JК
Sharpes Battle :: Корнуэлл Бернард
Страница: 48 из 244Ain't that right, Sergeant Harper?"
"Right as rain, sir."
"My name is Captain Sharpe." Sharpe stood in the centre front of the Real Companпa Irlandesa . The faces watching him showed a mixture of astonishment and surprise, but he had their attention now and neither Kiely nor Valverde had dared to interfere. "My name is Captain Sharpe," he said again, "and I began where you are. In the ranks, and I'm going to end up where he is, in the saddle." He pointed at Lord Kiely. "But in the meantime my job is to teach you to be soldiers. I dare say there are some good killers among you and some fine fighters too, but soon you're going to be good soldiers as well. But for tonight we've all got a fair step to go before dark and once we're there you'll get food, shelter and we'll find out when you were last paid. Sergeant Harper! We'll finish the inspection later. Get them moving!"
"Sir!" Harper shouted. "Talion will turn to the right. Right turn! By the left! March!"
Sharpe did not even look at Lord Kiely, let alone seek his Lordship's permission to march the Real Companпa Irlandesa away. Instead he just watched as Harper led the guard off the waste ground towards the main road. He heard footsteps behind, but still he did not turn. "By God, Sharpe, but you push your luck." It was Major Hogan who spoke.
"It's all I've got to push, sir," Sharpe said bitterly. "I wasn't born to rank, sir, I don't have a purse to buy it and I don't have the privileges to attract it, so I need to push what bit of luck I've got."
"By giving lectures on assassinating officers?" Hogan's voice was frigid with disapproval. "The Peer won't like that, Richard. It smacks of republicanism."
"Bugger republicanism," Sharpe said savagely. "But you were the one who told me the Real Companпa Irlandesa can't be trusted. But I tell you, sir, that if there's any mischief there, it isn't coming from the ranks. Those soldiers weren't trusted with French mischief. They don't have enough power. Those men are what soldiers always are: victims of their officers, and if you want to find where the French have sown their mischief, sir, then you look among those damned, overpaid, overdressed, overfed bloody officers," and Sharpe threw a scornful glance towards the Real Companпa Irlandesa 's officers who seemed unsure whether or not they were supposed to follow their men northwards. "That's where your rotten apples are, sir," Sharpe went on, "not in the ranks. I'd as happily fight alongside those guardsmen as alongside any other soldier in the world, but I wouldn't trust my life to that rabble of perfumed fools.
"Right as rain, sir."
"My name is Captain Sharpe." Sharpe stood in the centre front of the Real Companпa Irlandesa . The faces watching him showed a mixture of astonishment and surprise, but he had their attention now and neither Kiely nor Valverde had dared to interfere. "My name is Captain Sharpe," he said again, "and I began where you are. In the ranks, and I'm going to end up where he is, in the saddle." He pointed at Lord Kiely. "But in the meantime my job is to teach you to be soldiers. I dare say there are some good killers among you and some fine fighters too, but soon you're going to be good soldiers as well. But for tonight we've all got a fair step to go before dark and once we're there you'll get food, shelter and we'll find out when you were last paid. Sergeant Harper! We'll finish the inspection later. Get them moving!"
"Sir!" Harper shouted. "Talion will turn to the right. Right turn! By the left! March!"
Sharpe did not even look at Lord Kiely, let alone seek his Lordship's permission to march the Real Companпa Irlandesa away. Instead he just watched as Harper led the guard off the waste ground towards the main road. He heard footsteps behind, but still he did not turn. "By God, Sharpe, but you push your luck." It was Major Hogan who spoke.
"It's all I've got to push, sir," Sharpe said bitterly. "I wasn't born to rank, sir, I don't have a purse to buy it and I don't have the privileges to attract it, so I need to push what bit of luck I've got."
"By giving lectures on assassinating officers?" Hogan's voice was frigid with disapproval. "The Peer won't like that, Richard. It smacks of republicanism."
"Bugger republicanism," Sharpe said savagely. "But you were the one who told me the Real Companпa Irlandesa can't be trusted. But I tell you, sir, that if there's any mischief there, it isn't coming from the ranks. Those soldiers weren't trusted with French mischief. They don't have enough power. Those men are what soldiers always are: victims of their officers, and if you want to find where the French have sown their mischief, sir, then you look among those damned, overpaid, overdressed, overfed bloody officers," and Sharpe threw a scornful glance towards the Real Companпa Irlandesa 's officers who seemed unsure whether or not they were supposed to follow their men northwards. "That's where your rotten apples are, sir," Sharpe went on, "not in the ranks. I'd as happily fight alongside those guardsmen as alongside any other soldier in the world, but I wouldn't trust my life to that rabble of perfumed fools.