第 27 页

saddle; much more easy dat dan beat big drum."

The boys laughed heartily at Sam's notion of riding without practice,

and assured him that it was not so easy as he imagined.

"Look here, Sam," Peter said at last, "you practice riding a little,

and then next time we get away we will ask for you to go with us." And

with this Sam was obliged to be content.

Half an hour later, when the boys were chatting with Captain Manley,

Carruthers, and two or three other officers, in the tent of the

first-named officer, they heard a commotion outside, with shouts of

laughter, in which they joined as soon as they went out and saw what

was going on.

Sam, upon leaving the Scudamores, determined at once upon trying the

experiment of riding, in order that he might--for he had no doubt all

would be easy enough--ride triumphantly up to his masters' tent and

prove his ability to accompany them at once. He was not long before

he saw a muleteer coming along sitting carelessly on his mule, with

both legs on one side of the animal, side-saddle fashion, as is the

frequent custom of muleteers. It was evident, by the slowness of his

pace, that he was not pressed for time.

Sam thought that this was a fine opportunity.

"Let me have a ride?" he said to the muleteer in broken Portuguese.

The man shook his head. Sam held out a quarter of a dollar. "There,"

he said, "I'll give you that for a hour's ride."

The muleteer hesitated, and then said, "The mule is very bad tempered

with strangers."

"Oh, dat all nonsense," Sam thought, "he only pretend dat as excuse;

any one can see de creature as quiet as lamb; don't he let his master

sit on him sideways?"

"All right," he said aloud, "I try him."

The muleteer dismounted, and Sam prepared to take his place on the

saddle. By this time several of the Rangers had gathered round, and

these foreseeing, from the appearance of the mule and the look of sly

amusement in the face of the muleteer, that there was likely to be

some fun, at once proposed to assist, which they did by giving advice

to Sam of the most opposite nature. Sam was first going to mount on

the off side, but this irregularity was repressed, and one wag, taking

the stirrup of the near side in his hand, said, "Now, Sam, up you go,

never mind what these fellows say, you put your right foot in the

stirrup, and lift your left over the saddle."

Sam acted according to these instructions, and found himself, to his

intense amazement and the delight of the bystanders, sitting with his

face to the mule's tail.

"Hullo," he exclaimed in astonishment, "dis all wrong; you know noting

about de business, you Bill Atkins."

And Sam prepared to descend, when, at his first movement, the mule put

down his head and flung his heels high in the air. Sam instinctively

threw himself forward, but not recovering his upright position before

the mule again flung up her hind quarters, he received a violent

blow on the nose. "Golly!" exclaimed the black in a tone of extreme

anguish, as, with water streaming from his eyes, he instinctively

clutched the first thing which came to hand, the root of the mule's

tail, and held on like grim death. The astonished mule lashed out

wildly and furiously, but Sam, with his body laid close on her back,

his hands grasping her tail, and his legs and feet pressing tight to

her flanks, held on with the clutch of despair.

"Seize de debil!--seize him!--he gone mad!"--he shouted frantically,

but the soldiers were in such fits of laughter that they could do

nothing.

Then the mule, finding that he could not get rid of this singular

burden by kicking, started suddenly off at full gallop.

"Stop him--stop him," yelled Sam. "Gracious me, dis am drefful."

This was the sight which met the eyes of the Scudamores and their

brother officers as they issued from their tents. The soldiers were

all out of their tents now, and the air rang with laughter mingled

with shouts of "Go it, moke!" "Hold on, Sam!"

"Stop that mule," Captain Manley shouted, "or the man will be killed."

Several soldiers ran to catch at the bridle, but the mule swerved and

dashed away out of camp along the road.

"Look, look," Tom said, "there are the staff, and Lord Wellington

among them. The mule's going to charge them."

