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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/36631-8.txt b/36631-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..36f13aa --- /dev/null +++ b/36631-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6135 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of King Eric and the Outlaws, Vol. 1, by +Bernhard Severin Ingemann + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: King Eric and the Outlaws, Vol. 1 + or, the Throne, the Church, and the People in the Thirteenth + Century. Vol. I. + +Author: Bernhard Severin Ingemann + +Translator: Jane Frances Chapman + +Release Date: July 5, 2011 [EBook #36631] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK KING ERIC AND THE OUTLAWS, VOL. 1 *** + + + + +Produced by Charles Bowen, from page scans provided by the Web Archive + + + + + + + + +Transcriber's Notes: + + 1. Page scan source: + http://www.archive.org/details/kingericandoutl02chapgoog + + 2. The diphthong oe is represented by [oe]. + + + + + + KING ERIC + + AND + + THE OUTLAWS. + + VOL. I. + + + + + + + KING ERIC + + AND + + THE OUTLAWS. + + VOL. I. + + + + + + + NOTICE + + TO + + BOOKSELLERS, + PROPRIETORS OF CIRCULATING LIBRARIES, + AND THE PUBLIC. + + * * * * * + +The Publishers of this work give notice that it is Copyright, and that +in case of infringement they will avail themselves of the Protection +now granted by Parliament to English Literature. + +Any person having in his possession for sale or for hire a Foreign +edition of an English Copyright is liable to a penalty, which the +Publishers of this work intend to enforce. + +It is necessary also to inform the Public generally, that single Copies +of such works imported by travellers for their own reading are now +prohibited, and the Custom-house officers in all our ports have strict +orders to this effect. + +The above regulations are equally in force in our Dependencies and +Colonial Possessions. + +_London_, _June_, 1843. + + + + + London: + Printed by A. Spottiswoode, + New-Street-Square. + + + + + + + KING ERIC + + AND + + THE OUTLAWS; + + OR, + + THE THRONE, THE CHURCH, AND THE PEOPLE, + + IN THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY. + + + + BY + INGEMANN + + + TRANSLATED FROM THE DANISH BY + JANE FRANCES CHAPMAN. + + + + * * * * + IN THREE VOLUMES. + VOL. I. + * * * * + + + + LONDON: + LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, & LONGMANS, + PATERNOSTER-ROW. + 1843. + + + + + + + TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. + + +The historical records and traditions of Denmark, as well as the modern +productions of Danish genius, are almost equally unknown to the general +reader is England. While German, Swedish, and Italian works of any +recognised merit, readily find translators, and the ancient ballads of +Spain have received their English dress from an able and poetic pen, it +appears somewhat singular that so little notice has hitherto been +bestowed on the literature of a country, whose rich historical +recollections are so closely interwoven with those of Anglo-Saxon +England. + +Though but little known in other lands, the ancient traditional lore of +Scandinavia is nevertheless the source from which some of the most +distinguished Danish writers of the present day, have selected their +happiest themes, and drawn their brightest inspiration. The influence +of the Saga, or traditional romance of Scandinavia, and of the +"Kj[oe]mpe Visé," or heroic ballad, is peculiarly apparent in the works +of M. Ingemann. + +The close adherence to historic outline--the development of character +by action and dialogue--the delineation of scenery by brief though +vivid sketches, in preference to elaborate description, are +characteristics of Saga romance which M. Ingemann has been eminently +successful in imparting to his own delineations of the chivalrous age +of Denmark. + +The Kj[oe]mpe Visé, or heroic ballads which succeeded to the Saga in +the North, and bear the impress of a kindred spirit, contain a store of +historic tradition, and poetic incident, equally valuable to the +antiquary who delights to trace the customs and manners of a remote +age, and to the poet who seeks his inspiration from the historic muse +of his Fatherland. + +These vivid and truthful records of the middle ages of Denmark are to +the modern writer of romance, what the oral traditions of the heroic +age were to the chronicler of the Saga. They relate not only the +exploits of northern warriors in their own, and in distant lands, but +are also especially interesting, from the light they throw on the +personal history of Denmark's most chivalrous monarchs. Their joys and +sorrows, their sterner passions and gentler affections, are described +by the national minstrel in a strain of simple and touching +earnestness, which wins the full sympathy of the reader. This power of +delineating human passion lends a charm even to some ballads, handing +down the wildest superstitions of a superstitious age. In Germany the +Danish ballads are known through the translations of Professor Grimm, +who has entered with the enthusiasm both of an antiquary and a poet, +into the spirit of Scandinavian lore. In the preface to his version of +the "Kj[oe]mpe Visé," M. Grimm dwells with peculiar pleasure on those +ballads which have not only supplied M. Ingemann with much of the +incident, but have also suggested the individual colouring of the +historic portraits of "Eric and the Outlaws." All the prominent +characters introduced into this romance from King Eric himself, down to +Morten the cook, are historical, and enacted scarcely less romantic +parts in the drama of real life, than those assigned them by M. +Ingemann. + +The struggle with papal authority--the encroachments of the Hanse +towns--and the invidious attempts of the "Leccarii," (the socialists of +the 13th century) were important features of that interesting period +which this work is designed to illustrate. + +The translator is aware of the difficulty of attracting attention to a +romance drawn from Danish history; the work also makes its appearance +without any of those adventitious advantages which sometimes ensure a +favourable introduction to the public--it is translated by an unknown +pen--is unaided by patronage of any kind--and has solely its own merits +to rely on for success. It would afford no slight gratification to the +translator were these to be appreciated by the reading public of a +nation, which not only in its early history, is closely connected with +Denmark, but which has inherited from Scandinavian ancestors, that +indomitable spirit which rendered them in olden time masters of the +seas. + + + + + + + KING ERIC + AND THE OUTLAWS. + + + + + CHAPTER I. + + +On the north-eastern coast of Zealand, about two miles from Gilleleié, +is situate the village of Sjöberg, where the spade and the ploughshare +occasionally strike against the foundations of ancient buildings, and +traces yet remain of the paved streets of towns, the names of which are +no longer known, and over which the corn now grows or the cattle graze. +Towards the close of the thirteenth century there was still standing a +small town, built on the ruins of the ancient Sjöberg. On a hill, +surrounded by the water-reeds of the now nearly dried-up lake, +fragments of walls of hewn free-stone lie buried in the earth, and mark +the site of the strong and well fortified castle, which in the +thirteenth and fourteenth centuries served as a place of confinement +for state prisoners of importance. The spot on which the castle stood +was then entirely surrounded by the lake, which thus formed a natural +fastness, rendering artificial moats superfluous. The castle was +surrounded by ramparts. It was built of massive free-stone, and had a +strong square tower, in which the most dangerous state prisoners were +confined. The air was close and bad in the subterranean dungeon of the +tower, where no ray of light could enter; but the upper dungeon, at the +height of thirty-six feet from the ground, admitted light and air +through a small round grated window. In this upper prison, towards the +close of the year 1295, was still confined one of the chief accomplices +in Marsk[1] Stig's conspiracy[2], the turbulent and imperious +Archbishop Iens Grand. He had been imprisoned here during the minority +of Eric Menved, as an accomplice in the murder of Eric Glipping, and as +the protector of the outlawed regicides. + +This dangerous prelate had many adherents in the country, and possessed +powerful friends among the potentates of Europe, as well as at the +papal see. According to the famous constitution of Veile (_cum ecclesiæ +Dacianæ_), which had been the cause of such dangerous disputes between +the kings and clergy of Denmark, the nation was immediately laid under +an interdict prohibiting the performance of divine worship throughout +the kingdom, on the seizure and imprisonment of a bishop by the king or +any temporal authority. This, however, was not carried into effect on +the seizure and imprisonment of Archbishop Grand. Not only love of +their country and dread of the ungodliness, profligacy, and confusion, +the certain consequences of a national punishment of this nature, had +prompted the greater part of the Danish clergy to appeal to the pope +against the enforcement of this penalty, but also their fears of +temporal power and the people's wrath. The closing of the churches +might have been followed by perilous consequences to the clergy +themselves, at a time when the agitation caused by a regicide had not +yet subsided, and the excited passions of the populace often broke out +in scenes of blood and violence. This important question remained +undecided at the court of Rome. Divine worship meanwhile was continued +as usual, but fears were reasonably entertained, that, should the +archbishop not speedily be set at liberty, the interdict would be +confirmed by the pope, and the nation consequently plunged into a state +of the greatest misery. + +King Eric Menved had attained his majority, having completed his +twenty-first year. The circumstances under which he had passed his +childhood had conduced to the early formation of manly character, and +to the development of his intellectual qualities. The outrage committed +on the royal person, to which he had been witness in his childhood, had +early awakened the consciousness of authority within his breast, and +imparted something of passionate earnestness to his zeal in the +administration of justice. He was deeply imbued with the chivalrous +spirit of the age. The care with which he upheld the dignity of the +crown was deemed by many a necessary policy in so perilous a time, but +this anxiety for the maintenance of royal splendour, joined to his +natural gaiety of disposition, had inspired the young monarch with a +love of pomp and outward show, which was often censured as ostentatious +vanity. The earnest solemnity with which he assumed the regal sceptre +indicated a manly and resolute temper, early disciplined to firmness in +the school of adversity; and the boldness with which he issued his +first royal mandates bespoke a master spirit, conscious of kindred +affinity with Waldemar the Victorious, the model as well as the +ancestor of the young king,[3] Eric's first exercise of royal power was +a bold attempt to assert the authority of his crown against the +mightiest of earthly potentates, who from St. Peter's chair swayed +kings as well as people in all Christian lands. This the young monarch +dared to do, even at a time when his personal happiness was in a great +measure dependent on the favour of the papal see. He had despatched his +oldest and most experienced councillor of state, Ion Little, as well as +Drost Hessel[4], to Rome, to justify as an act of lawful self-defence +the proceedings against the archbishop, contrary to ecclesiastical law, +and to demand his condemnation as a traitor to the crown. But besides +this important mission, the aged councillor was entrusted with another, +which at any other time would not have been attended with difficulty, +although at the present juncture its favourable issue seemed doubtful, +in proportion to its being of moment to the king. Little had been +commissioned to obtain from the pope, and forward to Denmark with all +possible dispatch, the long promised dispensation, empowering Eric to +wed the beautiful princess Ingeborg of Sweden, to whom he had been +betrothed in infancy, and had long loved as the companion of his +childhood, and whom he now adored with all the devotedness and fervour +of first and youthful love. + +While the Danish embassy was detained at the papal court by all the +artifices of tedious investigation and diplomatic ambiguity, the papal +nuncio, Cardinal Isarnus, had been dispatched to Denmark, for the +purpose of threatening the young Danish sovereign with excommunication +in case he should refuse to release the archbishop unconditionally from +imprisonment. The wily cardinal brought with him no letter from the +pope touching the dispensation and permission for the royal marriage; +but expressed himself on the subject in so dubious and enigmatical a +manner, that it was evident the court of Rome designed to work upon the +inexperienced monarch's feelings in a matter so nearly concerning his +personal happiness, in order the more effectually to secure his +submission to papal authority and his clemency towards the +ecclesiastical offender at Sjöberg. + +This mode of proceeding, however, was so far from producing, its +intended effect on the young and impetuous King Eric, that it appeared +to rouse him to such a pertinacious defiance of papal authority, as +might be followed by dangerous consequences both to himself and the +kingdom. The affair still remained undecided--the cardinal had quitted +Denmark with fearful menaces, and was now at Lubec. + +The haughty Archbishop Grand, who was alone the cause of this suspense +and impending danger, was detained meanwhile in close captivity. During +the first thirty-six weeks of his imprisonment he was confined in +chains in the dark, deep, subterranean dungeon of the tower, and was +left to suffer great misery and want, although most persons acquitted +the young king (then in his minority) of having been accessary to this +severity of treatment. The archbishop's fellow-prisoner, the traitorous +and malevolent provost Jacob, had been released from prison on the plea +of illness, but had immediately availed himself of this act of clemency +to hasten to Rome, where he zealously laboured to stir up hostile +feelings towards the king, and neglected no means of forwarding the +liberation of the archbishop and their mutual revenge. + +The preceding Christmas the king had visited Sjöberg, and had himself +offered to give the archbishop his freedom, on the condition of his +vacating the archiepiscopal chair, of his quitting the kingdom, and +swearing to renounce all revenge, and give up all connection with the +enemies of the crown. Notwithstanding the haughty defiance and scorn +with which the archbishop had rejected this proposition, the rigour of +his captivity was mitigated by the king's command, and he was placed in +the upper dungeon he now inhabited, where he wanted neither light nor +air, but where, as yet, he remained closely guarded and strongly +fettered as before. As soon, however, as the king had left the castle, +the condition of the captive became once more extremely miserable. The +steward, Jesper Mogensen, was notorious for his avarice, his cruelty, +and hypocritical bearing; and the king's brother. Junker[5] +Christopher, was accused of having had a great share in the severity of +the archbishop's treatment, although the prince took every opportunity +of blaming the king's conduct in this matter, and counselled him to +make any sacrifice and submit to any humiliation, to avoid a formal +breach with the church and the papal see. + +One evening in the month of October the steward of Sjöberg, accompanied +by the cook and an old turnkey, ascended the winding stairs which led +to the archbishop's prison and to the turnkey's chamber immediately +above it. The strong light of a dark lanthorn, which the cook held up +before him, fell full upon the countenance and form of the steward:--he +was a short, strong-built man, with a true hangman's visage, in which +the expression of ferocity and malice was combined with an air of wily +hypocrisy; a shaggy cap was slouched over his low and narrow forehead; +he wore a dirty coat of sheep's skin, and tramped up the stone stairs +in heavy iron-shod boots, apparently in great wrath and alarm. "That +limb of Satan! that ungodly priest!" he muttered, "if he hath dealings +with the Evil One, chains will be of no use here." + +"As I tell thee, master," answered the portly, round-faced cook, with +an air of importance, "he talks with invisible spirits, and no turnkey +dares any longer watch by him. He is as regularly bound to the Evil One +as I am to thee, saving that _he_ cannot shift his service, and leave +his master when he pleases; you remember, no doubt, I gave you warning +at the right time, and am free to be off either to-day or to-morrow, if +I please. The devil take me if I stay longer here, since--since he is +here already, I was near saying." + +"Pshaw, Morten! thou shalt stay here till I get another cook: that thou +didst promise me. But what hath given rise to all this talk about his +sorceries?" + +"There is something in it," answered the cook. "No one knows the Black +Art out and out as he does. You know yourself that Junker Christopher's +folk found the book on the Black Art among the letters from the +outlaws, when they ferreted the bishop's secrets out of the chest in +Lund sacristy. The book burned their fingers, and vanished instantly +out of their hands. Such a devil's book always comes back to its +master. That he hath not got it as yet, I am certain; but I fear he has +it all at his fingers' ends. They said he never wearied of studying it +at Lund, and he knows all the heathen and Greek books better by heart +than his Paternoster, the ungodly hound!" + +"Thou art right, Morten! He _is_ a limb of Satan, and one cannot watch +him too narrowly. His confounded learning never hit my fancy." Here the +steward paused thoughtfully near the door of the archbishop's prison. + +"Yes, take care, master!" resumed the cook; "he will soon fill the +house with his devilries, and set all the imps in hell to plague us, if +he doth not get his prison cleaned, and better meat and drink. It would +please me right well were he to die of hunger and be eaten up of +vermin. Such end would still be a thousand times too good for such an +accursed traitor and wizard; but when the Evil One is in the house, it +is wisest to remember one's own little transgressions, and not use a +captive devil worse than we would he should use us." + +"Pshaw, Morten! the devil is not our neighbour," interrupted the +steward with a suspicious look. "Had I not myself heard thee curse and +mock the archbishop, I should almost suspect thou wert in league with +him." + +"Nay, master! I can soon clear myself of that; I would sooner league +with Beelzebub himself. The turnkeys can bear witness there is not one +among them all that takes such delight in plaguing and vexing him as I +do. When he is forced to drink muddy water, and eat mouldy bread like a +swine yonder, I sing drinking songs below in the kitchen, and throw +open the window that he may snuff up the scent of the roasting; and I +never come nigh his door without singing one thing or another, which I +know will make him turn yellow, black, and green with rage. I made a +song last spring, all about freedom and fair green woods, that always +enrages him. Now you shall hear, master:" and he sang loudly before the +prison door,-- + + + "A blithe bird flits round Sjöberg's tower, + Right merrily sings he, + Rise, captive, if thou hast the power, + Rise up and flee with me; + And then thou'lt breathe the fresh spring air, + And roam in greenwood gay; + Then speed we to thy castle fair, + To Hammershuus away." + + +"Hast thou lost thy wits, Morten?" interrupted the steward. "Wouldst +thou stir him up to flee to his castle at Bornholm?" + +"He may let that alone while he is here. Heard you not how deep he +sighed? It was from rage and grief to think the least spring bird can +fly to its castle and build its nest, while he can stir neither hand +nor foot. I made that song on purpose to plague him." + +"Thou art right, Morten! it _did_ plague him," said the steward with a +look of satisfaction. "Thou art an honest soul; I heard myself how deep +he sighed: nevertheless, thou shalt not sing him any more such songs; +they only serve to put fancies into his head. Thou art a good, +well-meaning fellow, Morten! I know it well; but thou art somewhat +simple. If the bishop knew the Black Art, he would not have been here +so long. I rather incline to think his brain is cracked." + +"Have a care, master; that fellow hath all his wits about him; there is +not a bishop in all the country can beat him at Latin." + +"It matters not to me whether he be mad or wise," muttered the steward, +who mounted the stairs leading to the turnkey's room. He opened the +door of this chamber, which was the uppermost in the tower, and +directly above the archbishop's prison. Here two turnkeys were always +on guard, and watched the prisoner through a chink in the floor. During +the night two others were usually stationed in the captive's dungeon, +and sat beside his couch, when it was their wont to plague him, and by +their talk often to prevent his sleeping; but the report which had +recently been spread abroad of the archbishop's sorceries, had so +terrified the inmates of Sjöberg, that none dared any longer remain at +night in the captive's chamber. The two sentinels were seated before a +backgammon board, and were throwing the dice when the steward entered. +They hastily concealed them, and rose respectfully. + +"This is doing duty finely," muttered the steward: "while ye sit here +and game, ye suffer him below there to play with Satan for his soul. Ye +had best keep your eyes upon him, I counsel ye. If he gets loose, ye +may make as sure of being hanged, as if ye had already the halter round +your necks, and the clear air for a footstool. Now let's see what he is +after." So saying the steward stooped down to the hole in the floor and +peeped below. "He surely sleeps," he whispered; "he lies on his back +without stirring." + +"That he is well nigh forced to do, because of his chains and the +pestilent smell," said the cook. + +"Well," answered the steward, "one should not despise any means which +might save an erring soul. It is for this reason, seest thou, I suffer +the hardened sinner below there to lie in such swinish plight. +_Ignorant_ folk would call it cruel; it is in truth pure compassion. +How long thinkest thou the most hardened offender can hold out such +captivity without repenting of his misdeeds and creeping to the cross?" + +"Ay, there doubtless you are in the right, master! You have pious and +fatherly manner, and even generously exposed yourself to the risk of +drawing down on you the king's wrath a second time, simply for the sake +of exercising true Christian compassion, and saving the sinner's soul; +but he is insensible to it, the scoundrel. His obstinacy is matchless. +Could you believe it, master? Notwithstanding all you do to bring him +to repentance and conversion, he curses you, nevertheless, every hour +of the day, and wishes you may come to suffer a thousand times more +torments in hell than you have here caused him to undergo out of pure +Christian charity!" + +"I can well believe it, Morten; from such sort of folk one should never +look for gratitude; but the roof and ceiling are in too sorry a +plight," muttered the steward looking around him: "under the blue sky +he needs not to sleep, either; it might be dangerous besides." + +"It was done according to your own order, master," resumed the cook in +a credulous tone, and staring with an air of simplicity at the holes in +the ceiling and the roof, "else it could never have rained down on that +confounded Satan. Of a surety he will let alone flying with the owls +through the roof; and when the nights are cold, a little rain and hail +are right proper means of bringing him to reflection and confession of +his sins." + +"Well, it is true, Morten; I myself _partly_ commanded it: but one +should have moderation in all things; it should not appear as if the +roof had been uncovered on purpose. Evil tongues will have plenty to +talk of as it is. To-morrow the roof shall be repaired. Some small +holes may remain--they will not catch the eye--fresh air is wholesome; +even a little rain and snow may have their use. Not a rain-drop falls +to the earth, Morten, but it may prove a means for the conversion of a +hardened sinner." + +"Ah, master," said Morten, with a tremulous voice and clasped hands, +"you should, by my troth, have been a bishop: you often speak so +touchingly and edifyingly that the tears start into mine eyes." + +"Well," answered the steward with a self-satisfied smile, "I was, +indeed, once intended to become a churchman, and though I got not the +tonsure, I nevertheless learned many pious and useful truths during my +noviciate; but it is not sufficient to _know_ the truth, we must, by my +troth, know how to _use_ it for one's own and one's fellow-creature's +salvation." + +"Ah, yes, master," resumed Morten, with a devout look, "who is there +can say _that_ with as good a conscience as yourself? 'Tis a hard +calling for a pious Christian conscience and a compassionate soul like +yours, to be forced to play such bloodhound and hangman's tricks on a +poor captive; but what will not one do for duty and precious virtue's +sake, and to save an erring soul! Such a pious bloodhound and +hangman----" + +"Hold thy tongue, Morten," interrupted the steward; "thou must never +use such words in speaking of thy master, however well and honestly +thou meanst it. But hark! he speaks below there: canst hear what he +says? It seems to me it is Latin or Greek." + +The cook threw himself on his stomach and laid his ear close to the +hole in the floor. "Our Lady preserve us!" he whispered with a look of +affright, "he is calling on Aristoteles, the devil's schoolmaster, and +is giving him directions about you; he swears that you are right ready +to enter his school." + +"Ay, indeed, it is just like the ungodly scoundrel! but I thought I +heard another voice--there is surely no one with him?" + +Morten listened again. "Master! heard you _that_?" he exclaimed, +springing up with a look of terror, and looking towards the door as if +he meant to escape. + +"How now? What's that? What hath possessed thee, Morten? What heardest +thou?" + +"Stoop down your ear to the hole, master, and you shall hear. Our Lady +graciously preserve us! The Evil One is manifestly with him. He is to +fetch you at midnight if you do not presently give his good friend, the +archbishop, meat and wine and clean garments. Only listen yourself!" + +The steward cast a suspicious look at the cook, yet stooped to listen +at the hole, keeping his eye all the while on Morten and the terrified +turnkeys. He had not remained long in this position, ere he rose up +deadly pale, and the name of Jesper Mogensen, accompanied by the sound +of smothered and unnatural laughter, rung hollow as from an abyss, and +in a voice wholly unlike the archbishop's. "Heard ye it not yourself, +master?" said Morten; "he who now calls on _you_ I desire not to see +near _me_." + +"Silence!" whispered the steward, stooping again with a look of alarm +towards the crevice in the floor. + +"Jesper Mogensen!" said the same terrific voice as if directly under +his feet, "cherish my learned master and customer, or I will break thy +neck, and turn inside out thy hypocritical soul." + +While this voice rang through the chamber the turnkeys lay flat on +their faces on the floor, and repeated their Avemaria. The steward +trembled and shook; but Morten's cheeks now glowed crimson, and his +eyes watered, as if affected by some secret exertion, while his lips +were firmly compressed, and he stood apparently speechless with terror. + +"Then let him have what he wants," stammered forth the steward. "If +there are _such_ tricks in the game, neither Junker Christopher, nor +any one else, can require me to peril my life and soul any longer. Set +thee to roast for the bishop in Satan's name, Morten! Let him eat and +drink himself to death if he pleases! but escape he shall not, let him +have ever so many devils for his friends." + +"You will find it hard to hinder him, master," said Morten in a timid +tone; "he who so can roar would deem it a small matter to fly through +the key-hole with a bishop." + +"I must see that, ere I believe it," said the steward, who appeared to +have regained his self-possession, and recovered from his fright. "Thou +art an honest fellow, Morten, but thou art somewhat credulous and +simple--there is perhaps some trick in this. But this I would have +thee, and all of ye, to know--if I smell a rat, or if any of ye have +the least hand or part in this devilry, ye shall rue it dearly: ye +shall be burned alive, or broken on the wheel, as surely as there is +law and justice in the land." + +"Our Lady preserve us, master!" exclaimed the terrified turnkeys in the +same breath. + +"I tell ye," continued the steward, "'tis nought else but trick and +treachery. To try him below there, I will let him have good cheer and +cleanliness for a time; but if he kicks up any more riots of this kind, +he shall below in the dungeon again: and this I tell ye, knaves! if any +of you dare help him to flight, one for all, and all for one, ye shall +be hanged! Ye shall all three watch here to-night." + +"Alack! we dare not, master!" said the old turnkey. "If there is +sorcery in the tower, we dare not stay here, unless Morten the cook +stay too, to keep up our courage." + +"Stay, then, with these stupid knaves to-night, Morten!" said the +steward. "After all thou art the wisest among them. I shall owe thee +for it, and to-morrow I shall get fellows enough with some spirit in +them." + +"It is all one to me, master!" answered Morten. "I will keep up their +spirits tonight. He who, like you and I, hath a good conscience, need +not fear a few devil's tricks." + +"True enough, Morten! thou shalt first follow me down stairs. I am +somewhat dizzy from stooping; and then thou canst at the same time +fetch meat and drink for the prisoner and all of ye." + +"Come, master, take hold of my arm!" said Morten, following the steward +out of the door. "All is quiet and orderly," he continued, as they +descended the stair. "I thought it would be so--one good turn deserves +another. You'll find, we shall get at last so used to these impish +tricks that we shall not care a rush for them; and why should not one +learn to put up with two or three little devils, when they choose to +behave themselves courteously, and live in Christian concord and sweet +family union with us?" + +When Morten had attended the steward to the bottom of the stairs, he +ran into his chamber, and from thence to the kitchen and pantry. He +presently mounted the tower stairs again, and returned to his comrades +with a bundle of clothes, two baskets of provisions, and a couple of +flagons of wine. "Take thou the meat and wine and clothes to the hound +below, Mads!" said he to the old turnkey; "but steal not aught thereof +on the way! Master says the chamber is to be made clean and neat. A +guard will henceforth be placed outside the door night and day, so that +thou need'st not load him with all the fetters. Meanwhile let us here +get something to keep life in us. Look, comrades! I have both mead and +German ale with me. Only get thee gone, Mads; we will surely leave +something for thee, if thou comest back sober." + +The old man cast a longing look at the wine and good cheer he was to +take to the captive, and departed. Morten now busied himself in placing +the provisions on the table, and presently began to carouse merrily +with the two younger turnkeys. The one had borne arms, and styled +himself Niels the horseman; he was a lover of strong drink, and had +rather a red nose. The other was a timid and cautious personage, with a +cunning and miserly cast of countenance. He sat with the dice in his +hands, and counted the number of marks he had won from his comrades. + +"Thou art an excellent fellow, Morten," said Niels the horseman, +pushing back the cap which shaded his sun-burnt and martial visage, +while he drained his cup of mead, and seized on the flagon of ale. +"Thou knowest well how to furnish a guard-room when one is required to +keep one's eyes open and one's spirits up. By my soul! I would rather +keep guard in a camp over a whole army of captives than sit here, +especially if the confounded bishop understands the black art, and +such-like devilry. What dost think of all this, Morten?" + +"Truly, that is not for laymen to judge of," answered Morten. "I know +neither the white nor the black art; but _this_ I know, henceforth let +there be ever such a stir below there, _I_ budge not from my seat. When +we keep our noses out of mischief, and strive to mind our duty, we +shall be left in peace, and can sit here as quiet as though we lay in +Abraham's bosom. Now drink, Niels! And thou, Jörgen, what art _thou_ +thinking of?" said he to the man with the dice. "I warrant thou wouldst +rather kill the time in gaming, than in honest and innocent drink. Now, +by our Lady! every man hath his crotchets in this world, but we must +ever sing with the birds we live with. First, comrade, sing and drink +with us, and we will play afterwards with thee. We have bright silver +pieces in plenty." So saying, the merry cook threw a handful of silver +money on the table, and began to sing a joyous drinking song. Jörgen +looked covetingly at the silver, and shook the dice. "Come, good +Morten, let's play first," said he, in a coaxing tone, and with a +crafty smile, "and we can sing and drink afterwards." + +"Darest thou throw for a silver piece?" + +"For twenty, if thou wilt," answered Morten; "but I snap my fingers at +dice and silver pieces, as long as I can get aught to moisten my +tongue; it is the most important member in the world, seest thou, and +well deserves to be cherished. That little instrument can turn whole +kingdoms topsy-turvy. I am already half drunk, I perceive, and thou +hast not lifted the cup to thy lips as yet. The man who games with me +must be as jovial a soul as myself." + +"Well, then, pour me out half a can of ale, if it be not too strong," +said the cautious Jörgen. "Mead instantly gets into my head: when one +would play a fair game, one should always be able to count to six; +besides, we are not sent here to drink ourselves drunk, I trow." + +"Just as much to drink as to game," answered Morten; "but leave that to +me! I know the strength of the ale well, and what four fellows can +stand, provided they be not carlines."[6] The turnkeys drank, and +Morten replenished their cups.--"Know ye the news, comrades?" he +continued, raising his voice, as he seated himself at his ease, with +his arms resting on the table; "we may presently expect the king here +at the castle; then will there be no lack of drink. Money, and mead, +and wine, and Saxon ale, will flow here, as in blessed Paradise." + +"The king!" said Niels the horseman; "then of a surety will there be +fine doings here; he will, by my troth! give the huntsman something to +do." + +"You will see, then, the bishop will get loose," said Jörgen the +turnkey, rolling the dice as he spoke, "for he is surely not so mad as +to put the king in a rage again, as he did the last time." + +"_He_ cares not for the King's wrath," answered the cook; "that fellow +minds neither king nor emperor; and if it be true that the pope in Rome +sides with him, the king may go to the wall at last." + +"What can the pope do to _our_ king?" asked Niels the horsemen; "he +dwells in Italy, far over the sea yonder, and hath neither horsemen nor +ships to send hither." + +"But he hath that which stands him in better stead," said Morten; "he +hath got a bunch of keys, so heavy that a hundred men can't carry them, +and with those he can both open and shut heaven and hell, to each one +of us, just as it likes him. Hell-gate he willingly leaves open, for +there is ever a throng in _that_ quarter; but heaven's gate, by my +troth! he locks every evening himself, and lays the keys under his +pillow." + +"But St. Peter keeps the gate," responded Niels; "he must ever stand +sentinel there night and day." + +"Right, Niels! but St. Peter is the pope's cousin only; besides, the +pope keeps him under finger and thumb, and takes the keys from him +every evening, as soon as it grows dark, just as the steward takes the +keys from thee: the pope, moreover, is the Lord's stadtholder, as thou +surely know'st; and when he is wroth, he is able by a single word to +shut up all the churches in the country, and give all of us, body and +soul, to the devil." + +"Our Lady preserve us!" said Niels, crossing himself; "and think'st +thou he durst act thus by our king and all Christian folk here in the +country?" + +"Yes, he threatens hard to do it, they say. The devil take the +confounded bishop below, there! _he_ is the cause of all this ill luck; +'twere better for king and country had he long since shown us a pair of +clean heels." + +"Think'st thou so, Morten! 'tis arrant folly, then, to pen the fellow +up here as they do?" + +"That's the king's business," answered Morten; "he surely knows what he +is about; and hath doubtless his own reasons for what he does. The +bishop had a hand in the game when they made away with his father in +the barn at Finnerup--'tis true King Glipping was worth little enough, +but he was king nevertheless, and the murder was a lawless business: +our Lord forbid I should defend it! No one can think ill of our young +king because he can't forgive the bishop; but, as I said before, state +and country would fare better were the king less strict, and the bishop +gone to the devil." + +While this dialogue was carrying on, the old turnkey returned half +intoxicated, and threw himself on a bench before the drinking table. + +"How now, Mads! what red cheeks thou hast got," said the cook, +laughing; "thou must surely have accredited the bishop's wine: thou +didst right! who could know whether it might not be poisoned?" + +"Death and pestilence, Morten! what art prating of?" lisped forth the +old man in a fright, and spit upon the floor. "I have not so much as +tasted a drop of his wine; nevertheless, thou shouldst not jest about +such things." + +"Be easy, old fellow!" said Morten, in a soothing tone; "I myself drank +of it on the stairs. Well! what said he to the change?" + +"Not so much as yon stone flask, comrade! The hound would sooner let +himself be spitted than speak a fair word to any man: perhaps, too, he +thought it was poison I brought him,--but, death and pestilence!"--here +he paused and spit again--"I can never believe"---- + +"Make thyself easy, Mads! thou knowest thou hast not tasted a drop; at +any rate here is something to rince thy throat with, which I warrant +thee is good and wholesome. I will sing thee a merry song the while; +which will do the bishop good as well." While Morten again replenished +his comrades' cups, he cleared his throat and sang: + + + "In Sjöborg tower a spider's web + Holds sure a struggling fly; + He once was king and country's dread, + And held his head full high. + Then strive and toil, and toil and strive, + That web thou'lt never leave alive." + + +"What song is that?" asked Niels the horseman; "I never heard it +before." + +"It was made to mock the bishop below," said Morten; "and _I_ it was +who made it. Now ye shall hear; for to plague him properly, and mock +his useless learning, I have managed to cram a little Latin into it +that I learned of Father Gregory:" and Morten continued,-- + + + "For Crimen læsæ majestatis, + The spider's web doth prison thee. + Custodibus inebriatis, + A thief shall catch a thief, thou'lt see. + Then strive and toil, and toil and strive, + That web thou'lt never leave alive." + + +While the cook thus sang in a loud voice, the clanking of chains was +heard below in the archbishop's dungeon, and the two half-drunken +turnkeys started from their seats, while Jörgen, who was still sober, +took the opportunity of conveying a couple of the cook's silver pieces +into his own pocket. "Let him writhe in his chains, the hound!" said +Morten, remaining quietly seated; "he hears well enough how I mock him +in the song, and that enrages him; but it does him good." + +"Right, Morten!" said Niels the horseman, as he peeped through the +chink in the floor. "He twists in his chains, as though he were +possessed--thou may'st be sure it is the Latin that vexes him--but no +matter for that. I would have him hear, that we lay folk know a thing +or two as well as himself." + +"Come, let's drink, comrades!" called the cook, and continued to sing, +as he rose from the bench, and staggered, as if half-intoxicated, about +the chamber:-- + + + "Thy Latin hast thou clean forgot? + And canst not catch the blithe bird's lay? + Then dark and dreary be thy lot, + Within these walls thou'lt pine away. + Then strive and toil, and toil and strive, + That web thou'lt never leave alive. + + "Hast thou a message to Rome? + Hark! the bird sings right cunningly! + Or farther yet, from my greenwood home? + Speak! and I'll haste far o'er the sea. + Then strive and toil, and toil and strive, + That web thou'lt never leave alive." + + +As he sang the last verse, he fell down flat beside the hole, above the +archbishop's dungeon, and peeped through it. + +"The false knave mocks me," he heard the captive murmur with a deep +sigh. + + + "Then strive and toil, and toil and strive, + Thou'lt never leave that web alive," + + +sang Morten at the top of his lungs, while he reeled about, and +continued to repeat the burden of the song, in which the turnkeys +joined with loud laughter. + +"Thou art gloriously drunk, Morten!" said Niels the horseman, in an +inarticulate voice, and fell under the table. "Thou shouldst bethink +thee, we are on guard here, and not at an ale-house:" so saying, the +man-at-arms rested his heavy head on a stone flagon, which lay on the +floor, and fell asleep. + +"But what hath become of Niels the horseman?" said the old turnkey, who +had in the meantime drained a large flagon of potent Saxon ale (noted +for its intoxicating properties). "I'll be hanged if I can see him." + +"He is snoring under the table there, the guzzling hound!" answered +Jörgen; "ye are pretty fellows, truly, to keep a night watch: I shall +have to watch and be sober for ye all. Come, Morten! let us two keep +our wits about us, and mind our duty! There lie thy silver pieces +swimming in ale and mead--let's clear the table--shall we venture a +throw for them? he who gets the highest throw shall pocket them; thou +mayest throw first, an thou likest." + +"Done!" said Morten; "but we must play fair." As he said this, he took +the dice and threw. + +"If thou canst count, count, Jörgen, he stuttered, without looking at +the dice. + +"Two, three--seven thou hast only got," answered Jörgen, hastily +sweeping up the dice; "look, it is my turn now:" he threw the dice, +which turned up a high number. "I've won! the money is mine! look +thyself!"--he swept the money towards him. + +"I doubt thee not--thou art an honest fellow," answered Morten, +reeling, as he filled his comrade's cup, "the money is thine, but, by +my soul! thou shalt now drink to the health of my true love, and then I +will lie down to sleep. If thou drink not that cup clean out, I shall +hold thee for a rascally cheat." + +"Well, then, good Morten, here's to the health of the pretty Karen +Jeppé of Gilleleié! see'st thou, I am a man of my word," said Jörgen, +and drank--"There is not a drop left in the can." + +"That's right! Thou art an honest soul after all," lisped the cook, +tumbling on the floor, where he soon began to snore louder than any of +the others. + +"The dull brute!" muttered Jörgen, who began to feel somewhat muddled; +"one may lead him by the nose as much as one likes." It was not long, +however, before he leaned his head on his arms upon the table, and +slept soundly. Hardly had he begun to snore, ere the cook rose, +perfectly sober, and narrowly scrutinised the faces of the three +sleeping turnkeys by the dim light of the lamp. As soon as he was +satisfied that they slept soundly, Morten crept softly to the hole in +the floor, and looked down on the prisoner. + +"Venerable sir!" he whispered, "I have managed to drink them all three +dead drunk; they are sleeping like logs--you need not doubt me. I have +always been true and devoted to you. I was forced to plague and vex +you, to throw dust in the eyes of others. I will do your bidding, +wherever you please to send me." + +"Is this earnest, Morten?" whispered the captive archbishop. + +"It is, by my soul and honour!" answered the cook; "you saved my life, +and concealed what you well wot of; therefore have I vowed to Saint +Martin to save your life--at whatever cost." + +"In the Lord's name, then, I will believe thee," said the prisoner. "If +thou wouldst save my life, hie thee to Copenhagen, to my canon Hans +Rodis, and consult with him! Bid him send me pen and ink--a file--and a +ladder of ropes." + +"Hans Rodis is at Esrom, my lord," answered the cook; "he bade me put +this little sausage into your pious hands. If the chains will let you, +hold up your hands, just as you lie there! Look, now! see how well we +have hit the mark!" In saying this, the cook pushed through the +aperture a thin rolled-up packet, concealed in a sausage; it was +fastened to a string, by which he lowered it, holding the end fast in +his hand. "I have it," said the captive, "praised be the King of kings! +My faithful servant hath sent me what I need--let not go the string," he +continued, after a pause; "bring the lamp to the hole--but one single +ray of light!" The cook obeyed in silence. + +"I am writing a word of moment to my commandant at Hammershuus; wilt +thou put it faithfully into his own hands?" + +"I will, by my soul! only make haste." + +"Thy reward will be great in Heaven, as on earth; but give me light, +light!" + +"All is arranged," whispered the cook, holding the lamp closer to the +hole; "let us but make sure of Hammershuus, and all will be well! The +fitting time will be when ye see me again; meanwhile use the file with +caution. I and the canon will care for the rest; Niels Brock and his +friends will help us. Johan Kysté and Olé Ark are here. Be of good +courage, venerable sir! you may depend on me. But haste! those drunken +dogs are stirring--I fear they will awake." + +"One moment more!" whispered the captive. "Pull up--all is ready," he +continued, after a short pause. Morten hastily drew up the string, and +found a sheet of parchment rolled up in the skin of the sausage, which +was fastened to it: he carefully concealed it. "Hush! they wake!" he +whispered. "I must set to work again." So saying, the portly cook +rolled himself on the floor among the intoxicated and half-awakened +turnkeys, and began to belabour them with all his might. "Hollo, there! +now for a beating of meat!" he shouted, "now for a pounding of pepper! +How come we by this lump in the porridge? It must be well beaten out." + +"Oh, oh! Art thou mad, Morten!" cried Niels the horseman. + +"Have done with thy chatter, I know what I am about," continued Morten, +still laying about him. "I am neither mad nor drunk; but the devil take +me if I stay longer here!--must you, clod-pates, have your say too, and +fancy yourselves wiser than the cook? Would you make me believe I have +horsemen in the pot?" + +While Morten thus shouted and talked, as though intoxicated to an +excess he overturned the lamp, reeled in the dark out of the chamber, +and rolled himself down the stairs. When the keepers, on the following +morning, had recovered the full use of their senses the cook had +disappeared, and was nowhere to be found in the castle. + + + + + CHAP. II. + + +At sunrise next morning, the brisk broad-shouldered cook, with a large +club in his hand, took his way through the wood skirting Esrom Lake[7], +accompanied by two other wanderers. It was a foggy morning; large +flocks of wild geese flew with shrill cries over the lake, and the +fallen leaves of the forest were swept along the path by the sharp +morning breeze. The cook and his companions proceeded in silence and +with hasty steps; and it was not until the sun began to disperse the +cold mists of morning, that Morten cleared his throat, and sang a merry +ballad. His companions were two strong broad-shouldered fellows, with +red wadmal cloaks, over dirty leathern breeches, and with broad swords +and daggers in their thickly padded belts, which also appeared to serve +them as purses. They had the appearance of deserters or dismissed +men-at-arms; they both wore beards in the fashion of king's horsemen, +but seemed to have long neglected all attention to cleanliness and +personal neatness. Their unwashed faces betokened want of sleep and +fitting rest. The heads of a couple of flails served them as walking +staves. They bore on their backs large bundles of rich attire, from +which pieces of smoked meat and other provisions protruded. Their long +uncombed hair hung about their shoulders; the skin and hair of both +were so dark, and their countenances had so little of a Danish cast, +that they would have passed for foreigners, had not their dialect +proclaimed them to be peasants from Lolland; who, at any rate, could +not prove their evidently Vandal extraction in the first generation. +The taller of the two had lost an eye, and the other had a huge scar +between his nose and mouth, which looked like a hare lip, and his sharp +projecting teeth gave him a ferocious appearance, resembling that of a +wild boar. + +The three wanderers occasionally looked behind them, as if they +apprehended a pursuit; but they only beheld the white gable ends of +Esrom monastery, which they had passed a short time before. + +"Now, thanks for good companionship," said Morten, as he halted at a +cross road in the forest. "It were best we part company for the +present; ye understand what I said to you--ye are to hide yourselves at +Gilleleié, and watch every night, until ye see the skiff with the black +pennant, then push off with Jeppé's boat, and set me on shore: +meanwhile watch narrowly all that goes on here, and who goes in and out +of the castle. What Niels Brock and the archbishop have promised, you +may make sure of. But then ye must not be self-willed; ye will never be +able to get him out by force, and if the king and Marsk Oluffsen come +hither to-day or to-morrow, ye might lightly get hanged and ruin every +thing." + +"Leave that to us, sly Morten," said the man with the one eye. "Johan +Kysté well knows what he is about. I committed but one folly in my +life; 'twas on that Easter eve I deserted from the Marsk, and took the +palfrey from the pious clerk; I did but knock a little hole in his +skull, but it was large enough for his bit of a soul to slink out of: +one should let holy men go their way in peace; for this, I am now +forced to put up with one eye. I vowed, therefore, to our Lady and St. +Joseph, to become pious and God-fearing from that very hour, and never +more to lay my hand on other than laymen." + +"A pious resolve," said Morten: "wert thou not such a bloodhound and +cut-throat, I could almost believe thy soul might be saved as yet, even +shouldst thou steal and rob in a small way at times." + +"It bids fair to be so," answered the one-eyed. "I have a letter of +absolution from the archbishop, within my woollen jerkin, that will +stand me in good stead when all the world besides marches to hell. +Truly I served the learned Master Grand faithfully by night and day +these many years, therefore hath the pious archbishop given me freedom +from fasting, and absolution for sins for ten whole years: he hath not +spared his silver pieces either; and shall I now suffer them to shut up +such a man, and thereby rob so many honest fellows of a living? What +sayest thou, Olé Ark? Shall we suffer it any longer? hath Master Grand +deserved it of us?" + +"Pshaw! Kysté; who says thou art to suffer it, and leave him in the +lurch?" interrupted Morten. "We all want to have him out; but we would +not be as fools, trying to burst open the doors with their own thick +skulls. Force will not help us here--do but as I bid thee, and keep thy +courage until we want it." + +"Morten is right, Kysté," began the other Lollander, with a hideous +grin, which displayed his projecting teeth. "Thou art a mad bull, and +art ever ready to push with thy horns. Why haste so desperately to get +him out? he was a good and generous man of God while he was in power, +'tis true, but since he hath lain in Sjöborg we have heard no great +things of him, and have not been blessed with the sight of a stiver +from his hand." + +"Dull cod-fish!" replied Johan Kysté, hastily; "believest thou not what +honest Morten hath vowed and promised us in the bishop's name? As soon +as we get him out we are his steersmen at Bornholm, and get leave to +catch what we can throughout the king's dominions." + +"Hold, comrade," said Morten, correcting him. "It is only so long as +the breach lasts between the king and the archbishop, that he gives you +leave to drive that trade: it is only in the service of the church, and +the pious bishop, that it may be lawful and Christian for a time; +afterwards ye must content yourselves with what he gives you of his +own, and lead quiet lives: but ere this day twelvemonth, you may +feather your nests finely. Now begone, and neglect not what ye have +taken upon ye, for the sake of other desperate pranks! I will not have +you longer with me: if any one caught me in such fair company, they +might take a fancy to hang me up by the side of you, for honest +companionship's sake." + +"Ho! ho! wouldst _thou_ play the lordling, Morten?" said the one-eyed; +"what higher honour couldst _thou_ look for, thou turnspit!--But hark! +what was that? are there hunters in the wood so early?" + +The sound of hunting-horns, the tramp of horses, and the baying of +hounds, was heard in the neighbourhood: the three wanderers hastened +forward a few paces, but soon suddenly sprang aside in different +directions. + +"S'death! the king and all his courtiers!" exclaimed Morten, sheltering +himself behind a large beech tree by the road side, while both his +suspicious-looking comrades hid themselves among the thick brushwood. + +A numerous hunting train drew near; at the head rode the young king, +between the Drost and the Marsk: it was a noble sight to see the young +chivalrous King Eric on horseback. He rode a tall milk-white horse, +which seemed proud of its burden, and often fell into the artificial +dancing-pace to which it was used in the tilt and tournay. Its bridle +and saddle accoutrements glittered with gold and precious stones: the +silken rein with which the king managed his steed was the only +compulsory means to which it would submit; the slightest touch of the +golden rowel in the king's spur caused it to rear almost upright, and +for any other than the king it seemed rash and dangerous to bestride +the proud animal. The king himself was a noble-looking youth, with a +manly and determined, almost a stern, cast of countenance; but his long +fair locks imparted a softness to this expression, which, in Eric's +milder moods, called to mind the portraits of the Saviour's best +beloved Apostle, leaning his head on his Master's breast. The young +king had a dignified and chivalrous deportment, the effect of which was +heightened by the almost dazzling splendour of his attire, which +appeared indeed unsuited to a hunting party. The tall white plume in +his hat sparkled with small silver stars; and the green hunting dress, +bordered with ermine, was so richly broidered with silken lions, and +golden hearts, that it resembled a shining suit of armour. + +The splendour in which the young king appeared to delight was also +conspicuous in his train. Drost Aagé, who rode at the king's right +hand, was of the same age with King Eric, and had not yet attained his +twenty-second year. He had been the king's playmate and confidant from +childhood upwards, and now possessed his entire confidence and favour. +There was a mild but almost melancholy seriousness in the expression of +Drost Aagé's countenance, which gave him the appearance of being older +than the king. He had thrown his dark blue mantle over the back of his +smoking palfrey, by way of covering; and his rich silken dress was +besprinkled with the foam of the king's restless and chafing steed, +upon which he appeared to keep a watchful eye. + +Marsk Niels Oluffsen, who rode at the king's left hand, was a tall +strong-built man, of about thirty years and upwards, with a sharp, +rough, warrior-like countenance, and stiff deportment. Next to Drost +Aagé, he was the king's most indispensable counsellor, and was an +exceedingly brave and doughty knight; but there was a tinge of +haughtiness and severity in his looks and manner which frequently +aroused the feelings of independence, and wounded the self-love, of his +inferiors. Even the king and Drost Aagé, who were fully his equals in +knightly prowess, and far surpassed him in tact and talent, often felt +unpleasantly repulsed by his rough and blunt bearing, of which he was +himself so unconscious that nothing astonished him more than whenever +his uncouth roughness and self-confidence drove friends as well as +enemies from him. + +Among others of the king's train were two celebrated German +minstrels--Master Rumelant, from Swabia, and Master Poppé the Strong, +who, in their national dress of German minstrels, attracted much +attention. Master Rumelant's stature was insignificant, but he had a +lively and enthusiastic expression of countenance; he was a lover of +argument, into which he was ever ready to enter with warmth and +vehemence, especially on theological subjects, on which he entertained +his own very peculiar opinions. His countryman, Poppé the Strong, well +deserved his cognomen: he was a gigantic figure, with long coal-black +hair and beard. His appearance often terrified old women and children, +by whom he was even sometimes taken for a wizard. He spoke in a +tone of emphatic decision, which would have better beseemed a +commander-in-chief. He rode a lean grey horse, and always wore a black +feather in his hat, in token of a sorrow he desired should be noticed +and respected by others. These two strangers had been for some time the +honoured guests of the young Danish monarch, who himself possessed a +knowledge of the arts, and showed special favour to talented artists +and men of learning. The king was also attended on this excursion by +the famous Danish philosopher, Petrus de Dacia, who was accounted the +greatest astronomer and arithmetician of his time, and was as renowned +for his theological learning as for his eloquence and profound +knowledge of Greek and Latin philology. Clad in his black canon's +dress, he rode a quiet palfrey, between the two German minstrels; and +always acted as mediator when, in the heat of argument, they became +vehement, and seemed disposed to exchange hard words. He was still in +the prime of life: on his journey through Germany he had become +acquainted, at Cologne, with Christiné Stambel, the nun, so renowned +for her sanctity; and the enthusiasm with which he always spoke of this +lady would have subjected him to the suspicion of a secret passion, had +he not in his writings, as well as in his conversation, lauded with +still greater enthusiasm the blessed Virgin Mary, as preeminent in +beauty and sanctity, and exalted her to supreme rank among the saints +in the calendar. He had proved, with irresistible eloquence, that the +gracious confidence the Lord showed to St. Peter, in intrusting him +with the care of his flock, was even vouchsafed in a far higher degree +to St. John, the beloved apostle, who, as the Lord's best-loved +disciple, was appointed the protector and guardian of the blessed +Virgin. + +His vehement theological controversy on this point with the learned and +famous Aldobrandino Papparonus Venensis, of the Dominican order, was in +a great measure the foundation of the esteem in which he was held by +the learned. It was only when the conversation turned on this his +favourite theme that his equanimity was ever disturbed; excepting when +this occurred, his discourse was calm, clear, and collected. The latent +energy which lay in his full and ardent eye, with its expression of +somewhat visionary enthusiasm, was calculated to inspire kindly +attention and confidence, and (what was a phenomenon among the learned +of his time) he was altogether free from pedantry and pride. + +The king and his train now approached the cross road and the tree +behind which Morten had concealed himself: from this spot opened the +finest view on Esrom lake. "Halt!" said the king, springing from his +horse: "this is a lovely spot; we will tarry here and take our repast. +They will surely come this way from Elsinore." + +"No doubt they will, my liege," answered Marsk Oluffsen, while he and +the Drost dismounted at the same time from their horses, and gave them +into the charge of the king's groom. "Here lies the high road to Esrom +and Sjöborg. But, if I know the margrave right, he will not ride +through Elsinore ere all the pretty maidens are awake and can admire +his fair presence and horsemanship. As yet, his head is full of nought +but love adventures and such nonsense." + +"Call you love 'nonsense,' my brave Marsk?" interrupted the king. "Do +you forget I am a bridegroom? and I trust not one of the coldest." + +"Bridegroom, my liege?" answered the Marsk: "in Danish we call no man a +bridegroom until his marriage day, and much must be done ere that day +comes." + +"Much?" rejoined the king, and his joyous animated countenance became +suddenly stern and grave--"well! much may be done in a short time, but +if they make the time too long, the day I long for may come when I +will." + +"The Lord and our blessed Lady forbid!" said Drost Aagé, in an under +tone, casting a glance at the king, full of anxious and heartfelt +sympathy. + +"Let the horns play, Aagé," said the king, as if desirous to prevent +more exclamations of this kind, which seemed to displease him. "The day +will be fine: we will begin it joyously." + +At a signal from the Drost, the musicians, who followed the hunting +train, struck up the air of the well-known ancient ballad of "Axel +Thordson and Fair Valborg,"[8] which they knew was a favourite with the +king. + +"Well, this is sweet music if it be not lively," said Eric: "where are +Rumelant and Poppé? 'tis pity they cannot sing Danish; their skilful +lays are but ill-suited to these tones." + +"They are disputing again on spiritual matters," said the Marsk. "They +are better fitted for a council of clerks than a hunting party." + +"Let us listen," said the king: "I dare wager Master Poppé is in the +right; but Master Rumelant nevertheless will be victor in the +controversy." + +While the music continued, and the attendants converted a low pile of +wood into a table for the repast, the king's attention was attracted by +the dispute of the two eager minstrels: each stood with the bridle of +his horse in his hand, and spoke in a loud tone, while the grave Master +Petrus sat calm and attentive on his palfrey, gazing on the lake. + +"I will defend my opinion before the whole body of clerks, and all true +believers in Christendom," said the vehement little Rumelant, striking +his saddle with the handle of his whip as he spoke: "our sinfulness +is assuredly better security for our salvation than all our paltry +virtue--that is as true as that our blessed Lady's prayers avail in +heaven, and she shows us no _favour_ when she obtains grace for us; she +shows us love and _gratitude_, which she is downright owing us for our +sin's sake, for it is not the world's virtue, but its sin alone, she +hath to thank for all her honour and glory." + +"What are you driving at, my good Master Rumelant?" shouted the +gigantic Master Poppé. "How is the holy Virgin honoured by our being a +set of sinful scoundrels? that is no honour to us, or any one else." + +"Not so, my self-sufficient sir!" shouted his opponent; "truly the case +is clearer than the sun: it is assuredly not of our perfection we +should boast, but, on the contrary, of our weakness. Would our dear +blessed Lady ever have become that she became, had not Adam and Eve +sinned, and all of us sinned too in them?" + +"No, assuredly not, my dear friend: but how the devil----" + +"Ergo, she hath man's sin to thank for her honour and glory! and ergo, +she would be most ungrateful were she not to protect sinners, and bring +us all likewise to honour and glory for our sin's sake." + +"You drive me mad. Master Rumelant," shouted Master Poppé, stamping in +wrath; "I know not what to answer you, but you are wrong, by my soul! +as I will, like an honest German, show you with my good sword if you +desire it. What if I should now commit the sin of slaying you on the +spot, would the blessed Virgin bring me to honour and glory because _of +that_? or would it be so small a sin that it could not be imputed to me +as a great merit?" + +"Worthy sirs," interrupted Master Petrus, gravely, "talk not of +spiritual things with sophistry, or in an angry spirit; least of all of +our blessed Lady, who is truth and heavenly calm itself. You exchange +spiritual for temporal weapons, Master Poppé; and you darken the +fountain of light, Master Rumelant, when you would make grace to +proceed from sin on earth, instead of from incomprehensible love and +mercy in God's kingdom." + +"It seems to me it is of sin and grace those learned disputants are +talking," said the king, seating himself by the side of Drost Aagé on +the trunk of a tree at a little distance. "Well, that is a never-ending +chapter, and truly one I ought to reflect on when I wend to Sjöborg." + +"Most certainly, my liege," answered Aagé, looking with glad sympathy +on the king's noble countenance. "When we think on the great mercy we +all need, we should wish rather to be able to forgive our enemies than +to execute the most lawful sentence upon them." + +"_Him_ thou meanest will I not forgive throughout all eternity!" burst +forth the king impetuously. "He sat chief in council among my father's +murderers, he ought to sit lowest among criminals in my kingdom. If the +pope will not condemn him, _I_ will. His blood I ask not, but outlawed +and dishonoured shall he remain all the days of his life." + +"The pope, however, hath alone the right to pass sentence on him, my +liege," observed Aagé. "So long as he remains captive here he cannot +defend his cause before his lawful tribunal, therefore it seems to me +but reasonable----" + +"No, Aagé!" interrupted the king, "neither just nor reasonable would it +be to let loose the captive murderer, that he may perjure himself, to +go forth free and honoured among his equals; but it were _wise_ perhaps +for my own peace and happiness." + +"And perhaps for state and kingdom also," replied Aagé. "This much is +certain, my liege: so long as that dangerous man is detained captive at +Sjöborg, neither Drost Hessel nor Counsellor Jon can obtain the +dispensation for your marriage; and if I understood the wily Isarnus +aright, he is already privately empowered by the pope to enforce the +unhappy constitution of Veile against both you and the kingdom." + +"And were it so," said the king, rising, "think'st thou I and the +kingdom would be really harmed by it? Would Denmark's bishops and +priests dare to excommunicate their king, and all their countrymen? +Hast thou not thyself, because of thy love to me, been for two years +already under the ban of the archbishop? And art thou not well and +sound notwithstanding? Hath any priest in Denmark dared to shut the +church door against thee when thou camest by my side, or to deny thee +the holy sacrament in my presence?" + +"My sentence is not yet confirmed by the holy father," said Aagé; "and +yet, my liege! I shudder, notwithstanding, to think of it--many of my +noble countrymen regard me with looks which sadden and well nigh dismay +me. The thunderbolts of the church are dreadful even in the hand of the +chained criminal---they would have crushed me to the earth, did I not +even yet hope that the ban, which a regicide hath proclaimed against +me, is not accounted of by the merciful Lord in heaven. The holy father +also will surely be moved by the righteousness of my cause, and by your +intercession in my behalf, to recall it." + +"He shall, he must do so," answered the king with warmth, "or I will +teach thee to defy the might of injustice--perhaps also, my faithful +Aagé, I and all Denmark may have to share thy fate! but, with the help +of the Lord and our blessed Lady, we will not therefore be cast down, +or stoop to humiliation. I stake my life and crown upon it!" + +"For heaven's sake, my liege!" exclaimed Aagé, in alarm; but what he +was about to utter was suddenly cut short by a significant look from +the king, who, at that moment, had caught a glimpse of a round ruddy +face, peering forth with a look of rapt attention from behind the tree +beside which they were standing. "Who is that?" asked the king. "It is +none of our huntsmen--art thou playing the spy, countryman?" + +"A stranger!" exclaimed Aagé; "come hither; who art thou?" + +"Would ye aught with me, good sirs?" said Morten, the cook, stepping +forward. "I thought ye spoke to me. I am deaf, ye must know; if ye have +any commands, ye must shout at the top of your lungs." + +"Who art thou?" asked Aagé, raising his voice, while he gazed on him +with a searching look. "What wouldst thou here?" + +"_Fear_?" said the cook, assuming a simple look. "I will not deny I was +somewhat afraid of your horses, and cared not to meet them on a fasting +stomach." + +"A poor crazy fellow," said the king, "let him go his way in peace, +Aagé; had he even heard what we spoke of, what would it signify?" + +"Yes, by my troth, horses do signify something!" said Morten, looking +at Eric with evident interest. "The white horse signifies victory and +speedy judgment on the Lord's enemies--says Father Gregory." + +"So much the better!" said the king, gaily, giving him a couple of gold +pieces. "Go thy way in peace, I would fain hope thou hast spoken truth +in thy simplicity. The white horse is mine." + +"But the dark red signifies rebellion and the yellow pestilence," +continued Morten, seemingly touched, as he received the king's gift, +and kissed his hand. "Mark, it was therefore I got frighted, when I saw +ye between those two beasts. I am otherwise a poor sinner, at your +service. I am going a pilgrimage for my own and other folks' sins. I +will now pray for a blessing on you, noble sir!"--so saying, he strode +hastily across the road, and disappeared in the wood. + +"How would he interpret the red and the yellow horse?" said the king, +gravely. "Those pious men of the cloister fill our country and people +full of superstition." + +"The fellow perhaps was neither deaf nor half-witted," answered Aagé; +"to you he naturally said fair words, in order to escape. Our stern +Marsk is not liked by vagrants; the bay horse he rides to-day is +one he lately got in exchange from your brother Junker Christopher. My +cream-coloured horse is well known, and since I fell under the church's +ban the people look on me as the emblem of pestilence and misfortune by +your side." + +These serious comments on the cook's words were now interrupted by the +sudden baying of the hounds, which dashed forward in couples towards a +thick bush of white thorn, in full cry. + +"Game! game!" shouted the huntsman; but, instead of the supposed deer, +the two concealed wanderers sprang out of the bush: they had cast aside +their peasants' mantles and their bundles, in order the more easily to +save themselves by flight in their light cuirasses, but by so doing +they had betrayed themselves, and awakened suspicion. By order of the +Marsk they were instantly seized, and brought before the party of +hunters. + +"What means this?" called the king in surprise: "we are not come hither +to hunt men." + +"A couple of deserters from your Lolland horsemen, my liege," answered +Marsk Oluffsen. "I know them; we have long been on the look-out for +them; it is they whom the Count of Lolland hath sought after as robbers +and murderers." + +"Then send them to Flynderborg[9] to await their doom!" commanded the +king. "What would they here! they shall be strictly brought to +account." + +The captured deserters were instantly led off to be bound and conducted +to the fortress. They had until now stood still and downcast, like +convicted criminals; but, on finding they were to be bound, they +suddenly started forward and defended themselves with all the +desperation of despair. They wounded three of the king's huntsmen with +their daggers, and, amid the confusion and tumult occasioned by their +unexpected onset, contrived to tear themselves loose, and instantly +plunged into the lake. Some hunters pursued them on horseback, and a +couple of hounds, trained to hunt the wild-duck, were let loose after +them; but the fugitives dived and swam with such skill and vigour that +none could see them until they landed on the opposite shore of the +lake, where they quickly disappeared in the brushwood. + +The king and his train had gone down to the water's edge to look at +this singular sight. Some hunters were ordered to ride round the lake, +in order if possible to overtake the fugitives. Drost Aagé would also +have despatched some one after the pretended deaf man, whom he now +believed to be in league with the deserters. + +"No!" said the king, "he shall not be pursued. I use not to put gold +into a man's hand one hour, and fasten iron round it the next." + +The party now returned to partake of the repast which was spread +for them. As soon as they had refreshed themselves they mounted +their horses, and were about to proceed further, but the sound of +hunting-horns was now heard on the road from Elsinore, and three riders +in rich attire, with several knights and huntsmen, approached at full +gallop. It was the king's brother, Junker Christopher, with the young +Margrave Waldemar of Brandenborg, who was at this time the king's +guest, and the brave Count Henrik of Mecklenborg, who had lately +entered the king's service as commander of the army. They had been at +Elsinore, where Prince Christopher had received a Swedish royal embassy +on the part of the king. The margrave, it was said, had accompanied him +for his amusement, and to enjoy the beautiful scenery of Elsinore, but +had in reality joined the expedition at the request of Prince +Christopher, who anxiously courted the young margrave's friendship. The +prince seemed inseparable from him, and generally contrived to secure +his companionship whenever he was charged with any important mission by +the king, that it might give him opportunities, which he eagerly +sought, of raising his consequence in the eyes of the people. + +Prince Christopher, or the Junker, as he was generally called, was two +years younger than the king. Though tall and strongly built, his figure +was far from being so well proportioned as his brother's. His large +features and long visage, shaded by coarse long black hair, had a +gloomy and sinister expression, which reminded the people but too much +of his detested father. His brother, the king, on the contrary, bore a +greater resemblance to his mother, the fair and talented Queen Agnes, +who, during the king's minority, had been for the most part at the head +of state affairs, but who now led a happy private life with her second +consort, Count Gerhard of Holstein, at the castle of Nykjöping. The +popularity which the chivalrous King Eric had enjoyed from his +childhood appeared little pleasing to his brother, and many believed +that the prince secretly exerted himself to form a powerful party of +his own in the country. In the event of the throne becoming vacant, he +was in fact the member of the royal house who might first expect to be +called to the crown, but of this there was no reasonable prospect. +Notwithstanding that some differences had existed between the brothers +on the affair of the archbishop's imprisonment, King Eric was so far +from showing any mistrust of his brother, that he even promoted his +consequence by investing him with considerable fiefs in the country. +But Drost Aagé strongly suspected the prince of entertaining ambitious +and treacherous projects, and the Drost's suspicions of Christopher +were rather increased than diminished by the zeal with which, the +prince seemed to enter into the negociations respecting the king's +marriage. As well on this subject, of such moment to the king, as on +that of the Swedish King Birger's marriage with the king's and +Christopher's sister Mereté, there were at this time frequent +communications between the Swedish and Danish court. The young King of +Sweden was only in his sixteenth year, and wholly dependent on his +state council, which was composed of men of very opposite opinions, and +Drost Aagé feared that Prince Christopher's object in receiving the +embassy was to increase if possible the obstacles to this double +alliance. Aagé was, however, deterred from imparting his doubts to the +king by the fear of occasioning a dangerous misunderstanding between +the brothers; and Eric was so far from suspecting his brother of any +dishonourable design, that he considered his anxiety to meet the +Swedish embassy as a proof of fraternal affection. The young king +welcomed both Christopher and the margrave with much friendliness; and +as soon as he had greeted them, and the gay Count Henrik, turned +towards the Swedish ambassadors, who, with some Danish knights, +followed the princely comers. In the most dignified of the two Swedish +nobles Eric joyfully recognised King Birger's faithful counsellor, the +Swedish regent and Marsk, Sir Thorkild Knudson, a tall middle-aged man, +of a grave and noble countenance; but it was not without a feeling of +uneasiness that the king beheld his companion, a withered shrunken +figure, whose cold and wily countenance wore a perpetual smile, and +whose grey, staring ostrich-like eye had an expression of sinister +scrutiny. It was the Swedish statesman and Drost, Sir Johan Bruncké, +who, next to Thorkild Knudson, was the most influential statesman in +Sweden, and appeared to stand as high in favour with the weak King +Birger as with his ambitious brothers, while he gained a knowledge of +the individual foibles of each, and well knew how to work upon them for +his own advantage. + +When the king had greeted the strangers, he proceeded with his +augmented train to Esrom monastery, where he conversed with the +ambassadors, and received letters from King Birger, Princess Ingeborg, +and his sister Mereté, who, according to an earlier agreement, had been +brought up, as the future Queen of Sweden, at the Swedish court. Eric +seemed unusually joyous and animated after he had perused these +letters. His anxiety to hasten his marriage, and to have it fixed for +the ensuing summer, had met with the entire approbation of the royal +house of Sweden, and Princess Ingeborg's letter breathed the most +tender and devoted affection. + +The difficulties and objections stated by the ambassador principally +regarded the misunderstanding with the court of Rome, and the +dispensation which was yet withheld, to which the king, misled by the +ardour of his feelings, did not attach the importance it deserved. + +He invited the ambassadors to be his guests for some weeks, as he hoped +very shortly to remove all difficulties. The afternoon was spent +pleasantly in hunting, and in the evening the king, with the whole of +his train, repaired to Sjöborg, where several cars, conveying the cooks +of the royal kitchen, and domestics of every description, had arrived +during the day. + + + + + CHAP. III. + + +The ancient fortress soon presented a scene of splendid festivity. The +spacious halls glittered with regal pomp, and resounded with the stir +and bustle which are the accompaniments of a court. With the exception +of the tower, the whole of the castle had been recently fitted up as a +royal residence. The king's principal counsellors had accompanied him, +and though he occasionally hunted, he did not therefore neglect state +affairs, which frequently occupied him until the night was well nigh +spent. + +The king never inquired after the captive archbishop, whom he appeared +to have forgotten. A reconciliation, on suitable conditions, with this +important personage, was, however, doubtless the secret object of the +king's sojourn at Sjöborg. The adjustment of this vexatious affair was +never of more consequence than at this juncture, as it was not only a +present hindrance to his marriage, but threatened to prove dangerous +both to state and kingdom. The king, however, was desirous that no one +should know the real purport of his visit, least of all the captive +archbishop, who would probably take occasion thereby to raise his +demands to the uttermost. Besides, Eric himself appeared not to have +decided what course to pursue in this matter. Although revenge had +never been his failing, and on the contrary he had often manifested the +most generous temper, the remembrance of his father's murder had +rendered him stern and almost implacable towards everyone connected +with the regicides, and he felt it was impossible for him to make the +first advances towards a reconciliation with Archbishop Grand. He +apparently expected the haughty captive would himself petition for an +interview, and pave the way to reconciliation by a humble +acknowledgment of his guilt. One week after another, however, passed +away, without any thing of this kind taking place. The number of guests +was daily increasing at Sjöborg. The presence of the Margrave of +Brandenborg and the Swedish ambassadors, as well as that of the hunting +party and Prince Christopher's retinue, imparted an appearance of life +and gaiety to this otherwise dreary castle, which almost painfully +contrasted with its gloomy destination, and the many dark recollections +connected with the place. + +One day in November, a singular procession approached the castle of +Sjöborg. From two Hanseatic merchant vessels, which had anchored off +the fishing station, there landed a number of foreign seamen, who, +carrying the Rostock flag, and with large broad swords at their sides, +proceeded to the castle, amid the dissonant sound of pipes and +trumpets. At the head of the procession marched a tall stout man, in a +burgher's coat of fine cloth, trimmed with broad borders of costly fur. +It was the rich trader, Berner Kopmand of Rostock, well known at the +great fairs of Skanör and Falsterbo, whither he was wont to bring rich +cargoes of cloth and costly spices. He was notorious for his +authoritative and overbearing deportment, and for the ostentatious pomp +by which he sought to acquire the reputation of a merchant prince. By +his side walked the almost equally noted Henrik Gullandsfar of Visbye, +also one of the most influential Hanseatic merchants, and an adroit and +politic negociator between the Hanse towns and the northern +princes,[10] They announced themselves at the castle as Hanseatic +ambassadors, and were admitted into the upper hall, while their train +was served with refreshments below. + +A long conference took place between the king and the foreign +merchants, in the presence of the Drost and council, during which +Berner Kopmand was especially loud tongued, and the king preserved his +patience for an unwonted length of time. The great privileges which had +been granted by the king to the Hanseatic towns four years before, and +which he had since augmented and confirmed at Nyborg, had not satisfied +the expectations of the Rostockers; who demanded besides, the +recognition of their self-assumed right, to pronounce and execute +sentence of death on board their own vessels upon every Danish subject +who had injured them, and fallen into their hands. The Vandal towns, +together with the merchants of Mecklenborg and Lubec, were unanimously +agreed, on their own responsibility, and without distinction, to hang +every knight and noble who should molest them on their journeyings +through Germany. + +"Enough," said the king, at last, breaking off the conference, and +rising in wrath, "I wanted but to hear how far ye would push your +impudent demands, and therefore let ye have your say. This is my +answer. My former promise to the towns I have hitherto kept; if they +content ye not, we Danes may easily learn to fetch what we want from +foreign lands, and export what we want not. When guests and strangers +are injured here they can complain; there is law and justice in the +land; but they who take the law into their own hands on Danish ground +or on the Danish seas shall be condemned as traitors and robbers, +whether they be knight or burgher, whether they be native or stranger." +So saying, the king turned his back upon the merchant ambassadors. +Without heeding their angry looks, he hastened to join his princely +guests, and the Swedish lords who awaited his coming, to set out on a +hunting expedition, and left the Hanseatic burghers to the care of the +Drost. + +The incensed merchants instantly quitted the castle with their +followers, who had become intoxicated and unruly during their stay in +the lower hall. The Marsk (to the merchants still greater annoyance) +had taken upon himself to disarm them, as with bold presumption they +had ventured on liberties which outraged both law and custom. Their +weapons, however, were returned to them on reaching the shore, whither +Drost Aagé and some other knights accompanied them, with cold courtesy, +partly to protect them from the assembled rabble, which had crowded +round the intoxicated seamen, to gaze at and deride them. On their way +to the strand the wrathful traders spoke not a word, but the blood +appeared ready to start from Berner Kopmand's crimson visage, while +there was a calm cold smile on the countenance of Henrik Gullandsfar. + +When these important personages, with their reeling train, had entered +the boat, and pushed off from the shore, in order to row to their +ships, the portly Rostocker suddenly raised his voice, and shouted with +unrestrained wrath and bitterness, "Bring King Eric Ericson our parting +greeting, Sir Drost! Tell him from me, Berner Kopmand of Rostock, and +from Henrik Gullandsfar of Visbye, in our own and in the name of the +great and mighty Hanse towns, that we threaten him with deadly strife, +as the enemy of our liberty and of all noble burghership!" + +Henrik Gullandsfar nudged his colleague's elbow in alarm; but the proud +choleric Rostocker continued, "Tell the King of Denmark, dearly shall +he rue the scorn and contempt he hath this day shown us; he shall rue +it, as surely as I am called the rich Berner Kopmand of Rostock! and as +surely as I am the man to ask what is the price of this state and +country, and how many pounds a king is worth, in our times, when the +lightnings of excommunication play above his head!" + +"Such greeting and defiance you may yourself bring my liege and +sovereign," answered Aagé, "if you fancy being sent back to Rostock +with your hands tied behind you like a madman." So saying, he turned +contemptuously on his heel, and returned with his knights to Sjöborg. +He afterwards joined the king and the hunting-party, but made no +mention of this impudent defiance, which, though it seemed to him +indeed to be paltry and powerless, he yet could not but regard as a +striking instance of the insufferable pride of these monied +aristocrats, and of the boldness with which the equivocal position of +the king at the court of Rome had inspired the ill-affected and +discontented. + +After a hard chase the king rode back in the evening to Sjöborg, with +Drost Aagé by his side. It was already dark. The cold November blast +whirled the fallen leaves around them as they rode through the forest. +The moon now rose behind the trees, shining with an unsteady light from +out the flying clouds, through the leafless boughs of the forest. +Behind them rode Marsk Oluffsen between Henrik of Mecklenborg and the +Swedish regent, whose return to Sweden was fixed for the following day. +Some hunters followed with the game caught in the chase. The rest of +the train remained at Esrom monastery. The king, as well as Drost Aagé, +had been remarkably silent during the day. Since the arrival of the +Swedish ambassadors, tidings had been daily looked for, but in vain, +from the Danish embassy at the papal court. The king had not as yet +taken any step towards a reconciliation with the captive archbishop. +The journey of the Swedish ambassadors could no longer be delayed, and +the obstacles to the king's marriage were not in any measure removed. +The king and his faithful Aagé now rode in silence by each other's +side, apparently occupied with a presentiment which they could not +banish from their minds, but to which neither liked to give utterance. +It was the unfortunate St. Cecilia's day, which yearly brought with it +to the king bitter recollections of the dreadful murder of his father +at Finnerup. Marsk Oluffsen appeared not to remember what day it was; +he jested merrily, after his fashion, with the German and Swedish +guests, and lauded the pious and frugal manner in which King Birger's +tutor, a certain Carl Tydsker[11], had a few years since restored his +young sovereign to health, namely, by making the same vow to three +saints at once, and afterwards drawing lots to determine to which of +the good saints the vow should be kept. "I have since wondered," said +the Marsk, laughing, "whether the victory over the Kareles[12] was +thrown into the bargain, and was one of St. Eric's miracles; if so, I +must acknowledge that Carl Tydsker was worth his weight in gold." By +this unlucky jest the Marsk wounded at the same time the national pride +of both his German and Swedish companions, without appearing himself in +the least to perceive it. + +"When my countrymen as well as myself serve your king here in the +north, Sir Marsk," answered the brave Count Henrik, "I feel we deserve +thanks, and not mockery, whether we help him with prayer or with +sword." As he said this he struck his hand with some violence on the +hilt of his sword. + +The Marsk looked astounded. He was silent; but his perplexity increased +on Thorkild Knudson, also addressing him in a serious tone. "Deem ye my +victory over the brave heathen to be a miracle, Sir Marsk?" said the +Swedish knight, with a calm smile. "Every thing is a miracle, if ye +will. Without heavenly aid no victory is won on earth; that even your +victorious King Waldemar was forced to acknowledge, yet that detracts +not from his glory. I reckon the victory of Wolmar with the heaven-sent +banner, to be that which gained him his fairest laurels. Our times are +more chary of laurels. Sir Marsk! we will not rob each other of those +we win with honour." + +"By all the martyrs!" exclaimed the Marsk, with wide oped eyes and +crimson cheeks, "who ever thought of offending either you or the brave +Count Henrik? By my soul! I understand ye not," he continued in an +impatient tone; "were my brains as dull as those of other people, I +should be badly off indeed." + +Count Henrik could not suppress a good-natured laugh at the absurd +contrast between the Marsk's words and his angry tone. The +misunderstanding was soon set to rights, and the conversation turned on +former and recent warlike expeditions. + +Without thinking of what might awaken bitter recollections in the +king's mind, especially on this day, the Marsk now talked in a loud +voice of the feud, with Marsk Stig, and the taking of Hjelm, at which +he himself had been present, under David Thorstensen's banner. + +"Yet you took not the daring Marsk Stig, either dead or alive," said +Count Henrik; "'tis a strange story they tell here of his +disappearance." + +"His death, as his life, is shrouded in darkness and mystery," observed +the Swedish knight. "With us also he hath a dreaded name." + +"He was a great general, though," said Count Henrik. "I would have +given much to have seen him. Was he as tall as Sir Niels Brock or the +Duke of Langeland?" + +"He had a finer presence than either Niels Brock or Duke Longshanks, if +he measured not the same length. In that point, perhaps, both you and I +might have been his match; but he was a very devil of a fellow,--truly, +I believe neither Germany nor Sweden could boast of one like him." + +"It is true we cannot boast of so highly esteemed a regicide," said +Count Henrik, in an offended tone. "I desire not to rival his fame." + +"But, by all the martyrs! what is the matter now?" exclaimed the +astounded Marsk; "think ye I wished for aught better in the world than +to have knocked out his confounded brains? Therefore I may surely say +without offence, that neither you nor Marsk Knudson have seen his +match." + +"For that both Count Henrik and I should thank the Lord," said the +Swedish knight solemnly. "The country which gives birth to such heroes +may have to pay dearly for the boast. In our country we have storms +also, at times; and alas! have to deplore the devastations they cause. +It is the same case here probably? I suspect that Denmark hath dearly +bought this sad experience, and learnt that one daring hand can make a +deeper wound in a nation's heart than a whole century can heal." + +A rather embarrassed silence ensued. The king had heard the +conversation which had been carried on by the party behind him, and +sighed deeply. + +"It was on _this_ night, Aagé," he said, in a low voice. "For nine +years have I now borne Denmark's crown, and as yet I have not fulfilled +that I vowed when I saw _him_ last." + +"Whom, my liege?" asked Aagé, absently. + +"My murdered father!" said the king. "Rememberest thou not the hour +they lifted the lid from his coffin in Viborg cathedral, and laid the +sacrament on his bloody breast? It was then I bade him my last +farewell. What I vowed to him was heard only by the all-knowing God; +but assuredly I will either keep that vow, or lose my life." + +"At that time you were, as I was, a minor, my liege. If your vow to the +dead was other than a pious and Christian vow, you ought not now, as a +knight and sovereign, to keep it." + +Eric was silent. The moon shone full on his noble form, and as he sat +calm and erect on his fiery steed, with the white plume in his hat, and +the purple mantle over his shoulder, he almost resembled the chivalrous +St. George, about to strike his lance into the dragon's throat. His +manly countenance was pale, and expressive of lofty indignation. "That +I vowed to the dead I must perform," he said, after a thoughtful pause. +"A wise monarch should disperse the ungodly." + +As the king uttered these words an arrow whistled past his breast, and +stuck in Drost Aagé's mantle. + +"Murderers! traitors!" shouted the king, drawing his sword, while he +reined in with difficulty his restless steed. Aagé rushed with his +drawn sword to that side of the king whence the arrow was sped; the +three other knights rode up in alarm. "An arrow! robbers! traitors!" +was echoed from mouth to mouth. They looked around on all sides of the +moon-lit road, but no living being was to be seen. + +"Accursed traitors!" shouted Marsk Oluffsen, and dashed in suddenly +among the bushes on the left side of the road, where he had perceived +some white object moving. A shriek was heard, apparently from a female +voice, and the Marsk's horse started aside. At the same moment two +young maidens, in the dress of peasant girls, with long plaits of fair +hair hanging low over their shoulders, ran, hand in hand, across the +road, while a man of almost giant stature, in the dress of a Jutland +peasant, with a large broad sword in his hand, sprang forward, and +placed himself between the Marsk and the fugitives. + +"Keep ye to me!" shouted the man. "It was I--it was Mads Jyde who shot. +I mean not to show a pair of clean heels: let the maidens flee, they +have done no ill, but I am the man who dares tilt with ye all." So +saying, he brandished his sword wildly around, and wounded the Marsk's +horse on the muzzle. The animal reared and snorted. + +"Yield thee!" shouted Oluffsen, vainly aiming to strike his daring and +gigantic foe; "Yield thee captive, or thou diest!" + +On hearing this affray, the king would instantly have hastened to the +spot, where he saw swords glittering among the bushes in the moonshine; +but Aagé and the Swedish knight sought to detain him, while Count +Henrik immediately surrounded the copse with the huntsmen, and +dispatched a party of them after the fugitives. The Marsk had sprung +from his intractable steed, "Cast thy sword from thee, stupid devil! +Seest thou not thou art caught?" shouted he to the tall Jutlander. + +"By St. Michael will I not," retorted the man. "None shall take Marsk +Stig's squire alive; keep but your ground, Sir Knight, and thou shalt +feel what Mads Jyde is worth." He now rushed frantically upon the +Marsk, but the warlike chief was his superior in swordsmanship, and +after a short but desperate fight the Jutlander fell, with his skull +cloven, to the ground. He half-raised himself again, and tried to lift +both his hands to his wounded head. "It was for thee, little Margaret," +he gasped forth; "let but my master's children flee, and you are free +to----" More he was unable to utter; his hands dropped from his head, +and he fell back lifeless on the ground. + +Meanwhile the king and his train had ridden to the spot. Some of the +hunters had overtaken the fugitive maidens, and brought them captive +into the circle of the king's train. All looked at them with surprise, +for as they stood there in the moonshine they had the air of princesses +in disguise. Their peasant's attire could not hide the delicate +fairness of their complexions and their singular beauty. The taller of +the two, who seemed also to be the elder, held the lesser and highly +agitated maiden by the hand, as if to protect her. She was herself calm +and pale. She looked in deep sorrow on the dead body of the man at +arms, and appeared not to heed the standers by. The younger maiden +seemed to be both frightened and curious. Though she could not be +considered a child--for she appeared to be about seventeen or eighteen +years of age--her deportment was quite childlike. She hid herself, +weeping, behind her sister, from the sight of the king and his knights, +while she nevertheless occasionally peeped, with looks of eager +observation, at their splendid attire. + +"Speak out--who are ye?" asked the king, riding up to them. + +The younger maiden drew back, and seemed preparing for flight, but the +elder held her fast by the hand, and turned to the king, with calm +self-possession, looking him steadily in the face with her large dark +blue eyes. "King Eric Ericson," she said, "thine enemy's children are +in thine hand: we are fatherless and persecuted maidens; no one dares +to give us shelter in our native land; and our last friend and +protector hath now been slain by thy men. Our father was the unhappy +outlawed Marsk Stig." + +"Marsk Stig's daughters!--the regicide's children!" interrupted the +king, casting on them a look of displeasure. "Ye meant then to have +completed your father's crime? Are ye roaming the country round with +robbers and regicides?" + +"We are innocent, King Eric!" answered the maiden, laying her hand upon +her heart. "May the Lord as surely forgive thee our father's death, and +the blood which flows here! Vengeance belongeth to the Lord. We wished +but to quit thy kingdom." + +"And ye would also have me depart this world," interrupted the king. +"They must be taken to Kallundborg castle," said he to the huntsmen. +"The affair shall be inquired into; if they can clear themselves they +may leave the kingdom. Away with them; I will not look on them." So +saying, the king turned his horse's head to avoid the sight of the fair +unfortunate, who for an instant appeared to have softened his wrath. + +No one had viewed the captive maidens with more compassion than Drost +Aagé. "My liege," said he, in an under tone, "how could the innocent +maidens help----?" + +"That the arrow slew none of us?" interrupted the king hastily. "I dare +say they were not to blame for that. Wolf's cubs should never be +trusted; they shall meet with their deserts. Away with them." + +"Then permit me to escort them, my liege," resumed Drost Aagé. "If a +knight's daughters be led to prison, knightly protection is still owing +them on their way thither." + +"Well, go with them, Drost," answered the king aloud, waving his hand +as he spoke. "They shall be treated with all chivalrous deference and +honour; ye will be answerable for them on your honour and fealty." The +king then put spurs into his impatient steed, and galloped off, +followed by the Marsk, the Swedish knights, and the whole of the train, +with the exception of Drost Aagé and four huntsmen. + +The elder of the captive maidens still held her sister's hand clasped +in her own. She had approached the body of the slain squire, beside +which she knelt, bending over his head. Drost Aagé had dismounted from +his horse, and stood close by with the bridle in his hand, and with his +arm on the saddle-bow. It seemed as though the sight of the kneeling +maiden had changed him into a statue. + +The restless movements of the younger maiden did not attract his +attention; his gaze dwelt only on the kneeling form: she seemed in his +eyes as an angel of love and pity praying for the sinner's soul. He +observed a tear trickle down her fair pale cheek, and could no longer +restrain the expression of his sympathy. "Be comforted, noble maiden!" +he exclaimed, with emotion; "no evil shall befall you. The man you +mourn for may perhaps have been true and faithful to you, but (were he +not struck with sudden madness) he fell here as a great criminal. Carry +the dead man to Esrom," he said to two of the huntsmen; "entreat the +abbot in my name to grant him Christian burial, and sing a mass for his +soul." They instantly obeyed, and bore away the body. The kneeling +maiden arose. + +"Let me provide for your safety," continued Aagé. "Ere your case has +been inquired into according to law, you cannot quit the kingdom; but I +pledge my word and honour King Eric will never permit your father's +guilt to make him forget what is due to your rank and sex." + +"If we are really your prisoners. Sir Knight," said the elder sister, +"then, in the name of our blessed Lady, lead us to our prison; promise +me only that you will not separate us, and that you will not be severe +to my poor sister." + +"Neither for yourself nor for your sister, noble maiden, need you fear +aught like harsh treatment; and if you, as I hope and believe, can +justify yourselves, your captivity will assuredly not be a long one." + +"Our life and freedom are in the Lord's hand--not in man's," said the +eldest sister, in a tone of resignation. "In this world we have now no +friends. Our father's meanest squire sacrificed his life for us; he +whom he made a knight forsook us in the hour of need," she added in a +low voice. + +Drost Aagé now gazed with increased sympathy on the calm pale maiden, +and was cut to the heart by the expression of dignified sorrow in her +countenance, called forth by the consciousness of her desolate +condition. + +"I will be your friend and protector so long as I live!" he exclaimed +with visible emotion. "That I pledge myself to be on my knightly word +and honour." + +"The Lord and our dear blessed Lady reward you for that," answered the +fair captive. "You seem to wish us well; but if you are King Eric's +friend, you must certainly hate us for our father's sake." + +"Assuredly I am King Eric's friend!" said Aagé, the blood mounting to +his cheek as he spoke, "but I cannot therefore hate you. If you, as I +fully believe, are innocent of what hath just now happened, as a knight +and as a Christian also I owe you and all the defenceless friendly +consolation and protection." + +The horses of the two huntsmen who had quitted the party had been +meanwhile led forward, and had their saddles arranged so as to admit of +the maidens riding without danger or difficulty. The younger sister was +first mounted. She had not as yet uttered a word, but had gazed +restlessly around, occupied apparently in forming conjectures of the +most contradictory nature. At one moment she appeared dejected and +ready to weep, at another her bright eyes sparkled with animation, and +she seemed to meditate a venturous flight, while the next she looked +with an air of queen-like authority at the courteous young knight and +the two huntsmen, as if she had but to command to be obeyed. It was not +until she was firmly seated in the saddle, with the bridle in her hand, +that she seemed fearless and at her ease. "Let us speed on then," she +said with sportive gaiety. + + + "What though full small the palfreys be, + 'Tis better to ride than on foot to flee." + + +"If this knight is our guardian and protector, it is of course his duty +to defend us. At a royal castle, besides, they must know how to give us +royal entertainment." + +"We wend not to yon dark castle as honoured guests," replied her +sister; "but keep up thy spirits, Ulrica, all the hairs of our head are +numbered." So saying, she allowed herself to be placed on horseback; +and Drost Aagé was presently riding between his two fair captives +through Esrom forest, followed by the two huntsmen. + + + + + CHAP. IV. + + +The party rode on for some time in silence and at an easy pace through +the dusky forest. The elder sister sat with drooping head, and seemed +lost in melancholy thought; but on reaching an open place in the +forest, from whence they had an unclouded view of the star-lit heavens, +she looked up, and the star-light seemed to be reflected in her soft +blue eye, while her countenance was irradiated by an expression of that +inward peace which springs from the stedfast hope of a blessed +immortality. "God's heaven is vast, and beautiful, and calm, indeed," +she exclaimed, in a gently tremulous tone. "In God's kingdom above no +one is outlawed or persecuted." + +"And no soul shut out from love and mercy," added the young Drost, +painfully reminded of his separation from the church, which he felt +but too deeply; "yet, even here, noble lady!" he continued, with +calmness--"even here, God's kingdom can and will come to us--that we +daily pray for. But what avails it, that we look for the peace of +Heaven ere we have it within our own hearts! It is my belief that God's +kingdom may be found every where." + +"Assuredly you are right," said the gentle maiden, regarding him with +friendly sympathy; "you must likewise have known what sorrow is, noble +knight! but Christ and our blessed Lady have given you the grace to +overcome evil with good. This I can see in your eyes, and hear in your +voice, though you are a brave and redoubted knight." + +"Would you were right touching _such_ victory, noble maiden!" answered +Aagé, "but evil is so mighty in the world, that no knight should vaunt +himself of having overcome it; the noblest of monarchs overcomes not +evil in his own kingdom, and scarcely even in his own heart." + +"Yes, in his own heart he surely must!" said the maiden; "but you are +right after all, the power belongs not to man." They rode on for +another hour in silence, and drew near to Esrom monastery. + +"The young King Eric looked as though he were good," resumed the elder +maiden, at length; "sternly as he spoke to us, I still could not fear +him; and our just rights he would not deny us; only thus doth anger +beseem a king." + +"My liege and sovereign is impetuous," said Aagé; "he is strict, but +just; and there is assuredly no knight in Christendom who more +faithfully observes all the noble laws of chivalry." + +"If that be true," exclaimed the maiden, with a suppressed sigh, "then +I am thankful even for the misfortune which now brings us this way; had +I even been myself the cause of our faithful foster-father's death," +she added, after a pause, "his blood will nevertheless not be upon my +head." + +"How mean ye, noble maiden?" asked Aagé, starting. "I understand you +not." + +"Had my father's faithful squire but hit the mark he aimed at," +answered the maiden, "you and all King Eric's faithful friends would +now have had more to sorrow for than we. His arrow never missed the +eagle in his flight"--she paused, as if hesitating to say more: "yet +you shall know it," she continued--"had not my sister shrieked, had I +not clung to the archer's arm, he would surely have been alive and safe +among us at this moment, while ye wept the death of your liege and +sovereign. But praised be St. Cecilia! it were better it chanced as it +did, were even King Eric not so good and just as you say he is." + +"Assuredly, noble maiden!" exclaimed Aagé, in astonishment, "you have +been the means of averting the greatest misery: knew ye that +miscreant's intention?" + +"I knew he had sworn the king's death, for our father's sake, and that +he would keep his vow. He meant to flee with us out of the country; but +when the hunting train approached, we hid ourselves: he recognised the +king, and instantly seized the cross-bow"--she stopped and burst into +tears. + +"You have followed a fearful guide," said Aagé, in a low voice; "weep +not for his death. Although you knew his fell purpose, your soul hath +been rescued from sharing his crime, and the king hath to thank you for +his life. Yet would you had been ignorant of that madman's purpose! +Such dangerous information you should never have confided to me." + +"Why, then, did you question me of it, Sir Knight!" + +The colour mounted to Aagé's cheek, and he paused for a moment. "A +crazed murderer was, then, your only friend and protector," he resumed; +"his accursed scheme of revenge could not have been frustrated had you +not known it! Had you but other witnesses, besides yourself and your +sister, of your conduct towards him! yet, I dare confirm your testimony +with my blood, and with my sword: be comforted! With the Lord's +blessing, you shall never need to fly from Denmark;--instead of the +captivity to which I am now forced to lead you, my just sovereign owes +you thanks and honour." + +"That we can never look for from King Eric," answered Margaretha; "all +doors and all hearts here are now shut against Marsk Stig's children; +if the king will but grant us permission to quit the country, we will +thank him, and pray for him in our exile. The world is wide, and there +are Christian souls in other lands also." + +"Courage, Margaretha!" exclaimed the youngest sister, who had listened +with eager interest and sparkling eyes. "If King Eric be as just and +chivalrous a prince as he looks to be, and as this good knight says he +is, there cannot be the least doubt that he must acquit us, and restore +to us our inheritance, with royal compensation for all we have lost." + +"Alas, dear sister!" answered Margaretha, in a melancholy and +beseeching tone, "gold and lands cannot replace what we have lost. The +happiness and honour which this world and its rulers can give us we +should no longer seek, but rather aspire to higher blessings." + +"You hear, Sir Knight! that my pious sister is already half nun and +saint," said the younger sister, gaily playing with a sparkling rosary +of rubies and diamonds, which she had until now concealed under her +neck-kerchief. "If you will defend our cause like a brave knight, she +will assuredly pray piously for you in a nunnery; but if I ever come, +by your help, to the station which is my birthright, I will not forget +you either in my prosperity." + +Drost Aagé was startled; he bowed courteously, in answer to this +address, while he turned his horse aside in silence, leaving the +sisters to ride side by side. + +"Hush, hush, good Ulrica!" whispered Margaretha, who glowed crimson at +her sister's speech; "thou knowest not thyself what thou sayest, but it +doth disgrace us in the eyes of the stranger knight." + +"I know well enough what I say," answered the capricious maiden, with a +scornful toss of the head, "and if _thou_ wilt not vaunt thyself of our +high descent, depend on it, _I_ will; charity begins at home, and I +have often heard that no knight's daughter in Denmark's kingdom hath +ever had a greater man for a father." + +"Alas! that greatness is our misfortune," said Margaretha, with a sigh; +"dearest sister, repeat not to any human being what you have just now +said! Ask not my reasons! I can never tell them thee; but thank God +thou knowest not all!" + +"Art thou beginning with thy riddles again?" said her sister, +pettishly, as she looked inquisitively at her; "what in all the world +canst _thou_ know, which _I_ know not. If thou wilt not confide every +thing to me, when we two are alone, I will never more be so foolishly +fond of thee. Thou art, indeed, quite insufferable at times, however +pious and excellent thou may'st be." + +While this little dispute was passing between the sisters, Aagé's +attention was diverted from them by the sound of the tramping of +horses' hoofs, and of loud talk. They were just then passing the gate +of Esrom monastery, from whence a party of richly attired knights rode +forth, with some ecclesiastics among them. It was Prince Christopher +and the Margrave of Brandenborg, with the Swedish Drost Bruncké and the +Abbot of Esrom, who, with several priests and knights, accompanied a +tall ecclesiastic of foreign appearance, and wearing the red hat of a +cardinal. Aagé instantly recognised the papal nuncio, Cardinal Isarnus. +The sight of this powerful prelate inspired Aagé with a feeling akin to +dread, and with a presentiment of coming evil, he was, besides, +ill-pleased to see him in Prince Christopher's company; he desired not +to encounter them, and would have hastily turned into a bye-road, but +the unusual sight of two peasant girls on horseback, accompanied by a +knight and two of the king's huntsmen, had already attracted the +prince's attention; he hastily rode up, followed by two knights, to +ascertain who they were. + +"Ha! indeed! Drost Aagé," said the prince, in a scornful tone, "the +preacher of our strict laws of chivalry, are ye carrying off _two_ +pretty maidens at once? I think you might content yourself with one--if +I see aright, these fair ones are of a somewhat higher class than they +care to pass for; speak, who are they?" + +"The unfortunate daughters of Marsk Stig, noble junker!" answered Aagé; +"I am escorting them, by the king's orders, as state prisoners, to +Kallundborg." + +"The viper brood of the regicide!" exclaimed the prince, while a dark +crimson hue suddenly overspread his countenance. "Well! this is an +excellent capture. Throw them into the subterranean dungeon; they shall +never more see the light of day." + +The younger sister shrieked in alarm at this wild threat, but the elder +made a sign to her to be silent, and endeavoured to tranquillize her +fears. + +"They are to be treated with justice, and with all chivalrous deference +and honour," answered Aagé, calmly; "such is my sovereign's will and +express command, which I shall punctually obey." + +"_I_ am governor of Kallundborg, Drost!" called the prince, in wrath; +"the state prisoners sent thither are under my control. Ride with them, +Pallé! give my orders to the jailor! you are answerable for their being +obeyed!" He now said a few words to one of his train, but in so low a +tone as to be unheard by every one else, and then turned his horse, and +rode back to his party. Each now pursued their separate road, but the +knight who had received the prince's private orders joined Drost Aagé +and his prisoners. + +This unwelcome companion was a fat, short-necked personage, with a +repulsive expression in his crimson-coloured full-moon visage. He was +generally called the rich Sir Pallé, and made himself conspicuous by +the costly, but not tasteful, splendour of his dress and riding +accoutrements, which he prided himself on being able to compare in +value with the king's. He sought by an affectation of youthful gaiety +to conceal his age, which very closely bordered on fifty. He was still +a bachelor, but was an unwearied wooer, and greatly desired to pass +for a doughty knight, and an irresistible invader of the hearts of the +fair of every rank. He was not liked by the king, but was a hanger-on +of Prince Christopher, to whom he was appointed gentleman of the +bed-chamber. He was in bad repute among the lower class, on account of +several adventures, little creditable to himself, which were circulated +throughout the country in satirical ballads. He rode for some time in +silence by Drost Aagé's side, apparently annoyed at being despatched on +this unlooked-for errand. Aagé was silent also, and pursued the journey +without noticing him. + +"My presence is troublesome to you, perhaps, Sir Drost!" exclaimed +Pallé, at last breaking silence. "This mission is not to my taste +either. The prince was in his stern mood to-day; when that is the case +he will not bear contradiction, or I should gladly have begged to +decline the journey. Where _you_ act in the king's name, I well know +that _I_, as the junker's deputy, might just as well be absent." + +"Truly, I think so likewise, Sir Pallé!" answered Aagé, in a tone of +indifference, as he quickened his horse's pace. + +"It is all one to me whether your captives receive hard or gentle +treatment," continued Sir Pallé; "but if I bring not my lord's commands +to the jailor at Kallundborg, you see yourself, I shall draw down the +junker's wrath upon me, and that I have no mind to do for the sake of a +couple of vagabonds." + +"Perhaps you heard not what I told the prince of the name and rank of +these ladies?" asked Aagé, measuring his rude companion with a look of +defiance, while he slackened his horse's pace; "even without regard to +their birth, you owe them respect, as honourable Danish maidens, and +for the present moment I am their protector against every insult." + +"Ho, ho! you are somewhat hasty, Sir Drost!" answered Pallé, "who +thinks of insulting the pretty maidens? what though they may have +scoured the country round, without stockings and shoes, they should not +be thought the less of for that; they are now going to be led, +according to their rank, to an honourable state prison. I perceive the +fair prisoners have already captured our chivalrous Drost, by way of +reprisal." + +Drost Aagé coloured deeply at this jeering speech. "By your leave, Sir +Pallé!" he said, with suppressed wrath, "here lies the road to +Kallundborg; it is long and broad enough for us all, and we need not be +troublesome to each other; if ye will ride on before or follow behind, +we will accommodate ourselves accordingly; but if you desire to honour +us any longer with your company, you must behave courteously, or you +understand me----." He struck on the hilt of his sword, and was silent. + +"Well, well, either before or behind, or courteously in the middle--or +fighting? These, are indeed four pleasant alternatives," answered +Pallé. "With your permission, I choose the third, as the happy medium, +and purpose, in all peace and courtesy, to remain in such fair company. +I have hardly seen the ladies as yet;" so saying, he rode up between +the sisters, whom he greeted with a bold and scrutinizing stare. "What +in all the world is this?" he suddenly exclaimed, in the greatest +astonishment, as he looked at the youngest sister; "Gundelillé! do I +see _you_ here? Mean you to befool the Drost also? Would you now give +yourself out to be Marsk Stig's daughter? The other day you were but +the farmer's daughter at Hedegaard." + +"Yes, I was so _then_," answered Ulrica, laughing; "Gundelillé is my +name still in the ballad of 'Sir Pallé wooing the driver.' Perhaps you +have not heard it, Sir Pallé? I will gladly sing it you; it is vastly +entertaining." + +If any part of Sir Pallé's visage was before wanting in a crimson hue, +the deficiency was now fully remedied; he seemed highly enraged; but +the sight of Ulrica's arch little face appeared to produce such an +effect upon him that he could not give vent to his anger. He spurred +his horse, and had nearly pushed the ladies into the ditch, as he +suddenly dashed past them. + +"Know ye this knight, noble lady?" asked Aagé, in surprise. + +"Oh yes! tolerably well," answered Ulrica, laughing. "I once played off +a little joke upon him." + +"It was indeed a daring frolic of my sister's, Sir Knight!" interrupted +Margaretha. "Sir Pallé had long plagued her, and she thought she could +not in any other way get rid of his importunity; but it was wrong, no +doubt; he became a laughing stock, and an object of general ridicule in +consequence; and if you do not now prevent it, he bids fair to avenge +himself." + +"But what was it you did?" asked Aagé. Ulrica laughed, and would have +told the story, but her sister laid hold of her arm. "Silence, dear +Ulrica! here we have him again," she whispered, and Ulrica was silent. +Sir Pallé had checked his horse, and joined them again. He seemed +perfectly to have recovered his self-possession. He assured Drost Aagé +that he was so far from desiring such captives should be harshly +treated, that he even wished it were possible entirely to free them +from imprisonment. "I have seen them before," he added, "and had I +known who they were, they should not now have been on their way to +prison." Shortly afterwards he again rode in between the maidens. + +"Pitiless Gundelillé," he whispered, "speak no more of that cruel +story. I meant not to wrong you; had I known you were the daughter of a +noble knight, I would have proffered hand and heart, in all reverence +and honour, and even now were I so fortunate as to find favour in your +lovely eyes----" + +Without looking at him, Ulrica began to sing, + + + "List ye then, Sir Pallé! + No wrong do ye to me, + When mass is sung and ended, + In my car shall ye seated be." + + +"Sing not that accursed song, fairest of maidens!" interrupted Sir +Pallé; "I will not offend you; but believe me, loveliest of the +lovely----" + +Without heeding him, she now sang aloud, + + + "And then she clad her driver lad + In purple robe so rare; + In the driver's suit was quickly clad + Gundelill', that maiden fair." + + +"Hush! I will not say a word more," interrupted Sir Pallé again. "But +if you knew how greatly I love and honour you----" + +The sportive maiden set up a loud laugh, and continued to sing, + + + "Sir Pallé then, the wealthy knight, + Enters the car full bold, + Salutes the driver with delight + And in his arms doth fold. + + "It was the lady Gundelillé + Who drove into the yard; + She laughed, I tell ye, heartily + At the jest he deemed so hard." + + +"Ha!