I had come back among them as from the dead; but more than one man, whose name figured in the lists as missing, turned up in a similar fashion during the war. My baggage had all been sent to Balaclava, the railway to which was now partly in operation; my letters and papers had been carefully sealed up in black wax by Philip Caradoc, and with other private and personal mementos8 of me, packed for transmission to Sir Madoc Lloyd, as my chief friend of whom he knew. Many came, I have said, to welcome me; but I missed many a familiar face, especially from among my own company, as the Fusileers had more than once been severely9 engaged in the trenches10.
Caradoc had been wounded in the left hand by a rifle-ball; Charley Gywnne greeted me with his head in bandages, the result of a Cossack sabre-cut; Dynely, the adjutant, had also been wounded; so had Mostyn, of the Rifles, and Tom Clavell, of the 19th, when passing through "the Valley of Death." Sergeant11 Rhuddlan, of my company, had just rejoined, after having a ball in the chest (even Carneydd Llewellyn had lost a horn): all who came to see me had something to tell of dangers dared and sufferings undergone. All were in uniforms that were worn to rags; but all were hearty12 as crickets, though sick of the protracted13 siege, and longing14 to carry Sebastopol with the cold steel.
"How odd, my dear old fellow, that we should all think you drowned, and might have been wearing crape on our sleeves, but for the lack thereof in camp, and the fact that mourning has gone out of fashion since death is so common among us; while all the time you have been mewed up (by the Cossacks in the Baidar Valley) within some forty miles of us; and so stupidly, too!" said Caradoc, as we sat late in the night over our grog and tobacco in his hut.
"Not so stupidly, after all," I replied, while freely assisting myself to his cavendish.
"How?"
"There was such a girl there, Phil!" I added, with a sigh.
"Oho! where?"
"At Yalta."
"Woronzow's palace, or chateau15?"
"Yes; but why wink16 so knowingly?"
"So, after all, you found there was balm in Gilead?" said he, laughing. "You must admit then, if she impressed you so much, that all your bitter regrets about a certain newspaper paragraph were a little overdone17, and that I was a wise prophet? And what was this girl--Russian, Tartar, Greek, a Karaite Jewess, or what?"
"A pure Russian."
"Handsome?"
"Beyond any I have ever seen, beautiful!"
"Whew! even beyond la belle--"
"There, don't mention her at present, please," said I, with a little irritation18, which only made him laugh the more.
"If you were love-making at Yalta, with three lance-prods in you, there was no malingering anyhow."
"I should think not."
"And so she was engaged to be married to that Russian bear, Tolstoff," he added, after I had told him the whole of my affair with Valerie.
"Yes," said I, with an unmistakable sigh.
"I think we are both destined19 to live and die bachelors," he resumed, in a bantering20 way; for though Phil had in these matters undergone, at Craigaderyn and elsewhere, "the baptism of fire" himself, he was not the less inclined to laugh at me; for of all sorrows, those of love alone excite the risible21 propensities22.
"And so, Phil, the world's a kaleidoscope--always shifting."
"Not always couleur de rose, though?"
"And I am here again!"
"Thank God!" said he, as we again shook hands, "Faith, Harry23, you must have as many lives as a cat, and so you may well have as many loves as Don Juan; but, entre nous, and excuse me, she seems to have been a bit of a flirt24, your charming Valerie."
"How--why do you think so?"
"From all you have told me; moreover every woman to be attractive, should be a little so," replied Caradoc, curling his heavy brown moustache.
"I don't think she was; indeed, I am certain she was not. But if this be true, how then about Miss Lloyd; and she is attractive enough?"
At the tenor25 of this retort Phil's face flushed from his Crimean beard to his temples.
"There you are wrong," said he, with the slightest asperity26 possible; "she has not in her character a grain of coquetry, or of that which Horace calls 'the art that is not to be taught by art.' She is a pure-minded and warm-hearted English girl, and is as perfect as all those wives and daughters of England, who figure in the volumes of Mrs. Ellis; and in saying this I am genuine, for I feel that I am praising some other fellow's bride--not mine, God help me!" he added, with much of real feeling.
