Micah Clarke<br />His Statement as made to his three grandchildren Joseph, Gervas and Reuben During by Arthur Conan Doyle (read e books online free txt) ๐
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- Author: Arthur Conan Doyle
Read book online ยซMicah Clarke<br />His Statement as made to his three grandchildren Joseph, Gervas and Reuben During by Arthur Conan Doyle (read e books online free txt) ๐ยป. Author - Arthur Conan Doyle
โIt is true, good Master Pettigrue, that we owe much praise and much outpouring, and much sweet and holy contending, for this blessing which hath come upon Israel,โ said he, โbut the time hath not yet arrived. There is an hour for prayer and an hour for labour. Hark ye, friendโโto one of the prisonersโโto what regiment do you belong?โ
โIt is not for me to reply to your questions,โ the man answered sulkily.
Nay, then, weโll try if a string round your scalp and a few twists of a drumstick will make you find your tongue,โ said Saxon, pushing his face up to that of the prisoner, and staring into his eyes with so savage an expression that the man shrank away affrighted.
โIt is a troop of the second dragoon regiment,โ he said.
โWhere is the regiment itself?โ
โWe left it on the Ilchester and Langport road.โ
โYou hear,โ said our leader. โWe have not a moment to spare, or we may have the whole crew about our ears. Put our dead and wounded in the carts, and we can harness two of these chargers to them. We shall not be in safety until we are in Taunton town.โ
Even Master Joshua saw that the matter was too pressing to permit of any spiritual exercises. The wounded men were lifted into the waggon and laid upon the bedding, while our dead were placed in the cart which had defended our rear. The peasants who owned these, far from making any objection to this disposal of their property, assisted us in every way, tightening girths and buckling traces. Within an hour of the ending of the skirmish we found ourselves pursuing our way once more, and looking back through the twilight at the scattered black dots upon the white road, where the bodies of the dragoons marked the scene of our victory.
Chapter XVI. Of our Coming to Taunton
The purple shadows of evening had fallen over the countryside, and the sun had sunk behind the distant Quantock and Brendon Hills, as our rude column of rustic infantry plodded through Curry Rivell, Wrantage, and Henlade. At every wayside cottage and red-tiled farmhouse the people swarmed out us we passed, with jugs full of milk or beer, shaking hands with our yokels, and pressing food and drink upon them. In the little villages old and young came buzzing to greet us, and cheered long and loud for King Monmouth and the Protestant cause. The stay-at-homes were mostly elderly folks and children, but here and there a young labourer, whom hesitation or duties had kept back, was so carried away by our martial appearance, and by the visible trophies of our victory, that he snatched up a weapon and joined our ranks.
The skirmish had reduced our numbers, but it had done much to turn our rabble of peasants into a real military force. The leadership of Saxon, and his stern, short words of praise or of censure had done even more. The men kept some sort of formation, and stepped together briskly in a compact body. The old soldier and I rode at the head of the column, with Master Pettigrue still walking between us. Then came the cartful of our dead, whom we were carrying with us to insure their decent burial. Behind this walked two score of scythe and sickle men, with their rude weapons over their shoulders, preceding the waggon in which the wounded were carried. This was followed by the main body of the peasants, and the rear was brought up by ten or twelve men under the command of Lockarby and Sir Gervas, mounted upon captured chargers, and wearing the breastplates, swords, and carbines of the dragoons.
I observed that Saxon rode with his chin upon his shoulder, casting continual uneasy glances behind him, and halting at every piece of rising ground to make sure that there were no pursuers at our heels. It was not until, after many weary miles of marching, the lights of Taunton could be seen twinkling far off in the valley beneath us that he at last heaved a deep sigh of relief, and expressed his belief that all danger was over.
โI am not prone to be fearful upon small occasion,โ he remarked, โbut hampered as we are with wounded men and prisoners, it might have puzzled Petrinus himself to know what we should have done had the cavalry overtaken us. I can now, Master Pettigrue, smoke my pipe in peace, without pricking up my ears at every chance rumble of a wheel or shout of a village roisterer.โ
โEven had they pursued us,โ said the minister stoutly, โas long as the hand of the Lord shall shield us, why should we fear them?โ
โAye, aye!โ Saxon answered impatiently, โbut the devil prevaileth at times. Were not the chosen people themselves overthrown and led into captivity? How say you, Clarke?โ
โOne such skirmish is enough for a day,โ I remarked. โFaith! if instead of charging us they had continued that carbine fire, we must either have come forth or been shot where we lay.โ
โFor that reason I forbade our friends with the muskets to answer it,โ said Saxon. โOur silence led them to think that we had but a pistol or two among us, and so brought them to charge us. Thus our volley became the more terrifying since it was unexpected. Iโll wager there was not a man amongst them who did not feel that he had been led into a trap. Mark you how the rogues wheeled and fled with one accord, as though it had been part of their daily drill!โ
โThe peasants stood to it like men,โ I remarked.
โThere is nothing like a tincture of Calvinism for stiffening a line of battle,โ said Saxon. โLook at the Swede when he is at home. What more honest, simple-hearted fellow could you find, with no single soldierly virtue, save that he could put away more spruce beer than you would care to pay for. Yet if you do but cram him with a few strong, homely texts, place a pike in his hand, and give him a Gustavus to lead him, there is no infantry in the world that can stand against him. On the other hand, I have seen young Turks, untrained to arms, strike in on behalf of the Koran as lustily as these brave fellows behind us did for the Bible which Master Pettigrue held up in front of them.โ
โI trust, sir,โ said the minister gravely, โthat you do not, by these remarks, intend to institute any comparison between our sacred scriptures and the writings of the impostor Mahomet, or to infer that there is any similarity between the devil-inspired fury of the infidel Saracens and the Christian fortitude of the struggling faithful!โ
โBy no means,โ Saxon answered, grinning at me over the ministerโs head. โI was but showing how closely the Evil One can imitate the workings of the Spirit.โ
โToo true, Master Saxon, too true!โ the clergyman answered sadly. โAmid the conflict and discord it is hard to pick out the true path. But I marvel much that amidst the snares and temptations that beset a soldierโs
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