Through Russian Snows (18 page)

Three days later a notice was posted in the prison saying that any of
the prisoners who chose to volunteer for service in Germany were at
liberty to do so. They would not be called upon at any future time for
service against British troops, but would have the liberty to exchange
into regiments destined for other service. Eight men, including Julian,
came forward, when, an hour later, a French officer entered and called
for volunteers. Julian had already announced his intention of doing so
to his comrades in the hut, and to his other acquaintances.

"You see," he said, "we shall not be called upon for service against the
English, and I would rather fight the Russians than stay in this place
for years."

Hitherto the men who had volunteered had been hooted by their
fellow-prisoners as they went out, but the promise that they should not
be called upon for service against British troops made a great
difference in the feeling with which the offer was regarded, and had it
not been for the hope that everyone felt that he should ere long be
exchanged, the number who stepped forward would have been greatly
increased. A strong French division had marched into Verdun that
morning, and the new volunteers were all divided among different corps.
Julian, who now stood over six feet, was told off to a Grenadier
regiment. A uniform was at once given to him from those carried with
the baggage of the regiment, and the sergeant of the company in which he
had been placed took him to its barrack-room.

"Comrades," he said, "here is a new recruit. He is an Englishman who has
the good sense to prefer fighting the Russians to rotting in prison. He
is a brave fellow, and speaks our language well, and I think you will
find him a good comrade. He has handed over twenty francs to pay his
footing in the company. You must not regard him as a traitor to his
country, my friends, for he has received from the colonel a paper
authorizing him to exchange into a regiment destined for other service,
in case, after we have done with the Russians, we should be sent to some
place where we should have to fight against his countrymen."

In half an hour Julian felt at home with his new comrades. They differed
greatly in age: some among them had grown grizzly in the service, and
had fought in all the wars of the Republic and Empire; others were lads
not older than himself, taken but a month or two before from the plough.
After they had drunk the liquor purchased with his twenty francs, they
patted him on the back and drank to the health of Jules Wyatt, for
Julian had entered under his own surname, and his Christian name was at
once converted to its French equivalent. With his usual knack of making
friends, he was soon on excellent terms with them all, joined in their
choruses, and sang some English songs whose words he had as an exercise
translated into French, and when the men lay down for the night on their
straw pallets it was generally agreed that the new comrade was a fine
fellow and an acquisition to the company.

The division was to halt for two days at Verdun, and the time was spent,
as far as Julian was concerned, in the hands of a sergeant, who kept him
hard at work all day acquiring the elements of drill. On the third
morning the regiment marched off at daybreak, Julian taking his place
in the ranks, with his knapsack and firelock. After the long confinement
in the prison he found his life thoroughly enjoyable. Sometimes they
stopped in towns, where they were either quartered in barracks or
billeted on the inhabitants; sometimes they slept under canvas or in the
open air, and this Julian preferred, as they built great fires and
gathered round them in merry groups. The conscripts had by this time got
over their home-sickness, and had caught the martial enthusiasm of their
older comrades. All believed that the Grande Armée would be invincible,
and fears were even expressed that the Russians would not venture to
stand against them. Some of the older men, however, assured them that
there was little chance of this.

"The Russians are hardy fighters, comrades," one of the veterans said.
"
Parbleu!
I who tell you, have fought against them, and they are not
to be despised. They are slow at manuœvring, but put them in a place
and tell them to hold it, and they will do it to the last. I fought at
Austerlitz against the Austrians, and at Jena against the Prussians, and
in a score of other battles in Germany and Italy, and I tell you that
the Russians are the toughest enemies I have met, save only your
Islanders, Jules. I was at Talavera, and the way your people held that
hill after the cowardly Spaniards had bolted and left them, and at last
rolled us down it, was a thing I don't want to see again. I was wounded
and sent home to be patched up, and that is how I come to be here
marching against Russia instead of being under Soult in Spain. No,
comrades, you take my word for it, big as our army will be, we shall
have some tough fighting to do before we get to Moscow or St.
Petersburg, whichever the Little Corporal intends to dictate terms in."