~ that jest you shall dearly rue," whispered Pallé, in a rage. "You +sing sweetly," he said aloud; "remember you the whole ballad, fair +lady? If you sing another verse," he whispered, "it shall cost you +dear." + +"Hush, dearest sister!" said Margaretha, in a tone of earnest entreaty; +and Ulrica was silent. + +Sir Pallé now rode round to Drost Aagé's side, and did not again +address himself to the captive maiden. He was silent and gloomy. He had +observed with great wrath a repressed smile on the Drost's countenance; +and the huntsmen who followed them laughed, and whispered together in a +manner which too plainly indicated that Sir Pallé and his unfortunate +love adventure were the subject of their ridicule. The two younger +huntsmen were strongly, attached to Aagé; they had remarked how little +acceptable Sir Pallé's company was to him; and they now, as if to +beguile the time, began to hum the well-known ballad of the brave +knight Helmer Blaa. In one of the many scenes of violence which were +the consequences of the proscription of the outlawed regicides, Helmer +Blaa had slain Sir Pallé's uncle. On this account he had for a long +time been barbarously persecuted by Sir Pallé and his six brothers, +until he at last vanquished all the six in honourable self-defence, and +compelled Pallé to give him his sister in marriage, who, before this +feud, had been betrothed to the gallant knight. This occurrence (so +derogatory to Sir Pallé's reputation) had attracted general attention, +and almost every young fellow in the country could repeat a ballad in +honour of the bold Helmer Blaa, who had not only been acquitted by the +king and whole body of knighthood, but stood also high in favour with +Eric. The burden of the song,-- + + + "In the saddle he rides so free," + + +fell on Sir Pallé's ear. + +He looked back towards the huntsmen, with a face glowing with rage, but +they appeared not to notice it; and one of them sang aloud,-- + + + "Better I cannot counsel thee, + That thou tarry not, but hence should'st flee, + In the saddle he rides so free." + + +"Your huntsmen, Sir Drost, would drive me hence with vile songs, I +perceive," said Sir Pallé, turning to Aagé. "Is it you, or yonder +pretty maiden, who have inspired them with this pleasant conceit?" + +"You are perhaps not a lover of song, Sir Pallé?" answered Aagé; "that +is unfortunate: the merry fellows wish to beguile the time for us on +the road." + +"If I hear aright," growled Pallé, "that song may perhaps shorten the +road to heaven for both of them if it is not presently ended." + +"Think you so?" answered Aagé carelessly. "If you will give us your +company you must reconcile yourself to our merriment. Haste to sing the +song to the end," he called to the huntsmen, "or Sir Pallé will be +wroth;" and the huntsmen sang gaily,-- + + + "In the town my true love shall ne'er hear it said + That I before her brothers have fled. + + "Full boldly rode Helmer her brothers to meet, + His courage was equal to every feat. + + "First Ové, then Lang, his eye did survey, + And then did his sword come quick into play." + + +"S'death!" shouted Sir Pallé, and his sword flew from the scabbard. "If +ye _will_ have the sword come into play, you shall feel it too." So +saying, he turned his horse, and rushed like a madman upon the +huntsmen, who had not time to prepare for defence, ere his sword had +cut through their jerkins, and inflicted one or two wounds. But the +huntsmen, enraged at this sudden onset, drew their long hunting-knives, +and threatened a bloody revenge. Ulrica shrieked on hearing the affray, +and the elder sister turned pale. "Stop, knaves!" cried Aagé, riding in +between Pallé and his antagonists: "two against one is not fair play. I +will decide this matter alone with Sir Pallé." The Drost had drawn his +sword, and was expecting his opponent to turn towards him, but Sir +Pallé's horse seemed to have become suddenly skittish and unruly: it +galloped off, on the road to Esrom, with its enraged master, whose +spurs stuck in its sides, while he swore and brandished his sword over +his head. The huntsmen laughed loudly at this sight. Ulrica joined in +the laugh; and as soon as the slight wounds of the huntsmen had been +bound up, the party pursued their journey, though in a different +direction from that in which they had set out. + +"I must have been mistaken," said Drost Aagé to the huntsmen. "It could +hardly have been to Kallundborg, but rather to Vordingborg, that the +king commanded me to accompany these ladies; there he, and not Prince +Christopher, is ruler. If there was other meaning in his words, I will +be answerable for it." As they turned into a bye road, a tall man in a +peasant's dress, mounted on a small peasant's horse, without a saddle, +started out of the thicket by the road side, and suddenly disappeared +again among the bushes. "Kaggé!" exclaimed Ulrica, with involuntary +delight, and seized her sister's arm. Margaretha gave her a significant +look, and she was silent, but often gazed restlessly around. + +Drost Aagé had heard the exclamation, and started. The name of Kaggé +was but too familiar to him. A squire of noble birth of this name had +been among Eric Glipping's murderers at Finnerup; he had fled with the +other outlaws to Norway, and was prohibited, on pain of death, from +setting foot on Danish ground; had he, notwithstanding, been in the +train of the captive maidens, their connection with so dangerous a +traitor might operate greatly against them. This incident obliged the +Drost to be on the watch over the security of his captives. Silent and +anxious he pursued the journey. + + + + + CHAP. V. + + +Prince Christopher and his train meanwhile pursued their way to +Sjöborg. They rode at a slow pace, to suit the convenience of the +foreign prelate. The mysterious importance which Cardinal Isarnus knew +how to assume as the pope's legate, and the reserve with which he +evaded every close question, had worked up the prince to a pitch of +anxious expectation, which he vainly endeavoured to hide. Isarnus +appeared with a splendour corresponding to his high rank as a dignitary +of the church; his richly attired attendants followed him at a +respectful distance, together with his famulus and secretary; near him +rode the Abbot of Esrom and two foreign ecclesiastics. Isarnus +conversed with his countrymen and with the abbot by turns, in the +Italian and Latin tongue: his converse with the prince and the margrave +was short and abrupt, and carried on in almost unintelligible German. +He appeared, indeed, to avail himself of the want of a common language, +by leaving every query unanswered to which he considered it might be +impolitic to reply. In important negociations he made use of his +famulus as an interpreter. Wherever this powerful prelate appeared in +the country, he was the object of superstitious awe. The unusual +spectacle of the cardinal's red hat worked upon the imagination of the +people like the appearance of a comet, and was considered to be as +ominous of evil, as that dreaded phenomenon of the heavens. Some of the +most ignorant among the lower orders even believed it was the pope +himself who had arrived in Denmark to dethrone the king and +excommunicate the kingdom; and it was not alone from reverence, but as +much from fear, that the wonder-stricken peasants and old women +especially, knelt down whenever they encountered the cardinal. His +long, sallow, and imperturbable visage, with its expression of cool +menace, and foreign aspect, combined with the preconceived notion of a +supernatural and mysterious power, seemed endowed with the petrifying +influence of Medusa's head. + +"Dear Sir Pope! harm us not!" frequently whimpered forth the sick and +crippled who knelt in his path. He understood them not, and no word +proceeded from his thin compressed lips, but he extended his arm, with +a cold unchanging mien, and with his three fingers, which sparkled with +costly rings, signed over their uncovered heads the silent token of a +blessing, which they feared would soon be changed into a curse, for the +threats with which he had last left the king and the country, were +generally made known through the fears of the clergy themselves, and +their zealous exhortations to repentance. + +Accompanied by this ecclesiastical scarecrow. Prince Christopher now +approached Sjöborg. After several fruitless attempts to gain the +confidence of the mysterious legate, the prince withdrew, leaving his +place by the cardinal's side to the Abbot of Esrom and the other +ecclesiastics, who conversed with him, in Latin, upon philosophical and +theological subjects. The bold and joyous margrave rode by the side of +Sir Helmer Blaa, and talked eagerly of campaigns and tournaments. The +prince allowed them to pass him, and remained alone behind with the +Swedish statesman, Drost Bruncké, to whom he appeared desirous of +communicating something of importance ere they reached Sjöborg. + +"You will now probably delay your homeward journey, Sir Drost!" said +the prince, in a confidential tone. "That which yon mysterious guest +brings with him may prove as important to your sovereign and to the +Swedish council as to us." + +"Perhaps it may alter the state of things here rather more than your +royal house would wish," answered Bruncké, ambiguously; "what else can +your highness mean?" + +"Yonder red cloud is doubtless charged with holy lightnings," continued +the prince, pointing to the cardinal, whose red hat flared through the +trees in the moonlight. "If my stiff-necked brother does not now give +in, misfortune stands at his door; such is ever the result of all half +measures. An important state prisoner should be either timely buried, +or else let loose. Was not that your opinion also, Sir Drost?" + +"It is often the wisest policy," answered Bruncké. "The dead _cannot_ +tell tales; and the generous, once restored to freedom, _will not_." + +"You know the individual I allude to," continued the prince; "he will +now either be let loose, and become perhaps more dangerous than ever, +or the storm will burst which he hath conjured over us hither from +Rome. He was as good as buried--that was my doing, but I got sorry +thanks for it. Out of mistimed compassion he was brought up once more +from the grave;--to spare a sick priest, they had the folly to let +loose the bishop's understrapper, so that he was able to flee, and stir +up heaven and earth to work our ruin. I then counselled a timely +reconciliation; but when sternness should have been used they were weak +and mild, and when reconciliation became the wisest policy they were +stern and pertinacious. My counsel was never heeded; hate and disfavour +were my thanks. The people will now have their eyes opened, and perhaps +your young king also, provided he will be guided by his wisest +counsellor." + +"Very possibly, noble prince!" answered Bruncké, with a crafty smile; +"but as yet I see not the danger, and even were I so fortunate as to +perceive it, and to understand you, so long as Thorkild Knudson is at +the head of state affairs, and in such high honour and favour"--he +paused, and shrugged his shoulders. + +"He rises but to fall," continued the prince, "should he even win my +brother's favour also. By his friendship with your dangerous dukes, and +the high alliance which is spoken of, he is sealing his own doom." + +"That is very possible, your highness," answered Bruncké, with a +malicious smile; "his vaunted wisdom is not infallible; with time +cometh experience. Were but your royal brother only not so ardent a +lover, and our fair princess somewhat less devoted to him"-- + +"Childish fancies!" interrupted the prince. "State policy alone, not +childish folly, should counsel here. Your young king hastes not +so with his marriage, and therein he acts wisely. Between ourselves, +Bruncké,"--here he whispered confidentially, while he nearly drew +bridle,--"my sister Mereté is little suited to your king, but his +soft-hearted sister is still less so to my brother. This double +alliance will be ruinous for both kingdoms. You may easily come to +share our unhappy position with regard to the papal see; and if enmity +breaks out betwixt your king and his ambitious brother, there is no +doubt against whom Princess Ingeborg, as queen, will arm Denmark and my +enamoured brother. That she holds the haughty warlike duke, Eric, far +dearer than his crowned brother, you know yourself much better than I." + +"Truly, I cannot but admire your highness's policy," replied Bruncké, +in a fawning tone, while his wily glance seemed to penetrate the +prince's most secret thoughts. "You are as wise as generous; prizing +Denmark and Sweden's happiness higher than your own sister's and +brother's domestic felicity! Here I recognise the lofty, princely +spirit, which soars above the petty interests of private life. But, to +speak truly, I see not how this double alliance can be prevented or +broken off, without a breach of peace, while your royal brother sways +here, and follows nought but his own inclinations." + +"We must have time, Bruncké" whispered the prince; "the guest we bring +him to-night will soon change the aspect of affairs in Denmark. I +shudder myself to think of what may happen, but things cannot remain as +they are; your young king will always need a wise counsellor, who can +rule people and kingdom in his name. For this office no one is so fit +as yourself. Set your head to work, sage Bruncké; if it should be +endangered, you may count on me." + +"Let us reserve these matters for your private chamber, noble prince," +whispered Bruncké, looking cautiously around. "Woods have ears, and +plains have eyes, they say. It were, perhaps, good policy that I should +henceforth be apparently somewhat out of favour with your highness." + +"Right, Bruncké; contradict me tomorrow at table, in the king's +hearing, and I will reply in a manner which you must only _feign_ to +take amiss." + +"Every ungracious word spoken to me by your highness in public, I shall +take to be a proof of your secret favour. All that I can promise you," +he added in a whisper, raising his hand so as to screen his face on the +other side, "is the delay of both marriages as long as possible; as to +what concerns me personally, I depend upon your princely word." + +"I give you my hand upon it, sage Bruncké" answered the prince, +extending to him his hand. "Now let us be off; the cardinal hath +reached the lake already." + +They spurred their horses, and overtook the rest of their party by the +shore of the lake, where a floating bridge had been contrived for the +convenience of this unusual throng of passengers. While they halted +here, Sir Pallé returned at full gallop, and told the prince, almost +panting for breath, that he had been murderously attacked by Drost Aagé +and both his huntsmen at once. + +"Indeed, I am glad of it," answered the prince, in a tone of +satisfaction. "The Drost shall dearly rue such unchivalrous conduct. +You can of course swear to what you say, Pallé! else no one will credit +it." + +"Swear to it!" repeated Pallé, with glowing cheeks, and endeavouring to +hide his confusion; "those who will not believe me, by my troth may let +it alone; ungodly oaths I have forsworn." + +"Then the devil take your chatter," muttered the prince, in displeasure, +and turned from him. + + + + + CHAP. VI. + + +On his return to Sjöborg Castle, King Eric had shut himself up in his +private chamber, engrossed in serious reflections on the imminent peril +he had just escaped; it seemed to him as if St. Cecilia's eve was +destined to bring with it misfortune and danger to him and to his race. +This was the second time he had encountered traitors and robbers in the +neighbourhood of Sjöborg. The conviction, however, that he possessed +the love and devotion of his subjects, soon dissipated the young king's +gloomy mood. He had summoned the Swedish Marsk, Thorkild Knudson, to a +private audience, and now conversed calmly and frankly with this noble +knight on the happy alliance between Denmark and Sweden, which at the +present time was the chief subject of the king's thoughts, and in which +his heart so ardently shared. + +Thorkild Knudson was a handsome man, of a thoughtful and dignified +aspect, rather more than forty years of age; his dark hair seemed to +have grown untimely grey. His powerful influence as regent had gained +him a high reputation, as well in his own country as in foreign courts. +An honest aspiration after power and rank was manifest in his fiery +glance, and the noble commanding expression of his countenance bespoke +a dauntless confidence in his own powers, and a species of proud +contempt for all the petty arts by which less highly gifted statesmen +often seek to supply the want of sound political wisdom. As he sat +opposite the young king, attired in his blue knight's dress, with the +large chain of the order around his neck, and conversed with him, with +freedom and sympathy, he might have been taken for a fatherly friend or +relative of King Eric, had he not, by strict observance of the respect +due to Eric's exalted station, but without a tinge of flattery, known +how to receive the confidence reposed in him by royalty with an +appearance of homage which detracted not from his own dignity as the +ambassador of a foreign monarch. + +Although Thorkild Knudson, as Swedish regent, was authorized on the +part of King Birger and the state council to accede to the king's +desire of having the celebration of his marriage fixed for the ensuing +spring, yet it was only on the condition that the pope's dispensation +should be obtained before that time. But because of the vehemence with +which the king always rejected the idea of every obstacle, Thorkild +Knudson had hitherto propounded this condition in as mild terms as +possible. He now touched upon it again, and took the opportunity of +bringing the case of the captive archbishop to Eric's remembrance. + +The colour mounted to the young king's cheek; he became suddenly +silent, and a secret struggle seemed passing within his breast. He +looked around him once or twice, as if he missed some one; at last, +however, his eye rested with evident pleasure and satisfaction on +Thorkild's intelligent and noble countenance. "I esteem my future +brother-in-law fortunate," he said, "in possessing a man like you for +his friend and counsellor. You are now to him what my aged counsellor +Jon and my well-beloved Drost Hessel have been to me from my childhood +upwards. The misunderstanding with the papal court has long deprived me +of my best and most experienced counsellors. My faithful Drost Aagé is +not older and more experienced than myself. I feel confidence in you, +Sir Thorkild. Were I your liege and sovereign, what would you counsel +me in this weighty matter?" + +"To see the prisoner, and hear his defence--_dispassionately_, noble +King Eric," answered the Swedish statesman. "As far as I know, he hath +not only _done_ wrong, but _suffered_ wrong; for a long and severe +imprisonment is a suffering and punishment, which can only be called +just, when it is inflicted according to a lawfully pronounced +sentence." + +"Was it then unjust in me to imprison a state criminal, who was an +accomplice in the murder of my father--an accursed regicide?" said +Eric, with vehemence, and rising from his seat. "Should I have given +him time to escape, or stir up the people against me, because he was +not condemned by the pope and the bishops? Can I acknowledge +ecclesiastical law when it would acquit a rebel and regicide?" + +"It was perhaps necessary for your grace to hinder his flight and +treasonable designs," answered Thorkild Knudson, who had risen from his +seat at the same time with the king, "were it not possible previously +to obtain papal authority for the step; but, by your grace's leave, as +your counsellor, I would have freely and openly pronounced all +unnecessary severity to be as dangerous as unjust." + +"With my knowledge he hath suffered no injustice," answered the king. +"The manner of his seizure I highly disapproved; and I have declared +what took place then in my minority to have been contrary to my wish. +My brave Drost Torstenson I have dismissed. In him I have lost a +faithful, but too zealous and rash a friend. My own brother I severely +reprimanded. For the sake of a state criminal, I have exposed myself to +unpleasant differences in my own family, which wound me deeply, and may +perhaps prove dangerous to state and kingdom. What more can reasonably +be asked of me?" + +"Noble sovereign," resumed Thorkild Knudson, with earnestness; "you +vouchsafe to show me a confidence which I highly prize. At the present +moment I am, thanks to the Lord, able to reciprocate it with honest +frankness. I trust a double relationship will unite you, and my liege +and sovereign in a lasting union; but I will not abuse your confidence. +I would not have your grace confide aught to me which you might regret +I should know, if at any time, which God forbid! my fidelity to my king +and my native land should compel me to seem your and Denmark's foe. +Even in such a position I would esteem and admire your noble spirit, +and I know you would not misjudge me." + +"No, Sir Thorkild," answered the king, extending to him his hand; "even +were you forced to-morrow, as a loyal Swedish statesman, to become my +adversary, I should not misjudge your heart and chivalrous spirit. I +value your esteem--answer me freely! think ye I have acted unjustly in +this matter?" + +"Well then, King Eric," said Thorkild, "allow my answer to be a +question to which you can best reply yourself. Had counsellor Jon, and +Drost Hessel been with you at this time, think you, you would have so +long delayed the advances towards a reconciliation, which I cannot but +conjecture was the main object of your prolonged sojourn here?" + +"It is not for me, but for the captive criminal, to take the first step +towards reconciliation," answered the king; "but I am now weary myself +of this procrastination. Here lies a proposal for a reconciliation +which I have caused the Drost to draw up. I will see the prisoner +to-morrow." + +"Why not this very evening, noble sovereign?" said Thorkild. "If you +incline to reconciliation, it was perhaps in a fortunate moment you +permitted me to become your counsellor. The accomplishment of your own +heartfelt desire is probably more closely connected with this +negociation than you imagine." + +"Well, I will see him this evening--this very hour," said the king, +pulling the bell string. An attendant entered. "Tell the steward, the +captive archbishop is to be brought hither." The attendant bowed, and +departed. The king threw himself into a chair, and fell into a reverie. +Thorkild Knudson seemed preparing to take his leave. + +"No, stay, I entreat you," said the king, and then paused for a few +moments. "On this night was my father murdered," he resumed in a +tremulous voice; "the man who is about to appear before me was the +chief counsellor of the murderers. You shall be present, and see that I +am neither revengeful nor unjust; but you shall also see, that even to +promote my highest happiness I am incapable of forgetting for a moment, +that which I owe to the crown I wear. Read! Only on these conditions +will he be released." So saying, he reached Thorkild a written sheet of +parchment which lay on the table. Thorkild perused it slowly, and the +king watched his countenance as he read. "Well, is it not so?" said +Eric eagerly. "I demand only what is just and reasonable--safety for +crown and country--peace with the church--obedience to the laws of the +land, so long as he is my subject. I will not pass sentence in my own +cause--as a traitor to the crown, he must be condemned by the pope." + +"I must own your grace's demands are more moderate than I should have +supposed. If you are perfectly correct in the charge you prefer against +him, I should still call these terms generous; and yet I doubt whether +he will accept them. The parting with Hammerhuus----" + +"He _shall_ give up that castle," interrupted the king; "a rebel and +traitor shall own no fortress in my kingdom. Were he even seated in St. +Peter's chair, _here_ he is my subject." + +"Undoubtedly; and he may perhaps make that sacrifice for his freedom; +but the seventh clause--pardon me, your grace, for saying that it seems +to me to be in opposition to his duty to the church and to the Holy +Father. Until he is deposed by a papal bull, no one can hinder him from +using the church's power against whomsoever he will, without asking +leave of the king or of any temporal authority." + +"He shall be forced to do so!" exclaimed Eric, with vehemence. "While I +am king, no miscreant shall persecute me or my subjects with unjust +excommunication and all the plagues of hell. I am placed here by the +Lord Almighty to protect my people and their liberties, and not all the +bishops in the world shall rob me of this right. I will answer for what +I do before the Lord above as well as before my subjects, and before +every true and loyal knight!" So saying, the king again pulled the bell +with vehemence. Another attendant entered. + +"Light all the tapers in the knights' hall!" commanded the king. "Bid +the master of the household call together the whole court and every +knight here in the castle. Place my throne at the end of the hall!" The +attendant departed in haste on a signal from the king. + +"Your grace is too precipitate," said Thorkild; "give not a publicity +to your interview with this dangerous prelate which he may abuse to +your hurt and prejudice." + +"My cause shuns not the light," answered the king. "I use not to speak +or treat with my bitterest and deadliest foe otherwise than I dare make +known to my loyal subjects and the whole body of Danish chivalry. A +traitor's oath demands witnesses." + +"But caution and--I trust your grace will pardon my boldness--state +policy demand there should be as few witnesses present as possible," +objected Thorkild Knudson, with anxious sympathy. He would have said +more, but at this moment the door opened, and he was silenced by the +entrance of the tall Archbishop Grand in chains. + +Led by the steward and the three turnkeys, besides two men-at-arms, the +haughty prelate stepped across the threshold of the king's private +chamber, with a stare of wild defiance, without fixing his eye on any +object. He was attired in a white Cistercian mantle, without any of the +insignia of a bishop; his proud countenance was pale and emaciated; his +beard was shorn, his head was bare, and around his tonsure curled a +ring of tangled grey hair. He moved slowly, and every step seemed +attended with pain; but it appeared as if, with a contempt of all +bodily suffering, he exerted himself to the utmost to prevent his +outward appearance from becoming an object of commiseration. + +When the king beheld him he involuntarily stepped back, and a feeling +of sorrowful sympathy for fallen greatness was manifest in his look, +while at the same time the remembrance of his father's murder, and this +man's share in the misfortunes of state and kingdom, overspread his +noble countenance with the crimson of indignation. + +"You may go," said Eric to the guard. They obeyed, and through the open +door of the knights' hall, which was instantly shut again, the king +beheld a numerous assemblage of knights and courtiers, looking with +anxious suspense and curiosity towards the entrance to the private +chamber, through which they had seen the captive archbishop conducted. + +The haughty captive continued standing about two paces from the door, +and had not as yet vouchsafed a look or salutation to the king. He +stood immoveable as a marble statue, and his cold uncertain gaze, now +first warmed into life, as it suddenly fixed with frightful earnestness +on a silver crucifix, which stood by the side of the king's shield, on +a shelf above a prie-dieu. + +"You stand in the presence of your liege sovereign. Archbishop Grand," +began King Eric; but he paused again to restrain his anger at the +captive's look of rude defiance. + +"Yes, truly, I stand in the presence of my _heavenly_ Ruler and King," +answered Archbishop Grand, folding his fettered hands, without +withdrawing his gaze from the crucifix. "_He_ shall judge between me +and the tyrants of this world." + +"You stand also before your _temporal_ ruler and king," continued +Eric--"before your lawful superior in this country and kingdom. For +what ye have sinned against me and Denmark's crown you will have to +answer at the great day of judgment, but first _here_; as certainly as +there is justice upon earth, first _here_. I have sent in my accusation +of your crimes to the tribunal of St. Peter; the Holy Father hath +required me to liberate you that he may hear your defence, or your +confession." + +"Why then have ye not obeyed, King Eric?" interrupted the captive, for +the first time turning his proud glance upon the king. "Will ye delay +until the holy lightnings melt the crown from off your brow?" + +"How long I shall wear the crown, the righteous God alone can +determine," answered the king. "Without His Almighty permission no +power on earth can injure a hair of my head." He paused for a moment. +"When we liberate a dangerous offender," he continued, with more +calmness, "he must give us security for his release. The guiltiest +criminal shall have the right of defending himself, but not of +committing fresh crimes on his way to his tribunal. If he hath any +remains of conscience and honour, and if we are to trust him, he must +take the oath we require. If he will not--be it so! he may be tried in +his dungeon, and defend himself in his chains." + +"And what security doth King Eric demand for the release of the +captive, whom he, without lawful sentence, and contrary to the law of +God and the church, caused to be imprisoned and maltreated?" asked the +archbishop, with bitterness. + +"For the justice of your imprisonment I will answer to the Great Judge +above," answered the king, raising his hand; "but the point in question +is only whether you may justly and reasonably be released; to decide +this I have summoned you hither. Know then, Archbishop Grand! although +you were undoubtedly an accomplice in my father's murder--although I +abhor you as my bitterest and deadliest foe, and as the greatest +traitor in Denmark, I fear not, nevertheless, to loose your guilty +hands when justice demands it; but _here_ ye shall neither raise hand +nor voice against crowns and sovereigns; ere ye leave these walls ye +shall swear by your salvation, in the sight of God and the chivalry of +Denmark, to promise that which I here, as the protector of the crown +and people, have required and demanded. When you have read the +conditions of your release, and are willing to take the oath before my +throne, in the hearing of all my knights, your imprisonment may end +this very hour." + +At a signal from the king Thorkild Knudson reached the sheet of +parchment to the archbishop, and placed one of the tapers closer to +him. The hand of the proud captive trembled as he took the parchment, +and it cost him evident effort to read it; but it seemed as if his +strength and spirit increased as he proceeded; and when he had perused +it to the end he laughed scornfully, and crumpled the parchment in his +hand.--"Shall I leave my degradation unavenged?" he cried--"Shall I +fetter my tongue myself that it may not announce to you eternal death +and damnation?--Shall I part with my last earthly defence?--Shall I +subject the holy church's right to the arbitration of a tyrant? No, +King Eric Ericson! as yet I am an anointed and consecrated archbishop, +with power to bless or curse the crown thou wearest. Even in these +chains I have the power to push the crown from off thy head with a +single word. Over my body, tyrant! thou may'st have power, but, by the +Lord above, not over my free immortal spirit! Ere I will consent to one +of these conditions thou and thy executioners may sever every limb from +my body, as I now rend asunder, with this hellish compact, all bond and +tie between me and the despots of this world." So saying, he rent the +parchment before the king's eyes, threw the fragments on the floor, and +stamped upon them until his chains rattled. + +"Madman!" cried the king, in great anger, "stay then in thy prison, and +defy me there, until thy dying day! I release thee not until thou hast +put thy seal to every word thou hast here trampled under foot, should I +be a hundred times excommunicated by the pope in consequence," Eric +hastily pulled the bell-string. The door of the knights' hall opened, +and the master of the household appeared. "The guard," commanded the +king--"the captive is to return to prison." + +The loud talking in the king's private chamber had excited +apprehensions among the king's knights and courtiers, who knew he was +next to being alone with the dreaded prisoner. As the chamber door +opened, all thronged towards it, as if fearing some misfortune. + +"Back!" said the king, and he was obeyed; but the door to the knights' +hall remained half open, and ere the guard arrived to fetch the +prisoner. Archbishop Grand had taken a bold resolve. He hastily seized +the crucifix, upon which he had gazed so long, and with this holy +symbol in his hand, before which all were forced to bow, he advanced +with long powerful strides into the middle of the knights' hall; here +he halted, and turned suddenly towards the king, who stood on the +threshold, amazed at this sight, and seemed about to issue orders for +the seizure of the prisoner. + +"Anathema!" shouted the archbishop, in a terrific voice, and raising +the chained hand which bore the crucifix. "King Eric Ericson of +Denmark! I pronounce the sentence of excommunication upon thy head. I +announce to thee, and every Christian here present, that thou art +fallen under the church's awful ban--" + +"What? audacious villain! seize--gag him!" exclaimed the king, stepping +over the threshold. + +"Anathema!" shouted the archbishop still louder.--"He who lays hands on +me is accursed.--Thou art cast out of the community of believers and of +saints.--Thou hast no longer any power over Christians, King Eric! In +virtue of my holy office, and the apostolical authority of St. Paul, I +give thee over, as the enemy of God and the church, to Satan, and to +the destruction of the flesh." So saying, he described the stroke of +forked lightning in the air with the crucifix, and looked around him +with flashing eyes. + +All stood as if petrified by terror and amazement. The king appeared +once more about to speak; but he had grown deadly pale, and it seemed +as if his voice was choked by anger. Ere he was able to speak, the +archbishop again burst forth with a deafening voice, while he turned to +the knights and courtiers: "Fly, Christians! leave the pestilent one! +pollute not your souls by intercourse with the excommunicated one! +accursed is now the hand which brings him food, accursed the servant +who serves him with fire or water, accursed the tongue which comforts +him with a single word, so long as his soul is given over to the Evil +One. He who ten days hence still serves and obeys this foe of the +church I give over with him to Satan and to the destruction of the +flesh, that the soul may be saved at the day of the Lord Jesus! Amen!" + +On finishing this speech he made a genuflexion, kissed the crucifix, +and handed it to the chaplain of the castle, who stood trembling +nearest him among the king's suite, and bent his knee, while he pressed +this so fearfully abused symbol of blessing with a look of sorrow to +his heart. "And now, excommunicated king!" added the archbishop, with a +triumphant countenance, and with the mien of an exulting martyr, +tearing the mantle from his emaciated breast, "now may'st thou, if thou +darest, order to be torn asunder the church's anointed, who announced +to thee the sentence of the Lord. My body is, perhaps, in thy power, +but the spirit is God's, and his is the power throughout all eternity." + +A death-like silence reigned throughout the hall, the greatest terror +was depicted in the faces of the knights, while their eyes turned with +sorrowing sympathy towards their excommunicated sovereign. It seemed +for a moment as if the lightnings of excommunication had struck the +young king with the power of real lightning, and smitten him with +lameness. He had staggered back so dizzy that he was forced to support +himself by the door-post; but he now summoned up all his strength, and +stepped forward with quick and passionate strides among his knights and +courtiers. + +"A regicide stands in the midst of us, and would give us over to the +Devil, to whom he himself belongs," he burst forth, in a tone of the +highest exasperation; "he who is himself accursed presumes to pronounce +the Lord's judgment upon men. On this unfortunate St. Cecilia's eve my +father's blood cried aloud from the earth, and accused this criminal +before the Lord's tribunal. His head should long since have fallen +under the axe of the executioner, and now he would judge and +excommunicate us; he would destroy my immortal soul, had he the power; +but no! each word he hath spoken is lifeless and powerless--his curses +fall back on his own guilty head. The Holy Father shall judge between +us! The King of Denmark recognizes no sentence as lawful which is not +confirmed by 'the Father of Christendom. Away with the miscreant!" + +The knights and courtiers appeared able to breathe freely again, on +hearing these words from the king. They looked on him with confidence +and devotion, yet still appeared to hesitate, and no one prepared to +seize the dreaded prisoner, who stood erect and haughty among them, and +seemed to triumph in the spiritual power he had exercised even in +chains. + +"Hence with the criminal!" repeated the king; "until he recalls the +ungodly ban he sees not the light of day. Guards! halberdiers! why +tarry ye? hath this miscreant's words struck you deaf and lame? Fear ye +to obey your liege sovereign?" + +The guards and halberdiers now surrounded the archbishop, but with +manifest trepidation. The terrific prisoner stood immoveable, with his +eyes turned upwards, towards the roof of the hall, and no one as yet +dared to lay hands on him. But the king again broke silence. "I still +bear crown and sceptre," he exclaimed; "I shall know how to defend +myself and my loyal subjects against this monster! I swore by my +father's bloody head to uphold the rights of the crown and the insulted +dignity of majesty against every power on earth whether spiritual or +temporal, and by all the holy men![13] I will keep that vow. Will not +the loyal Danish nation, will not Denmark's chivalry stand by me +undismayed in my fight for truth and justice? Then, indeed, will Danish +loyalty be a theme for mockery, and Danish courage for scorn. Are ye +true and valiant Danish men, and do ye let yourselves be scared by a +mad traitor into betraying your liege sovereign?" + +All doubt and apprehension seemed now to have disappeared among Eric's +knights and courtiers. The hall resounded with shouts and loyal +acclamations. The archbishop vainly strove to speak again. The +indignation against him was general, and without hesitation the guards +laid hands on him to lead him back to prison. But ere they reached the +door it opened, and Prince Christopher, accompanied by the Margrave of +Brandenborg, entered with the papal legate between them, followed by +their train of ecclesiastics and laymen. All started at the sight of +the tall foreign prelate with his cardinal's hat and withered visage. +He stepped with an authoritative air before the prince and the +margrave, and bowed to the king, and towards all sides of the hall, in +silence, and with the air of a superior, as if appropriating to himself +the loud acclamations which were heard on his entrance, but which were +now suddenly hushed. He seemed startled on perceiving the chained +prisoner in the Cistercian mantle. He nodded, and the guard stepped +aside. The captive archbishop felt himself suddenly freed from the +sturdy grasp of the men-at-arms. "Gloria in excelsis!" shouted Grand, +as he raised his fettered hands, and kneeled at the cardinal's feet. +"Blessed be thou, thou messenger of the Lord!" he continued in Latin. +"See here, how an archbishop in Denmark is treated! See, and judge, in +the Holy Father's name, O thou, his high ambassador! I have, in virtue +of my holy office, published the church's ban upon this presumptuous +king, because of his defiance to the law of the Lord and the church! +Confirm it in the Holy Father's name, Lord Cardinal--or see Archbishop +Grand expire of wrath and ignominy at your feet!" + +"Arise, my venerable brother, and be comforted," answered Isarnus, also +in Latin. "I bring with me authority from his Holiness to enforce the +constitution--'Cum Ecclesia Dacianæ.' Read this document aloud to the +king and the court, in the language of the country, worthy Abbot +Magnus." As he said this he reached a large parchment letter, with the +papal seal, to the aged Abbot of Esrom, who had accompanied him. The +abbot opened it with a trembling hand, but as he glanced over it a +flood of tears rolled down his furrowed cheeks. + +"I _cannot_," stammered the old man; "he is my liege and sovereign! I +conjure you, my lord, by the all-merciful Creator! use not the power +here given you to our king's and our country's destruction. This is a +matter which demands the highest consideration. This authority is not +unconditional, either," These last words were spoken in Latin, and +appeared to startle the cardinal. + +The unexpected entrance of the papal legate at this critical moment, +his singular appearance, as well as the mysteriousness of his conduct, +and the speaking in a foreign tongue, had once more inspired the +bystanders with a feeling of consternation which deprived them of the +power of speech. Even the king appeared for some moments to have lost +his self-possession and the consciousness of royal authority, while the +attention of all present was rivetted upon the terrific stranger. Eric +now stepped forward a few paces, and seemed about to assert his +authority by a commanding address; but at the same moment the fettered +archbishop snatched the document from the abbot's trembling hands. +"Here is papal authority for ban and interdict," he cried, "praised be +the Lord! his judgments are righteous. Enforce your authority, most +reverend sir! Anathema and the church's ban upon the king, and those +his accomplices in guilt!" So saying, he raised his fettered hands both +towards the king and Prince Christopher, who appeared to be in great +consternation at this sudden and unlooked-for blow. + +"Not a word more here, on pain of instant death, impudent miscreant!" +exclaimed the king, in a loud tone, and in the highest exasperation. +"Take that mad criminal to prison, halberdiers! Let every one leave +this place! We will inquire in our council with what authority this +stranger is empowered to treat with the king of Denmark. When he +proposes it, and it suits our convenience, we will talk with him in our +private chamber." So saying, the king returned to his own apartment. +Not another word was heard in the knights' hall; even the archbishop +found it expedient to be passive as the two halberdiers and the guard +approached to lead him out of the hall. All the knights and courtiers, +as well as Prince Christopher and his train, departed in silence. The +halberdiers who were on guard, alone remained behind. They snatched up +their halberds, and ranged themselves in their customary order without +the king's apartments. Abbot Magnus had also left the hall, and +Cardinal Isarnus stood almost alone in the middle of the floor between +his amanuensis and interpreter. He looked with surprise around the +suddenly deserted hall. + +It was not until he had announced himself through his interpreter in +suitable form to the captain of halberdiers, and requested an audience +with the king, that he was received with the demonstrations of respect +due to a papal ambassador. His arrival was formally announced, and he +was shortly afterwards admitted to a private interview with Eric. + +What had passed had thrown every one into the greatest suspense and +uneasiness, and an anxious stillness reigned in the castle. The foreign +prelate quitted not the king's private chamber until the night was far +advanced. The king did not make his appearance, but, according to his +orders, the strictest court etiquette was to be observed. Arrangements +were made in the castle for the protracted sojourn of the cardinal and +his train. He was to be honoured as a princely guest. The return of the +Swedish ambassadors was postponed. The following day another long and +private conversation took place between the king and the papal legate. +The presence of this dignitary, and his over-awing authority, banished +all gaiety and cheerfulness from the castle. + + + + + CHAP. VII. + + +On the evening of the second day Drost Aagé had not as yet returned +from his expedition, as the protector of Marsk Stig's captive +daughters. He had conducted them without impediment to the king's +castle at Vordingborg; but as he was about to ride into the arched +gateway he was attacked from behind, and dangerously wounded, by an +unknown hand. Aagé was carried, in a state of insensibility, into the +castle, while his huntsmen vainly pursued his stealthy foe, in whom +they thought they recognised the same tall horseman in peasant attire, +and mounted upon the little Zealand horse without a saddle, whom they +had several times seen on the road, but who always vanished as suddenly +as he had appeared, and who they conjectured must have followed their +track by secret paths from Esrom. + +The commandant at Vordingborg had received the wounded knight, with +great alarm; he instantly recognised in him the young Drost, and the +favourite of the king. As soon as Drost Aagé had recovered his +consciousness, he informed the commandant of the rank and position of +the two ladies, and also that they were to be considered as state +prisoners, for whose security he would be responsible, although their +stay here was to be rendered as agreeable as under such circumstances +it was possible to make it. The commandant instantly ordered the gates +to be barred, and sentinels to be stationed; but he threw open the +interior of the castle without reserve to his guests, and a messenger +was dispatched to inform the king of what had happened. + +Meanwhile the assembled party at Sjöborg were in some degree +tranquillised, when on the noon of the third day the king again made +his appearance at table, where he sat, with a calm and almost cheerful +countenance, between his brother Christopher and the papal legate. +Their secret negociation seemed to have taken a friendly turn, and +great reliance was placed in King Eric's manly sense and political +wisdom. Report said that the Italian prelate seemed to bear our +northern climate excellently well, and perhaps might not be disinclined +to take up his abode here, if the king should come to an agreement with +the papal see, and the archbishoprick of Lund became vacant by the +deposition of Grand. It was conjectured that the formal annulment of +the archbishop's authority, and of his own self-empowered sentence of +excommunication, had been the subject of the king's conferences with +the unfathomable Isarnus, and it was reasonably hoped that the cardinal +would grant this important condition of the archbishop's release, ere +the king fulfilled the demands of the pope. But some days elapsed +without any apparent decision being taken. Meanwhile, no change took +place in the condition of the captive archbishop, who remained in close +confinement. + +Although neither the king nor his loyal and devoted subjects recognised +the validity of the sentence of excommunication pronounced on them by +the archbishop, so long as it was not formally ratified by a papal +decree, this awful procedure had nevertheless taken place, and with +such publicity that it could not but be generally known. The rumour +quickly spread throughout the land, and terrified the people. The +threats against those who should not within ten days withdraw all help +and companionship from the king had struck terror into many, and +several of the domestics, and of the guard of halberdiers absconded +from Sjöborg. The tales recounted of the ecclesiastical captive's skill +in the Black Art now contributed still more to alarm his guard. At +every unusual sound from the dungeon in the night the turnkeys stole +from their posts, and the bravest men-at-arms dared scarcely remain +without the prison door, where with trembling voices they often sang +valiant battle songs to keep up their courage. The prisoner was guarded +with still increasing anxiety. A very suspicious rumour rendered +watchfulness still more necessary. Some fishermen from Gilleleié, who +supplied the castle with fish, had related in the kitchen that a +foreign bark was constantly sailing to and from the coast. The persons +on board appeared to be fishermen, and were busied during the day with +nets and fishing-tackle, but during the night they landed, and a tall +knight in disguise, accompanied by some seamen of suspicious +appearance, were seen to lurk in the neighbourhood of the castle. This +report had not indeed reached the ears either of the king or the Marsk, +but orders were issued that the guard should be doubled in the +captive's tower, and that the steward should answer with his life for +the archbishop's security. The lower classes now believed that the king +would pass sentence of death upon him, and command him to be executed. + +With the expression of fear and anger in his countenance, as well as of +fatigue from a night's watch, the steward one morning descended the +stairs of the tower prison with the keys in his hand. "All folk seem +possessed here," he muttered. "I shall now have to watch myself to +death over that confounded Satan." + +"Did I not always say so, master? He will drive us all crazed at last," +sounded a merry well-known voice in his ear, and Morten the cook stood +before him in the twilight at the bottom of the tower stairs. + +"Morten! thou crack-brained vagabond! is it thou?" called the steward; +"where in all the world hast thou been? Folk said thou wert surely +bewitched, and gone to the devil, and I began almost to think so +myself. The whole pack of them here are losing their wits, and one +after another runs off from me. Speak, man! where the devil hast thou +been?" + +"Ah! dear master," sighed Morten. "Thank St. Hubert that you are so +pious and virtuous, and condemn not a weak worldly-minded fellow who +hath been forced to do hard penance for his sins' sake. Ye have +doubtless observed how I delight in dancing and singing. In former days +I was not afraid of a little drink, either; but on St. Vitus's day it +behoves us to be cautious. As a punishment for my ungodliness in a +drunken bout, I was afflicted with St. Vitus's dance, and I thought I +should have danced for a whole year, as hath chanced to many a poor +sinner before. Perhaps you or other virtuous folk have prayed for me, +for I got off for a few weeks' sickness; but in all that time I was not +able to give any account of myself, and I have so danced the country +round that I can hardly hang together." + +"Indeed!" answered the jailor, looking at him suspiciously; "hast thou +had that sickness? It is a rare one, though, and many will have it that +it is nought but an idle superstition." + +"Dear master! remember ye not then how it seized Claus Spillemans last +year? He ceased not dancing till he dropped dead in Sjöborg streets." + +"Well, that is true enough; he went mad, no doubt, on St. Vitus's day; +but it was not upon _that_ day thou did'st kick up such a riot, and +did'st run off from the turnkeys. Be honest, Morten! hast thou not +suffered thyself to be seduced by the bishop to run errands for him? +Thou hast tramped the country sturdily round, that I see right well, +and if thou now hast a fancy to be hanged for thy zeal in the service, +thou comest in the very nick of time; both the king and the Marsk are +here, and when the one passes a sentence, the other is at hand to +execute it." + +"Dear pious master! what do you take me for?" answered Morten, putting +on a look of astonishment. "Had I run errands for such a traitor I must +have been stark mad indeed to come back again now, and let myself be +hung for it. No, trust me, master, I am not so brutishly stupid. To +tell you the whole clean out, I was drunk beyond all bounds that +evening; whether it was St. Vitus's day or not I do not quite exactly +remember, but I have had neither sense nor recollection since. I must +have doubtless scoured the country round like a madman. I have now come +to my senses for the first time, and found the way to Sjöborg again. +Here's been fine excommunicating work between the bishop and the king. +If I can be of any use to you, say the word! I could break the +archbishop's neck with the greatest pleasure in life if I could thereby +save king and country. If you have any doubt of my honesty, I will only +just fetch my traps, and take myself off with all reverence." + +"No, stay; I will believe thee, because of thy honest face, Morten," +said the steward, hastily, and casting a sharp look at him, while a new +and daring thought seemed to flash across his hangman's soul. "I have +never needed thee more than at this very time. My new cook hath also +run off. I have only one turnkey left. I must myself be every thing and +every where." + +"That is more than can be required of any Christian soul, master. The +Devil himself can hardly take that upon him." + +"Drunk and mad thou must surely have been," muttered the keeper, still +looking narrowly at him. "Hum! _so_ long a drunken fit, though, have I +never heard the like of. St. Vitus's dance? Truly that is an ailment +akin to madness; no man can answer for what he does in that state. Hum! +since thou art come to thy senses again, Morten, I will even take thee +again into service. In the day thou may'st be needed in the kitchen, +and in the night--well, we can talk of that afterwards. Old Mads the +turnkey is good for nothing; he hath now got his nephews to help him, +and I count not on them either; and those foolish men-at-arms are +afraid of being excommunicated or bewitched." + +"If I can help you with the night watch that shan't stand in _my_ way," +said Morten; "whatsoever I can do to plague and anger the bishop I do +with hearty good will. I would only counsel you not to set me to watch +in his chamber, for if St. Vitus's dance come over me I were in a case +to dance to the devil with him. It is a kind of cramp, you must know, +and I might easily squeeze the life out of whomsoever I get hold of." + +"Well, well, Morten; there is no need for that. Thou art now perfectly +well and reasonable," muttered the keeper, with a grisly smile. "I must +have some one to help me, or I shall go mad myself. One misfortune +follows another. The king is a violent man, and the junker has no great +weight with him. It is an easy thing to get into trouble when one has a +devil to watch, and stern masters to account to. Now comes that +confounded report of the vessel at Gilleleié, which plys to and fro to +help the bishop to flight." + +Morten turned quite pale. "Our Lady preserve us!--say they so?" he +exclaimed, hastily; "then, by my troth, master, there _is_ need of +watchfulness; yet it is just as dangerous to loose as to tie a mad +dog." + +"It will cost me my life if he escapes, Morten. I have the king's own +most gracious word for it. I never let the prison keys out of my hand. +The king's people are on guard, but I dare not trust them. I carry my +life in my hands. I will now depend upon thee. Come!" So saying, the +agitated steward took Morten by the arm, and led him across the yard +towards the kitchen. It was a fine clear winter's morning. It had +frozen so hard during the last few nights that a part of Sjöborg lake +was covered with tolerably hard ice. As the steward and the cook +crossed the castle yard they saw all the king's huntsmen, with horses +and hunting equipments, waiting before the castle stairs, and the royal +car drove up. "What is agog now?" asked the steward. + +"We are off with the king to the chase at Tikjob," answered one of the +hunters. "The great lord from Italy wants to go to Esrom. He will +surely either ride, or be borne on our shoulders." + +"When come ye back?" asked the steward. + +"Faith, I know not," answered the huntsman. "To-morrow we shall have to +go with the king to Esrom. There is a great council to be held there, +they say." + +"Then it surely concerns the life or death of him yonder," muttered the +steward, pointing to the prison tower. Morten the cook became +attentive, and stopped; but he soon hasted towards the kitchen door, +where he stood, half concealed, as the door of the castle stairs +opened, and the king and Prince Christopher came forth, and mounted +their horses, together with the Marsk, the two Swedish lords, and a +numerous company of knights. The king and his train halted, and when +Cardinal Isarnus, with his famulus and his clerical train, also +descended the stairs, the huntsmen and attendants bowed low whilst they +took their seats in the royal car. The train, headed by the king and +Count Henrik, then issued forth out of the castle gate, amid the joyous +sound of the hunting horns. Morten continued standing by the kitchen +door. He had gazed on the young chivalrous monarch with a mingled +feeling of fear and admiring interest, and a secret struggle seemed +passing in his mind, as his glance turned from the noble and kingly +form which had just passed him, to the gloomy prison window from whence +he thought he heard a distant and smothered sigh. The steward had +already twice called to him without his hearing; he now called again, +with a round oath. The cook hastily passed his hand over his face, and +struck up, in a shrill voice, one of his merriest ballads, as, with +jest and laughter, he joined the domestics in the kitchen. During the +rest of the day a monastic stillness reigned in Sjöborg castle. When +the evening closed in the steward appeared unusually friendly and +confidential, and treated his cook to a flagon of good wine from the +king's travelling store. Before he sat down at the drinking table he +had convinced himself with his own eyes that his dangerous state +prisoner was under close keeping, and that the old turnkey and his +comrade, as well as the guard without the prison-door, were at their +posts. When he had fortified himself with some cups of wine, he began +to unburden his heart to the cook. "I am an unfortunate man," he sighed +forth. "I have not closed my eyes to sleep these three nights. Each +time I shut an eye it seems to me the bishop hath fled, and I am +dangling from the gallows. It hath not fared much better with the king +himself," he continued; "if he now condemns him to death, despite pope +and clergy, he and the whole kingdom fall into trouble. If he lets him +slip hence alive, matters are just as bad. I once dreamed the bishop +had hung himself in his chains. Oh! would it had pleased the Lord it +had been so indeed!" + +"A pious wish," answered Morten. "I would willingly lend a helping hand +towards the fulfilment of that dream; of course, master, I mean in all +pious secrecy; and I blame you not for this. In your case it would be +almost a necessary act of self-defence, and, at the same time, a good +deed for king and country. Is it not so?" + +"Art thou mad, Morten! it might cost me my neck," muttered the steward; +"for ought I care he may hang himself, in the Lord's name, whenever he +pleases, if I only know nothing of it. If any good friend would lend +him a helping hand, it might indeed, as thou say'st, save king and +country, and deserve a rich and royal recompence; but I may thank my +Lord and Maker if I can save my own life. Had I but a faithful fellow +who durst watch in the chamber with him to-night I should sleep in +quiet. Hast thou not courage enough for that, Morten?" + +"Oh yes; why should I not, if I get well paid for it? If he gives me +any trouble, it were an easy matter to make away with him, without any +one seeing or knowing aught about it." + +"Art thou serious, Morten? Hast thou really courage to----" + +"To make an end of him, master?" + +"Hush! No; I say not that. St. Gertrude preserve me from tempting any +one to do that deed, even though it might be a benefit to state and +country, and might make a poor fellow happy for life. No; that was not +my meaning. Darest thou let me shut thee up with him to-night?" + +"Yes, on one condition, master." + +"What is it?" + +"That you will not be wroth and complain of me if perchance you were +not to find us to-morrow morning in the same trim as to-night." + +"Pshaw, Morten; it matters not to me in what trim I find you. I will +pay ten silver pieces for every night you watch beside him, and a +hundred for the LAST." + +"But even were that pious lord, through his witchcraft, to get loose +after a fashion, I should surely get the blame of having let him slip." + +"Ha, ha! thou art a merry wag, Morten," muttered the steward, with a +horrible laugh. "The liberty thou canst give him, when I have locked +the door after thee, shall not disturb my night's rest. Of course," he +continued, with an uneasy and inquiring look, "thou must first let me +search thy garments, to see that thou has not a file or any other tool +with thee; that is a precaution I have ever used when I let any one +watch with him in the chamber." + +"That is but reasonable. You are a conscientious man." So saying, +Morten pulled off his jerkin, and turned his pockets inside out. "But +now I think of it, master, it won't do after all. If St. Vitus's dance +should come over me." + +"Pshaw! thou art quite well and hearty." + +"But I am too hot-headed, master; and the bishop is wrath with me from +former times. I have now and then plagued him a little, as you know, +and should he take it into his head to insult me, or get hold of me, +and I were forced to defend myself, it might cause a little stir, and +set the guard and the whole castle agog." + +"That needs not be. Thou art a bold fellow, Morten. Come! The guard +shall not stand too near the door, and disturb thine and the bishop's +rest, and shouldst thou get into a dispute with him about the state of +souls after death, or such like learned matters, lay folks shall not be +the wiser for that. Drink a cup of wine to a good night, and then let's +away. I want rest, and so doth the bishop. It is late." Morten nodded, +and drank. + +With a horrible smile on his coarse hypocritical countenance, Jesper +Mogensen snatched up a lantern, and descended the staircase leading to +the prison door, accompanied by the cook. He paused once or twice with +uneasiness and suspicion, and held up the light towards Morten, who +followed him with a cheerful countenance. + +"Thou look'st as well pleased as if I were leading thee to a jolly +night revel," he muttered; "go on before. I cannot endure that rustling +behind me." + +Morten obeyed, and assumed a thoughtful look. + +"Let not the guard smell a rat," he whispered, and pointed to a cord +which was twisted round his waist. The keeper nodded, and seemed +reassured. He ordered the guard to move further from the door, which he +then half opened, and peeped in, holding the lantern before him. As +soon as he had seen the captive lying quietly with his hands fettered, +he pushed Morten into the chamber. + +"A good and _quiet_ night," he said, with a grim smile, clapping to and +locking the door behind him; he also carefully barred it without, and +then descended the stairs. The nearest sentinel observed that he often +looked timorously behind him, as if his own footsteps sounded +suspiciously in his ear. "The stupid devil!" he muttered. "What he doth +he shall himself answer for; it is no concern of mine." + +When Morten entered the murky prison, he stood in silence, until the +sound of the locking and bolting of the door had ceased, and until the +hollow tread of the steward's iron-shod boots died away on the stairs; +he then approached the captive's couch, and was about to speak, but he +now heard singing and loud voices in the upper chamber. It was old Mads +the turnkey making merry with his nephews and the young fellows from +the village who were to keep watch with him. Morten listened in +silence. He perceived from their inarticulate voices and drowsy songs, +that the mead and Saxon ale he had secretly brought them had been +greatly to their taste. Through a little hole in the ceiling above +there fell a ray of light from their lamp upon the archbishop's couch, +and lit up his long pale visage. He lay with closed eyes without +stirring, apparently in a sound sleep. Morten seated himself upon the +damp stone floor, and interrupted not his repose until the noise of the +carouse had entirely ceased, and he heard in the stillness of the night +how they were snoring overhead. "Sleep you, venerable sir?" he +whispered, as he rose up from the floor. + +"No, thou faithful servant of the Lord!" answered the archbishop, in a +weak voice, and raised his head. "I and the Lord's vengeance do but +_seem_ to sleep, until it is time to wake and act." + +"Now is the time to show clean heels," continued Morten. "Is all ready +here?" + +"Long since. Thou hast tarried long; yet even that was an ordering of +the Lord. I was destined even in my chains to become a chastising rod +in the Lord's hand; but I was well nigh believing thou had'st failed +me, or wert betrayed." + +"You thought, then, I was either a fox or a sheep, reverend sir. Have +you the rope ladder?" + +"Here--but be cautious, Morten. Tie it to the thickest bar in the +grate; that is secure. Take the others out; they are filed through--but +make no noise! I can rid myself of the fetters. Thy file was blunt, but +the Lord sharpened it in my hand. His angel hath struck mine enemies +both deaf and blind." + +"But now comes the _knotty_ point, pious sir," whispered Morten, as he +lingered, with an ambiguous smile. "Now all depends upon whether the +Lord's angel will help you still farther. Up to the window he hath +indeed taught you to creep, but we have to descend thirty-six feet from +thence to the tower wall, and then we still have that confounded castle +wall besides. Over the moat and lake the Lord hath indeed laid a +bridge. See you this cord? Were I now to strangle you with it I might +perhaps make my fortune; but I am too pious a fellow for that. I will +but fasten it to the slip knot, that we may be able to draw the ladder +after us. I will go down first to aid you. Look now. I will answer for +the ladder, if you can but keep your hold, till I can reach you from +below. But----" + +"With the Lord Almighty's help"--whispered Grand, in an anxious tone, +and looking at the jolly cook, with a half suspicious glance--"assist +me first up to the window, I am weary and weak. Now, what art thou +thinking of, Morten? Haste, or we are betrayed." + +"A little scruple has just entered my head, venerable sir," whispered +Morten. "I am a good Christian, and I know well enough both you and the +pope have my soul and the souls of all Christians in your pockets. You +have saved my life, do you see, and therefore have I promised to free +you, whatever it may cost; but I am also a Danish man, and you cannot +ask that, for your sake, I should betray state and kingdom, or plunge +our young brave king into misfortune. Had I seen _him_ sooner, and +known he was so noble a lord, I might perhaps have thought better on +what I promised _you_. I know you have excommunicated him, and given +him over to the Devil, but by my soul he is too good for that, and if I +am now to set you free you must promise me, by our Lady and St. Martin, +that you will recall the ban, and do no harm to him or any other man in +the country." + +"Dost thou rave, Morten?" exclaimed the archbishop, greatly surprised +and enraged; "would'st thou ape the tyrant, and prescribe conditions to +me? If thou doest not that thou promised me, I will excommunicate thee +also, and thou shalt be eternally damned." + +"In that case, reverend sir," whispered Morten, hastily creeping out of +the window to the rope ladder, with the loose end of the cord in his +hand, with which he could slip the looped knot that fastened the +ladder,--"In that case I will bid you good night, and take the ladder +with me to hell." + +"Morten! good Morten! betray me not," whispered the archbishop, in a +beseeching tone, climbing with haste up to the window. "I will not deal +harder by the king or any one here than I am compelled for the Lord's +and the church's and my conscience sake." + +"Then will you loose him from the ban as soon as you are free and in +safety yourself?" asked Morten, still keeping his stand on the ladder. + +"Yes, surely; yes, surely; only be silent, and help me." + +"Then I will believe you for the present," whispered Morten, and crept +down the ladder. Its last step was still ten feet from the ground, but +the dexterous cook clung fast to it with his hands, and jumped down +without any great difficulty. The archbishop had now also got out of +the window, and with much effort held fast by one step, while he groped +with his foot for the other. But on lifting his foot from the last +step, to his great dismay he discovered that the ladder was much too +short, and that in all probability his life would be endangered should +he come to the ground without assistance. + +"Help me, help me, Morten!" he entreated in a low tone. "In the name of +the all-merciful Creator, help me!" + +"Yes, if you swear to keep your word, on pain of excommunicating +yourself to burning hell, venerable sir," answered Morten, extending +his arms to catch him in case he fell. + +"Yes, assuredly, by all the saints and devils!" stammered the alarmed +captive; "only catch me; I must let go my hold!" + +"Let go then! in the Holy Virgin's name!" whispered Morten; "if you are +a pious man of your word you shall assuredly not dash your foot against +a stone." + +The archbishop now relinquished his hold of the last step of the +ladder, and let himself drop, but though instantly caught in the cook's +powerful arms, he was unable to repress a smothered burst of pain and +sorrow, as his swelled feet struck hard against the stone pavement, and +when Morten withdrew his support, he fell speechless and breathless to +the ground. + +"You have surely not sworn falsely in your heart, venerable sir," +whispered Morten, anxiously. "This is no time, either, for swooning. If +we delay a moment longer the guard may come, and lead you back from +whence you came." As he said this, he drew down the ladder, and rolled +it up with care. The archbishop yet lay as if lifeless on the ground. +Without any longer demur, Morten put both arms round his waist, and +carried him in this manner across the back yard of the prison to the +high castle wall which encircled the tower and was surrounded by a +moat. It was possible to mount the inside wall in case of need, and by +dint of great exertion Morten carried the almost senseless prelate up +to the top of the wall. There he secured the rope ladder, while the +bishop recovered his consciousness, and gained strength to pursue his +flight. Without delaying and alarming the fugitive by further +stipulations, he assisted him to descend this wall also, and then drew +the ladder after him. They passed the frozen moat of the castle; but +that part of the lake which they had to cross was as smooth as glass, +and the archbishop often fell and bruised himself. With Morten's help +he at last got over the ice, but now threw himself despairingly on the +frozen ground. "I cannot go a step farther," he exclaimed. "If I am to +reach the shore thou must get me a horse." + +"Will you give me absolution then, venerable sir, if I can steal you a +horse out of the stable here?" + +"It is a holy loan, which will bring thee a blessing," replied Grand. + +"Good! But if you understand aught of the Black Art, pious sir, forget +not your Latin now, but say a charm over the dogs, so that they bark +not, and over the grooms in the stable, so that they wake not." + +"I will pray to the Almighty to be with us. Haste thee!" + +Morten crept towards the neighbouring stable. He went across a dunghill +to the stable door, upon which a large cross was marked in chalk by way +of safeguard. The usually watchful mastiffs did not bark. It seemed to +Morten as if the cross on the stable door gleamed in the moonlight. The +door of the groom's chamber he had to pass stood ajar. He peeped in, +and saw three men in a deep sleep. In the stalls close by stood two +small horses. He untied their halters, and led them out. The stone +pavement of the stable and without the back door was covered with +horse-litter, and he succeeded in leading the horses out without the +slightest noise. He led them slowly towards the sea shore, and often +looked behind him, but no one pursued--no dog barked, and the whole +seemed to him to be almost miraculous. He found the archbishop where he +had left him, in an attitude of prayer. With unwonted solemnity, and +with a respect which, however, seemed mingled with a kind of dread, +Morten, without saying a word, assisted the prelate to mount one of the +horses; he himself vaulted upon the other, and they rode in silence at +a rapid trot down to the shore. There a tall grave knight and the two +Lolland deserters awaited them with a boat which they had stolen from +the fishing village. The knight and both the wild Lollanders bent the +knee reverently before the archbishop as he extended his fingers to +give them his blessing. With Morten's aid he dismounted, and stepped +into the boat. Morten turned the strange horses loose, and seated +himself on a rowing bench. With a few powerful strokes of the oar they +reached a vessel with a black flag and pennant, which was waiting for +them at some distance from the shore. They entered the ship, and let +the boat float away. The day had not dawned when the vessel with the +black flag sailed with a fair breeze through the Sound, bearing off +without impediment the dangerous man, who, even in his chains, had +dared to excommunicate Denmark's sovereign. + + + + + CHAP. VIII. + + +Sjöborg castle, which in the latter months of the year 1295 was +honoured by the presence of royalty, and had been the theatre of such +important events, stood desolate and deserted on the morning of the +following new year. The gate was shut, and the floating bridge removed. +The sentinel was no longer on guard on the battlement over the gate; +within, no sounds of gaiety and occupancy were heard; without the +southern rampart and the narrowest part of the lake which insulated the +site of the castle stood a gallows, at the end of what was called the +king's garden, where the roads met from Esrom and Gilleleié. On the +gallows hung a lifeless corpse in a short sheep-skin coat, and with a +pair of shaggy boots on the legs. A pair of ravens flapped their wings +over the sinner's head, and around the stiff frozen body fluttered a +flock of screaming crows. + +The aged Jeppé, the fisherman from Gilleleié, who on fast days was +accustomed to bring fish to Esrom, and to the kitchen of Sjöborg, was +returning at day-break from the ferry, opposite the closed castle gate, +with his flat fish basket at his back, and stood almost under the +gallows ere he was aware of it. His servant, a young fisherman, +followed him also with a basket at his back. + +"It was true then, after all," said the old man; "they have made quick +work of it here. The bird hath flown, and the cage stands empty. Our +young king hath been wroth in earnest--by my troth, he does nothing by +halves. We may now carry our cod to Elsinore. But what the devil ails +the birds to-day?" + +"Look, look, master!" shouted the lad; "there he hangs." + +"Our Lady preserve us!" exclaimed Jeppé, and stopped. "Ay, there he +hangs, indeed, in his old sheep's skin, and in the boots I brought him +from Skanór fair, those he squeezed out of me for the freight and the +sixteen marks. Why, the soles are whole as yet! I told him not to wear +them out with his courtier-like scrapings. Faugh! he looks ugly in the +face. 'Tis no wholesome sight on a fasting stomach. Let's take a sup, +Olé." He took a little wooden flask out of the basket, drank, and +reached the flask to the lad, while they gazed with mingled curiosity +and dread on the corpse. + +"By our Lady! a foul human carcass is truly soon provided for," resumed +the old man, clearing his throat after the strong drink, while he +crossed himself, and put up the flask. "Well, I say now what I said +before; paid as deserved. He who deals against law shall be dealt with +without law. One should otherwise, it is true, speak well of the dead; +and this I _must_ say, Jesper Mogensen was in some sort a pious man; he +neglected neither mattins nor mass; he went to confession every other +day. That we none of us do. But the crow is never the whiter, let her +wash herself ever so often, and I would not have given a rotten +herring's head for all his piety. What said I the other day to boatman +Sóren? 'Mark,' said I, 'that craft will one day run aground under the +gallows.' That one could see with half an eye. We will pray an honest +prayer for his soul, however, Olé, although he _hath_ haggled many a +shining piece from us, and cheated the king out of more pecks of silver +pieces than the ravens have now left hairs on his sinful head. Would it +might fare somewhat better with him where he now is than it fared with +his prisoner at Sjöborg! _Much_ better it were a shame to ask, for a +pitiless master he ever was, and graceless rulers are shut out from the +Lord." + +"True, master," answered the young fisherman; "but might one not almost +say the same of our young king himself, to say so with all reverence +and respect?" + +"Of the king? Art thou mad, Olé?" exclaimed the old man, with warmth; +"art thou clean devil-blinded and possessed? Is that the Christianity +thou learn'st in the monastery? Thou art a pretty fellow, truly!" + +"Be not wroth, master!" answered the lad; "but truth is truth, +nevertheless, whether it be sour or sweet, or whether it tweak the nose +of high or low, says Pater Gregor, and we Danes are a free folk who +dare to speak out in council[14], whether it be against great or small; +that you know as well as I, master. The king, by my troth, is not the +man to put mercy before justice where the outlaws or their kindred and +friends are concerned. Now, there, are Marsk Stig's pretty daughters; +he has pent them up in the maiden's tower at Vordingborg, only because +their father was an outlawed man; that's not very merciful. Then +there's the bishop they have so long plagued and tortured; that's a bad +business, says Pater Gregor. Whether or not he was leagued with the +outlaws or the Slesvig Duke no one knows or can prove; but, however +that may be, he was a mighty man of God, whom none but the Lord and the +pope could condemn, says Pater Gregor." + +"Ay, indeed! He talks too much, that Pater Gregor," muttered the old +man, seating himself thoughtfully on his fish basket. "Those pious sirs +of the cloister may say what they will; but this I know, that a more +just-dealing king we have never had in Denmark. As to his stringing up +that fellow----" + +"It was a good deed, master, that I will never deny," interrupted +the lad. "If the steward did not exactly help the bishop on his +road,--which, no doubt, was what he was hung for,--he still richly +deserved the halter for many other things. The king did him no wrong; +but that poor turnkey Mads, and his nephew, I am sorry for them. They +are pent up, under bolt and bar, at Flynderborg, only because the ale +was a little too strong for them that night-watch in the tower. He who +helped the bishop but," he added, with a rather sinister roll of the +eye, "was surely none other than that gallows bird, Morten the cook. It +was both boldly and piously done, says Pater Gregor, and therefore +doubtless hath holy St. Martin saved his life, and helped him out of +the country; but he is an outlawed man not the less for that, and if +the Devil hath not an eye on his soul I am no honest Dane." + +"Hark, Olé!" resumed the old man, in a stern voice, and rising from his +seat; "take care what thy beardless mouth utters, especially when thou +speak'st of the Devil, or of our Lord, or of the king! Touching Morten +the cook, I have also a word to say to thee; but first, of the king. +'Tis a bad hand that will not protect its head, they say; the king is +the people's head, see'st thou, and when the head aches all the limbs +ache also; that hath every true Danish man in our time learnt soon +enough. Our young King Eric hath gone through much trouble, from the +time he was no higher than my knee, but our Lord hath been with him +till this hour, and preserved both his soul and his body, despite +archbishop, and pope, and clergy. We are a free folk, 'tis true; each +man may speak out the truth boldly and freely, whether it be against +high or low; but he who speaks an ill word of the king shall account +for it to me, as surely as I have a tongue in my mouth and fists to my +oar. Thou art a greenhorn, Olé; thou knowest but little of what passed +in the country while thou wert in thy swaddling clothes. Had the +outlaws murdered thy father when thou wert riding thy stick thou +would'st hardly have taken them to thy arms when ye rode with a troop +of horse." + +"There, by my troth, you are right, master!" answered the youth, +eagerly. "Life for life! I would say, and strike off their heads +wherever I met them; it were an honest deed and righteous wrath. But, +nevertheless, 'Vengeance is our Lord's,' and a king should be somewhat +cooler headed and wiser than any of us; he should rather suffer +injustice than put state and country in peril, by standing up so +stiffly for his right." + +"Old woman's chatter," interrupted Jeppé; "would the egg teach the hen? +Justice shall stand, though all the earth should perish. Thus should a +king think. He should not bear the sword in vain." + +"But, dear master! there is Pater Gregor, and all the pious monks at +Esrom, and many wise men in our town, they all of them think the king +pushes his zeal and obstinacy too far, and only brings himself and the +whole country into trouble; for this he hath now fallen under the +archbishop's ban; yet he still will kick against the pricks, and goes +just the same to mattins and mass as heretofore." + +"That defiance and ungodliness our Lord will pardon him, I think," said +the old man, with a nod of the head; "there is, besides, surely no +bishop in the country who would shut the church door against him +because Master Grand hath excommunicated him at Sjöborg. When that +quarrelsome lord was laid by the heels, folks said directly that all +churches were to be shut in the country; but, look you, _was_ it so? If +ten commands to shut them were sent from the pope in Rome, may I be a +flounder if he would be obeyed. But now the archbishop is free, so +there is no great need for it. At any rate we have seen before that a +Danish king may be under a ban, and yet bear sceptre and crown to his +dying day." + +"Things may go wrong enough yet, master," answered the lad. "Without +the pope's permit he can never wed, and he may have long to wait for it +while he deals in this fashion by every canon and priest who sided with +the archbishop. There is the rich Hans Rodis in Copenhagen; he hath +lost all he owned because he sent a file and tools to the archbishop in +the tower. Master Peter in Lund hath not fared a hair better, and all +the archbishop's church property is seized. The like of such +presumption hath never been heard of in Christendom before, says Pater +Gregor." + +"In this matter the king will follow the advice of his best +counsellors, and neither thine nor Pater Gregory's," muttered the old +man. "He and the state council must answer for what hath been done. +Folk have tried him rather too much, and there are bounds to every +thing, even to piety and patience. 'Beware of a brawl!' said my +departed father, God rest his soul! 'but if thou meddlest in one, carry +it through like a man.' It avails but little to cast butter against +stones. No; hard against hard." + +"By your leave, master, so said the Devil, when he leant his back +against a thorn bush," interrupted the young fisherman, smiling; "but +it is said he repented it when he found what it did for him. I also +have heard a wise old saying at times: 'If thou canst not step over, +then creep under,' said my aunt to me. Had our king learnt that wisdom +of the proud Drost Hessel, who taught him to flourish lance and spear, +it would have been better for state and country, says----" + +"Pshaw!" interrupted the old man, placing his basket again on his back; +"such wisdom may do well enough for thee, and thy aunt, and Pater +Gregor, who speak out all ye think; but what is fitting for rats and +mice would ill beseem the falcon and eagle. Humility is precious as +gold; but where a king would pass he should sooner burst the gate open +than creep under it through the mire." So saying, he cast another +glance at the solemn witness of the king's stern and speedy execution +of justice, and then, silent and thoughtful, strode forward on the road +to Gilleleié. + +"But, since you side with the king in every thing, master," asked the +youth, "how can you then defend mad Morten the cook, or think he will +'scape the gallows? He hath ever sided with the outlaws. That he helped +the bishop out of Sjöborg you know as well as any of us. I saw he was +with you on Christmas eve, ere he put out to sea again in that black +pilgrim ship." + +"If thou would'st keep in a whole skin, jackanapes, let that be between +us two," exclaimed the old man, in wrath, turning menacingly towards +him. "However Morten may have sinned, he now doth penance for it; he +who puts out to open sea at Christmas, to serve his Lord and Saviour, +is no bad Christian, according to my notion, and therefore no traitor +to his country." + +"But every one knows----" + +"Gossip! we know enough! What Morten hath to do either with the bishop +or the outlaws concerns not thee or me; but this I know for certain, +since he hath seen our young king himself, and taken money at his hand, +he hath been true as steel to him in his heart. That Master Grand got +loose was perhaps a God's providence," he added. "In this matter I even +think myself our brave king hath set rather too boldly to work. If +Morten hath had a finger in the game it may cost him dear; but that he +neither meant ill to country or king I will stake my neck upon." + +"A juggler and a godless churl he is, nevertheless; and an outlawed +vagabond and sure gallows bird to boot, if he sets foot again on Danish +ground," said the young fisherman, eagerly. "'Tis both sin and shame, +master! that your young pretty Karen will weep her blue eyes red for +his sake." + +"Ha, indeed! hath that come out?" said the old man; "thou would'st +rather, I warrant, she should weep them red for thy sake, if weep she +must. Drive these fancies out of thine head, Olé! If Morten come back +ere St. Hans day, as he promised Karen and me, and can give account of +himself, thou shalt have leave to dance at his wedding; but if ye would +speak ill of him to me or to Karen, thou may'st pack up and pack off. +Now thou knowest my manner of thinking." So saying, the old man marched +forward with rapid strides. The youth followed him, crest-fallen and in +silence, till they drew near the shore, where Jeppé unmoored a fishing +boat for the purpose of sailing up the coast with the fish he could no +longer dispose of at Sjöborg. + +"You must not suppose I would speak ill of Morten," resumed the young +fisherman, as he set down the basket in the boat, and stepped over the +gunwale after his master. "'Twould be of no use either; you and Karen +are now so bewitched by that gallows bird. I must own myself he is a +comely, sharp-witted jolly fellow, although he begins to get somewhat +into years; indeed, as for that matter he might almost be her father. +If he helped the bishop to flee out of piety and Christian charity, he +hath perhaps done a good deed, but folk will hardly say it was for the +Lord's sake. Your pretty little Karen would be better mated with a +young fellow than with an outlawed and almost aged vagabond, and--" + +"Thou beardless greenhorn! what is thy head running upon?" exclaimed +the old man angrily, and stamping as he spoke. "Think'st thou it needs +but a smooth chin, and a milk-sop look, to cut out an honest fellow +with my daughter? Out of sight out of mind, say many young folk +now-a-days; but that shall none say of me and _my_ daughter. If I hear +a word more of this matter from thy mouth, Olé! it shall be the last we +exchange together. But what devil is this?" he exclaimed, in surprise, +as he perceived there were three in the boat; "whence came that +fellow?" + +"Will you carry a passenger across to Skanór, for fair words and fair +recompense, good people?" asked a tall man, suddenly rising from under +one of the rowing benches, where he appeared to have concealed himself +under the sail. He wore a dirty peasant's cloak, but it fitted ill, and +a knight's shoulder scarf peeped from under it, together with the +richly gilded hilt of a sword. He seemed to strive in vain to conceal a +large scar on his forehead under the goat's-skin cap; his pale and +frigid countenance, and furtive glances from under his rusty-coloured +meeting eyebrows, inspired a feeling of distrust; he spoke Danish, but +with something of a Norwegian pronunciation, which, however, seemed not +to be natural to him, but assumed for the occasion. + +"What have _you_ to do here in my boat?" growled forth Jeppé, measuring +the intruder with a bold look. "If you would cross to Skanör, why go ye +not to the ferry?" + +"The king hath stopped the ferries on account of the archbishop," +answered the stranger. "Every man knows Grand hath escaped hence by +sea, and yet the stupid dullards hunt after him here, both by day and +night. Not a cat can leave the country, and there is now hardly a wood +or morass left where a friend of the pious archbishop may hide himself. +I see you take me for a deserter. It avails not to withhold the truth +from you. I am a persecuted man; save my life, and bring me to a sea +port from whence I may escape; I will richly repay you for it." + +"Well!" said the old man, and his stern look relaxed. "No doubt an +honest man may get into trouble, as hath chanced ere now; _he_ is often +forced to quit the country in disguise who afterwards can return with +honour. The wind is fair, my yawl will weather the trip bravely; but I +must first know who you are, and wherefore you are outlawed?" + +"Outlawed!" repeated the stranger, with a start; "who says I am +outlawed, with law and justice, because I fly from lawlessness and +shameful injustice? I am a kinsman of the great Archbishop Grand, whom +they have here so shamefully and unjustly maltreated. If I would not +expose myself to the same tyrannical treatment, from which our Lord and +pious men have freed him, I am now forced to seek safety by flight." + +"But your name?" resumed the fisherman, as he suddenly placed the oar +against a stone, and pushed the boat out to sea, with such force that +both the stranger and the astonished young fisherman tumbled over the +bench. "You will not call yourself outlawed, then?" he continued +calmly, while the stranger stood up, and cast an anxious look on the +wide space between the boat and the shore. "I should incline to think +ye were so, nevertheless. Are ye not called, because of a little +mistake, Squire Kaggé with the scar? Were ye one of those who slew the +king's father in Finnerup barn? and if it be you who lately sought to +take the king's life, I should be a rascal if I stirred a hand to bring +you to any other free port than the gallows." + +The stranger's countenance had become fearfully distorted; he thrust +his hand as if convulsively under his cloak, and drew forth a long +glittering knight's sword. "You must either set me instantly on shore +here, or bring me to Skanör harbour; no matter who the devil I may be," +he cried. "The squire whom Denmark's greatest man dubbed a knight lets +himself not be carried to market with cod and flounders by a vile +fisherman." + +"Big words and fat flesh stick not in the throat," answered Jeppé, +quietly brandishing the heavy iron-tagged oar like a lance over his +head. "Here I stand on my own ground, and here I am master. Cast your +dyrendal[15] from you, Sir Malapert! or you shall feel one upon your +skull which will make you forget the stroke of knighthood you got from +the greatest man. If that man be Stig Anderson,"--he added, "you need +not mention your fair name or your fair deed--for in that case you were +as certainly with Marsk Stig and the grey friars in Finnerup barn as +you are now with Jeppé the fisherman on the road to judgment and the +gallows." + +"We shall see," shouted the stranger, like a madman, and rushed on him +with his drawn sword, but at the same moment he fell back senseless in +the boat, while the hat flew from his head before a stroke of Jeppé's +iron-tagged oar. + +"Take the dyrendal from him, and bind him, Olé, while I loose the +sails," said the old fisherman calmly, as he threw down the oar, and +began to unfurl the sails. "That blow he dies not of. If the king will +give him his life, that's _his_ affair; but none shall say that old +Jeppé the fisherman sided with such like outlaws, and let a regicide +slip whole skinned from Gilleleié." + +The young fisherman obeyed his master. The sails were soon unfurled, +and the fishing yawl sailed swiftly along the coast. + +Jeppé was not mistaken. His captive was the renowned Aagé Kaggé who had +been outlawed with all those who had taken a personal share in the +murder of Eric Glipping. He had entered the service of the King of +Norway, but had ventured to Denmark to bring Marsk Stig's daughters +from thence; and also, as it appeared, with other less peaceable +intentions. That he had been a party to the murderous attack of the +crazed Jutlander upon the king the Drost's huntsmen had borne witness, +and there seemed also every probability that it was he who had +attempted the assassination of Drost Aagé, as he was riding with Marsk +Stig's daughters into the gate of Vordingborg castle. Every burgomaster +and all commandants of castles throughout the country had received +orders to trace and to seize him, wherever he was found. As an outlaw, +besides, every one who met and knew him was empowered to slay him on +the spot. Although in general he, like all those outlawed regicides, +was held in great detestation, there was still one heart which throbbed +for him with love and sympathy,--the wayward, restless heart of the +captive Lady Ulrica. + + + + + CHAP. IX. + + +On the same new year's day on which the outlawed knight was captured, +Marsk Stig's youngest daughter slumbered, evidently disturbed by +agitating dreams, in the tower called the Maiden's Tower, in +Vordingborg castle, while her sister rose ready dressed from the +prie-dieu, and listened with folded hands to the sound of mattins from +the chapel of the castle. A faint ray of daylight fell on them through +the tower window. "Help! help!" shrieked Ulrica, starting up; "sleepest +thou, Margaretha? Oh, it was fearful! Yet it was, after all, but a +foolish dream." + +"What ails thee, dear sister?" asked the placid Margaretha, taking her +sister lovingly by the hand; "thou must surely have dreamt again of +that unhappy knight, Kaggé?" + +"Thou mightest be rather more courteous, sister. So _very_ unhappy he +cannot be, when _I_ am dreaming of him. Did I but know he was safe!" + +"Pray to the Lord and our Lady that his grim image may be effaced from +thy soul!" continued Margaretha; "he can never come to a good end. All +the greatness and splendour he hath promised thee are but empty castles +in the air, with nought of truth in them." + +"Truth here, and truth there, sister! What you call our castles in the +air are nevertheless far better than this much too real prison; and how +can'st thou call Sir Kaggé grim? I think his bold, wolf-like eye-brows +are perfectly lovely. Alas! sweet sister! I dreamed he was in distress +and in peril of his life. He stood in chains before me, and bade me +entreat the king for his life." + +"He is assuredly thy bad angel, Ulrica!" answered Margaretha; "it is +his fault that we are now here. Would thou hadst never believed his +flatteries and false tongue, he loves no one in the world save +himself." + +"How can'st thou say so, sister? Did'st thou not hear thyself how +solemnly he swore to free us, or lose his life?" + +"But when it was time to keep his word, like a true and manly knight, +his own pitiful revenge and his own life were dearer to him than our +peace and freedom," answered Margaretha. "He, in truth, sharpened the +arrow our faithful squire shot from the bow, but ere it flew from the +string he took himself off, and abandoned us to our fate." + +"But he followed us, though, at peril of his life, close to the castle +gate, and had not the Drost been dearer to thee than both I and thyself +we should not now have been here." + +"If our freedom could only be gained by treachery and assassination, it +were better we stayed here captive all our life-time," answered +Margaretha. "Had the noble Drost Aagé been as much our enemy as he +showed himself to be our friend--I would not even then have left him in +that condition to bleed to death, without help and care. I would rather +remain in prison until my dying day than flee with a cowardly assassin, +and be suspected by the noble Drost of having had the least part or lot +in such crime." + +"Thou art really much too conscientious, sister Margaretha! In +comparison with me, thou art half an angel, it is true; but confess to +me now, it was surely not _purely_ for the Lord's sake you stayed and +behaved so generously to the Drost. He is a very handsome young knight, +although he cannot be compared to Sir Kaggé, and I have seen plainly +enough how tenderly and lovingly your eyes meet each time you bind up +his wounds--thou art really making him greatly beholden to thee." + +"Be not malicious, dear Ulrica," answered Margaretha, blushing crimson; +"what harm is there in my tending him with unfeigned good will?" + +"Tend him with as much good will as thou likest; I never said there was +any harm in that--call him every instant the noble and the pious, just +as if he were the only good knight in Christendom! but at any rate give +_me_ leave to defend Sir Kaggé, and feel anxious for him when he perils +his life for my sake! It was indeed not _quite_ according to rule that +he left us when we were captured! I shall scold him finely for that +when we meet; but what was he to do against so many? If he escaped, he +could still hope to free us as long as he himself was at liberty. As to +his attacking the Drost in the dark gateway, without sounding a trumpet +before him, it perhaps did not look altogether chivalrous; but +stratagem against superior force is always lawful in war, and it was +after all a bold and desperate enterprise, which may even yet cost him +his life, although it did nought either for or against us--ah! did I +but know he was safe, I would gladly be patient, and put up with this +captivity some time longer.--When the king gets to know what I now know +he will have to ask pardon, and treat me like a princess." + +"Poor Ulrica! what sayest thou?" exclaimed her sister in dismay, and +turning pale; "what madman can have put into your head----" + +"That was the secret, then, thou wouldst never out with, my pious +sister!" interrupted Ulrica, with a joyous smile. "I had determined to +conceal my discovery until I could show thee what use it was of; but +now I will show thee that Kaggé is much more true and devoted to me +than thou art. While thou thoughtest only of the wounded Drost, my +outlawed knight hath enabled me to guess who I am, and hath sent me a +billet of more importance than all the Drosts in the world.--This Runic +scrap should burst before us the doors of every prison in Denmark." So +saying, she produced with a triumphant air, a small and curiously +carved wooden tablet, upon which was depicted a royal coat of arms with +three crowned leopards, and with Ulrica's name below, in Runic +characters, by the side of Princess Mérété's, King Eric Ericson's, and +Junker Christopher's. "Seest thou," said she, drawing up her head +proudly, "the three crowned leopards stand in the king's great seal? As +yet I have only half made out the connection. But at any rate I have +gathered thus much from all the puzzling hints they have given me:--The +king's father must have been secretly wedded to a noble lady of Marsk +Stig's kindred. It must no doubt have been a hazardous affair, +since he had another for his queen; but, nevertheless, lam his +daughter, just the same, and therefore Princess Mérété's and the king's +half sister--though no one must know it.--My poor mother hath no doubt +suffered great wrong, and thus come by her death; but that thy father +and his kinsmen have amply revenged. Me they brought up in the Marsk's +house, and therefore I must now share the persecutions that have come +upon thy whole race." + +"Alas! believe not one word of that confused and wretched story, dear +Ulrica!" exclaimed Margaretha, bursting into tears; "burn those +unfortunate lines, and believe me thou art in truth my sister, and all +that talk of a higher birth can but bring thee shame and degradation." + +"That thou would'st scarcely say had'st thou seen thine own name by the +side of kings and princes," answered Ulrica, with a proud toss of the +head, while she gazed with sparkling eyes on the wooden tablet; "and +look," she continued, fuming it over, "here stand the Norwegian Duke +Haco's lion shield, and pedigree; it reaches in a direct line up to the +great Harold Harfager; and seest thou there stands my true knight +Kaggé's name in a side branch like mine--he traces his descent also +from kings and princes; and rememberest thou not what old Mother Elsé +foretold me at Hald? I was to become a great princess one day, she +said, and get a handsome and rich bridegroom of princely birth." + +"Alas, dearest sister!" exclaimed Margaretha, sorrowfully, "thy +childish vanity makes thy soul the sport of dishonourable and +traitorous braggarts--the domestic miseries which brought misfortune +upon the country as well as on our renowned race could be represented +to thee by none but an evil spirit as a source of honour and good +fortune. The blood of slaves, not the blood of princes, runs in that +man's veins who could picture _that_ to thee as an honour which would +make thee to die of grief and shame, did'st thou believe it to be true, +and knewest how to prize the birth which is in truth high and +honourable. + +"'Tis pity thou art not a priest, sister!" said Ulrica, with a toss of +the head; "if the story of my high birth were only an idle and +unfounded report, it could hardly have had such important consequences +here in the country; thou must thyself have thought it true, since thou +never would'st confide it to me; but I have long had an inkling of it. +Old Mother Elsé dared not come quite out with it; but this you must at +any rate allow,--all who have known us and our family have ever bowed +much lower to me than to thee, although thou wert the eldest; and I +have seen folk point oft to me, when I was gaily clad, and heard them +whisper, 'Look, there goes the little princess; look, her pretty eyes +twinkle just like King Glipping's.'"[16] + +"Poor, poor sister!" exclaimed Margaretha, folding her, weeping, in her +arms; "and could'st thou endure to hear such hateful words? Were they +able to flatter thy vain and childish heart by a glittering title which +concealed the bitterest hate and scorn? Poor Ulrica! thy greatest +misfortune, after all, is thy soul's blindness--it makes thee even vain +and proud of what should be thy grief and shame. Alas! didst thou +tremble with me at that tale as at a voice from the bottomless pit I +perhaps should know how to comfort and counsel thee; then would I weep +with thee, and pray our blessed Lady to give thee the hope she gave me, +when at times all the horrors I saw and heard in my childhood seemed +like a frightful dream, and it was as though an angel whispered to my +soul that the whole was error and illusion.--Ah, mother! mother! how +shall I perform that I promised thee, and bring this erring child safe +to thine arms?" + +"Now thou art growing tiresome again, Margaretha, with all thy love, +and thy piety, and thy conscience," interrupted Ulrica, pettishly, +"_Your_ mother was only my foster mother; that I can well understand. +Who _my_ real mother was thou mightest easily tell, if there was any +real sisterly love in thee; but thou art not my sister after all. I +would thou wert in a nunnery! there thou mightest mourn over me, and +pray for me as much as it pleased thee, without plaguing me with it; +yet, no! for then I must part from thee, and that I could not bear," +she added, affectionately. "I am still a worldling, dear good +Margaretha!" continued Ulrica, with child-like simplicity. "I have told +you so a hundred times. All the misfortunes that happened in our +childhood, or before I was born, I have neither seen nor shared in; +how, then, canst thou require I should grieve over them? And what good +would it do were I now to sit down with thee to mourn and weep? What +our parents and their kindred have suffered or done amiss our blessed +Lady must pray our Lord to make amends for, and forgive them; but that +I have just as little to do with as thou. I thank my Lord and Maker, +and our blessed Lady, that I have come into this fair world, and that I +am not ashamed of my birth, even though I am but half a princess. The +sorrow and degradation thou would'st have me despair over I care not to +meddle with; either it is altogether idle talk, and then there is +nought to mourn for; or it is true, and I must be satisfied with it as +my destiny; and then I should still be a kind of princess; and what +shame can it be to me that I should be called what I am, and that a +knight of royal descent woos me, and would bring me to the station and +honour which are mine by right?" + +"Alas! for thy honour and thy wooer, poor sister!" answered Margaretha, +"there is not a true word in Sir Kaggé; all know he is come of higher +birth than he deserves, and it was not till he was outlawed and fled to +Norway that he thought of disowning his own kindred, and tracing his +pedigree in a disgraceful manner to the royal house of Norway. Such +dishonourable fiction would show thee his character, if thou didst not +share his perverted hankerings after the greatness which confers not +honour." + +During this conversation Ulrica had arrayed herself in her richest +attire, and it had become quite light. "Now look at me!" she said, +contemplating herself in the polished shield on the wall. "Need I +really be so terribly ashamed of my own existence, or wish I had never +been born? That indeed would be shameful and ungodly. To speak +honestly, Margaretha, should I doubt all that Sir Kaggé hath told me of +my descent and of my beauty, I ought to doubt my own eyes also, and +every mirror I looked into would be just as false a flatterer and +traitor as thou deemest him to be." + +"Truly the mirror _is_ a false flatterer," answered Margaretha; "it +shows us but the fair outside and the smooth skin, but hides the +skeleton and the image of death within us. The more pleasure we take in +the mimic image it displays to us in our vanity, the more the eyes are +blinded and the soul corrupted. Hadst thou heard the exaggerated +compliments Sir Kaggé paid _me_ ere he saw thee quite grown up, and +found thou hadst a more attentive ear for his fair speeches and bold +plans concerning our forfeited goods and rights, he would scarcely have +been less the object of thy laughter and ridicule than that foolish Sir +Pallé." + +"Ah, how terribly unreasonable thou art, thou dear pious Margaretha!" +interrupted Ulrica; "that fat stupid Sir Pallé was made to be a +laughing stock. I know well enough Kaggé was once a little in love with +thee, but I can readily forgive him, since he hath got over it so +well.--Thou wert too in some sort my sister, and at the time I was +almost a child.--Thou wouldst doubtless have had him sigh himself to +death over thy coldness, but that was too much to ask of a handsome +young knight. Should he then be deemed a faithless and inconstant lover +because he was mistaken in us sisters, ere he could know our hearts and +his own? How could he help that thou wert so cold and indifferent, and +so insufferably pious? And was it then so unpardonable a sin that at +last he found out that I was quite as fair--or perhaps rather more so?" + +"Dear deluded child!" sighed Margaretha, patting her sister's cheek, +while she parted the fair curled locks from her brow, "must thou ever +seek to trace every sentiment thou wouldst rightly understand to a vain +and empty source? Kaggé was a loyal and devoted squire to our father, +it is true; he was a zealous sharer in that fearful deed of vengeance, +the grounds of which thou now thinkest thou hast discovered; but were +those grounds not false, and wert thou in truth that thou thinkest +thyself to be, how canst thou give thy hand without shuddering to a man +who was with the band in Finnerup-barn?" She paused, and folded her +hands as if in silent prayer, as she knelt down on the prie-dieu, and +rented her lovely head on the breviary. + +"Margaretha! dearest Margaretha! thou hast terrified me," exclaimed +Ulrica, who had turned quite pale. "A horrible and ghastly form rises +before me. Ah! thou art right; I never thought of that. If the story of +my birth be true I ought never to hold Sir Kaggé dear, and yet I never +saw the noble ill-fated prince who fell in Finnerup-barn. Should I hate +all those who willed his death, I must also hate my mother, and thy +mother, and father Stig. Alas, Margaretha! we must never think on our +lot in this world, if we would be gay and happy among other human +beings; we must either forget all that hath chanced to us, or go into a +nunnery, and bid the beautiful joyous world good night; but that I +cannot do. Dear sister! pray for me. I will forget what it is not good +to think upon, but I cannot hate any living soul; and he who loves me +with truth and fervour I _must_ love again, whoever he may be, and for +what cause soever he may be outlawed and persecuted." She burst into a +flood of tears, and held up her long golden tresses before her eyes. + +"Dearest Ulrica! weep not. I will pray for thee as long as I live," +said Margaretha. She rose hastily from the prie-dieu, and folded her +sister tenderly in her arms. "We have not as yet wished each other a +happy new year. The Lord and our blessed Lady make thee pious and +patient, and blessed, and grant us both that which is most profitable +for soul and salvation. Weep not, dearest Ulrica! If I have spoken +harshly to thee, and grieved thee, forgive me, for our mother's sake! +She bade me admonish thee, and guard thy soul from thoughts of vanity. +But I see it is so, thou _art_ good and pious and blessed; only weep +not!" + +"Yes, if thou wilt never more speak evil of Sir Kaggé, or require I +should forget him, and leave off dreaming of him, for that I cannot; +that I _will not_ do." So saying, Ulrica dried her eyes with her long +hair, and peeped archly at her sister through her fingers. + +"In the Lord's name, love every living soul in which there is a spark +of God's grace," answered Margaretha, "only be not sorrowful." + +"Well, I can understand you now," said Ulrica, taking her hand from her +eyes. She laughed, and heartily kissed her sister. "A happy new year, +sister Margaretha! Would thou might'st wed the handsome Drost ere the +year is out, and would we might get out of this cage ere the woods are +green and the birds sing." She then began to dance with her staid +sister round the prison chamber, singing, + + + "I know where stands a castle fair, + All dazzling to the sight; + Its walls are decked with carvings rare, + With gold and silver bright."[17] + + +"Hush! hush! dear sister! some one is coming," said Margaretha, +entreatingly. Ulrica listened, and on hearing the bolt withdrawn from +the prison door she hastily arranged her hair in the polished shield, +and suddenly assumed a stiff and consequential deportment. The door +opened, and a sprightly little maiden entered to attend on them, and to +bring the usual morning repast. "A happy new year, with the blessing of +our Lady and St. Joseph, noble ladies!" said the maiden, curtseying, as +she placed the cup of warm ale on the table. "Master asks whether you +will drive afterwards to high mass with his dame. There came strangers +in the night," she added, anxious to impart the news. "They slept up +above in the knights' story. There are to be fine doings because of +them; they are to breakfast in the ladies' apartment, and there is a +fire on the hearth in the great hall.--The strangers are come from +court; they say the Drost will depart----" + +"Depart!" repeated Margaretha, blushing deeply. "Ah, yes," she added, +calmly, "it is possible, indeed, if it be necessary. Yet if they could +allow a few days more it would be better for him. Follow me to the +ladies' apartment, little Karen! Perhaps he wants his wounds bound up +in haste." + +"No, stay, and see first if my hair is properly dressed!" said Ulrica. +"Happy new year, little Karen! and a lover ere this day twelvemonth." + +"A bridegroom you surely mean, lady! for lovers one may have in plenty +every year," answered the maiden, simpering. + +"Your hair is finely dressed. Lady Ulrica! Had _I_ such beautiful +silken hair, and head-gear of gold and pearl to boot, as you have, by +my troth I should never wish to put on a matron's cap while I lived; +but _my_ hair I wish to hide; the sooner the better. Whenever my +sweetheart hath had a scold from master, I am ever forced to hear it is +rough and short. You are as small as a reed. Lady Ulrica!" she +continued, looking at her slender form and gay attire; "one may easily +see you are a dainty highborn knight's daughter, and no serving maid or +kitchen drudge--if _I_ could appear in such fashion to my sweetheart, +how he would stare! But I saw at once you were born to trail in silk +and scarlet.--There hides something else under those wadmal cloaks than +maidens of our condition, said I to Maren, the porter's wife, as soon +as we set eyes on you; and when master grew afterwards so civil to you, +and his wife sent you all those fine clothes and adornments on +Christmas eve--we saw well enough how it was, that we had rare birds in +the cage; perhaps even a princess, as some will have it.--That light +green laced boddice becomes you marvellously. Lady Ulrica; but +were I in Lady Margaretha's place I would not wear white attire on +new-year's-day; it hath such a sad appearance, and it is no good omen +for the good luck and happiness of the new year----" + +"My colour hath been the shroud's since my father and mother died," +said Margaretha, with a deep sigh; "but come now, little Karen! while +you pass judgment on garments and finery many a mass may be sung to an +end." + +"Mattins are over, and there is time enough ere high mass," said the +maiden; "but take some refreshment. It is not good to drive to church +or bind the Drost's neck on a fasting stomach." + +"I say so too, little Karen!" said Ulrica, with an arch smile, as she +partook heartily of the morning draught. "So the Drost is well again, +and going to depart," she continued; "truly it must be hard for so +brave a knight to live so long under maiden's care, especially with +that frightful scar on his neck." + +"The shame is not his, but the coward's who dared not face +him,"--answered the maiden; "is it not so, Lady Margaretha?" + +"That is my sister's opinion also," sighed Margaretha; "but come! I +think I hear a ringing." + +"Not yet awhile; truly thou art much too devout, sister!" said Ulrica, +with an arch look. "You forget your repast every morning for mass, and +mattins often ring in your ears much before the hour. But it is true +the Drost's neck should be looked at ere mass, and that is ever a work +of time.--Now I am coming; take me with you. I am coming instantly. I +will not again be shut up here alone--ah yes, sister! had I not thee by +me I should be an ungodly being, and sleep over mass time every +morning.--Thou mayst thank the Drost's neck that thou dost never +oversleep thyself--stay a moment; I am coming."