Jack Archer: A Tale of the Crimea Page 4

  CHAPTER IV.

  GALLIPOLI

  Every day brought fresh troops to Malta, until the brigade of Guardsand eleven regiments of infantry of the line were gathered there. Thestreets of Valetta were like a fair, crowded with soldiery chatteringwith the vendors of oranges, dates, olives, and apples. Cigars, too,are nowhere cheaper than in Malta, and as, unfortunately, spirits wereequally low in price, the British soldier, small as was his daily rateof pay, found but little difficulty in intoxicating himself.

  In a few days the French began to put in an appearance, and the crowdin the streets was even more lively and picturesque than before. Allthis time the great topic of discussion was whether matters would orwould not come to the arbitration of war.

  During their stay Jack Archer and his comrades enjoyed themselvesheartily, but it was by no means all play. The sailors had an immensedeal to do in moving stores, preparing fittings, and getting mattersready for the forward despatch of the troops, should war be finallydecided upon.

  A month after the arrival at Malta, the doubt was put an end to, forupon the 28th of March war was formally declared, and on the 29th theFrench sailed for Gallipoli, followed, the next day, by Sir GeorgeBrown with the advance party of the light division.

  The same day the "Falcon" steamed out of harbor, and, although thestay at Malta had been enjoyed, all hands were delighted at theadvance towards the scene of future action.

  Gallipoli stands near the upper end of the Dardanelles, and is animportant military position.

  "It looks a nice little town," Delafield said, on returning after hisfirst visit in the captain's gig, to his comrades. "But I can't saymuch for it when you see it at close quarters. One got tired of Malta,but Malta was a paradise to this place. The confusion seems to betremendous. But those jolly old Turks are sitting at their doors,smoking like so many old owls, and do not seem to interest themselvesin the slightest."

  "And did you see any lovely houris?" Simmonds asked, laughing.

  "That I did not," Delafield said. "I saw some bundles looking likerolls of dirty white sheets ready for the wash, with a pair of big,yellow shoes underneath them, and I believe that they were women. Idid not see any of their faces. I didn't want to, for I'm sure nodecently pretty woman would allow herself to be made such an object asthat."

  The same work of unloading and transporting goods to the shore, whichhad gone on at Malta, was continued here. Every day fresh troopsarrived, English and French, and the whole of the undulating plainround Gallipoli was dotted with their camps. By the end of the month22,000 French and some 10,000 English were gathered there.

  After the day's work was done, the midshipmen often got leave ashore,and enjoyed the scene of bustle and confusion which reigned there.Enormous numbers of pack animals and bullock-carts were at work, andeven at this early period of the campaign the immense superiority ofthe French arrangements over the English was manifest. This was butnatural, as the French, like other European nations, had been in thehabit in time of peace of regarding the army as a machine which mightbe required for war, and had therefore kept the commissariat,transport, and other arrangements in a state of efficiency. InEngland, upon the other hand, the army had been entirely neglected,and had been made the subject of miserable, petty economy in all itsbranches, and the consequence was that war found us wholly unprepared,except that we possessed an army of seasoned soldiers such as, in thenature of things under the new regulations, England will never seeagain.

  On going ashore the midshipmen would sometimes ramble away to thecamp, sometimes stroll through the town, and amuse themselves bychaffing the grave Turkish shopkeepers, by watching the English andFrench soldiers staggering along with drunken gravity, sometimes withtheir arms round each other's necks, or by kissing their hands airilyto the veiled figures, of whom they got dim glimpses through theclosely-latticed windows. The upper part of the town was inhabitedprincipally by Greeks, whose sympathies were, for the most part, withthe Russians, and who were as quarrelsome and turbulent as the Turkswere placid and good-natured.

  One evening Hawtry and Jack had obtained leave to be out later thanusual, as they had been asked to dine with some of the officers of theColdstreams whom they had met on board the "Ripon." The meal was arough one, for the country had been completely eaten up by thisimmense accession of strangers. Still, the caterer had succeeded inprocuring some tough fowls in addition to the ration beef, and asthese were washed down by champagne, there was no reason to grumble.

