Kitabı oku: «A Soldier's Daughter, and Other Stories», sayfa 8

"Remember," Conrad went on, "everything depends on your carrying this out silently. Do not go in a solid body; steal along as quietly as possible. There is little fear of their seeing you, but beware of striking a foot or weapon against a stone."

As soon as Johann and his party had moved off, he continued: "Now, strip the armour and steel caps from the dead troopers. How many are there of them?"

"Thirty-four, count," Grun said, "and there are twenty-five of their horses uninjured, and the five of Johann and his party."

"Then choose thirty-nine men," Conrad said, "and let them divide the armour among them, and let each take a horse and mount at once. We shall, with my fifteen, be a stronger party than rode out, but in the darkness they will not notice that. All the rest will follow us on foot, keeping a hundred yards in rear. When we enter the courtyard, ride, in the first place, and cut down any of the troopers who may be there; it is probable that the greater part of them will be gathered on the wall to await the baron's return. When you have cleared the courtyard you will, at the sound of my bugle, dismount. By that time we shall be joined by those on foot, and we shall then see what steps we had best take against the men on the walls."

In a quarter of an hour all was ready, and at the head of over fifty mounted men Conrad rode off at a foot-pace, the unmounted men following close behind. When within a quarter of a mile of the castle, Conrad gave the order, and at a canter they rode towards the gate. As they approached, the men broke into a cheer, and the garrison, taking this as a proof that success had attended them, and that the fugitives had been captured, answered with shouts of welcome. As Conrad had expected, the drawbridge was down and the gate open. As he rode in with his men Conrad raised a shout: "A Waldensturm! a Waldensturm! kill! kill!" and instantly attacked the men who were gathered inside the gate to welcome the baron's return. Taken wholly by surprise, their resistance was feeble, and the thirty or forty men in the courtyard were speedily despatched; but by this time those on the walls were pouring down to the assistance of their comrades. Conrad blew his horn; his followers dismounted and rushed for the new-comers, and just as they did so the unmounted men ran in through the gate with loud shouts. A panic seized the baron's retainers, and these again ran up the steps to the top of the wall. Many of the assailants would have followed them, but Conrad called them off. He knew that the stairs could not be carried without great loss, as a dozen men at the top of each of the flights of steps could hold them against hundreds. The fight had not been conducted in darkness, for there were many torches burning in the courtyard. "We will wait till morning," he said; "they are like rats in a trap." At this moment a sudden uproar was heard in the inner courtyard, and shouts of "Waldensturm! Waldensturm!" and a couple of minutes later Johann and his party rushed in through the upper gate, where they stopped, astonished at the quietness that prevailed.

"They are all on the wall, Johann; there is nothing more to do at present," Conrad said. "I will go back with you, and we will take possession of the castle itself. There is not likely to be any resistance; few men will have remained there, and these, when they see that both courtyards are in our hands, will hardly resist. If they surrender, we will kill no one, and no damage must be done to anything; the castle is mine now. Herr Grun, will you remain in command here; I do not think the men on the wall will make an attack, but keep a close watch on them."

The castle gate was closed when they reached it, and five or six men with cross-bows were at the windows commanding it.

"What ho there!" Conrad said. "It is useless for you to resist. I, Conrad von Waldensturm, call upon you to surrender. The baron and his son are killed, and half the garrison; the rest are in our power. If you surrender peacefully your lives shall be spared; if not, every man will be put to the sword."

There was a short pause, and then a voice said: "We surrender, relying upon your knightly word." A minute later the sound of bars being withdrawn was heard, and the door opened. Conrad, with his own followers, entered, letting the others remain without. The men were first disarmed and placed in the guard chamber at the gate, and a sentry posted outside. Then, taking torches from the walls, Conrad made a hasty survey of the interior, telling the frightened scullions and other servants that no harm would come to them.

"'Tis indeed a stately castle," he said to Johann, "and I have made a good exchange. Now, do you remain here in charge; I will go down and see how matters are proceeding. Day is breaking already." Then with those who had remained outside the castle gate he joined the main body in the outer courtyard.

