MA JOR VIGOUREUX

BY “ Q

(A . T . QU I LLER-COUCH )

METHU EN CO .36 E S S EX S T R E E T w .c .

L O N D O N

CON TEN T S

CHA P.I . IN THE GARR ISON GARDEN

I I . SERGEANT ARCHELAU S IS REF I TTED

I I I . THE COMMANDANT F INESSES A KNAVE

IV. THE GUN IN THE GREAT FOG

v. THE SS . MILO

VI . How VASHT I CAME TO THE I SLANDS

VI I . TR IBULAT IONS OF MRS . POPE AND MISS GABR IEL

V I I I . A BR IEF REVENGE

Ix . THE SALV ING OF SS . MILO

X . THE ADVENTURES OF FOUR SH I LL INGS

XI . PLAN OF CAM PA I GN

XI I . SAARON I S LAND

X I I I . THE LADY FROM THE SEA

XIV. AFTER SERV ICE

xv. BREFAR CHURCH

XVI . THE LORD PROPR I ETOR ’S AUD I ENCE

XV I I . THE LORD PROPR IETOR RECE I VES A DOU BLE SHOCK

XV I I I . VASHT I PLEADS FOR SAARON

XIX. THE COMMANDANT ’S CONSCIENCE

THE GU ITAR AND THE CASEMENT

XXI . SU SPI C IONS

XX I I . CONCERN ING P I PER ’S HOLE

XX I I I . THE LORD PROPR I ETOR H EARS A S IREN S ING

MAJOR VIGOUREUX

CHA R

XX IV . L INNET SEES A M ERMA ID

XXV. M ISS ING !

XXV I . TH E SEARCH

XXV I I . THE COUNC I L OF TWELVE

XXV I I I . TH E F IND ING

CONCLU S ION

MAJOR VIGOUREUX

CHA P TER I

IN THE GARRISON GARDEN

RCHELAUS , said the Commandan t,“where

did you get those trousers ? ”

Sergeant A rchelaus , who , as he dug i n the neglectedgarden

,had been expos ing a great quanti ty of back-V i ew

(for he was a long man), straightened himsel f up , facedabout

,and

,ground ing h is long-hand led spade as it were

a musket,stood with palms crossed over the top of i t .

O ff the Lord Proprietor,” he answered .

The Commandant , seated on a bench under theveron ica hedge

,a few yards higher up the s lope

,laid

down his book,took off h is spectac les

,wiped them and

replaced them very de l iberately .The Lord Proprietor ? I do not understand

H is face had reddened a l ittle , as i t u sual ly d id atmention of the Lord Proprietor .

“ Made me a present of ’em,explained Sergeant

A rchelaus curtly . “ You don’ t mean to say you

haven ’t noticed ’em t i l l th i s m inute ? ”

The Commandant put the quest ion aside . TheLord Proprietor has no right to be offering presents tomy men—least o f al l

,presents of c lothes .”

I f the Government won ’t send over stores,nor you

2 MAJOR V IGOUREUX

write for any , I don’

t see how the man can help himsel f.’

Tisn’

t regu lation pattern for the R’yal A rt i l lery,I ’ l l

gran t you : not the sort of things you ’d wear on theright of the l ine . I n fact

,he told me ’t i s an old pai r

he used to carry when he went deer“ They are h ideous

,A rchelaus ; not to mention that

they don ’t fi t you in the least .”

“ They don ’t look so bad when I ’m si tt ing down,said

Archelaus , after a moment’

s thought,and w i th an ai r

o f forced cheerfulness .I f that ’s al l you can say i n extenuat ionWel l

,

’twas k ind ly meant,any way ; for the old

ones were a scandal—yes,be sure . What with sea-water

and scrambl i ng after gul l s ’ eggs,they was becoming a

byword al l over the I slands .”

The Commandant winced,not for the fi rst t ime i n this

conversat ion .Treacher makes his c lothes last

,he obj ected .

Sam Treacher’s a married man,and gets h is bad

l uck d i fferen t .”

“ But—but couldn ’t you ask Mrs . Treacher to takeyour O ld ones i n hand and put in a patch or two ? Thatmight carry you on for a few months ; and , i f yougrudge the expense, I don

’t m ind subscribing a sh i l l ingor so .”

Sergeant A rchelaus shook his head . “What ’s theuse ? he asked . “

’Tis bu t puttin’ off the evi l day . I f

Her Majesty won ’t send us c lothes , we must fa l l backon Providence . Besides which

,I ’ve taken the edge off

these things,and don ’t want to begin over again . Last

Wednesday I wore ’em over to the Off- I s lands , topract ise ’em on the sea-bi rd s ; and last even ing afterdusk I walked through the town with ’em—yes, s i r ,right out past the church and back again

,my b lood

IN THE GARR ISON GARDEN 3

being up ; and came home and cut a square out of theold ones to wrap round the bung of the water-butt .”

The Commandan t eyed the sergeant’

s l egs i n s i lence .He cou ld not t rust h imsel f to speak ; and after a minute,cramming hi s c lenched fists into the pockets of hisfrayed fatigue-j acket

,he swung about on his heel and

walked out of the garden wi th angry strides .Was the Lord Proprietor making sport of him

purposely mak ing him and his Garri son the laughing

s tock of the I slands ?The Commandant walked up the road w i th a hot

heart : past the barrack s and beyond them to the down ,where a ru ined windm i l l over looked the sea . Hewanted to be alone

,and up here he cou ld count upon

sol itude . He wanted to walk off h is i l l -humour . Butthe ascent was steep , and at the windmi l l he was forcedto stand sti l l and draw breath .A t h i s feet l ay the I s l ands

,bathed in the l ight of a

fast-reddening O ctober sunset . Against such a sunset,

i f the ai r be very c lear,you may see them from the

cl i ffs of the main land—a low, dark c loud far ou t i n theA t lanti c and in old days the Commandant had rep inedOften enough at the few leagues which then had cu t himoff from the world

,from act ive service

,from promotion .

Gradua l ly , as t ime went on , he had grown resigned ,and with res ignation he had learn t to be proud of hisk ingdom— for his k ingdom de facto i t was . TheI slanders had used to speak of h im sometimes as TheCommandant , but oftener as The Governor. (Theynever cal led h im The Governor nowadays . ) H i sm i l i tary estab l i shment, to be sure— cons ist ing of amaster-gunner , fou r othe r gunners , and two or threeaged sergeants—scarcely accorded wi th h is rank o fmajor ; but by way O f compensation he was , as Pres ident

4 MAJOR VIGOUREUX

of the Counc il of Twelve, the chief c ivi l mag i strate ofthe I s lands .This requ i res a word or two of exp lanation . The

K ing of England retained,as he yet retains

,mil itary

authori ty over the I slands,and from him

,through the

Commander-in -Chief,our friend held his appointmen t

as m i l i tary governor. But H is Majesty K i ng Wi l l iam111. and his successors , by a lease two or three t imesrenewed

,had gran ted “ al l those H is Majesty ’s

terri tories and rocks ” —so the word ing ran —to a greatand unknown person of whom the Is landers spokereverential ly as The Duke

,

“ together with al l sounds,

harbours,and sands , within the c ircu i t of the said I s les

and al l lands,tenements

,meadows

,pastures

,grounds

,

feed ings,fishings, fishing places , mines of tin , lead, and

coals,and al l p rofi ts of the same , and ful l power

to d ig,work

,and m ine in the prem ises ; and also al l

the marshes,void grounds , woods , underwoods , rents ,

reversions,services

,and al l other profits

,rights

,com

modities , advantages , and emoluments within the saidI s les : and a moiety of al l shipwreck , the other moietyto be received by the Lord H igh Admiral ; as also a l lH is Majesty’s L ibert ies

,Franch ises , Authorit ies , and

Jurisd ict ions,as had before been used in the said

I s lands ; with fu l l power to hear, examine, and final lydeterm ine al l p la in ts

,su i ts

,matters , act ions, contro

versies,content ions

,and demands whatever, moved and

depend ing between party and party inhabiting the saidI sles (al l heresies , t reasons , matters touching l i fe ormember of man

,or ti t le of land ; and also a l l contro

vers ies and causes touching ships,and other things

belonging to the H igh Court of Admiralty, alwaysexcepted) —al l thi s for an annual ren t of Forty Pounds .The Duke

,in short, was by his lease made Lord

IN THE GARRISON GARDEN 5

Proprietor,w i th al l c ivi l j u ri sd iction . But

,being too

great a man to res ide i n the I slands,or even to vis it

them,he entrusted his bus iness to a resident Agent, and

deputed his magistracy to an elect ive Counci l of Twelve,

over which the Commandant for the time being invariably pres ided . But this custom (i t shou ld be explai ned)rested on courtesy and not upon right . Founded uponcompromise—for the boundaries between the c ivi l andmi l i tary j urisd ict ions were at some points not preciselydeterm ined— it had been found to work smooth lyenough i n practice

,after our Bri t i sh way . I t had stood

the test of a hundred and fi fty years when , i n the yearafter Sevastopol

,Major Narc isse Vigoureux arr ived in

the I sl ands to take over the mi l i tary command,and the

Duke nominated him for the Pres idency qu ite as amatter of course .A s Presiden t

,he had power

,with the assent of the

Court,to infl ict fines

,whipp ings

,imprisonment—th i s

last with the l im itat ion that he cou ld not commit to anyprison on the main land

,but on ly to the I sland lock -up ;

and also,i f he chose

,to prescribe the duck i ng-stoo l for

refractory or sco lding women . The office carried nosalary ; but as Governor under the Lord Proprietor heenjoyed a valuable perqu is i te i n the harbour duescol lected from the shipp ing . Every vessel v is i ti ng theport or hoisting the Queen

’

s colours was l iab le, oncoming to anchor or ground ing , to pay the sum of twosh i l l i ngs and two pence . A l l foreigners paid double .And S ince

,i n add i t ion to shi ps putting in from abroad ,

i t sometimes happened that two hundred sai l of coasterswou ld be driven by easter ly ga les to she l ter i n S t . L ide

’sHarbour

,or roadstead

,or i n C romwe l l ’s Sound

, you

may guess that thi s made a very p leasant add i t ion tothe Commandant 's mi l i tary pay .

