produced. 
 She gave the first piece handed her to Julian, and then sat 
 contentedly munching another. The peasants had now come 
 to the conclusion that the capture would bring good fortune 
 to them, and one of them took from the pocket of his sheep- 
 skin caftan a bottle, which he handed to Julian. The latter 
 took a drink that caused him to cough violently, to the amuse- 
 ment of the peasants, for it was vodka, and the strong spirit 
 took his breath away after his long abstinence from anything 
 but water. It did him good, however, and seemed to send a 
 glow through every limb, enabling him to keep pace with the 
 peasants. Their course lay north, and after four hours' walking 
 they arrived at a good-sized village at the edge of a forest. 
 
280 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 Their arrival created much excitement. There was a hub- 
 bub of talk, and then they were taken into the largest house 
 in the village. Stephanie, who had been asleep for some 
 time, woke up ; and Julian threw aside his cloak, for the close 
 heat of the interior was almost overpowering. A very old 
 man, the father of the families that occupied the house, — for 
 in Russia married sons all share the houses of their parents, — 
 made a deep bow to Stephanie, and placed a low seat for her 
 before the stove. Julian helped her off with her jacket and 
 her other encumbrances, and her appearance in a pretty dress 
 evidently increased the respect in which she was held by the 
 peasants. In a short time bowls of hot broth were placed be- 
 fore them, and, weak as was the liquor, both enjoyed it im- 
 mensely after their monotonous diet of horse-flesh. Then 
 Stephanie was given a corner on the cushion placed on a wide 
 shelf running round the apartment. The place next to hei 
 was assigned to Julian, who, after swallowing another glass oi 
 vodka, was in a few minutes sound asleep, with a sweet con- 
 sciousness of rest and security to which he had long been a 
 stranger. 
 
 In the morning there was a gathering composed of the papa 
 or priest of the village and the principal men. When it was 
 concluded, Stephanie was informed that none of them knew 
 the place of residence of her father, but that a messenger had 
 been sent off to the nearest town with a letter from the priest 
 to the bishop there, asking him to inform them of it. She was 
 asked how many days had passed since she had fallen in with 
 the French, and how long she had been travelling before she 
 did so. Julian was able to say exactly where he had fallen in 
 with her — about thirty miles from Smolensk. Stephanie her- 
 self was vague as to the time she had travelled before the acci- 
 dent to the carriage, " days and days " being the only account 
 that she could give of the matter. The priest then spoke to 
 her for some time in Russian. 
 
ney's retreat 281 
 
 " They want you," she said to Julian, " to take off your 
 uniform and to put on clothes like theirs. They say that 
 though they wish to take you with me to my father, they 
 might on the way fall in with other people or with soldiers, 
 who would not know how good you are, and might take you 
 away from them and kill you, so that it would be safer for 
 you to travel in Russian dress. You won't mind that, will 
 you?" 
 
 " Not at all, Stephanie ; I think that it is a very good plan 
 indeed." 
 
 A quarter of an hour later Julian was equipped in the attire 
 of a well-to-do peasant, with caftan lined with sheep-skin, a 
 round fur cap, a thick pair of trousers of a dark rough cloth, 
 bandages of the same material round the leg from the knee to 
 the ankle, and high loose boots of untanned leather with the 
 hair inside. The transformation greatly pleased the peasants, 
 whose hatred of the French uniform had hitherto caused them to 
 stand aloof from him, and they now patted him on the shoulder, 
 shook his hand, and drank glasses of vodka, evidently to his 
 health, with great heartiness. Julian could, as yet, scarcely be- 
 lieve that all this was not a dream. From the day that he had 
 crossed the Niemen he had been filled with gloomy forebodings 
 of disaster, and sickened by the barbarities of the soldiers upon 
 the people, while, during the retreat, he had been exposed to 
 constant hardship, engaged in innumerable fights and skir- 
 mishes, and impressed with the firm belief that not a French- 
 man would ever cross the frontier save as a prisoner. After 
 this the sense of warmth, the abundance of food, and the ab- 
 sence of any necessity for exertion seemed almost overpower- 
 ing, and for the next three or four days he passed no small 
 proportion of his time in sleep. 
 
 Stephanie was quite in her element. She was treated like a 
 little queen by the villagers, who considered her presence 
 among them a high honour as well as a source of future 
 
282 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 reward. They were never weary of listening to the details of 
 her stay among the French, and accorded to Julian a good 
 deal of deference both for the kindness he had shown the little 
 countess and for the service that he had thereby rendered to 
 themselves. It was ten days before an answer was received as 
 to the count's estates. They lay, it said, far to the south, but 
 the bishop was of opinion that the little countess had better be 
 sent to St. Petersburg, as the count had a palace there, and 
 would be certain to be at the capital at the present juncture of 
 affairs. He offered that, if they would bring her to him, he 
 would see that she was sent on thither by a post-carriage, but 
 that in view of the extreme cold it would be better that she 
 should not be forwarded until the spring. 
 
 A village council was held on the receipt of this letter, and 
 the proposal that she should be sent by the bishop was unani- 
 mously negatived. It seemed to the villagers that in such a 
 case the glory of restoring Stephanie to her parents, and the 
 reward that would naturally accrue from it, would not fall to 
 them ; but, at the same time, no alternative method occurred 
 to them. Finally, after much consultation, Stephanie was asked 
 to interpret the bishop's letter to Julian, and when she had 
 done so she was told to add : "They think, Julian, that if 
 they send us to the bishop papa will not know that it was 
 they who found me and took care of me. ' ' 
 
 Julian understood the difficulty. He first inquired how 
 much the village could raise to pay for the expenses of a post- 
 carriage to St. Petersburg. He said that it would, of course, 
 be only a loan, and would be repaid by the count. This led 
 to a considerable amount of discussion, but the difficulty was 
 much diminished when Julian said that he could himself sup- 
 ply five napoleons towards the fund. It had been decided 
 that three times that amount would be required to pay all 
 expenses of travel, and the priest agreeing to contribute an 
 equal amount to Julian's, the remaining sum was speedily 
 
ney's retreat 283 
 
 made up. It was then arranged that the priest would himself 
 go to Borizow and obtain the podorojna or order for the sup- 
 ply of post-horses at the various stations. He would have to 
 name those who would accompany him. The head man of 
 the village was unanimously elected to go with him, and after 
 some talk it was settled that Julian should be put down as 
 Ivan Meriloff, as a foreign name would excite suspicion and 
 cause much trouble, and possibly he might be detained as a 
 prisoner, in which case the peasants saw that there would be 
 considerable difficulty in inducing the little countess to go 
 with them. The priest was absent three days, and then re- 
 turned with the necessary document authorizing him to start 
 from Borizow in four days' time. Julian was sorry when the 
 time came for his departure. After four months of incessant 
 hardship and fatigue, the feeling of rest and comfort was 
 delightful. He had been more weakened than he was aware 
 of by want of food, and, as his strength came back to him, he 
 felt like one recovering from a long illness, ready to enjoy the 
 good things of life fully, to bask in the heat of the stove, and 
 to eat his meals with a sense of real enjoyment. 
 
 Rumours had come in every day of the terrible sufferings of 
 the French as they were hotly pressed by the triumphant Rus- 
 sians, and of the general belief that but few would survive to 
 cross the Niemen. Still, while the French were thus suffering 
 the Russians were in but little better plight, following, as they 
 did, through a country that had been swept bare of everything 
 that could be burned by the retreating French. Their suffer- 
 ings from cold were terrible, 90,000 perished, and out of 
 10,000 recruits, who afterwards marched for Wilna, as a rein- 
 forcement, only 1500 reached that city, and the greater por- 
 tion of these had at once to be taken to the hospital mutilated 
 from frost-bite. Thus, then, the number of Russians that per- 
 ished was at least as great as that of their harassed foes, and 
 this in their own climate, and without the necessity for the 
 
284 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 constant vigilance, that had assisted to break down the retreat- 
 ing army. 
 
 Julian was instructed in the Russian words to reply if asked 
 by any of the postmasters whether he was the Ivan Meriloff 
 mentioned in the passport, and, on the day after the return of 
 the priest, they started in a sledge filled with hay and covered 
 with sheep-skins. 
 
 Julian with Stephanie were nestled up in the hay at one end 
 of the sledge, the two Russians at the other. On reaching 
 Borizow they stopped at the post-house, and on producing the 
 podorojna were told that the carriage and horses would be ready 
 in half an hour. They had brought a considerable amount of 
 provisions with them, and now laid in a stock of such articles as 
 could not be procured in the villages. When the post-carriage 
 came round, a large proportion of the hay in the sledge 
 was transferred to it, together with the sheep-skins. There 
 was no luggage, and four horses were deemed sufficient. The 
 wheels had, of course, been taken off the vehicle, and it was 
 placed on runners. The driver climbed up to his seat, cracked 
 his whip furiously, and the horses started at a gallop. The 
 motion was swift and pleasant, indeed travelling in Russia is 
 much more agreeable in winter than in summer, for the roads, 
 which in summer are often detestable, are in winter as smooth 
 as glass, over which the sledge glides with a scarce perceptible 
 movement, and the journeys are performed much more rapidly 
 than in summer. 
 
 The distance between the post-houses varied considerably, 
 being sometimes only nine miles apart, sometimes as many as 
 twenty, but they were generally performed at a gallop, the 
 priest, at Julian's suggestion, always giving somewhat more 
 than the usual drink-money to the driver, and in five days 
 from the time of their leaving Borizow they arrived at St. 
 Petersburg, halting only for a few hours each night at post- 
 houses. They had no difficulty in ascertaining where the Wo- 
 
NEV'S RETREAT 285 
 
 ronski palace was situated, and, taking a droski, drove there 
 at once. Stephanie clapped her hands as she saw it. 
 
 " You ought to have put on your cloak, Julian, and to have 
 packed me up under it as you used to carry me, and to take 
 me in like that." 
 
 ' • I am afraid that grand-looking personage at the door 
 would not have let me in. As it is, he is looking at us with 
 the greatest contempt. ' ' 
 
 " That is Peter," the child said. " Peter, Peter, what are 
 you standing staring for ? Why don't you come and help me 
 down as usual ? ' ' 
 
 The porter, a huge man with a great beard, and wearing a 
 fur cap and a long fur-trimmed pelisse, almost staggered back 
 as the child spoke. He had, as Julian said, been regarding 
 the droski and its load with an air of supreme contempt, and 
 had been about to demand angrily why it ventured to drive 
 up into the court-yard of the palace. He stood immovable 
 until Stephanie threw back her sheep-skin hcod, then, with a 
 loud cry, he sprang down the steps, dashed his fur cap to the 
 ground, threw himself on his knees, and taking the child's 
 hand in his, pressed it to his forehead. The tears streamed 
 down his cheeks, as he sobbed out, " My little mistress, my 
 little mistress ! and you have come back again to be the light 
 of our hearts — oh, what a joyful day is this ! ' ' 
 
 ''Thank you, Peter. Now, please lift me down. I am 
 quite well. Are papa and mamma well ? ' ' 
 
 " The gracious countess is not well, little mistress, but 
 when she knows that you are back, she will soon regain her 
 health. His excellency, your father, is not ill, but he is 
 sorely troubled. He has been away for a fortnight searching 
 for news of you, and returned but last week. I don't know 
 what his news was, but it was bad, for the countess has been 
 worse since he returned." 
 
 "This gentleman has told me, Peter, that I must not run 
 
286 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 in to see them without their being told first that I am safe, 
 and that you had better fetch Papa Serge. This is the Eng- 
 lish gentleman, Peter, who saved my life when I was almost 
 dead with cold, and carried me for days and days under his 
 cloak, and kept me warm close to him when we lay down in 
 the snow at night. ' ' 
 
 Again the Russian fell on his knees, and seizing Julian's 
 hand, put it to his forehead. Then he jumped up, " Why am 
 I keeping you out in the cold ? " he said. " Come in, little 
 mistress, and I will send to fetch the papa." 
 
 " Cover up your head, Stephanie," Julian said as, holding 
 his hand tightly, they entered the hall together. " If others 
 were to see you the news would run through the house like 
 wildfire, and it would come to your mother's ears before it 
 had been broken to her. Tell Peter to take us into a quiet 
 room, and not to inform the man he sends to the priest that 
 you are here." 
 
 Followed by the village priest and the peasant they entered 
 a room fitted as a library. 
 
 " It is here papa writes his letters," Stephanie said, throw- 
 ing back her hood again and taking off her cloak ; " isn't it 
 nice and warm ? ' ' 
 
 Coming in from the temperature of some forty degrees 
 below freezing, it was to Julian most uncomfortably warm. 
 It was some four or five minutes before the door opened, and 
 Papa Serge, the family chaplain, entered with a somewhat 
 bewildered face, for he had been almost forcibly dragged 
 down by Peter, who had refused to give any explanation for 
 the urgency of his demand that he should accompany him 
 instantly to the count's study. When his eyes fell on Stepha- 
 nie, who had started up as he entered, he gave a cry of joy. 
 A moment later she sprang into his arms. 
 
 "Dear, dear, Papa Serge!" she said, as she kissed his 
 withered cheeks warmly. " Oh I do love to be home again, 
 
ney's retreat 287 
 
 though I have been very happy, and everyone has been very 
 kind to me. Now, you mustn't stay here, because I want to 
 see papa and mamma ; and this gentleman says — he is my 
 great friend, you know, and I call him Nurse Julian — that you 
 must go and tell them first that I have come, and that you 
 must tell them very gently, so that it won't upset poor 
 mamma. ' ' 
 
 " Tell him, Stephanie, that he had better say at first only 
 that someone has just come with the news that you are quite 
 safe, and that you will be here soon, and then after a little 
 while, he had better call your father out and tell him the 
 truth. By the way, ask if they are together now." 
 
 The child put the question. 
 
 "No, the countess is in bed and the count is walking up 
 and down the great drawing-room. He does it for hours at 
 a time." 
 
 " In that case, Stephanie, tell Serge to speak first to your 
 father, and to bring him down here to you. He will break it 
 to your mother better than anyone else would do." 
 
 The priest was too deeply moved to speak, but upon 
 Stephanie translating what Julian had said, put her down and 
 left the room. As soon as he had done so the priest who had 
 travelled with them, and who, with his companion, had been 
 standing in an attitude of respect while Stephanie was speak- 
 ing, said to her : 
 
 " Little countess, we will go out into the hall and wait there. 
 It were better that his excellency, your father, should meet you 
 here alone." 
 
 " He would not mind," Stephanie said, " but if you think 
 that you had better go, please do." 
 
 The two peasants left the room somewhat hastily. They 
 had been absolutely awed at the splendour of the house, 
 which vastly surpassed anything they had ever imagined, 
 and were glad to make an excuse to leave the room and so 
 
288 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 avoid seeing the count until his daughter had explained the 
 reason of their presence there. Julian guessed their reason 
 for leaving and was about to follow them when Stephanie 
 took him by the hand. 
 
 " No," she said, " you are not to go, Julian. It is you who 
 saved my life, and it is you who must give me back to papa." 
 A few minutes elapsed, then the door was suddenly thrown 
 open and the count ran in. 
 
 "My Stephanie! my little Stephanie!" he cried, as he 
 caught her up. " Oh, my little girl ! we never thought to see 
 you again — it seems a miracle from heaven. Do not cry, 
 darling," he said presently, as she lay sobbing with her head 
 on his shoulder. " It is all over now, and you will come to 
 think of it in time as a bad dream." 
 
 " Not a very bad one, papa. It has been funny and strange, 
 but not bad. Oh, and I meant this gentleman — he is an Eng- 
 lish gentleman, papa— to have put me into your arms, only 
 somehow I forgot all about it when you came in. I call him 
 Nurse Julian, papa, because he has been my nurse. He has 
 carried me for days and days on his back under his warm cloak, 
 and I have slept curled up in his arms ; and sometimes there 
 were battles. Oh, such a noise they made ! When it was a 
 big battle he stowed me away in a waggon, but sometimes 
 when it was a small one, and he had not time to take me to 
 the waggon, he carried me on his back, and I used to jump at 
 first when he fired his gun, but I soon got accustomed to it, 
 and he always got me plenty of food, though it was not very 
 nice. But he didn't often get enough, and he became very 
 thin and pale, and then I used sometimes to run along by his 
 side for a bit, and I only let him carry me when I was very 
 tired, and at last we were in a little hut by ourselves, and some 
 peasants came. They looked very wicked at first, but I told 
 them who I was, and that you would give them money if they 
 brought me back to you, and so we went to their village and 
 
NEY S RETREAT 
 
 stayed there, and it was warm and nice, and there was plenty 
 of food, and dear Julian got strong again, and then they 
 brought us here in a post-carriage, and two of them came 
 with me. They are out in the hall now." 
 
 The count set his little daughter down, and coming up to 
 Julian threw his arms round his neck and kissed him in Rus- 
 sian fashion. "My benefactor! " he exclaimed, "I don't 
 understand all that Stephanie has told me, but it is enough 
 that you saved her life, and that you nursed her with the 
 tenderness of a mother, and have restored her to us as one 
 from the grave. Never can I fully express my thanks or prove 
 my gratitude to you, but now you will, I trust, excuse me. I 
 am burning to carry the news of our dear one's return to her 
 mother, whose condition is giving us grave anxiety. She is 
 far too weak to stand any sudden shock, and I will merely tell 
 her now that news has come that a little girl whose descrip- 
 tion corresponds with that of Stephanie has been found and is 
 on her way here, and may arrive very shortly. More than 
 that I shall not venture upon to-day, unless, indeed, I find 
 that the excitement and suspense is likely to be even more in- 
 jurious to her than the state of dull despair in which she now 
 lies. If I see that it is so I must go on, little by little, till 
 she guesses the truth. Now, Stephanie, you had better come 
 up to your own room. Of course, your friend will come with 
 you," he added with a smile as Stephanie took Julian's hand. 
 ' ' But you had better wait three or four minutes so that I 
 may give strict orders to the household that everything is to 
 be kept perfectly quiet, and that not a sound is to be heard in 
 the house. There will be time enough for rejoicings after- 
 wards." 
 
 The count, who was a handsome man some thirty years old, 
 now left the room. He paused in the hall for a minute, shook 
 the priest and his companion warmly by the hand, and as- 
 sured them that they should be handsomely rewarded for the 
 
290 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 kindness they had shown to his daughter, and then after speak- 
 ing to Peter he ran lightly upstairs to his wife's room. Steph- 
 anie waited for about five minutes and then said : 
 
 " I should think that papa has had time to give the orders. 
 Now, Julian, shall we go ? " 
 
 " Yes, dear, I think we might do so." 
 
 On going out into the hall a singular spectacle presented itself. 
 The grand staircase was lined on each side with kneeling men 
 and women. There was a sound of suppressed sobbing, and a 
 low murmur was heard as Stephanie appeared. 
 
 "Go first, Stephanie dear," Julian said in a low voice; 
 " they want to kiss your hands." 
 