"Now, Grun," he said to the farmer, "we will summon the men on the walls to surrender. They must see that their case is desperate. There are but sixty or seventy of them, and they are hopelessly outnumbered. If they refuse, I shall not attack them; hunger and thirst will soon tame them. We have not lost a life, and I would not that any of your good fellows or mine should be killed, and were we to storm the walls we should assuredly lose many. I should be sorry indeed were any wives left widows, or children fatherless, by this night's work."

Accordingly, as soon as it became light, Conrad summoned the men on the walls to surrender on promise of their lives being spared. The answer was a yell of defiance. When this subsided he said: "Well, if it pleases you to starve like rats in a trap you can do so; there is no hope of your escape or of aid arriving. The baron, his son, and all the party who rode with him are dead, the castle is in my possession, and you are as much prisoners as if you were in a dungeon." He now ordered his own men and a dozen of his vassals to leave the courtyard and form a line across the narrow neck by which the castle was approached, and to see that no one passed; for he deemed it possible that a man might be lowered from the wall to entreat aid from some of the baron's neighbours. Food was brought out from the castle and distributed. The men were divided into four parties, each of which was to take up its station near the foot of the four flights of steps up to the wall. Two mounted men were sent off to Waldensturm to fetch the young countess back, and the courtyards were cleared of the bodies that had fallen. Three hours later Minna arrived. On the way she had heard the details of the capture of the castle, and was delighted to hear that it had been taken without the loss of a single man.

"I am proud of you, indeed," Minna said. "I always was so, but after capturing in this way a castle that the baron considered impregnable, I shall always regard you as a hero indeed."

"The credit is chiefly due to Grun and his daughter," Conrad said. "Without them we could have done nothing; with their aid the matter was simple enough."

The brother and sister sat for a long time talking together in the great hall of the castle. They had much to tell each other of what had happened since they had parted two years before.

"And you are really to be lord of this castle?" she said. "But can you keep it, Conrad? the elector may bring an army against it."

"I think I can hold it if he does; but I do not think that he will. I have an order from the emperor to the elector to declare the baron's estates forfeited, and to install me in his place, and it contains a threat that he would himself send a force to carry this out if he failed to do so, and that I should hold it direct from him. Had I not captured the castle, the parchment would have been of little good; the elector would know that the threat was a vain one, since the emperor has no force that he could send on such a long expedition, needing every man in his struggle with the Turks. Moreover, the elector regarded the baron as a great friend of his, and even did he feel constrained by the command of the emperor to aid me, he would know that he would need all the force that he could raise to capture the castle. But now that it has been done, and I am its master, the matter has changed altogether, and he would rather have me as his friend than his enemy, especially as most of the vassals that he could call upon to aid in recapturing the castle must have viewed with displeasure the baron's attack on my hold in my absence, after having taken the oath of peace. No, I have no fear whatever of that. A large portion of the vassals of the estate have aided me, and all would take refuge here if a force marched against me, and would fight till the last, knowing that no mercy would be shown to them. No, Minna, I think that we need have no fear for the future."

At four o'clock in the afternoon Conrad was summoned to the courtyard, as the men on the wall had shouted that they were ready to surrender.

"I thought that they would soon be tired of being cooped up there without food or drink," Conrad said as he went out; "I have been expecting it for the last two or three hours."

Thirst rather than hunger had done its work, and the certainty that sooner or later they must give in had broken their spirit. As the count appeared in the courtyard, there was a general shout of: "We surrender, on the promise of our lives."

"I promise you that. Now let every man take off his armour, and lay it and his arms on the wall, and then come down four at a time. You shall have food and water given to you, and you will then leave the castle, and anyone found within the limits of the estate by nightfall will receive no mercy."