6 MAJOR V IGOUREUX

I n short, during a dozen years Major Narc isseVigoureux had been

,for an unmarried man

,an ex

ceedingly happy one . I f you ask me how an officerbearing such a name happened in command of a Brit i shgarrison , I answer that he was not a Frenchman , but aChannel I s lander of good Jersey descent ; and thisagain helped him to understand the folk over whomhe ruled . The wrongdoers feared him ; but theywere few. By the rest of the population

,in c luding his

sold iers,he was beloved

,respected

,not a l i ttl e envied .

He mingled wi th zest i n the smal l soc ial amusementsof Garland Town

,the capi tal of the I s lands . He shone

at p icn ic s and water-part ies . He played a fai r hand atwhist . H i s manner towards lad ies was deferential ;towards men

,d ignified without a trace of patronage or

sel f- conceit . A l l voted him a good fel low. A t fi rst ,i ndeed—for he practised smal l economies

,and his l inen

,

though c lean,was frayed—they suspected him of st ingi

ness,unt i l by acc iden t the V icar d iscovered that a great

part of his pay went to support h is dead brother ’sfam i ly—a widow and two girl s who l ived at NottingH i l l , London , i n far from affluent c i rcumstances .I n sp ite of th is the Commandant’ s lot m ight fai rly

have been cal led enviable unt i l the day whichterm inated the eighty-n ine years’ lease upon whichthe Duke held the I s lands . Everyone took i t forgranted that he wou ld app ly

,as h is predecessors had

twice appl ied,for a renewal . But no ; l ike a bol t from

the blue came news that the Duke,an O ld man , had

waived his appl icat ion i n favou r of an unknownpurchaser—unknown

,that i s to say

,i n the I s lands

a London banker, recent ly created a baronet , by nameS i r Cae sar Hutchins .I n general

,al l Garland Town rel ied for information

IN THE GARRISON GARDEN 7

about persons of rank and ti tle upon Miss MarthaGabriel

,a wel l - to-do spinster lady

,daughter of a

former agent of the Duke’s . But Miss Gabriel’s copy

of The P eerage and B aronetage of Grea t B r i ta in andI reland dated from 1 845 , and S i r Cmsar

’

s t i t le beingof more recent c reat ion

,the curious had to wai t unt i l

a newer volume arrived from the main land . Meanwhi le

,at thei r whist parties twice a week

,the gentry

of S t . L i de ’s indulged in a hundred bri sk surm ises,

but without alarm . “ Unconsc ious Of thei r doom,the

l i tt le vict ims played . I t was agreed , of course, thatthe new Lord Proprietor would not take up his abodein the I slands . For where was there a su i tableres idence ? On the who le the Commandant had l i tt ledoubt that th ings wou ld go on as before ; but he fel tsome uneas iness for Mr . Pope

,the D uke’ s agent .

Within a fortnight,however, came two fresh an

nouncements,of which the first—a letter from S i r

Ca sar,cont inuing Mr . Pope in his office—gratified

everyone . But the second was terrible indeed . TheWar O ffice had decided to d isband the Garrison andremove i ts guns .Major Vigoureux ’ face had wh itened as he read that

l etter,five years ago. I t wh itened yet at the remem

brance of i t . A s for his hai r,i t had been whiten ing

ever s ince .For d readfu l th ings had happened . To begin wi th ,

the new Lord Proprietor had upset prophecy bycoming into residence

,and had reared himsel f a

handsome house on the near i s land of Iniscaw .But here for a whi l e let us forbear to retrace thosefive years with thei r humi l i at ing memories . It i senough that the Commandant now wa lked with astoop ; that he wore not on ly his l inen frayed but a

8 MAJOR VIGOUREUX

frayed coat also ; and that he who of old had so oftenwished that England would take note of h i s I s landsagainst the western sun , now prayed rather that thefogs would cover them and cut them off from sigh tfor ever. He had pract ical reasons

,too

,for such a

prayer ; but of these he was not thi nk ing as he tu rnedthere by the windm i l l , and sp ied Sergeant Treacherapproaching along the r idge and trund l ing a wheelbarrow fu l l of manure . The level sun-rays , paintingthe turf to a green almost unnatural ly vivid

,and

gi ld ing the straw of the manure,passed on to flame

upon Sergeant Treacher’

s breast as though beneathhis unbuttoned tun ic he wore a corselet of bu rn ishedbrass . The Commandant bl inked

,again removed h is

glasses,and

,having repol i shed

,resumed them .

Treacher,what are you wearing ? ”

Mean in ’ the weski t,s i r ? ” asked Treacher .

I s i t a waistcoat ? ”

Wel l , s i r, i t used to be a nantimacassar ; but MissGabriel had i t made up for me

,al l the shi rts in store

bein’

used up,so to speak .”

TOO wel l the Commandant recogn ised i t ; an abominat ion of crochet work i n stripes

,four inches w i de

,of

scarlet , green , orange-yel low and violet . For yearsin fact ever s ince he remembered M iss Gabriel ’s frontparlou r—it had decorated the back of Miss Gabriel ’s sofa .

“ She said,s i r

,that with the autumn drawing on

,and

the winter coming,i t wou ld cut up n icely for a wesk it

,

Treacher explained .“ Miss Gabriel

,began the Commandant . “ Miss

Gabriel has no businessNo , s i r ?

” suggested Treacher,after a pause .

You wi l l take it Off. You w i l l take it Off th is i nstant,and hand i t to me .

IN THE GARR ISON GARDEN 9

Yes,s i r . Treacher obed ient ly s l ipped off h is tun ic .

I don ’t l ike the thing mysel f ; i t’s too noticeable

,

though warm ing . Miss Gabrie l cal led i t a Chesterfield .

“ I t ’s a consp i racy ! ” said the Commandant .

CHA PTER I I

SERGEANT ARCHELAUS IS REFITTED

HE Commandant,st i l l with a hot heart

,walked

for a l i tt le way bes ide Sergeant Treacher . Hecarried the offend ing waistcoat s lung across h is arm ,and once or twice hesitated on the verge of ind ignantspeech ; but by and by seemed to recol lect h imsel f,hal ted

,turned

,and

,part ing from Treacher without

more words,marched off for h is customary even ing

walk around the fort ificat ions .Let us fol low him .The Garri son occupied the heights of a pen insu l a

connected with S t . L i de ’s by a low sandy isthmus ,across wh ich i t looked towards the “ country s ide ” ofthe i s land , though this coun try s ide

'

was i n fact concealed by ris ing ground

,for the most part uncu ltivated ,

where sheets of mesembryanthemum draped the outcropping ledges of gran ite . A t the foot of the hi l l ,around the pier and harbou r to the north and east ,c lustered S t . Hugh ’s Town

,and cl imbed by one deviou s

street to the Garri son gate . From where he stood theCommandant cou ld almost look down its ch imneys .A long the i sthmus straggled a few houses in doublel i ne

,known as New Town ; and beyond , where the

i sthmus w idened,l ay the O ld Town around i ts Pari sh

Church . These three together made Garland Town ,the capital of the I slands ° and the popu lat ion of S t .

SERGEANT ARCHELAUS IS REFITTED I I

L ide’s—town,garrison

,and country s ide—numbered

a l itt le over fourteen hundred . Garrison H i l l , r is ing

(as we have seen ) with a pretty steep accl iv i ty, attain sthe height of a hundred and ten feet above sea level .I t measures about three—quarters of a mi le i n l engthand a quarter of a mi le in breadth

,and the l ines of

fort ifi cation extended around the whole h i l l (exceptupon the north-west s ide

,which happened to be the

most important), a c i rcu it of one mi le and a quarter .You entered them beneath a mass ive but ru inous

gateway,surmounted by a bel l which Sergeant Treacher

rang regularly at s ix,n ine

,and twelve O ’clock in the

morn ing,and at three

,s ix

,and n ine p .m . , and struck

to announce the i nterven ing hours : for the I slandshad no publ ic c lock . To the left of thi s gatewaythe Commandant always began his round

,starting

from K ing George’s Battery,to which in o ld days the

I slanders had looked for warn ing of the enemy’sapproach . Then it had mounted seven long eighteenpounders : now The Commandant sighed andmoved on ; past the Duke

’s Battery (four eighteenpounders) , the V ixen (one eighteen and one n i nepounder) , and along by a breastwork pierced withembrasu res to the importan t battery on Day Point,at the extreme south -east . Here five th i rty-two

poundersfi and

,three hundred yards away to the west

,

i n the great Wind lass Battery,no fewer than eleven

guns of the Same cal ibre—had grinned defiance at theships o f France . To -day the grass grew on thei rempty platforms

,the nettles sprouted from thei r angles ,

and lee—What was he doing here ?I fear the answer may provoke a sm i le . He was

drawing his pay .The guns

,the garrison

,were gone these five years ;

I 2 MAJOR V IGOUREUX

but by some overs ight of the War O ffice nei ther theCommandant nor his two sergeants had been reti red .Regularly

,month by month

,h is pay- sheet had been

accepted ; regu larly the ful l amount had been handedto him by Mr . Fosse l l , agent at Garland Town forMess rs . Curtis

’ Bank on the main land . Clearly there wasa m istake somewhere

,and often enough h is consc ience

smote h im,urging that he ought in honour to cal l

atten tion to i t . He was defraud ing the Government,

and,through the Government

,the taxpayer.

Yes ; consc ience put th is plai nly enough, and he fel ti t to be unanswerabl e . Bu t i f he obeyed and publ ishedthe mistake—good Heaven s ! what would happen tohim ? A l ready, three years ago, the Lord Proprietorhad resumed the shi pp ing dues which had made SOwelcome an addit ion to h is income . On the strengt hof them the Commandant had made a too l iberal al lowance to his brother’s w idow ; and now, to maintain it ,he was driven to deny himsel f al l but the barestnecessary expenses . Yet how could he cut i t down ?The two girl s were growing up . Their mother hadsent them to a costly schoo l . A s i t was

,her letters

burdened h im with complai nts of her poverty : for shewas a peevish

,grasp ing woman—poor sou l

Again,i f he publ ished the mistake

,he impoveri shed

not h imself on ly but h is two sergeants : and Treacherwas a married man . He often drugged his consciencewith this . But hi s conscience , being healthy, was soonawake and tormenting him .I t humi l i ated him

,too . Government, which sent h im

h is ful l pay,never sent h im stores

,ammun ition , or

c lothing for his men . H e wanted no ammun it ion ; buth is men needed cloth ing—and he dared not ask for i t .Their un iforms were a scandal to the I s lands . More

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

I4 MAJOR VIGOUREUX

at the Sand P it Battery (five thi rty-two pounders)almost s imu l taneously

,when

,across the breastwork

,he

was aware of Mr. Rogers,L i eutenant R N , and I nspect

ing Commander of the Coastguard,stand ing at the head

of the s lope j ust outside the fortifications and conn ingthe sea through a telescope .Hul lo said Mr. Rogers—a short man with a j ol ly

sm i le— lowering his glass and fac ing sudden ly abou t atthe sound of the Commandan t’s footfal l . Hul lo ! andgood -even ingGood-even ing l responded Major Vigou reux .Queer- look ing sky out yonder .”

