Part 15 (1/2)
”Thank you,” Major Tempe said. ”Have you a ladder?”
”There is one lying on the ground by the wall, to the left. I hope you do not intend to shed blood?”
”No,” Major Tempe said, grimly. ”I think that I can promise that there will be no blood shed--that is to say, unless we are attacked by the Prussians.
”Good night, and thank you. I need not say that--for your own sake--you will not mention, in the morning, having seen us.”
The commandant now rejoined his party, and they advanced to the house indicated. He then chose ten men to accompany him; ordering the rest to remain at a distance of twenty yards, with their rifles c.o.c.ked, and in readiness for instant action. The ladder was then brought forward by the men selected, and placed against the window.
Major Tempe had, before starting, provided himself--from the carpenter of the village--with an auger, a small and fine saw, a bottle of oil, and a thin strip of straight iron. He now mounted the ladder and, after carefully examining the window--which was of the make which we call, in England, latticed--he inserted the strip of iron, and tried to force back the fastening. This he failed in doing, being afraid to use much force lest the fastening should give suddenly, with a crash. He had, however, ascertained the exact position of the fastening.
Having, before mounting, carefully oiled the auger and saw, he now applied the former; and made a hole through the framework at the junction of the two sides of the window, just above the fastening.
Introducing the saw into this hole, he noiselessly cut entirely round the fastening, with a semi-circular sweep, to the junction of the window below it; and as he did so, the window swung partially open, by its own weight. He now descended the ladder again, took off his boots; and ordered two of the men to do the same, and to put aside all arms, and accouterments, that could strike against anything and make a noise.
Then, taking a coil of strong rope in his hand, and followed by the two men, he again mounted the ladder. The instructions to the men were that one was to enter at once, with him; the other to remain where he was, until he received the signal. The major entered the room noiselessly, and dropped at once on to his hands and knees; and was, a minute after, joined by his follower. He now crawled forward--groping his way with the greatest caution, so as to make no noise--until he found the bed. Then, rising to his feet, he threw himself upon the sleeping man and, in a moment, had him tightly by the throat with one hand, while the other was placed firmly on his mouth.
Paralyzed by the suddenness of the attack, and with his arms tightly kept down by the bedclothes, and the weight of his a.s.sailant, the schoolmaster was unable to struggle.
”Now, light the light,” Major Tempe said, quietly.
His follower at once struck one of the noiseless German matches--which are used almost exclusively, in these parts of France--and lighted a lamp which was standing upon the table. He then came up to the bed, and a.s.sisted the major to securely gag and bind the prisoner--whose looks, when he saw into whose hands he had fallen, betokened the wildest terror.
”Search his pockets,” Major Tempe said. ”We may find something of importance.”
In the breast pocket of his coat was a pocket book; and in it among the papers was a letter, from the colonel commanding at Saverne--which had evidently been brought to him by the officer of the detachment, that morning--telling him to come down to Saverne, on the following evening, to guide the troops to the village in which the franc tireurs were stationed. The letter also enclosed ten hundred-thaler notes [a thaler is about equal to two s.h.i.+llings].
”They are part of our blood money,” the major said, grimly. ”Bring them away, they are the fair spoil of war.
”Tell Barre to come in.”
The man on the ladder now joined them; and together they quietly lifted the schoolmaster, and carried him to the window. They then fastened a rope round the prisoner's body, lifted him out on to the ladder, and lowered him gradually down to the men below.
They now blew out the light, and descended the ladder. The two men who had waited at its foot raised the prisoner on their shoulders, and carried him off to their comrades; while the commandant and the other two men hastily put on their boots, seized their arms and accouterments and, in two minutes, the whole party were marching quietly down the village. No incident, whatever, marked their retreat. The sentry had been undisturbed, during their absence; and in a few minutes the whole party were out of the village, without the slightest alarm having been raised.
They followed the road by which they had come, for about a mile; and then turned off a side path in the forest, to the left. They followed this for a short distance, only, into the forest; and then, when they arrived at a small, open s.p.a.ce, a halt was ordered.
The prisoner was dropped unceremoniously to the ground, by the two franc tireurs who carried him on their shoulders, and a fire was speedily lighted.
Major Tempe then ordered the prisoner to be unbound and ungagged and, with a guard upon either side of him, to be placed in front of the company--drawn up in a semi-circle by the fire. The prisoner was a man of about fifty-five, with a sallow, cunning face. He could scarcely stand and, indeed, would have sunk on his knees, in his abject terror, had not the guards by his side held him by the arms.
”Men,” Major Tempe said, ”undoubted as the guilt of the prisoner appeared to be, we had got no absolute proof; and a mistake might have been possible, as to the name of the village whose schoolmaster had betrayed us. This letter found in his coat pocket, and this German money--the price of our blood--leave no further doubt possible.”
And here the major read the Prussian colonel's letter.
”Are you still of opinion that he merits death?”
”Yes, yes,” the men exclaimed, unanimously.
”Prisoner,” Major Tempe said, ”you have heard your sentence. You are a convicted traitor--convicted of having betrayed your country, convicted of having sold the blood of your countrymen. I give you five minutes to ask that pardon, of G.o.d, which you cannot obtain from man.”