Through the buzz and Babel of several languages, I was ushered12 at last, by an orderly sergeant13, into the little dingy14 room where the Commander-in-chief of our Eastern army usually held his councils or consultations15, received reports, and prepared his plans. The military secretary, the chief of the staff, the adjutant-general, and some other officers, whose uniforms were all threadbare, darned, and discoloured, and whose epaulettes were tattered, frayed16, and reduced almost to black wire, were seated with him at a table, which was littered with letters, reports, despatches, telegrams, and plans of Sebastopol, with the zigzags19, the harbour, the valley of the Tchernaya, and of the whole Crimea. And it was not without an emotion of interest and pleasure, that I found myself before our old and amiable20 leader, the one-armed Lord Raglan--he whose kindly21 nature, charity, urbanity, and queer signature as Fitzroy Somerset, when military secretary, had been so long known in our army during the days of peace; and to whom the widow or the orphan22 of a soldier never appealed in vain.
"Glad to see you, Captain Hardinge," said he, bowing in answer to my salute23; "I have a little piece of duty for you to perform, and the chief of the staff" (here he turned to the future hero of the attack on the Redan) "has kindly reminded me of how well you managed the affair of the flag of truce25 sent to the officer on the Russian left, concerning the major of the 93rd Highlanders."
I bowed again and waited.
"My personal aides," he continued, "are all knocked up or engaged elsewhere just now, and I have here a despatch17 for Marshal Canrobert, requiring an immediate27 answer, as there is said to be an insurrection among the Polish troops within Sebastopol, and if so, you will readily perceive the necessity for taking instant advantage of it. At this precise time, the Marshal is at a Tartar village on the road to Kokoz." (Here his lordship pointed28 to a map of the Crimea.) "It lies beyond the Pass of Baidar, which you will perceive indicated there, and consequently is about thirty English miles to our rear and right. You can neither miss him nor the village, I think, by any possibility, as it is occupied by his own old corps, the 3rd Zouaves, a French line regiment29, and four field guns. You will deliver to him this letter, and bring me his answer without delay."
"Unless I fail, my lord."
"As Richelieu says in the play, 'there is no such word as fail!'" he replied, smiling. "But, however, in case of danger, for there are Cossacks about, you must take heed30 to destroy the despatch."
"Very good, my lord--I shall go with pleasure."
"You have a horse, I presume?"
"I had not thought of that, my lord--a horse, no; here I can scarcely feed myself, and find no use for a horse."
"Take mine--I have a spare one," said the chief of the staff, who was then a major-general and C.B. He rang the hand-bell for the orderly sergeant, to whom he gave a message. Then I had a glass or two of sherry from a simple black bottle; Lord Raglan gave me his missive sealed, and shook my hand with that energy peculiar31 to the one-armed, and a few minutes more saw me mounted on a fine black horse, belonging to the chief of the staff, and departing on my lonely mission. The animal I rode--round in the barrel, high in the forehead, and deep in the chest, sound on its feet and light in hand--was a thorough English roadster--a nag24 more difficult to find in perfection than even the hunter or racer; but his owner was fated to see him no more.
I rode over to the lines of the regiment, to let some of our fellows--who all envied me, yet wished me well--know of the duty assigned me. What was it to me whether or not she saw my name in despatches, in orders, or in the death list? Whether I distinguished32 myself or died mattered little to me, and less now to her. It was a bitter conviction; so excitement and forgetfulness alike of the past and of the present were all I sought--all I cared for. Caradoc, however, wisely and kindly suggested some alteration33 or modification34 in my uniform, as the country through which I had to pass was certainly liable to sudden raids by scouting35 Cossacks. So, for my red coat and bearskin, I hastily substituted the blue undress surtout, forage36 cap, and gray greatcoat. I had my sword, revolver, and ammunition37 pouch38 at my waist-belt. Perceiving that I was gloomy and sullen39, and somewhat low-spirited in eye and bearing, Caradoc and Charley Gwynne, who could not comprehend what had "been up" with me for some time past, and who openly assured me that they envied me this chance of "honourable40 mention," accompanied me a little way beyond the line of sentries41 on our right flank.