So i t i s,now you come to mention i t . The Com

mandant,shaken out of h is brown study

,s low ly

concentrated hi s gaze on the western horizon .See that bank of fog ? I don ’t know what to make

of i t . No w i nd at al l ; the glass steady as a rock ; anda heavy swel l rol l ing up from westward . Take hold ofmy glass and bring i t to bear on the Monk —this wasthe l ighthouse guard ing the westernmost reef of the

Off- I s l ands . “ Every now and then a sea’ l l hide hal fthe column .

“ For my part,said the Commandant

,

“ I ’ve beenout of al l cal cu lat ion with the weather for a week past .I t’s uncanny for the t ime of year.”

There’ s the devi l of a rumpus going on somewhere,

to account for the sea that’

s runn ing,

” said Mr. Rogers,

and checked himse l f i n the act of hand ing the telescopeacross the breastwork , as he caught sight of SergeantTreacher’s waistcoat which the Commandant wasnervous ly shi ft ing from hi s right arm to his left .Hul lo said M r. Rogers , again .I t ’s— i t ’s a sort of waistcoat

,

” explained the Commandant .

SERGEANT ARCHELAUS IS REF ITTED 1 5

I t may be,said Mr. Rogers . “ But i t used to be

the Gabriel ’s ant imacassar.” Mr . Rogers winked , forhe had (as the other knew to h is cost) an artless ,primitive sense of pleasantry. “ A gage d

’

amour,I ’ l l

bet any man a sovereign Come now l“ I assure youAnd you two pretending before everyone that

you ’re at daggers drawn ! Trust an old one forslyness ! ”

(Once again thi s afternoon the Commandant winced . )“ Oh , bu t this i s too rich !

” Mr. Rogers continued ,and the Commandant fel t that on ly the i nterven ingbreastwork protected him from a nudge under the ribs .I must take a ri se out of the old lady to -night

,when

we meet at Fosse l l ’s .”

I— I beg you wi l l do nothing of the sort . TheCommandant ’s voice shook with apprehens ion .Mr. Rogers , mistak ing the tremor in the appeal ,

recoi led sudden ly from the extremely gay to theextremely grave . “ My good fe l low ! Of course, i f i t

’sserious

Serious ! The Commandant stared at him for amoment . “ Oh, damn the woman !

” he broke out i nsudden wrath , and went h is way wi th long strides .The I nspecting Commander looked after h im with ab road gri n .The next battery

,the Keg Of Butter—so cal led from

a barrel - shaped rock which it overlooked—was bu il t ofsods

,and had mounted a s ingle eighteen -pounder

,on a

t ravers ing platform . Here , on the north -west side ofthe h i l l , the fort ifications broke Off, or were continuedon ly by a low wal l a long the edge of the c l i ff ; and herethe path , or via tu rned at a sharp angle andled back towards the Cast le

,under the wal l s of which

16 MAJOR V IGOUREUX

the Commandant passed as a rule to complete h isi nspect ion by v i s i ti ng the three batteries on the northernc l iffs . But to-day he broke his custom , and returned tothe Garrison garden .As he opened the gate

,five o’c lock sounded from the

Garrison bel l,and at the fi rst stroke of i t he saw

Sergeant A rchelaus d rive hi s spade into the soi l , d rawthe back of h is wris t across h is forehead , and walktowards the veron ica hedge for his tun ic .

A rchelausS i r ! ”

I have been th i nk ing over those trousers, announcedthe Commandant

,pick ing his way between the briers

that threatened to choke the path .And so have I

,

” said Sergeant A rchelaus and theupshot i s

,Do you spel l ’em with a u or a w

“ Now you mention it,I don

’

t feel able to answeryou Off-hand ; not without wri ting i t down, said theCommandant . But what on earth does it matter ?

“ Nothin ’ —except that I was th ink in ’ to write him aletter to thank him .

For Heaven ’s s ake the Commandan t began ,but checked h imse lf. “ I wou ldn

’

t do that, i f I were you .I n fact

,I ’ve been th ink ing the matter over, and i t occurs

to me that I have an old pai r of d ress t rousers thatmight serve you r turn ; that is to say , i f you cou ldmanage to unpick the red stripe off you r old ones andget someone to sew i t on . They are black , to be su rebut the di fference between black and dark blue i s notso very noticeab le . And the cut of them inclines tothe peg- top

,that being the fashionable shape when

I bought them— l et me see—in ’fifty-n ine, I th ink i twas .”

“ I know ’em , said Sergeant A rchelaus .“ They

SERGEANT ARCHELAUS IS REF ITTED I 7

were sound enough two months back,when I sprink led

’em over with camphor against the moth .I th ink they wi l l do excel lently .”

They’ l l do , fast enough , Sergeant A rchelaus asserted ; though i t seems l i ke deprivin

’ you .Not at al l

,A rchelaus not i n the least . Why, I

haven ’t put on even ing dress half a dozen t imes S i nceI came to the I s lands .”

“ And that ’s a long time,to be sure, S ir. But one

never knows . The Lord Proprietor m ight take i t in toh is head

,one 0 ’ these days , to i nvite you to d inner.

“ Few th ings are less l ikely . And even i f he d id,and

the worst came to the worst, I m ight borrow Mr. R ogers ’ ,you know

,

” added the Commandant,and with a smi le ;

for he stood S ix feet , and Mr . Rogers a bare five feetfive

,i n thei r respective socks .

“ He might ask you both together .’Twould be j ust

of a piece with his damned thought lessness .”

“ Hush,A rche laus ! ” h is master commanded stern ly

,

and reproached h imsel f afterwards for having fel t notaltogether i l l -pleased .

“Wel l,s i r

,I thank you k indly ; and I won

’t deny’tw i l l be a comfort to go about with the lower hal f ofme look ing a bi t less l ike a pen -wiper. But what be Ito do w i th these pesky things ? R eturn ’em

“ O n no account . You might even thank him—byword of mouth—if you have not al ready done so .

”

“ I haven ’t . To tel l the truth , the pattern took meso aback at fi rs t going o ff. But when you camein by the gate I was turn ing i t over i n my m indthat the Garrison oughtn

’t to be beholden to acivi l ian .”

“ Qu i te right,A rchelaus .

And,that be in ’ so

,i t m ight be dign ified- l i ke to

2

I 8 MAJOR VIGOUREUX

return gi ft for gi ft . Now, the Lord Proprietor’

s terrib l efond of bu lbs ;

’t i s a new craze with him ; and in spad ingover the border here I ’d a- tu rned up a dozen or so ofthose queer - look ing Lent - l i l i es you set such storeby .” Sergean t A rchelaus pointed towards a l i tt l e heapOf daffodi l bu lbs careless ly strewn on the upturnedsoi l .

These bu lbs had a history .Close on thi rty years before

,a certain Dutch sk ipper

his name i s forgotten—happened to be sai l ing forBordeaux w i th a general cargo

,which inc luded some

thousands of tu l i ps,and a few almost pri celess ones

,for

a rich purchaser who wished to in troduce tu l ip -cu ltu rei n to the Gi ronde . The Dutchman ’s vessel was a flatbottomed gal l iot

,fi tted w i th lee-boards but l iabl e to

fal l away from the wind ; and , encounteri ng a strongsoutherly gale as he attempted to round Ushan t

,he

was blown northward i n to the fogs and,through the

fogs,upon the I s lands .

Against what fol lowed the chances were at leas t athousand to one . H is vessel , bl ind as to her whereabouts and helpless among the t ide-races

,missed rock

after rock,b l undered her way past every sunken peri l

—to be sure,she was flat-bottomed , but the sound ings

varied so from moment to moment that the crew , afterrunn ing a dozen t imes to the boats i n the certainty ofs tri k ing

,fu l ly be l ieved themselves bewitched—unt i l , i n

S t . L i de’s Pool , as they made seven fathoms and hoped

for open water,the fog l ifted suddenly, and they saw

Garrison H i l l r ight above them .This befel l them a short hou r before sunset . The

sk ipper rounded up to the wind , dropped anchor, gotout a boat

,and groped his way shoreward ; for the fog

SERGEANT ARCHELAUS IS REFITTED 19

had descended again,even more speed i ly than i t had

l i fted .Groping his way

,and sti l l attended by his amazing

good luck,the Dutchman , where he had expected rocks,

came plump on a pier of hewn mason ry . A t the p ierhead

,which loomed high above them

,a man struck a

l ight and d isp layed a lantern ; and , look ing up , thecrew were aware of many peop le s tand ing there andchattering in the dusk—chattering in the low soft tonepecul iar to the I slanders . The sk ipper hai led them inDutch

,and again i n French

,these being the on ly

languages he spoke . The I slanders , helping him ashore,made signs that they could not an swer

,but took h im

and his men up the hi l l to the Garrison,then commanded

by a Colonel Bart lemy .Colonel Bartlemy cou ld speak French after a fash ion

,

and so could h is excel lent wife . Between them theyentertained the wanderers hosp itably for the space offive days

,at the end Of which the Dutchman went h is

way before a c lear north wind and i n charge of anI s land p i lot. B ut before departing he presented h i shosts—it was al l that either he cou ld give or they woul dperm i t themselves to accept—with a quant i ty of remarkably fine bulbs from h is cargo .Now

,poss ibly

, be ing a Dutchman , he took i t forgranted that anyone cou ld recogn ise these bu lbs forwhat they were . But Mrs . Bart lemy d id not : for shehad spent the most of her l i fe i n various garrisons

,which

afford few Opportu n i t ies for garden ing . None the lessshe was

,for a sold ier

’s wi fe, a firs t-rate housekeeper ;and supposi ng these bu lbs to be on ions of pecu l iarrari ty she forthwith i ssued i nvi tat ions to the é l i te ofthe I slands

,and ordered over a leg of We lsh mutton

from the main land . I wi l l not attempt to tel l of the

20 MAJOR VIGOUREUX

dinner that ensued : for Miss Gabriel made the storyher own , and everyone who heard her relate i t afterone of Garland Town

’

s petz'

ts soupers—as she frequentlyd id by spec ial request—declared i t to be in imitable .Suffice i t to say that the tu l ips were boi led

,bu t not

eaten .A few bu lbs

,of smal ler s ize

,escaped the pot

,and

Mrs . Bartlemy, i n her mortification , ordered the cookto throw them away

,or (i n the language of the I s lands)

to “ heave them to c l i ff.” The cook cast them out upona bed of rubbish i n a corner of the Garrison garden

,

where by and by they were covered with fresh rubbish,

under which they sprouted ; and , next spri ng, 10 ! themidden -heap had become a mound of gloriou s trumpetdaffodi ls !So they were left to blossom , refresh i ng the eyes of

success ive Commandants year after year as Marchcame round and the March nor’-westers set thei r yel lowbel l s waving against the blue sea . Major Vigoureuxdel ighted in them—Were they not h is name-flower ?But no one took pains to cu l t ivate them , as no onesuspected their great destiny . They bloomed year byyear

,and waited . Thei r hou r was not yet .

