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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of King Eric and the Outlaws, Vol. 2, 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. 2
+       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 #36632]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK KING ERIC AND THE OUTLAWS, VOL. 2 ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Charles Bowen, from page scans provided by the Web Archive
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's Notes:
+
+   1. Page scan source:
+      http://www.archive.org/details/kingericandoutl00chapgoog
+
+   2. The diphthong oe is represented by [oe].
+
+
+
+
+                               KING ERIC
+
+                                  AND
+
+                              THE OUTLAWS.
+
+                                VOL. II.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                                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. II.
+                             *   *   *   *
+
+
+
+                                LONDON:
+                   LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, & LONGMANS,
+                            PATERNOSTER-ROW.
+                                 1843.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAPTER I.
+
+
+When the king reached Kallundborg castle, and beheld the drawbridge
+raised, and the well fortified castle in a complete state of defence, a
+flush of anger crossed his cheek, his hand involuntarily clenched the
+hilt of his sword, and for an instant he was near forgetting his
+promise, and drawing it out of the scabbard. Count Henrik reined in his
+war horse impatiently before the outermost fortification, awaiting an
+answer to the message he had shouted, in the king's name, to the
+nearest warder. "Matchless presumption!" exclaimed the king; "know they
+I am here myself? and do they still tarry with an answer, when they
+have but to be silent and to obey?"
+
+"They take their time, my liege!" answered Count Henrik. "It is
+unparalleled impudence.--If you command, the trumpet shall be instantly
+sounded for storm; the sword burns in my hand."
+
+"Not yet!" answered the king, and took his hand from the hilt of his
+sword.
+
+At this moment a trumpet sounded from the outer rampart, and a tall
+warrior in armour, with closed visor, stepped forth on the battlement.
+
+"The castle opens not to any armed man!" he shouted in a rough tone,
+which however appeared assumed and tremulous; "it will be defended to
+the last, against every attack; this is our noble junker's strict order
+and behest."
+
+"Madman!" exclaimed Eric; and Count Henrik seemed about to give an
+impetuous reply.
+
+"Not a word more!" continued the king, with a stern nod.--"We stoop not
+to further parley with rebels and traitors.--You will beleaguer the
+castle on all sides, and get all in readiness for a storm; until
+twenty-four hours are over, no spear must be thrown--if the rebels dare
+to enact their impudent threats against the town, we shall have to
+think but of saving it and quenching the flames. If aught chances here,
+I must know it instantly; you will not fail to find me at the
+Franciscan monastery." So saying, the king turned his horse's head, and
+rode with a great part of his train into the large monastery, close to
+the castle. Here stood the guardian and all the fraternity with their
+shaven heads uncovered, in two rows before the stone steps in the yard
+of the monastery. The aged guardian, in common with the rest of his
+fraternity, wore an ashen grey cloak with a cowl at the back, and a
+thick cord round the waist. Despite the winter cold, they were all
+without shoes and stockings, with wooden sandals under their bare feet.
+They received the king with manifest signs of alarm and uneasiness.
+
+"Be easy, ye pious men," said the king, in a mild voice, as he sprang
+from his horse, and acknowledged their greeting and the guardian's
+pious address in a friendly manner; "I come to you as your friend and
+protector. If it please God and our Lady, no evil shall happen to your
+monastery or our good and loyal town. It is not your fault that our
+brother the junker hath appointed a madman to be his commandant; for we
+trust in the Lord and the mighty Saint Christopher, that our dear
+brother hath not himself lost his wits. I will await him here, until he
+can receive the news of my coming, and give explanation in person of
+this matter. If there is danger astir, I will share it with you; at
+present I wish but to see whether your guest-house and refectory can
+stand this unexpected visitation; meanwhile it shall be recompensed
+beforehand to the monastery."
+
+"Noble sovereign," answered the guardian, "destroy not by any worldly
+compensation the pleasure which you now bestow on us, in our fear and
+trembling: poverty is, as you know, the first rule of our holy order.
+If you will vouchsafe to share the indigence of the penitent, gracious
+king, doubt not then our willingness to give, and share without
+recompence; and tempt us not to accept what the holy Franciscus himself
+hath strictly forbid us to touch."
+
+"Well, the rule is surely not so strictly kept here," said the king,
+with a good-natured smile, as he entered into the large guest-house of
+the monastery, and saw the door standing open to the refectory, where a
+table, with fasting fare, was spread for the monks, but a larger, with
+flasks of wine and dishes of substantial meat, was prepared for the
+entertainment of the distinguished worldly guests. "Here, however, we
+shall not come to suffer want," continued the king; "here we find not
+frugal fare alone, but God's gifts, almost to superfluity."
+
+"What we are able to offer your grace hath been sent hither by the
+burghers.--Where the Lord's anointed enters he brings a blessing with
+him,"--answered the guardian, making a genuflection with his hands
+crossed over his breast.
+
+"Blessing?" replied the king, a dark cloud suddenly passing over his
+brow.--"Hum! even though he be given over to the Devil and the
+destruction of the fleshy venerable father?" he asked with bitterness,
+and in a low voice, as he drew the guardian aside and gazed at him,
+with a sharp, searching look.
+
+The aged monk turned pale at these words of the king, and involuntarily
+crossed himself, as he heaved a deep sigh. "The holy church proclaims
+to us absolution even for deadly sins, and justification through grace
+and conversion," said he, folding his lean hands. "Its curse falls only
+in reality on the head of the profligate and ungodly."
+
+"But when the archbishop, the prince of the Danish church, out of
+revenge and hate, hath proclaimed thy sovereign to be such an one?"
+
+"Were you such _in truth_, my liege and sovereign, alas! I must then
+echo the dreadful sentence within my heart, though it should break in
+doing so, and were your wrath even to crush me," answered the old man,
+with deep solemnity, again pressing his folded hands upon his breast;
+"but the Lord preserve my soul from taking part in the counsels of the
+revengeful and the judgments of the unrighteous! The church's might and
+authority are certainly great, noble king," he continued, "but
+vengeance and judgment are the Lord's, even as grace for the penitent
+belongeth unto him; power is given us to build up, but not to pull
+down; we can do nothing against the truth, but all for the truth. If
+even a bishop himself should err in our true believing church, and
+abuse the church's authority against God's word, no priest or Christian
+hath leave to consent unto him, saith the holy Augustine."
+
+"Right, pious father! that is also my creed and my comfort, and what
+the learned Master Peter also hath told me. You have then no fear that
+I bring with me a curse or evil spirits over this threshold?"
+
+"No assuredly!" answered the guardian solemnly, with uplifted hand and
+look,--"I know my noble liege is not profane and ungodly, a despiser of
+penitence and pious works, or one whom in the power of the word it is
+permitted to give over to the destruction of the flesh, for the soul's
+eternal salvation. I know, therefore, that the Prince of Darkness can
+have no power over your dear-bought soul; and that no sinful curse can
+destroy the peace of God in your heart, or wipe off the holy ointment
+from your crowned head."
+
+A mild emotion was visible in the king's countenance at these words of
+the guardian. "Give me your blessing, pious father!" he said, in a
+subdued tone; "you have spoken words which penetrate my inmost soul."
+
+"The reconciled and all-merciful God preserve your life and crown, and
+above all the precious peace of your soul!" prayed the guardian, and
+laid his shrivelled hand on the head of the king, who bent to receive
+the blessing, "in so far as you are _yourself_ placable and merciful,"
+he added with emphasis, and a piercing gaze.
+
+"Hum, placable?" repeated the king, hastily, raising his head; "even
+towards rebels and traitors?"
+
+"They assuredly need mercy most," answered the guardian. "Be not wroth,
+my liege," he continued, gently and impressively; "there is a holy
+word, which at this moment strangely trembles on my lips: 'If thy
+brother sin against thee,' it is written, 'then chastise him; but if he
+repents, then forgive him!'"
+
+"But when he does _not_ repent?" asked the king, gazing on the guardian
+with an excited look.
+
+"Then pray for him till he does, that thy mother's son may not be a
+castaway; and for the sake of thine own peace!" whispered the
+ecclesiastic.--"A brother offended is harder to be won than a strong
+city, and quarrels are as bars before a palace."
+
+"But strong cities may fall, and the palaces of rebels may be forced,"
+exclaimed the king, suddenly assuming a stern tone, and the mild
+emotion expressed in his countenance became clouded. "The wise king
+Solomon hath also taught me to count more on a faithful friend than a
+false brother. Did not a prophet once say to his people, in a
+traitorous and corrupted time like ours--'Put not your trust in any
+brother, for every brother will certainly deceive?' I could wish that
+holy man were wrong. But enough of this," said Eric, hastily breaking
+off the solemn converse. "Let us now think a little of worldly things,
+and not despise the care of the body. We have ridden a long way today,
+to be shut out of our own castle here." So saying, the king went with
+hasty strides into the refectory; the guardian followed him with a
+sorrowful aspect, and the rejoicing of the brethren, over the king's
+piety and mildness, seemed somewhat diminished.
+
+Kallundborg castle was now regularly beleaguered, and the warlike and
+experienced Count Henrik of Mecklenborg neglected none of the necessary
+preparations for a storm, as far as he was able with so small a force,
+and without engines for storming. Meanwhile, ere the sun went down, he
+saw his force augmented, as Drost Aagé with his hundred horsemen
+galloped into the town, and joined him without the castle walls. As
+soon as the Drost had provided for the wants of his troops, and had
+consulted with Count Henrik, he repaired to the monastery of grey
+friars, where he was instantly admitted to the king in the library.
+
+Here sat Eric in a thoughtful mood, in the guardian's great arm-chair,
+before an oaken table, on which lay a large annotated Bible as well as
+the writings of St. Augustine and other fathers of the church, open
+before him. He held a manuscript of Master Petrus de Dacia's in his
+hand, in which he was diligently making marks and dashes with his pen,
+and seemed employed in comparing it with the passages at which the
+writings of the fathers were opened. By the side of these spiritual
+writings, however, lay also three worldly books in handsome red velvet
+binding, which the king had brought with him. It was the famous
+chivalrous poem Ivain and Tristan, in Hartman von Awe's and Gottfried
+von Strasborg's version, as well as the adventurous history of Florez
+and Blanzeflor, which was the favourite poem of all enamoured knights
+and ladies.
+
+When Drost Aagé crossed the threshold, the king pushed aside the table
+and hastily started up. "Aagé, my dear Aagé! do I see thee again, at
+last!" he joyfully exclaimed, and went forward to meet him with open
+arms, but stopped in dismay, as he looked more narrowly at the young
+Drost. "Is it thyself?" he continued; "how thou art changed! Truly thou
+hast been in murderous hands. Those accursed outlaws!" he said
+passionately, as he stamped on the floor; "why have I not rooted them
+out of the earth?"
+
+"Think no more of that, my noble liege," said Aagé. "I am now well
+again, and at your service."
+
+"Come, rest thee; thou hast exerted thyself above thy strength. Master
+Peter hath then brought thee a letter and a message?"
+
+"All is done as you commanded, my liege, though I fear it is a
+step----"
+
+"Leave me to care for that, Aagé--met ye with opposition?"
+
+"Holbeck castle is in your possession; it cost not a drop of blood, but
+caused great joy at the castle."
+
+"Good; and the junker?"
+
+"I saw him not; it is said, though, he was there, but escaped."
+
+"A bad sign, Aagé! A loyal vassal would have staid, and have called
+thee strictly to give account of thy authority. He asked then, not even
+once, the ground of my wrath? He ventured not an indignant remonstrance
+touching injustice and violent measures?"
+
+"He kept quite out of sight; he must have conceived suspicions."
+
+"Hum! no prince flies thus from his castle, when he knows himself to be
+innocent. How then can I doubt? The contumacy here, and his shameless
+expressions to Bruncké----"
+
+"What hath already chanced may however still be but an unhappy
+misunderstanding, my liege," observed Aagé; "and the traitorous Bruncké
+none can trust."
+
+"Well, let Christopher speak for himself, if he is able. By all the
+holy men, I would willingly give the half of my life could I say with
+truth, 'I have a brother.' Yet, the Lord and our holy Lady be thanked,
+I have still a faithful friend, and my beloved Ingeborg, and a loyal
+and loving people. What have I to complain of?" So saying, the king
+laid his arm confidingly on Aagé's shoulder, and a repressed tear
+glistened in his ardent blue eye. "Since we met last, my dear Aagé," he
+continued in a firm and calm tone, "I have become an excommunicated man
+like thee; but it no longer terrifies me. I have long thought--now I am
+convinced--that no one can condemn us save the Almighty and righteous
+God: but _he_ will not condemn us; for, seest thou, he is merciful. He
+who believes in salvation and mercy, Aagé, will be saved, despite all
+the bishops and prelates in the world."
+
+"Sin not, my noble liege!" exclaimed Aagé, with cautious sadness. "I
+have also found peace for my soul, and a defence against the evil
+spirits to whom I was given over; but it was not in defiance, it was in
+love and hope, my liege."
+
+"Such a hope I have also, my Aagé; and love!--thou knowest but little
+what that is--thou that hast no Ingeborg! _My_ love truly is as great
+as Sir Tristran's or the valiant Florez's. I shall not fear to
+break a lance for my Ingeborg with the pope himself and the whole
+priesthood--if it come to the worst."
+
+"For Heaven's sake, my beloved liege, ponder----"
+
+"I _have_ pondered much, Aagé; and first on what was most important,"
+exclaimed the king seriously, interrupting his anxious friend. "The
+matter of our salvation is too important to be decided by an
+authoritative word from the bishop or pope. Shall they presume to say
+to thee and me, 'Thou art accursed!--thou art given over to the Evil
+One?' No, truly! Where is it written that any human being hath such
+power? I always hoped--now I am assured--that the heavenly grace and
+mercy I believe in, alone can save me and all of us--come, I will prove
+it to thee; Master Petrus hath written it out for me; the church's holy
+fathers witness to it, and what is more, God's own unchangeable word.
+Yet it is too long to enter upon now; but, trust me, Aagé, no
+archbishop, not even the pope in Rome, can condemn us--if the church
+casts out believers, it is our church no longer, not the real and true
+one. Could the devil shut against us every stone-built church in the
+world, _one_ church would still stand open to us, which no devil can
+shut; and lo! it is every where; where two believing souls are met
+together in the Lord's name.--See how wise I am grown, Aagé: it would
+be deemed heresy in Rome, and they would doom me to the stake did they
+know it; but I am wise enough also to be silent about it. Thou only
+shalt know it, and my Ingeborg, and whoever holds my immortal soul as
+dear as thou dost."
+
+Aagé was silent, and looked at him in surprise.
+
+"I feel secure also about state and kingdom," continued the king. "With
+God's help I shall defy both ban and interdict, both rebels and
+outlaws, without any one injuring a hair of my head, or that of my
+people's."
+
+"But a letter, craving pardon of the holy father, will certainly be
+necessary, my liege! In the matter of the archbishop, reconciliation
+and clemency must in a great measure supersede justice."
+
+"No, Aagé; I ask but justice; I ask no mercy of man, and in this matter
+none need expect mercy from me--let the pope judge between me and
+Grand! the mystery of unrighteousness shall be brought to light as
+surely as there is justice under the sun. If I am myself wrong in any
+thing, which well may chance, it is time enough to think of penitence
+and penance when doom is pronounced."
+
+"But the dispensation?" said Aagé.
+
+"That _I_ will _dispense_ with in case of need; what hath been granted
+to a hundred others cannot be denied the King of Denmark.--Should
+it be denied, it is unjust; but an injustice to which _I will not_
+submit. Yet, seat thyself, Aagé; not a word more of these vexatious
+affairs,--my soul is weary of them. Come," he continued, gaily; "now
+thou shalt hear a love poem: my dear Ingeborg hath herself written it
+out for me. Duchess Euphemia hath sent it to her from Norway; it will
+soon be read, both in Norwegian and Swedish. Here thou shalt see what a
+chivalrous lover can go through, and how fortune and our Lord are ever
+with all true and constant lovers." The king now sat down before the
+table, and read, in an animated tone, out of the adventures of Florez
+and Blanzeflor, which, however, were already known to Aagé.
+
+"Tristan I prefer, it is true," said the king; "and our own old
+love-songs seem far more beautiful to me; but this book I especially
+like to have in my hand. Think! she has copied every word with her own
+lovely fingers."
+
+Meanwhile evening drew on. The vesper bell rang, and the king went with
+Aagé to the church of the monastery, where he joined in the devotions
+of the Franciscans and the people, which however were not as calm and
+undisturbed as usual.
+
+As the night drew on the anxiety increased in the town with every hour.
+A general stillness prevailed; lights glimmered in all the houses; no
+one seemed any where to slumber. Around the beleaguered castle no sound
+was heard save the steps and clashing arms of the sentinels. Here and
+there a watch-fire gleamed in the cold winter's night, around which
+silent warriors, wrapped in ample mantles, were standing in groups;
+without the monastery Drost Aagé's horsemen were on guard. The Drost
+and Count Henrik rode up and down around the castle walls, where the
+faint clashing of weapons and the moving of heavy machines of defence
+were heard.
+
+By Aagé's counsel sentinels were also posted on the public quay
+south-east of the castle, and on the ancient sea-tower at the
+north-western extremity of the town, where there was also a
+landing-place, together with a now deserted and decayed fortification:
+this spot he deemed especially important whenever it might be desirable
+to cut off all possible communication with the castle. At midnight Aagé
+himself stood in the clear still starlight beside the solitary tower,
+at Count Henrik's side, and looked out on the bay, while they
+considered from what quarter the castle wall might best be mounted.
+While thus employed, Aagé observed a little fishing-boat, which lay
+half hidden under the mouldering rampart of the sea-tower; and just as
+he was going to draw Count Henrik's attention to it he saw a head, with
+a shaggy cap and a large scar resembling a hare-lip between the nose
+and mouth, peer forth from behind a half-fallen pillar close beside
+him. The prying head, however, instantly withdrew behind the pillar,
+and Aagé thought he recognised the notorious robber and incendiary, the
+Lolland deserter, Olé Ark, who had often been pursued, and who it was
+believed had been concerned in the archbishop's flight. Without any
+long deliberation he nodded to Count Henrik, and drew his sword; but at
+the same instant the fellow sprang out of his hiding-place, and fled
+down towards the rampart to the boat.
+
+"Stop him!" shouted Aagé to the farthest sentinel, who stood with his
+lance in his hand, and his back leaning against the rampart, gazing out
+on a distant vessel, without observing the fugitive.
+
+Just as the Drost's voice reached the ear of the sentinel, and he was
+about to turn round, he felt the stab of a dagger in his back, and fell
+to the earth with a groan of anguish, while the deserter rushed past
+him with the weapon glittering in his hand, and sprang into the boat.
+
+The fugitive had already placed his oars, and was preparing to push off
+from shore, but then first perceived that in his haste he had forgot to
+loosen the rope which moored the boat to the rampart. While he now,
+with desperate exertion, struck once or twice in vain with his dagger
+on the rope, Aagé and Count Henrik stood directly opposite him with
+their drawn swords. Count Henrik hastily grasped the half-severed rope,
+and drew the boat towards him. The dagger of the despairing fugitive
+was raised gleaming in the air, but fell with the hand of the robber
+into the sea before a stroke of the Drost's sword, and, with a fearful
+howl, the wounded deserter fell back in the boat.
+
+At Count Henrik's call several men-at-arms hastened to the spot from
+the guard at the sea-tower, and presently bore the captive thither,
+after having, by the Drost's order, wrapped a cloth round his mutilated
+arm, to prevent his bleeding to death. The wounded sentinel was also
+carried to the tower; and while a message was sent to fetch a surgeon,
+the captured robber's garments, and all that he had about him, were
+narrowly searched. Besides a letter of absolution, a rosary, and a
+number of costly church ornaments, which appeared to be stolen
+property, a quantity of pitch and sulphur and other combustible matter
+was found on his person; and a key and a private letter were discovered
+carefully secreted in the lining of his cap. For the present no
+confession could be expected from the criminal, who had fallen into a
+swoon. The Drost took possession of the key and the letter, and
+repaired, with Count Henrik, to the nearest watch-fire. Here he opened
+the letter, and read it in a low tone.
+
+"To no one!"--thus ran the letter.--"Obey and be silent, or thou diest!
+Dare the utmost! Spare not the town! Hide or burn the papers, if
+needful! Keep the trapdoor in readiness! Let his victory prove his
+downfall! I answer for the consequences. The bearer may be employed for
+the whole.... Burn this private letter instantly. From no one."
+
+Drost Aagé had jointly with the king and Prince Christopher learnt what
+was then the still rare art of writing, from a canon, under the
+superintendence of Drost Hessel, and to his dismay he thought he
+recognised the stiff hand of the prince through the disguised character
+of the writing. He hastily folded up the letter, and turned deadly
+pale.
+
+"Now what runes[1] read ye there, Sir Drost?" asked Count Henrik.--"You
+do not feel well, I think."
+
+"This private letter was surely to have been brought the commandant,"
+exclaimed Aagé, eagerly, and the blood again rushed into his cheek. "It
+is from no one, and to no one; yet I think I understand it."
+
+"Let us see, Sir Drost--It is not surely any private love letter?--the
+fellow was a spy and traitor."
+
+"If my noble liege's peace of mind be dear to you." answered Aagé
+anxiously, and seized his hand, "let this unhallowed secret be mine
+alone! yet this much will I confide to you: it seems to concern the
+king's unhappy domestic relations; but I entreat you to be silent, even
+about this conjecture of mine. There is no proof against any one, only
+a suspicion--an unhappy one--but the aim of the writer shall be
+defeated: the letter must be destroyed."--So saying, he thrust his hand
+into his bosom, and threw the letter into the fire.
+
+"You are cautious, Drost," said Count Henrick, knitting his brow. "I
+ask not to be initiated into your dark state secrets--as Drost you must
+know best what should here be concealed or made public. I ask only, as
+a man-at-arms and beleaguer, if the letter, which you have here
+somewhat hastily destroyed, was to have been brought into the castle,
+must there not be a private entrance hereabouts? Could it be found, it
+were of moment to us: without storming engines, it will be a hard
+spring enough for us to get over the circular wall."
+
+"You are right; there _must_ be a secret entrance here," exclaimed Aagé
+suddenly, with sparkling eyes. "I have a conjecture,--a thought strikes
+me, there is a tradition of a secret entrance from the sea-tower.
+The captive must show it me. I will be myself the bearer of the
+letter,--not such as when it caught the flames, and as it is now before
+the eye of the Omniscient, but rewritten, as a reconciling spirit
+dictates to my soul."
+
+"Good! I follow you with a troop."
+
+"No, count! that is impossible. The king's pride is aroused; he
+despises stratagem; he will and must through the gate, or over the
+stormed walls, and both of us cannot here be spared. If the secret
+passage is found, it will assuredly be difficult enough for one, alone
+and unarmed, to pass through it."
+
+"Then let the adventure alone, Drost; for one it is too daring."
+
+"I will dare it nevertheless," said Aagé determinedly, after a moment's
+deliberation; "but no one shall follow me, and no one must know it--not
+even the king. If I am not here again to-morrow at noon, then let the
+king know that I am probably a prisoner at the castle, or am about
+something by which I may serve him, and all of you, better even than
+were I at the head of the stormers--I count on your leading the attack,
+as agreed on. If it succeeds, then promise me but one thing, brave
+Count! let not the king set his foot but where the ground hath been
+tried and found safe; and should you see my shoulder scarf wave on any
+spot, then conclude all is not right, and let not the king approach
+such a place."
+
+"Ha! ha!" said Count Henrik, in a loud voice, and clapping Aagé on the
+shoulder, "that was the secret, then, you would keep to yourself? You
+might just as well have let me read the letter, my mysterious Sir
+Drost! We may expect pitfalls then, and such sort of foxes' tricks?
+Well, when one has a hint of such things they are of no importance. Ha!
+the high-born junker! he is a base traitor truly, to seek after the
+life of his king and brother, and _such_ a king and brother!"
+
+"In the name of the Lord above, who says so. Sir Count?" exclaimed
+Aagé, in consternation and in a low tone: "you shout as loud as though
+you meant to awake heaven and earth with what none may hear. Let not
+those unhappy words ever pass your lips again. I tell you once more, it
+is but a conjecture, a fearful suspicion: it would rend the king's
+heart if it came to his ears--the mere report might call forth bloody
+scenes, and bring down the greatest misery on the country and the royal
+house."
+
+"I approve your caution in this matter, noble Drost," said Count Henrik
+gravely, and in a subdued tone, as he looked around, with a sharp
+glance; "be easy, no one can here have heard us. There you have my
+hand: where one word may cause such great misfortune, it shall
+assuredly never pass my lips. But drive that rash adventure out of thy
+head; it may cost you your life,--and to what end?"
+
+"The saving of a more precious life," said Aagé. "I must have certainty
+in this matter: if I am to guard the king's feet from secret snares, I
+must discover them first myself. God be with you! Farewell! He who hath
+been for two years excommunicated," he continued in a voice of emotion,
+"hath learnt to defy robbers and devils."
+
+The watch-fire lit up his pale enthusiastic countenance, and a mild
+light seemed to beam from his dark blue eyes, as he raised them towards
+the starry heaven. "Follow me not!" he added. "I trust in the
+protection of Heaven, and the power of good spirits--then must earthly
+curses be dumb, and evil spirits fall into the bottomless pit."--So
+saying, he earnestly pressed Count Henrik's hand, and returned with
+hasty steps to the tower. Count Henrik shook his head, and gazed after
+him with a look of sympathy, but followed him not.
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAP. II.
+
+
+The ancient sea-tower was situated at some distance from the castle, in
+the most deserted quarter of the town, next the sea shore. It was a
+round watch-tower, built of freestone, with loopholes in the wall, and
+a sentry-walk above, between the rampart-like battlements. Below were
+two vaulted stone chambers, of which one was used as a guard-room in
+war time, and the other as a depository for the bodies of the drowned,
+until their burial. The tower was now chiefly used for hanging out
+lights at night, in stormy and bad weather, to guide sailors into the
+entrance of the bay.
+
+In the guard-room Drost Aagé found the wounded sentinel at the point of
+death.
+
+A monk, who had been sent for from the monastery, was engaged in
+administering to him the last sacrament. On a table lay a paper, on
+which the pious Franciscan had just written the last testament of the
+dying man. An oil lamp hung upon the dirty wall, and lit up the stone
+vault and the solemn scene of death. With a sympathizing look at the
+dying man-at-arms Aagé quitted the guard-room, almost unnoticed, and
+opened the door to what was called "the corpse chamber," from which,
+according to tradition, there had been, in Esbern Snare's time, a
+descent to a subterranean passage, and where Aagé conjectured he should
+discover the supposed secret entrance to the castle.
+
+Into this murky chamber, which had the reputation of being haunted, the
+captive murderer had been brought. Through the aid of the surgeon he
+had been restored to consciousness, and had his wound dressed; but he
+talked and raved wildly. He had been bound to the bench appropriated to
+the bodies of the drowned, which served him as a couch, and all had
+deserted him with horror and aversion.
+
+When Drost Aagé entered this chamber, the light of a yellow horn
+lantern, which hung from the roof, fell on the murderer's swollen blue
+visage with the hare-lip scar and ugly projecting teeth: he laughed
+horribly, and ground his teeth like a chained wild beast. "Comest
+thou hither, thou excommunicated hound!" he muttered, thrusting
+forth his tongue from his foaming jaws; "then thou art also dead and
+damned--that's some small comfort, though among devils--Now are the
+fishes gnawing at my fist, at the bottom of the sea, while I lie a
+corpse here in hell's antechamber--that was thy doing, thou pale ghost,
+with St. George's sword! I feared thou hadst come off free, for thy
+stupid piety's sake, and thy hound-like faithfulness."
+
+"Why so?" asked Aagé, strangely affected by having half entered into
+the dark imaginings of the madman--"How couldst thou think an
+excommunicated man could 'scape damnation?"
+
+"Seest thou, comrade?" whispered the bound robber, gazing wildly around
+him, "the same holy man who gave thee over to the Evil One, gave me a
+passport to heaven's kingdom. It lies there in my jerkin; Satan's
+barber cut it off from me just now; and the letter was a lie,--like all
+virtue and piety in the world. If that holy man could give me a false
+warrant for salvation, he might also have made a false reckoning with
+thy soul. It pleaseth me, however, to see he is apt in some things," he
+continued, with a horrible laugh. "I ever thought so: those black
+fellows can curse far better than they can bless. But who did thy
+business for thee? The hand that should have done it is gone to the
+Devil--Ha! there bites a hungry fish at my fingers' ends."
+
+"From whom was the private letter? and to whom shouldst thou have
+brought it?" asked Aagé, suddenly in a stern voice, and in a tone of
+overawing authority: "confess the truth, and it shall fare better with
+thee, wretch, than thou hast deserved!"
+
+"What! though I should break the most solemn oath I ever swore?"
+muttered the robber. "No, stern sir! let the Devil take his own, and
+Olé Ark's sinful soul too, if the worst come to the worst! I have sent
+many an accursed heretic and excommunicated man to hell, and truly also
+many an honest fellow to heaven; but if I am now myself about to go to
+the Devil, it shall be as a right-believing Christian; and none shall
+say of me I broke my sworn oath, even to the living Satan."
+
+"Tell me the way thou shouldst have gone, is it here?" continued Aagé,
+looking around the large murky stone chamber.
+
+"The way to my master's den?" muttered the robber with a grin--"Wouldst
+ferret _that_ out, comrade? Take care thou dost not burn thyself in
+it!"
+
+"It is here, then," said Aagé to himself, looking around him, with
+still greater attention--"And here is the key; is it not so?" So
+saying, he produced the old rusty key which had been found on the
+robber's person together with the private letter.
+
+"Right, comrade, the key to hell!" returned the raving murderer, with a
+horrid laugh.
+
+Aagé now examined the whole vault, but discovered no trace of any
+cellar or descent. The floor was paved with large flags. He stamped on
+several places, and at last perceived a hollow sound, and the clang of
+metal under the stone floor. He took the lantern from the iron hook in
+the arch of the roof, and placed it on the floor. On doing so he
+discovered a large loose stone, which might be raised, and his
+conjecture was confirmed. The loose stone concealed a fast-locked iron
+trap-door, which, however, seemed too small to admit of the descent of
+any person. He tried the key, and it fitted. He opened the trap-door;
+the raw damp air of the vault rose up to him from a pitch-dark abyss,
+into which a ladder led down to an uncertain depth.