--She drained the pewter +cup, and hastened out of the door with her sister and their attendant. + + + + + CHAP. X. + + +From the maiden's tower, which, with the ancient Waldemar's tower, near +the chapel, stood within the northern semicircle of the wall +surrounding the castle, a vaulted private passage led to the broad +flagged and spacious hall on the first floor of the main building into +which the knights' hall, the ladies' apartment, and various others +opened. There was likewise a front entrance from the court-yard by a +flight of high wooden steps, surmounted by a porch, and enclosed on +each side with an iron railing that led up to the balcony. Directly +opposite the two northern towers stood, on the side towards the sea, in +the southern semicircle of the castle wall, the strongly fortified +towers called the dragon and the sea tower. Above the entrance stood +the castle tower, and above the chapel was a small belfry. In the midst +of the castle square stood a high flagstaff, bearing the royal arms, +the three crowned leopards among a number of golden hearts. The +circular wall, which, with its high battlements and towers, surrounded +the whole castle, was also environed by ramparts and deep moats. As the +castle was often occupied by the king and his whole court, it was kept +in perfect repair, and amply provided with furniture and every kind of +convenience. + +The castle was one of the most important fortresses in the kingdom. The +number of men belonging to the garrison and household was not +inconsiderable. Whenever the chapel bell rung for mattins, the +commandant, with all the inmates of the castle and its precincts, +proceeded to the chapel across the spacious square of the castle. They +now were returning from mattins with their extinguished lanterns in +their hands. + +The captive maidens were guarded without any severity. When accompanied +by one female attendant, the whole castle was open to them during the +day. They were obliged, however, to sleep at night in the tower, which +was never unlocked until daylight; and the porter was only permitted to +open the castle gate for them when the commandant himself or his family +accompanied them to the church of the town, or through the orchard to +the chase of the castle, where at this season of the year they +sometimes amused themselves by hawking, a sport of which Ulrica was +passionately fond, but in which Margaretha only shared for her sister's +sake. + +When Ulrica, with her sister and the attendant maiden, stepped out of +the dark passage into the vestibule, she instantly ran as usual to one +of the bow windows, and breathed upon one of the panes to clear away +the frost and make herself a peep-hole into the castle yard. "Look! +look!" she said, gaily; "we shall have the new yellow car to drive in +to-day to church; and look! there they ride to water with the +strangers' horses--I declare they have long silken coverings on, and +there are the royal grooms with them--Look! the commandant, with the +Drost and the strangers, are crossing over this way--one of the +strangers is a canon; but who _can_ those two comical men be with the +German caps?" + +"Let us go into the ladies' apartment," said Margaretha; "it would not +be seemly that they should find us here alone so early." + +"One can never see any thing, or enjoy any thing, because of that +tiresome seemliness," said Ulrica, pettishly, and followed her sister +reluctantly into the ladies' apartment. Shortly afterwards the door +opened, and Drost Aagé entered the ante-chamber, with the king's +confessor. Master Petrus de Dacia, and the two German minstrels, +accompanied by the commandant. Sir Ribolt, a tall man of noble +presence, whose knightly attire was arranged in strict conformity to +the fashion of the time. The commandant first crossed the threshold, +and closed the door to keep in the warmth, which began to diffuse +itself from the large glowing stone chimney. + +"In the king's name!" he said, with a kind of solemnity, as he doffed +his high plumed hat, "welcome in his hall, noble sirs! Here he is your +host, though in my insignificant person--I may expect him here, then, +in the spring, venerable sir?" + +"He bade me bring you that message, next to royal greeting and favour," +answered Master Petrus de Dacia, giving his hand to the commandant. "We +have slept under your roof, but as yet your guests are unknown to you," +he continued. "My name you know. In a few hours I must journey onwards; +but these honourable strangers desire, and have royal permission, to be +your guests for some time, partly with a learned and scientific +object." He now presented to the commandant Master Poppé and Master +Rumelant from Swabia, as renowned professors of the noble art of +minstrelsy, who had visited the territories of many lords and princes, +and who were now desirous also of seeing and knowing all that was +remarkable in Denmark respecting the manners and the customs of the +people, and the state of art and science, compared with that of other +nations. "These learned persons," he added, "are commended to you as +the king's guests, so long as it is their desire to remain here. It is +the king's pleasure that they should have free access to the royal +collection of manuscripts and the archives of the castle." + +"Well, these learned guests are welcome," answered the commandant, +saluting the strangers with some embarrassment; "it is probably the +chronicles they desire to search into, and the ancient manuscripts +which lie here, treating of the affairs of Denmark and the German +kingdoms in olden times. There was lately here a learned monk from Nyé, +who, by the king's command, had much to do with these writings. They +are treasures which I, to say truth, know but little how to prize; but +scholars can never sufficiently laud our king's carefulness in +collecting such writings, and the free use of them which he allows both +to native and foreign scholars. The Lord help me. Sir Drost!" he +whispered to Aagé, "they are surely most awfully learned; they perhaps +do not understand a word of Danish?" + +"Are not your king's famous 'Congesta'[18] to be found here?" asked the +tall master Poppé, in a half German half Danish dialect; "we desire +especially to become acquainted with that important historical +collection, as well as with the copy which is here to be seen of your +famous Saxo Grammaticus, likewise Sveno Agonis[19], and whatever may be +found here of collections of old ballads, and of Norwegian or Icelandic +poems, and Sagas of heathen time; item, all remarkable monumenta and +volumina antiquitatis." + +"What I specially rejoice over," said the enthusiastic little Master +Rumelant, "is what I here expect to meet with of your famous +theological lumina and christian poets, particularly the far-famed +Hexameron of the great Andreas Sunonis, of which I have never been able +to trace any copy among my countrymen, or among any of the noble lords +and princes, my gracious well-wishers and benefactors, whose praises I +have sung according to my poor ability." + +"So far as I know, the manuscript you speak of is to be found here +among the learned Latin writings, from the time of King Waldemar the +Victorious, of blessed memory," answered the commandant, endeavouring +to hide his impatience; "but it is only of what is written in the +language of the country that I can give account to you--your study +shall be next to the manuscript chamber--the castle chaplain has the +superintendence of it; he will no doubt be able to give you all the +information you want. I will arrange every thing in the best way I can +for you, learned sirs; but I pray you to excuse me, who am a layman, +and straight-forward soldier, for my ignorance of such matters. Permit +me now to install you among my family, and to entreat you will be +content for the present with some food for the body." + +"Allow me first a few words in private here with the Drost," said +Master Petrus, remaining behind in the vestibule with Aagé, whose pale +cheek was for a moment tinged with a crimson hue as the door of the +ladies' apartment closed, and he was but half able to greet Margaretha. +It was evident that he had suffered from a dangerous wound. He still +held his head rather stiffly, and his left arm was in a sling. + +The tall ecclesiastic took him by the hand, and gazed on him earnestly, +with his serene, intellectual eye. "It is chiefly for your sake, Drost +Aagé, the king sent me hither," he said; "you know how dear you have +been to him from his childhood, and how greatly he needs must miss you; +but ere it is permitted me to speak one word to you of the king's and +state affairs, I am enjoined to certify myself of the health both of +your mind and body. It is said you have not only been dangerously +wounded, but sick at heart besides, and plagued with all manner of +disquiet thoughts and confused dreams, so that you have oft stood more +in need of a spiritual than of a bodily physician. If you place any +trust in me, then confide to me that which seems still to disquiet +you." + +"I have been a visionary since I was excommunicated," said Aagé; "I know +it right well. The trial was too much for me; but now, praise be to the +Lord and our Lady! a light hath dawned upon my soul, which reconciles +me to what is dark and mysterious in my life and destiny.--But _my_ +feelings and concerns are of no moment. Tell me only what the king is +about; how can he and the country be saved from downfall amid all these +perplexing events; for the Lord's sake tell me?" + +"Not a word of that as yet, dear Drost," interrupted Master Petrus; "I +must first see how far you are capable of acting in worldly matters. +The spirit that would work mightily for the peace and happiness of king +and country must first be at peace with itself." + +"I _have_ that peace, venerable sir! My soul is as well at ease as it +ever will be in this world. When I heard the archbishop was fled, and +the king excommunicated, I threw myself on my horse, and would have +hasted to Sjöborg, but they brought me back here half dead. What I have +since heard of the king's impetuosity and wrath hath more than ever +disquieted me, and in my tendency to dark presentiments I have many a +night, in my fevered dreams, beheld the king surrounded by robbers and +murderers." + +"Be easy on that score, noble Drost. No sovereign was ever more beloved +by his people; an invisible guard of the angels of love and +righteousness accompany the young Eric, even when traitors and +deadly foes are nigh him. I know you were with the king's father in +Finnerup-barn on that bloody St. Cecilia's eve. What you then witnessed +as a child you surely have never been able to forget?" + +"No, never!" exclaimed Aagé, with breathless earnestness; "and I have +often mourned I had neither courage nor might to avert that +catastrophe. It was not till the barn burst into flames around the +murdered king that I fully recovered the use of my senses. I snatched +the sword from the old insane Pallé, when he threw himself on the body +to maltreat it, and struck the same murderous steel into his breast +with which he had slain his liege. That bloody scene, and the dying +look of that crazed old man, hath often been fearfully present to me. +The horrid spectacle, however, was nearly effaced from my memory, when, +two years back, I was one day sent by the king to the captive +archbishop at Sjöborg to bring him to confession; but when I looked on +yon terrific prisoner, as he uplifted his fettered arm, and gave me +over to the Devil, with the church's most dreadful curse, it seemed to +me as though I stood once more in the barn at Finnerup, and as if a +condemning spirit spoke through the archbishop, and thundered forth the +words of excommunication over me for my sins' sake. In the fever caused +by my wound I have often suffered from the most fearful visions, and +dreamed of fighting with all manner of monsters and demons; but when it +was at the worst I ever saw a heavenly angel at my side, who, with +pious prayers, chased away the evil spirit, and whispered comfort and +consolation to my soul. At last a mild light dawned upon me--I felt I +might yet redeem from the curse that life which in my childhood I had +neither power nor courage to sacrifice for my former master, by my +devoting it to his son, our noble young King Eric. This is now my firm +and stedfast purpose; I have renounced all thoughts of happiness for +myself. Yon angel of consolation hath since appeared to me in a mortal +form; but she neither desires nor is able to turn me from my resolve. +It was the eldest and most estimable of Marsk Stig's daughters. +Venerable sir! to you alone I confide it--she hath become dear to me as +my own soul, and she hath herself wonderfully strengthened me in my +resolution. By saving my life, and preserving it for the service of him +who hath pronounced her whole race outlawed, she hath sought to atone +for a share of her dreaded father's crime. Each step I follow my +beloved young sovereign will and must separate me and Marsk Stig's race +in this world; yet, with the Lord's help, that shall not stop my +progress, or impair my loyalty. Mark, venerable sir! from the moment in +which the future destiny of my life was clear before me I was freed +from the evil spirits which persecuted me, and I now feel myself nearly +healed both in body and soul. Now you know all, tell me, I beseech you, +that which is of far greater moment, what message bring you me from the +king?" + +"One word more of yourself first, noble Drost," answered Master Petrus, +in an affectionate tone, taking his hand, and gazing with his usual +look of calm intelligence on Aagé's melancholy but resolute +countenance; "your determination I must laud as fair and noble, +although it still in some measure betokens your tendency to extremes, +even in what is good and praiseworthy. You can devote your life and +powers to the service of your king and country without seeking the +death of a martyr; you need not yourself renounce the enjoyments of +life because a higher aim of existence stands in your view; but I will +not upbraid you for such youthful extravagances,--There _was_ a time +when I desired myself to die a martyr in honour of the Holy Virgin; +even now I should glory in it were it so ordered for me; but I no +longer hanker after martyrdom with blind enthusiasm and spiritual +pride. The consoling angel you speak of, noble Drost, she who stood +before you here in the form of a captive maiden, I only desire her +justification and acquittal, and then assuredly you need not renounce +all hope in respect of the secret wishes of your heart. I also have +known such a being," he continued, with emotion; "next to the Holy +Virgin she is even yet to me the most precious soul of her sex that +lives and hath ever lived in the world; she is, in truth, the bride of +Heaven here upon earth, and her duty and condition, as well as mine, +separate us here below. But I believe, to speak truly, neither you nor +any worldly man can be called on or have strength to make such +renunciation; but Providence and its high disposer will care for this. +I rejoice from my heart that the fairest feeling of humanity is +awakened in your soul. Even when attended by the greatest sacrifice and +the extreme of privation, it is, next to the joys of Heaven, the +richest treasure that can be bestowed on a human being." + +"Yes, assuredly!" exclaimed Aagé, with joyful enthusiasm; "wholly +wretched I never now can be. I have now told you the whole state of my +case. Conceal not any thing longer from me!" + +"Well, my excellent young friend," said Master Petrus, pressing his +hand, "I will look on you as spiritually healed. It is a true and +precious feeling--it is the earnest of a noble and mighty life of +action which stirs in your somewhat enthusiastic and visionary soul. I +would send you forth from this much too quiet and trying position, +which only fosters your visionary turn of mind. I will not hesitate to +enlist your whole strength in the service of king and country. Look! +here is a private letter from the king." He reached a sealed packet to +the Drost. + +Aagé hastily broke the seal. "Ha! what means this? Of course you know +the contents?" + +"I wrote the letter myself in the chancellor's absence. It is come to a +breach with Junker Christopher; he must be disarmed and brought to +subjection ere two more suns have set. You or Sir Ribolt are to +beleaguer Holbek castle, and join the king before Kallundborg with a +hundred lancers." + +Drost Aagé gazed in dismay,--now on the letter,--now on Master Petrus. +"Great God!" he exclaimed; "is it come to this? Civil war and bloody +feud between the brothers!" + +"Be calm, noble Drost! That is precisely what you must prevent, but +quietly,--cautiously. I have, besides, a question to put to you, by +word of mouth, from the king." So saying, Master Petrus drew Aagé +further from the door, and continued in a low tone,--"Hath the junker +caused any paper to be fetched from hence lately? Of the noble Sir +Ribolt there is no suspicion; but is the castle chaplain to be counted +on?" + +"For the commandant's loyalty I will answer," replied Aagé; "the +chaplain I know not. But what mean you?" + +"The letters Junker Christopher took from the chest in Lund sacristy he +affirms that he deposited here, but they have been lately sought for in +vain. They might now be of the greatest importance in the king's affair +with Master Grand. The learned scholars I have brought hither with me +are again to search the archives. I must myself haste to Sweden, to +tranquillise the spirits there. You know the ambassadors left us in +haste. We are on doubtful terms with their court; the negotiations are +broken off. The king went too far in his anger at Grand's flight. He +now wants to carry every thing through by force. It is come to a breach +also with the Dukes of Sleswig--the cardinal hath left the court, he +menaces to use his fearful authority." + +"Misfortune upon misfortune!" exclaimed Aagé. "Great Heaven! what will +be the end of all this?" + +"If the Lord please, all may turn out more favourably than seems likely +at present," continued Master Petrus, calmly. "If you and the Marsk can +procure peace with temporal enemies, I and my colleagues hope, with +God's assistance, to obtain a truce with ecclesiastical foes. +Chancellor Martinus and Provost Guido are sent to Rome to anticipate +Grand. Most of the bishops in the country side with the king. The +provincial prior of the Dominicans and the chapters continue their +protest against the constitution of Veile. No priest will uphold the +interdict; and, as I said, the people are loyal and devoted to the +king." + +"But this unhappy quarrel with the junker--the breach with the +dukes--the doubtful terms with Sweden--the king's rashness and +impetuosity--and that terrible Isarnus and the outlaws!" + +"You are right, Drost Aagé! There are more clouds in Denmark's +and our young king's heavens than it is in the power of man to +disperse"--resumed Petrus de Dacia; "but remember," he added, solemnly, +"above the clouds are the stars of heaven, and over the course and +government of the stars presides the most high and righteous Creator! +and forget not, dear Drost, where stern justice would annihilate us +stands the Mediator and his heavenly Mother. Her prayers can shake and +avert the threatenings of each evil star, however firmly fixed in the +judgment heaven. Be comforted, noble Drost!" he continued, with mild +tranquillity; "none can draw aside the veil of futurity: this much, +however, I think to have discerned in yon vast mysterious book, that I +renounce not the hope of better days for Denmark, so long as the Lord +and our blessed Lady will extend a protecting hand over the king's +life. With his fortunate star will that of Denmark now assuredly rise +or sink." + +"You are a learned and God-fearing man, venerable Master Petrus!" said +Aagé, who meanwhile had been pacing uneasily up and down, with the +king's letter in his hand; "but, pardon me, now, it is _you_, and not +I, who indulge in visionary fancies. I have more confidence in your +piety and enlightened view of the Almighty's government here upon +earth, and in our time, than in your astrological knowledge and devout +gaze into futurity. What we are now concerned in is the present moment; +but what in the world is to be done, when neither you, nor any other +wise man, can bring the king to his right senses? Hath the archbishop's +flight caused him to set at nought discretion? Would he now demand +justice only,--not mercy,--of the papal see? Does he think, in defiance +of ban and interdict, and even without a dispensation of kindred, he +can prevail on the wise Swedish government to consent to the marriage? +It is an impossibility--would he despise all reasonable negotiation, +and let the sword decide the quarrel with the dukes? And would he now +himself storm his brother's castle, and force him to become an avowed +traitor and deserter to the enemy?" + +"I have shared your apprehensions, noble Drost! I blamed the king's +impetuous procedure; I vainly strove to hinder these far too hasty +steps. His purpose is inflexible. But amid all my fears for the +consequences, I could not but admire the kingly spirit, which ventured +so much for the support of royal dignity. In reliance on the justice of +his cause, ere twice twenty-four hours King Eric will stand with his +knights before Kallundborg, to teach obedience to his rebellious +brother." + +"The report was true, then, of the blockading of Kallundborg, and the +new fortification?" + +"Alas, yes! The king was greatly displeased at the junker's +contumacy, but still more at his treacherous endeavour to hinder the +marriage.--The wily Drost Bruncke hath betrayed him, probably with the +view of causing a breach between the brothers, and stirring up tumult +in the country." + +"Hum! and the Dukes of Sleswig renew their former pretensions at the +same time." + +"They are probably in league with the junker; yet they have not scared +the king.--If they have already forgotten the defeat at Grönsund, he +will show them he dares face them on land also. Marsk Oluffsen is +assembling all the foot forces against them at Hadersleben." + +"And the archbishop and the cardinal, where are they?" + +"Grand threatens from Bornholm, and Isarnus from Axelhuus. He demands +safe conduct for the archbishop, and protests against the confiscation +of the Lund church property. Bishop Johan of Roskild wavers. The +enforcement of the interdict is dreaded." + +"Merciful Heaven! and, amid all this, can the king think of his +marriage?" + +"The first of June he purposes to cross to Helsingborg, with a bridal +train or an armed force. Yet, perhaps, that was but a hasty speech to +me and the Marsk. The Lord forbid it should come to such extremity!" + +"He draws the bow too tight; it must break. But one word more--the +outlaws who were pursued; are they taken?" + +"I know not; but their death doom is pronounced, wherever they are +found; the last murderous attempt hath rendered the king implacable--A +price is set on every outlaw's head--Aagé Kaggé was on the expedition +with Marsk Stig's daughters--There is now, assuredly, little hope at +present of the freedom of the unhappy maidens." + +"They are innocent! by the Lord above, they are innocent!" exclaimed +Aagé, impetuously. "I must to the king; it is high time." He tore the +sling from his left arm, and moved it somewhat stiffly. "It _shall_ +do," he continued; "my right arm hath no one lamed. I must speed to +Kallundborg to the king. If the castle is to be stormed--if the +traitorous junker is to be chastised, leave that to me--against his own +brother my king shall not himself bear sword and shield. Matters must +have been carried far; his forbearance can hold out no longer." + +"Still, however," interrupted Master Petrus, "he expressly enjoins you +to spare the junker, wherever you meet him.--You are to blockade Holbek +with as little alarm as possible.--If you could even yet make peace +between the brothers, noble Drost! you would perhaps save state and +kingdom." + +The door of the ladies' apartment now opened, and the commandant +returned. "Your morning repast will be cold, my honoured guests," he +said, courteously; "but what see I, Sir Drost? Your arm is not in the +sling?" + +"It can and must be dispensed with," answered Aagé. "You have spoilt me +here; you have been much too prudent and watchful. I have now to thank +you and your noble captives for your kindly care. The king needs strong +arms and swords. Can you instantly furnish me with two hundred men from +the garrison here?" + +"Two hundred men shall stand fully armed and in the court-yard here +within an hour, if you, as Drost, command it in the king's name," +answered Sir Ribolt. "Dare I ask their destination?" + +"I march to Holbek and Kallundborg. There is the king's name and seal +for it."--He gave him the king's letter. "It is for you also--but it is +to go no farther than ourselves." + +"Against the junker? merciful Heaven! Sir Drost, is it possible?" +exclaimed the commandant, clasping his hands in the greatest +astonishment. + +"The junker hath taken a fancy to add new fortifications, and shut the +gates against the king's men, as you know. It is probably only an +unfortunate jest, or a misunderstanding; but you see yourself such +gates must be forced betimes, when the king is on the road, and would +enter therein. Two hundred men, then, within an hour, but with as +little stir as possible, of course!" + +"You shall find all ready ere it rings to high mass," answered the +commandant, with calm determination. "But your wound, Sir Drost! Can +you yourself ride forth without danger? Otherwise the task is mine?" + +"With or without danger I must--I will onward," answered Aagé. "When it +rings for high mass, then; and secrecy is expedient--Let it concern a +hunt after the outlaws--Understand you?" + +"Right! that shall be the belief in the castle here within the half +hour." So saying, Sir Ribolt hasted into the castle-yard, and Drost +Aagé went with Master Petrus into the ladies' apartment. + + + + + CHAP. XI. + + +The state of feverish anxiety into which Aagé had been thrown, had +called the colour into his cheek, and restored the appearance of health +to his countenance. In the spacious apartment appropriated to the +female inmates of the castle, where strangers were received, and where +the household assembled on holidays before divine service, Aagé and +Master Petrus were received by the aged mistress of the castle, who +herself presented the guests their warm morning drink in cups of +polished silver. At a large round table in the middle of the apartment, +which was covered with a white fringed woollen table-cloth, sat the two +German minstrels, with the smoking cups before them, in pleasant +converse with the ladies. Ulrica questioned them, with curiosity, of +their visits to foreign princes, in whose praise and exaltation Master +Rumelant was as inexhaustible as he was unwearied in reckoning up all +the honour he had gained by his lays with these "excellent lords, his +august and most gracious patrons." + +Margaretha also took part in the conversation with the strangers; but +she was more modest in her queries. She was much more interested in +their art than in the good fortune they had sought and obtained by it +from the great. The solemn Master Poppé favoured her with a detailed +account of the genius and lays of the famous Minnésingers, whose most +flourishing period Master Poppé asserted could only be supposed by the +ignorant to have passed away. He affirmed, on the contrary, that the +noble art of minstrelsy had only now for the first time fully developed +itself on higher themes,--in the praise of moral truth and seraphic +beauty. Minstrels no longer repeated the monotonous praises of verdant +May, or of the beauty of earthly females and vain loves, but now in the +same, or even in a more regular measure, sang moral or religious themes +and important theological dogmas. He could not, however, deny that the +ancient love songs possessed a degree of pathos and animation which +even his good friends Master Henrick Frauenlob and a certain Master +Regenbogen, as well as the famous schoolmaster of Esslingen, with all +their learning, vainly strove to attain. Meanwhile he deemed it very +fortunate that, as princes and emperors no longer, as in former times, +devoted themselves to the noble art of minstrelsy, now cultivated +chiefly by the honest burgher class, there still were lords and +princes, like the King of Denmark, to honour and encourage the art, and +that the minstrel's lay yet resounded in knightly halls and in the +apartments of noble ladies. He lauded the poetic spirit of the +chivalrous poetry of Denmark, but still considered it, as well as the +love songs, too vain and worldly; a charge which Margaretha took much +to heart, although she readily admitted to the learned minstrel, that +all the Danish ballads she knew and admired treated of love adventures; +not a single one on scriptural or theological subjects. + +When Drost Aagé entered the ladies' apartment, Margaretha rose to +return his greeting, and observed, with some uneasiness, that he had +thrown aside his sling. Her attention to Master Poppé's discourse was +at an end, and she entreated him to excuse, that she, as an attendant +on a wounded patient, had an occupation which could not be postponed. +"Pardon me, Sir Drost!" she said to Aagé, and pointed to his unswathed +arm. "This is not according to agreement; yet you seem to have the use +of your arm," she added, when she perceived how easily he moved it. +"The wound is healed in some sort. With caution you may use it, in +moderation. But the stiff neck bandage----" + +"That I shall wear in remembrance of you, until we meet again, noble +maiden!" answered Aagé; "although I almost think it might be dispensed +with. Within an hour I must leave the castle. That I am able to do so I +owe to your skill and unwearied care. I think soon to see my noble +master the king," he added, in a low voice, as he drew her to a recess +in the window fronting the castle garden; "but the suitable time for +effecting any thing towards your liberation is, alas! hardly come as +yet." + +"We ask no clemency from our earthly judges, but only that which is +just and reasonable," answered Margaretha, with calm seriousness. "I +should have thought all times were equally convenient to a good +sovereign for hearing the justification of the innocent." + +"It would grieve me deeply, noble Lady Margaretha!" said Aagé, "if my +just-intentioned sovereign were for a moment to seem unjust in your +eyes; but your case now appears dark and intricate to those who are +not, as I am, acquainted with your pious sentiments and admirable +conduct. It is known that the traitorous squire Kaggé was in your +company--your unfortunate confidence in that miscreant brought +suspicion on your innocence, and places you under a cloud; but, by the +living Lord! I will justify you. If earthly justice is blind, the +judgment of Heaven and my knightly sword shall surely open her eyes!" + +"No, dear Drost!" exclaimed Margaretha, half alarmed; "if you will +peril your precious life in any cause, let it be in that higher and +more important one to which you have dedicated it, but not for the fate +of two insignificant captives. To suffer injustice is, besides, surely +not the greatest misfortune," she added, with a look of mildness and +love, as she raised her long-fringed eyelids, and gazed through the +window panes up to the clear heavens. "Do not hasten rashly for our +sake; we will willingly wait for the Lord and for his appointed hour. +When we think but on the injustice our Lord suffered for our sakes, we +may surely bear our little cross throughout a short life for his sake. +The blessing of Heaven be with you, noble Drost Aagé!" she continued; +"heartfelt thanks for the kindness with which you have rendered our +captivity imperceptible. We shall miss you very much. I shall, no +doubt, forget how to play at chess; but what we have spoken together at +the chessboard I can never forget. The sweet ballads you taught me I +shall also remember; and when we maidens talk of Florez and +Blantseflor, we will remember you also, and the quiet evenings by the +hearth here, and all the beautiful tales of chivalry you told us. If +the king comes hither in the spring, as they say, you will surely come +with him?" + +"Perhaps," answered Aagé; "at any rate I will please myself with that +hope. But where the king or his true knights will be in the spring it +hardly lies in his power to determine, noble maiden. It is a dangerous +and troublous time. May the Lord order all things for us for the best!" + +"He will do so assuredly, and always, dear Drost!" said Margaretha, in +a confiding and friendly tone, as she laid her hand on his right arm, +which rested on the casement of the large window. "Even that which +seems worst and most unfortunate to us turns out at last to be the +best, if no sin be in it. This captivity, which a few weeks back +appeared so terrible to me, hath notwithstanding been the happiest time +I have passed since my father and mother died." + +"Sweet Margaretha!" whispered Aagé, with subdued fervour, laying his +left hand on hers, which still rested upon his right arm; "dare I hope +I have the smallest share in that heavenly peace and joy which I daily +see beaming from your meek and loving eyes? Your hope and peace are +doubtless drawn from the fountain of Eternal Life; such joys come not +to you from any human source." + +"In every noble and pious heart assuredly there shines a ray from yon +source of Eternal Life!" answered Margaretha; "though its deepest +source be hid in the heart of the Redeemer, which bled for our sakes, +that it might include every soul in its unfathomable depths of grace +and commiserating love." + +"Most precious of beings!" exclaimed Aagé, with overflowing emotion; +"dare I hope that which I dare not utter?" He paused; then added, in a +calmer tone, "Will you, then, really miss me at times, and sing the +songs I taught you?" + +"Indeed, indeed I will--but the stranger guest would talk with you, Sir +Drost!" interrupted Margaretha, hastily, and blushing as she withdrew +her hand. "As I told you," she added aloud, as she stepped forward with +Aagé out of the recess, and vainly sought to hide her bashfulness and +confusion; "the bandage round your neck you must keep on, and the sling +to support your arm." + +"If it is convenient to you. Sir Drost!" said Master Petrus, who had +modestly approached, without interrupting his conversation with the +fair maiden, "we might now perhaps conclude our affairs in your private +chamber." + +"I will attend you instantly, venerable Sir! Permit me but a parting +word to the noble and hospitable hostess." + +"And to me also, surely, Sir Drost! although we have never been exactly +able to agree?" interrupted Ulrica, rising from the table, where Master +Rumelant's panegyrics on his excellent lords and Mecænases already +began to weary her. + +After many reciprocal expressions of courtesy, which, however, were not +wanting in sincerity and heartfelt goodwill, the Drost left the ladies' +apartment with Master Petrus; but the object on which his eye lingered +the longest was the fair Lady Margaretha. As it rang for mass in +Vordingborg town, Drost Aagé, clad in complete armour, rode out of the +castle gate at the head of two thirds of the garrison of the fortress. +At the same time the lady of the castle drove to church with the two +captive maidens. At the cross-road before the fortress Drost Aagé once +more turned round and saluted the ladies in the car. He observed with +pleasure a white veil waving from the car in the meek Margaretha's +hand. The car was followed to church by Sir Ribolt, accompanied by the +three strangers on horseback. + +"Whither goes the Drost, with all those men-at-arms, Sir Ribolt?" asked +Ulrica, inquisitively, as she put her head out of the car; "there is +surely neither war nor rebellion here?" + +"They go but to rid the land of the outlaws and other vagabonds," +answered Sir Ribolt. "The assassin who attacked the Drost it seems hath +been taken already," he added, in a careless tone, without recollecting +the connection of the captive maidens with these turbulent and hated +characters, and without remarking that the lively querist turned pale. + +"What ails thee, sweet child? Canst thou not endure to sit backward?" +asked the watchful mistress of the castle. "Come, change places with +me; I can bear it." + +"Ah, let me sit quiet!" sighed Ulrica, drawing her veil over her face. +"Margaretha! Margaretha!" she whispered, clinging to her sister; "my +dream! my dream! He is taken! His life is in peril!" + +"Hush! hush! dearest sister!" whispered Margaretha; "it is but a +rumour. We will now pray for him and for all sinful souls. See,--the +blessed Lord still permits his mild sun to shine upon us all." + +The car rolled past a troop of richly attired burghers on their way to +church, who greeted the ladies with courtesy. Ulrica recovered herself, +and nodded to them with a consequential air. They whispered together, +and she conjectured that their talk was, doubtless, of her beauty and +supposed high birth. + + + + + CHAP. XII. + + +It was past midnight when Drost Aagé, with his troop of horsemen, drew +near the Issefiord near Holbek. The weather was calm and frosty, the +snow sparkled in the starlight winter night, the marshes and all the +pools by the road side were frozen, but the ford was still open and +passable. Holbek rather resembled a ruin than a town; instead of +houses, there were now chiefly to be seen single walls and solitary +hearths. Five years before the town had been plundered and nearly burnt +down by the Norwegian fleet, in the feud with Marsk Stig and the +outlaws. Some small houses, however, had been rebuilt. The church and +the monastery of the Gray Friars stood unscathed, as well as the +castle, which had been lately put in good repair by Junker Christopher, +and which, it appeared, he now intended, despite the king's +prohibition, to make as strong a fortress as Kallundborg. + +By Aagé's side rode an elderly captain of horse, Sir Ribolt's brother, +a silent, serious personage, whom the Drost informed by the way of what +was here to be attempted. When they approached the town they halted, +and had their horses rubbed down, while each horseman received his +separate directions. They then rode slowly, and as quietly as possible, +through the snow-covered streets of the town, and past the monastery, +where all lay in profound slumber. At the castle also the inmates +seemed to be reposing in the greatest calmness and security; even the +warders on the battlements were asleep. They examined the castle +narrowly on every side. There was not a light to be seen in the whole +of the upper story; it was only from the knights' hall, opposite the +ford, that a faint light gleamed from a window; and at the quay behind +the castle lay a boat with a red sail, from which glimmered the light +of a horn lantern. On the quay a fat knight, wrapped in a fox-skin +pelisse, paced up and down, apparently waiting for some one; he often +yawned, and rubbed his hands, while he looked up impatiently at the +window from whence gleamed the solitary light. A rough-looking, +one-eyed fellow, with a hideous and bloated visage, lay half asleep on +the rampart. + +"If thou fallest asleep, and drop'st into the ford, Kyste! thou wilt +cheat the rope-maker of an hempen cord," said the fat knight, and +laughed at his own wit. + +"Ha, indeed! think ye the halter is so sure of me. Sir Pallé?" muttered +the fellow; "_you_ may well crack your jests, you are neither made to +be drowned nor hanged; with your round carcass, you would swim like an +ale barrel, and he who would hang you must risk his own neck." + +"Well," answered Pallé, yawning, "mine is a very politic shape; thou +and thy daring masters might need such an one. But what the devil has +become of them? They are wrangling and consulting a confounded time +together." + +"It concerns high play, though, Sir Pallé," muttered the man, flapping +his arms around his body to keep himself warm. "Had I but a good can of +German ale at my side, of a surety I would keep my eyes open." + +"If thou canst keep one eye open it deserves all honour, since thou +hast not more by thee," jested the knight. "But what the devil is the +junker about?" he continued, "to set me to watch here in frost and cold +while he consults on weighty matters in his warm private chamber! Me, +his right hand, and let into all his secrets! But tell me, Kyste, what +means this secret nightly visit? The proud Niels Brock and Johan Papé I +well know; they are two limbs of Satan, and I can easily divine what +they would be at; but who was the third stranger thou broughtest +hither,--yon little fellow, with the hump and the red mantle?" + +"It is the Evil One himself, I almost believe," answered the deserter, +and crossed himself; "a wizard at the least. I will be hanged if he +understands not the black art. They call him wise Master Thrand; he has +been condemned to fire and stake by the pope, and banished both by +kings and emperors; but he snaps his fingers at them all--he laughs at +the world's governors and rulers, and cares not for our Lord or our +Lady, either, when he is on the seas. If he is right, then are we all +fools together in Christendom, and should obey none other than _him_ +our master, who is within us and in all things; but that passes my +understanding. He can be pious too when it serves his turn. I saw that +when he kissed the archbishop's hand at parting, and took the letter of +absolution, which truly he afterwards cast overboard--he is a good +friend of Niels Brock, and can make gold, they say." + +"Then would he might teach us and the junker that art!" said Pallé; +"then it were sin should he be burned for a little touch of heresy--for +that he will one day burn in the other world. But tell me, Kyste, if +thou and thy masters come from Hammershuus, from the archbishop, how +darest thou appear before the junker? The archbishop hath given him +over, as well as the king, to the devil; and I must needs admit the +junker hath been worse to him than ten devils." + +"That's the great folks' business," answered Kyste. "I serve the man +who pays best, and ask not of aught besides--had I known the archbishop +brought not so much as a mark with him, and should lose all he expected +from Skaane, the devil take me if I would have perilled my life for his +sake." + +"You had a rough passage, then, with him from Sjöborg?" + +"Yes, you may well say that;--we were hard put to it ere we got him +housed. We were obliged to run in under Hveen; and we lay with our life +in our hands a whole day and two nights at Saltholm.--They were chasing +us every where with barks and those confounded fishing smacks; but the +fog and the bishop's prayers helped us that once. We sailed, in peril +of our lives, in a howling storm, to Kaasebjerg, and by the time we +reached Hammershuus we were half perished with cold and hunger; and +what got we for our pains? Mad Morten the cook got a bishop's letter +for a pilgrimage. I and Olé Ark got a dry blessing with three wizened +fingers, and a fresh absolution for ten years' sins. It may have its +use;--I never slight God's gifts; but such like gifts help little to +fill purse and stomach. Of course," he added, "we have now leave to +seek our bread where we can find it, and plunder our Lord's and the +archbishop's enemies till our dying day, without having a hair singed +in purgatory for it; but----" + +"Content thyself, Kyste; it will be a livelihood, nevertheless," +interrupted Pallé. "But if thy new masters side with the archbishop I +cannot imagine what the devil they want here--the junker and the +archbishop agree together like cat and dog." + +"As I said, that's the great folks' business," answered the deserter. +"What they have plotted with the archbishop at Hammershuus I can't +tell; but could they patch up an agreement for the junker with Master +Grand, and get the ban done away, he would have nought against it, I +trow; and one service is as good as the other. If the junker gets into +a scrape with the king, he will need a prop; and if the king goes to +the wall, the junker perhaps will get uppermost, and may help his +friends again. But that concerns not me; matters may turn out as the +foul fiend pleases for aught I care, so long as there are good oars to +be had, and something to lay one's hands on. But what was that noise? +Heard ye not horses tramp on the other side of the castle?" + +"Dream'st thou, Kyste? Who would visit the castle so late?" said Pallé, +listening anxiously. + +"Here I have _my_ masters. Now any one may come that Satan pleases," +said the deserter, and ran towards the vessel. + +Two tall men, in ample grey mantles, and with hoods over their heads, +accompanied by a little hump-backed personage, in a red cloak, came +forth from a secret door in the castle wall, and passed over a small +drawbridge which was let down over the outer castle moat. They hasted +down to the quay, where they greeted Sir Pallé by a silent nod, and, +without uttering a word, entered the vessel, which instantly pushed off +from the shore, and set sail. Sir Pallé shook his head thoughtfully, +and looked after them as he listened, and thought he heard a distant +noise of arms and horses' hoofs without the castle gate. He hasted over +the small drawbridge before which he had stood on guard, and drew it up +hastily behind him. He then passed quickly through the private door +into the castle. + +On the opposite side of the outer fortification stood Drost Aagé with +his horsemen, who, according to his orders, had led their horses +slowly, and one at a time, over the half-completed drawbridge, which as +yet could not be drawn up. The strongly secured castle gate was shut, +and they had knocked several times, apparently without being heard by +any one. "Who is there?" at last said a drowsy voice from the +battlement over the gate. It was the watchman or warder of the castle, +who now stood up, with a long spear in the one hand, and an alarm horn +in the other. + +"Sleep'st thou at thy post, watch?" called Aagé, in a stern tone; +"seest thou not it is the king's men who would enter? Haste! let the +porter open to us instantly.--This is the new garrison." + +"New garrison! That know we nought of here," muttered the warder. "I +shall have to blow the horn, then, as the junker hath commanded." + +"A single sound costs thee thy life, fellow!" menaced the Drost. "Where +the king himself commands no junker hath a word to say." + +"The Lord bless you, if that be true, noble sir!" said the warder, +joyfully; "I shall then not have to ride the wooden horse to-morrow +because I slept?" + +"Haste thee! or we force the gates."--To Aagé's surprise, the castle +gate was opened without demur in a few minutes. The troop presently +filled the castle yard. Guards were immediately stationed at all the +entrances, as well as on the towers and the battlements on the wall +surrounding the fortress. This was done hastily, and with as little +noise as possible. The sound of so many horses' hoofs and clashing +weapons had, notwithstanding, awakened all the inhabitants of the +castle, who peeped in dismay out of the windows and loopholes, ignorant +into whose hands it had fallen. But the Drost now ordered three +trumpeters to call together all the unarmed household servants, with +all the men-at-arms in the castle. He announced to the warder and the +household, in the king's name, that they were released from their +duties here in the junker's service; and that the king for the present +had taken possession of the castle himself. Those who would enter his +service, and swear fealty to him, might remain; the rest were at +liberty to withdraw, and serve the junker at his other castles and +estates. On hearing this proclamation fear was suddenly changed into +general rejoicing, "Long live the king!" re-echoed from mouth to mouth. +There was not a single domestic who hesitated to change masters; and +many expressions and exclamations were heard which showed how little +Junker Christopher had understood to win the good will of his +dependants. As soon as the new force had garrisoned all the posts, +Drost Aagé, with the remainder of his troop, entered the castle. The +steward was the first person who appeared. He was a taciturn personage, +of short stature, with a half German accent. He delivered the keys of +the castle to the Drost, and seemed to share in the general +satisfaction; but as soon as he had installed his unexpected guests he +vanished, and did not again make his appearance. + +Ere the day had dawned, Drost Aagé was again on horseback, and, with +the half of his troop of horse, quitted Holbek castle, and took the +road to Kallundborg. Sir Ribolt's brother remained as commandant, with +strict orders not to open the gates to any one, or give up the castle +to the junker, ere he had the king's warrant and seal for so doing. + +"Sir Drost," said an old horseman, as they rode out of the still +slumbering town, amid its ruins and deserted sites, "was it then your +own order that we might not stop any one who would out of the castle; +and that none, under pain of death, might lift a hand against the +high-born junker, if he was on the spot?" + +"That was the king's command to us all," answered the Drost. + +"Then I now know that I was right, even though I did let rogues and +traitors slink off," continued the horseman. "I stood on guard at the +gate of the back court. Sir Drost, and I saw three men in disguise lead +their horses out of the stable. They disappeared through the rampart +gate close to the ford, and the Lord only knows what became of them. My +comrades thought we should have stopped and seized them, for they stole +so strangely away, and looked around them on all sides; but I said, +'No! it is a criminal act if we touch them,' and we let them 'scape. +The one was assuredly the little German who was forced to give you the +keys; the other was a fat fellow, who could hardly waddle away; but the +third was a tall stern man; he swore, and laid about him, at every +step. I could almost take my oath it was the junker himself. He was +hardly twelve paces from me when he caught a sight of me, and shyed +off, as it were.--He led his horse over the dunghill, that he might not +come too near us, I suppose; but then the hood fell back from his +neck, and I saw the long black hair you know of; it is as rough as a +horse-tail. No one in the country has such dark unsightly hair as +the junker. But, as I say, we let him go, and budged not from the +spot.--The king himself will know how to chastise him, thought I." + +"Good!" exclaimed the Drost; "thou hast behaved as was thy duty--as to +the rest, what is between the king and his brother concerns not us, and +still less whether the junker's hair be fine or coarse." He then +spurred his horse, and proceeded at a brisk trot, without stopping. + +Ere Drost Aagé, with his horsemen, reached Kallundborg, the king +approached the town, with the greater part of his chivalry, and a more +numerous troop of horsemen and spearmen than he was ever wont to take +with him when about to visit his vassals or one of his castles. It was +noon. The horses foamed with hard riding. The troop halted at St. +George's Hospital, upon the high hill just without the town. + + + + + CHAP. XIII. + + +The report of the king's arrival had preceded him. It had excited great +alarm in the whole neighbourhood, and had especially thrown the +burghers of Kallundborg into a state of anxious suspense. Their +devotion to the king, and fear of his wrath, placed them in a most +dangerous position with regard to their stern deputed master, Junker +Christopher, and his warlike commandant at the castle. Disquieting and +contradictory reports respecting a difference between the king and his +brother had already for some time been in circulation, but no one knew +the real state of the case. As Lord of Samsöe, Holbek, and Kallundborg, +Junker Christopher exercised an almost royal authority wherever he had +troops and fortresses under his command. Latterly he had been often +seen in Kallundborg, where he had assembled a considerable garrison at +the castle, and, to the dismay of the burghers, had put the +fortifications opposite the town and the land side into such a state of +defence as if the breaking out of a dangerous civil war might daily be +expected. Some weeks back admittance had been refused at the castle to +Marsk Oluffsen, who, with a small troop of men-at-arms, had demanded to +enter in the king's name. From this refractoriness towards a royal +ambassador it was thought the most serious results were now to be +apprehended. The prince himself went night and day to and from +Kallundborg; now with a large armed train on horseback, and now by sea +with the armed vessels which constantly plied between Samsöe and +Kallundborg, and conveyed both men-at-arms and provisions to the +fortress. No one knew whether Junker Christopher was personally present +at the castle at the time when the report of the king's arrival threw +the whole town into commotion; but it was observed with dismay that the +drawbridge was raised, and that serious preparations were making to +repel an attack. + +The king halted at the head of his numerous train on the hill, and +caused his white steed to be rubbed down while he looked down +thoughtfully upon town and castle. At his right hand was the brave +young Margrave Waldemar of Brandenborg, who had deferred his homeward +journey, and accompanied the king on this expedition, to take leave of +his good friend Junker Christopher, and, if possible, to avert the +storm which menaced him. At the king's left hand was seen his energetic +general, Count Henrik of Mecklenborg, who now, next to Drost Aagé, +seemed the king's most confidential friend. The troops watered their +horses at the pond by the chapel of the Holy Cross. All the cripples of +St. George's Hospital came out to see the king, and the numerous +fraternity of St. George, or demi-ecclesiastical attendants on the +sick, vied with each other in offering refreshments to him and his +train. The thronging and curious crowd kept, however, at a respectful +distance from the king and the two stranger lords. + +"Your grace will find the whole is some absurd mistake," said the young +margrave, in a light and careless tone, as he sprang off his horse, and +adjusted his rich attire. "At all events, it is assuredly nothing more +than a mistaken sense of honour in the junker, or rather in his +commandant here, and the brave Marsk Oluffsen; that excellent man hath +an altogether peculiar talent of offending every one, without dreaming +of doing so himself. That you must yourself have observed. Such persons +one can but employ to plague both friend and foe. I am fond of being +mediator between kinsmen and kind friends," he continued, gaily--"there +is nothing like drinking to a reconciliation after every quarrel, and +then all goes on merrily.--I know the junker's wine cellar at the +castle here; it is almost better than any prior's; if he willed not to +open it to your sharp spoken Marsk, he hath perhaps but wished to +reserve it for dearer guests." + +"The Lord grant we may have come hither to a friendly feast, Sir +Margrave!" answered the king, solemnly, and in a low tone, while his +gaze dwelt on the beautiful winter landscape which lay outstretched +before him. The sun beamed brightly on ford and town. The castle rose +proudly, with its round towers and high battlements, behind the shining +copper roof of the Franciscan monastery. Esbern Snaré's five Gothic +church spires pointed boldly towards the heavens from the ancient +church of St. Mary, while furthermost, and near the ford, the sea tower +proudly reared its head. "If my brother can justify himself," continued +the king, "he will surely now not shun my sight, but come to greet me +according to duty and fealty." + +"But he surely expects you not--he is perhaps out hunting, or roving +from one domain to another," said the margrave. "The noble junker's +blood is thick.--I have counselled him to be ever on the move, in order +to drive away melancholy fancies. I have often deplored that his +magnanimous hankering after action and distinction hath as yet no +decided object, and so often disturbs the balance of his princely mind, +giving occasion to even his nearest friends and kindred to misjudge +him." + +"If I see aright, noble king!" said Count Henrik, shading his eyes with +his hand from the sunshine, "yonder comes a crowd of people towards us +from the town. It must be the burghers, who would show you their +loyalty and devotion." + +"Hum! they were also leagued against the Marsk," said the king. "The +people are loyal to me personally--this I know, that were I to pass +through the country as a leprous beggar, no burgher or peasant would +shut his door upon me. In the eyes of many, no doubt, I seem a leper, +since the bishop's ban," he added; "yet I am every where met with +affection. It is only my brother who turns his back upon me, and +refuses me obedience in this time of need." + +"The noble junker is surely not here," resumed the margrave, "or he +would certainly never delay to crave your pardon for his commandant's +rashness, and to lead us to his well-appointed table--he hath put the +fortifications of the castle in excellent repair, I perceive--were I in +your grace's place I would thank him for that," he continued. +"Kallundborg is an important spot in time of war, and a good harbour +for your fleet." + +"For that very reason no vassal should presume to shut the castle on +the lawful ruler of the land, or his generalissimo," answered the king. +"I cannot but commend your endeavours to excuse my erring brother, Sir +Margrave," he added, abruptly; "and be assured, if he can be +acquitted,--if he can only give me his princely word that he hath had +no share in this contumacy,---he needs not that a stranger should plead +for him, where a brother is his liege and judge." + +The margrave bowed courteously, and was silent, while he passed his +hand over his brow, and appeared desirous to hide a look of annoyance. + +"Will your grace speak to the burghers now?" asked Count Henrik; "they +seem timidly waiting for permission to approach you." + +"They have it of course, count; let them come hither." + +Count Henrik rode to meet the lingering burgher crowd, and soon +returned to the king, accompanied by the burgomaster, and twelve of the +oldest burghers of the town, who, clad in their holiday attire, and +with their heads uncovered, reverently greeted their sovereign. After +several salutations, the burgomaster somewhat bashfully and humbly +began his address. "Most mighty liege and sovereign! your grace's +august presence--this poor town's joy at seeing your most royal +grace----" + +"Is not very great," interrupted the king; "say it out at once, +burgomaster, and speak without a long-winded preamble! You fear there +may be bounds to my most royal grace this time, and that I mean to call +you to strict account for the reception my Marsk hath met with here." + +"Your princely brother, our strict master, the junker, had ordered his +commandant at the castle"--stammered the burgomaster. + +"I speak not now of what he hath or hath not commanded his servants," +interrupted the king. "Such contumacy he himself, or his commandant, +shall answer for. But who enjoined you to refuse obedience to my +ambassadors?" + +"The commandant, in the junker's name, and in your own, my liege," +answered the burgomaster--"although we could not consider the behest as +lawful, or obey it, when the Marsk, with your authority, enjoined us +the reverse, after a short demur, what he demanded was even granted +him, and his people, though it came to cost us all dear." + +"What!" interrupted the king, with vehemence, "have ye since been +chastised because you obeyed my orders?" + +"We complain not, my liege, and least of all of your august kindred, +and the ruler you have given us--whatever injustice we have suffered is +but trifling, in comparison of our sorrow and shame if we have brought +upon us the displeasure of our noble liege and sovereign." + +"You have suffered injustice for your loyalty to me--could I then be +wroth with you, brave burghers?" said the king, with sudden emotion. +"By all the holy men! were I so, I should not longer deserve one loyal +and devoted heart among ye. The injustice ye have suffered shall be +atoned for--we are come hither to call to account for what here hath +been done--where is the junker?" + +"We know not, most mighty king!" + +"Where is his commandant, then? Why comes he not hither to receive us?" + +"He affirms he hath received commands, my liege, which are so hard to +believe that we dare not name them." + +"What! Who dares command here when I am present?" exclaimed the king, +with vehemence. "Yet, no; it is impossible," he added, more calmly, and +restrained his impatience. "The man must be sick or mad. Ride to the +castle, Count Henrik, and announce my coming! I will stay the night +here with my knights and an hundred men--you will care for the rest of +the men-at-arms, burgomaster!" + +Count Henrik was instantly in motion, and rode down with a small train +towards the castle. + +"Mighty king!" resumed the burgomaster, in a timid tone; "my life, and +the lives and property of my fellow burghers are at your service and +the country's; but be not wrath with us, my liege, for what it lay not +in our power to hinder! The castle gate is locked, the draw-bridge +raised, men-at-arms and balista are posted on the outer walls, and the +commandant hath announced to us that he hath orders to fire the town +with burning stones within twenty-four hours from the moment it is +beleaguered by your men-at-arms." + +"Doth he rave?" exclaimed the king. "Well, then, away with all grace +and mercy--we will see who is master here.--To horse, my men! You stand +under our royal protection, brave burghers!" he said to the burgomaster +and elders of the town. "If a straw is scorched over your heads for my +sake it shall dearly be atoned for! Every rebel and traitor I will +strictly punish, however high he may carry his head." + +"Honour to the king! to Eric, the youthful king!" shouted the +burgomaster, waving his hat; and this well known acclamation (derived +from a national ballad) was re-echoed by the whole burgher troop, amid +the waving of caps and hats. + +"Now place, good people!" ordered the king, reining in his steed. "I +will see who dares to lock the gate through which we would enter." + +"Permit me to detain your grace one moment," said the Margrave of +Brandenborg, who had again vaulted into his saddle, and now rode +hastily up to the king, with his head uncovered. "Ere you take any +compulsory step, I wish, as an impartial friend both of yours and your +princely brother, to have a minute's conversation with you without +witnesses." + +"Well, that shall not be denied you. Sir Margrave--Aside, my friends!" + +All withdrew to some distance and the margrave remained in the same +respectful attitude, with his high-plumed hat in his hand. "Your noble +brother hath honoured me with a confidence and friendship which makes +it my duty to plead his cause in his absence--what hath already been +done, and hereafter may be done, against your will, hath undoubtedly +the appearance of contumacy and treason: but it is impossible it should +be according to your noble brother's wish or order, for that,--(pardon +me this expression,)--for that I count him to be at least too _wise_. +Of our inmost heart and mind, He who knoweth the heart of man alone can +judge--I will stand security for Prince Christopher in this matter, +until he can stand forth in person before you to justify himself. I +offer my services to seek him out, and bring him to you. He must +certainly be at Holbek castle, or at Samsöe--Will you promise me so +long to delay every compulsory measure, and at the utmost only to +beleaguer the castle?" + +"Well, Sir Margrave! for twenty-four hours I will await him, but not an +hour longer. Till to-morrow at this time I will restrain my just wrath, +and with sheathed sword wait without the gate which hath been +presumptuously shut before mine eyes. But ere I hear another ave from +the pious Franciscans here--the castle shall be in my power; that I +vow, by all the holy men! as surely as I am lord here, and would be +called king in Denmark." + +"It is agreed, then, your grace!" answered the margrave, with spirit, +after a moment's deliberation. "If I stand not within twenty-four hours +with your brother acquitted before your sight--then let yon fair castle +mount up in smoke and flames--or take it with a storming hand! Count +Henrik hath no doubt a strong desire to show you his prowess and +generalship. Then I shall have done what lay in my power, and shown you +both, as I trust, that you have had a friend for your guest." + +"You have my word for it, Sir Margrave! I shall owe you thanks if your +good purpose succeed. See you how the shadow yonder falls from the +middle spire upon the cloister roof--It marks the bounds of my patience +to-morrow. The Lord and our holy Lady be with us all!" So saying, Eric +waved his right hand, and saluted the margrave, as he spurred his +horse, and rode forward at the head of his troop of warriors. The king +and his knights now rode down the hill in the direction of the castle, +while Margrave Waldemar, with his little train of German and Danish +men-at-arms, proceeded at full gallop on the road to Holbek. + + + + FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 1: "Marsk," a military title, corresponding in some degree to +our field marshal. This office, however, comprises civil as well as +military duties, the marsk being also one of the principal ministers of +state.] + +[Footnote 2: The private wrongs committed by Eric the Seventh, surnamed +Glipping, against his Marsk, Stig, a nobleman of high rank, had +rendered him his deadly foe. Stig headed a band of conspirators on the +22d of November, 1286, disguised as Franciscan monks, and murdered him +while asleep in a barn at the village of Finnerup, where he had taken +refuge from their pursuit. The king's chamberlain, a kinsman of Marsk +Stig, conducted the assassins to the place where the king lay +concealed.--_Translator's Note_.] + +[Footnote 3: Waldemar the Victorious was Eric Menved's +great-grandfather.] + +[Footnote 4: Drost, the prime minister of state in Denmark in the +middle ages; all state ministers however, in that age, were required to +serve in the field as well as in council. When the Drost was present, +he superseded the Marsk in the command of the army.--_Translator's +Note_.] + +[Footnote 5: Junker (pronounced Yunker) was the title of the sons of +the kings of Denmark in the middle ages, corresponding to that of +Infant in Spain.--_Translator's Note_.] + +[Footnote 6: Baron Holberg supposes that the word "carline" (kierlinge +in Danish) had its origin in the easy victories obtained by the +Northmen over the French, or Carlines, the subjects of Charles the +Bald: the word carline or kierlinge now signifying in Danish an old +woman, and applied in derision to the fainthearted of the other +sex.--_Translator_.] + +[Footnote 7: Esrom Lake, situated about eight English miles from +Elsinore, is a fair specimen of the placid lake scenery of Zealand. The +monastery is still in part in a habitable state.] + +[Footnote 8: "Axel and Valborg," one of the gems of Scandinavian +poetry. The interest of the poem turns on the separation of the hero +and heroine (who had been betrothed from childhood) by an interdict of +the church, on the plea of the parties standing within a forbidden +degree of affinity to each other. This affinity, however, consisted +merely in having one common godmother. Circumstances like these, +however trivial, were frequently made available by the church for the +extension of its power, and the furtherance of its secular interests.] + +[Footnote 9: Flynderborg, the castle at Elsinore, of which no vestiges +now remain. Its site was not far from that of the present castle of +Cronberg.] + +[Footnote 10: At this period the Hanseatic merchants were absolute +masters of the whole trade of the Baltic. The Danish fleet was in a +reduced state, and the Hanse were therefore under the necessity of +guarding the seas themselves, for the security of their trade. This was +peculiarly the case during the disturbed reign of Eric Glipping, when +the northern pirate, Alf Erlingsen, infested the Danish seas. This is +the subject of a ballad still preserved among the Danish peasantry,-- + + "The German men they sailed up the sound, + With meal and with malt sailed they, + But Erlingsen's ships there to meet them they found, + And theirs he took all for his prey." + +In the time of Eric Glipping the Hanse had no less than thirty armed +vessels stationed in the sound at Elsinore.--_Translator's Note_.] + +[Footnote 11: Carl the German.] + +[Footnote 12: The Kareles were a heathen tribe of Livonia, conquered by +the Swedes, under the command of Marsk Torkild Knudson.] + +[Footnote 13: A characteristic exclamation of King Eric, who according +to Holberg, scrupled making use of a stronger expression, even in +confirmation of the most solemn engagements.--_Translator's Note_.] + +[Footnote 14: In the early ages of Denmark the people bore an important +part in the affairs of government, a fact of which there are traces at +this day in the Norwegian constitution, in which the peasantry as a +class are represented. The people at large decided on war or peace, nor +was any royal decree considered valid until it had obtained their +consent. Every town had its own "Ting," or place of assembly, in the +open air; a large flat stone, placed in the centre of a circle of +upright ones, served as a platform for the speakers. In these +assemblies the peasants discussed, not only public affairs, but decided +on all private differences, &c. Saxo Grammaticus blames King Svend +Grathé for neglecting to attend these meetings of the people. In such +assemblies the king was not permitted to take his leave until he had +greeted even the meanest of his subjects, and sent a friendly greeting +to his family. The English reader may perhaps require to be reminded of +these facts, in order fully to perceive that Jeppé is a representative +of his class in that age.--_Translator's Note_.] + +[Footnote 15: Dyrendal, the name of Roland's sword, afterwards used for +swords in general by the Danes. Scandinavian warriors esteemed their +swords above all other treasures. If a sword had done good service, it +was distinguished by some epithet expressive of the deeds it had +achieved. The sword of King Hagen of Norway was called "quærn bider," +or mill-stone biter, from having cut through a mill-stone. If the owner +of such a sword had no immediate descendants, it was buried beside him +in his grave.--_Translator's Note_.] + +[Footnote 16: King Glipping, so called from his twinkling eye.] + +[Footnote 17: Fragment of an old Danish ballad.] + +[Footnote 18: A valuable collection of historical documents made by +King Eric, called Congesta Menvedi.] + +[Footnote 19: Sveno Agonis, a Danish historian contemporary with Saxo +Grammaticus.] + + + + END OF THE FIRST VOLUME. + + + + + London: + Printed by A. 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Vol. I.</title> +<meta name="Author" content="Bernard Severin Ingemann"> +<meta name="Publisher" content="Long, Brown, Green, ;amp; Longmans"> +<meta name="Date" content="1843"> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1"> +<style type="text/css"> +body {margin-left:10%; + margin-right:10%; background-color:#FFFFFF;} + + + +p.normal {text-indent:.25in; text-align: justify;} +.center {margin: auto; text-align:center; margin-top:24pt; margin-bottom:24pt} + + + +p.right {text-align:right; margin-right:20%;} + +p.continue {text-indent: 0in; margin-top:9pt;} +.text10 {margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:10%; margin-right:0px; font-size:90%;} +.text20 {margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:20%; margin-right:0px; font-size:90%;} + + +.poem0 { + margin-top: 24pt; margin-left: 0%; + margin-right: 0%; text-align: left; + margin-bottom: 24pt; font-size:90%} + +.poem1 { + margin-top: 24pt; margin-left: 2em; + margin-right: 10%; text-align: left; + margin-bottom: 24pt; font-size:90%} + +.poem2 { + margin-top: 24pt; margin-left: 5em; + margin-right: 10%; text-align: left; + margin-bottom: 24pt; font-size:90%} + +.poem3 { + margin-top: 24pt; margin-left: 30%; + margin-right: 10%; text-align: left; + margin-bottom: 24pt; font-size:90%} + + + + + +figcenter {margin:auto; text-align:center; margin-top:9pt;} + +.t0 {margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0em; margin-right:0px;} +.t1 {margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:1em; margin-right:0px;} +.t2 {margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:2em; margin-right:0px;} +.t3 {margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:3em; margin-right:0px;} +.t4 {margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:4em; margin-right:0px;} +.t5 {margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:5em; margin-right:0px;} +.t6 {margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:6em; margin-right:0px;} +.t7 {margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:7em; margin-right:0px;} +.t8 {margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:8em; margin-right:0px;} +.t9 {margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:9em; margin-right:0px;} +.t10 {margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:10em; margin-right:0px;} +.t11 {margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:11em; margin-right:0px;} +.t12 {margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:12em; margin-right:0px;} +.t13 {margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:13em; margin-right:0px;} +.t14 {margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:14em; margin-right:0px;} +.t15 {margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:15em; margin-right:0px;} +.t16 {margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:16em; margin-right:0px;} + + +.quote {text-indent:.25in; text-align: justify; font-size:90%; margin-top:36pt; margin-bottom:36pt} +.ctrquote {text-align: center; font-size:90%; margin-top:36pt; margin-bottom:36pt} + +.dateline {text-align:right; font-size:90%; margin-right:10%; margin-top:24pt; margin-bottom:24pt} + +h1,h2,h3,h4,h5 {text-align: center;} + +span.sc {font-variant: small-caps; font-size:100%;} +span.sc2 {font-variant: small-caps; font-size:90%;} + +hr.W10 {width:10%; color:black; margin-top:24pt; margin-bottom:24pt} + +hr.W20 {width:20%; color:black;} + +hr.W50 {width:50%; color:black;} +hr.W90 {width:90%; color:black;} + +p.hang1 {margin-left:1em; text-indent:-1em;} +p.hang2 {margin-left:1em; text-indent:0em;} + + +</style> + +</head> + +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of King Eric and the Outlaws, Vol. 1, by +Bernhard Severin Ingemann + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: King Eric and the Outlaws, Vol. 1 + or, the Throne, the Church, and the People in the Thirteenth + Century. Vol. I. + +Author: Bernhard Severin Ingemann + +Translator: Jane Frances Chapman + +Release Date: July 5, 2011 [EBook #36631] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK KING ERIC AND THE OUTLAWS, VOL. 1 *** + + + + +Produced by Charles Bowen, from page scans provided by the Web Archive + + + + + +</pre> + +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<p class="hang1">Transcriber's Note:<br> + +<br> +1. Page scan source:<br> +http://www.archive.org/details/kingericandoutl02chapgoog</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<div style="line-height:200%"> +<h2>KING ERIC</h2> + +<h5>AND</h5> + +<h3>THE OUTLAWS.</h3> + +<h4>VOL. I.</h4> +</div> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<div style="line-height:200%"> +<h2>KING ERIC</h2> + +<h5>AND</h5> + +<h3>THE OUTLAWS.</h3> + +<h4>VOL. I.</h4> +</div> + +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>NOTICE</h2> + +<h5>TO</h5> + +<h3>BOOKSELLERS,</h3> +<h4>PROPRIETORS OF CIRCULATING LIBRARIES,</h4> +<h4>AND THE PUBLIC.</h4> + +<hr class="W20"> + +<p class="normal">The Publishers of this work give notice that it is Copyright, and that +in case of infringement they will avail themselves of the Protection +now granted by Parliament to English Literature.</p> + +<p class="normal">Any person having in his possession for sale or for hire a Foreign +edition of an English Copyright is liable to a penalty, which the +Publishers of this work intend to enforce.</p> + +<p class="normal">It is necessary also to inform the Public generally, that single Copies +of such works imported by travellers for their own reading are now +prohibited, and the Custom-house officers in all our ports have strict +orders to this effect.</p> + +<p class="normal">The above regulations are equally in force in our Dependencies and +Colonial Possessions.</p> + +<p style="text-indent:3em"><i>London</i>, <i>June</i>, 1843.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h5><span class="sc">London</span>:<br> +Printed by <span class="sc">A. Spottiswoode</span>,<br> +New-Street-Square.</h5> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<div style="line-height:200%"> +<h1>KING ERIC</h1> + +<h5>AND</h5> + +<h2>THE OUTLAWS;</h2> + +<h5>OR,</h5> + +<h3>THE THRONE, THE CHURCH, AND THE PEOPLE,</h3> +</div> +<h4>IN THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY.</h4> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h5>BY</h5> +<h3>INGEMANN</h3> +<br> +<br> +<h4>TRANSLATED FROM THE DANISH BY</h4> +<h3>JANE FRANCES CHAPMAN.</h3> +<br> +<br> + +<hr style="width:10%; color:black"> +<h4>IN THREE VOLUMES.</h4> +<h3>VOL. I.</h3> +<hr style="width:10%; color:black"> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h3>LONDON:</h3> +<h4>LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, & LONGMANS,</h4> +<h5>PATERNOSTER-ROW.</h5> +<h3>1843.</h3> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE.</h2> + + +<p class="normal">The historical records and traditions of Denmark, as well as the modern +productions of Danish genius, are almost equally unknown to the general +reader is England. While German, Swedish, and Italian works of any +recognised merit, readily find translators, and the ancient ballads of +Spain have received their English dress from an able and poetic pen, it +appears somewhat singular that so little notice has hitherto been +bestowed on the literature of a country, whose rich historical +recollections are so closely interwoven with those of Anglo-Saxon +England.</p> + +<p class="normal">Though but little known in other lands, the ancient traditional lore of +Scandinavia is nevertheless the source from which some of the most +distinguished Danish writers of the present day, have selected their +happiest themes, and drawn their brightest inspiration. The influence +of the Saga, or traditional romance of Scandinavia, and of the +"Kjœmpe Visé," or heroic ballad, is peculiarly apparent in the works +of M. Ingemann.</p> + +<p class="normal">The close adherence to historic outline--the development of character +by action and dialogue--the delineation of scenery by brief though +vivid sketches, in preference to elaborate description, are +characteristics of Saga romance which M. Ingemann has been eminently +successful in imparting to his own delineations of the chivalrous age +of Denmark.</p> + +<p class="normal">The Kjœmpe Visé, or heroic ballads which succeeded to the Saga in +the North, and bear the impress of a kindred spirit, contain a store of +historic tradition, and poetic incident, equally valuable to the +antiquary who delights to trace the customs and manners of a remote +age, and to the poet who seeks his inspiration from the historic muse +of his Fatherland.</p> + +<p class="normal">These vivid and truthful records of the middle ages of Denmark are to +the modern writer of romance, what the oral traditions of the heroic +age were to the chronicler of the Saga. They relate not only the +exploits of northern warriors in their own, and in distant lands, but +are also especially interesting, from the light they throw on the +personal history of Denmark's most chivalrous monarchs. Their joys and +sorrows, their sterner passions and gentler affections, are described +by the national minstrel in a strain of simple and touching +earnestness, which wins the full sympathy of the reader. This power of +delineating human passion lends a charm even to some ballads, handing +down the wildest superstitions of a superstitious age. In Germany the +Danish ballads are known through the translations of Professor Grimm, +who has entered with the enthusiasm both of an antiquary and a poet, +into the spirit of Scandinavian lore. In the preface to his version of +the "Kjœmpe Visé," M. Grimm dwells with peculiar pleasure on those +ballads which have not only supplied M. Ingemann with much of the +incident, but have also suggested the individual colouring of the +historic portraits of "Eric and the Outlaws." All the prominent +characters introduced into this romance from King Eric himself, down to +Morten the cook, are historical, and enacted scarcely less romantic +parts in the drama of real life, than those assigned them by M. +Ingemann.</p> + +<p class="normal">The struggle with papal authority--the encroachments of the Hanse +towns--and the invidious attempts of the "Leccarii," (the socialists of +the 13th century) were important features of that interesting period +which this work is designed to illustrate.</p> + +<p class="normal">The translator is aware of the difficulty of attracting attention to a +romance drawn from Danish history; the work also makes its appearance +without any of those adventitious advantages which sometimes ensure a +favourable introduction to the public--it is translated by an unknown +pen--is unaided by patronage of any kind--and has solely its own merits +to rely on for success. It would afford no slight gratification to the +translator were these to be appreciated by the reading public of a +nation, which not only in its early history, is closely connected with +Denmark, but which has inherited from Scandinavian ancestors, that +indomitable spirit which rendered them in olden time masters of the +seas.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>KING ERIC</h2> +<h3>AND THE OUTLAWS.</h3> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER I.</h2> + +<p class="normal">On the north-eastern coast of Zealand, about two miles from Gilleleié, +is situate the village of Sjöberg, where the spade and the ploughshare +occasionally strike against the foundations of ancient buildings, and +traces yet remain of the paved streets of towns, the names of which are +no longer known, and over which the corn now grows or the cattle graze. +Towards the close of the thirteenth century there was still standing a +small town, built on the ruins of the ancient Sjöberg. On a hill, +surrounded by the water-reeds of the now nearly dried-up lake, +fragments of walls of hewn free-stone lie buried in the earth, and mark +the site of the strong and well fortified castle, which in the +thirteenth and fourteenth centuries served as a place of confinement +for state prisoners of importance. The spot on which the castle stood +was then entirely surrounded by the lake, which thus formed a natural +fastness, rendering artificial moats superfluous. The castle was +surrounded by ramparts. It was built of massive free-stone, and had a +strong square tower, in which the most dangerous state prisoners were +confined. The air was close and bad in the subterranean dungeon of the +tower, where no ray of light could enter; but the upper dungeon, at the +height of thirty-six feet from the ground, admitted light and air +through a small round grated window. In this upper prison, towards the +close of the year 1295, was still confined one of the chief accomplices +in Marsk<a name="div2Ref_01" href="#div2_01"><sup>[1]</sup></a> Stig's conspiracy<a name="div2Ref_02" href="#div2_02"><sup>[2]</sup></a>, the turbulent and imperious +Archbishop Iens Grand. He had been imprisoned here during the minority +of Eric Menved, as an accomplice in the murder of Eric Glipping, and as +the protector of the outlawed regicides.</p> + +<p class="normal">This dangerous prelate had many adherents in the country, and possessed +powerful friends among the potentates of Europe, as well as at the +papal see. According to the famous constitution of Veile (<i>cum ecclesiæ +Dacianæ</i>), which had been the cause of such dangerous disputes between +the kings and clergy of Denmark, the nation was immediately laid under +an interdict prohibiting the performance of divine worship throughout +the kingdom, on the seizure and imprisonment of a bishop by the king or +any temporal authority. This, however, was not carried into effect on +the seizure and imprisonment of Archbishop Grand. Not only love of +their country and dread of the ungodliness, profligacy, and confusion, +the certain consequences of a national punishment of this nature, had +prompted the greater part of the Danish clergy to appeal to the pope +against the enforcement of this penalty, but also their fears of +temporal power and the people's wrath. The closing of the churches +might have been followed by perilous consequences to the clergy +themselves, at a time when the agitation caused by a regicide had not +yet subsided, and the excited passions of the populace often broke out +in scenes of blood and violence. This important question remained +undecided at the court of Rome. Divine worship meanwhile was continued +as usual, but fears were reasonably entertained, that, should the +archbishop not speedily be set at liberty, the interdict would be +confirmed by the pope, and the nation consequently plunged into a state +of the greatest misery.</p> + +<p class="normal">King Eric Menved had attained his majority, having completed his +twenty-first year. The circumstances under which he had passed his +childhood had conduced to the early formation of manly character, and +to the development of his intellectual qualities. The outrage committed +on the royal person, to which he had been witness in his childhood, had +early awakened the consciousness of authority within his breast, and +imparted something of passionate earnestness to his zeal in the +administration of justice. He was deeply imbued with the chivalrous +spirit of the age. The care with which he upheld the dignity of the +crown was deemed by many a necessary policy in so perilous a time, but +this anxiety for the maintenance of royal splendour, joined to his +natural gaiety of disposition, had inspired the young monarch with a +love of pomp and outward show, which was often censured as ostentatious +vanity. The earnest solemnity with which he assumed the regal sceptre +indicated a manly and resolute temper, early disciplined to firmness in +the school of adversity; and the boldness with which he issued his +first royal mandates bespoke a master spirit, conscious of kindred +affinity with Waldemar the Victorious, the model as well as the +ancestor of the young king,<a name="div2Ref_03" href="#div2_03"><sup>[3]</sup></a> Eric's first exercise of royal power was +a bold attempt to assert the authority of his crown against the +mightiest of earthly potentates, who from St. Peter's chair swayed +kings as well as people in all Christian lands. This the young monarch +dared to do, even at a time when his personal happiness was in a great +measure dependent on the favour of the papal see. He had despatched his +oldest and most experienced councillor of state, Ion Little, as well as +Drost Hessel<a name="div2Ref_04" href="#div2_04"><sup>[4]</sup></a>, to Rome, to justify as an act of lawful self-defence +the proceedings against the archbishop, contrary to ecclesiastical law, +and to demand his condemnation as a traitor to the crown. But besides +this important mission, the aged councillor was entrusted with another, +which at any other time would not have been attended with difficulty, +although at the present juncture its favourable issue seemed doubtful, +in proportion to its being of moment to the king. Little had been +commissioned to obtain from the pope, and forward to Denmark with all +possible dispatch, the long promised dispensation, empowering Eric to +wed the beautiful princess Ingeborg of Sweden, to whom he had been +betrothed in infancy, and had long loved as the companion of his +childhood, and whom he now adored with all the devotedness and fervour +of first and youthful love.</p> + +<p class="normal">While the Danish embassy was detained at the papal court by all the +artifices of tedious investigation and diplomatic ambiguity, the papal +nuncio, Cardinal Isarnus, had been dispatched to Denmark, for the +purpose of threatening the young Danish sovereign with excommunication +in case he should refuse to release the archbishop unconditionally from +imprisonment. The wily cardinal brought with him no letter from the +pope touching the dispensation and permission for the royal marriage; +but expressed himself on the subject in so dubious and enigmatical a +manner, that it was evident the court of Rome designed to work upon the +inexperienced monarch's feelings in a matter so nearly concerning his +personal happiness, in order the more effectually to secure his +submission to papal authority and his clemency towards the +ecclesiastical offender at Sjöberg.</p> + +<p class="normal">This mode of proceeding, however, was so far from producing, its +intended effect on the young and impetuous King Eric, that it appeared +to rouse him to such a pertinacious defiance of papal authority, as +might be followed by dangerous consequences both to himself and the +kingdom. The affair still remained undecided--the cardinal had quitted +Denmark with fearful menaces, and was now at Lubec.</p> + +<p class="normal">The haughty Archbishop Grand, who was alone the cause of this suspense +and impending danger, was detained meanwhile in close captivity. During +the first thirty-six weeks of his imprisonment he was confined in +chains in the dark, deep, subterranean dungeon of the tower, and was +left to suffer great misery and want, although most persons acquitted +the young king (then in his minority) of having been accessary to this +severity of treatment. The archbishop's fellow-prisoner, the traitorous +and malevolent provost Jacob, had been released from prison on the plea +of illness, but had immediately availed himself of this act of clemency +to hasten to Rome, where he zealously laboured to stir up hostile +feelings towards the king, and neglected no means of forwarding the +liberation of the archbishop and their mutual revenge.</p> + +<p class="normal">The preceding Christmas the king had visited Sjöberg, and had himself +offered to give the archbishop his freedom, on the condition of his +vacating the archiepiscopal chair, of his quitting the kingdom, and +swearing to renounce all revenge, and give up all connection with the +enemies of the crown. Notwithstanding the haughty defiance and scorn +with which the archbishop had rejected this proposition, the rigour of +his captivity was mitigated by the king's command, and he was placed in +the upper dungeon he now inhabited, where he wanted neither light nor +air, but where, as yet, he remained closely guarded and strongly +fettered as before. As soon, however, as the king had left the castle, +the condition of the captive became once more extremely miserable. The +steward, Jesper Mogensen, was notorious for his avarice, his cruelty, +and hypocritical bearing; and the king's brother. Junker<a name="div2Ref_05" href="#div2_05"><sup>[5]</sup></a> +Christopher, was accused of having had a great share in the severity of +the archbishop's treatment, although the prince took every opportunity +of blaming the king's conduct in this matter, and counselled him to +make any sacrifice and submit to any humiliation, to avoid a formal +breach with the church and the papal see.</p> + +<p class="normal">One evening in the month of October the steward of Sjöberg, accompanied +by the cook and an old turnkey, ascended the winding stairs which led +to the archbishop's prison and to the turnkey's chamber immediately +above it. The strong light of a dark lanthorn, which the cook held up +before him, fell full upon the countenance and form of the steward:--he +was a short, strong-built man, with a true hangman's visage, in which +the expression of ferocity and malice was combined with an air of wily +hypocrisy; a shaggy cap was slouched over his low and narrow forehead; +he wore a dirty coat of sheep's skin, and tramped up the stone stairs +in heavy iron-shod boots, apparently in great wrath and alarm. "That +limb of Satan! that ungodly priest!" he muttered, "if he hath dealings +with the Evil One, chains will be of no use here."</p> + +<p class="normal">"As I tell thee, master," answered the portly, round-faced cook, with +an air of importance, "he talks with invisible spirits, and no turnkey +dares any longer watch by him. He is as regularly bound to the Evil One +as I am to thee, saving that <i>he</i> cannot shift his service, and leave +his master when he pleases; you remember, no doubt, I gave you warning +at the right time, and am free to be off either to-day or to-morrow, if +I please. The devil take me if I stay longer here, since--since he is +here already, I was near saying."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Pshaw, Morten! thou shalt stay here till I get another cook: that thou +didst promise me. But what hath given rise to all this talk about his +sorceries?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"There is something in it," answered the cook. "No one knows the Black +Art out and out as he does. You know yourself that Junker Christopher's +folk found the book on the Black Art among the letters from the +outlaws, when they ferreted the bishop's secrets out of the chest in +Lund sacristy. The book burned their fingers, and vanished instantly +out of their hands. Such a devil's book always comes back to its +master. That he hath not got it as yet, I am certain; but I fear he has +it all at his fingers' ends. They said he never wearied of studying it +at Lund, and he knows all the heathen and Greek books better by heart +than his Paternoster, the ungodly hound!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Thou art right, Morten! He <i>is</i> a limb of Satan, and one cannot watch +him too narrowly. His confounded learning never hit my fancy." Here the +steward paused thoughtfully near the door of the archbishop's prison.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes, take care, master!" resumed the cook; "he will soon fill the +house with his devilries, and set all the imps in hell to plague us, if +he doth not get his prison cleaned, and better meat and drink. It would +please me right well were he to die of hunger and be eaten up of +vermin. Such end would still be a thousand times too good for such an +accursed traitor and wizard; but when the Evil One is in the house, it +is wisest to remember one's own little transgressions, and not use a +captive devil worse than we would he should use us."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Pshaw, Morten! the devil is not our neighbour," interrupted the +steward with a suspicious look. "Had I not myself heard thee curse and +mock the archbishop, I should almost suspect thou wert in league with +him."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Nay, master! I can soon clear myself of that; I would sooner league +with Beelzebub himself. The turnkeys can bear witness there is not one +among them all that takes such delight in plaguing and vexing him as I +do. When he is forced to drink muddy water, and eat mouldy bread like a +swine yonder, I sing drinking songs below in the kitchen, and throw +open the window that he may snuff up the scent of the roasting; and I +never come nigh his door without singing one thing or another, which I +know will make him turn yellow, black, and green with rage. I made a +song last spring, all about freedom and fair green woods, that always +enrages him. Now you shall hear, master:" and he sang loudly before the +prison door,--</p> + +<div class="poem2"> +<p class="t0" style="text-indent:-8px">"A blithe bird flits round Sjöberg's tower,</p> +<p class="t1">Right merrily sings he,</p> +<p class="t0">Rise, captive, if thou hast the power,</p> +<p class="t1">Rise up and flee with me;</p> +<p class="t0">And then thou'lt breathe the fresh spring air,</p> +<p class="t1">And roam in greenwood gay;</p> +<p class="t0">Then speed we to thy castle fair,</p> +<p class="t1">To Hammershuus away."</p> +</div> + +<p class="normal">"Hast thou lost thy wits, Morten?" interrupted the steward. "Wouldst +thou stir him up to flee to his castle at Bornholm?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"He may let that alone while he is here. Heard you not how deep he +sighed? It was from rage and grief to think the least spring bird can +fly to its castle and build its nest, while he can stir neither hand +nor foot. I made that song on purpose to plague him."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Thou art right, Morten! it <i>did</i> plague him," said the steward with a +look of satisfaction. "Thou art an honest soul; I heard myself how deep +he sighed: nevertheless, thou shalt not sing him any more such songs; +they only serve to put fancies into his head. Thou art a good, +well-meaning fellow, Morten! I know it well; but thou art somewhat +simple. If the bishop knew the Black Art, he would not have been here +so long. I rather incline to think his brain is cracked."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Have a care, master; that fellow hath all his wits about him; there is +not a bishop in all the country can beat him at Latin."</p> + +<p class="normal">"It matters not to me whether he be mad or wise," muttered the steward, +who mounted the stairs leading to the turnkey's room. He opened the +door of this chamber, which was the uppermost in the tower, and +directly above the archbishop's prison. Here two turnkeys were always +on guard, and watched the prisoner through a chink in the floor. During +the night two others were usually stationed in the captive's dungeon, +and sat beside his couch, when it was their wont to plague him, and by +their talk often to prevent his sleeping; but the report which had +recently been spread abroad of the archbishop's sorceries, had so +terrified the inmates of Sjöberg, that none dared any longer remain at +night in the captive's chamber. The two sentinels were seated before a +backgammon board, and were throwing the dice when the steward entered. +They hastily concealed them, and rose respectfully.</p> + +<p class="normal">"This is doing duty finely," muttered the steward: "while ye sit here +and game, ye suffer him below there to play with Satan for his soul. Ye +had best keep your eyes upon him, I counsel ye. If he gets loose, ye +may make as sure of being hanged, as if ye had already the halter round +your necks, and the clear air for a footstool. Now let's see what he is +after." So saying the steward stooped down to the hole in the floor and +peeped below. "He surely sleeps," he whispered; "he lies on his back +without stirring."</p> + +<p class="normal">"That he is well nigh forced to do, because of his chains and the +pestilent smell," said the cook.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well," answered the steward, "one should not despise any means which +might save an erring soul. It is for this reason, seest thou, I suffer +the hardened sinner below there to lie in such swinish plight. +<i>Ignorant</i> folk would call it cruel; it is in truth pure compassion. +How long thinkest thou the most hardened offender can hold out such +captivity without repenting of his misdeeds and creeping to the cross?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Ay, there doubtless you are in the right, master! You have pious and +fatherly manner, and even generously exposed yourself to the risk of +drawing down on you the king's wrath a second time, simply for the sake +of exercising true Christian compassion, and saving the sinner's soul; +but he is insensible to it, the scoundrel. His obstinacy is matchless. +Could you believe it, master? Notwithstanding all you do to bring him +to repentance and conversion, he curses you, nevertheless, every hour +of the day, and wishes you may come to suffer a thousand times more +torments in hell than you have here caused him to undergo out of pure +Christian charity!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I can well believe it, Morten; from such sort of folk one should never +look for gratitude; but the roof and ceiling are in too sorry a +plight," muttered the steward looking around him: "under the blue sky +he needs not to sleep, either; it might be dangerous besides."</p> + +<p class="normal">"It was done according to your own order, master," resumed the cook in +a credulous tone, and staring with an air of simplicity at the holes in +the ceiling and the roof, "else it could never have rained down on that +confounded Satan. Of a surety he will let alone flying with the owls +through the roof; and when the nights are cold, a little rain and hail +are right proper means of bringing him to reflection and confession of +his sins."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well, it is true, Morten; I myself <i>partly</i> commanded it: but one +should have moderation in all things; it should not appear as if the +roof had been uncovered on purpose. Evil tongues will have plenty to +talk of as it is. To-morrow the roof shall be repaired. Some small +holes may remain--they will not catch the eye--fresh air is wholesome; +even a little rain and snow may have their use. Not a rain-drop falls +to the earth, Morten, but it may prove a means for the conversion of a +hardened sinner."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Ah, master," said Morten, with a tremulous voice and clasped hands, +"you should, by my troth, have been a bishop: you often speak so +touchingly and edifyingly that the tears start into mine eyes."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well," answered the steward with a self-satisfied smile, "I was, +indeed, once intended to become a churchman, and though I got not the +tonsure, I nevertheless learned many pious and useful truths during my +noviciate; but it is not sufficient to <i>know</i> the truth, we must, by my +troth, know how to <i>use</i> it for one's own and one's fellow-creature's +salvation."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Ah, yes, master," resumed Morten, with a devout look, "who is there +can say <i>that</i> with as good a conscience as yourself? 'Tis a hard +calling for a pious Christian conscience and a compassionate soul like +yours, to be forced to play such bloodhound and hangman's tricks on a +poor captive; but what will not one do for duty and precious virtue's +sake, and to save an erring soul! Such a pious bloodhound and +hangman----"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Hold thy tongue, Morten," interrupted the steward; "thou must never +use such words in speaking of thy master, however well and honestly +thou meanst it. But hark! he speaks below there: canst hear what he +says? It seems to me it is Latin or Greek."</p> + +<p class="normal">The cook threw himself on his stomach and laid his ear close to the +hole in the floor. "Our Lady preserve us!" he whispered with a look of +affright, "he is calling on Aristoteles, the devil's schoolmaster, and +is giving him directions about you; he swears that you are right ready +to enter his school."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Ay, indeed, it is just like the ungodly scoundrel! but I thought I +heard another voice--there is surely no one with him?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Morten listened again. "Master! heard you <i>that</i>?" he exclaimed, +springing up with a look of terror, and looking towards the door as if +he meant to escape.</p> + +<p class="normal">"How now? What's that? What hath possessed thee, Morten? What heardest +thou?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Stoop down your ear to the hole, master, and you shall hear. Our Lady +graciously preserve us! The Evil One is manifestly with him. He is to +fetch you at midnight if you do not presently give his good friend, the +archbishop, meat and wine and clean garments. Only listen yourself!"</p> + +<p class="normal">The steward cast a suspicious look at the cook, yet stooped to listen +at the hole, keeping his eye all the while on Morten and the terrified +turnkeys. He had not remained long in this position, ere he rose up +deadly pale, and the name of Jesper Mogensen, accompanied by the sound +of smothered and unnatural laughter, rung hollow as from an abyss, and +in a voice wholly unlike the archbishop's. "Heard ye it not yourself, +master?" said Morten; "he who now calls on <i>you</i> I desire not to see +near <i>me</i>."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Silence!" whispered the steward, stooping again with a look of alarm +towards the crevice in the floor.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Jesper Mogensen!" said the same terrific voice as if directly under +his feet, "cherish my learned master and customer, or I will break thy +neck, and turn inside out thy hypocritical soul."</p> + +<p class="normal">While this voice rang through the chamber the turnkeys lay flat on +their faces on the floor, and repeated their Avemaria. The steward +trembled and shook; but Morten's cheeks now glowed crimson, and his +eyes watered, as if affected by some secret exertion, while his lips +were firmly compressed, and he stood apparently speechless with terror.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then let him have what he wants," stammered forth the steward. "If +there are <i>such</i> tricks in the game, neither Junker Christopher, nor +any one else, can require me to peril my life and soul any longer. Set +thee to roast for the bishop in Satan's name, Morten! Let him eat and +drink himself to death if he pleases! but escape he shall not, let him +have ever so many devils for his friends."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You will find it hard to hinder him, master," said Morten in a timid +tone; "he who so can roar would deem it a small matter to fly through +the key-hole with a bishop."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I must see that, ere I believe it," said the steward, who appeared to +have regained his self-possession, and recovered from his fright. "Thou +art an honest fellow, Morten, but thou art somewhat credulous and +simple--there is perhaps some trick in this. But this I would have +thee, and all of ye, to know--if I smell a rat, or if any of ye have +the least hand or part in this devilry, ye shall rue it dearly: ye +shall be burned alive, or broken on the wheel, as surely as there is +law and justice in the land."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Our Lady preserve us, master!" exclaimed the terrified turnkeys in the +same breath.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I tell ye," continued the steward, "'tis nought else but trick and +treachery. To try him below there, I will let him have good cheer and +cleanliness for a time; but if he kicks up any more riots of this kind, +he shall below in the dungeon again: and this I tell ye, knaves! if any +of you dare help him to flight, one for all, and all for one, ye shall +be hanged! Ye shall all three watch here to-night."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Alack! we dare not, master!" said the old turnkey. "If there is +sorcery in the tower, we dare not stay here, unless Morten the cook +stay too, to keep up our courage."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Stay, then, with these stupid knaves to-night, Morten!" said the +steward. "After all thou art the wisest among them. I shall owe thee +for it, and to-morrow I shall get fellows enough with some spirit in +them."</p> + +<p class="normal">"It is all one to me, master!" answered Morten. "I will keep up their +spirits tonight. He who, like you and I, hath a good conscience, need +not fear a few devil's tricks."</p> + +<p class="normal">"True enough, Morten! thou shalt first follow me down stairs. I am +somewhat dizzy from stooping; and then thou canst at the same time +fetch meat and drink for the prisoner and all of ye."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Come, master, take hold of my arm!" said Morten, following the steward +out of the door. "All is quiet and orderly," he continued, as they +descended the stair. "I thought it would be so--one good turn deserves +another. You'll find, we shall get at last so used to these impish +tricks that we shall not care a rush for them; and why should not one +learn to put up with two or three little devils, when they choose to +behave themselves courteously, and live in Christian concord and sweet +family union with us?"</p> + +<p class="normal">When Morten had attended the steward to the bottom of the stairs, he +ran into his chamber, and from thence to the kitchen and pantry. He +presently mounted the tower stairs again, and returned to his comrades +with a bundle of clothes, two baskets of provisions, and a couple of +flagons of wine. "Take thou the meat and wine and clothes to the hound +below, Mads!" said he to the old turnkey; "but steal not aught thereof +on the way! Master says the chamber is to be made clean and neat. A +guard will henceforth be placed outside the door night and day, so that +thou need'st not load him with all the fetters. Meanwhile let us here +get something to keep life in us. Look, comrades! I have both mead and +German ale with me. Only get thee gone, Mads; we will surely leave +something for thee, if thou comest back sober."</p> + +<p class="normal">The old man cast a longing look at the wine and good cheer he was to +take to the captive, and departed. Morten now busied himself in placing +the provisions on the table, and presently began to carouse merrily +with the two younger turnkeys. The one had borne arms, and styled +himself Niels the horseman; he was a lover of strong drink, and had +rather a red nose. The other was a timid and cautious personage, with a +cunning and miserly cast of countenance. He sat with the dice in his +hands, and counted the number of marks he had won from his comrades.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Thou art an excellent fellow, Morten," said Niels the horseman, +pushing back the cap which shaded his sun-burnt and martial visage, +while he drained his cup of mead, and seized on the flagon of ale. +"Thou knowest well how to furnish a guard-room when one is required to +keep one's eyes open and one's spirits up. By my soul! I would rather +keep guard in a camp over a whole army of captives than sit here, +especially if the confounded bishop understands the black art, and +such-like devilry. What dost think of all this, Morten?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Truly, that is not for laymen to judge of," answered Morten. "I know +neither the white nor the black art; but <i>this</i> I know, henceforth let +there be ever such a stir below there, <i>I</i> budge not from my seat. When +we keep our noses out of mischief, and strive to mind our duty, we +shall be left in peace, and can sit here as quiet as though we lay in +Abraham's bosom. Now drink, Niels! And thou, Jörgen, what art <i>thou</i> +thinking of?" said he to the man with the dice. "I warrant thou wouldst +rather kill the time in gaming, than in honest and innocent drink. Now, +by our Lady! every man hath his crotchets in this world, but we must +ever sing with the birds we live with. First, comrade, sing and drink +with us, and we will play afterwards with thee. We have bright silver +pieces in plenty." So saying, the merry cook threw a handful of silver +money on the table, and began to sing a joyous drinking song. Jörgen +looked covetingly at the silver, and shook the dice. "Come, good +Morten, let's play first," said he, in a coaxing tone, and with a +crafty smile, "and we can sing and drink afterwards."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Darest thou throw for a silver piece?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"For twenty, if thou wilt," answered Morten; "but I snap my fingers at +dice and silver pieces, as long as I can get aught to moisten my +tongue; it is the most important member in the world, seest thou, and +well deserves to be cherished. That little instrument can turn whole +kingdoms topsy-turvy. I am already half drunk, I perceive, and thou +hast not lifted the cup to thy lips as yet. The man who games with me +must be as jovial a soul as myself."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well, then, pour me out half a can of ale, if it be not too strong," +said the cautious Jörgen. "Mead instantly gets into my head: when one +would play a fair game, one should always be able to count to six; +besides, we are not sent here to drink ourselves drunk, I trow."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Just as much to drink as to game," answered Morten; "but leave that to +me! I know the strength of the ale well, and what four fellows can +stand, provided they be not carlines."<a name="div2Ref_06" href="#div2_06"><sup>[6]</sup></a> The turnkeys drank, and +Morten replenished their cups.--"Know ye the news, comrades?" he +continued, raising his voice, as he seated himself at his ease, with +his arms resting on the table; "we may presently expect the king here +at the castle; then will there be no lack of drink. Money, and mead, +and wine, and Saxon ale, will flow here, as in blessed Paradise."</p> + +<p class="normal">"The king!" said Niels the horseman; "then of a surety will there be +fine doings here; he will, by my troth! give the huntsman something to +do."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You will see, then, the bishop will get loose," said Jörgen the +turnkey, rolling the dice as he spoke, "for he is surely not so mad as +to put the king in a rage again, as he did the last time."</p> + +<p class="normal">"<i>He</i> cares not for the King's wrath," answered the cook; "that fellow +minds neither king nor emperor; and if it be true that the pope in Rome +sides with him, the king may go to the wall at last."</p> + +<p class="normal">"What can the pope do to <i>our</i> king?" asked Niels the horsemen; "he +dwells in Italy, far over the sea yonder, and hath neither horsemen nor +ships to send hither."</p> + +<p class="normal">"But he hath that which stands him in better stead," said Morten; "he +hath got a bunch of keys, so heavy that a hundred men can't carry them, +and with those he can both open and shut heaven and hell, to each one +of us, just as it likes him. Hell-gate he willingly leaves open, for +there is ever a throng in <i>that</i> quarter; but heaven's gate, by my +troth! he locks every evening himself, and lays the keys under his +pillow."</p> + +<p class="normal">"But St. Peter keeps the gate," responded Niels; "he must ever stand +sentinel there night and day."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Right, Niels! but St. Peter is the pope's cousin only; besides, the +pope keeps him under finger and thumb, and takes the keys from him +every evening, as soon as it grows dark, just as the steward takes the +keys from thee: the pope, moreover, is the Lord's stadtholder, as thou +surely know'st; and when he is wroth, he is able by a single word to +shut up all the churches in the country, and give all of us, body and +soul, to the devil."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Our Lady preserve us!" said Niels, crossing himself; "and think'st +thou he durst act thus by our king and all Christian folk here in the +country?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes, he threatens hard to do it, they say. The devil take the +confounded bishop below, there! <i>he</i> is the cause of all this ill luck; +'twere better for king and country had he long since shown us a pair of +clean heels."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Think'st thou so, Morten! 'tis arrant folly, then, to pen the fellow +up here as they do?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"That's the king's business," answered Morten; "he surely knows what he +is about; and hath doubtless his own reasons for what he does. The +bishop had a hand in the game when they made away with his father in +the barn at Finnerup--'tis true King Glipping was worth little enough, +but he was king nevertheless, and the murder was a lawless business: +our Lord forbid I should defend it! No one can think ill of our young +king because he can't forgive the bishop; but, as I said before, state +and country would fare better were the king less strict, and the bishop +gone to the devil."</p> + +<p class="normal">While this dialogue was carrying on, the old turnkey returned half +intoxicated, and threw himself on a bench before the drinking table.</p> + +<p class="normal">"How now, Mads! what red cheeks thou hast got," said the cook, +laughing; "thou must surely have accredited the bishop's wine: thou +didst right! who could know whether it might not be poisoned?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Death and pestilence, Morten! what art prating of?" lisped forth the +old man in a fright, and spit upon the floor. "I have not so much as +tasted a drop of his wine; nevertheless, thou shouldst not jest about +such things."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Be easy, old fellow!" said Morten, in a soothing tone; "I myself drank +of it on the stairs. Well! what said he to the change?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Not so much as yon stone flask, comrade! The hound would sooner let +himself be spitted than speak a fair word to any man: perhaps, too, he +thought it was poison I brought him,--but, death and pestilence!"--here +he paused and spit again--"I can never believe"----</p> + +<p class="normal">"Make thyself easy, Mads! thou knowest thou hast not tasted a drop; at +any rate here is something to rince thy throat with, which I warrant +thee is good and wholesome. I will sing thee a merry song the while; +which will do the bishop good as well." While Morten again replenished +his comrades' cups, he cleared his throat and sang:</p> + +<div class="poem2"> +<p class="t0">"In Sjöborg tower a spider's web</p> +<p class="t1">Holds sure a struggling fly;</p> +<p class="t0">He once was king and country's dread,</p> +<p class="t1">And held his head full high.</p> +<p class="t0">Then strive and toil, and toil and strive,<br> +That web thou'lt never leave alive."</p> +</div> + +<p class="normal">"What song is that?" asked Niels the horseman; "I never heard it +before."</p> + +<p class="normal">"It was made to mock the bishop below," said Morten; "and <i>I</i> it was +who made it. Now ye shall hear; for to plague him properly, and mock +his useless learning, I have managed to cram a little Latin into it +that I learned of Father Gregory:" and Morten continued,--</p> + +<div class="poem2"> +<p class="t0">"For Crimen læsæ majestatis,<br> +The spider's web doth prison thee.<br> +Custodibus inebriatis,<br> +A thief shall catch a thief, thou'lt see.<br> +Then strive and toil, and toil and strive,<br> +That web thou'lt never leave alive."</p> +</div> + +<p class="normal">While the cook thus sang in a loud voice, the clanking of chains was +heard below in the archbishop's dungeon, and the two half-drunken +turnkeys started from their seats, while Jörgen, who was still sober, +took the opportunity of conveying a couple of the cook's silver pieces +into his own pocket. "Let him writhe in his chains, the hound!" said +Morten, remaining quietly seated; "he hears well enough how I mock him +in the song, and that enrages him; but it does him good."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Right, Morten!" said Niels the horseman, as he peeped through the +chink in the floor. "He twists in his chains, as though he were +possessed--thou may'st be sure it is the Latin that vexes him--but no +matter for that. I would have him hear, that we lay folk know a thing +or two as well as himself."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Come, let's drink, comrades!" called the cook, and continued to sing, +as he rose from the bench, and staggered, as if half-intoxicated, about +the chamber:--</p> + +<div class="poem2"> +<p class="t0">"Thy Latin hast thou clean forgot?<br> +And canst not catch the blithe bird's lay?<br> +Then dark and dreary be thy lot,<br> +Within these walls thou'lt pine away.<br> +Then strive and toil, and toil and strive,<br> +That web thou'lt never leave alive.</p> + +<p class="t0"> </p> +<p class="t0">"Hast thou a message to Rome?<br> +Hark! the bird sings right cunningly!<br> +Or farther yet, from my greenwood home?<br> +Speak! and I'll haste far o'er the sea.<br> +Then strive and toil, and toil and strive,<br> +That web thou'lt never leave alive."</p> +</div> + +<p class="normal">As he sang the last verse, he fell down flat beside the hole, above the +archbishop's dungeon, and peeped through it.</p> + +<p class="normal">"The false knave mocks me," he heard the captive murmur with a deep +sigh.</p> + +<div class="poem2"> +<p class="t0">"Then strive and toil, and toil and strive,<br> +Thou'lt never leave that web alive,"</p> +</div> + +<p class="continue">sang Morten at the top of his lungs, while he reeled about, and +continued to repeat the burden of the song, in which the turnkeys +joined with loud laughter.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Thou art gloriously drunk, Morten!" said Niels the horseman, in an +inarticulate voice, and fell under the table. "Thou shouldst bethink +thee, we are on guard here, and not at an ale-house:" so saying, the +man-at-arms rested his heavy head on a stone flagon, which lay on the +floor, and fell asleep.</p> + +<p class="normal">"But what hath become of Niels the horseman?" said the old turnkey, who +had in the meantime drained a large flagon of potent Saxon ale (noted +for its intoxicating properties). "I'll be hanged if I can see him."</p> + +<p class="normal">"He is snoring under the table there, the guzzling hound!" answered +Jörgen; "ye are pretty fellows, truly, to keep a night watch: I shall +have to watch and be sober for ye all. Come, Morten! let us two keep +our wits about us, and mind our duty! There lie thy silver pieces +swimming in ale and mead--let's clear the table--shall we venture a +throw for them? he who gets the highest throw shall pocket them; thou +mayest throw first, an thou likest."