"Here comes our officer, monsieur!" the peasant exclaimed; as Leigh, with his party, came down the street, loudly cheered by the peasants who had fought under him.
"Why, it is Jean Martin's young brother-in-law!" Monsieur Bonchamp exclaimed and, raising his voice, he called to Jean, who was talking to a group of other officers near.
Jean ran up.
"Monsieur Martin, it is your young Englishman who has held Berruyer in check, for three hours; see how the peasants are cheering him!"
Cathelineau advanced to meet Leigh, who halted his band and saluted the general. The latter stepped forward, and returned the salute by lifting his hat.
"Monsieur Stansfield," he said, "I salute you, as the saviour of our position here. Had Berruyer arrived this afternoon, we must have retired; for we are not yet in sufficient force to withstand his attack. Tomorrow we shall, I hope, be strong enough to beat him. I have been wondering who this officer could be who, with but three or four hundred men, held the principal force of our foes, led by their commander-in-chief, in check for three hours; and, as I hear, killed three hundred of his best troops, with a loss of but thirty of ours. I ought to have thought of you, when they said that you read them an order, saying that you were acting in my name."
"It was great presumption on my part, general," Leigh said, "and I know that I had no right to use it for such a purpose; but I felt how important it was that you should have time to prepare for defence, and I thought it my duty, as there was no one else to take the matter in hand, to do so myself."
"You have done magnificently, sir, and the thanks of all La Vendee are due to you.
"I see that several of your lads are wounded," for five of them wore bandages, and a sixth was carried on a rough litter, by four of his companions. "Lads," he said, "I salute you. You have done well, indeed, and there is not a boy of your age in La Vendee but will envy you, when he hears how you, under your brave young commander, have today played the chief part in checking the advance of an army of five thousand men. I shall publish an order, today, saying that my scouts have rendered an inestimable service to their country."
"Well, Leigh,"
Jean Martin said, after the little band had fallen out, and one of the surgeons had taken charge of the wounded, "you have indeed distinguished yourself. I certainly did not think, when I persuaded your sister to let you go, that you were going to match yourself against the French general, and to command a force which should inflict a heavy check upon him. Cathelineau has asked me to bring you round to his quarters, presently, so that you can give him the full details of the affair; saying that a plan that had succeeded so well might be tried again, with equal effect. I cannot stay with you now, for I am going, with Bonchamp, to see to the work of loopholing and fortifying the church."
"I am going to look after my boys, Jean. They have had nothing to eat this morning, except a mouthful or two of bread each, and they have been up since two hours before daylight. Do you feel sure that the Blues will not attack tonight?"
"Yes, I think so. After the lesson you have given Berruyer of the fighting qualities of the peasants, it is pretty certain that he will not venture to attack us after a hard day's march, and a fight that must have sorely discouraged his men."
That evening, news came in from several quarters. Leigonyer had marched from Vihiers by three roads, directing his course towards Coron. Two of the columns had been attacked by the peasants and, being largely composed of new levies, had at once lost heart and retreated; the central column, in which were the regular troops, being obliged in consequence also to fall back. Another column had crossed the Loire and taken Saint Florent, without any very heavy fighting; and Quetineau had advanced from Bressuire to Aubiers, without meeting with resistance.
The news was, on the whole, satisfactory. It had been feared that the force at Vihiers would march north, and join that of Berruyer; and that they would make a joint attack upon the town. The disaster that had befallen them rendered this no longer possible. There was disappointment that Saint Florent had been recaptured, but none that Quetineau had advanced without opposition to Aubiers; for the whole of the peasantry from that locality were with Cathelineau.
In point of fact, Berruyer had not ordered the force at Vihiers to march to join him. On the contrary, he had intended, after capturing Chemille, which he expected to do without serious trouble, to march south and effect a junction with Leigonyer at Coron. He halted four miles from Chemille, harangued the new levies, reproaching those who had shown cowardice during the day's fighting, and exhorting them to behave with courage on the following day. No inconsiderable portion of them belonged to the force that had marched down from Paris, and these heroes of the slums, who had been foremost in the massacres in the prisons, and in their demand for the blood of all hostile to them, behaved throughout with abject cowardice, whenever they met a foe with arms in their hands.