Charmed by his eloquence and animated by his courage, his listeners pledged themselves to give him their utmost support and broke up to set about the defence of the city in earnest.
The King then made a personal tour of the defences, and Roger, who accompanied him as one of his suite, soon saw that General Duretz had at least had some grounds for believing the place to be indefensible. Although the greatest fortress in Sweden it had been allowed to go to rack and ruin, the timbered platforms of the batteries having become so rotten that they would not bear the weight of a cannon.
It was already abundantly clear that Gustavus's momentous decision to throw himself into Gothenborg had been fully justified, as, had he not done so, the city would certainly have been surrendered without firing a shot; but by the end of the tour of inspection Roger feared that the gallant gesture would have been made in vain if the Danes attacked the place with even moderate determination.
Nevertheless, as far as emergency measures could be taken they were now in full train, and the whole population was enthusiastically engaged in digging earthworks and dragging up great baulks of good timber to replace those that had rotted in the gun emplacements.
At mid-day, General Duretz's intelligence was proved correct by the arrival of a herald from Prince Charles of Hesse-Cassel, bearing a letter for the Governor which peremptorily demanded the surrender of Gothenborg. To the herald's astonishment, he was taken, not to the Governor, but before the King, who promptly returned a defiant answer.
The die was now cast and an assault could be expected as soon as the Danish General had deployed his troops. In a private conversation with Roger that evening Gustavus admitted that in spite of the new heart he had put into the garrison he feared that the city could not possibly resist a serious attack, and that their one hope now lay in Mr. Elliot.
Nevertheless, they laboured oh all through the next day improving the defences and, late that night, just as they were about to retire, Hugh Elliot joined them. He was looking very tired and ill, and his news was of the blackest. He had reached Uddevalla, where the Danish headquarters were established, late on the night of the 4th, but found that both Prince Charles and the young Crown Prince were absent, directing the movements of their troops. During the day he had despatched two letters to the Danish Commander-in-Chief, requesting that a truce should be called so that negotiations might be opened to prevent a general European conflagration. To both Prince Charles had disdained to reply.
'And so, Sire,' the British Minister concluded. 'Since I have failed you as a diplomat I am come to offer myself to your Majesty as a soldier. Having been trained in arms as a young man I have some knowledge of artillery; and if my country is dilatory in honouring its obligations, I can at least prove my belief that she will yet do so by acting as if Britain was at war with Denmark, and dying in our united cause.'
Gustavus embraced him, vowing that no man could have done more, and that he accepted his offer with deep gratitude. After talking gloomily together for a little they then parted for the night. .
Next morning Elliot, although still suffering from a fever, threw himself into the work of defence. There were several British ships in the harbour, and taking Roger to assist him, he mustered their crews and addressed them. He told the officers and men that Britain had pledged herself to assist Sweden in her war against an unjustified aggression, and asked them to join him in honouring their country's obligation by taking part in the defence of the city. To a man they agreed to do so, and as all the ships carried cannon there were many good gunners among them. Under his direction the British seamen cheerfully set about disembarking their pieces and manhandling them through the streets to the redoubts where they were most needed.
Yet, after seeing the miserable, makeshift state of the defences, Hugh Elliot confessed to Roger that he saw small hope of their holding the city in the face of a determined assault. All that he had seen during the morning had made him so pessimistic of Gustavus's chances of successfully giving battle to the Danes, and escaping being made their prisoner on the fall of the city, that at mid-day, when they rejoined the King, he told him that he had determined on writing yet a third letter to Prince Charles in an eleventh-hour attempt to induce the enemy to negotiate.
The letter was written and despatched to Uddevalla by a galloper early in the afternoon. After that they could only continue with their feverish preparations against attack and wait, with such fortitude as they could muster, for what the night might bring.
In the middle of the night the messenger returned with a despatch which stated that, while the Danish forces would continue their preparations for a mass assault on Gothenborg, Prince Charles was prepared to give the British Minister an audience the following day.
The relief of Gustavus and his entourage was immense. Yet they recognised that their lives and safety still hung in the balance, and the outcome of the interview was awaited with feverish impatience.
Mr. Elliot departed for Uddevalla at dawn on the morning of the 7th, taking Roger with him to act as his confidential courier, but when Roger returned to Gothenborg late that night he could only report that negotiations were proceeding. Between six a.m. and one p.m. he had covered the sixty miles with Hugh Elliot in his carriage, and between four in the afternoon and ten at night he had done the return trip on horseback, so he again slept the sleep of exhaustion.
At eight o'clock next morning he set out again, to see if he could secure more definite tidings which might lift the sense of doom from the anxious and breathless city; but when he reached Uddevalla Hugh Elliot had none to give him, so he slept there that night.
On the morning of the gth there was a further conference, and after leaving it at mid-day the British Minister said to him with a wry . smile: 'Half-a-loaf is better than no bread. I have succeeded in inducing the Danes to grant King Gustavus an eight-day armistice. You have well earned the right to inform him of these good tidings, for what they are worth, so ride on ahead and tell him. I feel desperately ill, so shall follow more slowly in my carriage to give him full particulars.'
Roger rode all out and reached Gothenborg by five in the afternoon. Gustavus received his news with the utmost thankfulness, and asked him how he might reward him for bringing it. Roger then told him how he had been forced to abandon his Star and ribbon in a dungeon at Schlusselburg; upon which the King promptly replied: 'I will make you an Officer,of the Order, for no man has better deserved it!' and presented him with his own Star, mounted in diamonds.
At ten o'clock Hugh Elliot arrived and gave the King details of his negotiations. On the carrying out of very modest stipulations the Danes were prepared to cease hostilities and evacuate their entire army to Norway.
Gustavus was utterly .amazed and could scarcely find words to express his gratitude; but the diplomat warned him that nothing definite had been agreed, and that the Danes had only consented to abandon the conflict on the confirmation of certain eventualities. Tired out but in a far more optimistic frame of mind, Gustavus and his suite sought their beds.
Hugh Elliot and Roger were sharing a room in the English merchant's house, and when they reached it Roger said:
'Tell me, Sir! How did you achieve this miracle?'
The Minister sank upon the bed. His thin face was flushed and his eyes unnaturally bright, as he replied: 'I can make no secret of it from you, since you are intimately involved. I could not find it in myself to stand by and witness this great city, with all its people, become the spoil and plaything of a brutal invader. Upon my own responsibility I took a high tone with the Danes and threatened them with the destruction of their whole kingdom did they not instantly desist from their invasion of Sweden, and withdraw.'
'S'Death, you did!' gasped Roger. 'And this still without orders from Whitehall?'
'I said that I had received fresh despatches, though 'twas not the truth,' Hugh Elliot admitted with a feeble smile. 'I wrote in my third letter to Prince Charles as follows: 'At this very moment war is perhaps declared against Denmark by Prussia and England, but if your Highness will consent to what I propose, I will immediately despatch couriers, if possible, to stop the invasion of Holstein by a Prussian army and the sailing of our fleet'. 'Twas that alone which gave him pause. Since then I have elaborated this supreme bluff and half-persuaded them to believe that they would do better to accept a present humiliation and eat humble-pie before Gustavus, than find themselves the victims of the wrath of two mighty powers which have already taken up arms to destroy them.'
'You have all my admiration, yet I tremble for you,' Roger exclaimed. 'For if the bluff be called, what then? And how will you fare if our government at home repudiates the ultimatum that you have issued in its name?'
'As to myself, I care not,' the ill man replied. 'But by the honour of England and the saving of this brave Swedish King I set great store. And 'tis in this, my friend, that you also are concerned. The armistice that I have
