Balaclava

“ The girl's thoughts "were with her heart, and that was far away," to where the lofty batteries of Sebastopol and the red-and-white marble cliffs of Balaclava looked down upon the Euxine, where scenes of which her gentle heart could form no conception were being enacted hourly; where human life and human agony were of no account ”

“ We were left to die without having any medicine or even a cup of hot water. Several weeks elapsed before Lord Lucan found it out, for everyone seemed afraid of him and Cardigan, and these two never talked together. Lord Lucan occupied all the houses in Balaclava Harbour, while Lord Cardigan lived on his yacht seven miles from his command, and never visited them, although they were dying of hunger and starvation, and even when we went into action at Balaclava and Inkerman he still lived aboard. ”

“ Jack and Will occupied a tent together. Since Balaclava all troop distinctions had been lost. The handful of survivors formed themselves into one regiment, the men of different corps making troops. Since that day in the North Valley the survivors seemed drawn together by a mutual bond of sympathy, and in place of the jealousy often existing between regiments there was a feeling of good-fellowship. ”

“ The distinction of having sounded the charge that sent so many brave fellows to their death down the valley of Balaclava has been claimed by, and on behalf of, several people. Amongst others the distinction has been claimed for Trumpet-major H. Joy of the 17th Lancers. He was staff-trumpeter to Lord Lucan, and was with his lordship on the day of the charge. The bugle which Joy carried in the Crimea was sold by public auction in 1894, and was bought for the fabulous sum of seven hundred and fifty guineas. ”

“ He must be got away from here anyway. There’s a convoy of sick going down to Balaclava to-day for Scutari. I’ll send round a litter for him.’
Will was conscious and heard these words, and when they were alone he said feebly, ‘Jack, old man, the best chum a fellow ever had, don’t send me to Scutari; we’ve heard of the horrors of that place. Let me die here. It makes little difference how or when we go, the few of us who are left.’
‘No, Will; we can save you if you get into hospital. ”

“ Early in the morning shoals of people from Balaclava—Greeks, Armenians, Turks, sailors from the fleet, and others—came to visit the battlefield, taking medals, ribbons, crucifixes, chains, and so on as mementos of the great fight.
To prevent this the cavalry were ordered to turn{295} out as patrols, and to keep every one off the battlefield but those engaged there. All day long Jack and Will were thus engaged, and a terrible duty it was.
‘It’s worse than fighting,’ said Jack. ‘Just look there, Will, where we fought so long at the Sandbag Battery. ”

“ Think of men dying under such conditions. The horses also were dying of hunger some of them eating all the hair off their bodies. If it had not been for Lord George Paget I do not know what would have become of us. He marched us down to Balaclava but the journey proved too much for our horses, over 100 stuck fast and died in the mud. ”

“ To get him in perspective, one must regard him as belonging to the past. Now the past is a relative conception. Save to the academic student of History, Charlemagne is as remote as Sesostris. To the world emerging from the stupor of the great war, Mons is as distant as Balaclava. Time is really reckoned by the heart-throbs of individuals or nations. Yester-year is infinitely far away. . . .
To get back to Baltazar and his story. In the first place it may be said that he was a man of fits and starts; a description which does not imply irresponsible mobility of purpose and spasmodic achievement. ”

“ WAR IN GRIM EARNEST. JACK and Will, both feeling sore and stiff, went off together to their own lines, and were busy with their horses when Sergeant-major Barrymore came striding along.
‘Oh Blair,’ he cried out, ‘I’ve been looking for you. Get saddled up as quickly as you can; you’ve got to go down to Balaclava with a despatch.’
‘Right you are, major,’ replied Jack ”

“ The hundred invalids, men of all regiments, a pale and sickly crowd, who were waiting at Balaclava to embark, soon after arriving took up their position on the left of the Guards.{222}
Jack had kept close to Captain Wintle, and reaching the top of the ridge he saw the great mass of Russian cavalry still advancing. Presently some squadrons detached themselves and shaped their way towards the Highlanders. These, on account of some casualties they had already suffered from the enemy’s artillery, had retired behind the crest of the hill and lay down. ”