"Au revoir, old fellow! Keep up your heart and remember all I have said to you," were Phil's parting words, "and together we shall sing and be merry. I hope to keep the 1st of March in Sebastopol, and there to chorus our old mess room song;" and as he waved his hand to me, the light-hearted fellow sang a verse of a ditty we were wont42 to indulge in on St. David's-day, while Toby Purcell's spurs were laid on the table, and the band, preceded by the goat led by the drum-major with a salver of leeks43, marched in procession round it:
"Then pledge me a toast to the glory of Wales--
To her sons and her daughters, her hills and her vales;
Once more--here's a toast to the mighty44 of old--
To the fair and the gentle, the wise and the bold;
Here's a health to whoever, by land or by sea,
Has been true to the Wales of the brave and the free!"
And poor Phil Caradoc's voice, carolling this local ditty, was the last sound I heard, as I took the path that led first towards Balaclava and thence to the place of my destination, while the sun of the last day of November was shedding lurid45 and farewell gleams on the spires46 and white walls of Sebastopol. Many descriptions have rendered the name and features of Balaclava so familiar to all, with its old Genoese fort, its white Arnaout dwellings47 shaded by poplars and other trees, that I mean to skip farther notice of it, and also of the mud and misery48 of the place itself--the beautiful and landlocked harbour, once so secluded49, then crowded with man-of-war boats and steam launches, and made horrible by the swollen50 and sweltering carcasses of hundreds of troop-horses, which our seamen51 and marines used as stepping-stones when leaping from boat to boat or to the shore. Some little episodes made an impression upon me, which I am unlikely to forget, after approaching Balaclava by a cleft52 between those rocky heights where our cavalry were encamped, and where, by ignominiously53 making draught-horses of their troopers for the conveyance54 of planks55, they were busily erecting56 a town of huts that looked like a "backwood" hamlet. A picturesque57 group was formed by some of the kilted Highland26 Brigade, brawny58 and bearded men, their muscular limbs displayed by their singular costume, piling a cairn above the trench59 where some of their dead comrades lay, thus fulfilling one of the oldest customs of their country--in the words of Ossian, "raising the stones above the mighty, that they might speak to the little sons of future years." Elsewhere I saw two Frenchmen carrying a corpse60 on a stretcher, from which they coolly tilted61 it into a freshly dug hole, and began to cover it up, singing the while as cheerily as the grave-digger in Hamlet, which I deemed a striking proof of the demoralising effect of war--for their comrade was literally62 buried exactly as a dog would have been in England; and yet, that the last element of civilisation63 might not be wanting, a gang of "navvies" were laying down the sleepers64 for the first portion of the camp-railway, through the main street of Balaclava, the Bella-chiare of the adventurous65 Genoese.
Though I did not loiter there, the narrow way was so deep with mud, and so encumbered66 by the débris and material of war, that my progress was very slow, and darkness was closing in on land and sea when I wheeled off to the left in the direction of Kokoz, after obtaining some brandy from a vivandière of the 12th French Infantry--not the pretty girl with the semi-uniform, the saucy67 smile, and slender ankles, who beats the drum and pirouettes so prettily68 as the orthodox stage vivandière--but a stout69 French female party, muffled70 in a bloodstained Russian greatcoat, with a tawny71 imp7 squalling at her back. I passed the ground whereon the picturesque Sardinian army was afterwards to encamp, and soon entered the lovely Baidar valley. The mountains and the dense72 forests made me think of Wales, for on my right lay a deep ravine with rocks and water that reflected the stars; on my left were abrupt73 but well-wooded crags, and I could not but look first on one side, and then on the other, with some uneasiness; for Russian riflemen might be lurking74 among the latter, and stray Cossacks might come prowling down the former, far in rear of Canrobert's advanced post at the Tartar village. A column such as he had with him might penetrate75 with ease to a distance most perilous76 for a single horseman; and this valley, lovely though it was--the Tempe of the Crimea--I was particularly anxious to leave behind me. I have said that I felt reckless of peril77, and so I did, being reckless enough and ready enough to face any danger in front; yet I disliked the idea of being quietly "potted" by some Muscovite boor78 lying en perdue, behind a bush, and then being brained or bayoneted by him afterwards; for I knew well that those who were capable of murdering our helpless wounded on the field, would have few compunctions elsewhere. Reflection now brought another idea--a very unpleasant one--to mind. Though I was in rear of this French advanced post, there was nothing to prevent Cossack scouts--active and ubiquitous as the Uhlans of Prussia--from deeming me a spy and treating me as such, if they found me there; for was not Major André executed most ignominiously by the Americans on that very charge, though taken in the uniform of the Cameronian regiment?