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Done!" said Morten; "but we must play fair." As he said this, he took +the dice and threw.</p> + +<p class="normal">"If thou canst count, count, Jörgen, he stuttered, without looking at +the dice.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Two, three--seven thou hast only got," answered Jörgen, hastily +sweeping up the dice; "look, it is my turn now:" he threw the dice, +which turned up a high number. "I've won! the money is mine! look +thyself!"--he swept the money towards him.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I doubt thee not--thou art an honest fellow," answered Morten, +reeling, as he filled his comrade's cup, "the money is thine, but, by +my soul! thou shalt now drink to the health of my true love, and then I +will lie down to sleep. If thou drink not that cup clean out, I shall +hold thee for a rascally cheat."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well, then, good Morten, here's to the health of the pretty Karen +Jeppé of Gilleleié! see'st thou, I am a man of my word," said Jörgen, +and drank--"There is not a drop left in the can."</p> + +<p class="normal">"That's right! Thou art an honest soul after all," lisped the cook, +tumbling on the floor, where he soon began to snore louder than any of +the others.</p> + +<p class="normal">"The dull brute!" muttered Jörgen, who began to feel somewhat muddled; +"one may lead him by the nose as much as one likes." It was not long, +however, before he leaned his head on his arms upon the table, and +slept soundly. Hardly had he begun to snore, ere the cook rose, +perfectly sober, and narrowly scrutinised the faces of the three +sleeping turnkeys by the dim light of the lamp. As soon as he was +satisfied that they slept soundly, Morten crept softly to the hole in +the floor, and looked down on the prisoner.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Venerable sir!" he whispered, "I have managed to drink them all three +dead drunk; they are sleeping like logs--you need not doubt me. I have +always been true and devoted to you. I was forced to plague and vex +you, to throw dust in the eyes of others. I will do your bidding, +wherever you please to send me."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Is this earnest, Morten?" whispered the captive archbishop.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It is, by my soul and honour!" answered the cook; "you saved my life, +and concealed what you well wot of; therefore have I vowed to Saint +Martin to save your life--at whatever cost."</p> + +<p class="normal">"In the Lord's name, then, I will believe thee," said the prisoner. "If +thou wouldst save my life, hie thee to Copenhagen, to my canon Hans +Rodis, and consult with him! Bid him send me pen and ink--a file--and a +ladder of ropes."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Hans Rodis is at Esrom, my lord," answered the cook; "he bade me put +this little sausage into your pious hands. If the chains will let you, +hold up your hands, just as you lie there! Look, now! see how well we +have hit the mark!" In saying this, the cook pushed through the +aperture a thin rolled-up packet, concealed in a sausage; it was +fastened to a string, by which he lowered it, holding the end fast in +his hand. "I have it," said the captive, "praised be the King of kings! +My faithful servant hath sent me what I need--let not go the string," he +continued, after a pause; "bring the lamp to the hole--but one single +ray of light!" The cook obeyed in silence.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I am writing a word of moment to my commandant at Hammershuus; wilt +thou put it faithfully into his own hands?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I will, by my soul! only make haste."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Thy reward will be great in Heaven, as on earth; but give me light, +light!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"All is arranged," whispered the cook, holding the lamp closer to the +hole; "let us but make sure of Hammershuus, and all will be well! The +fitting time will be when ye see me again; meanwhile use the file with +caution. I and the canon will care for the rest; Niels Brock and his +friends will help us. Johan Kysté and Olé Ark are here. Be of good +courage, venerable sir! you may depend on me. But haste! those drunken +dogs are stirring--I fear they will awake."</p> + +<p class="normal">"One moment more!" whispered the captive. "Pull up--all is ready," he +continued, after a short pause. Morten hastily drew up the string, and +found a sheet of parchment rolled up in the skin of the sausage, which +was fastened to it: he carefully concealed it. "Hush! they wake!" he +whispered. "I must set to work again." So saying, the portly cook +rolled himself on the floor among the intoxicated and half-awakened +turnkeys, and began to belabour them with all his might. "Hollo, there! +now for a beating of meat!" he shouted, "now for a pounding of pepper! +How come we by this lump in the porridge? It must be well beaten out."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, oh! Art thou mad, Morten!" cried Niels the horseman.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Have done with thy chatter, I know what I am about," continued Morten, +still laying about him. "I am neither mad nor drunk; but the devil take +me if I stay longer here!--must you, clod-pates, have your say too, and +fancy yourselves wiser than the cook? Would you make me believe I have +horsemen in the pot?"</p> + +<p class="normal">While Morten thus shouted and talked, as though intoxicated to an +excess he overturned the lamp, reeled in the dark out of the chamber, +and rolled himself down the stairs. When the keepers, on the following +morning, had recovered the full use of their senses the cook had +disappeared, and was nowhere to be found in the castle.</p> + +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAP. II.</h2> + +<p class="normal">At sunrise next morning, the brisk broad-shouldered cook, with a large +club in his hand, took his way through the wood skirting Esrom Lake<a name="div2Ref_07" href="#div2_07"><sup>[7]</sup></a>, +accompanied by two other wanderers. It was a foggy morning; large +flocks of wild geese flew with shrill cries over the lake, and the +fallen leaves of the forest were swept along the path by the sharp +morning breeze. The cook and his companions proceeded in silence and +with hasty steps; and it was not until the sun began to disperse the +cold mists of morning, that Morten cleared his throat, and sang a merry +ballad. His companions were two strong broad-shouldered fellows, with +red wadmal cloaks, over dirty leathern breeches, and with broad swords +and daggers in their thickly padded belts, which also appeared to serve +them as purses. They had the appearance of deserters or dismissed +men-at-arms; they both wore beards in the fashion of king's horsemen, +but seemed to have long neglected all attention to cleanliness and +personal neatness. Their unwashed faces betokened want of sleep and +fitting rest. The heads of a couple of flails served them as walking +staves. They bore on their backs large bundles of rich attire, from +which pieces of smoked meat and other provisions protruded. Their long +uncombed hair hung about their shoulders; the skin and hair of both +were so dark, and their countenances had so little of a Danish cast, +that they would have passed for foreigners, had not their dialect +proclaimed them to be peasants from Lolland; who, at any rate, could +not prove their evidently Vandal extraction in the first generation. +The taller of the two had lost an eye, and the other had a huge scar +between his nose and mouth, which looked like a hare lip, and his sharp +projecting teeth gave him a ferocious appearance, resembling that of a +wild boar.</p> + +<p class="normal">The three wanderers occasionally looked behind them, as if they +apprehended a pursuit; but they only beheld the white gable ends of +Esrom monastery, which they had passed a short time before.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Now, thanks for good companionship," said Morten, as he halted at a +cross road in the forest. "It were best we part company for the +present; ye understand what I said to you--ye are to hide yourselves at +Gilleleié, and watch every night, until ye see the skiff with the black +pennant, then push off with Jeppé's boat, and set me on shore: +meanwhile watch narrowly all that goes on here, and who goes in and out +of the castle. What Niels Brock and the archbishop have promised, you +may make sure of. But then ye must not be self-willed; ye will never be +able to get him out by force, and if the king and Marsk Oluffsen come +hither to-day or to-morrow, ye might lightly get hanged and ruin every +thing."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Leave that to us, sly Morten," said the man with the one eye. "Johan +Kysté well knows what he is about. I committed but one folly in my +life; 'twas on that Easter eve I deserted from the Marsk, and took the +palfrey from the pious clerk; I did but knock a little hole in his +skull, but it was large enough for his bit of a soul to slink out of: +one should let holy men go their way in peace; for this, I am now +forced to put up with one eye. I vowed, therefore, to our Lady and St. +Joseph, to become pious and God-fearing from that very hour, and never +more to lay my hand on other than laymen."</p> + +<p class="normal">"A pious resolve," said Morten: "wert thou not such a bloodhound and +cut-throat, I could almost believe thy soul might be saved as yet, even +shouldst thou steal and rob in a small way at times."</p> + +<p class="normal">"It bids fair to be so," answered the one-eyed. "I have a letter of +absolution from the archbishop, within my woollen jerkin, that will +stand me in good stead when all the world besides marches to hell. +Truly I served the learned Master Grand faithfully by night and day +these many years, therefore hath the pious archbishop given me freedom +from fasting, and absolution for sins for ten whole years: he hath not +spared his silver pieces either; and shall I now suffer them to shut up +such a man, and thereby rob so many honest fellows of a living? What +sayest thou, Olé Ark? Shall we suffer it any longer? hath Master Grand +deserved it of us?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Pshaw! Kysté; who says thou art to suffer it, and leave him in the +lurch?" interrupted Morten. "We all want to have him out; but we would +not be as fools, trying to burst open the doors with their own thick +skulls. Force will not help us here--do but as I bid thee, and keep thy +courage until we want it."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Morten is right, Kysté," began the other Lollander, with a hideous +grin, which displayed his projecting teeth. "Thou art a mad bull, and +art ever ready to push with thy horns. Why haste so desperately to get +him out? he was a good and generous man of God while he was in power, +'tis true, but since he hath lain in Sjöborg we have heard no great +things of him, and have not been blessed with the sight of a stiver +from his hand."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Dull cod-fish!" replied Johan Kysté, hastily; "believest thou not what +honest Morten hath vowed and promised us in the bishop's name? As soon +as we get him out we are his steersmen at Bornholm, and get leave to +catch what we can throughout the king's dominions."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Hold, comrade," said Morten, correcting him. "It is only so long as +the breach lasts between the king and the archbishop, that he gives you +leave to drive that trade: it is only in the service of the church, and +the pious bishop, that it may be lawful and Christian for a time; +afterwards ye must content yourselves with what he gives you of his +own, and lead quiet lives: but ere this day twelvemonth, you may +feather your nests finely. Now begone, and neglect not what ye have +taken upon ye, for the sake of other desperate pranks! I will not have +you longer with me: if any one caught me in such fair company, they +might take a fancy to hang me up by the side of you, for honest +companionship's sake."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Ho! ho! wouldst <i>thou</i> play the lordling, Morten?" said the one-eyed; +"what higher honour couldst <i>thou</i> look for, thou turnspit!--But hark! +what was that? are there hunters in the wood so early?"</p> + +<p class="normal">The sound of hunting-horns, the tramp of horses, and the baying of +hounds, was heard in the neighbourhood: the three wanderers hastened +forward a few paces, but soon suddenly sprang aside in different +directions.</p> + +<p class="normal">"S'death! the king and all his courtiers!" exclaimed Morten, sheltering +himself behind a large beech tree by the road side, while both his +suspicious-looking comrades hid themselves among the thick brushwood.</p> + +<p class="normal">A numerous hunting train drew near; at the head rode the young king, +between the Drost and the Marsk: it was a noble sight to see the young +chivalrous King Eric on horseback. He rode a tall milk-white horse, +which seemed proud of its burden, and often fell into the artificial +dancing-pace to which it was used in the tilt and tournay. Its bridle +and saddle accoutrements glittered with gold and precious stones: the +silken rein with which the king managed his steed was the only +compulsory means to which it would submit; the slightest touch of the +golden rowel in the king's spur caused it to rear almost upright, and +for any other than the king it seemed rash and dangerous to bestride +the proud animal. The king himself was a noble-looking youth, with a +manly and determined, almost a stern, cast of countenance; but his long +fair locks imparted a softness to this expression, which, in Eric's +milder moods, called to mind the portraits of the Saviour's best +beloved Apostle, leaning his head on his Master's breast. The young +king had a dignified and chivalrous deportment, the effect of which was +heightened by the almost dazzling splendour of his attire, which +appeared indeed unsuited to a hunting party. The tall white plume in +his hat sparkled with small silver stars; and the green hunting dress, +bordered with ermine, was so richly broidered with silken lions, and +golden hearts, that it resembled a shining suit of armour.</p> + +<p class="normal">The splendour in which the young king appeared to delight was also +conspicuous in his train. Drost Aagé, who rode at the king's right +hand, was of the same age with King Eric, and had not yet attained his +twenty-second year. He had been the king's playmate and confidant from +childhood upwards, and now possessed his entire confidence and favour. +There was a mild but almost melancholy seriousness in the expression of +Drost Aagé's countenance, which gave him the appearance of being older +than the king. He had thrown his dark blue mantle over the back of his +smoking palfrey, by way of covering; and his rich silken dress was +besprinkled with the foam of the king's restless and chafing steed, +upon which he appeared to keep a watchful eye.</p> + +<p class="normal">Marsk Niels Oluffsen, who rode at the king's left hand, was a tall +strong-built man, of about thirty years and upwards, with a sharp, +rough, warrior-like countenance, and stiff deportment. Next to Drost +Aagé, he was the king's most indispensable counsellor, and was an +exceedingly brave and doughty knight; but there was a tinge of +haughtiness and severity in his looks and manner which frequently +aroused the feelings of independence, and wounded the self-love, of his +inferiors. Even the king and Drost Aagé, who were fully his equals in +knightly prowess, and far surpassed him in tact and talent, often felt +unpleasantly repulsed by his rough and blunt bearing, of which he was +himself so unconscious that nothing astonished him more than whenever +his uncouth roughness and self-confidence drove friends as well as +enemies from him.</p> + +<p class="normal">Among others of the king's train were two celebrated German +minstrels--Master Rumelant, from Swabia, and Master Poppé the Strong, +who, in their national dress of German minstrels, attracted much +attention. Master Rumelant's stature was insignificant, but he had a +lively and enthusiastic expression of countenance; he was a lover of +argument, into which he was ever ready to enter with warmth and +vehemence, especially on theological subjects, on which he entertained +his own very peculiar opinions. His countryman, Poppé the Strong, well +deserved his cognomen: he was a gigantic figure, with long coal-black +hair and beard. His appearance often terrified old women and children, +by whom he was even sometimes taken for a wizard. He spoke in a +tone of emphatic decision, which would have better beseemed a +commander-in-chief. He rode a lean grey horse, and always wore a black +feather in his hat, in token of a sorrow he desired should be noticed +and respected by others. These two strangers had been for some time the +honoured guests of the young Danish monarch, who himself possessed a +knowledge of the arts, and showed special favour to talented artists +and men of learning. The king was also attended on this excursion by +the famous Danish philosopher, Petrus de Dacia, who was accounted the +greatest astronomer and arithmetician of his time, and was as renowned +for his theological learning as for his eloquence and profound +knowledge of Greek and Latin philology. Clad in his black canon's +dress, he rode a quiet palfrey, between the two German minstrels; and +always acted as mediator when, in the heat of argument, they became +vehement, and seemed disposed to exchange hard words. He was still in +the prime of life: on his journey through Germany he had become +acquainted, at Cologne, with Christiné Stambel, the nun, so renowned +for her sanctity; and the enthusiasm with which he always spoke of this +lady would have subjected him to the suspicion of a secret passion, had +he not in his writings, as well as in his conversation, lauded with +still greater enthusiasm the blessed Virgin Mary, as preeminent in +beauty and sanctity, and exalted her to supreme rank among the saints +in the calendar. He had proved, with irresistible eloquence, that the +gracious confidence the Lord showed to St. Peter, in intrusting him +with the care of his flock, was even vouchsafed in a far higher degree +to St. John, the beloved apostle, who, as the Lord's best-loved +disciple, was appointed the protector and guardian of the blessed +Virgin.</p> + +<p class="normal">His vehement theological controversy on this point with the learned and +famous Aldobrandino Papparonus Venensis, of the Dominican order, was in +a great measure the foundation of the esteem in which he was held by +the learned. It was only when the conversation turned on this his +favourite theme that his equanimity was ever disturbed; excepting when +this occurred, his discourse was calm, clear, and collected. The latent +energy which lay in his full and ardent eye, with its expression of +somewhat visionary enthusiasm, was calculated to inspire kindly +attention and confidence, and (what was a phenomenon among the learned +of his time) he was altogether free from pedantry and pride.</p> + +<p class="normal">The king and his train now approached the cross road and the tree +behind which Morten had concealed himself: from this spot opened the +finest view on Esrom lake. "Halt!" said the king, springing from his +horse: "this is a lovely spot; we will tarry here and take our repast. +They will surely come this way from Elsinore."</p> + +<p class="normal">"No doubt they will, my liege," answered Marsk Oluffsen, while he and +the Drost dismounted at the same time from their horses, and gave them +into the charge of the king's groom. "Here lies the high road to Esrom +and Sjöborg. But, if I know the margrave right, he will not ride +through Elsinore ere all the pretty maidens are awake and can admire +his fair presence and horsemanship. As yet, his head is full of nought +but love adventures and such nonsense."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Call you love 'nonsense,' my brave Marsk?" interrupted the king. "Do +you forget I am a bridegroom? and I trust not one of the coldest."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Bridegroom, my liege?" answered the Marsk: "in Danish we call no man a +bridegroom until his marriage day, and much must be done ere that day +comes."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Much?" rejoined the king, and his joyous animated countenance became +suddenly stern and grave--"well! much may be done in a short time, but +if they make the time too long, the day I long for may come when I +will."</p> + +<p class="normal">"The Lord and our blessed Lady forbid!" said Drost Aagé, in an under +tone, casting a glance at the king, full of anxious and heartfelt +sympathy.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Let the horns play, Aagé," said the king, as if desirous to prevent +more exclamations of this kind, which seemed to displease him. "The day +will be fine: we will begin it joyously."</p> + +<p class="normal">At a signal from the Drost, the musicians, who followed the hunting +train, struck up the air of the well-known ancient ballad of "Axel +Thordson and Fair Valborg,"<a name="div2Ref_08" href="#div2_08"><sup>[8]</sup></a> which they knew was a favourite with the +king.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well, this is sweet music if it be not lively," said Eric: "where are +Rumelant and Poppé? 'tis pity they cannot sing Danish; their skilful +lays are but ill-suited to these tones."</p> + +<p class="normal">"They are disputing again on spiritual matters," said the Marsk. "They +are better fitted for a council of clerks than a hunting party."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Let us listen," said the king: "I dare wager Master Poppé is in the +right; but Master Rumelant nevertheless will be victor in the +controversy."</p> + +<p class="normal">While the music continued, and the attendants converted a low pile of +wood into a table for the repast, the king's attention was attracted by +the dispute of the two eager minstrels: each stood with the bridle of +his horse in his hand, and spoke in a loud tone, while the grave Master +Petrus sat calm and attentive on his palfrey, gazing on the lake.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I will defend my opinion before the whole body of clerks, and all true +believers in Christendom," said the vehement little Rumelant, striking +his saddle with the handle of his whip as he spoke: "our sinfulness +is assuredly better security for our salvation than all our paltry +virtue--that is as true as that our blessed Lady's prayers avail in +heaven, and she shows us no <i>favour</i> when she obtains grace for us; she +shows us love and <i>gratitude</i>, which she is downright owing us for our +sin's sake, for it is not the world's virtue, but its sin alone, she +hath to thank for all her honour and glory."</p> + +<p class="normal">"What are you driving at, my good Master Rumelant?" shouted the +gigantic Master Poppé. "How is the holy Virgin honoured by our being a +set of sinful scoundrels? that is no honour to us, or any one else."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Not so, my self-sufficient sir!" shouted his opponent; "truly the case +is clearer than the sun: it is assuredly not of our perfection we +should boast, but, on the contrary, of our weakness. Would our dear +blessed Lady ever have become that she became, had not Adam and Eve +sinned, and all of us sinned too in them?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"No, assuredly not, my dear friend: but how the devil----"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Ergo, she hath man's sin to thank for her honour and glory! and ergo, +she would be most ungrateful were she not to protect sinners, and bring +us all likewise to honour and glory for our sin's sake."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You drive me mad. Master Rumelant," shouted Master Poppé, stamping in +wrath; "I know not what to answer you, but you are wrong, by my soul! +as I will, like an honest German, show you with my good sword if you +desire it. What if I should now commit the sin of slaying you on the +spot, would the blessed Virgin bring me to honour and glory because <i>of +that</i>? or would it be so small a sin that it could not be imputed to me +as a great merit?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Worthy sirs," interrupted Master Petrus, gravely, "talk not of +spiritual things with sophistry, or in an angry spirit; least of all of +our blessed Lady, who is truth and heavenly calm itself. You exchange +spiritual for temporal weapons, Master Poppé; and you darken the +fountain of light, Master Rumelant, when you would make grace to +proceed from sin on earth, instead of from incomprehensible love and +mercy in God's kingdom."</p> + +<p class="normal">"It seems to me it is of sin and grace those learned disputants are +talking," said the king, seating himself by the side of Drost Aagé on +the trunk of a tree at a little distance. "Well, that is a never-ending +chapter, and truly one I ought to reflect on when I wend to Sjöborg."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Most certainly, my liege," answered Aagé, looking with glad sympathy +on the king's noble countenance. "When we think on the great mercy we +all need, we should wish rather to be able to forgive our enemies than +to execute the most lawful sentence upon them."</p> + +<p class="normal">"<i>Him</i> thou meanest will I not forgive throughout all eternity!" burst +forth the king impetuously. "He sat chief in council among my father's +murderers, he ought to sit lowest among criminals in my kingdom. If the +pope will not condemn him, <i>I</i> will. His blood I ask not, but outlawed +and dishonoured shall he remain all the days of his life."</p> + +<p class="normal">"The pope, however, hath alone the right to pass sentence on him, my +liege," observed Aagé. "So long as he remains captive here he cannot +defend his cause before his lawful tribunal, therefore it seems to me +but reasonable----"</p> + +<p class="normal">"No, Aagé!" interrupted the king, "neither just nor reasonable would it +be to let loose the captive murderer, that he may perjure himself, to +go forth free and honoured among his equals; but it were <i>wise</i> perhaps +for my own peace and happiness."</p> + +<p class="normal">"And perhaps for state and kingdom also," replied Aagé. "This much is +certain, my liege: so long as that dangerous man is detained captive at +Sjöborg, neither Drost Hessel nor Counsellor Jon can obtain the +dispensation for your marriage; and if I understood the wily Isarnus +aright, he is already privately empowered by the pope to enforce the +unhappy constitution of Veile against both you and the kingdom."</p> + +<p class="normal">"And were it so," said the king, rising, "think'st thou I and the +kingdom would be really harmed by it? Would Denmark's bishops and +priests dare to excommunicate their king, and all their countrymen? +Hast thou not thyself, because of thy love to me, been for two years +already under the ban of the archbishop? And art thou not well and +sound notwithstanding? Hath any priest in Denmark dared to shut the +church door against thee when thou camest by my side, or to deny thee +the holy sacrament in my presence?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"My sentence is not yet confirmed by the holy father," said Aagé; "and +yet, my liege! I shudder, notwithstanding, to think of it--many of my +noble countrymen regard me with looks which sadden and well nigh dismay +me. The thunderbolts of the church are dreadful even in the hand of the +chained criminal---they would have crushed me to the earth, did I not +even yet hope that the ban, which a regicide hath proclaimed against +me, is not accounted of by the merciful Lord in heaven. The holy father +also will surely be moved by the righteousness of my cause, and by your +intercession in my behalf, to recall it."</p> + +<p class="normal">"He shall, he must do so," answered the king with warmth, "or I will +teach thee to defy the might of injustice--perhaps also, my faithful +Aagé, I and all Denmark may have to share thy fate! but, with the help +of the Lord and our blessed Lady, we will not therefore be cast down, +or stoop to humiliation. I stake my life and crown upon it!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"For heaven's sake, my liege!" exclaimed Aagé, in alarm; but what he +was about to utter was suddenly cut short by a significant look from +the king, who, at that moment, had caught a glimpse of a round ruddy +face, peering forth with a look of rapt attention from behind the tree +beside which they were standing. "Who is that?" asked the king. "It is +none of our huntsmen--art thou playing the spy, countryman?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"A stranger!" exclaimed Aagé; "come hither; who art thou?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Would ye aught with me, good sirs?" said Morten, the cook, stepping +forward. "I thought ye spoke to me. I am deaf, ye must know; if ye have +any commands, ye must shout at the top of your lungs."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Who art thou?" asked Aagé, raising his voice, while he gazed on him +with a searching look. "What wouldst thou here?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"<i>Fear</i>?" said the cook, assuming a simple look. "I will not deny I was +somewhat afraid of your horses, and cared not to meet them on a fasting +stomach."</p> + +<p class="normal">"A poor crazy fellow," said the king, "let him go his way in peace, +Aagé; had he even heard what we spoke of, what would it signify?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes, by my troth, horses do signify something!" said Morten, looking +at Eric with evident interest. "The white horse signifies victory and +speedy judgment on the Lord's enemies--says Father Gregory."</p> + +<p class="normal">"So much the better!" said the king, gaily, giving him a couple of gold +pieces. "Go thy way in peace, I would fain hope thou hast spoken truth +in thy simplicity. The white horse is mine."</p> + +<p class="normal">"But the dark red signifies rebellion and the yellow pestilence," +continued Morten, seemingly touched, as he received the king's gift, +and kissed his hand. "Mark, it was therefore I got frighted, when I saw +ye between those two beasts. I am otherwise a poor sinner, at your +service. I am going a pilgrimage for my own and other folks' sins. I +will now pray for a blessing on you, noble sir!"--so saying, he strode +hastily across the road, and disappeared in the wood.</p> + +<p class="normal">"How would he interpret the red and the yellow horse?" said the king, +gravely. "Those pious men of the cloister fill our country and people +full of superstition."</p> + +<p class="normal">"The fellow perhaps was neither deaf nor half-witted," answered Aagé; +"to you he naturally said fair words, in order to escape. Our stern +Marsk is not liked by vagrants; the bay horse he rides to-day is +one he lately got in exchange from your brother Junker Christopher. My +cream-coloured horse is well known, and since I fell under the church's +ban the people look on me as the emblem of pestilence and misfortune by +your side."</p> + +<p class="normal">These serious comments on the cook's words were now interrupted by the +sudden baying of the hounds, which dashed forward in couples towards a +thick bush of white thorn, in full cry.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Game! game!" shouted the huntsman; but, instead of the supposed deer, +the two concealed wanderers sprang out of the bush: they had cast aside +their peasants' mantles and their bundles, in order the more easily to +save themselves by flight in their light cuirasses, but by so doing +they had betrayed themselves, and awakened suspicion. By order of the +Marsk they were instantly seized, and brought before the party of +hunters.</p> + +<p class="normal">"What means this?" called the king in surprise: "we are not come hither +to hunt men."</p> + +<p class="normal">"A couple of deserters from your Lolland horsemen, my liege," answered +Marsk Oluffsen. "I know them; we have long been on the look-out for +them; it is they whom the Count of Lolland hath sought after as robbers +and murderers."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then send them to Flynderborg<a name="div2Ref_09" href="#div2_09"><sup>[9]</sup></a> to await their doom!" commanded the +king. "What would they here! they shall be strictly brought to +account."</p> + +<p class="normal">The captured deserters were instantly led off to be bound and conducted +to the fortress. They had until now stood still and downcast, like +convicted criminals; but, on finding they were to be bound, they +suddenly started forward and defended themselves with all the +desperation of despair. They wounded three of the king's huntsmen with +their daggers, and, amid the confusion and tumult occasioned by their +unexpected onset, contrived to tear themselves loose, and instantly +plunged into the lake. Some hunters pursued them on horseback, and a +couple of hounds, trained to hunt the wild-duck, were let loose after +them; but the fugitives dived and swam with such skill and vigour that +none could see them until they landed on the opposite shore of the +lake, where they quickly disappeared in the brushwood.</p> + +<p class="normal">The king and his train had gone down to the water's edge to look at +this singular sight. Some hunters were ordered to ride round the lake, +in order if possible to overtake the fugitives. Drost Aagé would also +have despatched some one after the pretended deaf man, whom he now +believed to be in league with the deserters.</p> + +<p class="normal">"No!" said the king, "he shall not be pursued. I use not to put gold +into a man's hand one hour, and fasten iron round it the next."</p> + +<p class="normal">The party now returned to partake of the repast which was spread +for them. As soon as they had refreshed themselves they mounted +their horses, and were about to proceed further, but the sound of +hunting-horns was now heard on the road from Elsinore, and three riders +in rich attire, with several knights and huntsmen, approached at full +gallop. It was the king's brother, Junker Christopher, with the young +Margrave Waldemar of Brandenborg, who was at this time the king's +guest, and the brave Count Henrik of Mecklenborg, who had lately +entered the king's service as commander of the army. They had been at +Elsinore, where Prince Christopher had received a Swedish royal embassy +on the part of the king. The margrave, it was said, had accompanied him +for his amusement, and to enjoy the beautiful scenery of Elsinore, but +had in reality joined the expedition at the request of Prince +Christopher, who anxiously courted the young margrave's friendship. The +prince seemed inseparable from him, and generally contrived to secure +his companionship whenever he was charged with any important mission by +the king, that it might give him opportunities, which he eagerly +sought, of raising his consequence in the eyes of the people.</p> + +<p class="normal">Prince Christopher, or the Junker, as he was generally called, was two +years younger than the king. Though tall and strongly built, his figure +was far from being so well proportioned as his brother's. His large +features and long visage, shaded by coarse long black hair, had a +gloomy and sinister expression, which reminded the people but too much +of his detested father. His brother, the king, on the contrary, bore a +greater resemblance to his mother, the fair and talented Queen Agnes, +who, during the king's minority, had been for the most part at the head +of state affairs, but who now led a happy private life with her second +consort, Count Gerhard of Holstein, at the castle of Nykjöping. The +popularity which the chivalrous King Eric had enjoyed from his +childhood appeared little pleasing to his brother, and many believed +that the prince secretly exerted himself to form a powerful party of +his own in the country. In the event of the throne becoming vacant, he +was in fact the member of the royal house who might first expect to be +called to the crown, but of this there was no reasonable prospect. +Notwithstanding that some differences had existed between the brothers +on the affair of the archbishop's imprisonment, King Eric was so far +from showing any mistrust of his brother, that he even promoted his +consequence by investing him with considerable fiefs in the country. +But Drost Aagé strongly suspected the prince of entertaining ambitious +and treacherous projects, and the Drost's suspicions of Christopher +were rather increased than diminished by the zeal with which, the +prince seemed to enter into the negociations respecting the king's +marriage. As well on this subject, of such moment to the king, as on +that of the Swedish King Birger's marriage with the king's and +Christopher's sister Mereté, there were at this time frequent +communications between the Swedish and Danish court. The young King of +Sweden was only in his sixteenth year, and wholly dependent on his +state council, which was composed of men of very opposite opinions, and +Drost Aagé feared that Prince Christopher's object in receiving the +embassy was to increase if possible the obstacles to this double +alliance. Aagé was, however, deterred from imparting his doubts to the +king by the fear of occasioning a dangerous misunderstanding between +the brothers; and Eric was so far from suspecting his brother of any +dishonourable design, that he considered his anxiety to meet the +Swedish embassy as a proof of fraternal affection. The young king +welcomed both Christopher and the margrave with much friendliness; and +as soon as he had greeted them, and the gay Count Henrik, turned +towards the Swedish ambassadors, who, with some Danish knights, +followed the princely comers. In the most dignified of the two Swedish +nobles Eric joyfully recognised King Birger's faithful counsellor, the +Swedish regent and Marsk, Sir Thorkild Knudson, a tall middle-aged man, +of a grave and noble countenance; but it was not without a feeling of +uneasiness that the king beheld his companion, a withered shrunken +figure, whose cold and wily countenance wore a perpetual smile, and +whose grey, staring ostrich-like eye had an expression of sinister +scrutiny. It was the Swedish statesman and Drost, Sir Johan Bruncké, +who, next to Thorkild Knudson, was the most influential statesman in +Sweden, and appeared to stand as high in favour with the weak King +Birger as with his ambitious brothers, while he gained a knowledge of +the individual foibles of each, and well knew how to work upon them for +his own advantage.</p> + +<p class="normal">When the king had greeted the strangers, he proceeded with his +augmented train to Esrom monastery, where he conversed with the +ambassadors, and received letters from King Birger, Princess Ingeborg, +and his sister Mereté, who, according to an earlier agreement, had been +brought up, as the future Queen of Sweden, at the Swedish court. Eric +seemed unusually joyous and animated after he had perused these +letters. His anxiety to hasten his marriage, and to have it fixed for +the ensuing summer, had met with the entire approbation of the royal +house of Sweden, and Princess Ingeborg's letter breathed the most +tender and devoted affection.</p> + +<p class="normal">The difficulties and objections stated by the ambassador principally +regarded the misunderstanding with the court of Rome, and the +dispensation which was yet withheld, to which the king, misled by the +ardour of his feelings, did not attach the importance it deserved.</p> + +<p class="normal">He invited the ambassadors to be his guests for some weeks, as he hoped +very shortly to remove all difficulties. The afternoon was spent +pleasantly in hunting, and in the evening the king, with the whole of +his train, repaired to Sjöborg, where several cars, conveying the cooks +of the royal kitchen, and domestics of every description, had arrived +during the day.</p> + +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAP. III.</h2> + +<p class="normal">The ancient fortress soon presented a scene of splendid festivity. The +spacious halls glittered with regal pomp, and resounded with the stir +and bustle which are the accompaniments of a court. With the exception +of the tower, the whole of the castle had been recently fitted up as a +royal residence. The king's principal counsellors had accompanied him, +and though he occasionally hunted, he did not therefore neglect state +affairs, which frequently occupied him until the night was well nigh +spent.</p> + +<p class="normal">The king never inquired after the captive archbishop, whom he appeared +to have forgotten. A reconciliation, on suitable conditions, with this +important personage, was, however, doubtless the secret object of the +king's sojourn at Sjöborg. The adjustment of this vexatious affair was +never of more consequence than at this juncture, as it was not only a +present hindrance to his marriage, but threatened to prove dangerous +both to state and kingdom. The king, however, was desirous that no one +should know the real purport of his visit, least of all the captive +archbishop, who would probably take occasion thereby to raise his +demands to the uttermost. Besides, Eric himself appeared not to have +decided what course to pursue in this matter. Although revenge had +never been his failing, and on the contrary he had often manifested the +most generous temper, the remembrance of his father's murder had +rendered him stern and almost implacable towards everyone connected +with the regicides, and he felt it was impossible for him to make the +first advances towards a reconciliation with Archbishop Grand. He +apparently expected the haughty captive would himself petition for an +interview, and pave the way to reconciliation by a humble +acknowledgment of his guilt. One week after another, however, passed +away, without any thing of this kind taking place. The number of guests +was daily increasing at Sjöborg. The presence of the Margrave of +Brandenborg and the Swedish ambassadors, as well as that of the hunting +party and Prince Christopher's retinue, imparted an appearance of life +and gaiety to this otherwise dreary castle, which almost painfully +contrasted with its gloomy destination, and the many dark recollections +connected with the place.</p> + +<p class="normal">One day in November, a singular procession approached the castle of +Sjöborg. From two Hanseatic merchant vessels, which had anchored off +the fishing station, there landed a number of foreign seamen, who, +carrying the Rostock flag, and with large broad swords at their sides, +proceeded to the castle, amid the dissonant sound of pipes and +trumpets. At the head of the procession marched a tall stout man, in a +burgher's coat of fine cloth, trimmed with broad borders of costly fur. +It was the rich trader, Berner Kopmand of Rostock, well known at the +great fairs of Skanör and Falsterbo, whither he was wont to bring rich +cargoes of cloth and costly spices. He was notorious for his +authoritative and overbearing deportment, and for the ostentatious pomp +by which he sought to acquire the reputation of a merchant prince. By +his side walked the almost equally noted Henrik Gullandsfar of Visbye, +also one of the most influential Hanseatic merchants, and an adroit and +politic negociator between the Hanse towns and the northern +princes,<a name="div2Ref_10" href="#div2_10"><sup>[10]</sup></a> They announced themselves at the castle as Hanseatic +ambassadors, and were admitted into the upper hall, while their train +was served with refreshments below.</p> + +<p class="normal">A long conference took place between the king and the foreign +merchants, in the presence of the Drost and council, during which +Berner Kopmand was especially loud tongued, and the king preserved his +patience for an unwonted length of time. The great privileges which had +been granted by the king to the Hanseatic towns four years before, and +which he had since augmented and confirmed at Nyborg, had not satisfied +the expectations of the Rostockers; who demanded besides, the +recognition of their self-assumed right, to pronounce and execute +sentence of death on board their own vessels upon every Danish subject +who had injured them, and fallen into their hands. The Vandal towns, +together with the merchants of Mecklenborg and Lubec, were unanimously +agreed, on their own responsibility, and without distinction, to hang +every knight and noble who should molest them on their journeyings +through Germany.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Enough," said the king, at last, breaking off the conference, and +rising in wrath, "I wanted but to hear how far ye would push your +impudent demands, and therefore let ye have your say. This is my +answer. My former promise to the towns I have hitherto kept; if they +content ye not, we Danes may easily learn to fetch what we want from +foreign lands, and export what we want not. When guests and strangers +are injured here they can complain; there is law and justice in the +land; but they who take the law into their own hands on Danish ground +or on the Danish seas shall be condemned as traitors and robbers, +whether they be knight or burgher, whether they be native or stranger." +So saying, the king turned his back upon the merchant ambassadors. +Without heeding their angry looks, he hastened to join his princely +guests, and the Swedish lords who awaited his coming, to set out on a +hunting expedition, and left the Hanseatic burghers to the care of the +Drost.</p> + +<p class="normal">The incensed merchants instantly quitted the castle with their +followers, who had become intoxicated and unruly during their stay in +the lower hall. The Marsk (to the merchants still greater annoyance) +had taken upon himself to disarm them, as with bold presumption they +had ventured on liberties which outraged both law and custom. Their +weapons, however, were returned to them on reaching the shore, whither +Drost Aagé and some other knights accompanied them, with cold courtesy, +partly to protect them from the assembled rabble, which had crowded +round the intoxicated seamen, to gaze at and deride them. On their way +to the strand the wrathful traders spoke not a word, but the blood +appeared ready to start from Berner Kopmand's crimson visage, while +there was a calm cold smile on the countenance of Henrik Gullandsfar.</p> + +<p class="normal">When these important personages, with their reeling train, had entered +the boat, and pushed off from the shore, in order to row to their +ships, the portly Rostocker suddenly raised his voice, and shouted with +unrestrained wrath and bitterness, "Bring King Eric Ericson our parting +greeting, Sir Drost! Tell him from me, Berner Kopmand of Rostock, and +from Henrik Gullandsfar of Visbye, in our own and in the name of the +great and mighty Hanse towns, that we threaten him with deadly strife, +as the enemy of our liberty and of all noble burghership!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Henrik Gullandsfar nudged his colleague's elbow in alarm; but the proud +choleric Rostocker continued, "Tell the King of Denmark, dearly shall +he rue the scorn and contempt he hath this day shown us; he shall rue +it, as surely as I am called the rich Berner Kopmand of Rostock! and as +surely as I am the man to ask what is the price of this state and +country, and how many pounds a king is worth, in our times, when the +lightnings of excommunication play above his head!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Such greeting and defiance you may yourself bring my liege and +sovereign," answered Aagé, "if you fancy being sent back to Rostock +with your hands tied behind you like a madman." So saying, he turned +contemptuously on his heel, and returned with his knights to Sjöborg. +He afterwards joined the king and the hunting-party, but made no +mention of this impudent defiance, which, though it seemed to him +indeed to be paltry and powerless, he yet could not but regard as a +striking instance of the insufferable pride of these monied +aristocrats, and of the boldness with which the equivocal position of +the king at the court of Rome had inspired the ill-affected and +discontented.</p> + +<p class="normal">After a hard chase the king rode back in the evening to Sjöborg, with +Drost Aagé by his side. It was already dark. The cold November blast +whirled the fallen leaves around them as they rode through the forest. +The moon now rose behind the trees, shining with an unsteady light from +out the flying clouds, through the leafless boughs of the forest. +Behind them rode Marsk Oluffsen between Henrik of Mecklenborg and the +Swedish regent, whose return to Sweden was fixed for the following day. +Some hunters followed with the game caught in the chase. The rest of +the train remained at Esrom monastery. The king, as well as Drost Aagé, +had been remarkably silent during the day. Since the arrival of the +Swedish ambassadors, tidings had been daily looked for, but in vain, +from the Danish embassy at the papal court. The king had not as yet +taken any step towards a reconciliation with the captive archbishop. +The journey of the Swedish ambassadors could no longer be delayed, and +the obstacles to the king's marriage were not in any measure removed. +The king and his faithful Aagé now rode in silence by each other's +side, apparently occupied with a presentiment which they could not +banish from their minds, but to which neither liked to give utterance. +It was the unfortunate St. Cecilia's day, which yearly brought with it +to the king bitter recollections of the dreadful murder of his father +at Finnerup. Marsk Oluffsen appeared not to remember what day it was; +he jested merrily, after his fashion, with the German and Swedish +guests, and lauded the pious and frugal manner in which King Birger's +tutor, a certain Carl Tydsker<a name="div2Ref_11" href="#div2_11"><sup>[11]</sup></a>, had a few years since restored his +young sovereign to health, namely, by making the same vow to three +saints at once, and afterwards drawing lots to determine to which of +the good saints the vow should be kept. "I have since wondered," said +the Marsk, laughing, "whether the victory over the Kareles<a name="div2Ref_12" href="#div2_12"><sup>[12]</sup></a> was +thrown into the bargain, and was one of St. Eric's miracles; if so, I +must acknowledge that Carl Tydsker was worth his weight in gold." By +this unlucky jest the Marsk wounded at the same time the national pride +of both his German and Swedish companions, without appearing himself in +the least to perceive it.</p> + +<p class="normal">"When my countrymen as well as myself serve your king here in the +north, Sir Marsk," answered the brave Count Henrik, "I feel we deserve +thanks, and not mockery, whether we help him with prayer or with +sword." As he said this he struck his hand with some violence on the +hilt of his sword.</p> + +<p class="normal">The Marsk looked astounded. He was silent; but his perplexity increased +on Thorkild Knudson, also addressing him in a serious tone. "Deem ye my +victory over the brave heathen to be a miracle, Sir Marsk?" said the +Swedish knight, with a calm smile. "Every thing is a miracle, if ye +will. Without heavenly aid no victory is won on earth; that even your +victorious King Waldemar was forced to acknowledge, yet that detracts +not from his glory. I reckon the victory of Wolmar with the heaven-sent +banner, to be that which gained him his fairest laurels. Our times are +more chary of laurels. Sir Marsk! we will not rob each other of those +we win with honour."</p> + +<p class="normal">"By all the martyrs!" exclaimed the Marsk, with wide oped eyes and +crimson cheeks, "who ever thought of offending either you or the brave +Count Henrik? By my soul! I understand ye not," he continued in an +impatient tone; "were my brains as dull as those of other people, I +should be badly off indeed."</p> + +<p class="normal">Count Henrik could not suppress a good-natured laugh at the absurd +contrast between the Marsk's words and his angry tone. The +misunderstanding was soon set to rights, and the conversation turned on +former and recent warlike expeditions.</p> + +<p class="normal">Without thinking of what might awaken bitter recollections in the +king's mind, especially on this day, the Marsk now talked in a loud +voice of the feud, with Marsk Stig, and the taking of Hjelm, at which +he himself had been present, under David Thorstensen's banner.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yet you took not the daring Marsk Stig, either dead or alive," said +Count Henrik; "'tis a strange story they tell here of his +disappearance."</p> + +<p class="normal">"His death, as his life, is shrouded in darkness and mystery," observed +the Swedish knight. "With us also he hath a dreaded name."</p> + +<p class="normal">"He was a great general, though," said Count Henrik. "I would have +given much to have seen him. Was he as tall as Sir Niels Brock or the +Duke of Langeland?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"He had a finer presence than either Niels Brock or Duke Longshanks, if +he measured not the same length. In that point, perhaps, both you and I +might have been his match; but he was a very devil of a fellow,--truly, +I believe neither Germany nor Sweden could boast of one like him."</p> + +<p class="normal">"It is true we cannot boast of so highly esteemed a regicide," said +Count Henrik, in an offended tone. "I desire not to rival his fame."</p> + +<p class="normal">"But, by all the martyrs! what is the matter now?" exclaimed the +astounded Marsk; "think ye I wished for aught better in the world than +to have knocked out his confounded brains? Therefore I may surely say +without offence, that neither you nor Marsk Knudson have seen his +match."</p> + +<p class="normal">"For that both Count Henrik and I should thank the Lord," said the +Swedish knight solemnly. "The country which gives birth to such heroes +may have to pay dearly for the boast. In our country we have storms +also, at times; and alas! have to deplore the devastations they cause. +It is the same case here probably? I suspect that Denmark hath dearly +bought this sad experience, and learnt that one daring hand can make a +deeper wound in a nation's heart than a whole century can heal."</p> + +<p class="normal">A rather embarrassed silence ensued. The king had heard the +conversation which had been carried on by the party behind him, and +sighed deeply.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It was on <i>this</i> night, Aagé," he said, in a low voice. "For nine +years have I now borne Denmark's crown, and as yet I have not fulfilled +that I vowed when I saw <i>him</i> last."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Whom, my liege?" asked Aagé, absently.</p> + +<p class="normal">"My murdered father!" said the king. "Rememberest thou not the hour +they lifted the lid from his coffin in Viborg cathedral, and laid the +sacrament on his bloody breast? It was then I bade him my last +farewell. What I vowed to him was heard only by the all-knowing God; +but assuredly I will either keep that vow, or lose my life."</p> + +<p class="normal">"At that time you were, as I was, a minor, my liege. If your vow to the +dead was other than a pious and Christian vow, you ought not now, as a +knight and sovereign, to keep it."</p> + +<p class="normal">Eric was silent. The moon shone full on his noble form, and as he sat +calm and erect on his fiery steed, with the white plume in his hat, and +the purple mantle over his shoulder, he almost resembled the chivalrous +St. George, about to strike his lance into the dragon's throat. His +manly countenance was pale, and expressive of lofty indignation. "That +I vowed to the dead I must perform," he said, after a thoughtful pause. +"A wise monarch should disperse the ungodly."</p> + +<p class="normal">As the king uttered these words an arrow whistled past his breast, and +stuck in Drost Aagé's mantle.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Murderers! traitors!" shouted the king, drawing his sword, while he +reined in with difficulty his restless steed. Aagé rushed with his +drawn sword to that side of the king whence the arrow was sped; the +three other knights rode up in alarm. "An arrow! robbers! traitors!" +was echoed from mouth to mouth. They looked around on all sides of the +moon-lit road, but no living being was to be seen.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Accursed traitors!" shouted Marsk Oluffsen, and dashed in suddenly +among the bushes on the left side of the road, where he had perceived +some white object moving. A shriek was heard, apparently from a female +voice, and the Marsk's horse started aside. At the same moment two +young maidens, in the dress of peasant girls, with long plaits of fair +hair hanging low over their shoulders, ran, hand in hand, across the +road, while a man of almost giant stature, in the dress of a Jutland +peasant, with a large broad sword in his hand, sprang forward, and +placed himself between the Marsk and the fugitives.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Keep ye to me!" shouted the man. "It was I--it was Mads Jyde who shot. +I mean not to show a pair of clean heels: let the maidens flee, they +have done no ill, but I am the man who dares tilt with ye all." So +saying, he brandished his sword wildly around, and wounded the Marsk's +horse on the muzzle. The animal reared and snorted.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yield thee!" shouted Oluffsen, vainly aiming to strike his daring and +gigantic foe; "Yield thee captive, or thou diest!"</p> + +<p class="normal">On hearing this affray, the king would instantly have hastened to the +spot, where he saw swords glittering among the bushes in the moonshine; +but Aagé and the Swedish knight sought to detain him, while Count +Henrik immediately surrounded the copse with the huntsmen, and +dispatched a party of them after the fugitives. The Marsk had sprung +from his intractable steed, "Cast thy sword from thee, stupid devil! +Seest thou not thou art caught?" shouted he to the tall Jutlander.</p> + +<p class="normal">"By St. Michael will I not," retorted the man. "None shall take Marsk +Stig's squire alive; keep but your ground, Sir Knight, and thou shalt +feel what Mads Jyde is worth." He now rushed frantically upon the +Marsk, but the warlike chief was his superior in swordsmanship, and +after a short but desperate fight the Jutlander fell, with his skull +cloven, to the ground. He half-raised himself again, and tried to lift +both his hands to his wounded head. "It was for thee, little Margaret," +he gasped forth; "let but my master's children flee, and you are free +to----" More he was unable to utter; his hands dropped from his head, +and he fell back lifeless on the ground.</p> + +<p class="normal">Meanwhile the king and his train had ridden to the spot. Some of the +hunters had overtaken the fugitive maidens, and brought them captive +into the circle of the king's train. All looked at them with surprise, +for as they stood there in the moonshine they had the air of princesses +in disguise. Their peasant's attire could not hide the delicate +fairness of their complexions and their singular beauty. The taller of +the two, who seemed also to be the elder, held the lesser and highly +agitated maiden by the hand, as if to protect her. She was herself calm +and pale. She looked in deep sorrow on the dead body of the man at +arms, and appeared not to heed the standers by. The younger maiden +seemed to be both frightened and curious. Though she could not be +considered a child--for she appeared to be about seventeen or eighteen +years of age--her deportment was quite childlike. She hid herself, +weeping, behind her sister, from the sight of the king and his knights, +while she nevertheless occasionally peeped, with looks of eager +observation, at their splendid attire.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Speak out--who are ye?" asked the king, riding up to them.</p> + +<p class="normal">The younger maiden drew back, and seemed preparing for flight, but the +elder held her fast by the hand, and turned to the king, with calm +self-possession, looking him steadily in the face with her large dark +blue eyes. "King Eric Ericson," she said, "thine enemy's children are +in thine hand: we are fatherless and persecuted maidens; no one dares +to give us shelter in our native land; and our last friend and +protector hath now been slain by thy men. Our father was the unhappy +outlawed Marsk Stig."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Marsk Stig's daughters!--the regicide's children!" interrupted the +king, casting on them a look of displeasure. "Ye meant then to have +completed your father's crime? Are ye roaming the country round with +robbers and regicides?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"We are innocent, King Eric!" answered the maiden, laying her hand upon +her heart. "May the Lord as surely forgive thee our father's death, and +the blood which flows here! Vengeance belongeth to the Lord. We wished +but to quit thy kingdom."</p> + +<p class="normal">"And ye would also have me depart this world," interrupted the king. +"They must be taken to Kallundborg castle," said he to the huntsmen. +"The affair shall be inquired into; if they can clear themselves they +may leave the kingdom. Away with them; I will not look on them." So +saying, the king turned his horse's head to avoid the sight of the fair +unfortunate, who for an instant appeared to have softened his wrath.</p> + +<p class="normal">No one had viewed the captive maidens with more compassion than Drost +Aagé. "My liege," said he, in an under tone, "how could the innocent +maidens help----?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"That the arrow slew none of us?" interrupted the king hastily. "I dare +say they were not to blame for that. Wolf's cubs should never be +trusted; they shall meet with their deserts. Away with them."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then permit me to escort them, my liege," resumed Drost Aagé. "If a +knight's daughters be led to prison, knightly protection is still owing +them on their way thither."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well, go with them, Drost," answered the king aloud, waving his hand +as he spoke. "They shall be treated with all chivalrous deference and +honour; ye will be answerable for them on your honour and fealty." The +king then put spurs into his impatient steed, and galloped off, +followed by the Marsk, the Swedish knights, and the whole of the train, +with the exception of Drost Aagé and four huntsmen.</p> + +<p class="normal">The elder of the captive maidens still held her sister's hand clasped +in her own. She had approached the body of the slain squire, beside +which she knelt, bending over his head. Drost Aagé had dismounted from +his horse, and stood close by with the bridle in his hand, and with his +arm on the saddle-bow. It seemed as though the sight of the kneeling +maiden had changed him into a statue.</p> + +<p class="normal">The restless movements of the younger maiden did not attract his +attention; his gaze dwelt only on the kneeling form: she seemed in his +eyes as an angel of love and pity praying for the sinner's soul. He +observed a tear trickle down her fair pale cheek, and could no longer +restrain the expression of his sympathy. "Be comforted, noble maiden!" +he exclaimed, with emotion; "no evil shall befall you. The man you +mourn for may perhaps have been true and faithful to you, but (were he +not struck with sudden madness) he fell here as a great criminal. Carry +the dead man to Esrom," he said to two of the huntsmen; "entreat the +abbot in my name to grant him Christian burial, and sing a mass for his +soul." They instantly obeyed, and bore away the body. The kneeling +maiden arose.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Let me provide for your safety," continued Aagé. "Ere your case has +been inquired into according to law, you cannot quit the kingdom; but I +pledge my word and honour King Eric will never permit your father's +guilt to make him forget what is due to your rank and sex."</p> + +<p class="normal">"If we are really your prisoners. Sir Knight," said the elder sister, +"then, in the name of our blessed Lady, lead us to our prison; promise +me only that you will not separate us, and that you will not be severe +to my poor sister."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Neither for yourself nor for your sister, noble maiden, need you fear +aught like harsh treatment; and if you, as I hope and believe, can +justify yourselves, your captivity will assuredly not be a long one."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Our life and freedom are in the Lord's hand--not in man's," said the +eldest sister, in a tone of resignation. "In this world we have now no +friends. Our father's meanest squire sacrificed his life for us; he +whom he made a knight forsook us in the hour of need," she added in a +low voice.</p> + +<p class="normal">Drost Aagé now gazed with increased sympathy on the calm pale maiden, +and was cut to the heart by the expression of dignified sorrow in her +countenance, called forth by the consciousness of her desolate +condition.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I will be your friend and protector so long as I live!" he exclaimed +with visible emotion. "That I pledge myself to be on my knightly word +and honour."</p> + +<p class="normal">"The Lord and our dear blessed Lady reward you for that," answered the +fair captive. "You seem to wish us well; but if you are King Eric's +friend, you must certainly hate us for our father's sake."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Assuredly I am King Eric's friend!" said Aagé, the blood mounting to +his cheek as he spoke, "but I cannot therefore hate you. If you, as I +fully believe, are innocent of what hath just now happened, as a knight +and as a Christian also I owe you and all the defenceless friendly +consolation and protection."</p> + +<p class="normal">The horses of the two huntsmen who had quitted the party had been +meanwhile led forward, and had their saddles arranged so as to admit of +the maidens riding without danger or difficulty. The younger sister was +first mounted. She had not as yet uttered a word, but had gazed +restlessly around, occupied apparently in forming conjectures of the +most contradictory nature. At one moment she appeared dejected and +ready to weep, at another her bright eyes sparkled with animation, and +she seemed to meditate a venturous flight, while the next she looked +with an air of queen-like authority at the courteous young knight and +the two huntsmen, as if she had but to command to be obeyed. It was not +until she was firmly seated in the saddle, with the bridle in her hand, +that she seemed fearless and at her ease. "Let us speed on then," she +said with sportive gaiety.</p> + +<div class="poem2"> +<p class="t0">"What though full small the palfreys be,<br> +'Tis better to ride than on foot to flee."</p> +</div> + +<p class="normal">"If this knight is our guardian and protector, it is of course his duty +to defend us. At a royal castle, besides, they must know how to give us +royal entertainment."</p> + +<p class="normal">"We wend not to yon dark castle as honoured guests," replied her +sister; "but keep up thy spirits, Ulrica, all the hairs of our head are +numbered." So saying, she allowed herself to be placed on horseback; +and Drost Aagé was presently riding between his two fair captives +through Esrom forest, followed by the two huntsmen.</p> + +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAP. IV.</h2> + +<p class="normal">The party rode on for some time in silence and at an easy pace through +the dusky forest. The elder sister sat with drooping head, and seemed +lost in melancholy thought; but on reaching an open place in the +forest, from whence they had an unclouded view of the star-lit heavens, +she looked up, and the star-light seemed to be reflected in her soft +blue eye, while her countenance was irradiated by an expression of that +inward peace which springs from the stedfast hope of a blessed +immortality. "God's heaven is vast, and beautiful, and calm, indeed," +she exclaimed, in a gently tremulous tone. "In God's kingdom above no +one is outlawed or persecuted."</p> + +<p class="normal">"And no soul shut out from love and mercy," added the young Drost, +painfully reminded of his separation from the church, which he felt +but too deeply; "yet, even here, noble lady!" he continued, with +calmness--"even here, God's kingdom can and will come to us--that we +daily pray for. But what avails it, that we look for the peace of +Heaven ere we have it within our own hearts! It is my belief that God's +kingdom may be found every where."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Assuredly you are right," said the gentle maiden, regarding him with +friendly sympathy; "you must likewise have known what sorrow is, noble +knight! but Christ and our blessed Lady have given you the grace to +overcome evil with good. This I can see in your eyes, and hear in your +voice, though you are a brave and redoubted knight."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Would you were right touching <i>such</i> victory, noble maiden!" answered +Aagé, "but evil is so mighty in the world, that no knight should vaunt +himself of having overcome it; the noblest of monarchs overcomes not +evil in his own kingdom, and scarcely even in his own heart."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes, in his own heart he surely must!" said the maiden; "but you are +right after all, the power belongs not to man." They rode on for +another hour in silence, and drew near to Esrom monastery.</p> + +<p class="normal">"The young King Eric looked as though he were good," resumed the elder +maiden, at length; "sternly as he spoke to us, I still could not fear +him; and our just rights he would not deny us; only thus doth anger +beseem a king."</p> + +<p class="normal">"My liege and sovereign is impetuous," said Aagé; "he is strict, but +just; and there is assuredly no knight in Christendom who more +faithfully observes all the noble laws of chivalry."</p> + +<p class="normal">"If that be true," exclaimed the maiden, with a suppressed sigh, "then +I am thankful even for the misfortune which now brings us this way; had +I even been myself the cause of our faithful foster-father's death," +she added, after a pause, "his blood will nevertheless not be upon my +head."</p> + +<p class="normal">"How mean ye, noble maiden?" asked Aagé, starting. "I understand you +not."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Had my father's faithful squire but hit the mark he aimed at," +answered the maiden, "you and all King Eric's faithful friends would +now have had more to sorrow for than we. His arrow never missed the +eagle in his flight"--she paused, as if hesitating to say more: "yet +you shall know it," she continued--"had not my sister shrieked, had I +not clung to the archer's arm, he would surely have been alive and safe +among us at this moment, while ye wept the death of your liege and +sovereign. But praised be St. Cecilia! it were better it chanced as it +did, were even King Eric not so good and just as you say he is."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Assuredly, noble maiden!" exclaimed Aagé, in astonishment, "you have +been the means of averting the greatest misery: knew ye that +miscreant's intention?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I knew he had sworn the king's death, for our father's sake, and that +he would keep his vow. He meant to flee with us out of the country; but +when the hunting train approached, we hid ourselves: he recognised the +king, and instantly seized the cross-bow"--she stopped and burst into +tears.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You have followed a fearful guide," said Aagé, in a low voice; "weep +not for his death. Although you knew his fell purpose, your soul hath +been rescued from sharing his crime, and the king hath to thank you for +his life. Yet would you had been ignorant of that madman's purpose! +Such dangerous information you should never have confided to me."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Why, then, did you question me of it, Sir Knight!"</p> + +<p class="normal">The colour mounted to Aagé's cheek, and he paused for a moment. "A +crazed murderer was, then, your only friend and protector," he resumed; +"his accursed scheme of revenge could not have been frustrated had you +not known it! Had you but other witnesses, besides yourself and your +sister, of your conduct towards him! yet, I dare confirm your testimony +with my blood, and with my sword: be comforted! With the Lord's +blessing, you shall never need to fly from Denmark;--instead of the +captivity to which I am now forced to lead you, my just sovereign owes +you thanks and honour."</p> + +<p class="normal">"That we can never look for from King Eric," answered Margaretha; "all +doors and all hearts here are now shut against Marsk Stig's children; +if the king will but grant us permission to quit the country, we will +thank him, and pray for him in our exile. The world is wide, and there +are Christian souls in other lands also."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Courage, Margaretha!" exclaimed the youngest sister, who had listened +with eager interest and sparkling eyes. "If King Eric be as just and +chivalrous a prince as he looks to be, and as this good knight says he +is, there cannot be the least doubt that he must acquit us, and restore +to us our inheritance, with royal compensation for all we have lost."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Alas, dear sister!" answered Margaretha, in a melancholy and +beseeching tone, "gold and lands cannot replace what we have lost. The +happiness and honour which this world and its rulers can give us we +should no longer seek, but rather aspire to higher blessings."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You hear, Sir Knight! that my pious sister is already half nun and +saint," said the younger sister, gaily playing with a sparkling rosary +of rubies and diamonds, which she had until now concealed under her +neck-kerchief. "If you will defend our cause like a brave knight, she +will assuredly pray piously for you in a nunnery; but if I ever come, +by your help, to the station which is my birthright, I will not forget +you either in my prosperity."</p> + +<p class="normal">Drost Aagé was startled; he bowed courteously, in answer to this +address, while he turned his horse aside in silence, leaving the +sisters to ride side by side.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Hush, hush, good Ulrica!" whispered Margaretha, who glowed crimson at +her sister's speech; "thou knowest not thyself what thou sayest, but it +doth disgrace us in the eyes of the stranger knight."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I know well enough what I say," answered the capricious maiden, with a +scornful toss of the head, "and if <i>thou</i> wilt not vaunt thyself of our +high descent, depend on it, <i>I</i> will; charity begins at home, and I +have often heard that no knight's daughter in Denmark's kingdom hath +ever had a greater man for a father."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Alas! that greatness is our misfortune," said Margaretha, with a sigh; +"dearest sister, repeat not to any human being what you have just now +said! Ask not my reasons! I can never tell them thee; but thank God +thou knowest not all!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Art thou beginning with thy riddles again?" said her sister, +pettishly, as she looked inquisitively at her; "what in all the world +canst <i>thou</i> know, which <i>I</i> know not. If thou wilt not confide every +thing to me, when we two are alone, I will never more be so foolishly +fond of thee. Thou art, indeed, quite insufferable at times, however +pious and excellent thou may'st be."</p> + +<p class="normal">While this little dispute was passing between the sisters, Aagé's +attention was diverted from them by the sound of the tramping of +horses' hoofs, and of loud talk. They were just then passing the gate +of Esrom monastery, from whence a party of richly attired knights rode +forth, with some ecclesiastics among them. It was Prince Christopher +and the Margrave of Brandenborg, with the Swedish Drost Bruncké and the +Abbot of Esrom, who, with several priests and knights, accompanied a +tall ecclesiastic of foreign appearance, and wearing the red hat of a +cardinal. Aagé instantly recognised the papal nuncio, Cardinal Isarnus. +The sight of this powerful prelate inspired Aagé with a feeling akin to +dread, and with a presentiment of coming evil, he was, besides, +ill-pleased to see him in Prince Christopher's company; he desired not +to encounter them, and would have hastily turned into a bye-road, but +the unusual sight of two peasant girls on horseback, accompanied by a +knight and two of the king's huntsmen, had already attracted the +prince's attention; he hastily rode up, followed by two knights, to +ascertain who they were.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Ha! indeed! Drost Aagé," said the prince, in a scornful tone, "the +preacher of our strict laws of chivalry, are ye carrying off <i>two</i> +pretty maidens at once? I think you might content yourself with one--if +I see aright, these fair ones are of a somewhat higher class than they +care to pass for; speak, who are they?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"The unfortunate daughters of Marsk Stig, noble junker!" answered Aagé; +"I am escorting them, by the king's orders, as state prisoners, to +Kallundborg."</p> + +<p class="normal">"The viper brood of the regicide!" exclaimed the prince, while a dark +crimson hue suddenly overspread his countenance. "Well! this is an +excellent capture. Throw them into the subterranean dungeon; they shall +never more see the light of day."</p> + +<p class="normal">The younger sister shrieked in alarm at this wild threat, but the elder +made a sign to her to be silent, and endeavoured to tranquillize her +fears.</p> + +<p class="normal">"They are to be treated with justice, and with all chivalrous deference +and honour," answered Aagé, calmly; "such is my sovereign's will and +express command, which I shall punctually obey."</p> + +<p class="normal">"<i>I</i> am governor of Kallundborg, Drost!" called the prince, in wrath; +"the state prisoners sent thither are under my control. Ride with them, +Pallé! give my orders to the jailor! you are answerable for their being +obeyed!" He now said a few words to one of his train, but in so low a +tone as to be unheard by every one else, and then turned his horse, and +rode back to his party. Each now pursued their separate road, but the +knight who had received the prince's private orders joined Drost Aagé +and his prisoners.</p> + +<p class="normal">This unwelcome companion was a fat, short-necked personage, with a +repulsive expression in his crimson-coloured full-moon visage. He was +generally called the rich Sir Pallé, and made himself conspicuous by +the costly, but not tasteful, splendour of his dress and riding +accoutrements, which he prided himself on being able to compare in +value with the king's. He sought by an affectation of youthful gaiety +to conceal his age, which very closely bordered on fifty. He was still +a bachelor, but was an unwearied wooer, and greatly desired to pass +for a doughty knight, and an irresistible invader of the hearts of the +fair of every rank. He was not liked by the king, but was a hanger-on +of Prince Christopher, to whom he was appointed gentleman of the +bed-chamber. He was in bad repute among the lower class, on account of +several adventures, little creditable to himself, which were circulated +throughout the country in satirical ballads. He rode for some time in +silence by Drost Aagé's side, apparently annoyed at being despatched on +this unlooked-for errand. Aagé was silent also, and pursued the journey +without noticing him.</p> + +<p class="normal">"My presence is troublesome to you, perhaps, Sir Drost!" exclaimed +Pallé, at last breaking silence. "This mission is not to my taste +either. The prince was in his stern mood to-day; when that is the case +he will not bear contradiction, or I should gladly have begged to +decline the journey. Where <i>you</i> act in the king's name, I well know +that <i>I</i>, as the junker's deputy, might just as well be absent."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Truly, I think so likewise, Sir Pallé!" answered Aagé, in a tone of +indifference, as he quickened his horse's pace.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It is all one to me whether your captives receive hard or gentle +treatment," continued Sir Pallé; "but if I bring not my lord's commands +to the jailor at Kallundborg, you see yourself, I shall draw down the +junker's wrath upon me, and that I have no mind to do for the sake of a +couple of vagabonds."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Perhaps you heard not what I told the prince of the name and rank of +these ladies?" asked Aagé, measuring his rude companion with a look of +defiance, while he slackened his horse's pace; "even without regard to +their birth, you owe them respect, as honourable Danish maidens, and +for the present moment I am their protector against every insult."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Ho, ho! you are somewhat hasty, Sir Drost!" answered Pallé, "who +thinks of insulting the pretty maidens? what though they may have +scoured the country round, without stockings and shoes, they should not +be thought the less of for that; they are now going to be led, +according to their rank, to an honourable state prison. I perceive the +fair prisoners have already captured our chivalrous Drost, by way of +reprisal."</p> + +<p class="normal">Drost Aagé coloured deeply at this jeering speech. "By your leave, Sir +Pallé!" he said, with suppressed wrath, "here lies the road to +Kallundborg; it is long and broad enough for us all, and we need not be +troublesome to each other; if ye will ride on before or follow behind, +we will accommodate ourselves accordingly; but if you desire to honour +us any longer with your company, you must behave courteously, or you +understand me----." He struck on the hilt of his sword, and was silent.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well, well, either before or behind, or courteously in the middle--or +fighting? These, are indeed four pleasant alternatives," answered +Pallé. "With your permission, I choose the third, as the happy medium, +and purpose, in all peace and courtesy, to remain in such fair company. +I have hardly seen the ladies as yet;" so saying, he rode up between +the sisters, whom he greeted with a bold and scrutinizing stare. "What +in all the world is this?" he suddenly exclaimed, in the greatest +astonishment, as he looked at the youngest sister; "Gundelillé! do I +see <i>you</i> here? Mean you to befool the Drost also? Would you now give +yourself out to be Marsk Stig's daughter? The other day you were but +the farmer's daughter at Hedegaard."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes, I was so <i>then</i>," answered Ulrica, laughing; "Gundelillé is my +name still in the ballad of 'Sir Pallé wooing the driver.' Perhaps you +have not heard it, Sir Pallé? I will gladly sing it you; it is vastly +entertaining."</p> + +<p class="normal">If any part of Sir Pallé's visage was before wanting in a crimson hue, +the deficiency was now fully remedied; he seemed highly enraged; but +the sight of Ulrica's arch little face appeared to produce such an +effect upon him that he could not give vent to his anger. He spurred +his horse, and had nearly pushed the ladies into the ditch, as he +suddenly dashed past them.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Know ye this knight, noble lady?" asked Aagé, in surprise.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh yes! tolerably well," answered Ulrica, laughing. "I once played off +a little joke upon him."</p> + +<p class="normal">"It was indeed a daring frolic of my sister's, Sir Knight!" interrupted +Margaretha. "Sir Pallé had long plagued her, and she thought she could +not in any other way get rid of his importunity; but it was wrong, no +doubt; he became a laughing stock, and an object of general ridicule in +consequence; and if you do not now prevent it, he bids fair to avenge +himself."</p> + +<p class="normal">"But what was it you did?" asked Aagé. Ulrica laughed, and would have +told the story, but her sister laid hold of her arm. "Silence, dear +Ulrica! here we have him again," she whispered, and Ulrica was silent. +Sir Pallé had checked his horse, and joined them again. He seemed +perfectly to have recovered his self-possession. He assured Drost Aagé +that he was so far from desiring such captives should be harshly +treated, that he even wished it were possible entirely to free them +from imprisonment. "I have seen them before," he added, "and had I +known who they were, they should not now have been on their way to +prison." Shortly afterwards he again rode in between the maidens.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Pitiless Gundelillé," he whispered, "speak no more of that cruel +story. I meant not to wrong you; had I known you were the daughter of a +noble knight, I would have proffered hand and heart, in all reverence +and honour, and even now were I so fortunate as to find favour in your +lovely eyes----"</p> + +<p class="normal">Without looking at him, Ulrica began to sing,</p> + +<div class="poem2"> +<p class="t0" style="text-indent:-8px">"List ye then, Sir Pallé!</p> +<p class="t2">No wrong do ye to me,</p> +<p class="t0">When mass is sung and ended,</p> +<p class="t2">In my car shall ye seated be."</p> +</div> + +<p class="normal">"Sing not that accursed song, fairest of maidens!" interrupted Sir +Pallé; "I will not offend you; but believe me, loveliest of the +lovely----"</p> + +<p class="normal">Without heeding him, she now sang aloud,</p> + +<div class="poem2"> +<p class="t0" style="text-indent:-8px">"And then she clad her driver lad</p> +<p class="t2">In purple robe so rare;</p> +<p class="t0">In the driver's suit was quickly clad</p> +<p class="t2">Gundelill', that maiden fair."</p> +</div> + +<p class="normal">"Hush! I will not say a word more," interrupted Sir Pallé again. "But +if you knew how greatly I love and honour you----"</p> + +<p class="normal">The sportive maiden set up a loud laugh, and continued to sing,</p> + +<div class="poem2"> +<p class="t0" style="text-indent:-8px">"Sir Pallé then, the wealthy knight,</p> +<p class="t2">Enters the car full bold,</p> +<p class="t0">Salutes the driver with delight</p> +<p class="t1">And in his arms doth fold.</p> + +<p class="t0"> </p> +<p class="t0" style="text-indent:-8px">"It was the lady Gundelillé</p> +<p class="t2">Who drove into the yard;</p> +<p class="t0">She laughed, I tell ye, heartily</p> +<p class="t2">At the jest he deemed so hard."</p> +</div> + +<p class="normal">"Ha!~ that jest you shall dearly rue," whispered Pallé, in a rage. "You +sing sweetly," he said aloud; "remember you the whole ballad, fair +lady? If you sing another verse," he whispered, "it shall cost you +dear."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Hush, dearest sister!" said Margaretha, in a tone of earnest entreaty; +and Ulrica was silent.</p> + +<p class="normal">Sir Pallé now rode round to Drost Aagé's side, and did not again +address himself to the captive maiden. He was silent and gloomy. He had +observed with great wrath a repressed smile on the Drost's countenance; +and the huntsmen who followed them laughed, and whispered together in a +manner which too plainly indicated that Sir Pallé and his unfortunate +love adventure were the subject of their ridicule. The two younger +huntsmen were strongly, attached to Aagé; they had remarked how little +acceptable Sir Pallé's company was to him; and they now, as if to +beguile the time, began to hum the well-known ballad of the brave +knight Helmer Blaa. In one of the many scenes of violence which were +the consequences of the proscription of the outlawed regicides, Helmer +Blaa had slain Sir Pallé's uncle. On this account he had for a long +time been barbarously persecuted by Sir Pallé and his six brothers, +until he at last vanquished all the six in honourable self-defence, and +compelled Pallé to give him his sister in marriage, who, before this +feud, had been betrothed to the gallant knight. This occurrence (so +derogatory to Sir Pallé's reputation) had attracted general attention, +and almost every young fellow in the country could repeat a ballad in +honour of the bold Helmer Blaa, who had not only been acquitted by the +king and whole body of knighthood, but stood also high in favour with +Eric. The burden of the song,--</p> + +<div class="poem2"> +<p class="t0">"In the saddle he rides so free,"</p> +</div> + +<p class="continue">fell on Sir Pallé's ear.</p> + +<p class="normal">He looked back towards the huntsmen, with a face glowing with rage, but +they appeared not to notice it; and one of them sang aloud,--</p> + +<div class="poem2"> +<p class="t0">"Better I cannot counsel thee,<br> +That thou tarry not, but hence should'st flee,<br> +In the saddle he rides so free."</p> +</div> + +<p class="normal">"Your huntsmen, Sir Drost, would drive me hence with vile songs, I +perceive," said Sir Pallé, turning to Aagé. "Is it you, or yonder +pretty maiden, who have inspired them with this pleasant conceit?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You are perhaps not a lover of song, Sir Pallé?" answered Aagé; "that +is unfortunate: the merry fellows wish to beguile the time for us on +the road."</p> + +<p class="normal">"If I hear aright," growled Pallé, "that song may perhaps shorten the +road to heaven for both of them if it is not presently ended."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Think you so?" answered Aagé carelessly. "If you will give us your +company you must reconcile yourself to our merriment. Haste to sing the +song to the end," he called to the huntsmen, "or Sir Pallé will be +wroth;" and the huntsmen sang gaily,--</p> + +<div class="poem2"> +<p class="t0" style="text-indent:-8px">"In the town my true love shall ne'er hear it said<br> +That I before her brothers have fled.</p> + +<p class="t0"> </p> +<p class="t0" style="text-indent:-8px">"Full boldly rode Helmer her brothers to meet,<br> +His courage was equal to every feat.</p> + +<p class="t0"> </p> +<p class="t0" style="text-indent:-8px">"First Ové, then Lang, his eye did survey,<br> +And then did his sword come quick into play."</p> +</div> + +<p class="normal">"S'death!" shouted Sir Pallé, and his sword flew from the scabbard. "If +ye <i>will</i> have the sword come into play, you shall feel it too." So +saying, he turned his horse, and rushed like a madman upon the +huntsmen, who had not time to prepare for defence, ere his sword had +cut through their jerkins, and inflicted one or two wounds. But the +huntsmen, enraged at this sudden onset, drew their long hunting-knives, +and threatened a bloody revenge. Ulrica shrieked on hearing the affray, +and the elder sister turned pale. "Stop, knaves!" cried Aagé, riding in +between Pallé and his antagonists: "two against one is not fair play. I +will decide this matter alone with Sir Pallé." The Drost had drawn his +sword, and was expecting his opponent to turn towards him, but Sir +Pallé's horse seemed to have become suddenly skittish and unruly: it +galloped off, on the road to Esrom, with its enraged master, whose +spurs stuck in its sides, while he swore and brandished his sword over +his head. The huntsmen laughed loudly at this sight. Ulrica joined in +the laugh; and as soon as the slight wounds of the huntsmen had been +bound up, the party pursued their journey, though in a different +direction from that in which they had set out.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I must have been mistaken," said Drost Aagé to the huntsmen. "It could +hardly have been to Kallundborg, but rather to Vordingborg, that the +king commanded me to accompany these ladies; there he, and not Prince +Christopher, is ruler. If there was other meaning in his words, I will +be answerable for it." As they turned into a bye road, a tall man in a +peasant's dress, mounted on a small peasant's horse, without a saddle, +started out of the thicket by the road side, and suddenly disappeared +again among the bushes. "Kaggé!" exclaimed Ulrica, with involuntary +delight, and seized her sister's arm. Margaretha gave her a significant +look, and she was silent, but often gazed restlessly around.</p> + +<p class="normal">Drost Aagé had heard the exclamation, and started. The name of Kaggé +was but too familiar to him. A squire of noble birth of this name had +been among Eric Glipping's murderers at Finnerup; he had fled with the +other outlaws to Norway, and was prohibited, on pain of death, from +setting foot on Danish ground; had he, notwithstanding, been in the +train of the captive maidens, their connection with so dangerous a +traitor might operate greatly against them. This incident obliged the +Drost to be on the watch over the security of his captives. Silent and +anxious he pursued the journey.</p> + +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAP. V.</h2> + +<p class="normal">Prince Christopher and his train meanwhile pursued their way to +Sjöborg. They rode at a slow pace, to suit the convenience of the +foreign prelate. The mysterious importance which Cardinal Isarnus knew +how to assume as the pope's legate, and the reserve with which he +evaded every close question, had worked up the prince to a pitch of +anxious expectation, which he vainly endeavoured to hide. Isarnus +appeared with a splendour corresponding to his high rank as a dignitary +of the church; his richly attired attendants followed him at a +respectful distance, together with his famulus and secretary; near him +rode the Abbot of Esrom and two foreign ecclesiastics. Isarnus +conversed with his countrymen and with the abbot by turns, in the +Italian and Latin tongue: his converse with the prince and the margrave +was short and abrupt, and carried on in almost unintelligible German. +He appeared, indeed, to avail himself of the want of a common language, +by leaving every query unanswered to which he considered it might be +impolitic to reply. In important negociations he made use of his +famulus as an interpreter. Wherever this powerful prelate appeared in +the country, he was the object of superstitious awe. The unusual +spectacle of the cardinal's red hat worked upon the imagination of the +people like the appearance of a comet, and was considered to be as +ominous of evil, as that dreaded phenomenon of the heavens. Some of the +most ignorant among the lower orders even believed it was the pope +himself who had arrived in Denmark to dethrone the king and +excommunicate the kingdom; and it was not alone from reverence, but as +much from fear, that the wonder-stricken peasants and old women +especially, knelt down whenever they encountered the cardinal. His +long, sallow, and imperturbable visage, with its expression of cool +menace, and foreign aspect, combined with the preconceived notion of a +supernatural and mysterious power, seemed endowed with the petrifying +influence of Medusa's head.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Dear Sir Pope! harm us not!" frequently whimpered forth the sick and +crippled who knelt in his path. He understood them not, and no word +proceeded from his thin compressed lips, but he extended his arm, with +a cold unchanging mien, and with his three fingers, which sparkled with +costly rings, signed over their uncovered heads the silent token of a +blessing, which they feared would soon be changed into a curse, for the +threats with which he had last left the king and the country, were +generally made known through the fears of the clergy themselves, and +their zealous exhortations to repentance.</p> + +<p class="normal">Accompanied by this ecclesiastical scarecrow. Prince Christopher now +approached Sjöborg. After several fruitless attempts to gain the +confidence of the mysterious legate, the prince withdrew, leaving his +place by the cardinal's side to the Abbot of Esrom and the other +ecclesiastics, who conversed with him, in Latin, upon philosophical and +theological subjects. The bold and joyous margrave rode by the side of +Sir Helmer Blaa, and talked eagerly of campaigns and tournaments. The +prince allowed them to pass him, and remained alone behind with the +Swedish statesman, Drost Bruncké, to whom he appeared desirous of +communicating something of importance ere they reached Sjöborg.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You will now probably delay your homeward journey, Sir Drost!" said +the prince, in a confidential tone. "That which yon mysterious guest +brings with him may prove as important to your sovereign and to the +Swedish council as to us."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Perhaps it may alter the state of things here rather more than your +royal house would wish," answered Bruncké, ambiguously; "what else can +your highness mean?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yonder red cloud is doubtless charged with holy lightnings," continued +the prince, pointing to the cardinal, whose red hat flared through the +trees in the moonlight. "If my stiff-necked brother does not now give +in, misfortune stands at his door; such is ever the result of all half +measures. An important state prisoner should be either timely buried, +or else let loose. Was not that your opinion also, Sir Drost?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"It is often the wisest policy," answered Bruncké. "The dead <i>cannot</i> +tell tales; and the generous, once restored to freedom, <i>will not</i>."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You know the individual I allude to," continued the prince; "he will +now either be let loose, and become perhaps more dangerous than ever, +or the storm will burst which he hath conjured over us hither from +Rome. He was as good as buried--that was my doing, but I got sorry +thanks for it. Out of mistimed compassion he was brought up once more +from the grave;--to spare a sick priest, they had the folly to let +loose the bishop's understrapper, so that he was able to flee, and stir +up heaven and earth to work our ruin. I then counselled a timely +reconciliation; but when sternness should have been used they were weak +and mild, and when reconciliation became the wisest policy they were +stern and pertinacious. My counsel was never heeded; hate and disfavour +were my thanks. The people will now have their eyes opened, and perhaps +your young king also, provided he will be guided by his wisest +counsellor."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Very possibly, noble prince!" answered Bruncké, with a crafty smile; +"but as yet I see not the danger, and even were I so fortunate as to +perceive it, and to understand you, so long as Thorkild Knudson is at +the head of state affairs, and in such high honour and favour"--he +paused, and shrugged his shoulders.</p> + +<p class="normal">"He rises but to fall," continued the prince, "should he even win my +brother's favour also. By his friendship with your dangerous dukes, and +the high alliance which is spoken of, he is sealing his own doom."</p> + +<p class="normal">"That is very possible, your highness," answered Bruncké, with a +malicious smile; "his vaunted wisdom is not infallible; with time +cometh experience. Were but your royal brother only not so ardent a +lover, and our fair princess somewhat less devoted to him"--</p> + +<p class="normal">"Childish fancies!" interrupted the prince. "State policy alone, not +childish folly, should counsel here. Your young king hastes not +so with his marriage, and therein he acts wisely. Between ourselves, +Bruncké,"--here he whispered confidentially, while he nearly drew +bridle,--"my sister Mereté is little suited to your king, but his +soft-hearted sister is still less so to my brother. This double +alliance will be ruinous for both kingdoms. You may easily come to +share our unhappy position with regard to the papal see; and if enmity +breaks out betwixt your king and his ambitious brother, there is no +doubt against whom Princess Ingeborg, as queen, will arm Denmark and my +enamoured brother. That she holds the haughty warlike duke, Eric, far +dearer than his crowned brother, you know yourself much better than I."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Truly, I cannot but admire your highness's policy," replied Bruncké, +in a fawning tone, while his wily glance seemed to penetrate the +prince's most secret thoughts. "You are as wise as generous; prizing +Denmark and Sweden's happiness higher than your own sister's and +brother's domestic felicity! Here I recognise the lofty, princely +spirit, which soars above the petty interests of private life. But, to +speak truly, I see not how this double alliance can be prevented or +broken off, without a breach of peace, while your royal brother sways +here, and follows nought but his own inclinations."</p> + +<p class="normal">"We must have time, Bruncké" whispered the prince; "the guest we bring +him to-night will soon change the aspect of affairs in Denmark. I +shudder myself to think of what may happen, but things cannot remain as +they are; your young king will always need a wise counsellor, who can +rule people and kingdom in his name. For this office no one is so fit +as yourself. Set your head to work, sage Bruncké; if it should be +endangered, you may count on me."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Let us reserve these matters for your private chamber, noble prince," +whispered Bruncké, looking cautiously around. "Woods have ears, and +plains have eyes, they say. It were, perhaps, good policy that I should +henceforth be apparently somewhat out of favour with your highness."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Right, Bruncké; contradict me tomorrow at table, in the king's +hearing, and I will reply in a manner which you must only <i>feign</i> to +take amiss."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Every ungracious word spoken to me by your highness in public, I shall +take to be a proof of your secret favour. All that I can promise you," +he added in a whisper, raising his hand so as to screen his face on the +other side, "is the delay of both marriages as long as possible; as to +what concerns me personally, I depend upon your princely word."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I give you my hand upon it, sage Bruncké" answered the prince, +extending to him his hand. "Now let us be off; the cardinal hath +reached the lake already."</p> + +<p class="normal">They spurred their horses, and overtook the rest of their party by the +shore of the lake, where a floating bridge had been contrived for the +convenience of this unusual throng of passengers. While they halted +here, Sir Pallé returned at full gallop, and told the prince, almost +panting for breath, that he had been murderously attacked by Drost Aagé +and both his huntsmen at once.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Indeed, I am glad of it," answered the prince, in a tone of +satisfaction. "The Drost shall dearly rue such unchivalrous conduct. +You can of course swear to what you say, Pallé! else no one will credit +it."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Swear to it!" repeated Pallé, with glowing cheeks, and endeavouring to +hide his confusion; "those who will not believe me, by my troth may let +it alone; ungodly oaths I have forsworn."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then the devil take your chatter," muttered the prince, in displeasure, +and turned from him.</p> + +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAP. VI.</h2> + +<p class="normal">On his return to Sjöborg Castle, King Eric had shut himself up in his +private chamber, engrossed in serious reflections on the imminent peril +he had just escaped; it seemed to him as if St. Cecilia's eve was +destined to bring with it misfortune and danger to him and to his race. +This was the second time he had encountered traitors and robbers in the +neighbourhood of Sjöborg. The conviction, however, that he possessed +the love and devotion of his subjects, soon dissipated the young king's +gloomy mood. He had summoned the Swedish Marsk, Thorkild Knudson, to a +private audience, and now conversed calmly and frankly with this noble +knight on the happy alliance between Denmark and Sweden, which at the +present time was the chief subject of the king's thoughts, and in which +his heart so ardently shared.</p> + +<p class="normal">Thorkild Knudson was a handsome man, of a thoughtful and dignified +aspect, rather more than forty years of age; his dark hair seemed to +have grown untimely grey. His powerful influence as regent had gained +him a high reputation, as well in his own country as in foreign courts. +An honest aspiration after power and rank was manifest in his fiery +glance, and the noble commanding expression of his countenance bespoke +a dauntless confidence in his own powers, and a species of proud +contempt for all the petty arts by which less highly gifted statesmen +often seek to supply the want of sound political wisdom. As he sat +opposite the young king, attired in his blue knight's dress, with the +large chain of the order around his neck, and conversed with him, with +freedom and sympathy, he might have been taken for a fatherly friend or +relative of King Eric, had he not, by strict observance of the respect +due to Eric's exalted station, but without a tinge of flattery, known +how to receive the confidence reposed in him by royalty with an +appearance of homage which detracted not from his own dignity as the +ambassador of a foreign monarch.</p> + +<p class="normal">Although Thorkild Knudson, as Swedish regent, was authorized on the +part of King Birger and the state council to accede to the king's +desire of having the celebration of his marriage fixed for the ensuing +spring, yet it was only on the condition that the pope's dispensation +should be obtained before that time. But because of the vehemence with +which the king always rejected the idea of every obstacle, Thorkild +Knudson had hitherto propounded this condition in as mild terms as +possible. He now touched upon it again, and took the opportunity of +bringing the case of the captive archbishop to Eric's remembrance.</p> + +<p class="normal">The colour mounted to the young king's cheek; he became suddenly +silent, and a secret struggle seemed passing within his breast. He +looked around him once or twice, as if he missed some one; at last, +however, his eye rested with evident pleasure and satisfaction on +Thorkild's intelligent and noble countenance. "I esteem my future +brother-in-law fortunate," he said, "in possessing a man like you for +his friend and counsellor. You are now to him what my aged counsellor +Jon and my well-beloved Drost Hessel have been to me from my childhood +upwards. The misunderstanding with the papal court has long deprived me +of my best and most experienced counsellors. My faithful Drost Aagé is +not older and more experienced than myself. I feel confidence in you, +Sir Thorkild. Were I your liege and sovereign, what would you counsel +me in this weighty matter?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"To see the prisoner, and hear his defence--<i>dispassionately</i>, noble +King Eric," answered the Swedish statesman. "As far as I know, he hath +not only <i>done</i> wrong, but <i>suffered</i> wrong; for a long and severe +imprisonment is a suffering and punishment, which can only be called +just, when it is inflicted according to a lawfully pronounced +sentence."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Was it then unjust in me to imprison a state criminal, who was an +accomplice in the murder of my father--an accursed regicide?" said +Eric, with vehemence, and rising from his seat. "Should I have given +him time to escape, or stir up the people against me, because he was +not condemned by the pope and the bishops? Can I acknowledge +ecclesiastical law when it would acquit a rebel and regicide?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"It was perhaps necessary for your grace to hinder his flight and +treasonable designs," answered Thorkild Knudson, who had risen from his +seat at the same time with the king, "were it not possible previously +to obtain papal authority for the step; but, by your grace's leave, as +your counsellor, I would have freely and openly pronounced all +unnecessary severity to be as dangerous as unjust."</p> + +<p class="normal">"With my knowledge he hath suffered no injustice," answered the king. +"The manner of his seizure I highly disapproved; and I have declared +what took place then in my minority to have been contrary to my wish. +My brave Drost Torstenson I have dismissed. In him I have lost a +faithful, but too zealous and rash a friend. My own brother I severely +reprimanded. For the sake of a state criminal, I have exposed myself to +unpleasant differences in my own family, which wound me deeply, and may +perhaps prove dangerous to state and kingdom. What more can reasonably +be asked of me?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Noble sovereign," resumed Thorkild Knudson, with earnestness; "you +vouchsafe to show me a confidence which I highly prize. At the present +moment I am, thanks to the Lord, able to reciprocate it with honest +frankness. I trust a double relationship will unite you, and my liege +and sovereign in a lasting union; but I will not abuse your confidence. +I would not have your grace confide aught to me which you might regret +I should know, if at any time, which God forbid! my fidelity to my king +and my native land should compel me to seem your and Denmark's foe. +Even in such a position I would esteem and admire your noble spirit, +and I know you would not misjudge me."</p> + +<p class="normal">"No, Sir Thorkild," answered the king, extending to him his hand; "even +were you forced to-morrow, as a loyal Swedish statesman, to become my +adversary, I should not misjudge your heart and chivalrous spirit. I +value your esteem--answer me freely! think ye I have acted unjustly in +this matter?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well then, King Eric," said Thorkild, "allow my answer to be a +question to which you can best reply yourself. Had counsellor Jon, and +Drost Hessel been with you at this time, think you, you would have so +long delayed the advances towards a reconciliation, which I cannot but +conjecture was the main object of your prolonged sojourn here?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"It is not for me, but for the captive criminal, to take the first step +towards reconciliation," answered the king; "but I am now weary myself +of this procrastination. Here lies a proposal for a reconciliation +which I have caused the Drost to draw up. I will see the prisoner +to-morrow."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Why not this very evening, noble sovereign?" said Thorkild. "If you +incline to reconciliation, it was perhaps in a fortunate moment you +permitted me to become your counsellor. The accomplishment of your own +heartfelt desire is probably more closely connected with this +negociation than you imagine."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well, I will see him this evening--this very hour," said the king, +pulling the bell string. An attendant entered. "Tell the steward, the +captive archbishop is to be brought hither." The attendant bowed, and +departed. The king threw himself into a chair, and fell into a reverie. +Thorkild Knudson seemed preparing to take his leave.</p> + +<p class="normal">"No, stay, I entreat you," said the king, and then paused for a few +moments. "On this night was my father murdered," he resumed in a +tremulous voice; "the man who is about to appear before me was the +chief counsellor of the murderers. You shall be present, and see that I +am neither revengeful nor unjust; but you shall also see, that even to +promote my highest happiness I am incapable of forgetting for a moment, +that which I owe to the crown I wear. Read! Only on these conditions +will he be released." So saying, he reached Thorkild a written sheet of +parchment which lay on the table. Thorkild perused it slowly, and the +king watched his countenance as he read. "Well, is it not so?" said +Eric eagerly. "I demand only what is just and reasonable--safety for +crown and country--peace with the church--obedience to the laws of the +land, so long as he is my subject. I will not pass sentence in my own +cause--as a traitor to the crown, he must be condemned by the pope."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I must own your grace's demands are more moderate than I should have +supposed. If you are perfectly correct in the charge you prefer against +him, I should still call these terms generous; and yet I doubt whether +he will accept them. The parting with Hammerhuus----"</p> + +<p class="normal">"He <i>shall</i> give up that castle," interrupted the king; "a rebel and +traitor shall own no fortress in my kingdom. Were he even seated in St. +Peter's chair, <i>here</i> he is my subject."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Undoubtedly; and he may perhaps make that sacrifice for his freedom; +but the seventh clause--pardon me, your grace, for saying that it seems +to me to be in opposition to his duty to the church and to the Holy +Father. Until he is deposed by a papal bull, no one can hinder him from +using the church's power against whomsoever he will, without asking +leave of the king or of any temporal authority."</p> + +<p class="normal">"He shall be forced to do so!" exclaimed Eric, with vehemence. "While I +am king, no miscreant shall persecute me or my subjects with unjust +excommunication and all the plagues of hell. I am placed here by the +Lord Almighty to protect my people and their liberties, and not all the +bishops in the world shall rob me of this right. I will answer for what +I do before the Lord above as well as before my subjects, and before +every true and loyal knight!" So saying, the king again pulled the bell +with vehemence. Another attendant entered.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Light all the tapers in the knights' hall!" commanded the king. "Bid +the master of the household call together the whole court and every +knight here in the castle. Place my throne at the end of the hall!" The +attendant departed in haste on a signal from the king.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Your grace is too precipitate," said Thorkild; "give not a publicity +to your interview with this dangerous prelate which he may abuse to +your hurt and prejudice."</p> + +<p class="normal">"My cause shuns not the light," answered the king. "I use not to speak +or treat with my bitterest and deadliest foe otherwise than I dare make +known to my loyal subjects and the whole body of Danish chivalry. A +traitor's oath demands witnesses."</p> + +<p class="normal">"But caution and--I trust your grace will pardon my boldness--state +policy demand there should be as few witnesses present as possible," +objected Thorkild Knudson, with anxious sympathy. He would have said +more, but at this moment the door opened, and he was silenced by the +entrance of the tall Archbishop Grand in chains.</p> + +<p class="normal">Led by the steward and the three turnkeys, besides two men-at-arms, the +haughty prelate stepped across the threshold of the king's private +chamber, with a stare of wild defiance, without fixing his eye on any +object. He was attired in a white Cistercian mantle, without any of the +insignia of a bishop; his proud countenance was pale and emaciated; his +beard was shorn, his head was bare, and around his tonsure curled a +ring of tangled grey hair. He moved slowly, and every step seemed +attended with pain; but it appeared as if, with a contempt of all +bodily suffering, he exerted himself to the utmost to prevent his +outward appearance from becoming an object of commiseration.</p> + +<p class="normal">When the king beheld him he involuntarily stepped back, and a feeling +of sorrowful sympathy for fallen greatness was manifest in his look, +while at the same time the remembrance of his father's murder, and this +man's share in the misfortunes of state and kingdom, overspread his +noble countenance with the crimson of indignation.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You may go," said Eric to the guard. They obeyed, and through the open +door of the knights' hall, which was instantly shut again, the king +beheld a numerous assemblage of knights and courtiers, looking with +anxious suspense and curiosity towards the entrance to the private +chamber, through which they had seen the captive archbishop conducted.</p> + +<p class="normal">The haughty captive continued standing about two paces from the door, +and had not as yet vouchsafed a look or salutation to the king. He +stood immoveable as a marble statue, and his cold uncertain gaze, now +first warmed into life, as it suddenly fixed with frightful earnestness +on a silver crucifix, which stood by the side of the king's shield, on +a shelf above a prie-dieu.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You stand in the presence of your liege sovereign. Archbishop Grand," +began King Eric; but he paused again to restrain his anger at the +captive's look of rude defiance.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes, truly, I stand in the presence of my <i>heavenly</i> Ruler and King," +answered Archbishop Grand, folding his fettered hands, without +withdrawing his gaze from the crucifix. "<i>He</i> shall judge between me +and the tyrants of this world."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You stand also before your <i>temporal</i> ruler and king," continued +Eric--"before your lawful superior in this country and kingdom. For +what ye have sinned against me and Denmark's crown you will have to +answer at the great day of judgment, but first <i>here</i>; as certainly as +there is justice upon earth, first <i>here</i>. I have sent in my accusation +of your crimes to the tribunal of St. Peter; the Holy Father hath +required me to liberate you that he may hear your defence, or your +confession."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Why then have ye not obeyed, King Eric?" interrupted the captive, for +the first time turning his proud glance upon the king. "Will ye delay +until the holy lightnings melt the crown from off your brow?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"How long I shall wear the crown, the righteous God alone can +determine," answered the king. "Without His Almighty permission no +power on earth can injure a hair of my head." He paused for a moment. +"When we liberate a dangerous offender," he continued, with more +calmness, "he must give us security for his release. The guiltiest +criminal shall have the right of defending himself, but not of +committing fresh crimes on his way to his tribunal. If he hath any +remains of conscience and honour, and if we are to trust him, he must +take the oath we require. If he will not--be it so! he may be tried in +his dungeon, and defend himself in his chains."</p> + +<p class="normal">"And what security doth King Eric demand for the release of the +captive, whom he, without lawful sentence, and contrary to the law of +God and the church, caused to be imprisoned and maltreated?" asked the +archbishop, with bitterness.