A Regimental Affair Read Online Free PDF

his city.
    ‘It saw me through Belgium and India, and now a wretch from—’
    Howard stayed his protest with a hand on his arm. ‘I think I should remain here with you.’
    ‘No,’ said Hervey shaking his head. ‘They’ll not have another thing from me. Go back to the Horse Guards. You have duties to be about.’
    Hervey turned back to see the dragoons already beginning to advance with sabres drawn.
    ‘The flats, mind; the flats only!’ called their cornet, a face new to him.
    He thought it odd that a half-troop on duty such as this was under command of so junior an officer. He could see the serjeant – Noakes, a steady sort, but never a man for troop work – behind the rear rank. A fat lot of good he’d do there with a greenhead cornet in front! But Hervey was relieved to see that the right marker was sound. What a welcome sight was Collins, his old covering-corporal. Collins had galloped for him in the Peninsula and at Waterloo; and (eighteen months ago now) to Boulogne and from there to Le Havre with Henrietta on that ill-starred chase to reach his ship. Why Collins had but two chevrons still, Hervey couldn’t imagine. He’d back
his
wits in an affair, any day, against those of ‘Auntie’ Noakes.
    The sight of drawn swords served notice to the crowd. To some it was a signal to be off, and Hervey was pleased that the cornet had sense, at least, to advance slowly enough to give them plenty of room. But to the roughs at the far end of the street the appearance of the cavalry was a signal to increase their mischief, and to open a steady fusillade of brickbats. These dropped well short of the dragoons, however, onto the front of the crowd not yet managed to get away. Soon there were men – and women – fallen to the cobbles, some bleeding from gashes about the head. It would be an even uglier sight from astride a horse, thought Hervey; and bewildering, too, since the ‘innocents’ were now in the way of any effort to quell the more violent rioters. But it was not a time for too much thinking. If the line of dragoons stood still they’d positively encourage trouble.
    Another hail of stones fell, closer to the line this time. ‘Turn about, turn about!’ Hervey shouted: the hindquarters of atroop-horse would, he knew, be a powerful street sweeper – and would do no lasting damage. There was certainly no room now for the flat of the sabre underhand. The cornet must have seen this, for he shouted to his dragoons to raise swords. This only made the roughs bellow defiantly, and increase their fusillade of stones. Some of the braver ones climbed to the roofs of the buildings either side of the street, and it was not long before they began hurling slates down at the dragoons.
    One of the first casualties was the cornet himself. A piece of guttering hit the brow of his shako and then his charger’s head. He managed at first to stay in the saddle, but before his coverman could close to support him the horse reared full upright, paddling with his forelegs as if at a prizefight. The cornet, half dazed already, had no chance. He fell heavily to the ground, hitting his head hard on the cobbles. The dragoons behind tried desperately not to trample him, but more than one iron struck.
    ‘Christ!’ cursed Hervey as he pushed through the crowd to reach him.
    Some dragoons had stopped, trying to shield the cornet where he lay. Some were still pushing forward at the crowd, and those behind were falling into confusion, not knowing what was happening in front. Serjeant Noakes looked at a loss, while Hervey could see Corporal Collins shouting something to the front rank, whose dragoons began returning sabres to the carry and kicking their horses’ flanks to urge them forward.
    Good
, thought Hervey. Get the front rank forward five lengths to make space!
    Corporal Collins was now a length ahead of the others. He turned his trooper sideways and put him into a trot close along the edge of the crowd. It seemed to do the trick.