By al l means,A rchelaus

,let us do i t tactfu l ly

,

agreed the Commandant . “We must suppress thosetrousers of his at al l costs . Yet I wou ld avoid anything in the nature of a rebuff

,and i f you think the

Lord Proprietor wou ld be grat ified , you are welcometo take him as many of the bu lbs as you please . On lyleave me a score or so

,for God knows our garden

has few ornaments to spare .”

“ I ’ l l take ’em over to In iscaw and thank him by

word 0 ’ mouth,

” said Sergeant A rchelaus hopefu l ly .

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22 MAJOR V IGOUREUX

average Size and the w i dth j ust a yard , as you mayreckon

,he oughtn ’t to take more than three-and -a-hal f

yards at the outside.”

Three and a hal f at one three farth ings thatmakes Oh, confound these fraction s !

” said theCommandan t. “We’ l l make i t fou r sh i l l ings , and youhad best step down to Tregaskis

’ shop to-morrow andchoose the stu ff yoursel f.” He counted out the moneyinto Mrs . Treacher’s hand , and left her curtseying. A she went

,he j ingled together the two coin s remain ing i n

h is breeches pocket . They were a hal f-crown and apenny-piece—and almos t a week stood between himand pay-day .

CHA PTE R I I I

THE COMMANDANT FINESSES A KNAVE

REMEMBER the Bartlemys perfectly,said Miss

Gabriel,address ing the company as they sat

around Mr . and Mrs . Fossel l’

s d in ing- table and trifledwith a l ight co l l ation of cord ial waters and ratafiabiscu i ts—prelude to serious whist . I car ry them bothin my mind ’s eye

,though I must have been bu t a tiny

chi ld when he succumbed to apop lexy and she left theI slands to res i de with a married s ister at Scarborough .Very poorly-off he left her . Somehow, our commanding officers have never con trived to save money ; noteven i n the old days

,when the post was worth having.”

Miss Gabrie l said i t poin ted ly bu t l ightly,with a

glance at the Commandant . The company stared atthei r p lates and glasses . I t was wel l -known that (asMr . Rogers put i t) Miss Gabriel

“ had her kn i fe into ”

the patient man,and there were tongues that attributed

her spitefulness to d isappoin tment . F i fteen years ago ,when Major Narc isse Vigou reux—no l onger i n h is fi rstyouth , but sti l l a man o f handsome presence— had fi rstarrived i n the I s lands to take over h is command

,Miss

Gabrie l was a not uncomely woman of th i rty . P artz'

s

i n the I s lands are few,as you may suppose . He was a

bachelor , She a spinster ; she had money , and he pos it ion .What wonder, then , i f the I slanders expected them tomake a match of i t ?

24 MAJOR VIGOUREUX

For some reason,the match had never come off

,and

although she m ight convince hersel f that the simplestreason— i ncompat ib i l i ty—was the true one

,Miss Gabrie l

coul d hard ly have been unaware that the women lookedupon her as one who had missed her chance

,and even

blamed her a l i tt le—as women always w i l l i n such cases .Perhaps this made her defiant .She was handl ing the Commandant trucu lently

to-n ight .“Of course, she conti nued ,

“ even in those days thepost— don ’t they say the same in England of a Deanery ?—was looked upon as fin ishing a man ’s career . I don ’ tknow

,for my part

,the princ ipl e upon which the Horse

Guards—it used to be the Horse Guards—sent ColonelBartl emy down to us .”

By selec tion,ma ’am

,said the Commandant

,st i l l

pat iently,as she paused “ by selection among a number

of appl icants .”

“ I d idn ’t want to be told that,snapped M iss Gabriel .

What I meant was,the Commander- in -Chief probably

knew something of the man—had informed himsel f ofsometh ing in h is record—before send ing him down toth is exi le .

“ And a jo l ly good ex i le,too put i n Mr. Rogers .

I t u sed to be,

” said Miss Gabriel . “ This ColonelBartlemy

,for i nstance , was a coward . I

’ve heard it tol dof him that once

,duri ng h is command

,a sort of mut iny

broke out i n the barracks . I t happened at a time whenthe newspapers were fu l l of nonsense about Francei nvad ing us by a sudden descent ; and the noise,reaching him i n the quarters where he lodged w i th h iswi fe and one general maid - servant

,put h im in a terrible

fright . He had fenced off these quarters of h is forprivacy

,and because Mrs . Bartlemy thought it would be

THE COMMANDANT FINESSES A KNAVE 2 5

a good deal better for the maidservant,and they com

municated with the barracks by a stai rcase w i th a doorof which he kept the key . On the fi rst alarm he ran tothis door and cal led through the keyhole for his orderly ;but the orderly, who h imsel f was tak ing part i n thedisturbance , d id not hear . So the Colonel cal led up hi swife and the servant , and joined them at the head of thestai rs after he had sl ipped on a few regimentals

,w i th

bel t and sword . By th is t ime the noise below wasdeafen ing . The Colonel , putt ing a brave face on it,managed to get the key into the lock and turn it . Then

,

as he flung the door Open,he turned w i th a bow to h is

wi fe and said very pol i tely, i n French— for they were i nthe habi t of talk ing French before the girl—‘ P asseza’

evant,madame

How d id i t end ? asked Mr. Rogers,after a

gu ffaw .“Oh, i t tu rned out to be j ust a barrack brawl . The

sold iers were always the worst -behaved lot i n the I s lands,

and perpetual ly grumbl ing ; though i n those days , addedM iss Gabrie l ,

“ 1 always understood that they were fedand c lothed suffic iently .”

The Commandant wh itened . Mrs . Fossel l, a nervou sbody i n a cap with l i lac ribbon

,rose i n some l i tt le

fluster, and opined that i t was a lmost t ime to cut for

partners .A few m inutes later the Commandant found h imsel f

seated Opposite Mr . Fosse l l,with Miss Gabriel and Mr .

Rogers for opponents—Miss Gabrie l on his left . Heprepared to enjoy himsel f

,for whist meant s i lence

,and

he could have chosen no better partner than Mr . Fosse l l ,who p layed a sound game with a perfect ly inscrutableface .

“D ear me, said M iss Gabriel , i n the act of p icking

26 MAJOR VIGOUREUX

up her cards,

“ i t seems as i f this had happened a greatmany t imes before ! What do you say

,Mr . Fosse l l

,to

stak ing hal f a crown on the rubber,j ust to en l iven the

game ? You don ’t obj ect on principle, I know, to playingfor money .”

“ No,indeed

,ma’am , answered Mr. Fossel l .

“ I amcontent i f the others are w i l l ing : not that for me thepleasure of p laying agai nst you needs any such—eradventitiou s st imu lus .”

Miss Gabriel appealed to Mr. Rogers .Mr . Rogers thought it would be great fun . “ Come

along, Vigoureux ,” he almost shouted ,

“ you can ’t refusea lady ’s chal lenge ! ”

What cou ld the poor Commandant do ? A lmostbefore he knew he had nodded

,though with a set face

,

and by the nod committed himsel f. He fel t hi s twocoin s burn ing in h is breeches pocket against his thigh

,

as i f they warned h im .But, after al l , Fossel l was an excel lent player . With

the smal lest l uck , he and Fossel l ought to be more thana match for a pai r Of whom

,i f one (Miss Gabrie l) was

w i ly,the other played a game not usual ly d ist ingu ishable

from bumble-puppy .They won the fi rst game easi ly.They had almost won the second when a devastat ing

seven trumps in Mr . Rogers’ hand (which he played

atroc ious ly) saw thei r opponents almost l evel—the scoreeight-seven . I n the next hand , Miss Gabriel—for thi swas old - fashioned long wh ist—held al l four honours

,and

took the game .The Commandant looked at Mr. Fossel l . But a

financier i s not d isturbed by the ri sk of hal f a crown .O n ly hal f a crown ! But for the Commandant a week

between th is hal f a crown and another !

THE COMMANDANT FINESSES A KNAVE 27

He wondered what Fossel l wou ld say—Fosse ll , s i tt ingthere

,so imperturbable, with hi s shi ny bald head—if he

knew.“ Game and announced Mr . Rogers .By this t ime the players at the second tab l e, aware of

the hal f a crown at stake,were l i sten ing in a state of

suppressed excitement—suppressed,because the Vicar

,

being deaf,had not overheard Miss Gabriel

’

s chal lenge,and the others feared that he might d i sapprove of p layingfor money .The Vicar

,who p layed against M r. and Mrs . Pope,

with Mrs . Fossel l for partner, had a habit Of so l i loquis ingover his hand on any subject that occurred to him . Therest Of the table deferred to this habit , out o f respect orbecause by experience they knew it to be incurable

,S ince

on ly by conscious effort cou ld he hear any voice but hi sown .By such an effort , hold ing hi s hand to h is ear, he

had l istened to Miss Gabriel ’s anecdote about ColonelBart lemy ; smi l i ng the whi le because he had heard i tmany t imes before and knew i t to be a good one ;i nnocently unaware that i t covered any caustic subi ntention . I t had started him on a train of remin iscencewhich he pursued at the card - table (good man ) fortwenty-five minutes

,recal l ing h imself to the cards with

a fain t shock of su rpri se whenever i t became his turnto play

,as one who wou ld protest—“What

,again ?