"You have heard nothing of the Lloyds since I left you?"
"Nothing."
"Well, take courage, Phil; we may be at Craigaderyn one day yet," said I; and he, as if ashamed of his momentary27 sentimental28 outburst, exclaimed, with a laugh,
"By Jove, now that I have heard all your amours and amourettes, they surpass even those of Hugh Price."
"Poor Hugh! his lieutenancy29 is filled up, I suppose?"
"Yes--as another week would have seen your company, for we could not conceive that you were a prisoner at Yalta. Awkward that would have been."
"Deucedly so."
"But now you must console yourself, old fellow, by seeing what Madame la Colonelle Tolstoff----"
"Don't call her by that name, Phil--I hate to hear it!"
"By what, then?"
"Valerie--anything but the other."
"Then what, as Mrs. Henry Hardinge, she might become, if all this author (whose book I have been reading) says of the Russian ladies be true." And drawing from his pocket a small volume, he gave me the following paragraph to read, and I own it consoled me--a little:--
"The domestic virtues30 are little known or cultivated in Russia, and marriage is a mere31 matter of convenience. There is little of romance in the character or conduct of the Russian lady. Intrigue32 and sensuality, rather than sentiment or passion, guide her in her amours, and these in after-life are followed by other inclinations33. She becomes a greedy gamester, and a great gourmande, gross in person, masculine in views, a shrewd observer of events, an oracle34 at court, and a tyrant35 over her dependents. There are, of course, exceptions to this rule."
"Ah, Valerie would be one of these!"
"Perhaps--but as likely not," said Phil; "and on the whole, if this traveller Maxwell is right, I have reason to congratulate you on your escape. But we must turn in now, as we relieve the trenches an hour before daybreak to-morrow; and by a recent order every man, without distinction, carries one round shot to the front, so a constant supply is kept up for the batteries."
Soon after this, on the 2nd of April, a working party of ours suffered severely in the trenches, and Major Bell, who commanded, was thanked in general orders for his distinguished36 conduct on that occasion. As yet it seemed to me that no very apparent progress had been made with the siege. The cold was still intense. Mustard froze the moment it was made, and half-and-half grog nearly did so, too. The hospital tents and huts were filled with emaciated37 patients suffering under the many diseases incident to camp life; and the terrible hospital at Scutari was so full, that though the deaths there averaged fifty daily in February, our last batch38 of wounded had to be kept on board-ship.
Phil and I burned charcoal39 in our hut, using old tin mess-kettles with holes punched in them. We, like all the officers, wore long Crimean boots; but our poor soldiers had only their wretched ankle bluchers, which afforded them no protection when the snow was heavy, or when in thaws40 the mud became literally41 knee-deep; and they suffered so much, that in more than one instance privates dropped down dead without a wound after leaving the trenches. So great were the disasters of one regiment--the 63rd, I think--that only seven privates and four officers were able to march to Balaclava on the 1st of February; by the 12th the effective strength of the brigade of Guards was returned at 350 men; and all corps--the Highland42, perhaps, excepted--were in a similarly dilapidated state.
The camp was ever full of conflicting rumours43 concerning combined assaults, expected sorties, the probabilities of peace, or a continuance of the war; alleged44 treasons among certain French officers, who were at one time alleged to have given the Russians plans of their own batteries; that Menschikoff was dead from a wound, and also Yermiloff the admiral; that General Tolstoff was now in command of the left towards Inkermann. (If so, was Valerie now in Sebastopol? How I longed for the united attack--the storm and capture that might enable me to see her once again!) And amid all these varied45 rumours there came one--carried swiftly by horsemen through Bucharest and Varna--which reached us on the 7th of April, to the effect that Nicholas the mighty46 Czar of All the Russias, had gone to his last account; and I do not think it was a demise we mourned much. We sent intelligence of it by a flag of truce47 to the Russians; but they received it with scorn, as a "weak invention of the enemy."