+
+While this examination was carrying on the insane murderer lay on the
+corpse bench, and grinned with horrible contortions. Aagé stood
+thoughtfully by the opening, pondering over his daring enterprise. It
+now struck him, for the first time, that, if undisguised, he must
+undoubtedly be recognised and his plan frustrated. His eye fell on the
+blood-stained jerkin, which had been stript from off the robber's
+person, in order to bind him, "Well," he said, "we exchange garments;
+there, thou hast my mantle and hat; I take thy jerkin and cap."
+
+"Good exchange enough," muttered Olé Ark; "if my luck goes with my
+jerkin, he goeth down to fame and honour. Ha! loose my body, Satan, and
+let me follow him into the pit."
+
+It was not without repugnance that Aagé clad himself in the soiled,
+stained dress of the vagabond, which, however, answered his purpose,
+and rendered him almost incognisable. He then took the lamp in his
+hand, and prepared to descend through the narrow aperture in the floor;
+but the scorn and defiance of the bound robber now changed into a
+piteous lament.
+
+"Mercy! mercy!" he cried, "take not the last glimpse of light from me!
+Now comes the Devil himself to rend me to pieces--Ha! let me not lie a
+corpse here in the dark--Mercy! mercy!" he howled, and pulled and tore
+at the cords which bound him.
+
+"Pray to thy God and Judge for mercy," said Aagé; "I cannot help thee."
+He then squeezed himself through the narrow opening, with the lantern
+in his hand, and pulled the trap-door after him, that he might not hear
+the howls of the madman; but was nearly falling down head foremost from
+the ladder, on hearing, to his dismay, that the trap-door, which had a
+spring-lock, fell and closed over his head. He felt now as though he
+were entombed alive. He had forgotten to take the key with him; and the
+faint howling of the robber soon seemed lost in triumphant laughter
+above the grave which had closed over him.
+
+Aagé grew dizzy, but recovered himself, and clung fast to the slippery
+steps of the ladder, while he continued to descend. At last he stood at
+the bottom: the descent was steep and deep, but it led to a narrow
+vaulted passage, which was so low as hardly to admit of his walking
+upright. The air was foul and suffocating, and he often trod on
+sprawling toads and other reptiles. He held up the lantern before him,
+but beheld nothing save the long narrow passage, to which he could
+discern no end; its direction, however, convinced him that it must
+undoubtedly lead to the castle. He went forward with hasty steps, and
+looked anxiously at the light in the lamp, which gleamed fainter and
+fainter. The air seemed not to contain sufficient nourishment for life
+and flame. He had hardly proceeded more than a hundred paces ere what
+he feared took place--the light went out in the lantern, and he stood
+in the dark. He felt a degree of alarm and a want of power and courage,
+which was quite foreign to his nature; at the same time he heard a
+hollow clang far behind, as if the iron trap-door had been again opened
+and clapped to. He involuntarily quickened his steps, but slipped every
+moment on slimy reptiles, and was often forced to pause in order to
+take breath, while the air he inhaled seemed to lame every limb and to
+contract his lungs. He was nearly sinking down in a state of
+insensibility; but he now thought he heard a sound as of stealthy steps
+behind him, and his increased apprehension inspired him with renewed
+strength. "Is any one there?" he shouted, and turned round; but no one
+answered, and there was suddenly a deathlike stillness again.
+
+It was so dark that he could not see his own hand before his eyes. In
+order not to awaken suspicion by his bold enterprise he had taken off
+his sword in the corpse-chamber, and was entirely defenceless. In his
+childhood, Aagé had not been wholly free from the dread of supernatural
+beings; and, according to the creed of the age, the idea of the
+influence of a mighty world of spirits on human life was closely
+connected with religious belief. Aagé nowise doubted the possibility of
+the appearance of evil as well as of good spirits; but this idea never
+disquieted him in open day, when he knew he was on a lawful errand, and
+had his sword with its cross-hilt at his side. "Is it honourable and
+chivalrous to steal along thus?" he said to himself. "Why took I not my
+good sword with me? It was hard, though, to take the light from him
+above there--he lies now in the pains of hell on yonder bench, and
+curses me;--or hath he got loose, and is he lurking after me in the
+dark?" He now thought he heard again distinctly, at every stride he
+took, the same sound, as of stealthy footsteps behind him; but each
+time he turned round all was still as before. This consciousness of the
+presence of an unknown being in the dark passage put him into a state
+of fearful apprehension, and recalled those images of horror to his
+imagination, which he felt himself least able to combat. "Is he now
+dead above there?--is it his maniac spirit which persecutes thee?" he
+whispered to himself; and the form of the frantic murderer appeared to
+his imagination far more terrific than when he beheld it actually
+stretched on the corpse-bench; "or is it thou, old Pallé!" he
+exclaimed, almost with an outcry of terror. The scene of the murder in
+Finnerup barn, which had haunted him in his childhood, and the image of
+the aged and insane regicide he had himself slain on the body of the
+murdered king, were again vividly present to his imagination. His hair
+stood on end; it seemed to him as if he was now actually about to fight
+with demons and evil spirits in the dark pit of the grave,--a fancy
+which had often disquieted him in dreams, and which lately had been the
+dominant plague of his fevered imagination. At last his terror
+increased to such a degree that he could no longer control it; he
+turned suddenly round, and rushed with all his might with clenched
+hands towards the place where he again thought he distinguished the
+stealthy footsteps. He then distinctly heard a clanking sword strike
+against the wall close beside his ear. "Ha! a human being after all!
+Wretched murderer! is it thou?" he shouted, quite recovering his
+courage at the discovery of a real and bodily pursuer, and sprang
+forward towards the unseen deadly foe, while he struck aside the sword,
+which seemed to be wielded by a left and powerless arm. The sword flew
+clanging forward in the dark passage; but at the same moment Aagé felt
+his neck clutched almost to suffocation by a pair of convulsively
+strained arms, dripping wet.
+
+"Ha! ha! have I pounced on thee at last, hell-hound?" suddenly roared a
+wild rough voice in his ear, and Aagé recognised the tones of the
+wounded robber. "I have long enough lain a corpse--now thou mayst take
+my place, comrade!" This terrific voice presently rose into the howl of
+a wild beast, and Aagé felt the madman's tusks in his forehead; he
+struck desperately around him, and strove with all his might to free
+himself from the suffocating grasp of the monster, but in vain; and he
+was long compelled to combat and wrestle with him ere he succeeded in
+throwing him to the ground, and was even then still forced to struggle
+with the robber, whose howls were growing weaker and weaker, without,
+however, being able to free his neck from his convulsive grasp. At last
+the clutching arms loosened from round his neck, and his frantic
+adversary lay silent and apparently dead, or in a swoon, under his
+knee.
+
+"The Lord have mercy on his sinful soul," sighed Aagé, rising half
+breathless. His opponent now made a sudden movement as if to rise, but
+fell back, with a rattling in his throat; and Aagé perceived, for the
+first time, that he was in all probability wading in the blood of the
+wounded murderer. He hastened on with rapid strides. Once or twice he
+stopped out of breath, and fancied he again heard the murderer stealing
+after him. At last he hit against something hard, and discovered by
+feeling that it was a large door of metal. He shook it with all his
+might, but it appeared to be locked on the other side, and immoveable.
+He thundered at it with his iron-shod heels, and each stroke rung
+hollow through the vault. After the lapse of some time a little shutter
+opened in the door, and the light of a dark lantern, and a swarthy
+warrior-like visage, appeared. "Who is there? and from whom?" asked the
+man-at-arms.
+
+"No one, from no one," answered Aagé, suddenly calling to mind the
+mysterious expression in the private letter.
+
+"Right! thou knowest the watchword," was the answer; "and one
+only?--without arms?"
+
+"As thou seest--but open quick!--there is no time to lose."
+
+"Come, give time! The guard must first know of it." The shutter closed
+again, and Aagé heard the sound of a horn, which was answered at some
+distance: soon after the iron door opened, and a strong-built
+steel-clad warrior stepped out and advanced towards him into the
+passage, with a light in the one hand and a drawn sword in the other.
+He eyed the disguised Drost from head to foot, by the light of the
+lantern, and started back a couple of paces. "Faugh! how thou look'st,
+thou bloodhound!" he said, with disgust. "'Tis hard for an honest
+fellow to let such guests in, when the king himself must stand
+without."
+
+"I have had a hard joust on the road, brave countryman." said Aagé;
+"but haste thee!"
+
+"Come, come; give time, thou scoundrel! The bandage over thy eyes
+first."
+
+"What! bandage! and foul words to me!"
+
+"Of course, loggerhead! Thou mightest be a spy and traitor, as thou art
+a bloodhound and accursed robber; thou lookest fit for all such trades.
+The bandage over the eyes instantly, thou hound! or I kick thee back
+into thy fox-hole."
+
+It was with difficulty that Aagé subdued his ire, and recollected that
+he was not Drost here, nor able to justify himself; he bore this rough
+usage in silence, allowed his eyes to be bandaged, and was thus led
+through the iron gate. He heard it bolted and barred after him. Soon
+afterwards he heard the sound of chains and pullies, as if a drawbridge
+was being lowered, and he perceived he was led upon a swinging bridge.
+
+"Go straight forward, scoundrel! or thou fallest into the moat,"
+muttered his companion close behind him. A cold shudder came over him;
+but he was silent, and went straight onward.
+
+"Ay, truly thou hast had better luck than I wished thee," it was
+muttered behind him; "but thou hast another bridge to cross; that is
+ten times worse; here thou art quit of _me_."
+
+Aagé heard his warlike companion re-cross the bridge, which was
+immediately afterwards raised. He conjectured that he was within the
+outermost rampart of the castle, towards the north-west, which lay
+between the sea-tower and the circular wall, for he had paid close
+attention to the direction in which he had proceeded. He had now two
+new companions, who were as little sparing as the former in
+contemptuous expressions respecting his cut-throat appearance and
+supposed marauding trade. Aagé suffered himself to be led onward by
+them without answering a word to their threats and scoffs, which
+secretly rejoiced him, as a token of their dispositions and honourable
+feelings. At last a horn was again sounded; it was answered as before
+at some distance. A drawbridge was again lowered, and Aagé perceived he
+was directly under the castle wall; for he heard a noise above his head
+like the moving of balista and other warlike machines. He felt an
+unfriendly poke in the back, and stood as before on a rocking-bridge.
+
+"Straight on, fellow, or thou fallest into the moat!" said a warning
+voice behind him. "Goest thou a hair's breadth aside thou art a dead
+man!" He commended his soul to God, and went on. His guides allowed him
+to proceed alone for some time, and appeared to rejoice over his deadly
+peril. Meanwhile, as he perceived the rocking under his feet had
+ceased, he knew they had passed over the inner castle moat, and were
+within the circular wall. At last he was led up a staircase; but the
+bandage was not yet removed from his eyes. It was not till he had been
+led in many circuitous directions, as if through a labyrinth of
+passages and stairs, that he was freed from the bandage over his eyes,
+and found himself in an apartment of the castle which was not unknown
+to him, and where he was ordered to await the commandant.
+
+It was still night. One of the men-at-arms who had last followed him
+remained standing at the door with a lantern and a drawn sword, and
+apparently watching him with fear and abhorrence.
+
+"Who dost thou take me for?" asked Aagé.
+
+"For one of the junker's secret emissaries," was the answer. "Surely,
+good tidings thou bringest not, since thou comest pale and bloody from
+the secret passage. Hark! now they are taking the burning stones from
+the furnace. Kallundborg town will presently be in flames."
+
+"The Lord forbid!" cried Aagé: "call the commandant instantly! I have
+strict prohibition from the junker."
+
+"Thou lookest not as if thou hadst," said the man, starting.--"I will
+run then. Thou wilt do no mischief meanwhile?" The man hastily
+departed, and took the lantern with him. Aagé looked out at the window,
+and saw with alarm that burning stones were carried on gridirons across
+the yard to the balista on the walls.
+
+"Stop, fellows!" said a rough voice in the castle yard. "There is a
+protest from the junker: not a shot must be fired as yet."
+
+"A noble fellow at heart, after all!" said Aagé to himself, believing
+he had heard the commandant's voice. The door opened soon afterwards; a
+tall warrior, with a stern grave countenance, and armed from head to
+foot, entered the apartment with a light in his hand. When he beheld
+Aagé's blood-stained face and figure he retreated a step, and placed
+the light on the table, while he hastily laid his hand on his large
+battle sword. "What fellow art thou?" he asked, in a stern and rough
+voice. "Doth the junker send pale corpses to plague me? Answer, fellow?
+Who art thou? Tell me thy watchwords, or I cut thee down on the spot!"
+
+"No one, from no one," answered Aagé; and the commandant took his hand
+from the hilt of his sword.
+
+"Speak, thou messenger of ill! If thou bringest me a prohibition from
+the junker, it is, of course, against mercy and delay? Is the town to
+burn? Is the Franciscan monastery first to be fired? There sleeps the
+king to-night."
+
+"The town is to be spared," answered Aagé. "The castle is to be opened
+to the king at sunrise--the papers are to be given up, and the door of
+the pit nailed fast."
+
+"Dost thou rave, fellow?" cried the commandant, in amazement. "Darest
+_thou_ speak what _I_ hardly dare think? Would the junker recall by thy
+mouth that which he commanded me with his own, on pain of death? Who
+then is to be punished for all that hath here been done, and stand in
+the gap between us and the king's anger?"
+
+"You should fly the king's as well as the junker's wrath, and carry
+your secret and your knowledge of a weighty transaction with you into
+exile."
+
+"And stand branded a perjurer and traitor before all the world? No,
+fellow! were that even the junker's command, I obey it not. What I have
+sworn I must keep; but the responsibility is the junker's. I have sold
+him my life--but my honour, as a warrior, is my own. Show me black and
+white for what thou sayest, or I will cause thee to be hanged as a spy
+and traitor!"
+
+"Now, in the Lord's name!" said Aagé, as he suddenly threw off the
+robber's cap and dress, and stood in his well-known knightly attire
+before the commandant, "I cannot, I will not deceive a man of honour
+like you. I am Drost Aagé; I announce to you the will of my liege and
+sovereign, not that of the junker; you may now deal with me as you can
+answer to God and your own conscience: but if the royal house and your
+fatherland be dearer to you than your own pride and an imaginary
+fealty, you will follow my counsel, and make the great sacrifice I ask
+of you."
+
+"Sir Drost!" answered the commandant, bowing with haughty coldness;
+"you have ventured on a daring game. You are now my prisoner; how I
+shall act depends not on me. Oaths and vows are more binding than man's
+pleasure and man's will. I am an old-fashioned warrior, do you
+see--Your subtle state policy and artificial virtues I understand
+not--the law I acknowledge says, obey that which is commanded thee by
+thy lawful superior, and let him who commanded it answer for the
+consequences."
+
+"But when you see the most destructive, the most fearful consequences
+before your eyes; when your superior hath broken his oath of fealty,
+and abused his rights----"
+
+"That concerns not me. I keep steady to him to whom I swore allegiance;
+but _he_ must answer for what is done here, be it good or evil."
+
+"But when you swore an ungodly oath, and fealty to a rebel?"
+
+"Then must I keep the oath I swore to him, though, by way of thanks, he
+should cause me to be hung for it, or go to hell. There is no choice
+here: had I even entered the devil's service, Sir Drost, I must endure
+to the end, however fearful that end may be!"
+
+"Your pride blinds your eyes to truth and justice, noble sir!"
+exclaimed Aagé gazing on the tall steel-clad chieftain with a species
+of admiration; "but hear me, I conjure you by the living Lord!"
+
+"You must excuse me. Sir Drost!" interrupted the chief, with cold
+calmness. "My time is short, I have perhaps not many hours to live; I
+expect thanks neither from the king nor the junker, and perhaps but
+little honour on this side the prison and the grave; but all things
+according to order. You are now going to the tower, and I to the
+battlement--to-morrow you perhaps will sit at the king's right hand,
+while I lie on the wheel: but so long as we are at our posts, each must
+do his duty, and, as I said, all things according to order." So saying,
+he stamped on the floor, and three men-at-arms entered.
+
+"Take this knight instantly to the prison tower"--ordered the
+commandant, nodding to the two nearest him.
+
+"And thou, Bent!" he said, addressing himself to the third, "let the
+stones be heated again: it was a false protest--off with thee!"
+
+The two men instantly seized Aagé, and led him towards a secret door,
+which they opened in the wall. Aagé turned round once more, and called
+to the chief, in the highest state of anxiety and alarm. "Think upon
+your immortal soul, in what you do! remember, you should obey God
+rather than sinful men." More he could not say, for the private door
+was closed behind him.
+
+The third man-at-arms still lingered, as if he expected the stern
+command he had received would be recalled; but the imperturbable chief
+glanced menacingly at him. "The stones are to be heated, I tell thee.
+Art thou deaf, fellow? Off with thee! Obedience or death, while I
+command here!"
+
+The man-at-arms turned quickly round, and departed gloomy and silent
+through the door, beside which he stood.
+
+The commandant strode hastily once or twice up and down the floor, with
+his hand upon his broad forehead. At last he stopped at a prie-dieu,
+and bent his knee, while his eye rested on the open prayer book. "Ye
+servants," he muttered, and folded his hands, "obey your masters
+according to the flesh, in _all_ things;" he then rose, signed a cross
+over his broad steel-clad breast, and went in silence and with hasty
+steps out of the door.
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAP. III.
+
+
+It was near daybreak. The alarm and anxiety had ceased, with which the
+inhabitants of Kallundborg had seen the night draw on. The peace and
+stillness which had prevailed the whole night seemed to have lulled the
+burghers, as well as the men-at-arms, into security. The lights were
+extinguished in most of the houses. The men-at-arms nodded over the
+expiring watch fires, and reposed on their mantles, in quiet groups,
+while some paced up and down on guard, beside the piled-up lances. Even
+the gay and vigilant Count Henrik was weary of the strained attention
+which he now deemed unnecessary: he had sat down to rest, under an
+image of the Madonna, without the Franciscan monastery, where a light
+was always burning. He had lately inspected the sentries, and found
+every thing in good order. He felt wearied, but kept off sleep, and his
+eyes open, while his gaze dwelt on the waning and half-hidden stars.
+His soul dreamed of warlike honours and proud victories, by the side of
+the Danish monarch, and of the admiration of the ladies of Mecklenborg
+when he should return with merited laurels and tokens of royal favour
+to his fatherland. While engaged in these reveries, which led him
+through half a life in a few minutes, he was suddenly disturbed by the
+working of the balista, and a fearful alarm of fire from the monastery.
+He started up, and beheld, with dismay, that burning stones were flying
+from the loopholes and walls of the castle, in different directions,
+and a high flame shot up from the storehouse of the monastery. In an
+instant he was actively exerting himself in the rescue of the town and
+monastery. Engines for extinguishing the flames were every where at
+hand. There was a fearful tumult in the town; but the alarm was however
+greater than the misfortune seemed likely to prove. Some single houses,
+it is true, were fired; but the greater part were protected by the
+snow, although the roofs were of straw. Many glowing stones from the
+balista missed their mark, many cooled ere they fell. The storehouse of
+the monastery instantly caught fire: it was necessary to sacrifice it,
+and partly to pull it down; but not a single stone fell on the
+principal building, nor on the guest-house, where the king had
+established himself.
+
+Meanwhile the king was instantly astir; none were more zealous and
+active than he and Count Henrik; they rode constantly through the
+streets, and were always first on the spot where any house was fired.
+
+The king was highly exasperated--he often cast a glance of menace at
+the castle. He halted without the burning monastery, by the count's
+side, just as another discharge from the balista took place, and a
+large burning stone fell down between their horses, and rolled hissing
+into the snow.
+
+"My liege!" exclaimed Count Henrik, "the burghers may put out the
+flames, but we can do more; let us sally forth and storm instantly."
+
+"Not yet," answered the king, shaking his head. "Look," he continued,
+pointing to the flame-lit copper roof of the principal building of the
+monastery; "when the sun stands highest, and the tower shadow falls
+yonder, then will it be time; then will my patience have reached its
+limits--its uttermost bounds."
+
+As soon as it was daylight the firing from the balista through the
+loopholes, ceased; but the parapets upon the outer wall were observed
+to be filled with men-at-arms. The towers of the wall were also
+perceived to be strongly garrisoned, and a numerous array of lances and
+battle-axes glittered over the battlements in the grey dawn of morning.
+The wall before the gate in particular was strongly manned, as well as
+the tower above the gate, where they seemed most to apprehend an
+attack. The great iron portcullis between the gate and the outward wall
+was drawn up by strong iron rings. There was great alarm and tumult at
+the castle and its garrison: a desperate storm and revenge for the
+night's disturbance was apparently apprehended. The fire meanwhile had
+been put out, as well in the monastery as in the town. The pious
+Franciscans rang to mattins, as usual, and the king did not neglect to
+share in their devotion.
+
+"But--what is become of Aagé?--Where is the Drost?" he asked Count
+Henrik, as he again vaulted on his horse, without the church of the
+monastery, in order to inspect the hastily prepared storming machines
+with his general. "I saw him not the whole night, nor even just
+now at mattins; it is not his wont, however, to sleep when I watch or
+pray--least of all when danger is impending."
+
+"I have not seen him since midnight," answered Count Henrik,
+endeavouring to hide his embarrassment and uneasiness; "After our
+adventure beside the sea-tower, I saw him last by yonder watch-fire,"
+added the count, assuming a gay air. "It was a fine night; all around
+was so still and peaceful. He must have got love fancies or some kind
+of visionary notions into his head. He went towards the tower, without
+desiring my company, and bade me not expect him before noon."
+
+"Strange!" said the king, "Aagé upon a light love adventure, and at
+this time! It cannot be. Humph! what became of the spy you captured?
+Hath he been examined? Hath he confessed?"
+
+"He hath disappeared, my liege! 'tis a strange and almost
+incomprehensible tale. I was myself at the sea-tower, two hours after
+midnight, the man-at-arms was dead, but the devil had carried off his
+murderer: that, they swore roundly, was the fact. He had lain bound in
+the corpse-chamber of the drowned; no egress was possible; at midnight
+he was heard to cry and howl, that the devil was carrying him off. No
+one dared to enter the chamber, and when I came neither robber or Drost
+was to be seen."
+
+"How! the Drost!" interrupted the king; "what hath all this to do with
+Aagé? He lay not in the chamber with the murderer."
+
+"True--excuse me, your grace," answered Count Henrik, clearing
+his throat. "I speak at random, I perceive: that comes from the
+night-watch."
+
+"Truly, count! we must be broad awake to-day, especially since Aagé is
+not here," answered the king hastily, and rode down towards the tower.
+"I will find out what is meant by that devil's story."
+
+Count Henrik followed the king. The report of the disappearance of the
+bound murderer, had already collected a crowd of curious persons, who
+crossed themselves on hearing the terrific tale, which they repeated
+one to another, with still more marvellous and more terrible
+circumstances. Place was respectfully made for the king, who heard with
+wonder from the guard the same tale as that current in the crowd, with
+the alarming addition, that the Drost had entered at midnight into the
+chamber of the raving murderer, and that all traces of him had likewise
+disappeared. Various opinions were however entertained of the affair,
+and some thought it was not the Drost, but the devil, who, in the
+Drost's form, had entered the chamber of the dying murderer, to carry
+him off in person.
+
+"Tush!" said the king, "lead me to that accursed corpse-chamber! There
+must be some trick in this." He hastily entered the murky stone
+chamber, and looked around it on all sides with anxious attention.
+There was no furniture except the bench appropriated to the bodies of
+the drowned, which was streaked with blood, and on which hung some rent
+and half-decayed rope. From the high iron grating in the wall, which
+was hardly large enough to admit a sparrow, fell a faint light, which
+glimmered on a plumed hat lying in a corner. "What see I here?"
+exclaimed the king in astonishment. "The Drost's hat and plume;
+and there is his green mantle also. Plundered, murdered, great
+God!--Yet no! a robber would surely have made off with the booty. The
+captured murderer was certainly sorely wounded?"
+
+"To the death of the body, most gracious liege, according to the
+surgeon's opinion," answered an aged monk, who, with a curious crowd of
+the lower class, had thronged together with the men-at-arms, into the
+tower after the king. "Ah, yes," continued the solemn Franciscan, in a
+tone of devout exhortation, "it was a fearful end. Here we see
+manifestly how the ungodly are punished. This blood crieth not unto
+heaven, like the innocent Abel's, but it crieth unto hardened sinners
+upon earth, from the road to the bottomless pit, that they may behold
+the traces of the damned with fear and trembling. My pious hearers, men
+may now-a-days delay _temporal_ death, by means of surgeons and
+apothecaries, with St. Cosmo's and St. Damian's help; but _eternal_
+death they never can: when the term is out, lo! then cometh he who hath
+the bond, and fetches that which is his own, without respect of
+persons. Here hath been given a sign, to the terror and warning of many
+in our ungodly time: Sancta Maria! ora pronobis!"
+
+"It is thou then, monk, who puttest those vagaries into the people's
+head?" interrupted the king at last, with impetuous impatience.
+"Believest thou, in truth, that the Evil One hath carried off yon
+murderer, both body and soul?"
+
+"St. Franciscus preserve me from doubting it!" answered the monk,
+crossing himself. "He who can carry off the souls of the ungodly can
+doubtless annihilate their sinful bodies. Lo! he hath but left these
+blood-drops behind, as a witness of the power which is given him, and
+also, though _he_ willed it not, to the honour of the all-righteous
+Judge. The truth is so manifest in our sight, it were blindness and
+heretical presumption to doubt."
+
+"And, my Drost, my faithful Aagé, believest thou the same of him?"
+
+"Be not wroth, my liege?" answered the Franciscan with frankness, and
+laying his meagre hand on his breast, "my conscience forbids me to
+witness falsely on the brink of the grave, to please or flatter the
+great and mighty, or to conceal the wondrous things which have taken
+place in our sight, for the conversion of hardened sinners, with fear
+and trembling. The noble Drost hath also disappeared in an
+incomprehensible manner, and seeing that we know he had fallen under
+the awful ban of the church, and was given over by our most venerable
+archbishop to the destruction of the flesh, and the power of the great
+enemy of souls!"
+
+"Silence, presumptuous monk! thou knowest not what thou sayest!"
+exclaimed the king, in the greatest wrath, darting a lightning glance
+at the pale trembling monk; "let the prince of darkness take that which
+is his! I will not quarrel either with him or thee for that; but this I
+know, no devil shall injure a hair of my faithful Drost Aagé's head,
+whether he be dead or alive. There must have been a murder here, a foul
+misdeed," he continued, "a shameless treachery. So help me God, and all
+the holy men, it shall be discovered, and sternly avenged! Hence, monk!
+hie thee to thy cell, and pray the Lord to enlighten thy understanding.
+Thy intentions are good--it were sin to be wroth with thee. Go hence,
+good people; ye stand in our way. Hither, my true men; the floor must
+be broken up; the tower must be pulled down. If the Drost be not found,
+one stone shall not remain upon another."
+
+At the king's stern command the monk and all the idle spectators
+departed. The spearmen came with spears and boat-hooks, and whatever
+was at hand, and began to break up the stone floor. It was not long ere
+they discovered the loose stone in the corner by the little iron
+trap-door, which was hardly discernible in the faint glimmer of
+daylight from the grating. "Look, look!" was the cry; "a trap-door! a
+pitfall!"
+
+"Ha! the murderer's pit! Here we have it!" exclaimed the king. "Torches
+here, quick! I will go below, myself.
+
+"Let that be my business, my liege," said Count Henrik. "Here is
+assuredly the secret entrance to the castle," he added in a low voice;
+"perhaps it might be used for our attack."
+
+"No, Count! a king's path lies not through a fox's den"--interrupted
+the king, proudly: "bring me but my faithful Aagé!"
+
+Torches were quickly brought, and the passage was searched. The king
+however suffered himself to be withheld from descending. Count Henrik
+hasted forward with eagerness and curiosity, holding a torch in his
+hand, and accompanied by three men-at-arms. The torches were often
+nearly extinguished by the subterranean air; they found however and
+recognised the robber's body, which was immediately borne off by two of
+the men, while Count Henrik and the third pursued the search. At last
+they reached the great iron gate, which they vainly attempted to burst
+open. Within, the sounding of horns and the clash of numerous weapons
+were heard, and Count Henrik considered it advisable to hasten back.
+
+The king had meanwhile obtained information of every circumstance
+respecting the Drost's nocturnal visit to the tower, and was in some
+degree tranquillised by the sight of the robber's body, when Count
+Henrik returned and acquainted him with what he had discovered. "The
+daring Drost is assuredly alive, if not quite in safety, my liege,"
+said the Count, as he ascended from the secret passage, quite spent and
+breathless. "As the murderer was found dead and alone, he cannot have
+mastered the brave Drost; but it is plain they have had a hard struggle
+together. Here is the Drost's sword; it was found close to the body.
+There is actually a secret passage to the castle; but it is strongly
+guarded, and we were near falling into the enemy's hand."
+
+"Well, now we know where Aagé is," said the king; "he meant well; but
+'tis an arch trick he hath played us. Ere the sun goes down he shall be
+free, by God's assistance," he added. "Woe to the traitors, should they
+injure a hair of his head!"
+
+The king left the tower, and the preparations for storming were
+continued with increased zeal.
+
+Towards noon the king, mounted on his white steed, stationed himself
+without the eastern rampart of the castle: he was stern and silent. He
+often looked with uneasy expectation and rising indignation towards the
+gate of the town, where, in a few moments, his brother the junker would
+appear, did he purpose taking any measures to effect a reconciliation.
+Some horsemen, who were placed on the look-out on the hill by St.
+George's hospital, returned at the time appointed, at full gallop, and
+announced that the expected party was not to be seen on the road.
+
+"Now then, in the name of the righteous God," exclaimed the king in a
+low voice, but greatly incensed, "I have no longer a brother; the
+measure is full--Let them sound to storm, Count Henrik; let the
+trumpets thunder forth my wrath!"