And so soon ?”

“ Yes , i ndeed , the Vicar’s voice struck i n across the

strained si lence,

“ there i s an Old story that O l iverC romwe l l l eft beh ind him

,i n garrison here

,a company

of the Bedfordsh i re R egiment,and that i n t ime they

were comp l etely forgotten . (Let me see . Spades aretrumps , I bel ieve . You r pardon , Mrs .

2 8 MAJOR VIGOUREUX

Fossel l, but I remembered i t was a black suit .) Yes ,and seeing no prospect of recal l they marr ied in t imewith our I s land women

,and that ”—here the Vicar

gathered up a trick which belonged to his opponentsi s

,by some

,al leged to be the reason why the I slanders

use a purer Engl i sh than is spoken on the main land .Ah

,qu ite so ; yes , I p layed the ten—then it was you r

ace,Mrs . Pope ? I congratu late you , ma

’am .The Commandant

,overhearing

,cou ld not forbear

a glance at M iss Gabriel . I t conveyed no resentment,

scarcely even a reproach ; i t turned rather, as by dumbinstin ct

,upon the author of the wound

,and asked

perplexedly ° “What have I done to you,that you

treat me thus ? I have no doubt that M iss Gabrielcaught the glance . She d id not answer it ; but hergrey eyes gl i nted beneath thei r l ids as she bent themupon the cards Mr. Fosse ll was deal ing in his usua ldel iberate way .

“ The story may be apocryphal,pursued the Vicar

,

addressing deaf ears around the other tab le ;“ though

,

for my part, I i nc l ine to th ink there may be a substratumMr. Fosse l l tu rned up the queen of spades . The

Commandan t held ace,ten

,and two smal l t rumps

,

with a strong hand in d i amonds,which Mr. Rogers ,

by a bl undering lead,enabled him to establ ish early .

Actual honours were easy but by exhaust ing trumpsat the fi rs t opportun i ty

,he scored three by tricks . The

next hand gave thei r opponents three points—two byhonours

,and the trick . Three al l .

The Vicar was heard to Observe that,on the whole

,

i n termarriage among the I s landers had not producedthe d isastrous effects usua l ly pred icted of i t ; and thattherefore an in fus ion of fresh blood

,at some date more

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30 MAJOR VIGOUREUX

Nonsense ! He was unhinged . The money hadalways arrived punctual ly but the whole worldseemed to be in consp i racy against h im to-n ight

,and

his l uck along w i th i t .Mr . Rogers , who had a trick of sorting ou t h is su its

between his fingers,hesi tated for a few moments

,put

his cards together,and with an ai r of fierce determina

t ion,led a smal l heart .

Again the Commandant’s r ight hand wen t up to h isbrow. The room was very c lose and sti l l . But theVicar remained unaware of the genera l exc i tement

,

and acros s the s i lence the Vicar was heard to sayconfidential ly

“ Between you and me there was a t ime when Ihoped our friend the Commandant m ight make amatch of i t .The poor Commandant ! With his gaze fixed on

the cards,he fel t that every ear was l i sten ing

,every

eye turned upon him . He must do someth ing desperateto break the horri ble spel l , to turn the luck . Heheld ace

,k ing

,knave of hearts

,and knew wel l enough

that,i n sound whist, he ought to play the k ing . But

why had Mr. Rogers led hearts ? Mr . Rogers d id notoften l ead even from a strong su it un less i t contained atleast one honour .The Commandant ri sked i t and finessed h is knave .

Miss Gabrie l had been wait ing, watching him intent ly .Her mouth shu t almos t w i th a snap of triumph as sheput down the queen .I t was

,as i t happened , the one heart in her hand .

She c losed her tr iumph , a few rounds later, by trumpingthe Commandant ’s ace and k ing. Mr. Fosse l l lookedat his partner

,in sorrow rather than in anger. Mr. Rogers

laughed uproariously as he counted up the tricks .

THE COMMANDANT F INESSES A KNAVE 3 1

Double or qu its,I suppose ? he suggested .

But the Commandant rose . “ Your pardon , MissGabriel

,he said

,l aying his hal f-c rown on the tab l e,

“ i f I p lay no more for money to-n ight . I ndeed , I wasgoing to ask Mrs . Fossel l to forgive me i f I spoi l oneof her quartettes by wi thdrawing. To tel l the truth ,I am not mysel f—a s l ight d izz iness

“ A glass of hot brandy-and-water ? suggested Mr.Fossel l . Nay , then , a th imbleful—I i ns ist !

”

The Commandant made h is excuses as pol itely ashe cou ld

,and found himsel f i n the street . The n ight

was p i tch-dark and the road fu l l Of sea- fog—a fog sothick that i t completely shut off the rays of the manyl ighthouses twink l ing around the I s l ands

,and obscured

the few street- lamps that i l luminated Garland Town .A s l ight breeze blew up from the west and damped h isbrow ; for h is d izz iness had been someth ing more thana pretence

,and he walked w i th h is hat i n h is hand .

On such a n ight a stranger m ight wel l have lost h isway ; bu t the Commandant steered for Garrison H i l lwi thou t a mistake

,and up the hi l l towards the barracks .

Garland Town i s early abed . He passed no one i n thestreets . But i n S t . Hugh ’s , as he went by the c loseddoor of a cottage

,hal f-way up the ascent

,he recal led

the n ight, years ago , of h is fi rst arriva l i n the I sland .He had come a week before the Garri son expected him

,

and there had been no one to meet him on the quaywhen he arrived i n the dusk of an O ctober even ing .Darkness had descended on the I sland before he startedfrom the quay to c l imb to his new home ; and here—jus there , at thi s doorway—he had paused to ask his way .

The door had stood open then,with a panel of warm

firel ight lying across the roadway, and as he hal ted and

32 MAJOR VIGOUREUX

peered in to the room— it was a k itchen,and the l ight

from the open hearth gl in ted on rows of china platesranged along the dresser —he saw two girl s beside thefi re ; the one seated and read ing from a book in her lap ,the other on the hearth-mat hal f rec l i ned against hers ister’s knee

,over wh ich she had flung an arm to prop

her chin as she l is tened . He remembered the sandstrewn on the s late floor

,the fresh sea-sme l l i n thi s room

so confidingly Open to the n ight—m the scene so i nt imate,so homely

,that the travel ler stand ing in the doorway

w i th the salt- spray on his c loak cou ld scarcely bel ievei n the t ide- races across which he had been voyaging forhours . He stood

,the hum of them in his ears

,a doubtfu l

i ntruder ; and whi le he stood , the girl i n the chai r hadri sen and bade him good -evening i n pu rest Engl i sh .

“You have come by the boat ? You wi l l be fromthe main land ? ” she said

,and he wondered a l itt le

,

not being used as yet to hear h is country spoken of asthe main land . “ And I am going to England tomorrow

,

” she added “The boat which brought youw i l l take me over on i ts return j ourney .”

You know England wel l,I expect ? He found

h imsel f saying this for lack of anything better.“ She has never been outs ide the I s lands

,said her

S ister,who also had risen . “ And it i s the same wi th

me . But to-morrow she i s going The girl pausedhere

,not (i t seemed) i n pain , but wistfu l ly, as in a k ind

of solemn awe at the prospect . We left the door open

for father . He has a fancy to see the l ight across theroad as he comes up the h i l l . But he is late to-n ight atthe fishing .”

The Commandant,glancing around the room

,d ivined

—he cou ld not tel l why—that these girls were motherless . His eyes fe l l on the open book which the elder

THE COMMANDANT F INESSES A KNAVE 33

si ster had laid on the chair as she rose . The fire l ightenabled h im to read i ts page-head ing

,printed in thick

,

blunt type—K ing Lear ! These girls , the one of themabout to vis i t unknown England

,were read ing Shake

speare together .“Urbem quam dicunt Komam -he fel t a wi ld in

cl ination to quest ion them , to ask what they expectedto learn of England from Shakespeare, and from thatplay of al l others . But being a shy man , then as ever,he forbore

,and contented h imsel f with ask ing the way

to the barracks .They went with h im to the door to d i rect him ; and

so , wishing them good -n ight, he had gone up the h i l l .That was al l .

He had never seen the elder s ister again ; did notknow to this day what busi ness had taken her away tothe main land

,not to return . The younger had married

a farmer,and was now the mother of a growing fami ly

in Saaron I sland,which l i es next to Brefar, which faces

In iscaw . Her farmstead there stood a short wayabove the land ing quay ; and once or twice, catchings ight of her in her doorway

,and l i fting his hat as he went

by (for the Commandant was ever pol i te), he had foundi t i n h i s m ind to stop and inqu ire after her s ister.He had never translated this resolve in to act ion . The

Commandant—as everyone knew on the I slands—was“ desperate shy

,

”

or“ that shy you ’d never be l ieve .” But

the scene had b itten itsel f upon his memory , and herecal led i t almost as often as he passed the door . Herecal led i t to-n ight , as he stumbled by i t i n the fog anduphi l l to his cheerless lodgings .What a bl ind th ing was l i fe ! bl ind even as th i s fog

and his home i n i t these cheerless barracks ; to which

34 MAJOR VIGOUREUX

nevertheless he must c l ing,i n sp ite of h is honour

,an

old man,good for nothing

,afraid to be found out ! He

groped his way to the front door,Opened i t with h is

latchkey,l i t the candle wh ich Sergeant A rchelaus had

cons iderately placed at the foot Of the stairs,and

c l imbing to h is bedroom , flung himsel f on his kneesby the bed .Now the architect of the barracks had des igned them

upon a si ngu lar pl an , of wh i ch the pecul iar inconven iencewas that almost every room led to some other ; whichsaved corridor space, but was fatal to privacy.Beyond the Commandant ’s bedroom

,which Opened

upon the first-floor land ing Of the main staircase , lay aroom in which he kept h is fish ing c lothes

,and i n wh ich

Sergeant A rchelaus sometimes l it a fi re to dry themby .I t was a smal l room , wel l Shielded from the d raughts

which raged th rough the bu i ld ing in winter ; and hereSergeant A rchelaus had l i t a fi re to-n ight and sat beforei t,sewing an art il leryman ’s stripe upon the Com

mandant ’s cast dress trousers .Hearing a noi se i n the outer room , and not expect ing

h is master’s return for at least a couple of hours,he

hurr ied out i n some perturbat ion , with the trousers flungacross h is arm—to find the Commandant k neel ing athis devot ions .I beg your pardon

,s i r .”