The road was somewhat narrow, with a wall of four feet high on either

side, and the general, who was riding at the head of the party, drew

his rein when he saw the mule coming along at a furious gallop. The

staff did the same, and a general shout was raised to check or divert

her wild career. The obstinate brute, however, maddened by the shouts

which had greeted her from all sides, and the strange manner in which

she was being ridden, never swerved from her course. When she was

within five yards of the party, the general turned his horse, touched

him with his spur, and leaped him lightly over the wall; one or two

others followed his example, but the others had not time to do so

before the mule was among them. Two horses and riders were thrown

down, one on either side, with the impetus of the shock, and then,

kicking, striking and charging, the animal made its way past the

others and dashed on in despite of the attempts to stop her, and

the cries of "Shoot the brute," "Ride him down," and the angry

ejaculations of those injured in its passage. Thirty yards behind the

group of officers were the escort, and these prepared to catch the

mule, when turning to the left she leaped the wall, eliciting a scream

of terror from Sam, who was nearly shaken from his hold by the sudden

jerk.

The anger of the officers was changed into a burst of amusement at

seeing Sam's dark face and staring eyes over the mule's crupper, and

even Lord Wellington smiled grimly. An order was hastily given, and

four troopers detached themselves from the escort and started off in

pursuit. The mule was, however, a fast one, and maddened by fright,

and it was some time before the foremost of the troopers was up to

her. As he came alongside, the mule suddenly swerved round and lashed

out viciously, one of her heels coming against the horse's ribs, and

the other against the leg of the rider, who, in spite of his thick

jack-boot, for some time thought that his leg was broken.

He fell behind, and the others, rendered cautious by the lesson, came

up but slowly, and prepared to close upon the animal's head, one

from each side. Just as they were going to do so, however, they were

startled by a scattered fire of musketry, and by the sound of balls

whizzing about their ears, and discovered that in the ardor of the

chase they had passed over the space which separated the French from

the English lines, and that they were close to the former. At the same

moment they saw a party of cavalry stealing round to cut off their

retreat. Turning their horses, the dragoons rode off at full speed,

but the French cavalry, on fresher horses, would have caught them

before they reached the English lines had not a troop of British horse

dashed forward to meet them upon seeing their danger. As to the mule,

she continued her wild gallop into the French lines, where she was

soon surrounded and captured.

The boys were greatly vexed at the loss of their faithful black, but

they had little time for grieving, for an hour after they rode off

with General Beresford's division. Three days' march brought them

to Campo Mayor, a town which had, two days before, surrendered to

the French, who, surprised by the sudden appearance of the British,

evacuated the place hastily and retreated, after suffering much from

a brilliant charge of the 13th Hussars, who, although unsupported,

charged right through the French cavalry, and Beresford then prepared

to lay siege to Badajos. Had he pushed forward at once, he would have

found the place unprepared for a siege, but, delaying a few days at

Elvas to give his tired troops repose, the French repaired the walls,

and were in a position to offer a respectable defense, when he made

his appearance under its walls. The army was very badly provided with

heavy guns, but the approaches were opened and the siege commenced in

regular form, when the news arrived that Soult was marching with a

powerful army to its relief. The guns were therefore withdrawn, the

siege raised, and Beresford marched to meet Soult at Albuera.

On the 15th of May he took up his position on rising ground looking

down on Albuera, having the river in his front. Acting with him, and

nominally under his orders, was a Spanish force under Blake. This

was intended to occupy the right of the position, but with the usual

Spanish dilatoriness, instead of being upon the ground, as he had

promised, by noon, Blake did not arrive until past midnight; the

French accordingly crossed the river unmolested, and the British

general found his right turned.

Beresford's position was now a very faulty one, as the woods

completely hid the movements of the enemy, and a high hill, which they

had at once seized, flanked the whole allied position and threatened

its line of retreat.

