The Adventures of Ferdinand Count Fathom, Complete - Tobias Smollett
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CHAPTER NINETEEN
HE PUTS HIMSELF UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF HIS ASSOCIATE, AND STUMBLES UPON
THE FRENCH CAMP, WHERE HE FINISHES HIS MILITARY CAREER.
Nothing else of moment was transacted during that campaign; and in the
winter our adventurer, with the young Count, and his friend the Tyrolese,
were disposed in quarters of cantonment, where Ferdinand made himself
amends for the chagrin he had undergone, by the exercise of those talents
in which he excelled. Not that he was satisfied with the sphere of life
in which he acted; though he knew himself consummate in the art of play,
he was not at all ambitious of a gamester's name; nor did he find himself
disposed to hazard those discoveries and explanations to which heroes of
that class are sometimes necessarily exposed. His aim was to dwell among
the tents of civil life, undisturbed by quarrels and the din of war, and
render mankind subservient to his interest, not by stratagems which
irritate, but by that suppleness of insinuation, which could not fail to
soothe the temper of those on whom he meant to prey.
He saw that all his expectations of Count Melvil's future favour were
connected with his choice of a military life; and that his promotion in
the service would, in a great measure, depend upon his personal behaviour
in such emergencies as he did not at all wish to encounter. On the other
hand, he confided so much in his own dexterity and address, that he never
doubted of being able to rear a splendid fortune for himself, provided he
could once obtain a fixed and firm foundation. He had in fancy often
enjoyed a prospect of England, not only as his native country, to which,
like a true citizen, he longed to be united; but also as the land of
promise, flowing with milk and honey, and abounding with subjects on
which he knew his talents would be properly exercised.
These reflections never occurred, without leaving a strong impression
upon the mind of our adventurer, which influenced his deliberations in
such a manner, as at length amounted to a perfect resolution of
withdrawing himself privately from a service that teemed with
disagreeable events, and of transporting himself into the country of his
ancestors, which he considered as the Canaan of all able adventurers.
But, previous to his appearance on that stage, he was desirous of
visiting the metropolis of France, in which he hoped to improve himself
in the knowledge of men and things, and acquire such intelligence as
would qualify him to act a more important part upon the British scene.
After having for some time indulged these prospects in secret, he
determined to accommodate himself with the company and experience of the
Tyrolese, whom, under the specious title of an associate, he knew he
could convert into a very serviceable tool, in forwarding the execution
of his own projects.
Accordingly, the inclination of this confederate was sounded by distant
hints, and being found apt, our hero made him privy to his design of
decamping without beat of drum; though, at the same time, he begged his
advice touching the method of their departure, that he might retire with
as much delicacy as the nature of such a step would permit. Divers
consultations were held upon this subject, before they adhered to the
resolution of making their escape from the army, after it should have
taken the field in the spring; because, in that case, they would have
frequent opportunities of going abroad on foraging parties, and, during
one of these excursions, might retire in such a manner as to persuade
their companions that they had fallen into the enemy's hands.
Agreeable to this determination, the camp was no sooner formed in Alsace
than our associates began to make preparations for their march, and had
already taken all the previous measures for their departure, when an
accident happened, which our hero did not fail to convert to his own
advantage. This was no other than the desertion of Renaldo's valet, who,
in consequence of a gentle chastisement, which he had richly merited,
thought proper to disappear, after having plundered his master's
portmanteau, which he had forced open for the purpose. Ferdinand, who
was the first person that discovered the theft, immediately comprehended
the whole adventure, and, taking it for granted that the delinquent would
never return, resolved to finish what the fugitive had imperfectly
performed.
Being favoured with the unreserved confidence of the young Count, he
instantly had recourse to his bureau, the locks of which he found means
to burst open, and, examining a private drawer, contrived with great art
to conceal Renaldo's jewels and cash, made himself master of the contents
without hesitation; then cutting open his cloak-bag, and strewing the
tent with his linen and clothes, began to raise his voice, and produce
such a clamour as alarmed the whole neighbourhood, and brought a great
many officers into the tent.