I t ’s of no consequence,said the Commandant

,

l ook ing up (bu t he was desperately confused) .“ I

I a lways say my prayers,you know .”

“What ? Before und ress ing ? ” said Sergean tA rchelaus .

C HA PTER IV

THE GUN IN THE GREAT FOG

OLITELY though he had contrived h is departure,the Commandant left Mrs . Fossell ’s whist-party

to someth ing l ike d ismay . A pass ing ind isposit ionno excuse cou ld be more reasonable ; st i l l , noth ing ofthe k ind had ever i nterrupted these gatherings w i th inMrs . Fossel l ’s recol lection

,and she cou ld not help

tak ing a serious v iew of i t .A pass ing indi spos it ion was Mr . Fossel l

’

s phrase,

and he kept repeating i t,with an occasional

,

“ Nonsense,

my clear,” i n answer to his wife’s gloomy forebodings .

But I shal l send round,the fi rs t th ing i n the morn ing,

to i nqu i re ,” she i nsi sted .

DO so, my dear .”

I t can ’t be serious,ma’am , Mr. Rogers assu red her

j ol l i ly. “You heard h im dec l in e my arm when I offeredto see h im home .”

“ I n my Opin ion,said M iss Gabriel

,

“ the man i sbreak ing up . ” She touched her forehead l ightly w iththe tip of her forefinger.

“ Break ing up ? ” echoed her host and Mrs . Pope,i ncredu lous . “ My dear Martha ! protested Mrs .Fosse l l .

“ Break ing up,Miss Gabriel repeated

,with a very

posi t ive nod of her head . “ He has not been the sameman s ince the Lord Proprietor took over the presidency

8 5

36 MAJOR V IGOUREUX

of the Court and he refused upon p ique to be electedan ord inary member. Say what you l ike

,a man cannot

be v i rtual Governor of the I s lands one day,and the

next a mere nobody, w i thout its preying upon him .”

“ He made l ight of it at the t ime,

” observed Mr.Fossel l,

“ al though I ventured to remonstrate w i th

h im .”

“And I,said Mr. Pope. “ I n the fr iend l iest possib l e

way,you u nderstand . I pointed out that the Lord

Proprietor was, after al l , the Lord Proprietor, and , assuch

,d id not understand being thwarted . Very

natural ly,as you w i l l al l admit .”

“ I t ’s human nature, when you come to th ink of it,”

put in the S teward’

s wi fe (she preferred the t it le ofS teward to that of agent, and was gradual ly accustom ing

society to the sound) .I f that’s the ground you ’re going on , spoke up Mr.

Rogers,who w i th al l h is fau lts was nothing of a snob

,

i t ’s human nature for Vigoureux to feel Sore. As for themagistracy

,he’s not the man to value i t one pin . I t ’s

the neglect ; and to meet the Old fel low moon ing aroundhis batteries as I d id this very afternoon—I tel l you i tmakes a man sorry.

”

I f th i s speech d id Mr. Rogers cred it he cancel led itpresently by his atroc ious behaviou r at cards . Thesymmetry Of the party being broken , Miss Gabrielannounced that she had enjoyed enough wh ist for theeven ing

,and that noth ing in the world wou ld give her

greater p leasure than half an hour’

s quiet tal k w i th theVicar—that was

,i f Mrs . Fossell and he wou l d not m ind

cutting out and surrenderi ng thei r seats to Mr . Fossel land Mr . Rogers . I n saying thi s she outrageouslyflattered the Vicar

,with whom i t was imposs ible . to

hold conversation i n any tone below that of shout ing.

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38 MAJOR VIGOUREUX

officer here to keep some check on him . For instance,

he shared al l ord inary wrecks wi th the Lord H ighAdmiral

,but a wreck became hi s so le property by law,

i f none of the crew remained al ive ; a dangerous reservat ion , ma

’am,i n t imes when j ustice t ravel led s low ly

,and

much m ight happen in the I slands and never a word ofi t reach London .Miss Gabriel put up both hands—they were encased

in m ittens, and the m ittens decorated w i th steel beadsas i f to c lose her ears .We must be thank fu l

,indeed

,she began , and

paused in d ismay as the floor of Mrs . Fossell’

s drawingroom trembled under her

,and at the same moment the

w indow sashes rattled v iolently throughout the house.Good Heavens ! ”

What was that ?The p layers d ropped thei r cards . A l l l i stened .“ Upon my word ,

” suggested the Vicar,who had

heard nothing,but felt the concuss ion

,

“ if i t weren ’tposit ively known to be empty one wou ld say the powdermagazine at the Garri son

Oh , R ichard ! R i chard ! —here Mrs . Fossell camerunn ing i n from the d in ing- room w i th a d ish of t rifle i nher hands i s i t an earthquake ? ”

I—I rather think not,my dear !

A t any rate,she turned and appealed to her husband ,

I w i sh you wou ld come to Sel i na,for She has dropped

the cold shape al l over the floor and is having hystericsi n the better of the two arm - chairs l ”

Earthquake ? F i dd lesti cks , ma’am said Mr.

Rogers,button ing hi s pea-j acket and turn ing up i ts

co l lar . “What you heard was a gun . There i s avessel i n d istress somewhere

,and we shal l have my

men here i n a moment w i th news of her.”

THE GUN IN THE GREAT FOG 39

But there was no sound , obj ected Mrs . Pope .Fog

,ma’am—fog ; sound don

’t t ravel in a fog, andships oughtn ’t to . There has been a nasty bank of i t tothe south ’ard ever since morning

,and you may bet

that’s the misch ief.”

He went into the hal l for h is lantern,brought i t back ,

l i t i t and carried i t out to the front door.“Whe—ew ! ” he whistled

,as he opened the door

and stood,w i th lan tern l i fted high

,staring into the

n ight .The guests beh i nd h im wondered ; for al l was qu iet

outside—too qu iet to ears accustomed to the w i n dwhich for ever s ings across the I s lands

,even on summer

days m ingl ing i ts whispers and soft murmurings withthe hum of the d i stan t t ide -races . But whi le theywondered

,Mr. Rogers ’ figure grew vague and amor

phous i n a c loud of fog that drifted past h im intothe passage . The l ight i n h is lantern had tu rned toa weak flame of yel low, and seemed on the poi nt ofdying out .

“ Ahoy , there ! I s that Mr . Rogers ? cal led a thinvoice out of the n ight .

“ Ahoy Mr . Rogers i t i s What ’s wrong ?Thank God I ’ve found you ! ” The voice sounded

suddenly qu i te c l ose at hand,and a man blundered

against the doorstep .“ Eh ?

”—the others saw Mr . Rogers give back inaston ishment—“ The Lord Proprietor ? ”

“ Safe and sound,too

,by H eaven ’s mercy , sa id the

Lord Proprietor,pluck ing off his peaked cap and

shak ing the water from i t . He carried a l antern,and

his j acket and loose trousers of ye l low Oi lsk in shonewith the wet l ik e a su i t of mai l . A l l the way froml nn iscaw I

’

ve come, i n the gig . Peter H icks and Old

40 MAJOR VIGOUREUX

Cai Jenk in pu l led me,and the Lord knows where we

made land or what has become of them . Man,there’s

a vessel ashore—a l in er, they say ! D idn’t you hear

the gun a minute s inceYes, yes ; but where i s she ?That’s more than I know . Somewhere among the

Off- I s lands ; on the Terrier, maybe, or the He llmeadows .A l l I can tel l you is that o ld Cai brought the news tothe Priory, almost three hours ago : his son - in- l aw, youngA shbran

, had seen her i n a l i ft of the fog—a powerfu lsteamship with two funnels and a broad white bandupon each . She hadn ’t s truck when he saw her ; butShe was nos ing into an infernal mess of rocks

,and the

l ight c los ing down fast . I d idn ’t see A shbran h imself ;Cai bel ieved he had put across to warn your men . Butas the old man cou ldn ’t swear to i t I told him toget out the gig and fetch Peter H icks

,and so we

s tarted .“ I ’m wondering why those men of mine haven ’t

brought me warn ing. A shbran can’t have reached

them .”

He started late,be l ike, and lost h i s way in the fog ;

or i t ’s even poss ible— though you won ’t bel ieve it—thatyour men started to find you and have lost themselves .My good s i r

,you never knew such a fog ! ”

Yet I l eft word with the chief boatman,mused

Mr . Rogers . “ He knows perfect ly wel l where Iam .

“ Does he ? said the Lord Proprietor. “ Then i t’s

more than I do . What house i s th is ?”

“ Why,Fossel l

’

s . Good Lord d idn’t you know ?

My dear S i r Caesar Mr. Fosse l l s teppedforward so l ic itously .

“ Eh ? SO i t i s ! Good-even ing, Mr. Fosse ll !

THE GUN IN THE GREAT FOG 4 1

That pictu re O f the Waterloo Banquet seemed fami l iar,somehow .” The Lord Proprietor nodded toward s aframed engraving on the wal l . “ Yes, to be sure—andLandseer’s ‘ Twa Dogs . ’ But this i s worse than theA rabian N ights ! We must have missed the harbou rby a m il e ! ”

You came ashore at Carn Point,most probably ,

Mr. Fossel l suggested . “ The tide sets that way, andfrom Carn Point i t i s but a step .”

“ A step , i s i t ? Man , I’ve been wanderi ng i n blank

darkness for a ful l hou r. Twice I’ve found mysel f on

the edge of a c l i ff. I’ve fol lowed wal l s on ly to be led

in to open fields . I’ve struck across Open fields, on ly

to tumble against troughs , midden -heaps , p ig-styes . Iwalked straight up against th is house

,suppos ing mysel f

somewhere near the batteries on Garri son H i l l ; thoughhow I had managed to m iss the town was more than Icou ld exp lain .