+
+Hardly was the command uttered ere the trumpets sounded to storm. The
+sun stood highest in the heaven, and the tower shadow fell upon the
+roof of the monastery. The whole force was instantly in activity. The
+attack was made according to the plan concerted with the Drost, from
+three sides at once; but on two sides feignedly, in order to mislead
+the enemy, while the principal assault, in which the whole force of the
+troop combined by degrees, was directed against the eastern wall, by
+the tower gate.
+
+The outermost drawbridge was speedily pulled down by the boat-hooks of
+the brave boatmen and seamen. With the aid of all the fire ladders
+belonging to the town, the outer wall was quickly mounted. No leader
+was here present, and the junker's Zealand peasants, as well as the
+Samsöers, fought unwillingly against their countrymen. A brave
+resistance was indeed made against the German Count Henrik, but
+wherever the king himself appeared, the weapons dropped from the hands
+of the Danish defenders of the wall, while they fell at his feet and
+implored mercy. The outer wall came thus speedily into the power of the
+king, who was himself one of the first who mounted it; but the most
+vigorous defence was made from the tower, over the fortified gate.
+Within was heard a powerful voice of command, and from the loopholes
+and battlements rained a thick shower of stones and javelins. Count
+Henrik saw the danger, and hastened to form a roof of shields for the
+king's protection, while it was vainly attempted to tear down the great
+portcullis which served as a sort of raised iron drawbridge over the
+moat, between the outer wall and the gate.
+
+"Fire the gate!" commanded the king, with wrathful impetuosity.
+
+"Fire! fire, here!" was echoed from mouth to mouth, and crowds soon
+flocked from the town, with torches of pitch, with fire and splintered
+tar-barrels, which they threw in over the portcullis. The gate and the
+tower were soon shrouded in smoke and flame, amid the shouts of the
+besiegers.
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAP. IV.
+
+
+During this eager and hazardous attack, on the eastern side of the
+castle, the captive Drost Aagé stood before the iron-grated loophole in
+the square upper tower, which rose from the middle of the principal
+western wing of the castle. Far below, perpendicularly from the prison
+grating, the great wooden staircase projected into the castle court,
+from which, through a balcony, was the entrance into the vestibule of
+the upper story. The prison tower was separated from the besieged gate
+by the two principal wings to the north and south of the circular
+court, by the ladies' apartment, and the knights' hall. From his high
+prison grating Aagé was thus enabled to witness the combat and
+strenuous efforts, as well of the assailants as of the besieged. He had
+succeeded in climbing up into the recess in the wall within the
+grating, whence he looked out with steadfast gaze and throbbing heart
+over the castle yard towards the tower gate. Here he knew the principal
+attack was to be made. He had for some time heard the din of the fight,
+and perceived how all the forces combined to assault and defend this
+one point. He now beheld the dense pillar of smoke rising without the
+gate, and observed at the same time, through the loopholes of the
+tower, that the garrison were putting their largest machines of defence
+in motion in order to crush the besiegers with stones and beams, ere
+they could succeed in firing the gate. "Must I stand passive here,
+while the king is in battle and danger?" exclaimed Aagé, as he shook
+the iron gate in wrath. He had nearly fallen down backwards into his
+prison, as a fragment of the ancient wall loosened and fell in before
+him, together with a part of the grating. "A hint!" he exclaimed in
+surprise; "thanks be to thee, my good angel! thou art, then, more
+powerful than the Evil One." He instantly conceived the design of
+availing himself of this accident to make a venturous flight from the
+tower, in the hope of hastening to the assistance of the besiegers, and
+perhaps of opening the gate to them. He bound his shoulder scarf to
+that part of the grating which remained firm, and made preparations for
+letting himself down to a lower shelf of the tower wall; but at this
+moment he heard a voice, which constrained him to draw back, and filled
+him with dismay. He had leaned his head against a pillar of the tower,
+which being raised the whole height of the building conducted the sound
+to his ear from an unfathomable depth. Directly under him, where the
+high wooden staircase projected, was a deep vault with a well,
+concealed under the uppermost landing, which led through the balcony to
+the great vestibule of the castle. This vault, with its deep well, was,
+in cases of emergency, the last defence of the castle, and might prove
+a frightful grave for every besieger who was not aware of the
+contrivance, as in the landing of the stairs was a concealed trap-door,
+which could suddenly be let down from within to plunge the entering foe
+and the supposed victor into the abyss. This contrivance for the
+defence of the castle had been recently planned by the junker: neither
+the king nor the Drost knew of it; and as a secret and extreme defence,
+it had even been kept concealed from most of the inmates of the castle.
+The existence of such a stratagem had been already suspected by Aagé,
+from the contents of the private letter he had seized and destroyed;
+but the distant voice which reached his ear from beneath now flashed
+conviction like lightning across his mind.
+
+"There shalt thou stand!" sounded the stern voice of the commandant, in
+a low and hollow tone. "If the gate falls, and they throng in hither,
+then mark--the moment thou hearest a footstep on the stair, let down
+the door!"
+
+A faint voice replied; but Aagé heard not the answer.
+
+"Whatever blood flows here comes on the junker's head!" said the
+commandant's voice again; "he must answer for it here and yonder--We
+are but the instruments of death in his hand--Enquire not! think not!
+be silent and obey or thou art perjured and damned eternally!"
+
+Aagé stood as if petrified with terror: from some single words which
+were added, the whole fearful contrivance became clear to him: even the
+voice of the stern chief appeared to him to tremble while issuing the
+terrible mandate.
+
+All was again hushed in the hidden abyss, while the clash of arms and
+the din of battle at the castle gate increased, and overpowered every
+other sound. A high flame presently shot up through the pillar of smoke
+above the gate, and a shout of dismay was heard from the burning tower,
+the defenders of which were now forced to fly to escape perishing in
+the flames. Without resounded the victorious shouts of the besiegers,
+while the rattling of iron chains, and a hollow clanging noise
+announced that the outer portcullis between the wall and the gate was
+pulled down; to this a still louder crash succeeded; the besiegers
+burst the burning gate.
+
+An overwhelming dread seized the listening captive: almost without
+knowing on what he was about to venture, he swung himself out of the
+loosened prison grating, and let himself down by his shoulder scarf so
+low towards the tower wall that he was able to take his stand on a
+projecting buttress; but hardly had he succeeded in doing this, ere
+another fragment of the prison wall loosened, together with the iron
+grating to which his scarf was bound; it flew past his head and dashed
+against the iron railing of the balcony below, where his scarf remained
+hanging. He himself lost his balance, and was forced to let go his
+hold; but he snatched involuntarily, as if with the instinct of
+self-preservation, at the projecting buttress on which his foot had
+just rested, and thus continued to cling, while he succeeded in resting
+one foot on the corner of the sloping porch above the staircase
+entrance. He stood thus directly over the stair, yet still at such a
+height above it as to involve the certainty of sustaining a serious
+injury in case of falling. He had ascertained that the trap-door of the
+well was immediately under his feet, and that the first footstep upon
+it would be the signal for its falling, and opening its deep and
+certain grave. It was hardly possible for Aagé to continue his hold
+long in this hanging position. Amid the universal tumult no one
+perceived him. He now heard the crash caused by the bursting of the
+gates, and the victorious shout, "The castle is won! Long live young
+king Eric!" The king had already entered the castle as a victor through
+the flaming gate. Aagé could not turn his head round and look down into
+the yard without losing his balance; but he heard, and instantly
+recognised the king's and Count Henrik's voices far below him.
+
+"Beware, my liege! here is a pitfall!" he shouted with all his might;
+but his voice was too faint; he was exhausted by his desperate
+exertions, and no one appeared to hear him amid the universal clashing
+of weapons, and the noisy shouts of victory. He was, besides, hidden by
+the pillar of the tower from those who were nearest to the upper story
+of the building. "Farewell, sweet Margaretha! farewell, love and life!"
+he gasped; "I must below." His fall and death, at this moment, appeared
+to be the only means of saving the king's life. "Long live my king!" he
+shouted, and let go his hold of the buttress. All seemed to grow dark
+before him; he fancied he was falling an unfathomable depth; but beyond
+this he was unconscious of what was passing around him.
+
+"Aagé, Aagé's voice!" cried the king, who, excited by the fight and the
+storm, stood at the head of his victorious troop of knights at the foot
+of the high wooden staircase. He had heard Aagé's voice, but where he
+knew not; some of the furthest men-at-arms had seen him fall down from
+the porch on the landing of the stairs, but the general noise and
+tumult overpowered their shouts of alarm. The king had already set his
+foot on the first step of the stair.
+
+"Back, my liege! treachery!" shouted Count Henrik suddenly. "Yonder
+hangs the Drost's shoulder scarf; there is certainly a pitfall here."
+
+The long red scarf hung just above their heads from the iron railing of
+the balcony.
+
+"As I live, my faithful Aagé; I heard him bemoan himself above there,"
+said the king eagerly, without heeding the warning, and hastened up the
+stair; but Count Henrik rushed after him and seized his arm ere he
+reached the uppermost landing. They both stopped as in amazement, and
+at the same moment uttered a cry of horror on seeing the unhappy Drost
+lie deadly pale and bleeding at the top of the staircase.
+
+"Dead! dead!" cried the king, and was hastening up to him; but Count
+Henrik still detained him, while he himself sprang forward, and tramped
+on every step of the hollow stair. Aagé opened his eyes, and recognised
+the king. "Back from the grave, my liege!" he called with a faint
+voice, as he rolled himself forward to the king's feet, and clasped his
+knees. "Aagé! great Heavens! what is this?" exclaimed the king, and
+raised him in his arms. At the same instant the door of the hall of the
+upper story opened, and a tall, steel-clad knight, disarmed, and with
+an uncovered and hoary head, stepped across the balcony, and took his
+stand on the uppermost landing of the stair. "You stand beside a grave,
+King Eric!" he said in a terrific voice; "I had prepared it for you;
+but a higher power presides here; now shall it open, and swallow me up
+before your eyes." He stamped with all his might on the rocking and
+creaking trap-door under his feet. "Ha! why tarriest thou, slave?" he
+shouted in a voice of thunder. "Away with the bolt; draw it quick."
+
+"No, no, in the name of a merciful Heaven!" said a beseeching voice
+from the castle cellar far beneath him; "I cannot; I would sooner be
+perjured and eternally damned."
+
+"What is all this?" asked the king in the greatest amazement. "Doth
+that man rave? Who is he?"
+
+"The commandant of the castle, my liege," answered Count Henrik, who
+stood with his drawn sword before the king, and with the one foot on
+the trap-door.
+
+"Bind that madman," commanded the king to the knights nearest him,
+without withdrawing his gaze from the signs of returning life in Aagé's
+face. He bore him himself in his arms, with Count Henrik's assistance,
+over the creaking trap-door, and over the balcony, into the upper hall.
+As soon as Count Henrik had seen the Drost and the king in safety he
+hastened back to the shouting men-at-arms, to secure and guard all the
+entrances, and prevent any disorder from the disarming of the garrison.
+It was not till the king saw that Aagé's consciousness was returning,
+and that his limbs, however bruised, still were not seriously injured,
+that he looked towards the knights who surrounded him, and assisted in
+tending the Drost. At the door of the antechamber stood the tall
+commandant of the castle, with his arms tied behind his back, between
+two halberdiers; he gazed before him, mute and pale, as a marble
+statue. "Had I _such_ a master to die for!" he muttered in a deep and
+hardly audible voice, and a tear rolled down between the furrows of the
+aged warrior's haughty and unmoved countenance.
+
+Count Henrik soon re-entered the hall with hasty steps. "My liege," he
+said aloud, "the margrave is without the gate; the highborn junker is
+with him. They entreat your grace to withhold your stern sentence and
+wrath, and hear what the prince hath to say in his defence."
+
+"Let him step hither instantly," commanded the king, and the sternness
+of his countenance seemed mingled with profound sorrow. "The hour of
+judgment is come," he added; "but I condemn no one unheard."
+
+Count Henrik bowed in silence and departed. A deathlike stillness
+prevailed in the chamber. Drost Aagé reposed, pale and bleeding, on a
+bench, with his head leaning on the king's breast, and appeared as yet
+not to have fully recovered his consciousness after his shattering and
+stunning fall. His temples had been chafed with wine; at a signal from
+the king he was carried into the ladies' apartment, that he might
+repose in quiet, and be more carefully tended. As he was borne off the
+king pressed his feeble hand, and looked on him with affection and
+sadness. Aagé gazed fixedly and anxiously upon the king. "Remember you
+are to pass sentence on a brother," he whispered in a faint voice. He
+would have said more, but the king motioned to him to be silent, and
+turned from him as he hastily passed his hand over his high and glowing
+forehead.
+
+A deep stillness once more prevailed around. The king's knights had
+ranged themselves in solemn silence at his side: they yet stood with
+their drawn swords in their hands, and the halberdiers were stationed
+with their long spears by the door guarding the gloomy chief, who
+looked like one petrified. Footsteps were soon heard on the hollow
+stair, where the trap-door had already been secured. Count Henrik
+opened the door, and remained standing on the balcony. He bowed coldly
+as Junker Christopher and the Margrave of Brandenborg entered,
+followed by their knightly train. The margrave's wonted gaiety and
+light-heartedness had vanished. He seemed exhausted from violent
+exertion, and in an anxious and uneasy mood. When the tall Junker
+Christopher uncovered his black locks, which floated wild and tangled
+around his shoulders, and advanced towards the king, his feet appeared
+to totter, while, however, there was a cold and forced smile on his
+long, large-featured visage.
+
+"My royal brother hath visited me in a peculiar fashion," he said in a
+tone of bitterness, as he greeted Eric with a stiff and formal bow. "I
+lament that I was not informed of your gracious visit, that I might
+have received my royal liege in a fitting manner, and have prevented
+the senseless acts of my vassals as well as the deeds of violence, of
+which I perceive traces here."
+
+"I am wont, even when unannounced, to find the castles of my vassals
+and servants open as well to my ambassadors as to me," answered the
+king with stern vehemence. "The contumacy I have here met with is high
+treason; the gate of a fortress hath been shut against me in my own
+kingdom: where this happens, fief and goods are forfeited, be the
+criminal who he may! I perceive, also, that my life has been basely and
+treacherously sought after: it is a Judas act and miscreant deed; it
+stirs up my inmost soul;" he continued in a voice of emotion, and with
+a doubtful glance at the prince's sullen countenance. "It is bitter and
+dreadful to me to think that my own brother could have shared these
+crimes--So, however, it seems to mortal eyes; but if ye can justify
+yourself, Prince Christopher of Denmark, speak! and with a single word
+remove from my heart the heaviest weight that ever oppressed it! Are
+you guilty or not?"
+
+"Who accuses me?" exclaimed the junker haughtily, and with vehemence.
+"Who dares to mark me out for contumacy and treason? Where is my
+accuser? Where is my commandant? His is the responsibility for what
+hath happened. Where is he?"
+
+"Here!" said a powerful and hollow voice from the door of the apartment
+close behind him. It seemed as though the prince shrunk at the sound,
+while he turned and gazed on the aged warrior with a wild and haggard
+look.
+
+"Crush me, if you will, Prince Christopher," continued the chief; "I am
+prepared for death; my life is yours, but not my honour--Here stands
+your aged loyal servant, the only one who was true to you here at the
+castle. Therefore do I now stand bound as a miscreant and traitor; but
+I swear by the most high God, in the sight of the king and of Danish
+chivalry, I have but fulfilled my duty--I obeyed the command of that
+master to whom I swore fealty and obedience. No one can serve two
+masters; every one must account to his own. I have mine; but that he
+commanded, he must himself answer for."
+
+"Dost thou rave?" shouted the prince, foaming with rage. "Did I order
+thee to defend the castle against other than my foes?"
+
+"True, sir junker! against your foes," repeated the warrior, "whether
+they were great or small, whether they wore helmet or crown--that was
+your stern behest; and if you named not the king, assuredly it was him
+you meant, so help me St. George and the merciful God, in my last
+hour!"
+
+"Liar! calumniator! mad, presumptuous rebel and traitor!" shouted the
+prince, as if in a transport of rage, and rushing menacingly towards
+the bound commandant. "Darest thou thus to pervert my commands? Wouldst
+thou read in my soul, and make my thoughts traitors to my king? Nay,
+now I see it; I penetrate thy plan, traitor! Thou wouldst set strife
+and enmity between me and my royal brother! thou wouldst waken
+rebellion and civil war in the country--thou art a kinsman of Marsk
+Stig; thou art a secret friend of the outlawed regicides."
+
+The king started and gazed on the prisoner with a searching look; the
+proud chief seemed to have lost his self-possession; he stared upon the
+junker with fixed and strained eyes, but no word passed his lips.
+
+"See you, my liege, the traitor is struck dumb;" continued the junker,
+turning once more with a look of proud triumph to the prisoner. "Canst
+thou deny the traitor's blood in thy veins, wretch? Canst thou deny
+thou art a friend of the outlaws?"
+
+"I am proud of my birth," said the commandant, regaining his
+self-possession by a desperate effort. "My unfortunate friends I disown
+not either, even though they be outlawed and accursed in this world;
+but the charge you ground thereon, I deny and despise."
+
+"Take him to the prison tower, my men!" called the junker hastily in a
+proud authoritative tone; "I am his master and judge, by the laws of
+the country. The crime he would roll on his master's head, shall
+assuredly fall on his own, and crush him."
+
+Some knights of the prince's train had already approached the prisoner
+to lead him away; but they lingered, and cast a timid and inquiring
+look at the king.
+
+"Haste not!" ordered the king with vehemence; "so long as I am present
+myself, no one commands beside me."
+
+The junker's knights drew back respectfully at these words. The captive
+had raised his eyes towards the ceiling of the apartment, and seemed to
+be internally preparing himself for death.
+
+"You deny, then, all participation in what here hath happened. Junker
+Christopher?" continued the king in a thoughtful and gloomy mood, while
+his searching gaze still dwelt on the wild and passionate countenance
+of the junker. "I ask you not to swear by your salvation--With a
+brother's salvation I would not even redeem my crown or life; but I
+demand your knightly and princely word, in confirmation of your
+testimony. This chief's birth, and his friendship for my deadly foes, I
+ask not of: it is now question of the present rebellious and traitorous
+transaction. Can you confidently affirm, on your knightly and princely
+word, that your commandant hath in this matter acted according to his
+own arbitration, and against your order?"
+
+"Yes, by my knightly and princely honour!" cried the prince with a
+glowing and fierce countenance, and bit his lips in wrath.
+
+"Those words you will repent at the last judgment day, junker!" said
+the commandant in his ear with a deep and hollow voice, as if from the
+grave, and gazing on him with a deathlike stare.
+
+"Silence, mad liar!" interrupted the junker. "I will show you, my royal
+brother and liege," he continued in a raised voice, and turned from the
+thunder-stricken captive, "I will show you that I can maintain
+discipline in my castle--none shall go unpunished, who have dared to
+insult you in my name, and abuse the power you have entrusted to me by
+contumacy and treason--I demand instant justice and sentence on this
+criminal, according to the jurisdiction of the castle and law of the
+land."
+
+"I cannot deny you the power of judging and passing sentence upon your
+servants." answered the king. "Whatever may have been your commandant's
+transgression, he must answer for it! He shall instantly be brought
+before the castle tribunal, and be sentenced according to law; but if
+he be pronounced guilty in the absence of proof, and from the want of
+explanations, which can be known to none but yourself, it shall be left
+to you to award the sentence. Junker Christopher! if your conscience
+can answer for it before God and men!"
+
+"Well, then! he is doomed; he shall assuredly lie on the wheel ere the
+sun rise again," muttered the junker: "you have heard the king's
+command: obey! take the captive to the justice court!" He addressed
+these words with an authoritative air to his knights, and they
+instantly led off the prisoner, who cast a proud and contemptuous look
+at his master, and pointed menacingly towards heaven.
+
+The king had thrown himself into a chair, thoughtful and silent, with
+his hand before his brow; a severe conflict seemed passing in his
+inmost soul. He now rose up suddenly, and cast a stern and penetrating
+glance at his brother: "Pass sentence, and execute it on thy servant
+in my name, as thou wouldst be judged thyself in the sight of the
+all-knowing and righteous God!" he said in a low tone of admonition. "I
+invest thee, also, with my highest prerogative--that of mercy. If he
+_be_ mad--if his blood can be spared, without breach of law--by
+all the holy men! I ask it not in pledge of the truth of thy
+declaration. The word of honour of a knight and prince needs no bloody
+confirmation--There is my hand, brother Christopher," he added, and his
+voice trembled; "I will believe thee, whether thy servant be found
+innocent or guilty." The junker gave Eric his hand, in gloomy silence,
+and with an averted countenance; there was, for a moment, a general and
+anxious silence.
+
+"Let the musicians strike up. Sir Junker! now there is surely peace and
+good understanding again, my royal friends!" said Margrave Waldemar,
+hastily breaking silence, in his gay, volatile tone; "it rejoiceth me
+that I have contributed towards it, even though I have foundered my
+best horse in the cause: now we will forget the whole vexatious
+affair, and let the junker's good wine wash away all remains of
+misunderstanding."
+
+"You are right, Waldemar!" exclaimed Junker Christopher, with a gay
+mien, and looked boldly round the hall; "I ought not to forget I am
+host here, although my honoured guests have taken me somewhat by
+surprise." He then opened the door himself into the knights' hall, and
+besought the king to enter: he himself followed with the Margrave,
+Count Henrik, and the whole numerous train of knights.
+
+The king continued silent and thoughtful. He seemed to put a restraint
+on himself to conceal his mistrust of his brother. Margrave Waldemar
+was evidently desirous to cheer the king, and place the intercourse
+between the brothers on a more easy footing. The quarrel as yet was
+only but slightly accommodated; but Junker Christopher seemed carefully
+to shun all closer explanation; he merely ventured on a passing comment
+on the beleaguering of Holbek castle by the Drost, as if it was but a
+rumour which he had heard, and as if he trusted, at all events, it was
+only a precipitate act of the Drost and a misunderstanding of the will
+of his royal brother. He evaded the grave answer which hovered on the
+king's lips, and employed himself zealously and courteously in
+attending to the wants of his guests. The door of the large dining hall
+was presently thrown open, where a table of refreshments always stood
+ready for the junker and his followers, when they were on a visit at
+the castle. From the gallery, in the great hall above, sounded the
+joyous tones of hunting horns and trumpets, and Kallundborg castle,
+which lately rung with the clash of weapons and din of war, soon
+re-echoed with the ringing of goblets and the mirth of festivity.
+
+It was nearly evening ere the royal party were assembled at table. As
+soon as the junker had seated his guests, and a lively and easy
+conversation had in some degree commenced, he departed, with a hasty
+excuse, and remained absent above half an hour. He returned gloomy and
+pale, but appeared afterwards in high spirits, excited by the wine and
+the company at table. To the king's inquiry as to what had so long
+deprived his guests of his company, he answered in a low tone, "I have
+been attending the court of justice, my liege! I would not let the
+judges wait for my explanation; matters of life and death it is ever
+best to get out of hand, ere we come to the drinking table."
+
+The king became again silent and thoughtful, but the junker frequently
+drained his goblet, and Margrave Waldemar sought, by many a merry jest,
+to disperse the dark thoughts which frequently seemed to disturb the
+festivities in honour of a reconciliation; which, however, appeared
+rather to be forced than the effect of mutual good understanding.
+
+The king purposed not to pass the night it the castle, where he had met
+with such hostile reception; but as it grew dark and late it was
+difficult for him to reject his brother's repeated invitation, without
+again betraying a distrust he wished he could wholly drive from his
+mind. As the junker at last, with a cheerful air, once more earnestly
+urged his invitation, while he drained the last goblets of wine with
+the king, to a speedy and happy union with the lovely Princess
+Ingeborg, and to a brotherly understanding, the cloud on Eric's brow
+vanished, and the last remains of mistrust seemed to be banished from
+his kindly heart. He pressed his brother's hand warmly, and drained his
+cup to the bottom: "Well, Christopher! I remain," he continued, in a
+confidential tone and half aside. "All shall be forgotten as in old
+times, when the good Drost Peter settled our childish disputes, and our
+mother Agnes joined our hands together." The king now appeared
+perfectly happy and satisfied; Christopher often laughed loudly. This
+cheerful tone soon pervaded the whole assemblage.
+
+After the repast the king seated himself with his brother at a
+backgammon board; he only shook the dice, however, while he ordered the
+state of his faithful Aagé to be inquired into, and waited in vain for
+a word of frankness and confidence from Christopher. The junker was
+especially courteous and attentive, but he still seemed desirous, by
+indifferent talk, to ward off all approaches to serious conversation.
+At this moment an officer of justice entered, and put a sheet of
+parchment into his hand: he became suddenly silent, and changed colour.
+The attendant hastily departed.
+
+"What was that? my brother!" asked the king. "The death doom of my
+presumptuous servant, according to the verdict of the court of justice
+of this castle, and to the law of the land," answered the junker,
+without looking at him; "will you confirm it? Upon life and death you
+yourself determine?"
+
+"As the friend and kinsman of the outlaws, he was doubtless my foe; but
+how guilty he is thou must know best," answered the king, with stern
+solemnity; "thou hast my authority for it: in my name to confirm the
+doom, or to pardon, as justice or moderation prompt thee. None save
+thou and the all-seeing God can know with certainty whether thy command
+could have been thus misinterpreted--If there be the least doubt,
+then----"
+
+"No, there is no doubt here," exclaimed the junker impetuously, with a
+dark and gloomy countenance, and a wild and frightful glance, as he
+rose from the backgammon table, and departed with hasty strides.
+
+The king looked long after him, with a serious and thoughtful gaze. He
+started up suddenly once or twice, and put his hand to his brow. "No!"
+he said, "it is impossible--I have his knightly and princely word of
+honour." The margrave now approached gaily and courteously, and took
+the vacant seat near the king at the table, where he soon succeeded in
+introducing a lively and amusing conversation.
+
+
+
+
+                                CHAP. V.
+
+
+The Drost had been brought from the ladies' apartment to a remote and
+quiet chamber, in the knights' story. Although he had sustained no
+serious injury in his heavy fall, he was, however, shattered in every
+limb, and unable to move. After a restorative bath, he had been carried
+to his couch and had fallen asleep; but the harrowing anxiety which he
+had endured so agitated his mind that it was impossible for him to
+sleep soundly. At one time he dreamed he was wrestling with corpses in
+dark graves, at another that he hovered over unfathomable abysses; but
+the idea of the king's danger, and the pitfall under the staircase,
+seemed to work most powerfully upon his imagination, and he frequently
+exclaimed in his disturbed slumber, "Beware, my liege! Now opens the
+grave under thy feet. Believe him not, believe him not, he is a
+traitor!"
+
+It was late in the evening. A lamp burned on the table in Aagé's
+chamber, and an aged, withered crone sat by his bed, muttering
+constantly to herself with toothless gums and shaking head. The door
+presently opened, and the king entered the darkened chamber,
+accompanied by Count Henrik and Junker Christopher. The nurse instantly
+withdrew, half in alarm, and with oft-repeated curtsey, without,
+however, allowing herself to be interrupted in her mutterings, and
+unconscious monologue. Junker Christopher and Count Henrik remained
+standing at the entrance, where they conversed together in a low tone
+and at intervals, of the chase and their horses, and of the large
+antlers of the stag over the door, while the king approached the
+Drost's couch, and drew the lamp forward on the table that he might
+have a full view of his features. Aagé appeared for a moment to be
+sleeping soundly; but as the king stood by his couch, and with
+sympathising sorrow bent over his handsome though pallid face, the
+Drost suddenly opened his eyes and stared wildly before him. "Is it
+thou, my liege?" he whispered; "art thou still living in this murderous
+den? Beware! Believe him not!"
+
+"Recollect thyself, my Aagé, thou dreamest," said the king. "Thy
+pious wish is fulfilled; I and my brother are reconciled. Look!
+there he stands. He also wishes to see thee. The whole was a
+misunderstanding--the desperate plan of a rebel--one of the outlaws'
+race and friends. Be calm, my Aagé; I am now a peaceful guest here with
+my brother--We have drunk to reconciliation and brotherly fellowship
+together--I have done him injustice also in the affair with Bruncké. I
+will give him back both Holbek and Kallunborg. He is now to accompany
+me on the expedition against the dukes."
+
+"Noble, generous, kingly soul!" exclaimed Aagé, seemingly quite roused
+from his dreaming state. "Hath a word, hath a cup of wine effaced such
+enmity and wrath? Now the Lord and our blessed Lady be praised! Love
+healeth all wounds, and mercy is a precious virtue. _How_ great is now
+thy love and clemency, my liege!" he continued, again somewhat wildly,
+and as if half dreaming; "doth it extend even unto the outlaws and
+their unhappy race--even unto Marsk Stig's kindred and children?"
+
+"Ha! breathe not that accursed name, Aagé," interrupted the king, with
+stern vehemence; "_so_ far my clemency will never extend--Now sleep
+well, my faithful Aagé," he added, with his former mildness and
+affection. "Think not on what it is best to forget--they tell me thou
+art already out of danger, and can, perhaps, follow me to-morrow, or in
+a few days."
+
+"Where sleeps my liege to-night?" asked Aagé, in an anxious voice, and
+again gazing wildly around him.
+
+"Close by thee, here in the knights' story; only be thou calm and sleep
+in peace. I sleep under a brother's roof."
+
+"Come, my royal brother," interrupted Christopher, hastily approaching
+the couch, "speak no more with that sick dreamer, he is in a fair way
+to infect you with his feverish phantasies."
+
+"Good night, my Aagé," said the king, pressing the Drost's hand as he
+departed. "I will keep that I promised him," he said to the junker. "I
+will sleep near him, here in the knights' story."
+
+"As you command, my royal brother," answered the junker, with a cold
+and bitter smile; and they left the sick chamber.
+
+Count Henrik had also given his hand to Aagé, and was about to follow
+the king; but the Drost detained him for a moment, in a state of
+painful anxiety. "Look, look!" he whispered, "there goes the murdered
+King Eric with Junker Abel[2]; _they_ once were brothers! and, hark! a
+flood roars beneath this castle. It is surely the bloody Slie,--take
+heed!--take heed, that no misfortune happens here!"