He on this, as on all other occasions, performed his cue to a miracle,
expressing confusion and concern so naturally in his gestures and
exclamation, that no man could possibly suspect his sincerity; nay, to
such a degree of finesse did his cunning amount, that when his friend and
patron entered, in consequence of an intimation he soon received of his
loss, our adventurer exhibited undoubted signs of distraction and
delirium, and, springing upon Renaldo with all the frantic fury of a
bedlamite, "Villain," cried he, "restore the effects you have stole from
your master, or you shall be immediately committed to the care of the
prevot." However mortified M. de Melvil might be at his own misfortune,
the condition of his friend seemed to touch him more nearly; he
undervalued his own loss as a trifle that could be easily repaired; said
everything which he thought would tend to soothe and compose the
agitation of Ferdinand; and finally prevailed upon him to retire to rest.
The calamity was wholly attributed to the deserter; and Renaldo, far from
suspecting the true author, took occasion, from his behaviour on this
emergency, to admire him as a mirror of integrity and attachment; in such
an exquisite manner did he plan all his designs, that almost every
instance of his fraud furnished matter of triumph to his reputation.
Having thus profitably exercised his genius, this subtle politician
thought it high time to relinquish his military expectations, and
securing all his valuable acquisitions about his own person, rode out
with his understrapper, in the midst of fifty dragoons, who went in quest
of forage. While the troopers were employed in making up their trusses,
the two adventurers advanced towards the skirt of a wood, on pretence of
reconnoitring, and the Tyrolese, who undertook to be our hero's guide,
directing him to a path which leads towards Strasburg, they suddenly
vanished from the eyes of their companions, who in a few minutes hearing
the report of several pistols, which the confederates purposely fired,
conjectured that they had fallen in with a party of French, by whom they
were made prisoners of war.
The Tyrolese had overrated his own knowledge when he took upon himself
the charge of conducting our hero; for upon their arrival at a certain
place, where two roads crossed each other, he chanced to follow that
which not only frustrated their intention, but even led them directly to
the French camp; so that, in the twilight, they fell in upon one of the
outguards before they were aware of their mistake.
Whatever confusion and perplexity they might undergo, when they heard
themselves questioned by the sentinel on the advanced post, certain it
is, they betrayed no symptoms of fear or disorder; but while Ferdinand
endeavoured to recollect himself, his fellow-traveller, with the
appearance of admirable intrepidity and presence of mind, told the
soldier that he and his companion were two gentlemen of family, who had
quitted the Austrian army, on account of having sustained some ill-usage,
which they had no opportunity of resenting in any other way, and that
they were come to offer their services to the French general, to whose
quarters they desired to be immediately conveyed.
The sentinel, to whom such an instance of desertion was neither rare, nor
indeed uncommon, directed them without scruple to the next post, where
they found a serjeant's party, from which, at their request, they were
transmitted to the officer of the grand guard, and by him next morning
introduced to Count Coigny, who very politely received them as volunteers
in the army of France. Though this translation was not at all to our
hero's liking, he was forced to acquiesce in his fate, glad to find
himself, on these terms, in possession of his effects, of which he would
otherwise have been infallibly rifled.
This campaign, however, was the most disagreeable period of his whole
life; because the manner in which he had entered into the service
subjected him to the particular observation and notice of the French
officers; so that he was obliged to be very alert in his duty, and summon
all his fortitude to maintain the character he had assumed. What
rendered his situation still more unpalatable, was the activity of both
armies in the course of this season, during which, over and above sundry
fatiguing marches and countermarches, he was personally engaged in the
affair of Halleh, which was very obstinate; where, being in the skirts of
the detachment, he was actually wounded in the face by the sword of an
hussar; but this was, luckily for him, the last time he found himself
under the necessity of exerting his military prowess, for a cessation of
arms was proclaimed before he was cured of his wound, and peace concluded
about the end of the campaign.
During his sojourn in the French camp, he assumed the character of a man
of family, who being disgusted at some supercilious treatment he had met
with in the German service, and at the same time ambitious of carrying
arms under the banners of France, took the opportunity of retreating by
stealth from his friends, accompanied only by one with whom he could
intrust his intention. In this capacity he had managed his matters to
such advantage, that many French officers of rank were very well disposed
to contribute their interest in his behalf, had his inclination verged
towards promotion in the army; but he thought proper to conceal his real
design, under the specious pretext of longing to see the metropolis of
France, that centre of pleasure and politeness, in which he proposed to
spend some time for the improvement of his address and understanding.