Unfortunately for me, there were and are two roads through the Baidar valley: one by the pass, of recent construction; and the other, the ancient horse-road, which is old, perhaps, as the days of the Greeks of Klimatum. A zigzag18 ascent79, and a gallery hewn through the granite80 rocks for some fifty yards or so, lead to a road from whence, by its lofty position, the whole line of shore can be seen for miles, and the sea, as I saw it then, dotted by the red top-lights of our men-o'-war and transports. The other follows for some little distance, certainly, the same route nearly, but comes ere long to the Devil's Staircase, the steps of which are trunks of trees alternated by others hewn out of the solid rock; and this perilous path lies, for some part of the way at least, between dark, shadowy, and enormous masses of impending81 cliffs, where any number of men might be taken by surprise. And certainly I felt my heart beat faster, with the mingled82 emotions of fierce excitement and stern joy, as I hooked my sword-hilt close up to my waist-belt, assured myself that the caps were on my revolver, and spurred my roadster forward. Darkness was completely set in now, and before me there twinkled one solitary star at the distant end of the gloomy and rocky tunnel through which I was pursuing my solitary way.
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1
solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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lieutenant
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| n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员 | |
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tattered
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| adj.破旧的，衣衫破的 | |
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misgivings
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| n.疑虑，担忧，害怕；疑虑，担心，恐惧( misgiving的名词复数 )；疑惧 | |
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cavalry
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| n.骑兵；轻装甲部队 | |
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scarlet
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| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
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7
imp
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| n.顽童 | |
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artillery
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| n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队) | |
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plumed
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| 饰有羽毛的 | |
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thigh
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| n.大腿；股骨 | |
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corps
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| n.(通信等兵种的)部队；(同类作的)一组 | |
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ushered
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| v.引，领，陪同( usher的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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sergeant
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| n.警官，中士 | |
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dingy
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| adj.昏暗的，肮脏的 | |
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15
consultations
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| n.磋商（会议）( consultation的名词复数 )；商讨会；协商会；查找 | |
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16
frayed
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| adj.磨损的v.（使布、绳等）磨损，磨破( fray的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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17
despatch
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| n./v.(dispatch)派遣；发送；n.急件；新闻报道 | |
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18
zigzag
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| n.曲折，之字形；adj.曲折的，锯齿形的；adv.曲折地，成锯齿形地；vt.使曲折；vi.曲折前行 | |
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19
zigzags
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| n.锯齿形的线条、小径等( zigzag的名词复数 )v.弯弯曲曲地走路，曲折地前进( zigzag的第三人称单数 ) | |
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20
amiable
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| adj.和蔼可亲的，友善的，亲切的 | |
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21
kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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22
orphan
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| n.孤儿；adj.无父母的 | |
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23
salute
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| vi.行礼，致意，问候，放礼炮；vt.向…致意，迎接，赞扬；n.招呼，敬礼，礼炮 | |
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24
nag
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| v.(对…)不停地唠叨；n.爱唠叨的人 | |
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25
truce
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| n.休战，(争执，烦恼等的)缓和；v.以停战结束 | |
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26
highland
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| n.(pl.)高地，山地 | |
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immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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regiment
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| n.团，多数，管理；v.组织，编成团，统制 | |
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30
heed
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| v.注意，留意；n.注意，留心 | |
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peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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32
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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33
alteration
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| n.变更，改变；蚀变 | |
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34
modification
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| n.修改，改进，缓和，减轻 | |
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35
scouting
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| 守候活动，童子军的活动 | |
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36
forage
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| n.(牛马的)饲料，粮草；v.搜寻，翻寻 | |
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37
ammunition
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| n.军火，弹药 | |