+
+"You have perturbed dreams, Drost Aagé," said Count Henrik, letting go
+Aagé's fevered hand. "Sleep ye but in quiet; I watch." He then hastened
+after the king and the junker; but first glanced out of the window, and
+saw with secret horror, by the deepening star-light, a high, black
+scaffold in the back court of the castle, without the knights' story.
+He hastily drew the curtain before the window and departed; whereupon
+the old nurse (still shaking and muttering) re-entered the Drost's
+chamber. She was attired in the homely dress of a country burgher's
+wife; her eyes were large and sunken, and her pale, emaciated visage
+greatly resembled that of a corpse. With a distaff and a rosary in her
+hand, she resumed her station by the Drost's couch before the lamp,
+which she drew aside, that it might not shine in the face of the
+patient. All was now soon quiet in this wing of the castle, which only
+comprised the sleeping apartments of the knights. Aagé lay long
+listening in anxiety. In the unusual stillness of the evening, however,
+a distant sound as of lutes and mirthful songs reached his ear.
+
+"What is that?" he asked, raising his head with pain and difficulty.
+
+"There is merriment in the knights' hall, noble sir! yes in troth! that
+there is," answered the nurse; "our stern junker hath caused minstrels
+and jugglers to be fetched from the town. There is no lack either of
+mead or sweet wine, that knoweth the precious Lord in heaven! He drinks
+to friendship with his brother, they say. Alack yes!" she added, "the
+great can be merry, doubtless, and leave care to the fiddle; ay! ay!
+when they quarrel among themselves, it all falls on the small! yes, in
+troth! does it--all falls on the small. My departed husband was, by my
+troth, doomed to death, in the great Marsk Stig's feud--alack yes! by
+my troth was he, he was but a poor man, I must tell ye: _he_ had
+neither knightly nor princely honour to swear himself free with, like
+the high-born junker; no, by my troth! had he not, that was the whole
+mishap. There sits now our old commandant in the tower--ay! ay! he will
+hardly see sun or moon more; they say he is to be executed to-night;
+alack yes! and yesterday he was master here at the castle; yes, in
+troth! was he so, but so goeth it in the world; alack yes."
+
+"Executed?" repeated Aagé; "the Lord have mercy on his soul; the king
+is strict and hasty: ha! but knew he?----"
+
+"He doubtless knew, what we all know, that his high-born brother hath
+borne false witness," sighed the old woman; "but what care the great
+about cutting off an insignificant head, when they would save their
+own? The law must have its course--yes, in troth! that it must, _one_
+head doubtless must fall, after such a commotion and uproar, but the
+junker's is placed too high, I trow! 'What should great lords keep
+servants for, if they could not wash themselves clean in their blood?'
+said my departed husband, when he was executed; yes, in troth! said he
+so, the blessed soul--But see now if ye can get to sleep, noble young
+sir! that is assuredly best for you. I talk mayhap rather too much:
+'tis my bosom sin, they say--yes, by my troth! one talks too little,
+and another too much; was there no such thing as talk, no poor man
+would talk himself over to the evil one, and no high-born rogue would
+talk himself from the gallows."
+
+"I must speak with the king," burst forth Aagé, with eagerness, and
+vainly strove to rise, but his strength entirely forsook him, and he
+fell back in a swoon. The old nurse thought he slept, and indeed he
+soon appeared to have fallen into a kind of slumber. The nurse looked
+at him several times, with the lamp in her hand, and nodded, as she
+continued to chatter to herself; "Ay! ay! a good honest face, in
+troth!" she muttered. "But who is honest in this sinful world? he
+consorts with the great,--ay! ay! and those good folk one should never
+believe--no in troth, one should never believe. He would have spoken
+with the king--yes, forsooth! when it is question of saving a poor
+devil's life, and telling the king that his brother is a rogue and
+traitor; then such a fine courtier fellow swoons or falls asleep, till
+it is too late. Wake up, Sir Knight! wake up!" She shook him in vain;
+"Alack! I verily believe it is death's sleep,--well then he is excused:
+after such a fall and being battered into a pudding, there can
+doubtless be no great life in him--he draws breath though, I believe!
+yes, in troth he does! Youth is strong, perhaps nature will help
+herself--Hark! now they follow the king to bed," she continued, and
+listened: "he will surely sleep close by here, ay! ay! This is his
+favourite servant, this same Drost. Weil, the Lord keep his hand over
+the king! he means well by us all; yes, in troth he does--alack yes!
+even though he should doom many a poor devil to death--but indeed
+that's his business--it is therefore he is king. He upholds law and
+justice, yes in troth! and makes, besides, no difference between high
+and low. Should he now have doomed to death his own brother according
+to the flesh? That would have been too hard--yes, in troth, would it;
+he is after all but a man, and who is just in all things in this sinful
+world? Ay, ay! but the junker--alack, yes! The Lord preserve us from
+him--if we get _him_ for a king, it will be a bad look-out--yes, in
+troth will it! alack, yes!" Thus she muttered to herself, and nodded
+beside the lamp until she fell asleep in the arm-chair. It might be
+somewhat past midnight, when Drost Aagé awoke, strengthened in body,
+and refreshed by the deep sleep, caused by exhaustion, which seemed to
+have given a favourable turn to his illness. He was still, however, in
+a feverish state; he looked around him with surprise, and appeared not
+to know where was. The pale sleeping nurse, beside the lamp, seemed to
+him, as the light faintly lit up her emaciated visage, like a sitting
+corpse. He half arose and stared fixedly at her; he remarked signs of
+strong agitation in her deathlike face; her toothless gums mumbled, but
+without any sound; it appeared as though she wished to speak, but had
+not the power to utter a word. It seemed to him, as if he now beheld
+what he had often heard and read of in ancient sagas and poems of olden
+time. The dark vaulted chamber in his imagination was a subterranean
+prophet's cave, and the old mumbling crone a dead prophetess, on whose
+tongue Runic letters had been laid to cause her to prophesy.[3] He
+tried to rise and the attempt succeeded; his shattered limbs were
+strengthened and pliant. He wrapped the white woollen coverlet around
+him, and soon stood listening on the floor, and gazing on the old
+woman's visage. "Whom talkest thou with?--corpse! what dost mumble of
+in thy grave?" he whispered, and she moved her mouth still faster.
+"Murder, murder!" she exclaimed, at length, in audible words. "Hark,
+hark! now his head falls before the axe."
+
+At the same instant Aagé actually heard with dismay a sound outside the
+window, as of the stroke of an axe; he rushed forward, and pulled aside
+the curtain. The light of a number of torches glared on him from the
+back court of the castle. He saw with horror, a body of men-at-arms
+surrounding a scaffold, on which stood an executioner with a bloody
+head in his hand. A cold shudder came over Aagé; he knew not, as yet,
+whether he waked or dreamed; he stood speechless, as if rooted to the
+spot, and gazed on the horrid sight; a low chant fell on his ear, and
+he beheld a crowd of Franciscan monks advance under the scaffold with a
+black coffin. Among the spectators he recognised Junker Christopher's
+dark countenance, strongly lit up by a torch. The bloody head fell from
+the executioner's hand, and it seemed to him, to his inexpressible
+horror, to be the king's; he staggered back and overturned the table
+with the lamp. The old woman waked in affright, and shrieked loudly;
+but Aagé rushed out of the chamber, into the dark passage, in
+indescribable consternation. "Murdered!--the king murdered!" was the
+cry of his inmost soul; but no word passed his lips; he went on, like a
+sleep-walker, with staring eyes, not knowing whither he was going.
+"Here he was to sleep--here close by me,"--he thought, and stopped at a
+side door. He had already extended his hand to open it, when he saw a
+light, and heard footsteps at a distance in the passage. The door
+beside which he stood, was enclosed between two pillars projecting from
+the wall--he stopped behind one of the pillars, and kept his eye on the
+light in the passage. It approached slowly, and often stopped; at last
+it came so near that he could see, it was carried by a tall figure in a
+dark mantle. The light fell only on the lower part of the shrouded
+form; his walk was tottering and hesitating; a large sword glittered
+under his mantle. The figure came nearer and nearer; but with stealthy
+and almost noiseless steps. At last it advanced close to the pillar,
+behind which Aagé stood, and paused again. The light was now; raised,
+while the shrouded bearer looked around him on all sides, and the light
+fell on a long and wildly glaring visage--it was Junker Christopher.
+
+"Ha! fratricide! regicide!" shouted Aagé, in a frenzy, and rushed out
+upon him.
+
+With a cry of alarm the junker let fall the light, and sprang backward.
+"Murder! help! a madman!" he shouted, and drew his sword.
+
+Amid this noise the door between the pillars opened, and Count Henrik
+stepped forth with a light. "What is the matter here?" he asked
+eagerly, but in a low tone. "Who dares to wake the king?"
+
+"The king! the king!" exclaimed Aagé, with inexpressible joy, "he
+lives?--the Lord be praised! it was then but a dreadful dream! but saw
+I not the junker here?"
+
+"Yes, assuredly, thou saw'st him, madman!" cried the junker, returning
+his sword into the sheath. "Had you not come out. Count Henrik, I
+should have cut that mad fellow down on the spot. He fell upon me here,
+with a wild incoherent speech, as I was stealing softly to my chamber
+that I might not wake the king. If I see aright, it is the chivalrous
+Sir Drost, who is walking in his sleep, or would play the ghost. One
+would think my castle was turned into a madhouse."
+
+"A _singular_ adventure, noble Junker," said Count Henrik, gazing with
+a penetrating look on his perturbed countenance. "Our good Drost is
+sick, as you know, and hath disquiet fevered dreams," he added in a
+light courtier-like tone. "He must in his phantasies have taken you for
+a murderer and traitor; but you must excuse him; his loyalty and
+devotion for your royal brother are alone to blame for it."
+
+"You come from an execution, Sir Junker!" said Aagé, whose
+self-possession was now fully restored; "it was, I presume, your
+unhappy commandant, who so ill underwood your order and will?"
+
+"Right!" answered the prince; "he hath got his well-merited wages--the
+presumptuous madman! but madness spreads here, I perceive."
+
+"Your highness's imagination hath surely also been at work," continued
+Aagé, "since my dreams could scare you thus. I beseech you meanwhile
+graciously to pardon me for stopping you just beside _this_ door. It
+was, perhaps, however, a lucky chance; you might easily have made a
+mistake between your own and the king's sleeping chamber."
+
+"Go to thy couch, madman!" replied the junker, with gloomy harshness,
+and with his hand on his sword. "You dream as yet it seems to me, and
+might deserve to be wakened by my good sword--One should bind and shut
+up a visionary and dreamer like you when one would have a quiet night:"
+so saying, he hastily snatched his candle, which Count Henrik had taken
+up from the floor and lighted, and the junker went with rapid strides
+through the next side door into his own sleeping apartment.
+
+"I have a fearful suspicion," whispered Aagé to Count Henrik; "but I
+was ill and over-excited--I may be wrong: it is too dreadful to think
+of--Let it not disturb the king's peace."
+
+"What you mean, Drost, I am also loth to think of," answered the count,
+"though after what hath here happened, almost every thing is possible.
+Come, let us stay here together to-night."
+
+They then both entered the door between the pillars, and all was soon
+perfectly quiet at the castle.
+
+The next morning early the king and his men rode out of the burnt and
+dilapidated gate of Kallundborg castle. Count Henrik, Margrave
+Waldemar, and Junker Christopher accompanied him on horseback, together
+with his fifty knights, and a numerous troop of lancers. Drost Aagé
+followed slowly behind in a litter, borne by two horses. He was far
+from recovered from the effects of his dangerous fall, but was not to
+be kept back.
+
+The king and his brother rode in silence through the town, at some
+distance from their train. "Thou hast surely wished to take from me the
+desire of being oftener thy guest at Kallundborg, Christopher!" said
+the king in a gloomy, dissatisfied mood, as they rode slowly up the
+hill to St. George's hospital, and looked back on the castle and town.
+"I have used thy fair castle gate badly it is true; some broken pates,
+too, I have left behind me; but neither didst _thou_ prepare me any
+fair spectacle at my mattins."
+
+"What! the criminal on the wheel?" muttered Christopher. "Hath his head
+said good morning to you from the stake? The fault was not mine: that
+unpleasant sight would have been kept from your eyes, but you yourself
+chose your sleeping apartment with that unsightly prospect. To say
+truth, my royal brother," he added in an upbraiding tone, "you seemed
+to me to require _proof_ that there was no manner of doubt in this
+case."
+
+"That word then sounded ill to thee," answered the king. "Understood'st
+thou me not? There might be a doubt of the criminal's sanity, but not
+of his miscreant deed; there might be a doubt of the ambiguity of thy
+commands to him, without there being the slightest doubt of thy
+meaning, as thou didst explain it to me on thy knightly word. Only on
+that ground did I make over to thee my privilege of pardon, together
+with the power of confirming the sentence: there was no need, either,
+to hasten with the execution of the bloody doom."
+
+"It was needful to decide the matter ere you left the castle," replied
+Christopher eagerly. "I, for my part, had no ground for doubt. I have
+shown I feared not to witness the fall of the traitor's head, as your
+Drost can affirm, if he hath come to his senses."
+
+"He is now quite collected," answered the king. "I know he walked in
+his sleep last night, and gave thee a start by my door."
+
+"Ay, indeed! hath he told you of that pleasant adventure!" said the
+junker, starting and changing colour. "Had he been in his right senses,
+I would have demanded that he be declared infamous for the audacious
+outrage."
+
+"As I have heard the circumstance, he is excused: thy alarm he hath
+also accounted for to me."
+
+"How mean ye?" asked Christopher, in the greatest anxiety.
+
+"Truly, it is not good to return to one's couch with such a bloody
+spectacle before one's eyes," said the king, with not unsympathising
+glance at the junker pale and agitated countenance. "Be not ashamed of
+it, Christopher! mayhap it does thy heart honour--Thou wert sick at
+heart, and greatly moved by the sight of thine aged servant's execution
+Aagé supposed. I see myself how it hath taken hold on thee. It is the
+first death-warrant thou hast sealed--I know by experience such acts
+excite peculiar and painful feelings."
+
+As the king said these words the junker's countenance seemed suddenly
+to brighten, and he again breathed more freely. "In truth, my royal
+brother," he said, hastily while a deep crimson flush succeeded to his
+former paleness, "the stupid fellow was a brave man, notwithstanding!
+It was not the most agreeable duty you put upon me. I was in some sort
+a party concerned; but I was perfectly right; no one could know my
+criminal servant as well as I; and the sentence was passed according to
+law and justice, by impartial men. Your Drost is an excellent knight,"
+he added, "but somewhat disposed to be visionary: he is devoted to you,
+however, and I have nought against him, on account of his foolish
+dreamings."
+
+Count Henrick and Margrave Waldemar now approached the royal brothers,
+and the conversation turned on indifferent topics. The procession
+proceeded on the road to Korsóer, from whence the king intended to
+cross the Belts, in order to join the Marsk, and the forces which were
+to march against the turbulent dukes of Slesvig.
+
+At the famous sea-fight of Grönsund, the young King Eric had gained a
+decided victory over these haughty princes, who frequently sought to
+withdraw their allegiance to the Danish crown, and since the regicide
+of Eric Glipping had secretly, as well as openly, made common cause
+with the foes of the country and the outlawed regicides. By this
+victory the king had indeed gained a high reputation with the dukes as
+well as with the neighbouring northern powers, and the princes of north
+Germany; but the quarrel with the archbishop and the Romish see, and
+still more the king's excommunication at Sjöborg, had given all his
+foes courage, and renewed their hopes of shaking his throne, and
+frustrating his bold projects. It was feared, not without reason, that
+the young high-spirited King of Denmark, who now appeared as though he
+would defy ban and interdict, might possibly have a desire to regain
+the influence and power won by the great Waldemar the Victorious in
+Germany. That monarch's chivalrous character, and the lustre his
+conquests had shed on the Danish name, seemed early to have inspired
+his bold descendant with the wish to tread in the paths of his renowned
+ancestor, and a glorious reputation like that of Waldemar the
+Victorious was assuredly the secret wish of Eric's heart, though he
+lived in a time and under circumstances which demanded no ordinary
+degree of power and wisdom, in a sovereign, even to save the country
+from downfall, and preserve his own life and crown.
+
+The renewed demands of the dukes, and the revival of long-accommodated
+differences, but, especially, tidings of the outlaws having again found
+protection and shelter in Slesvig, had in a great measure induced the
+king to take up arms; and since the archbishop's flight, he had become
+much more precipitate than formerly, and more inclined to carry every
+thing through by the strong hand. The people well knew but cheerfully
+tolerated Eric's youthful and often impetuous eagerness, and his liking
+for chivalrous pomp. His firmness of purpose was indeed often called
+obstinacy; and it was admitted he was not altogether free from an
+excessive love of show, but from his childhood he had been the people's
+darling, and such he continued to remain.
+
+This breach with the dukes appeared to many to be rash and
+inconsiderate; but the king's wrath was deemed justifiable, and the
+public mind was calmed by the belief that with all his impetuosity he
+had too much love for his people, and possessed too much sound policy
+not to spare the blood of his warriors, and the scanty revenues of his
+country, could he, sword in hand, honourably negotiate. The calm,
+thoughtful Drost Aagé contributed not a little to restrain the king's
+vehemence, and now that Eric's older and more experienced counsellors,
+the aged Jon Little and Drost Hessel were absent, the greater number and
+most peaceably minded of the people rejoiced to see Drost Aagé in the
+king's train. The Drost's suffering state, and the perilous adventure
+which had caused it, which was daily exaggerated by rumour, with the
+most marvellous additions, attracted towards him the sympathy and
+admiration of the lower classes. Those especially who had before
+shunned him as an excommunicated man, now mourned over his misfortune,
+since the king himself shared the same fate. The energetic and warlike
+Count Henrik of Mecklenborg, with his bold commanding glance, also
+found favour with the people, who looked up to him with confidence. He
+and Aagé were often received with animated shouts of acclamation, while
+a dumb and almost timorous courtesy was, on the contrary, shown to the
+gloomy Junker Christopher; and the foreign Margrave Waldemar, who
+always rode by the junker's side, was looked on as a half suspicious
+guest, whose presence might well be dispensed with. Wherever the
+procession passed, the young chivalrous monarch himself was received
+with the most loyal demonstrations of the people's affection, which had
+been more than ever called forth by the knowledge of the ecclesiastical
+persecution he then endured. Even the much dreaded lightnings of
+excommunication seemed transformed into a halo of martyrdom around the
+head of Eric, the avenger of his father, and the defender of the
+throne; especially as the greater and most estimable part of the Danish
+clergy boldly declared his cause to be just and honourable.
+
+The sorrow and displeasure which it was known had been caused the king
+by his brother the junker's suspicious conduct had still more increased
+the sympathy of the people for him.
+
+"For Eric, the youthful king!" was the general salutation, when all
+hats and caps waved in the air in his honour. "Away with the red hat
+from Rome! Away with all traitors! King Eric! and none other!" often
+resounded as he rode through the crowded street. "Long live Princess
+Ingeborg! Long live the king's true love!" also shouted many a merry
+bachelor. Where this salutation greeted the king, his own greeting
+became doubly kind and gracious. "Thanks, good people! thanks!" he
+answered cheerfully, and waved his hand; "if the Lord and our blessed
+Lady will it so, you shall see her here as your queen in the summer!"
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAP. VI.
+
+
+On Sommersted heath, in the province of Haddersleben, a bloody battle
+seemed likely to take place between Eric and his haughty kinsmen, the
+Dukes of Slesvig and Langeland, in whose army it was asserted many of
+the regicides were enlisted; notwithstanding it had been stipulated by
+treaty the preceding year, that these exiled criminals should be no
+less outlawed by these princes, than by the king, and his brother. When
+the dukes beheld the forces, at the head of which the incensed king,
+attended by his fifty chosen knights, was marching against them, they
+appeared to hesitate, and the swords of the one party seemed to keep
+those of the other in the sheath. Through the Drost's mediation a truce
+was negotiated; according to which all hostilities were to cease, the
+dukes' troops were to lay down their arms, and no outlaws suffered to
+continue in their service; all claims also on the part of the dukes
+were to be suspended, until formal terms could be agreed upon. For this
+purpose an amicable interview between these princes and their royal
+liege was proposed to take place at Wordingborg castle.
+
+The Drost and privy council rarely succeeded in persuading the king to
+a reconciliation, or to enter into a formal treaty of peace with any
+opponent who had protected his father's murderers. The only person who,
+under such circumstances, had been occasionally successful in acting as
+mediator, was Eric's sagacious and kindhearted stepfather, Count
+Gerhard, who ever stood in a friendly and almost fatherly relation to
+the young monarch.
+
+The present peace also with Norway was only a truce, occasionally
+renewed for single years or months; for the outlaws had constantly met
+with protection from the Norwegian King Eric, and Duke Hako; and
+according to his promise given to these fugitives, the Norwegian king
+was unable to conclude a permanent peace with Denmark, unless his
+Danish guests should be again admitted into their native land. Many of
+these deadly foes to the royal house of Denmark had, indeed, fallen in
+their unsuccessful expedition against Denmark; some had been seized and
+maltreated by the populace, or captured by the king's commanders, and
+executed for robbery and incendiarism. This had been the fate of Arved
+Bengtson, one of the wildest and fiercest of the regicides, who with
+ten of his comrades had fallen into the hands of the stern Tulé
+Ebbeson, and the whole of the eleven had been mercilessly beheaded. But
+each time the number of their chiefs was thus diminished, the revenge
+and defiance of those who were left increased. From their connection
+with foreign powers, with Archbishop Grand, and with the papal see,
+these exiled noblemen were the most dangerous enemies of the country.
+So long as one of them was living the king considered himself under the
+necessity of being constantly prepared for war, and the mention of an
+outlaw was almost sufficient to make him gird on his armour.
+
+After the conclusion of the truce with the Dukes of Slesvig, the king
+visited his royal manors in Jutland and in the Isles; but he disbanded
+his troops only so far as to admit of their being assembled again in a
+few days at the Marsk's summons. The young king sought, as much as it
+was possible, to atone for whatever injustice had been committed during
+the government of his unhappy father. Even his bitterest enemies were
+forced to acknowledge his disinterested zeal in the administration of
+justice; but despite the respect and affection of which Eric received
+the most gratifying proofs from his people, his personal safety was,
+nevertheless, often endangered, as the condition of the country was in
+general in a very unsettled state. The outlaws belonged to most noble
+families in Denmark, and had not a few kinsmen, friends, and secret
+adherents, who endeavoured to protect them from the indignation of the
+people, whenever they secretly or openly dared to venture back to their
+father-land, for the purpose of exciting disturbance or seeking
+opportunities for revenge. All the discontented in the country, all
+restless spirits, and those who were at war with law and authority, all
+criminals and burgher politicians, who feared or hated kingly rule,
+joined themselves to these martyrs in the cause of liberty, and foes of
+despotism as they were denominated. Some powerful prelates, the
+archbishop's friends, were on their side, although the clergy in
+general were devoted to the king. Meanwhile the most sincere patriots
+could not deny that the discontented had often real grievances to
+complain of, and that the lawful rights of citizenship were frequently
+infringed. The king's friends and devoted subjects often went too far
+in their zeal for his security; and state functionaries not
+unfrequently exercised violence and injustice in his name, where they
+suspected any one of siding with the outlaws. Among the discontented in
+the country, and the secret partisans of the outlaws, such proceedings
+served as a pretext and excuse for similar conduct towards the king's
+servants and friends; what especially disquieted all lovers of their
+country, was the dread of a general closing of the churches, in case
+the king did not yield in the affair of the archbishop. An apprehension
+also prevailed of civil war and dangerous conspiracies of the outlaws,
+and other disturbers of the peace; particularly if any open breach
+should take place between the king and his brother, the junker.
+
+During the first chilly days of spring, the roads to Wordingborg were
+unusually thronged on occasion of the important treaty of peace just
+concluded with the Dukes of Slesvig. The splendid festivities and
+tournaments which were the delight of the chivalrous king, were now in
+preparation to celebrate the event. Many knights and nobles from
+Jutland and the Isles journeyed to Wordingborg, to display their
+splendour before the king and the court, as well as to share in the
+expected festivities in honour of the peace, which however was regarded
+by the king's friends rather in the light of a victory.
+
+A party of three knights, with a numerous train of squires and
+attendants, rode one evening amid storm and hail through the forest
+near Suséa, and approached the great forest monastery of St. Peter. The
+accommodations for travellers were but scarce and simple. The public
+inns established in the time of King Eric Glipping were few and
+generally despised; travellers of high degree, therefore, often took
+shelter in monasteries, which were occasionally put to much cost and
+inconvenience by these sometimes forcibly-imposed visitations. The
+monasteries had been, in fact, exempted by a royal decree, from the
+ancient obligation of giving free entertainment to travellers; they
+were even forbidden to receive wayfaring guests, where there was any
+public inn in the neighbourhood; but the prohibition was hardly ever
+observed even by the clergy themselves, as it was contrary to the rules
+of the monasteries.
+
+The knights and their train seemed nowise inclined to pass by without
+visiting the rich "Forest Monastery" (as it was called) which now, with
+its high, white and notched gable ends, and its shining copper roof,
+came in sight above the forest in the fitful light of the stormy
+evening. The party drew near the great oak avenue within the domain of
+the monastery, and the attendants pointed, gladly, to the smoking
+chimneys: but the two foremost knights had shrouded themselves in their
+mantles, and drawn their large travelling hoods over their eyes. They
+seemed, notwithstanding the increasing storm, so absorbed in their own
+thoughts that they cared but little about the road, or the inviting
+hearth of the monastery. They were the same tall, silent knights, who
+had so mysteriously visited Prince Christopher at Holbek Castle, the
+night on which it was garrisoned by Drost Aagé. The little hump-backed
+man in the red cloak, who was then their companion, was not now seen in
+their train; but they were accompanied by Prince Christopher's
+gentleman of the bedchamber, the fat short-necked Sir Pallé, who
+frequently lamented over the weather, and seemed as weary of the
+journey as of his taciturn and unsociable travelling companions.
+
+"This way! up the monastery avenue, sir knights!" he called,
+impatiently. "You would not surely go farther in this infernal tempest?
+It is a good way yet to Nestved, and to that dog-hole of an inn, the
+road every way is long. We stand in need of a good supper, and a good
+night's rest--I know Pater, head-cook."
+
+"_I_ know the _abbot_," answered the taller of the two grave knights,
+with a haughty mien. "At all events, I know myself and my squires, and
+what a wayfaring man may demand."
+
+"For the Lord's sake! let us not play the braggart, excellent Sir
+Brock!" said Pallé, rather in alarm, and drawing his bridle. "If we
+proceed with violence and bragging, the pious monks may shut the door
+in our faces, and make the king our enemy to boot; one should, by my
+troth, seek a shelter by fair means when one slinks past law and
+ordinance."
+
+"Bah! Here one may make light of secular law and royal ordinance,"
+answered Sir Brock, scornfully. "St. Bent's rules no king can shake."
+
+"Let us only not attack the rules of the monastery, worthy knights!"
+sighed Sir Pallé, slapping his empty stomach, "or we may have to put up
+with fasting fare this evening, and learn of St. Bent to knock out the
+flesh tooth."
+
+"If that tooth had been knocked out in the monastery there would
+scarcely be so many butchers in Nestved," remarked the other
+knight; "keep easy, Sir Pallé; I promise you a fat roast for this
+evening--Every Sunday the Nestved butchers are forced to pay their
+tribute in good roasts and sausages."
+
+"The Abbot understands that," said Sir Brock, with a nod. "That is a
+fellow who knows how to uphold his rights both with high and low--trust
+me, Sir Papĉ, the Nestved burghers may well provide him wine for his
+roast--the whole town hath to thank the monastery and the rich abbot
+for its rise. Truly, these are burgher and grocer times we live in--we
+now see villages and towns where before we saw lordly castles, and
+domains, and mark, now, if the grocers' houses will not at last shoot
+up over both lordly castles and monasteries. It passes the
+comprehension, both of king and statesmen, how to keep the people under
+finger and thumb; but it is well enough understood by _him_ yonder."
+
+"You know the abbot then, Sir Brock?" resumed Pallé, inquisitively, and
+with a look of curiosity. "He must be a mighty prelate; they say, he
+was a good friend of Archbishop Grand's. You have surely no errand to
+him? You know more of him, perhaps, than I do of Pater, head-cook; for
+that is but a slight acquaintance. On second thoughts. Sir Knight,
+would it not be better in these troublous and suspicious times, to pass
+by the monastery and put up with the dog-hole of an inn?--unless you
+really have any errand here--you have perhaps known the abbot long. Sir
+Brock? You are even perhaps of his kindred?"
+
+"Excellent! Go on! if you have more queries, or any more scruples, let
+me have all out at once, and have done with it," said the tall Sir
+Brock, with an air of contempt. "To speak plainly, my good Sir Pallé,
+you seem somewhat inquisitive. You have asked me of more during this
+journey, than I would answer my confessor in a whole year.
+
+"And you are as mysterious and cautious as though you took me for a
+tell-tale, and a man not to be counted on," answered Pallé, in a tone
+of annoyance. "If the high-born junker hath trusted me to bring you a
+private letter, you may well suppose I am among his most confidential
+friends."
+
+"A confidant is wont, however, to know what tidings he brings,"
+remarked the tall knight.
+
+"You think, perhaps, I know them not," returned Pallé, assuming an air
+of consequence. "It will rejoice the noble junker to see you and your
+friends at Wordingborg, in order to come to a closer and mutual
+understanding.--Is it not so?"
+
+"Ha, indeed! my sly Sir Pallé; you understand then, the noble art of
+opening wax seals?--another time you must do it more dexterously, or,
+at least, be able to hold your tongue about it. The high-born junker
+hath known his messenger, and hath not entrusted you with a greater
+secret than he might suffer to be cried in the streets through every
+town."
+
+The other knight laughed scornfully. Pallé was silent, wroth, and crest
+fallen. The party now halted, drew bridle before the gate of the
+monastery, and knocked loudly at it. The porter put forth his shaven
+head from a shutter, and inquired in a peevish tone, who it was, and
+what was wanted so late.
+
+"Wayfaring and christian men," was the answer. "If you are a pious man
+of God, Father Porter, sin not by asking forbidden questions, but
+unlock the gate instantly, in St. Bent's and St. Peter's name!"