These were motives too laudable to be opposed by his new patrons, some of
whom furnished him with letters of recommendation to certain noblemen of
the first rank at the court of Versailles, for which place he and his
companion set out from the banks of the Rhine, very well satisfied with
the honourable dismission they had obtained from a life of inconvenience,
danger, and alarm.
CHAPTER TWENTY
HE PREPARES A STRATAGEM BUT FINDS HIMSELF COUNTERMINED--PROCEEDS ON HIS
JOURNEY, AND IS OVERTAKEN BY A TERRIBLE TEMPEST.
In the course of this journey, Ferdinand, who was never deficient in his
political capacity, held a secret conclave with his own thoughts, not
only touching the plan of his own future conduct, but also concerning his
associate, of whose fidelity and adherence he began to entertain such
doubts as discouraged him from the prosecution of that design in which
the Tyrolese had been at first included; for he had lately observed him
practise the arts of his occupation among the French officers, with such
rapacity and want of caution, as indicated a dangerous temerity of
temper, as well as a furious rage of acquiring, which might be some time
or other satiated upon his own friends. In other words, our adventurer
was afraid that his accomplice would profit by his knowledge of the road
and countries through which they travelled, and, after having made free
with his most valuable effects, in consequence of the familiarity
subsisting between them, leave him some morning without the ceremony of a
formal adieu.
Aroused by this suspicion, he resolved to anticipate the supposed
intention of the Tyrolese, by taking his own departure in the same abrupt
manner; and this scheme he actually put in execution, upon their arrival
in Bar-le-duc, where it was agreed they should spend a day to repose and
refresh themselves from the fatigue of hard riding. Ferdinand,
therefore, taking the advantage of his companion's absence--for the
Tyrolese had walked abroad to view the town--found means to hire a
peasant, who undertook to conduct him through a by-road as far as
Chalons, and with his guide he accordingly set out on horseback, after
having discharged the bill, left a blank paper sealed up in form of a
letter, directed to his friend, and secured behind his own saddle a pair
of leathern bags, in which his jewels and cash were usually contained.
So eager was our hero to leave the Tyrolese at a considerable distance
behind, that he rode all night at a round pace without halting, and next
morning found himself at a village distant thirteen good leagues from any
part of the route which he and his companion had at first resolved to
pursue.
Here, thinking himself safely delivered from the cause of all his
apprehension, he determined to lie incognito for a few days, so as that
he might run no risk of an accidental meeting upon the road with the
person whose company he had forsaken; and accordingly took possession of
an apartment, in which he went to rest, desiring his guide to wake him
when dinner should be ready. Having enjoyed a very comfortable
refreshment of sleep, with his bags under his pillow, he was summoned,
according to his direction, and ate a very hearty meal, with great
tranquillity and internal satisfaction. In the afternoon he amused
himself with happy presages and ideal prospects of his future fortune,
and, in the midst of these imaginary banquets, was seized with an
inclination of realising his bliss, and regaling his eyesight with the
fruits of that success which had hitherto attended his endeavours. Thus
inflamed, he opened the repository, and, O reader! what were his
reflections, when, in lieu of Mademoiselle Melvil's ear-rings and
necklace, the German's golden chain, divers jewels of considerable value,
the spoils of sundry dupes, and about two hundred ducats in ready money,
he found neither more nor less than a parcel of rusty nails, disposed in
such a manner as to resemble in weight and bulk the moveables he had
lost.
It is not to be supposed our adventurer made this discovery without
emotion. If the eternal salvation of mankind could have been purchased
for the tenth part of his treasure, he would have left the whole species
in a state of reprobation, rather than redeem them at that price, unless
he had seen in the bargain some evident advantage to his own concerns.
One may, therefore, easily conceive with what milkiness of resignation he
bore the loss of the whole, and saw himself reduced from such affluence
to the necessity of depending upon about twenty ducats, and some loose
silver, which he carried in his pocket, for his expense upon the road.
