Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1879-09-19

of brave men," 10 VI ""' '''0
1t certainly is c,f war; how brave
We're the men tho 4 must decide So IN
begin: 1t was q dozen years ago, pretty
nearly when 4 had Just come ashore
lrom Iong 'Jruise, and was in the great
est hurry "I go home and see my mother.
that, luS' as was fairly ready to go, the
captain of the Deliverance fell sick, and
l wa 5 ordered to take his place and be
TeP.d re- .dy to sail at once. l did not like it.
70 was compliment, but would rather
have gone hOme-you see | had been
away for years. Thou dost not wave
thy sword over thy head said Count
Hohenstack, who was my friend. L
keep it for fighting, not waving said |,
but in truth l had no heart for wavs
ing. AS for the Deliverance, she was a
good little frigate of twehty-eight guns.
and had as a comrade, and under nv
orders, the Isabelle, with twenty=four
guns, and my old messmate, Casper
Brissac, for captain. What we had to
do was to take fleet of twenty mer-
chantmen to Genoa, 1t was dangerous
service, tor we were at war with Eng
land, and her ships were lively enough
II fthere was the prospect of prize afioat.
I'VE had to hurry our preparations.
as the captains illness had put things
back, and one day when was at the
Inn, seeing people, | was told some one
wanted to see me and wouldn't come In.
When went out, long after, there sat
my dear little mother, and near by was
old Gray jacques harnessed to the
cart, with Jules driving. How glad l
was too see her! She had come, she
said tn n hnfo,.O 4 o,.1ol
told everybody that wanted me to come
that night, and | took my mother off to
the ship and showed it to her. All, how
1t pleased her to see me captain of it!
Then, as she stood on deck, looking at
the busy rushing to and fro as the YES
sels were loaded, and as she tried to i'm
derstand just which belonged to my con-
Voy'!5he turned and said: Jean, art
thou atraldv" No, mother. | mean to
DO my best. did not ask for it, and if
the wrong man was chosen the fault is
not mine; We'll, WE'LL said she, re-
member this--and thy mother it is who
says lt-think of j lean Berthold last"
Louis nodded his head, the story was
of the, right kind.
The next day, at noon, we sailed.
it was all very good for time, but off
the coast of Spain we met the English
men two ships. One carried forty
eight, the other forty-four guns. 1t was
great odds, Louis! My surgeon stood
by me at the moment. There's no use
IN It, he said. No use in whatP In
making show of fight? Wen have to
surrender at last This was a nice way
10 talk to a superior officer, wasn't itP
ana give up the merchantmen said l.
'Ot course. They will necessarily be
captured, and we have to think of our
sSeIV cs sometimes Not first said l;
6e didn't come out for that So / Just
ordered him below, and told him if he
opened his mouth to the men in this
way he would never doctor any one
again; and then we went into action.
1t was lively work, Louis, and enough,
as the cabin-boy says, to make shark
laugh, to see how desperately our guns
fired. We had so few in comparison
with the enemy that we had to do
double work. Fortunately we had
plenty of ammunition. There was but
one thing to do-to keep both English
men engaged and let the merchantmen
get off. If we had let one of them flee
our fleet would have been lost, so we
kept at it. When the merchantmen
were out of sight, when our decks were
slippery with blood and our masts gone,
we surrendered, but it was to the Sec
ond mate of one of the vessels, for the
officers were all dead. There was but
handful of us left, and we were hurried
on board the enemy, as our ship was
sinking fast. AS for me, had ball in
my leg, and Brissac a cut on his
shoulder"
"What became of the surgeon?" asked
Louis.
His uncle smiled. "When l sent him
get any further down than he did, and
here the cook found him and routed him
out to attend the wounded. Iput man
over him to make him dress a wound,
and never saw him afterward."
Louis nodded his head and drew closer
to his uncle.
1--WE, " "continued the old sailor, "were
taken to Portsmouth, and when we
reached the shore we were ironed!
"Think of it, Louis, we Frenchmen,
taken in battle, fighting like tigers and
| fighting well, put in irons! All, it makes
my blood boil when | remember it! /
could not walk to the prison, and we
were not on parole, so we were put into
a cart, and the people crowded around
us, hooting and scoffing. l told Brissac
to fancy it applause, and then the louder
they screamed the better he would like
it, but he shook his head. He was sick
and he was disgusted. AS for me, was
furious! Never would so treat uris-
oner of war! They put us in sort of
an inn, up in the upper room, where the
windows were tightly barred and q
guard paced the hall.
"For some days an English doctor
came to see us and dressed our wounds,
but we had no confidence in him; but
one day the guard passed in a little fel-
low and said, There, go work for thy
bread He was Frenchman-a sur
geOn; and now he came and often talked
of our escape, for upon it we were re-
solved. The surgeon had more liberty
han we, as he went from room to room,
accompanied by guard, but he never
left the house. Had / been in his place
] would soon have been free, but he
could not see that it was possible.
Then, one day, he came to us in great
| joy, for he had secured a file, and that
he gave to us. 1t made our way clear,
for if once the windows were open to us
we felt sure of escaping. and now, every
day, we talked and planned, and we
called the file a wound, and France q
cure, and the guards objections fear
ing we would be overheard. The file
was poor, but little by little the bars
were sundered until they were held to-
gether by almost thread, and our pro-
gress was concealed by bread crumbs
rubbed in SCOT.
"When the surgeon found that he
would have company in escaping, he was
cheered, and thought of new ways of
help There was Swiss who brought
cheese to the soldiers. He had been in
Paris; he was not unfriendly. and he
| wanted money. OF this we gave him