"It is as you say, Victor," one of the other veterans said, "and it is
all the better. It would be too bad if we had to march right across
Europe and back without firing a shot, but I, who know the Russians
too, feel sure that that will never be."

Many a merry martial song was sung at the bivouac fires, many a story of
campaigns and battles told, and no thought of failure entered the minds
of anyone, from the oldest veteran to the youngest drummer-boy. Of an
evening, after halting, Julian generally had half an hour's drill,
until, three weeks after leaving Verdun, he was pronounced fit to take
part in a review under the eyes of the Emperor himself. His readiness to
oblige, even to undertaking sentry duty for a comrade who had grown
footsore on the march, or was suffering from some temporary ailment, his
cheeriness and good temper, had by this time rendered him a general
favourite in the company, and when he was dismissed from drill the
veterans were always ready to give him lessons with the sabre or rapier
in addition to those he received from the
maître d'armes
of the
regiment. Julian entered into these exercises with great earnestness.
Quarrels between the men were not infrequent, and these were always
settled by the sabre or straight sword, the officers' permission being
necessary before these duels took place. It was seldom that their
consequences were very serious. The
maître d'armes
was always present,
and put a stop to the fight as soon as blood was drawn. At present
Julian was on the best terms with all his comrades, but he felt that, if
he should become involved in a quarrel, he of all men must be ready to
vindicate his honour and to show that, Englishman as he was, he was not
a whit behind his comrades in his readiness to prove his courage. Thus,
then, he worked with ardour, and ere long became able to hold his own
even with the veterans of the regiment.

PISTOL PRACTICE

"You are a rum fellow, Wyatt," one of the captains of the depôt of his
regiment said to Frank a fortnight after he joined.

"How am I rum?"

"Why, about that Russian fellow. I never heard of a young cornet
setting-to to work like a nigger, when there is no occasion in the world
for him to do so."

"There is no absolute occasion perhaps, but you see Russian may be very
useful some day."

"Well, yes, and so might any other out-of-the-way language."

"It is an off-chance, no doubt; still it is better to be doing something
that may turn out useful than to be walking up and down the High Street
or playing billiards. I don't spend much time over it now, for there is
a good deal to do in learning one's work, but when I once get out of the
hands of the drill-sergeant and the riding-master I shall have a lot of
time to myself, and shall be very glad to occupy some of it in getting
up Russian."

"Of course it is your own business and not mine, Wyatt; but I am afraid
you won't find things very pleasant if you take a line of your own and
don't go with the rest."

"I have no wish not to go with the rest," Frank protested. "When there
is anything to be done, whether it is hunting or any sort of sport, I
shall certainly take my share in it; but don't you think yourself,
Captain Lister, that it is much better for a fellow to spend part of his
time reasonably than in lounging about, or in playing billiards or
cards?"

"I don't say that it isn't better, Wyatt, but that is hardly the
question. Many things may be better than others, but if a fellow doesn't
go with the run he gets himself disliked, and has a very hard time of
it."

"I used to hear a good deal of the same thing when I was at school,"
Frank said quietly, "but I don't think I was disliked for sticking to
work sometimes, when other fellows were playing. Surely when one is from
morning till night with other men, it can matter to no one but himself
if he gives two or three hours a day to work."

"It does not matter to anyone, Wyatt. I am quite willing to grant it,
but for all that, I am afraid, if you stick to it, you will have to put
up with a great deal of chaff, and not always of a good-natured kind."

"I can put up with any amount of chaff," Frank replied; "I mean chaff in
its proper sense. Anything that goes beyond that, I shall, I hope, be
able to meet as it deserves. Perhaps it would be better if I were to
take half an hour a day off my Russian studies and to spend that time in
the pistol-gallery."

