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 will do what I can to help you, my friend. I am not one of
those who think that France can be regenerated by the slaughter of
the whole of the best of her people, and by all power being given
to the worst.
"'Let me see; I cannot go and buy sailor's clothes myself, but my
old servant can be trusted absolutely. There is a shop down by the
river where such things are sold. I will get her to go down there,
and say that she has a nephew just arrived from sea, and that she
wants to give him a new rig out; but as he has hurt himself, and
cannot come, she must choose it. What is your height?'
"'About five foot ten,' I said.
"'And how broad round the shoulders?'
"'Forty-three inches. I have plenty of money to pay for all that is
necessary, and more,' and I took out my roll of assignats.
"'Since you are well provided,' he said, 'I will take some. The
people are very poor, and we all suffer together. They pay me when
they can and, so that I can make ends meet, I am well content.'
"In an hour the woman returned, with a suit of rough sailor's
clothes, and you may imagine how glad I was to put them on, the
doctor helping me on with the jacket.
"'Now,' he said, when I had dressed and eaten some food the old
servant had set before me, 'it happens that at daybreak tomorrow
one of my patients, the master of a river boat, is starting on the
turn of tide for Honfleur. I will first go round to the auberge,
and tell the landlord that your arm is badly broken, and that I
shall keep you here for the night, as you will require attention;
then I will go to the captain, and arrange for your passage. When I
tell him that you are a patient of mine, and that I should be
obliged if he would find you some quiet lodging at Honfleur, where
you can remain till your arm is better and you are fit to be about
again, I have no doubt he will manage it. He is a good fellow, and
I shall let him understand that you don't want inquiries made about
you.
"'Now, you had better lie down on a bed upstairs, and try to sleep.
I will call you in time to go down to the boat.'
"'There is no fear of my getting you into trouble?' I asked. 'I
would rather go on to Honfleur by road at once, than do so.'
"'There is no fear of that; the maire is a friend and patient of
mine. And if, as may be the case, the landlord mentions the arrival
of a stranger, and his coming to me; I shall simply tell the maire
that, your arm being badly broken, I kept you for the night, and
then sent you on by boat; and that as for papers, not being a
gendarme, I never thought of asking you for them.'
"The next morning he dressed my arm again, and then himself took me
down to the boat, and handed me over to its skipper. He absolutely
refused any payment for his services; but I insisted on his
receiving a couple of hundred francs, in assignats, for the use of
his poorer patients.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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