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Page 13
As it would not rise until nearly ten o'clock that evening, and as his
uncle retired early on account of his indisposition, R�n� was able to
bid him an affectionate good-night and receive his customary blessing
without arousing any suspicion of his intended departure in the breast
of the old soldier.
Leaving his own quarters about nine o'clock, with his cross-bow over
his shoulder, R�n� walked with an unconcerned air, but with a beating
heart, directly to the main gate of the fort, at which he was
challenged by the sentinel on duty there. R�n� gave the countersign,
and was recognized by the soldier, who, however, firmly refused to
allow him to pass.
He said, "I am sorry to be obliged to interrupt thy walk, Master De
Veaux; but since the escape of the Indian prisoner last night, we have
received strictest orders not to allow a living soul to pass the gates
between sunset and sunrise."
Thus turned back at the very outset of his adventure, R�n� knew not
what to do. Should he attempt to scale the walls, he might be shot
while so doing, and at any rate there was the moat beyond, which he
could not possibly cross without detection. Seeking the deep shadow of
an angle, the boy seated himself on a gun-carriage and pondered over
the situation. The more he thought of it the more impossible did it
seem for him to escape beyond the grim walls and meet Has-se at the
appointed time.
While he was thus overcome by the difficulties of his position, and as
he had about concluded that he had undertaken an impossibility, he was
startled by the deep tones of the great bell that hung in the archway
of the gate, striking the hour of ten o'clock. Directly afterwards
came the measured tramp of the guard and the clank of their weapons as
they made their round for the purpose of relieving the sentinels on
duty, and replacing them with fresh men. R�n� sat so near the gate-way
that he could overhear what was said when that post was relieved, and
distinguishing above the rest the voice of his old friend Simon, the
armorer, he became convinced that he had been placed on duty at this
most important point.
After relieving this post the guard resumed their march, and passed so
close to where R�n� sat in the shadow of the great gun that, had the
night been a shade lighter, they must have seen him. As it was, he
escaped detection, and once more breathed freely as their footsteps
sounded fainter and fainter in the distance. After a while he heard
them return along the opposite side of the fort, and finally halt in
front of the guard-house, when silence again reigned throughout the
entire enclosure.
As R�n� still sat on the gun-carriage, thinking how he might turn to
account the fact of his friend Simon being on duty at the main gateway,
the sound of a groan came from that direction. As it was repeated, the
lad sprang to his feet and walked quietly but rapidly towards the place
whence it came. When near the gateway he laid down his cross-bow and
advanced without it, until brought to a halt by a sharp challenge in
the gruff voice of old Simon.
R�n� gave the countersign, and added, "It is I, R�n� de Veaux, good
Simon. Hearing thy groans, I came to learn their cause. What
distresses thee so grievously?"
"Ah! Master De Veaux," answered the old soldier, "I fear me greatly
that the fever of the bones with which so many of our men are suffering
has at length laid hold on me, I have been warned for some days of its
approach, and only a few hours since obtained from good Master Le Moyne
physic which, if taken at the outset, prevents much pain. I left it in
the smithy near the forge, not deeming the attack so near; but the
chill of the night air hath hastened it, and already am I suffering the
torments of the rack. Tell me, lad, wilt thou fetch me the phial from
the smithy, that I may test the virtue of its contents?"
"Not so, good Simon," answered R�n�, whose thoughts had been busy while
the old soldier told of his troubles. "I will gladly aid thee, but am
convinced that it can better be done in another way. Go thou for the
physic, for thou canst more readily place hands upon it than I, and at
the same time apparel thyself in garments thicker and more suited to
the chill of the night than those thou wearest. I will stand watch
until thy return, and pledge thee my word that none shall pass, or be
the wiser for thy absence."
All his soldier's training forbade Simon to accept this offer. To
desert his post, even though he left it guarded by another, would, he
knew, be considered one of the gravest military crimes. Therefore the
struggle in his mind between duty on the one side and his sufferings on
the other was long and pitiful.
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