In an hour the last of the garrison had left the castle. The tenants on the estate at once dispersed to their homes, all receiving a present from the count, and a promise of remission of half that year's dues. His own vassals he kept there, to form, with his retainers, the garrison until he could hire a sufficient force for that purpose. At the end of that time they could return to their ruined homes, Conrad promising them aid to rebuild their houses, and an entire remission of all dues for the next two years. Conrad then drew up a document, addressed to the elector, stating what he had done, and enclosing a copy of the emperor's order, saying that he would himself present the original when he visited the court of Treves. As he had anticipated, the elector's reply was favourable.

"He had been," he said, "shocked at the conduct of the baron in attacking and ravaging the castle and estates of Waldensturm, and the punishment inflicted upon him was a just one. He would, therefore, willingly accept Conrad as his vassal for the feoff of Goldstein, and begged him to speedily repair to his court to take the oaths."

Thus Conrad von Waldensturm revenged his wrongs, and obtained the finest estate and the strongest castle in the Electorate of Treves.

A RAID BY THE BLACKS

A STORY OF AN OUTLYING STATION

I begin to think we were wrong in coming so far out into the bush, but I was tempted by what Hawkins told me of the place, which he had come across when exploring the country. It seemed everything that could be desired: plenty of water, timber for all purposes, and fine grazing; and I admit that it is all that he said. The blacks were quiet enough then, and, though it was a good bit beyond the nearest station, I thought, when I came and had a look at the place, that it was well worth risking. We have not done badly here. The sheep and cattle have pretty well doubled their number each year; the wool has paid all our expenses. Everything has been comfortable enough, except the difficulty we have had in bringing up groceries and flour. In another ten years, if all had gone well, I should have been a really prosperous man, with a big flock of sheep and a fine herd of cattle, to say nothing of horses; but now the blacks have got nasty I begin to think that I have made a great mistake.

"Have you heard any more bad news, William?" his wife asked anxiously.

"Yes; Harry Read rode up half an hour ago, and said that he and his brother were going to drive their animals in, and take them to the station of a friend of his forty miles nearer Sydney, till things settled down a bit, for he had heard that two or three stations had been attacked by the blacks and every soul murdered. What do you think, wife? Shall we do the same?"

Mrs. Roberts was a courageous woman. "I don't know what to say," she replied. "We are getting on very well here. As you said, of course, we always knew that there was some risk. We could not have got a big station like this down-country without paying a large sum for it, far more than we could have afforded. I think it would be a pity to give it up at present. After all, we may not be attacked. You see, you have three men now, and we only had one when we came here. You built the house specially for defence, with squared logs, and even logs for the roof, so that it could not be set on fire. We could get the shingles off in an hour and, as it is the dry season, I think it would be as well to do that at once. I can shoot fairly well, and so can Effie, and with six rifles we ought to be able to keep off a mob of natives."

"But how about the animals?" her husband said.

"Well, I should say that the best plan would be to send the greater part of them away for a bit. Talbot has nothing like enough stock on his place, and I have no doubt he would be glad to graze them for a bit at a very small rent. Of course, if you think it best, I am quite ready to give the place up, though in my opinion it would be a pity. After all, the chances of the blacks coming here are not great. There are dozens of other stations as exposed as we are. We have had two or three alarms before, but nothing has ever come of them."

"I am glad that that is your opinion, wife, mine is exactly the same. Certainly, for my own sake I would a great deal rather stay here and take my chances. It was of you and Effie that I was thinking. Well, then, we will consider it settled. I will ride down to Talbot's at once and arrange with him. I shall get back late this evening. To-morrow morning we will take a lot of the stock over there. Thompson shall go with me to help to drive them down, but I shall bring him back, as it is as well to keep as strong a garrison here as possible. I can arrange with Talbot that one of his men shall be specially told off to look after our animals. I will pick out three hundred of the best ewes and a few rams, a hundred cattle, and half a dozen of the best horses. I need not take more horses than that. They are all shy of a blackfellow, and there is not much fear of their being caught; so we need not bother about them, especially as, if they were taken away to new ground, they would give a lot more trouble than the sheep and cattle."