 Stephanie showed no shyness, for, stopping on each step, 
 she held out her hands to the kneeling figures, who murmured 
 prayers and blessings. As they kissed them, she said softly 
 to each, " Thank you very much, but I must not talk now. 
 This gentleman is my friend. It is he who saved my life, and 
 nursed me, and carried me. You must all love him for my 
 sake," whereupon, as Julian followed her, he met with a recep- 
 tion similar to that given to their young mistress. He was 
 glad when at last they reached the top of the stairs and Steph- 
 anie led the way into her own room, which was a sort of 
 glorified nursery. Here two or three maids were laying a 
 table, and as the door closed behind him they crowded round 
 her and by turns kissed and hugged her. Then an old woman, 
 who had sat apart until the girls had had their turn, came for- 
 ward. She placed her hands solemnly on the child's head : 
 
 " May the great Father bless you, my child. I have seen 
 many glad days since I entered the service of your house sixty 
 years ago. I was present at your grandfather's wedding, and 
 your father's, but never was there so bright and happy a day 
 as this, which but half an hour ago was so dark and sad. It 
 was but three days ago that the whole household went into 
 mourning for you, for the news your father brought home 
 
ney's retreat 291 
 
 seemed to show that all hope was at an end. In five minutes 
 all this has changed. You see the maids have got on their 
 festive dresses, and I will warrant me they never changed 
 their things so rapidly before. Now we have but to get your 
 beloved mother strong again, which, please God, will not be 
 long, and then this will be the happiest house in all Russia." 
 
 " This is my nurse, my new nurse, Elizabeth. His name 
 is Julian, and he is an English gentleman, as you will see 
 better when he gets some nice clothes on. He has carried me 
 days and days across the snow, and kept me warm by night 
 and day, and done everything for me. He doesn't speak 
 Russian, but he can speak French, and so, of course, we got 
 on very nicely ; and I have been in battles, Elizabeth, think 
 of that ! and I was not afraid a bit, and I was quite happy all 
 the time, only, of course, I am very, very glad to get home 
 again." 
 
 The meal was now laid, and Julian and the child sat down 
 to it with a vigorous appetite. Their food while in the village 
 had been coarse though plentiful, and Julian especially appre- 
 ciated the delicate flavour and perfect cooking of the many 
 dishes of whose names and contents he was absolutely ignorant. 
 An hour after they had finished, the count came in. 
 
 "Your mother has borne it better than I expected, Steph- 
 anie," he said. " I have been able to break the news to her 
 sooner than I expected. Come with me ; be very quiet and 
 do not talk much. She will be well content to have you 
 lying quietly in her arms." So saying, he lifted her and car- 
 ried her off, saying to Julian, " I will return and have the 
 pleasure of a talk with you after I have left Stephanie with 
 her mother." 
 
292 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 
 IN COMFORTABLE QUARTERS 
 
 IT was an hour before the Count returned to the nursery. 
 " Ah, my friend," he said, "what happiness have you 
 brought to us. Already my wife is a new creature. I had 
 begun to think that I should lose her too, for the doctors told 
 me frankly that they feared she would fall into a decline. Now 
 her joy is so great that it was with difficulty that I could tear 
 myself away from contemplating her happiness, but the doctor 
 came in and recommended that she should try and sleep for a 
 time, or if she could not sleep that she should at least lie abso- 
 lutely quiet, so Stephanie has nestled down by her side, and I 
 was able to come to you." He now led the way to a luxuri- 
 ously furnished smoking-room. 
 
 " This is my snuggery," he said. "The library below is 
 where I go into matters with my stewards, receive persons 
 who come on business, and so on. This is where I read and 
 receive my friends. Now, will you help yourself to those 
 cigars, and let us talk. At present I know nothing. Stephanie 
 was left down at our estate, near Kieff, under the charge of 
 her French nurse, who has been with her since she was born. 
 She was rather governess than nurse of late. She was a French 
 emigre, and of good French family, and we had implicit con- 
 fidence in her. I wrote to her when the invasion first began, 
 saying that as at present we could not tell whether St. Peters- 
 burg or Moscow would be Napoleon's object of attack, but as 
 all the centre of Russia would be involved in the war, I wished 
 that Stephanie should remain quietly with her. I said that, 
 should any French army approach Kieff, she was to take 
 Stephanie at once to my estate near Odessa. 
 
 < < After the invasion began I sent off several letters to the 
 
IN COMFORTABLE QUARTERS 293 
 
 same effect, two by my own couriers, but owing to our army 
 falling back so rapidly, I imagine that none of the letters 
 ever reached the nurse. Of course, the whole postal com- 
 munication of the country has been thrown into confusion. 
 At last, two months ago, a messenger from Kieff brought me 
 a letter from her making no allusion to those I had sent her, 
 but saying that as she heard that the French army was at Moscow- 
 she felt sure I should wish her to bring Stephanie to us, and 
 that, after a consultation with my steward, she would in three 
 days start direct after sending off her letter. We were, of 
 course, thunderstruck. She apparently had the idea that the 
 whole of the French were at Moscow, and that it would, 
 therefore, be perfectly safe to cross the roads between them 
 and the frontier. The poor woman said that should they by 
 any chance come across any body of her countrymen, she was 
 sure that they would not interfere with a woman and child. 
 Her anxiety seemed to relate solely to the weather and food, 
 but she assured me that she would bring an abundance of 
 wraps of all sorts, and a supply of provisions in thefourgon 
 sufficient for the journey. 
 
 "Half an hour after I received the letter I sent off two 
 couriers. They were, of course, to go round east of Moscow 
 and then to Kieff. They were to drive at the top of their 
 speed the whole way, and I obtained a special order for them 
 to be instantly furnished with post-horses everywhere. In the 
 meantime there was nothing to do but to wait. My orders 
 were that immediately they arrived they were to send off a 
 fresh messenger by the way they had come, saying whether 
 Stephanie had started, and they were bearers of letters of 
 instruction to the steward that six mounted men were 
 instantly to follow the road the carriage had taken, making 
 inquiries at every post-house, and to endeavour to trace 
 them, and if the clue was anywhere lost to bring word 
 to me. I waited ten days, then I got news that Stephanie 
 
294 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 had left five weeks before my messengers arrived there. The 
 nurse's letter had been a very long time in coming to me, 
 and they had started, as she said, three days after it was 
 written, therefore if they had got safely through the country 
 occupied by the French they should have arrived here at least 
 three weeks before. 
 
 ' ' According to the dates there was little doubt that they 
 must have crossed the main road from Moscow to the frontier 
 at the very time when the French army on its retreat would 
 be moving along. All that we had heard and knew of the ter- 
 rible distress, both of their army and of our own, showed that at 
 that time the intense suffering of the French and the savage 
 reprisals of our peasantry had reduced them to a state when 
 nothing was respected, and that a pair of valuable horses and 
 a heap of costly furs, to say nothing of the food carried, 
 would be prizes almost beyond value. Deprived of these, a 
 nurse and child would, in a few hours, die of the cold. That 
 some such fate must have befallen them seemed almost certain, 
 for otherwise they must have joined us. 
 
 < < I could tell pretty well the road that they would follow, 
 and started along it. Half way between here and Smolensk 
 I met the six men. What they said confirmed my worst fears. 
 They had learnt where the carriage had last halted for the 
 night. The party had not travelled post, but had kept their 
 own horses and had travelled only by day. Had they 
 lingered only one day anywhere on the way they would have 
 crossed the Moscow road on the day after the rear-guard of 
 the French had passed. 
 
 "But news travelled slowly, and no doubt, at the post- 
 house where they slept, no word that the French army was 
 passing along had been received. Beyond that, the men had 
 been able to gather no news whatever of the carriage. The 
 country was a desert, tenanted only by dead ; and the men's 
 descriptions of what they saw were so horrible that my blood 
 
IN COMFORTABLE QUARTERS 295 
 
 was frozen. However, I kept on my journey, taking them 
 with me. We went to the post-house where the carriage had 
 last stopped, and then took up the search. There were half a 
 dozen roads by which they might have proceeded ; however, 
 we took the most easterly one, and then, when it crossed the 
 main road, followed the latter. It was choked with deserted 
 waggons and guns. Dead bodies lay everywhere; many 
 partly devoured by wolves; all stripped of their clothing. 
 After making our way through this terrible scene for a few 
 miles, we saw, fifty yards from the road, the remains of a 
 sleigh. Its bright yellow colour caught our eyes, and when 
 we got to it there was no room for doubt. The body of the 
 sleigh was gone — had been burnt for firewood ; but the colour 
 was that of my own carriage, and two of the men who be- 
 longed to the stables at Kieff said that they could swear to it, 
 owing to a new iron that had been put on to one of the run- 
 ners the day before it had started. But there were other signs. 
 Portions of the harness lay about, and on one of these enough 
 of the silver-work remained to show that it was ours. 
 
 " Then we searched farther. Turning over a mound of 
 newly-fallen snow, we found the bodies of the coachman and 
 the nurse. We searched for hours, but could not find that of 
 the child ; but as to her fate we had no doubt. She might 
 have run away into the forest, or she might have been de- 
 voured by wolves. That she was dead was certain. I left 
 four of the men there. They were to establish themselves in 
 the nearest village, and to continue the search day by day, 
 and to remain there, if necessary, till the spring came and the 
 snow disappeared. I returned here ten days ago with the 
 news that all hope was at an end, and that Stephanie was lost 
 to us for ever. Now, sir, will you tell me how it was that you 
 saved her? You were doubtless with the French army, 
 though how you came to be there is almost as great a puzzle 
 as how Stephanie was saved." 
 
29G THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 " I will tell you that afterwards, Count," Julian replied. 
 
 Then he related how, on marching past the overturned car* 
 riage, he heard what would doubtless have been Stephanie's 
 last cry, and had found her lying half-frozen among the cush- 
 ions. He stated the means he had taken to restore warmth to 
 her, and how he had strapped her to his back under his 
 warmly-lined cloak. 
 
 Then he gave, as well as he could remember, the details of 
 each day's experience : how Stephanie had become a general 
 pet of the soldiers ; how they had manufactured a warm cloak 
 and hood for her ; how she had ridden on shoulders, and had 
 joined in the marching songs of the regiment, and had really 
 kept well and in good spirits on the march ; how, as he got 
 too weak to carry her, she had trotted by his side ; and how 
 his comrades, in spite of their exhaustion, had been willing to 
 relieve him of her weight. Then he told how, at last, they 
 had separated from the regiment when but a few hours' march 
 from the Berezina ; and how Stephanie in turn had saved his 
 life from the peasants. 
 
 "So you see, Count," he concluded, "the kindness that 
 I had shown your child has already been repaid to me many 
 fold. Not only did she save my life from the peasants, but I 
 have no doubt that her pretty talk, and the occupation she 
 offered to my thoughts, and her warmth as she nestled close to 
 me at night, were the means of my retaining my strength to 
 a far greater degree than was the case with most of my com- 
 rades, and enabled me to survive when so many dropped dead 
 from cold and exhaustion." 
 
 " That may be so, my friend," the count said. " God has 
 doubtless rewarded you for your good action, but that in no- 
 wise lessens our obligations towards you. Now, will you tell 
 me somewhat of your own history? " 
 
 " It is a long story, Count." 
 
 " All the better, my friend. I trust that my wife is asleep 
 
IN COMFORTABLE QUARTERS 
 
 297 
 
 by this time, and the child with her, and nothing can be of 
 greater interest to me than to hear it. ' ' 
 
 Julian therefore related his story in full, and produced the 
 paper given him on his enlistment, guaranteeing that he should 
 not be called upon to fight against his countrymen. 
 
 " Since we entered Russia, Count," he said, "and I have 
 seen the savage manner in which the peasantry were treated, 
 not so much by the French troops as by the allies, I bitterly 
 regretted that I had enlisted ; but, at the time, no notion of 
 this had ever entered my mind. I have told you that the life 
 at Verdun was intolerable. We died in hundreds, for a sort 
 of dull despair seemed to settle on everyone ; and, although 
 for a long time I had borne up against it, I had come to the 
 point when death would have been welcome. A return to my 
 own country seemed closed to me, owing to the circumstances 
 I have related to you ; and I entered the French service, just 
 as, in the wars a couple of hundred years ago, Englishmen and 
 Scotchmen were to be found fighting as soldiers of fortune in 
 the armies of well-nigh every power of Europe." 
 
 " I cannot blame you, Mr. Wyatt. Yours is a singular and 
 most unfortunate story, and it seems to me that, had I been 
 in your place, I should have acted precisely the same, and 
 should have been glad to take service under any flag rather 
 than have remained to rot in a prison. Certainly you had a 
 thousand times better excuse than had the Austrians and Prus- 
 sians, who, after having been our allies, entered upon this 
 savage war of invasion without a shadow of excuse, save that 
 it was the will of Napoleon. However, I think that it will 
 be as well, in order to save any necessity for explanation, that 
 I should introduce you to my friends as an English gentleman 
 who has come to me with the warmest recommendations, and 
 whom I am most anxious to serve in any way. This is not a 
 time when men concern themselves in any way with the private 
 affairs of others. There is not a family in Russia, high or 
 
298 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 low, who has not lost one or more members in this terrible 
 struggle. Publicly, and as a nation, we rejoice at our deliver- 
 ance, and at the destruction of our enemies. Privately, we 
 mourn our losses. 
 
 " They have been terrible. As yet we scarcely know how 
 great ; but I imagine that they will be found to have been no 
 less than that of the enemy. We hear that, in the pursuit, 
 and without having taken any part in the actual fighting after 
 Krasnoi, Kutusow's army alone has lost nearly 100,000 men 
 from cold and fatigue ; while, of the central army of Napo- 
 leon, but four hundred infantry and six hundred cavalry re- 
 passed the Niemen with their arms and standards. The other 
 Russian divisions suffered as severely as those with Kutusow. 
 The Emperor has himself gone to Wilna to endeavour to alle- 
 viate the sufferings of the sick and wounded, with which the 
 city is crammed. Wide as will be the mourning in France, it 
 will be no less so in Russia. Now, the first thing to do is to 
 provide you with suitable garments. This I will put in hand 
 immediately ; but, until they can be procured, you must con- 
 tent yourself with some of mine, though, as you are some four 
 inches taller than I am and far wider, they will suit you but 
 poorly. However, I have an ample store of dressing-gowns 
 and wraps, and you must remain indoors a prisoner until you 
 are properly fitted out. By the way, I had an interview with 
 the two honest men who came with you before I returned to 
 you, and have arranged their business fully to their satisfac- 
 tion. The Papa will be able to build himself a new church, 
 and the villagers to repair all the losses they have suffered in 
 the campaign. 
 
 " They were," he said, with a smile, " anxious to see you, 
 as they said that they had an account to settle with you, as 
 you had furnished one-third of the money required for the 
 trip. However, I told them that they could set their minds 
 at rest on that score, for that I would settle with you pri- 
 
IN COMFORTABLE QUARTERS 299 
 
 vately. I only mention it that you should not think they 
 had gone off without any remembrance of your share in the 
 business. ' ' 
 
 An hour later, a tailor with his assistant came to measure 
 Julian. Three days later, the Count suggested that he should 
 go for a drive with him in his sledge, and, wrapped up in furs, 
 Julian took his place beside him in a splendidly-appointed 
 open vehicle. Stephanie sat between them. The sledge was 
 drawn by three horses — the centre one in shafts, while those 
 on either side ran free. A purple net covered the three ani- 
 mals almost touching the ground, and so preventing the par- 
 ticles of snow being thrown up by their hoofs into the sledge. 
 The driver, in fur cap and pelisse, and with an immense beard, 
 sat on a seat in front. A number of bells were attached to the 
 harness of the horses, and to a bow-shaped piece of wood that 
 arched over the head of the central horse. 
 
 " This is an improvement on the post-waggons, Stephanie," 
 Julian said. 
 
 The child nodded brightly. " You said it would all seem 
 like a dream, Julian," she remarked presently, as they dashed 
 swiftly down the broad street of the Nevsky, crowded with 
 vehicles of all kinds, from th<? splendidly-appointed sledges, 
 like their own, to the lumbering vehicles of the peasants piled 
 up with firewood. " It almost seems like a dream already, 
 and yet you know I was very comfortable with you." 
 
 " It will be something for you to look back upon all your 
 life," her father said. " There will be many who will have 
 strange and sad memories of the war, but not one who will 
 have a stranger experience than you have to talk about. Hap- 
 pily, there was, as far as you are concerned, but little sadness 
 in it." 
 
 Julian was delighted with the brightness and gaiety of St. 
 Petersburg, with its broad streets, its stately palaces, its fine 
 cathedrals, and its busy population. The universal use of furs 
 
300 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 prevented the symbols of mourning being apparent, and, as 
 they drove along in the luxurious equipage, even he, like the 
 child, could scarce believe that the desperate fight at Smolensk, 
 the even longer and more obstinate contest at Borodino, and 
 the terrible scenes on the retreat, were realities. On his re- 
 turn to the palace, Julian understood the object of the Count 
 in having taken him for a drive, for he found the armoires and 
 wardrobes of his room crammed with garments of all descrip- 
 tions. 
 
 Here was underclothing of every kind, sufficient for a life- 
 time ; morning suits, riding suits, dress suits, visiting suits, in 
 bewildering variety. In one wardrobe were three superb over- 
 coats, lined with the most costly furs, half a dozen fur caps 
 of various patterns, four huge fur rugs, high boots lined with 
 fur, a dozen pairs of fur gloves for walking and driving ; and 
 arranged along the wall were ten pairs of boots of different 
 kinds, fur-lined slippers, and dress boots. He examined them 
 all with something like consternation. 
 
 "What nonsense!" he exclaimed. "What am I to do 
 with all these things ? It is magnificent ; but it is too much 
 altogether. Why, these furs alone are worth hundreds of 
 pounds ! No doubt the count is extremely rich. I have 
 already heard him speak of three or four estates in different 
 parts of Russia, and this palace is fit for a prince. Of course, 
 he can afford it well enough, but to me all this is quite over- 
 powering. I should like to see Aunt's face if I were to turn 
 up at Weymouth with all this kit." 
 
 There was a letter lying on the table. He opened it. It 
 was, as he had expected, from the count. 
 
 " My dear Mr. Wyatt, you will, I am sure, accept the little 
 outfit that I have provided, in the same spirit in which I have 
 obtained it, and will oblige me by making no allusion to it 
 whatever, or to the contents of the enclosed pocket-book, 
 which will provide you with ready-money while you are stay- 
 
IN COMFORTABLE QUARTERS 301 
 
 ing here. They are but pqor tokens of the life-long obliga- 
 tions you have conferred upon the countess and myself. ' ' 
 
 The pocket-book contained a roll of Russian notes to the 
 value of a thousand pounds. Julian felt that there was in- 
 deed nothing to do but, as the letter said, to accept the pres- 
 ents in the spirit in which they were made. Everything 
 showed that thoughtful kindness had been exercised. On 
 the dressing-table stood a superb travelling-case of Russian 
 leather, fitted with all necessaries of the toilet in ivory, 
 mounted with silver, and with his initials engraved upon the 
 back of the various brushes. Hitherto he had made no attempt 
 to remove the soft brown beard that had grown untouched 
 from the day when the army had turned its back upon Mos- 
 cow. He now set to and shaved himself, and then dressed 
 for dinner. In glancing at one of the long cheval glasses 
 in the room, he could not but feel a distinct satisfaction 
 at his appearance. Except in shop windows in Germany, 
 he had not, since he left home, had the opportunity of 
 seeing more of himself than could be gathered from the tiny 
 glass that formed part of his kit. 
 