However bitter this pill might be in swallowing, he so far mastered his
mortification, as to digest it with a good grace. His own penetration at
once pointed out the canal through which this misfortune had flowed upon
him; he forthwith placed the calamity to the account of the Tyrolese, and
never doubting that he had retired with the booty across the Rhine, into
some place to which he knew Fathom would not follow his footsteps, he
formed the melancholy resolution of pursuing with all despatch his
journey to Paris, that he might, with all convenient expedition,
indemnify himself for the discomfiture he had sustained.
With regard to his confederate, his conjecture was perfectly right; that
adventurer, though infinitely inferior to our hero in point of genius and
invention, had manifestly the advantage of him in the articles of age and
experience; he was no stranger to Fathom's qualifications, the happy
exertion of which he had often seen. He knew him to be an economist of
the most frugal order, consequently concluded his finances were worthy of
examination; and, upon the true principles of a sharper, eased him of the
encumbrance, taking it for granted, that, in so doing, he only precluded
Ferdinand from the power of acting the same tragedy upon him, should ever
opportunity concur with his inclination. He had therefore concerted his
measures with the dexterity of an experienced conveyancer, and, snatching
the occasion, while our hero, travel-tainted, lay sunk in the arms of
profound repose, he ripped up the seams of the leather depository,
withdrew the contents, introduced the parcel of nails, which he had made
up for the purpose, and then repaired the breach with great deliberation.
Had Fathom's good genius prompted him to examine his effects next
morning, the Tyrolese, in all probability, would have maintained his
acquisition by force of arms; for his personal courage was rather more
determined than that of our adventurer, and he was conscious of his own
ascendency in this particular; but his good fortune prevented such
explanation. Immediately after dinner, he availed himself of his
knowledge, and, betaking himself to a remote part of the town, set out in
a post-chaise for Luneville, while our hero was meditating his own
escape.
Fathom's conception was sufficient to comprehend the whole of this
adventure, as soon as his chagrin would give his sagacity fair play; nor
would he allow his resolution to sink under the trial; on the contrary,
he departed from the village that same afternoon, under the auspices of
his conductor, and found himself benighted in the midst of a forest, far
from the habitations of men. The darkness of the night, the silence and
solitude of the place, the indistinct images of the trees that appeared
on every side, "stretching their extravagant arms athwart the gloom,"
conspired, with the dejection of spirits occasioned by his loss, to
disturb his fancy, and raise strange phantoms in his imagination.
Although he was not naturally superstitious, his mind began to be invaded
with an awful horror, that gradually prevailed over all the consolations
of reason and philosophy; nor was his heart free from the terrors of
assassination. In order to dissipate these disagreeable reveries, he had
recourse to the conversation of his guide, by whom he was entertained
with the history of divers travellers who had been robbed and murdered by
ruffians, whose retreat was in the recesses of that very wood.
In the midst of this communication, which did not at all tend to the
elevation of our hero's spirits, the conductor made an excuse for
dropping behind, while our traveller jogged on in expectation of being
joined again by him in a few minutes. He was, however, disappointed in
that hope; the sound of the other horse's feet by degrees grew more and
more faint, and at last altogether died away. Alarmed at this
circumstance, Fathom halted in the middle of the road, and listened with
the most fearful attention; but his sense of hearing was saluted with
nought but the dismal sighings of the trees, that seemed to foretell an
approaching storm. Accordingly, the heavens contracted a more dreary
aspect, the lightning began to gleam, and the thunder to roll, and the
tempest, raising its voice to a tremendous roar, descended in a torrent
of rain.
In this emergency, the fortitude of our hero was almost quite overcome.
So many concurring circumstances of danger and distress might have
appalled the most undaunted breast; what impression then must they have
made upon the mind of Ferdinand, who was by no means a man to set fear at
defiance! Indeed, he had well-nigh lost the use of his reflection, and
was actually invaded to the skin, before he could recollect himself so
far as to quit the road, and seek for shelter among the thickets that
surrounded him. Having rode some furlongs into the forest, he took his
station under a tuft of tall trees, that screened him from the storm, and
in that situation called a council within himself, to deliberate upon his
next excursion. He persuaded himself that his guide had deserted him for
the present, in order to give intelligence of a traveller to some gang of
robbers with whom he was connected; and that he must of necessity fall a
prey to those banditti, unless he should have the good fortune to elude
their search, and disentangle himself from the mazes of the wood.