Mr. Roberts had been a small landed proprietor in the old country, farming his own land. Times had been bad, and the failure of a bank, in which he had a few shares, had swept away not only all his ready money, but had brought upon him heavy calls which he was unable to meet. He had a brother who, some years before, had emigrated to New South Wales, and he had given so favourable an account of the country that Mr. Roberts decided to sell his land and emigrate there with his wife and two children, a boy and a girl. After meeting all claims, and paying their passages out, he had arrived at Sydney with the sum of £3000. He had wisely determined not to risk more than a third of this, and, placing £2000 in a bank, he had invested a thousand in sheep, cattle, and horses, and had taken up some land on the extreme border of the settlement. He had now been there four years, and had been well contented with his choice. The site was an exceptionally pleasant one. A small stream ran through the property, which was better wooded than most of the land in that part. His stock had increased fourfold, and although there had been occasional reports of trouble with the blacks, they had hitherto met with no molestation whatever. Natives had come and gone, and had always been hospitably received, and he certainly had no reason to believe that there was anything but good feeling between them and the inmates of the Springs, as the station was called, from a spring that rose some hundred and fifty yards away from the house and was situated some feet above the floor level, the water bubbling up into a barrel which was sunk in the ground. A pipe whose end was inserted in the barrel was buried underground, and through this the water flowed, giving a constant supply to the house. Another pipe conveyed the water to a trough, which had been erected for the use of the animals kept at the station. The other animals watered at the stream.

The boy, who was now fifteen, had been for the past two years at Sydney, living at his uncle's and attending school. In another year he was to return to the station. He had gone most reluctantly, but his father had said: "I can quite understand your liking this life, Ned, but I don't wish you to grow up simply a bush farmer. The colony is increasing fast, and there will be plenty of openings for a young fellow of intelligence and a fair education. I hope that by the time you grow up I shall be able to settle you on a farm like mine, and stock it well for you, if you decide upon following this sort of life, or to start you in any line that you may like to adopt in Sydney. You have had two years of running wild, and if you remain here you will speedily forget what little you have learned; but in any case, three years at school will be a great advantage to you."

Effie, the daughter, was now fourteen, a strong healthy girl who could ride any horse on the station, had been taught to use both pistol and rifle, and was as bold and fearless as a boy.

It was late that night before Mr. Roberts returned, and the next day he and Thompson drove the stock down to Talbot's station, leaving strict injunctions that the other men were not to go far from the house, and were to keep the cattle and sheep in the stock-yard. He returned the following day, and for the next fortnight things went on as usual. Late one night, however, in the third week, Effie knocked at her father's door.

"I think there is something the matter, father," she called. "The animals are all uneasy in the yard. I don't know what has disturbed them, but they are evidently alarmed." In half a minute Mr. Roberts appeared at the door, and followed the girl to her room, which was at the back of the house, overlooking the stock-yard.

"There is certainly something wrong, Effie," he said, after listening for a moment. "The horses and cattle are both uneasy."

He went downstairs to the room where the men slept. "Get up at once," he said; "there is something the matter. The horses and cattle are uneasy; I am afraid it is the blacks. Throw on your clothes and take your guns. We will go out at once and take down all the bars, so that if it is really the blacks the animals will have a chance of escaping. It is pitch dark, and even if there are some of them in the yard they are not likely to see us."

Two minutes later the door was very cautiously opened and the four men went out. Effie barred it behind them, and then joined her mother, who had hastily dressed. Both took their guns and went to Effie's window, which was already open.

"We shall not be able to see where to fire, mother."

"No, dear; but if the blacks do attack, we shall hear by their yelling whereabouts they are, and can fire in that direction. We may not hit any of them, but it will confuse and alarm them. However, remember, when we hear any stir, the first thing for you to do is to run down to the door in readiness to open it when your father and the men return."

"The sheep are moving about now; they were quiet before, mother."

