Micah Clarke

blare of bugles swelling up musically through the darkness announced the arri

ip, for that young springald might have smelled a rat and playe

,' I a

ee thousand to follow. Should I meet this same Oglethorpe or Ogilvy when the little business is over, I shall read him a lesson on thinking less of chemistry and more of the

have been,'

hloe, so ho! She is full of oats and would fain gallop, but it

ch extends forty miles one way and twenty the other, over the greater part of Wiltshire and past the boundaries of Somersetshire. The main road to the West skirts this wilderness, but we had agreed to follow a less important track, which would lead us to our

who is not afraid t

ick whisper. 'Have your blade loose in the scabbard. H

itself into man and horse. The rider was well-nigh abreast of us before he was aware of our pres

said, in a voice which was s

ah Clarke

all out of the saddle if I attempted it, and perchance drag you along. That sudden pull up well-nigh landed me on the roadway. I have been s

ed in amazement, 'what brings

n Decimo Saxon, late of the Solent, whom methinks I see i

of the woods!' growled Saxo

, round with your horses and trot on your way, for there is

ather say? This is no holiday jaunt, but one that may have a sad and stern ending. At the best, victory can

settled. I am about to offer my august person, together with a sword which I borrowed

s my very heart to see you, but you were never concerned either i

of the Wheatsheaf, or want Reuben Lockarby for a councillor. I am a Micah Clarke man, though, from the crown of my head to the soles of my feet; and if he rides to the wars, may the plague strike me if I d

re. 'My father used to tell me not to sit a horse too closely. "A gentle rise and fall

aints in the calendar do you expect to keep your seat in the

his ruffled clothing. 'Perchance the sudden and unexpected

urn for the nonce. Ober-hauptmann Muller was reckoned to be the finest player at the small-sword in the Kaiser's army, and could for a wager snick any button from an opponent's vest without cutting the cloth. Yet was he slain in an encounter with Fahnfuhrer Zollner, who was a cornet in our own Pandour corps, and who knew as much of the rapier as you do of horsemanship. For the rapier, be it understood, is designed to thrust and not to

ary Palmer was able to tell me whither. I made up my mind, therefore, that I would out into the world also. To this end I borrowed a sword from Solomon Sprent, and my father having gone to Gosport, I helped myself to the best nag in his stables - for I have too much respect for the old man to allow o

d. 'Searching f

not what ye professed to be, so the inn was surround

hath stirred up the regiment against us. We must

d; 'even should they pursue us, they woul

on, spurring his mare into a gallop. Lockarby and I followed his ex

at our horses came more than once upon their knees. In one place the wooden bridge which led over a stream had broken down, and no attempt had been made to repair it, so that we were compelled to ride our horses girth deep through the torrent. At first some scattered lights had shown that we were in the neighbourhood of human habitations, but these became fewer as we advanced, until t

t of the excitement which had been caused in Havant by our disappearance, when through the stillness of the night a dull, muf

. 'They are after us as sure as fate. A dozen troopers by

wished, and soon settled down into a long springy gallop. Our friend's horse however, had been travelling all day, and its long-drawn, laboured breathing

as the weary creature stumbled, and the rider

swered ruefully. 'We are off the road now,

w paces. 'Bear in mind that the Bluecoats have been on the march all day, so that

ht behind us a single, clear, bell-like note, swelling and increasi

ound!' cr

te, ending in an unmistakab

we little thought when we peered over the rails at them, a few hours ago, that they would so s

d myself to die in battle - but to be dogs

tween his teeth, 'else they would outstri

unning water we might

f I break down, do ye go on, for ye must remember that they are upon your track and not m

for at every step his horse grew more and more feeble. 'In thi

y yards or more. 'We can hear them because the wind blows from that way, but

ses has indeed grown fa

hear it no longer,'

elancholy cry of the night-jar. Behind us the broad rolling plain, half light and half shadow, stretched away to the dim horizon without sign of life or mov

n remarked, leaning forward and passing h

e may not be out of danger yet. Another mile

not

, as I could show by divers examples drawn from mine own experience on the Danube and i

king of pulling up in good earnest, and of congratulating ourselves upon having tired out our pursuers, when of a sudden the bell-like bay

ad of us; 'I feared as much. They have freed them from the leash. There is no e

reckon with the dogs now. Their masters have

set dogs on us as though we were rats in a cock-pit. Yet they call England

r, swelling up from a low hoarse growl to a high angry yelp. There seemed to be a ring of e

by, pulling up and drawing his sword.