+
+"In nomine St. Benedict! Anianensis et St. Petri Apostoli," answered
+the clerical porter, and instantly withdrew the great iron bolt which
+secured the gate.
+
+"See ye," said Sir Niels Brock, "St. Bent and St. Peter are more
+powerful here than kings and worldly despots."
+
+Although the most important household matters were managed by the monks
+themselves, according to monastic rule, the travellers, on their
+entering the monastery, were instantly received by a whole crowd of
+attendant lay-brothers and conversers, who took off their mantles, and
+eagerly waited on them with handbasons and whatever they required.
+Father Porter had allowed himself to be replaced at his post by a
+lay-brother, that he might not miss the evening devotion and the
+evening meal that accompanied it. After an announcement to the Abbot,
+he followed the three knights to the refectory, while a lay-brother
+attended to the wants of the train.
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAP. VII.
+
+
+In the high-vaulted refectory, the small arched windows of which looked
+out into the garden of the monastery, and were darkened by a row of
+lime-trees, sat the heavy-built abbot Johan in his laced leathern
+arm-chair, with a lamp before him, at the supper-table, holding a kind
+of instructive discourse for the edification of the humbly-listening
+brethren of the order and the pupils of the monastery. Nearest him sat
+eleven monks in black cloaks, among whom Peter Porter took his place as
+the twelfth. The same number of little boys, who were educating as
+monks, and wore black benedictine mantles, as well as the brethren of
+the order, took the lowest place at the table, and eagerly partook of
+the repast, while, however, they seemed to listen very attentively to
+the abbot's discourse. On the entrance of the travellers the dignified
+prelate half rose from his seat, with a look of annoyance, and bade
+them welcome in St. Peter's and St. Bent's name, but almost without
+vouchsafing them a glance, and in a tone which betrayed that it was
+only in compliance with the rules of his order that he received such
+self-invited guests. However, when the two tall knights approached him
+nearer, with a reverent and courteous salutation, and the lamp on the
+table lit up Sir Niels Brock's martial visage, the abbot's proud
+bearing and repulsive looks suddenly changed. He signed a blessing over
+the knight and his companions, and, with courteous condescension,
+besought them to be seated, while he hastily, with a side-wink of the
+eye, laid his finger on his mouth, and continued to address them as
+strangers.
+
+Besides the twelve brethren of the order and the monkishly-clad
+children, there sat a person at the table, also in a black benedictine
+mantle, but without the hood and complete dress of the order. He had
+hastily risen on the entrance of the travellers, and appeared about to
+withdraw; but, on hearing Sir Niels Brock's powerful voice, he turned
+round to the newly-arrived guests, and nodded familiarly to Brock. It
+now appeared that this person bore not the tonsure, and was even
+adorned with a warrior-like beard; his forehead and eye-brows were
+hidden by his yellowish red and combed down hair.
+
+Brock started, and greeted him with surprise, but in silence.
+
+"A guest from the world who hath sought safety in the dress of our holy
+order and the sanctuary of the monastery," said the abbot. "I can,
+therefore, only present him to you without mention of his name, as I
+also have received you in the holy Bent's and St. Peter's name, without
+asking of your name in the world, or the object of your journey."
+
+"Your hospitality and high mindedness are well known throughout the
+country, pious sir," said Brock, with another obeisance. "We are not,
+it is true, among the persecuted. The object of our journey also is no
+secret; but we equally acknowledge, with thanks and reverence, the
+shelter these holy walls afford from storms of _all_ kinds."
+
+"From the hour in which, by God's grace, I received the bishop's mitre
+and the holy crosier," resumed the abbot, with the air of a prince of
+the church, but with stooping head, and a kind of studied rhetorical
+tone, "be it said without all vain self-commendation, and to the honour
+of the Most High!--from the time St. Peter and his holy heir set me a
+ruler over these souls, and over this asylum of the pious and
+oppressed, I have striven according to my poor ability in the spirit of
+St. Benedict of Nurcia, and with the pious will of St. Benedict of
+Anianes before mine eyes, to give succour and protection to all
+travellers and pilgrims, and all outlawed and persecuted persons,
+against the wild turbulence of nature, as well as against human
+ferocity and the violence and persecution of an ungodly world. You just
+now interrupted me in a godly discourse, my guests! I spoke of the
+Church's might and authority, which is now so scandalously assaulted by
+the blind children of this world in our ungodly times. I was
+inculcating the duties of our holy order on the children, and for the
+edification of my dependents, on occasion of the crying deeds of
+violence and injustice we daily hear of and see before our eyes. You
+have also surely heard how shamelessly and treacherously the king's men
+have dealt with the outlawed Count Jacob's men in Halland, and what an
+outrageous and arbitrary act the royal vassal, Jonas Fries, hath lately
+perpetrated here, on the boundary of my abbey's consecrated ground and
+territory?"
+
+"What I have heard is almost past belief, pious Father Abbot," answered
+Brock; "but the matter is related very differently by the friends of
+freedom and those of despotism. Rumour hath indeed possibly exaggerated
+the stern vassal's despotic act."
+
+"My fugitive guest, who sits there, can bear testimony to the truth,"
+said the abbot. "The unhappy victim to the lawlessness and barbarity of
+that royal vassal was his good friend and comrade."
+
+"It is as true as that I stand here," began the warrior-like personage
+in the monk's cloak, and rose from his seat. His accent sounded
+half-Norwegian; the combed-down hair slipped aside for an instant from
+his brow, and over his wild fiery eye a pair of bristly meeting
+eye-brows and a large red scar were visible. "Thus are law and justice
+now upheld in Denmark," he continued. "I had come down hither in
+reliance on truce and treaty, but truth and justice are no longer
+recognised, where the friends of freedom are outlawed. My comrade had
+saved my life, and freed me from a degrading captivity; he was, like
+myself, in the service of the Norwegian king. Three days since he was
+taken captive at my side in broad day-light, by Sir Jonas Fries
+himself, and dragged to his castle.--I escaped to the sanctuary of the
+abbey; but when I yesterday, with the pious abbot's men, would have
+liberated my unhappy comrade, we found him hanged, without law or
+sentence, on Jonas Fries's closed castle gate."
+
+"Ha, indeed! the more madly they act the sooner they will have to
+account for it," exclaimed Brock, in a powerful martial tone, and
+striking his large battle sword against the flagged floor. "The master
+who hath such zealous servants may fare badly at last--that deed of
+violence shall prove a firebrand----"
+
+"We meddle not here with worldly matters," interrupted the abbot
+hastily, with an admonitory wink, and a side glance at the attentive
+and startled monks, who all, however, sat silent with humbly drooping
+heads, and appeared to fear, rather than love, their despotic and
+mighty superior. "Worldly matters are to me and my dependents, but
+vehicles for spiritual things," continued the prelate with a devout
+air, "and I only permit any discourse concerning them when it may serve
+us for holy and edifying meditation, according to St. Benedict of
+Anianes' pious will and injunction. I now forbid all further talk on
+such subjects here. Refresh yourselves, my stranger guests! Pray a
+silent prayer, brother bed-maker, and discharge thy duty towards the
+strangers! Pray in silence, and retire to rest, children! Let every
+brother set about his evening work! You must not suppose, my unknown
+guests," he added, "that the conversers and lay brothers you have seen
+here, alone perform the bodily labour which is incumbent on us all--it
+is precisely in order to gain bodily strength for the performance of
+the stern duties of our order that I give, as you see, occasional
+dispensations with respect to the nourishment of the frail body with
+substantial meat."
+
+The brethren of the order and the monkishly clad children now folded
+their hands, and muttered a prayer; they then departed, after they had
+all, with a deep and submissive inclination of the head, kissed the
+abbot's hand, which lay extended for the purpose on the arm of his
+chair, in which he remained sitting, and gazed on his guests with an
+attentive and searching glance. "You are welcome. Sir Niels Brock and
+Sir Johan Papĉ," now commenced the abbot, in a confidential and
+condescending tone, with a side look at Sir Pallé. "This knight I know
+not, but I presume you bring none with you but your most confidential
+friends."
+
+"The high-born Junker Christopher's gentleman of the bed-chamber, Sir
+Pallé, accompanies us to Wordingborg by his lord's command," said
+Brock, hastily, "although we cannot boast of knowing him intimately."
+
+"Ay, indeed! You are welcome also, Sir Pallé," resumed the abbot, in a
+tone of haughty condescension, once more assuming the dignified mien of
+a prelate. "Your master, the junker, is now said deeply to repent his
+sin and cruelty against our most learned and God-fearing archbishop,
+and to feel a longing after peace and reconciliation with the holy
+church? With all his errors, he seems still, however, to be of a more
+tractable and pious mind than his hardened brother, and it may one day,
+perhaps, stand him in good stead, for God resisteth the proud, but
+giveth grace to the humble."
+
+"Yes, my lord junker will now assuredly be converted, pious Sir Abbot,"
+answered Pallé, thrusting a large piece of meat into his mouth, by
+which he was hindered from continuing his speech.
+
+"To judge from the build of Sir Pallé's person, _he_ stands most in
+need of refreshment and rest," said Brock, with significance.
+"According to his assurance, there is now the best understanding
+between the junker and his brother."
+
+"Ay, indeed! hum! well, then! It is good assuredly that brothers should
+be united, provided it be in that which is right," said the prelate,
+and broke off the conversation. Little was now said, and that only on
+indifferent topics. Sir Pallé's gormandising appetite perceptibly
+decreased at the cautious pause in the conversation, and at the
+sight of the fugitive in the monk's cloak, who had remained silently
+sitting at that end of the table which was least lighted up, and who
+kept his scrutinising eyes fixed upon him. As no one either ate or
+drank any more, the abbot folded his hands and muttered a Latin
+prayer; after which he rang a little silver hand-bell, and Pater
+master-of-the-household entered.
+
+"This knight desires instantly to retire to rest," said the abbot,
+pointing to Pallé; "perhaps you will go with him as his contubernalis
+over yonder." As he said this, he winked at Sir Papĉ, and the taciturn
+knight immediately accompanied Sir Pallé and the master of the
+household across the court yard of the monastery to the guesthouse,
+which was situated apart.
+
+As soon as the abbot was alone with Brock and the disguised fugitive,
+he gave them a mysterious nod and arose. He took the lamp in his hand,
+and opened a private door in the refectory which led to a long vaulted
+passage. He went on before, and they followed him in silence through
+the passage, and up a winding stair to the library of the monastery and
+the prelate's private chamber; he opened all the doors himself, and
+locked them carefully behind him. Sir Pallé's indolence and love of
+good cheer seemed to be contending with curiosity and repressed alarm.
+"Whom take you yon sharp-eyed fugitive to be, Sir Papĉ?" he asked his
+silent travelling companion, as soon as the monk had shown them to
+their sleeping apartment and departed.
+
+"I care not who he is," said the knight sullenly, and took off his
+vest.
+
+"It is assuredly one of the outlaws," continued Pallé, anxiously.
+"Truly it is strange to have sat at table, and now to sleep under the
+same roof with such a fellow. It might get wind one day, and waken
+suspicion."
+
+"I will give you good counsel, Sir Pallé," answered the sullen knight.
+"Take your horse out of the stable again, and ride off at full speed,
+despite night and storm! Our company may also seem suspicious to you. A
+man like you, who holds his own peace and safety dearer than aught
+beside, should never devote himself to the service of any master in
+these troublous times. As far as I can judge you are as little fit for
+the junker's as the king's service, and least of all to be your own
+master, like me and other free men."
+
+"The devil! Sir Papĉ! what do you take me for?" said Pallé, bridling up
+and highly affronted; "think ye I am afraid for my skin? I would fain
+see the man who hath oftener risked life and blood in the service of my
+master, than I have, and yet as a free man dare snap my fingers at the
+world's rulers and tyrants. What my master, the junker, is about, he
+must know best himself, and answer for--it concerns not me--_his_ head
+truly is placed too high to be imperilled. When it comes to the push,
+all falls on those beneath; yet when he calls you and Sir Niels his
+friends, and sends you greeting and courteous invitation, as his
+servant, I surely run no risk by companionship with you;--but an
+_outlaw!_ think! perhaps even one of the regicides!--to have sat at
+table with him may cost us all dear."
+
+"You are in a very unpleasant position, Sir Pallé." said the haughty
+partizan, with a contemptuous smile. "With the king, you stand not
+well, they say; and though you have already settled yourself
+comfortably in the junker's service, it may end badly enough, after
+all. If he gets but a hint how you keep the seal of his private
+letters----"
+
+"It is a shameful falsehood, I deny it positively," answered Pallé,
+glowing crimson. "But for the Lord's and our dear lady's sake,
+excellent Sir Papĉ! bring me not into trouble by such talk, and beseech
+Sir Niels also to be silent about it. I am in truth innocent as an
+unborn babe. I know not in the least what either you or the junker have
+in hand, and there was not a word about it in the letter; that is what
+you say yourself; for what know _I_ of it?" he added hastily. "But
+whatever it may be," he continued, "I pray you only to consider that,
+after all, the king is a mighty man, and not to be jested with when he
+is wroth. Even my own master, the high-born junker, I would in all
+confidence here between us two, counsel ye to deal somewhat cautiously
+with. Too much confidence in the great answers not, either;--in our
+times one should in troth know how to obey the commands of one's
+master, and nevertheless use one's own understanding,--do you see? To
+speak plainly. Sir Papĉ! since the commandant at Kallundborg was forced
+to lose his head, I have often had uneasy dreams."
+
+"Now good night, my dear Pallé!" said the knight, clapping him
+compassionately on the shoulder. "I would not for a great deal be in
+your place. It must be grievous for an honest knight adventurer like
+you, who so faithfully strives to serve the great, not to be able to
+fathom his master's mind, any more than his own stomach." The knight
+then strode into his sleeping apartment and shut the door after him
+with a scornful laugh.
+
+"Another awkward scrape!" muttered Sir Pallé, striking his forehead. He
+threw himself into a chair and yawned. It seemed as though his body and
+soul were at war. He appeared to feel a desire to sleep, but could not
+rest. He threw himself once or twice on the couch, but soon rose again,
+panting and puffing with uneasiness. All was now quiet at the
+monastery; nothing was to be heard but the howling of the storm through
+the chimney and around the high gable ends of the roof. After some
+deliberation, Pallé wrapped himself in his mantle, and stole softly out
+of the door. He found the anti-chamber of the guest-house open, and
+slipped out into the court-yard of the monastery. He looked around him
+on all sides. It was dark and gloomy; there was not a light to be seen
+in any of the twelve cells; but, from the second story of the principal
+building a solitary lamp shone through the creaking boughs of the lime
+trees. The light came from an apartment which Pater, head-cook, had
+pointed out to him as the abbot's private chamber. Before it stood a
+remarkably tall, thick, lime tree, which was not yet in leaf. Sir Pallé
+stole forward under the tree, and endeavoured to climb up its trunk;
+the build of his figure rendered this very difficult for him to do; but
+he succeeded at last by dint of much exertion, in getting so high up in
+the tree, that at some distance he could peep in through the small
+lit-up window panes. He beheld the abbot and Sir Niels Brock very
+singularly occupied. A tall warlike form stood before them in ancient
+knightly armour. The abbot was in full costume; he placed a helmet
+(over which he appeared to be pronouncing a benedicité) upon the
+warrior's head. Brock seemed to be rubbing the eye-brows and beard of
+the armour-clad personage with an ointment. Pallé listened in vain, the
+storm prevented his hearing a single word of what was said; but he now
+saw that the abbot opened a cupboard, and produced a black book with
+silver clasps, which looked to him like a Testament. Sir Niels Brock,
+as well as the steel-clad warrior, laid their hands on the book and
+knelt. They remained in this position while the abbot fetched a silver
+chalice from the cupboard, and went through the same ceremonies as on
+the performance of low mass. He took a silver wine-flagon, filled the
+chalice, signed a benediction over it, and drank himself. He then
+opened a silver box, signed a cross, and a blessing likewise over it,
+and seemed to administer the sacrament to each of the kneeling knights.
+
+"Gracious Heaven! He is surely giving them the sacrament!" whispered
+Pallé to himself, "what can all this mean?"
+
+The abbot now stepped back, and appeared to be speaking with great
+emphasis and energetic enthusiasm. At last the knights arose and kissed
+the bishop's hand, and the dismayed spy recognised the powerful tones
+of Niels Brock, who clapped the steel clad warrior on the shoulder and
+said, in a loud tone, "Now, then! in the name of all the saints, have
+you courage, Kaggé! The devil himself could not know ye now, or injure
+a hair of your consecrated head."
+
+On hearing the name of Kaggé, Sir Pallé became so alarmed, that he lost
+his balance. The branch broke on which he had placed his foot, and he
+was forced to let himself slide down the trunk of the lime-tree without
+being able to save the skin of his hands or his rich attire, in which
+great rents were torn. He fell with violence to the ground, and stunned
+by fear and pain, stole back again in this pitiable plight to his
+chamber.
+
+Abbot Johan did not appear to his guests on the following morning, and
+when Brock and Papĉ, during mattins, rode forth from the monastery with
+the worn-out and hapless Sir Pallé, the party had received an addition
+in the person of a stranger, mounted on a large well-fed horse from the
+abbot's stable, and clad in an old-fashioned suit of armour. His hair
+and brow were hidden by an ample helmet, fastened under the chin with a
+silver clasp. His meeting eye-brows and broad beard were shining, and
+coal-black; over his coat of mail he wore a large silver chain, in
+token of a knight's sacred vow. Sir Pallé hardly dared to turn his eyes
+on him. It was, indeed, impossible for him to recognize in this figure
+the fugitive guest at the monastery; but he was nevertheless convinced
+it was he, whom he now knew to be the outlawed regicide, Kaggé himself.
+Pallé looked as though he already felt the rope round his neck, at the
+thought of the dangerous company into which he was thrown. This new and
+mysterious travelling companion rode in silence between his two
+powerful friends. His glance was wild and restless; at first setting
+out he often looked behind on all sides, as if he feared to be
+recognised and pursued; but he soon, however, nodded confidentially to
+his companions, and presently fell into a deep reverie. His dark
+imaginings were occasionally interrupted by a wild and half-smothered
+laugh.
+
+"I have met with a good friend and kinsman here in the monastery," said
+Brock, in a careless tone, to Pallé. "He is a merry fellow, as you
+doubtless perceive; and laughs at his own thoughts when there is a lack
+of mirth and wit in his companions. He hath a true love at Wordingborg
+whom he would surprise; but therefore he would rather be unknown, and
+you can surely be silent where one ill-timed word might prove dangerous
+to yourself."
+
+"Yes, doubtless," answered Pallé, "silence is a virtue necessity
+teaches every wise man in our times; and here it is easy for me to be
+silent, since I know not even the name of your honourable friend and
+kinsman."
+
+"That I will confide to you: he is called Johan Limbek, but gives
+himself out to be Ako Krummedigé, or Blackbeard, going on a pilgrimage
+to the holy land," continued Brock in a lowered tone; "but keep this to
+yourself. My kinsman is not to be jested with, do you see, and if you
+disturb his love adventure by unseasonable talk you must be prepared to
+break a sharp lance with him. He fights better than the devil himself.
+I would only just mention to you,--he hath broken the neck of many a
+doughty knight, ere this, in love adventures."
+
+"He will scarcely find a rival in me," answered Pallé, "although I am
+reputed to stand high in the favour of the fair."
+
+"Assuredly," replied Sir Niels, and laughed. "Who knows not that rare
+ballad of Sir Pallé's wooing fair Gundelillé's driver lad?"
+
+"Would that all dainty maidens and wooing were at the devil!" returned
+Pallé, angrily. "That dainty maiden will never more make a fool of any
+honest man, as surely as Marsk Stig's vagabond brood are caged for life
+at Wordingborg."
+
+At these words the steel-clad traveller became attentive, and measured
+Sir Pallé with a scornful and angry look.
+
+"See you," whispered Sir Niels, "my enamoured friend cannot even hear
+maidens and rivals spoken of without the blood instantly boiling within
+him. Beware, as I said before, Sir Pallé, that you do not meddle with
+his concerns." So saying, he turned, with a contemptuous look, from the
+perplexed gentleman of the bedchamber, and joined his two other
+companions, who seemed as little in a communicative mood as himself.
+Absorbed in gloomy reverie, and almost without another word being
+spoken, the travellers pursued the journey to Wordingborg.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAP. VIII.
+
+
+When the two powerful and well-known knights, Niels Brock and Johan
+Papĉ, with their outlawed friend between them, and the anxious Sir
+Pallé at their side, rode with their train through the gates of
+Wordingborg, there was so much bustle among the gathering crowd in the
+town that they were scarcely noticed. The king had arrived with his
+brother the junker and his numerous train of knights--Drost Aagé, Marsk
+Oluffsen, Count Henrik of Mecklenborg, and nearly all his most
+important councillors were with him. The castle was filled with
+princely guests and their splendid trains. Duke Valdemar of Slesvig,
+and his brother the gigantic Duke Eric of Langeland, had just made
+their entry into the castle, and there was much talk among the populace
+of the long legs of Duke Eric, of which none had ever seen the like.
+
+"'Tis a devil of a fellow, yon long-shanks," said the sentinel at the
+castle gate to his comrade. "'Twas surely he who slew Drost Skelm in
+Nyborg just under the king's nose."
+
+"No, comrade, he slew him in his bed; I know that better," answered the
+other man-at-arms. "I was myself among the king's spear-men at the
+Danish court: it will be just four years come next Lady-day; the heat
+was great, and they drank hard at court--the long-legged lord is fierce
+when he is hot in the head or drunk; and at that time, sure enough, he
+sided with the outlaws. Had the king been present, long-shanks would
+scarcely have ventured on so rough a jest--he was forced to flee from
+Nyborg the same night, and for three years he durst not show his face
+before the king. For all that he is a very able fellow," continued the
+man-at-arms; "and since he got a dressing at Grónsund he hath learned
+to take off his hat to our king. However fierce and mad he may be, he
+is nevertheless a hundred times honester than his wizened brother, the
+yellow scarecrow from Slesvig."
+
+The talk now turned upon this generally unpopular prince. It was known
+that the ambitious and wily Duke Valdemar had aspired to the Danish
+crown, and been suspected of a secret understanding with Marsk Stig and
+the outlaws. Since the great sea-fight at Grónsund, his proud spirit
+had drooped, however; his last conspiracy and contumacy against his
+liege sovereign resembled the flaring up of a burnt-out and exhausted
+volcano. The duke's sallow, withered visage and long nose were the
+subjects of the coarse jests and biting comments of the populace,
+although his well-known acuteness, and sagacious state-policy still
+appeared to be dreaded.
+
+The king's step-father. Count Gerhard of Holstein, or the one-eyed
+count, as he was called by the people, was, on the contrary, much
+lauded. Since his marriage with Queen Agnes he often sojourned at the
+castle of Nykiöping. He had on this day arrived from Falster, to act as
+counsellor and mediator in the treaty with the Dukes. Much reliance was
+placed on his uprightness and wisdom, and his frank and joyous
+deportment gained him general favour.
+
+Every hour brought new arrivals to the town and castle, and among them
+were seen many venerable prelates and bishops known to be devoted to
+the king. Among others, the Bishops of Aarhuus and Ribé, and the
+provincial Prior of the Dominicans, the venerable Master Olaus, who
+stood at the head of the Danish clergy's appeal to the pope against the
+enforcement of the interdict according to the constitution of Veilé.
+This estimable and truly patriotic prelate, with his mild, calm, aged
+face, and snowy ring of hair around his tonsure, was almost worshipped
+by the people, and wherever he appeared it was whispered that it was he
+who would deliver the country from ban and interdict.
+
+Every traveller who announced himself to the Marsk as the king's
+vassal, or belonging to Danish knighthood, was instantly assigned a
+place in the large upper story of the castle appropriated to the use of
+the knights. The spacious apartments in this side wing were, however,
+nearly all occupied, when Sir Niels Brock and Sir Johan Papĉ announced
+themselves to the Marsk, with their unknown friend, whom they gave out
+to be Sir Ako Blackbeard of the renowned race of Krummedigé. He had
+returned home from a pilgrimage, it was said, and had vowed silence at
+the holy grave, and bound himself not to lay aside the armour of his
+ancestor until the knight's vow was fulfilled which he had there made
+to the Lord. Such vows were then not uncommon. They met with ready
+approbation, and carried with them a claim to special honour, and a
+species of religious reverence. As the king's vassals, and Danish
+knights of some consideration, the three travellers likewise were now
+admitted at the castle. Sir Pallé had separated from them as soon as
+possible, and announced their arrival to his master the junker,
+without, however, mentioning the suspicious guest they had brought with
+them. Disquieted by this secret, he went from one party to another,
+feeling, as it were, that he carried his life in his hand. He was seen,
+now among the king's, now among the junker's friends, where, with
+assumed eagerness, he adopted the prevailing tone of the company he was
+in. He presently, however, rejoined Brock and other haughty and
+independent knights, who spake freely and boldly both against the king
+and the junker, and whom he desired not to offend, nor to be despised
+by, for servile or timid conduct. He thus thought to secure his safety
+under all circumstances; but he considered no party as perfectly safe,
+and could not determine in what manner he might best avail himself of
+the important discovery he had made while in the great lime-tree in the
+court of the forest monastery.
+
+Notwithstanding the stir which was necessarily caused by the presence
+of so many strangers in the castle and the town, a remarkable stillness
+prevailed, and a stern seriousness pervaded the assemblage at the
+castle. There were no public amusements. The king only appeared at
+mattins and mass, and at table, noon and evening, in the great upper
+hall, where were placed two long dining-tables--one for the king and
+his princely guests, as well as for the prelates and chief men of the
+state, and another for the Danish knights in general, and the guests
+who had joined them. Among them sat the mysterious personage from the
+forest monastery, between Sir Niels Brock and Sir Johan Papĉ. According
+to his knight's vow, the pretended Sir Ako kept on his helmet as well
+as the old-fashioned armour, and his silence and solemn deportment were
+regarded with respect. At the same table sat the knights and courtiers
+of the duke's train, with the German professors of minstrelsy and other
+learned and foreign visitors. When the noontide repast was over, the
+company dispersed. Some remained in the spacious apartments of the
+castle, where they amused themselves with chess and backgammon, or
+listened to the German minstrels' lays and tales of chivalry;
+others went to the tennis-court, or the riding-house, and the
+great tilting-yard, where they whiled away the time with tennis,
+horse-racing, and martial exercises; some parties went a hawking in the
+chase, or rode through the town in order to show themselves in all
+their splendour to the ladies of the place. Many were interested in
+surveying the royal fleet which lay in the harbour, while others took
+the opportunity of bargaining with the Hanseatic merchants and
+skippers, or of making purchases of the famous Wordingborg cloth,
+which, next to that of Ypres and Ghent, was in especial demand, and
+bore as high a price as that of Bruges. In the evening the sound of
+lutes and love ditties was heard, as well in the castle as in the town,
+where the youthful knights were in search of acquaintance and love
+adventures.
+
+The important negociations with the dukes appeared for the first few
+days, entirely to occupy the king and his council. Through the
+mediation of Count Gerhard, a peace was soon concluded, and on the most
+honourable terms for the king. A herald then summoned the knights and
+guests together in the great knights' hall of the castle. Here the king
+was seated on a raised throne, between his brother the junker and Count
+Gerhard, surrounded by the dukes and all his vassals, as well as the
+state council, and the prelates present at the castle. The Drost read
+aloud the ratified treaty of peace, in which Duke Valdemar pledged
+himself that no injustice should be done to the king's peasants in the
+dukedom, and also scrupulously to perform his duties of vassalage to
+the Danish crown. On these terms the king consented to pardon him and
+his brother as well as every one who had sided with the duke in this
+feud, with the stern exception, however, that henceforth every knight
+and squire who had been proved to have taken part in his father's
+murder should be doomed to death wherever they should be found.
+
+While this article of the treaty was read, the king looked around the
+assemblage with a severe and what seemed to many, a threatening glance.
+There were not a few present of the acknowledged friends and kinsmen of
+the outlaws, and in the train of the Duke of Slesvig were several
+persons unknown both to the Marsk and the Drost, who had excited
+suspicion by their mysterious and unruly deportment. This strict clause
+in the treaty appeared greatly to disappoint the expectations of the
+Duke's friends, and their confidence in this politic prince. He himself
+sat with downcast eyes, and vainly strove to assume an air of calm
+indifference.
+
+The Drost finished the reading of the treaty, which excited great
+attention, and awakened interest of very different kinds, without a
+single sound being heard in the numerous and anxious assembly. The
+concluding article however seemed in some degree to soften the stern
+victor-like tone, which characterised the treaty. By a just recognition
+of the rights of his brave opponent, the king had invested Duke Eric of
+Langeland with the fiefs of Oe and of Alt, which he was entitled to
+demand in right of his consort Sophia's inheritance. This article
+terminated the essential part of the treaty, and the assemblage broke
+up.
+
+Count Gerhard still purposed remaining some days longer, and the Duke
+of Langeland, who was especially pleased with the king's uprightness,
+and with the whole treaty, also remained; but his brother the Duke of
+Slesvig immediately quitted the castle with his whole retinue. He left
+Wordingborg with his hat slouched low over his eyes, apparently
+depressed and humbled to a degree which he had never before manifested.
+He was escorted part of the way by Junker Christopher, who on this
+occasion seemed desirous to surpass the king in generous sympathy and
+attentions towards this fallen aspirant to the throne of Denmark, who
+owed his downfall to his own rancorous animosity and deluded ambition.
+Sir Niels Brock and Sir John Papĉ, who appeared to seize every
+opportunity of approaching the junker without exciting remark, had
+joined his train.
+
+It was not until late in the evening that Prince Christopher returned.
+He had sent Papĉ with the rest of his train on before, and arrived a
+whole hour later in the town, accompanied by Brock. They rode slowly
+along the dusky road, and conversed in a low tone, and at intervals,
+together. They found the town lighted up with flambeaux and torches, on
+occasion of the ratification of the treaty. Songs and merry lutes
+resounded from several houses. At the castle, the knight's hall was
+illuminated; music and song was also to be heard there. Workmen were
+busied at the lists by the light of lanterns; and carpenters were
+employed in erecting railings and a high stand for the next day's
+tournament, in which the king himself intended taking a part.