“ The flight of the Turks was ultimately arrested, and they were persuaded to form up in a wobbly line on the left of the 93rd Highlanders, who under old Sir Colin lined the heights outside Balaclava.{220}
Round shot from the forts now began to fall in amongst the Light Brigade, and several horses were hit.
‘This is the part of fighting I don’t like,’ said Jack; ‘this sitting still and being fired at. Why on earth don’t they let us do something?’
‘Ha, hum! don’t be impatient,’ growled Sergeant Linham, who it was noted looked remarkably smart that morning ”

“ The Russian General could see the allied armies—the French massing on the heights of Sebastopol and the British Infantry and Artillery marching down both valleys. The Russians, recognising the uselessness of trying to take Balaclava, ordered their army on the Causeway Heights to retreat and abandon the captured guns. Lord Raglan sent General Airey, Quarter-master General, to give Lord Lucan instructions to which he paid no attention. The third order was, “The Cavalry to advance and take advantage of any opportunity to recover the heights ”

“ They have all risen to high commands. So would you; you are clever, you are brave, you are a gentleman. You say in your army you can never hope to be an officer. Why not join ours? Alexis is your friend, he has great influence, he would do anything for me. In a few years you might be a colonel, a General. Who knows?’
Jack paused and gazed at his companion in astonishment. ‘I—I’—— he began. ‘It is impossible.’
‘Why?’
Jack’s position was getting awkward. He heartily wished himself back amongst the mud and filth of Balaclava, amongst the wretchedness and dangers of the camp. ”

“ Malaga, madame, is dexterity personified; her little wrist or her little foot can rid her of three or four men. She is the goddess of gymnastics."
"She must be stupid—"
"Oh, no," said Paz, "I find her as amusing as the heroine of 'Peveril of the Peak.' Thoughtless as a Bohemian, she says everything that comes into her head; she thinks no more about the future than you do of the sous you fling to the poor. She says grand things sometimes. You couldn't make her believe that an old diplomatist was a handsome young man, not if you offered her a million of francs. ”

“ I put off leaving Malaga till after the carnival. Besides, that woman exerts an influence over me which—”
“An influence!—a woman who ought to be turned out of Musard’s by the police for such dancing!”
“I agree to all that; I accept the condemnation and I’ll leave your house. But you know Adam. If I give up the management of your property you must show energy yourself. I may have been to blame about Malaga, but I have taken the whole charge of your affairs, managed your servants, and looked after the very least details. ”

“ Bartolomeo at last broke the silence by crying out in a heart-rending tone:—
“Oh! stay with us! stay with your father, your old father! I cannot have you love another man. Ginevra, you will not have long to await your liberty.”
“But, father, remember that I need not leave you; we shall be two to love you; you will learn to know the man to whose care you bequeath me. You will be doubly cherished by me and by him,—by him who is my other self, by me who am all his.”
“Oh! Ginevra, Ginevra!” cried the Corsican, clenching his fists ”

“ Had he been shocked to see a stranger in that chair, used for the first time since his daughter left him? Had the hour of his mercy struck,—that hour she had vainly prayed and waited for till now?
These reflections shook the mother's heart successively. For an instant her husband's countenance became so terrible that she trembled at having used this simple means to bring about a mention of Ginevra's name. The night was wintry; the north wind drove the snowflakes so sharply against the blinds that the old couple fancied that they heard a gentle rustling. ”

“ Myself.—I am sorry to learn from your lady mother, that you are strangely dissipated.
Baltasar.—Ho, ho, Don Jorge, she has told you that, has she; what would you have, Don Jorge? I am young, and young blood will have its course. I am called Baltasar the gay by all the other nationals, and it is on account of my gaiety and the liberality of my opinions that I am so popular among them. When I mount guard I invariably carry my guitar with me, and then there is sure to be a function at the guard-house. ”

“ Her vanity increased the six thousand francs which Paz had spent on her furniture to sixty thousand. According to the clowns and the supers, Malaga was squandering money; and she now appeared at the Circus wearing burnous and shawls and elegant scarfs. The Pole, it was agreed on all sides, was the best sort of man a circus-rider had ever encountered, not fault-finding nor jealous, and willing to let Malaga do just what she liked.
"Some women have the luck of it," said Malaga's rival, "and I'm not one of them,—though I do draw a third of the receipts." ”