”

“ The wonder i s you ever fetched across fromIn iscaw.

I t ’s my bel ief we had never done it,but for the t ide .

The n ight was black as your hat when we started,but

fai rly c lear. We kept s ight of the l amp on the pierhead unti l hal f-way across . Then the fog came down ;and thenWel l

,i t ’s good hard causeway between this and S t .

Hugh ’s ,” said Mr . Rogers . “We can ’ t miss i t . You

’ l ls tep along with me to the Guard -house

,S i r Caesar ? A s

soon as the weather l ifts one of my men Shal l put youback to In iscaw .

“ O n the contrary,my good s ir, I go with you .

Mr. Rogers looked at h im , as he buttoned up h ispea-j acket .

“We won ’t argue i t here,he said . “ You don ’t

42 MAJOR VIGOUREUX

guess what i t means,though

,search ing for a wreck

among the Off- I s lands on a n ight l ike this . Not tomention that there’s a sea runn ingAnd yet, apart from the fog, there was noth ing in the

weather to suggest shipwreck and horrors . For a fortn ight the I slands had la in steeped i n the sun shine ofI nd ian summer ; a fortn ight of st i l l starry n ights anddays almost without a c loud . A s a ru le, such weatherbreaks up in a gale, of which the glass gives t imelywarn ing. But the mercury in Mr. Fosse l l’s barometerindicated no depression

,or but the merest trifle. The

drenched n ight-ai r was warm : to Miss Gabriel,i nhal ing

i t i n the passage by the drawing- room door,i t seemed

to be laden wi th the scents of summer, and MissGabriel had not l ived al l he r l i fe in Garland Townwithout learn ing the subtle aromas of the w i nd , tod isti nguish those that were harmless or beneficent fromthose that warned

,those that threatened

,those that

were morose,savage

,mal ignant

,those that piped a note

of madness and meant a hurri cane . Nor d id the fogi n i tsel f appear to her very form idable . To be sure, shehad never known a thicker one but the Lord Proprietor

(saving his presence) had probably exaggerated i tsterrors . He was— let th is excuse be made for h im—alandsman

,comparative ly new to the I slands .

Probably Mr. Fossel l and Mr . Pope and the Vicartook the same V iew. The news of the wreck had exc itedthem

,and they were offering to accompany S i r Caesar

and Mr . Rogers to S t . Hugh’s Town , on the chance of

more informat ion .“ And we had best go w i th them

,my dear, suggested

Miss Gabriel to Mrs . Pope . (Their houses stood side bys ide and contiguous

,on a gentle rise at the foot of

Garrison H i l l .)

THE GUN IN THE GREAT FOG 43

Mrs . Fossel l begged them to wai t and keep hercompany unti l the gentlemen returned . “ I t i s imposs ible,

” she urged as an inducement,that Sel ina can go

on mak ing this noise for ever .”

But M iss Gabriel had taken her dec i sion,and from a

dec is ion Miss Gabriel was not easi ly turned .“ My dear

,

” sa id she,reach ing

'

for her Cl oak ,“ the

gentlemen may not retu rn unti l goodness knows when ,and I have a prej udice against late hours .”

They started in a body . The fog, to be sure, was adeal worse than ever M iss Gabriel cou ld have c redi ted .St i l l

,the gentlemen using thei r l anterns and tapping to

r ight and left with thei r s t i cks,they found the hard

causeway, and blundered along i t toward s S t . Hugh’s ,

the lad ies with thei r shawls drawn over thei r heads andthei r heads held down against the d ri ft ing wal l ofmoistu re .They had made thei r way thus for about fou r hundred

yards—that i s to say,abou t a thi rd of the length of the

causeway, when sudden ly the fog ahead of them becamelum inous

,and they perceived torches waving .

Mr . Rogers ! I s that Mr . Rogers ? ” cal led a voice .Ay, ay, men !

” Mr . R ogers ha i led in answer,recogn is ing his coastguard . I am coming—fast asI can

,

” he added,having at that moment ru n into a

wal l .“ A wreck

,s i r !

Ay l where i s i t ?Somewhere beyond S t . Anne

’s,s i r

,as we reckon

out towards the Monk . There was a gun fi red , andD i ck

,here

,th inks as he saw the l ighthouse send up a

s ignal ; but l ights there’s none

,that the rest of us can

make out“ Hark !

44 MAJOR VIGOUREUX

Again the fog shook w i th the concuss ion of a gun .“ Due west , as I make i t out,

”

said Mr . Rogers . “A rethe boats ready ?

Ay, s i r ; the jol ly-boat manned and off, and the g iglaunched and lying by the sl ip .

”

“ Then run , menWhy

,they’ve left us gasped Mrs . Pope, as the

glare of the torches mel ted in to the fog .I t doesn ’ t matter

,

” Miss Gabriel assured her bravely .We have on ly to keep straight on .

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46 MAJOR VIGOUREUX

moment too late ; for the bag, as i t touched the counter,exploded with a du l l report

,col l apsed

,and flattened

i tsel f out in to a playing-card—the queen of hearts !A t th i s poin t the Commandant excusably found

h imsel f awake, and sat up bl ink ing at SergeantA rchelaus , who stood i n a haze of fog by his beds idew i th a l ighted candle .

“ You heard it ? asked Sergeant A rchelaus .Heard i t ? ” echoed the Commandant , trembl i ng,

not yet i n fu l l possession of h is senses . “ Of course , Iheard i t . The bank Here he checked himsel fand rubbed his eyes .You ’re dreaming ; that

’s what ’s the matter w ith you,

said Sergeant A rchelaus, using the fami l i ari ty of an Oldservant . There’s a sh ip on the rocks .”

A ship ? Where ?The sergeant, candle i n hand , stepped to the

easement.“ Lord knows where she be by this t ime

,i f St . Anne’s

p i lots ha’

n’

t found her. The gun sounded from west’

ard,down by the Monk .”

“ Fog,i s i t ? ” asked the Commandant, staring about

h im and remembering.Fog it i s

,

” answered Sergeant A rchelaus ; and added ,Poor sou l s“Thick ?

”

By thi s t ime the Commandant had flungback the bed-c lothes and was thrust ing his feet into hi sworn s l ippers .I never seen a thicker in my born days.I f we had a gunAh—zf l

” agreed Sergeant A rchelaus curt ly,and

turn ing,let h i s voice ri se i n a sudden passion . “Why

d id I wake ye ? Set it down to habit . I ’ve known thet ime when the sound of a gun wou ld have fetched forty

THE SS . MILO 47

men out of barracks to save l i fe or to take i t ; and a gunto an swer with in thi rty seconds and alarm al l the I slands .But we ! What’s the use of u s ?

“ Get on your coat ! ” said the Commandant sharply,putt ing on hi s trousers . “ Get on your coat and run tothe bel l—that i s

,i f Treacher

But at thi s moment the mu ffled note of a bel l beganto sound through the fog, v i nd icat ing Treacher

’sV igi l ance . Treacher, however, was not the ringer . TheCommandant had scarcely s l ipped on h is fatigue j acket ,and

,whi le button ing i t hast i ly

,was searching i n the

wardrobe for his overcoat , when Treacher’s voice sounded

up the stai rcase,demanding to know i f the Garri son was

awake .“ Awake ? cal led back A rchelaus . “ Of course we

be,and coming before you can sound th’ alarm . Reach

down the bugle , mam—from the rack behind th’ door,

there,—and sound i t .”

Treacher sounded . He was out of breath , and thetwo high notes quavered broken -winded ly ; but theCommandant ’s chest swel led with someth ing of oldpride . The alarm wou ld reach the town , and the townwould know that the Garri son had not been caughtnapping . He snatched up the candle from the cand lestick in Sergeant A rchelau s

’ hand and rammed i t in tothe socket of a horn lantern he had unhooked from thecupboard .Come along

,men Keep sound ing, Treacher—keep

sound ing !Even so he had heard men cal l i ng—a many years ago

— in the trenches under the R edan . Treacher soundedobed ient ly

,and down the hi l l a l l three staggered— past

the Garrison gate,with a hai l to Mrs . Treacher to pu l l

for al l she was worth—and down the hi l l among the

48 MAJOR VIGOUREUX

ruts and loose stones , al l so fam i l iar that relying ontread alone (as i n fact they d id ) they cou ld not misstheir way . Below them , along the quay, and on thecauseway at the head Of it—voices were ca l l ing andl ights moving ; but the fog reduced the shouts to a twitter,as of bi rds

,and the torches and lantern to mere glow

worm sparks . The coastguards were embark ing, andthe Lord Proprietor, j ust arrived upon the scene, wasrunn ing about —as Sergeant Archelaus put i t afterwards

,

“ l ike a paper man i n a cyclone —cal l ing out the namesof volunteers for the l i feboat .The fog had found i ts way into Treacher’s bugle

before our three heroes reached the quay ; but hecontinued to blow h is best ; and there, at the end of thecauseway

,S i r Caesar ran into them—ran straight into the

Commandant,almos t knock ing out h is breath—cal l i ng

,

as he ran,for someone to take bow oar i n the l i feboat .

“Wil l I do ? ” asked Sergean t A rchelaus cool ly, asbecame a sold ier .You ? ” The Lord Proprietor thrust h i s torch c lose.

Oh, get out of my way—th i s i s work for men ! Andyou ? catch ing s ight of the Commandant How muchdo you think you are help ing us with th is tom -foolnoise ? ”

The Commandant drew himsel f erect, but before hecou ld answer the Lord Proprietor had gone h is way

,

wav ing h is torch and sti l l shouting for someone to manthe bow thwart .There was a s low pause.“ Can you get to our boat, A rchelaus ? asked theCommandan t . The two sergeants heard h is voice dragon the question . They cou ld not see h is face .

She’s afloat,s i r,

” answered Sergeant A rchelaus .F i nd the frape then , and pul l her in .

THE SS. MILO 49

I s i t our boat you ’re mean ing,s i r ? asked A rchelaus ,

hesitating.Certain ly .There’s a certain amount of sea runn ing, s i r, out

beyond the pier .”