Harrowed with these apprehensions, he resolved to commit himself to the
mercy of the hurricane, as of two evils the least, and penetrate
straightforwards through some devious opening, until he should be
delivered from the forest. For this purpose he turned his horse's head in
a line quite contrary to the direction of the high road which he had
left, on the supposition that the robbers would pursue that track in
quest of him, and that they would never dream of his deserting the
highway, to traverse an unknown forest, amidst the darkness of such a
boisterous night. After he had continued in this progress through a
succession of groves, and bogs, and thorns, and brakes, by which not only
his clothes, but also his skin suffered in a grievous manner, while every
nerve quivered with eagerness and dismay, he at length reached an open
plain, and pursuing his course, in full hope of arriving at some village,
where his life would be safe, he descried a rush-light at a distance,
which he looked upon as the star of his good fortune, and riding towards
it at full speed, arrived at the door of a lone cottage, into which he
was admitted by an old woman, who, understanding he was a bewildered
traveller, received him with great hospitality.
When he learned from his hostess, that there was not another house within
three leagues; that she could accommodate him with a tolerable bed, and
his horse with lodging and oats, he thanked Heaven for his good fortune,
in stumbling upon this homely habitation, and determined to pass the
night under the protection of the old cottager, who gave him to
understand, that her husband, who was a faggot-maker, had gone to the next
town to dispose of his merchandise; and that, in all probability, he
would not return till next morning, on account of the tempestuous night.
Ferdinand sounded the beldame with a thousand artful interrogations, and
she answered with such appearance of truth and simplicity, that he
concluded his person was quite secure; and, after having been regaled
with a dish of eggs and bacon, desired she would conduct him into the
chamber where she proposed he should take his repose. He was accordingly
ushered up by a sort of ladder into an apartment furnished with a
standing-bed, and almost half filled with trusses of straw. He seemed
extremely well pleased with his lodging, which in reality exceeded his
expectation; and his kind landlady, cautioning him against letting the
candle approach the combustibles, took her leave, and locked the door on
the outside.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
HE FALLS UPON SCYLLA, SEEKING TO AVOID CHARYBDIS.
Fathom, whose own principles taught him to be suspicious, and ever upon
his guard against the treachery of his fellow-creatures, could have
dispensed with this instance of her care, in confining her guest to her
chamber, and began to be seized with strange fancies, when he observed
that there was no bolt on the inside of the door, by which he might
secure himself from intrusion. In consequence of these suggestions, he
proposed to take an accurate survey of every object in the apartment,
and, in the course of his inquiry, had the mortification to find the dead
body of a man, still warm, who had been lately stabbed, and concealed
beneath several bundles of straw.
Such a discovery could not fail to fill the breast of our hero with
unspeakable horror; for he concluded that he himself would undergo the
same fate before morning, without the interposition of a miracle in his
favour. In the first transports of his dread, he ran to the window, with
a view to escape by that outlet, and found his flight effectually
obstructed by divers strong bars of iron. Then his heart began to
palpitate, his hair to bristle up, and his knees to totter; his thoughts
teemed with presages of death and destruction; his conscience rose up in
judgment against him, and he underwent a severe paroxysm of dismay and
distraction. His spirits were agitated into a state of fermentation that
produced a species of resolution akin to that which is inspired by brandy
or other strong liquors, and, by an impulse that seemed supernatural, he
was immediately hurried into measures for his own preservation.
What upon a less interesting occasion his imagination durst not propose,
he now executed without scruple or remorse. He undressed the corpse that
lay bleeding among the straw, and, conveying it to the bed in his arms,
deposited it in the attitude of a person who sleeps at his ease; then he
extinguished the light, took possession of the place from whence the body
had been removed, and, holding a pistol ready cocked in each hand, waited
for the sequel with that determined purpose which is often the immediate
production of despair. About midnight he heard the sound of feet
ascending the ladder; the door was softly opened; he saw the shadow of
two men stalking towards the bed, a dark lanthorn being unshrouded,
directed their aim to the supposed sleeper, and he that held it thrust a
poniard to his heart; the force of the blow made a compression on the
chest, and a sort of groan issued from the windpipe of the defunct; the
stroke was repeated, without producing a repetition of the note, so that
the assassins concluded the work was effectually done, and retired for
the present with a design to return and rifle the deceased at their
leisure.