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38
pouch
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| n.小袋，小包，囊状袋；vt.装...入袋中，用袋运输；vi.用袋送信件 | |
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39
sullen
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| adj.愠怒的，闷闷不乐的，(天气等)阴沉的 | |
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40
honourable
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| adj.可敬的；荣誉的，光荣的 | |
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41
sentries
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| 哨兵，步兵( sentry的名词复数 ) | |
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42
wont
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| adj.习惯于；v.习惯；n.习惯 | |
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43
leeks
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| 韭葱( leek的名词复数 ) | |
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44
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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45
lurid
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| adj.可怕的；血红的；苍白的 | |
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46
spires
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| n.（教堂的） 塔尖，尖顶( spire的名词复数 ) | |
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47
dwellings
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| n.住处，处所( dwelling的名词复数 ) | |
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48
misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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49
secluded
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| adj.与世隔绝的；隐退的；偏僻的v.使隔开，使隐退( seclude的过去式和过去分词) | |
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50
swollen
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| adj.肿大的，水涨的；v.使变大，肿胀 | |
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51
seamen
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| n.海员 | |
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52
cleft
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| n.裂缝；adj.裂开的 | |
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53
ignominiously
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| adv.耻辱地，屈辱地，丢脸地 | |
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54
conveyance
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| n.(不动产等的)转让，让与；转让证书；传送；运送；表达；（正）运输工具 | |
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55
planks
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| （厚）木板( plank的名词复数 )； 政纲条目，政策要点 | |
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56
erecting
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| v.使直立，竖起( erect的现在分词 )；建立 | |
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57
picturesque
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| adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的 | |
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58
brawny
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| adj.强壮的 | |
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59
trench
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| n./v.(挖)沟，(挖)战壕 | |
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60
corpse
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| n.尸体，死尸 | |
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61
tilted
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| v. 倾斜的 | |
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literally
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| adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实 | |
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civilisation
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| n.文明，文化，开化，教化 | |
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sleepers
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| n.卧铺（通常以复数形式出现）；卧车( sleeper的名词复数 )；轨枕；睡觉（呈某种状态）的人；小耳环 | |
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65
adventurous
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| adj.爱冒险的；惊心动魄的，惊险的，刺激的 | |
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encumbered
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| v.妨碍，阻碍，拖累( encumber的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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saucy
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| adj.无礼的；俊俏的；活泼的 | |
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prettily
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| adv.优美地；可爱地 | |
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70
muffled
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| adj.（声音）被隔的；听不太清的；（衣服）裹严的；蒙住的v.压抑，捂住( muffle的过去式和过去分词 )；用厚厚的衣帽包着（自己） | |
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71
tawny
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| adj.茶色的，黄褐色的；n.黄褐色 | |
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72
dense
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| a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的 | |
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abrupt
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| adj.突然的，意外的；唐突的，鲁莽的 | |
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lurking
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| 潜在 | |
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75
penetrate
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| v.透(渗)入；刺入，刺穿；洞察，了解 | |
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perilous
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| adj.危险的，冒险的 | |
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peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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78
boor
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| n.举止粗野的人；乡下佬 | |
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ascent
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| n.(声望或地位)提高；上升，升高；登高 | |
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80
granite
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| adj.花岗岩，花岗石 | |
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81
impending
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| a.imminent, about to come or happen | |
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mingled
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| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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