Produced by Al Haines. [Illustration: Cover art] [Illustration: The Fight in the Castle Yard] The Adventures of Harry Rochester A Tale of the Days of Marlborough and Eugene BY HERBERT STRANG AUTHOR OF "TOM BURNABY" "BOYS OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE" "KOBO: A STORY OF THE RUSSO-JAPANESE WAR" Illustrated by William Rainey, R.I. NEW YORK G. P. PUTNAM’S SONS 27 AND 29 WEST 230 STREET 1905 "Honour hath three things in it: the vantage-ground to do good; the approach to kings and principal persons; and the raising of a man’s own fortunes." —_Bacon_. _My dear Tom,_ _You received my former books so kindly that I feel assured you will not object to have this volume inscribed with your name. I am not the less convinced of this because you know well the country in which my opening scenes are laid, and I had the pleasure last year of playing cricket with you within a few miles of the village here disguised as Winton St. Mary._ _I hope you will bear with me for one minute while I explain that in writing this book I had three aims. First, to tell a good story: that of course. Secondly, to give some account of the operations that resulted in one of the most brilliant victories ever gained by our British arms. Thirdly, to throw some light—fitful, it may be, but as clear as the circumstances of my story admitted—on life and manners two hundred years ago. History, as you have no doubt already learnt, is not merely campaigning; and I shall be well pleased if these pages enlarge your knowledge, in ever so slight a degree, of an interesting period in our country’s annals. And if you, or any other Christ’s Hospital boy, should convict me of borrowing a week from the life of a great personage, or of antedating by a little a development in our national pastime—well, I shall feel complimented by such evidence of careful reading, and not be in the least abashed._ _I take the opportunity of this open letter to acknowledge my indebtedness to the monumental "Mémoires militaires rélatifs à la succession d’Espagne" issued by the French General Staff; to Mr. Austin Dobson for a detail which only his perfect knowledge of the 18th century could so readily have supplied; and to Lord Wolseley’s brilliant life of Marlborough, which every student of military history must hope so competent a hand will continue and complete._ _Yours very sincerely,_ _HERBERT STRANG._ _Michaelmas Day, 1905._ *Contents* _Chapter_ I The Queen’s Purse-Bearer _Chapter_ II Sherebiah Shouts _Chapter_ III Master and Man _Chapter_ IV Mynheer Jan Grootz and Another