"It is likely the blacks will begin there," Mrs. Roberts said. "No doubt they are hungry, and it is always sheep that they make for first. They will very likely kill some and have a feast before attacking. I trust, however, that they may not attack at all. They must know that the house is a strong one, and may not care to risk their lives, but have only come to drive off the stock. Still, I am afraid they will try and attack, hoping we may be asleep and that they may gain entrance before we have time to get our rifles."

Four or five minutes later a low whistle was heard outside. Effie ran down and opened the door, when her father and the men at once entered and the door was bolted behind them.

"Well," Mr. Roberts said, "I fear there is no doubt that there are blacks about, and from the uneasiness of the animals I should say there are a good number of them. However, we are warned, and I think that the surprise will be on their side and not on ours. We removed all the bars, so the animals can get away if they like. Also, I have locked the door of the stable. Except for the uneasiness of the animals we saw no signs of the enemy at all. Now, the first thing to do is to get the shutters closed." This was at once done. Mr. Roberts had always been a little nervous of trouble with the blacks, so in addition to building his house of solid logs he had had strong loopholed shutters arranged on all the windows of the lower story, which when closed were held in their position by massive cross-bars.

They discussed the best position for each to take in case of attack, and having arranged this, one of the men went up to keep a look-out from the upper windows, while the rest of the party remained chatting in the sitting-room. "I wish there was a moon," Mr. Roberts said; "it is so dark that we shall be firing quite at random."

"Could we not make some sort of a torch," Effie suggested, "that would light up the place outside?"

"That is a first-rate idea, Effie; but how are we to manage it?"

The party sat silent for some minutes, then Effie said: "There is plenty of wool. How would it be to make a bundle of it about as big as my head, wind it round with wire, then soak it in paraffin. When the natives come we have only to put a match to it and throw it outside."

"Very good indeed, Effie," her father said; "let us try to carry out the idea at once, and as all the materials are to hand it will not take us long." In half an hour six of the balls were finished. Each had a short length of wire by which it could be thrown through the window. Fortunately there was plenty of paraffin, and a bucket being filled with it, the balls were soaked one after another, and were then carried upstairs each in a separate basin. "We shall have to be very careful how we throw them," Mr. Roberts said, "or else we shall be setting ourselves on fire. Thompson, you are, I think, the worst shot of the lot, as you are rather short-sighted. I will therefore trust this business to you. Have an old blanket ready to beat out any of the burning oil that may drop on the floor. Be careful also to keep as much in shelter as possible, some of the blacks are sure to have bows ready."

"All right, boss! you need not fear, I will look out. Now, as I am to be on duty upstairs, I might as well go up at once and send James down. I think, boss, you had better take post at the loopholes now, you may catch sight of one of the varmints against the sky-line. I will throw a ball as soon as I hear the first shot."

All was quiet for a quarter of an hour, then Effie suddenly fired. The shot was followed by a wild yell outside, and dozens of dark figures leaped to their feet and bounded towards the door, and strove to break it in with their waddies and axes. The defenders were all hard at work, and an occasional yell of pain showed that their bullets were taking effect. Suddenly there was an even wilder yell as a brilliant ball of fire fell twenty yards from the house, lighting up the front of it almost as if it were day. Every shot told now, and in a minute the natives fled with wild bounds outside the circle of light, but losing heavily before they vanished into the darkness.

"Well, I do not think they will try that game again," Mr. Roberts said when the firing ceased, and after shaking hands wildly all round they sat down. "I did not expect them to attack so boldly. It is quite contrary to their usual habits, and if it had not been for the fire-ball I do not know how things would have gone. That was a splendid idea, Effie. Why, you ought to set up as an inventor!"

There was no further attack, but two hours later one of the men on watch thought he heard a movement in the neighbourhood of the spring, but on firing a shot in that direction all was quiet, and there was no further disturbance till day broke.

Soon after daylight all the party except the man on watch sat down to breakfast and discussed the events of the night.

"What do you think they will do next, father?" Effie asked.