+
+"Ay! he will never tire of this child's play," muttered Junker
+Christopher, after he had rode past the lists and had seen these
+preparations; "he squanders more on such nonsense in a year, than both
+Samsóe and Kallundborg bring me in; he ruins the country with it, and
+will at last break his own neck in this foolery."
+
+"His courtiers are too polite and obsequious for that," answered
+Brock--"there is assuredly not one among his strutting halberdiers, or
+knights of the round table, who would not willingly let himself be
+pushed out of his saddle ten times a day, to please his chivalrous
+master. Credit me, they have regularly exercised themselves in the art
+of kicking up their heels in the air, as soon as he touches them with
+his lance.
+
+"They would be badly paid for such courtesy, did they venture on it,"
+answered the junker. "After the most trifling tilt, a strict knights'
+council is held; and he pays almost more attention to those mock
+fights, regulated by all the foreign laws and rules of honour, than to
+the manners and morals of his subjects."
+
+"Doth he also mix with stranger-knights and masters of arms on such
+occasions?" asked Brock. It is the first time of my attending this kind
+of entertainment.
+
+"Oh yes!" muttered the junker, "when his vanity may be flattered, he
+despises no laurels. Hitherto he hath really passed for an invincible
+king Arthur."
+
+"Perhaps he may meet with his overmatch, nevertheless," said Brock in a
+lowered tone, and looking cautiously around him. "I never fight for
+sport myself; but give heed to-morrow, high-born junker--Know you the
+ancient tradition of the puling enamoured demi-god Baldur, and the bold
+Hother?"[4]
+
+"How mean ye?" asked the junker, stalling.----
+
+"I have a good friend,--I know of a foreign knight I would say--a
+master of his weapon, who in such courteous game might have a mind to
+play Hother."
+
+"Ay! indeed!" muttered Christopher, looking uneasily around,--"you
+should caution your friend, though, against playing so dangerous a
+game; you should least of all speak to me, Sir Brock, of such friends
+and their wishes. What I have confided to you, in no wise warrants such
+presumptuous confidence. Whatever there may be between me and a certain
+mighty personage, matters will hardly be pushed so far as you and your
+bold friends think."
+
+"Be pleased to understand me aright, high-born junker," interrupted Sir
+Niels hastily. "I speak but of a sport; I know they amuse themselves
+here at times with mumming, and such diversions."
+
+"They may amuse themselves as they please, for aught I care," muttered
+the junker, gloomily; "but I will be out of the game. Half one's life
+is but a sorry piece of mumming, whether we play friend or foe. It will
+be seen who hath best enacted his part, when the childs' play here is
+ended, and people think in earnest again in Denmark. He then spurred
+his horse, and rode into the court of the castle.
+
+"After the junker and Brock had dismounted from their horses in the
+castle-yard, and as they were passing the maidens' tower, they heard
+the sound of a lute, and saw a knightly figure hastily conceal himself
+behind the pillars of the tower."
+
+"Hath every one gone mad? Serenades here in the country, and that even
+ere the nightingale hath come!" muttered the junker with a scornful
+laugh, and wrapping himself in his mantle to keep out the cold wind.
+"Hum! as is the master so are his servants--are we not far advanced
+here in courtesy, and gentle customs Sir Niels! Know ye ought of such
+gallantry in Jutland? All will now go on in as chivalrous a fashion as
+in Spain and Italy. That we may thank these vagabond minstrels for,
+with their ballads and their books of adventures, which my chivalrous
+brother even takes with him in his pocket, on his campaigns. In the
+knights' hall there, they are now talking, no doubt, of the beautiful
+Florez and Blantzeflor, and of the virtuous Tristan and King Arthur.
+All that is indispensable if one would pass for a courteous and courtly
+knight;--and without, here, wanders a fool to sing serenades in the
+moonlight, to the owls of Wordingborg tower."
+
+"If that was a prison we passed. Sir Junker," observed his companion,
+"it might be easily explained without such players' tricks."
+
+"Well possibly," said the junker nodding. "It was here the Drost took
+the liberty of caging Marsk Stig's raven brood instead of at
+Kallundborg. Even the pretty vagabond ladies we shall find have their
+adorers." The junker then ascended the stairs of the balcony.
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAP. IX.
+
+
+In the castle-yard, before the knights' hall, stood a crowd of curious
+grooms and kitchen maids, to hear the singing, and gaze at the king and
+the stranger-guests. Amid this gossiping and jesting throng, wandered a
+fat, silent personage, closely muffled in a cloak. The maidens crowded
+together, and giggled whenever he came near them, and the one joked the
+other about him as a well-known wooer of the whole fair sex. It was the
+generally self-satisfied and obsequious Sir Pallé, who now however
+looked most solemn and thoughtful. He had here for some time listened
+to the jests of the maidens and their talkative admiration of the
+king's handsome presence and his splendour, and of all the pomp they
+beheld. This seemed however but little to amuse him to-night; he yawned
+with a sigh, and went with undecided steps towards the maidens' tower;
+he now heard the sound of a lute in that part of the square, where fell
+a partial shadow, and the cold wind whistled in eddies around the
+pillars of the tower. He paused, and listened attentively; the sounds
+continued, and he thought he discerned a dark form standing under the
+tower window. He drew nearer with curiosity, and distinctly beheld a
+man with a knight's helmet, around whose person fluttered an ample
+mantle; while he gazed up at the grated window, and occasionally struck
+the cords of a lute with wild earnestness. Pallé leaned back in alarm
+against the wall, and thought he had recognised the mysterious guest of
+the forest monastery. The cold perspiration broke out on his forehead;
+but his curiosity overcame his fright, and he remained standing. He
+heard a whisper, which was answered from above, and a deep but low
+voice, now sung beneath:
+
+
+           "Oh list then, Agneté, thus sue I to thee![5]
+            Wilt thou be moved my true love to be?
+              Ho! ho! ho!
+            Wilt thou be moved my true love to be,
+            To morrow they lead here the dance so free?"
+
+
+The deep voice ceased; the little window rattled behind the grating,
+and a sweet female voice sang from above--
+
+
+           "Oh yes, by my troth, that will I indeed,
+            O'er the sea so blue if thou'lt bear me with speed--
+              Ha! ha! ha!
+            O'er the sea so blue if thou'lt bear me with speed,
+            But not to its depths will I dive with thee,
+            Then to-morrow we'll lead the dance so free."
+
+
+"Ha! Gundelille's voice, Ulrica Stig!" muttered Pallé; "ay, indeed, a
+love adventure then! and yonder outlawed hound on _my_ preserve. This
+shall soon be put a stop to!" In his jealous eagerness he plucked up
+courage, and first stole a good way back from the tower; he then went
+briskly forward again, and growled forth a song, while he tramped hard,
+letting his long sword clatter after him on the stone pavement; but he
+had hardly swaggered ten paces from the tower ere the disguised figure
+rushed past him like lightning and threw him on the ground; he felt at
+the same time a stab in his right side. "Murder! help!" gasped Pallé,
+in a low voice. He dared not cry aloud and give the alarm lest the
+terrible fugitive should return and despatch him at once. "Alas! poor
+unoffending fellow I that am!" he moaned, "when I carry my head highest
+I even get run through the body. Those accursed women! they are only
+created to be my ruin--" He hasted to get upon his legs, and ran as hard
+as he could over the dusky part of the court-yard to his chamber in the
+knights' story, where in all secresy he had his wound examined and
+bound up. His ample mantle had parried the thrust, and the wound seemed
+trifling; but it pained him exceedingly, and the fright had so
+overpowered him that he was compelled to retire to his couch. To the
+many inquisitive questions put to him as to who it was that had wounded
+him, he dared not answer a word; and the more he thought of his
+mysterious rival the more alarmed he became. "The Drost!--send for the
+Drost!" he at last exclaimed in a low tone. "It is a state secret; no
+other may know it." Nobody attended much to this expression, which was
+regarded merely as one of his customary boasts of a knowledge of state
+affairs and secrets which it was known would never be entrusted to him.
+At last, however, his attendants were forced to humour him, and sent a
+messenger to summon the Drost.
+
+Meanwhile the Lady Ulrica stood alone, and listened at the little
+grated window in in the maidens' tower. On a work-table in the chamber
+stood a lamp, and a handsome fisher-maiden's costume, trimmed with
+pearls and silk ribbon, lay upon it. A sweet female voice was heard
+singing in the adjoining apartment; here sat her sister, the meek
+Margaretha, before the lamp, occupied in embroidering a large piece of
+tapestry for an altar-cloth. The edge or border consisted of skilfully
+worked foliage, with figures and scenes taken from life. There sprang
+hart and hind--here danced ladies and knights in miniature; but within
+the border hung the Saviour on the cross, and the Virgin Mary stood
+with St. John and St. Magdalen at the foot of the cross as Mater
+Dolorosa, represented as usual with a sword through the bosom. In the
+foreground knelt a knight in black armour, with his consort and two
+little maidens in mourning attire. In these figures she had pourtrayed
+her father, the mighty Marsk Stig, and her proud and unhappy mother
+Ingeborg, together with herself and her sister, as children. While
+Margaretha sat diligently occupied in this employment, and sang the
+ballad of Hagbarth and Signé, she noticed not what her capricious
+sister was about.[6]
+
+The distant sound of the festive din at the castle occasionally reached
+the lonely prison of the captive maidens; when this happened, Ulrica
+always became impatient, and wept at the thought of her exclusion from
+these festivities, and Margaretha found it a hard task to comfort her.
+Each time the sprightly little Karen came to supply their wants, Ulrica
+eagerly and inquisitively questioned her of all that passed, and the
+maiden was forced to give a description of all the stranger guests and
+knights. It was only when Margaretha heard Drost Aagé's name, and
+Karen's account of what she knew of his dangerous adventure at
+Kallundborg, that she forgot her work, her hands dropped into her lap,
+and she listened with attentive interest. What their attendant related
+of the king, of his condescension towards the lowest, and his just
+strictness towards the great and mighty, she also heard with a species
+of interest, although not without a melancholy and sometimes bitter
+smile when she thought of her own fate; but when Ulrica would be
+informed of the looks of each of the stranger knights, of the colour of
+their hair, beard, and clothes--how they sat at table, and with what
+they were served, Margaretha was near losing patience; she therefore
+was very glad when Ulrica, as now, took a fancy to shut herself up in
+the little tiring chamber, there to busy herself with her gay apparel,
+and gossip with their attendant Karen. Since the maiden had on the
+morning of this day mentioned the tournament which was in preparation,
+and the dance and masque which it was hoped would take place the next
+evening, Ulrica had become joyous again. When she was not whispering
+and gossiping with Karen, she sang quite gaily in the little tiring
+chamber to which she had taken a special fancy.
+
+Ulrica had shut herself up this evening in her favourite retreat. She
+was again busied with her gay attire, and was humming a merry ballad
+about Carl of Risé and Lady Rigmor; but she now heard her sister's
+sweet melancholy song as she sat at her pious occupation, and the tears
+suddenly started to the eyes of the easily excited Ulrica; she rose in
+haste, as if scared by her own thoughts, and threw her decorations on
+the floor. She opened the door, and flew to embrace her meek sister
+with eager emotion.
+
+"What is this, Ulrica? What ails thee, dearest sister?" asked
+Margaretha, with sympathising uneasiness, as she returned her ardent
+demonstrations of affection.
+
+"Ah! I grew all on a sudden so anxious and sad," said Ulrica. "Thy song
+was so sweet and sorrowful, just like a lonely forsaken bird's in its
+cage, and I thought how it would be if thou wert left _quite_ alone in
+this horrid tower, with no one whatever to care for thee and comfort
+thee as thou hast comforted me and spoken kindly to me every day."
+
+"Thou art still with me, dear Ulrica, and truly I sit here with a
+cheerful heart at my precious tapestry. When the Lord wills it our
+prison doors will assuredly open for us, and ere that time we need not
+expect it. We will, however, never sorrow as those who have no hope."
+
+"That is true indeed," said Ulrica, half offended, and wiping her eyes.
+"When thou canst but embroider and tell thy rosary, and the adventures
+of courteous knights, or sing the Drost's ballads, thou carest but
+little for the whole fair world without; but _I_ can endure this life
+no longer: when I hear the sea dashing below at night I often wish that
+a merman would come and carry me off like Agneté. I would almost rather
+be at the bottom of the sea than in this wearisome prison-hole."
+
+"Never make such foolish and ungodly wishes, dear sister," answered
+Margaretha, half alarmed, and involuntarily crossing herself. "It is
+better, however, to be in prison and innocent than at liberty and
+guilty, rememberest thou not what stands in holy writ about St. Peter
+in prison, and what he said?"
+
+"I know all that well enough," interrupted Ulrica, pettishly; "but,
+nevertheless, there came an angel and took him out."
+
+"If the Lord and our Lady will it so, such an angel might be sent to us
+also," continued Margaretha. "It needs but an angel's thought in a
+kindly soul. I, too, should rejoice to see God's fair world again, when
+that might be with honour and without sin--but thou wert speaking of
+mermen[7] and evil spirits, and I heard before how wildly thou sang'st;
+it sounded to me like Agneté's answer to the merman--as though thou
+wert an unhappy deluded maiden like her. Ah, sweet sister! I know too
+well who thou art thinking of; but beware of him! he is assuredly just
+as false as the ocean foam, and as the hapless Agneté's bridegroom."
+
+"I require not he should be one hair better," answered Ulrica, eagerly.
+"Truly it was that foolish fickle Agneté, and not her bridegroom, who
+was false and faithless. She broke her vow, and left her wedded husband
+and her little children, and would not return to them, however much he
+besought her--such goodness and piety _I_ cannot understand; no, truly,
+_he_ was far more good and honourable! I ever pitied him, poor wretch!
+So _very_ frightful, either, he could not have been," she continued;
+"he had fair hair and sparkling eyes like Sir Kaggé. Just listen!" and
+she sang--
+
+
+      "His hair was as the pure gold bright,
+      His eyes they sparkled with joyous light."
+
+
+"But it surely was no good sign," observed Margaretha, "when he entered
+into the church, and all the holy images turned to the wall. Alas,
+dearest sister, I could never look at Sir Kaggé's small sparkling
+snake-like eye, but it seemed as though all pious and godly images fled
+from my soul."
+
+"Ah, thou art so unreasonable," exclaimed Ulrica impetuously; "so
+terribly unreasonable, that it is impossible longer to bear with thee.
+I shall run from thee as soon as I can,--that I tell thee beforehand;
+but then," she added half sadly--"ah, then thou must not weep and mourn
+for me, Margaretha! Wilt thou promise me that? or--wilt thou come too?"
+
+"What art thou thinking of, poor dear child! art thou ever dreaming of
+flight, and yet canst not find in thy heart to leave me? Make up thy
+mind to be patient, sweet Ulrica! After all, we _cannot_ escape, and I
+_would not_ if we could. With all his severity, the king is still good
+and just, every one here says so; he will surely one day come to know
+we are innocent, and will let us wander free out of his kingdom; that
+is the utmost we can hope for, after what hath happened; and this hope
+I do not give up."
+
+"The king!" resumed Ulrica with vehemence, and with a proud toss of the
+head; "truly the king is a revengeful, an obstinate, and unjust tyrant.
+I would tell him so to his face, even were I certain he were my real
+brother, as people say; but he should beware," she continued, with a
+look of defiance, "it is neither chivalrous nor kingly, to keep ladies
+and noble knights' daughters, perhaps even a king's daughter, in
+prison. I know however of _one_ knight in the world who hath courage to
+avenge us, and free me from this degradation."
+
+"You terrify me, dear bewildered child! Art thou dreaming again of that
+fearful greatness, and thinking of ungodly revenge! This comes not of
+thyself--That dreadful Kaggé can surely never be here again?"
+
+"If he _were_ here, should I tell it to thee, that thou in thy
+conscientiousness might betray it to the zealous Sir Drost, and that I
+might see my only friend on the wheel to-morrow?--thus far extends not
+our sisterhood. A little while ago, I cared for thee, with my whole
+heart," she continued, in a voice of lamentation, "but _now_ I cannot
+abide thee; thou dost hate and despise the only human being that cares
+for me, and thou mightest almost make me fear him did I not know him
+better--this is not good of thee, Margaretha." She burst into a flood
+of tears, held both her hands before her eyes, and pushed away her
+sorrowing and sympathising sister, with her pretty elbows.
+
+"Weep not, be not naughty and wroth, dearest Ulrica," entreated
+Margaretha. "I hate no living soul in the world. Perhaps even Kaggé may
+be better than I think; but if he is here and thou canst send a message
+to him, then for heaven's sake, beseech him to fly, and not plot more
+mischief."
+
+"No, no!" said Ulrica, impatiently, and stamping with her little feet,
+without, however, taking her hands from her eyes. "Who says he is here?
+Would he _were_ here, and was going to help me hence! If I were once
+gone, thou wouldst miss me though, Margaretha! Then thou wouldst rue
+having made me so naughty and wroth and untoward to-night. Now thou
+mayst sit down at thine ease, and think how thou wilt be able to make
+me good again--I am going to my couch without even kissing thee, and
+bidding thee good night," so saying, she ran to her couch, sprang into
+it with her clothes and shoes on, and drew up the down quilt quite over
+her head.
+
+Margaretha seated herself on the side of the couch, and spoke gently
+and soothingly to her. She would have taken the thick down quilt from
+her face, but the little self-willed maiden held it fast with both
+hands, and appeared to be strongly convulsed under it. Margaretha
+became alarmed and feared she was ill; at last she was nearly weeping
+herself; but Ulrica presently set up a loud laugh, and sprang from
+under the quilt. "Look! now! am good again!" she said, playfully, and
+hopped a graceful dancing step. "Come now, Margaretha, and thou shalt
+see all my finery; for I will be present at the gay dance to-morrow,
+that I tell thee; and if thou dost not let me slip out of the door with
+little Karen, I jump out of the window and break my neck,--then thou
+wilt be quit of me. Come and thou shalt see all my fine things!" so
+saying, she threw her arms round her grave sister's neck, kissed her
+and skipped with her into the little tiring chamber.
+
+
+
+
+                                CHAP. X.
+
+
+Some of the company in the knights' hall were entertaining themselves
+with singing and lutes, but Junker Christopher had sat down to a grave
+game at chess with the Duke of Langeland. Sir Niels Brock, Sir Johan
+Papĉ and their silent friend with the helmet, tried their fortune at
+dice and backgammon. Count Gerhard listened with the king, the Marsk,
+and the young knights, to the adventures and songs of the German
+minstrels. These foreign masters of song sought especially to entertain
+the king and his guests with lays composed in honour of all crowned
+heads, whom they lauded as their munificent patrons and protectors. At
+last they addressed themselves immediately to the king in a strain of
+somewhat exaggerated panegyric, particularly on his learning, and in
+the same metre and high-flown phrase in which the Minnesingers formerly
+sang the praises of their loves. Count Gerhard smiled, and the king at
+last became impatient. "No! this goes too far!" he exclaimed; "would
+you make me believe, Master Rumelant, that you are enamoured of me as
+though I were a fair maiden? No more of this! Sing to us, rather of the
+brave Nibélungen, and the hero Siégfred."
+
+"As you command! most mighty prince! My generous and noble patron!"
+answered Master Rumelant, with a bow; but he had been thrown into such
+confusion by the king's displeasure at his flatteries, that he could
+recollect nothing perfectly, but jumbled different songs together.
+"Stop! let _me_!" interrupted Master Poppé, with his warrior-like
+voice, and he now began the bold and spirited German epic poem of the
+brave Nibélungen, in tones which rang through the hall. The lay gained
+great applause, but it was a long epic, which became wearisome by the
+monotony of the melody or recitative. When Poppé paused only for a
+moment to take breath, or recollect, Master Rumelant instantly took up
+the lay, and as soon as he made any mistake, or faultered, Master Poppé
+recommenced with renovated powers; and thus it seemed as though the
+poem would never be ended.
+
+The king was, however, an attentive listener, and laughed once or twice
+right heartily at the naïve and vivid descriptions; but at last he grew
+tired, and cleared his throat several times. "Excellent! excellent!
+good sirs; thanks!" he said, interrupting the unwearied singers. "That
+is enough for one time. There is marrow and bone in your heroic lays,
+as well as in your warriors; they are almost as hard to despatch. Now
+we should like to hear a Danish song. We have, indeed, no such single
+heroic poem, unless it be our chronicles. In reality, they compose an
+epic which I trust will never be ended. Our war songs are but fragments
+of them, but they are therefore better suited for songs. They never
+flag, but go on briskly, and that I ought to like right well, since I
+am myself of a somewhat impetuous temper. We have, besides, no real
+master of the art as yet," he continued: "but our songs are national,
+and are sung both by knight and peasant. Where is the Drost?"
+
+The Drost had been some time ago summoned from the hall, and no one
+knew where he was.
+
+"Now Marsk Oluffsen! do _you_ sing of our warriors and heroes!" said
+the king. "But have a care you split not the good arches here in our
+hall! I know your voice well."
+
+"I would rather fight than sing songs for you, my liege!" answered the
+Marsk; "they say I sing like a growling bear, but if you desire it I
+will willingly growl you out a song." He then cleared his throat, and
+began in a bass voice as deep and hollow as from an abyss.
+
+
+                 "It was young Ulf van Jern,
+                    Unto the king went he,
+                  My father's death for to avenge,
+                    Your men will you lend me."[8]
+
+
+"Silence!" exclaimed the king, stamping vehemently on the floor.
+
+The Marsk was silent, and stared at him in astonishment.
+
+"What are ye thinking of, Sir Marsk! would you remind the king of his
+father's death?" whispered Count Henrik in his ear.
+
+"By all the martyrs! who ever thought of that?" said the Marsk, and
+hastily withdrew. Soon after, the master of the household stepped
+forward, and summoned the king and his guests to the supper-table, as
+he threw open the door of the dining-hall.
+
+As was customary when the king was present, all the etiquettes of the
+table were observed according to chivalrous usage. Each knight had his
+appointed seat, with a small separate trencher and napkin. When the
+king went to take his place, he was wont to walk round the table of his
+knights, and at times to cast an observant glance over these small
+napkins, which were to lie whole and smoothly spread before the seats
+of the knights, with bread and trenchers, or plates, in a prescribed
+position. If a rent or a slit was found in the napkin, or if the bread
+lay reversed, it implied a charge touching the honour of the knight to
+whom the bread and napkin belonged, and the person thus accused was
+instantly obliged to leave the table, and remain shut out from the
+community of knights, until he should have justified himself. The day
+preceding a tournament there were generally a herald and two
+pursuivants, or under-heralds, present, at the king's table and that of
+his knights, to watch over the observance of these customs. This was
+the case on this evening.
+
+When the king came to the middle of the knights' table, he stopped, on
+remarking three trenchers upon which the bread lay reversed; he
+started, and nodded to the herald.
+
+"Who are to sit here?" asked the king with a stern look.
+
+"The high-born knights, Sir Niels Brock and Sir Johan Papĉ, my liege,"
+answered the herald, with lowered staff and a precise deportment. "Also
+a certain Ako Krummedigé, whom no one knows. It is he to whom it hath
+been permitted to wear his helmet here in the hall, and keep silence
+towards every one, according to his knights' vow at the holy
+sepulchre."
+
+"Who is their accuser?"
+
+"An unknown knight, my liege! but he hath placed his covered shield as
+a pledge in the armoury; he will appear and give his name when it is
+demanded."
+
+"Well! be watchful, herald! fulfil thy duty!" so saying, the king went
+to take his seat.
+
+Shortly afterwards Sir Niels and Sir Papĉ, with their mysterious
+friend, appeared, and were about to take their accustomed places. On
+seeing the reversed bread, however, they started; the knight of the
+helmet changed colour and drew back a step; but Brock and Papĉ hastily
+replaced the bread in prescribed form, and took their seats with a look
+of haughty defiance; at the same moment the herald advanced with a
+drawn sword in his hand, directly opposite to them on the other side of
+the table; he slit, with the point of his sword, the three small
+napkins before them. "Sir Niels Brock, Sir Johan Papĉ, and you who call
+yourself Sir Ako Krummedigé!" he said, solemnly, "In the name of Danish
+chivalry, I cut asunder, as I have done your table napkins, every tie
+of fellowship between you and knighthood. You are accused of treachery
+and treason; of a Judas deed and projected regicide; therefore you are
+ejected from the king's, and every honourable knight's society, until
+you have met your accuser and justified yourselves, if you are able to
+do so; in consideration of the gravity of the accusation, I demand of
+ye, besides, your weapons, and announce to you that you are put under
+knightly arrest."
+
+The herald then beckoned, and the two pursuivants advanced to receive
+the swords of the prisoners, and lead them to their confinement. All
+the guests rose in astonishment, and the king's knights and halberdiers
+drew their swords.
+
+"Confounded mummery!" muttered the tall knight, Brock, as he rose.
+"There, herald!" he called in a loud voice, and threw his glove on the
+table--"Take that to my accuser! wherever he meets me, my good sword
+shall prove him to be a liar and a fool--where is he? Dare he not name
+himself and look me in the face?"
+
+"Here he stands!" said a voice from the door of the dining hall, and
+Drost Aagé stood there erect and calm on the threshold, with his hand
+on his sword, gazing with a searching look on the three accused
+knights.
+
+"I laugh at the accusation of a dreamer and a visionary," cried Brock
+in a proud and scornful tone. "We meet. Sir Drost! I do but deposit my
+sword in the hands of these men that I may receive it to-morrow,
+acquitted by the king and knighthood, after washing out the blot here
+cast on mine and my friends' honour with the blood of the calumniator."
+He then delivered up his sword to the pursuivants.
+
+Papĉ had risen likewise; he also threw his glove with a contemptuous
+smile on the table--"There lies my pledge." he said, "and here is my
+answer to my accuser, whoever he may be, even though he should be given
+over to the devil, and the destruction of the flesh." So saying, he
+flung his large battle sword on the flagged floor at the herald's feet.
+They then both went with haughty and hasty strides out of the door,
+casting one or two flashing glances at the Drost, and with the
+pretended Ako Krummedigé between them. This silent and disguised knight
+had become as blanched in the face as his slit trencher-napkin. He had
+given up his sword to the pursuivants; no sound issued from his blue
+compressed lips--but his glance rolled with fearful wildness beneath
+his bushy and blackened eyebrows; his legs tottered under him, and he
+was forced to take hold of the strong Sir Niels to keep himself from
+sinking on the floor. The Drost himself followed these dangerous
+prisoners to see that the formalities of their imprisonment were
+legally and properly conducted.
+
+This singular occurrence had excited great astonishment. The general
+silence was soon succeeded by a low whispering. The two daring knights
+were well known; every one was aware that they were suspected of having
+abetted the archbishop's flight. It was also known that they belonged
+to the discontented in the land;--of friends they had not a few; and
+they passed for brave, independent lovers of their country, who cared
+not to flatter royalty, but had strength and courage to maintain the
+liberties of the people, and their own rights in council against the
+mightiest. That they should have joined in treasonable conspiracies did
+not seem probable; and it was supposed the Drost had been too
+precipitate in making this singular charge. As the king's favourite, he
+was not free from the attacks of envy. "It is sad to think of the young
+Drost," whispered one of the junker's knights, "he is such a dreamer he
+scents treason everywhere, and makes the king to be hated, by his
+ill-timed zeal." Respecting the unknown knight with the helmet, and his
+guilt, there were many conjectures; he appeared in a suspicious light
+to most of the company--but that one of the outlaws should have dared
+to enter into the king's presence and sit at his table, seemed an act
+of such presumptuous daring, that none believed it to be possible.
+Meanwhile, all took their seats. Although the wine-flasks soon went
+round, the company appeared, however, unable to forget the unpleasant
+transaction which had clouded the king's countenance, as well as his
+step-father's; and, as it seemed, had also thrown Junker Christopher
+into an anxious and uneasy mood. It was not until all were seated, that
+Drost Aagé again entered the supper hall. He also was silent and
+depressed. He took his seat directly opposite the king and Junker
+Christopher. The three nearest knights rose to make room for him,
+according to the ancient usages of the table, and he sat down without
+saying a word respecting the accused and their crime. He seemed lost in
+reverie, and appeared not to notice the unusual flagging of the
+conversation around him; but his attention was in reality rivetted with
+affectionate sympathy on the deep emotion he thought he discovered in
+the king's countenance. The gloomy sternness before depicted in it
+seemed now to be lost in thoughtful sadness. Eric sat with his wine cup
+in his hand, and regarded with a kindly look his friend and step-father
+Count Gerhard; at last he nodded involuntarily, and turned towards his
+reconciled foe, Duke Eric of Langeland. "A health in honour of the
+negotiator of peace and of my reconciled kinsman!" he said, suddenly
+rising from his seat. All the knights stood up--and the king
+continued--"Even this feast in honour of peace hath been made gloomy to
+me by traitors; they shall have their deserts; to-morrow is the day for
+passing sentence; to-day we will not think on it. At _this_ moment, I
+trust in the Lord and our blessed Lady that no secret traitor drains a
+cup in our hall. Long live Count Gerhard and Duke Eric!"
+
+"Long life to them, and long live our noble king!" was echoed from
+mouth to mouth, with great and nearly universal enthusiasm, while the
+goblets rang, and the horn-players, on a signal from the herald, made
+their instruments resound through the hall.
+
+Junker Christopher had also joined in the general shout of acclamation,
+and the king appeared especially to rejoice at hearing his brother's
+voice so animated on this occasion. His eye sought the junker's while
+he rung his glass against his; but Christopher's glance was cold,
+restless, and irresolute, while his cheek glowed, and he twisted the
+corner of his napkin with his left hand. A smothered sigh escaped the
+king's breast as he again resumed his seat. Aagé now observed, with
+great astonishment, that there was a large rent in Junker Christopher's
+napkin, which he was vainly striving to conceal with his hand. The king
+seemed to have made the same discovery at the same instant. He had
+suddenly changed colour, and his countenance expressed a fearful degree
+of wrath and grief; he made a movement as if he were about to start up,
+but instantly recovered himself by a strong internal effort; he set
+down his cup directly before him on the table, and, by pushing his own
+napkin from him, contrived to hide with it the rent in his brother's.