When the morning of the 16th dawned the armies were numerically very

unequal. The British had 30,000 infantry, 2,000 cavalry, and 38 guns;

the French, 19,000 infantry, 4,000 cavalry, and 40 guns; but of these

the French were all veteran troops, while Beresford had but 6,000

British troops, the remainder being Spanish and Portuguese, upon

whom no reliance whatever was to be placed. The British officers

present were all of opinion that their chances of success, under

the circumstances, were slight indeed.

The battle commenced at nine in the morning by an attack by the French

general Godinot upon the bridge of Albuera. Their columns were,

however, so completely plowed by the guns of the Portuguese upon

the eminence behind it, that they made no progress, and Beresford

perceived at once that the main attack would be made on his right. He

despatched Tom Scudamore with orders to Blake to throw back his troops

at right angles to the main front. The pig-headed Spaniard refused to

obey, asserting that the main attack was in front. Colonel Hardinge

was sent to insist upon the order being carried out, but Blake still

refused, and Beresford himself rode furiously across and took the

command just as the French column debouched from the wood on the

right.

Before the Spanish movement was completed the French were among them.

Their cavalry swept round to the right rear, and menaced the line of

retreat, the infantry charged the wavering Spanish battalions, and the

latter at once fell into confusion and began to fall back. William

Stewart now arrived with a brigade of the second division to endeavor

to retrieve the day; but as they were advancing into position, four

regiments of French cavalry, whose movements were hidden in the

driving rain until they were close at hand, fell upon them and rode

down two-thirds of the brigade, the 31st regiment alone having time

to form square and repulse the horsemen.

Beresford himself, with his staff, was in the middle of the melee, and

the lads found themselves engaged in hand-to-hand combats with the

French troopers. All was confusion. Peter was unhorsed by the shock

of a French hussar, but Tom shot the trooper before he could cut Peter

down. Free for a moment, he looked round, and saw a French lancer

charging, lance at rest, at Lord Beresford. "Look out, sir!" he

shouted, and the general, turning round, swept aside the lance thrust

with his arm; and as the lancer, carried on by the impetus of his

charge, dashed against him, he seized him by the throat and waist,

lifted him bodily from his saddle, and hurled him insensible to

the ground. Just at this moment General Lumley arrived with some

Portuguese cavalry, and the French lancers galloped off.

The Spanish cavalry, who had orders to charge the French cavalry in

flank, galloped up until within a few yards of them, and then turned

and fled shamefully.

Beresford, now furious at the cowardice of the Spanish infantry,

seized one of their ensigns by the shoulder, and dragged him, with his

colors, to the front by main force, but the infantry would not even

then advance.

The driving rain saved the allied army at this critical moment, for

Soult was unable to see the terrible confusion which reigned in their

ranks, and kept his heavy columns in hand when an attack would have

carried with it certain victory.

In the pause which ensued, the British regiments began to make their

way to the front. Colbourn, with the 31st Regiment, was already there;

Stewart brought up Haughton's brigade; and the 29th burst its way

through the flying Spaniards and joined the 31st, these movements

being made under a storm of shot and shell from the French artillery.

Colonel Hartman brought up the British artillery, and the Spanish

generals Zayas and Ballesteros succeeded in checking and bringing

forward again some of the Spanish infantry.

The French advanced in great force, the artillery on both sides poured

in grape at short distance, and the carnage was terrible. Still the

little band of British held their ground. Stewart was twice wounded,

Haughton and Colonels Duckworth and Inglis slain. Of the 57th Regiment

twenty-two officers and four hundred men fell out of the five hundred

that had mounted the hill, and the other regiments had suffered nearly

as severely. Not a third were standing unhurt, and fresh columns of

the French were advancing.

The battle looked desperate, and Beresford made preparations for a

retreat. At this moment, however, Colonel Hardinge brought up General

Cole with the fourth division, and Colonel Abercrombie with the third

brigade of Colbourn's second division. Beresford recalled his order

for retreat, and the terrible fight continued. The fourth division was

composed of two brigades, the one, a Portuguese under General Harvey,