Collection 1986 - Night Over The Solomons (v5.0) by Louis L’Amour Page B
Authors: Louis L’Amour
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to survive several very bad storms at sea, my misfortune to have encountered them at all.
Wandering men take what transportation offers itself at the moment, and wherever they arrive they drift into companionship with others of their kind. Often they become what used to be called soldiers of fortune and our now more commonly called mercenaries.
The term “mercenary” was first applied to those soldiers who fought for pay, but the money did not go to them but to their chieftain, lord, or ruler. The Hessians who fought with the British against the American colonists, for example, had their services sold to the British by their ruler.
Mercenaries are usually hired when the sons of a country are no longer willing to fight for it, so professionals are sought. And there have been professionals in every war, men who sell their skills with weapons to the highest bidder or to the cause that appeals most.
During the Middle Ages there were companies of soldiers who fought for whatever leader paid most for their services.
One of the best accounts of such a company in fiction is that by Arthur Conan Doyle, The White Company. However, the White Company itself was not fictitious. It existed and for some time was commanded by a veteran mercenary, Sir John Hawkwood.
The armies of the Middle Ages and of the Eastern Roman Empire were for many hundreds of years largely mercenary. In more recent years mercenaries have fought in the Latin American revolutions, for the warlords in China, and wherever someone has been willing to pay for their expert services. Often they were men who were called to serve their countries at an early age and became accustomed to warfare and the military life. Many of the old noble families of Europe were descended from mercenary soldiers.
In Ireland in the time of Queen Elizabeth there was no future for a young Irishman of family, so many sailed away to Europe to take service in one army or another. Because they flew away to far lands they were called Wild Geese. Alexander O’Reilly, who commanded the Spanish army for a time, was such a one. General McMahon who served with Napoleon was another. There were Irish soldiers in every army in Europe as well as Latin America.
For thousands of years warfare offered a young man his best chance of advancement. Due to the rigid caste system that existed in Europe the chances for an ambitious man were slight unless he went to war where courage and a strong arm might win him riches, a knighthood, or a place among the great captains of his time.
Often such soldiers moved from war to war as long as they survived, renewing old acquaintances as they moved. Yet often enough it was harder to collect the money promised as pay as to win the war, if such wars are ever won.
It was a hard world, yet few such men knew any other, and nobody mourns for a mercenary.
Nor do a mercenary expect it.
PIRATES WITH WINGS
----
T URK MADDEN HEARD the man in the copilot’s seat roar, “Turk! Look out!” There was panic in his voice.
Turk gave one startled glance upward and then yanked back on the stick. The Grumman nosed up sharply, narrowly missing a head-on collision with a speedy ship that had come plunging out of the sun toward them.
Turk gave the amphibian the full rudder as it was about to stall, and the ship swung hard to the left and down in a wing over. Then, opening the throttle wide, he streaked for a towering mass of cumulus, dodging around it in a vertical bank.
Buck Rodd, the man in the copilot’s seat, glanced at Turk, his face pale. “Was that guy bats?” he demanded. “Or was he getting smart with somebody?”
Turk kept the throttle open and streaked away for another cloud, swung around it, and then around another. He was doing some wondering himself, for the action had been so swift that he had no more than the merest glance at the fast little ship before it was gone clear out of sight. Nor did he stop ducking. He kept the Grumman headed away from the vicinity
Wandering men take what transportation offers itself at the moment, and wherever they arrive they drift into companionship with others of their kind. Often they become what used to be called soldiers of fortune and our now more commonly called mercenaries.
The term “mercenary” was first applied to those soldiers who fought for pay, but the money did not go to them but to their chieftain, lord, or ruler. The Hessians who fought with the British against the American colonists, for example, had their services sold to the British by their ruler.
Mercenaries are usually hired when the sons of a country are no longer willing to fight for it, so professionals are sought. And there have been professionals in every war, men who sell their skills with weapons to the highest bidder or to the cause that appeals most.
During the Middle Ages there were companies of soldiers who fought for whatever leader paid most for their services.
One of the best accounts of such a company in fiction is that by Arthur Conan Doyle, The White Company. However, the White Company itself was not fictitious. It existed and for some time was commanded by a veteran mercenary, Sir John Hawkwood.
The armies of the Middle Ages and of the Eastern Roman Empire were for many hundreds of years largely mercenary. In more recent years mercenaries have fought in the Latin American revolutions, for the warlords in China, and wherever someone has been willing to pay for their expert services. Often they were men who were called to serve their countries at an early age and became accustomed to warfare and the military life. Many of the old noble families of Europe were descended from mercenary soldiers.
In Ireland in the time of Queen Elizabeth there was no future for a young Irishman of family, so many sailed away to Europe to take service in one army or another. Because they flew away to far lands they were called Wild Geese. Alexander O’Reilly, who commanded the Spanish army for a time, was such a one. General McMahon who served with Napoleon was another. There were Irish soldiers in every army in Europe as well as Latin America.
For thousands of years warfare offered a young man his best chance of advancement. Due to the rigid caste system that existed in Europe the chances for an ambitious man were slight unless he went to war where courage and a strong arm might win him riches, a knighthood, or a place among the great captains of his time.
Often such soldiers moved from war to war as long as they survived, renewing old acquaintances as they moved. Yet often enough it was harder to collect the money promised as pay as to win the war, if such wars are ever won.
It was a hard world, yet few such men knew any other, and nobody mourns for a mercenary.
Nor do a mercenary expect it.
PIRATES WITH WINGS
----
T URK MADDEN HEARD the man in the copilot’s seat roar, “Turk! Look out!” There was panic in his voice.
Turk gave one startled glance upward and then yanked back on the stick. The Grumman nosed up sharply, narrowly missing a head-on collision with a speedy ship that had come plunging out of the sun toward them.
Turk gave the amphibian the full rudder as it was about to stall, and the ship swung hard to the left and down in a wing over. Then, opening the throttle wide, he streaked for a towering mass of cumulus, dodging around it in a vertical bank.
Buck Rodd, the man in the copilot’s seat, glanced at Turk, his face pale. “Was that guy bats?” he demanded. “Or was he getting smart with somebody?”
Turk kept the throttle open and streaked away for another cloud, swung around it, and then around another. He was doing some wondering himself, for the action had been so swift that he had no more than the merest glance at the fast little ship before it was gone clear out of sight. Nor did he stop ducking. He kept the Grumman headed away from the vicinity
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