+
+A look of affectionate admiration from Drost Aagé was repressed by a
+stern glance of the king's serious eye while he laid his finger on his
+lips. "Music!" he called, and gave a signal to the herald. The hall
+soon resounded with lively hunting horns. The gravity of the guests
+presently disappeared, and each talked gaily with his neighbour; the
+king himself appeared gay and in spirits, although Aagé, indeed,
+remarked that it cost him a desperate effort. When the castle chaplain,
+at the conclusion of the feast, was about to pronounce the blessing,
+all the knights had become so joyous and loud-tongued, that the herald
+was twice compelled to remind them of the etiquette of the table. When
+the repast was ended the king retired in haste to his private chamber,
+and beckoned gravely to Aagé to follow him. When Christopher rose, he
+threw his napkin, as if by accident, under the table; he then went out
+on the hall balcony, and whistled; soon afterwards the prince's large
+hunting-hound came bounding through the hall, with a crumpled napkin in
+his mouth.
+
+The king had entered the private chamber with Aagé; he had thrown
+himself into a chair, and held his hand before his eyes. He remained a
+long time in this posture. Aagé stood in silence opposite to him,
+regarding him with a look of sorrowful sympathy. The king at last took
+his hand from his eyes, and he appeared to have wept. "Who hath dared
+to destroy love and confidence between brothers?" he exclaimed; "if it
+was you, Drost Aagé, it is the last time I call you my Drost."
+
+"I it was not, my noble liege!" answered Aagé; "_who_ it was I know
+not. May the Lord pardon that man among your true servants who so
+unwisely and rashly hath grieved you! It must have been done secretly,
+and without the herald's knowledge."
+
+"I despise a secret accusation," continued the king; "it is unlawful;
+it is in a high degree deserving of chastisement; it shall--yet no--no
+examination can take place in this case. If he _is_ a traitor," he
+continued, and deep grief was again visible in his countenance, "were
+he capable! Be it as God wills--_I_ injure not a hair of his head.
+Should I disgrace my father in his children? Should I doom my mother's
+son outlawed and dishonoured? Should I myself, Great God!----" He
+paused, and his hair seemed to stand on end with horror. "Look at me,
+Aagé," he resumed; "could _such_ a thought be harboured here?" He laid
+his hand on his high and glowing forehead. "It burns within," he
+continued; "but no unseen Cain's mark burns there. My hand was sternly
+raised against him--love me he cannot--fear me he must. Well! let him
+tremble before his liege and sovereign until he learns to love his
+brother. Now, not a word more of this! It is perhaps only spite and
+slander. Who dares charge my left hand of treachery against the right?
+I know nothing as yet--I _will_ know nothing--I have known enough of
+evil----" He began again after a thoughtful pause, and with a gloomy
+downcast look--"have I not had traitors around me since I was a child?
+Have I not seen my father murdered, and his shameless murderers in my
+presence? Have not their bloody hands been secretly and openly raised
+against my life from the hour in which I doomed them outlawed? yet have
+they not had the power to touch me," he continued with cheerfulness,
+and raised his head. "No assassin's dagger hath yet reached me, even
+though excommunicated and given over to the Evil One. I know it, Aagé;
+I have seen it--the hand of the righteous Lord was betwixt me and my
+deadly foes. No traitor and murderer--not even a soul murderer--no
+sinful archbishop or pope--not the arch-fiend himself--shall shake the
+crown upon this head." As he said these words he raised his hand and
+looked upwards with a glance of almost prophetic inspiration, and there
+was a nobleness and majesty in his countenance which seemed capable of
+humbling the most presumptuous foe.
+
+"My liege!" exclaimed Aagé, with heartfelt joy, "the spirit which
+speaks through you at this hour is not alone the spirit of royalty and
+justice, but surely that of love also."
+
+"Go to my brother, my faithful Aagé," interrupted the king hastily;
+"take him this----" He took a gold chain from his neck, to which hung
+an image of the Madonna. "Pray him to accept this jewel from his
+brother, as a memorial of this celebration of peace. Tell him our
+unhappy father wore this image to the day of his death." The king
+turned hastily away, and seemed desirous to hide the sorrowful emotion
+which had caused his voice to falter. Aagé stood with the chain in his
+hand, and was about to give vent to the warmth of his feelings; but the
+king turned suddenly, and said, in a stern voice, "Tomorrow a council
+of knights will be held. The accused shall be arraigned, and defend
+themselves if they can. All are equal here with respect to the law--be
+they friends or foes. Woe to the accuser who hath not ample proof, were
+he even my dearest friend! Go! and the Lord be with thee."
+
+Aagé bowed in silence, with wounded feelings, and would have departed,
+but the king, on perceiving his emotion, stretched out his arms towards
+him, and pressed him to his heart, without saying a word more.
+
+Aagé hastily departed with the chain. When the king was alone in his
+chamber, he put his hand into his vest, and drew forth a rosary,
+garnished with pearls and rubies. "Thy Christmas gift when we were
+children, my Ingeborg!" he said, with deep emotion. "What thou knewest
+I would ask for besides, thy angel joined me in prayer for at the
+throne of Grace.--Christopher! Christopher! may God forgive thee the
+thought thine eye betrayed!" He then imprinted a kiss on the rosary,
+replaced it in his vest, and sat down quietly before his table to
+attend to state affairs.
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAP. XI.
+
+
+Early the next morning a herald-pursuivant stood in Drost Aagé's
+sleeping apartment, with his large plumed hat in one hand, and a long,
+pointed sword in the other. The Drost hastened to put on his garments,
+while he listened with anxious attention to the information which was
+given him. The three accused knights had disappeared in the night,
+together with the men-at-arms, who had relieved guard at midnight
+before the door of the knights' story. Sir Niels Brock's and Sir Johan
+Papĉ's horses had been taken out of the stable--none of their squires
+or servants were to be seen in the castle; but the large well-fed horse
+which the pretended Sir Ako Krummedigé had bestrode was still standing
+in the stable. The pursuivant who brought these tidings to the Drost
+delivered to him, at the same time, the sword which at the repast of
+the preceding evening he had received from the mysterious knight with
+the helmet, and drew the Drost's attention to a singular contrivance in
+it. The hilt was hollow, and contained a fluid, which, by means of a
+spring, might be imparted to the blade. A dog, whose skin had been
+scratched with this sword, had died in convulsions.
+
+"Ha! a poisoned weapon!" exclaimed Aagé in alarm, returning the sword
+with a look of horror; "take it instantly before the judgment hall of
+the castle--Thou canst of course bear witness on oath from whom thou
+didst receive it?"
+
+"That I shall find it hard to do. Sir Drost, seeing no one knows who he
+really is," answered the pursuivant; "but that it was the dumb knight
+with the helmet--him they call Sir Krummedigé--I can take my oath upon.
+I should also announce, Sir Drost," he continued, "that the junker's
+gentleman of the bedchamber, Sir Pallé, died last night of his wound,
+although it was so trifling that we jeered him about it almost to the
+last. The surgeon swears he hath been wounded by a three-edged poisoned
+dagger."
+
+"Our Lady be merciful unto us!" exclaimed Aagé. "His deadly terror was
+then but too well founded--We have had a poisoner then as our guest!
+Even now he may perhaps be among us!"
+
+The Drost hastily left his chamber. Soon afterwards Marsk Oluffsen's
+rough voice was heard in the court of the castle, and ere it rang for
+mattins a knight, at the head of a troop of horse, rode at full gallop
+out of the castle gate. The Marsk himself, it was said, was gone to the
+chase. He dashed on with a number of hunters and hounds through the
+park. The Drost searched the whole castle. Ere mattins were ended, the
+Marsk and his huntsmen brought a bound captive to the tower. It was the
+mute knight with the helmet. His beard and eyebrows had changed colour,
+and it was soon known that he was one of the outlaws.
+
+Amid the bustle caused at the castle by providing for the court, and
+attending on its numerous guests, much notice was not attracted towards
+these serious proceedings. The expected tournament and the knightly
+festivities occupied every one. The squires polished their master's
+arms and costly saddle-furniture; the prancing chargers were trained
+and tended; and the mild spring weather seemed to promise a bright day
+for the festivity. From the town and the neighbourhood crowds of gaily
+attired persons flocked to the castle. The splendidly accoutred knights
+careered eagerly and indefatigably with each other. All the castle
+windows which looked on the tilt-yard were already crowded with richly
+attired ladies, and most persons seemed to have forgotten both mattins
+and mass for the festival. It was whispered, indeed, that the
+tournament would not take place; but no one was disposed to believe
+this, as workmen began to bestir themselves, and preparations were
+still carried on, which kept expectation alive. Meanwhile the king was
+seen to ride as usual to mass with his princely guests, attended by his
+halberdiers. He was grave and thoughtful. Junker Christopher rode in
+gloomy silence by his side; he wore over his breast the large gold
+chain, with the image of the Madonna, which the king was wont to wear
+himself; and this token of distinction was regarded as a sign that all
+misunderstanding must have been removed between the brothers. The
+junker's eye meanwhile avoided the king's, and not one word was
+exchanged between them on the road to and from church.
+
+After mass, the king instantly repaired to the knights' hall with all
+his men, and it was announced by the heralds that a knights' council,
+and a court of justice would be held. The tournament and the other
+festivities were in the meantime announced by the Marsk to be given up;
+and people now flocked to the knights' hall to see the king administer
+justice among his knights. He sat with an unusually stern and grave
+aspect on the raised ivory throne, and was surrounded by regal state
+and splendour. He first examined into the conduct of some young knights
+who were accused of minor faults and transgressions of the laws of
+chivalry. Those who either could not prove their innocence according to
+the established proceedings of temporal justice, or where doubt was
+entertained, relied on sword and lance, for redeeming their honour were
+sternly banished the castle; but those who acknowledged and repented a
+pardonable error, obtained permission by bold and knightly deeds, to
+regain their place and rank among the king's men.
+
+The Drost now stepped forth in his own and in the name of the murdered
+Sir Pallé, with an accusation against the pretended Sir Ako Krummidigé,
+as the assassin of that slain knight, as well as against Sir Niels
+Brock and Sir Johan Papĉ, as traitors and secret conspirators against
+state and crown, and he craved permission, in case the testimony he
+brought forward was not considered sufficient to establish his charge,
+to confirm it with sword and lance, to be judged by God, in a combat
+for life and death with the traitors. As the two knights so seriously
+accused, had escaped by unlawful flight, they were proclaimed to be
+suspected, and cited to appear and defend themselves before the
+expiration of six weeks and one day, if they would not be passed
+sentence upon as traitors; but the pretended Ako Krummedigé, whose real
+name was now discovered by sufficient evidence, was led before the
+tribunal. He was clad in the ancient armour in which he was attired on
+his first arrival; he wore also the helmet and shield he had brought
+with him from the monastery, and on which the famous armorial bearings
+of the noble family of the Hvides were noticed for the first time; but
+he had no sword by his side, and was surrounded by a strong guard. The
+glossy black was removed from his stiff beard, which now resembled the
+bristles of a boar; and from his bushy, meeting-eyebrows which were
+considered by the lower orders as a [9]"Wolfman's mark." and by which
+the outlawed Sir Kaggé was especially distinguished.
+
+He was pale, and stared wildly around him. When he heard himself named
+and accused, and beheld the king in the large circle of attentive
+knights, he seemed to struggle against appearing cast down or humbled.
+
+He raised his head, and stepped forward with a bold and haughty look,
+and even with the assumption of a degree of knightly dignity. "I greet
+thee, King Eric Ericson!" he said, in a loud voice. "I greet every
+brave knight who serves with honour here at court! Christ preserve
+every dear son of Denmark from the misfortune which brings me hither!
+But if there be brave and true Danish men here present, the man who
+became outlawed for Denmark's freedom and the honour of Danish chivalry
+will not lack weapons and defenders."
+
+"Talk not of freedom and honour, _thou_ who hast nought but effrontery
+and deeds of infamy to boast of!" began the king with calm and cold
+contempt. "Under the name of a pious and honourable man, thou hast
+crept into my hall among men of honour, and abused the sacred laws of
+chivalry, to hide deceit and treachery. Thy mask hath fallen off
+traitor! thy poisoned weapon hath betrayed thee--Thou wert chased from
+Denmark for a Judas deed; yet still thou hast dared to enter my
+presence. _One_ assassination thou hast already perpetrated in my royal
+castle, and another thou hast meditated--Canst thou deny it? Hast thou
+a word to say in thy defence, miscreant?"
+
+The prisoner bit his lips, and ground his teeth. "If I come not
+precisely from the holy sepulchre," he muttered, "I come, however, from
+the graves of kinsmen and friends, and from the corpses of murdered
+comrades. The fool whose mouth I have stopped, was a soulless lump of
+flesh, on whom I did but whet my dagger. What I purposed besides, is no
+concern of any one; but what I had promised, it was my fixed resolve to
+perform. Against tyrants no weapon is dishonourable, King Eric! and if
+an outlawed man hath neither rights nor safety, how then can you
+suppose he will let himself be bound by your pitiful laws?"
+
+"Have ye considered the matter, my knights!" said the king; "then
+pronounce doom upon this audacious criminal, according to the laws of
+God and man!"
+
+"He hath forfeited honour and life, according to the laws of the land,"
+was the unanimous verdict. "According to strict justice, he hath even
+forfeited hand and eye." The herald pronounced the doom in a loud
+voice.
+
+When Kaggé heard his death doom, his knees shook, and he looked around
+him with a rapid and searching glance, as if expecting to find
+defenders or protectors against the sentence, among the spectators, but
+there was a death-like stillness; no one moved tongue or hand in his
+defence. He seemed humbled, and now bent on one knee before the
+tribunal. "Bethink you, King Eric!" he said, in a supplicating tone, "I
+served in your royal father's castle, and he himself gave me the praise
+of being the best squire he had. His death was never my wish, I would
+have saved him had it been in my power; although he had broken his
+contract and had himself loosened the tie which bound Denmark's crown
+to his head."
+
+"I remember well thou didst serve in my father's castle, for hire and
+for garments," answered the king; "but I know, and every man in Denmark
+knows, also, that thou wert in Finnerup barn, on that bloody St.
+Cecilia's eve, and thy sword was not the _last which_ was plunged into
+the breast of thy unhappy master and king. As a faithless traitor and
+regicide thou wert however but outlawed while I was a minor, but now
+thou shalt suffer just punishment, as surely as I wear Denmark's
+crown!"
+
+"Is there not a single free man here, who dares to speak a word for
+me?" cried the captive, springing up with a wild look. "Ha! slaves of a
+tyrant! I despise ye," he continued, looking frantically around him.
+"The deed for which I was outlawed, was the proudest ever achieved by
+Danish man. A tyrant's murder hath been an honoured deed so long as the
+world hath stood, wherever a spark of freedom was in the spirit of the
+people--Now there are nought but cowardly slaves in Denmark, and it
+shames me to call you countrymen. There you stand aghast! because a
+bold word is heard again in kingly hall--You have courage only for
+crawling in the dust before a revengeful despot, and to doom the last
+friend of freedom to the scaffold--Is it not enough for you to see my
+blood? Will you saw off my hands and feet? Will you pluck out my eyes,
+that no free man may see you blush? Will you deal thus with a
+descendant of Skialm--Hvide's noble race? I am a knight," he added
+proudly. "I demand but to be judged by the law of knighthood--That is
+recognised over all the world, but under this country's laws I stand no
+longer."
+
+"Who dubbed thee a knight? asked the king, with a contemptuous look.
+
+"The greatest knight in Denmark's kingdom," answered the captive,
+drawing himself up with a look of defiance. "The man whose shoe latchet
+no knight here was worthy to loose--The Marsk of Denmark's kingdom,
+Stig Anderson Hvide, and if your chivalrous bearing is aught else than
+empty boast and mockery, King Eric, you will suffer me to be judged
+with equity according to the law which is as the apple of your eye."
+
+"Be it so, by all the holy men!" exclaimed the king with glowing
+cheeks; "according to the law of chivalry shall thy doom be executed,
+since thou dost thyself demand it, and thou shalt learn what it is to
+be doomed to dishonour. The knighthood which an outlawed regicide gave
+thee is truly but little honour worth, nevertheless thou shalt not take
+it with thee to thy dishonourable death. Thy hands and feet thou shalt
+keep, and thy false eyes also--but the honour thou boastest of, thou
+shalt lose according to law, for the sake of chivalry--and thy life for
+my father's sake alone."
+
+At a signal from the king, the captive was now removed, and a council
+of the oldest knights met together to decide upon the mode of carrying
+the sentence into execution, according to the laws of chivalry.
+
+Three hours afterwards, the captive was led in full knightly armour,
+and on horseback, to a high scaffold within the lists, under which the
+king himself appeared on horseback, surrounded by all his knights. The
+castle chaplain stood on the scaffold, at the head of a row of monks
+from the Dominican monastery. The captive was led up hither, not indeed
+to suffer death, but, according to the laws of chivalry to be ejected
+from the community of knights in a manner the most degrading. There was
+a crowd assembled; all the windows of the castle, as well as the stands
+on the lists were thronged with curious spectators. From the window of
+the servants' hall, close by the maidens' tower, peeped forth a fair
+little inquisitive face which was remarked for its beauty and
+animation; it was the captive Lady Ulrica, who without knowing what was
+going forward, had persuaded the tractable Karen to take her with her,
+to see the great procession which was talked of. No one knew what was
+to happen. The whole transaction was hitherto unknown in Denmark, where
+the young King Eric was the first sovereign who endeavoured to
+introduce all the usages of chivalry, and the novelty and mystery of
+the proceeding, tended still more to heighten curiosity. Ulrica beheld
+the priests on the high scaffold, and a knight in full armour led upon
+it: his back was turned to the window, and she did not recognise him. A
+rough sour-visaged man in a red cloak, with an iron club in hand, now
+stepped forward, he looked like an executioner, but however carried
+neither sword nor axe. He tore the shield from the knight, and struck
+off his armour; after which he broke the shield and armour into pieces
+with his iron club, and cast the fragments at his feet.
+
+"Gracious heaven! Is this an execution?" cried Ulrica in dismay. The
+knight was now led down from the scaffold. He turned his pale and
+terrible countenance towards her, and she recognised him. "Kaggé!
+righteous heaven!" she exclaimed with a shriek, and sank swooning in
+the arms of her attendants. They hastened to carry her back to the
+tower, and to the fostering care of her gentle sister.
+
+The armorial bearings were taken from Kaggé's broken shield; they were
+now, together with the shield, fastened to the tail of a mare, and thus
+dragged in the mire through the streets of Wordingborg, followed by the
+scoffs of the herald, which were echoed by the enraged mob.
+
+The disarmed knight was meanwhile led upon the dunghill near the
+stables of the castle; here his gold spurs were taken off, and on the
+same degrading spot the tail of the horse he rode last was docked.
+While the attention of the spectators was rivetted on these singular
+proceedings, the dishonoured knight made a vain attempt to escape. He
+was now bound with cords, and again led upon the scaffold--there he
+stood staring wildly around him and foaming with rage, while the
+priests chanted a requiem over him as over the dead. He looked around
+in a frenzy; when, however, he perceived that the sword of the
+executioner was not glittering over his head, he seemed not as yet to
+have abandoned all hope of life, and drew himself up in desperate
+defiance. The solemn death-chant, nevertheless, appeared to awe him,
+and to damp his resolution. Ere it was ended, he sank down in an
+attitude of prayer. The chanting ceased, and the castle chaplain
+presently stepped forward with the holy scriptures, and began to read
+with a loud voice the Psalmist's denunciations against traitors--"Let
+there be none to extend mercy unto him, let his posterity be cut off,
+and in the generation following let their name be blotted out. As he
+loved cursing, so let it come unto him; as he delighted not in
+blessing, so let it be far from him----"
+
+"Nay! silence with thy curses Priest! Whether they be scripture or
+not!" called the king with vehemence. "His soul must be judged by the
+merciful God. It is here question only of knightly honour."
+
+But the chaplain had entered with such zeal into his text, that,
+without heeding the king's words, he still added, "When he shall be
+judged, let him be condemned, and let his prayer become sin----"
+
+The kneeling knight started up at these words, and glared frantically
+at the priest, "Know then, every free man in Denmark! and judge if it
+were sin!" he shouted--"I prayed in this hour to the vanquisher of
+monsters, St. Magnus, and all the saints, that king Glipping's accursed
+race might be rooted out of the earth, as he was himself by this hand
+in Finnerup Barn."
+
+"Thou didst declare the truth unto him priest!" said the king,
+suppressing with difficulty his exasperated feelings-- "yet--no more
+ecclesiastical cursing! his thoughts and prayers are for God to judge;
+this criminal stands here only before his earthly judges."
+
+The priest was silent; the king now turned solemnly to the
+pursuivant-at-arms, and asked, "Say, what is this criminal's name?"
+
+"Sir Aagé Kaggé, of the noble race and lineage of the high-born
+Hvides," answered the pursuivant-at-arms.
+
+"That is not _his_ name who here stands in our sight," cried the
+herald, "for in _him_ I and Danish chivalry only recognise a traitor, a
+deceiver, and a false swearer."
+
+The king thrice asked the name of the criminal. The herald-pursuivant
+named it each time, and each time the herald cried, "that is not HIS
+name!" with the same annulling addition. When the herald had proclaimed
+these words for the last time, he received from the hand of the
+pursuivant-at-arms an ewer with hot water; he then mounted the scaffold
+with it, and dashed the water over the head and shoulders of the
+dishonoured knight, with these words, "Thus I efface the sacred mark of
+knighthood from this corpse."
+
+As soon as these words were uttered, the criminal was looked upon as
+dead, and treated as an actual corpse. He was dragged by cords down
+from the scaffold, and tied on a bier. A pall was spread over him, and
+while the king and all his knights rode back to the castle, Kaggé,
+followed by a scoffing mob of the lowest class, was borne to the
+church, where the priests again prayed and chanted over him as over the
+dead. When the pall was at last removed, in order to lead him to actual
+death, he lay senseless on the bier, and it was doubted whether he
+ought in this state to be carried to the place of execution.
+
+"Go hence and let him alone! The sun hath gone down, and he shall be
+unmolested here till to-morrow," said a powerful and authoritative
+voice, and the Commendator of the monastery of the Holy Ghost stepped
+solemnly forward in his white dress as master of the choir, with his
+double twelve-pointed silver cross on his breast. All recognised him,
+and bowed reverently with folded hands, and half-bended knees, to
+receive his blessing.
+
+The provost and his attendants, who were to conduct the prisoner to the
+place of execution, seemed, however, somewhat doubtful and lingered.
+"_I_ am responsible! Go hence all of you, and let the sinner lie here
+till to-morrow!" repeated the Commendator, "his soul shall have time to
+prepare for its separation from the sinful body. It is the duty of my
+holy office to care for the souls of the departing. In the name of the
+church and the holy spirit, I command the temporal authority here
+present to give way!"
+
+Every one departed; the Commendator last quitted the church, and
+ordered the church door to be locked. By command of the provost, a
+strong guard of men-at-arms was stationed before it.
+
+When the provost and his attendants early the following morning entered
+the church to lead the unknighted captive (already dead in law) to
+execution, a real corpse was found bound to the bier. Some thought that
+the proceedings of the previous day were sufficient to kill him; others
+deemed it probable that he might have expired from dread when he came
+to himself in the night, and found himself alone and bound on the bier
+in the deserted church. The idea that terror had caused the death of
+the miscreant captive while lying in such wretched plight the whole
+night, in expectation of his death, now excited a species of compassion
+in the same mob who on the preceding day could not sufficiently taunt
+and scoff the detested assassin; and it was discovered that, after all,
+the king had been far too strict, and that even the pious Commendator
+himself had in a great degree augmented the sinner's punishment by
+caring for his soul in such sort; and allowing him the space of a whole
+night to die of terror, during his preparation for death. The face of
+the corpse was swollen, and already in such a state that none could
+recognise the outlawed knight, excepting from the bristly beard and
+meeting eyebrows. The body was instantly, and in all privacy, buried
+without the customary ritual of the church, and in unconsecrated
+ground. But hardly was the dead man interred, ere a low murmur was
+heard among the restless populace that it could scarcely have been the
+right corpse after all. The speedy change in the appearance of the body
+so early in the spring was deemed exceedingly suspicious, and it was
+rumoured that the beard and eye-brows were undoubtedly false. It was
+known that the outlawed Aagé Kaggé had been a kinsman of Archbishop
+Grand; and the Commendator of the order of the Holy Ghost, who from the
+monastery might have ingress to the church, was conjectured to have
+availed himself of his authority on this occasion, to save a kinsman of
+that mighty and dangerous prelate. This rumour, however, was instantly
+put down by the provost and his attendants, whom it might have caused
+seriously to be brought to account. It reached neither the ears of the
+King nor the Drost, and it was believed at court (as had been in legal
+form announced by the temporal authorities of the town) that the
+outlawed regicide had been found lifeless on the bier, and that the
+body had been buried in the morning, after lawful inspection.
+
+The stern solemnity which pervaded the king's proceedings at this time
+at Wordingborg was remarked by all. The festivities which had been
+looked forward to with pleasure on occasion of the treaty with the
+Dukes, were wholly relinquished, and all the stranger nobles and
+knights soon left the castle. Junker Christopher had taken a cold and
+hasty farewell, and it was said had repaired to Kallundborg or Holbeck.
+Both these castles had been restored to him with full investiture of
+the fiefs. Ere his departure, he had announced that the maidens' tower
+was carelessly guarded, and that the fair prisoners were in
+communication with the household, and probably even with persons of
+more consideration. This information compelled the commandant to
+observe more strictness in guarding the captives. The obliging little
+Karen was replaced by a grave female attendant, and no one but herself
+and a monk skilled in medicine were admitted to the tower. The youngest
+of the captive maidens was ill, it was said, and not quite in her right
+mind. She imagined she had seen an execution, and that she herself was
+a princess who had an unfortunate prince for a lover. This gave rise to
+much gossip, and all manner of conjectures among the household at the
+castle. Drost Aagé was spoken of as the most zealous friend and
+advocate of the captive maidens, and it was supposed that by means of
+his influence their cause would soon be decided in their favour.
+
+The king, with his state council and halberdiers, remained until past
+Easter at Wordingborg Castle, from whence were issued many royal
+mandates and ordinances. In these matters the Drost was, next to the
+king himself, especially occupied, and was seldom seen to join the
+other knights in their diversions within the lists or in the tennis
+court. He was, as usual, grave and pensive. Occasionally he was seen in
+the moonlight spring evenings to wander alone, as if lost in reverie,
+around the maidens' tower. Since the king's arrival at Wordingborg,
+Aagé had not seen the captive maidens; it appeared that he had heard
+the gossiping reports of his warm interest for them, and that he feared
+to injure their cause or their reputation by a visit.
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAP. XII.
+
+
+It was a fortnight after Easter. The trees of the chase were springing
+into leaf. Flocks of twittering starlings in whirling clouds hovered
+and sang above the towers of Wordingborg Castle. The cuckoo's note was
+heard in the beech groves, and the nightingale was come. The Marsk
+stood in the ante-chamber awaiting orders. Ah inquiry was made after
+the Drost. He had repaired to the maidens' tower with the judges of the
+court of justice of the castle, in order to be present at an
+examination of Marsk Stig's daughters. He had himself hastened this act
+of justice, in his firm conviction of their innocence; he hoped by his
+testimony to be instrumental towards their acquittal, and that the
+affair might, from the king's presence there, come to a speedy and
+happy termination. The Drost's longing to see the fair Margaretha
+again, had perhaps some share in the haste and zeal with which he
+followed the grave judges. But hardly had he entered the prison with
+these personages, and had met, and responded to, a tender and
+melancholy glance from the gentle Margaretha, ere Ulrica, who appeared
+to have been sitting quietly before her sister's tapestry frame,
+suddenly started up with a wild look and dishevelled hair, and rushed
+menacingly towards them. "Ye have murdered him, ye monsters,"--she
+cried--"Ye have murdered my true knight--are ye now come to drag me
+also to the scaffold? Look! here I am!--tarry not!--bring forward your
+chains!--bring forward your executioner! Lead me but to death! I
+despise life and all of ye! I knew Kaggé was here to avenge my
+degradation, and lead me out of this vile captivity. Me, you may murder
+also--the sooner the better. I ask no other freedom--call but your
+executioner, and put an end to my sorrow! I knew the king's life was in
+danger, and I was silent to save my friend and true knight--but my
+sister is innocent--none shall injure a hair of _her_ head. She
+besought me to move him to flee, and cause no mishap--that I can
+witness on the gospels."
+
+"Both were then, it seems, cognizant of the presence of the outlawed
+regicide and of his treasonable purpose," said the chief judge; "Sir
+Drost! the testimony we have here from the most guilty of the two,
+renders them both, at the least, state prisoners for their lifetime."
+
+Drost Aagé appeared thunderstruck. "The unhappy lady must rave," he
+said, hastily recollecting himself. "She hath been ill, and not in her
+right mind, as we know--her confession and testimony are of no weight.
+Her knowledge of yon miscreant I have indeed observed; but it is
+impossible she could have been an accomplice in his crime, and still
+less her pious sister; that I will stake my life upon! Answer us! for
+the sake of the Lord in heaven, tell us the truth noble Lady
+Margaretha! Knew you Kaggé was here in disguise at the castle, and
+seeking after the king's life?"
+
+"I knew it, Sir Drost." answered Margaretha calmly, with her hand on
+her heart. "But by the lips of the Holy Virgin, and the Spirit of holy
+truth, it lay not in my power, nor in my sister's, to hinder his
+coming. When I heard he was here, and what he meditated, it was night,
+and our prison door was locked. It was not possible for me to caution
+you and the king against him, had I even (which I trust in God I had)
+courage and strength and will to do so. In the morning it was affirmed
+he had escaped, and--I was silent, that I might not plunge an erring
+unhappy soul into still greater misery."
+
+"A serious case! a very serious case!" said the judge. "We must examine
+into all the circumstances of the affair."
+
+While the examination was continued the commandant of the castle
+entered, and summoned the Drost to the king. Aagé left the chamber with
+a deep sigh, and a sorrowing glance at the unhappy maidens, of whose
+acquittal and liberation from prison he now almost despaired.