 He now saw himself as he was, a tall figure of six feet two 
 in height, with a broad pair of shoulders. The scenes of the 
 last six months had given an expression of power and decision 
 to his face that it had lacked before. The stern, set look of 
 battle had left its mark upon it, and though a distinctly pleas- 
 ant and kindly one, it was undoubtedly that of a soldier who 
 had seen hard service and had looked death many times in 
 the face. All question as to what he should say to the count 
 was set at rest on his entry into the drawing-room, for the count 
 took him by the hand, and, leading him across the room, pre- 
 sented him to the countess, who had for the first time made 
 her appearance. She rose as they came across, and with 
 trembling hands and eyes full of tears, came up to him. 
 
 " Ah, Mr. Wyatt," she said, " what can I say to the saviour 
 
302 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 of my child ? I have had difficulty in restraining my patience 
 so long ; but it was only to-day that the doctor gave me per- 
 mission to leave my room. ' ' 
 
 She held out both her hands to him. He bowed deeply 
 over them and raised them to his lips. " My happiness is no 
 less than your own, countess," he said, "that God has per- 
 mitted me to be the means of bringing your child back again. 
 It was no great thing to do on my part ; and, as I have told 
 the count, the little act of kindness was vastly more than 
 repaid, for your daughter assuredly saved my life from the 
 peasants, as I saved hers from the cold. Your little daugh- 
 ter is quite a heroine," he said more lightly. " I can 
 assure you that even when the bullets were flying about 
 thickly she evinced no signs of fear, and the way in which 
 she stood before me facing those enraged peasants was 
 splendid." 
 
 "It shows her perfect faith in you, Mr. Wyatt. A child 
 who has absolute confidence in the person in whose charge 
 she is, is almost without fear. Her idea of danger is derived 
 almost entirely from the conduct of those around her. If they 
 show fear, she is terrified ; while if their manner convinces her 
 that they have no fear, she does not understand that danger 
 can exist. She is evidently deeply attached to you, as indeed 
 she has reason to be, and when I get tired with talking to her, 
 and say to her, ' Now you must go, dear,' she trots off as con- 
 tentedly to you as if you were indeed what she calls you, her 
 nurse, much more so than she used to do to Claire. The poor 
 woman was a most careful nurse and an excellent instructress, 
 although she did start so madly, as it would seem, on this 
 journey. But the child never really took to her, as she had 
 not the faculty of winning affection. She was thoroughly 
 trustworthy, and would, I believe, have given her life for the 
 child, but she was certainly rather precise in manner, and was 
 perhaps a little too peremptory in giving her orders. That 
 
IN COMFORTABLE QUARTERS 303 
 
 was, I admit, a fault on the right side, for Stephanie is so ac- 
 customed to adulation on the part of the servants, that she 
 rather needs a firm hand over her. However, the child has 
 scarcely mentioned Claire's name since her return, while yours 
 is incessantly on her lips." 
 
 " She has not been in any way spoilt by adulation, Countess, 
 and has been as amenable to my slightest wish as the humblest 
 peasant child could be ; but she certainly has a pretty little 
 air of dignity. It was funny to see how she queened it among 
 the French soldiers, who always called her Mademoiselle la 
 Comtesse, and always put aside the best piece of their scanty 
 ration of meat for her. ' ' 
 
 " Yes, she has been telling me how good they were to her. 
 What a war this has been, Mr. Wyatt." 
 
 So they chatted until dinner was announced ; then the 
 countess lay down on the sofa, and Stephanie came in and sat 
 on a low stool beside her, while her father and Julian went to 
 the dining-room. After the meal was over the count proposed 
 that Julian should accompany him on a visit to the Nobles' 
 Club. The sledge was already waiting at the door, and in a 
 few minutes they arrived, not, as Julian had expected, at a 
 stately building, but at a garden. 
 
 " This is our skating place," the count said as they entered. 
 " We have guest-nights here once a week during the winter. 
 As a rule, those present are simply the invited guests of mem- 
 bers ;• but to-night the tickets are sold at twenty roubles each, 
 and the proceeds go to the funds for the benefit of the wounded. 
 It will furnish a handsome sum, for everyone is here, and there 
 are few indeed who have paid as little as the twenty roubles. 
 Some sent cheques for as much as five hundred roubles for 
 their tickets, and a hundred may be taken as the average. 
 This is the first time ;fchat we have had a military band, for 
 music is naturally considered out of place when everyone is in 
 mourning and such vast numbers of our soldiers are still suffer- 
 
304 * THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 ing horribly ; but as this is for their benefit it is considered 
 as an exception. You will not see much skating ; the ice will 
 be far too crowded." 
 
 It was indeed a brilliant scene. The gardens were lighted 
 with myriads of lamps. The sheet of ice was of a very irreg- 
 ular shape and broken by several islets, upon which grew trees. 
 From their branches hung numbers of lanterns, while the bank 
 round the ice was studded with lamps. The crowds walking 
 about by the edge of the lake were all wrapped up in furs. A 
 large proportion of those on skates wore uniforms, while the 
 ladies were in short, tightly-fitting jackets, trimmed with fur, 
 and with coquettish little fur caps. The crowd was far too 
 great for any attempt at figure-skating, but they moved swiftly 
 round and round the lake in a sort of procession, each lady 
 accompanied by a cavalier, who held her hand, and all skating 
 with a grace and freedom that was to Julian surprising indeed. 
 The scene, with its bright colours and rapid movement, was 
 almost bewildering, and Julian was glad to turn away and go 
 up to the pavilion, where hot coffee and liquors were handed 
 to all comers. 
 
 The count spoke to many acquaintances, introducing Julian 
 to each of them as his great friend, Monsieur Wyatt, an 
 Englishman. After waiting an hour in the gardens they drove 
 to the club itself. There were here a large number of gentle- 
 men, all of whom had been for a few minutes at the garden. 
 Here more introductions took place, and the count put down 
 Julian's name as an honorary member. " You will have a long 
 day's work to-morrow, Monsieur Wyatt." 
 
 " How is that, Count? " 
 
 ' ' It will be your duty to call upon every gentleman to 
 whom I have introduced you ; that is to say, to leave a card 
 at the door, and every one of them will leave a card at my 
 house for you. I will make out a list for you in the morning 
 of the names and addresses. You will find a sledge at the door 
 
IX COMFORTABLE QUARTERS 305 
 
 at three o'clock \ it will be at your disposal while you remain 
 with me. It is a small and light one, like this, with a pair of 
 horses. It is seldom that three horses are used unless ladies are 
 of the party. There is much for you to see, and it will be 
 more pleasant for you to be your own master and go about 
 as you please." 
 
 The following morning, after breakfast, the count said, as 
 they lit their cigars, " Have you formed any plans yet, Mr. 
 Wyatt ? Of course I do not mean for the present. It is un- 
 derstood that this is your home as long as you will be good 
 enough to make it so, and the longer you stay the greater pleas- 
 ure it will give us ; but I mean for the future. Are you think- 
 ing of returning to England ? ' ' 
 
 "I am intending to write at once to my brother. Whether 
 he is at home or not, of course I cannot say. He was going 
 into the army, but I greatly fear that the unfortunate affair in 
 which I was engaged will have rendered that impossible. At 
 any rate, I shall also write to my aunt ; if alive she is sure to 
 be there. In the first place, I shall tell them what has become of 
 me. There has been no possibility of my sending a letter 
 from the time I left home, with the exception of one written 
 while crossing the Channel, and which the smugglers promised 
 to deliver on their return. They must think that I am dead 
 by this time, and my letter will, at any rate, relieve their 
 anxiety. In the next place, I am most anxious to know if 
 anything has been heard further from the smuggler. He gave 
 me his solemn promise that in the event of his death a letter 
 acknowledging that he was the murderer should be sent to the 
 magistrates of Weymouth. I have no reason in the world 
 for supposing that he is dead, for he was not above middle 
 age, and if, as is but too probable, no such letter had been 
 received, I cannot return home. I might, however, return to 
 London, and thence take ship to some foreign country — either 
 to the United States or to South America, or perhaps to our 
 
306 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 own colony of Canada, and make my way there or enlist in 
 the English army." 
 
 ' < Or you might stay here ? ' ' 
 
 " I might stay here, count, but as I am ignorant of Russian, 
 and have no trade or profession, I do not well see what I could 
 possibly do." 
 
 " You would not be long in picking up Russian," the count 
 said, " and if you could make up your mind to settle down 
 here until you learn that your innocence of this foul charge has 
 been completely proved, there would be no necessity for any 
 trade or profession. Why, Monsieur, you do not suppose that 
 the countess and I are without heart, or would allow you, the 
 preserver of our child, to struggle for an existence here or any- 
 where else ! We have more money than we know what to do 
 with. We have six estates in different parts of Russia. We 
 have some ten thousand serfs. However, we can settle nothing 
 until you receive an answer to your letter ; after that we will 
 talk matters over seriously. At any rate, do not trouble about 
 your future. This is the reason that I have spoken to you to- 
 day. Your future is our care, and you can leave it safely 
 in our hands." 
 
 "You are too good altogether, Count," Julian said; but 
 the Russian checked him with a peremptory gesture of his 
 hand. 
 
 " Let us have no talk like that, Mr. Wyatt. You will only 
 pain me deeply, and make me think less well of you than I 
 do now. Stephanie is to us infinitely more than all our pos- 
 sessions, and did we assign to you all else that we have in the 
 world we should feel that the balance of obligation was still 
 against us. Now let us talk of other matters. In the first 
 place, about sending your letter. Of course, at present the 
 Baltic is frozen, and the ports beyond are all in the hands of 
 the French. Sweden, however, is in alliance with us, and our 
 despatches for England go up through Finland, then across the 
 
IN COMFORTABLE QUARTERS 307 
 
 ice to Sweden, and by land to Gothenburg, and thence by sea 
 to England. It is a round-about journey, but it is performed 
 rapidly ; and as there are English packets always ready to sail 
 from Gothenburg, your letters should, under favourable cir- 
 cumstances, be in England in a fortnight. 
 
 ' ' I should incline to advise you to write them in duplicate, 
 for the packet might be captured by a French privateer on its 
 way, and it would be safer therefore to despatch copies of your 
 letters ten days after those you first send off. In five weeks, if 
 all goes well, you may expect an answer. In the meantime, I 
 hope you will find enough to amuse you here, although the 
 opera is closed, and there will be nothing like gaieties this 
 season ; still, there will be dinner parties and the club ; and 
 when you feel that you want a change I have an estate some 
 five hours' sledge drive from here. It consists largely of forest, 
 but there is plenty of game, elk and bears. If you are fond 
 of shooting I can promise you good sport." 
 
 " Thanks, indeed, Count. I am quite sure that I shall not 
 be tired of St. Petersburg in five or six weeks' time, and as for 
 shooting, I do not feel at present as if I should ever care to fire 
 a gun again, certainly not to take life, unless to satisfy hunger. 
 I have seen so many horses and dogs die, and have felt so much 
 pity for them that I do not think that I shall ever bring my- 
 self to take the life of a dumb beast again. I am afraid I be- 
 came somewhat callous to human life. I have seen thousands 
 of men die, and came somehow to regard it as their fate ; and 
 certainly, during the retreat it came in most cases as a happy 
 release from suffering. But I could never, to the end, see a 
 horse that had fallen never to rise again, or a starving dog lying 
 by its master's body, without having intense pity for the poor 
 creatures, who had, through no fault or will of their own, come 
 to this grievous end. No doubt you, as a sportsman, Count, 
 may consider this as overstrained feeling. I am quite willing 
 to admit that it may be so. I can only say that at present I 
 
308 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 would not fire at an elk or a bear on any condition what- 
 ever. ' ' 
 
 "I can understand your feelings. I myself have had the 
 cry of a horse pulled down by wolves, in my ears for days, 
 and I can well imagine how the sight of so much suffering day 
 after day among thousands of animals would in time affect 
 one." 
 
 The next three weeks passed most pleasantly for Julian. 
 Every day there were calls to make, excursions to various 
 points to be undertaken, and dinner parties nearly every even- 
 ing, either at the count's, at the houses of his friends, or at 
 the club. He found French almost universally spoken among 
 the upper class, and was everywhere cordially welcomed as a 
 friend of the count's. The latter was sometimes questioned 
 by his intimate acquaintances as to his English friend, and to 
 them he replied, " Monsieur Wyatt is the son of a colonel in 
 the English army. He has rendered me a very great service, 
 the nature of which I am not at liberty to disclose. Suffice 
 that the obligation is a great one, and that I regard him as 
 one of my dearest friends. Some day, possibly, my lips may 
 be unsealed, but you must at present be content to take him 
 on my sponsorship." 
 
 The countess had gained strength rapidly, and there were 
 no grounds for any further uneasiness as to her health ; she 
 was now able to take daily drives with Stephanie. 
 
 "The child has become quite a military enthusiast," she 
 said to Julian one day. " Nothing pleases her so much as to 
 look on at the troops drilling." 
 
 St. Petersburg was indeed crowded with soldiers. New 
 armies were rising in all parts of Russia, and great prepara- 
 tions were being made to recommence the campaign in the 
 spring, this time upon foreign ground. No sacrifices were too 
 great to demand from the people. Nobles and merchants 
 vied with each other in the amount of their contributions, 
 
AN UNEXPECTED MEETING 309 
 
 and as it was certain that Austria, and probably Prussia would 
 join the alliance, hopes were entertained that the power that 
 had dominated Europe for so many years would be finally 
 crushed. Already serious disasters had fallen upon France in 
 Spain. It was probable that ere long the whole of the Penin- 
 sula would be wrested from her, and that she would be threat- 
 ened with an invasion in the south, as well as in the east. In 
 spite, therefore, of the terrible losses and calamities she had 
 suffered, Russia looked forward with ardent hope and expec- 
 tations to the future. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI 
 
 AN UNEXPECTED MEETING 
 
 FRANK WYATT'S work throughout the campaign had 
 been arduous in the extreme. It is true that it was 
 done on horseback instead of on foot, that he had not hunger 
 to contend against, and that for the most part his nights were 
 passed in a shelter of some kind. But from daybreak until 
 sunset, and frequently till midnight, he was incessantly 
 occupied, from the moment when Napoleon turned his back 
 on Moscow, until the last remnant of his army crossed the 
 frontier. Until after the battle at Malo-Jaroslavets on the 
 24th of October, when the French army owed its safety solely 
 to Kutusow's refusal to hurl all his forces against it, he had 
 remained at headquarters, where he was assisted in his work 
 by the Earl of Tyrconnel, who was now also acting as aide-de- 
 camp to Sir Robert Wilson. He was a delightful companion 
 and a most gallant young officer, and a fast friendship became 
 established between him and Frank, during the time the Rus- 
 sian army was remaining inactive, while Napoleon was wast- 
 ing the precious time at Moscow, unable to bring himself to 
 acknowledge the absolute failure of his plans caused by the 
 
310 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 refusal of the Russians to treat with him, after his occupation 
 of their ancient capital. But after Kutusow had allowed the 
 French to slip past they saw but little of each other, for one 
 or other of them was always with the troops pressing hard on 
 the French rear, it being their duty to keep Sir Robert, who 
 was necessarily obliged to stay at headquarters, thoroughly 
 informed of all that was going on in front, and of the move- 
 ments both of the French and Russian divisions. 
 
 Sir Robert himself was so utterly disgusted with the ob- 
 stinacy and, it almost seemed, deliberate treachery of Kutusow 
 that, for the most part, he accompanied General Benningsen, 
 who was a prompt and dashing soldier, and who, with the 
 whole of the Russian generals, was as furious with the apathy 
 and delays of the worn-out old man who was in command, as 
 they had been with those of Barclay. The English general 
 still acted as the Emperor's special representative, and kept 
 him fully acquainted with all that was going on. Alexander 
 was as much dissatisfied as were his generals and soldiers with 
 Kutusow' s refusal to put an end to the terrible struggle, by an 
 action which must have ended in the destruction or capture 
 of Napoleon and his army. He felt, however, that he could 
 not at present remove him from his command. Kutusow was 
 a member of the old nobility, who were straining every nerve for 
 the national cause, were stripping their estates of their serfs, and 
 emptying their coffers into the military chests, and who would 
 have greatly resented his removal. 
 
 The people at large, too, overjoyed at the retreat of 
 Napoleon and the success of their arms, and ignorant of all 
 the real circumstances of the case, regarded Kutusow with 
 enthusiastic admiration ; and Alexander felt that, great as 
 might be his faults, the injury that would be inflicted by his 
 supercession would be greater than the benefits derived from 
 it. An ample supply of horses had been placed at the dis- 
 posal of the English general and his aides-de-camp, and Frank, 
 
THE LAST OF A VETERAN OF NAPOLEON'S GRANDE ARMEE. 
 
AN UNEXPECTED MEETING 311 
 
 having three always at his orders, was able to ride them by 
 turns, and therefore got through an immense amount of work. 
 The scenes that everywhere met his eyes were far more trying 
 than the fatigues he had to undergo. The hideous barbarities 
 that were perpetrated by the peasants upon the French who 
 fell into their hands, filled him with burning indignation, and 
 at times placed his life in serious danger when he endeavoured 
 to interfere on their behalf. He always started on his rides in 
 the morning with his saddle-bag stored with provisions, and a 
 small keg of spirits fastened behind him, and these were divided 
 during the day among the unfortunate men, Russians and French 
 alike, who, wounded or exhausted, had sunk by the way. 
 
 Innumerable were the appeals made to him daily to end 
 their sufferings with a pistol-ball ; and, although he could not 
 bring himself to give them the relief they craved, on several 
 occasions, when he saw that the case was altogether beyond 
 hope, and that but a few hours of mortal agony remained, he 
 yielded to their entreaties, handed them one of his pistols, 
 and walked a few paces away, until the sharp report told him 
 that their sufferings were over. 
 
 The horrors of the hospitals at Wilna and other places 
 affected him even more than the scenes of carnage that he had 
 witnessed at Borodino. At Wilna the Earl of Tyrconnel was 
 seized with a fever and died, and Frank lay for some time ill, 
 and would probably have succumbed had not Sir Robert ob- 
 tained a lodging for him at the house of a landed resident, 
 three or four miles from the infected city. He was, in a sense, 
 thankful for the illness, because it spared him the sight of the 
 last agony of the broken remains of Napoleon's army. Quiet 
 and rest soon did their work. The breakdown was the result 
 more of over-fatigue, and of the horrors of which he was so 
 continually a witness, than of actual fever. Frank, therefore, 
 rapidly recovered, and declared after a fortnight that he could 
 again sit on his horse. 
 
312 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 The general, however, would not hear of this. 
 