</p> + +<p class="normal">"For the justice of your imprisonment I will answer to the Great Judge +above," answered the king, raising his hand; "but the point in question +is only whether you may justly and reasonably be released; to decide +this I have summoned you hither. Know then, Archbishop Grand! although +you were undoubtedly an accomplice in my father's murder--although I +abhor you as my bitterest and deadliest foe, and as the greatest +traitor in Denmark, I fear not, nevertheless, to loose your guilty +hands when justice demands it; but <i>here</i> ye shall neither raise hand +nor voice against crowns and sovereigns; ere ye leave these walls ye +shall swear by your salvation, in the sight of God and the chivalry of +Denmark, to promise that which I here, as the protector of the crown +and people, have required and demanded. When you have read the +conditions of your release, and are willing to take the oath before my +throne, in the hearing of all my knights, your imprisonment may end +this very hour."</p> + +<p class="normal">At a signal from the king Thorkild Knudson reached the sheet of +parchment to the archbishop, and placed one of the tapers closer to +him. The hand of the proud captive trembled as he took the parchment, +and it cost him evident effort to read it; but it seemed as if his +strength and spirit increased as he proceeded; and when he had perused +it to the end he laughed scornfully, and crumpled the parchment in his +hand.--"Shall I leave my degradation unavenged?" he cried--"Shall I +fetter my tongue myself that it may not announce to you eternal death +and damnation?--Shall I part with my last earthly defence?--Shall I +subject the holy church's right to the arbitration of a tyrant? No, +King Eric Ericson! as yet I am an anointed and consecrated archbishop, +with power to bless or curse the crown thou wearest. Even in these +chains I have the power to push the crown from off thy head with a +single word. Over my body, tyrant! thou may'st have power, but, by the +Lord above, not over my free immortal spirit! Ere I will consent to one +of these conditions thou and thy executioners may sever every limb from +my body, as I now rend asunder, with this hellish compact, all bond and +tie between me and the despots of this world." So saying, he rent the +parchment before the king's eyes, threw the fragments on the floor, and +stamped upon them until his chains rattled.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Madman!" cried the king, in great anger, "stay then in thy prison, and +defy me there, until thy dying day! I release thee not until thou hast +put thy seal to every word thou hast here trampled under foot, should I +be a hundred times excommunicated by the pope in consequence," Eric +hastily pulled the bell-string. The door of the knights' hall opened, +and the master of the household appeared. "The guard," commanded the +king--"the captive is to return to prison."</p> + +<p class="normal">The loud talking in the king's private chamber had excited +apprehensions among the king's knights and courtiers, who knew he was +next to being alone with the dreaded prisoner. As the chamber door +opened, all thronged towards it, as if fearing some misfortune.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Back!" said the king, and he was obeyed; but the door to the knights' +hall remained half open, and ere the guard arrived to fetch the +prisoner. Archbishop Grand had taken a bold resolve. He hastily seized +the crucifix, upon which he had gazed so long, and with this holy +symbol in his hand, before which all were forced to bow, he advanced +with long powerful strides into the middle of the knights' hall; here +he halted, and turned suddenly towards the king, who stood on the +threshold, amazed at this sight, and seemed about to issue orders for +the seizure of the prisoner.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Anathema!" shouted the archbishop, in a terrific voice, and raising +the chained hand which bore the crucifix. "King Eric Ericson of +Denmark! I pronounce the sentence of excommunication upon thy head. I +announce to thee, and every Christian here present, that thou art +fallen under the church's awful ban--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"What? audacious villain! seize--gag him!" exclaimed the king, stepping +over the threshold.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Anathema!" shouted the archbishop still louder.--"He who lays hands on +me is accursed.--Thou art cast out of the community of believers and of +saints.--Thou hast no longer any power over Christians, King Eric! In +virtue of my holy office, and the apostolical authority of St. Paul, I +give thee over, as the enemy of God and the church, to Satan, and to +the destruction of the flesh." So saying, he described the stroke of +forked lightning in the air with the crucifix, and looked around him +with flashing eyes.</p> + +<p class="normal">All stood as if petrified by terror and amazement. The king appeared +once more about to speak; but he had grown deadly pale, and it seemed +as if his voice was choked by anger. Ere he was able to speak, the +archbishop again burst forth with a deafening voice, while he turned to +the knights and courtiers: "Fly, Christians! leave the pestilent one! +pollute not your souls by intercourse with the excommunicated one! +accursed is now the hand which brings him food, accursed the servant +who serves him with fire or water, accursed the tongue which comforts +him with a single word, so long as his soul is given over to the Evil +One. He who ten days hence still serves and obeys this foe of the +church I give over with him to Satan and to the destruction of the +flesh, that the soul may be saved at the day of the Lord Jesus! Amen!"</p> + +<p class="normal">On finishing this speech he made a genuflexion, kissed the crucifix, +and handed it to the chaplain of the castle, who stood trembling +nearest him among the king's suite, and bent his knee, while he pressed +this so fearfully abused symbol of blessing with a look of sorrow to +his heart. "And now, excommunicated king!" added the archbishop, with a +triumphant countenance, and with the mien of an exulting martyr, +tearing the mantle from his emaciated breast, "now may'st thou, if thou +darest, order to be torn asunder the church's anointed, who announced +to thee the sentence of the Lord. My body is, perhaps, in thy power, +but the spirit is God's, and his is the power throughout all eternity."</p> + +<p class="normal">A death-like silence reigned throughout the hall, the greatest terror +was depicted in the faces of the knights, while their eyes turned with +sorrowing sympathy towards their excommunicated sovereign. It seemed +for a moment as if the lightnings of excommunication had struck the +young king with the power of real lightning, and smitten him with +lameness. He had staggered back so dizzy that he was forced to support +himself by the door-post; but he now summoned up all his strength, and +stepped forward with quick and passionate strides among his knights and +courtiers.</p> + +<p class="normal">"A regicide stands in the midst of us, and would give us over to the +Devil, to whom he himself belongs," he burst forth, in a tone of the +highest exasperation; "he who is himself accursed presumes to pronounce +the Lord's judgment upon men. On this unfortunate St. Cecilia's eve my +father's blood cried aloud from the earth, and accused this criminal +before the Lord's tribunal. His head should long since have fallen +under the axe of the executioner, and now he would judge and +excommunicate us; he would destroy my immortal soul, had he the power; +but no! each word he hath spoken is lifeless and powerless--his curses +fall back on his own guilty head. The Holy Father shall judge between +us! The King of Denmark recognizes no sentence as lawful which is not +confirmed by 'the Father of Christendom. Away with the miscreant!"</p> + +<p class="normal">The knights and courtiers appeared able to breathe freely again, on +hearing these words from the king. They looked on him with confidence +and devotion, yet still appeared to hesitate, and no one prepared to +seize the dreaded prisoner, who stood erect and haughty among them, and +seemed to triumph in the spiritual power he had exercised even in +chains.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Hence with the criminal!" repeated the king; "until he recalls the +ungodly ban he sees not the light of day. Guards! halberdiers! why +tarry ye? hath this miscreant's words struck you deaf and lame? Fear ye +to obey your liege sovereign?"</p> + +<p class="normal">The guards and halberdiers now surrounded the archbishop, but with +manifest trepidation. The terrific prisoner stood immoveable, with his +eyes turned upwards, towards the roof of the hall, and no one as yet +dared to lay hands on him. But the king again broke silence. "I still +bear crown and sceptre," he exclaimed; "I shall know how to defend +myself and my loyal subjects against this monster! I swore by my +father's bloody head to uphold the rights of the crown and the insulted +dignity of majesty against every power on earth whether spiritual or +temporal, and by all the holy men!<a name="div2Ref_13" href="#div2_13"><sup>[13]</sup></a> I will keep that vow. Will not +the loyal Danish nation, will not Denmark's chivalry stand by me +undismayed in my fight for truth and justice? Then, indeed, will Danish +loyalty be a theme for mockery, and Danish courage for scorn. Are ye +true and valiant Danish men, and do ye let yourselves be scared by a +mad traitor into betraying your liege sovereign?"</p> + +<p class="normal">All doubt and apprehension seemed now to have disappeared among Eric's +knights and courtiers. The hall resounded with shouts and loyal +acclamations. The archbishop vainly strove to speak again. The +indignation against him was general, and without hesitation the guards +laid hands on him to lead him back to prison. But ere they reached the +door it opened, and Prince Christopher, accompanied by the Margrave of +Brandenborg, entered with the papal legate between them, followed by +their train of ecclesiastics and laymen. All started at the sight of +the tall foreign prelate with his cardinal's hat and withered visage. +He stepped with an authoritative air before the prince and the +margrave, and bowed to the king, and towards all sides of the hall, in +silence, and with the air of a superior, as if appropriating to himself +the loud acclamations which were heard on his entrance, but which were +now suddenly hushed. He seemed startled on perceiving the chained +prisoner in the Cistercian mantle. He nodded, and the guard stepped +aside. The captive archbishop felt himself suddenly freed from the +sturdy grasp of the men-at-arms. "Gloria in excelsis!" shouted Grand, +as he raised his fettered hands, and kneeled at the cardinal's feet. +"Blessed be thou, thou messenger of the Lord!" he continued in Latin. +"See here, how an archbishop in Denmark is treated! See, and judge, in +the Holy Father's name, O thou, his high ambassador! I have, in virtue +of my holy office, published the church's ban upon this presumptuous +king, because of his defiance to the law of the Lord and the church! +Confirm it in the Holy Father's name, Lord Cardinal--or see Archbishop +Grand expire of wrath and ignominy at your feet!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Arise, my venerable brother, and be comforted," answered Isarnus, also +in Latin. "I bring with me authority from his Holiness to enforce the +constitution--'Cum Ecclesia Dacianæ.' Read this document aloud to the +king and the court, in the language of the country, worthy Abbot +Magnus." As he said this he reached a large parchment letter, with the +papal seal, to the aged Abbot of Esrom, who had accompanied him. The +abbot opened it with a trembling hand, but as he glanced over it a +flood of tears rolled down his furrowed cheeks.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I <i>cannot</i>," stammered the old man; "he is my liege and sovereign! I +conjure you, my lord, by the all-merciful Creator! use not the power +here given you to our king's and our country's destruction. This is a +matter which demands the highest consideration. This authority is not +unconditional, either," These last words were spoken in Latin, and +appeared to startle the cardinal.</p> + +<p class="normal">The unexpected entrance of the papal legate at this critical moment, +his singular appearance, as well as the mysteriousness of his conduct, +and the speaking in a foreign tongue, had once more inspired the +bystanders with a feeling of consternation which deprived them of the +power of speech. Even the king appeared for some moments to have lost +his self-possession and the consciousness of royal authority, while the +attention of all present was rivetted upon the terrific stranger. Eric +now stepped forward a few paces, and seemed about to assert his +authority by a commanding address; but at the same moment the fettered +archbishop snatched the document from the abbot's trembling hands. +"Here is papal authority for ban and interdict," he cried, "praised be +the Lord! his judgments are righteous. Enforce your authority, most +reverend sir! Anathema and the church's ban upon the king, and those +his accomplices in guilt!" So saying, he raised his fettered hands both +towards the king and Prince Christopher, who appeared to be in great +consternation at this sudden and unlooked-for blow.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Not a word more here, on pain of instant death, impudent miscreant!" +exclaimed the king, in a loud tone, and in the highest exasperation. +"Take that mad criminal to prison, halberdiers! Let every one leave +this place! We will inquire in our council with what authority this +stranger is empowered to treat with the king of Denmark. When he +proposes it, and it suits our convenience, we will talk with him in our +private chamber." So saying, the king returned to his own apartment. +Not another word was heard in the knights' hall; even the archbishop +found it expedient to be passive as the two halberdiers and the guard +approached to lead him out of the hall. All the knights and courtiers, +as well as Prince Christopher and his train, departed in silence. The +halberdiers who were on guard, alone remained behind. They snatched up +their halberds, and ranged themselves in their customary order without +the king's apartments. Abbot Magnus had also left the hall, and +Cardinal Isarnus stood almost alone in the middle of the floor between +his amanuensis and interpreter. He looked with surprise around the +suddenly deserted hall.</p> + +<p class="normal">It was not until he had announced himself through his interpreter in +suitable form to the captain of halberdiers, and requested an audience +with the king, that he was received with the demonstrations of respect +due to a papal ambassador. His arrival was formally announced, and he +was shortly afterwards admitted to a private interview with Eric.</p> + +<p class="normal">What had passed had thrown every one into the greatest suspense and +uneasiness, and an anxious stillness reigned in the castle. The foreign +prelate quitted not the king's private chamber until the night was far +advanced. The king did not make his appearance, but, according to his +orders, the strictest court etiquette was to be observed. Arrangements +were made in the castle for the protracted sojourn of the cardinal and +his train. He was to be honoured as a princely guest. The return of the +Swedish ambassadors was postponed. The following day another long and +private conversation took place between the king and the papal legate. +The presence of this dignitary, and his over-awing authority, banished +all gaiety and cheerfulness from the castle.</p> + +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAP. VII.</h2> + +<p class="normal">On the evening of the second day Drost Aagé had not as yet returned +from his expedition, as the protector of Marsk Stig's captive +daughters. He had conducted them without impediment to the king's +castle at Vordingborg; but as he was about to ride into the arched +gateway he was attacked from behind, and dangerously wounded, by an +unknown hand. Aagé was carried, in a state of insensibility, into the +castle, while his huntsmen vainly pursued his stealthy foe, in whom +they thought they recognised the same tall horseman in peasant attire, +and mounted upon the little Zealand horse without a saddle, whom they +had several times seen on the road, but who always vanished as suddenly +as he had appeared, and who they conjectured must have followed their +track by secret paths from Esrom.</p> + +<p class="normal">The commandant at Vordingborg had received the wounded knight, with +great alarm; he instantly recognised in him the young Drost, and the +favourite of the king. As soon as Drost Aagé had recovered his +consciousness, he informed the commandant of the rank and position of +the two ladies, and also that they were to be considered as state +prisoners, for whose security he would be responsible, although their +stay here was to be rendered as agreeable as under such circumstances +it was possible to make it. The commandant instantly ordered the gates +to be barred, and sentinels to be stationed; but he threw open the +interior of the castle without reserve to his guests, and a messenger +was dispatched to inform the king of what had happened.</p> + +<p class="normal">Meanwhile the assembled party at Sjöborg were in some degree +tranquillised, when on the noon of the third day the king again made +his appearance at table, where he sat, with a calm and almost cheerful +countenance, between his brother Christopher and the papal legate. +Their secret negociation seemed to have taken a friendly turn, and +great reliance was placed in King Eric's manly sense and political +wisdom. Report said that the Italian prelate seemed to bear our +northern climate excellently well, and perhaps might not be disinclined +to take up his abode here, if the king should come to an agreement with +the papal see, and the archbishoprick of Lund became vacant by the +deposition of Grand. It was conjectured that the formal annulment of +the archbishop's authority, and of his own self-empowered sentence of +excommunication, had been the subject of the king's conferences with +the unfathomable Isarnus, and it was reasonably hoped that the cardinal +would grant this important condition of the archbishop's release, ere +the king fulfilled the demands of the pope. But some days elapsed +without any apparent decision being taken. Meanwhile, no change took +place in the condition of the captive archbishop, who remained in close +confinement.</p> + +<p class="normal">Although neither the king nor his loyal and devoted subjects recognised +the validity of the sentence of excommunication pronounced on them by +the archbishop, so long as it was not formally ratified by a papal +decree, this awful procedure had nevertheless taken place, and with +such publicity that it could not but be generally known. The rumour +quickly spread throughout the land, and terrified the people. The +threats against those who should not within ten days withdraw all help +and companionship from the king had struck terror into many, and +several of the domestics, and of the guard of halberdiers absconded +from Sjöborg. The tales recounted of the ecclesiastical captive's skill +in the Black Art now contributed still more to alarm his guard. At +every unusual sound from the dungeon in the night the turnkeys stole +from their posts, and the bravest men-at-arms dared scarcely remain +without the prison door, where with trembling voices they often sang +valiant battle songs to keep up their courage. The prisoner was guarded +with still increasing anxiety. A very suspicious rumour rendered +watchfulness still more necessary. Some fishermen from Gilleleié, who +supplied the castle with fish, had related in the kitchen that a +foreign bark was constantly sailing to and from the coast. The persons +on board appeared to be fishermen, and were busied during the day with +nets and fishing-tackle, but during the night they landed, and a tall +knight in disguise, accompanied by some seamen of suspicious +appearance, were seen to lurk in the neighbourhood of the castle. This +report had not indeed reached the ears either of the king or the Marsk, +but orders were issued that the guard should be doubled in the +captive's tower, and that the steward should answer with his life for +the archbishop's security. The lower classes now believed that the king +would pass sentence of death upon him, and command him to be executed.</p> + +<p class="normal">With the expression of fear and anger in his countenance, as well as of +fatigue from a night's watch, the steward one morning descended the +stairs of the tower prison with the keys in his hand. "All folk seem +possessed here," he muttered. "I shall now have to watch myself to +death over that confounded Satan."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Did I not always say so, master? He will drive us all crazed at last," +sounded a merry well-known voice in his ear, and Morten the cook stood +before him in the twilight at the bottom of the tower stairs.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Morten! thou crack-brained vagabond! is it thou?" called the steward; +"where in all the world hast thou been? Folk said thou wert surely +bewitched, and gone to the devil, and I began almost to think so +myself. The whole pack of them here are losing their wits, and one +after another runs off from me. Speak, man! where the devil hast thou +been?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Ah! dear master," sighed Morten. "Thank St. Hubert that you are so +pious and virtuous, and condemn not a weak worldly-minded fellow who +hath been forced to do hard penance for his sins' sake. Ye have +doubtless observed how I delight in dancing and singing. In former days +I was not afraid of a little drink, either; but on St. Vitus's day it +behoves us to be cautious. As a punishment for my ungodliness in a +drunken bout, I was afflicted with St. Vitus's dance, and I thought I +should have danced for a whole year, as hath chanced to many a poor +sinner before. Perhaps you or other virtuous folk have prayed for me, +for I got off for a few weeks' sickness; but in all that time I was not +able to give any account of myself, and I have so danced the country +round that I can hardly hang together."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Indeed!" answered the jailor, looking at him suspiciously; "hast thou +had that sickness? It is a rare one, though, and many will have it that +it is nought but an idle superstition."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Dear master! remember ye not then how it seized Claus Spillemans last +year? He ceased not dancing till he dropped dead in Sjöborg streets."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well, that is true enough; he went mad, no doubt, on St. Vitus's day; +but it was not upon <i>that</i> day thou did'st kick up such a riot, and +did'st run off from the turnkeys. Be honest, Morten! hast thou not +suffered thyself to be seduced by the bishop to run errands for him? +Thou hast tramped the country sturdily round, that I see right well, +and if thou now hast a fancy to be hanged for thy zeal in the service, +thou comest in the very nick of time; both the king and the Marsk are +here, and when the one passes a sentence, the other is at hand to +execute it."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Dear pious master! what do you take me for?" answered Morten, putting +on a look of astonishment. "Had I run errands for such a traitor I must +have been stark mad indeed to come back again now, and let myself be +hung for it. No, trust me, master, I am not so brutishly stupid. To +tell you the whole clean out, I was drunk beyond all bounds that +evening; whether it was St. Vitus's day or not I do not quite exactly +remember, but I have had neither sense nor recollection since. I must +have doubtless scoured the country round like a madman. I have now come +to my senses for the first time, and found the way to Sjöborg again. +Here's been fine excommunicating work between the bishop and the king. +If I can be of any use to you, say the word! I could break the +archbishop's neck with the greatest pleasure in life if I could thereby +save king and country. If you have any doubt of my honesty, I will only +just fetch my traps, and take myself off with all reverence."</p> + +<p class="normal">"No, stay; I will believe thee, because of thy honest face, Morten," +said the steward, hastily, and casting a sharp look at him, while a new +and daring thought seemed to flash across his hangman's soul. "I have +never needed thee more than at this very time. My new cook hath also +run off. I have only one turnkey left. I must myself be every thing and +every where."</p> + +<p class="normal">"That is more than can be required of any Christian soul, master. The +Devil himself can hardly take that upon him."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Drunk and mad thou must surely have been," muttered the keeper, still +looking narrowly at him. "Hum! <i>so</i> long a drunken fit, though, have I +never heard the like of. St. Vitus's dance? Truly that is an ailment +akin to madness; no man can answer for what he does in that state. Hum! +since thou art come to thy senses again, Morten, I will even take thee +again into service. In the day thou may'st be needed in the kitchen, +and in the night--well, we can talk of that afterwards. Old Mads the +turnkey is good for nothing; he hath now got his nephews to help him, +and I count not on them either; and those foolish men-at-arms are +afraid of being excommunicated or bewitched."</p> + +<p class="normal">"If I can help you with the night watch that shan't stand in <i>my</i> way," +said Morten; "whatsoever I can do to plague and anger the bishop I do +with hearty good will. I would only counsel you not to set me to watch +in his chamber, for if St. Vitus's dance come over me I were in a case +to dance to the devil with him. It is a kind of cramp, you must know, +and I might easily squeeze the life out of whomsoever I get hold of."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well, well, Morten; there is no need for that. Thou art now perfectly +well and reasonable," muttered the keeper, with a grisly smile. "I must +have some one to help me, or I shall go mad myself. One misfortune +follows another. The king is a violent man, and the junker has no great +weight with him. It is an easy thing to get into trouble when one has a +devil to watch, and stern masters to account to. Now comes that +confounded report of the vessel at Gilleleié, which plys to and fro to +help the bishop to flight."</p> + +<p class="normal">Morten turned quite pale. "Our Lady preserve us!--say they so?" he +exclaimed, hastily; "then, by my troth, master, there <i>is</i> need of +watchfulness; yet it is just as dangerous to loose as to tie a mad +dog."</p> + +<p class="normal">"It will cost me my life if he escapes, Morten. I have the king's own +most gracious word for it. I never let the prison keys out of my hand. +The king's people are on guard, but I dare not trust them. I carry my +life in my hands. I will now depend upon thee. Come!" So saying, the +agitated steward took Morten by the arm, and led him across the yard +towards the kitchen. It was a fine clear winter's morning. It had +frozen so hard during the last few nights that a part of Sjöborg lake +was covered with tolerably hard ice. As the steward and the cook +crossed the castle yard they saw all the king's huntsmen, with horses +and hunting equipments, waiting before the castle stairs, and the royal +car drove up. "What is agog now?" asked the steward.</p> + +<p class="normal">"We are off with the king to the chase at Tikjob," answered one of the +hunters. "The great lord from Italy wants to go to Esrom. He will +surely either ride, or be borne on our shoulders."</p> + +<p class="normal">"When come ye back?" asked the steward.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Faith, I know not," answered the huntsman. "To-morrow we shall have to +go with the king to Esrom. There is a great council to be held there, +they say."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then it surely concerns the life or death of him yonder," muttered the +steward, pointing to the prison tower. Morten the cook became +attentive, and stopped; but he soon hasted towards the kitchen door, +where he stood, half concealed, as the door of the castle stairs +opened, and the king and Prince Christopher came forth, and mounted +their horses, together with the Marsk, the two Swedish lords, and a +numerous company of knights. The king and his train halted, and when +Cardinal Isarnus, with his famulus and his clerical train, also +descended the stairs, the huntsmen and attendants bowed low whilst they +took their seats in the royal car. The train, headed by the king and +Count Henrik, then issued forth out of the castle gate, amid the joyous +sound of the hunting horns. Morten continued standing by the kitchen +door. He had gazed on the young chivalrous monarch with a mingled +feeling of fear and admiring interest, and a secret struggle seemed +passing in his mind, as his glance turned from the noble and kingly +form which had just passed him, to the gloomy prison window from whence +he thought he heard a distant and smothered sigh. The steward had +already twice called to him without his hearing; he now called again, +with a round oath. The cook hastily passed his hand over his face, and +struck up, in a shrill voice, one of his merriest ballads, as, with +jest and laughter, he joined the domestics in the kitchen. During the +rest of the day a monastic stillness reigned in Sjöborg castle. When +the evening closed in the steward appeared unusually friendly and +confidential, and treated his cook to a flagon of good wine from the +king's travelling store. Before he sat down at the drinking table he +had convinced himself with his own eyes that his dangerous state +prisoner was under close keeping, and that the old turnkey and his +comrade, as well as the guard without the prison-door, were at their +posts. When he had fortified himself with some cups of wine, he began +to unburden his heart to the cook. "I am an unfortunate man," he sighed +forth. "I have not closed my eyes to sleep these three nights. Each +time I shut an eye it seems to me the bishop hath fled, and I am +dangling from the gallows. It hath not fared much better with the king +himself," he continued; "if he now condemns him to death, despite pope +and clergy, he and the whole kingdom fall into trouble. If he lets him +slip hence alive, matters are just as bad. I once dreamed the bishop +had hung himself in his chains. Oh! would it had pleased the Lord it +had been so indeed!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"A pious wish," answered Morten. "I would willingly lend a helping hand +towards the fulfilment of that dream; of course, master, I mean in all +pious secrecy; and I blame you not for this. In your case it would be +almost a necessary act of self-defence, and, at the same time, a good +deed for king and country. Is it not so?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Art thou mad, Morten! it might cost me my neck," muttered the steward; +"for ought I care he may hang himself, in the Lord's name, whenever he +pleases, if I only know nothing of it. If any good friend would lend +him a helping hand, it might indeed, as thou say'st, save king and +country, and deserve a rich and royal recompence; but I may thank my +Lord and Maker if I can save my own life. Had I but a faithful fellow +who durst watch in the chamber with him to-night I should sleep in +quiet. Hast thou not courage enough for that, Morten?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh yes; why should I not, if I get well paid for it? If he gives me +any trouble, it were an easy matter to make away with him, without any +one seeing or knowing aught about it."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Art thou serious, Morten? Hast thou really courage to----"</p> + +<p class="normal">"To make an end of him, master?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Hush! No; I say not that. St. Gertrude preserve me from tempting any +one to do that deed, even though it might be a benefit to state and +country, and might make a poor fellow happy for life. No; that was not +my meaning. Darest thou let me shut thee up with him to-night?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes, on one condition, master."</p> + +<p class="normal">"What is it?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"That you will not be wroth and complain of me if perchance you were +not to find us to-morrow morning in the same trim as to-night."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Pshaw, Morten; it matters not to me in what trim I find you. I will +pay ten silver pieces for every night you watch beside him, and a +hundred for the LAST."</p> + +<p class="normal">"But even were that pious lord, through his witchcraft, to get loose +after a fashion, I should surely get the blame of having let him slip."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Ha, ha! thou art a merry wag, Morten," muttered the steward, with a +horrible laugh. "The liberty thou canst give him, when I have locked +the door after thee, shall not disturb my night's rest. Of course," he +continued, with an uneasy and inquiring look, "thou must first let me +search thy garments, to see that thou has not a file or any other tool +with thee; that is a precaution I have ever used when I let any one +watch with him in the chamber."</p> + +<p class="normal">"That is but reasonable. You are a conscientious man." So saying, +Morten pulled off his jerkin, and turned his pockets inside out. "But +now I think of it, master, it won't do after all. If St. Vitus's dance +should come over me."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Pshaw! thou art quite well and hearty."</p> + +<p class="normal">"But I am too hot-headed, master; and the bishop is wrath with me from +former times. I have now and then plagued him a little, as you know, +and should he take it into his head to insult me, or get hold of me, +and I were forced to defend myself, it might cause a little stir, and +set the guard and the whole castle agog."</p> + +<p class="normal">"That needs not be. Thou art a bold fellow, Morten. Come! The guard +shall not stand too near the door, and disturb thine and the bishop's +rest, and shouldst thou get into a dispute with him about the state of +souls after death, or such like learned matters, lay folks shall not be +the wiser for that. Drink a cup of wine to a good night, and then let's +away. I want rest, and so doth the bishop. It is late." Morten nodded, +and drank.</p> + +<p class="normal">With a horrible smile on his coarse hypocritical countenance, Jesper +Mogensen snatched up a lantern, and descended the staircase leading to +the prison door, accompanied by the cook. He paused once or twice with +uneasiness and suspicion, and held up the light towards Morten, who +followed him with a cheerful countenance.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Thou look'st as well pleased as if I were leading thee to a jolly +night revel," he muttered; "go on before. I cannot endure that rustling +behind me."</p> + +<p class="normal">Morten obeyed, and assumed a thoughtful look.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Let not the guard smell a rat," he whispered, and pointed to a cord +which was twisted round his waist. The keeper nodded, and seemed +reassured. He ordered the guard to move further from the door, which he +then half opened, and peeped in, holding the lantern before him. As +soon as he had seen the captive lying quietly with his hands fettered, +he pushed Morten into the chamber.</p> + +<p class="normal">"A good and <i>quiet</i> night," he said, with a grim smile, clapping to and +locking the door behind him; he also carefully barred it without, and +then descended the stairs. The nearest sentinel observed that he often +looked timorously behind him, as if his own footsteps sounded +suspiciously in his ear. "The stupid devil!" he muttered. "What he doth +he shall himself answer for; it is no concern of mine."</p> + +<p class="normal">When Morten entered the murky prison, he stood in silence, until the +sound of the locking and bolting of the door had ceased, and until the +hollow tread of the steward's iron-shod boots died away on the stairs; +he then approached the captive's couch, and was about to speak, but he +now heard singing and loud voices in the upper chamber. It was old Mads +the turnkey making merry with his nephews and the young fellows from +the village who were to keep watch with him. Morten listened in +silence. He perceived from their inarticulate voices and drowsy songs, +that the mead and Saxon ale he had secretly brought them had been +greatly to their taste. Through a little hole in the ceiling above +there fell a ray of light from their lamp upon the archbishop's couch, +and lit up his long pale visage. He lay with closed eyes without +stirring, apparently in a sound sleep. Morten seated himself upon the +damp stone floor, and interrupted not his repose until the noise of the +carouse had entirely ceased, and he heard in the stillness of the night +how they were snoring overhead. "Sleep you, venerable sir?" he +whispered, as he rose up from the floor.</p> + +<p class="normal">"No, thou faithful servant of the Lord!" answered the archbishop, in a +weak voice, and raised his head. "I and the Lord's vengeance do but +<i>seem</i> to sleep, until it is time to wake and act."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Now is the time to show clean heels," continued Morten. "Is all ready +here?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Long since. Thou hast tarried long; yet even that was an ordering of +the Lord. I was destined even in my chains to become a chastising rod +in the Lord's hand; but I was well nigh believing thou had'st failed +me, or wert betrayed."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You thought, then, I was either a fox or a sheep, reverend sir. Have +you the rope ladder?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Here--but be cautious, Morten. Tie it to the thickest bar in the +grate; that is secure. Take the others out; they are filed through--but +make no noise! I can rid myself of the fetters. Thy file was blunt, but +the Lord sharpened it in my hand. His angel hath struck mine enemies +both deaf and blind."</p> + +<p class="normal">"But now comes the <i>knotty</i> point, pious sir," whispered Morten, as he +lingered, with an ambiguous smile. "Now all depends upon whether the +Lord's angel will help you still farther. Up to the window he hath +indeed taught you to creep, but we have to descend thirty-six feet from +thence to the tower wall, and then we still have that confounded castle +wall besides. Over the moat and lake the Lord hath indeed laid a +bridge. See you this cord? Were I now to strangle you with it I might +perhaps make my fortune; but I am too pious a fellow for that. I will +but fasten it to the slip knot, that we may be able to draw the ladder +after us. I will go down first to aid you. Look now. I will answer for +the ladder, if you can but keep your hold, till I can reach you from +below. But----"</p> + +<p class="normal">"With the Lord Almighty's help"--whispered Grand, in an anxious tone, +and looking at the jolly cook, with a half suspicious glance--"assist +me first up to the window, I am weary and weak. Now, what art thou +thinking of, Morten? Haste, or we are betrayed."</p> + +<p class="normal">"A little scruple has just entered my head, venerable sir," whispered +Morten. "I am a good Christian, and I know well enough both you and the +pope have my soul and the souls of all Christians in your pockets. You +have saved my life, do you see, and therefore have I promised to free +you, whatever it may cost; but I am also a Danish man, and you cannot +ask that, for your sake, I should betray state and kingdom, or plunge +our young brave king into misfortune. Had I seen <i>him</i> sooner, and +known he was so noble a lord, I might perhaps have thought better on +what I promised <i>you</i>. I know you have excommunicated him, and given +him over to the Devil, but by my soul he is too good for that, and if I +am now to set you free you must promise me, by our Lady and St. Martin, +that you will recall the ban, and do no harm to him or any other man in +the country."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Dost thou rave, Morten?" exclaimed the archbishop, greatly surprised +and enraged; "would'st thou ape the tyrant, and prescribe conditions to +me? If thou doest not that thou promised me, I will excommunicate thee +also, and thou shalt be eternally damned."</p> + +<p class="normal">"In that case, reverend sir," whispered Morten, hastily creeping out of +the window to the rope ladder, with the loose end of the cord in his +hand, with which he could slip the looped knot that fastened the +ladder,--"In that case I will bid you good night, and take the ladder +with me to hell."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Morten! good Morten! betray me not," whispered the archbishop, in a +beseeching tone, climbing with haste up to the window. "I will not deal +harder by the king or any one here than I am compelled for the Lord's +and the church's and my conscience sake."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then will you loose him from the ban as soon as you are free and in +safety yourself?" asked Morten, still keeping his stand on the ladder.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes, surely; yes, surely; only be silent, and help me."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then I will believe you for the present," whispered Morten, and crept +down the ladder. Its last step was still ten feet from the ground, but +the dexterous cook clung fast to it with his hands, and jumped down +without any great difficulty. The archbishop had now also got out of +the window, and with much effort held fast by one step, while he groped +with his foot for the other. But on lifting his foot from the last +step, to his great dismay he discovered that the ladder was much too +short, and that in all probability his life would be endangered should +he come to the ground without assistance.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Help me, help me, Morten!" he entreated in a low tone. "In the name of +the all-merciful Creator, help me!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes, if you swear to keep your word, on pain of excommunicating +yourself to burning hell, venerable sir," answered Morten, extending +his arms to catch him in case he fell.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes, assuredly, by all the saints and devils!" stammered the alarmed +captive; "only catch me; I must let go my hold!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Let go then! in the Holy Virgin's name!" whispered Morten; "if you are +a pious man of your word you shall assuredly not dash your foot against +a stone."</p> + +<p class="normal">The archbishop now relinquished his hold of the last step of the +ladder, and let himself drop, but though instantly caught in the cook's +powerful arms, he was unable to repress a smothered burst of pain and +sorrow, as his swelled feet struck hard against the stone pavement, and +when Morten withdrew his support, he fell speechless and breathless to +the ground.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You have surely not sworn falsely in your heart, venerable sir," +whispered Morten, anxiously. "This is no time, either, for swooning. If +we delay a moment longer the guard may come, and lead you back from +whence you came." As he said this, he drew down the ladder, and rolled +it up with care. The archbishop yet lay as if lifeless on the ground. +Without any longer demur, Morten put both arms round his waist, and +carried him in this manner across the back yard of the prison to the +high castle wall which encircled the tower and was surrounded by a +moat. It was possible to mount the inside wall in case of need, and by +dint of great exertion Morten carried the almost senseless prelate up +to the top of the wall. There he secured the rope ladder, while the +bishop recovered his consciousness, and gained strength to pursue his +flight. Without delaying and alarming the fugitive by further +stipulations, he assisted him to descend this wall also, and then drew +the ladder after him. They passed the frozen moat of the castle; but +that part of the lake which they had to cross was as smooth as glass, +and the archbishop often fell and bruised himself. With Morten's help +he at last got over the ice, but now threw himself despairingly on the +frozen ground. "I cannot go a step farther," he exclaimed. "If I am to +reach the shore thou must get me a horse."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Will you give me absolution then, venerable sir, if I can steal you a +horse out of the stable here?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"It is a holy loan, which will bring thee a blessing," replied Grand.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Good! But if you understand aught of the Black Art, pious sir, forget +not your Latin now, but say a charm over the dogs, so that they bark +not, and over the grooms in the stable, so that they wake not."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I will pray to the Almighty to be with us. Haste thee!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Morten crept towards the neighbouring stable. He went across a dunghill +to the stable door, upon which a large cross was marked in chalk by way +of safeguard. The usually watchful mastiffs did not bark. It seemed to +Morten as if the cross on the stable door gleamed in the moonlight. The +door of the groom's chamber he had to pass stood ajar. He peeped in, +and saw three men in a deep sleep. In the stalls close by stood two +small horses. He untied their halters, and led them out. The stone +pavement of the stable and without the back door was covered with +horse-litter, and he succeeded in leading the horses out without the +slightest noise. He led them slowly towards the sea shore, and often +looked behind him, but no one pursued--no dog barked, and the whole +seemed to him to be almost miraculous. He found the archbishop where he +had left him, in an attitude of prayer. With unwonted solemnity, and +with a respect which, however, seemed mingled with a kind of dread, +Morten, without saying a word, assisted the prelate to mount one of the +horses; he himself vaulted upon the other, and they rode in silence at +a rapid trot down to the shore. There a tall grave knight and the two +Lolland deserters awaited them with a boat which they had stolen from +the fishing village. The knight and both the wild Lollanders bent the +knee reverently before the archbishop as he extended his fingers to +give them his blessing. With Morten's aid he dismounted, and stepped +into the boat. Morten turned the strange horses loose, and seated +himself on a rowing bench. With a few powerful strokes of the oar they +reached a vessel with a black flag and pennant, which was waiting for +them at some distance from the shore. They entered the ship, and let +the boat float away. The day had not dawned when the vessel with the +black flag sailed with a fair breeze through the Sound, bearing off +without impediment the dangerous man, who, even in his chains, had +dared to excommunicate Denmark's sovereign.</p> + +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAP. VIII.</h2> + +<p class="normal">Sjöborg castle, which in the latter months of the year 1295 was +honoured by the presence of royalty, and had been the theatre of such +important events, stood desolate and deserted on the morning of the +following new year. The gate was shut, and the floating bridge removed. +The sentinel was no longer on guard on the battlement over the gate; +within, no sounds of gaiety and occupancy were heard; without the +southern rampart and the narrowest part of the lake which insulated the +site of the castle stood a gallows, at the end of what was called the +king's garden, where the roads met from Esrom and Gilleleié. On the +gallows hung a lifeless corpse in a short sheep-skin coat, and with a +pair of shaggy boots on the legs. A pair of ravens flapped their wings +over the sinner's head, and around the stiff frozen body fluttered a +flock of screaming crows.</p> + +<p class="normal">The aged Jeppé, the fisherman from Gilleleié, who on fast days was +accustomed to bring fish to Esrom, and to the kitchen of Sjöborg, was +returning at day-break from the ferry, opposite the closed castle gate, +with his flat fish basket at his back, and stood almost under the +gallows ere he was aware of it. His servant, a young fisherman, +followed him also with a basket at his back.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It was true then, after all," said the old man; "they have made quick +work of it here. The bird hath flown, and the cage stands empty. Our +young king hath been wroth in earnest--by my troth, he does nothing by +halves. We may now carry our cod to Elsinore. But what the devil ails +the birds to-day?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Look, look, master!" shouted the lad; "there he hangs."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Our Lady preserve us!" exclaimed Jeppé, and stopped. "Ay, there he +hangs, indeed, in his old sheep's skin, and in the boots I brought him +from Skanór fair, those he squeezed out of me for the freight and the +sixteen marks. Why, the soles are whole as yet! I told him not to wear +them out with his courtier-like scrapings. Faugh! he looks ugly in the +face. 'Tis no wholesome sight on a fasting stomach. Let's take a sup, +Olé." He took a little wooden flask out of the basket, drank, and +reached the flask to the lad, while they gazed with mingled curiosity +and dread on the corpse.</p> + +<p class="normal">"By our Lady! a foul human carcass is truly soon provided for," resumed +the old man, clearing his throat after the strong drink, while he +crossed himself, and put up the flask. "Well, I say now what I said +before; paid as deserved. He who deals against law shall be dealt with +without law. One should otherwise, it is true, speak well of the dead; +and this I <i>must</i> say, Jesper Mogensen was in some sort a pious man; he +neglected neither mattins nor mass; he went to confession every other +day. That we none of us do. But the crow is never the whiter, let her +wash herself ever so often, and I would not have given a rotten +herring's head for all his piety. What said I the other day to boatman +Sóren? 'Mark,' said I, 'that craft will one day run aground under the +gallows.' That one could see with half an eye. We will pray an honest +prayer for his soul, however, Olé, although he <i>hath</i> haggled many a +shining piece from us, and cheated the king out of more pecks of silver +pieces than the ravens have now left hairs on his sinful head. Would it +might fare somewhat better with him where he now is than it fared with +his prisoner at Sjöborg! <i>Much</i> better it were a shame to ask, for a +pitiless master he ever was, and graceless rulers are shut out from the +Lord."</p> + +<p class="normal">"True, master," answered the young fisherman; "but might one not almost +say the same of our young king himself, to say so with all reverence +and respect?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Of the king? Art thou mad, Olé?" exclaimed the old man, with warmth; +"art thou clean devil-blinded and possessed? Is that the Christianity +thou learn'st in the monastery? Thou art a pretty fellow, truly!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Be not wroth, master!" answered the lad; "but truth is truth, +nevertheless, whether it be sour or sweet, or whether it tweak the nose +of high or low, says Pater Gregor, and we Danes are a free folk who +dare to speak out in council<a name="div2Ref_14" href="#div2_14"><sup>[14]</sup></a>, whether it be against great or small; +that you know as well as I, master. The king, by my troth, is not the +man to put mercy before justice where the outlaws or their kindred and +friends are concerned. Now, there, are Marsk Stig's pretty daughters; +he has pent them up in the maiden's tower at Vordingborg, only because +their father was an outlawed man; that's not very merciful. Then +there's the bishop they have so long plagued and tortured; that's a bad +business, says Pater Gregor. Whether or not he was leagued with the +outlaws or the Slesvig Duke no one knows or can prove; but, however +that may be, he was a mighty man of God, whom none but the Lord and the +pope could condemn, says Pater Gregor."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Ay, indeed! He talks too much, that Pater Gregor," muttered the old +man, seating himself thoughtfully on his fish basket. "Those pious sirs +of the cloister may say what they will; but this I know, that a more +just-dealing king we have never had in Denmark. As to his stringing up +that fellow----"</p> + +<p class="normal">"It was a good deed, master, that I will never deny," interrupted +the lad. "If the steward did not exactly help the bishop on his +road,--which, no doubt, was what he was hung for,--he still richly +deserved the halter for many other things. The king did him no wrong; +but that poor turnkey Mads, and his nephew, I am sorry for them. They +are pent up, under bolt and bar, at Flynderborg, only because the ale +was a little too strong for them that night-watch in the tower. He who +helped the bishop but," he added, with a rather sinister roll of the +eye, "was surely none other than that gallows bird, Morten the cook. It +was both boldly and piously done, says Pater Gregor, and therefore +doubtless hath holy St. Martin saved his life, and helped him out of +the country; but he is an outlawed man not the less for that, and if +the Devil hath not an eye on his soul I am no honest Dane."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Hark, Olé!" resumed the old man, in a stern voice, and rising from his +seat; "take care what thy beardless mouth utters, especially when thou +speak'st of the Devil, or of our Lord, or of the king! Touching Morten +the cook, I have also a word to say to thee; but first, of the king. +'Tis a bad hand that will not protect its head, they say; the king is +the people's head, see'st thou, and when the head aches all the limbs +ache also; that hath every true Danish man in our time learnt soon +enough. Our young King Eric hath gone through much trouble, from the +time he was no higher than my knee, but our Lord hath been with him +till this hour, and preserved both his soul and his body, despite +archbishop, and pope, and clergy. We are a free folk, 'tis true; each +man may speak out the truth boldly and freely, whether it be against +high or low; but he who speaks an ill word of the king shall account +for it to me, as surely as I have a tongue in my mouth and fists to my +oar. Thou art a greenhorn, Olé; thou knowest but little of what passed +in the country while thou wert in thy swaddling clothes. Had the +outlaws murdered thy father when thou wert riding thy stick thou +would'st hardly have taken them to thy arms when ye rode with a troop +of horse."</p> + +<p class="normal">"There, by my troth, you are right, master!" answered the youth, +eagerly. "Life for life! I would say, and strike off their heads +wherever I met them; it were an honest deed and righteous wrath. But, +nevertheless, 'Vengeance is our Lord's,' and a king should be somewhat +cooler headed and wiser than any of us; he should rather suffer +injustice than put state and country in peril, by standing up so +stiffly for his right."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Old woman's chatter," interrupted Jeppé; "would the egg teach the hen? +Justice shall stand, though all the earth should perish. Thus should a +king think. He should not bear the sword in vain."</p> + +<p class="normal">"But, dear master! there is Pater Gregor, and all the pious monks at +Esrom, and many wise men in our town, they all of them think the king +pushes his zeal and obstinacy too far, and only brings himself and the +whole country into trouble; for this he hath now fallen under the +archbishop's ban; yet he still will kick against the pricks, and goes +just the same to mattins and mass as heretofore."</p> + +<p class="normal">"That defiance and ungodliness our Lord will pardon him, I think," said +the old man, with a nod of the head; "there is, besides, surely no +bishop in the country who would shut the church door against him +because Master Grand hath excommunicated him at Sjöborg. When that +quarrelsome lord was laid by the heels, folks said directly that all +churches were to be shut in the country; but, look you, <i>was</i> it so? If +ten commands to shut them were sent from the pope in Rome, may I be a +flounder if he would be obeyed. But now the archbishop is free, so +there is no great need for it. At any rate we have seen before that a +Danish king may be under a ban, and yet bear sceptre and crown to his +dying day."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Things may go wrong enough yet, master," answered the lad. "Without +the pope's permit he can never wed, and he may have long to wait for it +while he deals in this fashion by every canon and priest who sided with +the archbishop. There is the rich Hans Rodis in Copenhagen; he hath +lost all he owned because he sent a file and tools to the archbishop in +the tower. Master Peter in Lund hath not fared a hair better, and all +the archbishop's church property is seized. The like of such +presumption hath never been heard of in Christendom before, says Pater +Gregor."</p> + +<p class="normal">"In this matter the king will follow the advice of his best +counsellors, and neither thine nor Pater Gregory's," muttered the old +man. "He and the state council must answer for what hath been done. +Folk have tried him rather too much, and there are bounds to every +thing, even to piety and patience. 'Beware of a brawl!' said my +departed father, God rest his soul! 'but if thou meddlest in one, carry +it through like a man.' It avails but little to cast butter against +stones. No; hard against hard."</p> + +<p class="normal">"By your leave, master, so said the Devil, when he leant his back +against a thorn bush," interrupted the young fisherman, smiling; "but +it is said he repented it when he found what it did for him. I also +have heard a wise old saying at times: 'If thou canst not step over, +then creep under,' said my aunt to me. Had our king learnt that wisdom +of the proud Drost Hessel, who taught him to flourish lance and spear, +it would have been better for state and country, says----"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Pshaw!" interrupted the old man, placing his basket again on his back; +"such wisdom may do well enough for thee, and thy aunt, and Pater +Gregor, who speak out all ye think; but what is fitting for rats and +mice would ill beseem the falcon and eagle. Humility is precious as +gold; but where a king would pass he should sooner burst the gate open +than creep under it through the mire." So saying, he cast another +glance at the solemn witness of the king's stern and speedy execution +of justice, and then, silent and thoughtful, strode forward on the road +to Gilleleié.</p> + +<p class="normal">"But, since you side with the king in every thing, master," asked the +youth, "how can you then defend mad Morten the cook, or think he will +'scape the gallows? He hath ever sided with the outlaws. That he helped +the bishop out of Sjöborg you know as well as any of us. I saw he was +with you on Christmas eve, ere he put out to sea again in that black +pilgrim ship."</p> + +<p class="normal">"If thou would'st keep in a whole skin, jackanapes, let that be between +us two," exclaimed the old man, in wrath, turning menacingly towards +him. "However Morten may have sinned, he now doth penance for it; he +who puts out to open sea at Christmas, to serve his Lord and Saviour, +is no bad Christian, according to my notion, and therefore no traitor +to his country."</p> + +<p class="normal">"But every one knows----"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Gossip! we know enough! What Morten hath to do either with the bishop +or the outlaws concerns not thee or me; but this I know for certain, +since he hath seen our young king himself, and taken money at his hand, +he hath been true as steel to him in his heart. That Master Grand got +loose was perhaps a God's providence," he added. "In this matter I even +think myself our brave king hath set rather too boldly to work. If +Morten hath had a finger in the game it may cost him dear; but that he +neither meant ill to country or king I will stake my neck upon."</p> + +<p class="normal">"A juggler and a godless churl he is, nevertheless; and an outlawed +vagabond and sure gallows bird to boot, if he sets foot again on Danish +ground," said the young fisherman, eagerly. "'Tis both sin and shame, +master! that your young pretty Karen will weep her blue eyes red for +his sake."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Ha, indeed! hath that come out?" said the old man; "thou would'st +rather, I warrant, she should weep them red for thy sake, if weep she +must. Drive these fancies out of thine head, Olé! If Morten come back +ere St. Hans day, as he promised Karen and me, and can give account of +himself, thou shalt have leave to dance at his wedding; but if ye would +speak ill of him to me or to Karen, thou may'st pack up and pack off. +Now thou knowest my manner of thinking." So saying, the old man marched +forward with rapid strides. The youth followed him, crest-fallen and in +silence, till they drew near the shore, where Jeppé unmoored a fishing +boat for the purpose of sailing up the coast with the fish he could no +longer dispose of at Sjöborg.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You must not suppose I would speak ill of Morten," resumed the young +fisherman, as he set down the basket in the boat, and stepped over the +gunwale after his master. "'Twould be of no use either; you and Karen +are now so bewitched by that gallows bird. I must own myself he is a +comely, sharp-witted jolly fellow, although he begins to get somewhat +into years; indeed, as for that matter he might almost be her father. +If he helped the bishop to flee out of piety and Christian charity, he +hath perhaps done a good deed, but folk will hardly say it was for the +Lord's sake. Your pretty little Karen would be better mated with a +young fellow than with an outlawed and almost aged vagabond, and--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Thou beardless greenhorn! what is thy head running upon?" exclaimed +the old man angrily, and stamping as he spoke. "Think'st thou it needs +but a smooth chin, and a milk-sop look, to cut out an honest fellow +with my daughter? Out of sight out of mind, say many young folk +now-a-days; but that shall none say of me and <i>my</i> daughter. If I hear +a word more of this matter from thy mouth, Olé! it shall be the last we +exchange together. But what devil is this?" he exclaimed, in surprise, +as he perceived there were three in the boat; "whence came that +fellow?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Will you carry a passenger across to Skanór, for fair words and fair +recompense, good people?" asked a tall man, suddenly rising from under +one of the rowing benches, where he appeared to have concealed himself +under the sail. He wore a dirty peasant's cloak, but it fitted ill, and +a knight's shoulder scarf peeped from under it, together with the +richly gilded hilt of a sword. He seemed to strive in vain to conceal a +large scar on his forehead under the goat's-skin cap; his pale and +frigid countenance, and furtive glances from under his rusty-coloured +meeting eyebrows, inspired a feeling of distrust; he spoke Danish, but +with something of a Norwegian pronunciation, which, however, seemed not +to be natural to him, but assumed for the occasion.</p> + +<p class="normal">"What have <i>you</i> to do here in my boat?" growled forth Jeppé, measuring +the intruder with a bold look. "If you would cross to Skanör, why go ye +not to the ferry?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"The king hath stopped the ferries on account of the archbishop," +answered the stranger. "Every man knows Grand hath escaped hence by +sea, and yet the stupid dullards hunt after him here, both by day and +night. Not a cat can leave the country, and there is now hardly a wood +or morass left where a friend of the pious archbishop may hide himself. +I see you take me for a deserter. It avails not to withhold the truth +from you. I am a persecuted man; save my life, and bring me to a sea +port from whence I may escape; I will richly repay you for it."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well!" said the old man, and his stern look relaxed. "No doubt an +honest man may get into trouble, as hath chanced ere now; <i>he</i> is often +forced to quit the country in disguise who afterwards can return with +honour. The wind is fair, my yawl will weather the trip bravely; but I +must first know who you are, and wherefore you are outlawed?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Outlawed!" repeated the stranger, with a start; "who says I am +outlawed, with law and justice, because I fly from lawlessness and +shameful injustice? I am a kinsman of the great Archbishop Grand, whom +they have here so shamefully and unjustly maltreated. If I would not +expose myself to the same tyrannical treatment, from which our Lord and +pious men have freed him, I am now forced to seek safety by flight."</p> + +<p class="normal">"But your name?" resumed the fisherman, as he suddenly placed the oar +against a stone, and pushed the boat out to sea, with such force that +both the stranger and the astonished young fisherman tumbled over the +bench. "You will not call yourself outlawed, then?" he continued +calmly, while the stranger stood up, and cast an anxious look on the +wide space between the boat and the shore. "I should incline to think +ye were so, nevertheless. Are ye not called, because of a little +mistake, Squire Kaggé with the scar? Were ye one of those who slew the +king's father in Finnerup barn? and if it be you who lately sought to +take the king's life, I should be a rascal if I stirred a hand to bring +you to any other free port than the gallows."</p> + +<p class="normal">The stranger's countenance had become fearfully distorted; he thrust +his hand as if convulsively under his cloak, and drew forth a long +glittering knight's sword. "You must either set me instantly on shore +here, or bring me to Skanör harbour; no matter who the devil I may be," +he cried. "The squire whom Denmark's greatest man dubbed a knight lets +himself not be carried to market with cod and flounders by a vile +fisherman."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Big words and fat flesh stick not in the throat," answered Jeppé, +quietly brandishing the heavy iron-tagged oar like a lance over his +head. "Here I stand on my own ground, and here I am master. Cast your +dyrendal<a name="div2Ref_15" href="#div2_15"><sup>[15]</sup></a> from you, Sir Malapert! or you shall feel one upon your +skull which will make you forget the stroke of knighthood you got from +the greatest man. If that man be Stig Anderson,"--he added, "you need +not mention your fair name or your fair deed--for in that case you were +as certainly with Marsk Stig and the grey friars in Finnerup barn as +you are now with Jeppé the fisherman on the road to judgment and the +gallows."</p> + +<p class="normal">"We shall see," shouted the stranger, like a madman, and rushed on him +with his drawn sword, but at the same moment he fell back senseless in +the boat, while the hat flew from his head before a stroke of Jeppé's +iron-tagged oar.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Take the dyrendal from him, and bind him, Olé, while I loose the +sails," said the old fisherman calmly, as he threw down the oar, and +began to unfurl the sails. "That blow he dies not of. If the king will +give him his life, that's <i>his</i> affair; but none shall say that old +Jeppé the fisherman sided with such like outlaws, and let a regicide +slip whole skinned from Gilleleié."</p> + +<p class="normal">The young fisherman obeyed his master. The sails were soon unfurled, +and the fishing yawl sailed swiftly along the coast.</p> + +<p class="normal">Jeppé was not mistaken. His captive was the renowned Aagé Kaggé who had +been outlawed with all those who had taken a personal share in the +murder of Eric Glipping. He had entered the service of the King of +Norway, but had ventured to Denmark to bring Marsk Stig's daughters +from thence; and also, as it appeared, with other less peaceable +intentions. That he had been a party to the murderous attack of the +crazed Jutlander upon the king the Drost's huntsmen had borne witness, +and there seemed also every probability that it was he who had +attempted the assassination of Drost Aagé, as he was riding with Marsk +Stig's daughters into the gate of Vordingborg castle. Every burgomaster +and all commandants of castles throughout the country had received +orders to trace and to seize him, wherever he was found. As an outlaw, +besides, every one who met and knew him was empowered to slay him on +the spot. Although in general he, like all those outlawed regicides, +was held in great detestation, there was still one heart which throbbed +for him with love and sympathy,--the wayward, restless heart of the +captive Lady Ulrica.</p> + +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAP. IX.</h2> + +<p class="normal">On the same new year's day on which the outlawed knight was captured, +Marsk Stig's youngest daughter slumbered, evidently disturbed by +agitating dreams, in the tower called the Maiden's Tower, in +Vordingborg castle, while her sister rose ready dressed from the +prie-dieu, and listened with folded hands to the sound of mattins from +the chapel of the castle. A faint ray of daylight fell on them through +the tower window. "Help! help!" shrieked Ulrica, starting up; "sleepest +thou, Margaretha? Oh, it was fearful! Yet it was, after all, but a +foolish dream."</p> + +<p class="normal">"What ails thee, dear sister?" asked the placid Margaretha, taking her +sister lovingly by the hand; "thou must surely have dreamt again of +that unhappy knight, Kaggé?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Thou mightest be rather more courteous, sister. So <i>very</i> unhappy he +cannot be, when <i>I</i> am dreaming of him. Did I but know he was safe!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Pray to the Lord and our Lady that his grim image may be effaced from +thy soul!" continued Margaretha; "he can never come to a good end. All +the greatness and splendour he hath promised thee are but empty castles +in the air, with nought of truth in them."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Truth here, and truth there, sister! What you call our castles in the +air are nevertheless far better than this much too real prison; and how +can'st thou call Sir Kaggé grim? I think his bold, wolf-like eye-brows +are perfectly lovely. Alas! sweet sister! I dreamed he was in distress +and in peril of his life. He stood in chains before me, and bade me +entreat the king for his life."</p> + +<p class="normal">"He is assuredly thy bad angel, Ulrica!" answered Margaretha; "it is +his fault that we are now here. Would thou hadst never believed his +flatteries and false tongue, he loves no one in the world save +himself."</p> + +<p class="normal">"How can'st thou say so, sister? Did'st thou not hear thyself how +solemnly he swore to free us, or lose his life?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"But when it was time to keep his word, like a true and manly knight, +his own pitiful revenge and his own life were dearer to him than our +peace and freedom," answered Margaretha. "He, in truth, sharpened the +arrow our faithful squire shot from the bow, but ere it flew from the +string he took himself off, and abandoned us to our fate."</p> + +<p class="normal">"But he followed us, though, at peril of his life, close to the castle +gate, and had not the Drost been dearer to thee than both I and thyself +we should not now have been here."</p> + +<p class="normal">"If our freedom could only be gained by treachery and assassination, it +were better we stayed here captive all our life-time," answered +Margaretha. "Had the noble Drost Aagé been as much our enemy as he +showed himself to be our friend--I would not even then have left him in +that condition to bleed to death, without help and care. I would rather +remain in prison until my dying day than flee with a cowardly assassin, +and be suspected by the noble Drost of having had the least part or lot +in such crime."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Thou art really much too conscientious, sister Margaretha! In +comparison with me, thou art half an angel, it is true; but confess to +me now, it was surely not <i>purely</i> for the Lord's sake you stayed and +behaved so generously to the Drost. He is a very handsome young knight, +although he cannot be compared to Sir Kaggé, and I have seen plainly +enough how tenderly and lovingly your eyes meet each time you bind up +his wounds--thou art really making him greatly beholden to thee."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Be not malicious, dear Ulrica," answered Margaretha, blushing crimson; +"what harm is there in my tending him with unfeigned good will?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Tend him with as much good will as thou likest; I never said there was +any harm in that--call him every instant the noble and the pious, just +as if he were the only good knight in Christendom! but at any rate give +<i>me</i> leave to defend Sir Kaggé, and feel anxious for him when he perils +his life for my sake! It was indeed not <i>quite</i> according to rule that +he left us when we were captured! I shall scold him finely for that +when we meet; but what was he to do against so many? If he escaped, he +could still hope to free us as long as he himself was at liberty. As to +his attacking the Drost in the dark gateway, without sounding a trumpet +before him, it perhaps did not look altogether chivalrous; but +stratagem against superior force is always lawful in war, and it was +after all a bold and desperate enterprise, which may even yet cost him +his life, although it did nought either for or against us--ah! did I +but know he was safe, I would gladly be patient, and put up with this +captivity some time longer.--When the king gets to know what I now know +he will have to ask pardon, and treat me like a princess."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Poor Ulrica! what sayest thou?" exclaimed her sister in dismay, and +turning pale; "what madman can have put into your head----"</p> + +<p class="normal">"That was the secret, then, thou wouldst never out with, my pious +sister!" interrupted Ulrica, with a joyous smile. "I had determined to +conceal my discovery until I could show thee what use it was of; but +now I will show thee that Kaggé is much more true and devoted to me +than thou art. While thou thoughtest only of the wounded Drost, my +outlawed knight hath enabled me to guess who I am, and hath sent me a +billet of more importance than all the Drosts in the world.--This Runic +scrap should burst before us the doors of every prison in Denmark." So +saying, she produced with a triumphant air, a small and curiously +carved wooden tablet, upon which was depicted a royal coat of arms with +three crowned leopards, and with Ulrica's name below, in Runic +characters, by the side of Princess Mérété's, King Eric Ericson's, and +Junker Christopher's. "Seest thou," said she, drawing up her head +proudly, "the three crowned leopards stand in the king's great seal? As +yet I have only half made out the connection. But at any rate I have +gathered thus much from all the puzzling hints they have given me:--The +king's father must have been secretly wedded to a noble lady of Marsk +Stig's kindred. It must no doubt have been a hazardous affair, +since he had another for his queen; but, nevertheless, lam his +daughter, just the same, and therefore Princess Mérété's and the king's +half sister--though no one must know it.--My poor mother hath no doubt +suffered great wrong, and thus come by her death; but that thy father +and his kinsmen have amply revenged. Me they brought up in the Marsk's +house, and therefore I must now share the persecutions that have come +upon thy whole race."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Alas! believe not one word of that confused and wretched story, dear +Ulrica!" exclaimed Margaretha, bursting into tears; "burn those +unfortunate lines, and believe me thou art in truth my sister, and all +that talk of a higher birth can but bring thee shame and degradation."</p> + +<p class="normal">"That thou would'st scarcely say had'st thou seen thine own name by the +side of kings and princes," answered Ulrica, with a proud toss of the +head, while she gazed with sparkling eyes on the wooden tablet; "and +look," she continued, fuming it over, "here stand the Norwegian Duke +Haco's lion shield, and pedigree; it reaches in a direct line up to the +great Harold Harfager; and seest thou there stands my true knight +Kaggé's name in a side branch like mine--he traces his descent also +from kings and princes; and rememberest thou not what old Mother Elsé +foretold me at Hald? I was to become a great princess one day, she +said, and get a handsome and rich bridegroom of princely birth."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Alas, dearest sister!" exclaimed Margaretha, sorrowfully, "thy +childish vanity makes thy soul the sport of dishonourable and +traitorous braggarts--the domestic miseries which brought misfortune +upon the country as well as on our renowned race could be represented +to thee by none but an evil spirit as a source of honour and good +fortune. The blood of slaves, not the blood of princes, runs in that +man's veins who could picture <i>that</i> to thee as an honour which would +make thee to die of grief and shame, did'st thou believe it to be true, +and knewest how to prize the birth which is in truth high and +honourable.</p> + +<p class="normal">"'Tis pity thou art not a priest, sister!" said Ulrica, with a toss of +the head; "if the story of my high birth were only an idle and +unfounded report, it could hardly have had such important consequences +here in the country; thou must thyself have thought it true, since thou +never would'st confide it to me; but I have long had an inkling of it. +Old Mother Elsé dared not come quite out with it; but this you must at +any rate allow,--all who have known us and our family have ever bowed +much lower to me than to thee, although thou wert the eldest; and I +have seen folk point oft to me, when I was gaily clad, and heard them +whisper, 'Look, there goes the little princess; look, her pretty eyes +twinkle just like King Glipping's.'"<a name="div2Ref_16" href="#div2_16"><sup>[16]</sup></a></p> + +<p class="normal">"Poor, poor sister!" exclaimed Margaretha, folding her, weeping, in her +arms; "and could'st thou endure to hear such hateful words? Were they +able to flatter thy vain and childish heart by a glittering title which +concealed the bitterest hate and scorn? Poor Ulrica! thy greatest +misfortune, after all, is thy soul's blindness--it makes thee even vain +and proud of what should be thy grief and shame. Alas! didst thou +tremble with me at that tale as at a voice from the bottomless pit I +perhaps should know how to comfort and counsel thee; then would I weep +with thee, and pray our blessed Lady to give thee the hope she gave me, +when at times all the horrors I saw and heard in my childhood seemed +like a frightful dream, and it was as though an angel whispered to my +soul that the whole was error and illusion.--Ah, mother! mother! how +shall I perform that I promised thee, and bring this erring child safe +to thine arms?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Now thou art growing tiresome again, Margaretha, with all thy love, +and thy piety, and thy conscience," interrupted Ulrica, pettishly, +"<i>Your</i> mother was only my foster mother; that I can well understand. +Who <i>my</i> real mother was thou mightest easily tell, if there was any +real sisterly love in thee; but thou art not my sister after all. I +would thou wert in a nunnery! there thou mightest mourn over me, and +pray for me as much as it pleased thee, without plaguing me with it; +yet, no! for then I must part from thee, and that I could not bear," +she added, affectionately. "I am still a worldling, dear good +Margaretha!" continued Ulrica, with child-like simplicity. "I have told +you so a hundred times. All the misfortunes that happened in our +childhood, or before I was born, I have neither seen nor shared in; +how, then, canst thou require I should grieve over them? And what good +would it do were I now to sit down with thee to mourn and weep? What +our parents and their kindred have suffered or done amiss our blessed +Lady must pray our Lord to make amends for, and forgive them; but that +I have just as little to do with as thou. I thank my Lord and Maker, +and our blessed Lady, that I have come into this fair world, and that I +am not ashamed of my birth, even though I am but half a princess. The +sorrow and degradation thou would'st have me despair over I care not to +meddle with; either it is altogether idle talk, and then there is +nought to mourn for; or it is true, and I must be satisfied with it as +my destiny; and then I should still be a kind of princess; and what +shame can it be to me that I should be called what I am, and that a +knight of royal descent woos me, and would bring me to the station and +honour which are mine by right?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Alas! for thy honour and thy wooer, poor sister!" answered Margaretha, +"there is not a true word in Sir Kaggé; all know he is come of higher +birth than he deserves, and it was not till he was outlawed and fled to +Norway that he thought of disowning his own kindred, and tracing his +pedigree in a disgraceful manner to the royal house of Norway. Such +dishonourable fiction would show thee his character, if thou didst not +share his perverted hankerings after the greatness which confers not +honour."</p> + +<p class="normal">During this conversation Ulrica had arrayed herself in her richest +attire, and it had become quite light. "Now look at me!" she said, +contemplating herself in the polished shield on the wall. "Need I +really be so terribly ashamed of my own existence, or wish I had never +been born? That indeed would be shameful and ungodly. To speak +honestly, Margaretha, should I doubt all that Sir Kaggé hath told me of +my descent and of my beauty, I ought to doubt my own eyes also, and +every mirror I looked into would be just as false a flatterer and +traitor as thou deemest him to be."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Truly the mirror <i>is</i> a false flatterer," answered Margaretha; "it +shows us but the fair outside and the smooth skin, but hides the +skeleton and the image of death within us. The more pleasure we take in +the mimic image it displays to us in our vanity, the more the eyes are +blinded and the soul corrupted. Hadst thou heard the exaggerated +compliments Sir Kaggé paid <i>me</i> ere he saw thee quite grown up, and +found thou hadst a more attentive ear for his fair speeches and bold +plans concerning our forfeited goods and rights, he would scarcely have +been less the object of thy laughter and ridicule than that foolish Sir +Pallé."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Ah, how terribly unreasonable thou art, thou dear pious Margaretha!" +interrupted Ulrica; "that fat stupid Sir Pallé was made to be a +laughing stock. I know well enough Kaggé was once a little in love with +thee, but I can readily forgive him, since he hath got over it so +well.--Thou wert too in some sort my sister, and at the time I was +almost a child.--Thou wouldst doubtless have had him sigh himself to +death over thy coldness, but that was too much to ask of a handsome +young knight. Should he then be deemed a faithless and inconstant lover +because he was mistaken in us sisters, ere he could know our hearts and +his own? How could he help that thou wert so cold and indifferent, and +so insufferably pious? And was it then so unpardonable a sin that at +last he found out that I was quite as fair--or perhaps rather more so?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Dear deluded child!" sighed Margaretha, patting her sister's cheek, +while she parted the fair curled locks from her brow, "must thou ever +seek to trace every sentiment thou wouldst rightly understand to a vain +and empty source? Kaggé was a loyal and devoted squire to our father, +it is true; he was a zealous sharer in that fearful deed of vengeance, +the grounds of which thou now thinkest thou hast discovered; but were +those grounds not false, and wert thou in truth that thou thinkest +thyself to be, how canst thou give thy hand without shuddering to a man +who was with the band in Finnerup-barn?" She paused, and folded her +hands as if in silent prayer, as she knelt down on the prie-dieu, and +rented her lovely head on the breviary.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Margaretha! dearest Margaretha! thou hast terrified me," exclaimed +Ulrica, who had turned quite pale. "A horrible and ghastly form rises +before me. Ah! thou art right; I never thought of that. If the story of +my birth be true I ought never to hold Sir Kaggé dear, and yet I never +saw the noble ill-fated prince who fell in Finnerup-barn. Should I hate +all those who willed his death, I must also hate my mother, and thy +mother, and father Stig. Alas, Margaretha! we must never think on our +lot in this world, if we would be gay and happy among other human +beings; we must either forget all that hath chanced to us, or go into a +nunnery, and bid the beautiful joyous world good night; but that I +cannot do. Dear sister! pray for me. I will forget what it is not good +to think upon, but I cannot hate any living soul; and he who loves me +with truth and fervour I <i>must</i> love again, whoever he may be, and for +what cause soever he may be outlawed and persecuted." She burst into a +flood of tears, and held up her long golden tresses before her eyes.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Dearest Ulrica! weep not. I will pray for thee as long as I live," +said Margaretha. She rose hastily from the prie-dieu, and folded her +sister tenderly in her arms. "We have not as yet wished each other a +happy new year. The Lord and our blessed Lady make thee pious and +patient, and blessed, and grant us both that which is most profitable +for soul and salvation. Weep not, dearest Ulrica! If I have spoken +harshly to thee, and grieved thee, forgive me, for our mother's sake! +She bade me admonish thee, and guard thy soul from thoughts of vanity. +But I see it is so, thou <i>art</i> good and pious and blessed; only weep +not!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes, if thou wilt never more speak evil of Sir Kaggé, or require I +should forget him, and leave off dreaming of him, for that I cannot; +that I <i>will not</i> do." So saying, Ulrica dried her eyes with her long +hair, and peeped archly at her sister through her fingers.</p> + +<p class="normal">"In the Lord's name, love every living soul in which there is a spark +of God's grace," answered Margaretha, "only be not sorrowful."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well, I can understand you now," said Ulrica, taking her hand from her +eyes. She laughed, and heartily kissed her sister. "A happy new year, +sister Margaretha! Would thou might'st wed the handsome Drost ere the +year is out, and would we might get out of this cage ere the woods are +green and the birds sing." She then began to dance with her staid +sister round the prison chamber, singing,</p> + +<div class="poem2"> +<p class="t0" style="text-indent:-8px">"I know where stands a castle fair,</p> +<p class="t1">All dazzling to the sight;</p> +<p class="t0">Its walls are decked with carvings rare,</p> +<p class="t1">With gold and silver bright."<a name="div2Ref_17" href="#div2_17"><sup>[17]</sup></a></p> +</div> + +<p class="normal">"Hush! hush! dear sister! some one is coming," said Margaretha, +entreatingly. Ulrica listened, and on hearing the bolt withdrawn from +the prison door she hastily arranged her hair in the polished shield, +and suddenly assumed a stiff and consequential deportment. The door +opened, and a sprightly little maiden entered to attend on them, and to +bring the usual morning repast. "A happy new year, with the blessing of +our Lady and St. Joseph, noble ladies!" said the maiden, curtseying, as +she placed the cup of warm ale on the table. "Master asks whether you +will drive afterwards to high mass with his dame. There came strangers +in the night," she added, anxious to impart the news. "They slept up +above in the knights' story. There are to be fine doings because of +them; they are to breakfast in the ladies' apartment, and there is a +fire on the hearth in the great hall.--The strangers are come from +court; they say the Drost will depart----"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Depart!" repeated Margaretha, blushing deeply. "Ah, yes," she added, +calmly, "it is possible, indeed, if it be necessary. Yet if they could +allow a few days more it would be better for him. Follow me to the +ladies' apartment, little Karen! Perhaps he wants his wounds bound up +in haste."</p> + +<p class="normal">"No, stay, and see first if my hair is properly dressed!" said Ulrica. +"Happy new year, little Karen! and a lover ere this day twelvemonth."</p> + +<p class="normal">"A bridegroom you surely mean, lady! for lovers one may have in plenty +every year," answered the maiden, simpering.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Your hair is finely dressed. Lady Ulrica! Had <i>I</i> such beautiful +silken hair, and head-gear of gold and pearl to boot, as you have, by +my troth I should never wish to put on a matron's cap while I lived; +but <i>my</i> hair I wish to hide; the sooner the better. Whenever my +sweetheart hath had a scold from master, I am ever forced to hear it is +rough and short. You are as small as a reed. Lady Ulrica!" she +continued, looking at her slender form and gay attire; "one may easily +see you are a dainty highborn knight's daughter, and no serving maid or +kitchen drudge--if <i>I</i> could appear in such fashion to my sweetheart, +how he would stare! But I saw at once you were born to trail in silk +and scarlet.--There hides something else under those wadmal cloaks than +maidens of our condition, said I to Maren, the porter's wife, as soon +as we set eyes on you; and when master grew afterwards so civil to you, +and his wife sent you all those fine clothes and adornments on +Christmas eve--we saw well enough how it was, that we had rare birds in +the cage; perhaps even a princess, as some will have it.--That light +green laced boddice becomes you marvellously. Lady Ulrica; but +were I in Lady Margaretha's place I would not wear white attire on +new-year's-day; it hath such a sad appearance, and it is no good omen +for the good luck and happiness of the new year----"</p> + +<p class="normal">"My colour hath been the shroud's since my father and mother died," +said Margaretha, with a deep sigh; "but come now, little Karen! while +you pass judgment on garments and finery many a mass may be sung to an +end."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mattins are over, and there is time enough ere high mass," said the +maiden; "but take some refreshment. It is not good to drive to church +or bind the Drost's neck on a fasting stomach."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I say so too, little Karen!" said Ulrica, with an arch smile, as she +partook heartily of the morning draught. "So the Drost is well again, +and going to depart," she continued; "truly it must be hard for so +brave a knight to live so long under maiden's care, especially with +that frightful scar on his neck."</p> + +<p class="normal">"The shame is not his, but the coward's who dared not face +him,"--answered the maiden; "is it not so, Lady Margaretha?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"That is my sister's opinion also," sighed Margaretha; "but come! I +think I hear a ringing."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Not yet awhile; truly thou art much too devout, sister!" said Ulrica, +with an arch look. "You forget your repast every morning for mass, and +mattins often ring in your ears much before the hour. But it is true +the Drost's neck should be looked at ere mass, and that is ever a work +of time.--Now I am coming; take me with you. I am coming instantly. I +will not again be shut up here alone--ah yes, sister! had I not thee by +me I should be an ungodly being, and sleep over mass time every +morning.--Thou mayst thank the Drost's neck that thou dost never +oversleep thyself--stay a moment; I am coming."--She drained the pewter +cup, and hastened out of the door with her sister and their attendant.</p> + +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAP. X.</h2> + +<p class="normal">From the maiden's tower, which, with the ancient Waldemar's tower, near +the chapel, stood within the northern semicircle of the wall +surrounding the castle, a vaulted private passage led to the broad +flagged and spacious hall on the first floor of the main building into +which the knights' hall, the ladies' apartment, and various others +opened. There was likewise a front entrance from the court-yard by a +flight of high wooden steps, surmounted by a porch, and enclosed on +each side with an iron railing that led up to the balcony. Directly +opposite the two northern towers stood, on the side towards the sea, in +the southern semicircle of the castle wall, the strongly fortified +towers called the dragon and the sea tower. Above the entrance stood +the castle tower, and above the chapel was a small belfry. In the midst +of the castle square stood a high flagstaff, bearing the royal arms, +the three crowned leopards among a number of golden hearts. The +circular wall, which, with its high battlements and towers, surrounded +the whole castle, was also environed by ramparts and deep moats. As the +castle was often occupied by the king and his whole court, it was kept +in perfect repair, and amply provided with furniture and every kind of +convenience.</p> + +<p class="normal">The castle was one of the most important fortresses in the kingdom. The +number of men belonging to the garrison and household was not +inconsiderable. Whenever the chapel bell rung for mattins, the +commandant, with all the inmates of the castle and its precincts, +proceeded to the chapel across the spacious square of the castle. They +now were returning from mattins with their extinguished lanterns in +their hands.</p> + +<p class="normal">The captive maidens were guarded without any severity. When accompanied +by one female attendant, the whole castle was open to them during the +day. They were obliged, however, to sleep at night in the tower, which +was never unlocked until daylight; and the porter was only permitted to +open the castle gate for them when the commandant himself or his family +accompanied them to the church of the town, or through the orchard to +the chase of the castle, where at this season of the year they +sometimes amused themselves by hawking, a sport of which Ulrica was +passionately fond, but in which Margaretha only shared for her sister's +sake.</p> + +<p class="normal">When Ulrica, with her sister and the attendant maiden, stepped out of +the dark passage into the vestibule, she instantly ran as usual to one +of the bow windows, and breathed upon one of the panes to clear away +the frost and make herself a peep-hole into the castle yard. "Look! +look!" she said, gaily; "we shall have the new yellow car to drive in +to-day to church; and look! there they ride to water with the +strangers' horses--I declare they have long silken coverings on, and +there are the royal grooms with them--Look! the commandant, with the +Drost and the strangers, are crossing over this way--one of the +strangers is a canon; but who <i>can</i> those two comical men be with the +German caps?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Let us go into the ladies' apartment," said Margaretha; "it would not +be seemly that they should find us here alone so early."</p> + +<p class="normal">"One can never see any thing, or enjoy any thing, because of that +tiresome seemliness," said Ulrica, pettishly, and followed her sister +reluctantly into the ladies' apartment. Shortly afterwards the door +opened, and Drost Aagé entered the ante-chamber, with the king's +confessor. Master Petrus de Dacia, and the two German minstrels, +accompanied by the commandant. Sir Ribolt, a tall man of noble +presence, whose knightly attire was arranged in strict conformity to +the fashion of the time. The commandant first crossed the threshold, +and closed the door to keep in the warmth, which began to diffuse +itself from the large glowing stone chimney.</p> + +<p class="normal">"In the king's name!" he said, with a kind of solemnity, as he doffed +his high plumed hat, "welcome in his hall, noble sirs! Here he is your +host, though in my insignificant person--I may expect him here, then, +in the spring, venerable sir?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"He bade me bring you that message, next to royal greeting and favour," +answered Master Petrus de Dacia, giving his hand to the commandant. "We +have slept under your roof, but as yet your guests are unknown to you," +he continued. "My name you know. In a few hours I must journey onwards; +but these honourable strangers desire, and have royal permission, to be +your guests for some time, partly with a learned and scientific +object." He now presented to the commandant Master Poppé and Master +Rumelant from Swabia, as renowned professors of the noble art of +minstrelsy, who had visited the territories of many lords and princes, +and who were now desirous also of seeing and knowing all that was +remarkable in Denmark respecting the manners and the customs of the +people, and the state of art and science, compared with that of other +nations. "These learned persons," he added, "are commended to you as +the king's guests, so long as it is their desire to remain here. It is +the king's pleasure that they should have free access to the royal +collection of manuscripts and the archives of the castle."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well, these learned guests are welcome," answered the commandant, +saluting the strangers with some embarrassment; "it is probably the +chronicles they desire to search into, and the ancient manuscripts +which lie here, treating of the affairs of Denmark and the German +kingdoms in olden times. There was lately here a learned monk from Nyé, +who, by the king's command, had much to do with these writings. They +are treasures which I, to say truth, know but little how to prize; but +scholars can never sufficiently laud our king's carefulness in +collecting such writings, and the free use of them which he allows both +to native and foreign scholars. The Lord help me. Sir Drost!" he +whispered to Aagé, "they are surely most awfully learned; they perhaps +do not understand a word of Danish?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Are not your king's famous 'Congesta'<a name="div2Ref_18" href="#div2_18"><sup>[18]</sup></a> to be found here?" asked the +tall master Poppé, in a half German half Danish dialect; "we desire +especially to become acquainted with that important historical +collection, as well as with the copy which is here to be seen of your +famous Saxo Grammaticus, likewise Sveno Agonis<a name="div2Ref_19" href="#div2_19"><sup>[19]</sup></a>, and whatever may be +found here of collections of old ballads, and of Norwegian or Icelandic +poems, and Sagas of heathen time; item, all remarkable monumenta and +volumina antiquitatis."</p> + +<p class="normal">"What I specially rejoice over," said the enthusiastic little Master +Rumelant, "is what I here expect to meet with of your famous +theological lumina and christian poets, particularly the far-famed +Hexameron of the great Andreas Sunonis, of which I have never been able +to trace any copy among my countrymen, or among any of the noble lords +and princes, my gracious well-wishers and benefactors, whose praises I +have sung according to my poor ability."</p> + +<p class="normal">"So far as I know, the manuscript you speak of is to be found here +among the learned Latin writings, from the time of King Waldemar the +Victorious, of blessed memory," answered the commandant, endeavouring +to hide his impatience; "but it is only of what is written in the +language of the country that I can give account to you--your study +shall be next to the manuscript chamber--the castle chaplain has the +superintendence of it; he will no doubt be able to give you all the +information you want. I will arrange every thing in the best way I can +for you, learned sirs; but I pray you to excuse me, who am a layman, +and straight-forward soldier, for my ignorance of such matters. Permit +me now to install you among my family, and to entreat you will be +content for the present with some food for the body."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Allow me first a few words in private here with the Drost," said +Master Petrus, remaining behind in the vestibule with Aagé, whose pale +cheek was for a moment tinged with a crimson hue as the door of the +ladies' apartment closed, and he was but half able to greet Margaretha. +It was evident that he had suffered from a dangerous wound. He still +held his head rather stiffly, and his left arm was in a sling.</p> + +<p class="normal">The tall ecclesiastic took him by the hand, and gazed on him earnestly, +with his serene, intellectual eye. "It is chiefly for your sake, Drost +Aagé, the king sent me hither," he said; "you know how dear you have +been to him from his childhood, and how greatly he needs must miss you; +but ere it is permitted me to speak one word to you of the king's and +state affairs, I am enjoined to certify myself of the health both of +your mind and body. It is said you have not only been dangerously +wounded, but sick at heart besides, and plagued with all manner of +disquiet thoughts and confused dreams, so that you have oft stood more +in need of a spiritual than of a bodily physician. If you place any +trust in me, then confide to me that which seems still to disquiet +you."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I have been a visionary since I was excommunicated," said Aagé; "I know +it right well. The trial was too much for me; but now, praise be to the +Lord and our Lady! a light hath dawned upon my soul, which reconciles +me to what is dark and mysterious in my life and destiny.--But <i>my</i> +feelings and concerns are of no moment. Tell me only what the king is +about; how can he and the country be saved from downfall amid all these +perplexing events; for the Lord's sake tell me?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Not a word of that as yet, dear Drost," interrupted Master Petrus; "I +must first see how far you are capable of acting in worldly matters. +The spirit that would work mightily for the peace and happiness of king +and country must first be at peace with itself."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I <i>have</i> that peace, venerable sir! My soul is as well at ease as it +ever will be in this world. When I heard the archbishop was fled, and +the king excommunicated, I threw myself on my horse, and would have +hasted to Sjöborg, but they brought me back here half dead. What I have +since heard of the king's impetuosity and wrath hath more than ever +disquieted me, and in my tendency to dark presentiments I have many a +night, in my fevered dreams, beheld the king surrounded by robbers and +murderers."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Be easy on that score, noble Drost. No sovereign was ever more beloved +by his people; an invisible guard of the angels of love and +righteousness accompany the young Eric, even when traitors and +deadly foes are nigh him. I know you were with the king's father in +Finnerup-barn on that bloody St. Cecilia's eve. What you then witnessed +as a child you surely have never been able to forget?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"No, never!" exclaimed Aagé, with breathless earnestness; "and I have +often mourned I had neither courage nor might to avert that +catastrophe. It was not till the barn burst into flames around the +murdered king that I fully recovered the use of my senses. I snatched +the sword from the old insane Pallé, when he threw himself on the body +to maltreat it, and struck the same murderous steel into his breast +with which he had slain his liege. That bloody scene, and the dying +look of that crazed old man, hath often been fearfully present to me. +The horrid spectacle, however, was nearly effaced from my memory, when, +two years back, I was one day sent by the king to the captive +archbishop at Sjöborg to bring him to confession; but when I looked on +yon terrific prisoner, as he uplifted his fettered arm, and gave me +over to the Devil, with the church's most dreadful curse, it seemed to +me as though I stood once more in the barn at Finnerup, and as if a +condemning spirit spoke through the archbishop, and thundered forth the +words of excommunication over me for my sins' sake. In the fever caused +by my wound I have often suffered from the most fearful visions, and +dreamed of fighting with all manner of monsters and demons; but when it +was at the worst I ever saw a heavenly angel at my side, who, with +pious prayers, chased away the evil spirit, and whispered comfort and +consolation to my soul. At last a mild light dawned upon me--I felt I +might yet redeem from the curse that life which in my childhood I had +neither power nor courage to sacrifice for my former master, by my +devoting it to his son, our noble young King Eric. This is now my firm +and stedfast purpose; I have renounced all thoughts of happiness for +myself. Yon angel of consolation hath since appeared to me in a mortal +form; but she neither desires nor is able to turn me from my resolve. +It was the eldest and most estimable of Marsk Stig's daughters. +Venerable sir! to you alone I confide it--she hath become dear to me as +my own soul, and she hath herself wonderfully strengthened me in my +resolution. By saving my life, and preserving it for the service of him +who hath pronounced her whole race outlawed, she hath sought to atone +for a share of her dreaded father's crime. Each step I follow my +beloved young sovereign will and must separate me and Marsk Stig's race +in this world; yet, with the Lord's help, that shall not stop my +progress, or impair my loyalty. Mark, venerable sir! from the moment in +which the future destiny of my life was clear before me I was freed +from the evil spirits which persecuted me, and I now feel myself nearly +healed both in body and soul. Now you know all, tell me, I beseech you, +that which is of far greater moment, what message bring you me from the +king?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"One word more of yourself first, noble Drost," answered Master Petrus, +in an affectionate tone, taking his hand, and gazing with his usual +look of calm intelligence on Aagé's melancholy but resolute +countenance; "your determination I must laud as fair and noble, +although it still in some measure betokens your tendency to extremes, +even in what is good and praiseworthy. You can devote your life and +powers to the service of your king and country without seeking the +death of a martyr; you need not yourself renounce the enjoyments of +life because a higher aim of existence stands in your view; but I will +not upbraid you for such youthful extravagances,--There <i>was</i> a time +when I desired myself to die a martyr in honour of the Holy Virgin; +even now I should glory in it were it so ordered for me; but I no +longer hanker after martyrdom with blind enthusiasm and spiritual +pride. The consoling angel you speak of, noble Drost, she who stood +before you here in the form of a captive maiden, I only desire her +justification and acquittal, and then assuredly you need not renounce +all hope in respect of the secret wishes of your heart. I also have +known such a being," he continued, with emotion; "next to the Holy +Virgin she is even yet to me the most precious soul of her sex that +lives and hath ever lived in the world; she is, in truth, the bride of +Heaven here upon earth, and her duty and condition, as well as mine, +separate us here below. But I believe, to speak truly, neither you nor +any worldly man can be called on or have strength to make such +renunciation; but Providence and its high disposer will care for this. +I rejoice from my heart that the fairest feeling of humanity is +awakened in your soul. Even when attended by the greatest sacrifice and +the extreme of privation, it is, next to the joys of Heaven, the +richest treasure that can be bestowed on a human being."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes, assuredly!" exclaimed Aagé, with joyful enthusiasm; "wholly +wretched I never now can be. I have now told you the whole state of my +case. Conceal not any thing longer from me!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well, my excellent young friend," said Master Petrus, pressing his +hand, "I will look on you as spiritually healed. It is a true and +precious feeling--it is the earnest of a noble and mighty life of +action which stirs in your somewhat enthusiastic and visionary soul. I +would send you forth from this much too quiet and trying position, +which only fosters your visionary turn of mind. I will not hesitate to +enlist your whole strength in the service of king and country. Look! +here is a private letter from the king." He reached a sealed packet to +the Drost.</p> + +<p class="normal">Aagé hastily broke the seal. "Ha! what means this? Of course you know +the contents?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I wrote the letter myself in the chancellor's absence. It is come to a +breach with Junker Christopher; he must be disarmed and brought to +subjection ere two more suns have set. You or Sir Ribolt are to +beleaguer Holbek castle, and join the king before Kallundborg with a +hundred lancers."</p> + +<p class="normal">Drost Aagé gazed in dismay,--now on the letter,--now on Master Petrus. +"Great God!" he exclaimed; "is it come to this? Civil war and bloody +feud between the brothers!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Be calm, noble Drost! That is precisely what you must prevent, but +quietly,--cautiously. I have, besides, a question to put to you, by +word of mouth, from the king." So saying, Master Petrus drew Aagé +further from the door, and continued in a low tone,--"Hath the junker +caused any paper to be fetched from hence lately? Of the noble Sir +Ribolt there is no suspicion; but is the castle chaplain to be counted +on?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"For the commandant's loyalty I will answer," replied Aagé; "the +chaplain I know not. But what mean you?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"The letters Junker Christopher took from the chest in Lund sacristy he +affirms that he deposited here, but they have been lately sought for in +vain. They might now be of the greatest importance in the king's affair +with Master Grand. The learned scholars I have brought hither with me +are again to search the archives. I must myself haste to Sweden, to +tranquillise the spirits there. You know the ambassadors left us in +haste. We are on doubtful terms with their court; the negotiations are +broken off. The king went too far in his anger at Grand's flight. He +now wants to carry every thing through by force. It is come to a breach +also with the Dukes of Sleswig--the cardinal hath left the court, he +menaces to use his fearful authority."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Misfortune upon misfortune!" exclaimed Aagé. "Great Heaven! what will +be the end of all this?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"If the Lord please, all may turn out more favourably than seems likely +at present," continued Master Petrus, calmly. "If you and the Marsk can +procure peace with temporal enemies, I and my colleagues hope, with +God's assistance, to obtain a truce with ecclesiastical foes. +Chancellor Martinus and Provost Guido are sent to Rome to anticipate +Grand. Most of the bishops in the country side with the king. The +provincial prior of the Dominicans and the chapters continue their +protest against the constitution of Veile. No priest will uphold the +interdict; and, as I said, the people are loyal and devoted to the +king."</p> + +<p class="normal">"But this unhappy quarrel with the junker--the breach with the +dukes--the doubtful terms with Sweden--the king's rashness and +impetuosity--and that terrible Isarnus and the outlaws!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You are right, Drost Aagé! There are more clouds in Denmark's +and our young king's heavens than it is in the power of man to +disperse"--resumed Petrus de Dacia; "but remember," he added, solemnly, +"above the clouds are the stars of heaven, and over the course and +government of the stars presides the most high and righteous Creator! +and forget not, dear Drost, where stern justice would annihilate us +stands the Mediator and his heavenly Mother. Her prayers can shake and +avert the threatenings of each evil star, however firmly fixed in the +judgment heaven. Be comforted, noble Drost!" he continued, with mild +tranquillity; "none can draw aside the veil of futurity: this much, +however, I think to have discerned in yon vast mysterious book, that I +renounce not the hope of better days for Denmark, so long as the Lord +and our blessed Lady will extend a protecting hand over the king's +life. With his fortunate star will that of Denmark now assuredly rise +or sink."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You are a learned and God-fearing man, venerable Master Petrus!" said +Aagé, who meanwhile had been pacing uneasily up and down, with the +king's letter in his hand; "but, pardon me, now, it is <i>you</i>, and not +I, who indulge in visionary fancies. I have more confidence in your +piety and enlightened view of the Almighty's government here upon +earth, and in our time, than in your astrological knowledge and devout +gaze into futurity. What we are now concerned in is the present moment; +but what in the world is to be done, when neither you, nor any other +wise man, can bring the king to his right senses? Hath the archbishop's +flight caused him to set at nought discretion? Would he now demand +justice only,--not mercy,--of the papal see? Does he think, in defiance +of ban and interdict, and even without a dispensation of kindred, he +can prevail on the wise Swedish government to consent to the marriage? +It is an impossibility--would he despise all reasonable negotiation, +and let the sword decide the quarrel with the dukes? And would he now +himself storm his brother's castle, and force him to become an avowed +traitor and deserter to the enemy?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I have shared your apprehensions, noble Drost! I blamed the king's +impetuous procedure; I vainly strove to hinder these far too hasty +steps. His purpose is inflexible. But amid all my fears for the +consequences, I could not but admire the kingly spirit, which ventured +so much for the support of royal dignity. In reliance on the justice of +his cause, ere twice twenty-four hours King Eric will stand with his +knights before Kallundborg, to teach obedience to his rebellious +brother."</p> + +<p class="normal">"The report was true, then, of the blockading of Kallundborg, and the +new fortification?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Alas, yes! The king was greatly displeased at the junker's +contumacy, but still more at his treacherous endeavour to hinder the +marriage.--The wily Drost Bruncke hath betrayed him, probably with the +view of causing a breach between the brothers, and stirring up tumult +in the country."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Hum! and the Dukes of Sleswig renew their former pretensions at the +same time."</p> + +<p class="normal">"They are probably in league with the junker; yet they have not scared +the king.--If they have already forgotten the defeat at Grönsund, he +will show them he dares face them on land also. Marsk Oluffsen is +assembling all the foot forces against them at Hadersleben."</p> + +<p class="normal">"And the archbishop and the cardinal, where are they?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Grand threatens from Bornholm, and Isarnus from Axelhuus. He demands +safe conduct for the archbishop, and protests against the confiscation +of the Lund church property. Bishop Johan of Roskild wavers. The +enforcement of the interdict is dreaded."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Merciful Heaven! and, amid all this, can the king think of his +marriage?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"The first of June he purposes to cross to Helsingborg, with a bridal +train or an armed force. Yet, perhaps, that was but a hasty speech to +me and the Marsk. The Lord forbid it should come to such extremity!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"He draws the bow too tight; it must break. But one word more--the +outlaws who were pursued; are they taken?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I know not; but their death doom is pronounced, wherever they are +found; the last murderous attempt hath rendered the king implacable--A +price is set on every outlaw's head--Aagé Kaggé was on the expedition +with Marsk Stig's daughters--There is now, assuredly, little hope at +present of the freedom of the unhappy maidens."</p> + +<p class="normal">"They are innocent! by the Lord above, they are innocent!" exclaimed +Aagé, impetuously. "I must to the king; it is high time." He tore the +sling from his left arm, and moved it somewhat stiffly. "It <i>shall</i> +do," he continued; "my right arm hath no one lamed. I must speed to +Kallundborg to the king. If the castle is to be stormed--if the +traitorous junker is to be chastised, leave that to me--against his own +brother my king shall not himself bear sword and shield. Matters must +have been carried far; his forbearance can hold out no longer."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Still, however," interrupted Master Petrus, "he expressly enjoins you +to spare the junker, wherever you meet him.--You are to blockade Holbek +with as little alarm as possible.--If you could even yet make peace +between the brothers, noble Drost! you would perhaps save state and +kingdom."</p> + +<p class="normal">The door of the ladies' apartment now opened, and the commandant +returned. "Your morning repast will be cold, my honoured guests," he +said, courteously; "but what see I, Sir Drost? Your arm is not in the +sling?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"It can and must be dispensed with," answered Aagé. "You have spoilt me +here; you have been much too prudent and watchful. I have now to thank +you and your noble captives for your kindly care. The king needs strong +arms and swords. Can you instantly furnish me with two hundred men from +the garrison here?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Two hundred men shall stand fully armed and in the court-yard here +within an hour, if you, as Drost, command it in the king's name," +answered Sir Ribolt. "Dare I ask their destination?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I march to Holbek and Kallundborg. There is the king's name and seal +for it."--He gave him the king's letter. "It is for you also--but it is +to go no farther than ourselves."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Against the junker? merciful Heaven! Sir Drost, is it possible?" +exclaimed the commandant, clasping his hands in the greatest +astonishment.</p> + +<p class="normal">"The junker hath taken a fancy to add new fortifications, and shut the +gates against the king's men, as you know. It is probably only an +unfortunate jest, or a misunderstanding; but you see yourself such +gates must be forced betimes, when the king is on the road, and would +enter therein. Two hundred men, then, within an hour, but with as +little stir as possible, of course!