* He has never failed in anything he has yet attempted,' Roger remarked; ' so I cannot believe he will in this, unless it be through something beyond his control, such as the spreading of the plague.'
Bourrienne nodded. ' It is from that we have most to fear. But apart from it the odds against us are damnably heavy. By now we must have killed many thousands of Djezzar's men and we have taken many prisoners. Yesterday alone eight hundred of them were brought in. But the garrison is still as numerous as a swarm of ants, and I am told that the reinforcements, which by now must be landing from the Turkish Fleet, number twelve thousand. A matter, too, that causes me great anxiety is that we are running short of gunpowder. It is bad enough that, for weeks past, we have had to rely on the British to supply us with cannon balls; but there is now way in which we can secure powder from them.'
' How mean you,' Roger asked, ' that they supply us with cannon balls? '
' We ran out long ago,' Bourrienne replied, with a sad smile, ' but they appear to have unlimited supplies. They will even fire on our men when a few of them go down to the seashore to bathe. Our little man was prompt as ever to think of a way to remedy our shortage. He offered the troops ten sous for every ball they could bring in. So there is now a nightly hunt for British shot and next day we fire it back at Acre.'
After a moment Bourrienne went on, ' We would have been in Acre, as we were in Jaffa, within a week, had it not been for those accursed English. They have good grounds for having adopted the bulldog as their symbol. The six hundred gunners whom, as we have learned from prisoners, they sent ashore to strengthen the defences have proved the rock upon which our assaults have been shattered. Their Commander is said to be no more than a Commodore, but he deserves to be a High Admiral. He is as courageous as their other seadogs, but far superior to them in brain. By using his intelligence he has caused us endless trouble. Aboard one of his ships he has a printing press, and he has used to run off thousands of leaflets. Some of them are distributed through Arab agents bought with British gold among our own troops. They are to the effect that Bonaparte is giving their lives not for France but only to advance his own ambitions. Others, distributed among the Christians of the Lebanon, contain a version of the proclamation issued by our General within a few hours of his first entering Alexandria. You will recall that he said in it that he regarded the Mohammedan religion as more sensible than the Christian.'
Roger grinned. ' So it has become a boomerang, eh? Has this propaganda had any serious effect? '
' Naturally. It has disturbed the minds of the troops and has had a most adverse effect on the Christian tribes, on whom we have been counting as our future allies. Our little man was so enraged by it that he issued an order stating that Sir Smith is mad, and that anyone found in possession of pamphlets issued by him would be liable to severe punishment. At that, though you'd scarce credit it, Sir Smith sent a flag of truce ashore challenging the General-in-Chief to a duel.'
' What reply was sent to him? ' Roger asked with amused interest.
Bourrienne shrugged. 'The English are mad. Everyone knows it. No man of any other nation would have even thought of such a thing. Bonaparte naturally replied that he had many other matters to engage his attention. But, with a touch of humour, he added that if, at any time, Sir Smith could produce Marlborough to fight him, that would be a different matter.'
They then talked of the European situation, as far as they knew it. Roger could give only such information as he would have picked up as a prisoner when captured off Malta by Sir Sidney Smith in March. He gave a sketchy account of the Neapolitan war, adding that he understood that the French had finally subdued
Naples early in February and that England, Russia and Turkey had formed another Coalition against France.
Bourrienne's information, from neutrals and blockade-runners, was little better, but he could add that Austria had joined the Coalition and had declared war on France on March 12th. Rumour had it that the French were now having great difficulty in keeping control of the population in the recently created Republican States in Italy. No despatch from the Directors had reached Bonaparte since March. In this last despatch, they had given him the choice of striking at either Constantinople or India; but, as it had left Paris as far back as November, such news as it contained was already stale.
This exchange of views over, Roger went out into the brilliant May sunshine. The assaults on Acre were being continued with unflagging vigour and the General-in-Chief had gone up to the front to supervise them personally; so Roger was free to visit Zanthe. He found her outside her tent. A small table had been procured for her and she was sitting at it playing against herself the oldest paper game in the world, a form of noughts and crosses.
Not far from her two Mamelukes stood, leaning on their weapons. When Roger asked what they were doing, she replied, 'General Bonaparte has detached six of them from his regiment of Mamelukes to act as a guard of honour for me. I am greatly touched by this attention; but, alas, it is going to make it still more difficult for you to come to me at night without your visits becoming common knowledge.'
'I fear it is,' he agreed. 'We must do our best to remain patient.' As he had received no orders, he enjoyed a picnic lunch with her and remained talking to her for most of the day. Then, as the shadows lengthened, he went to the big marquee.
It was May 10th. For thirty-six hours the all-out assault had now been raging. The troops who had penetrated to the streets of Acre the previous afternoon had been halted and cut off. Two hundred of them had taken refuge in a mosque and held it all through the night. Sir Sidney Smith, who had come ashore to take personal charge of the city's defence, had generously saved this little party from massacre by forcing the Turks to allow it to withdraw; but that had put an end to the French penetration of the city. The Turkish troops who had been brought by sea were now taking up positions to defend the breaches made in the walls, and the French had suffered so severely that Bonaparte had decided to put a stop to the assaults.
In the French camp there were now twelve hundred wounded, but the British Squadron, which had become an integral part of the city defences, dared not leave its moorings; so the coastal waters from a few miles south of Acre were no longer under its control, and many of the French wounded were carried down in litters to the little port of Haifa, from which they were being sent by ship to Egypt. The indomitable Lannes still miraculously clung to life. He had already been severely wounded in the assault on Jaffa and on the previous day, when twice wounded, his Grenadiers had had to drag him out of the battle by his feet. The doctors said of him that his bones must be made of rubber, as it seemed that when hit by musket balls they bent but rarely broke. Bonaparte ordered a special litter to be made for him which sixteen Turkish prisoners were to carry in teams of eight.
Between the 11th and 18th of May the siege continued, but with less intensity; so Roger was not called on to run much risk in delivering orders from the General-in-Chief to officers commanding units down in the plain. Zanthe slept through the hottest hours of the day and spent the rest of the time sitting outside her tent. Some French books had been found for her to read and in the evenings a little Court, composed of Roger and friends whom he had introduced to her, surrounded her. All of them, having been deprived for so long of female society, found delight in her company.
It was on the evening of the 18th that Bonaparte sent for Roger and said, ' Breuc, have a comfortable litter made for Her Highness, and take as many prisoners to carry it as you wish. Tomorrow she is to set off to Egypt and, as I shall not require you on our march, you have my leave to accompany her.'