 " I shall be leaving for St. Petersburg myself in a few days/* 
 he said, "and we will travel together by post. You will be 
 sorry to hear that to-day Kutusow has been decorated with the 
 great order of St. George. The Emperor himself begged me 
 not to be present. He called me into his cabinet and con- 
 fessed to me that it would be too humiliating to him were I to 
 be there. He acknowledged that he felt by decorating this 
 man with the great Order he was committing a trespass upon 
 the institution ; but he had no choice. It was a cruel neces- 
 sity to which he had to submit, although he well knew that the 
 marshal had done few things he ought to have done, with 
 nothing against the enemy that he could avoid, and that all 
 his successes had been forced upon him." 
 
 Sir Robert himself had urgent need of change and rest. 
 The responsibility upon his shoulders had been tremendous. 
 The Emperor had relied upon him entirely for information as 
 to the true state of things in the army, and the Russian gene- 
 rals regarding him as specially the Emperor's representative, 
 had poured their complaints into his ears. 
 
 Had they but received the slightest encouragement from him 
 they would have led their divisions against the French in spite 
 of the orders of the marshal, and it was with the greatest diffi- 
 culty that he persuaded them to restrain their exasperated 
 troops, and to submit to carry out the disastrous policy, which 
 entailed as much loss and suffering upon the Russian soldiers 
 as upon the French. 
 
 It was the end of January when Sir Robert Wilson and 
 Frank reached St. Petersburg, and, putting up in apartments 
 assigned to them in the palace, rested for a few days. 
 
 One bright morning Frank strolled down to the Nobles' 
 Club, of which he and the general had been made honorary 
 members. It was his first visit to St. Petersburg. His fur 
 coat was partly open and showed his British uniform. He 
 
AN UNEXPECTED MEETING 313 
 
 was looking about with interest at the scene in the Nevsky 
 Prospect when he noticed a gentleman in a handsomely ap- 
 pointed sledge looking fixedly at him. As the uniform at- 
 tracted general attention he thought little of this, but after 
 going a short distance the sledge turned and passed him at a 
 slow rate of speed. The gentleman again gazed fixedly at 
 him, then stopped the coachman, and leaped from the sledge 
 to the pavement. 
 
 " Frank ! " he exclaimed, " is it you, or am I dreaming ? " 
 
 Frank stepped back a pace in astonishment. It was the 
 voice rather than the face that he recognized. 
 
 " Julian ! ' ' burst from his lips, " my brother, can it be really 
 you?" 
 
 Julian held out both his hands, and they stood for a moment 
 in silence, gazing into each other's face. Julian was the first 
 to break the silence. 
 
 "Jump in here, Frank," he said, leading the way to the 
 sledge. " They must all think that we have gone mad, and 
 we shall have a crowd round us in a minute." 
 
 Still completely bewildered, Frank followed his brother. 
 
 " Drive out into the country," Julian said to the coachman 
 as he took his seat. "This is little short of a miracle, old 
 fellow," he said, as they drove off. "I thought you were 
 living quietly at Weymouth ; you thought I was rotting in a 
 French prison, and here we run against each other in the heart 
 of Russia. ' ' 
 
 " I can hardly believe even yet that it is you, Julian, you 
 have altered so tremendously. Thank God, old man, that I 
 have found you." 
 
 " Thank God, my dear Frank, that, as I see, that stupid 
 business of mine has not prevented your entering the army, as 
 I was afraid it would do ; though how you come to be here is 
 more than I can guess." 
 
 " I am General Wilson's aide-de-camp, and have been with 
 
314 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 him all through the war ; and you, Julian, what on earth are 
 you doing here ? But first of all, I suppose you have not 
 heard that you have been cleared completely of that charge of 
 murder. ' ' 
 
 Julian's face paled at the sudden news, and he sat for a 
 minute or two in silence. 
 
 " Quite cleared, Frank ? " he asked in a low tone ; " cleared 
 so that no doubt remains, and that I can go home without 
 fear of having it thrown into my face? " 
 
 "Completely and entirely," Frank replied. "You were 
 cleared before you had been gone a day. The coroner's jury 
 brought in an open verdict, but a warrant was issued against 
 that poacher Markham ; and your letter first, and his confes- 
 sion a year later, completely bore out the evidence at the in- 
 quest, and established his guilt beyond question." 
 
 " To think that I should never have known it," Julian said. 
 " If I had dreamt of it I would have attempted to break out 
 from Verdun, and make my way home. I don't know that I 
 should have succeeded, but at any rate I should have tried. 
 But tell me all about it, Frank ; my story will keep just at 
 present. ' ' 
 
 ' ' You seem to have fallen on your legs, anyhow, ' ' Frank 
 remarked. "May I ask if this is your Imperial Highness's 
 sledge. I have learned something of the value of furs since I 
 came out here, and that coat of yours is certainly worth a 
 hundred pounds, and this sable rug as much more." 
 
 "It is not my sledge, nor is it my rug, though I have two 
 or three of them quite as handsome. The coat is my own, 
 the sledge belongs tc my intimate friend Count Woronski, 
 with whom I am at present staying." 
 
 "You really must tell me your story first," Frank said, 
 laughing. " Now that you know you are cleared, you can 
 very well wait to hear all the details, and I refuse to say a 
 word until you have told me what all this means." 
 
AN UNEXPECTED MEETING 315 
 
 "Well, Frank," Julian said seriously, " mine is not alto- 
 gether a pleasant story to tell now ; but I acted for the best, 
 and under the belief that there was no chance of my being 
 able to return for years to England. The story is too long 
 for me to give you the details now, but I will give you the 
 broad facts. I was sent prisoner to Verdun. I was there 
 about ten months. There was fever in the place, and we died 
 off like sheep. There seemed no possibility of escape, and if 
 I could have got away I could not, as I thought, make for 
 England. I was getting hopeless and desperate, and I don't 
 think I could have held out much longer. Then there was an 
 offer made to us that any of us who liked could obtain freedom 
 by enlisting in the French army. It was expressly stated that 
 it was going east, and that at the end of the campaign we 
 should, — if our corps was ordered to a place where it was likely 
 to come in contact with the English, — be allowed to ex- 
 change into a regiment with another destination. 
 
 " Well, it seemed to me that it mattered very little what 
 became of me. Even should I be exchanged and sent to 
 England I could not have stayed there, but must have gone 
 abroad to make my living as best I could, and I thought I 
 might as well go as a soldier to Russia as anywhere else ; so I 
 accepted the offer, little knowing what would come of it. 
 I regretted it heartily when I saw the misery that was inflicted 
 by the misconduct, partly of the French, but much more of 
 the Poles and Germans, on the unfortunate inhabitants. How- 
 ever, there I was, and I did my duty to the best of my power. 
 When I tell you that I was in Ney's division, you may imagine 
 that I had my share of it all." 
 
 " Extraordinary ! " Frank said, " to think that you and I 
 should both have been through this campaign, and on opposite 
 sides. Why, we must have been within musket shot of each 
 other a score of times." 
 
 " I have no doubt I saw you," Julian said; "for I often 
 
316 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 made out a bit of scarlet among the dark masses of the Rus- 
 sians, and thought that there must be some English officers 
 with them. The first time I noticed them was on the heights 
 opposite to Smolensk. Two officers in scarlet were with the 
 batteries they planted there and drove our own off the hill on 
 our side of the river.'"' 
 
 " Those were the general and myself, Julian. We had only 
 joined two days before. But still, I am as much in the dark 
 as ever. What you have said explains how you come to be in 
 Russia, but it does not at all explain how you came to be here 
 like this. ' ' 
 
 " It was on the day after we got past the Russians. It was 
 a strong place with a hard name — Jaro something or other. 
 The next day, as we were marching along, we came across an 
 overturned carriage. A coachman and a woman were lying 
 dead. On nearing it, I heard a little cry, and I stepped out 
 from the side of my company — I was a sergeant and was 
 marching on the flank — and I found among the cushions a 
 little girl, about six years old, who was already almost frozen 
 to death. I fastened her on to my back under my cloak, and 
 carried her along with me. She came round, and was a dear 
 little creature. Well, I carried her all through the retreat. 
 Sometimes, when there was an alarm, I had time to stow her 
 away in one of the waggons ; when there was not, she went 
 on my back into the middle of the fighting, and you know 
 that was pretty rough occasionally. However, we both of us 
 seemed to possess a charm against balls. We got on all right 
 until the day before we were to arrive at the Berezina. Then 
 I went out foraging with some companions ; they got into 
 a hut, lit a fire, and would not leave, so I started alone with 
 her. 
 
 " I lost my way, and was found by a lot of peasants, who 
 would have made very short work of me, but the child stepped 
 forward like a little queen and told them that she was the 
 
AN UNEXPECTED MEETING 317 
 
 Countess of Woronski, and that her father was a friend of the 
 Czar's, and that if they sent us to him they would get a great 
 reward. Thinking that it was good enough, they took us 
 to their village and dressed me up in peasant's clothes, and 
 kept us there a fortnight. Then the head man and the vil- 
 lage Papa came with us here by post. The child's father and 
 mother had given her up as dead, and their gratitude to me 
 is boundless. It has been deemed unadvisable to say any- 
 thing about my ever being with the French, and I am simply 
 introduced by the count as an English gentleman whom he 
 regards as his very dear friend. I sent letters home to you 
 and Aunt a fortnight since, and if I had heard that the charge 
 of murder was still hanging over me I should probably have 
 remained here for good. The count has already hinted that 
 there is an estate at my disposal. He is as rich as Croesus, and 
 he and the countess would be terribly hurt if I were to refuse 
 to accept their tokens of gratitude. They have no other child 
 but Stephanie, and she is, of course, the apple of their eye." 
 
 "Well, you have had luck, Julian. I did think that if 
 you once got out of prison you would be likely to fall upon 
 your feet, because you always had the knack of making your- 
 self at home anywhere ; but I had no idea of anything like this. 
 Well, I don't think you are to blame for having entered the 
 French service rather than remaining a prisoner, especially as 
 you were, as far as you knew, cut off from returning home. 
 Still, I agree with you that it is as well not to talk about it at 
 present. It is marvellous to think that you were with Ney 
 through all that fighting. The doings of the rear-guard were, 
 I can assure you, the subject of the warmest admiration on 
 the part of the Russians. Sir Robert Wilson considers that 
 the retreat from Smolensk was one of the most extraordinary 
 military exploits ever performed. And so you were made a 
 sergeant after Borodino ? Well, Julian, to win your stripes 
 among such a body as Ney led is no slight honour." 
 
318 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 " I received another, Frank ; not so much for valour as for 
 taking things easy. " He took from his pocket the cross of 
 the Legion of Honour. " This, Frank, is an honour Napoleon 
 sent to me, and Ney pinned on my breast. I would rather 
 that it had been Wellington who sent it, and say Picton who 
 pinned it on ; but it is a big honour none the less, and at any 
 rate it was not won in fighting against my own countrymen. 
 This document it is wrapped up in, is the official guarantee 
 that I received on enlisting, that I should under no circum- 
 stances whatever be called upon to serve against the English. ' ' 
 
 "You have a right to be proud of the cross, Julian. I 
 should be proud of it myself, British officer as I am. But 
 how do you say that you got it for taking things easy ? ' ! 
 
 " It was not exactly for taking things easy, but for keeping 
 up the men's spirits. Discipline was getting terribly relaxed, 
 and they were losing their military bearing altogether. A lot 
 of us non-commissioned officers were talking round a fire, and 
 I suggested that we should start marching songs again as we 
 used to do on our way through Germany. It would cheer 
 the men up, get them to march in military order and time, 
 and shorten the road. Ney and some of his staff happened to 
 be within hearing, and he praised the idea much more than it 
 deserved. However, the men took it up, and the effect was 
 excellent. Other regiments followed our example, and there 
 can be no doubt that, for a time, it did have a good effect. 
 Ney reported the business to Napoleon, who issued an order 
 praising the Grenadiers of the Rhone for the example they 
 had set the army, bestowing the Legion of Honour on me, 
 and ordering that henceforth marching songs should be sung 
 throughout the army. However, singing was dropped at 
 Smolensk. After leaving there we were reduced to such a 
 handful that we had not the heart to sing, but it did its work, 
 for I believe that the improvement effected by the singing in 
 the morale of Ney's troops had at least something to do with 
 
AN UNEXPECTED MEETING 319 
 
 our being able to keep together, and to lessen the fatigues of 
 those terrible marches. 
 
 " Now tell me more about yourself. How was it that you 
 had the wonderful luck to be chosen to accompany Sir Robert 
 Wilson as his aide-de-camp ? " 
 
 " It was to his suggestion when I first joined, Julian, and 
 to nearly a year's steady work on my part. He got me 
 gazetted into his old regiment, the 15th Light Dragoons, and 
 at the same time told me that if, as was already anticipated, 
 Russia broke off her alliance with Napoleon, he was likely to 
 be offered his former position of British commissioner at the 
 Russian headquarters. He said that if by the time that came 
 off I had got up Russian, he would apply for me to go with 
 him, so I got hold of a Russian Pole in London, a political 
 exile, a gentleman and an awfully good fellow. I took him 
 with me down to Canterbury, where our depot was, and 
 worked five or six hours a day with him steadily, so that 
 when, at the outbreak of war, Sir Robert got his appointment 
 he was able to apply for me upon the ground, that I had a 
 thoroughly good colloquial knowledge of Russian." 
 
 "You always were a beggar to work, Frank," his brother 
 said admiringly. " I worked for a bit myself pretty hard at 
 Verdun, and got up French well enough to pass with, but 
 then you see there was no other mortal thing to do, and I 
 knew that it would be useful to me if ever I saw a chance of 
 escape. Of course, at that time I had no idea of enlisting : 
 but it must have been a different thing altogether for a 
 young officer to give up every amusement, as you must have 
 done, and to slave away at a crack-jaw language like Rus- 
 sian." 
 
 " It required a little self-denial I have no doubt, Julian, 
 but the work itself soon became pleasant. You may remem- 
 ber in the old days you used to say that I could say < No,' 
 while you could not." 
 
320 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 "That is true enough, Frank. I was a great ass in those 
 days, but I think that now I have learnt something. ' ' 
 
 "I should think you have, Julian," Frank said, looking 
 closely at his brother. " The expression of your face has 
 very much changed, and you certainly look as if you could 
 say ' No ' very decidedly now." 
 
 By this time they had, after a long drive, re-entered the city. 
 
 " You must come home with me first, Frank. I must intro- 
 duce you to the count and countess, and to Stephanie. Then 
 to-morrow morning you must come round early. I have 
 heard nothing yet as to how the truth about that murder came 
 out so rapidly. It seemed to me that the evidence was con- 
 clusive against me, and that even the letter that I wrote tell- 
 ing you about it, was so improbable that no one but you and 
 Aunt would credit, in the slightest." 
 
 " It did look ugly at first, Julian. When I heard Faulk- 
 ner's deposition I could see no way out of it whatever. I 
 could not suppose that a dying man would lie, and, absolutely 
 sure of your innocence as I was, could make neither head nor 
 tail of the matter. Is this the mansion ? You certainly have 
 fallen on good quarters." 
 
 Leaving their fur coats in the hall they went upstairs. 
 They found the countess seated in an arm-chair. The count 
 was reading the last gazette from the army to her, and Steph- 
 anie was playing with a doll. The count and his wife looked 
 surprised as Julian entered with a young English officer. 
 
 " I have the honour, countess," Julian said, " to present to 
 you my brother, who is aide-de-camp to the English General, 
 Sir Robert Wilson, whom he accompanied throughout the 
 campaign. Count, you will, I am sure, rejoice with me, in 
 this unexpected meeting." 
 
 "We are glad, indeed, to make the acquaintance of the 
 brother of our dear friend," the countess said, holding out 
 her hand to Frank. 
 
JULIAN INTRODUCES STEPHANIE TO HIS BROTHER FRANK. 
 
AN UNEXPECTED MEETING 321 
 
 "I regret, countess, that I am not able to reply to you in 
 French," Frank said in Russian. "I had thought that Russian 
 would be absolutely necessary here, but I find that almost 
 everyone speaks French. Had I known that, I could have 
 saved myself a good deal of labour, for to us your language is 
 very difficult to acquire." 
 
 "You speak it extremely well, Mr. Wyatt," the count 
 said. " I can scarcely imagine how you have acquired such 
 familiarity with it in your own country." 
 
 "I learned it from a Russian Pole, a political exile, with 
 whom I worked for about six hours a day for nearly twelve 
 months, in order that I might qualify myself to accompany 
 Sir Robert Wilson." 
 
 "This is my little friend Stephanie, Frank," Julian said, 
 lifting the child up on his shoulder, her favourite place. 
 
 "And this is my Nurse Julian," the child said with a 
 laugh. " Isn't he a big nurse ? " 
 
 " He is big," Frank agreed, looking up at him. "'I feel 
 quite small beside him. He was always a great deal taller 
 than I was, and he has grown a good bit since I saw him last. 
 But he looks rather big for a nurse." 
 
 " He is not too big at all," Stephanie said earnestly. " He 
 could never have carried me so far if he had not been very big 
 and strong. Could he, papa ? ' ' 
 
 " No, Stephanie ; though I think goodness of heart had as 
 much to do with it as strength of body. Your brother has, 
 of course, told you, Mr. Wyatt, how deep an obligation he 
 has laid us under." 
 
 " He said that he had had the good fortune to find your 
 little girl, and that he took her along with him in the retreat ; 
 but he seemed to consider that the service she did him when 
 they fell among the Russian peasants quite settled matters 
 between them. Doubtless, they mutually saved each other's 
 lives." 
 
322 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 "Mr. Wyatt," the count said gravely, "the one act was 
 momentary and without risk. The other was done at the cost 
 of labour and sacrifice daily and hourly for nearly a month. 
 You have been through the campaign, and know how frightful 
 were the sufferings, how overwhelming the exhaustion of the 
 soldiers. You can judge, then, how terrible was the addition 
 to a soldier's labours to have to carry a child like that for so 
 long, when his own strength was hourly weakening, and when 
 every additional pound of weight told heavily upon him. The 
 tears come into the eyes of the countess and myself every 
 time we think of it. It was an act of self-devotion beyond 
 words ; altogether beyond the understanding of those who 
 know not how terrible were the sufferings endured on the 
 march." 
 
 "They were indeed terrible, Count," Frank said gravely. 
 " It was agony for me to witness them, and I cannot but 
 share your wonder how my brother supported the extra 
 weight, even of your little daughter, and came through it 
 safely, while tens of thousands of men not so burdened fell and 
 died along the road." 
 
 Julian did not understand what was being said, but he 
 guessed by their faces what they were speaking of. 
 
 " I suppose you are saying that it was hard work carrying 
 the child," he broke in in English ; "but I can tell you that I 
 believe it aided me to get through. It gave me something to 
 think of besides the snow, the distance, and the Russians. 
 She was always cheerful and bright, and her merry talk light- 
 ened the way, but in addition to that the warmth of her body 
 against my back by day and curled up in my arms at night, 
 greatly helped to keep life in me. I think that it was largely 
 due to her that I got through safely where many men as 
 strong as myself died." 
 
