No Surrender! A Tale of the Rising in La VendeeHenty, G. A. (George Alfred)
History
No Surrender! A Tale of the Rising in La Vendee
Henty, G. A. (George Alfred)
France -- History -- Wars of the Vendée, 1793-1832 -- Juvenile fiction; Vendée (France) -- History -- Juvenile fiction
"I am sure of it," he said. "And the band?"
"Every one of those we had at first we could answer for," Andre
replied. "And I believe that the others can be trusted, too. They
all esteem it a high honour to have been received into the band of
Cathelineau's scouts. They knew that there would be danger, when
they joined, and that they must be prepared to die for the cause.
All would certainly be faithful; there would be no fear about
that."
"I have not the least idea, at present, what I shall want you to
do; but at any rate we shall go to Nantes, and it is there that you
must meet us. We shall ride off in an hour's time. Let the others
sleep till there is a general movement, then you can tell them what
has happened, and that my orders are that you shall march home, at
once. You can be there by tomorrow night, can you not?"
"It will be two long marches, but we will be there, captain."
"We shall not be much before you. By that time we shall have
determined how we shall set about the matter, and shall be able to
give you instructions; which will probably be that you are to meet
us, at some point we will arrange, just outside the town. Of
course, you will not go in a body, but singly or in pairs; crossing
the river at various points, and travelling by different roads.
Enter the town as if you belonged to villages round.
"I will ask Monsieur de la Rochejaquelein to let you have another
pistol, each, before you leave. Of course, you will hide your arms
under your clothes. I don't know that it will be necessary to use
force; of course, at first we shall try bribery.
"At any rate, you will both be most useful in obtaining
information. There are very many people who know Monsieur Martin by
sight, and a few who know me. Possibly some of your band may have
friends in Nantes; and these, if they are of our party, would be
able to ask questions, and to find out the place in which my sister
is imprisoned, much better than strangers could do.
"We have heard nothing of what is passing in Nantes for many weeks
and, as they have sent troops to arrest Monsieur Martin, it is
possible that his father may also be arrested. If he is at liberty,
he would be sure to know where my sister is imprisoned."
The day was breaking now, and Leigh went next to the large house
which had been set apart for the use of the generals. He knew
Rochejaquelein's room, having been chatting with him till late, the
evening before. The young count sat up in bed, as he opened the
door.
"You have given me a start, Leigh," he said, with a smile. "I was
dreaming that the Blues had retaken the town and, when the door
opened, thought that it was a party come to make me prisoner.
"Is there any bad news? You look grave."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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