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You shall find all ready ere it rings to high mass," answered the +commandant, with calm determination. "But your wound, Sir Drost! Can +you yourself ride forth without danger? Otherwise the task is mine?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"With or without danger I must--I will onward," answered Aagé. "When it +rings for high mass, then; and secrecy is expedient--Let it concern a +hunt after the outlaws--Understand you?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Right! that shall be the belief in the castle here within the half +hour." So saying, Sir Ribolt hasted into the castle-yard, and Drost +Aagé went with Master Petrus into the ladies' apartment.</p> + +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAP. XI.</h2> + +<p class="normal">The state of feverish anxiety into which Aagé had been thrown, had +called the colour into his cheek, and restored the appearance of health +to his countenance. In the spacious apartment appropriated to the +female inmates of the castle, where strangers were received, and where +the household assembled on holidays before divine service, Aagé and +Master Petrus were received by the aged mistress of the castle, who +herself presented the guests their warm morning drink in cups of +polished silver. At a large round table in the middle of the apartment, +which was covered with a white fringed woollen table-cloth, sat the two +German minstrels, with the smoking cups before them, in pleasant +converse with the ladies. Ulrica questioned them, with curiosity, of +their visits to foreign princes, in whose praise and exaltation Master +Rumelant was as inexhaustible as he was unwearied in reckoning up all +the honour he had gained by his lays with these "excellent lords, his +august and most gracious patrons."</p> + +<p class="normal">Margaretha also took part in the conversation with the strangers; but +she was more modest in her queries. She was much more interested in +their art than in the good fortune they had sought and obtained by it +from the great. The solemn Master Poppé favoured her with a detailed +account of the genius and lays of the famous Minnésingers, whose most +flourishing period Master Poppé asserted could only be supposed by the +ignorant to have passed away. He affirmed, on the contrary, that the +noble art of minstrelsy had only now for the first time fully developed +itself on higher themes,--in the praise of moral truth and seraphic +beauty. Minstrels no longer repeated the monotonous praises of verdant +May, or of the beauty of earthly females and vain loves, but now in the +same, or even in a more regular measure, sang moral or religious themes +and important theological dogmas. He could not, however, deny that the +ancient love songs possessed a degree of pathos and animation which +even his good friends Master Henrick Frauenlob and a certain Master +Regenbogen, as well as the famous schoolmaster of Esslingen, with all +their learning, vainly strove to attain. Meanwhile he deemed it very +fortunate that, as princes and emperors no longer, as in former times, +devoted themselves to the noble art of minstrelsy, now cultivated +chiefly by the honest burgher class, there still were lords and +princes, like the King of Denmark, to honour and encourage the art, and +that the minstrel's lay yet resounded in knightly halls and in the +apartments of noble ladies. He lauded the poetic spirit of the +chivalrous poetry of Denmark, but still considered it, as well as the +love songs, too vain and worldly; a charge which Margaretha took much +to heart, although she readily admitted to the learned minstrel, that +all the Danish ballads she knew and admired treated of love adventures; +not a single one on scriptural or theological subjects.</p> + +<p class="normal">When Drost Aagé entered the ladies' apartment, Margaretha rose to +return his greeting, and observed, with some uneasiness, that he had +thrown aside his sling. Her attention to Master Poppé's discourse was +at an end, and she entreated him to excuse, that she, as an attendant +on a wounded patient, had an occupation which could not be postponed. +"Pardon me, Sir Drost!" she said to Aagé, and pointed to his unswathed +arm. "This is not according to agreement; yet you seem to have the use +of your arm," she added, when she perceived how easily he moved it. +"The wound is healed in some sort. With caution you may use it, in +moderation. But the stiff neck bandage----"</p> + +<p class="normal">"That I shall wear in remembrance of you, until we meet again, noble +maiden!" answered Aagé; "although I almost think it might be dispensed +with. Within an hour I must leave the castle. That I am able to do so I +owe to your skill and unwearied care. I think soon to see my noble +master the king," he added, in a low voice, as he drew her to a recess +in the window fronting the castle garden; "but the suitable time for +effecting any thing towards your liberation is, alas! hardly come as +yet."</p> + +<p class="normal">"We ask no clemency from our earthly judges, but only that which is +just and reasonable," answered Margaretha, with calm seriousness. "I +should have thought all times were equally convenient to a good +sovereign for hearing the justification of the innocent."</p> + +<p class="normal">"It would grieve me deeply, noble Lady Margaretha!" said Aagé, "if my +just-intentioned sovereign were for a moment to seem unjust in your +eyes; but your case now appears dark and intricate to those who are +not, as I am, acquainted with your pious sentiments and admirable +conduct. It is known that the traitorous squire Kaggé was in your +company--your unfortunate confidence in that miscreant brought +suspicion on your innocence, and places you under a cloud; but, by the +living Lord! I will justify you. If earthly justice is blind, the +judgment of Heaven and my knightly sword shall surely open her eyes!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"No, dear Drost!" exclaimed Margaretha, half alarmed; "if you will +peril your precious life in any cause, let it be in that higher and +more important one to which you have dedicated it, but not for the fate +of two insignificant captives. To suffer injustice is, besides, surely +not the greatest misfortune," she added, with a look of mildness and +love, as she raised her long-fringed eyelids, and gazed through the +window panes up to the clear heavens. "Do not hasten rashly for our +sake; we will willingly wait for the Lord and for his appointed hour. +When we think but on the injustice our Lord suffered for our sakes, we +may surely bear our little cross throughout a short life for his sake. +The blessing of Heaven be with you, noble Drost Aagé!" she continued; +"heartfelt thanks for the kindness with which you have rendered our +captivity imperceptible. We shall miss you very much. I shall, no +doubt, forget how to play at chess; but what we have spoken together at +the chessboard I can never forget. The sweet ballads you taught me I +shall also remember; and when we maidens talk of Florez and +Blantseflor, we will remember you also, and the quiet evenings by the +hearth here, and all the beautiful tales of chivalry you told us. If +the king comes hither in the spring, as they say, you will surely come +with him?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Perhaps," answered Aagé; "at any rate I will please myself with that +hope. But where the king or his true knights will be in the spring it +hardly lies in his power to determine, noble maiden. It is a dangerous +and troublous time. May the Lord order all things for us for the best!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"He will do so assuredly, and always, dear Drost!" said Margaretha, in +a confiding and friendly tone, as she laid her hand on his right arm, +which rested on the casement of the large window. "Even that which +seems worst and most unfortunate to us turns out at last to be the +best, if no sin be in it. This captivity, which a few weeks back +appeared so terrible to me, hath notwithstanding been the happiest time +I have passed since my father and mother died."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Sweet Margaretha!" whispered Aagé, with subdued fervour, laying his +left hand on hers, which still rested upon his right arm; "dare I hope +I have the smallest share in that heavenly peace and joy which I daily +see beaming from your meek and loving eyes? Your hope and peace are +doubtless drawn from the fountain of Eternal Life; such joys come not +to you from any human source."</p> + +<p class="normal">"In every noble and pious heart assuredly there shines a ray from yon +source of Eternal Life!" answered Margaretha; "though its deepest +source be hid in the heart of the Redeemer, which bled for our sakes, +that it might include every soul in its unfathomable depths of grace +and commiserating love."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Most precious of beings!" exclaimed Aagé, with overflowing emotion; +"dare I hope that which I dare not utter?" He paused; then added, in a +calmer tone, "Will you, then, really miss me at times, and sing the +songs I taught you?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Indeed, indeed I will--but the stranger guest would talk with you, Sir +Drost!" interrupted Margaretha, hastily, and blushing as she withdrew +her hand. "As I told you," she added aloud, as she stepped forward with +Aagé out of the recess, and vainly sought to hide her bashfulness and +confusion; "the bandage round your neck you must keep on, and the sling +to support your arm."</p> + +<p class="normal">"If it is convenient to you. Sir Drost!" said Master Petrus, who had +modestly approached, without interrupting his conversation with the +fair maiden, "we might now perhaps conclude our affairs in your private +chamber."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I will attend you instantly, venerable Sir! Permit me but a parting +word to the noble and hospitable hostess."</p> + +<p class="normal">"And to me also, surely, Sir Drost! although we have never been exactly +able to agree?" interrupted Ulrica, rising from the table, where Master +Rumelant's panegyrics on his excellent lords and Mecænases already +began to weary her.</p> + +<p class="normal">After many reciprocal expressions of courtesy, which, however, were not +wanting in sincerity and heartfelt goodwill, the Drost left the ladies' +apartment with Master Petrus; but the object on which his eye lingered +the longest was the fair Lady Margaretha. As it rang for mass in +Vordingborg town, Drost Aagé, clad in complete armour, rode out of the +castle gate at the head of two thirds of the garrison of the fortress. +At the same time the lady of the castle drove to church with the two +captive maidens. At the cross-road before the fortress Drost Aagé once +more turned round and saluted the ladies in the car. He observed with +pleasure a white veil waving from the car in the meek Margaretha's +hand. The car was followed to church by Sir Ribolt, accompanied by the +three strangers on horseback.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Whither goes the Drost, with all those men-at-arms, Sir Ribolt?" asked +Ulrica, inquisitively, as she put her head out of the car; "there is +surely neither war nor rebellion here?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"They go but to rid the land of the outlaws and other vagabonds," +answered Sir Ribolt. "The assassin who attacked the Drost it seems hath +been taken already," he added, in a careless tone, without recollecting +the connection of the captive maidens with these turbulent and hated +characters, and without remarking that the lively querist turned pale.</p> + +<p class="normal">"What ails thee, sweet child? Canst thou not endure to sit backward?" +asked the watchful mistress of the castle. "Come, change places with +me; I can bear it."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Ah, let me sit quiet!" sighed Ulrica, drawing her veil over her face. +"Margaretha! Margaretha!" she whispered, clinging to her sister; "my +dream! my dream! He is taken! His life is in peril!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Hush! hush! dearest sister!" whispered Margaretha; "it is but a +rumour. We will now pray for him and for all sinful souls. See,--the +blessed Lord still permits his mild sun to shine upon us all."</p> + +<p class="normal">The car rolled past a troop of richly attired burghers on their way to +church, who greeted the ladies with courtesy. Ulrica recovered herself, +and nodded to them with a consequential air. They whispered together, +and she conjectured that their talk was, doubtless, of her beauty and +supposed high birth.</p> + +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAP. XII.</h2> + +<p class="normal">It was past midnight when Drost Aagé, with his troop of horsemen, drew +near the Issefiord near Holbek. The weather was calm and frosty, the +snow sparkled in the starlight winter night, the marshes and all the +pools by the road side were frozen, but the ford was still open and +passable. Holbek rather resembled a ruin than a town; instead of +houses, there were now chiefly to be seen single walls and solitary +hearths. Five years before the town had been plundered and nearly burnt +down by the Norwegian fleet, in the feud with Marsk Stig and the +outlaws. Some small houses, however, had been rebuilt. The church and +the monastery of the Gray Friars stood unscathed, as well as the +castle, which had been lately put in good repair by Junker Christopher, +and which, it appeared, he now intended, despite the king's +prohibition, to make as strong a fortress as Kallundborg.</p> + +<p class="normal">By Aagé's side rode an elderly captain of horse, Sir Ribolt's brother, +a silent, serious personage, whom the Drost informed by the way of what +was here to be attempted. When they approached the town they halted, +and had their horses rubbed down, while each horseman received his +separate directions. They then rode slowly, and as quietly as possible, +through the snow-covered streets of the town, and past the monastery, +where all lay in profound slumber. At the castle also the inmates +seemed to be reposing in the greatest calmness and security; even the +warders on the battlements were asleep. They examined the castle +narrowly on every side. There was not a light to be seen in the whole +of the upper story; it was only from the knights' hall, opposite the +ford, that a faint light gleamed from a window; and at the quay behind +the castle lay a boat with a red sail, from which glimmered the light +of a horn lantern. On the quay a fat knight, wrapped in a fox-skin +pelisse, paced up and down, apparently waiting for some one; he often +yawned, and rubbed his hands, while he looked up impatiently at the +window from whence gleamed the solitary light. A rough-looking, +one-eyed fellow, with a hideous and bloated visage, lay half asleep on +the rampart.</p> + +<p class="normal">"If thou fallest asleep, and drop'st into the ford, Kyste! thou wilt +cheat the rope-maker of an hempen cord," said the fat knight, and +laughed at his own wit.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Ha, indeed! think ye the halter is so sure of me. Sir Pallé?" muttered +the fellow; "<i>you</i> may well crack your jests, you are neither made to +be drowned nor hanged; with your round carcass, you would swim like an +ale barrel, and he who would hang you must risk his own neck."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well," answered Pallé, yawning, "mine is a very politic shape; thou +and thy daring masters might need such an one. But what the devil has +become of them? They are wrangling and consulting a confounded time +together."</p> + +<p class="normal">"It concerns high play, though, Sir Pallé," muttered the man, flapping +his arms around his body to keep himself warm. "Had I but a good can of +German ale at my side, of a surety I would keep my eyes open."</p> + +<p class="normal">"If thou canst keep one eye open it deserves all honour, since thou +hast not more by thee," jested the knight. "But what the devil is the +junker about?" he continued, "to set me to watch here in frost and cold +while he consults on weighty matters in his warm private chamber! Me, +his right hand, and let into all his secrets! But tell me, Kyste, what +means this secret nightly visit? The proud Niels Brock and Johan Papé I +well know; they are two limbs of Satan, and I can easily divine what +they would be at; but who was the third stranger thou broughtest +hither,--yon little fellow, with the hump and the red mantle?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"It is the Evil One himself, I almost believe," answered the deserter, +and crossed himself; "a wizard at the least. I will be hanged if he +understands not the black art. They call him wise Master Thrand; he has +been condemned to fire and stake by the pope, and banished both by +kings and emperors; but he snaps his fingers at them all--he laughs at +the world's governors and rulers, and cares not for our Lord or our +Lady, either, when he is on the seas. If he is right, then are we all +fools together in Christendom, and should obey none other than <i>him</i> +our master, who is within us and in all things; but that passes my +understanding. He can be pious too when it serves his turn. I saw that +when he kissed the archbishop's hand at parting, and took the letter of +absolution, which truly he afterwards cast overboard--he is a good +friend of Niels Brock, and can make gold, they say."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then would he might teach us and the junker that art!" said Pallé; +"then it were sin should he be burned for a little touch of heresy--for +that he will one day burn in the other world. But tell me, Kyste, if +thou and thy masters come from Hammershuus, from the archbishop, how +darest thou appear before the junker? The archbishop hath given him +over, as well as the king, to the devil; and I must needs admit the +junker hath been worse to him than ten devils."</p> + +<p class="normal">"That's the great folks' business," answered Kyste. "I serve the man +who pays best, and ask not of aught besides--had I known the archbishop +brought not so much as a mark with him, and should lose all he expected +from Skaane, the devil take me if I would have perilled my life for his +sake."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You had a rough passage, then, with him from Sjöborg?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes, you may well say that;--we were hard put to it ere we got him +housed. We were obliged to run in under Hveen; and we lay with our life +in our hands a whole day and two nights at Saltholm.--They were chasing +us every where with barks and those confounded fishing smacks; but the +fog and the bishop's prayers helped us that once. We sailed, in peril +of our lives, in a howling storm, to Kaasebjerg, and by the time we +reached Hammershuus we were half perished with cold and hunger; and +what got we for our pains? Mad Morten the cook got a bishop's letter +for a pilgrimage. I and Olé Ark got a dry blessing with three wizened +fingers, and a fresh absolution for ten years' sins. It may have its +use;--I never slight God's gifts; but such like gifts help little to +fill purse and stomach. Of course," he added, "we have now leave to +seek our bread where we can find it, and plunder our Lord's and the +archbishop's enemies till our dying day, without having a hair singed +in purgatory for it; but----"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Content thyself, Kyste; it will be a livelihood, nevertheless," +interrupted Pallé. "But if thy new masters side with the archbishop I +cannot imagine what the devil they want here--the junker and the +archbishop agree together like cat and dog."</p> + +<p class="normal">"As I said, that's the great folks' business," answered the deserter. +"What they have plotted with the archbishop at Hammershuus I can't +tell; but could they patch up an agreement for the junker with Master +Grand, and get the ban done away, he would have nought against it, I +trow; and one service is as good as the other. If the junker gets into +a scrape with the king, he will need a prop; and if the king goes to +the wall, the junker perhaps will get uppermost, and may help his +friends again. But that concerns not me; matters may turn out as the +foul fiend pleases for aught I care, so long as there are good oars to +be had, and something to lay one's hands on. But what was that noise? +Heard ye not horses tramp on the other side of the castle?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Dream'st thou, Kyste? Who would visit the castle so late?" said Pallé, +listening anxiously.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Here I have <i>my</i> masters. Now any one may come that Satan pleases," +said the deserter, and ran towards the vessel.</p> + +<p class="normal">Two tall men, in ample grey mantles, and with hoods over their heads, +accompanied by a little hump-backed personage, in a red cloak, came +forth from a secret door in the castle wall, and passed over a small +drawbridge which was let down over the outer castle moat. They hasted +down to the quay, where they greeted Sir Pallé by a silent nod, and, +without uttering a word, entered the vessel, which instantly pushed off +from the shore, and set sail. Sir Pallé shook his head thoughtfully, +and looked after them as he listened, and thought he heard a distant +noise of arms and horses' hoofs without the castle gate. He hasted over +the small drawbridge before which he had stood on guard, and drew it up +hastily behind him. He then passed quickly through the private door +into the castle.</p> + +<p class="normal">On the opposite side of the outer fortification stood Drost Aagé with +his horsemen, who, according to his orders, had led their horses +slowly, and one at a time, over the half-completed drawbridge, which as +yet could not be drawn up. The strongly secured castle gate was shut, +and they had knocked several times, apparently without being heard by +any one. "Who is there?" at last said a drowsy voice from the +battlement over the gate. It was the watchman or warder of the castle, +who now stood up, with a long spear in the one hand, and an alarm horn +in the other.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Sleep'st thou at thy post, watch?" called Aagé, in a stern tone; +"seest thou not it is the king's men who would enter? Haste! let the +porter open to us instantly.--This is the new garrison."</p> + +<p class="normal">"New garrison! That know we nought of here," muttered the warder. "I +shall have to blow the horn, then, as the junker hath commanded."</p> + +<p class="normal">"A single sound costs thee thy life, fellow!" menaced the Drost. "Where +the king himself commands no junker hath a word to say."</p> + +<p class="normal">"The Lord bless you, if that be true, noble sir!" said the warder, +joyfully; "I shall then not have to ride the wooden horse to-morrow +because I slept?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Haste thee! or we force the gates."--To Aagé's surprise, the castle +gate was opened without demur in a few minutes. The troop presently +filled the castle yard. Guards were immediately stationed at all the +entrances, as well as on the towers and the battlements on the wall +surrounding the fortress. This was done hastily, and with as little +noise as possible. The sound of so many horses' hoofs and clashing +weapons had, notwithstanding, awakened all the inhabitants of the +castle, who peeped in dismay out of the windows and loopholes, ignorant +into whose hands it had fallen. But the Drost now ordered three +trumpeters to call together all the unarmed household servants, with +all the men-at-arms in the castle. He announced to the warder and the +household, in the king's name, that they were released from their +duties here in the junker's service; and that the king for the present +had taken possession of the castle himself. Those who would enter his +service, and swear fealty to him, might remain; the rest were at +liberty to withdraw, and serve the junker at his other castles and +estates. On hearing this proclamation fear was suddenly changed into +general rejoicing, "Long live the king!" re-echoed from mouth to mouth. +There was not a single domestic who hesitated to change masters; and +many expressions and exclamations were heard which showed how little +Junker Christopher had understood to win the good will of his +dependants. As soon as the new force had garrisoned all the posts, +Drost Aagé, with the remainder of his troop, entered the castle. The +steward was the first person who appeared. He was a taciturn personage, +of short stature, with a half German accent. He delivered the keys of +the castle to the Drost, and seemed to share in the general +satisfaction; but as soon as he had installed his unexpected guests he +vanished, and did not again make his appearance.</p> + +<p class="normal">Ere the day had dawned, Drost Aagé was again on horseback, and, with +the half of his troop of horse, quitted Holbek castle, and took the +road to Kallundborg. Sir Ribolt's brother remained as commandant, with +strict orders not to open the gates to any one, or give up the castle +to the junker, ere he had the king's warrant and seal for so doing.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Sir Drost," said an old horseman, as they rode out of the still +slumbering town, amid its ruins and deserted sites, "was it then your +own order that we might not stop any one who would out of the castle; +and that none, under pain of death, might lift a hand against the +high-born junker, if he was on the spot?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"That was the king's command to us all," answered the Drost.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then I now know that I was right, even though I did let rogues and +traitors slink off," continued the horseman. "I stood on guard at the +gate of the back court. Sir Drost, and I saw three men in disguise lead +their horses out of the stable. They disappeared through the rampart +gate close to the ford, and the Lord only knows what became of them. My +comrades thought we should have stopped and seized them, for they stole +so strangely away, and looked around them on all sides; but I said, +'No! it is a criminal act if we touch them,' and we let them 'scape. +The one was assuredly the little German who was forced to give you the +keys; the other was a fat fellow, who could hardly waddle away; but the +third was a tall stern man; he swore, and laid about him, at every +step. I could almost take my oath it was the junker himself. He was +hardly twelve paces from me when he caught a sight of me, and shyed +off, as it were.--He led his horse over the dunghill, that he might not +come too near us, I suppose; but then the hood fell back from his +neck, and I saw the long black hair you know of; it is as rough as a +horse-tail. No one in the country has such dark unsightly hair as +the junker. But, as I say, we let him go, and budged not from the +spot.--The king himself will know how to chastise him, thought I."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Good!" exclaimed the Drost; "thou hast behaved as was thy duty--as to +the rest, what is between the king and his brother concerns not us, and +still less whether the junker's hair be fine or coarse." He then +spurred his horse, and proceeded at a brisk trot, without stopping.</p> + +<p class="normal">Ere Drost Aagé, with his horsemen, reached Kallundborg, the king +approached the town, with the greater part of his chivalry, and a more +numerous troop of horsemen and spearmen than he was ever wont to take +with him when about to visit his vassals or one of his castles. It was +noon. The horses foamed with hard riding. The troop halted at St. +George's Hospital, upon the high hill just without the town.</p> + +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAP. XIII.</h2> + +<p class="normal">The report of the king's arrival had preceded him. It had excited great +alarm in the whole neighbourhood, and had especially thrown the +burghers of Kallundborg into a state of anxious suspense. Their +devotion to the king, and fear of his wrath, placed them in a most +dangerous position with regard to their stern deputed master, Junker +Christopher, and his warlike commandant at the castle. Disquieting and +contradictory reports respecting a difference between the king and his +brother had already for some time been in circulation, but no one knew +the real state of the case. As Lord of Samsöe, Holbek, and Kallundborg, +Junker Christopher exercised an almost royal authority wherever he had +troops and fortresses under his command. Latterly he had been often +seen in Kallundborg, where he had assembled a considerable garrison at +the castle, and, to the dismay of the burghers, had put the +fortifications opposite the town and the land side into such a state of +defence as if the breaking out of a dangerous civil war might daily be +expected. Some weeks back admittance had been refused at the castle to +Marsk Oluffsen, who, with a small troop of men-at-arms, had demanded to +enter in the king's name. From this refractoriness towards a royal +ambassador it was thought the most serious results were now to be +apprehended. The prince himself went night and day to and from +Kallundborg; now with a large armed train on horseback, and now by sea +with the armed vessels which constantly plied between Samsöe and +Kallundborg, and conveyed both men-at-arms and provisions to the +fortress. No one knew whether Junker Christopher was personally present +at the castle at the time when the report of the king's arrival threw +the whole town into commotion; but it was observed with dismay that the +drawbridge was raised, and that serious preparations were making to +repel an attack.</p> + +<p class="normal">The king halted at the head of his numerous train on the hill, and +caused his white steed to be rubbed down while he looked down +thoughtfully upon town and castle. At his right hand was the brave +young Margrave Waldemar of Brandenborg, who had deferred his homeward +journey, and accompanied the king on this expedition, to take leave of +his good friend Junker Christopher, and, if possible, to avert the +storm which menaced him. At the king's left hand was seen his energetic +general, Count Henrik of Mecklenborg, who now, next to Drost Aagé, +seemed the king's most confidential friend. The troops watered their +horses at the pond by the chapel of the Holy Cross. All the cripples of +St. George's Hospital came out to see the king, and the numerous +fraternity of St. George, or demi-ecclesiastical attendants on the +sick, vied with each other in offering refreshments to him and his +train. The thronging and curious crowd kept, however, at a respectful +distance from the king and the two stranger lords.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Your grace will find the whole is some absurd mistake," said the young +margrave, in a light and careless tone, as he sprang off his horse, and +adjusted his rich attire. "At all events, it is assuredly nothing more +than a mistaken sense of honour in the junker, or rather in his +commandant here, and the brave Marsk Oluffsen; that excellent man hath +an altogether peculiar talent of offending every one, without dreaming +of doing so himself. That you must yourself have observed. Such persons +one can but employ to plague both friend and foe. I am fond of being +mediator between kinsmen and kind friends," he continued, gaily--"there +is nothing like drinking to a reconciliation after every quarrel, and +then all goes on merrily.--I know the junker's wine cellar at the +castle here; it is almost better than any prior's; if he willed not to +open it to your sharp spoken Marsk, he hath perhaps but wished to +reserve it for dearer guests."</p> + +<p class="normal">"The Lord grant we may have come hither to a friendly feast, Sir +Margrave!" answered the king, solemnly, and in a low tone, while his +gaze dwelt on the beautiful winter landscape which lay outstretched +before him. The sun beamed brightly on ford and town. The castle rose +proudly, with its round towers and high battlements, behind the shining +copper roof of the Franciscan monastery. Esbern Snaré's five Gothic +church spires pointed boldly towards the heavens from the ancient +church of St. Mary, while furthermost, and near the ford, the sea tower +proudly reared its head. "If my brother can justify himself," continued +the king, "he will surely now not shun my sight, but come to greet me +according to duty and fealty."</p> + +<p class="normal">"But he surely expects you not--he is perhaps out hunting, or roving +from one domain to another," said the margrave. "The noble junker's +blood is thick.--I have counselled him to be ever on the move, in order +to drive away melancholy fancies. I have often deplored that his +magnanimous hankering after action and distinction hath as yet no +decided object, and so often disturbs the balance of his princely mind, +giving occasion to even his nearest friends and kindred to misjudge +him."</p> + +<p class="normal">"If I see aright, noble king!" said Count Henrik, shading his eyes with +his hand from the sunshine, "yonder comes a crowd of people towards us +from the town. It must be the burghers, who would show you their +loyalty and devotion."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Hum! they were also leagued against the Marsk," said the king. "The +people are loyal to me personally--this I know, that were I to pass +through the country as a leprous beggar, no burgher or peasant would +shut his door upon me. In the eyes of many, no doubt, I seem a leper, +since the bishop's ban," he added; "yet I am every where met with +affection. It is only my brother who turns his back upon me, and +refuses me obedience in this time of need."</p> + +<p class="normal">"The noble junker is surely not here," resumed the margrave, "or he +would certainly never delay to crave your pardon for his commandant's +rashness, and to lead us to his well-appointed table--he hath put the +fortifications of the castle in excellent repair, I perceive--were I in +your grace's place I would thank him for that," he continued. +"Kallundborg is an important spot in time of war, and a good harbour +for your fleet."</p> + +<p class="normal">"For that very reason no vassal should presume to shut the castle on +the lawful ruler of the land, or his generalissimo," answered the king. +"I cannot but commend your endeavours to excuse my erring brother, Sir +Margrave," he added, abruptly; "and be assured, if he can be +acquitted,--if he can only give me his princely word that he hath had +no share in this contumacy,---he needs not that a stranger should plead +for him, where a brother is his liege and judge."</p> + +<p class="normal">The margrave bowed courteously, and was silent, while he passed his +hand over his brow, and appeared desirous to hide a look of annoyance.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Will your grace speak to the burghers now?" asked Count Henrik; "they +seem timidly waiting for permission to approach you."</p> + +<p class="normal">"They have it of course, count; let them come hither."</p> + +<p class="normal">Count Henrik rode to meet the lingering burgher crowd, and soon +returned to the king, accompanied by the burgomaster, and twelve of the +oldest burghers of the town, who, clad in their holiday attire, and +with their heads uncovered, reverently greeted their sovereign. After +several salutations, the burgomaster somewhat bashfully and humbly +began his address. "Most mighty liege and sovereign! your grace's +august presence--this poor town's joy at seeing your most royal +grace----"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Is not very great," interrupted the king; "say it out at once, +burgomaster, and speak without a long-winded preamble! You fear there +may be bounds to my most royal grace this time, and that I mean to call +you to strict account for the reception my Marsk hath met with here."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Your princely brother, our strict master, the junker, had ordered his +commandant at the castle"--stammered the burgomaster.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I speak not now of what he hath or hath not commanded his servants," +interrupted the king. "Such contumacy he himself, or his commandant, +shall answer for. But who enjoined you to refuse obedience to my +ambassadors?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"The commandant, in the junker's name, and in your own, my liege," +answered the burgomaster--"although we could not consider the behest as +lawful, or obey it, when the Marsk, with your authority, enjoined us +the reverse, after a short demur, what he demanded was even granted +him, and his people, though it came to cost us all dear."</p> + +<p class="normal">"What!" interrupted the king, with vehemence, "have ye since been +chastised because you obeyed my orders?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"We complain not, my liege, and least of all of your august kindred, +and the ruler you have given us--whatever injustice we have suffered is +but trifling, in comparison of our sorrow and shame if we have brought +upon us the displeasure of our noble liege and sovereign."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You have suffered injustice for your loyalty to me--could I then be +wroth with you, brave burghers?" said the king, with sudden emotion. +"By all the holy men! were I so, I should not longer deserve one loyal +and devoted heart among ye. The injustice ye have suffered shall be +atoned for--we are come hither to call to account for what here hath +been done--where is the junker?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"We know not, most mighty king!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Where is his commandant, then? Why comes he not hither to receive us?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"He affirms he hath received commands, my liege, which are so hard to +believe that we dare not name them."</p> + +<p class="normal">"What! Who dares command here when I am present?" exclaimed the king, +with vehemence. "Yet, no; it is impossible," he added, more calmly, and +restrained his impatience. "The man must be sick or mad. Ride to the +castle, Count Henrik, and announce my coming! I will stay the night +here with my knights and an hundred men--you will care for the rest of +the men-at-arms, burgomaster!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Count Henrik was instantly in motion, and rode down with a small train +towards the castle.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mighty king!" resumed the burgomaster, in a timid tone; "my life, and +the lives and property of my fellow burghers are at your service and +the country's; but be not wrath with us, my liege, for what it lay not +in our power to hinder! The castle gate is locked, the draw-bridge +raised, men-at-arms and balista are posted on the outer walls, and the +commandant hath announced to us that he hath orders to fire the town +with burning stones within twenty-four hours from the moment it is +beleaguered by your men-at-arms."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Doth he rave?" exclaimed the king. "Well, then, away with all grace +and mercy--we will see who is master here.--To horse, my men! You stand +under our royal protection, brave burghers!" he said to the burgomaster +and elders of the town. "If a straw is scorched over your heads for my +sake it shall dearly be atoned for! Every rebel and traitor I will +strictly punish, however high he may carry his head."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Honour to the king! to Eric, the youthful king!" shouted the +burgomaster, waving his hat; and this well known acclamation (derived +from a national ballad) was re-echoed by the whole burgher troop, amid +the waving of caps and hats.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Now place, good people!" ordered the king, reining in his steed. "I +will see who dares to lock the gate through which we would enter."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Permit me to detain your grace one moment," said the Margrave of +Brandenborg, who had again vaulted into his saddle, and now rode +hastily up to the king, with his head uncovered. "Ere you take any +compulsory step, I wish, as an impartial friend both of yours and your +princely brother, to have a minute's conversation with you without +witnesses."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well, that shall not be denied you. Sir Margrave--Aside, my friends!"</p> + +<p class="normal">All withdrew to some distance and the margrave remained in the same +respectful attitude, with his high-plumed hat in his hand. "Your noble +brother hath honoured me with a confidence and friendship which makes +it my duty to plead his cause in his absence--what hath already been +done, and hereafter may be done, against your will, hath undoubtedly +the appearance of contumacy and treason: but it is impossible it should +be according to your noble brother's wish or order, for that,--(pardon +me this expression,)--for that I count him to be at least too <i>wise</i>. +Of our inmost heart and mind, He who knoweth the heart of man alone can +judge--I will stand security for Prince Christopher in this matter, +until he can stand forth in person before you to justify himself. I +offer my services to seek him out, and bring him to you. He must +certainly be at Holbek castle, or at Samsöe--Will you promise me so +long to delay every compulsory measure, and at the utmost only to +beleaguer the castle?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well, Sir Margrave! for twenty-four hours I will await him, but not an +hour longer. Till to-morrow at this time I will restrain my just wrath, +and with sheathed sword wait without the gate which hath been +presumptuously shut before mine eyes. But ere I hear another ave from +the pious Franciscans here--the castle shall be in my power; that I +vow, by all the holy men! as surely as I am lord here, and would be +called king in Denmark."</p> + +<p class="normal">"It is agreed, then, your grace!" answered the margrave, with spirit, +after a moment's deliberation. "If I stand not within twenty-four hours +with your brother acquitted before your sight--then let yon fair castle +mount up in smoke and flames--or take it with a storming hand! Count +Henrik hath no doubt a strong desire to show you his prowess and +generalship. Then I shall have done what lay in my power, and shown you +both, as I trust, that you have had a friend for your guest."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You have my word for it, Sir Margrave! I shall owe you thanks if your +good purpose succeed. See you how the shadow yonder falls from the +middle spire upon the cloister roof--It marks the bounds of my patience +to-morrow. The Lord and our holy Lady be with us all!" So saying, Eric +waved his right hand, and saluted the margrave, as he spurred his +horse, and rode forward at the head of his troop of warriors. The king +and his knights now rode down the hill in the direction of the castle, +while Margrave Waldemar, with his little train of German and Danish +men-at-arms, proceeded at full gallop on the road to Holbek.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> +<br> +<p class="hang1"><a name="div2_01" href="#div2Ref_01">Footnote 1</a>: "Marsk," a military title, corresponding in some degree to +our field marshal. This office, however, comprises civil as well as +military duties, the marsk being also one of the principal ministers of +state.</p> + +<p class="hang1"><a name="div2_02" href="#div2Ref_02">Footnote 2</a>: The private wrongs committed by Eric the Seventh, surnamed +Glipping, against his Marsk, Stig, a nobleman of high rank, had +rendered him his deadly foe. Stig headed a band of conspirators on the +22d of November, 1286, disguised as Franciscan monks, and murdered him +while asleep in a barn at the village of Finnerup, where he had taken +refuge from their pursuit. The king's chamberlain, a kinsman of Marsk +Stig, conducted the assassins to the place where the king lay +concealed.--<i>Translator's Note</i>.</p> + +<p class="hang1"><a name="div2_03" href="#div2Ref_03">Footnote 3</a>: Waldemar the Victorious was Eric Menved's +great-grandfather.</p> + +<p class="hang1"><a name="div2_04" href="#div2Ref_04">Footnote 4</a>: Drost, the prime minister of state in Denmark in the +middle ages; all state ministers however, in that age, were required to +serve in the field as well as in council. When the Drost was present, +he superseded the Marsk in the command of the army.--<i>Translator's +Note</i>.</p> + +<p class="hang1"><a name="div2_05" href="#div2Ref_05">Footnote 5</a>: Junker (pronounced Yunker) was the title of the sons of +the kings of Denmark in the middle ages, corresponding to that of +Infant in Spain.--<i>Translator's Note</i>.</p> + +<p class="hang1"><a name="div2_06" href="#div2Ref_06">Footnote 6</a>: Baron Holberg supposes that the word "carline" (kierlinge +in Danish) had its origin in the easy victories obtained by the +Northmen over the French, or Carlines, the subjects of Charles the +Bald: the word carline or kierlinge now signifying in Danish an old +woman, and applied in derision to the fainthearted of the other +sex.--<i>Translator</i>.</p> + +<p class="hang1"><a name="div2_07" href="#div2Ref_07">Footnote 7</a>: Esrom Lake, situated about eight English miles from +Elsinore, is a fair specimen of the placid lake scenery of Zealand. The +monastery is still in part in a habitable state.</p> + +<p class="hang1"><a name="div2_08" href="#div2Ref_08">Footnote 8</a>: "Axel and Valborg," one of the gems of Scandinavian +poetry. The interest of the poem turns on the separation of the hero +and heroine (who had been betrothed from childhood) by an interdict of +the church, on the plea of the parties standing within a forbidden +degree of affinity to each other. This affinity, however, consisted +merely in having one common godmother. Circumstances like these, +however trivial, were frequently made available by the church for the +extension of its power, and the furtherance of its secular interests.</p> + +<p class="hang1"><a name="div2_09" href="#div2Ref_09">Footnote 9</a>: Flynderborg, the castle at Elsinore, of which no vestiges +now remain. Its site was not far from that of the present castle of +Cronberg.</p> + +<p class="hang1"><a name="div2_10" href="#div2Ref_10">Footnote 10</a>: At this period the Hanseatic merchants were absolute +masters of the whole trade of the Baltic. The Danish fleet was in a +reduced state, and the Hanse were therefore under the necessity of +guarding the seas themselves, for the security of their trade. This was +peculiarly the case during the disturbed reign of Eric Glipping, when +the northern pirate, Alf Erlingsen, infested the Danish seas. This is +the subject of a ballad still preserved among the Danish peasantry,--</p> +<div class="poem2"> +<p class="t0" style="text-indent:-8px">"The German men they sailed up the sound,</p> +<p class="t1">With meal and with malt sailed they,</p> +<p class="t0">But Erlingsen's ships there to meet them they found,</p> +<p class="t1">And theirs he took all for his prey."</p> +</div> +<p class="hang2">In the time of Eric Glipping the Hanse had no less than thirty armed +vessels stationed in the sound at Elsinore.--<i>Translator's Note</i>.</p> + +<p class="hang1"><a name="div2_11" href="#div2Ref_11">Footnote 11</a>: Carl the German.</p> + +<p class="hang1"><a name="div2_12" href="#div2Ref_12">Footnote 12</a>: The Kareles were a heathen tribe of Livonia, conquered by +the Swedes, under the command of Marsk Torkild Knudson.</p> + +<p class="hang1"><a name="div2_13" href="#div2Ref_13">Footnote 13</a>: A characteristic exclamation of King Eric, who according +to Holberg, scrupled making use of a stronger expression, even in +confirmation of the most solemn engagements.--<i>Translator's Note</i>.</p> + +<p class="hang1"><a name="div2_14" href="#div2Ref_14">Footnote 14</a>: In the early ages of Denmark the people bore an important +part in the affairs of government, a fact of which there are traces at +this day in the Norwegian constitution, in which the peasantry as a +class are represented. The people at large decided on war or peace, nor +was any royal decree considered valid until it had obtained their +consent. Every town had its own "Ting," or place of assembly, in the +open air; a large flat stone, placed in the centre of a circle of +upright ones, served as a platform for the speakers. In these +assemblies the peasants discussed, not only public affairs, but decided +on all private differences, &c. Saxo Grammaticus blames King Svend +Grathé for neglecting to attend these meetings of the people. In such +assemblies the king was not permitted to take his leave until he had +greeted even the meanest of his subjects, and sent a friendly greeting +to his family. The English reader may perhaps require to be reminded of +these facts, in order fully to perceive that Jeppé is a representative +of his class in that age.--<i>Translator's Note</i>.</p> + +<p class="hang1"><a name="div2_15" href="#div2Ref_15">Footnote 15</a>: Dyrendal, the name of Roland's sword, afterwards used for +swords in general by the Danes. Scandinavian warriors esteemed their +swords above all other treasures. If a sword had done good service, it +was distinguished by some epithet expressive of the deeds it had +achieved. The sword of King Hagen of Norway was called "quærn bider," +or mill-stone biter, from having cut through a mill-stone. If the owner +of such a sword had no immediate descendants, it was buried beside him +in his grave.--<i>Translator's Note</i>.</p> + +<p class="hang1"><a name="div2_16" href="#div2Ref_16">Footnote 16</a>: King Glipping, so called from his twinkling eye.</p> + +<p class="hang1"><a name="div2_17" href="#div2Ref_17">Footnote 17</a>: Fragment of an old Danish ballad.</p> + +<p class="hang1"><a name="div2_18" href="#div2Ref_18">Footnote 18</a>: A valuable collection of historical documents made by +King Eric, called Congesta Menvedi.</p> + +<p class="hang1"><a name="div2_19" href="#div2Ref_19">Footnote 19</a>: Sveno Agonis, a Danish historian contemporary with Saxo +Grammaticus.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h3>END OF THE FIRST VOLUME.</h3> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h5><span class="sc">London</span>:<br> +Printed by <span class="sc">A. Spottiswoode</span>,<br> +New-Street-Square.</h5> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of King Eric and the Outlaws, Vol. 1, by +Bernhard Severin Ingemann + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK KING ERIC AND THE OUTLAWS, VOL. 1 *** + +***** This file should be named 36631-h.htm or 36631-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/6/6/3/36631/ + +Produced by Charles Bowen, from page scans provided by the Web Archive + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: King Eric and the Outlaws, Vol. 1 + or, the Throne, the Church, and the People in the Thirteenth + Century. Vol. I. + +Author: Bernhard Severin Ingemann + +Translator: Jane Frances Chapman + +Release Date: July 5, 2011 [EBook #36631] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK KING ERIC AND THE OUTLAWS, VOL. 1 *** + + + + +Produced by Charles Bowen, from page scans provided by the Web Archive + + + + + + + + +Transcriber's Notes: + + 1. Page scan source: + http://www.archive.org/details/kingericandoutl02chapgoog + + 2. The diphthong oe is represented by [oe]. + + + + + + KING ERIC + + AND + + THE OUTLAWS. + + VOL. I. + + + + + + + KING ERIC + + AND + + THE OUTLAWS. + + VOL. I. + + + + + + + NOTICE + + TO + + BOOKSELLERS, + PROPRIETORS OF CIRCULATING LIBRARIES, + AND THE PUBLIC. + + * * * * * + +The Publishers of this work give notice that it is Copyright, and that +in case of infringement they will avail themselves of the Protection +now granted by Parliament to English Literature. + +Any person having in his possession for sale or for hire a Foreign +edition of an English Copyright is liable to a penalty, which the +Publishers of this work intend to enforce. + +It is necessary also to inform the Public generally, that single Copies +of such works imported by travellers for their own reading are now +prohibited, and the Custom-house officers in all our ports have strict +orders to this effect. + +The above regulations are equally in force in our Dependencies and +Colonial Possessions. + +_London_, _June_, 1843. + + + + + London: + Printed by A. Spottiswoode, + New-Street-Square. + + + + + + + KING ERIC + + AND + + THE OUTLAWS; + + OR, + + THE THRONE, THE CHURCH, AND THE PEOPLE, + + IN THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY. + + + + BY + INGEMANN + + + TRANSLATED FROM THE DANISH BY + JANE FRANCES CHAPMAN. + + + + * * * * + IN THREE VOLUMES. + VOL. I. + * * * * + + + + LONDON: + LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, & LONGMANS, + PATERNOSTER-ROW. + 1843. + + + + + + + TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. + + +The historical records and traditions of Denmark, as well as the modern +productions of Danish genius, are almost equally unknown to the general +reader is England. While German, Swedish, and Italian works of any +recognised merit, readily find translators, and the ancient ballads of +Spain have received their English dress from an able and poetic pen, it +appears somewhat singular that so little notice has hitherto been +bestowed on the literature of a country, whose rich historical +recollections are so closely interwoven with those of Anglo-Saxon +England. + +Though but little known in other lands, the ancient traditional lore of +Scandinavia is nevertheless the source from which some of the most +distinguished Danish writers of the present day, have selected their +happiest themes, and drawn their brightest inspiration. The influence +of the Saga, or traditional romance of Scandinavia, and of the +"Kj[oe]mpe Vise," or heroic ballad, is peculiarly apparent in the works +of M. Ingemann. + +The close adherence to historic outline--the development of character +by action and dialogue--the delineation of scenery by brief though +vivid sketches, in preference to elaborate description, are +characteristics of Saga romance which M. Ingemann has been eminently +successful in imparting to his own delineations of the chivalrous age +of Denmark. + +The Kj[oe]mpe Vise, or heroic ballads which succeeded to the Saga in +the North, and bear the impress of a kindred spirit, contain a store of +historic tradition, and poetic incident, equally valuable to the +antiquary who delights to trace the customs and manners of a remote +age, and to the poet who seeks his inspiration from the historic muse +of his Fatherland. + +These vivid and truthful records of the middle ages of Denmark are to +the modern writer of romance, what the oral traditions of the heroic +age were to the chronicler of the Saga. They relate not only the +exploits of northern warriors in their own, and in distant lands, but +are also especially interesting, from the light they throw on the +personal history of Denmark's most chivalrous monarchs. Their joys and +sorrows, their sterner passions and gentler affections, are described +by the national minstrel in a strain of simple and touching +earnestness, which wins the full sympathy of the reader. This power of +delineating human passion lends a charm even to some ballads, handing +down the wildest superstitions of a superstitious age. In Germany the +Danish ballads are known through the translations of Professor Grimm, +who has entered with the enthusiasm both of an antiquary and a poet, +into the spirit of Scandinavian lore. In the preface to his version of +the "Kj[oe]mpe Vise," M. Grimm dwells with peculiar pleasure on those +ballads which have not only supplied M. Ingemann with much of the +incident, but have also suggested the individual colouring of the +historic portraits of "Eric and the Outlaws." All the prominent +characters introduced into this romance from King Eric himself, down to +Morten the cook, are historical, and enacted scarcely less romantic +parts in the drama of real life, than those assigned them by M. +Ingemann. + +The struggle with papal authority--the encroachments of the Hanse +towns--and the invidious attempts of the "Leccarii," (the socialists of +the 13th century) were important features of that interesting period +which this work is designed to illustrate. + +The translator is aware of the difficulty of attracting attention to a +romance drawn from Danish history; the work also makes its appearance +without any of those adventitious advantages which sometimes ensure a +favourable introduction to the public--it is translated by an unknown +pen--is unaided by patronage of any kind--and has solely its own merits +to rely on for success. It would afford no slight gratification to the +translator were these to be appreciated by the reading public of a +nation, which not only in its early history, is closely connected with +Denmark, but which has inherited from Scandinavian ancestors, that +indomitable spirit which rendered them in olden time masters of the +seas. + + + + + + + KING ERIC + AND THE OUTLAWS. + + + + + CHAPTER I. + + +On the north-eastern coast of Zealand, about two miles from Gilleleie, +is situate the village of Sjoeberg, where the spade and the ploughshare +occasionally strike against the foundations of ancient buildings, and +traces yet remain of the paved streets of towns, the names of which are +no longer known, and over which the corn now grows or the cattle graze. +Towards the close of the thirteenth century there was still standing a +small town, built on the ruins of the ancient Sjoeberg. On a hill, +surrounded by the water-reeds of the now nearly dried-up lake, +fragments of walls of hewn free-stone lie buried in the earth, and mark +the site of the strong and well fortified castle, which in the +thirteenth and fourteenth centuries served as a place of confinement +for state prisoners of importance. The spot on which the castle stood +was then entirely surrounded by the lake, which thus formed a natural +fastness, rendering artificial moats superfluous. The castle was +surrounded by ramparts. It was built of massive free-stone, and had a +strong square tower, in which the most dangerous state prisoners were +confined. The air was close and bad in the subterranean dungeon of the +tower, where no ray of light could enter; but the upper dungeon, at the +height of thirty-six feet from the ground, admitted light and air +through a small round grated window. In this upper prison, towards the +close of the year 1295, was still confined one of the chief accomplices +in Marsk[1] Stig's conspiracy[2], the turbulent and imperious +Archbishop Iens Grand. He had been imprisoned here during the minority +of Eric Menved, as an accomplice in the murder of Eric Glipping, and as +the protector of the outlawed regicides. + +This dangerous prelate had many adherents in the country, and possessed +powerful friends among the potentates of Europe, as well as at the +papal see. According to the famous constitution of Veile (_cum ecclesiae +Dacianae_), which had been the cause of such dangerous disputes between +the kings and clergy of Denmark, the nation was immediately laid under +an interdict prohibiting the performance of divine worship throughout +the kingdom, on the seizure and imprisonment of a bishop by the king or +any temporal authority. This, however, was not carried into effect on +the seizure and imprisonment of Archbishop Grand. Not only love of +their country and dread of the ungodliness, profligacy, and confusion, +the certain consequences of a national punishment of this nature, had +prompted the greater part of the Danish clergy to appeal to the pope +against the enforcement of this penalty, but also their fears of +temporal power and the people's wrath. The closing of the churches +might have been followed by perilous consequences to the clergy +themselves, at a time when the agitation caused by a regicide had not +yet subsided, and the excited passions of the populace often broke out +in scenes of blood and violence. This important question remained +undecided at the court of Rome. Divine worship meanwhile was continued +as usual, but fears were reasonably entertained, that, should the +archbishop not speedily be set at liberty, the interdict would be +confirmed by the pope, and the nation consequently plunged into a state +of the greatest misery. + +King Eric Menved had attained his majority, having completed his +twenty-first year. The circumstances under which he had passed his +childhood had conduced to the early formation of manly character, and +to the development of his intellectual qualities. The outrage committed +on the royal person, to which he had been witness in his childhood, had +early awakened the consciousness of authority within his breast, and +imparted something of passionate earnestness to his zeal in the +administration of justice. He was deeply imbued with the chivalrous +spirit of the age. The care with which he upheld the dignity of the +crown was deemed by many a necessary policy in so perilous a time, but +this anxiety for the maintenance of royal splendour, joined to his +natural gaiety of disposition, had inspired the young monarch with a +love of pomp and outward show, which was often censured as ostentatious +vanity. The earnest solemnity with which he assumed the regal sceptre +indicated a manly and resolute temper, early disciplined to firmness in +the school of adversity; and the boldness with which he issued his +first royal mandates bespoke a master spirit, conscious of kindred +affinity with Waldemar the Victorious, the model as well as the +ancestor of the young king,[3] Eric's first exercise of royal power was +a bold attempt to assert the authority of his crown against the +mightiest of earthly potentates, who from St. Peter's chair swayed +kings as well as people in all Christian lands. This the young monarch +dared to do, even at a time when his personal happiness was in a great +measure dependent on the favour of the papal see. He had despatched his +oldest and most experienced councillor of state, Ion Little, as well as +Drost Hessel[4], to Rome, to justify as an act of lawful self-defence +the proceedings against the archbishop, contrary to ecclesiastical law, +and to demand his condemnation as a traitor to the crown. But besides +this important mission, the aged councillor was entrusted with another, +which at any other time would not have been attended with difficulty, +although at the present juncture its favourable issue seemed doubtful, +in proportion to its being of moment to the king. Little had been +commissioned to obtain from the pope, and forward to Denmark with all +possible dispatch, the long promised dispensation, empowering Eric to +wed the beautiful princess Ingeborg of Sweden, to whom he had been +betrothed in infancy, and had long loved as the companion of his +childhood, and whom he now adored with all the devotedness and fervour +of first and youthful love. + +While the Danish embassy was detained at the papal court by all the +artifices of tedious investigation and diplomatic ambiguity, the papal +nuncio, Cardinal Isarnus, had been dispatched to Denmark, for the +purpose of threatening the young Danish sovereign with excommunication +in case he should refuse to release the archbishop unconditionally from +imprisonment. The wily cardinal brought with him no letter from the +pope touching the dispensation and permission for the royal marriage; +but expressed himself on the subject in so dubious and enigmatical a +manner, that it was evident the court of Rome designed to work upon the +inexperienced monarch's feelings in a matter so nearly concerning his +personal happiness, in order the more effectually to secure his +submission to papal authority and his clemency towards the +ecclesiastical offender at Sjoeberg. + +This mode of proceeding, however, was so far from producing, its +intended effect on the young and impetuous King Eric, that it appeared +to rouse him to such a pertinacious defiance of papal authority, as +might be followed by dangerous consequences both to himself and the +kingdom. The affair still remained undecided--the cardinal had quitted +Denmark with fearful menaces, and was now at Lubec. + +The haughty Archbishop Grand, who was alone the cause of this suspense +and impending danger, was detained meanwhile in close captivity. During +the first thirty-six weeks of his imprisonment he was confined in +chains in the dark, deep, subterranean dungeon of the tower, and was +left to suffer great misery and want, although most persons acquitted +the young king (then in his minority) of having been accessary to this +severity of treatment. The archbishop's fellow-prisoner, the traitorous +and malevolent provost Jacob, had been released from prison on the plea +of illness, but had immediately availed himself of this act of clemency +to hasten to Rome, where he zealously laboured to stir up hostile +feelings towards the king, and neglected no means of forwarding the +liberation of the archbishop and their mutual revenge. + +The preceding Christmas the king had visited Sjoeberg, and had himself +offered to give the archbishop his freedom, on the condition of his +vacating the archiepiscopal chair, of his quitting the kingdom, and +swearing to renounce all revenge, and give up all connection with the +enemies of the crown. Notwithstanding the haughty defiance and scorn +with which the archbishop had rejected this proposition, the rigour of +his captivity was mitigated by the king's command, and he was placed in +the upper dungeon he now inhabited, where he wanted neither light nor +air, but where, as yet, he remained closely guarded and strongly +fettered as before. As soon, however, as the king had left the castle, +the condition of the captive became once more extremely miserable. The +steward, Jesper Mogensen, was notorious for his avarice, his cruelty, +and hypocritical bearing; and the king's brother. Junker[5] +Christopher, was accused of having had a great share in the severity of +the archbishop's treatment, although the prince took every opportunity +of blaming the king's conduct in this matter, and counselled him to +make any sacrifice and submit to any humiliation, to avoid a formal +breach with the church and the papal see. + +One evening in the month of October the steward of Sjoeberg, accompanied +by the cook and an old turnkey, ascended the winding stairs which led +to the archbishop's prison and to the turnkey's chamber immediately +above it. The strong light of a dark lanthorn, which the cook held up +before him, fell full upon the countenance and form of the steward:--he +was a short, strong-built man, with a true hangman's visage, in which +the expression of ferocity and malice was combined with an air of wily +hypocrisy; a shaggy cap was slouched over his low and narrow forehead; +he wore a dirty coat of sheep's skin, and tramped up the stone stairs +in heavy iron-shod boots, apparently in great wrath and alarm. "That +limb of Satan! that ungodly priest!" he muttered, "if he hath dealings +with the Evil One, chains will be of no use here." + +"As I tell thee, master," answered the portly, round-faced cook, with +an air of importance, "he talks with invisible spirits, and no turnkey +dares any longer watch by him. He is as regularly bound to the Evil One +as I am to thee, saving that _he_ cannot shift his service, and leave +his master when he pleases; you remember, no doubt, I gave you warning +at the right time, and am free to be off either to-day or to-morrow, if +I please. The devil take me if I stay longer here, since--since he is +here already, I was near saying." + +"Pshaw, Morten! thou shalt stay here till I get another cook: that thou +didst promise me. But what hath given rise to all this talk about his +sorceries?" + +"There is something in it," answered the cook. "No one knows the Black +Art out and out as he does. You know yourself that Junker Christopher's +folk found the book on the Black Art among the letters from the +outlaws, when they ferreted the bishop's secrets out of the chest in +Lund sacristy. The book burned their fingers, and vanished instantly +out of their hands. Such a devil's book always comes back to its +master. That he hath not got it as yet, I am certain; but I fear he has +it all at his fingers' ends. They said he never wearied of studying it +at Lund, and he knows all the heathen and Greek books better by heart +than his Paternoster, the ungodly hound!" + +"Thou art right, Morten! He _is_ a limb of Satan, and one cannot watch +him too narrowly. His confounded learning never hit my fancy." Here the +steward paused thoughtfully near the door of the archbishop's prison. + +"Yes, take care, master!" resumed the cook; "he will soon fill the +house with his devilries, and set all the imps in hell to plague us, if +he doth not get his prison cleaned, and better meat and drink. It would +please me right well were he to die of hunger and be eaten up of +vermin. Such end would still be a thousand times too good for such an +accursed traitor and wizard; but when the Evil One is in the house, it +is wisest to remember one's own little transgressions, and not use a +captive devil worse than we would he should use us." + +"Pshaw, Morten! the devil is not our neighbour," interrupted the +steward with a suspicious look. "Had I not myself heard thee curse and +mock the archbishop, I should almost suspect thou wert in league with +him." + +"Nay, master! I can soon clear myself of that; I would sooner league +with Beelzebub himself. The turnkeys can bear witness there is not one +among them all that takes such delight in plaguing and vexing him as I +do. When he is forced to drink muddy water, and eat mouldy bread like a +swine yonder, I sing drinking songs below in the kitchen, and throw +open the window that he may snuff up the scent of the roasting; and I +never come nigh his door without singing one thing or another, which I +know will make him turn yellow, black, and green with rage. I made a +song last spring, all about freedom and fair green woods, that always +enrages him. Now you shall hear, master:" and he sang loudly before the +prison door,-- + + + "A blithe bird flits round Sjoeberg's tower, + Right merrily sings he, + Rise, captive, if thou hast the power, + Rise up and flee with me; + And then thou'lt breathe the fresh spring air, + And roam in greenwood gay; + Then speed we to thy castle fair, + To Hammershuus away." + + +"Hast thou lost thy wits, Morten?" interrupted the steward. "Wouldst +thou stir him up to flee to his castle at Bornholm?" + +"He may let that alone while he is here. Heard you not how deep he +sighed? It was from rage and grief to think the least spring bird can +fly to its castle and build its nest, while he can stir neither hand +nor foot. I made that song on purpose to plague him." + +"Thou art right, Morten! it _did_ plague him," said the steward with a +look of satisfaction. "Thou art an honest soul; I heard myself how deep +he sighed: nevertheless, thou shalt not sing him any more such songs; +they only serve to put fancies into his head. Thou art a good, +well-meaning fellow, Morten! I know it well; but thou art somewhat +simple. If the bishop knew the Black Art, he would not have been here +so long. I rather incline to think his brain is cracked." + +"Have a care, master; that fellow hath all his wits about him; there is +not a bishop in all the country can beat him at Latin." + +"It matters not to me whether he be mad or wise," muttered the steward, +who mounted the stairs leading to the turnkey's room. He opened the +door of this chamber, which was the uppermost in the tower, and +directly above the archbishop's prison. Here two turnkeys were always +on guard, and watched the prisoner through a chink in the floor. During +the night two others were usually stationed in the captive's dungeon, +and sat beside his couch, when it was their wont to plague him, and by +their talk often to prevent his sleeping; but the report which had +recently been spread abroad of the archbishop's sorceries, had so +terrified the inmates of Sjoeberg, that none dared any longer remain at +night in the captive's chamber. The two sentinels were seated before a +backgammon board, and were throwing the dice when the steward entered. +They hastily concealed them, and rose respectfully. + +"This is doing duty finely," muttered the steward: "while ye sit here +and game, ye suffer him below there to play with Satan for his soul. Ye +had best keep your eyes upon him, I counsel ye. If he gets loose, ye +may make as sure of being hanged, as if ye had already the halter round +your necks, and the clear air for a footstool. Now let's see what he is +after." So saying the steward stooped down to the hole in the floor and +peeped below. "He surely sleeps," he whispered; "he lies on his back +without stirring." + +"That he is well nigh forced to do, because of his chains and the +pestilent smell," said the cook. + +"Well," answered the steward, "one should not despise any means which +might save an erring soul. It is for this reason, seest thou, I suffer +the hardened sinner below there to lie in such swinish plight. +_Ignorant_ folk would call it cruel; it is in truth pure compassion. +How long thinkest thou the most hardened offender can hold out such +captivity without repenting of his misdeeds and creeping to the cross?" + +"Ay, there doubtless you are in the right, master! You have pious and +fatherly manner, and even generously exposed yourself to the risk of +drawing down on you the king's wrath a second time, simply for the sake +of exercising true Christian compassion, and saving the sinner's soul; +but he is insensible to it, the scoundrel. His obstinacy is matchless. +Could you believe it, master? Notwithstanding all you do to bring him +to repentance and conversion, he curses you, nevertheless, every hour +of the day, and wishes you may come to suffer a thousand times more +torments in hell than you have here caused him to undergo out of pure +Christian charity!" + +"I can well believe it, Morten; from such sort of folk one should never +look for gratitude; but the roof and ceiling are in too sorry a +plight," muttered the steward looking around him: "under the blue sky +he needs not to sleep, either; it might be dangerous besides." + +"It was done according to your own order, master," resumed the cook in +a credulous tone, and staring with an air of simplicity at the holes in +the ceiling and the roof, "else it could never have rained down on that +confounded Satan. Of a surety he will let alone flying with the owls +through the roof; and when the nights are cold, a little rain and hail +are right proper means of bringing him to reflection and confession of +his sins." + +"Well, it is true, Morten; I myself _partly_ commanded it: but one +should have moderation in all things; it should not appear as if the +roof had been uncovered on purpose. Evil tongues will have plenty to +talk of as it is. To-morrow the roof shall be repaired. Some small +holes may remain--they will not catch the eye--fresh air is wholesome; +even a little rain and snow may have their use. Not a rain-drop falls +to the earth, Morten, but it may prove a means for the conversion of a +hardened sinner." + +"Ah, master," said Morten, with a tremulous voice and clasped hands, +"you should, by my troth, have been a bishop: you often speak so +touchingly and edifyingly that the tears start into mine eyes." + +"Well," answered the steward with a self-satisfied smile, "I was, +indeed, once intended to become a churchman, and though I got not the +tonsure, I nevertheless learned many pious and useful truths during my +noviciate; but it is not sufficient to _know_ the truth, we must, by my +troth, know how to _use_ it for one's own and one's fellow-creature's +salvation." + +"Ah, yes, master," resumed Morten, with a devout look, "who is there +can say _that_ with as good a conscience as yourself? 'Tis a hard +calling for a pious Christian conscience and a compassionate soul like +yours, to be forced to play such bloodhound and hangman's tricks on a +poor captive; but what will not one do for duty and precious virtue's +sake, and to save an erring soul! Such a pious bloodhound and +hangman----" + +"Hold thy tongue, Morten," interrupted the steward; "thou must never +use such words in speaking of thy master, however well and honestly +thou meanst it. But hark! he speaks below there: canst hear what he +says? It seems to me it is Latin or Greek." + +The cook threw himself on his stomach and laid his ear close to the +hole in the floor. "Our Lady preserve us!" he whispered with a look of +affright, "he is calling on Aristoteles, the devil's schoolmaster, and +is giving him directions about you; he swears that you are right ready +to enter his school." + +"Ay, indeed, it is just like the ungodly scoundrel! but I thought I +heard another voice--there is surely no one with him?" + +Morten listened again. "Master! heard you _that_?" he exclaimed, +springing up with a look of terror, and looking towards the door as if +he meant to escape. + +"How now? What's that? What hath possessed thee, Morten? What heardest +thou?" + +"Stoop down your ear to the hole, master, and you shall hear. Our Lady +graciously preserve us! The Evil One is manifestly with him. He is to +fetch you at midnight if you do not presently give his good friend, the +archbishop, meat and wine and clean garments. Only listen yourself!" + +The steward cast a suspicious look at the cook, yet stooped to listen +at the hole, keeping his eye all the while on Morten and the terrified +turnkeys. He had not remained long in this position, ere he rose up +deadly pale, and the name of Jesper Mogensen, accompanied by the sound +of smothered and unnatural laughter, rung hollow as from an abyss, and +in a voice wholly unlike the archbishop's. "Heard ye it not yourself, +master?" said Morten; "he who now calls on _you_ I desire not to see +near _me_." + +"Silence!" whispered the steward, stooping again with a look of alarm +towards the crevice in the floor. + +"Jesper Mogensen!" said the same terrific voice as if directly under +his feet, "cherish my learned master and customer, or I will break thy +neck, and turn inside out thy hypocritical soul." + +While this voice rang through the chamber the turnkeys lay flat on +their faces on the floor, and repeated their Avemaria. The steward +trembled and shook; but Morten's cheeks now glowed crimson, and his +eyes watered, as if affected by some secret exertion, while his lips +were firmly compressed, and he stood apparently speechless with terror. + +"Then let him have what he wants," stammered forth the steward. "If +there are _such_ tricks in the game, neither Junker Christopher, nor +any one else, can require me to peril my life and soul any longer. Set +thee to roast for the bishop in Satan's name, Morten! Let him eat and +drink himself to death if he pleases! but escape he shall not, let him +have ever so many devils for his friends." + +"You will find it hard to hinder him, master," said Morten in a timid +tone; "he who so can roar would deem it a small matter to fly through +the key-hole with a bishop." + +"I must see that, ere I believe it," said the steward, who appeared to +have regained his self-possession, and recovered from his fright. "Thou +art an honest fellow, Morten, but thou art somewhat credulous and +simple--there is perhaps some trick in this. But this I would have +thee, and all of ye, to know--if I smell a rat, or if any of ye have +the least hand or part in this devilry, ye shall rue it dearly: ye +shall be burned alive, or broken on the wheel, as surely as there is +law and justice in the land." + +"Our Lady preserve us, master!" exclaimed the terrified turnkeys in the +same breath. + +"I tell ye," continued the steward, "'tis nought else but trick and +treachery. To try him below there, I will let him have good cheer and +cleanliness for a time; but if he kicks up any more riots of this kind, +he shall below in the dungeon again: and this I tell ye, knaves! if any +of you dare help him to flight, one for all, and all for one, ye shall +be hanged! Ye shall all three watch here to-night." + +"Alack! we dare not, master!" said the old turnkey. "If there is +sorcery in the tower, we dare not stay here, unless Morten the cook +stay too, to keep up our courage." + +"Stay, then, with these stupid knaves to-night, Morten!" said the +steward. "After all thou art the wisest among them. I shall owe thee +for it, and to-morrow I shall get fellows enough with some spirit in +them." + +"It is all one to me, master!" answered Morten. "I will keep up their +spirits tonight. He who, like you and I, hath a good conscience, need +not fear a few devil's tricks." + +"True enough, Morten! thou shalt first follow me down stairs. I am +somewhat dizzy from stooping; and then thou canst at the same time +fetch meat and drink for the prisoner and all of ye." + +"Come, master, take hold of my arm!" said Morten, following the steward +out of the door. "All is quiet and orderly," he continued, as they +descended the stair. "I thought it would be so--one good turn deserves +another. You'll find, we shall get at last so used to these impish +tricks that we shall not care a rush for them; and why should not one +learn to put up with two or three little devils, when they choose to +behave themselves courteously, and live in Christian concord and sweet +family union with us?" + +When Morten had attended the steward to the bottom of the stairs, he +ran into his chamber, and from thence to the kitchen and pantry. He +presently mounted the tower stairs again, and returned to his comrades +with a bundle of clothes, two baskets of provisions, and a couple of +flagons of wine. "Take thou the meat and wine and clothes to the hound +below, Mads!" said he to the old turnkey; "but steal not aught thereof +on the way! Master says the chamber is to be made clean and neat. A +guard will henceforth be placed outside the door night and day, so that +thou need'st not load him with all the fetters. Meanwhile let us here +get something to keep life in us. Look, comrades! I have both mead and +German ale with me. Only get thee gone, Mads; we will surely leave +something for thee, if thou comest back sober." + +The old man cast a longing look at the wine and good cheer he was to +take to the captive, and departed. Morten now busied himself in placing +the provisions on the table, and presently began to carouse merrily +with the two younger turnkeys. The one had borne arms, and styled +himself Niels the horseman; he was a lover of strong drink, and had +rather a red nose. The other was a timid and cautious personage, with a +cunning and miserly cast of countenance. He sat with the dice in his +hands, and counted the number of marks he had won from his comrades. + +"Thou art an excellent fellow, Morten," said Niels the horseman, +pushing back the cap which shaded his sun-burnt and martial visage, +while he drained his cup of mead, and seized on the flagon of ale. +"Thou knowest well how to furnish a guard-room when one is required to +keep one's eyes open and one's spirits up. By my soul! I would rather +keep guard in a camp over a whole army of captives than sit here, +especially if the confounded bishop understands the black art, and +such-like devilry. What dost think of all this, Morten?" + +"Truly, that is not for laymen to judge of," answered Morten. "I know +neither the white nor the black art; but _this_ I know, henceforth let +there be ever such a stir below there, _I_ budge not from my seat. When +we keep our noses out of mischief, and strive to mind our duty, we +shall be left in peace, and can sit here as quiet as though we lay in +Abraham's bosom. Now drink, Niels! And thou, Joergen, what art _thou_ +thinking of?" said he to the man with the dice. "I warrant thou wouldst +rather kill the time in gaming, than in honest and innocent drink. Now, +by our Lady! every man hath his crotchets in this world, but we must +ever sing with the birds we live with. First, comrade, sing and drink +with us, and we will play afterwards with thee. We have bright silver +pieces in plenty." So saying, the merry cook threw a handful of silver +money on the table, and began to sing a joyous drinking song. Joergen +looked covetingly at the silver, and shook the dice. "Come, good +Morten, let's play first," said he, in a coaxing tone, and with a +crafty smile, "and we can sing and drink afterwards." + +"Darest thou throw for a silver piece?" + +"For twenty, if thou wilt," answered Morten; "but I snap my fingers at +dice and silver pieces, as long as I can get aught to moisten my +tongue; it is the most important member in the world, seest thou, and +well deserves to be cherished. That little instrument can turn whole +kingdoms topsy-turvy. I am already half drunk, I perceive, and thou +hast not lifted the cup to thy lips as yet. The man who games with me +must be as jovial a soul as myself." + +"Well, then, pour me out half a can of ale, if it be not too strong," +said the cautious Joergen. "Mead instantly gets into my head: when one +would play a fair game, one should always be able to count to six; +besides, we are not sent here to drink ourselves drunk, I trow." + +"Just as much to drink as to game," answered Morten; "but leave that to +me! I know the strength of the ale well, and what four fellows can +stand, provided they be not carlines."[6] The turnkeys drank, and +Morten replenished their cups.--"Know ye the news, comrades?" he +continued, raising his voice, as he seated himself at his ease, with +his arms resting on the table; "we may presently expect the king here +at the castle; then will there be no lack of drink. Money, and mead, +and wine, and Saxon ale, will flow here, as in blessed Paradise." + +"The king!" said Niels the horseman; "then of a surety will there be +fine doings here; he will, by my troth! give the huntsman something to +do." + +"You will see, then, the bishop will get loose," said Joergen the +turnkey, rolling the dice as he spoke, "for he is surely not so mad as +to put the king in a rage again, as he did the last time." + +"_He_ cares not for the King's wrath," answered the cook; "that fellow +minds neither king nor emperor; and if it be true that the pope in Rome +sides with him, the king may go to the wall at last." + +"What can the pope do to _our_ king?" asked Niels the horsemen; "he +dwells in Italy, far over the sea yonder, and hath neither horsemen nor +ships to send hither." + +"But he hath that which stands him in better stead," said Morten; "he +hath got a bunch of keys, so heavy that a hundred men can't carry them, +and with those he can both open and shut heaven and hell, to each one +of us, just as it likes him. Hell-gate he willingly leaves open, for +there is ever a throng in _that_ quarter; but heaven's gate, by my +troth! he locks every evening himself, and lays the keys under his +pillow." + +"But St. Peter keeps the gate," responded Niels; "he must ever stand +sentinel there night and day." + +"Right, Niels! but St. Peter is the pope's cousin only; besides, the +pope keeps him under finger and thumb, and takes the keys from him +every evening, as soon as it grows dark, just as the steward takes the +keys from thee: the pope, moreover, is the Lord's stadtholder, as thou +surely know'st; and when he is wroth, he is able by a single word to +shut up all the churches in the country, and give all of us, body and +soul, to the devil." + +"Our Lady preserve us!" said Niels, crossing himself; "and think'st +thou he durst act thus by our king and all Christian folk here in the +country?" + +"Yes, he threatens hard to do it, they say. The devil take the +confounded bishop below, there! _he_ is the cause of all this ill luck; +'twere better for king and country had he long since shown us a pair of +clean heels." + +"Think'st thou so, Morten! 'tis arrant folly, then, to pen the fellow +up here as they do?" + +"That's the king's business," answered Morten; "he surely knows what he +is about; and hath doubtless his own reasons for what he does. The +bishop had a hand in the game when they made away with his father in +the barn at Finnerup--'tis true King Glipping was worth little enough, +but he was king nevertheless, and the murder was a lawless business: +our Lord forbid I should defend it! No one can think ill of our young +king because he can't forgive the bishop; but, as I said before, state +and country would fare better were the king less strict, and the bishop +gone to the devil." + +While this dialogue was carrying on, the old turnkey returned half +intoxicated, and threw himself on a bench before the drinking table. + +"How now, Mads! what red cheeks thou hast got," said the cook, +laughing; "thou must surely have accredited the bishop's wine: thou +didst right! who could know whether it might not be poisoned?" + +"Death and pestilence, Morten! what art prating of?" lisped forth the +old man in a fright, and spit upon the floor. "I have not so much as +tasted a drop of his wine; nevertheless, thou shouldst not jest about +such things." + +"Be easy, old fellow!" said Morten, in a soothing tone; "I myself drank +of it on the stairs. Well! what said he to the change?" + +"Not so much as yon stone flask, comrade! The hound would sooner let +himself be spitted than speak a fair word to any man: perhaps, too, he +thought it was poison I brought him,--but, death and pestilence!"--here +he paused and spit again--"I can never believe"---- + +"Make thyself easy, Mads! thou knowest thou hast not tasted a drop; at +any rate here is something to rince thy throat with, which I warrant +thee is good and wholesome. I will sing thee a merry song the while; +which will do the bishop good as well." While Morten again replenished +his comrades' cups, he cleared his throat and sang: + + + "In Sjoeborg tower a spider's web + Holds sure a struggling fly; + He once was king and country's dread, + And held his head full high. + Then strive and toil, and toil and strive, + That web thou'lt never leave alive." + + +"What song is that?" asked Niels the horseman; "I never heard it +before." + +"It was made to mock the bishop below," said Morten; "and _I_ it was +who made it. Now ye shall hear; for to plague him properly, and mock +his useless learning, I have managed to cram a little Latin into it +that I learned of Father Gregory:" and Morten continued,-- + + + "For Crimen laesae majestatis, + The spider's web doth prison thee. + Custodibus inebriatis, + A thief shall catch a thief, thou'lt see. + Then strive and toil, and toil and strive, + That web thou'lt never leave alive." + + +While the cook thus sang in a loud voice, the clanking of chains was +heard below in the archbishop's dungeon, and the two half-drunken +turnkeys started from their seats, while Joergen, who was still sober, +took the opportunity of conveying a couple of the cook's silver pieces +into his own pocket. "Let him writhe in his chains, the hound!" said +Morten, remaining quietly seated; "he hears well enough how I mock him +in the song, and that enrages him; but it does him good." + +"Right, Morten!" said Niels the horseman, as he peeped through the +chink in the floor. "He twists in his chains, as though he were +possessed--thou may'st be sure it is the Latin that vexes him--but no +matter for that. I would have him hear, that we lay folk know a thing +or two as well as himself." + +"Come, let's drink, comrades!" called the cook, and continued to sing, +as he rose from the bench, and staggered, as if half-intoxicated, about +the chamber:-- + + + "Thy Latin hast thou clean forgot? + And canst not catch the blithe bird's lay? + Then dark and dreary be thy lot, + Within these walls thou'lt pine away. + Then strive and toil, and toil and strive, + That web thou'lt never leave alive. + + "Hast thou a message to Rome? + Hark! the bird sings right cunningly! + Or farther yet, from my greenwood home? + Speak! and I'll haste far o'er the sea. + Then strive and toil, and toil and strive, + That web thou'lt never leave alive." + + +As he sang the last verse, he fell down flat beside the hole, above the +archbishop's dungeon, and peeped through it. + +"The false knave mocks me," he heard the captive murmur with a deep +sigh. + + + "Then strive and toil, and toil and strive, + Thou'lt never leave that web alive," + + +sang Morten at the top of his lungs, while he reeled about, and +continued to repeat the burden of the song, in which the turnkeys +joined with loud laughter. + +"Thou art gloriously drunk, Morten!" said Niels the horseman, in an +inarticulate voice, and fell under the table. "Thou shouldst bethink +thee, we are on guard here, and not at an ale-house:" so saying, the +man-at-arms rested his heavy head on a stone flagon, which lay on the +floor, and fell asleep. + +"But what hath become of Niels the horseman?" said the old turnkey, who +had in the meantime drained a large flagon of potent Saxon ale (noted +for its intoxicating properties). "I'll be hanged if I can see him." + +"He is snoring under the table there, the guzzling hound!" answered +Joergen; "ye are pretty fellows, truly, to keep a night watch: I shall +have to watch and be sober for ye all. Come, Morten! let us two keep +our wits about us, and mind our duty! There lie thy silver pieces +swimming in ale and mead--let's clear the table--shall we venture a +throw for them? he who gets the highest throw shall pocket them; thou +mayest throw first, an thou likest." + +"Done!" said Morten; "but we must play fair." As he said this, he took +the dice and threw. + +"If thou canst count, count, Joergen, he stuttered, without looking at +the dice. + +"Two, three--seven thou hast only got," answered Joergen, hastily +sweeping up the dice; "look, it is my turn now:" he threw the dice, +which turned up a high number. "I've won! the money is mine! look +thyself!"--he swept the money towards him. + +"I doubt thee not--thou art an honest fellow," answered Morten, +reeling, as he filled his comrade's cup, "the money is thine, but, by +my soul! thou shalt now drink to the health of my true love, and then I +will lie down to sleep. If thou drink not that cup clean out, I shall +hold thee for a rascally cheat." + +"Well, then, good Morten, here's to the health of the pretty Karen +Jeppe of Gilleleie! see'st thou, I am a man of my word," said Joergen, +and drank--"There is not a drop left in the can." + +"That's right! Thou art an honest soul after all," lisped the cook, +tumbling on the floor, where he soon began to snore louder than any of +the others. + +"The dull brute!" muttered Joergen, who began to feel somewhat muddled; +"one may lead him by the nose as much as one likes." It was not long, +however, before he leaned his head on his arms upon the table, and +slept soundly. Hardly had he begun to snore, ere the cook rose, +perfectly sober, and narrowly scrutinised the faces of the three +sleeping turnkeys by the dim light of the lamp. As soon as he was +satisfied that they slept soundly, Morten crept softly to the hole in +the floor, and looked down on the prisoner. + +"Venerable sir!" he whispered, "I have managed to drink them all three +dead drunk; they are sleeping like logs--you need not doubt me. I have +always been true and devoted to you. I was forced to plague and vex +you, to throw dust in the eyes of others. I will do your bidding, +wherever you please to send me." + +"Is this earnest, Morten?" whispered the captive archbishop. + +"It is, by my soul and honour!" answered the cook; "you saved my life, +and concealed what you well wot of; therefore have I vowed to Saint +Martin to save your life--at whatever cost." + +"In the Lord's name, then, I will believe thee," said the prisoner. "If +thou wouldst save my life, hie thee to Copenhagen, to my canon Hans +Rodis, and consult with him! Bid him send me pen and ink--a file--and a +ladder of ropes." + +"Hans Rodis is at Esrom, my lord," answered the cook; "he bade me put +this little sausage into your pious hands. If the chains will let you, +hold up your hands, just as you lie there! Look, now! see how well we +have hit the mark!" In saying this, the cook pushed through the +aperture a thin rolled-up packet, concealed in a sausage; it was +fastened to a string, by which he lowered it, holding the end fast in +his hand. "I have it," said the captive, "praised be the King of kings! +My faithful servant hath sent me what I need--let not go the string," he +continued, after a pause; "bring the lamp to the hole--but one single +ray of light!" The cook obeyed in silence. + +"I am writing a word of moment to my commandant at Hammershuus; wilt +thou put it faithfully into his own hands?" + +"I will, by my soul! only make haste." + +"Thy reward will be great in Heaven, as on earth; but give me light, +light!" + +"All is arranged," whispered the cook, holding the lamp closer to the +hole; "let us but make sure of Hammershuus, and all will be well! The +fitting time will be when ye see me again; meanwhile use the file with +caution. I and the canon will care for the rest; Niels Brock and his +friends will help us. Johan Kyste and Ole Ark are here. Be of good +courage, venerable sir! you may depend on me. But haste! those drunken +dogs are stirring--I fear they will awake." + +"One moment more!" whispered the captive. "Pull up--all is ready," he +continued, after a short pause. Morten hastily drew up the string, and +found a sheet of parchment rolled up in the skin of the sausage, which +was fastened to it: he carefully concealed it. "Hush! they wake!" he +whispered. "I must set to work again." So saying, the portly cook +rolled himself on the floor among the intoxicated and half-awakened +turnkeys, and began to belabour them with all his might. "Hollo, there! +now for a beating of meat!" he shouted, "now for a pounding of pepper! +How come we by this lump in the porridge? It must be well beaten out." + +"Oh, oh! Art thou mad, Morten!" cried Niels the horseman. + +"Have done with thy chatter, I know what I am about," continued Morten, +still laying about him. "I am neither mad nor drunk; but the devil take +me if I stay longer here!--must you, clod-pates, have your say too, and +fancy yourselves wiser than the cook? Would you make me believe I have +horsemen in the pot?" + +While Morten thus shouted and talked, as though intoxicated to an +excess he overturned the lamp, reeled in the dark out of the chamber, +and rolled himself down the stairs. When the keepers, on the following +morning, had recovered the full use of their senses the cook had +disappeared, and was nowhere to be found in the castle. + + + + + CHAP. II. + + +At sunrise next morning, the brisk broad-shouldered cook, with a large +club in his hand, took his way through the wood skirting Esrom Lake[7], +accompanied by two other wanderers. It was a foggy morning; large +flocks of wild geese flew with shrill cries over the lake, and the +fallen leaves of the forest were swept along the path by the sharp +morning breeze. The cook and his companions proceeded in silence and +with hasty steps; and it was not until the sun began to disperse the +cold mists of morning, that Morten cleared his throat, and sang a merry +ballad. His companions were two strong broad-shouldered fellows, with +red wadmal cloaks, over dirty leathern breeches, and with broad swords +and daggers in their thickly padded belts, which also appeared to serve +them as purses. They had the appearance of deserters or dismissed +men-at-arms; they both wore beards in the fashion of king's horsemen, +but seemed to have long neglected all attention to cleanliness and +personal neatness. Their unwashed faces betokened want of sleep and +fitting rest. The heads of a couple of flails served them as walking +staves. They bore on their backs large bundles of rich attire, from +which pieces of smoked meat and other provisions protruded. Their long +uncombed hair hung about their shoulders; the skin and hair of both +were so dark, and their countenances had so little of a Danish cast, +that they would have passed for foreigners, had not their dialect +proclaimed them to be peasants from Lolland; who, at any rate, could +not prove their evidently Vandal extraction in the first generation. +The taller of the two had lost an eye, and the other had a huge scar +between his nose and mouth, which looked like a hare lip, and his sharp +projecting teeth gave him a ferocious appearance, resembling that of a +wild boar. + +The three wanderers occasionally looked behind them, as if they +apprehended a pursuit; but they only beheld the white gable ends of +Esrom monastery, which they had passed a short time before. + +"Now, thanks for good companionship," said Morten, as he halted at a +cross road in the forest. "It were best we part company for the +present; ye understand what I said to you--ye are to hide yourselves at +Gilleleie, and watch every night, until ye see the skiff with the black +pennant, then push off with Jeppe's boat, and set me on shore: +meanwhile watch narrowly all that goes on here, and who goes in and out +of the castle. What Niels Brock and the archbishop have promised, you +may make sure of. But then ye must not be self-willed; ye will never be +able to get him out by force, and if the king and Marsk Oluffsen come +hither to-day or to-morrow, ye might lightly get hanged and ruin every +thing." + +"Leave that to us, sly Morten," said the man with the one eye. "Johan +Kyste well knows what he is about. I committed but one folly in my +life; 'twas on that Easter eve I deserted from the Marsk, and took the +palfrey from the pious clerk; I did but knock a little hole in his +skull, but it was large enough for his bit of a soul to slink out of: +one should let holy men go their way in peace; for this, I am now +forced to put up with one eye. I vowed, therefore, to our Lady and St. +Joseph, to become pious and God-fearing from that very hour, and never +more to lay my hand on other than laymen." + +"A pious resolve," said Morten: "wert thou not such a bloodhound and +cut-throat, I could almost believe thy soul might be saved as yet, even +shouldst thou steal and rob in a small way at times." + +"It bids fair to be so," answered the one-eyed. "I have a letter of +absolution from the archbishop, within my woollen jerkin, that will +stand me in good stead when all the world besides marches to hell. +Truly I served the learned Master Grand faithfully by night and day +these many years, therefore hath the pious archbishop given me freedom +from fasting, and absolution for sins for ten whole years: he hath not +spared his silver pieces either; and shall I now suffer them to shut up +such a man, and thereby rob so many honest fellows of a living? What +sayest thou, Ole Ark? Shall we suffer it any longer? hath Master Grand +deserved it of us?" + +"Pshaw! Kyste; who says thou art to suffer it, and leave him in the +lurch?" interrupted Morten. "We all want to have him out; but we would +not be as fools, trying to burst open the doors with their own thick +skulls. Force will not help us here--do but as I bid thee, and keep thy +courage until we want it." + +"Morten is right, Kyste," began the other Lollander, with a hideous +grin, which displayed his projecting teeth. "Thou art a mad bull, and +art ever ready to push with thy horns. Why haste so desperately to get +him out? he was a good and generous man of God while he was in power, +'tis true, but since he hath lain in Sjoeborg we have heard no great +things of him, and have not been blessed with the sight of a stiver +from his hand." + +"Dull cod-fish!" replied Johan Kyste, hastily; "believest thou not what +honest Morten hath vowed and promised us in the bishop's name? As soon +as we get him out we are his steersmen at Bornholm, and get leave to +catch what we can throughout the king's dominions." + +"Hold, comrade," said Morten, correcting him. "It is only so long as +the breach lasts between the king and the archbishop, that he gives you +leave to drive that trade: it is only in the service of the church, and +the pious bishop, that it may be lawful and Christian for a time; +afterwards ye must content yourselves with what he gives you of his +own, and lead quiet lives: but ere this day twelvemonth, you may +feather your nests finely. Now begone, and neglect not what ye have +taken upon ye, for the sake of other desperate pranks! I will not have +you longer with me: if any one caught me in such fair company, they +might take a fancy to hang me up by the side of you, for honest +companionship's sake." + +"Ho! ho! wouldst _thou_ play the lordling, Morten?" said the one-eyed; +"what higher honour couldst _thou_ look for, thou turnspit!--But hark! +what was that? are there hunters in the wood so early?" + +The sound of hunting-horns, the tramp of horses, and the baying of +hounds, was heard in the neighbourhood: the three wanderers hastened +forward a few paces, but soon suddenly sprang aside in different +directions. + +"S'death! the king and all his courtiers!" exclaimed Morten, sheltering +himself behind a large beech tree by the road side, while both his +suspicious-looking comrades hid themselves among the thick brushwood. + +A numerous hunting train drew near; at the head rode the young king, +between the Drost and the Marsk: it was a noble sight to see the young +chivalrous King Eric on horseback. He rode a tall milk-white horse, +which seemed proud of its burden, and often fell into the artificial +dancing-pace to which it was used in the tilt and tournay. Its bridle +and saddle accoutrements glittered with gold and precious stones: the +silken rein with which the king managed his steed was the only +compulsory means to which it would submit; the slightest touch of the +golden rowel in the king's spur caused it to rear almost upright, and +for any other than the king it seemed rash and dangerous to bestride +the proud animal. The king himself was a noble-looking youth, with a +manly and determined, almost a stern, cast of countenance; but his long +fair locks imparted a softness to this expression, which, in Eric's +milder moods, called to mind the portraits of the Saviour's best +beloved Apostle, leaning his head on his Master's breast. The young +king had a dignified and chivalrous deportment, the effect of which was +heightened by the almost dazzling splendour of his attire, which +appeared indeed unsuited to a hunting party. The tall white plume in +his hat sparkled with small silver stars; and the green hunting dress, +bordered with ermine, was so richly broidered with silken lions, and +golden hearts, that it resembled a shining suit of armour. + +The splendour in which the young king appeared to delight was also +conspicuous in his train. Drost Aage, who rode at the king's right +hand, was of the same age with King Eric, and had not yet attained his +twenty-second year. He had been the king's playmate and confidant from +childhood upwards, and now possessed his entire confidence and favour. +There was a mild but almost melancholy seriousness in the expression of +Drost Aage's countenance, which gave him the appearance of being older +than the king. He had thrown his dark blue mantle over the back of his +smoking palfrey, by way of covering; and his rich silken dress was +besprinkled with the foam of the king's restless and chafing steed, +upon which he appeared to keep a watchful eye. + +Marsk Niels Oluffsen, who rode at the king's left hand, was a tall +strong-built man, of about thirty years and upwards, with a sharp, +rough, warrior-like countenance, and stiff deportment. Next to Drost +Aage, he was the king's most indispensable counsellor, and was an +exceedingly brave and doughty knight; but there was a tinge of +haughtiness and severity in his looks and manner which frequently +aroused the feelings of independence, and wounded the self-love, of his +inferiors. Even the king and Drost Aage, who were fully his equals in +knightly prowess, and far surpassed him in tact and talent, often felt +unpleasantly repulsed by his rough and blunt bearing, of which he was +himself so unconscious that nothing astonished him more than whenever +his uncouth roughness and self-confidence drove friends as well as +enemies from him. + +Among others of the king's train were two celebrated German +minstrels--Master Rumelant, from Swabia, and Master Poppe the Strong, +who, in their national dress of German minstrels, attracted much +attention. Master Rumelant's stature was insignificant, but he had a +lively and enthusiastic expression of countenance; he was a lover of +argument, into which he was ever ready to enter with warmth and +vehemence, especially on theological subjects, on which he entertained +his own very peculiar opinions. His countryman, Poppe the Strong, well +deserved his cognomen: he was a gigantic figure, with long coal-black +hair and beard. His appearance often terrified old women and children, +by whom he was even sometimes taken for a wizard. He spoke in a +tone of emphatic decision, which would have better beseemed a +commander-in-chief. He rode a lean grey horse, and always wore a black +feather in his hat, in token of a sorrow he desired should be noticed +and respected by others. These two strangers had been for some time the +honoured guests of the young Danish monarch, who himself possessed a +knowledge of the arts, and showed special favour to talented artists +and men of learning. The king was also attended on this excursion by +the famous Danish philosopher, Petrus de Dacia, who was accounted the +greatest astronomer and arithmetician of his time, and was as renowned +for his theological learning as for his eloquence and profound +knowledge of Greek and Latin philology. Clad in his black canon's +dress, he rode a quiet palfrey, between the two German minstrels; and +always acted as mediator when, in the heat of argument, they became +vehement, and seemed disposed to exchange hard words. He was still in +the prime of life: on his journey through Germany he had become +acquainted, at Cologne, with Christine Stambel, the nun, so renowned +for her sanctity; and the enthusiasm with which he always spoke of this +lady would have subjected him to the suspicion of a secret passion, had +he not in his writings, as well as in his conversation, lauded with +still greater enthusiasm the blessed Virgin Mary, as preeminent in +beauty and sanctity, and exalted her to supreme rank among the saints +in the calendar. He had proved, with irresistible eloquence, that the +gracious confidence the Lord showed to St. Peter, in intrusting him +with the care of his flock, was even vouchsafed in a far higher degree +to St. John, the beloved apostle, who, as the Lord's best-loved +disciple, was appointed the protector and guardian of the blessed +Virgin. + +His vehement theological controversy on this point with the learned and +famous Aldobrandino Papparonus Venensis, of the Dominican order, was in +a great measure the foundation of the esteem in which he was held by +the learned. It was only when the conversation turned on this his +favourite theme that his equanimity was ever disturbed; excepting when +this occurred, his discourse was calm, clear, and collected. The latent +energy which lay in his full and ardent eye, with its expression of +somewhat visionary enthusiasm, was calculated to inspire kindly +attention and confidence, and (what was a phenomenon among the learned +of his time) he was altogether free from pedantry and pride. + +The king and his train now approached the cross road and the tree +behind which Morten had concealed himself: from this spot opened the +finest view on Esrom lake. "Halt!" said the king, springing from his +horse: "this is a lovely spot; we will tarry here and take our repast. +They will surely come this way from Elsinore." + +"No doubt they will, my liege," answered Marsk Oluffsen, while he and +the Drost dismounted at the same time from their horses, and gave them +into the charge of the king's groom. "Here lies the high road to Esrom +and Sjoeborg. But, if I know the margrave right, he will not ride +through Elsinore ere all the pretty maidens are awake and can admire +his fair presence and horsemanship. As yet, his head is full of nought +but love adventures and such nonsense." + +"Call you love 'nonsense,' my brave Marsk?" interrupted the king. "Do +you forget I am a bridegroom? and I trust not one of the coldest." + +"Bridegroom, my liege?" answered the Marsk: "in Danish we call no man a +bridegroom until his marriage day, and much must be done ere that day +comes." + +"Much?" rejoined the king, and his joyous animated countenance became +suddenly stern and grave--"well! much may be done in a short time, but +if they make the time too long, the day I long for may come when I +will." + +"The Lord and our blessed Lady forbid!" said Drost Aage, in an under +tone, casting a glance at the king, full of anxious and heartfelt +sympathy. + +"Let the horns play, Aage," said the king, as if desirous to prevent +more exclamations of this kind, which seemed to displease him. "The day +will be fine: we will begin it joyously." + +At a signal from the Drost, the musicians, who followed the hunting +train, struck up the air of the well-known ancient ballad of "Axel +Thordson and Fair Valborg,"[8] which they knew was a favourite with the +king. + +"Well, this is sweet music if it be not lively," said Eric: "where are +Rumelant and Poppe? 'tis pity they cannot sing Danish; their skilful +lays are but ill-suited to these tones." + +"They are disputing again on spiritual matters," said the Marsk. "They +are better fitted for a council of clerks than a hunting party." + +"Let us listen," said the king: "I dare wager Master Poppe is in the +right; but Master Rumelant nevertheless will be victor in the +controversy." + +While the music continued, and the attendants converted a low pile of +wood into a table for the repast, the king's attention was attracted by +the dispute of the two eager minstrels: each stood with the bridle of +his horse in his hand, and spoke in a loud tone, while the grave Master +Petrus sat calm and attentive on his palfrey, gazing on the lake. + +"I will defend my opinion before the whole body of clerks, and all true +believers in Christendom," said the vehement little Rumelant, striking +his saddle with the handle of his whip as he spoke: "our sinfulness +is assuredly better security for our salvation than all our paltry +virtue--that is as true as that our blessed Lady's prayers avail in +heaven, and she shows us no _favour_ when she obtains grace for us; she +shows us love and _gratitude_, which she is downright owing us for our +sin's sake, for it is not the world's virtue, but its sin alone, she +hath to thank for all her honour and glory." + +"What are you driving at, my good Master Rumelant?" shouted the +gigantic Master Poppe. "How is the holy Virgin honoured by our being a +set of sinful scoundrels? that is no honour to us, or any one else." + +"Not so, my self-sufficient sir!" shouted his opponent; "truly the case +is clearer than the sun: it is assuredly not of our perfection we +should boast, but, on the contrary, of our weakness. Would our dear +blessed Lady ever have become that she became, had not Adam and Eve +sinned, and all of us sinned too in them?" + +"No, assuredly not, my dear friend: but how the devil----" + +"Ergo, she hath man's sin to thank for her honour and glory! and ergo, +she would be most ungrateful were she not to protect sinners, and bring +us all likewise to honour and glory for our sin's sake." + +"You drive me mad. Master Rumelant," shouted Master Poppe, stamping in +wrath; "I know not what to answer you, but you are wrong, by my soul! +as I will, like an honest German, show you with my good sword if you +desire it. What if I should now commit the sin of slaying you on the +spot, would the blessed Virgin bring me to honour and glory because _of +that_? or would it be so small a sin that it could not be imputed to me +as a great merit?" + +"Worthy sirs," interrupted Master Petrus, gravely, "talk not of +spiritual things with sophistry, or in an angry spirit; least of all of +our blessed Lady, who is truth and heavenly calm itself. You exchange +spiritual for temporal weapons, Master Poppe; and you darken the +fountain of light, Master Rumelant, when you would make grace to +proceed from sin on earth, instead of from incomprehensible love and +mercy in God's kingdom." + +"It seems to me it is of sin and grace those learned disputants are +talking," said the king, seating himself by the side of Drost Aage on +the trunk of a tree at a little distance. "Well, that is a never-ending +chapter, and truly one I ought to reflect on when I wend to Sjoeborg." + +"Most certainly, my liege," answered Aage, looking with glad sympathy +on the king's noble countenance. "When we think on the great mercy we +all need, we should wish rather to be able to forgive our enemies than +to execute the most lawful sentence upon them." + +"_Him_ thou meanest will I not forgive throughout all eternity!" burst +forth the king impetuously. "He sat chief in council among my father's +murderers, he ought to sit lowest among criminals in my kingdom. If the +pope will not condemn him, _I_ will. His blood I ask not, but outlawed +and dishonoured shall he remain all the days of his life." + +"The pope, however, hath alone the right to pass sentence on him, my +liege," observed Aage. "So long as he remains captive here he cannot +defend his cause before his lawful tribunal, therefore it seems to me +but reasonable----" + +"No, Aage!" interrupted the king, "neither just nor reasonable would it +be to let loose the captive murderer, that he may perjure himself, to +go forth free and honoured among his equals; but it were _wise_ perhaps +for my own peace and happiness." + +"And perhaps for state and kingdom also," replied Aage. "This much is +certain, my liege: so long as that dangerous man is detained captive at +Sjoeborg, neither Drost Hessel nor Counsellor Jon can obtain the +dispensation for your marriage; and if I understood the wily Isarnus +aright, he is already privately empowered by the pope to enforce the +unhappy constitution of Veile against both you and the kingdom." + +"And were it so," said the king, rising, "think'st thou I and the +kingdom would be really harmed by it? Would Denmark's bishops and +priests dare to excommunicate their king, and all their countrymen? +Hast thou not thyself, because of thy love to me, been for two years +already under the ban of the archbishop? And art thou not well and +sound notwithstanding? Hath any priest in Denmark dared to shut the +church door against thee when thou camest by my side, or to deny thee +the holy sacrament in my presence?" + +"My sentence is not yet confirmed by the holy father," said Aage; "and +yet, my liege! I shudder, notwithstanding, to think of it--many of my +noble countrymen regard me with looks which sadden and well nigh dismay +me. The thunderbolts of the church are dreadful even in the hand of the +chained criminal---they would have crushed me to the earth, did I not +even yet hope that the ban, which a regicide hath proclaimed against +me, is not accounted of by the merciful Lord in heaven. The holy father +also will surely be moved by the righteousness of my cause, and by your +intercession in my behalf, to recall it." + +"He shall, he must do so," answered the king with warmth, "or I will +teach thee to defy the might of injustice--perhaps also, my faithful +Aage, I and all Denmark may have to share thy fate! but, with the help +of the Lord and our blessed Lady, we will not therefore be cast down, +or stoop to humiliation. I stake my life and crown upon it!" + +"For heaven's sake, my liege!" exclaimed Aage, in alarm; but what he +was about to utter was suddenly cut short by a significant look from +the king, who, at that moment, had caught a glimpse of a round ruddy +face, peering forth with a look of rapt attention from behind the tree +beside which they were standing. "Who is that?" asked the king. "It is +none of our huntsmen--art thou playing the spy, countryman?" + +"A stranger!" exclaimed Aage; "come hither; who art thou?" + +"Would ye aught with me, good sirs?" said Morten, the cook, stepping +forward. "I thought ye spoke to me. I am deaf, ye must know; if ye have +any commands, ye must shout at the top of your lungs." + +"Who art thou?" asked Aage, raising his voice, while he gazed on him +with a searching look. "What wouldst thou here?" + +"_Fear_?" said the cook, assuming a simple look. "I will not deny I was +somewhat afraid of your horses, and cared not to meet them on a fasting +stomach." + +"A poor crazy fellow," said the king, "let him go his way in peace, +Aage; had he even heard what we spoke of, what would it signify?" + +"Yes, by my troth, horses do signify something!" said Morten, looking +at Eric with evident interest. "The white horse signifies victory and +speedy judgment on the Lord's enemies--says Father Gregory." + +"So much the better!" said the king, gaily, giving him a couple of gold +pieces. "Go thy way in peace, I would fain hope thou hast spoken truth +in thy simplicity. The white horse is mine." + +"But the dark red signifies rebellion and the yellow pestilence," +continued Morten, seemingly touched, as he received the king's gift, +and kissed his hand. "Mark, it was therefore I got frighted, when I saw +ye between those two beasts. I am otherwise a poor sinner, at your +service. I am going a pilgrimage for my own and other folks' sins. I +will now pray for a blessing on you, noble sir!"