Historical Novels & Novellas of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle by Arthur Conan Doyle

Author:Arthur Conan Doyle [Doyle, Arthur Conan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9788027219346
Publisher: Musaicum Books
Published: 2017-10-04T00:00:00+00:00

‘Heh, Crauford, what the deuce is this?’ asked the thin man.

‘D’you hear, sir?’ cried the man with the red coat. ‘Lord Wellington wants to know what this means.’

My poor Bart broke into an account of all that had occurred, but that rock-face never softened for an instant.

‘Pretty fine, ‘pon my word, General Crauford,’ he broke in. ‘The discipline of this force must be maintained, sir. Report yourself at headquarters as a prisoner.’

It was dreadful to me to see the Bart mount his horse and ride off with hanging head. I could not endure it. I threw myself before this English General. I pleaded with him for my friend. I told him how I, Colonel Gerard, would witness what a dashing young officer he was. Ah, my eloquence might have melted the hardest heart; I brought tears to my own eyes, but none to his. My voice broke, and I could say no more.

‘What weight do you put on your mules, sir, in the French service?’ he asked. Yes, that was all this phlegmatic Englishman had to answer to these burning words of mine. That was his reply to what would have made a Frenchman weep upon my shoulder.

‘What weight on a mule?’ asked the man with the red coat.

‘Two hundred and ten pounds,’ said I.

‘Then you load them deucedly badly,’ said Lord Wellington. ‘Remove the prisoner to the rear.’

His dragoons closed in upon me, and I—I was driven mad, as I thought that the game had been in my hands, and that I ought at that moment to be a free man. I held the cards up in front of the General.

‘See, my lord!’ I cried; ‘I played for my freedom and I won, for, as you perceive, I hold the king.’

For the first time a slight smile softened his gaunt face.

‘On the contrary,’ said he, as he mounted his horse, ‘it is I who won, for, as you perceive, my King holds you.’

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