 The count looked inquiringly at Frank, who translated 
 what Julian had said. He smiled, < ' Your brother is deter- 
 
AN UNEXPECTED MEETING 323 
 
 mined to try to make out that the obligation is all on his side, 
 but it will not do. There is the simple fact that we have our 
 little daughter again, safe and sound. If it had not been for 
 him she would have been lost to us for ever. ' ' 
 
 Julian went down to the door with Frank. " Of course 
 you will tell the general all about it, Frank. I suppose he 
 knows something of the circumstances under which I went 
 away, as he was a friend of our father's, and got you your 
 commission, and takes such an interest in you. I daresay he 
 will be shocked to hear that I have been carrying a French 
 musket, but I am not ashamed of it myself, and consider that 
 under the circumstances I was perfectly justified in doing so. 
 Come round in the morning the first thing after breakfast. 
 I have yet to learn all about how you found out that Markham 
 committed that murder, and then you can tell me, too, what 
 the general says." 
 
 On going upstairs Julian told his hosts that he had been 
 completely cleared of the charge that had hung over him and 
 darkened his life, and that there was nothing to prevent him 
 from returning to England. They expressed much gratifica- 
 tion at the news, but at the same time said that for themselves 
 they could not but regret that this would prevent their having 
 the pleasure they had looked forward to of having him settled 
 near them. 
 
 "This, however, we must talk about again," the count 
 said. " At any rate, I hope that you will from time to time 
 come over to stay for a while with us and Stephanie." 
 
 "That I will assuredly do, Count," Julian said warmly. 
 " I do not quite know at present what I shall do. As I have 
 told you, I shall, in addition to my share of my father's 
 money, inherit some from my aunt, and shall be able, if I 
 choose, to buy a small estate and settle down. I am too old 
 to go into our army now, but, besides, I think that ere long 
 this European struggle will be over, and in that case there 
 
324 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 will be nothing for a soldier to do. Still in any case I shall 
 be able occasionally to make a voyage here ; and I can assure 
 you that it will be one of my greatest pleasures to do so." 
 
 Sir Robert Wilson was greatly surprised when he heard 
 from Frank of his meeting with his brother, and of the 
 adventures through which he had passed. 
 
 "I do not blame him in any way," he said. " Had he 
 been a king's soldier or sailor the matter would have been 
 altogether different. To have entered a foreign army. then 
 would have been a breach of his oaths. But as a private 
 individual he was free to take service abroad, as tens of 
 thousands of English, Scotch, and Irish have done before 
 him. It would, of course, have been much better had he 
 entered the army of a power friendly to England, but the 
 document that he received on enlisting goes far to absolve 
 him from any responsibility in the matter. At any rate, 
 he was not a deserter, and seeing that he could not go 
 back to England even if he escaped, that he was practically 
 friendless in the world, and that, had he not acted as he did 
 he might have died at Verdun, I do not think that even a 
 severe moralist would be able to find any fault with his 
 decision. So he was one of Ney's heroes ! Well, Frank, 
 when this war is over, and the bitterness between the two 
 nations has passed away, he will have good cause to feel proud 
 of having been one of that unconquerable band. No troops 
 have ever gained greater glory by victory than they have by 
 retreat ; besides to have won his stripes in such company, and 
 to have received the Legion of Honour from Ney, is as high an 
 honour as any soldier could wish for. At the same time, I 
 think that he and his friends have done wisely in keeping 
 silence as to the part he played — it might have led to all sorts 
 of trouble. Had it been known, he might have been claimed 
 as a prisoner of war ; and even if this had not been done, he 
 might have been embroiled in quarrels with hot-headed young 
 
AN UNEXPECTED MEETING 325 
 
 Russians ; and it is scarcely probable, Frank, that he is such 
 a dead shot with the pistol as you are." 
 
 The next morning Julian heard from Frank full details of 
 the manner in which the truth had been arrived at of the 
 circumstances of Mr. Faulkner's murder. 
 
 ''By Jove! Frank," he exclaimed, when his brother 
 brought the story to a conclusion ; ' ' you ought to have been 
 a Bow Street runner. I can't think how it all occurred to 
 you. Thinking it over, as I have done hundreds of times, it 
 never once occurred to me that the footprints in the snow 
 might prove that I had set off in pursuit of Markham, and that 
 they would have shown that he was standing behind that tree 
 whence the shot was fired, while I went straight from the road 
 to the place where Faulkner was lying. What a head you 
 have, old fellow ! ' ' 
 
 "It was simple enough, Julian. I was certain that you 
 had not committed the murder, and it was therefore clear that 
 someone else must have done so. Then came the question, 
 first, how Faulkner had come to charge you as he had done, 
 and, second, how and why you had disappeared. The only 
 conceivable explanation that I could find was that you must 
 have run into the wood, caught sight of the murderer, and 
 followed him up. Directly we found your footprints on the 
 snow overlapping his it made that a certainty. We had only 
 then to go into the wood and pick up the whole story bit by 
 bit. For a time I certainly thought that you had been killed 
 by the friends of the man that you had followed, and you may 
 imagine what a relief it was to us when your letter came. 
 
 " And now, old fellow, I suppose you will be going home? 
 Sir Robert has told me that he will be willing to give me 
 leave at once, and that he considers I ought to have a thorough 
 rest, to get the seeds of that horrible hospital fever out of my 
 blood. Therefore, I am ready to start with you whenever 
 you are ready to go. He does not know yet whether he will 
 
326 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 continue as commissioner here when the campaign recommences 
 in the spring ; but there is little doubt that he will do so, and 
 in that case I shall rejoin as soon as the weather breaks suffi- 
 ciently for operations to commence. I got my lieutenantcy 
 three months ago owing to the vacancies made in the regiment 
 during the campaign in Spain ; and Sir Robert has been good 
 enough to speak so strongly of my services here that I have 
 every chance of getting another step before I return." 
 
 " I see no reason why I should not start at the end of the 
 week, Frank. Of course, I am extremely comfortable here ; 
 but now that I know I can go back all right I am longing to 
 be home again. Indeed I should soon get tired of having 
 nothing to do but to drive about and eat dinners here ; and 
 besides, I cannot but feel that I am in a false position, and am 
 very anxious to get out of it." 
 
 Frank nodded. " I quite understand that, old fellow, and 
 I agree with you thoroughly. A question might be asked any 
 day that you could not reply to without saying how you came 
 to be here ; and for the sake of the count as well as yourself, 
 that should be avoided if possible." 
 
 The count was loud in his expressions of regret when he 
 heard that Julian was about to leave with his brother at once ; 
 but when Julian urged that he was constantly in fear that some 
 chance question might be asked, and that the falseness of his 
 position weighed heavily upon him, the count could not but 
 admit the justice of the view he took. Preparations were im- 
 mediately begun for departure. They were to travel by sledge 
 through Finland, passing through Vibourg to Abo, and there 
 to cross the Gulf of Bothnia to the Swedish coast, a few miles 
 north of Stockholm, and to travel across the country to Goth- 
 enburg. The count placed one of his travelling carriages on 
 runners at their disposal as far as Abo, and insisted on send- 
 ing one of his own servants with them to attend to their wants 
 on the road. 
 
AN UNEXPECTED MEETING 327 
 
 Stephanie was inconsolable at the approaching departure of 
 her friend, and even the promise that he would return and pay 
 them another visit before very long, scarcely pacified her. In 
 three days all was ready. The luggage, packed in a light wag- 
 gon, had been sent off in charge of one of the count's servants 
 forty -eight hours before ; and the travelling carriage had but 
 to take three or four great hampers stored with provisions and 
 wines. The count and countess had had on the previous day 
 a long talk with Frank, who at their request called at an hour 
 when Julian would be out paying a long round of farewell 
 visits. The conversation was a serious one, and had ended by 
 the count saying : 
 
 "You see, Mr. Wyatt, nothing will alter the determination 
 of the countess and myself in this matter; and if you had not 
 consented to accept our commission and to carry out our 
 wishes, we should have had no course open but to communi- 
 cate with our embassy in London, and to request them to 
 appoint someone to act as our agent in the matter. This 
 would not have been so satisfactory, for the agent would of 
 course have been ignorant of your brother's tastes and wishes ; 
 whereas you will be able to learn from him exactly the position 
 that would be most agreeable. All we ask is that you will not 
 go below the minimum we have named, and the more you 
 exceed it the better we shall be pleased. You know well how 
 we feel in the matter, and that anything that can be done in 
 this way will still fall very far short of the measure of gratitude 
 we feel towards your brother." 
 
 " I will carry out the commission that you have given me 
 to the best of my abilities, Count ; and will endeavour to act 
 as if my brother was an entire stranger." 
 
 "Thank you greatly, Mr. Wyatt. I agree with you that 
 if you dismiss altogether from your mind the fact that your 
 brother is interested in the matter, and that you regard your- 
 self as simply carrying out a business transaction as our agent. 
 
328 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 it will simplify matters greatly. I don't wish you to have the 
 trouble of the actual details. I shall write myself to our 
 ambassador, who is a personal friend of mine, and request him, 
 as soon as he hears from you, to instruct an English lawyer to 
 carry out all the business part of the arrangement." 
 
 The journey across Finland was a very pleasant one. Both 
 were in high spirits. The cloud that had hung over Julian 
 had been dispelled, and Frank's constant anxiety about him 
 had been laid to rest. They had gone safely through the 
 most wonderful campaign of modern times, and were now on 
 their way home. Julian's supply of money was untouched 
 save for the purchase of a variety of presents for his aunt. 
 They travelled only by day. The carriage was constructed 
 with all conveniences for sleeping in, and when, on their arrival 
 at the end of their day's journey, they returned from a stroll 
 down the town to an excellent dinner prepared by their ser- 
 vant, they had but to turn in for a comfortable night's rest 
 in the vehicle. At Abo they found their baggage awaiting 
 them. 
 
 "By Jove! Julian," Frank said laughing, as he looked at 
 the great pile of trunks in the post-house, " one would think 
 that you were carrying the whole contents of a household. 
 Those modest tin cases comprise my share of that pile." 
 
 "It is tremendous ! " Julian said almost ruefully. " I feel 
 quite ashamed to turn up with such an amount of baggage. 
 The first thing we must do, as soon as we get back, is to 
 effect a division. I am afraid that my outside clothes will be 
 of no use to you — they would require entire remaking ; but 
 all the other things will fit you as well as me. I do believe 
 that there are enough to last me my life-time ; and it will be 
 downright charity to relieve me of some of them. You may 
 imagine my stupefaction when I came back one day to the 
 count's and found my room literally filled with clothes." 
 
 " I will help you a bit," Frank laughed. " The campaign 
 
AN UNEXPECTED MEETING 
 
 329 
 
 has pretty well destroyed all my kit, and I sha'n't be too 
 proud to fill up from your abundance." 
 
 They found that the servant who had preceded them with 
 the bassa^e had already made all the arrangements for their 
 crossing the gulf. The extreme cold had everywhere so 
 completely frozen the sea that there was no difficulty in 
 crossing, which, they learned, was not often the case. Three 
 sledges had been engaged for their transport. The distance 
 was about 120 miles; but it was broken by the islands of 
 the Aland Archipelago, and upon one or other of these they 
 could take refuge in the event of any sudden change of 
 weather. They were to start at midnight, and would reach 
 Bomarsund, on the main island of Aland, on the following 
 evening, wait there for twenty-four hours to rest the animals, 
 and would reach the mainland the next day. 
 
 The frost continued unbroken, and they crossed the gulf 
 without difficulty, travelled rapidly across Sweden, and reached 
 England without adventure of any kind. They waited for a 
 dav in London. Frank carried despatches from Sir Robert 
 Wilson, and was occupied at the War Office all day, having 
 a very long interview with the minister, to whom he gave a 
 much more detailed account of the campaign than had been 
 given in the general's reports. The minister expressed much 
 satisfaction at the information he afforded, and said at the 
 conclusion of the interview : 
 
 "Sir Robert has spoken several times as to your services, 
 and I am happy to inform you that your name will appear in 
 the next gazette as promoted to the rank of captain. I con- 
 sider that the manner in which you devoted yourself to the 
 acquisition of the Russian language was most highly meritori- 
 ous, and I wish that many young officers would similarly 
 acquire foreign or oriental languages. I trust that you will 
 thoroughly recover your health, so as to be able to rejoin 
 Sir Robert Wilson by the time that the troops take the field 
 
330 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 again. The campaign is likely to be a most important, and — 
 we have great grounds for hoping — a final one. ' ' 
 
 Before leaving the building Frank found out where Stre- 
 linski was at work. He was engaged in translating a mass of 
 Russian documents. He rose from his seat with an exclama- 
 tion of delight when he saw Frank, who, after a short chat, 
 asked him to come that evening to his hotel. He there 
 learned that the Pole was getting on very well. His knowl- 
 edge of German as well as of Russian had been very valuable 
 to him ; his salary had already been raised, and he was now 
 at the head of a small department, having two of his country- 
 men and three Germans under him, and his future in the 
 office was quite assured. 
 
 " The work is somewhat hard," he said, " for when a ship 
 comes in from Germany or Russia we are often at work all 
 night, sometimes eight-and-forty hours at a stretch, but we 
 are all paid overtime. The work is pleasant and interesting, 
 and your officials are good enough to say that we get through 
 a wonderful amount in the time, and the minister has twice 
 expressed his approbation to me. Ah, Mr. Wyatt, how much 
 do I owe to you and the good general ? ' ' 
 
 " I owe fully as much to you as you owe to me, Strelinski," 
 Frank said. "Putting aside the interest there has been in 
 witnessing such mighty events, it has been a splendid thing 
 for me in my profession. I shall be gazetted captain this 
 week, while I am pretty sure of a brevet majority at the end 
 of the next campaign, and of further employment in the same 
 line afterwards. ' ' 
 
 Julian was not present at the interview. He had never 
 been in London before, and after spending the day in strolling 
 through the streets and visiting the principal sights, had gone 
 to a theatre, leaving Frank to talk with the Pole. The latter 
 had not left when Julian returned. He and Frank had found 
 such an abundance of subjects to talk about that they were 
 
AN UNEXPECTED MEETING 331 
 
 scarcely aware how the time had passed. The latter proposed 
 that they should go to one of the fashionable taverns to supper. 
 Julian would have excused himself, but Frank insisted on his 
 accompanying him. As they were sitting there, two gentle- 
 men passed by their table. One of them stared hard at Frank, 
 and then with an angry exclamation turned away. Then 
 Strelinski said : 
 
 " That is your old antagonist, unless I am mistaken, Mr. 
 Wyatt. You pointed him out to me once when I was in bar- 
 racks with you, and I thought I remembered his face ; that 
 empty sleeve assures me that it is him." 
 
 Frank nodded. 
 
 " What is that ? " Julian asked. 
 
 " Oh, it is nothing," his brother said hastily. 
 
 " No, no, Mr. Wyatt, it was a grand thing. Has not your 
 brother told you of it, Mr. Julian?" 
 
 " No, he has told me nothing about an antagonist." 
 
 "You do not know, then, that Mr. Frank may claim to be 
 the finest pistol shot in the British army." 
 
 Julian looked at his brother in astonishment. " I did not 
 know that you had ever fired a pistol in your life, Frank." 
 
 " I practised pretty hard while I was at Canterbury," Frank 
 answered. " I suppose that I had a good eye for it, and cer- 
 tainly came to be what you would call a good shot, though I 
 dare say there are others just as good. I got involved in a 
 quarrel with the man who has just passed me, who was a cap- 
 tain in the Lancers, and a notorious bully and duellist. We 
 went out. I hit him in the hand, and he lost his arm above 
 the elbow, and there was the end of it." 
 
 " Perhaps you will be kind enough to tell me a little more 
 about it, Mr. Strelinski," Julian said, turning to the Pole, and 
 in spite of a growl from Frank that there was nothing to tell, 
 the Pole related the whole circumstances of the quarrel, the 
 feeling that had been excited by it, Frank's expressed deter- 
 
332 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 mination not to inflict serious injury upon the man but to carry 
 away his trigger-finger only, and so put an end to his duels in 
 the future, and the manner in which his intention was carried 
 out. 
 
 "Well, I congratulate you, Frank, very heartily," Julian 
 said, when Strelinski had finished. ' ' Why on earth did you 
 not tell me about this before ? ' ' 
 
 "Really, Julian, there was nothing to tell about. It was 
 a disagreeable incident altogether, and I considered then, as I 
 have considered since, that it was hardly fair of me to go out 
 with him when I was so certain of my shooting, and it was a 
 hundred to one in my favour. I should never have done it if 
 he had not forced the quarrel upon young Wilmington ; for 
 the young fellow must either have gone out, which would have 
 been throwing away his life, or left the service." 
 
 " Unfair, my dear Frank ! why the man himself had always 
 relied upon his superior skill, and you were able to beat him at 
 his own game. Well, I wish I could shoot as well. However, 
 as I am not going to do any more soldiering, I don't know 
 that it would be of much use to me ; still I should like to be 
 able to do it." 
 
 The next morning they started by coach for Weymouth, 
 leaving Julian's heavier luggage to follow by carrier waggon. 
 Mrs. Troutbeck's joy, when her two nephews arrived together, 
 for a time completely overpowered her, and smelling salts and 
 other restoratives had to be brought into play before she recov- 
 ered. The event created quite an excitement in Weymouth. 
 The appearance of Frank's name so frequently in Sir Robert 
 Wilson's despatches had been a source of pride to the whole 
 town, and especially to his old school-fellows, while the clear- 
 ing up of the mystery that had so long hung over Julian's fate 
 was no less interesting. The sympathy with him was so great 
 and general that no one was surprised or shocked that, under 
 the circumstances, he had been driven to enlist in the French 
 
AN UNEXPECTED MEETING 333 
 
 army, and had taken part in the Russian campaign. Indeed, 
 the fact that he had been one of Xey's celebrated division, 
 whose bravery had excited general admiration, was considered 
 a feather in his cap, especially when it became known that he 
 had been awarded the Cross of the Legion of Honour by Na- 
 poleon himself. Had not the brothers received the proposal 
 most unfavourably, a public dinner would have been got up to 
 celebrate their return. 
 
 " Well, Julian, you will have to settle what you mean to do 
 with yourself," Frank said one day. " You can never settle 
 down here without any occupation whatever, after what you 
 have gone through." 
 
 ' ' No, I quite feel that, Frank. I have had enough of sol- 
 diering ; that one campaign is enough for a life time. I really 
 can hardly make up my mind what to do. Aunt was speak- 
 ing to me vesterdav afternoon when vou were out. The dear 
 old soul said that it was nonsense for me to wait for her death, 
 wasting my life here, and that she was anxious to hand me 
 over at once half her money. She said that that would be 
 ^10,000, and with the ^8,000 — my share of father's money 
 — I could then buy an estate." 
 