And now the snow began to wear away; the clouds that floated over the blue Euxine and the green spires48 of Sebastopol became light and fleecy; the young grass began to sprout49, and the wild hyacinths, the purple crocuses, and tender snowdrops, the violet and the primrose50, were blooming in the Valley of Death, and on the fresh mould that marked where the graves of our comrades lay.
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1
impromptu
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| adj.即席的，即兴的；adv.即兴的(地)，无准备的(地) | |
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2
jack
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| n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克 | |
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3
astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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4
regiment
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| n.团，多数，管理；v.组织，编成团，统制 | |
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promotion
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| n.提升，晋级；促销，宣传 | |
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6
demise
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| n.死亡；v.让渡，遗赠，转让 | |
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7
besieged
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| 包围，围困，围攻( besiege的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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8
mementos
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| 纪念品，令人回忆的东西( memento的名词复数 ) | |
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9
severely
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| adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地 | |
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trenches
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| 深沟，地沟( trench的名词复数 )； 战壕 | |
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11
sergeant
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| n.警官，中士 | |
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hearty
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| adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的 | |
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protracted
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| adj.拖延的；延长的v.拖延“protract”的过去式和过去分词 | |
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14
longing
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| n.（for）渴望 | |
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15
chateau
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| n.城堡，别墅 | |
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16
wink
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| n.眨眼，使眼色，瞬间；v.眨眼，使眼色，闪烁 | |
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17
overdone
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| v.做得过分( overdo的过去分词 )；太夸张；把…煮得太久；（工作等）过度 | |
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18
irritation
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| n.激怒，恼怒，生气 | |
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19
destined
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| adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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20
bantering
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| adj.嘲弄的v.开玩笑，说笑，逗乐( banter的现在分词 )；（善意地）取笑，逗弄 | |
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21
risible
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| adj.能笑的；可笑的 | |
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propensities
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| n.倾向，习性( propensity的名词复数 ) | |
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23
harry
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| vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼 | |
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24
flirt
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| v.调情，挑逗，调戏；n.调情者，卖俏者 | |
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25
tenor
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| n.男高音（歌手），次中音（乐器），要旨，大意 | |
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26
asperity
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| n.粗鲁，艰苦 | |
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momentary
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| adj.片刻的，瞬息的；短暂的 | |
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28
sentimental
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| adj.多愁善感的，感伤的 | |
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29
lieutenancy
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| n.中尉之职，代理官员 | |
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30
virtues
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| 美德( virtue的名词复数 )； 德行； 优点； 长处 | |
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31
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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intrigue
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| vt.激起兴趣，迷住；vi.耍阴谋；n.阴谋，密谋 | |
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33
inclinations
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| 倾向( inclination的名词复数 )； 倾斜； 爱好； 斜坡 | |
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34
oracle
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| n.神谕，神谕处，预言 | |
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tyrant
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| n.暴君，专制的君主，残暴的人 | |
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36
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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37
emaciated
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| adj.衰弱的，消瘦的 | |
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38
batch
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| n.一批(组，群)；一批生产量 | |
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39
charcoal
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| n.炭，木炭，生物炭 | |
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40
thaws
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| n.（足以解冻的）暖和天气( thaw的名词复数 )；（敌对国家之间）关系缓和v.（气候）解冻( thaw的第三人称单数 )；（态度、感情等）缓和；（冰、雪及冷冻食物）溶化；软化 | |
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41
literally
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| adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实 | |
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42
highland
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| n.(pl.)高地，山地 | |
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43
rumours
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| n.传闻( rumour的名词复数 )；风闻；谣言；谣传 | |
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44
alleged
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| a.被指控的，嫌疑的 | |
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45
varied
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| adj.多样的，多变化的 | |
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mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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47
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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48
spires
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| n.（教堂的） 塔尖，尖顶( spire的名词复数 ) | |
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49
sprout
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| n.芽，萌芽；vt.使发芽，摘去芽；vi.长芽，抽条 | |
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50
primrose
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| n.樱草，最佳部分， | |
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