--so saying, he strode +hastily across the road, and disappeared in the wood. + +"How would he interpret the red and the yellow horse?" said the king, +gravely. "Those pious men of the cloister fill our country and people +full of superstition." + +"The fellow perhaps was neither deaf nor half-witted," answered Aage; +"to you he naturally said fair words, in order to escape. Our stern +Marsk is not liked by vagrants; the bay horse he rides to-day is +one he lately got in exchange from your brother Junker Christopher. My +cream-coloured horse is well known, and since I fell under the church's +ban the people look on me as the emblem of pestilence and misfortune by +your side." + +These serious comments on the cook's words were now interrupted by the +sudden baying of the hounds, which dashed forward in couples towards a +thick bush of white thorn, in full cry. + +"Game! game!" shouted the huntsman; but, instead of the supposed deer, +the two concealed wanderers sprang out of the bush: they had cast aside +their peasants' mantles and their bundles, in order the more easily to +save themselves by flight in their light cuirasses, but by so doing +they had betrayed themselves, and awakened suspicion. By order of the +Marsk they were instantly seized, and brought before the party of +hunters. + +"What means this?" called the king in surprise: "we are not come hither +to hunt men." + +"A couple of deserters from your Lolland horsemen, my liege," answered +Marsk Oluffsen. "I know them; we have long been on the look-out for +them; it is they whom the Count of Lolland hath sought after as robbers +and murderers." + +"Then send them to Flynderborg[9] to await their doom!" commanded the +king. "What would they here! they shall be strictly brought to +account." + +The captured deserters were instantly led off to be bound and conducted +to the fortress. They had until now stood still and downcast, like +convicted criminals; but, on finding they were to be bound, they +suddenly started forward and defended themselves with all the +desperation of despair. They wounded three of the king's huntsmen with +their daggers, and, amid the confusion and tumult occasioned by their +unexpected onset, contrived to tear themselves loose, and instantly +plunged into the lake. Some hunters pursued them on horseback, and a +couple of hounds, trained to hunt the wild-duck, were let loose after +them; but the fugitives dived and swam with such skill and vigour that +none could see them until they landed on the opposite shore of the +lake, where they quickly disappeared in the brushwood. + +The king and his train had gone down to the water's edge to look at +this singular sight. Some hunters were ordered to ride round the lake, +in order if possible to overtake the fugitives. Drost Aage would also +have despatched some one after the pretended deaf man, whom he now +believed to be in league with the deserters. + +"No!" said the king, "he shall not be pursued. I use not to put gold +into a man's hand one hour, and fasten iron round it the next." + +The party now returned to partake of the repast which was spread +for them. As soon as they had refreshed themselves they mounted +their horses, and were about to proceed further, but the sound of +hunting-horns was now heard on the road from Elsinore, and three riders +in rich attire, with several knights and huntsmen, approached at full +gallop. It was the king's brother, Junker Christopher, with the young +Margrave Waldemar of Brandenborg, who was at this time the king's +guest, and the brave Count Henrik of Mecklenborg, who had lately +entered the king's service as commander of the army. They had been at +Elsinore, where Prince Christopher had received a Swedish royal embassy +on the part of the king. The margrave, it was said, had accompanied him +for his amusement, and to enjoy the beautiful scenery of Elsinore, but +had in reality joined the expedition at the request of Prince +Christopher, who anxiously courted the young margrave's friendship. The +prince seemed inseparable from him, and generally contrived to secure +his companionship whenever he was charged with any important mission by +the king, that it might give him opportunities, which he eagerly +sought, of raising his consequence in the eyes of the people. + +Prince Christopher, or the Junker, as he was generally called, was two +years younger than the king. Though tall and strongly built, his figure +was far from being so well proportioned as his brother's. His large +features and long visage, shaded by coarse long black hair, had a +gloomy and sinister expression, which reminded the people but too much +of his detested father. His brother, the king, on the contrary, bore a +greater resemblance to his mother, the fair and talented Queen Agnes, +who, during the king's minority, had been for the most part at the head +of state affairs, but who now led a happy private life with her second +consort, Count Gerhard of Holstein, at the castle of Nykjoeping. The +popularity which the chivalrous King Eric had enjoyed from his +childhood appeared little pleasing to his brother, and many believed +that the prince secretly exerted himself to form a powerful party of +his own in the country. In the event of the throne becoming vacant, he +was in fact the member of the royal house who might first expect to be +called to the crown, but of this there was no reasonable prospect. +Notwithstanding that some differences had existed between the brothers +on the affair of the archbishop's imprisonment, King Eric was so far +from showing any mistrust of his brother, that he even promoted his +consequence by investing him with considerable fiefs in the country. +But Drost Aage strongly suspected the prince of entertaining ambitious +and treacherous projects, and the Drost's suspicions of Christopher +were rather increased than diminished by the zeal with which, the +prince seemed to enter into the negociations respecting the king's +marriage. As well on this subject, of such moment to the king, as on +that of the Swedish King Birger's marriage with the king's and +Christopher's sister Merete, there were at this time frequent +communications between the Swedish and Danish court. The young King of +Sweden was only in his sixteenth year, and wholly dependent on his +state council, which was composed of men of very opposite opinions, and +Drost Aage feared that Prince Christopher's object in receiving the +embassy was to increase if possible the obstacles to this double +alliance. Aage was, however, deterred from imparting his doubts to the +king by the fear of occasioning a dangerous misunderstanding between +the brothers; and Eric was so far from suspecting his brother of any +dishonourable design, that he considered his anxiety to meet the +Swedish embassy as a proof of fraternal affection. The young king +welcomed both Christopher and the margrave with much friendliness; and +as soon as he had greeted them, and the gay Count Henrik, turned +towards the Swedish ambassadors, who, with some Danish knights, +followed the princely comers. In the most dignified of the two Swedish +nobles Eric joyfully recognised King Birger's faithful counsellor, the +Swedish regent and Marsk, Sir Thorkild Knudson, a tall middle-aged man, +of a grave and noble countenance; but it was not without a feeling of +uneasiness that the king beheld his companion, a withered shrunken +figure, whose cold and wily countenance wore a perpetual smile, and +whose grey, staring ostrich-like eye had an expression of sinister +scrutiny. It was the Swedish statesman and Drost, Sir Johan Bruncke, +who, next to Thorkild Knudson, was the most influential statesman in +Sweden, and appeared to stand as high in favour with the weak King +Birger as with his ambitious brothers, while he gained a knowledge of +the individual foibles of each, and well knew how to work upon them for +his own advantage. + +When the king had greeted the strangers, he proceeded with his +augmented train to Esrom monastery, where he conversed with the +ambassadors, and received letters from King Birger, Princess Ingeborg, +and his sister Merete, who, according to an earlier agreement, had been +brought up, as the future Queen of Sweden, at the Swedish court. Eric +seemed unusually joyous and animated after he had perused these +letters. His anxiety to hasten his marriage, and to have it fixed for +the ensuing summer, had met with the entire approbation of the royal +house of Sweden, and Princess Ingeborg's letter breathed the most +tender and devoted affection. + +The difficulties and objections stated by the ambassador principally +regarded the misunderstanding with the court of Rome, and the +dispensation which was yet withheld, to which the king, misled by the +ardour of his feelings, did not attach the importance it deserved. + +He invited the ambassadors to be his guests for some weeks, as he hoped +very shortly to remove all difficulties. The afternoon was spent +pleasantly in hunting, and in the evening the king, with the whole of +his train, repaired to Sjoeborg, where several cars, conveying the cooks +of the royal kitchen, and domestics of every description, had arrived +during the day. + + + + + CHAP. III. + + +The ancient fortress soon presented a scene of splendid festivity. The +spacious halls glittered with regal pomp, and resounded with the stir +and bustle which are the accompaniments of a court. With the exception +of the tower, the whole of the castle had been recently fitted up as a +royal residence. The king's principal counsellors had accompanied him, +and though he occasionally hunted, he did not therefore neglect state +affairs, which frequently occupied him until the night was well nigh +spent. + +The king never inquired after the captive archbishop, whom he appeared +to have forgotten. A reconciliation, on suitable conditions, with this +important personage, was, however, doubtless the secret object of the +king's sojourn at Sjoeborg. The adjustment of this vexatious affair was +never of more consequence than at this juncture, as it was not only a +present hindrance to his marriage, but threatened to prove dangerous +both to state and kingdom. The king, however, was desirous that no one +should know the real purport of his visit, least of all the captive +archbishop, who would probably take occasion thereby to raise his +demands to the uttermost. Besides, Eric himself appeared not to have +decided what course to pursue in this matter. Although revenge had +never been his failing, and on the contrary he had often manifested the +most generous temper, the remembrance of his father's murder had +rendered him stern and almost implacable towards everyone connected +with the regicides, and he felt it was impossible for him to make the +first advances towards a reconciliation with Archbishop Grand. He +apparently expected the haughty captive would himself petition for an +interview, and pave the way to reconciliation by a humble +acknowledgment of his guilt. One week after another, however, passed +away, without any thing of this kind taking place. The number of guests +was daily increasing at Sjoeborg. The presence of the Margrave of +Brandenborg and the Swedish ambassadors, as well as that of the hunting +party and Prince Christopher's retinue, imparted an appearance of life +and gaiety to this otherwise dreary castle, which almost painfully +contrasted with its gloomy destination, and the many dark recollections +connected with the place. + +One day in November, a singular procession approached the castle of +Sjoeborg. From two Hanseatic merchant vessels, which had anchored off +the fishing station, there landed a number of foreign seamen, who, +carrying the Rostock flag, and with large broad swords at their sides, +proceeded to the castle, amid the dissonant sound of pipes and +trumpets. At the head of the procession marched a tall stout man, in a +burgher's coat of fine cloth, trimmed with broad borders of costly fur. +It was the rich trader, Berner Kopmand of Rostock, well known at the +great fairs of Skanoer and Falsterbo, whither he was wont to bring rich +cargoes of cloth and costly spices. He was notorious for his +authoritative and overbearing deportment, and for the ostentatious pomp +by which he sought to acquire the reputation of a merchant prince. By +his side walked the almost equally noted Henrik Gullandsfar of Visbye, +also one of the most influential Hanseatic merchants, and an adroit and +politic negociator between the Hanse towns and the northern +princes,[10] They announced themselves at the castle as Hanseatic +ambassadors, and were admitted into the upper hall, while their train +was served with refreshments below. + +A long conference took place between the king and the foreign +merchants, in the presence of the Drost and council, during which +Berner Kopmand was especially loud tongued, and the king preserved his +patience for an unwonted length of time. The great privileges which had +been granted by the king to the Hanseatic towns four years before, and +which he had since augmented and confirmed at Nyborg, had not satisfied +the expectations of the Rostockers; who demanded besides, the +recognition of their self-assumed right, to pronounce and execute +sentence of death on board their own vessels upon every Danish subject +who had injured them, and fallen into their hands. The Vandal towns, +together with the merchants of Mecklenborg and Lubec, were unanimously +agreed, on their own responsibility, and without distinction, to hang +every knight and noble who should molest them on their journeyings +through Germany. + +"Enough," said the king, at last, breaking off the conference, and +rising in wrath, "I wanted but to hear how far ye would push your +impudent demands, and therefore let ye have your say. This is my +answer. My former promise to the towns I have hitherto kept; if they +content ye not, we Danes may easily learn to fetch what we want from +foreign lands, and export what we want not. When guests and strangers +are injured here they can complain; there is law and justice in the +land; but they who take the law into their own hands on Danish ground +or on the Danish seas shall be condemned as traitors and robbers, +whether they be knight or burgher, whether they be native or stranger." +So saying, the king turned his back upon the merchant ambassadors. +Without heeding their angry looks, he hastened to join his princely +guests, and the Swedish lords who awaited his coming, to set out on a +hunting expedition, and left the Hanseatic burghers to the care of the +Drost. + +The incensed merchants instantly quitted the castle with their +followers, who had become intoxicated and unruly during their stay in +the lower hall. The Marsk (to the merchants still greater annoyance) +had taken upon himself to disarm them, as with bold presumption they +had ventured on liberties which outraged both law and custom. Their +weapons, however, were returned to them on reaching the shore, whither +Drost Aage and some other knights accompanied them, with cold courtesy, +partly to protect them from the assembled rabble, which had crowded +round the intoxicated seamen, to gaze at and deride them. On their way +to the strand the wrathful traders spoke not a word, but the blood +appeared ready to start from Berner Kopmand's crimson visage, while +there was a calm cold smile on the countenance of Henrik Gullandsfar. + +When these important personages, with their reeling train, had entered +the boat, and pushed off from the shore, in order to row to their +ships, the portly Rostocker suddenly raised his voice, and shouted with +unrestrained wrath and bitterness, "Bring King Eric Ericson our parting +greeting, Sir Drost! Tell him from me, Berner Kopmand of Rostock, and +from Henrik Gullandsfar of Visbye, in our own and in the name of the +great and mighty Hanse towns, that we threaten him with deadly strife, +as the enemy of our liberty and of all noble burghership!" + +Henrik Gullandsfar nudged his colleague's elbow in alarm; but the proud +choleric Rostocker continued, "Tell the King of Denmark, dearly shall +he rue the scorn and contempt he hath this day shown us; he shall rue +it, as surely as I am called the rich Berner Kopmand of Rostock! and as +surely as I am the man to ask what is the price of this state and +country, and how many pounds a king is worth, in our times, when the +lightnings of excommunication play above his head!" + +"Such greeting and defiance you may yourself bring my liege and +sovereign," answered Aage, "if you fancy being sent back to Rostock +with your hands tied behind you like a madman." So saying, he turned +contemptuously on his heel, and returned with his knights to Sjoeborg. +He afterwards joined the king and the hunting-party, but made no +mention of this impudent defiance, which, though it seemed to him +indeed to be paltry and powerless, he yet could not but regard as a +striking instance of the insufferable pride of these monied +aristocrats, and of the boldness with which the equivocal position of +the king at the court of Rome had inspired the ill-affected and +discontented. + +After a hard chase the king rode back in the evening to Sjoeborg, with +Drost Aage by his side. It was already dark. The cold November blast +whirled the fallen leaves around them as they rode through the forest. +The moon now rose behind the trees, shining with an unsteady light from +out the flying clouds, through the leafless boughs of the forest. +Behind them rode Marsk Oluffsen between Henrik of Mecklenborg and the +Swedish regent, whose return to Sweden was fixed for the following day. +Some hunters followed with the game caught in the chase. The rest of +the train remained at Esrom monastery. The king, as well as Drost Aage, +had been remarkably silent during the day. Since the arrival of the +Swedish ambassadors, tidings had been daily looked for, but in vain, +from the Danish embassy at the papal court. The king had not as yet +taken any step towards a reconciliation with the captive archbishop. +The journey of the Swedish ambassadors could no longer be delayed, and +the obstacles to the king's marriage were not in any measure removed. +The king and his faithful Aage now rode in silence by each other's +side, apparently occupied with a presentiment which they could not +banish from their minds, but to which neither liked to give utterance. +It was the unfortunate St. Cecilia's day, which yearly brought with it +to the king bitter recollections of the dreadful murder of his father +at Finnerup. Marsk Oluffsen appeared not to remember what day it was; +he jested merrily, after his fashion, with the German and Swedish +guests, and lauded the pious and frugal manner in which King Birger's +tutor, a certain Carl Tydsker[11], had a few years since restored his +young sovereign to health, namely, by making the same vow to three +saints at once, and afterwards drawing lots to determine to which of +the good saints the vow should be kept. "I have since wondered," said +the Marsk, laughing, "whether the victory over the Kareles[12] was +thrown into the bargain, and was one of St. Eric's miracles; if so, I +must acknowledge that Carl Tydsker was worth his weight in gold." By +this unlucky jest the Marsk wounded at the same time the national pride +of both his German and Swedish companions, without appearing himself in +the least to perceive it. + +"When my countrymen as well as myself serve your king here in the +north, Sir Marsk," answered the brave Count Henrik, "I feel we deserve +thanks, and not mockery, whether we help him with prayer or with +sword." As he said this he struck his hand with some violence on the +hilt of his sword. + +The Marsk looked astounded. He was silent; but his perplexity increased +on Thorkild Knudson, also addressing him in a serious tone. "Deem ye my +victory over the brave heathen to be a miracle, Sir Marsk?" said the +Swedish knight, with a calm smile. "Every thing is a miracle, if ye +will. Without heavenly aid no victory is won on earth; that even your +victorious King Waldemar was forced to acknowledge, yet that detracts +not from his glory. I reckon the victory of Wolmar with the heaven-sent +banner, to be that which gained him his fairest laurels. Our times are +more chary of laurels. Sir Marsk! we will not rob each other of those +we win with honour." + +"By all the martyrs!" exclaimed the Marsk, with wide oped eyes and +crimson cheeks, "who ever thought of offending either you or the brave +Count Henrik? By my soul! I understand ye not," he continued in an +impatient tone; "were my brains as dull as those of other people, I +should be badly off indeed." + +Count Henrik could not suppress a good-natured laugh at the absurd +contrast between the Marsk's words and his angry tone. The +misunderstanding was soon set to rights, and the conversation turned on +former and recent warlike expeditions. + +Without thinking of what might awaken bitter recollections in the +king's mind, especially on this day, the Marsk now talked in a loud +voice of the feud, with Marsk Stig, and the taking of Hjelm, at which +he himself had been present, under David Thorstensen's banner. + +"Yet you took not the daring Marsk Stig, either dead or alive," said +Count Henrik; "'tis a strange story they tell here of his +disappearance." + +"His death, as his life, is shrouded in darkness and mystery," observed +the Swedish knight. "With us also he hath a dreaded name." + +"He was a great general, though," said Count Henrik. "I would have +given much to have seen him. Was he as tall as Sir Niels Brock or the +Duke of Langeland?" + +"He had a finer presence than either Niels Brock or Duke Longshanks, if +he measured not the same length. In that point, perhaps, both you and I +might have been his match; but he was a very devil of a fellow,--truly, +I believe neither Germany nor Sweden could boast of one like him." + +"It is true we cannot boast of so highly esteemed a regicide," said +Count Henrik, in an offended tone. "I desire not to rival his fame." + +"But, by all the martyrs! what is the matter now?" exclaimed the +astounded Marsk; "think ye I wished for aught better in the world than +to have knocked out his confounded brains? Therefore I may surely say +without offence, that neither you nor Marsk Knudson have seen his +match." + +"For that both Count Henrik and I should thank the Lord," said the +Swedish knight solemnly. "The country which gives birth to such heroes +may have to pay dearly for the boast. In our country we have storms +also, at times; and alas! have to deplore the devastations they cause. +It is the same case here probably? I suspect that Denmark hath dearly +bought this sad experience, and learnt that one daring hand can make a +deeper wound in a nation's heart than a whole century can heal." + +A rather embarrassed silence ensued. The king had heard the +conversation which had been carried on by the party behind him, and +sighed deeply. + +"It was on _this_ night, Aage," he said, in a low voice. "For nine +years have I now borne Denmark's crown, and as yet I have not fulfilled +that I vowed when I saw _him_ last." + +"Whom, my liege?" asked Aage, absently. + +"My murdered father!" said the king. "Rememberest thou not the hour +they lifted the lid from his coffin in Viborg cathedral, and laid the +sacrament on his bloody breast? It was then I bade him my last +farewell. What I vowed to him was heard only by the all-knowing God; +but assuredly I will either keep that vow, or lose my life." + +"At that time you were, as I was, a minor, my liege. If your vow to the +dead was other than a pious and Christian vow, you ought not now, as a +knight and sovereign, to keep it." + +Eric was silent. The moon shone full on his noble form, and as he sat +calm and erect on his fiery steed, with the white plume in his hat, and +the purple mantle over his shoulder, he almost resembled the chivalrous +St. George, about to strike his lance into the dragon's throat. His +manly countenance was pale, and expressive of lofty indignation. "That +I vowed to the dead I must perform," he said, after a thoughtful pause. +"A wise monarch should disperse the ungodly." + +As the king uttered these words an arrow whistled past his breast, and +stuck in Drost Aage's mantle. + +"Murderers! traitors!" shouted the king, drawing his sword, while he +reined in with difficulty his restless steed. Aage rushed with his +drawn sword to that side of the king whence the arrow was sped; the +three other knights rode up in alarm. "An arrow! robbers! traitors!" +was echoed from mouth to mouth. They looked around on all sides of the +moon-lit road, but no living being was to be seen. + +"Accursed traitors!" shouted Marsk Oluffsen, and dashed in suddenly +among the bushes on the left side of the road, where he had perceived +some white object moving. A shriek was heard, apparently from a female +voice, and the Marsk's horse started aside. At the same moment two +young maidens, in the dress of peasant girls, with long plaits of fair +hair hanging low over their shoulders, ran, hand in hand, across the +road, while a man of almost giant stature, in the dress of a Jutland +peasant, with a large broad sword in his hand, sprang forward, and +placed himself between the Marsk and the fugitives. + +"Keep ye to me!" shouted the man. "It was I--it was Mads Jyde who shot. +I mean not to show a pair of clean heels: let the maidens flee, they +have done no ill, but I am the man who dares tilt with ye all." So +saying, he brandished his sword wildly around, and wounded the Marsk's +horse on the muzzle. The animal reared and snorted. + +"Yield thee!" shouted Oluffsen, vainly aiming to strike his daring and +gigantic foe; "Yield thee captive, or thou diest!" + +On hearing this affray, the king would instantly have hastened to the +spot, where he saw swords glittering among the bushes in the moonshine; +but Aage and the Swedish knight sought to detain him, while Count +Henrik immediately surrounded the copse with the huntsmen, and +dispatched a party of them after the fugitives. The Marsk had sprung +from his intractable steed, "Cast thy sword from thee, stupid devil! +Seest thou not thou art caught?" shouted he to the tall Jutlander. + +"By St. Michael will I not," retorted the man. "None shall take Marsk +Stig's squire alive; keep but your ground, Sir Knight, and thou shalt +feel what Mads Jyde is worth." He now rushed frantically upon the +Marsk, but the warlike chief was his superior in swordsmanship, and +after a short but desperate fight the Jutlander fell, with his skull +cloven, to the ground. He half-raised himself again, and tried to lift +both his hands to his wounded head. "It was for thee, little Margaret," +he gasped forth; "let but my master's children flee, and you are free +to----" More he was unable to utter; his hands dropped from his head, +and he fell back lifeless on the ground. + +Meanwhile the king and his train had ridden to the spot. Some of the +hunters had overtaken the fugitive maidens, and brought them captive +into the circle of the king's train. All looked at them with surprise, +for as they stood there in the moonshine they had the air of princesses +in disguise. Their peasant's attire could not hide the delicate +fairness of their complexions and their singular beauty. The taller of +the two, who seemed also to be the elder, held the lesser and highly +agitated maiden by the hand, as if to protect her. She was herself calm +and pale. She looked in deep sorrow on the dead body of the man at +arms, and appeared not to heed the standers by. The younger maiden +seemed to be both frightened and curious. Though she could not be +considered a child--for she appeared to be about seventeen or eighteen +years of age--her deportment was quite childlike. She hid herself, +weeping, behind her sister, from the sight of the king and his knights, +while she nevertheless occasionally peeped, with looks of eager +observation, at their splendid attire. + +"Speak out--who are ye?" asked the king, riding up to them. + +The younger maiden drew back, and seemed preparing for flight, but the +elder held her fast by the hand, and turned to the king, with calm +self-possession, looking him steadily in the face with her large dark +blue eyes. "King Eric Ericson," she said, "thine enemy's children are +in thine hand: we are fatherless and persecuted maidens; no one dares +to give us shelter in our native land; and our last friend and +protector hath now been slain by thy men. Our father was the unhappy +outlawed Marsk Stig." + +"Marsk Stig's daughters!--the regicide's children!" interrupted the +king, casting on them a look of displeasure. "Ye meant then to have +completed your father's crime? Are ye roaming the country round with +robbers and regicides?" + +"We are innocent, King Eric!" answered the maiden, laying her hand upon +her heart. "May the Lord as surely forgive thee our father's death, and +the blood which flows here! Vengeance belongeth to the Lord. We wished +but to quit thy kingdom." + +"And ye would also have me depart this world," interrupted the king. +"They must be taken to Kallundborg castle," said he to the huntsmen. +"The affair shall be inquired into; if they can clear themselves they +may leave the kingdom. Away with them; I will not look on them." So +saying, the king turned his horse's head to avoid the sight of the fair +unfortunate, who for an instant appeared to have softened his wrath. + +No one had viewed the captive maidens with more compassion than Drost +Aage. "My liege," said he, in an under tone, "how could the innocent +maidens help----?" + +"That the arrow slew none of us?" interrupted the king hastily. "I dare +say they were not to blame for that. Wolf's cubs should never be +trusted; they shall meet with their deserts. Away with them." + +"Then permit me to escort them, my liege," resumed Drost Aage. "If a +knight's daughters be led to prison, knightly protection is still owing +them on their way thither." + +"Well, go with them, Drost," answered the king aloud, waving his hand +as he spoke. "They shall be treated with all chivalrous deference and +honour; ye will be answerable for them on your honour and fealty." The +king then put spurs into his impatient steed, and galloped off, +followed by the Marsk, the Swedish knights, and the whole of the train, +with the exception of Drost Aage and four huntsmen. + +The elder of the captive maidens still held her sister's hand clasped +in her own. She had approached the body of the slain squire, beside +which she knelt, bending over his head. Drost Aage had dismounted from +his horse, and stood close by with the bridle in his hand, and with his +arm on the saddle-bow. It seemed as though the sight of the kneeling +maiden had changed him into a statue. + +The restless movements of the younger maiden did not attract his +attention; his gaze dwelt only on the kneeling form: she seemed in his +eyes as an angel of love and pity praying for the sinner's soul. He +observed a tear trickle down her fair pale cheek, and could no longer +restrain the expression of his sympathy. "Be comforted, noble maiden!" +he exclaimed, with emotion; "no evil shall befall you. The man you +mourn for may perhaps have been true and faithful to you, but (were he +not struck with sudden madness) he fell here as a great criminal. Carry +the dead man to Esrom," he said to two of the huntsmen; "entreat the +abbot in my name to grant him Christian burial, and sing a mass for his +soul." They instantly obeyed, and bore away the body. The kneeling +maiden arose. + +"Let me provide for your safety," continued Aage. "Ere your case has +been inquired into according to law, you cannot quit the kingdom; but I +pledge my word and honour King Eric will never permit your father's +guilt to make him forget what is due to your rank and sex." + +"If we are really your prisoners. Sir Knight," said the elder sister, +"then, in the name of our blessed Lady, lead us to our prison; promise +me only that you will not separate us, and that you will not be severe +to my poor sister." + +"Neither for yourself nor for your sister, noble maiden, need you fear +aught like harsh treatment; and if you, as I hope and believe, can +justify yourselves, your captivity will assuredly not be a long one." + +"Our life and freedom are in the Lord's hand--not in man's," said the +eldest sister, in a tone of resignation. "In this world we have now no +friends. Our father's meanest squire sacrificed his life for us; he +whom he made a knight forsook us in the hour of need," she added in a +low voice. + +Drost Aage now gazed with increased sympathy on the calm pale maiden, +and was cut to the heart by the expression of dignified sorrow in her +countenance, called forth by the consciousness of her desolate +condition. + +"I will be your friend and protector so long as I live!" he exclaimed +with visible emotion. "That I pledge myself to be on my knightly word +and honour." + +"The Lord and our dear blessed Lady reward you for that," answered the +fair captive. "You seem to wish us well; but if you are King Eric's +friend, you must certainly hate us for our father's sake." + +"Assuredly I am King Eric's friend!" said Aage, the blood mounting to +his cheek as he spoke, "but I cannot therefore hate you. If you, as I +fully believe, are innocent of what hath just now happened, as a knight +and as a Christian also I owe you and all the defenceless friendly +consolation and protection." + +The horses of the two huntsmen who had quitted the party had been +meanwhile led forward, and had their saddles arranged so as to admit of +the maidens riding without danger or difficulty. The younger sister was +first mounted. She had not as yet uttered a word, but had gazed +restlessly around, occupied apparently in forming conjectures of the +most contradictory nature. At one moment she appeared dejected and +ready to weep, at another her bright eyes sparkled with animation, and +she seemed to meditate a venturous flight, while the next she looked +with an air of queen-like authority at the courteous young knight and +the two huntsmen, as if she had but to command to be obeyed. It was not +until she was firmly seated in the saddle, with the bridle in her hand, +that she seemed fearless and at her ease. "Let us speed on then," she +said with sportive gaiety. + + + "What though full small the palfreys be, + 'Tis better to ride than on foot to flee." + + +"If this knight is our guardian and protector, it is of course his duty +to defend us. At a royal castle, besides, they must know how to give us +royal entertainment." + +"We wend not to yon dark castle as honoured guests," replied her +sister; "but keep up thy spirits, Ulrica, all the hairs of our head are +numbered." So saying, she allowed herself to be placed on horseback; +and Drost Aage was presently riding between his two fair captives +through Esrom forest, followed by the two huntsmen. + + + + + CHAP. IV. + + +The party rode on for some time in silence and at an easy pace through +the dusky forest. The elder sister sat with drooping head, and seemed +lost in melancholy thought; but on reaching an open place in the +forest, from whence they had an unclouded view of the star-lit heavens, +she looked up, and the star-light seemed to be reflected in her soft +blue eye, while her countenance was irradiated by an expression of that +inward peace which springs from the stedfast hope of a blessed +immortality. "God's heaven is vast, and beautiful, and calm, indeed," +she exclaimed, in a gently tremulous tone. "In God's kingdom above no +one is outlawed or persecuted." + +"And no soul shut out from love and mercy," added the young Drost, +painfully reminded of his separation from the church, which he felt +but too deeply; "yet, even here, noble lady!" he continued, with +calmness--"even here, God's kingdom can and will come to us--that we +daily pray for. But what avails it, that we look for the peace of +Heaven ere we have it within our own hearts! It is my belief that God's +kingdom may be found every where." + +"Assuredly you are right," said the gentle maiden, regarding him with +friendly sympathy; "you must likewise have known what sorrow is, noble +knight! but Christ and our blessed Lady have given you the grace to +overcome evil with good. This I can see in your eyes, and hear in your +voice, though you are a brave and redoubted knight." + +"Would you were right touching _such_ victory, noble maiden!" answered +Aage, "but evil is so mighty in the world, that no knight should vaunt +himself of having overcome it; the noblest of monarchs overcomes not +evil in his own kingdom, and scarcely even in his own heart." + +"Yes, in his own heart he surely must!" said the maiden; "but you are +right after all, the power belongs not to man." They rode on for +another hour in silence, and drew near to Esrom monastery. + +"The young King Eric looked as though he were good," resumed the elder +maiden, at length; "sternly as he spoke to us, I still could not fear +him; and our just rights he would not deny us; only thus doth anger +beseem a king." + +"My liege and sovereign is impetuous," said Aage; "he is strict, but +just; and there is assuredly no knight in Christendom who more +faithfully observes all the noble laws of chivalry." + +"If that be true," exclaimed the maiden, with a suppressed sigh, "then +I am thankful even for the misfortune which now brings us this way; had +I even been myself the cause of our faithful foster-father's death," +she added, after a pause, "his blood will nevertheless not be upon my +head." + +"How mean ye, noble maiden?" asked Aage, starting. "I understand you +not." + +"Had my father's faithful squire but hit the mark he aimed at," +answered the maiden, "you and all King Eric's faithful friends would +now have had more to sorrow for than we. His arrow never missed the +eagle in his flight"--she paused, as if hesitating to say more: "yet +you shall know it," she continued--"had not my sister shrieked, had I +not clung to the archer's arm, he would surely have been alive and safe +among us at this moment, while ye wept the death of your liege and +sovereign. But praised be St. Cecilia! it were better it chanced as it +did, were even King Eric not so good and just as you say he is." + +"Assuredly, noble maiden!" exclaimed Aage, in astonishment, "you have +been the means of averting the greatest misery: knew ye that +miscreant's intention?" + +"I knew he had sworn the king's death, for our father's sake, and that +he would keep his vow. He meant to flee with us out of the country; but +when the hunting train approached, we hid ourselves: he recognised the +king, and instantly seized the cross-bow"--she stopped and burst into +tears. + +"You have followed a fearful guide," said Aage, in a low voice; "weep +not for his death. Although you knew his fell purpose, your soul hath +been rescued from sharing his crime, and the king hath to thank you for +his life. Yet would you had been ignorant of that madman's purpose! +Such dangerous information you should never have confided to me." + +"Why, then, did you question me of it, Sir Knight!" + +The colour mounted to Aage's cheek, and he paused for a moment. "A +crazed murderer was, then, your only friend and protector," he resumed; +"his accursed scheme of revenge could not have been frustrated had you +not known it! Had you but other witnesses, besides yourself and your +sister, of your conduct towards him! yet, I dare confirm your testimony +with my blood, and with my sword: be comforted! With the Lord's +blessing, you shall never need to fly from Denmark;--instead of the +captivity to which I am now forced to lead you, my just sovereign owes +you thanks and honour." + +"That we can never look for from King Eric," answered Margaretha; "all +doors and all hearts here are now shut against Marsk Stig's children; +if the king will but grant us permission to quit the country, we will +thank him, and pray for him in our exile. The world is wide, and there +are Christian souls in other lands also." + +"Courage, Margaretha!" exclaimed the youngest sister, who had listened +with eager interest and sparkling eyes. "If King Eric be as just and +chivalrous a prince as he looks to be, and as this good knight says he +is, there cannot be the least doubt that he must acquit us, and restore +to us our inheritance, with royal compensation for all we have lost." + +"Alas, dear sister!" answered Margaretha, in a melancholy and +beseeching tone, "gold and lands cannot replace what we have lost. The +happiness and honour which this world and its rulers can give us we +should no longer seek, but rather aspire to higher blessings." + +"You hear, Sir Knight! that my pious sister is already half nun and +saint," said the younger sister, gaily playing with a sparkling rosary +of rubies and diamonds, which she had until now concealed under her +neck-kerchief. "If you will defend our cause like a brave knight, she +will assuredly pray piously for you in a nunnery; but if I ever come, +by your help, to the station which is my birthright, I will not forget +you either in my prosperity." + +Drost Aage was startled; he bowed courteously, in answer to this +address, while he turned his horse aside in silence, leaving the +sisters to ride side by side. + +"Hush, hush, good Ulrica!" whispered Margaretha, who glowed crimson at +her sister's speech; "thou knowest not thyself what thou sayest, but it +doth disgrace us in the eyes of the stranger knight." + +"I know well enough what I say," answered the capricious maiden, with a +scornful toss of the head, "and if _thou_ wilt not vaunt thyself of our +high descent, depend on it, _I_ will; charity begins at home, and I +have often heard that no knight's daughter in Denmark's kingdom hath +ever had a greater man for a father." + +"Alas! that greatness is our misfortune," said Margaretha, with a sigh; +"dearest sister, repeat not to any human being what you have just now +said! Ask not my reasons! I can never tell them thee; but thank God +thou knowest not all!" + +"Art thou beginning with thy riddles again?" said her sister, +pettishly, as she looked inquisitively at her; "what in all the world +canst _thou_ know, which _I_ know not. If thou wilt not confide every +thing to me, when we two are alone, I will never more be so foolishly +fond of thee. Thou art, indeed, quite insufferable at times, however +pious and excellent thou may'st be." + +While this little dispute was passing between the sisters, Aage's +attention was diverted from them by the sound of the tramping of +horses' hoofs, and of loud talk. They were just then passing the gate +of Esrom monastery, from whence a party of richly attired knights rode +forth, with some ecclesiastics among them. It was Prince Christopher +and the Margrave of Brandenborg, with the Swedish Drost Bruncke and the +Abbot of Esrom, who, with several priests and knights, accompanied a +tall ecclesiastic of foreign appearance, and wearing the red hat of a +cardinal. Aage instantly recognised the papal nuncio, Cardinal Isarnus. +The sight of this powerful prelate inspired Aage with a feeling akin to +dread, and with a presentiment of coming evil, he was, besides, +ill-pleased to see him in Prince Christopher's company; he desired not +to encounter them, and would have hastily turned into a bye-road, but +the unusual sight of two peasant girls on horseback, accompanied by a +knight and two of the king's huntsmen, had already attracted the +prince's attention; he hastily rode up, followed by two knights, to +ascertain who they were. + +"Ha! indeed! Drost Aage," said the prince, in a scornful tone, "the +preacher of our strict laws of chivalry, are ye carrying off _two_ +pretty maidens at once? I think you might content yourself with one--if +I see aright, these fair ones are of a somewhat higher class than they +care to pass for; speak, who are they?" + +"The unfortunate daughters of Marsk Stig, noble junker!" answered Aage; +"I am escorting them, by the king's orders, as state prisoners, to +Kallundborg." + +"The viper brood of the regicide!" exclaimed the prince, while a dark +crimson hue suddenly overspread his countenance. "Well! this is an +excellent capture. Throw them into the subterranean dungeon; they shall +never more see the light of day." + +The younger sister shrieked in alarm at this wild threat, but the elder +made a sign to her to be silent, and endeavoured to tranquillize her +fears. + +"They are to be treated with justice, and with all chivalrous deference +and honour," answered Aage, calmly; "such is my sovereign's will and +express command, which I shall punctually obey." + +"_I_ am governor of Kallundborg, Drost!" called the prince, in wrath; +"the state prisoners sent thither are under my control. Ride with them, +Palle! give my orders to the jailor! you are answerable for their being +obeyed!" He now said a few words to one of his train, but in so low a +tone as to be unheard by every one else, and then turned his horse, and +rode back to his party. Each now pursued their separate road, but the +knight who had received the prince's private orders joined Drost Aage +and his prisoners. + +This unwelcome companion was a fat, short-necked personage, with a +repulsive expression in his crimson-coloured full-moon visage. He was +generally called the rich Sir Palle, and made himself conspicuous by +the costly, but not tasteful, splendour of his dress and riding +accoutrements, which he prided himself on being able to compare in +value with the king's. He sought by an affectation of youthful gaiety +to conceal his age, which very closely bordered on fifty. He was still +a bachelor, but was an unwearied wooer, and greatly desired to pass +for a doughty knight, and an irresistible invader of the hearts of the +fair of every rank. He was not liked by the king, but was a hanger-on +of Prince Christopher, to whom he was appointed gentleman of the +bed-chamber. He was in bad repute among the lower class, on account of +several adventures, little creditable to himself, which were circulated +throughout the country in satirical ballads. He rode for some time in +silence by Drost Aage's side, apparently annoyed at being despatched on +this unlooked-for errand. Aage was silent also, and pursued the journey +without noticing him. + +"My presence is troublesome to you, perhaps, Sir Drost!" exclaimed +Palle, at last breaking silence. "This mission is not to my taste +either. The prince was in his stern mood to-day; when that is the case +he will not bear contradiction, or I should gladly have begged to +decline the journey. Where _you_ act in the king's name, I well know +that _I_, as the junker's deputy, might just as well be absent." + +"Truly, I think so likewise, Sir Palle!" answered Aage, in a tone of +indifference, as he quickened his horse's pace. + +"It is all one to me whether your captives receive hard or gentle +treatment," continued Sir Palle; "but if I bring not my lord's commands +to the jailor at Kallundborg, you see yourself, I shall draw down the +junker's wrath upon me, and that I have no mind to do for the sake of a +couple of vagabonds." + +"Perhaps you heard not what I told the prince of the name and rank of +these ladies?" asked Aage, measuring his rude companion with a look of +defiance, while he slackened his horse's pace; "even without regard to +their birth, you owe them respect, as honourable Danish maidens, and +for the present moment I am their protector against every insult." + +"Ho, ho! you are somewhat hasty, Sir Drost!" answered Palle, "who +thinks of insulting the pretty maidens? what though they may have +scoured the country round, without stockings and shoes, they should not +be thought the less of for that; they are now going to be led, +according to their rank, to an honourable state prison. I perceive the +fair prisoners have already captured our chivalrous Drost, by way of +reprisal." + +Drost Aage coloured deeply at this jeering speech. "By your leave, Sir +Palle!" he said, with suppressed wrath, "here lies the road to +Kallundborg; it is long and broad enough for us all, and we need not be +troublesome to each other; if ye will ride on before or follow behind, +we will accommodate ourselves accordingly; but if you desire to honour +us any longer with your company, you must behave courteously, or you +understand me----." He struck on the hilt of his sword, and was silent. + +"Well, well, either before or behind, or courteously in the middle--or +fighting? These, are indeed four pleasant alternatives," answered +Palle. "With your permission, I choose the third, as the happy medium, +and purpose, in all peace and courtesy, to remain in such fair company. +I have hardly seen the ladies as yet;" so saying, he rode up between +the sisters, whom he greeted with a bold and scrutinizing stare. "What +in all the world is this?" he suddenly exclaimed, in the greatest +astonishment, as he looked at the youngest sister; "Gundelille! do I +see _you_ here? Mean you to befool the Drost also? Would you now give +yourself out to be Marsk Stig's daughter? The other day you were but +the farmer's daughter at Hedegaard." + +"Yes, I was so _then_," answered Ulrica, laughing; "Gundelille is my +name still in the ballad of 'Sir Palle wooing the driver.' Perhaps you +have not heard it, Sir Palle? I will gladly sing it you; it is vastly +entertaining." + +If any part of Sir Palle's visage was before wanting in a crimson hue, +the deficiency was now fully remedied; he seemed highly enraged; but +the sight of Ulrica's arch little face appeared to produce such an +effect upon him that he could not give vent to his anger. He spurred +his horse, and had nearly pushed the ladies into the ditch, as he +suddenly dashed past them. + +"Know ye this knight, noble lady?" asked Aage, in surprise. + +"Oh yes! tolerably well," answered Ulrica, laughing. "I once played off +a little joke upon him." + +"It was indeed a daring frolic of my sister's, Sir Knight!" interrupted +Margaretha. "Sir Palle had long plagued her, and she thought she could +not in any other way get rid of his importunity; but it was wrong, no +doubt; he became a laughing stock, and an object of general ridicule in +consequence; and if you do not now prevent it, he bids fair to avenge +himself." + +"But what was it you did?" asked Aage. Ulrica laughed, and would have +told the story, but her sister laid hold of her arm. "Silence, dear +Ulrica! here we have him again," she whispered, and Ulrica was silent. +Sir Palle had checked his horse, and joined them again. He seemed +perfectly to have recovered his self-possession. He assured Drost Aage +that he was so far from desiring such captives should be harshly +treated, that he even wished it were possible entirely to free them +from imprisonment. "I have seen them before," he added, "and had I +known who they were, they should not now have been on their way to +prison." Shortly afterwards he again rode in between the maidens. + +"Pitiless Gundelille," he whispered, "speak no more of that cruel +story. I meant not to wrong you; had I known you were the daughter of a +noble knight, I would have proffered hand and heart, in all reverence +and honour, and even now were I so fortunate as to find favour in your +lovely eyes----" + +Without looking at him, Ulrica began to sing, + + + "List ye then, Sir Palle! + No wrong do ye to me, + When mass is sung and ended, + In my car shall ye seated be." + + +"Sing not that accursed song, fairest of maidens!" interrupted Sir +Palle; "I will not offend you; but believe me, loveliest of the +lovely----" + +Without heeding him, she now sang aloud, + + + "And then she clad her driver lad + In purple robe so rare; + In the driver's suit was quickly clad + Gundelill', that maiden fair." + + +"Hush! I will not say a word more," interrupted Sir Palle again. "But +if you knew how greatly I love and honour you----" + +The sportive maiden set up a loud laugh, and continued to sing, + + + "Sir Palle then, the wealthy knight, + Enters the car full bold, + Salutes the driver with delight + And in his arms doth fold. + + "It was the lady Gundelille + Who drove into the yard; + She laughed, I tell ye, heartily + At the jest he deemed so hard." + + +"Ha!~ that jest you shall dearly rue," whispered Palle, in a rage. "You +sing sweetly," he said aloud; "remember you the whole ballad, fair +lady? If you sing another verse," he whispered, "it shall cost you +dear." + +"Hush, dearest sister!" said Margaretha, in a tone of earnest entreaty; +and Ulrica was silent. + +Sir Palle now rode round to Drost Aage's side, and did not again +address himself to the captive maiden. He was silent and gloomy. He had +observed with great wrath a repressed smile on the Drost's countenance; +and the huntsmen who followed them laughed, and whispered together in a +manner which too plainly indicated that Sir Palle and his unfortunate +love adventure were the subject of their ridicule. The two younger +huntsmen were strongly, attached to Aage; they had remarked how little +acceptable Sir Palle's company was to him; and they now, as if to +beguile the time, began to hum the well-known ballad of the brave +knight Helmer Blaa. In one of the many scenes of violence which were +the consequences of the proscription of the outlawed regicides, Helmer +Blaa had slain Sir Palle's uncle. On this account he had for a long +time been barbarously persecuted by Sir Palle and his six brothers, +until he at last vanquished all the six in honourable self-defence, and +compelled Palle to give him his sister in marriage, who, before this +feud, had been betrothed to the gallant knight. This occurrence (so +derogatory to Sir Palle's reputation) had attracted general attention, +and almost every young fellow in the country could repeat a ballad in +honour of the bold Helmer Blaa, who had not only been acquitted by the +king and whole body of knighthood, but stood also high in favour with +Eric. The burden of the song,-- + + + "In the saddle he rides so free," + + +fell on Sir Palle's ear. + +He looked back towards the huntsmen, with a face glowing with rage, but +they appeared not to notice it; and one of them sang aloud,-- + + + "Better I cannot counsel thee, + That thou tarry not, but hence should'st flee, + In the saddle he rides so free." + + +"Your huntsmen, Sir Drost, would drive me hence with vile songs, I +perceive," said Sir Palle, turning to Aage. "Is it you, or yonder +pretty maiden, who have inspired them with this pleasant conceit?" + +"You are perhaps not a lover of song, Sir Palle?" answered Aage; "that +is unfortunate: the merry fellows wish to beguile the time for us on +the road." + +"If I hear aright," growled Palle, "that song may perhaps shorten the +road to heaven for both of them if it is not presently ended." + +"Think you so?" answered Aage carelessly. "If you will give us your +company you must reconcile yourself to our merriment. Haste to sing the +song to the end," he called to the huntsmen, "or Sir Palle will be +wroth;" and the huntsmen sang gaily,-- + + + "In the town my true love shall ne'er hear it said + That I before her brothers have fled. + + "Full boldly rode Helmer her brothers to meet, + His courage was equal to every feat. + + "First Ove, then Lang, his eye did survey, + And then did his sword come quick into play." + + +"S'death!" shouted Sir Palle, and his sword flew from the scabbard. "If +ye _will_ have the sword come into play, you shall feel it too." So +saying, he turned his horse, and rushed like a madman upon the +huntsmen, who had not time to prepare for defence, ere his sword had +cut through their jerkins, and inflicted one or two wounds. But the +huntsmen, enraged at this sudden onset, drew their long hunting-knives, +and threatened a bloody revenge. Ulrica shrieked on hearing the affray, +and the elder sister turned pale. "Stop, knaves!" cried Aage, riding in +between Palle and his antagonists: "two against one is not fair play. I +will decide this matter alone with Sir Palle." The Drost had drawn his +sword, and was expecting his opponent to turn towards him, but Sir +Palle's horse seemed to have become suddenly skittish and unruly: it +galloped off, on the road to Esrom, with its enraged master, whose +spurs stuck in its sides, while he swore and brandished his sword over +his head. The huntsmen laughed loudly at this sight. Ulrica joined in +the laugh; and as soon as the slight wounds of the huntsmen had been +bound up, the party pursued their journey, though in a different +direction from that in which they had set out. + +"I must have been mistaken," said Drost Aage to the huntsmen. "It could +hardly have been to Kallundborg, but rather to Vordingborg, that the +king commanded me to accompany these ladies; there he, and not Prince +Christopher, is ruler. If there was other meaning in his words, I will +be answerable for it." As they turned into a bye road, a tall man in a +peasant's dress, mounted on a small peasant's horse, without a saddle, +started out of the thicket by the road side, and suddenly disappeared +again among the bushes. "Kagge!" exclaimed Ulrica, with involuntary +delight, and seized her sister's arm. Margaretha gave her a significant +look, and she was silent, but often gazed restlessly around. + +Drost Aage had heard the exclamation, and started. The name of Kagge +was but too familiar to him. A squire of noble birth of this name had +been among Eric Glipping's murderers at Finnerup; he had fled with the +other outlaws to Norway, and was prohibited, on pain of death, from +setting foot on Danish ground; had he, notwithstanding, been in the +train of the captive maidens, their connection with so dangerous a +traitor might operate greatly against them. This incident obliged the +Drost to be on the watch over the security of his captives. Silent and +anxious he pursued the journey. + + + + + CHAP. V. + + +Prince Christopher and his train meanwhile pursued their way to +Sjoeborg. They rode at a slow pace, to suit the convenience of the +foreign prelate. The mysterious importance which Cardinal Isarnus knew +how to assume as the pope's legate, and the reserve with which he +evaded every close question, had worked up the prince to a pitch of +anxious expectation, which he vainly endeavoured to hide. Isarnus +appeared with a splendour corresponding to his high rank as a dignitary +of the church; his richly attired attendants followed him at a +respectful distance, together with his famulus and secretary; near him +rode the Abbot of Esrom and two foreign ecclesiastics. Isarnus +conversed with his countrymen and with the abbot by turns, in the +Italian and Latin tongue: his converse with the prince and the margrave +was short and abrupt, and carried on in almost unintelligible German. +He appeared, indeed, to avail himself of the want of a common language, +by leaving every query unanswered to which he considered it might be +impolitic to reply. In important negociations he made use of his +famulus as an interpreter. Wherever this powerful prelate appeared in +the country, he was the object of superstitious awe. The unusual +spectacle of the cardinal's red hat worked upon the imagination of the +people like the appearance of a comet, and was considered to be as +ominous of evil, as that dreaded phenomenon of the heavens. Some of the +most ignorant among the lower orders even believed it was the pope +himself who had arrived in Denmark to dethrone the king and +excommunicate the kingdom; and it was not alone from reverence, but as +much from fear, that the wonder-stricken peasants and old women +especially, knelt down whenever they encountered the cardinal. His +long, sallow, and imperturbable visage, with its expression of cool +menace, and foreign aspect, combined with the preconceived notion of a +supernatural and mysterious power, seemed endowed with the petrifying +influence of Medusa's head. + +"Dear Sir Pope! harm us not!" frequently whimpered forth the sick and +crippled who knelt in his path. He understood them not, and no word +proceeded from his thin compressed lips, but he extended his arm, with +a cold unchanging mien, and with his three fingers, which sparkled with +costly rings, signed over their uncovered heads the silent token of a +blessing, which they feared would soon be changed into a curse, for the +threats with which he had last left the king and the country, were +generally made known through the fears of the clergy themselves, and +their zealous exhortations to repentance. + +Accompanied by this ecclesiastical scarecrow. Prince Christopher now +approached Sjoeborg. After several fruitless attempts to gain the +confidence of the mysterious legate, the prince withdrew, leaving his +place by the cardinal's side to the Abbot of Esrom and the other +ecclesiastics, who conversed with him, in Latin, upon philosophical and +theological subjects. The bold and joyous margrave rode by the side of +Sir Helmer Blaa, and talked eagerly of campaigns and tournaments. The +prince allowed them to pass him, and remained alone behind with the +Swedish statesman, Drost Bruncke, to whom he appeared desirous of +communicating something of importance ere they reached Sjoeborg. + +"You will now probably delay your homeward journey, Sir Drost!" said +the prince, in a confidential tone. "That which yon mysterious guest +brings with him may prove as important to your sovereign and to the +Swedish council as to us." + +"Perhaps it may alter the state of things here rather more than your +royal house would wish," answered Bruncke, ambiguously; "what else can +your highness mean?" + +"Yonder red cloud is doubtless charged with holy lightnings," continued +the prince, pointing to the cardinal, whose red hat flared through the +trees in the moonlight. "If my stiff-necked brother does not now give +in, misfortune stands at his door; such is ever the result of all half +measures. An important state prisoner should be either timely buried, +or else let loose. Was not that your opinion also, Sir Drost?" + +"It is often the wisest policy," answered Bruncke. "The dead _cannot_ +tell tales; and the generous, once restored to freedom, _will not_." + +"You know the individual I allude to," continued the prince; "he will +now either be let loose, and become perhaps more dangerous than ever, +or the storm will burst which he hath conjured over us hither from +Rome. He was as good as buried--that was my doing, but I got sorry +thanks for it. Out of mistimed compassion he was brought up once more +from the grave;--to spare a sick priest, they had the folly to let +loose the bishop's understrapper, so that he was able to flee, and stir +up heaven and earth to work our ruin. I then counselled a timely +reconciliation; but when sternness should have been used they were weak +and mild, and when reconciliation became the wisest policy they were +stern and pertinacious. My counsel was never heeded; hate and disfavour +were my thanks. The people will now have their eyes opened, and perhaps +your young king also, provided he will be guided by his wisest +counsellor." + +"Very possibly, noble prince!" answered Bruncke, with a crafty smile; +"but as yet I see not the danger, and even were I so fortunate as to +perceive it, and to understand you, so long as Thorkild Knudson is at +the head of state affairs, and in such high honour and favour"--he +paused, and shrugged his shoulders. + +"He rises but to fall," continued the prince, "should he even win my +brother's favour also. By his friendship with your dangerous dukes, and +the high alliance which is spoken of, he is sealing his own doom." + +"That is very possible, your highness," answered Bruncke, with a +malicious smile; "his vaunted wisdom is not infallible; with time +cometh experience. Were but your royal brother only not so ardent a +lover, and our fair princess somewhat less devoted to him"-- + +"Childish fancies!" interrupted the prince. "State policy alone, not +childish folly, should counsel here. Your young king hastes not +so with his marriage, and therein he acts wisely. Between ourselves, +Bruncke,"--here he whispered confidentially, while he nearly drew +bridle,--"my sister Merete is little suited to your king, but his +soft-hearted sister is still less so to my brother. This double +alliance will be ruinous for both kingdoms. You may easily come to +share our unhappy position with regard to the papal see; and if enmity +breaks out betwixt your king and his ambitious brother, there is no +doubt against whom Princess Ingeborg, as queen, will arm Denmark and my +enamoured brother. That she holds the haughty warlike duke, Eric, far +dearer than his crowned brother, you know yourself much better than I." + +"Truly, I cannot but admire your highness's policy," replied Bruncke, +in a fawning tone, while his wily glance seemed to penetrate the +prince's most secret thoughts. "You are as wise as generous; prizing +Denmark and Sweden's happiness higher than your own sister's and +brother's domestic felicity! Here I recognise the lofty, princely +spirit, which soars above the petty interests of private life. But, to +speak truly, I see not how this double alliance can be prevented or +broken off, without a breach of peace, while your royal brother sways +here, and follows nought but his own inclinations." + +"We must have time, Bruncke" whispered the prince; "the guest we bring +him to-night will soon change the aspect of affairs in Denmark. I +shudder myself to think of what may happen, but things cannot remain as +they are; your young king will always need a wise counsellor, who can +rule people and kingdom in his name. For this office no one is so fit +as yourself. Set your head to work, sage Bruncke; if it should be +endangered, you may count on me." + +"Let us reserve these matters for your private chamber, noble prince," +whispered Bruncke, looking cautiously around. "Woods have ears, and +plains have eyes, they say. It were, perhaps, good policy that I should +henceforth be apparently somewhat out of favour with your highness." + +"Right, Bruncke; contradict me tomorrow at table, in the king's +hearing, and I will reply in a manner which you must only _feign_ to +take amiss." + +"Every ungracious word spoken to me by your highness in public, I shall +take to be a proof of your secret favour. All that I can promise you," +he added in a whisper, raising his hand so as to screen his face on the +other side, "is the delay of both marriages as long as possible; as to +what concerns me personally, I depend upon your princely word." + +"I give you my hand upon it, sage Bruncke" answered the prince, +extending to him his hand. "Now let us be off; the cardinal hath +reached the lake already." + +They spurred their horses, and overtook the rest of their party by the +shore of the lake, where a floating bridge had been contrived for the +convenience of this unusual throng of passengers. While they halted +here, Sir Palle returned at full gallop, and told the prince, almost +panting for breath, that he had been murderously attacked by Drost Aage +and both his huntsmen at once. + +"Indeed, I am glad of it," answered the prince, in a tone of +satisfaction. "The Drost shall dearly rue such unchivalrous conduct. +You can of course swear to what you say, Palle! else no one will credit +it." + +"Swear to it!" repeated Palle, with glowing cheeks, and endeavouring to +hide his confusion; "those who will not believe me, by my troth may let +it alone; ungodly oaths I have forsworn." + +"Then the devil take your chatter," muttered the prince, in displeasure, +and turned from him. + + + + + CHAP. VI. + + +On his return to Sjoeborg Castle, King Eric had shut himself up in his +private chamber, engrossed in serious reflections on the imminent peril +he had just escaped; it seemed to him as if St. Cecilia's eve was +destined to bring with it misfortune and danger to him and to his race. +This was the second time he had encountered traitors and robbers in the +neighbourhood of Sjoeborg. The conviction, however, that he possessed +the love and devotion of his subjects, soon dissipated the young king's +gloomy mood. He had summoned the Swedish Marsk, Thorkild Knudson, to a +private audience, and now conversed calmly and frankly with this noble +knight on the happy alliance between Denmark and Sweden, which at the +present time was the chief subject of the king's thoughts, and in which +his heart so ardently shared. + +Thorkild Knudson was a handsome man, of a thoughtful and dignified +aspect, rather more than forty years of age; his dark hair seemed to +have grown untimely grey. His powerful influence as regent had gained +him a high reputation, as well in his own country as in foreign courts. +An honest aspiration after power and rank was manifest in his fiery +glance, and the noble commanding expression of his countenance bespoke +a dauntless confidence in his own powers, and a species of proud +contempt for all the petty arts by which less highly gifted statesmen +often seek to supply the want of sound political wisdom. As he sat +opposite the young king, attired in his blue knight's dress, with the +large chain of the order around his neck, and conversed with him, with +freedom and sympathy, he might have been taken for a fatherly friend or +relative of King Eric, had he not, by strict observance of the respect +due to Eric's exalted station, but without a tinge of flattery, known +how to receive the confidence reposed in him by royalty with an +appearance of homage which detracted not from his own dignity as the +ambassador of a foreign monarch. + +Although Thorkild Knudson, as Swedish regent, was authorized on the +part of King Birger and the state council to accede to the king's +desire of having the celebration of his marriage fixed for the ensuing +spring, yet it was only on the condition that the pope's dispensation +should be obtained before that time. But because of the vehemence with +which the king always rejected the idea of every obstacle, Thorkild +Knudson had hitherto propounded this condition in as mild terms as +possible. He now touched upon it again, and took the opportunity of +bringing the case of the captive archbishop to Eric's remembrance. + +The colour mounted to the young king's cheek; he became suddenly +silent, and a secret struggle seemed passing within his breast. He +looked around him once or twice, as if he missed some one; at last, +however, his eye rested with evident pleasure and satisfaction on +Thorkild's intelligent and noble countenance. "I esteem my future +brother-in-law fortunate," he said, "in possessing a man like you for +his friend and counsellor. You are now to him what my aged counsellor +Jon and my well-beloved Drost Hessel have been to me from my childhood +upwards. The misunderstanding with the papal court has long deprived me +of my best and most experienced counsellors. My faithful Drost Aage is +not older and more experienced than myself. I feel confidence in you, +Sir Thorkild. Were I your liege and sovereign, what would you counsel +me in this weighty matter?" + +"To see the prisoner, and hear his defence--_dispassionately_, noble +King Eric," answered the Swedish statesman. "As far as I know, he hath +not only _done_ wrong, but _suffered_ wrong; for a long and severe +imprisonment is a suffering and punishment, which can only be called +just, when it is inflicted according to a lawfully pronounced +sentence." + +"Was it then unjust in me to imprison a state criminal, who was an +accomplice in the murder of my father--an accursed regicide?" said +Eric, with vehemence, and rising from his seat. "Should I have given +him time to escape, or stir up the people against me, because he was +not condemned by the pope and the bishops? Can I acknowledge +ecclesiastical law when it would acquit a rebel and regicide?" + +"It was perhaps necessary for your grace to hinder his flight and +treasonable designs," answered Thorkild Knudson, who had risen from his +seat at the same time with the king, "were it not possible previously +to obtain papal authority for the step; but, by your grace's leave, as +your counsellor, I would have freely and openly pronounced all +unnecessary severity to be as dangerous as unjust." + +"With my knowledge he hath suffered no injustice," answered the king. +"The manner of his seizure I highly disapproved; and I have declared +what took place then in my minority to have been contrary to my wish. +My brave Drost Torstenson I have dismissed. In him I have lost a +faithful, but too zealous and rash a friend. My own brother I severely +reprimanded. For the sake of a state criminal, I have exposed myself to +unpleasant differences in my own family, which wound me deeply, and may +perhaps prove dangerous to state and kingdom. What more can reasonably +be asked of me?" + +"Noble sovereign," resumed Thorkild Knudson, with earnestness; "you +vouchsafe to show me a confidence which I highly prize. At the present +moment I am, thanks to the Lord, able to reciprocate it with honest +frankness. I trust a double relationship will unite you, and my liege +and sovereign in a lasting union; but I will not abuse your confidence. +I would not have your grace confide aught to me which you might regret +I should know, if at any time, which God forbid! my fidelity to my king +and my native land should compel me to seem your and Denmark's foe. +Even in such a position I would esteem and admire your noble spirit, +and I know you would not misjudge me." + +"No, Sir Thorkild," answered the king, extending to him his hand; "even +were you forced to-morrow, as a loyal Swedish statesman, to become my +adversary, I should not misjudge your heart and chivalrous spirit. I +value your esteem--answer me freely! think ye I have acted unjustly in +this matter?" + +"Well then, King Eric," said Thorkild, "allow my answer to be a +question to which you can best reply yourself. Had counsellor Jon, and +Drost Hessel been with you at this time, think you, you would have so +long delayed the advances towards a reconciliation, which I cannot but +conjecture was the main object of your prolonged sojourn here?" + +"It is not for me, but for the captive criminal, to take the first step +towards reconciliation," answered the king; "but I am now weary myself +of this procrastination. Here lies a proposal for a reconciliation +which I have caused the Drost to draw up. I will see the prisoner +to-morrow." + +"Why not this very evening, noble sovereign?" said Thorkild. "If you +incline to reconciliation, it was perhaps in a fortunate moment you +permitted me to become your counsellor. The accomplishment of your own +heartfelt desire is probably more closely connected with this +negociation than you imagine." + +"Well, I will see him this evening--this very hour," said the king, +pulling the bell string. An attendant entered. "Tell the steward, the +captive archbishop is to be brought hither." The attendant bowed, and +departed. The king threw himself into a chair, and fell into a reverie. +Thorkild Knudson seemed preparing to take his leave. + +"No, stay, I entreat you," said the king, and then paused for a few +moments. "On this night was my father murdered," he resumed in a +tremulous voice; "the man who is about to appear before me was the +chief counsellor of the murderers. You shall be present, and see that I +am neither revengeful nor unjust; but you shall also see, that even to +promote my highest happiness I am incapable of forgetting for a moment, +that which I owe to the crown I wear. Read! Only on these conditions +will he be released." So saying, he reached Thorkild a written sheet of +parchment which lay on the table. Thorkild perused it slowly, and the +king watched his countenance as he read. "Well, is it not so?" said +Eric eagerly. "I demand only what is just and reasonable--safety for +crown and country--peace with the church--obedience to the laws of the +land, so long as he is my subject. I will not pass sentence in my own +cause--as a traitor to the crown, he must be condemned by the pope." + +"I must own your grace's demands are more moderate than I should have +supposed. If you are perfectly correct in the charge you prefer against +him, I should still call these terms generous; and yet I doubt whether +he will accept them. The parting with Hammerhuus----" + +"He _shall_ give up that castle," interrupted the king; "a rebel and +traitor shall own no fortress in my kingdom. Were he even seated in St. +Peter's chair, _here_ he is my subject." + +"Undoubtedly; and he may perhaps make that sacrifice for his freedom; +but the seventh clause--pardon me, your grace, for saying that it seems +to me to be in opposition to his duty to the church and to the Holy +Father. Until he is deposed by a papal bull, no one can hinder him from +using the church's power against whomsoever he will, without asking +leave of the king or of any temporal authority." + +"He shall be forced to do so!" exclaimed Eric, with vehemence. "While I +am king, no miscreant shall persecute me or my subjects with unjust +excommunication and all the plagues of hell. I am placed here by the +Lord Almighty to protect my people and their liberties, and not all the +bishops in the world shall rob me of this right. I will answer for what +I do before the Lord above as well as before my subjects, and before +every true and loyal knight!" So saying, the king again pulled the bell +with vehemence. Another attendant entered. + +"Light all the tapers in the knights' hall!" commanded the king. "Bid +the master of the household call together the whole court and every +knight here in the castle. Place my throne at the end of the hall!" The +attendant departed in haste on a signal from the king. + +"Your grace is too precipitate," said Thorkild; "give not a publicity +to your interview with this dangerous prelate which he may abuse to +your hurt and prejudice." + +"My cause shuns not the light," answered the king. "I use not to speak +or treat with my bitterest and deadliest foe otherwise than I dare make +known to my loyal subjects and the whole body of Danish chivalry. A +traitor's oath demands witnesses." + +"But caution and--I trust your grace will pardon my boldness--state +policy demand there should be as few witnesses present as possible," +objected Thorkild Knudson, with anxious sympathy. He would have said +more, but at this moment the door opened, and he was silenced by the +entrance of the tall Archbishop Grand in chains. + +Led by the steward and the three turnkeys, besides two men-at-arms, the +haughty prelate stepped across the threshold of the king's private +chamber, with a stare of wild defiance, without fixing his eye on any +object. He was attired in a white Cistercian mantle, without any of the +insignia of a bishop; his proud countenance was pale and emaciated; his +beard was shorn, his head was bare, and around his tonsure curled a +ring of tangled grey hair. He moved slowly, and every step seemed +attended with pain; but it appeared as if, with a contempt of all +bodily suffering, he exerted himself to the utmost to prevent his +outward appearance from becoming an object of commiseration. + +When the king beheld him he involuntarily stepped back, and a feeling +of sorrowful sympathy for fallen greatness was manifest in his look, +while at the same time the remembrance of his father's murder, and this +man's share in the misfortunes of state and kingdom, overspread his +noble countenance with the crimson of indignation. + +"You may go," said Eric to the guard. They obeyed, and through the open +door of the knights' hall, which was instantly shut again, the king +beheld a numerous assemblage of knights and courtiers, looking with +anxious suspense and curiosity towards the entrance to the private +chamber, through which they had seen the captive archbishop conducted. + +The haughty captive continued standing about two paces from the door, +and had not as yet vouchsafed a look or salutation to the king. He +stood immoveable as a marble statue, and his cold uncertain gaze, now +first warmed into life, as it suddenly fixed with frightful earnestness +on a silver crucifix, which stood by the side of the king's shield, on +a shelf above a prie-dieu. + +"You stand in the presence of your liege sovereign. Archbishop Grand," +began King Eric; but he paused again to restrain his anger at the +captive's look of rude defiance. + +"Yes, truly, I stand in the presence of my _heavenly_ Ruler and King," +answered Archbishop Grand, folding his fettered hands, without +withdrawing his gaze from the crucifix. "_He_ shall judge between me +and the tyrants of this world." + +"You stand also before your _temporal_ ruler and king," continued +Eric--"before your lawful superior in this country and kingdom. For +what ye have sinned against me and Denmark's crown you will have to +answer at the great day of judgment, but first _here_; as certainly as +there is justice upon earth, first _here_. I have sent in my accusation +of your crimes to the tribunal of St. Peter; the Holy Father hath +required me to liberate you that he may hear your defence, or your +confession." + +"Why then have ye not obeyed, King Eric?" interrupted the captive, for +the first time turning his proud glance upon the king. "Will ye delay +until the holy lightnings melt the crown from off your brow?" + +"How long I shall wear the crown, the righteous God alone can +determine," answered the king. "Without His Almighty permission no +power on earth can injure a hair of my head." He paused for a moment. +"When we liberate a dangerous offender," he continued, with more +calmness, "he must give us security for his release. The guiltiest +criminal shall have the right of defending himself, but not of +committing fresh crimes on his way to his tribunal. If he hath any +remains of conscience and honour, and if we are to trust him, he must +take the oath we require. If he will not--be it so! he may be tried in +his dungeon, and defend himself in his chains." + +"And what security doth King Eric demand for the release of the +captive, whom he, without lawful sentence, and contrary to the law of +God and the church, caused to be imprisoned and maltreated?" asked the +archbishop, with bitterness. + +"For the justice of your imprisonment I will answer to the Great Judge +above," answered the king, raising his hand; "but the point in question +is only whether you may justly and reasonably be released; to decide +this I have summoned you hither. Know then, Archbishop Grand! although +you were undoubtedly an accomplice in my father's murder--although I +abhor you as my bitterest and deadliest foe, and as the greatest +traitor in Denmark, I fear not, nevertheless, to loose your guilty +hands when justice demands it; but _here_ ye shall neither raise hand +nor voice against crowns and sovereigns; ere ye leave these walls ye +shall swear by your salvation, in the sight of God and the chivalry of +Denmark, to promise that which I here, as the protector of the crown +and people, have required and demanded. When you have read the +conditions of your release, and are willing to take the oath before my +throne, in the hearing of all my knights, your imprisonment may end +this very hour." + +At a signal from the king Thorkild Knudson reached the sheet of +parchment to the archbishop, and placed one of the tapers closer to +him. The hand of the proud captive trembled as he took the parchment, +and it cost him evident effort to read it; but it seemed as if his +strength and spirit increased as he proceeded; and when he had perused +it to the end he laughed scornfully, and crumpled the parchment in his +hand.--"Shall I leave my degradation unavenged?" he cried--"Shall I +fetter my tongue myself that it may not announce to you eternal death +and damnation?--Shall I part with my last earthly defence?--Shall I +subject the holy church's right to the arbitration of a tyrant? No, +King Eric Ericson! as yet I am an anointed and consecrated archbishop, +with power to bless or curse the crown thou wearest. Even in these +chains I have the power to push the crown from off thy head with a +single word. Over my body, tyrant! thou may'st have power, but, by the +Lord above, not over my free immortal spirit! Ere I will consent to one +of these conditions thou and thy executioners may sever every limb from +my body, as I now rend asunder, with this hellish compact, all bond and +tie between me and the despots of this world." So saying, he rent the +parchment before the king's eyes, threw the fragments on the floor, and +stamped upon them until his chains rattled. + +"Madman!" cried the king, in great anger, "stay then in thy prison, and +defy me there, until thy dying day! I release thee not until thou hast +put thy seal to every word thou hast here trampled under foot, should I +be a hundred times excommunicated by the pope in consequence," Eric +hastily pulled the bell-string. The door of the knights' hall opened, +and the master of the household appeared. "The guard," commanded the +king--"the captive is to return to prison." + +The loud talking in the king's private chamber had excited +apprehensions among the king's knights and courtiers, who knew he was +next to being alone with the dreaded prisoner. As the chamber door +opened, all thronged towards it, as if fearing some misfortune. + +"Back!" said the king, and he was obeyed; but the door to the knights' +hall remained half open, and ere the guard arrived to fetch the +prisoner. Archbishop Grand had taken a bold resolve. He hastily seized +the crucifix, upon which he had gazed so long, and with this holy +symbol in his hand, before which all were forced to bow, he advanced +with long powerful strides into the middle of the knights' hall; here +he halted, and turned suddenly towards the king, who stood on the +threshold, amazed at this sight, and seemed about to issue orders for +the seizure of the prisoner. + +"Anathema!" shouted the archbishop, in a terrific voice, and raising +the chained hand which bore the crucifix. "King Eric Ericson of +Denmark! I pronounce the sentence of excommunication upon thy head. I +announce to thee, and every Christian here present, that thou art +fallen under the church's awful ban--" + +"What? audacious villain! seize--gag him!" exclaimed the king, stepping +over the threshold. + +"Anathema!" shouted the archbishop still louder.--"He who lays hands on +me is accursed.--Thou art cast out of the community of believers and of +saints.--Thou hast no longer any power over Christians, King Eric! In +virtue of my holy office, and the apostolical authority of St. Paul, I +give thee over, as the enemy of God and the church, to Satan, and to +the destruction of the flesh." So saying, he described the stroke of +forked lightning in the air with the crucifix, and looked around him +with flashing eyes. + +All stood as if petrified by terror and amazement. The king appeared +once more about to speak; but he had grown deadly pale, and it seemed +as if his voice was choked by anger. Ere he was able to speak, the +archbishop again burst forth with a deafening voice, while he turned to +the knights and courtiers: "Fly, Christians! leave the pestilent one! +pollute not your souls by intercourse with the excommunicated one! +accursed is now the hand which brings him food, accursed the servant +who serves him with fire or water, accursed the tongue which comforts +him with a single word, so long as his soul is given over to the Evil +One. He who ten days hence still serves and obeys this foe of the +church I give over with him to Satan and to the destruction of the +flesh, that the soul may be saved at the day of the Lord Jesus! Amen!" + +On finishing this speech he made a genuflexion, kissed the crucifix, +and handed it to the chaplain of the castle, who stood trembling +nearest him among the king's suite, and bent his knee, while he pressed +this so fearfully abused symbol of blessing with a look of sorrow to +his heart. "And now, excommunicated king!" added the archbishop, with a +triumphant countenance, and with the mien of an exulting martyr, +tearing the mantle from his emaciated breast, "now may'st thou, if thou +darest, order to be torn asunder the church's anointed, who announced +to thee the sentence of the Lord. My body is, perhaps, in thy power, +but the spirit is God's, and his is the power throughout all eternity." + +A death-like silence reigned throughout the hall, the greatest terror +was depicted in the faces of the knights, while their eyes turned with +sorrowing sympathy towards their excommunicated sovereign. It seemed +for a moment as if the lightnings of excommunication had struck the +young king with the power of real lightning, and smitten him with +lameness. He had staggered back so dizzy that he was forced to support +himself by the door-post; but he now summoned up all his strength, and +stepped forward with quick and passionate strides among his knights and +courtiers. + +"A regicide stands in the midst of us, and would give us over to the +Devil, to whom he himself belongs," he burst forth, in a tone of the +highest exasperation; "he who is himself accursed presumes to pronounce +the Lord's judgment upon men. On this unfortunate St. Cecilia's eve my +father's blood cried aloud from the earth, and accused this criminal +before the Lord's tribunal. His head should long since have fallen +under the axe of the executioner, and now he would judge and +excommunicate us; he would destroy my immortal soul, had he the power; +but no! each word he hath spoken is lifeless and powerless--his curses +fall back on his own guilty head. The Holy Father shall judge between +us! The King of Denmark recognizes no sentence as lawful which is not +confirmed by 'the Father of Christendom. Away with the miscreant!" + +The knights and courtiers appeared able to breathe freely again, on +hearing these words from the king. They looked on him with confidence +and devotion, yet still appeared to hesitate, and no one prepared to +seize the dreaded prisoner, who stood erect and haughty among them, and +seemed to triumph in the spiritual power he had exercised even in +chains. + +"Hence with the criminal!" repeated the king; "until he recalls the +ungodly ban he sees not the light of day. Guards! halberdiers! why +tarry ye? hath this miscreant's words struck you deaf and lame? Fear ye +to obey your liege sovereign?" + +The guards and halberdiers now surrounded the archbishop, but with +manifest trepidation. The terrific prisoner stood immoveable, with his +eyes turned upwards, towards the roof of the hall, and no one as yet +dared to lay hands on him. But the king again broke silence. "I still +bear crown and sceptre," he exclaimed; "I shall know how to defend +myself and my loyal subjects against this monster! I swore by my +father's bloody head to uphold the rights of the crown and the insulted +dignity of majesty against every power on earth whether spiritual or +temporal, and by all the holy men![13] I will keep that vow. Will not +the loyal Danish nation, will not Denmark's chivalry stand by me +undismayed in my fight for truth and justice? Then, indeed, will Danish +loyalty be a theme for mockery, and Danish courage for scorn. Are ye +true and valiant Danish men, and do ye let yourselves be scared by a +mad traitor into betraying your liege sovereign?" + +All doubt and apprehension seemed now to have disappeared among Eric's +knights and courtiers. The hall resounded with shouts and loyal +acclamations. The archbishop vainly strove to speak again. The +indignation against him was general, and without hesitation the guards +laid hands on him to lead him back to prison. But ere they reached the +door it opened, and Prince Christopher, accompanied by the Margrave of +Brandenborg, entered with the papal legate between them, followed by +their train of ecclesiastics and laymen. All started at the sight of +the tall foreign prelate with his cardinal's hat and withered visage. +He stepped with an authoritative air before the prince and the +margrave, and bowed to the king, and towards all sides of the hall, in +silence, and with the air of a superior, as if appropriating to himself +the loud acclamations which were heard on his entrance, but which were +now suddenly hushed. He seemed startled on perceiving the chained +prisoner in the Cistercian mantle. He nodded, and the guard stepped +aside. The captive archbishop felt himself suddenly freed from the +sturdy grasp of the men-at-arms. "Gloria in excelsis!" shouted Grand, +as he raised his fettered hands, and kneeled at the cardinal's feet. +"Blessed be thou, thou messenger of the Lord!" he continued in Latin. +"See here, how an archbishop in Denmark is treated! See, and judge, in +the Holy Father's name, O thou, his high ambassador! I have, in virtue +of my holy office, published the church's ban upon this presumptuous +king, because of his defiance to the law of the Lord and the church! +Confirm it in the Holy Father's name, Lord Cardinal--or see Archbishop +Grand expire of wrath and ignominy at your feet!" + +"Arise, my venerable brother, and be comforted," answered Isarnus, also +in Latin. "I bring with me authority from his Holiness to enforce the +constitution--'Cum Ecclesia Dacianae.' Read this document aloud to the +king and the court, in the language of the country, worthy Abbot +Magnus." As he said this he reached a large parchment letter, with the +papal seal, to the aged Abbot of Esrom, who had accompanied him. The +abbot opened it with a trembling hand, but as he glanced over it a +flood of tears rolled down his furrowed cheeks. + +"I _cannot_," stammered the old man; "he is my liege and sovereign! I +conjure you, my lord, by the all-merciful Creator! use not the power +here given you to our king's and our country's destruction. This is a +matter which demands the highest consideration. This authority is not +unconditional, either," These last words were spoken in Latin, and +appeared to startle the cardinal. + +The unexpected entrance of the papal legate at this critical moment, +his singular appearance, as well as the mysteriousness of his conduct, +and the speaking in a foreign tongue, had once more inspired the +bystanders with a feeling of consternation which deprived them of the +power of speech. Even the king appeared for some moments to have lost +his self-possession and the consciousness of royal authority, while the +attention of all present was rivetted upon the terrific stranger. Eric +now stepped forward a few paces, and seemed about to assert his +authority by a commanding address; but at the same moment the fettered +archbishop snatched the document from the abbot's trembling hands. +"Here is papal authority for ban and interdict," he cried, "praised be +the Lord! his judgments are righteous. Enforce your authority, most +reverend sir! Anathema and the church's ban upon the king, and those +his accomplices in guilt!" So saying, he raised his fettered hands both +towards the king and Prince Christopher, who appeared to be in great +consternation at this sudden and unlooked-for blow. + +"Not a word more here, on pain of instant death, impudent miscreant!" +exclaimed the king, in a loud tone, and in the highest exasperation. +"Take that mad criminal to prison, halberdiers! Let every one leave +this place! We will inquire in our council with what authority this +stranger is empowered to treat with the king of Denmark. When he +proposes it, and it suits our convenience, we will talk with him in our +private chamber." So saying, the king returned to his own apartment. +Not another word was heard in the knights' hall; even the archbishop +found it expedient to be passive as the two halberdiers and the guard +approached to lead him out of the hall. All the knights and courtiers, +as well as Prince Christopher and his train, departed in silence. The +halberdiers who were on guard, alone remained behind. They snatched up +their halberds, and ranged themselves in their customary order without +the king's apartments. Abbot Magnus had also left the hall, and +Cardinal Isarnus stood almost alone in the middle of the floor between +his amanuensis and interpreter. He looked with surprise around the +suddenly deserted hall. + +It was not until he had announced himself through his interpreter in +suitable form to the captain of halberdiers, and requested an audience +with the king, that he was received with the demonstrations of respect +due to a papal ambassador. His arrival was formally announced, and he +was shortly afterwards admitted to a private interview with Eric. + +What had passed had thrown every one into the greatest suspense and +uneasiness, and an anxious stillness reigned in the castle. The foreign +prelate quitted not the king's private chamber until the night was far +advanced. The king did not make his appearance, but, according to his +orders, the strictest court etiquette was to be observed. Arrangements +were made in the castle for the protracted sojourn of the cardinal and +his train. He was to be honoured as a princely guest. The return of the +Swedish ambassadors was postponed. The following day another long and +private conversation took place between the king and the papal legate. +The presence of this dignitary, and his over-awing authority, banished +all gaiety and cheerfulness from the castle. + + + + + CHAP. VII. + + +On the evening of the second day Drost Aage had not as yet returned +from his expedition, as the protector of Marsk Stig's captive +daughters. He had conducted them without impediment to the king's +castle at Vordingborg; but as he was about to ride into the arched +gateway he was attacked from behind, and dangerously wounded, by an +unknown hand. Aage was carried, in a state of insensibility, into the +castle, while his huntsmen vainly pursued his stealthy foe, in whom +they thought they recognised the same tall horseman in peasant attire, +and mounted upon the little Zealand horse without a saddle, whom they +had several times seen on the road, but who always vanished as suddenly +as he had appeared, and who they conjectured must have followed their +track by secret paths from Esrom. + +The commandant at Vordingborg had received the wounded knight, with +great alarm; he instantly recognised in him the young Drost, and the +favourite of the king. As soon as Drost Aage had recovered his +consciousness, he informed the commandant of the rank and position of +the two ladies, and also that they were to be considered as state +prisoners, for whose security he would be responsible, although their +stay here was to be rendered as agreeable as under such circumstances +it was possible to make it. The commandant instantly ordered the gates +to be barred, and sentinels to be stationed; but he threw open the +interior of the castle without reserve to his guests, and a messenger +was dispatched to inform the king of what had happened. + +Meanwhile the assembled party at Sjoeborg were in some degree +tranquillised, when on the noon of the third day the king again made +his appearance at table, where he sat, with a calm and almost cheerful +countenance, between his brother Christopher and the papal legate. +Their secret negociation seemed to have taken a friendly turn, and +great reliance was placed in King Eric's manly sense and political +wisdom. Report said that the Italian prelate seemed to bear our +northern climate excellently well, and perhaps might not be disinclined +to take up his abode here, if the king should come to an agreement with +the papal see, and the archbishoprick of Lund became vacant by the +deposition of Grand. It was conjectured that the formal annulment of +the archbishop's authority, and of his own self-empowered sentence of +excommunication, had been the subject of the king's conferences with +the unfathomable Isarnus, and it was reasonably hoped that the cardinal +would grant this important condition of the archbishop's release, ere +the king fulfilled the demands of the pope. But some days elapsed +without any apparent decision being taken. Meanwhile, no change took +place in the condition of the captive archbishop, who remained in close +confinement. + +Although neither the king nor his loyal and devoted subjects recognised +the validity of the sentence of excommunication pronounced on them by +the archbishop, so long as it was not formally ratified by a papal +decree, this awful procedure had nevertheless taken place, and with +such publicity that it could not but be generally known. The rumour +quickly spread throughout the land, and terrified the people. The +threats against those who should not within ten days withdraw all help +and companionship from the king had struck terror into many, and +several of the domestics, and of the guard of halberdiers absconded +from Sjoeborg. The tales recounted of the ecclesiastical captive's skill +in the Black Art now contributed still more to alarm his guard. At +every unusual sound from the dungeon in the night the turnkeys stole +from their posts, and the bravest men-at-arms dared scarcely remain +without the prison door, where with trembling voices they often sang +valiant battle songs to keep up their courage. The prisoner was guarded +with still increasing anxiety. A very suspicious rumour rendered +watchfulness still more necessary. Some fishermen from Gilleleie, who +supplied the castle with fish, had related in the kitchen that a +foreign bark was constantly sailing to and from the coast. The persons +on board appeared to be fishermen, and were busied during the day with +nets and fishing-tackle, but during the night they landed, and a tall +knight in disguise, accompanied by some seamen of suspicious +appearance, were seen to lurk in the neighbourhood of the castle. This +report had not indeed reached the ears either of the king or the Marsk, +but orders were issued that the guard should be doubled in the +captive's tower, and that the steward should answer with his life for +the archbishop's security. The lower classes now believed that the king +would pass sentence of death upon him, and command him to be executed. + +With the expression of fear and anger in his countenance, as well as of +fatigue from a night's watch, the steward one morning descended the +stairs of the tower prison with the keys in his hand. "All folk seem +possessed here," he muttered. "I shall now have to watch myself to +death over that confounded Satan." + +"Did I not always say so, master? He will drive us all crazed at last," +sounded a merry well-known voice in his ear, and Morten the cook stood +before him in the twilight at the bottom of the tower stairs. + +"Morten! thou crack-brained vagabond! is it thou?" called the steward; +"where in all the world hast thou been? Folk said thou wert surely +bewitched, and gone to the devil, and I began almost to think so +myself. The whole pack of them here are losing their wits, and one +after another runs off from me. Speak, man! where the devil hast thou +been?" + +"Ah! dear master," sighed Morten. "Thank St. Hubert that you are so +pious and virtuous, and condemn not a weak worldly-minded fellow who +hath been forced to do hard penance for his sins' sake. Ye have +doubtless observed how I delight in dancing and singing. In former days +I was not afraid of a little drink, either; but on St. Vitus's day it +behoves us to be cautious. As a punishment for my ungodliness in a +drunken bout, I was afflicted with St. Vitus's dance, and I thought I +should have danced for a whole year, as hath chanced to many a poor +sinner before. Perhaps you or other virtuous folk have prayed for me, +for I got off for a few weeks' sickness; but in all that time I was not +able to give any account of myself, and I have so danced the country +round that I can hardly hang together." + +"Indeed!" answered the jailor, looking at him suspiciously; "hast thou +had that sickness? It is a rare one, though, and many will have it that +it is nought but an idle superstition." + +"Dear master! remember ye not then how it seized Claus Spillemans last +year? He ceased not dancing till he dropped dead in Sjoeborg streets." + +"Well, that is true enough; he went mad, no doubt, on St. Vitus's day; +but it was not upon _that_ day thou did'st kick up such a riot, and +did'st run off from the turnkeys. Be honest, Morten! hast thou not +suffered thyself to be seduced by the bishop to run errands for him? +Thou hast tramped the country sturdily round, that I see right well, +and if thou now hast a fancy to be hanged for thy zeal in the service, +thou comest in the very nick of time; both the king and the Marsk are +here, and when the one passes a sentence, the other is at hand to +execute it." + +"Dear pious master! what do you take me for?" answered Morten, putting +on a look of astonishment. "Had I run errands for such a traitor I must +have been stark mad indeed to come back again now, and let myself be +hung for it. No, trust me, master, I am not so brutishly stupid. To +tell you the whole clean out, I was drunk beyond all bounds that +evening; whether it was St. Vitus's day or not I do not quite exactly +remember, but I have had neither sense nor recollection since. I must +have doubtless scoured the country round like a madman. I have now come +to my senses for the first time, and found the way to Sjoeborg again. +Here's been fine excommunicating work between the bishop and the king. +If I can be of any use to you, say the word! I could break the +archbishop's neck with the greatest pleasure in life if I could thereby +save king and country. If you have any doubt of my honesty, I will only +just fetch my traps, and take myself off with all reverence." + +"No, stay; I will believe thee, because of thy honest face, Morten," +said the steward, hastily, and casting a sharp look at him, while a new +and daring thought seemed to flash across his hangman's soul. "I have +never needed thee more than at this very time. My new cook hath also +run off. I have only one turnkey left. I must myself be every thing and +every where." + +"That is more than can be required of any Christian soul, master. The +Devil himself can hardly take that upon him." + +"Drunk and mad thou must surely have been," muttered the keeper, still +looking narrowly at him. "Hum! _so_ long a drunken fit, though, have I +never heard the like of. St. Vitus's dance? Truly that is an ailment +akin to madness; no man can answer for what he does in that state. Hum! +since thou art come to thy senses again, Morten, I will even take thee +again into service. In the day thou may'st be needed in the kitchen, +and in the night--well, we can talk of that afterwards. Old Mads the +turnkey is good for nothing; he hath now got his nephews to help him, +and I count not on them either; and those foolish men-at-arms are +afraid of being excommunicated or bewitched." + +"If I can help you with the night watch that shan't stand in _my_ way," +said Morten; "whatsoever I can do to plague and anger the bishop I do +with hearty good will. I would only counsel you not to set me to watch +in his chamber, for if St. Vitus's dance come over me I were in a case +to dance to the devil with him. It is a kind of cramp, you must know, +and I might easily squeeze the life out of whomsoever I get hold of." + +"Well, well, Morten; there is no need for that. Thou art now perfectly +well and reasonable," muttered the keeper, with a grisly smile. "I must +have some one to help me, or I shall go mad myself. One misfortune +follows another. The king is a violent man, and the junker has no great +weight with him. It is an easy thing to get into trouble when one has a +devil to watch, and stern masters to account to. Now comes that +confounded report of the vessel at Gilleleie, which plys to and fro to +help the bishop to flight." + +Morten turned quite pale. "Our Lady preserve us!--say they so?" he +exclaimed, hastily; "then, by my troth, master, there _is_ need of +watchfulness; yet it is just as dangerous to loose as to tie a mad +dog." + +"It will cost me my life if he escapes, Morten. I have the king's own +most gracious word for it. I never let the prison keys out of my hand. +The king's people are on guard, but I dare not trust them. I carry my +life in my hands. I will now depend upon thee. Come!" So saying, the +agitated steward took Morten by the arm, and led him across the yard +towards the kitchen. It was a fine clear winter's morning. It had +frozen so hard during the last few nights that a part of Sjoeborg lake +was covered with tolerably hard ice. As the steward and the cook +crossed the castle yard they saw all the king's huntsmen, with horses +and hunting equipments, waiting before the castle stairs, and the royal +car drove up. "What is agog now?" asked the steward. + +"We are off with the king to the chase at Tikjob," answered one of the +hunters. "The great lord from Italy wants to go to Esrom. He will +surely either ride, or be borne on our shoulders." + +"When come ye back?" asked the steward. + +"Faith, I know not," answered the huntsman. "To-morrow we shall have to +go with the king to Esrom. There is a great council to be held there, +they say." + +"Then it surely concerns the life or death of him yonder," muttered the +steward, pointing to the prison tower. Morten the cook became +attentive, and stopped; but he soon hasted towards the kitchen door, +where he stood, half concealed, as the door of the castle stairs +opened, and the king and Prince Christopher came forth, and mounted +their horses, together with the Marsk, the two Swedish lords, and a +numerous company of knights. The king and his train halted, and when +Cardinal Isarnus, with his famulus and his clerical train, also +descended the stairs, the huntsmen and attendants bowed low whilst they +took their seats in the royal car. The train, headed by the king and +Count Henrik, then issued forth out of the castle gate, amid the joyous +sound of the hunting horns. Morten continued standing by the kitchen +door. He had gazed on the young chivalrous monarch with a mingled +feeling of fear and admiring interest, and a secret struggle seemed +passing in his mind, as his glance turned from the noble and kingly +form which had just passed him, to the gloomy prison window from whence +he thought he heard a distant and smothered sigh. The steward had +already twice called to him without his hearing; he now called again, +with a round oath. The cook hastily passed his hand over his face, and +struck up, in a shrill voice, one of his merriest ballads, as, with +jest and laughter, he joined the domestics in the kitchen. During the +rest of the day a monastic stillness reigned in Sjoeborg castle. When +the evening closed in the steward appeared unusually friendly and +confidential, and treated his cook to a flagon of good wine from the +king's travelling store. Before he sat down at the drinking table he +had convinced himself with his own eyes that his dangerous state +prisoner was under close keeping, and that the old turnkey and his +comrade, as well as the guard without the prison-door, were at their +posts. When he had fortified himself with some cups of wine, he began +to unburden his heart to the cook. "I am an unfortunate man," he sighed +forth. "I have not closed my eyes to sleep these three nights. Each +time I shut an eye it seems to me the bishop hath fled, and I am +dangling from the gallows. It hath not fared much better with the king +himself," he continued; "if he now condemns him to death, despite pope +and clergy, he and the whole kingdom fall into trouble. If he lets him +slip hence alive, matters are just as bad. I once dreamed the bishop +had hung himself in his chains. Oh! would it had pleased the Lord it +had been so indeed!" + +"A pious wish," answered Morten. "I would willingly lend a helping hand +towards the fulfilment of that dream; of course, master, I mean in all +pious secrecy; and I blame you not for this. In your case it would be +almost a necessary act of self-defence, and, at the same time, a good +deed for king and country. Is it not so?" + +"Art thou mad, Morten! it might cost me my neck," muttered the steward; +"for ought I care he may hang himself, in the Lord's name, whenever he +pleases, if I only know nothing of it. If any good friend would lend +him a helping hand, it might indeed, as thou say'st, save king and +country, and deserve a rich and royal recompence; but I may thank my +Lord and Maker if I can save my own life. Had I but a faithful fellow +who durst watch in the chamber with him to-night I should sleep in +quiet. Hast thou not courage enough for that, Morten?" + +"Oh yes; why should I not, if I get well paid for it? If he gives me +any trouble, it were an easy matter to make away with him, without any +one seeing or knowing aught about it." + +"Art thou serious, Morten? Hast thou really courage to----" + +"To make an end of him, master?" + +"Hush! No; I say not that. St. Gertrude preserve me from tempting any +one to do that deed, even though it might be a benefit to state and +country, and might make a poor fellow happy for life. No; that was not +my meaning. Darest thou let me shut thee up with him to-night?" + +"Yes, on one condition, master." + +"What is it?" + +"That you will not be wroth and complain of me if perchance you were +not to find us to-morrow morning in the same trim as to-night." + +"Pshaw, Morten; it matters not to me in what trim I find you. I will +pay ten silver pieces for every night you watch beside him, and a +hundred for the LAST." + +"But even were that pious lord, through his witchcraft, to get loose +after a fashion, I should surely get the blame of having let him slip." + +"Ha, ha! thou art a merry wag, Morten," muttered the steward, with a +horrible laugh. "The liberty thou canst give him, when I have locked +the door after thee, shall not disturb my night's rest. Of course," he +continued, with an uneasy and inquiring look, "thou must first let me +search thy garments, to see that thou has not a file or any other tool +with thee; that is a precaution I have ever used when I let any one +watch with him in the chamber." + +"That is but reasonable. You are a conscientious man." So saying, +Morten pulled off his jerkin, and turned his pockets inside out. "But +now I think of it, master, it won't do after all. If St. Vitus's dance +should come over me." + +"Pshaw! thou art quite well and hearty." + +"But I am too hot-headed, master; and the bishop is wrath with me from +former times. I have now and then plagued him a little, as you know, +and should he take it into his head to insult me, or get hold of me, +and I were forced to defend myself, it might cause a little stir, and +set the guard and the whole castle agog." + +"That needs not be. Thou art a bold fellow, Morten. Come! The guard +shall not stand too near the door, and disturb thine and the bishop's +rest, and shouldst thou get into a dispute with him about the state of +souls after death, or such like learned matters, lay folks shall not be +the wiser for that. Drink a cup of wine to a good night, and then let's +away. I want rest, and so doth the bishop. It is late." Morten nodded, +and drank. + +With a horrible smile on his coarse hypocritical countenance, Jesper +Mogensen snatched up a lantern, and descended the staircase leading to +the prison door, accompanied by the cook. He paused once or twice with +uneasiness and suspicion, and held up the light towards Morten, who +followed him with a cheerful countenance. + +"Thou look'st as well pleased as if I were leading thee to a jolly +night revel," he muttered; "go on before. I cannot endure that rustling +behind me." + +Morten obeyed, and assumed a thoughtful look. + +"Let not the guard smell a rat," he whispered, and pointed to a cord +which was twisted round his waist. The keeper nodded, and seemed +reassured. He ordered the guard to move further from the door, which he +then half opened, and peeped in, holding the lantern before him. As +soon as he had seen the captive lying quietly with his hands fettered, +he pushed Morten into the chamber. + +"A good and _quiet_ night," he said, with a grim smile, clapping to and +locking the door behind him; he also carefully barred it without, and +then descended the stairs. The nearest sentinel observed that he often +looked timorously behind him, as if his own footsteps sounded +suspiciously in his ear. "The stupid devil!" he muttered. "What he doth +he shall himself answer for; it is no concern of mine." + +When Morten entered the murky prison, he stood in silence, until the +sound of the locking and bolting of the door had ceased, and until the +hollow tread of the steward's iron-shod boots died away on the stairs; +he then approached the captive's couch, and was about to speak, but he +now heard singing and loud voices in the upper chamber. It was old Mads +the turnkey making merry with his nephews and the young fellows from +the village who were to keep watch with him. Morten listened in +silence. He perceived from their inarticulate voices and drowsy songs, +that the mead and Saxon ale he had secretly brought them had been +greatly to their taste. Through a little hole in the ceiling above +there fell a ray of light from their lamp upon the archbishop's couch, +and lit up his long pale visage. He lay with closed eyes without +stirring, apparently in a sound sleep. Morten seated himself upon the +damp stone floor, and interrupted not his repose until the noise of the +carouse had entirely ceased, and he heard in the stillness of the night +how they were snoring overhead. "Sleep you, venerable sir?" he +whispered, as he rose up from the floor. + +"No, thou faithful servant of the Lord!" answered the archbishop, in a +weak voice, and raised his head. "I and the Lord's vengeance do but +_seem_ to sleep, until it is time to wake and act." + +"Now is the time to show clean heels," continued Morten. "Is all ready +here?" + +"Long since. Thou hast tarried long; yet even that was an ordering of +the Lord. I was destined even in my chains to become a chastising rod +in the Lord's hand; but I was well nigh believing thou had'st failed +me, or wert betrayed." + +"You thought, then, I was either a fox or a sheep, reverend sir. Have +you the rope ladder?" + +"Here--but be cautious, Morten. Tie it to the thickest bar in the +grate; that is secure. Take the others out; they are filed through--but +make no noise! I can rid myself of the fetters. Thy file was blunt, but +the Lord sharpened it in my hand. His angel hath struck mine enemies +both deaf and blind." + +"But now comes the _knotty_ point, pious sir," whispered Morten, as he +lingered, with an ambiguous smile. "Now all depends upon whether the +Lord's angel will help you still farther. Up to the window he hath +indeed taught you to creep, but we have to descend thirty-six feet from +thence to the tower wall, and then we still have that confounded castle +wall besides. Over the moat and lake the Lord hath indeed laid a +bridge. See you this cord? Were I now to strangle you with it I might +perhaps make my fortune; but I am too pious a fellow for that. I will +but fasten it to the slip knot, that we may be able to draw the ladder +after us. I will go down first to aid you. Look now. I will answer for +the ladder, if you can but keep your hold, till I can reach you from +below. But----" + +"With the Lord Almighty's help"--whispered Grand, in an anxious tone, +and looking at the jolly cook, with a half suspicious glance--"assist +me first up to the window, I am weary and weak. Now, what art thou +thinking of, Morten? Haste, or we are betrayed." + +"A little scruple has just entered my head, venerable sir," whispered +Morten. "I am a good Christian, and I know well enough both you and the +pope have my soul and the souls of all Christians in your pockets. You +have saved my life, do you see, and therefore have I promised to free +you, whatever it may cost; but I am also a Danish man, and you cannot +ask that, for your sake, I should betray state and kingdom, or plunge +our young brave king into misfortune. Had I seen _him_ sooner, and +known he was so noble a lord, I might perhaps have thought better on +what I promised _you_. I know you have excommunicated him, and given +him over to the Devil, but by my soul he is too good for that, and if I +am now to set you free you must promise me, by our Lady and St. Martin, +that you will recall the ban, and do no harm to him or any other man in +the country." + +"Dost thou rave, Morten?" exclaimed the archbishop, greatly surprised +and enraged; "would'st thou ape the tyrant, and prescribe conditions to +me? If thou doest not that thou promised me, I will excommunicate thee +also, and thou shalt be eternally damned." + +"In that case, reverend sir," whispered Morten, hastily creeping out of +the window to the rope ladder, with the loose end of the cord in his +hand, with which he could slip the looped knot that fastened the +ladder,--"In that case I will bid you good night, and take the ladder +with me to hell." + +"Morten! good Morten! betray me not," whispered the archbishop, in a +beseeching tone, climbing with haste up to the window. "I will not deal +harder by the king or any one here than I am compelled for the Lord's +and the church's and my conscience sake." + +"Then will you loose him from the ban as soon as you are free and in +safety yourself?" asked Morten, still keeping his stand on the ladder. + +"Yes, surely; yes, surely; only be silent, and help me." + +"Then I will believe you for the present," whispered Morten, and crept +down the ladder. Its last step was still ten feet from the ground, but +the dexterous cook clung fast to it with his hands, and jumped down +without any great difficulty. The archbishop had now also got out of +the window, and with much effort held fast by one step, while he groped +with his foot for the other. But on lifting his foot from the last +step, to his great dismay he discovered that the ladder was much too +short, and that in all probability his life would be endangered should +he come to the ground without assistance. + +"Help me, help me, Morten!" he entreated in a low tone. "In the name of +the all-merciful Creator, help me!" + +"Yes, if you swear to keep your word, on pain of excommunicating +yourself to burning hell, venerable sir," answered Morten, extending +his arms to catch him in case he fell. + +"Yes, assuredly, by all the saints and devils!" stammered the alarmed +captive; "only catch me; I must let go my hold!" + +"Let go then! in the Holy Virgin's name!" whispered Morten; "if you are +a pious man of your word you shall assuredly not dash your foot against +a stone." + +The archbishop now relinquished his hold of the last step of the +ladder, and let himself drop, but though instantly caught in the cook's +powerful arms, he was unable to repress a smothered burst of pain and +sorrow, as his swelled feet struck hard against the stone pavement, and +when Morten withdrew his support, he fell speechless and breathless to +the ground. + +"You have surely not sworn falsely in your heart, venerable sir," +whispered Morten, anxiously. "This is no time, either, for swooning. If +we delay a moment longer the guard may come, and lead you back from +whence you came." As he said this, he drew down the ladder, and rolled +it up with care. The archbishop yet lay as if lifeless on the ground. +Without any longer demur, Morten put both arms round his waist, and +carried him in this manner across the back yard of the prison to the +high castle wall which encircled the tower and was surrounded by a +moat. It was possible to mount the inside wall in case of need, and by +dint of great exertion Morten carried the almost senseless prelate up +to the top of the wall. There he secured the rope ladder, while the +bishop recovered his consciousness, and gained strength to pursue his +flight. Without delaying and alarming the fugitive by further +stipulations, he assisted him to descend this wall also, and then drew +the ladder after him. They passed the frozen moat of the castle; but +that part of the lake which they had to cross was as smooth as glass, +and the archbishop often fell and bruised himself. With Morten's help +he at last got over the ice, but now threw himself despairingly on the +frozen ground. "I cannot go a step farther," he exclaimed. "If I am to +reach the shore thou must get me a horse." + +"Will you give me absolution then, venerable sir, if I can steal you a +horse out of the stable here?" + +"It is a holy loan, which will bring thee a blessing," replied Grand. + +"Good! But if you understand aught of the Black Art, pious sir, forget +not your Latin now, but say a charm over the dogs, so that they bark +not, and over the grooms in the stable, so that they wake not." + +"I will pray to the Almighty to be with us. Haste thee!" + +Morten crept towards the neighbouring stable. He went across a dunghill +to the stable door, upon which a large cross was marked in chalk by way +of safeguard. The usually watchful mastiffs did not bark. It seemed to +Morten as if the cross on the stable door gleamed in the moonlight. The +door of the groom's chamber he had to pass stood ajar. He peeped in, +and saw three men in a deep sleep. In the stalls close by stood two +small horses. He untied their halters, and led them out. The stone +pavement of the stable and without the back door was covered with +horse-litter, and he succeeded in leading the horses out without the +slightest noise. He led them slowly towards the sea shore, and often +looked behind him, but no one pursued--no dog barked, and the whole +seemed to him to be almost miraculous. He found the archbishop where he +had left him, in an attitude of prayer. With unwonted solemnity, and +with a respect which, however, seemed mingled with a kind of dread, +Morten, without saying a word, assisted the prelate to mount one of the +horses; he himself vaulted upon the other, and they rode in silence at +a rapid trot down to the shore. There a tall grave knight and the two +Lolland deserters awaited them with a boat which they had stolen from +the fishing village. The knight and both the wild Lollanders bent the +knee reverently before the archbishop as he extended his fingers to +give them his blessing. With Morten's aid he dismounted, and stepped +into the boat. Morten turned the strange horses loose, and seated +himself on a rowing bench. With a few powerful strokes of the oar they +reached a vessel with a black flag and pennant, which was waiting for +them at some distance from the shore. They entered the ship, and let +the boat float away. The day had not dawned when the vessel with the +black flag sailed with a fair breeze through the Sound, bearing off +without impediment the dangerous man, who, even in his chains, had +dared to excommunicate Denmark's sovereign. + + + + + CHAP. VIII. + + +Sjoeborg castle, which in the latter months of the year 1295 was +honoured by the presence of royalty, and had been the theatre of such +important events, stood desolate and deserted on the morning of the +following new year. The gate was shut, and the floating bridge removed. +The sentinel was no longer on guard on the battlement over the gate; +within, no sounds of gaiety and occupancy were heard; without the +southern rampart and the narrowest part of the lake which insulated the +site of the castle stood a gallows, at the end of what was called the +king's garden, where the roads met from Esrom and Gilleleie. On the +gallows hung a lifeless corpse in a short sheep-skin coat, and with a +pair of shaggy boots on the legs. A pair of ravens flapped their wings +over the sinner's head, and around the stiff frozen body fluttered a +flock of screaming crows. + +The aged Jeppe, the fisherman from Gilleleie, who on fast days was +accustomed to bring fish to Esrom, and to the kitchen of Sjoeborg, was +returning at day-break from the ferry, opposite the closed castle gate, +with his flat fish basket at his back, and stood almost under the +gallows ere he was aware of it. His servant, a young fisherman, +followed him also with a basket at his back. + +"It was true then, after all," said the old man; "they have made quick +work of it here. The bird hath flown, and the cage stands empty. Our +young king hath been wroth in earnest--by my troth, he does nothing by +halves. We may now carry our cod to Elsinore. But what the devil ails +the birds to-day?" + +"Look, look, master!" shouted the lad; "there he hangs." + +"Our Lady preserve us!" exclaimed Jeppe, and stopped. "Ay, there he +hangs, indeed, in his old sheep's skin, and in the boots I brought him +from Skanor fair, those he squeezed out of me for the freight and the +sixteen marks. Why, the soles are whole as yet! I told him not to wear +them out with his courtier-like scrapings. Faugh! he looks ugly in the +face. 