  The boys spent a merry evening, and started at half-past ten for thetown. This was already quiet, and for the most part asleep, when theyreached it. A few officers, who had been dining with the variousgenerals who had their headquarters there, or with friends on boardship, were the sole people in the streets, although from some of theclosed windows of the drinking-shops in the Greek quarter came soundsof singing and noise, for every one was earning high wages, and theplace was full of Maltese, Alexandrians, Smyrniotes, and, indeed, theriff-raff of all the Mediterranean cities, who had flocked to thescene of action to make money as petty traders, hucksters,camp-followers, mule-drivers, or commissariat-laborers.

  As they were passing through a dark and silent street they suddenlyheard a sound of shouting and the clash of weapons, the fall of heavybodies, and the tramping of feet. Then a window was dashed open, avoice shouted, "Help!" and then the strife continued as before.

  "Come on, Archer," Hawtry exclaimed. "There are some of our fellows ina row with these Greeks."

  The door was fastened, but the boys burst in a window next to it,leapt into the room, groped their way to the door, and then findingthe stairs, hurried up. On the landing a dim oil light was burning,but it needed no light to indicate the room in which the struggle wasstill proceeding. The door stood ajar, and the boys, with drawn dirks,dashed into the room.

  It was a large one. In the centre was a table on which were strewnseveral packs of cards; some chairs lay on the ground; the oil from anoverturned lamp was forming a great black stain on the greentable-cloth. In the corner by the window, three officers with drawnswords, were defending themselves against the attacks of some twentyGreeks, armed with knives. In the confusion, none had noticed theentry of the boys.

  "Pick up a chair, Jack," Hawtry said, recoiling from the idea ofrushing with his dirk upon unprepared men.

  The two lads each seized one of the strong, but light, chairsscattered on the floor, and, with a sudden hurrah, flung themselvesupon the Greeks. Two or three of these were knocked down and the rest,taken by surprise by the sudden attack, recoiled, and the boys werespeedily by the side of the assailed officers.

  The Greeks drew back, but seeing how slight was the reinforcement,again advanced to the attack. Three of their number lay upon theground, and several of the others were bleeding freely. Upon the otherhand, one of the officers leant against the wall, badly wounded, whileboth of the others had received nasty cuts. They would, before this,have been overpowered, had they not hastily pulled a small table and achair or two, so as to form a sort of barricade, across the angle, andso prevented the Greeks from closing upon them. One of the officerswas an Englishman, the others were French. All were quite young men.There was scarcely time for the exchange of a word before the Greekswere upon them again.

  The boys had again drawn their dirks, but these formed but a poorweapon against the chairs with which several of the Greeks, seeing theinferiority of their knives, had now armed themselves. Hawtry receiveda crashing blow on the head which sent him staggering back against thewall, and Jack one on his arm which rendered it useless.

  "This will never do," the English officer shouted. "Let us make a rushat the scoundrels, and fight our way to the door. It's our onlychance."

  "Wait a moment," Jack said, a thought striking him. Stooping downbehind the others, he pulled out a matchbox from his pocket, struck alight, and applied it to the muslin curtains which hung before thewindow. In a moment a broad sheet of flame leaped up. The Greeksuttered a shout of terror and surprise.r />
  "Now!" Jack shouted. "All together."

  In a moment the five dashed down the table, and flung themselves uponthe Greeks. These, taken by surprise, and paralyzed by the great sheetof flame which was already licking the wooden ceiling, recoiled. Somewere cut down as they stood. Others were hurled aside. Two or threefell before the dirks of the midshipmen, and in a few seconds thelittle party had burst through the crowd of their assailants, and hadgained the door of the room. Here the Englishman and one of the Frenchofficers turned and made a stand, in order to give the midshipmen timeto assist their badly-wounded comrade down the narrow stairs, and toopen the door of the house. As they flung this open, Jack shouted upthat the way was free, and then, half carrying the wounded Frenchman,they hurried down the street, uttering shouts for assistance. Thelattice work of the window had already caught fire, and a sheet offlame lit up the street. Before they had gone fifty yards, they hearda noise behind them, as the two officers, followed by the Greeks,issued from the house.