 " It would be the best thing'you could do, Julian, but, of 
 course, there is no hurry about it. What part of the country 
 would you prefer to settle in ? " 
 
 " I don't know, Frank, I have never thought much about it. 
 I don't think I should choose anywhere near Weymouth, and 
 I would rather go to a flatter country, and a better wooded one. 
 If I bought land, I should like to have land that I could cul- 
 tivate myself, so as to give me an interest in it, and I should 
 like, after a time, to be on the bench, which would give one 
 a good deal of occupation. I suppose I shall marry some day, 
 and so would prefer to be within reach of a town. I should 
 think, from what you say, the country round Canterbury must 
 be pretty. There is a garrison there, Dover is within reach, 
 
334 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 and it is a good deal more handy for getting up to town than 
 it is from here. However, as you say, there is plenty of time 
 for me to think about that. ' ' 
 
 Mrs. Troutbeck was, as Julian had predicted, astounded upon 
 the arrival of his baggage. " I never saw such a thing ! " she 
 exclaimed, as trunk after trunk was carried into the house. 
 " That Russian count of yours, Julian, must be a little cracked, 
 I should think. Why, my dear boy, if you were to get stout 
 what in the world would you do with all these things? ' 
 
 " That is a contingency I have never thought of, Aunt. 
 You quite frighten me. I must go in for a course of severe 
 exercise to prevent the chance of such a thing occurring." 
 
 "You might take to shooting," Mrs. Troutbeck said doubt- 
 fully ; ' ' and I am sure that at present there is not a gentle- 
 man round who would not be glad to give you a day's 
 shooting. ' ' 
 
 " I have done enough shooting, Aunt," Julian said gravely. 
 " It was the means of my getting into a bad scrape here. In 
 Russia it was often part of my duty to shoot dying horses, to 
 say nothing of shooting men, and I have no desire ever to take 
 a gun in my hands again. I have looked up my old friend 
 Bill, and shall take to sailing again, but I will promise you that 
 I will keep clear of smugglers." 
 
 Two days later Frank announced his intention of going up 
 to London for a few days, as he thought he had better offer to 
 be of any assistance he could at the War Office. He was away 
 for nearly three weeks, and on his return mentioned that he had 
 run down to Canterbury, and had seen some of his old friends 
 at the depot. A fortnight later he received a bulky letter 
 from town, and in the course of the day asked his aunt if she 
 felt equal to taking a journey with him. 
 
 " A journey, my dear ! " she repeated in surprise. " Where 
 do you want to go to ? " 
 
 " Well, Aunt, I want to go to London in the first place; we 
 
AN UNEXPECTED MEETING 
 
 335 
 
 will travel by post-chaise, so that everything will be comfort- 
 able ; afterwards we may go somewhere else. I can't tell you 
 anything about it now ; it is a little secret. But I do very 
 much want you and Julian to go with me." 
 
 " Then, of course we will, my dear," the old lady said. "I 
 should very much like to visit London again, and see the thea- 
 tres and shows. What do you say, Julian ? " 
 
 " Of course I will go, Aunt, though I can't think what 
 Frank has got in his head. Still, I am very tired of Wey- 
 mouth, and it will be a change. I was saying to Dick Halli- 
 burne yesterday that unless I could hit on something to do, I 
 should have to ask them if they would let me go to school 
 again." 
 
 Six days later they drove up in a post-chaise to a fine man- 
 sion some three miles from Canterbury. Julian's astonishment 
 at Frank's mysterious proceedings had been growing ever since 
 they left Weymouth. 
 
 " Who on earth are we going to see here? " he asked, as 
 they approached the mansion. 
 
 " Restrain your impatience for a few minutes longer, Julian, 
 then you shall know all about it. This mansion, I may tell 
 you, belongs to a friend of mine. It is the centre of an estate 
 of some 2,000 acres, and its rent-roll is about ,£3,000 a year." 
 
 " Very nice indeed ! " Julian said. " Well, I won't ask any 
 more questions till we get there." 
 
 A gentleman appeared at the door as the carriage drove up. 
 He shook hands warmly with Frank, who introduced him to 
 his companions as Mr. James Linton, solicitor to the Russian 
 embassy. The gentleman led the way to a very handsome 
 drawing-room, then he looked inquiringly at Frank, who nod- 
 ded. From a mahogany box on the table Mr. Linton pro- 
 duced a large packet of papers. 
 
 " Mr. Wyatt," he said to Julian, " it is my pleasant duty 
 to present you with these documents. They are the title-deeds 
 
336 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 of this mansion and the surrounding property. In purchasing 
 them I have followed out the instructions of Count Woronski, 
 and have had the benefit of the assistance of your brother in 
 selecting an estate that would, he thought, from its situation, 
 be agreeable to you." 
 
 Julian looked at the speaker as if unable to take in the 
 sense of his words. 
 
 "I beg your pardon," he said hesitatingly. " I don't 
 think I quite understand you." 
 
 " It is as I said, Mr. Wyatt. Count Woronski wrote to me 
 expressing his desire to present you with an estate here as some 
 slight token, as he expressed it, of the enormous obligation 
 under which you have placed him and the countess, his wife. 
 I may say that his instructions to me would have authorized 
 the purchase of a much larger estate than this, but he begged 
 me to be guided by the advice of your brother, Captain 
 Wyatt, in the matter, and the latter obliged me by taking 
 the responsibility of choosing an estate off my hands, and has 
 selected this. My part in the business has therefore been 
 confined to carrying out the legal part in the matter and com- 
 pleting the purchase." 
 
 " My dear Frank," Julian said, " this is monstrous." 
 
 "I have only carried out the wishes of the count, Julian. 
 He and the countess had a long conversation with me, and it 
 was with some reluctance that I accepted the mission to select 
 an estate for you, and only because he said that if I refused, 
 he should have to request the Russian ambassador to ask one 
 of his secretaries to do so, and that it would be very much 
 more satisfactory to him that the place chosen should be, in 
 point of situation and other respects, just what you would 
 yourself like." 
 
 "lam overpowered, Mr. Linton. It has all come upon 
 me so much by surprise that I do not know what I ought to 
 say or do." 
 
AX UNEXPECTED MEETING 337 
 
 "There can be no doubt what you ought to do," the 
 solicitor replied. " Count Woronski is a very wealthy noble- 
 man. You have rendered to him and his wife one of the 
 greatest services one man can render to another. The count 
 mentioned in his letter that had you remained in Russia it 
 was his intention to transfer one of his estates to you, and 
 the smallest of them is of much greater value than this. As 
 to your refusing the gift, it is, if I may say so, impossible. 
 Nothing could exceed the delicacy with which the count has 
 arranged the business, and he would naturally feel deeply 
 hurt were you to hesitate to accept this token of his gratitude. 
 I am sure you must see that yourself. ' ' 
 
 " I do indeed see it," Julian said, "and I feel that it would 
 be not only ungrateful but wrong for me to refuse this noble 
 gift. But you will admit that it is natural that I should for 
 a time be overwhelmed by it. I am not so ungracious as to 
 refuse so magnificent a present, although I feel that it is alto- 
 gether disproportionate, not to the service I was fortunate 
 enough to render, but to my action in rendering it. Well, 
 Mr. Linton, I can only thank you for the part you have taken 
 in the matter. Of course, I shall write at once to the count 
 and countess expressing my feelings as to this magnificent 
 gift, and will send the letter to the embassy to be forwarded 
 at the first possible opportunity. And now what is the next 
 thing to be done, for I feel almost incapable of forming any 
 plans at present ? ' ' 
 
 1 ' I would suggest, Mr. Wyatt, that in the fhst place you 
 should drive round your estate. There are horses and car- 
 riages in the stable. The estate had only been advertised a 
 day or two before your brother came up to town, and the 
 purchase included the furniture, horses and carriages, and the 
 live stock on the home farm. I engaged the coacnman, 
 grooms, and gardeners to remain until, at least, you should 
 decide whether to take them into your service. I should sug- 
 
338 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 gest also that, after driving round the place, you should re- 
 turn to Canterbury for the night. Beyond an old man and 
 his wife, who are in charge of the house, I have not made any 
 arrangements, thinking it better to leave that to you and Mrs. 
 Troutbeck." 
 
 ''You will have to move here, you know, Aunt," Frank 
 said. " I gave orders, before we came away from Weymouth, 
 to Mary to lock up the house, and to come up to town by the 
 coach two days later, and then to come on to Canterbury. I 
 have no doubt that we shall find her at the Fountain when we 
 get there. I daresay you will be able to hear of some good 
 servants at the Hotel." 
 
 " You have taken away my breath altogether, Frank," Mrs. 
 Troutbeck said. " However, I am too bewildered to think 
 for myself, and for the present must do whatever you tell me. ' ' 
 
 Before Frank started three weeks later to rejoin Sir Robert 
 Wilson he had the satisfaction of seeing Julian comfortably 
 established in his new position, and settling down to the life. 
 He himself went through the tremendous campaign that 
 brought about the conclusion of the war and the downfall of 
 Napoleon, and was present at the great battles of Lutzen, Baut- 
 zen, Reichenbach, Dresden, Culm, and Leipsic. At the ter- 
 mination of the war he received the rank of brevet major, and 
 the appointment of military attache to the British embassy in 
 Russia. He remained there for some years, and then retired 
 from the army with the rank of colonel. 
 
 Mrs. Troutbeck had by this time passed away, having first 
 had the pleasure of seeing a mistress installed at Julian's. The 
 latter was now a justice of the peace, and one of 'the most 
 popular landowners in the county. Mrs. Troutbeck, at 
 Julian's earnest request, left the whole of her property to 
 Frank, nor could the latter persuade his brother to take any 
 share of it. Frank had no inclination for a country life, and 
 settled down near London, where, after a time, he too married. 
 
AN UNEXPECTED MEETING 339 
 
 He then went in for politics, and was returned for a Kentish 
 constituency. Although he took no very prominent part in 
 party politics he became one of the recognized authorities in 
 the house on all matters connected with the affairs of Eastern 
 Europe, and took a lively interest in the movements set on foot 
 for the benefit of the British soldier. Julian kept his promise 
 to the count, and for many years went over occasionally to 
 stay with him. His wife accompanied him until the cares of 
 a rising family detained her at home. To the end of their 
 lives neither Frank nor he ever regretted that they had taken 
 part in the memorable campaign in Russia. 
 
 THE END. 
 
gOOKS FOR 
 
 Young People 
 
 BY CAPT. F. S. BRERETON 
 
 THE DRAGON OF PEKIN 
 
 A Story of the Boxer Revolt. Illustrated, 12mo, $1.50. 
 
 In this timely volume the author has been singularly successful in 
 depicting the stirring scenes of the late trouble in China. His hero has 
 an adventurous part in the exciting issue between China and the Allied 
 Powers. 
 
 A GALLANT GRENADIER 
 
 A Tale of the Crimean War. Illustrated, 12mo, $1.50. 
 
 Captain Brereton is now hailed as another " George A. Henty." In 
 this stirring story the history and the real atmosphere of this impor- 
 tant war is strikingly conveyed in a 6tory of really thrilling power. 
 
 WITH RIFLE AND BAYONET 
 
 A Story of the Boer War. Illustrations by Wal. Paget. 
 Crown 8vo, olivine edges, $1.50. 
 
 Jack Somerten is the first Uitlander to find actual evidence that the 
 Boers are importing arms and ammunition in large quantities, but the 
 Boers soon learn that he has discovered their secret and from that time 
 his life is in constant danger. The account of his adventures and 
 escapes during this time and throughout the war makes one of the 
 best war tales of many years. 
 
 IN THE KING'S SERVICE 
 
 A Tale of Cromwell's Invasion of Ireland. Illustrations by 
 Stanley L. Wood. Crown 8vo, olivine edges, $1.50. 
 
 When the Parlimentary army crosses to Ireland young Dick Gran- 
 ville and his cousin join a body of Royalist horse. They take part in 
 the defense of Drogheda, only escaping from the slaughter there by a 
 miracle, and afterwards go through a series of thrilling adventures and 
 narrow escapes. 
 
 WITH SHIELD AND ASSEGAI 
 
 A Tale of the Zulu War. With G Illustrations by Stanley 
 L. Wood. Crown 8vo, $1.25. 
 
 Donald Stewart, at school in England, is wrongfully accused of theft. 
 He runs away, enlists in the British army, and is sent to Africa. There 
 he learns that his sister and a friend are in the hands of Cetewayo. 
 Disguised as a Zulu, he rescues the two girls ; and after the attack 
 upon Ulundi, he hears from a dying officer a confession of the theft of 
 which he was accused. 
 
BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE 
 
 BY ROBERT LEIGHTON 
 
 "Mr. Leighton's place is in the front rauk of writers of boys' books." 
 
 — Standard. 
 
 THE GOLDEN GALLEON 
 
 Illustrated, cro?. n 8vo, olivine edges, $1.50. 
 
 This is a story of Queen Elizabeth's time, just after the defeat of the 
 Spanish Armada. Mr. Leighton introduces in his work the great sea- 
 fighters of Plymouth town — Hawkins, Drake, Raleigh, and Richard 
 Grenville. 
 
 OLAF THE GLORIOUS 
 
 With 8 full-page Illustrations by Ralph Peacock. Crown 8vo, 
 olivine edges, $1.50. 
 
 This story of Olaf, King of Norway, opens with his being found living 
 as a bond-slave in Esthonia, and follows him through his romantic 
 youth in Russia. Then come his adventures as a Viking, his raids upon 
 the coasts of Scotland and England, and his conversion to Christianity. 
 He returns to Norway as king, and comerts his people to the Christian 
 faith. 
 
 WRECK OF "THE GOLDEN FLEECE * 
 
 The Story of a North Sea Fisher-boy. With 8 full-page Illustra- 
 tions by Frank Brangwyn. Crown 8vo, olivine edges, $1.50. 
 
 The hero is a parson's son who is apprenticed on board a Lowestoft 
 fishing lugger. The lad suffers many buffets from his shipmates, while 
 the storms and dangers which he braved are set forth with intense power. 
 
 THE THIRSTY SWORD 
 
 A Story of the Norse Invasion of Scotland (1262-63). With 
 8 full-page Illustrations by Alfred Pearse, and a Map. 
 Crown 8vo, olivine edges, $1.50. 
 
 This story tells how Roderick Mac Alpin, the sea-rover, came to the 
 Isle of Bute; how he slew his brother in Rothesay Ca6tle; how the earl's 
 eldest son was likewise slain; how young Kenric now became king of 
 Bute, and vowed vengeance against the slayer of his brother and father, 
 and finally, how this vow was kept, when Kenric and the murderous 
 sea-rover met at midnight and ended their feud in one last great fight. 
 
 THE PILOTS OF POMONA 
 
 A Story of the Orkney Islands.- With 8 full-page Illustrations 
 by John Leighton, and a Map. Crown 8vo, olivine edges, 
 $1.50. 
 
 Halcro Ericson, the hero, happens upon many exciting adventures 
 and hardy experiences, through which he carries himself with quiet 
 courage. The story gives a vivid presentation of life in these far 
 northern islands. 
 
BOOKS FOR YOUXG PEOPLE 
 
 AN ANIMAL ABC 
 
 A Humorous Alphabet. By H. B. Netlson. 4to, $1.00. With 
 24 pages of Illustrations in two colors and 24 pages in 
 black and white. Verses by "The Cockiolly Bird." 
 
 A remarkably attractive collection of spirited and original animal 
 pictures by an artist who excels in this line. 
 
 ROUNDABOUT RHYMES 
 
 Written and pictured by Mrs. Percy Dearmer. Beautifully 
 printed. With 20 full-page plates in colors. Small 4to, 
 $1.00. 
 
 This book is unusually attractive in form, and is admirably suited 
 to the youngest readers. The pictures, together with the delightful 
 series of half playful rhymes accompanying them, have a quaint nur- 
 sery air that will render them particularly dear to a child's heart. 
 
 THE LITTLE BROWNS 
 
 By Mabel E. Wolton. With 80 Illustrations by H. M. 
 Brock, and a Colored Frontispiece. Square Svo, gilt edges, 
 $2.00. 
 
 The Little Browns are a delightful set of youngsters, more than 
 usually individual and self-reliant. During their parents' absence they 
 extend hospitality to a stranger, under the belief that he is their uncle 
 from Australia. The supposed uncle is really a burglar, and by their 
 courage and childish resources they outwit him. Tfie Little Broicns is 
 the work of a true child-lover. 
 
 BY CARTON MOORE PARK 
 
 A BOOK OF BIRDS 
 
 Profusely Illustrated with full-page plates, vignettes, cover 
 design, etc., etc. Demy 4to (13 inches by 10 inches), $2.00. 
 
 No artist has caught more thoroughly the individualities of the bird 
 world, or has reproduced them with more lifelike vivacity and charm. 
 
 AN ALPHABET OF ANIMALS 
 
 With 26 full-page Plates, a large number of vignettes, and 
 cover design 7 jy Carton Moore Park. Demy 4to /J 3 
 inches by 10 inches), $2.00. 
 
 A strikingly artistic alphabet book. Mr. Park's drawings are marked 
 by extraordinary boldness and vigor of treatment ; but they display in 
 addition a rare appreciation of the subtler characteristics of the animal 
 world. Of these individual traits Mr. Park has an intuitive perception, 
 and his pictures may almost be 6aid to live upon the page. 
 
BOOKS FOB YOUNG PEOPLE 
 
 GOOD BOOKS FOR GIRLS 
 
 BY ETHEL F. HEDDLE 
 
 A MYSTERY OF ST. RULES 
 
 $1.50. 
 
 An absorbing novel for girls, the action of which revolves round the 
 mystery of a stolen diamond, but is full of delightful character 
 sketches, and the background of the gray old city is charmingly filled 
 in. The mystery is well maintained, and the love interest is strong 
 to the end. 
 
 AN ORIGINAL GIRL 
 
 Illustrated. 12mo, $1.50. 
 
 A tale of London and English country life. The author is a favorite 
 writer for girls, whose previous books have been unusually popular. 
 
 THINGS WILL TAKE A TURN 
 
 By Beatrice Harraden, Author of "Ships that Pass in the 
 Night." Illustrated. 12mo, $1.00. 
 
 It is the story of a sunny-hearted child, Rosebud, who assists her 
 grandfather in his dusty, second-hand bookshop. 
 
 LAUGH AND LEARN 
 
 The Easiest Book of Nursery Lessons and Nursery Games. By 
 Jennett Humphreys. Charmingly Illustrated. Square 
 8vo, $1.25. 
 
 "One of the best books of the kind imaginable, full of practical 
 teachings in word and picture, and helping the little ones pleasantly 
 along a right royal road to learning." — Graphic. 
 
 ADVENTURES IN TOYLAND 
 
 By Edith King Hall. With 8 Colored Plates and 72 other 
 Illustrations by Alice B. Woodward. Square 8vo, $2.00. 
 
 The story of what a little girl heard and saw in a toy shop. 
 
 NELL'S SCHOOL DAYS 
 
 A Story of Town and Country. By H. P. Gethen. With 4 
 Illustrations, $1.00. 
 
 VIOLET VEREKER'S VANITY 
 
 By Annie E. Armstrong. With 6 Illustrations by G. D. Ham- 
 mond. Crown 8vo, $1.25. 
 
BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE 
 
 GOOD BOOKS FOR GIRLS 
 
 THREE FAIR MAIDS 
 
 Or, The Burkes of Derrymore. By Katharine Tynan. With 
 12 Illustrations by G. D. Hammond. Crown 8vo, olivine 
 edges, $1.50. 
 