“ Ginevra and her enemy observed each other for a long time, but they made their faces impenetrable. Amelie had seen the handsome head of the mysterious man, but, fortunately, and unfortunately also, the Imperial eagles and uniform were so placed that she did not see them through the crevice in the partition. She was lost in conjectures. Suddenly Servin came in, much earlier than usual.
“Mademoiselle Ginevra,” he said, after glancing round the studio, “why have you placed yourself there? The light is bad. Come nearer to the rest of the young ladies and pull down that curtain a little.” ”

“ When his heavy step sounded in the gallery as he came to dinner, Madame Claes was happy—she was about to see him! and she gathered up her strength for that happiness. As he entered, the pallid face blushed brightly and recovered for an instant the semblance of health. Balthazar came to her bedside, took her hand, saw the misleading color on her cheek, and to him she seemed well. When he asked, “My dear wife, how are you to-day?” she answered, “Better, dear friend,” and made him think she would be up and recovered on the morrow. ”

“ Her absorption seemed so great that she sat down before her easel, opened her color-box, took up her brushes, drew on her brown sleeves, arranged her apron, looked at her picture, examined her palette, without, apparently, thinking of what she was doing. All heads in the group of the bourgeoises were turned toward her. If the young ladies in the Thirion camp did not show their impatience with the same frankness, their sidelong glances were none the less directed on Ginevra. ”

“ Ginevra's whole heart belonged to her father, as Piombo's whole heart belonged to his child; and if it be true that we are bound to one another more by our defects than by our virtues, Ginevra echoed in a marvellous manner the passions of her father. There lay the sole imperfection of this triple life. Ginevra was born unyielding of will, vindictive, and passionate, like her father in his youth.
The Corsican had taken pleasure in developing these savage sentiments in the heart of his daughter, precisely as a lion teaches the lion-cubs to spring upon their prey. ”

“ Acting under the direction of the fugitive whom he had made his confidant and counsellor, Careta went out to meet the Spaniards, brought them to his village, and entertained them to the best of his 346 ability. Balboa began with the modest request for maize to fill his ships. Careta answered, that owing to war with his ever hostile neighbor, Ponca, he had this year planted nothing, and hence had no surplus. Careta's Spanish friend assured his countrymen that this was false, that the savage had abundance. It was enough. A heathen had lied to a Christian. Let the nation be anathema! ”

“ The secretary listened to the cavaliers with a face of horror; not a word said Lazaro, but as he wiped the foam from the steed, and, with it, the blood of his master, he eyed Don Pedro with a dark and vindictive scowl. As for Baltasar, his rugged features quivered, and he did not hesitate to stand in the way of the Tonatiuh, saying,—
"If any cavalier have, indeed, been false to my young lord, I, who am but a serving-man, will make bold to say, he has played false to a gentleman who would have perilled his life for any Christian in need ”

“ But Ginevra was not wholly free from the weaknesses of women. Superstitious as an Italian, she saw an omen in this contrast, and in her heart there lay a sense of terror, as invincible as her love.
Suddenly the office servant, in the town livery, opened a folding-door. Silence reigned, and his voice was heard, like the yapping of a dog, calling Monsieur Luigi da Porta and Mademoiselle Ginevra di Piombo. This caused some embarrassment to the young pair. The celebrity of the bride's name attracted attention, and the spectators seemed to wonder that the wedding was not more sumptuous. ”

“ The devil himself might have whispered the words that were echoing through his brain, Moisten one of the eyes with the liquid! He took up a linen cloth, moistened it sparingly with the precious fluid, and passed it lightly over the right eyelid of the corpse. The eye unclosed....
"Aha!" said Don Juan. He gripped the flask tightly, as we clutch in dreams the branch from which we hang suspended over a precipice.
For the eye was full of life. It was a young child's eye set in a death's head; the light quivered in the depths of its youthful liquid brightness. ”