  Fortunately, at this moment a party of English officers, who had beendining at the general's, ran up at full speed, attracted by the shoutsof the boys and the glare of fire. Upon seeing this accession ofstrength, the Greeks at once desisted from the attack, and made off.By this time the windows of the various houses were opening, andshouts of affright arose at the sight of the conflagration; for thehouses were, for the most part, constructed of wood, and, once begun,there was no saying where a fire would end.

  "What is all this about, gentlemen?" one of the officers, a colonel,asked. "Give me your names, for there must be an inquiry into thematter. I see you are all wounded, and 'tis best to get back to campat once. I fear this will be a serious matter."

  In five minutes the street was full of people, and the flames hadobtained entire possession of the house, and were rushing high intothe air. The wind was blowing briskly, and it was evident that thesafety of the whole quarter of the town was menaced. The Frenchofficer succeeded in getting four Maltese to carry his comrade to thecamp. A door was taken off its hinges, and they were soon upon theirway.

  Jack and Hawtry, who had only received one or two slight slashes ofknives, remained to see what came of it. The Turkish guards werespeedily on the spot, but these could do nothing beyond trying toprevent the rabble from commencing a general pillage. From every housethe people were throwing out their goods of all descriptions. Everyminute the fire spread, and six or seven houses were already in flameswhen, but a quarter of an hour after the outbreak of the fire, a heavytramp was heard, and a battalion of French infantry from their nearestcamp came up at a double. There was no water, no means whatever ofextinguishing the flames, but the active little Frenchmen did not losea minute. At the word of command, they broke their ranks, and swarmedinto the houses, and in a minute a perfect avalanche of goods wasthrown from the windows. Some stood along outside the houses, othersclimbed upon their shoulders, on these again others took their places,and so on until living ladders were formed, up which a score of menclimbed the roofs. These set to work with axe and hatchet, tearing offthe tiles and hacking down rafters, while their comrades in the houseshewed away at floors and staircases. In less than a quarter of an hourfour houses on either side of those in flames were completely gutted,and the fire, thus cut off, speedily burnt itself out, fifteen houseshaving been consumed.

  By this time large numbers of troops, together with sailors from thefleet, had arrived, but the work was fortunately done, and had it notbeen for the early appearance of the French battalion, and theenergetic measures which they adopted, a great portion of the Greekquarter would have been destroyed.

  Among those who had landed was a strong party of seamen from the"Falcon," under Mr. Hethcote. The boys joined these, and returned withthem on board ship. They reported to the lieutenant the share whichthey had had in the affair.

  "It is an unpleasant business," he said, "but I do not blame you forgoing to the assistance of those attacked when you heard an Englishmancall for help. Still, Mr. Archer, it is clear that you have prettynearly burnt down the town of Gallipoli, and I don't know the light inwhich the admiral and Sir George Brown may view the affair. As you saythat no one took any notice of you at the time that the names of themilitary officers were taken, it is possible that no inquiry will bemade about you. I shall, of course, report the matter to CaptainStuart, and he must act as he thinks fit. But, in the meantime, Ishould advise you to say nothing of the share which you have had inthe matter to any one. You must have those gashes you have gotplastered up. But I will speak to the surgeon. Do you know the name ofthe English officer concerned?"

  "Yes, sir, he was Lieutenant Tewson of the Grenadier Guards. We onlyexchanged a few words before he went away, but he begged us to go andsee him."

  "I should advise you to keep away from him altogether, until thematter has blown over," Mr. Hethcote said. "Did you give him yournames?"

  "No, sir, we had no time."

  "All the better," Mr. Hethcote said. "It will, of course, come out inthe course of the inquiry that two midshipmen were concerned, and itis just as well that he cannot give your names. I expect the ship tobe ordered up to Constantinople in a day or two, and I hope we may beoff before any inquiries are made. One can never say how thesebig-wigs may take things. Sir George Brown is a tremendous martinet,and he may consider that it would have been far better that fiveofficers, who chose to go to a gambling-house, should be killed, thanthat Gallipoli, full as it is of valuable stores, and munitions ofwar, should run the risk of being destroyed by fire. There, now, gooff to the surgeon, and get your faces strapped up, and then ask himto come to me at once. If you two young gentlemen go on as you havebegun, you are not likely to live to obtain eminence in yourprofession. It is but two months since we left England, and we havenot yet seen an enemy, yet you have had two as narrow escapes for yourlives as one could wish to have."