them. Through this gap we rode, and I shouted loudly for Saxon to join us. His horse, however, had been steadily gaining upon ours, and at the renewed alarm had darted off

d that rock, and I behind this. They will serve to break the forc

that a man is called upon to face, that arising from savage and determined animals is the most unnerving. For with men there is ever the chance that some trait of weakness or of want of courage may give you an advantage over them, but with fierce beasts there is no such hope. We knew that the creatures to whom we were opposed could never be turned from our throats whi

and its overhung cheeks napping on either side, sprang into the band of moonlight between the rocks, and on into the shadow beyond. It never paused or swerved for an instant, but pursued its course straight onwards without a glance to right or to left. Close b

left forearm, I fired at it as it passed. The bullet struck the mark, for the brute gave a fierce howl of rage and pain, but true to the scent it never turned or swerved. Lockarby fired also as it disappeared among the brushwood, bu

anion ejaculated; 'wha

d I. 'We must follow them up, or they will be too m

thi

st resource. Doubtless the creatures are trained to return to the t

ou muster strength for one more? Nay, I have not the hear

weary limbs into a gallop. So stoutly did she answer the appeal that, though I pres

'He can scarce have gone far, for he spoke of making a stand. Or, perhaps

brutes?' Reuben answered. 'They must run him to

t in front of us. It was the dead body of a h

of, 'I cried joyously; 'we ha

ntly out of the darkness in front of us there arose such a roaring and a yelping as sent the hearts into our mouths. It was not a single cry, such as the hounds had ut

ot got him down!' cried Re

g it to pieces. Sick at heart, I drew my sword with the determination that, if we were too late to save our companion, we should at least revenge him upon the four-footed

crumbling of the soil, had gradually suffered it to tilt over until it inclined at such an angle that an active man might clamber up to the summit. On the top of this ancient stone, cross-legged and motionless, like some strange carved idol of former days, sat Decimus Saxon, puffing sedately at the long pipe which was ever his comfort in moments of difficulty. Beneath h

lowing and writhing in a pool of blood. Reuben, meanwhile, had spurred his horse forward to meet his assailant; but the poor tired steed flinched at the sight of the fierce hound, and pulled up suddenly, with the result that her rider rolled headlong into the very jaws of the animal. It might have gone ill with Reuben had he been left to his own resources. At the most he could only have kept the cruel teeth from his throat for a

h,' he said gratefully. 'I ma

ten my jack-boots, for all the chance I had of ever getting down again. Sancta Maria! but that was a shrewd blow of yours, Clarke! The brute's head flew in halves like a rotten

hloe?' I asked,

enough to rely upon on an occasion like this. As luck would have it, just as I was fairly puzzled, what should I come across but this handy stone, which the good priests of old did erect, as far as I can see, for no other purpose than to provide worthy cavalieros with an escape from such ignoble and scurvy enemies. I had no time to spare in clambering up i

ve,' he cried. 'What do you load you

o leaden

t the least! And of all things in this world, here

r. My dear mother packed a bottle of Da

hear that tale at the tap of the Wheatsheaf, there will be some throats dry wi

ill soon contrive to leave that detail out. It is a mercy the pist

rer.' Though on this vast moor, in the dark, she will be as difficult

r,' I remarked. 'But do mine eyes deceive me,

the-wisp,'

fatuus tha

n into pools

ar, as though it came from lamp, candle, r

ed Reuben. 'Let us make for it, and see w

n the score of some insult to the regiment that that young Fahnfuhrer has set them on our track? If I have him at my sword's point agai

t sort of being could it be who, not content with living in the heart of this wilderness, had chosen a spot so far removed from the ordinary tracks which crossed it? The roadway was miles behind us, and it was probable that

atch of ground had been cleared of shrub, and in the centre of this little piece of sward our missing steed stood grazing at her leisure upon the scanty herbage. The same light which had attracted us had doubtless caught her e