"I do not know whether they will hunt down the cattle and horses, and drive them off, or whether they will hang round here for a time; it is difficult to say. At any rate I don't think we have any cause for uneasiness, except so far as touches one's pockets. It is lucky, indeed, that we shifted more than half our animals to Talbot's. Henceforth we must divide into two parties, and keep watch by turn, for we have provisions enough to last for a couple of months. They had only one chance, and that was to set the place on fire; but that we practically did away with when we took the shingles off the roof. They would never venture to bring sticks and fire up to the doors in the teeth of our rifles."

Two hours passed quietly, then loud yells were heard, and a number of specks of fire shot through the air.

"Blazing arrows," the settler said quietly. "I expect they have a white man among them, an escaped convict, of course, and he has put them up to this. I don't fancy they use fire-arrows, though of course they may do so. Well, they can amuse themselves as long as they like; they may go on for four-and-twenty hours, but they will never set those beams on fire."

For ten minutes the flight of arrows continued. Those below could hear the constant tapping as the missiles struck the roof. At the end of that time they ceased to fall, the natives evidently recognizing that for some reason or other their attempt was a complete failure. They made no more efforts, but small groups of them could be seen out on the plain in pursuit of the animals. These, however, were evidently alarmed by the shouts and proceedings of the night before, and made off at the top of their speed whenever the natives approached. The horses were especially wild, and kept a considerable distance away.

"It will take them a good many days to gather them in," Mr. Roberts said grimly. "Fortunately your horses and mine, Effie, are safe in the shed, and as we fastened the door, and it is commanded by the loopholes in the shutters on that side of the house, as long as we hold out they will be safe. As soon as the rascals have gone off I will ride into the settlements, get a dozen men to help us, and then we will set off in pursuit. I should think that by to-morrow at latest they are likely to give it up as a bad job. They must know that they have no chance of starving us out."

The blacks, however, evinced no intention of leaving. They could be seen moving about among the trees. By the smoke that rose in that direction it was evident that they had kindled large fires, but these were so far within the bush that their exact position could not be made out. A shot was fired from time to time when a black showed himself, but this was done rather for the purpose of showing that the besieged were on the watch than with the hope of hitting the quickly-moving figure. The main body of the sheep were huddled out on the plain half a mile away under the charge of two of the blacks. Leaving Mrs. Roberts and Effie on the watch, the rest of the party now went out and dragged the bodies of the natives who had been killed some distance from the house, and covered them with a thick layer of earth. Two or three of the sheep had been killed by chance shots, and these were carried in, skinned, and hung up.

"That will be ample to last us," the colonist said; "they will be off long before these are eaten. This evening it is likely they will be making a great feast, but I expect to-morrow morning they will be off to carry out some fresh rascality elsewhere. If I thought they intended to stop here longer, I would try to get through them to-night to fetch help."

"I wouldn't do that, boss, in any case," one of the men said. "That is just what they are thinking you will try to do, and I warrant they will be as thick as peas round the place to-night."

The next morning, however, it was seen that the blacks had no intention of moving at present. Parties of twos and threes were starting across the plain, evidently with the intention of driving in some of the cattle.

"I cannot make it out," one of the men said rather anxiously; "I can't think what their game can be. As a rule they strike a blow, have a big feast, and then are off at once, driving the sheep before them. It is quite contrary to their nature to loiter about like this. They must be up to some move or other, though what it is I cannot guess, for they must know well enough that they have not the ghost of a chance of taking this place. I feel sure they have got a white man with them. I caught a glimpse of a fellow who seemed to be dressed in white's clothes. He was well in among the trees, but I took a shot at him. It was not broad daylight and it was dark under the trees, so I could not swear to his being white; but if he wasn't he was some black who had rigged himself out in the clothes of some poor beggar they killed at the last station."

In a few minutes they saw a number of blacks sally out from the wood. They planted themselves in small parties in a circle of half a mile round the farm, and presently all lay down and crept to within half that distance.