第152章

On the day of my arrival I dined at the table d'hote of the principal inn, kept by a Genoese.The company was very miscellaneous, French, Germans, and Spaniards, all speaking in their respective languages, whilst at the ends of the table, confronting each other, sat two Catalan merchants, one of whom weighed nearly twenty stone, grunting across the board in their harsh dialect.Long, however, before dinner was concluded, the conversation was entirely engrossed and the attention of all present directed to an individual who sat on one side of the bulky Catalan.He was a thin man of about the middle height, with a remarkably red face, and something in his eyes which, if not a squint, bore a striking resemblance to it.He was dressed in a blue military frock, and seemed to take much more pleasure in haranguing than in the fare which was set before him.He spoke perfectly good Spanish, yet his voice betrayed something of a foreign accent.For a long time he descanted with immense volubility on war and all its circumstances, freely criticising the conduct of the generals, both Carlists and Christinos, in the present struggle, till at last he exclaimed, "Had I but twenty thousand men allowed me by the government, I would bring the war to a conclusion in six months.""Pardon me, Sir," said a Spaniard who sat at the table, "the curiosity which induces me to request the favour of your distinguished name.""I am Flinter," replied the individual in the military frock, "a name which is in the mouth of every man, woman, and child in Spain.I am Flinter the Irishman, just escaped from the Basque provinces and the claws of Don Carlos.On the decease of Ferdinand I declared for Isabella, esteeming it the duty of every good cavalier and Irishman in the Spanish service to do so.You have all heard of my exploits, and permit me to tell you they would have been yet more glorious had not jealousy been at work and cramped my means.Two years ago Iwas despatched to Estremadura, to organize the militias.The bands of Gomez and Cabrera entered the province and spread devastation around.They found me, however, at my post; and had I been properly seconded by those under my command, the two rebels would never have returned to their master to boast of their success.I stood behind my intrenchments.A man advanced and summoned us to surrender.`Who are you?' Idemanded.`I am Cabrera,' he replied; `and I am Flinter,' Iretorted, flourishing my sabre; `retire to your battalions or you will forthwith die the death.' He was awed and did as Icommanded.In an hour we surrendered.I was led a prisoner to the Basque provinces; and the Carlists rejoiced in the capture they had made, for the name of Flinter had long sounded amongst the Carlist ranks.I was flung into a loathsome dungeon, where I remained twenty months.I was cold; I was naked; but I did not on that account despond, my spirit was too indomitable for such weakness.My keeper at last pitied my misfortunes.He said that `it grieved him to see so valiant a man perish in inglorious confinement.' We laid a plan to escape together;disguises were provided, and we made the attempt.We passed unobserved till we arrived at the Carlist lines above Bilbao;there we were stopped.My presence of mind, however, did not desert me.I was disguised as a carman, as a Catalan, and the coolness of my answers deceived my interrogators.We were permitted to pass, and soon were safe within the walls of Bilbao.There was an illumination that night in the town, for the lion had burst his toils, Flinter had escaped, and was once more returned to re-animate a drooping cause.I have just arrived at Santander on my way to Madrid, where I intend to ask of the government a command, with twenty thousand men."Poor Flinter! a braver heart and a move gasconading mouth were surely never united in the same body.He proceeded to Madrid, and through the influence of the British ambassador, who was his friend, he obtained the command of a small division, with which he contrived to surprise and defeat, in the neighbourhood of Toledo, a body of the Carlists, commanded by Orejita, whose numbers more than trebled his own.In reward for this exploit he was persecuted by the government, which, at that time, was the moderado or juste milieu, with the most relentless animosity; the prime minister, Ofalia, supporting with all his influence numerous and ridiculous accusations of plunder and robbery brought against the too-successful general by the Carlist canons of Toledo.He was likewise charged with a dereliction of duty, in having permitted, after the battle of Valdepenas, which he likewise won in the most gallant manner, the Carlist force to take possession of the mines of Almaden, although the government, who were bent on his ruin, had done all in their power to prevent him from following up his successes by denying him the slightest supplies and reinforcements.The fruits of victory thus wrested from him, his hopes blighted, a morbid melancholy seized upon the Irishman; he resigned his command, and in less than ten months from the period when I saw him at Santander, afforded his dastardly and malignant enemies a triumph which satisfied even them, by cutting his own throat with a razor.

Ardent spirits of foreign climes, who hope to distinguish yourselves in the service of Spain, and to earn honours and rewards, remember the fate of Columbus, and of another as brave and as ardent - Flinter!