Captain Lister looked at him earnestly. "I think you will do,
youngster," he said approvingly, "that is the right spirit. There is a
lot of rough fun and larking in a regiment, and the man that goes
through it best, is he who can take a joke good-temperedly as long as it
does not go beyond the bounds of moderation, but who is ready to resent
any wilful insult: but I think you would be very wise to do as you say.
Half an hour in a pistol-gallery every day is likely to be of vastly
more use to you than any amount of Russian. The reputation that a man is
a crack shot with a pistol will do more than anything in the world to
keep him out of quarrels. Here at the depôt at any rate, where the
fellows are for the most part young, it would certainly save you a good
deal of annoyance if it were known that, although not by any means a
quarrelsome fellow, you were determined to put up with nothing beyond
good-humoured jokes. Well, lad, I don't want to interfere with your
hobby, only I advise you not to ride it too hard, at any rate at first.
When the men all know you and get to like you, and see that, apart from
this fancy of yours, you are an all-round good fellow, as I can see you
are, they will let you go your own way. At any rate, as captain of your
troop, I will do all I can to make things pleasant for you, but don't
forget about the pistol practice. At a depôt like this, where there are
half a dozen regiments represented, you will meet with a larger
proportion of disagreeable men than you would in your own ante-room. You
see, if colonels have such men, they are glad enough to rid the regiment
of them by leaving them at the depôt, and any serious trouble is more
likely to come from one of them than from anyone in your own regiment."

"I will take your advice, certainly," Frank said; "the more so that the
time spent in learning to be a good shot with a pistol will be most
useful in a campaign, even if there is no occasion ever to put it to the
test when at home."

"There is a gunsmith in St. Margaret's Street. It is a small shop, but
the man, Woodall is his name, has got a long shed that he uses as a
pistol-gallery, a quarter of a mile out beyond the gate. He is an
admirable shot himself as well as an excellent workman, and you can't do
better than go to him. Tell him that you want to become a good shot with
the pistol, and are willing to pay for lessons. If he takes you in hand
it won't be long before he turns you out as a fair shot, whether you
ever get beyond that depends on nerve and eye, and I should think that
you have no lack of either."

"I hope not," Frank said, with a smile. "At any rate I will see him this
afternoon."

"Put on your cap at once, and I will go down with you," Captain Lister
said; "and mind, I think if I were you I should say nothing about it at
the depôt until he tells you that he has done with you. Knowing that
the man is a learner might have just the opposite effect of hearing that
he is a crack shot."

In a quarter of an hour they arrived at the gunsmith's. "Woodall,"
Captain Lister said, "my friend, Mr. Wyatt, who has lately joined, has a
fancy for becoming a first-rate pistol shot."

"He couldn't have a more useful fancy, Captain Lister. My idea is, that
every cavalry-man—trooper as well as officer—should be a dead shot
with a pistol. The sword is all very well, and I don't say it is not a
useful weapon, but a regiment that could shoot—really shoot well—would
be a match for any three French regiments, though they were Boney's
best."'

"He wants you take him in hand yourself, Woodall, if you can spare the
time to do so; of course, he is ready to pay you for your time and
trouble, and would meet you at any hour you like to name in the
afternoon at your shed."

"All right, sir. It is a rum thing to me that, while every officer is
ready to take any pains to learn the sword exercise, they seem to think
that pistol-shooting comes by nature, and that, even on horseback, in
the middle of the confusion of a charge, you have only got to point your
pistol and bring down your man. The thing is downright ridiculous! It
will be a pleasure to teach you, Mr. Wyatt. I should say, from your
look, you are likely to turn out a first-rate shot."

"It won't be for want of trying if I don't," Frank replied.

"If you will take my advice, sir, you will learn to shoot with both
hands. For a civilian who never wants to use a pistol except in a duel,
the right hand is all that is necessary, but for a cavalry-man, the left
is the useful hand. You see an officer always carries his sword in his
right hand, and if he has got to shift it to his left before he can use
his pistol, he could never use it at all, if hard pressed in a fight.
Another thing is, that the left side is the weak side of a horseman.
His sword is all right in defending him if attacked on the right, but if
he is attacked on the left he is fighting under a big disadvantage. He
has much more difficulty in guarding himself on that side, and he has
nothing like the same reach for striking as he has on the other."