 A story of Irish country life. The three fair maids are the daughters 
 of an impoverished Irish lady. Sir Jasper's disinheritance of their 
 father obliged them to give up their great house, but the family 
 is ultimately reconciled with Uncle Peter, who makes Elizabeth his 
 heiress. 
 
 THREE BRIGHT GIRLS 
 
 A Story of Chance and Mischance. By Annie E. Armstrong. 
 
 With 6 full-page Illustrations by W. Parkinson. Crown 
 
 8vo, $1.25. 
 "Among many good stories for girls this is undoubtedly one of the 
 very best." — Teachers' Aid. 
 
 A NEWNHAM FRIENDSHIP 
 
 By Alice Stronach. With 6 Illustrations by Harold Copping. 
 Crown 8vo, $1.25. 
 
 A description of life at Newnham College. Men students play their 
 part in the story, and the closing chapters describe the work of some 
 of foe girls as " social settlers " in the east of London. 
 
 THE LADY ISOBEL 
 
 A Story for Girls. By Eliza F. Pollard. With 4 Illustra- 
 tions by W. Fulton Brown. 12mo, $1.00. 
 
 A Tale of the Scottish Covenanters. 
 
 A GIRL OF TO-DAY 
 
 By Ellinor Davenport Adams. With 6 page Illustrations by 
 Gertrude Demain Hammond, R.L Crown 8vo, $1.25. 
 
 The boys and girls of Woodend band themselves together, and that 
 they have plenty of fun is seen in the shopping expedition to purchase 
 stores for their society, and in the successful Christmas entertainment. 
 Max Brenton's fight with Joe Baker, the bully, shows that their work 
 has its serious side as well. 
 
 CYNTHIA'S BONNET SHOP 
 
 By Rosa Mulholland (Lady Gilbert). With 8 Illustrations by 
 C. D. Hammond, R.L Crown 8vo, olivine edges, $1.50. 
 
 Cynthia, one of three charming, lively sisters of an impoverished 
 Connaught family, desires to make money for the sake of her delicate 
 mother. If she had onlv capital she would open a millinery establish- 
 ment in London. The capital is mysteriously supplied, and the secret 
 of the unknown benefactor is kept to the end. 
 
BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE 
 
 BY DR. GORDON STABLES 
 
 COURAGE TRUE HEART 
 
 A Brilliant New Story of Danger and Daring on the Sea. By 
 Gordon Stables, M.D., CM. Illustrated, crown 8vo, 
 
 $1.25. 
 
 A NAVAL CADET 
 
 A Story of Adventure by Sea. By Gordon Stables, M.D., 
 CM. Illustrated, crown 8vo, $1.25. 
 
 FOR LIFE AND LIBERTY 
 
 A Story of Battle by Land and Sea. By Gordon Stables, 
 M.D., CM. With 8 full-page Illustrations by Sidney 
 Paget. 12 mo, $1.50. 
 
 The story of an English boy who runs from home and joins the South- 
 ern army in the late Civil War. His chum enters the navy, and their 
 various adventures are set forth with great vigor and interest. 
 
 TO GREENLAND AND THE POLE 
 
 A Story of Adventure in the Arctic Regions. By Gordon 
 Stables, M.D., CM. With 8 full-page Illustrations by 
 G. C Hindley, and a map. Crown 8yo, olivine edges, 
 $1.50. 
 
 The author is himself an old Arctic voyager, and he deals with deer- 
 hunting in Norway, sealing in the Arctic Seas, bear-stalking on the 
 ice-floes, the hardships of a journey across Greenland, and a successful 
 voyage to the back of the North Pole. 
 
 WESTWARD WITH COLUMBUS 
 
 By Gordon Stables, M.D., CM. With 8 full -page Illustra- 
 tions by Alfred Pearse. Crown 8vo, olivine edges, $1.50. 
 
 The hero of this story is Columbus himself. His career is traced 
 from boyhood onward through the many hazardous enterprises in which 
 he was at various times engaged. The narrative deals chiefly, however, 
 with the great naval venture which resulted in the discovery of the 
 American continent. 
 
 'TWIXT SCHOOL AND COLLEGE 
 
 A Tale of Self-reliance. By Gordon Stables, M.D., CM. 
 With 8 full-page Illustrations by W. Parkinson. Crown 
 8vo, olivine edges, $1.50. 
 
1 ' Wherever English is spoken one imagines that Mr. Henty's 
 name is known. One cannot enter a schoolroom or look at a 
 boy's bookshelf without seeing half-a-dozen of his familiar 
 volumes. Mr. Henty is no doubt the most successful writer 
 for boys, and the one to whose new volumes they look forward 
 every Christmas with most pleasure." — Review of Reviews. 
 
 A LIST OF BOOKS 
 FOR YOUNG PEOPLE 
 
 ♦ • . By • » • 
 
 G. A. HENTY 
 
 Published by 
 
 CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 
 
 J53 to J57 Fifth Avenue & J- New York 
 
 and by 
 
 BLACKIE & SON, Limited, GLASGOW 
 
THIS YE,AR*S BOOKS 
 
 • • • m3 m, m • • 
 
 G. A. HENTY. 
 
 * * * 
 
 " Among writers of stories of adventures for boys Mr. Henty 
 stands in the very first rank." — Academy (London). 
 
 THE TREASURE OF THE INCAS 
 
 A Tale of Adventure in Peru. With 8 full-page Illustrations by 
 Wal Paget, and Map. $1.20 net. 
 
 Peru and the hidden treasures of her ancient kings offer Mr. Henty 
 a most fertile field for a stirring story of adventure in his most engag- 
 ing style. In an effort to win the girl of his heart, the hero penetrates 
 into the wilds of the land of the Ineas. Boys who have learned to 
 look for Mr. Henty's books will follow his new hero in his adventurous 
 and romantic expedition, with absorbing interest. It is one of the most 
 captivating tales Mr. Henty has yet written. 
 
 WITH KITCHENER IN THE SOUDAN 
 
 A Story of Atbara and Omdurman. With 10 full-page Illustra- 
 tions. $1.20 net. 
 
 Mr. Henty has never combined history and thrilling adventure more 
 skillfully than in this extremely interesting story. It is not in boy 
 nature to lay it aside unfinished, once begun ; and finished, the reader 
 finds himself in possession, not only of the facts and the true atmos- 
 phere of Kitchener's famous Soudan campaign, but of the Gordon 
 tragedy which preceded it by so many years and of which it was the 
 outcome. 
 
 WITH THE BRITISH LEGION 
 
 A Story of the Carlist Uprising of 1836. Illustrated. $1.20 net. 
 
 Arthur Hallet, a young English boy, finds himself in difficulty at 
 home, through certain harmless school escapades, and enlists in the 
 famous " British Legion," which was then embarking for Spain to take 
 part in the campaign to repress the Carlist uprising of 1836. Arthur 
 shows his mettle in the first fight, distinguishes himself by daring work 
 in carrying an important dispatch to Madrid, makes a' dashing and 
 thrilling rescue of the sister of his patron and is rapidly promoted to 
 the rank of captain. In following the adventures of the hero, the 
 reader obtains, as is usual with Mr. Henty's stories, a most accurate 
 and interesting history of a picturesque campaign. 
 
BOOKS FOR YOUXG PEOPLE 
 
 STORIES BY G. A. HENTY 
 
 " His books have at once the solidity of history and the charm of 
 romance. "'-Journal of Education. 
 
 TO HERAT AND CABUL 
 
 A Story of the First Afghan War. By G. A. Henty. With 
 
 Illustrations. 12mo, $1.20 net. 
 
 The greatest defeat ever experienced by the British Army was that 
 in the Mountain Passes of Afghanistan. Angus Cameron, the hero of 
 this book, having been captured by the friendly Afghans, was com- 
 pelled to be a witness of the calamity. His whole story is an intensely 
 interesting one, from his boyhood in Persia; his employment underthe 
 Government at Herat; through the defense of that town against the 
 Persians: to Cabul, where he shared in all the events which ended in 
 the awful march through the Passes from which but one man escaped. 
 Angus is always at the point of danger, and whether in battle or in 
 hazardous expeditions shows how much a brave youth, full of 
 resources, can do, even with so treacherous a foe. His dangers and 
 adventures are thrilling, and his escapes marvellous. 
 
 WITH ROBERTS TO PRETORIA 
 
 A Tale of the South African War. By G. A Henty. With 12 
 Illustrations. $1.20 net. 
 
 The Boer War gives Mr. Henty an unexcelled opportunity for a 
 thrilling story of present-day interest which the author could not fail to 
 take advantage of. Every boy reader will find this account of the ad- 
 ventures of the young hero most exciting, and, at the same time a 
 wonderfully accurate description of Lord Roberts's campaign to Preto- 
 ria. Boys have found history in the dress Mr. Henty gives it anything 
 but dull, and the present book is no exception to the rule. 
 
 AT THE POINT OF THE BAYONET 
 
 A Tale of the Mahratta War. By G. A. Henty. Illustrated. 
 12mo, $1.20 net. 
 
 One hundred years ago the rule of the British in India was only partly 
 established. The powerful Mahrattas were unsubdued, and with their 
 skill in intrigue, and great military power, they were exceedingly dan- 
 gerous. The story of "At the Point of the Bayonet" begins with 
 the attempt to conquer this powerful people. Harry Lindsay, an 
 infant when his father and mother were killed, was saved by his 
 Mahratta ayah, who carried him to her own people and brought him 
 up as a native. She taught him as best she could, and, having told him 
 his parentage, 6ent him to Bombay to be educated. At sixteen he ob- 
 tained a commission in the English Army, and his knowledge of the 
 Mahratta tongue combined with his ability and bravery enabled him to 
 render great service in the Mahratta War, and carried him, through 
 many frightful perils by land and sea, to high rank. 
 
BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE 
 
 BY G. A. HENTY 
 
 "Mr. Henty might with entire propriety he called the boys' Sir 
 Walter Scott " — Philadelphia Press. 
 
 IN THE IRISH BRIGADE 
 
 A Tale of War in Flanders and Spain. With 12 Illustrations by 
 Chakles M. Sheld jN. 12mo, $1.50. 
 
 Desmond Kennedy is a young Irish lad who left Ireland to join the 
 Irish Brigade in the service of Louis XIV. of France. In Paris he in- 
 curred the deadly hatred of a powerful courtier from whom he had 
 rescued a young girl who had been kidnapped, and his perils are of ab- 
 sorbing interest. Captured in an attempted Jacobite invasion of Scot- 
 land, he escaped in a most extraordinary manner. As aid-de-camp 
 to the Duke of Berwick he experienced thrilling adventures in Flan- 
 ders. Transferred to the Army in Spain, he was nearly assassinated,but 
 escaped to return, when peace was declared, to his native land, having 
 received pardon and having recovered his estates. The 6tory is filled 
 with adventure, and the interest never abates. 
 
 OUT WITH GARIBALDI 
 
 A Story of the Liberation of Italy. By 6. A. Henty. With 
 8 Illustrations by W. Rainey, R.I. 12mo, $1.50. 
 
 Garibaldi himself is the central figure of this brilliant 6tory, and the 
 little-known history of the struggle for Italian freedom is told here in 
 the most thrilling way. From the time the hero, a young lad, son of 
 an English father and an Italian mother, joins Garibaldi's band of 
 1,000 men in the first descent upon Sicily, which was garrisoned by one 
 of the large Neapolitan armies, until the end, when all those armies 
 are beaten, and the two Sicilys are conquered, we follow with the 
 keenest interest the exciting adventures of the lad in scouting, in 
 battle, and in freeing those in prison for liberty's 6ake. 
 
 WITH BULLER IN NATAL 
 
 Or, A Born Leader. By G. A. Henty. With 10 Illustrations 
 by W. Rainey. 12mo, $1.50. 
 
 The breaking out of the Boer War compelled Chris King, the hero 
 of the story, to flee with his mother from Johannesburg to the sea 
 coast. They were with many other Uitlanders, and all suffered much 
 from the Boers. Reaching a place of safety for their families, Chris 
 and twenty of his friends formed an independent company of scouts. In 
 this service they were with Gen. Yule at Glencoe, then in Ladysmith, 
 then with Buller. In each place they had many thrilling adventures. 
 They were in great battles and in lonely fights on the Veldt ; were 
 taken prisoners and escaped; and they rendered most valuable service 
 to the English forces. The story is a most interesting picture of the 
 War in South Africa, 
 
BOOKS FOR YOUNG TEOTLE 
 
 BY G. A. HENTY 
 
 " Surely Mr. TTenty should understand boys' tastes better than any 
 man living." — The Times. 
 
 WON BY THE SWORD 
 
 A Tale of the Thirty Years' War. With 12 Illustrations by 
 Charles M. Sheldon, and four Plans. 12mo, $1.50. 
 
 The scene of this story is iaid in France, during the time of Richelieu, 
 of Mazarin and Anne of Austria. The hero, Hector Campbell, is the 
 orphaned son of a Scotch officer in the French Army. How he at- 
 tracted the notice of Marshal Turenne and of the Prince of Conde ; 
 how he rose to the rank of Colonel ; how he finally had to leave France, 
 pursued by the deadly hatred of the Due de Beaufort— all these and 
 much more the story tells with the most absorbing interest. 
 
 A ROVING COMMISSION 
 
 Or, Through the „Black Insurrection at Hayti. With 12 Illus- 
 trations by William Rainey. 12mo, $1.50. 
 
 This is one of the most brilliant of Mr. Henty's books. A story of 
 the sea, with all its life and action, it is also full of thrilling adven- 
 tures on land. So it holds the keenest interest until the end. The 
 scene is a new one to Mr. Henty's readers, being laid at the time of the 
 Great Revolt of the Blacks, by which Hayti became independent. 
 Toussaint l'Overture appears, and an admirable picture is given of him 
 and of his power. 
 
 NO SURRENDER 
 
 The Story of the Revolt in La Vendee. With 8 Illustrations 
 by Stanley L. Wood. 12mo, $1.50. 
 
 The revolt of La Vendee against the French Republic at the time of 
 the Revolution forms the groundwork of this absorbing story. Leigh 
 Stansfield, a young English lad, is drawn into the thickest of the con- 
 flict. Forming a company of boys as scouts for the Vendean Army, 
 he greatly aids the peasants. He rescues his sister from the guillotine, 
 and finally, after many thrilling experiences, when the cause of La 
 Vendee is lost, he escapes to England. 
 
 UNDER WELLINGTON'S COMMAND 
 
 A Tale of the Peninsular War. With 12 Illustrations by Wal 
 
 Paget. 12mo, $1.G0. 
 
 The dashing hero of this book, Terence O'Connor, was the hero of 
 Mr. Henty's previous book, " With Moore at Corunna," to which this 
 is really a sequel. He is still at the head of the " Minho " Portuguese 
 regiment. Being detached on independent and guerilla duty with his 
 regiment, he renders invaluable service in gaining information and in 
 harassing the French. His command, being constantly on the edge of 
 the army, is engaged in frequent skirmishes and some most important 
 battles. 
 
BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE 
 
 BY G. A. HENTY 
 
 " Mr. Henty i6 the king of story-tellers for boys." — Sword and Trowel. 
 
 AT ABOUKIR AND ACRE 
 
 A Story of Napoleon's Invasion of Egypt. With 8 full-page 
 Illustrations by William Rainey, and 3 Plans. 12mo, 
 $1.50. 
 
 The hero, having saved the life of the son of an Arab chief, is taken 
 Into the tribe, has a part in the battle of the Pyramids and the revolt 
 at Cairo. He is an eye-witness of the famous naval battle of Aboukir, 
 and later is in the hardest of the defense of Acre. 
 
 BOTH SIDES THE BORDER 
 
 A Tale of Hotspur and Glendower. With 12 full-page Illus- 
 trations by Ralph Peacock. 12mo, $1.50. 
 
 This is a brilliant story of the stirring times of the beginning of the 
 Wars of the Roses, when the Scotch, under Douglas, and the Welsh, 
 under Owen Glendower, were attacking the English. The hero of the 
 book lived near the Scotch border, and saw many a hard fight there. 
 Entering the service of Lord Percy, he was sent to Wales, where he 
 was knighted, and where he wag captured. Being released, he returned 
 home, and shared in the fatal battle of Shrewsbury. 
 
 WITH FREDERICK THE GREAT 
 
 A Tale of the Seven Years' War. With 12 full-page Illustra- 
 tions. 12mo, $1.50. 
 
 The hero of this story while still a youth entered the service of 
 Frederick the Great, and by a succession of fortunate circumstances 
 and perilous adventures, rose to the rank of colonel. Attached to the 
 staff of the king, he rendered distinguished services in many battles, in 
 one of which he saved the king's life. Twice captured and imprisoned, 
 he both times escaped from the Austrian fortresses. 
 
 A MARCH ON LONDON 
 
 A Story of Wat Tyler's Rising. With 8 full-page Illustra- 
 tions by W. H. Margetson. 12mo, $1.50. 
 
 The story of Wat Tyler's Rebellion is but little known, but the hero 
 of this story passes through that perilous time and takes part in the 
 civil war in Flanders which followed soon after. Although young he 
 is thrown into many exciting and dangerous adventures, through which 
 he passes with great coolness and much credit. 
 
BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE 
 
 BY G. A. HENTY 
 
 " No country nor epoch of history is there which Mr. Hentydoes not 
 know, and what is really remarkable is that he always writes well and 
 interestingly."— New York Times. 
 
 WITH MOORE AT CORUNNA 
 
 A Story of the Peninsular War. With 12 full-page Illustra- 
 tions by Wal Paget. 12mo, $1.50. 
 
 Terence O'Connor is living with his widowed father, Captain O'Con- 
 nor of the Mayo Fusiliers, with the regiment at the time when the 
 Peninsular war began. Upon the regiment beino; ordered to Spain, 
 Terence gets appointed as aid to one of the generals of a division. By 
 his bravery and great usefulness throughout the war, he is rewarded 
 by a commission's colonel in the Portuguese army and there rendered 
 great service. 
 
 AT AGINCOURT 
 
 A Tale of the White Hoods of Paris. With 12 full-page 
 Illustrations by Walter Paget. Crown 8vo, olivine 
 edges, $1.50. 
 
 The storv begins in a grim feudal castle in Normandie. The times 
 were troublous, and soon the king compelled Lady Margaret de Villeroy 
 with her children to go to Paris as hostages. Guy Aylmer went with 
 her Paris was turbulent. Soon the guild of the butchers, adopting 
 white hoods as their uniform, seized the city, and besieged the house 
 where our hero and his charges lived. After desperate fighting, the 
 white hoods were beaten and our hero and his charges escaped from 
 the city, and from France. 
 
 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS 
 
 A Tale of the Exploits of Lord Cochrane in South American 
 Waters. With 12 full-page Illustrations by W. H. 
 Margetson. Crown 8vo, olivine edges, $1.50. 
 
 The hero of this story accompanies Cochrane as midshipman, and 
 serves in the war between Chili and Peru. He has many exciting 
 adventures in battles bv sea and land, is taken prisoner and condemned 
 to death by the Inquisition, but escapes by a long and thrilling flight 
 across South America and down the Amazon. 
 
