An Adventure of Hardress Fitzgerald, a Royalist Captain Page #8

"An Adventure of Hardress Fitzgerald, a Royalist Captain" is a historical novel by Joseph Thomas Sheridan Le Fanu, set during the tumultuous times of the English Civil War. The story follows Hardress Fitzgerald, a valiant Royalist captain, as he navigates a world filled with intrigue, loyalty, and betrayal. The novel explores themes of honor and duty while depicting the struggles between royalists and parliamentarians. Le Fanu weaves a tale rich in atmospheric detail and character development, highlighting the personal and political conflicts of an era defined by its fervent loyalty and passionate disputes.

• Fiction

								

again has the beast which I bestrode been shot under me; again and again
have I seen the comrades who walked beside me in an instant laid for
ever in the dust; again and again have I been in the thick of battle,
and of its mortal dangers, and never felt my heart shake, or a single
nerve tremble: but now, helpless, manacled, imprisoned, doomed, forced
to watch the approaches of an inevitable fate--to wait, silent and
moveless, while death as it were crept towards me, human nature was
taxed to the uttermost to bear the horrible situation.

I returned again to the closet in which I had found myself upon
recovering from the swoon.

The evening sunshine and twilight was fast melting into darkness, when
I heard the outer door, that which communicated with the guard-room in
which the officers had been amusing themselves, opened and locked again
upon the inside.

A measured step then approached, and the door of the wretched cell in
which I lay being rudely pushed open, a soldier entered, who carried
something in his hand; but, owing to the obscurity of the place, I could
not see what.

'Art thou awake, fellow?' said he, in a gruff voice. 'Stir thyself; get
upon thy legs.'

His orders were enforced by no very gentle application of his military
boot.

'Friend,' said I, rising with difficulty, 'you need not insult a dying
man. You have been sent hither to conduct me to death. Lead on! My
trust is in God, that He will forgive me my sins, and receive my soul,
redeemed by the blood of His Son.'

There here intervened a pause of some length, at the end of which the
soldier said, in the same gruff voice, but in a lower key:

'Look ye, comrade, it will be your own fault if you die this night. On
one condition I promise to get you out of this hobble with a whole skin;
but if you go to any of your d----d gammon, by G--, before two hours are
passed, you will have as many holes in your carcase as a target.'

'Name your conditions,' said I, 'and if they consist with honour, I will
never balk at the offer.'

'Here they are: you are to be shot to-night, by Captain Oliver's orders.
The carbines are cleaned for the job, and the cartridges served out to
the men. By G--, I tell you the truth!'

Of this I needed not much persuasion, and intimated to the man my
conviction that he spoke the truth.

'Well, then,' he continued, 'now for the means of avoiding this ugly
business. Captain Oliver rides this night to head-quarters, with the
papers which you carried. Before he starts he will pay you a visit,
to fish what he can out of you with all the fine promises he can make.
Humour him a little, and when you find an opportunity, stab him in the
throat above the cuirass.'

'A feasible plan, surely,' said I, raising my shackled hands, 'for a man
thus completely crippled and without a weapon.'

'I will manage all that presently for you,' said the soldier. 'When you
have thus dealt with him, take his cloak and hat, and so forth, and put
them on; the papers you will find in the pocket of his vest, in a red
leather case. Walk boldly out. I am appointed to ride with Captain
Oliver, and you will find me holding his horse and my own by the door.
Mount quickly, and I will do the same, and then we will ride for our
lives across the bridge. You will find the holster-pistols loaded in
case of pursuit; and, with the devil's help, we shall reach Limerick
without a hair hurt. My only condition is, that when you strike Oliver,
you strike home, and again and again, until he is FINISHED; and I trust
to your honour to remember me when we reach the town.'

I cannot say whether I resolved right or wrong, but I thought my
situation, and the conduct of Captain Oliver, warranted me in acceding
to the conditions propounded by my visitant, and with alacrity I told
him so, and desired him to give me the power, as he had promised to do,
of executing them.

With speed and promptitude he drew a small key from his pocket, and in
an instant the manacles were removed from my hands.

How my heart bounded within me as my wrists were released from the
iron gripe of the shackles! The first step toward freedom was made--my
self-reliance returned, and I felt assured of success.

'Now for the weapon,' said I.

'I fear me, you will find it rather clumsy,' said he; 'but if well
handled, it will do as well as the best Toledo. It is the only thing I
could get, but I sharpened it myself; it has an edge like a skean.'

He placed in my hand the steel head of a halberd. Grasping it firmly, I
found that it made by no means a bad weapon in point of convenience; for
it felt in the hand like a heavy dagger, the portion which formed the
blade or point being crossed nearly at the lower extremity by a small
bar of metal, at one side shaped into the form of an axe, and at the
other into that of a hook. These two transverse appendages being muffled
by the folds of my cravat, which I removed for the purpose, formed a
perfect guard or hilt, and the lower extremity formed like a tube, in
which the pike-handle had been inserted, afforded ample space for the
grasp of my hand; the point had been made as sharp as a needle, and the
metal he assured me was good.

Thus equipped he left me, having observed, 'The captain sent me to
bring you to your senses, and give you some water that he might find you
proper for his visit. Here is the pitcher; I think I have revived you
sufficiently for the captain's purpose.'

With a low savage laugh he left me to my reflections.

Having examined and adjusted the weapon, I carefully bound the ends of
the cravat, with which I had secured the cross part of the spear-head,
firmly round my wrist, so that in case of a struggle it might not
easily be forced from my hand; and having made these precautionary
dispositions, I sat down upon the ground with my back against the wall,
and my hands together under my coat, awaiting my visitor.

The time wore slowly on; the dusk became dimmer and dimmer, until it
nearly bordered on total darkness.

'How's this?' said I, inwardly; 'Captain Oliver, you said I should
not see the moon rise to-night. Methinks you are somewhat tardy in
fulfilling your prophecy.'

As I made this reflection, a noise at the outer door announced the
entrance of a visitant. I knew that the decisive moment was come, and
letting my head sink upon my breast, and assuring myself that my
hands were concealed, I waited, in the attitude of deep dejection, the
approach of my foe and betrayer.

As I had expected, Captain Oliver entered the room where I lay. He was
equipped for instant duty, as far as the imperfect twilight would allow
me to see; the long sword clanked upon the floor as he made his way
through the lobbies which led to my place of confinement; his ample
military cloak hung upon his arm; his cocked hat was upon his head, and
in all points he was prepared for the road.

This tallied exactly with what my strange informant had told me.

I felt my heart swell and my breath come thick as the awful moment which
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