I observed as much this even ing .Very good

,s i r.” Someth ing in the Commandant

’

svoice forbade further argument .They were afloat almost as soon as the coastguard

,

and a fu l l five m inutes before the l i feboat . SergeantA rchelaus pu l led stroke, and Sergeant Treacher bow.The Commandant steered

,h is lan tern and pocket

compass bes ide him i n the stern - sheets .The boat—she had once been a yacht ’s cutter

measured s ixteen feet over al l . She was fi tted w ith asmal l centre-plate , and carried a l ug sai l (but thi s theyleft behind ; i t was i n store, and wou ld have been worsethan useless) . They pul led out i n to a fog so thick thaton ly by intervals cou ld the Commandan t catch s ight ofSergean t Treacher

’

s face and Sergeant Treacher ’s eyebrows and sandy moustache gl isteri ng w i th beads ofmi st.They had left the p ier but a short two hund red

strokes behind them when the l i tt le tug belonging tothe I s lands came pant ing out of harbour with thel ifeboat i n tow

,and passed on

,blowing her wh ist le

,to

overtake and pick up the coastguard gal ley. Sounexpected ly her l ights sp rang upon them

,and so c lose

astern , that Treacher, with a sharp cry of warn ing , hadbarely t ime to j erk the boat ’s head round and avoidbeing cut down . Then

,dropping his padd le

,he made

a grab at the painter and flung i t,cal l ing out to the

l i feboat ’s c rew to catch and make fast . But ei ther hewas a moment too late i n fl inging , or the l i feboatmen ,

so MAJOR VIGOUREUX

themselves baw l ing instruct ions to the tug ’s crew, werepreoccupied and d id not hear. The rope struck againstsomething—the l i feboat’s gunwale doubtless—but noone caught i t

,and next moment the tug had s l ipped

away into darkness and into a s i lence which swal lowedup the shouts and the throb of her engines as thoughshe had dropped into a p i t.

“ Darn your sk in,Sam Treacher !

” swore Sergean tA rche laus . There goes a couple of hours ’ pul l ing youm ight have saved us

“ Then why cou ldn’

t you have given warn ing ?retorted Treacher . “ Pretty pai r of eyes you keep i nthat Old head of yours

“ Be quiet , you two !” the Commandant ordered .

They’d have caught the painter i f they wantedusHe fel l s i len t, bend ing h is head to study the compass

in the lantern ’s ray. “ Not wanted ” “ not wantedthe paddles took up the burden and beat i t into a sortof tune to the creak of the thole-p ins . A s a youngOfficer he had started with high notion s of duty ; nor,l ook ing back on the wasted years

,cou ld he tax himsel f

that he had ever dec l ined its cal l . O n ly the cal l , whichin youth had always carried a promise wi th i t

,defin itely

c lear and shin ing,of enterprise and reward

,of adventu re

,

achievement,fame, had sunk by degrees to a du l l

repetition cal l ing h im from sleep to perform the Spir i t lessdai ly round . He did not s igh that the defin ite v is ionhad faded ; i t happened so, maybe, to most men , thoughnot to a l l . To most men

,i t might be

,thei r fate p layed

the cr imp ; they fol lowed the marsh -fires out into j ustsuch a b l ind waste as th is through which he and hismen were groping—darkness above and below ; darknessbefore

,behind

,to right

,to left ; darkness of b i rth , of

THE SS. MILO 5 1

death,and on ly the palpable fog between . He did not

sigh for this . What i rked him was the thought thatwhi le he had fol lowed the mi l l -round of duty

,strength

had been ebbing away—had left h im useles s .Yes

,there lay the st ing. Twenty years ago how l ike

a schoolboy he wou ld have dashed in to th is fog,careless

of consequence,eager on ly to find where men needed

his help ! He might have found,or m issed ; but twenty

years ago men wou ld have hai led h is w i l l to help . Nowhe was negl ig ibl e. I n an ord inary way these neighboursof h is might d isgu ise thei r knowledge

,through pol iteness

or pity ; but at a cri s is l ike thi s the truth came ou t .The Lord Proprietor had treated h im as a pantaloon

,

and these l i feboatmen—so l i t t le they valued him—coul dnot be at the pain s of catch ing a rope.He steered

,as nearly as he cou ld ca lcu late, west-by

south,al lowing at a guess for the set of the t ide . The

wal l of fog,which let pass no true sound , i tsel f seemed

ful l of voices—hi ss ing of spent waves , suck ing of waterunder weed -covered ledges , l itt le pu ffs and moan ings ofthe wind . He had reckoned that he was bendingaround shore to the south of the roadstead

,head ing

gradual ly for S t . L ide’s Sound and giving the rocks on

his port hand a wide berth ; when of a sudden A rchelauscal led out

,and he spied a grey l ine Of break ing water at

the base of the fog,qu i te c lose at hand . I t scared them

so that they headed off almost at right angles . Thisadventure not only proved h is reckon ing to be wrong,but comp l i cated i t hopeless ly .They were in Open water again , st i l l mak ing—or at

any rate the boat so pointed—west-by-south . The shortscare had shaken him out of h is brood ing thoughts . Hesaw now, minute after minute , but the sea beyond theedge of the boat ’s gunwale

,heaving up and s l id ing

5 2 MAJOR VIGOUREUX

astern as it caught the sh ine of the lantern . The l anternshone also against the knees of A rchelaus

,and l i t up

the check -board pattern of the eleemosynary trousers .I t was a provocat ive pattern

,bu t the Commandant

heeded it not .He looked up from Sergeant A rchelau s ’ knees to

Sergeant A rchelaus’ face,and past i t to the face of

Sergeant Treacher,now a l itt l e more d ist inct . The two

men had been pu l l i ng for an hour,and the Commandant

saw that they were t i red—t i red and very old . Herecogn ised i t at fi rst with a touch of anger . He felt aninstan t ’s impulse to curse and bid them row harder .But on the instan t came gen tler understand ing

,and

restrained him .“ A rchelaus

,

” he said,

“ you are the o lder ; take thet i l ler here and give me the oar for a spel l .”

A rchelaus was not unwi l l ing. Besides,was i t not hi s

commanding Officer who gave the order ? He relinqu ished his padd le with a grunt Of exhaustion , andthe Commandant stood up to take it

,l aying both hands

on it whi le A rchelaus stumb l ed past to the stern -sheets .And at that moment a miracle befel l .

The fog must have been th inn ing . The Commandant,stand ing with both hands on the paddl e and his face tothe bows

,saw or fel t it part sudden ly, and through the

parting l ights shone and voices sounded,w i th the heavy

throb of a vessel ’s screw.Clank ! c lank ! and it was on them , a lmost before

Sergeant A rchelaus cou ld let out a cry—the stem , thegrey-painted bows of a vast s teamship, ghostly, toweringup in to n ight . A bel l rang. H igh on the bridge—butthe bridge soared into heaven—a pi lot ’s vo ice cal led outin the I sland tongue . A s the great bows gl ided by,m issing the boat by a few yards, the three men stared

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54 MAJOR VIGOUREUX

a cable’s length of the rocks , upon which i n ten minutesa steel-bu i l t five -master, Of 1 200 tons, had melted tonothing before thei r eyes the rivets

,as A rchelaus

put i t,“ flying out of her l ike shirt buttons .” But that

had happened on one of the outermost reefs,beyond

the Off- I s lands, far down by the Monk L ight . Howthe Mi lo, no matter from what quarter approach ing,had threaded her way past the Hel lmeadows i n to theHe l ldeeps was to h im a mystery of mysteries . Shewas groping i t yet

,her engines work ing dead slow ; but

the fog during the past hour had sens ibly l ightened,

and Reub H icks held open water between him and theRoads

,though he sti l l kept the lead going . A t the

entrance of the Roads he sent the tug forward to helpthe steerage, and so brought her in and rounded herup as accu rately as though she had been a l i tt leschooner of 200 tons or thereabouts .A S the great anchor dropped amid the deafen ing

ratt le of its chain in the hawse-p ipe the crews astern castoff and drew thei r boats alongside

,eager to swarm

aboard and hear news of the m irac le . From the coastguard gal ley Mr . Rogers shouted up to the captain tolower his ladder. He and his ch ief boatman mountedfi rst , with a l itt le man named Pengel ly, a Customsoffic ial

,who happened to make one of the l i feboat ’s crew ;

for the Milo had come from foreign , and thus a showwas made of complying w i th the Queen ’s regu lat ions .But the whole crowd trooped up c lose at thei r heel s,and with the crowd c l ambered Sergeant A rchel aus andSergean t Treacher.The Commandant had given them permission . He

wou ld remai n below,he said

,and look after the boat,

await ing thei r report .The c rowd passed up and d ispersed i tsel f about the

THE SS. MILO 5 5

deck,congratu lating al l comers

,and exci ted ly plying

them with quest ions . The I s landers are a ch i ld l ikerace

,and from his post at the foot of the deserted ac

commodation - ladder the Commandant cou ld hear themlaughing

,exc laim ing, chattering with the passengers i n

high-pi tched voices .He stood with h is boat - hook

,hold ing on by the

grat ing of the ladder’s lowest step,and stared at the

grey wal l -s ides Of the l iner. Yes, she was so l i d —thi sship ; and yet he could not be l ieve but that she belongedto a dream ; so mysterious ly, aga inst al l chances , wasshe here

,out of the deep and the n ight .

Someone had lashed a lantern at the head of theladder . L i ft ing his eyes to i t in the foggy darkness

,

the Commandan t saw a sol i tary figure stand ing there i nthe gangway and look ing down on him—a woman .She l ifted a hand as i f to enj oi n s i lence

,and came

swiftly down a step or two in the shadow Of the vessel ’ss ide .

“ You are Major Vigoureux ? she asked in a qu ickwhisper

,l ean ing forward over h im .

“ A t—at your service,madam

,

” he stammered,taken

fairly aback .“ Ah ! I am glad of that ! She ran down the

remain ing steps and set her foot l ight ly on the boat’sgunwale . “ You wi l l row me ashore ?

I f you wish it,madam .” H e was more puzz led than

ever . H e saw that she wore a dark c loak of fu rsand was bareheaded . She spoke i n a sort of mus icalwhisper . Her face he cou ld not see . “ I n a minute ortwo my men wi l l be return ing .”

“We wi l l not wai t for your men, she said quiet ly,

seat ing hersel f in the stern - Sheets . They can easi lybe put ashore in one of the other boats .

56 MAJOR VIGOUREUX

From