'Tis no wholesome sight on a fasting stomach. Let's take a sup, +Ole." He took a little wooden flask out of the basket, drank, and +reached the flask to the lad, while they gazed with mingled curiosity +and dread on the corpse. + +"By our Lady! a foul human carcass is truly soon provided for," resumed +the old man, clearing his throat after the strong drink, while he +crossed himself, and put up the flask. "Well, I say now what I said +before; paid as deserved. He who deals against law shall be dealt with +without law. One should otherwise, it is true, speak well of the dead; +and this I _must_ say, Jesper Mogensen was in some sort a pious man; he +neglected neither mattins nor mass; he went to confession every other +day. That we none of us do. But the crow is never the whiter, let her +wash herself ever so often, and I would not have given a rotten +herring's head for all his piety. What said I the other day to boatman +Soren? 'Mark,' said I, 'that craft will one day run aground under the +gallows.' That one could see with half an eye. We will pray an honest +prayer for his soul, however, Ole, although he _hath_ haggled many a +shining piece from us, and cheated the king out of more pecks of silver +pieces than the ravens have now left hairs on his sinful head. Would it +might fare somewhat better with him where he now is than it fared with +his prisoner at Sjoeborg! _Much_ better it were a shame to ask, for a +pitiless master he ever was, and graceless rulers are shut out from the +Lord." + +"True, master," answered the young fisherman; "but might one not almost +say the same of our young king himself, to say so with all reverence +and respect?" + +"Of the king? Art thou mad, Ole?" exclaimed the old man, with warmth; +"art thou clean devil-blinded and possessed? Is that the Christianity +thou learn'st in the monastery? Thou art a pretty fellow, truly!" + +"Be not wroth, master!" answered the lad; "but truth is truth, +nevertheless, whether it be sour or sweet, or whether it tweak the nose +of high or low, says Pater Gregor, and we Danes are a free folk who +dare to speak out in council[14], whether it be against great or small; +that you know as well as I, master. The king, by my troth, is not the +man to put mercy before justice where the outlaws or their kindred and +friends are concerned. Now, there, are Marsk Stig's pretty daughters; +he has pent them up in the maiden's tower at Vordingborg, only because +their father was an outlawed man; that's not very merciful. Then +there's the bishop they have so long plagued and tortured; that's a bad +business, says Pater Gregor. Whether or not he was leagued with the +outlaws or the Slesvig Duke no one knows or can prove; but, however +that may be, he was a mighty man of God, whom none but the Lord and the +pope could condemn, says Pater Gregor." + +"Ay, indeed! He talks too much, that Pater Gregor," muttered the old +man, seating himself thoughtfully on his fish basket. "Those pious sirs +of the cloister may say what they will; but this I know, that a more +just-dealing king we have never had in Denmark. As to his stringing up +that fellow----" + +"It was a good deed, master, that I will never deny," interrupted +the lad. "If the steward did not exactly help the bishop on his +road,--which, no doubt, was what he was hung for,--he still richly +deserved the halter for many other things. The king did him no wrong; +but that poor turnkey Mads, and his nephew, I am sorry for them. They +are pent up, under bolt and bar, at Flynderborg, only because the ale +was a little too strong for them that night-watch in the tower. He who +helped the bishop but," he added, with a rather sinister roll of the +eye, "was surely none other than that gallows bird, Morten the cook. It +was both boldly and piously done, says Pater Gregor, and therefore +doubtless hath holy St. Martin saved his life, and helped him out of +the country; but he is an outlawed man not the less for that, and if +the Devil hath not an eye on his soul I am no honest Dane." + +"Hark, Ole!" resumed the old man, in a stern voice, and rising from his +seat; "take care what thy beardless mouth utters, especially when thou +speak'st of the Devil, or of our Lord, or of the king! Touching Morten +the cook, I have also a word to say to thee; but first, of the king. +'Tis a bad hand that will not protect its head, they say; the king is +the people's head, see'st thou, and when the head aches all the limbs +ache also; that hath every true Danish man in our time learnt soon +enough. Our young King Eric hath gone through much trouble, from the +time he was no higher than my knee, but our Lord hath been with him +till this hour, and preserved both his soul and his body, despite +archbishop, and pope, and clergy. We are a free folk, 'tis true; each +man may speak out the truth boldly and freely, whether it be against +high or low; but he who speaks an ill word of the king shall account +for it to me, as surely as I have a tongue in my mouth and fists to my +oar. Thou art a greenhorn, Ole; thou knowest but little of what passed +in the country while thou wert in thy swaddling clothes. Had the +outlaws murdered thy father when thou wert riding thy stick thou +would'st hardly have taken them to thy arms when ye rode with a troop +of horse." + +"There, by my troth, you are right, master!" answered the youth, +eagerly. "Life for life! I would say, and strike off their heads +wherever I met them; it were an honest deed and righteous wrath. But, +nevertheless, 'Vengeance is our Lord's,' and a king should be somewhat +cooler headed and wiser than any of us; he should rather suffer +injustice than put state and country in peril, by standing up so +stiffly for his right." + +"Old woman's chatter," interrupted Jeppe; "would the egg teach the hen? +Justice shall stand, though all the earth should perish. Thus should a +king think. He should not bear the sword in vain." + +"But, dear master! there is Pater Gregor, and all the pious monks at +Esrom, and many wise men in our town, they all of them think the king +pushes his zeal and obstinacy too far, and only brings himself and the +whole country into trouble; for this he hath now fallen under the +archbishop's ban; yet he still will kick against the pricks, and goes +just the same to mattins and mass as heretofore." + +"That defiance and ungodliness our Lord will pardon him, I think," said +the old man, with a nod of the head; "there is, besides, surely no +bishop in the country who would shut the church door against him +because Master Grand hath excommunicated him at Sjoeborg. When that +quarrelsome lord was laid by the heels, folks said directly that all +churches were to be shut in the country; but, look you, _was_ it so? If +ten commands to shut them were sent from the pope in Rome, may I be a +flounder if he would be obeyed. But now the archbishop is free, so +there is no great need for it. At any rate we have seen before that a +Danish king may be under a ban, and yet bear sceptre and crown to his +dying day." + +"Things may go wrong enough yet, master," answered the lad. "Without +the pope's permit he can never wed, and he may have long to wait for it +while he deals in this fashion by every canon and priest who sided with +the archbishop. There is the rich Hans Rodis in Copenhagen; he hath +lost all he owned because he sent a file and tools to the archbishop in +the tower. Master Peter in Lund hath not fared a hair better, and all +the archbishop's church property is seized. The like of such +presumption hath never been heard of in Christendom before, says Pater +Gregor." + +"In this matter the king will follow the advice of his best +counsellors, and neither thine nor Pater Gregory's," muttered the old +man. "He and the state council must answer for what hath been done. +Folk have tried him rather too much, and there are bounds to every +thing, even to piety and patience. 'Beware of a brawl!' said my +departed father, God rest his soul! 'but if thou meddlest in one, carry +it through like a man.' It avails but little to cast butter against +stones. No; hard against hard." + +"By your leave, master, so said the Devil, when he leant his back +against a thorn bush," interrupted the young fisherman, smiling; "but +it is said he repented it when he found what it did for him. I also +have heard a wise old saying at times: 'If thou canst not step over, +then creep under,' said my aunt to me. Had our king learnt that wisdom +of the proud Drost Hessel, who taught him to flourish lance and spear, +it would have been better for state and country, says----" + +"Pshaw!" interrupted the old man, placing his basket again on his back; +"such wisdom may do well enough for thee, and thy aunt, and Pater +Gregor, who speak out all ye think; but what is fitting for rats and +mice would ill beseem the falcon and eagle. Humility is precious as +gold; but where a king would pass he should sooner burst the gate open +than creep under it through the mire." So saying, he cast another +glance at the solemn witness of the king's stern and speedy execution +of justice, and then, silent and thoughtful, strode forward on the road +to Gilleleie. + +"But, since you side with the king in every thing, master," asked the +youth, "how can you then defend mad Morten the cook, or think he will +'scape the gallows? He hath ever sided with the outlaws. That he helped +the bishop out of Sjoeborg you know as well as any of us. I saw he was +with you on Christmas eve, ere he put out to sea again in that black +pilgrim ship." + +"If thou would'st keep in a whole skin, jackanapes, let that be between +us two," exclaimed the old man, in wrath, turning menacingly towards +him. "However Morten may have sinned, he now doth penance for it; he +who puts out to open sea at Christmas, to serve his Lord and Saviour, +is no bad Christian, according to my notion, and therefore no traitor +to his country." + +"But every one knows----" + +"Gossip! we know enough! What Morten hath to do either with the bishop +or the outlaws concerns not thee or me; but this I know for certain, +since he hath seen our young king himself, and taken money at his hand, +he hath been true as steel to him in his heart. That Master Grand got +loose was perhaps a God's providence," he added. "In this matter I even +think myself our brave king hath set rather too boldly to work. If +Morten hath had a finger in the game it may cost him dear; but that he +neither meant ill to country or king I will stake my neck upon." + +"A juggler and a godless churl he is, nevertheless; and an outlawed +vagabond and sure gallows bird to boot, if he sets foot again on Danish +ground," said the young fisherman, eagerly. "'Tis both sin and shame, +master! that your young pretty Karen will weep her blue eyes red for +his sake." + +"Ha, indeed! hath that come out?" said the old man; "thou would'st +rather, I warrant, she should weep them red for thy sake, if weep she +must. Drive these fancies out of thine head, Ole! If Morten come back +ere St. Hans day, as he promised Karen and me, and can give account of +himself, thou shalt have leave to dance at his wedding; but if ye would +speak ill of him to me or to Karen, thou may'st pack up and pack off. +Now thou knowest my manner of thinking." So saying, the old man marched +forward with rapid strides. The youth followed him, crest-fallen and in +silence, till they drew near the shore, where Jeppe unmoored a fishing +boat for the purpose of sailing up the coast with the fish he could no +longer dispose of at Sjoeborg. + +"You must not suppose I would speak ill of Morten," resumed the young +fisherman, as he set down the basket in the boat, and stepped over the +gunwale after his master. "'Twould be of no use either; you and Karen +are now so bewitched by that gallows bird. I must own myself he is a +comely, sharp-witted jolly fellow, although he begins to get somewhat +into years; indeed, as for that matter he might almost be her father. +If he helped the bishop to flee out of piety and Christian charity, he +hath perhaps done a good deed, but folk will hardly say it was for the +Lord's sake. Your pretty little Karen would be better mated with a +young fellow than with an outlawed and almost aged vagabond, and--" + +"Thou beardless greenhorn! what is thy head running upon?" exclaimed +the old man angrily, and stamping as he spoke. "Think'st thou it needs +but a smooth chin, and a milk-sop look, to cut out an honest fellow +with my daughter? Out of sight out of mind, say many young folk +now-a-days; but that shall none say of me and _my_ daughter. If I hear +a word more of this matter from thy mouth, Ole! it shall be the last we +exchange together. But what devil is this?" he exclaimed, in surprise, +as he perceived there were three in the boat; "whence came that +fellow?" + +"Will you carry a passenger across to Skanor, for fair words and fair +recompense, good people?" asked a tall man, suddenly rising from under +one of the rowing benches, where he appeared to have concealed himself +under the sail. He wore a dirty peasant's cloak, but it fitted ill, and +a knight's shoulder scarf peeped from under it, together with the +richly gilded hilt of a sword. He seemed to strive in vain to conceal a +large scar on his forehead under the goat's-skin cap; his pale and +frigid countenance, and furtive glances from under his rusty-coloured +meeting eyebrows, inspired a feeling of distrust; he spoke Danish, but +with something of a Norwegian pronunciation, which, however, seemed not +to be natural to him, but assumed for the occasion. + +"What have _you_ to do here in my boat?" growled forth Jeppe, measuring +the intruder with a bold look. "If you would cross to Skanoer, why go ye +not to the ferry?" + +"The king hath stopped the ferries on account of the archbishop," +answered the stranger. "Every man knows Grand hath escaped hence by +sea, and yet the stupid dullards hunt after him here, both by day and +night. Not a cat can leave the country, and there is now hardly a wood +or morass left where a friend of the pious archbishop may hide himself. +I see you take me for a deserter. It avails not to withhold the truth +from you. I am a persecuted man; save my life, and bring me to a sea +port from whence I may escape; I will richly repay you for it." + +"Well!" said the old man, and his stern look relaxed. "No doubt an +honest man may get into trouble, as hath chanced ere now; _he_ is often +forced to quit the country in disguise who afterwards can return with +honour. The wind is fair, my yawl will weather the trip bravely; but I +must first know who you are, and wherefore you are outlawed?" + +"Outlawed!" repeated the stranger, with a start; "who says I am +outlawed, with law and justice, because I fly from lawlessness and +shameful injustice? I am a kinsman of the great Archbishop Grand, whom +they have here so shamefully and unjustly maltreated. If I would not +expose myself to the same tyrannical treatment, from which our Lord and +pious men have freed him, I am now forced to seek safety by flight." + +"But your name?" resumed the fisherman, as he suddenly placed the oar +against a stone, and pushed the boat out to sea, with such force that +both the stranger and the astonished young fisherman tumbled over the +bench. "You will not call yourself outlawed, then?" he continued +calmly, while the stranger stood up, and cast an anxious look on the +wide space between the boat and the shore. "I should incline to think +ye were so, nevertheless. Are ye not called, because of a little +mistake, Squire Kagge with the scar? Were ye one of those who slew the +king's father in Finnerup barn? and if it be you who lately sought to +take the king's life, I should be a rascal if I stirred a hand to bring +you to any other free port than the gallows." + +The stranger's countenance had become fearfully distorted; he thrust +his hand as if convulsively under his cloak, and drew forth a long +glittering knight's sword. "You must either set me instantly on shore +here, or bring me to Skanoer harbour; no matter who the devil I may be," +he cried. "The squire whom Denmark's greatest man dubbed a knight lets +himself not be carried to market with cod and flounders by a vile +fisherman." + +"Big words and fat flesh stick not in the throat," answered Jeppe, +quietly brandishing the heavy iron-tagged oar like a lance over his +head. "Here I stand on my own ground, and here I am master. Cast your +dyrendal[15] from you, Sir Malapert! or you shall feel one upon your +skull which will make you forget the stroke of knighthood you got from +the greatest man. If that man be Stig Anderson,"--he added, "you need +not mention your fair name or your fair deed--for in that case you were +as certainly with Marsk Stig and the grey friars in Finnerup barn as +you are now with Jeppe the fisherman on the road to judgment and the +gallows." + +"We shall see," shouted the stranger, like a madman, and rushed on him +with his drawn sword, but at the same moment he fell back senseless in +the boat, while the hat flew from his head before a stroke of Jeppe's +iron-tagged oar. + +"Take the dyrendal from him, and bind him, Ole, while I loose the +sails," said the old fisherman calmly, as he threw down the oar, and +began to unfurl the sails. "That blow he dies not of. If the king will +give him his life, that's _his_ affair; but none shall say that old +Jeppe the fisherman sided with such like outlaws, and let a regicide +slip whole skinned from Gilleleie." + +The young fisherman obeyed his master. The sails were soon unfurled, +and the fishing yawl sailed swiftly along the coast. + +Jeppe was not mistaken. His captive was the renowned Aage Kagge who had +been outlawed with all those who had taken a personal share in the +murder of Eric Glipping. He had entered the service of the King of +Norway, but had ventured to Denmark to bring Marsk Stig's daughters +from thence; and also, as it appeared, with other less peaceable +intentions. That he had been a party to the murderous attack of the +crazed Jutlander upon the king the Drost's huntsmen had borne witness, +and there seemed also every probability that it was he who had +attempted the assassination of Drost Aage, as he was riding with Marsk +Stig's daughters into the gate of Vordingborg castle. Every burgomaster +and all commandants of castles throughout the country had received +orders to trace and to seize him, wherever he was found. As an outlaw, +besides, every one who met and knew him was empowered to slay him on +the spot. Although in general he, like all those outlawed regicides, +was held in great detestation, there was still one heart which throbbed +for him with love and sympathy,--the wayward, restless heart of the +captive Lady Ulrica. + + + + + CHAP. IX. + + +On the same new year's day on which the outlawed knight was captured, +Marsk Stig's youngest daughter slumbered, evidently disturbed by +agitating dreams, in the tower called the Maiden's Tower, in +Vordingborg castle, while her sister rose ready dressed from the +prie-dieu, and listened with folded hands to the sound of mattins from +the chapel of the castle. A faint ray of daylight fell on them through +the tower window. "Help! help!" shrieked Ulrica, starting up; "sleepest +thou, Margaretha? Oh, it was fearful! Yet it was, after all, but a +foolish dream." + +"What ails thee, dear sister?" asked the placid Margaretha, taking her +sister lovingly by the hand; "thou must surely have dreamt again of +that unhappy knight, Kagge?" + +"Thou mightest be rather more courteous, sister. So _very_ unhappy he +cannot be, when _I_ am dreaming of him. Did I but know he was safe!" + +"Pray to the Lord and our Lady that his grim image may be effaced from +thy soul!" continued Margaretha; "he can never come to a good end. All +the greatness and splendour he hath promised thee are but empty castles +in the air, with nought of truth in them." + +"Truth here, and truth there, sister! What you call our castles in the +air are nevertheless far better than this much too real prison; and how +can'st thou call Sir Kagge grim? I think his bold, wolf-like eye-brows +are perfectly lovely. Alas! sweet sister! I dreamed he was in distress +and in peril of his life. He stood in chains before me, and bade me +entreat the king for his life." + +"He is assuredly thy bad angel, Ulrica!" answered Margaretha; "it is +his fault that we are now here. Would thou hadst never believed his +flatteries and false tongue, he loves no one in the world save +himself." + +"How can'st thou say so, sister? Did'st thou not hear thyself how +solemnly he swore to free us, or lose his life?" + +"But when it was time to keep his word, like a true and manly knight, +his own pitiful revenge and his own life were dearer to him than our +peace and freedom," answered Margaretha. "He, in truth, sharpened the +arrow our faithful squire shot from the bow, but ere it flew from the +string he took himself off, and abandoned us to our fate." + +"But he followed us, though, at peril of his life, close to the castle +gate, and had not the Drost been dearer to thee than both I and thyself +we should not now have been here." + +"If our freedom could only be gained by treachery and assassination, it +were better we stayed here captive all our life-time," answered +Margaretha. "Had the noble Drost Aage been as much our enemy as he +showed himself to be our friend--I would not even then have left him in +that condition to bleed to death, without help and care. I would rather +remain in prison until my dying day than flee with a cowardly assassin, +and be suspected by the noble Drost of having had the least part or lot +in such crime." + +"Thou art really much too conscientious, sister Margaretha! In +comparison with me, thou art half an angel, it is true; but confess to +me now, it was surely not _purely_ for the Lord's sake you stayed and +behaved so generously to the Drost. He is a very handsome young knight, +although he cannot be compared to Sir Kagge, and I have seen plainly +enough how tenderly and lovingly your eyes meet each time you bind up +his wounds--thou art really making him greatly beholden to thee." + +"Be not malicious, dear Ulrica," answered Margaretha, blushing crimson; +"what harm is there in my tending him with unfeigned good will?" + +"Tend him with as much good will as thou likest; I never said there was +any harm in that--call him every instant the noble and the pious, just +as if he were the only good knight in Christendom! but at any rate give +_me_ leave to defend Sir Kagge, and feel anxious for him when he perils +his life for my sake! It was indeed not _quite_ according to rule that +he left us when we were captured! I shall scold him finely for that +when we meet; but what was he to do against so many? If he escaped, he +could still hope to free us as long as he himself was at liberty. As to +his attacking the Drost in the dark gateway, without sounding a trumpet +before him, it perhaps did not look altogether chivalrous; but +stratagem against superior force is always lawful in war, and it was +after all a bold and desperate enterprise, which may even yet cost him +his life, although it did nought either for or against us--ah! did I +but know he was safe, I would gladly be patient, and put up with this +captivity some time longer.--When the king gets to know what I now know +he will have to ask pardon, and treat me like a princess." + +"Poor Ulrica! what sayest thou?" exclaimed her sister in dismay, and +turning pale; "what madman can have put into your head----" + +"That was the secret, then, thou wouldst never out with, my pious +sister!" interrupted Ulrica, with a joyous smile. "I had determined to +conceal my discovery until I could show thee what use it was of; but +now I will show thee that Kagge is much more true and devoted to me +than thou art. While thou thoughtest only of the wounded Drost, my +outlawed knight hath enabled me to guess who I am, and hath sent me a +billet of more importance than all the Drosts in the world.--This Runic +scrap should burst before us the doors of every prison in Denmark." So +saying, she produced with a triumphant air, a small and curiously +carved wooden tablet, upon which was depicted a royal coat of arms with +three crowned leopards, and with Ulrica's name below, in Runic +characters, by the side of Princess Merete's, King Eric Ericson's, and +Junker Christopher's. "Seest thou," said she, drawing up her head +proudly, "the three crowned leopards stand in the king's great seal? As +yet I have only half made out the connection. But at any rate I have +gathered thus much from all the puzzling hints they have given me:--The +king's father must have been secretly wedded to a noble lady of Marsk +Stig's kindred. It must no doubt have been a hazardous affair, +since he had another for his queen; but, nevertheless, lam his +daughter, just the same, and therefore Princess Merete's and the king's +half sister--though no one must know it.--My poor mother hath no doubt +suffered great wrong, and thus come by her death; but that thy father +and his kinsmen have amply revenged. Me they brought up in the Marsk's +house, and therefore I must now share the persecutions that have come +upon thy whole race." + +"Alas! believe not one word of that confused and wretched story, dear +Ulrica!" exclaimed Margaretha, bursting into tears; "burn those +unfortunate lines, and believe me thou art in truth my sister, and all +that talk of a higher birth can but bring thee shame and degradation." + +"That thou would'st scarcely say had'st thou seen thine own name by the +side of kings and princes," answered Ulrica, with a proud toss of the +head, while she gazed with sparkling eyes on the wooden tablet; "and +look," she continued, fuming it over, "here stand the Norwegian Duke +Haco's lion shield, and pedigree; it reaches in a direct line up to the +great Harold Harfager; and seest thou there stands my true knight +Kagge's name in a side branch like mine--he traces his descent also +from kings and princes; and rememberest thou not what old Mother Else +foretold me at Hald? I was to become a great princess one day, she +said, and get a handsome and rich bridegroom of princely birth." + +"Alas, dearest sister!" exclaimed Margaretha, sorrowfully, "thy +childish vanity makes thy soul the sport of dishonourable and +traitorous braggarts--the domestic miseries which brought misfortune +upon the country as well as on our renowned race could be represented +to thee by none but an evil spirit as a source of honour and good +fortune. The blood of slaves, not the blood of princes, runs in that +man's veins who could picture _that_ to thee as an honour which would +make thee to die of grief and shame, did'st thou believe it to be true, +and knewest how to prize the birth which is in truth high and +honourable. + +"'Tis pity thou art not a priest, sister!" said Ulrica, with a toss of +the head; "if the story of my high birth were only an idle and +unfounded report, it could hardly have had such important consequences +here in the country; thou must thyself have thought it true, since thou +never would'st confide it to me; but I have long had an inkling of it. +Old Mother Else dared not come quite out with it; but this you must at +any rate allow,--all who have known us and our family have ever bowed +much lower to me than to thee, although thou wert the eldest; and I +have seen folk point oft to me, when I was gaily clad, and heard them +whisper, 'Look, there goes the little princess; look, her pretty eyes +twinkle just like King Glipping's.'"[16] + +"Poor, poor sister!" exclaimed Margaretha, folding her, weeping, in her +arms; "and could'st thou endure to hear such hateful words? Were they +able to flatter thy vain and childish heart by a glittering title which +concealed the bitterest hate and scorn? Poor Ulrica! thy greatest +misfortune, after all, is thy soul's blindness--it makes thee even vain +and proud of what should be thy grief and shame. Alas! didst thou +tremble with me at that tale as at a voice from the bottomless pit I +perhaps should know how to comfort and counsel thee; then would I weep +with thee, and pray our blessed Lady to give thee the hope she gave me, +when at times all the horrors I saw and heard in my childhood seemed +like a frightful dream, and it was as though an angel whispered to my +soul that the whole was error and illusion.--Ah, mother! mother! how +shall I perform that I promised thee, and bring this erring child safe +to thine arms?" + +"Now thou art growing tiresome again, Margaretha, with all thy love, +and thy piety, and thy conscience," interrupted Ulrica, pettishly, +"_Your_ mother was only my foster mother; that I can well understand. +Who _my_ real mother was thou mightest easily tell, if there was any +real sisterly love in thee; but thou art not my sister after all. I +would thou wert in a nunnery! there thou mightest mourn over me, and +pray for me as much as it pleased thee, without plaguing me with it; +yet, no! for then I must part from thee, and that I could not bear," +she added, affectionately. "I am still a worldling, dear good +Margaretha!" continued Ulrica, with child-like simplicity. "I have told +you so a hundred times. All the misfortunes that happened in our +childhood, or before I was born, I have neither seen nor shared in; +how, then, canst thou require I should grieve over them? And what good +would it do were I now to sit down with thee to mourn and weep? What +our parents and their kindred have suffered or done amiss our blessed +Lady must pray our Lord to make amends for, and forgive them; but that +I have just as little to do with as thou. I thank my Lord and Maker, +and our blessed Lady, that I have come into this fair world, and that I +am not ashamed of my birth, even though I am but half a princess. The +sorrow and degradation thou would'st have me despair over I care not to +meddle with; either it is altogether idle talk, and then there is +nought to mourn for; or it is true, and I must be satisfied with it as +my destiny; and then I should still be a kind of princess; and what +shame can it be to me that I should be called what I am, and that a +knight of royal descent woos me, and would bring me to the station and +honour which are mine by right?" + +"Alas! for thy honour and thy wooer, poor sister!" answered Margaretha, +"there is not a true word in Sir Kagge; all know he is come of higher +birth than he deserves, and it was not till he was outlawed and fled to +Norway that he thought of disowning his own kindred, and tracing his +pedigree in a disgraceful manner to the royal house of Norway. Such +dishonourable fiction would show thee his character, if thou didst not +share his perverted hankerings after the greatness which confers not +honour." + +During this conversation Ulrica had arrayed herself in her richest +attire, and it had become quite light. "Now look at me!" she said, +contemplating herself in the polished shield on the wall. "Need I +really be so terribly ashamed of my own existence, or wish I had never +been born? That indeed would be shameful and ungodly. To speak +honestly, Margaretha, should I doubt all that Sir Kagge hath told me of +my descent and of my beauty, I ought to doubt my own eyes also, and +every mirror I looked into would be just as false a flatterer and +traitor as thou deemest him to be." + +"Truly the mirror _is_ a false flatterer," answered Margaretha; "it +shows us but the fair outside and the smooth skin, but hides the +skeleton and the image of death within us. The more pleasure we take in +the mimic image it displays to us in our vanity, the more the eyes are +blinded and the soul corrupted. Hadst thou heard the exaggerated +compliments Sir Kagge paid _me_ ere he saw thee quite grown up, and +found thou hadst a more attentive ear for his fair speeches and bold +plans concerning our forfeited goods and rights, he would scarcely have +been less the object of thy laughter and ridicule than that foolish Sir +Palle." + +"Ah, how terribly unreasonable thou art, thou dear pious Margaretha!" +interrupted Ulrica; "that fat stupid Sir Palle was made to be a +laughing stock. I know well enough Kagge was once a little in love with +thee, but I can readily forgive him, since he hath got over it so +well.--Thou wert too in some sort my sister, and at the time I was +almost a child.--Thou wouldst doubtless have had him sigh himself to +death over thy coldness, but that was too much to ask of a handsome +young knight. Should he then be deemed a faithless and inconstant lover +because he was mistaken in us sisters, ere he could know our hearts and +his own? How could he help that thou wert so cold and indifferent, and +so insufferably pious? And was it then so unpardonable a sin that at +last he found out that I was quite as fair--or perhaps rather more so?" + +"Dear deluded child!" sighed Margaretha, patting her sister's cheek, +while she parted the fair curled locks from her brow, "must thou ever +seek to trace every sentiment thou wouldst rightly understand to a vain +and empty source? Kagge was a loyal and devoted squire to our father, +it is true; he was a zealous sharer in that fearful deed of vengeance, +the grounds of which thou now thinkest thou hast discovered; but were +those grounds not false, and wert thou in truth that thou thinkest +thyself to be, how canst thou give thy hand without shuddering to a man +who was with the band in Finnerup-barn?" She paused, and folded her +hands as if in silent prayer, as she knelt down on the prie-dieu, and +rented her lovely head on the breviary. + +"Margaretha! dearest Margaretha! thou hast terrified me," exclaimed +Ulrica, who had turned quite pale. "A horrible and ghastly form rises +before me. Ah! thou art right; I never thought of that. If the story of +my birth be true I ought never to hold Sir Kagge dear, and yet I never +saw the noble ill-fated prince who fell in Finnerup-barn. Should I hate +all those who willed his death, I must also hate my mother, and thy +mother, and father Stig. Alas, Margaretha! we must never think on our +lot in this world, if we would be gay and happy among other human +beings; we must either forget all that hath chanced to us, or go into a +nunnery, and bid the beautiful joyous world good night; but that I +cannot do. Dear sister! pray for me. I will forget what it is not good +to think upon, but I cannot hate any living soul; and he who loves me +with truth and fervour I _must_ love again, whoever he may be, and for +what cause soever he may be outlawed and persecuted." She burst into a +flood of tears, and held up her long golden tresses before her eyes. + +"Dearest Ulrica! weep not. I will pray for thee as long as I live," +said Margaretha. She rose hastily from the prie-dieu, and folded her +sister tenderly in her arms. "We have not as yet wished each other a +happy new year. The Lord and our blessed Lady make thee pious and +patient, and blessed, and grant us both that which is most profitable +for soul and salvation. Weep not, dearest Ulrica! If I have spoken +harshly to thee, and grieved thee, forgive me, for our mother's sake! +She bade me admonish thee, and guard thy soul from thoughts of vanity. +But I see it is so, thou _art_ good and pious and blessed; only weep +not!" + +"Yes, if thou wilt never more speak evil of Sir Kagge, or require I +should forget him, and leave off dreaming of him, for that I cannot; +that I _will not_ do." So saying, Ulrica dried her eyes with her long +hair, and peeped archly at her sister through her fingers. + +"In the Lord's name, love every living soul in which there is a spark +of God's grace," answered Margaretha, "only be not sorrowful." + +"Well, I can understand you now," said Ulrica, taking her hand from her +eyes. She laughed, and heartily kissed her sister. "A happy new year, +sister Margaretha! Would thou might'st wed the handsome Drost ere the +year is out, and would we might get out of this cage ere the woods are +green and the birds sing." She then began to dance with her staid +sister round the prison chamber, singing, + + + "I know where stands a castle fair, + All dazzling to the sight; + Its walls are decked with carvings rare, + With gold and silver bright."[17] + + +"Hush! hush! dear sister! some one is coming," said Margaretha, +entreatingly. Ulrica listened, and on hearing the bolt withdrawn from +the prison door she hastily arranged her hair in the polished shield, +and suddenly assumed a stiff and consequential deportment. The door +opened, and a sprightly little maiden entered to attend on them, and to +bring the usual morning repast. "A happy new year, with the blessing of +our Lady and St. Joseph, noble ladies!" said the maiden, curtseying, as +she placed the cup of warm ale on the table. "Master asks whether you +will drive afterwards to high mass with his dame. There came strangers +in the night," she added, anxious to impart the news. "They slept up +above in the knights' story. There are to be fine doings because of +them; they are to breakfast in the ladies' apartment, and there is a +fire on the hearth in the great hall.--The strangers are come from +court; they say the Drost will depart----" + +"Depart!" repeated Margaretha, blushing deeply. "Ah, yes," she added, +calmly, "it is possible, indeed, if it be necessary. Yet if they could +allow a few days more it would be better for him. Follow me to the +ladies' apartment, little Karen! Perhaps he wants his wounds bound up +in haste." + +"No, stay, and see first if my hair is properly dressed!" said Ulrica. +"Happy new year, little Karen! and a lover ere this day twelvemonth." + +"A bridegroom you surely mean, lady! for lovers one may have in plenty +every year," answered the maiden, simpering. + +"Your hair is finely dressed. Lady Ulrica! Had _I_ such beautiful +silken hair, and head-gear of gold and pearl to boot, as you have, by +my troth I should never wish to put on a matron's cap while I lived; +but _my_ hair I wish to hide; the sooner the better. Whenever my +sweetheart hath had a scold from master, I am ever forced to hear it is +rough and short. You are as small as a reed. Lady Ulrica!" she +continued, looking at her slender form and gay attire; "one may easily +see you are a dainty highborn knight's daughter, and no serving maid or +kitchen drudge--if _I_ could appear in such fashion to my sweetheart, +how he would stare! But I saw at once you were born to trail in silk +and scarlet.--There hides something else under those wadmal cloaks than +maidens of our condition, said I to Maren, the porter's wife, as soon +as we set eyes on you; and when master grew afterwards so civil to you, +and his wife sent you all those fine clothes and adornments on +Christmas eve--we saw well enough how it was, that we had rare birds in +the cage; perhaps even a princess, as some will have it.--That light +green laced boddice becomes you marvellously. Lady Ulrica; but +were I in Lady Margaretha's place I would not wear white attire on +new-year's-day; it hath such a sad appearance, and it is no good omen +for the good luck and happiness of the new year----" + +"My colour hath been the shroud's since my father and mother died," +said Margaretha, with a deep sigh; "but come now, little Karen! while +you pass judgment on garments and finery many a mass may be sung to an +end." + +"Mattins are over, and there is time enough ere high mass," said the +maiden; "but take some refreshment. It is not good to drive to church +or bind the Drost's neck on a fasting stomach." + +"I say so too, little Karen!" said Ulrica, with an arch smile, as she +partook heartily of the morning draught. "So the Drost is well again, +and going to depart," she continued; "truly it must be hard for so +brave a knight to live so long under maiden's care, especially with +that frightful scar on his neck." + +"The shame is not his, but the coward's who dared not face +him,"--answered the maiden; "is it not so, Lady Margaretha?" + +"That is my sister's opinion also," sighed Margaretha; "but come! I +think I hear a ringing." + +"Not yet awhile; truly thou art much too devout, sister!" said Ulrica, +with an arch look. "You forget your repast every morning for mass, and +mattins often ring in your ears much before the hour. But it is true +the Drost's neck should be looked at ere mass, and that is ever a work +of time.--Now I am coming; take me with you. I am coming instantly. I +will not again be shut up here alone--ah yes, sister! had I not thee by +me I should be an ungodly being, and sleep over mass time every +morning.--Thou mayst thank the Drost's neck that thou dost never +oversleep thyself--stay a moment; I am coming."--She drained the pewter +cup, and hastened out of the door with her sister and their attendant. + + + + + CHAP. X. + + +From the maiden's tower, which, with the ancient Waldemar's tower, near +the chapel, stood within the northern semicircle of the wall +surrounding the castle, a vaulted private passage led to the broad +flagged and spacious hall on the first floor of the main building into +which the knights' hall, the ladies' apartment, and various others +opened. There was likewise a front entrance from the court-yard by a +flight of high wooden steps, surmounted by a porch, and enclosed on +each side with an iron railing that led up to the balcony. Directly +opposite the two northern towers stood, on the side towards the sea, in +the southern semicircle of the castle wall, the strongly fortified +towers called the dragon and the sea tower. Above the entrance stood +the castle tower, and above the chapel was a small belfry. In the midst +of the castle square stood a high flagstaff, bearing the royal arms, +the three crowned leopards among a number of golden hearts. The +circular wall, which, with its high battlements and towers, surrounded +the whole castle, was also environed by ramparts and deep moats. As the +castle was often occupied by the king and his whole court, it was kept +in perfect repair, and amply provided with furniture and every kind of +convenience. + +The castle was one of the most important fortresses in the kingdom. The +number of men belonging to the garrison and household was not +inconsiderable. Whenever the chapel bell rung for mattins, the +commandant, with all the inmates of the castle and its precincts, +proceeded to the chapel across the spacious square of the castle. They +now were returning from mattins with their extinguished lanterns in +their hands. + +The captive maidens were guarded without any severity. When accompanied +by one female attendant, the whole castle was open to them during the +day. They were obliged, however, to sleep at night in the tower, which +was never unlocked until daylight; and the porter was only permitted to +open the castle gate for them when the commandant himself or his family +accompanied them to the church of the town, or through the orchard to +the chase of the castle, where at this season of the year they +sometimes amused themselves by hawking, a sport of which Ulrica was +passionately fond, but in which Margaretha only shared for her sister's +sake. + +When Ulrica, with her sister and the attendant maiden, stepped out of +the dark passage into the vestibule, she instantly ran as usual to one +of the bow windows, and breathed upon one of the panes to clear away +the frost and make herself a peep-hole into the castle yard. "Look! +look!" she said, gaily; "we shall have the new yellow car to drive in +to-day to church; and look! there they ride to water with the +strangers' horses--I declare they have long silken coverings on, and +there are the royal grooms with them--Look! the commandant, with the +Drost and the strangers, are crossing over this way--one of the +strangers is a canon; but who _can_ those two comical men be with the +German caps?" + +"Let us go into the ladies' apartment," said Margaretha; "it would not +be seemly that they should find us here alone so early." + +"One can never see any thing, or enjoy any thing, because of that +tiresome seemliness," said Ulrica, pettishly, and followed her sister +reluctantly into the ladies' apartment. Shortly afterwards the door +opened, and Drost Aage entered the ante-chamber, with the king's +confessor. Master Petrus de Dacia, and the two German minstrels, +accompanied by the commandant. Sir Ribolt, a tall man of noble +presence, whose knightly attire was arranged in strict conformity to +the fashion of the time. The commandant first crossed the threshold, +and closed the door to keep in the warmth, which began to diffuse +itself from the large glowing stone chimney. + +"In the king's name!" he said, with a kind of solemnity, as he doffed +his high plumed hat, "welcome in his hall, noble sirs! Here he is your +host, though in my insignificant person--I may expect him here, then, +in the spring, venerable sir?" + +"He bade me bring you that message, next to royal greeting and favour," +answered Master Petrus de Dacia, giving his hand to the commandant. "We +have slept under your roof, but as yet your guests are unknown to you," +he continued. "My name you know. In a few hours I must journey onwards; +but these honourable strangers desire, and have royal permission, to be +your guests for some time, partly with a learned and scientific +object." He now presented to the commandant Master Poppe and Master +Rumelant from Swabia, as renowned professors of the noble art of +minstrelsy, who had visited the territories of many lords and princes, +and who were now desirous also of seeing and knowing all that was +remarkable in Denmark respecting the manners and the customs of the +people, and the state of art and science, compared with that of other +nations. "These learned persons," he added, "are commended to you as +the king's guests, so long as it is their desire to remain here. It is +the king's pleasure that they should have free access to the royal +collection of manuscripts and the archives of the castle." + +"Well, these learned guests are welcome," answered the commandant, +saluting the strangers with some embarrassment; "it is probably the +chronicles they desire to search into, and the ancient manuscripts +which lie here, treating of the affairs of Denmark and the German +kingdoms in olden times. There was lately here a learned monk from Nye, +who, by the king's command, had much to do with these writings. They +are treasures which I, to say truth, know but little how to prize; but +scholars can never sufficiently laud our king's carefulness in +collecting such writings, and the free use of them which he allows both +to native and foreign scholars. The Lord help me. Sir Drost!" he +whispered to Aage, "they are surely most awfully learned; they perhaps +do not understand a word of Danish?" + +"Are not your king's famous 'Congesta'[18] to be found here?" asked the +tall master Poppe, in a half German half Danish dialect; "we desire +especially to become acquainted with that important historical +collection, as well as with the copy which is here to be seen of your +famous Saxo Grammaticus, likewise Sveno Agonis[19], and whatever may be +found here of collections of old ballads, and of Norwegian or Icelandic +poems, and Sagas of heathen time; item, all remarkable monumenta and +volumina antiquitatis." + +"What I specially rejoice over," said the enthusiastic little Master +Rumelant, "is what I here expect to meet with of your famous +theological lumina and christian poets, particularly the far-famed +Hexameron of the great Andreas Sunonis, of which I have never been able +to trace any copy among my countrymen, or among any of the noble lords +and princes, my gracious well-wishers and benefactors, whose praises I +have sung according to my poor ability." + +"So far as I know, the manuscript you speak of is to be found here +among the learned Latin writings, from the time of King Waldemar the +Victorious, of blessed memory," answered the commandant, endeavouring +to hide his impatience; "but it is only of what is written in the +language of the country that I can give account to you--your study +shall be next to the manuscript chamber--the castle chaplain has the +superintendence of it; he will no doubt be able to give you all the +information you want. I will arrange every thing in the best way I can +for you, learned sirs; but I pray you to excuse me, who am a layman, +and straight-forward soldier, for my ignorance of such matters. Permit +me now to install you among my family, and to entreat you will be +content for the present with some food for the body." + +"Allow me first a few words in private here with the Drost," said +Master Petrus, remaining behind in the vestibule with Aage, whose pale +cheek was for a moment tinged with a crimson hue as the door of the +ladies' apartment closed, and he was but half able to greet Margaretha. +It was evident that he had suffered from a dangerous wound. He still +held his head rather stiffly, and his left arm was in a sling. + +The tall ecclesiastic took him by the hand, and gazed on him earnestly, +with his serene, intellectual eye. "It is chiefly for your sake, Drost +Aage, the king sent me hither," he said; "you know how dear you have +been to him from his childhood, and how greatly he needs must miss you; +but ere it is permitted me to speak one word to you of the king's and +state affairs, I am enjoined to certify myself of the health both of +your mind and body. It is said you have not only been dangerously +wounded, but sick at heart besides, and plagued with all manner of +disquiet thoughts and confused dreams, so that you have oft stood more +in need of a spiritual than of a bodily physician. If you place any +trust in me, then confide to me that which seems still to disquiet +you." + +"I have been a visionary since I was excommunicated," said Aage; "I know +it right well. The trial was too much for me; but now, praise be to the +Lord and our Lady! a light hath dawned upon my soul, which reconciles +me to what is dark and mysterious in my life and destiny.--But _my_ +feelings and concerns are of no moment. Tell me only what the king is +about; how can he and the country be saved from downfall amid all these +perplexing events; for the Lord's sake tell me?" + +"Not a word of that as yet, dear Drost," interrupted Master Petrus; "I +must first see how far you are capable of acting in worldly matters. +The spirit that would work mightily for the peace and happiness of king +and country must first be at peace with itself." + +"I _have_ that peace, venerable sir! My soul is as well at ease as it +ever will be in this world. When I heard the archbishop was fled, and +the king excommunicated, I threw myself on my horse, and would have +hasted to Sjoeborg, but they brought me back here half dead. What I have +since heard of the king's impetuosity and wrath hath more than ever +disquieted me, and in my tendency to dark presentiments I have many a +night, in my fevered dreams, beheld the king surrounded by robbers and +murderers." + +"Be easy on that score, noble Drost. No sovereign was ever more beloved +by his people; an invisible guard of the angels of love and +righteousness accompany the young Eric, even when traitors and +deadly foes are nigh him. I know you were with the king's father in +Finnerup-barn on that bloody St. Cecilia's eve. What you then witnessed +as a child you surely have never been able to forget?" + +"No, never!" exclaimed Aage, with breathless earnestness; "and I have +often mourned I had neither courage nor might to avert that +catastrophe. It was not till the barn burst into flames around the +murdered king that I fully recovered the use of my senses. I snatched +the sword from the old insane Palle, when he threw himself on the body +to maltreat it, and struck the same murderous steel into his breast +with which he had slain his liege. That bloody scene, and the dying +look of that crazed old man, hath often been fearfully present to me. +The horrid spectacle, however, was nearly effaced from my memory, when, +two years back, I was one day sent by the king to the captive +archbishop at Sjoeborg to bring him to confession; but when I looked on +yon terrific prisoner, as he uplifted his fettered arm, and gave me +over to the Devil, with the church's most dreadful curse, it seemed to +me as though I stood once more in the barn at Finnerup, and as if a +condemning spirit spoke through the archbishop, and thundered forth the +words of excommunication over me for my sins' sake. In the fever caused +by my wound I have often suffered from the most fearful visions, and +dreamed of fighting with all manner of monsters and demons; but when it +was at the worst I ever saw a heavenly angel at my side, who, with +pious prayers, chased away the evil spirit, and whispered comfort and +consolation to my soul. At last a mild light dawned upon me--I felt I +might yet redeem from the curse that life which in my childhood I had +neither power nor courage to sacrifice for my former master, by my +devoting it to his son, our noble young King Eric. This is now my firm +and stedfast purpose; I have renounced all thoughts of happiness for +myself. Yon angel of consolation hath since appeared to me in a mortal +form; but she neither desires nor is able to turn me from my resolve. +It was the eldest and most estimable of Marsk Stig's daughters. +Venerable sir! to you alone I confide it--she hath become dear to me as +my own soul, and she hath herself wonderfully strengthened me in my +resolution. By saving my life, and preserving it for the service of him +who hath pronounced her whole race outlawed, she hath sought to atone +for a share of her dreaded father's crime. Each step I follow my +beloved young sovereign will and must separate me and Marsk Stig's race +in this world; yet, with the Lord's help, that shall not stop my +progress, or impair my loyalty. Mark, venerable sir! from the moment in +which the future destiny of my life was clear before me I was freed +from the evil spirits which persecuted me, and I now feel myself nearly +healed both in body and soul. Now you know all, tell me, I beseech you, +that which is of far greater moment, what message bring you me from the +king?" + +"One word more of yourself first, noble Drost," answered Master Petrus, +in an affectionate tone, taking his hand, and gazing with his usual +look of calm intelligence on Aage's melancholy but resolute +countenance; "your determination I must laud as fair and noble, +although it still in some measure betokens your tendency to extremes, +even in what is good and praiseworthy. You can devote your life and +powers to the service of your king and country without seeking the +death of a martyr; you need not yourself renounce the enjoyments of +life because a higher aim of existence stands in your view; but I will +not upbraid you for such youthful extravagances,--There _was_ a time +when I desired myself to die a martyr in honour of the Holy Virgin; +even now I should glory in it were it so ordered for me; but I no +longer hanker after martyrdom with blind enthusiasm and spiritual +pride. The consoling angel you speak of, noble Drost, she who stood +before you here in the form of a captive maiden, I only desire her +justification and acquittal, and then assuredly you need not renounce +all hope in respect of the secret wishes of your heart. I also have +known such a being," he continued, with emotion; "next to the Holy +Virgin she is even yet to me the most precious soul of her sex that +lives and hath ever lived in the world; she is, in truth, the bride of +Heaven here upon earth, and her duty and condition, as well as mine, +separate us here below. But I believe, to speak truly, neither you nor +any worldly man can be called on or have strength to make such +renunciation; but Providence and its high disposer will care for this. +I rejoice from my heart that the fairest feeling of humanity is +awakened in your soul. Even when attended by the greatest sacrifice and +the extreme of privation, it is, next to the joys of Heaven, the +richest treasure that can be bestowed on a human being." + +"Yes, assuredly!" exclaimed Aage, with joyful enthusiasm; "wholly +wretched I never now can be. I have now told you the whole state of my +case. Conceal not any thing longer from me!" + +"Well, my excellent young friend," said Master Petrus, pressing his +hand, "I will look on you as spiritually healed. It is a true and +precious feeling--it is the earnest of a noble and mighty life of +action which stirs in your somewhat enthusiastic and visionary soul. I +would send you forth from this much too quiet and trying position, +which only fosters your visionary turn of mind. I will not hesitate to +enlist your whole strength in the service of king and country. Look! +here is a private letter from the king." He reached a sealed packet to +the Drost. + +Aage hastily broke the seal. "Ha! what means this? Of course you know +the contents?" + +"I wrote the letter myself in the chancellor's absence. It is come to a +breach with Junker Christopher; he must be disarmed and brought to +subjection ere two more suns have set. You or Sir Ribolt are to +beleaguer Holbek castle, and join the king before Kallundborg with a +hundred lancers." + +Drost Aage gazed in dismay,--now on the letter,--now on Master Petrus. +"Great God!" he exclaimed; "is it come to this? Civil war and bloody +feud between the brothers!" + +"Be calm, noble Drost! That is precisely what you must prevent, but +quietly,--cautiously. I have, besides, a question to put to you, by +word of mouth, from the king." So saying, Master Petrus drew Aage +further from the door, and continued in a low tone,--"Hath the junker +caused any paper to be fetched from hence lately? Of the noble Sir +Ribolt there is no suspicion; but is the castle chaplain to be counted +on?" + +"For the commandant's loyalty I will answer," replied Aage; "the +chaplain I know not. But what mean you?" + +"The letters Junker Christopher took from the chest in Lund sacristy he +affirms that he deposited here, but they have been lately sought for in +vain. They might now be of the greatest importance in the king's affair +with Master Grand. The learned scholars I have brought hither with me +are again to search the archives. I must myself haste to Sweden, to +tranquillise the spirits there. You know the ambassadors left us in +haste. We are on doubtful terms with their court; the negotiations are +broken off. The king went too far in his anger at Grand's flight. He +now wants to carry every thing through by force. It is come to a breach +also with the Dukes of Sleswig--the cardinal hath left the court, he +menaces to use his fearful authority." + +"Misfortune upon misfortune!" exclaimed Aage. "Great Heaven! what will +be the end of all this?" + +"If the Lord please, all may turn out more favourably than seems likely +at present," continued Master Petrus, calmly. "If you and the Marsk can +procure peace with temporal enemies, I and my colleagues hope, with +God's assistance, to obtain a truce with ecclesiastical foes. +Chancellor Martinus and Provost Guido are sent to Rome to anticipate +Grand. Most of the bishops in the country side with the king. The +provincial prior of the Dominicans and the chapters continue their +protest against the constitution of Veile. No priest will uphold the +interdict; and, as I said, the people are loyal and devoted to the +king." + +"But this unhappy quarrel with the junker--the breach with the +dukes--the doubtful terms with Sweden--the king's rashness and +impetuosity--and that terrible Isarnus and the outlaws!" + +"You are right, Drost Aage! There are more clouds in Denmark's +and our young king's heavens than it is in the power of man to +disperse"--resumed Petrus de Dacia; "but remember," he added, solemnly, +"above the clouds are the stars of heaven, and over the course and +government of the stars presides the most high and righteous Creator! +and forget not, dear Drost, where stern justice would annihilate us +stands the Mediator and his heavenly Mother. Her prayers can shake and +avert the threatenings of each evil star, however firmly fixed in the +judgment heaven. Be comforted, noble Drost!" he continued, with mild +tranquillity; "none can draw aside the veil of futurity: this much, +however, I think to have discerned in yon vast mysterious book, that I +renounce not the hope of better days for Denmark, so long as the Lord +and our blessed Lady will extend a protecting hand over the king's +life. With his fortunate star will that of Denmark now assuredly rise +or sink." + +"You are a learned and God-fearing man, venerable Master Petrus!" said +Aage, who meanwhile had been pacing uneasily up and down, with the +king's letter in his hand; "but, pardon me, now, it is _you_, and not +I, who indulge in visionary fancies. I have more confidence in your +piety and enlightened view of the Almighty's government here upon +earth, and in our time, than in your astrological knowledge and devout +gaze into futurity. What we are now concerned in is the present moment; +but what in the world is to be done, when neither you, nor any other +wise man, can bring the king to his right senses? Hath the archbishop's +flight caused him to set at nought discretion? Would he now demand +justice only,--not mercy,--of the papal see? Does he think, in defiance +of ban and interdict, and even without a dispensation of kindred, he +can prevail on the wise Swedish government to consent to the marriage? +It is an impossibility--would he despise all reasonable negotiation, +and let the sword decide the quarrel with the dukes? And would he now +himself storm his brother's castle, and force him to become an avowed +traitor and deserter to the enemy?" + +"I have shared your apprehensions, noble Drost! I blamed the king's +impetuous procedure; I vainly strove to hinder these far too hasty +steps. His purpose is inflexible. But amid all my fears for the +consequences, I could not but admire the kingly spirit, which ventured +so much for the support of royal dignity. In reliance on the justice of +his cause, ere twice twenty-four hours King Eric will stand with his +knights before Kallundborg, to teach obedience to his rebellious +brother." + +"The report was true, then, of the blockading of Kallundborg, and the +new fortification?" + +"Alas, yes! The king was greatly displeased at the junker's +contumacy, but still more at his treacherous endeavour to hinder the +marriage.--The wily Drost Bruncke hath betrayed him, probably with the +view of causing a breach between the brothers, and stirring up tumult +in the country." + +"Hum! and the Dukes of Sleswig renew their former pretensions at the +same time." + +"They are probably in league with the junker; yet they have not scared +the king.--If they have already forgotten the defeat at Groensund, he +will show them he dares face them on land also. Marsk Oluffsen is +assembling all the foot forces against them at Hadersleben." + +"And the archbishop and the cardinal, where are they?" + +"Grand threatens from Bornholm, and Isarnus from Axelhuus. He demands +safe conduct for the archbishop, and protests against the confiscation +of the Lund church property. Bishop Johan of Roskild wavers. The +enforcement of the interdict is dreaded." + +"Merciful Heaven! and, amid all this, can the king think of his +marriage?" + +"The first of June he purposes to cross to Helsingborg, with a bridal +train or an armed force. Yet, perhaps, that was but a hasty speech to +me and the Marsk. The Lord forbid it should come to such extremity!" + +"He draws the bow too tight; it must break. But one word more--the +outlaws who were pursued; are they taken?" + +"I know not; but their death doom is pronounced, wherever they are +found; the last murderous attempt hath rendered the king implacable--A +price is set on every outlaw's head--Aage Kagge was on the expedition +with Marsk Stig's daughters--There is now, assuredly, little hope at +present of the freedom of the unhappy maidens." + +"They are innocent! by the Lord above, they are innocent!" exclaimed +Aage, impetuously. "I must to the king; it is high time." He tore the +sling from his left arm, and moved it somewhat stiffly. "It _shall_ +do," he continued; "my right arm hath no one lamed. I must speed to +Kallundborg to the king. If the castle is to be stormed--if the +traitorous junker is to be chastised, leave that to me--against his own +brother my king shall not himself bear sword and shield. Matters must +have been carried far; his forbearance can hold out no longer." + +"Still, however," interrupted Master Petrus, "he expressly enjoins you +to spare the junker, wherever you meet him.--You are to blockade Holbek +with as little alarm as possible.--If you could even yet make peace +between the brothers, noble Drost! you would perhaps save state and +kingdom." + +The door of the ladies' apartment now opened, and the commandant +returned. "Your morning repast will be cold, my honoured guests," he +said, courteously; "but what see I, Sir Drost? Your arm is not in the +sling?" + +"It can and must be dispensed with," answered Aage. "You have spoilt me +here; you have been much too prudent and watchful. I have now to thank +you and your noble captives for your kindly care. The king needs strong +arms and swords. Can you instantly furnish me with two hundred men from +the garrison here?" + +"Two hundred men shall stand fully armed and in the court-yard here +within an hour, if you, as Drost, command it in the king's name," +answered Sir Ribolt. "Dare I ask their destination?" + +"I march to Holbek and Kallundborg. There is the king's name and seal +for it."--He gave him the king's letter. "It is for you also--but it is +to go no farther than ourselves." + +"Against the junker? merciful Heaven! Sir Drost, is it possible?" +exclaimed the commandant, clasping his hands in the greatest +astonishment. + +"The junker hath taken a fancy to add new fortifications, and shut the +gates against the king's men, as you know. It is probably only an +unfortunate jest, or a misunderstanding; but you see yourself such +gates must be forced betimes, when the king is on the road, and would +enter therein. Two hundred men, then, within an hour, but with as +little stir as possible, of course!" + +"You shall find all ready ere it rings to high mass," answered the +commandant, with calm determination. "But your wound, Sir Drost! Can +you yourself ride forth without danger? Otherwise the task is mine?" + +"With or without danger I must--I will onward," answered Aage. "When it +rings for high mass, then; and secrecy is expedient--Let it concern a +hunt after the outlaws--Understand you?" + +"Right! that shall be the belief in the castle here within the half +hour." So saying, Sir Ribolt hasted into the castle-yard, and Drost +Aage went with Master Petrus into the ladies' apartment. + + + + + CHAP. XI. + + +The state of feverish anxiety into which Aage had been thrown, had +called the colour into his cheek, and restored the appearance of health +to his countenance. In the spacious apartment appropriated to the +female inmates of the castle, where strangers were received, and where +the household assembled on holidays before divine service, Aage and +Master Petrus were received by the aged mistress of the castle, who +herself presented the guests their warm morning drink in cups of +polished silver. At a large round table in the middle of the apartment, +which was covered with a white fringed woollen table-cloth, sat the two +German minstrels, with the smoking cups before them, in pleasant +converse with the ladies. Ulrica questioned them, with curiosity, of +their visits to foreign princes, in whose praise and exaltation Master +Rumelant was as inexhaustible as he was unwearied in reckoning up all +the honour he had gained by his lays with these "excellent lords, his +august and most gracious patrons." + +Margaretha also took part in the conversation with the strangers; but +she was more modest in her queries. She was much more interested in +their art than in the good fortune they had sought and obtained by it +from the great. The solemn Master Poppe favoured her with a detailed +account of the genius and lays of the famous Minnesingers, whose most +flourishing period Master Poppe asserted could only be supposed by the +ignorant to have passed away. He affirmed, on the contrary, that the +noble art of minstrelsy had only now for the first time fully developed +itself on higher themes,--in the praise of moral truth and seraphic +beauty. Minstrels no longer repeated the monotonous praises of verdant +May, or of the beauty of earthly females and vain loves, but now in the +same, or even in a more regular measure, sang moral or religious themes +and important theological dogmas. He could not, however, deny that the +ancient love songs possessed a degree of pathos and animation which +even his good friends Master Henrick Frauenlob and a certain Master +Regenbogen, as well as the famous schoolmaster of Esslingen, with all +their learning, vainly strove to attain. Meanwhile he deemed it very +fortunate that, as princes and emperors no longer, as in former times, +devoted themselves to the noble art of minstrelsy, now cultivated +chiefly by the honest burgher class, there still were lords and +princes, like the King of Denmark, to honour and encourage the art, and +that the minstrel's lay yet resounded in knightly halls and in the +apartments of noble ladies. He lauded the poetic spirit of the +chivalrous poetry of Denmark, but still considered it, as well as the +love songs, too vain and worldly; a charge which Margaretha took much +to heart, although she readily admitted to the learned minstrel, that +all the Danish ballads she knew and admired treated of love adventures; +not a single one on scriptural or theological subjects. + +When Drost Aage entered the ladies' apartment, Margaretha rose to +return his greeting, and observed, with some uneasiness, that he had +thrown aside his sling. Her attention to Master Poppe's discourse was +at an end, and she entreated him to excuse, that she, as an attendant +on a wounded patient, had an occupation which could not be postponed. +"Pardon me, Sir Drost!" she said to Aage, and pointed to his unswathed +arm. "This is not according to agreement; yet you seem to have the use +of your arm," she added, when she perceived how easily he moved it. +"The wound is healed in some sort. With caution you may use it, in +moderation. But the stiff neck bandage----" + +"That I shall wear in remembrance of you, until we meet again, noble +maiden!" answered Aage; "although I almost think it might be dispensed +with. Within an hour I must leave the castle. That I am able to do so I +owe to your skill and unwearied care. I think soon to see my noble +master the king," he added, in a low voice, as he drew her to a recess +in the window fronting the castle garden; "but the suitable time for +effecting any thing towards your liberation is, alas! hardly come as +yet." + +"We ask no clemency from our earthly judges, but only that which is +just and reasonable," answered Margaretha, with calm seriousness. "I +should have thought all times were equally convenient to a good +sovereign for hearing the justification of the innocent." + +"It would grieve me deeply, noble Lady Margaretha!" said Aage, "if my +just-intentioned sovereign were for a moment to seem unjust in your +eyes; but your case now appears dark and intricate to those who are +not, as I am, acquainted with your pious sentiments and admirable +conduct. It is known that the traitorous squire Kagge was in your +company--your unfortunate confidence in that miscreant brought +suspicion on your innocence, and places you under a cloud; but, by the +living Lord! I will justify you. If earthly justice is blind, the +judgment of Heaven and my knightly sword shall surely open her eyes!" + +"No, dear Drost!" exclaimed Margaretha, half alarmed; "if you will +peril your precious life in any cause, let it be in that higher and +more important one to which you have dedicated it, but not for the fate +of two insignificant captives. To suffer injustice is, besides, surely +not the greatest misfortune," she added, with a look of mildness and +love, as she raised her long-fringed eyelids, and gazed through the +window panes up to the clear heavens. "Do not hasten rashly for our +sake; we will willingly wait for the Lord and for his appointed hour. +When we think but on the injustice our Lord suffered for our sakes, we +may surely bear our little cross throughout a short life for his sake. +The blessing of Heaven be with you, noble Drost Aage!" she continued; +"heartfelt thanks for the kindness with which you have rendered our +captivity imperceptible. We shall miss you very much. I shall, no +doubt, forget how to play at chess; but what we have spoken together at +the chessboard I can never forget. The sweet ballads you taught me I +shall also remember; and when we maidens talk of Florez and +Blantseflor, we will remember you also, and the quiet evenings by the +hearth here, and all the beautiful tales of chivalry you told us. If +the king comes hither in the spring, as they say, you will surely come +with him?" + +"Perhaps," answered Aage; "at any rate I will please myself with that +hope. But where the king or his true knights will be in the spring it +hardly lies in his power to determine, noble maiden. It is a dangerous +and troublous time. May the Lord order all things for us for the best!" + +"He will do so assuredly, and always, dear Drost!" said Margaretha, in +a confiding and friendly tone, as she laid her hand on his right arm, +which rested on the casement of the large window. "Even that which +seems worst and most unfortunate to us turns out at last to be the +best, if no sin be in it. This captivity, which a few weeks back +appeared so terrible to me, hath notwithstanding been the happiest time +I have passed since my father and mother died." + +"Sweet Margaretha!" whispered Aage, with subdued fervour, laying his +left hand on hers, which still rested upon his right arm; "dare I hope +I have the smallest share in that heavenly peace and joy which I daily +see beaming from your meek and loving eyes? Your hope and peace are +doubtless drawn from the fountain of Eternal Life; such joys come not +to you from any human source." + +"In every noble and pious heart assuredly there shines a ray from yon +source of Eternal Life!" answered Margaretha; "though its deepest +source be hid in the heart of the Redeemer, which bled for our sakes, +that it might include every soul in its unfathomable depths of grace +and commiserating love." + +"Most precious of beings!" exclaimed Aage, with overflowing emotion; +"dare I hope that which I dare not utter?" He paused; then added, in a +calmer tone, "Will you, then, really miss me at times, and sing the +songs I taught you?" + +"Indeed, indeed I will--but the stranger guest would talk with you, Sir +Drost!" interrupted Margaretha, hastily, and blushing as she withdrew +her hand. "As I told you," she added aloud, as she stepped forward with +Aage out of the recess, and vainly sought to hide her bashfulness and +confusion; "the bandage round your neck you must keep on, and the sling +to support your arm." + +"If it is convenient to you. Sir Drost!" said Master Petrus, who had +modestly approached, without interrupting his conversation with the +fair maiden, "we might now perhaps conclude our affairs in your private +chamber." + +"I will attend you instantly, venerable Sir! Permit me but a parting +word to the noble and hospitable hostess." + +"And to me also, surely, Sir Drost! although we have never been exactly +able to agree?" interrupted Ulrica, rising from the table, where Master +Rumelant's panegyrics on his excellent lords and Mecaenases already +began to weary her. + +After many reciprocal expressions of courtesy, which, however, were not +wanting in sincerity and heartfelt goodwill, the Drost left the ladies' +apartment with Master Petrus; but the object on which his eye lingered +the longest was the fair Lady Margaretha. As it rang for mass in +Vordingborg town, Drost Aage, clad in complete armour, rode out of the +castle gate at the head of two thirds of the garrison of the fortress. +At the same time the lady of the castle drove to church with the two +captive maidens. At the cross-road before the fortress Drost Aage once +more turned round and saluted the ladies in the car. He observed with +pleasure a white veil waving from the car in the meek Margaretha's +hand. The car was followed to church by Sir Ribolt, accompanied by the +three strangers on horseback. + +"Whither goes the Drost, with all those men-at-arms, Sir Ribolt?" asked +Ulrica, inquisitively, as she put her head out of the car; "there is +surely neither war nor rebellion here?" + +"They go but to rid the land of the outlaws and other vagabonds," +answered Sir Ribolt. "The assassin who attacked the Drost it seems hath +been taken already," he added, in a careless tone, without recollecting +the connection of the captive maidens with these turbulent and hated +characters, and without remarking that the lively querist turned pale. + +"What ails thee, sweet child? Canst thou not endure to sit backward?" +asked the watchful mistress of the castle. "Come, change places with +me; I can bear it." + +"Ah, let me sit quiet!" sighed Ulrica, drawing her veil over her face. +"Margaretha! Margaretha!" she whispered, clinging to her sister; "my +dream! my dream! He is taken! His life is in peril!" + +"Hush! hush! dearest sister!" whispered Margaretha; "it is but a +rumour. We will now pray for him and for all sinful souls. See,--the +blessed Lord still permits his mild sun to shine upon us all." + +The car rolled past a troop of richly attired burghers on their way to +church, who greeted the ladies with courtesy. Ulrica recovered herself, +and nodded to them with a consequential air. They whispered together, +and she conjectured that their talk was, doubtless, of her beauty and +supposed high birth. + + + + + CHAP. XII. + + +It was past midnight when Drost Aage, with his troop of horsemen, drew +near the Issefiord near Holbek. The weather was calm and frosty, the +snow sparkled in the starlight winter night, the marshes and all the +pools by the road side were frozen, but the ford was still open and +passable. Holbek rather resembled a ruin than a town; instead of +houses, there were now chiefly to be seen single walls and solitary +hearths. Five years before the town had been plundered and nearly burnt +down by the Norwegian fleet, in the feud with Marsk Stig and the +outlaws. Some small houses, however, had been rebuilt. The church and +the monastery of the Gray Friars stood unscathed, as well as the +castle, which had been lately put in good repair by Junker Christopher, +and which, it appeared, he now intended, despite the king's +prohibition, to make as strong a fortress as Kallundborg. + +By Aage's side rode an elderly captain of horse, Sir Ribolt's brother, +a silent, serious personage, whom the Drost informed by the way of what +was here to be attempted. When they approached the town they halted, +and had their horses rubbed down, while each horseman received his +separate directions. They then rode slowly, and as quietly as possible, +through the snow-covered streets of the town, and past the monastery, +where all lay in profound slumber. At the castle also the inmates +seemed to be reposing in the greatest calmness and security; even the +warders on the battlements were asleep. They examined the castle +narrowly on every side. There was not a light to be seen in the whole +of the upper story; it was only from the knights' hall, opposite the +ford, that a faint light gleamed from a window; and at the quay behind +the castle lay a boat with a red sail, from which glimmered the light +of a horn lantern. On the quay a fat knight, wrapped in a fox-skin +pelisse, paced up and down, apparently waiting for some one; he often +yawned, and rubbed his hands, while he looked up impatiently at the +window from whence gleamed the solitary light. A rough-looking, +one-eyed fellow, with a hideous and bloated visage, lay half asleep on +the rampart. + +"If thou fallest asleep, and drop'st into the ford, Kyste! thou wilt +cheat the rope-maker of an hempen cord," said the fat knight, and +laughed at his own wit. + +"Ha, indeed! think ye the halter is so sure of me. Sir Palle?" muttered +the fellow; "_you_ may well crack your jests, you are neither made to +be drowned nor hanged; with your round carcass, you would swim like an +ale barrel, and he who would hang you must risk his own neck." + +"Well," answered Palle, yawning, "mine is a very politic shape; thou +and thy daring masters might need such an one. But what the devil has +become of them? They are wrangling and consulting a confounded time +together." + +"It concerns high play, though, Sir Palle," muttered the man, flapping +his arms around his body to keep himself warm. "Had I but a good can of +German ale at my side, of a surety I would keep my eyes open." + +"If thou canst keep one eye open it deserves all honour, since thou +hast not more by thee," jested the knight. "But what the devil is the +junker about?" he continued, "to set me to watch here in frost and cold +while he consults on weighty matters in his warm private chamber! Me, +his right hand, and let into all his secrets! But tell me, Kyste, what +means this secret nightly visit? The proud Niels Brock and Johan Pape I +well know; they are two limbs of Satan, and I can easily divine what +they would be at; but who was the third stranger thou broughtest +hither,--yon little fellow, with the hump and the red mantle?" + +"It is the Evil One himself, I almost believe," answered the deserter, +and crossed himself; "a wizard at the least. I will be hanged if he +understands not the black art. They call him wise Master Thrand; he has +been condemned to fire and stake by the pope, and banished both by +kings and emperors; but he snaps his fingers at them all--he laughs at +the world's governors and rulers, and cares not for our Lord or our +Lady, either, when he is on the seas. If he is right, then are we all +fools together in Christendom, and should obey none other than _him_ +our master, who is within us and in all things; but that passes my +understanding. He can be pious too when it serves his turn. I saw that +when he kissed the archbishop's hand at parting, and took the letter of +absolution, which truly he afterwards cast overboard--he is a good +friend of Niels Brock, and can make gold, they say." + +"Then would he might teach us and the junker that art!" said Palle; +"then it were sin should he be burned for a little touch of heresy--for +that he will one day burn in the other world. But tell me, Kyste, if +thou and thy masters come from Hammershuus, from the archbishop, how +darest thou appear before the junker? The archbishop hath given him +over, as well as the king, to the devil; and I must needs admit the +junker hath been worse to him than ten devils." + +"That's the great folks' business," answered Kyste. "I serve the man +who pays best, and ask not of aught besides--had I known the archbishop +brought not so much as a mark with him, and should lose all he expected +from Skaane, the devil take me if I would have perilled my life for his +sake." + +"You had a rough passage, then, with him from Sjoeborg?" + +"Yes, you may well say that;--we were hard put to it ere we got him +housed. We were obliged to run in under Hveen; and we lay with our life +in our hands a whole day and two nights at Saltholm.--They were chasing +us every where with barks and those confounded fishing smacks; but the +fog and the bishop's prayers helped us that once. We sailed, in peril +of our lives, in a howling storm, to Kaasebjerg, and by the time we +reached Hammershuus we were half perished with cold and hunger; and +what got we for our pains? Mad Morten the cook got a bishop's letter +for a pilgrimage. I and Ole Ark got a dry blessing with three wizened +fingers, and a fresh absolution for ten years' sins. It may have its +use;--I never slight God's gifts; but such like gifts help little to +fill purse and stomach. Of course," he added, "we have now leave to +seek our bread where we can find it, and plunder our Lord's and the +archbishop's enemies till our dying day, without having a hair singed +in purgatory for it; but----" + +"Content thyself, Kyste; it will be a livelihood, nevertheless," +interrupted Palle. "But if thy new masters side with the archbishop I +cannot imagine what the devil they want here--the junker and the +archbishop agree together like cat and dog." + +"As I said, that's the great folks' business," answered the deserter. +"What they have plotted with the archbishop at Hammershuus I can't +tell; but could they patch up an agreement for the junker with Master +Grand, and get the ban done away, he would have nought against it, I +trow; and one service is as good as the other. If the junker gets into +a scrape with the king, he will need a prop; and if the king goes to +the wall, the junker perhaps will get uppermost, and may help his +friends again. But that concerns not me; matters may turn out as the +foul fiend pleases for aught I care, so long as there are good oars to +be had, and something to lay one's hands on. But what was that noise? +Heard ye not horses tramp on the other side of the castle?" + +"Dream'st thou, Kyste? Who would visit the castle so late?" said Palle, +listening anxiously. + +"Here I have _my_ masters. Now any one may come that Satan pleases," +said the deserter, and ran towards the vessel. + +Two tall men, in ample grey mantles, and with hoods over their heads, +accompanied by a little hump-backed personage, in a red cloak, came +forth from a secret door in the castle wall, and passed over a small +drawbridge which was let down over the outer castle moat. They hasted +down to the quay, where they greeted Sir Palle by a silent nod, and, +without uttering a word, entered the vessel, which instantly pushed off +from the shore, and set sail. Sir Palle shook his head thoughtfully, +and looked after them as he listened, and thought he heard a distant +noise of arms and horses' hoofs without the castle gate. He hasted over +the small drawbridge before which he had stood on guard, and drew it up +hastily behind him. He then passed quickly through the private door +into the castle. + +On the opposite side of the outer fortification stood Drost Aage with +his horsemen, who, according to his orders, had led their horses +slowly, and one at a time, over the half-completed drawbridge, which as +yet could not be drawn up. The strongly secured castle gate was shut, +and they had knocked several times, apparently without being heard by +any one. "Who is there?" at last said a drowsy voice from the +battlement over the gate. It was the watchman or warder of the castle, +who now stood up, with a long spear in the one hand, and an alarm horn +in the other. + +"Sleep'st thou at thy post, watch?" called Aage, in a stern tone; +"seest thou not it is the king's men who would enter? Haste! let the +porter open to us instantly.--This is the new garrison." + +"New garrison! That know we nought of here," muttered the warder. "I +shall have to blow the horn, then, as the junker hath commanded." + +"A single sound costs thee thy life, fellow!" menaced the Drost. "Where +the king himself commands no junker hath a word to say." + +"The Lord bless you, if that be true, noble sir!" said the warder, +joyfully; "I shall then not have to ride the wooden horse to-morrow +because I slept?" + +"Haste thee! or we force the gates."--To Aage's surprise, the castle +gate was opened without demur in a few minutes. The troop presently +filled the castle yard. Guards were immediately stationed at all the +entrances, as well as on the towers and the battlements on the wall +surrounding the fortress. This was done hastily, and with as little +noise as possible. The sound of so many horses' hoofs and clashing +weapons had, notwithstanding, awakened all the inhabitants of the +castle, who peeped in dismay out of the windows and loopholes, ignorant +into whose hands it had fallen. But the Drost now ordered three +trumpeters to call together all the unarmed household servants, with +all the men-at-arms in the castle. He announced to the warder and the +household, in the king's name, that they were released from their +duties here in the junker's service; and that the king for the present +had taken possession of the castle himself. Those who would enter his +service, and swear fealty to him, might remain; the rest were at +liberty to withdraw, and serve the junker at his other castles and +estates. On hearing this proclamation fear was suddenly changed into +general rejoicing, "Long live the king!" re-echoed from mouth to mouth. +There was not a single domestic who hesitated to change masters; and +many expressions and exclamations were heard which showed how little +Junker Christopher had understood to win the good will of his +dependants. As soon as the new force had garrisoned all the posts, +Drost Aage, with the remainder of his troop, entered the castle. The +steward was the first person who appeared. He was a taciturn personage, +of short stature, with a half German accent. He delivered the keys of +the castle to the Drost, and seemed to share in the general +satisfaction; but as soon as he had installed his unexpected guests he +vanished, and did not again make his appearance. + +Ere the day had dawned, Drost Aage was again on horseback, and, with +the half of his troop of horse, quitted Holbek castle, and took the +road to Kallundborg. Sir Ribolt's brother remained as commandant, with +strict orders not to open the gates to any one, or give up the castle +to the junker, ere he had the king's warrant and seal for so doing. + +"Sir Drost," said an old horseman, as they rode out of the still +slumbering town, amid its ruins and deserted sites, "was it then your +own order that we might not stop any one who would out of the castle; +and that none, under pain of death, might lift a hand against the +high-born junker, if he was on the spot?" + +"That was the king's command to us all," answered the Drost. + +"Then I now know that I was right, even though I did let rogues and +traitors slink off," continued the horseman. "I stood on guard at the +gate of the back court. Sir Drost, and I saw three men in disguise lead +their horses out of the stable. They disappeared through the rampart +gate close to the ford, and the Lord only knows what became of them. My +comrades thought we should have stopped and seized them, for they stole +so strangely away, and looked around them on all sides; but I said, +'No! it is a criminal act if we touch them,' and we let them 'scape. +The one was assuredly the little German who was forced to give you the +keys; the other was a fat fellow, who could hardly waddle away; but the +third was a tall stern man; he swore, and laid about him, at every +step. I could almost take my oath it was the junker himself. He was +hardly twelve paces from me when he caught a sight of me, and shyed +off, as it were.--He led his horse over the dunghill, that he might not +come too near us, I suppose; but then the hood fell back from his +neck, and I saw the long black hair you know of; it is as rough as a +horse-tail. No one in the country has such dark unsightly hair as +the junker. But, as I say, we let him go, and budged not from the +spot.--The king himself will know how to chastise him, thought I." + +"Good!" exclaimed the Drost; "thou hast behaved as was thy duty--as to +the rest, what is between the king and his brother concerns not us, and +still less whether the junker's hair be fine or coarse." He then +spurred his horse, and proceeded at a brisk trot, without stopping. + +Ere Drost Aage, with his horsemen, reached Kallundborg, the king +approached the town, with the greater part of his chivalry, and a more +numerous troop of horsemen and spearmen than he was ever wont to take +with him when about to visit his vassals or one of his castles. It was +noon. The horses foamed with hard riding. The troop halted at St. +George's Hospital, upon the high hill just without the town. + + + + + CHAP. XIII. + + +The report of the king's arrival had preceded him. It had excited great +alarm in the whole neighbourhood, and had especially thrown the +burghers of Kallundborg into a state of anxious suspense. Their +devotion to the king, and fear of his wrath, placed them in a most +dangerous position with regard to their stern deputed master, Junker +Christopher, and his warlike commandant at the castle. Disquieting and +contradictory reports respecting a difference between the king and his +brother had already for some time been in circulation, but no one knew +the real state of the case. As Lord of Samsoee, Holbek, and Kallundborg, +Junker Christopher exercised an almost royal authority wherever he had +troops and fortresses under his command. Latterly he had been often +seen in Kallundborg, where he had assembled a considerable garrison at +the castle, and, to the dismay of the burghers, had put the +fortifications opposite the town and the land side into such a state of +defence as if the breaking out of a dangerous civil war might daily be +expected. Some weeks back admittance had been refused at the castle to +Marsk Oluffsen, who, with a small troop of men-at-arms, had demanded to +enter in the king's name. From this refractoriness towards a royal +ambassador it was thought the most serious results were now to be +apprehended. The prince himself went night and day to and from +Kallundborg; now with a large armed train on horseback, and now by sea +with the armed vessels which constantly plied between Samsoee and +Kallundborg, and conveyed both men-at-arms and provisions to the +fortress. No one knew whether Junker Christopher was personally present +at the castle at the time when the report of the king's arrival threw +the whole town into commotion; but it was observed with dismay that the +drawbridge was raised, and that serious preparations were making to +repel an attack. + +The king halted at the head of his numerous train on the hill, and +caused his white steed to be rubbed down while he looked down +thoughtfully upon town and castle. At his right hand was the brave +young Margrave Waldemar of Brandenborg, who had deferred his homeward +journey, and accompanied the king on this expedition, to take leave of +his good friend Junker Christopher, and, if possible, to avert the +storm which menaced him. At the king's left hand was seen his energetic +general, Count Henrik of Mecklenborg, who now, next to Drost Aage, +seemed the king's most confidential friend. The troops watered their +horses at the pond by the chapel of the Holy Cross. All the cripples of +St. George's Hospital came out to see the king, and the numerous +fraternity of St. George, or demi-ecclesiastical attendants on the +sick, vied with each other in offering refreshments to him and his +train. The thronging and curious crowd kept, however, at a respectful +distance from the king and the two stranger lords. + +"Your grace will find the whole is some absurd mistake," said the young +margrave, in a light and careless tone, as he sprang off his horse, and +adjusted his rich attire. "At all events, it is assuredly nothing more +than a mistaken sense of honour in the junker, or rather in his +commandant here, and the brave Marsk Oluffsen; that excellent man hath +an altogether peculiar talent of offending every one, without dreaming +of doing so himself. That you must yourself have observed. Such persons +one can but employ to plague both friend and foe. I am fond of being +mediator between kinsmen and kind friends," he continued, gaily--"there +is nothing like drinking to a reconciliation after every quarrel, and +then all goes on merrily.--I know the junker's wine cellar at the +castle here; it is almost better than any prior's; if he willed not to +open it to your sharp spoken Marsk, he hath perhaps but wished to +reserve it for dearer guests." + +"The Lord grant we may have come hither to a friendly feast, Sir +Margrave!" answered the king, solemnly, and in a low tone, while his +gaze dwelt on the beautiful winter landscape which lay outstretched +before him. The sun beamed brightly on ford and town. The castle rose +proudly, with its round towers and high battlements, behind the shining +copper roof of the Franciscan monastery. Esbern Snare's five Gothic +church spires pointed boldly towards the heavens from the ancient +church of St. Mary, while furthermost, and near the ford, the sea tower +proudly reared its head. "If my brother can justify himself," continued +the king, "he will surely now not shun my sight, but come to greet me +according to duty and fealty." + +"But he surely expects you not--he is perhaps out hunting, or roving +from one domain to another," said the margrave. "The noble junker's +blood is thick.--I have counselled him to be ever on the move, in order +to drive away melancholy fancies. I have often deplored that his +magnanimous hankering after action and distinction hath as yet no +decided object, and so often disturbs the balance of his princely mind, +giving occasion to even his nearest friends and kindred to misjudge +him." + +"If I see aright, noble king!" said Count Henrik, shading his eyes with +his hand from the sunshine, "yonder comes a crowd of people towards us +from the town. It must be the burghers, who would show you their +loyalty and devotion." + +"Hum! they were also leagued against the Marsk," said the king. "The +people are loyal to me personally--this I know, that were I to pass +through the country as a leprous beggar, no burgher or peasant would +shut his door upon me. In the eyes of many, no doubt, I seem a leper, +since the bishop's ban," he added; "yet I am every where met with +affection. It is only my brother who turns his back upon me, and +refuses me obedience in this time of need." + +"The noble junker is surely not here," resumed the margrave, "or he +would certainly never delay to crave your pardon for his commandant's +rashness, and to lead us to his well-appointed table--he hath put the +fortifications of the castle in excellent repair, I perceive--were I in +your grace's place I would thank him for that," he continued. +"Kallundborg is an important spot in time of war, and a good harbour +for your fleet." + +"For that very reason no vassal should presume to shut the castle on +the lawful ruler of the land, or his generalissimo," answered the king. +"I cannot but commend your endeavours to excuse my erring brother, Sir +Margrave," he added, abruptly; "and be assured, if he can be +acquitted,--if he can only give me his princely word that he hath had +no share in this contumacy,---he needs not that a stranger should plead +for him, where a brother is his liege and judge." + +The margrave bowed courteously, and was silent, while he passed his +hand over his brow, and appeared desirous to hide a look of annoyance. + +"Will your grace speak to the burghers now?" asked Count Henrik; "they +seem timidly waiting for permission to approach you." + +"They have it of course, count; let them come hither." + +Count Henrik rode to meet the lingering burgher crowd, and soon +returned to the king, accompanied by the burgomaster, and twelve of the +oldest burghers of the town, who, clad in their holiday attire, and +with their heads uncovered, reverently greeted their sovereign. After +several salutations, the burgomaster somewhat bashfully and humbly +began his address. "Most mighty liege and sovereign! your grace's +august presence--this poor town's joy at seeing your most royal +grace----" + +"Is not very great," interrupted the king; "say it out at once, +burgomaster, and speak without a long-winded preamble! You fear there +may be bounds to my most royal grace this time, and that I mean to call +you to strict account for the reception my Marsk hath met with here." + +"Your princely brother, our strict master, the junker, had ordered his +commandant at the castle"--stammered the burgomaster. + +"I speak not now of what he hath or hath not commanded his servants," +interrupted the king. "Such contumacy he himself, or his commandant, +shall answer for. But who enjoined you to refuse obedience to my +ambassadors?" + +"The commandant, in the junker's name, and in your own, my liege," +answered the burgomaster--"although we could not consider the behest as +lawful, or obey it, when the Marsk, with your authority, enjoined us +the reverse, after a short demur, what he demanded was even granted +him, and his people, though it came to cost us all dear." + +"What!" interrupted the king, with vehemence, "have ye since been +chastised because you obeyed my orders?" + +"We complain not, my liege, and least of all of your august kindred, +and the ruler you have given us--whatever injustice we have suffered is +but trifling, in comparison of our sorrow and shame if we have brought +upon us the displeasure of our noble liege and sovereign." + +"You have suffered injustice for your loyalty to me--could I then be +wroth with you, brave burghers?" said the king, with sudden emotion. +"By all the holy men! were I so, I should not longer deserve one loyal +and devoted heart among ye. The injustice ye have suffered shall be +atoned for--we are come hither to call to account for what here hath +been done--where is the junker?" + +"We know not, most mighty king!" + +"Where is his commandant, then? Why comes he not hither to receive us?" + +"He affirms he hath received commands, my liege, which are so hard to +believe that we dare not name them." + +"What! Who dares command here when I am present?" exclaimed the king, +with vehemence. "Yet, no; it is impossible," he added, more calmly, and +restrained his impatience. "The man must be sick or mad. Ride to the +castle, Count Henrik, and announce my coming! I will stay the night +here with my knights and an hundred men--you will care for the rest of +the men-at-arms, burgomaster!" + +Count Henrik was instantly in motion, and rode down with a small train +towards the castle. + +"Mighty king!" resumed the burgomaster, in a timid tone; "my life, and +the lives and property of my fellow burghers are at your service and +the country's; but be not wrath with us, my liege, for what it lay not +in our power to hinder! The castle gate is locked, the draw-bridge +raised, men-at-arms and balista are posted on the outer walls, and the +commandant hath announced to us that he hath orders to fire the town +with burning stones within twenty-four hours from the moment it is +beleaguered by your men-at-arms." + +"Doth he rave?" exclaimed the king. "Well, then, away with all grace +and mercy--we will see who is master here.--To horse, my men! You stand +under our royal protection, brave burghers!" he said to the burgomaster +and elders of the town. "If a straw is scorched over your heads for my +sake it shall dearly be atoned for! Every rebel and traitor I will +strictly punish, however high he may carry his head." + +"Honour to the king! to Eric, the youthful king!" shouted the +burgomaster, waving his hat; and this well known acclamation (derived +from a national ballad) was re-echoed by the whole burgher troop, amid +the waving of caps and hats. + +"Now place, good people!" ordered the king, reining in his steed. "I +will see who dares to lock the gate through which we would enter." + +"Permit me to detain your grace one moment," said the Margrave of +Brandenborg, who had again vaulted into his saddle, and now rode +hastily up to the king, with his head uncovered. "Ere you take any +compulsory step, I wish, as an impartial friend both of yours and your +princely brother, to have a minute's conversation with you without +witnesses." + +"Well, that shall not be denied you. Sir Margrave--Aside, my friends!" + +All withdrew to some distance and the margrave remained in the same +respectful attitude, with his high-plumed hat in his hand. "Your noble +brother hath honoured me with a confidence and friendship which makes +it my duty to plead his cause in his absence--what hath already been +done, and hereafter may be done, against your will, hath undoubtedly +the appearance of contumacy and treason: but it is impossible it should +be according to your noble brother's wish or order, for that,--(pardon +me this expression,)--for that I count him to be at least too _wise_. +Of our inmost heart and mind, He who knoweth the heart of man alone can +judge--I will stand security for Prince Christopher in this matter, +until he can stand forth in person before you to justify himself. I +offer my services to seek him out, and bring him to you. He must +certainly be at Holbek castle, or at Samsoee--Will you promise me so +long to delay every compulsory measure, and at the utmost only to +beleaguer the castle?" + +"Well, Sir Margrave! for twenty-four hours I will await him, but not an +hour longer. Till to-morrow at this time I will restrain my just wrath, +and with sheathed sword wait without the gate which hath been +presumptuously shut before mine eyes. But ere I hear another ave from +the pious Franciscans here--the castle shall be in my power; that I +vow, by all the holy men! as surely as I am lord here, and would be +called king in Denmark." + +"It is agreed, then, your grace!" answered the margrave, with spirit, +after a moment's deliberation. "If I stand not within twenty-four hours +with your brother acquitted before your sight--then let yon fair castle +mount up in smoke and flames--or take it with a storming hand! Count +Henrik hath no doubt a strong desire to show you his prowess and +generalship. Then I shall have done what lay in my power, and shown you +both, as I trust, that you have had a friend for your guest." + +"You have my word for it, Sir Margrave! I shall owe you thanks if your +good purpose succeed. See you how the shadow yonder falls from the +middle spire upon the cloister roof--It marks the bounds of my patience +to-morrow. The Lord and our holy Lady be with us all!" So saying, Eric +waved his right hand, and saluted the margrave, as he spurred his +horse, and rode forward at the head of his troop of warriors. The king +and his knights now rode down the hill in the direction of the castle, +while Margrave Waldemar, with his little train of German and Danish +men-at-arms, proceeded at full gallop on the road to Holbek. + + + + FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 1: "Marsk," a military title, corresponding in some degree to +our field marshal. This office, however, comprises civil as well as +military duties, the marsk being also one of the principal ministers of +state.] + +[Footnote 2: The private wrongs committed by Eric the Seventh, surnamed +Glipping, against his Marsk, Stig, a nobleman of high rank, had +rendered him his deadly foe. Stig headed a band of conspirators on the +22d of November, 1286, disguised as Franciscan monks, and murdered him +while asleep in a barn at the village of Finnerup, where he had taken +refuge from their pursuit. The king's chamberlain, a kinsman of Marsk +Stig, conducted the assassins to the place where the king lay +concealed.--_Translator's Note_.] + +[Footnote 3: Waldemar the Victorious was Eric Menved's +great-grandfather.] + +[Footnote 4: Drost, the prime minister of state in Denmark in the +middle ages; all state ministers however, in that age, were required to +serve in the field as well as in council. When the Drost was present, +he superseded the Marsk in the command of the army.--_Translator's +Note_.] + +[Footnote 5: Junker (pronounced Yunker) was the title of the sons of +the kings of Denmark in the middle ages, corresponding to that of +Infant in Spain.--_Translator's Note_.] + +[Footnote 6: Baron Holberg supposes that the word "carline" (kierlinge +in Danish) had its origin in the easy victories obtained by the +Northmen over the French, or Carlines, the subjects of Charles the +Bald: the word carline or kierlinge now signifying in Danish an old +woman, and applied in derision to the fainthearted of the other +sex.--_Translator_.] + +[Footnote 7: Esrom Lake, situated about eight English miles from +Elsinore, is a fair specimen of the placid lake scenery of Zealand. The +monastery is still in part in a habitable state.] + +[Footnote 8: "Axel and Valborg," one of the gems of Scandinavian +poetry. The interest of the poem turns on the separation of the hero +and heroine (who had been betrothed from childhood) by an interdict of +the church, on the plea of the parties standing within a forbidden +degree of affinity to each other. This affinity, however, consisted +merely in having one common godmother. Circumstances like these, +however trivial, were frequently made available by the church for the +extension of its power, and the furtherance of its secular interests.] + +[Footnote 9: Flynderborg, the castle at Elsinore, of which no vestiges +now remain. Its site was not far from that of the present castle of +Cronberg.] + +[Footnote 10: At this period the Hanseatic merchants were absolute +masters of the whole trade of the Baltic. The Danish fleet was in a +reduced state, and the Hanse were therefore under the necessity of +guarding the seas themselves, for the security of their trade. This was +peculiarly the case during the disturbed reign of Eric Glipping, when +the northern pirate, Alf Erlingsen, infested the Danish seas. This is +the subject of a ballad still preserved among the Danish peasantry,-- + + "The German men they sailed up the sound, + With meal and with malt sailed they, + But Erlingsen's ships there to meet them they found, + And theirs he took all for his prey." + +In the time of Eric Glipping the Hanse had no less than thirty armed +vessels stationed in the sound at Elsinore.--_Translator's Note_.] + +[Footnote 11: Carl the German.] + +[Footnote 12: The Kareles were a heathen tribe of Livonia, conquered by +the Swedes, under the command of Marsk Torkild Knudson.] + +[Footnote 13: A characteristic exclamation of King Eric, who according +to Holberg, scrupled making use of a stronger expression, even in +confirmation of the most solemn engagements.--_Translator's Note_.] + +[Footnote 14: In the early ages of Denmark the people bore an important +part in the affairs of government, a fact of which there are traces at +this day in the Norwegian constitution, in which the peasantry as a +class are represented. The people at large decided on war or peace, nor +was any royal decree considered valid until it had obtained their +consent. Every town had its own "Ting," or place of assembly, in the +open air; a large flat stone, placed in the centre of a circle of +upright ones, served as a platform for the speakers. In these +assemblies the peasants discussed, not only public affairs, but decided +on all private differences, &c. Saxo Grammaticus blames King Svend +Grathe for neglecting to attend these meetings of the people. In such +assemblies the king was not permitted to take his leave until he had +greeted even the meanest of his subjects, and sent a friendly greeting +to his family. The English reader may perhaps require to be reminded of +these facts, in order fully to perceive that Jeppe is a representative +of his class in that age.--_Translator's Note_.] + +[Footnote 15: Dyrendal, the name of Roland's sword, afterwards used for +swords in general by the Danes. Scandinavian warriors esteemed their +swords above all other treasures. If a sword had done good service, it +was distinguished by some epithet expressive of the deeds it had +achieved. The sword of King Hagen of Norway was called "quaern bider," +or mill-stone biter, from having cut through a mill-stone. If the owner +of such a sword had no immediate descendants, it was buried beside him +in his grave.--_Translator's Note_.] + +[Footnote 16: King Glipping, so called from his twinkling eye.] + +[Footnote 17: Fragment of an old Danish ballad.] + +[Footnote 18: A valuable collection of historical documents made by +King Eric, called Congesta Menvedi.] + +[Footnote 19: Sveno Agonis, a Danish historian contemporary with Saxo +Grammaticus.] + + + + END OF THE FIRST VOLUME. + + + + + London: + Printed by A. Spottiswoode, + New-Street-Square. + + + + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of King Eric and the Outlaws, Vol. 1, by +Bernhard Severin Ingemann + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK KING ERIC AND THE OUTLAWS, VOL. 1 *** + +***** This file should be named 36631.txt or 36631.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/6/6/3/36631/ + +Produced by Charles Bowen, from page scans provided by the Web Archive + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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