 ON THE IRRAWADDY 
 
 A Story of the First Burmese War. With 8 full page Illus- 
 trations by W. H. Overend. Crown 8vo, olivine edges, 
 $1.50. 
 
 The hero, having an uncle, a trader on the Indian and Burmese 
 rivers, goes out to join him. Soon after, war is declared by Burmah 
 against England and he is drawn into it. He has many experiences 
 and narrow escapes in battles and in scouting. With half-a-dozen 
 men he rescues his cousin who had been taken prisoner, and in the 
 flight they are besieged in an old, ruined temple. 
 
BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE 
 
 BY G. A. HENTY 
 
 "Boys like stirring adventures, and Mr. Henty is a master of this 
 method of composition."— New York Times. 
 
 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 A Story of Napoleon's Retreat from Moscow. With 8 full- 
 page Illustrations by W. H. Overend and 3 Maps. Crown 
 8vo, olivine edges, $1.50. 
 
 The hero, Julian Wyatt, after several adventures with smugglers, by 
 whom he is handed over a prisoner to the French, regains his freedom 
 and joins Napoleon's army in the Russian campaign. When the terrible 
 retreat begins, Julian finds himself in the rearguard of the French army, 
 fighting desperately. Ultimately he escapes out of the general disaster, 
 and returns to England. 
 
 A KNIGHT OF THE WHITE CROSS 
 
 A Tale of the Siege of Rhodes. With 12 full page Illustra- 
 tions by Ralph Peacock, and a Plan. Crown 8vo, olivine 
 edges, $1.50. 
 
 Gervaise Tresham, the hero of this 6tory, joins the Order of the 
 Knights of St. John, and proceeds to the stronghold of Rhodes. Sub- 
 sequently he is appointed commander of a war-galley, and in his first 
 voyage destroys a fleet of Moorish corsairs. During one of his cruises 
 the young knight is attacked on shore, captured after a desperate 
 struggle, and sold into slavery in Tripoli. He succeeds in escaping, and 
 returns to Rhodes in time to take part in the defense of that fortress. 
 
 THE TIGER OF MYSORE 
 
 A Story of the War with Tippoo Saib. With 12 full-page 
 Illustrations by W. H. Margetson, and a Map. Crown 
 8vo, olivine edges, $1.50. 
 
 Dick Holland, whose father is supposed to be a captive of Tippoo 
 Saib, goes to India to help him to escape. He joins the army under 
 Lord Cornwallis, and takes part in the campaign againt Tippoo. 
 Afterwards he assumes a disguise, enters Seringapatam, and at last 
 he discovers his father in the great stronghold of Savandroog. The 
 hazardous rescue is at length accomplished, and the young fellow's 
 dangerous mission is done. 
 
 IN THE HEART OF THE ROCKIES 
 
 A Story of Adventure in Colorado. By G. A. Henty. With 
 8 full-page Illustrations by G. C. Hindley. Crown 8vo, 
 olivine edges, $1.50. 
 
 The hero, Tom Wade, goes to seek his uncle in Colorado, who is a 
 hunter and gold-digger, and he is discovered, after many dangers, out 
 on the Plains with Some comrades. Going in quest of a gold mine, the 
 little band is spied by Indians, chased across the Bad Lands, and 
 overwhelmed by a snowstorm in the mountains. 
 
BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE 
 
 BY G. A. HENTY 
 
 " Mr. Henty is one of the best story-tellers for young people." 
 
 — Spectator. 
 
 WHEN LONDON BURNED 
 
 A Story of the Plague and the Fire. By G. A. Henty. With 
 
 12 full-page Illustrations by J. Finnemore. Crown 8vo, 
 
 olivine edges, $1.50. 
 
 The hero of this story was the son of a nobleman who had lost his 
 estates durfag the troublous times of the Commonwealth. During the 
 Great Plague and the Great Fire, Cyril was prominent among those 
 who brought help to the panic-stricken inhabitants. 
 
 WULF THE SAXON 
 
 A Story of the Norman Conquest. By G. A. Henty. With 
 12 full-page Illustrations by Ralph Peacock. Crown 
 8vo, olivine edges, $1.50. 
 
 The hero is a young thane who wins the favor of Earl Harold and 
 becomes one of his retinue. When Harold becomes King of England 
 Wulf assists in the Welsh wars, and takes part against the Norsemen 
 at the Battle of Stamford Bridge. When William of Normandy in- 
 vades England, Wulf is with the English host at Hastings, and stands 
 by his king to the last in the mighty struggle. 
 
 ST. BARTHOLOMEW'S EVE 
 
 A Tale of the Huguenot Wars. By G. A. Henty. With 12 
 full-page Illustrations by H. J. Draper, and a Map. 
 Crown 8vo, olivine edges, $1.50. 
 
 The hero, Philip Fletcher, has a French connection on his mother's 
 side. This induces him to cross the Channel in order to take a share 
 in the Huguenot wars. Naturally he sides with the Protestants, dis- 
 tinguishes himself in various battles, and receives rapid promotion for 
 the zeal and daring with which he carries out several secret missions. 
 
 THROUGH THE SIKH WAR 
 
 A Tale of the Conquest of the Punjaub. By G. A. Henty. 
 With 12 full-page illustrations by Hal Hurst, and a 
 Map. Crown 8vo, olivine edges, $1.50. 
 
 Percy Groves, a spirited English lad, joins his uncle in the Punjaub, 
 where the natives are in a state of revolt. Percy joins the British 
 force as a volunteer, and takes a distinguished share in the famous 
 battles of the Punjaub. 
 
BOOKS FOR YOUXG PEOPLE 
 
 BY G. A. HENTY 
 
 " The brightest of the living writers whose office it is to enchant the 
 boys. — Christian Leader. 
 
 A JACOBITE EXILE 
 
 Being the Adventures of a Young Englishman in the Service 
 
 of Charles XII. of Sweden. By G. A. Henty. With 8 
 
 full-page Illustrations by Paul Hardy, and a Map. Crown 
 
 8vo, olivine edge*, $1.50. 
 
 Sir Marmaduke Carstairs, a Jacobite, is the/victim of a conspiracy, and 
 he is denounced as a plotter against the life of King William. He flies 
 to Sweden, accompanied by his son Charlie. This youth joins the 
 foreign legion under Charles XII., and takes a distinguished part in 
 several famous campaigns against the Russians and Poles. 
 
 CONDEMNED AS A NIHILIST 
 
 A Story of Escape from Siberia. By G. A. Henty. With 8 
 full-page Illustrations. Crown 8vo, olivine edges, $1.50. 
 
 The hero of this story is an English boy resident in St. Petersburg. 
 Through two student friends he becomes innocently involved in 
 various political plots, resulting in his seizure by the Russian police 
 and his exile to Siberia. He ultimately escapes, and, after many ex- 
 citing adventures, he reaches Norway, and thence home, after a 
 perilous journey which lasts nearly two years. 
 
 BERIC THE BRITON 
 
 A Story of the Roman Invasion. By G. A. Henty. With 
 
 12 full-page Illustrations by W. Parkinson. Crown 8vo, 
 
 olivine edges, $1.50. 
 
 This story deals with the invasion of Britain by the Roman legionaries. 
 Beric, who is a boy-chief of a British tribe, takes a prominent part in 
 the insurrection under Boadicea ; and after the defeat of that heroic 
 queen (in A. D. 62) he continues the struggle in the fen-country. 
 Ultimately Beric is defeated and carried captive to Rome, where he is 
 trained in the exercise of arms in a school of gladiators. At length he 
 returns to Britain, where he becomes ruler of his own people. 
 
 IN GREEK WATERS 
 
 A Story of the Grecian War of Independence (1821-1827). By 
 G. A. Henty. With 12 full-page Illustrations by W. S. 
 Stacey, and a Map. Crown 8vo, olivine edges, $1.50. 
 
 Deals with the revolt of the Greeks in 1821 against Turkish oppres- 
 sion. Mr. Beveridge and his son Horace fit out a privateer, load it 
 with military stores, and set sail for Greece. They rescue the Chris- 
 tians, relieve the captive Greeks, and fight the Turkish war vessels. 
 
BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE 
 
 BY G. A. HENTY 
 
 " No living writer of books for boys writes to better purpose than 
 Mr. Gr. A. Henty." — Philadelphia Press. 
 
 THE DASH FOR KHARTOUM 
 
 A Tale of the Nile Expedition. By G. A. Henty. With 10 
 
 full-page Illustrations by John Schonberg and J. Nash. 
 
 Crown 8vo, olivine edges, $1.50. 
 
 In the record of recent British history there is no more captivating 
 pao-e for boys than the story of the Nile campaign, and the attempt to 
 rescue General Gordon. For, in the difficulties which the expedition 
 encountered, in the perils which it overpassed, and in its final tragic 
 disappointments, are found all the excitements of romance, as well as 
 the fascination which belongs to real events. 
 
 REDSKIN AND COW-BOY 
 
 A Tale of the Western Plains. By G. A. Henty. With 12 
 full-page Illustrations by Alfred Pearse. Crown 8vo, 
 olivine edges, $1.50. 
 
 The central interest of this story is found in the many adventures of 
 an English lad, who seeks employment as a cow-boy on a cattle ranch. 
 His experiences during a " round-up " present in picturesque form the 
 toilsome, exciting, adventurous life of a cow-boy ; while the perils of a 
 •frontier settlement are vividly set forth in an Indian raid. 
 
 HELD FAST FOR ENGLAND 
 
 A Tale of the Siege of Gibraltar. By G. A. Henty. With 
 8 full-page Illustrations by Gordon Browne. Crown 8vo, 
 olivine edges, $1.50. 
 
 This story deals with one of the most memorable sieges in history— 
 the siege of Gibraltar in 1779-83 bv the united forces of France and 
 Spain. ° With land forces, fleets, and floating batteries, the combmed 
 resources of two great nations, this grim fortress was vainly besieged 
 and bombarded. The hero of the tale, an English lad resident in 
 Gibraltar, takes a brave and worthy part in the long defence, and it is 
 through his varied experiences that we learn with what bravery, re- 
 source, and tenacity the Rock was held for England. 
 
 Note.— For a list of Henty Books at popular prices, see the 
 following page. 
 
BOOKS FOB YOUNG PEOPLE 
 
 BY Q. A. HENTY 
 
 The following copyrighted Henty HooXs 
 are also issued in a cheap edition 
 
 * * & 
 
 A MARCH ON LONDON 
 
 WITH MOORE AT CORUNNA 
 
 AT AGINCOURT 
 
 COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS 
 
 ON THE IRRAWADDY 
 
 THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS 
 
 A KNIGHT OF THE WHITE CROSS 
 
 THE TIGER OF MYSORE 
 
 IN THE HEART OF THE ROCKIES 
 
 WHEN LONDON BURNED 
 
 WULF THE SAXON 
 
 ST. BARTHOLOMEW'S EVE 
 
 THROUGH THE SIKH WAR 
 
 A JACOBITE EXILE 
 
 CONDEMNED AS A NIHILIST 
 
 BERIC THE BRITON 
 
 IN GREEK WATERS 
 
 THE DASH FOR KHARTOUM 
 
 REDSKIN AND COW-BOY 
 
 HELD FAST FOR ENGLAND 
 
 sfc % ^ 
 
 These boo%s are fully described in the 
 pages preceding this. 
 
A List of Books * 
 * for Young People 
 
 ...Br... 
 
 KIRK MUNROE 
 
 A SON OF SATSUMA 
 On With Perry in Japan 
 
 BY KIRK MUNROE 
 
 With twelve Illustrations by Harry C. Edwards. $1.00 net. 
 
 THIS absorbing story for boys deals with one of the most in. 
 teresting episodes in our National history. From the 
 beginning Japan has been a land of mystery. Foreigners were 
 permitted to land only at certain points on her shores and nothing 
 whatever was known of her civilization and history, her romance 
 and magnificence, her wealth and art. It was Commodore Perry 
 who opened her gates to the world, thus solving the mystery of 
 the ages, and, in this thrilling story of an American boy in 
 Japan at that period, the spirit as well as the history of this great 
 achievement is ably set forth. 
 
 MIDSHIPMAN STUART 
 
 Or, the Last Cruise of the Essex. A Tale of the War of 1812. 
 Illustrated. 12mo, $1.25. 
 
 This is an absorbing story of life in the American Navy during 
 the stirring times of our war of 1812. The very spirit of the 
 period is in its pages, and many of the adventures of the Essex 
 are studied from history. 
 
 IN PIRATE WATERS 
 
 A Tale of the American Navy. Illustrated by I. W. Tabeb. 
 12mo, $1.25. 
 
 The hero of the story becomes a midshipman in the navy iust at the 
 time of the war with Tripoli. His own wild adventures among the 
 Turks and his love romance are thoroughly interwoven with the stri- 
 ring history of that time. 
 
BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE 
 
 BY KIRK MUNROE 
 
 THE "WHITE CONQUERORS" SERIES 
 
 WITH CROCKETT AND BOWIE 
 
 Or, Fighting for the Lone Star Flag. A Tale of Texas. With 
 
 8 full-page Illustrations by Victor Perard. Crown 8vo, 
 
 $1.25. 
 
 The story is of the Texas revolution in 1835, when American Texans 
 under Sam Houston, Bowie, Crockett and Travis, fought for relief 
 from the intolerable tyranny of the Mexican Santa Ana. The hero, 
 Rex Hardin, son of a Texan ranchman and graduate of an American 
 military school, takes a prominent part in the heroic defense of the 
 Alamo, and the final triumph at San Jacinto. 
 
 THROUGH SWAMP AND GLADE 
 
 A Tale of the Seminole War. By Kirk Munroe. With 8 full- 
 page Illustrations by V. Perard. Crown 8vo, $1.25. 
 
 Coacoochee, the hero of the story, is the son of Philip the chieftain 
 of the Seminoles. He grows up to lead his tribe in the long struggle 
 which resulted in the Indians being driven from the north of Florida 
 down to the distant southern wilderness. 
 
 AT WAR WITH PONTIAC 
 
 Or, the Totem of the Bear. A Tale of Redcoat and Redskin. 
 By Kirk Munroe. With 8 full -page Illustrations by J. 
 Finnemore. Crown 8vo, $1.25. 
 
 A story when the shores of Lake Erie were held by hostile Indians. 
 The hero, Donald Hester, goes in search of his sister Edith, who haa 
 been captured by the Indians. Strange and terrible are his experi- 
 ences ; for he is wounded, taken prisoner, condemned to be burned, but 
 contrives to escape. In the end all things terminate happily. 
 
 THE WHITE CONQUERORS 
 
 A Tale of Toltec and Aztec. By Kirk Munroe. With 8 full- 
 page Illustrations. Crown 8vo, $1.25. 
 
 This story deals with the Conquest of Mexico by Cortez and his 
 Spaniards, the " White Conquerors," who, after mamy deeds of valor, 
 pushed their way into the great Aztec kingdom and established their 
 power in the wondrous city where Montezuma reigned in splendor. 
 
 CHARLES SCRIBNE,R*S SONS 
 153=7 Fifth Avenue New YorK 
 
A LIST OF NE,W BOOKS 
 
 FO!R. 
 
 YOUNG PE,OPLE 
 
 FALL OF 1902 
 
 CHARLES SCRIBNEFJS SONS 
 NEW YORK 
 
 & * * 
 THE BOOK OF JOYOUS CHILDREN 
 
 BY JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY 
 
 Profusely Illustrated. 
 
 The sweetness, the grace, the laughter and the tenderness of Mr. 
 Riley's best verse are found to the full in this book of delightful poems 
 for and about children. The illustrations have been made under the 
 author's supervision, and portray the scenes and the little heroes and 
 heroines of the poems with artistic fidelity. 
 
 IN THE WASP'S NEST 
 
 The Story. of a Sea Waif. By Cyrus Townsend Brady. Illus- 
 trated. $1.50 net. (Postage, 16 cents.) 
 
 A vigorous story of the War of 1812. The hero, a midshipman, 
 serves gallantly aboard two famous American ships, each bearing the 
 name of Wasp, having many adventures of storm, battle and capture. 
 The hero was picked up in an open boat when a baby by the crew of the 
 U. S. S. Boston and adopted by the Captain. The story has the real 
 spirit of the American Navy. 
 
 A CAPTURED SANTA CLAUS 
 BY THOMAS NELSON PAGE 
 
 Illustrated in Colors. 
 
 This exquisite story of childhood is one of the most delicate that 
 even Mr. Page has written. It is an episode of the Civil War in which 
 children are the little heroes. The period is the Christmas time, and 
 the scene is between the lines of the Union and Confederate Armies. 
 
BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE 
 
 JEB HUTTON, A GEORGIA BOY 
 
 By James B. Connolly. Illustrated. $1.20 net. (Postage, 
 13 cents.) 
 
 A thoroughly interesting and breezy tale of boy-life along the 
 Savannah River by a writer who knows boys, and who has succeeded 
 in making of. the adventures of Jeb and his friends a story that will 
 keep his young readers absorbed to the last page. 
 
 KING MOMBO 
 
 By Paul Du Chaillu. Author of " The World of the Great 
 Forest," etc. With 24 illustrations. $1.50 net. (Postage, 
 16 cents.) 
 
 The scene is the great African forest. It is a book of interesting 
 experiences with native tribes, and thrilling and perilous adventures in 
 hunting elephants, crocodiles, gorillas and other fierce creatures 
 among which this famous explorer lived so long. 
 
 A NEW BOOK FOR GIRLS 
 
 By Lina Beard and Adelia B. Beard. Authors of "The 
 American Girl's Handy Book." Profusely Illustrated. 
 
 An admirable collection of entirely new and original indoor and out- 
 door pastimes for American girls, each fully and interestingly de- 
 scribed and explained, and all designed to stimulate the taste and 
 ingenuity at the 6ame time that they entertain. 
 
 SEA FIGHTERS FROM DRAKE TO 
 FARRAGUT 
 
 By Jessie Peabody Frothingham. Illustrations by Reuter- 
 dahl. $1.20 net. (Postage, 14 cents.) 
 
 Drake, Tromp, De Reuter, Tourville, Suffren, Paul Jones, Nelson 
 and Farragut are the naval heroes here pictured, and each is shown in 
 some great episode which illustrates his personality and heroism. The 
 book is full of the very spirit of daring and adventurous achievement. 
 
 BOB AND HIS GUN 
 
 By William Alexander Linn. With 8 Illustrations. 
 
 The adventures of a boy with a gun under the instruction of his 
 cousin, an accomplished sportsman. The book's aim is to interest 
 boys in hunting in the spirit of true sport and to instruct in the ways 
 of game birds and animals. 
 
14 DAY USE 
 
 RETURN TO DESK FROM WHICH BORROWED 
 LOAN DEPT. 
 
 This book is due on the last date stamped below, or 
 
 on the date to which renewed. 
 
 Renewed books are subject to immediate recall. 
 
 28Apr oohr 
 
 
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 General Library 
 LD 21A-50m-8,'57 University of California 
 
 (C8481sl0)476B Berkeley 
 
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