  Very severe was the cross-questioning which the lads had to undergo inthe midshipmen's berth as to the manner in which they came by theircut faces, and they were obliged to take refuge under the strict orderof the first lieutenant that they were to say nothing about it.

  Fortunately the next day the "Falcon" received orders to proceed tothe Bosphorus, and got up her anchor and steamed up the Dardanellesbefore dark. Presently Mr. Hethcote came up to Jack, who was on dutyon the quarter-deck.

  "I tell you what, Jack," he said quietly, "it is very lucky for youthat we are away. The French officer died during the night. I hearthat his lungs were pierced. Sir George Brown is said to be furious,and threatens to try Tewson by court-martial, for entering agambling-house in spite of strict orders to the contrary. Of course itis well known that scores of other officers have done the same, but itis only when a thing is found out that there is a row about it. Tewsonhad been dining on board a French ship, and was going home with thetwo French officers, who were also there. None of them had been in agambling-house before, but it seems they had heard of this place,which was one of the most notorious dens in the town, and agreed tolook in for a few minutes to see what it was like. They began to playand had an extraordinary run of luck, winning something like fourhundred pounds. The bank was broken, and the Greeks wanted them tostop till some more money was procured. This they would not do, andthe Greeks then attacked them. Tewson has strong interest, and theaffair will probably, in his case, blow over. The Greeks have made acomplaint against them for wilfully setting fire to the house, andthis is the most serious part of the affair. I am told that bothTewson and the French officer deny having done so. They say that itwas done in order to effect a diversion, by two officers who came into their assistance in the middle of the fight, and both declare thatthey do not know who they were or anything about them, as they onlysaw them for a minute in the middle of the confusion. Some one hassaid that two young naval officers were seen just at the beginning ofthe fire, and no doubt inquiries will be set on foot. But now that weare fairly off, they will find out nothing at Gallipoli, and it'slikely that it will all blow over. The auth
orities have plenty tothink about at present without troubling themselves very much infollowing up a clue of this kind."

  In all the world there is no more lovely scene than that which greetedJack Archer's eyes as he went on deck the following morning.

  The "Falcon" was anchored about mid-channel. On the left wasConstantinople with its embattled wall, its palaces, its green foliagedown to the water's edge, its domes and minarets rising thickly.Separated from it by the Golden Horn, crossed by a bridge of boats,are Pera and Galatta, street rising above street. Straight over thebows of the ship was the Bosphorus, with its wooded banks dotted withvillas and palaces. To the right was Scutari, with the great barrackstanding on the edge of a cliff some fifty feet in height. Little didthose who looked at the great square pile of building dream that eremany months it would be crowded from top to bottom with British sickand wounded, and that even its ample corridors would prove whollyinsufficient to contain them. The water itself was thronged withshipping of all nations: men-of-war, merchant steamers crowded withstores, troop-ships thronged with red-coats; great barges, laden tothe water's edge, slowly made their way between the ships and theshore. The boats of the shipping, filled with soldiers, rowed in thesame direction. Men-of-war boats, with their regular, steady swing,went hither and thither, while among all crossed and re-crossed fromConstantinople to Scutari, the light caicques with their one or twowhite-shirted rowers. No boats in the world are more elegant inappearance, none except those built specially for racing can vie withthem in speed. The passenger sits comfortably on a cushion in thebottom of the boat, and smokes the long pipe which the boatman, as amatter of course, fills and hands to him as he takes his seat, whilethe boatmen themselves, generally Albanians, and singularly handsomeand athletic men, lay themselves down to their work with a vigor and aheartiness which would astound the boatmen of an Englishwatering-place.

  A scene so varied, so beautiful, and so busy could not be equalledelsewhere.