+With feelings of deep emotion the Drost joined the Marsk in the
+ante-chamber, where he was to await the king's commands. They heard the
+king pacing with hasty steps up and down his private chamber.
+
+"There are snakes in the grass, Drost!" said the Marsk. "Why did they
+not instantly cut off the heads of those hounds, without ceremony, and
+cast their high-born friend and protector into the tower. Now they have
+all 'scaped, the whole pack of them, and we have enough to do to be on
+our guard."
+
+"Whom mean you, Sir Marsk?" asked Aagé absently. "You have received
+letters I know?"
+
+"Yes, in abundance--Brock and Papĉ got off for that once; they are
+scouring Jutland round, and stirring up the people about these
+priest-riots and the shutting of the churches, which all dread so much;
+just as if a church-door was a fortress gate with ramparts and towers,
+and had St. Paul himself for a porter. I thought truly, it was a bad
+business when those haughty nobles laid their heads together so often
+with the junker, and had slit napkins laid before their noses. I should
+have been right glad to have hewn the whole pack of them in pieces; but
+amid all our stupid ceremonies with trencher and napkin, and tattered
+clouts, we let fly the birds of prey, and the junker into the bargain,
+although he got a rent to hide which made his ears glowing red."
+
+"How, Sir Marsk!" exclaimed Aagé, a conjecture suddenly flashing across
+his mind. "You surely were not yourself his secret accuser?"
+
+"You have hit it, Drost! I cared not much to keep the secret: had any
+one asked, my answer would have been ready, and my good sword with it,
+if required: proofs and such like frippery I had not, it is true--that
+was the worst of it; but, however, I had my conjectures and my own
+thoughts. I cannot abide that fellow, do you see--were he guiltless,
+and had he courage to defend his honour,--by the foul fiend! he would
+not have sat there as if upon thorns, and have hid that little rent. I
+was just going by the table, do you see? and saw how matters stood with
+those three mangy hounds. The junker's napkin lay so conveniently at
+hand, my blood was up, and it struck me the high-born junker would be
+the better for a little alarm."
+
+"By your favour. Sir Marsk! it was a most rash proceeding; by acting
+thus, you have increased the misunderstanding between the king and his
+brother."
+
+"So much the better; either keep with him or break with him--one or the
+other; nought comes of this truckling: but so far you are right--I
+should not have busied myself with those apish ceremonies, they better
+beseem all of _you_. I should rather have said it right out, and
+answered for it instantly with my hand on my neck:--but enough of
+this--Know ye Master Grand is here?"
+
+"Grand! the Archbishop? Where?"
+
+"At Copenhagen, and with a royal convoy. That was a piece of folly,
+also--_You_ were, no doubt, one in council?"
+
+"It was not deemed necessary," answered Aagé, repressing his annoyance
+at the Marsk's offensive bluntness. "The counsel you so flatteringly
+attribute to me was not mine either. The state council and the king
+himself considered it good policy. The cardinal demanded it, and
+offered his mediation. If the archbishop becomes manageable, and
+recalls the ban, he, of course, could not come hither without an
+assurance of personal safety."
+
+"Do ye not yet know that fellow better?" answered the Marsk. "Ere
+_he_ becomes tractable, heaven and earth will pass away. In this
+respect, the king is not far behind him--but if he _will_ be at the
+archbishop--by Satan! he should not have given him a convoy, and
+allowed him to set foot again upon Danish ground, though the whole
+state-council should get a colic from fright. Now, Grand and that
+accursed red hat sit like a pair of popes at Axelhuus, and none dare
+injure a hair of their heads: there they may begin the game, and stir
+us up the whole country in a trice. The cardinal hath already confirmed
+that confounded constitution of Veilé, and the Bishop of Roskild now
+causes all his churches to be shut. The storm will and must burst soon,
+and then all depends on how wind and current drive."
+
+"Great Heavens! is it possible?" exclaimed Aagé, in dismay. "Have you
+certain tidings, Sir Marsk? Doth the king know it?"
+
+"I have brought him some doses on a fasting stomach in a couple of
+letters--that he hath swallowed them you may know from the clatter of
+his spurs and boot-heels--You brought him letters from Sweden, Drost!
+Love letters, doubtless, and fine ballads from his betrothed? Were
+there any tidings of a rational kind?"
+
+"None of a very cheering description," answered Aagé, looking with
+uneasiness towards the king's door. "What the princess hath imparted I
+know not; but the excellent Master Petrus can effect nothing with the
+state-council touching the king's marriage."
+
+"S'Death!" said the Marsk, rubbing his hands. "Then it will not be easy
+to get to talk with him to-day. These are knots which it will be hard
+even for _your_ state-policy to loose, my wise Sir Drost! but if _I_
+know the king well, he will give all your fine wisdom to the devil, and
+keep him to me and his good sword."
+
+"Against rebels we may use the sword, Marsk, but neither against bishop
+nor pope, and just as little against the king's future brother-in-law,"
+answered Aagé. "We stand in need of discretion in this matter, and,
+above all, of the help of the Lord."
+
+The door of the king's private chamber now opened, and the king himself
+looked out into the ante-chamber, and nodded. His countenance indicated
+passion and anxiety, and the Marsk, as well as the Drost, entered the
+chamber with a thoughtful aspect.
+
+An hour afterwards Marsk Oluffsen departed with the Wordingborg troop
+of horse on his way to Jutland; and Drost Aagé set out, attended by
+twelve knights and squires, as ambassador to the Swedish court, with a
+letter which inspired him with secret anxiety for his king and country.
+
+Among the twelve knights appointed to accompany Drost Aagé to Sweden,
+was Sir Pallé's brother-in-law, the brave knight, Helmer Blaa, who had
+made himself famous by gaining his bride by dint of arms, and
+vanquishing Sir Pallé and her six brothers, who had all fallen upon him
+at once. He was young, of a tall and well-proportioned figure, with
+sparkling brown eyes, and remarkably light and agile in his movements.
+He was a native of Fyen, of high birth; a great friend of the Drost's,
+and devoted heart and soul to the king.
+
+
+          "He rides in the saddle so free--"
+
+
+was wont to be carolled forth by the lower orders whenever they saw
+Helmer riding his handsome Arabian horse, which flew with him swift as
+the wind, and was the gift of royal favour to him on his marriage-day
+the preceding summer.
+
+Drost Aagé rode for an hour in calm silence by the side of this gallant
+knight, on the road to Kiöge, from whence he was to embark for Skanór
+on the Swedish coast.
+
+"Count Henrik goes with the king of course?" said Sir Helmer, at last
+breaking silence. "If one would visit a bishop's nest in these times,
+it must assuredly be with sword and coat of mail."
+
+"Count Henrik stirs not from his side," answered Aagé--"that he hath
+promised me with word and hand--I now go hence unwillingly; Grand's
+thirst for revenge, and the boldness of the outlaws know no bounds."
+
+"That accursed Kaggé! He made an end also of my fat seal of a
+brother-in-law--that lump of flesh, indeed, I accounted not much of;
+his miserable death, however, I have vowed to St. George to avenge,
+chiefly for my dear wife's sake. She had but that one brother left
+since I came to mishap with all the others; but it was done openly,
+and in honourable self-defence; she hath not even loved me the less
+either for that affair--but to fight by stealth, and with a poisoned
+weapon--faugh! 'Twas an accursed Italian trick--such was never before
+the usage here in the north. Are you quite certain the wretched
+assassin is dead and buried in good earnest, Sir Drost? The people have
+divers tales to tell. He who hath had no shame in his life would not
+die of shame, I should think--One hath seen ere this a cunning fox run
+from the trap and leave his tail behind him."
+
+Aagé started. "I saw him not after death," he answered; "but his end
+was certainly announced by the provost and Commendator of the
+monastery. There can surely be no doubt of the truth."
+
+"The Commendator is a holy man of God, doubtless," replied Helmer, with
+an incredulous smile; "one ought not, indeed, to suspect him of deceit
+and treason, even though he be a good friend of Master Grand's, and
+might have wished to save the dishonoured life of one of so high and
+holy a race. I first heard that unbelieving gossip when the body was
+thrown into the carrion pit, and consumed with unslacked lime; it
+doubtless showed great caution and good care for the public health; but
+they will have it it was a corpse from the hospital of the monastery,
+with beard and eyebrows of good Danish boar bristles."
+
+"Can it be possible!" exclaimed Aagé. "Should he be alive and at
+liberty, he would then become a more pestilent foe than all the outlaws
+put together--Yon dishonoured miscreant is capable of any crime; he
+hath now hardly aught more to lose."
+
+"Be that as it may," answered Helmer, "if Kaggé be above ground, so is
+my arm and my good sword also--the Lord be praised for it!--and
+wherever I meet him, I am his man."
+
+"If the miscreant is alive, and falls into our hands, we can but bind
+his hands and wash our own of the matter," answered Aagé.
+
+They now continued their journey in grave silence for another hour.
+Each time Aagé thought of the unfortunate daughters of Marsk Stig in
+the maidens' tower a sigh burst from his heart; and whenever he felt
+the king's important letter within his vest it seemed to him as if he
+was oppressed by the future fate of king and country.
+
+"We received but scanty orders," resumed Helmer Blaa again, seemingly
+wearied by the long silence and the Drost's reverie. "We were to learn
+the rest from you, Drost; but you seem to have left tongue and speech
+at Wordingborg."
+
+"You know what is of most importance," answered Aagé. "It concerns King
+Eric's highest happiness in this world. As matters stand now with the
+archbishop and pope, you may easily imagine there are great
+difficulties about the dispensation for his marriage; if we cannot
+prevail on King Birger and his state council to permit the marriage to
+take place ere St. John's Day, and that despite both pope and clergy,
+then--more should not be said," he added, in a lowered voice; "then I
+fear matters will stand badly, Sir Helmer."
+
+"Not worse surely than with me when they threw hindrances in the way of
+my marriage!" answered Helmer. "How such difficulties may be got over
+our bold king knows full as well as I--" So saying, he gaily struck
+upon his clanking sword.
+
+"That did very well with your brother-in-law, brave Helmer," said Aagé.
+"It concerned only half a dozen of our worst knights. HERE state and
+kingdom are in question. The king is of a hasty temper, you know; he is
+only but too ready to imitate your bold manner of wooing; but if he is
+to win his bride by war and battle, there will be a bloody bridal here
+in the summer, to as little pleasure for Denmark as for Sweden."
+
+"There you may perhaps be in the right, Drost," answered Helmer. "There
+is a difference between _my_ brothers-in-law and the king's, I own; but
+if honour and our king's fortune in love are now at stake, assuredly no
+Danish knight will hesitate to become his bridegroom's man with sword
+and lance, however hard one might be put to it. This much we must allow
+to the Swede--he ever fights like a brave fellow. Swedish knighthood
+yields not to us in manhood; but when we sing,
+
+
+           'For Eric the youthful king!'
+
+
+the heart of no Danish man will sink below his belt, I know, were the
+Swede ten times as strong, and had they ten Thorkild Knudsons in
+council and camp."
+
+"Let us not talk too loud of these things," said Aagé, in a low voice,
+and allowing the other knights to pass by, while he and Helmer
+slackened their pace. "Honourable warfare is indeed ever to be
+preferred to a deceitful and shameful peace," he continued; "but the
+Lord and St. George forbid it should come to a breach now, just when
+love and good will seem in truth desirous to make us and our brave
+neighbours friends. Could these unhappy scruples be removed I should
+deem both Denmark and Sweden fortunate indeed. If a noble Swedish
+princess sits on the throne of Denmark's queens, and a Danish one on
+that of Sweden, we might then hope to see extinguished the last spark
+of ancient national hate and fraternal enmity. We may say what we
+please in our pride, and boast of Danish greatness in the days of
+Canute the Great and the Valdemars; Scandinavians were, however,
+brethren in the beginning; we have shared honour and fame with each
+other all over the world, among Longobards and Goths and Northmen; and
+we must combine together again, if aught great is to be achieved by the
+powers of the north."
+
+"It may be so," answered Sir Helmer. "I am well nigh of your opinion,
+especially since it hath now come to something more than mere state
+policy and cold calculations with these betrothings of royal children.
+This one at first was but a politic scheme of Queen Agnes and Drost
+Hessel; in such plans there are seldom any truth and honesty. Strange
+enough it should turn out as it hath done; for every man, both here and
+in Sweden's land, knows that our young king is almost more enamoured
+than a Sir Tristan or Florez in the new books of chivalry; and
+the fair Princess Ingeborg--here they already call her our second
+Dagmar--although we have but heard she is pious and mild, and hath
+pretty blue eyes and beautiful golden hair, like Dagmar. I shall be
+well pleased to see her," he added. "No Swedish or Danish knights can
+ever commend her sufficiently, and she is, indeed, well nigh praised to
+the disparagement of our own lovely ladies--that vexes me I own."
+
+"I saw her at Helsingborg, at the bridal of Count Gerhard and Queen
+Agnes," said Aagé, and his pensive eye sparkled. "She was then still
+almost a child; but she hath since ever seemed to me like one of God's
+holy angels, destined to diffuse the blessings of peace and love
+through this land and kingdom. There is but one female form in the
+world which I could compare with her, or perhaps even exalt above her
+in fair and noble presence," he added with emotion; but suddenly paused
+and cleared his throat with some embarrassment.
+
+"Now, out with it, Drost Aagé; I am not jealous," said Sir Helmer, with
+a pleased and proud look. "You mean doubtless my fair young wife--It is
+worthy a true knight to admire the beauty of a young and fair woman in
+all reverence and honour. She hath well nigh the fairest presence of
+any woman here in the country; every one says so who sees her, both
+here and in Fyen; and I have nought against it. I know assuredly she
+holds me dearest of all, although I came to mishap, as you know, both
+with her uncle and those stiff-necked brothers. She is now at my
+castle, longing to have me back again; if it please the Lord and St.
+George, she shall soon hear a good report of me, if there is anything
+to be done in earnest."
+
+Drost Aagé's usually pale cheek had become crimson. "You guessed wrong,
+however, this once Sir Helmer"--he said, with a smile; "the lady I
+thought of was another, without disparagement to your fair young wife.
+But, if we would reach Kjögé ere midnight, we must ride faster. In a
+steady trot, and at the long run, I think my Danish horse will be a
+match for your Arabian." He spurred his horse, and Sir Helmer hastened
+to redeem the honour of his favourite Arabian, while he shook his head
+at the Drost's want of discernment in the matter of female beauty.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAP. XIII.
+
+
+When they reached Kjögé it was three hours past vespers, and after
+burgher bedtime. In this town, as yet, neither the great Franciscan nor
+Carmelite monasteries were erected, which afterwards became so
+celebrated. Here the travellers were forced to be content with one of
+the unpretending hostelries from the time of Eric Glipping, which were
+often stigmatised as dungeons and farthing taverns.
+
+During the last two years the town had been frequently visited by the
+Hanseatic merchants, since the king had extended their trading
+privileges; and when these active traders went to or from the great
+fairs at Skanor or Falsterbo, or to the herring fishery, on the Swedish
+coast, they often ran their vessels into Kjögé bay, to wait for a
+favourable wind, and dispose of their wares to the burghers of Kjögé.
+The bay was now full of Hanseatic merchant vessels, and the numerous
+lights in the ships shone fair upon the shore. Drost Aagé, with his
+train, had much difficulty in getting a room in what was called the
+ale-house, near the harbour. In the large public room of the tavern,
+where the guests were wont to beguile the time until late at night,
+with drinking and dice, there was on the entrance of the Drost and his
+knights, much hubbub and loud-tongued talk among the guests, which,
+however, was suddenly hushed on the appearance of the richly-attired
+strangers, in whom the king's knights and halberdiers were instantly
+recognised. At the upper end of the long oaken table, which was fixed
+to the floor, sat a heavy-built, consequential-looking personage, with
+a sable-bordered cap and tunic; it was Berner Kopmand, from Rostock (so
+notorious for his wealth and pride) who had bid defiance to the king at
+Sjöberg. He lolled in his seat with an air of importance, and had laid
+one leg upon the table, that he might be more completely at his ease.
+His broad visage glowed from the effects of wine; he held a silver
+goblet in his hand, and had a large wine-flask before him. By his side
+sat his trusty friend and trading companion, Henrik Gullandsfar, from
+Wisbye, with a large purse in his hand, from which he threw some coins
+into the host's cap. Between them stood a backgammon board, on which
+the dice were swimming in ale and wine, and which Berner Kopmand kicked
+aside to make room for his ponderous foot. Here they sat, surrounded by
+a number of Hanseatic merchants, skippers and boatmen. All were armed,
+like themselves, with broad battle swords and sabres, and drank merrily
+to their own success. When the Drost and his knights entered, the two
+merchants remained sitting in their easy posture, without returning the
+greeting of the strangers, and whispers and murmurs of dissatisfaction
+were heard among the guests.
+
+In the least lit-up part of the room sat two men with the cross of the
+order of the Holy Ghost on their black travelling mantles. The one drew
+his hood over his brow; he instantly arose, and with his ecclesiastical
+colleague presently disappeared in the throng of guests, who were
+flocking in and out. Sir Helmer had noticed the deportment of the monk;
+he hastily approached Aagé to whisper a word in his ear, but the Drost,
+who had instantly recognised the two arrogant Hanseatic merchants, had
+turned his whole attention upon their bearing, and was pondering within
+himself, how far it would be wise or necessary to meddle with them, or
+attach any significance to their former powerless menace.
+
+"Short and sweet, my good friends!" now began the heavy Rostocker, with
+lisping tongue, while he struck the heel of his boot on the table to
+obtain a hearing, and seemed wrath at the pause in the talk. "The
+Lauenberg knight was forced to dangle from our new gallows, despite the
+cry of his high birth and lineage; and the high-born Duke Albert of
+Saxony was ready to choke with rage. It is therefore, he now protects
+and eggs on these high-born highwaymen. But we will no longer suffer
+ourselves to be plundered and pulled by the nose, unavenged, by knights
+and princes. We shall one day teach all these high and mighty lords,
+where the gold lies buried, the blessed bright gold which rules the
+world, and what the rich and combined Hanse-towns can do. We merchants
+and small folk, have now also learned something of the art of war, and
+the art of politics, and he who treads on our corns may beware of Lubek
+law, and the Rostock gallows--Hurra! freedom in trade! freedom in word
+and deed! To hell with all tyrants and aristocrats!" So saying, Berner
+Kopmand kicked the empty wine flask off the table, while he moved his
+foot to the floor, and rose reeling with the goblet at his lips.
+
+The foreign merchants and skippers, shouted and drank. Henrik
+Gullandsfar shook his head, and pulled his drunken colleague by the
+sleeve, with a side glance at the Drost and the king's halberdiers.
+
+"I give them to death and the devil! I can buy them up body and soul,
+and their forefathers into the bargain," growled the proud burgher
+magnate of Rostock--allowing himself, however, to be led out of the
+apartment, by the sober and more wary Gullandsfar. The other merchants
+and skippers now departed one after another, singing and whistling as
+they went. Aagé had instantly perceived that the conduct of the proud
+Hanseatics was meant as defiance and insult; but he had himself, as
+Drost, two years before, jointly with the state-council, confirmed the
+great privileges which were granted to these traders, and the law
+strictly forbade all violent and arbitrary proceedings towards them so
+long as they themselves refrained from committing any act of violence.
+Aagé remained silent, with a contemptuous smile, and warned to the
+incensed knights to keep quiet. But Sir Helmer's blood boiled,--he had
+sat upon thorns since his eye had caught the monk. As the Hanseatic
+sea-men left the inn, he thought he once more caught a glance, through
+the open door, of the same figure, among the tumultuous throng which
+was hastening to the vessels. He whispered a few hurried words in the
+Drost's ear, and rushed out of the apartment. Aagé looked gravely and
+thoughtfully after him. He gave a secret signal to two of the most
+discreet knights to follow him, and requested the others to remain.
+They now seated themselves at the almost deserted table. The humble and
+officious host hastened to serve them, and to remove the empty flasks
+and cans of ale. Their wrath which they had repressed with difficulty,
+had rendered the knights silent, and their humour was manifested only
+in taunting exclamations and jeers at the grocer-heroes, as they were
+designated. It was indeed allowed that the proud Berner Kopmand's
+inveteracy against the nobles of the land was not altogether unfounded.
+The knights' castles in Denmark, were not in fact robber-holds, as in
+Germany; foreign traders here enjoyed the greatest security, and had
+even greater privileges than the burghers of the country; but the
+knights delighted in scoffing at the uncouth and awkward bearing of the
+armed grocers; even Drost Aagé with all his moderation, and in spite of
+all that he had himself effected for the security of trade and the
+extension of commerce, could not altogether suppress the feeling of
+aristocratic contempt, entertained by those in his own rank for this
+class of persons, whose growing prosperity and wealth were often united
+with a degree of insolence and envious pride, which excited and
+fostered this mutual bad-feeling.
+
+The attention of Aagé and the knights was soon directed towards two
+singular strangers who still remained with them at table; the one was a
+young man of a good figure and remarkably animated countenance; he wore
+a dark red, and rather thread-bare lay mantle, but the black cap which
+covered his tonsure, and a canon's hat which lay by his side on the
+table, appeared to denote him an ecclesiastic. At one time he talked
+Latin, at another Icelandic and Danish, with his next neighbour, whom
+he addressed as master, and to whom he shewed marked respect. When the
+young clerk spoke Danish, he frequently pronounced the words wrong. At
+times he became enthusiastic, and recited as well from the ancient
+classics as from old northern poems. His neighbour was a little,
+deformed man, with a hump upon his back, a thin sharp visage, and an
+intelligent piercing eye; his head was sunk deep between his shoulders,
+and hardly reached above the table, but his arms were uncommonly long
+and thin; he occasionally put on and took off a pair of large
+spectacles set in lead, and had a number of singular instruments and
+boxes before him on the table. He wore a bright-red mantle, bordered
+with fur, over a lay-brother's blue dress, and his head was adorned
+with a scarlet cap, trimmed with gold lace and tassels. In this showy
+garb, which rendered the deformity of his person still more striking,
+he resembled one of those foreign mountebanks and quacks, who at the
+great fairs were wont to exhibit feats before the mob, and vend relics,
+amulets, and universal remedies against all ailments; this personage
+however, had an air of much greater distinction and pretension. It was
+the same little red-cloaked man, who, with Sir Niels Brock and Sir
+Johan Papĉ, had paid the nightly visit to Junker Christopher, at Holbek
+castle. In his dying hour Sir Pallé had described him to the Drost,
+when in his alarm, he had made him the depositary of his secrets. Aagé
+however had never before beheld this figure and did not remember Sir
+Pallé's confused description.
+
+The little man sat with a flask of wine before him, which he appeared
+to be examining with close attention. "Bad!--adulterated!" he now said
+in Danish to the Icelander, also in a foreign and Icelandic accent,
+while he puckered up his sharp nose. "See you this sediment. Master
+Laurentius? In the light of art and science, truth will one day become
+manifest in small things as well as in great--Eureka!" he continued,
+with a self-satisfied smile, "What would my great master Roger have
+said, if such a flask of wine had been set before him? Even without
+these skilful, searching eyes--for which I am in some measure indebted
+to his great optical discovery--although I may justly claim the honour
+of the practical application--even without my wondrous spectacles, he
+would perhaps have discovered that which I need all this apparatus to
+detect. The nature of poisons is altogether unknown and occult, Master
+Laurentius!" he added, mysteriously, but so loud as to be heard by all.
+"Not only for the preservation of life and health, but much more for
+the sake of science and art, an intimate knowledge of the essence of
+things is of the highest importance to us. Here in the north, however,
+people care but little for such matters; they gulp down everything,
+like the dumb beasts, without possessing the wise instincts of animals,
+and without seeking by wisdom and art to find a remedy for the narrow
+limits of our physical nature. All learning here is expended in
+theological subtleties, and what are called godly things--which,
+however, they know nought of--poor fools! Our common-place scholars
+still chew the cud of mysticism, the useless learning of the schools,
+and the dry, worn-out Aristoteles. Ignorance of all that is true and
+useful, renders forgers and cheats quite safe here, and these
+overbearing merchants can enrich themselves at the expence of this
+ignorant people, as much as they choose. There you see one of their new
+coins! I have detected its composition! It contains more tin and lead
+than silver; the Danish king's image and superscription are here, it is
+true--the size is precisely that of the royal coinage; but four of
+those go to a silver mark, and this is of six times less value. What an
+enormous profit might not a single ship-load of such coins bring those
+fellows!"
+
+Drost Aagé had become attentive, and found in the stranger's last
+assertion an important confirmation of a charge generally made against
+the Rostock merchants. The attention of the Drost and the knights did
+not appear to displease the intelligent little man--he seemed, indeed,
+not to heed them--but he now continued to converse in Danish with the
+young clerk, and though he appeared to speak in a whisper, he
+nevertheless enunciated every word in a singularly distinct, and
+perfectly audible tone. "Nothing is small in science and in nature," he
+continued, "the least may here lead to the greatest; in every blade of
+grass their lies a world. How long will men shut their eyes on the
+great and only true revelation of the Deity, through the miracles and
+holy writ of nature! Mark my young friend! the time will come when
+the colossus of ignorance, barbarism, and madness, which hath been
+erected on nature's grave, and worshipped for centuries--must fall.
+As is the course of temporal things, so is that of the spiritual
+world--Stagnation is death and rottenness. We have stood stationary
+with antiquity and tradition. The powerful ferment of life hath
+subsided--life hath lost its savour. What is it but senseless oriental
+adventures, and the childish dreams of our race, which have turned
+men's brains, and kept us at a distance from nature and the source of
+true wisdom for nearly thirteen centuries? The heathens were far above
+us. What are we in science and art compared with the Greeks and
+Egyptians?--and yet even they were erring. They also had their idols,
+their fancies and dreams of a Tartarus and Elysium, and withal, that
+madness now worshipped under the name of poetry."
+
+"Stop, my learned master!" interrupted the young Icelander with
+eagerness. "Now you attack _my_ sanctuary--let the world change its
+fashion as it may--let Time devour his own children, as in ancient
+fable! But what hath been beautiful in every age, none can destroy--it
+must re-appear, though under new forms. True, eternal poetry shall
+rescue and embalm all wherein was life or beauty, as well in our times
+as in those gone by. Its image and memorial no cold enlightening wisdom
+shall ever efface.
+
+
+                 "Cattle die,
+                  Wise men die,
+                  Time itself dies too--
+                  One thing I know
+                  That never dies--
+                  Judgment on the dead."
+
+
+"Be it so!" answered the little sage with a scornful smile, "Judgment
+shall not die; the art of judging is the only one that is immortal; the
+poetry of all ages shall vanish as soon as the world understands itself
+and its own thoughts. When the kernel is found we may cast away the
+shell, or give it to children to play with. It was a true saying,
+though, of that old heathen bard--the judgment on the dead _is_
+eternal--but when this generation hath passed away a succeeding one
+will jeer at the achievements of their fathers, and what is now
+worshipped shall be the scorn of posterity. But one likes not to hear
+such things, Master Laurentius! The kernel of truth is unpalatable; it
+suits not the taste of the vulgar and uninitiated; and he who proffers
+it runs the risk of being stoned by the enemies of truth and the slaves
+of prejudice. What my great Master Roger was forced to confess is known
+to all the world; if he found not himself the philosopher's stone, he
+hath, however, shewn us where to seek for it, and what was hidden from
+his sharp gaze is not necessarily hid from that of his disciples." So
+saying, the little man rose with a look of proud importance; he
+departed with a slight salutation to Drost Aagé and the knights, in
+whose looks he was well satisfied to perceive the astonishment which
+his last mysterious remark, about the philosopher's stone especially,
+seemed to have excited.
+
+The young clerk remained behind, and now addressed himself to Drost
+Aagé, whose rank and name were known to him. He introduced himself to
+the Drost as an Iceland theologian, jurist, and poet, who in his ardent
+zeal for knowledge and enlightenment, had quitted his easy office of
+priest of St. Olaf's church and p[oe]nitentarius of the Archbishop of
+Nidaros,[10] to visit foreign universities with his learned countryman
+and fellow-traveller Magister Thrand Fistlier, a disciple, as he
+asserted, of the renowned Roger Bacon, whose wonderful knowledge, and
+free and bold opinions, had drawn on him so shameful a persecution from
+his ecclesiastical brethren, and who, after many years' imprisonment,
+had died two years since in England.
+
+The young Iceland clerk now purposed, under the protection of his
+learned friend, to visit the Danish court, where he hoped to find that
+the king would lend a favourable ear to his own and the ancient
+Icelandic poems; while his travelling companion intended to display his
+wondrous arts before the king, and to make known some very important
+discoveries in natural philosophy, which might prove of incalculable
+use and effect both in war and peace. The report of the young King
+Eric's especial regard for science, and the intrepidity with which he
+dared to oppose the usurpations of the court of Rome and the hierarchy,
+had induced the learned Master Thrand to seek freedom and protection in
+Denmark.
+
+"You will doubtless both be welcome to the king," answered Aagé,
+looking narrowly at him, "he favours and protects all fair and useful
+sciences. Your travelling companion belongs not to the herd of common
+mountebanks, as far as I can judge: if he can prove what he affirmed,
+of the false coin brought hither into this country, his learning may be
+most important to us. But since you are a theologian and scholar,
+Master Laurentius, I would but ask you one question," continued Aagé,
+"Doth not your companion entertain some confused opinions on sacred
+subjects? His expressions struck me as being somewhat singular,
+although I, as a layman, understand not such matters. I well know,
+however, those who are called Leccar Brethren,--who will only believe
+in the Creator, but neither in God's Son, nor in the Holy Spirit, nor
+in an universal christian church,--are as little tolerated in this
+country as by any right-thinking monarch in Christendom; you must in
+nowise believe our king's unfortunate position in regard to the
+Archbishop of Lund and the papal court hath made any alteration in his
+opinions in what concerns the matter of his own and his people's
+salvation."
+
+"From the errors of the Leccari I believe myself free." answered the
+young Icelander, with some embarrassment; "about my learned companion's
+theology, I must confess I have not greatly troubled myself; seeing
+that he is a worldly philosopher and not a theologian. Of the noble art
+of bardship he hath not either any conception; I admire him solely for
+his rare knowledge of the secrets of nature."
+
+"If he errs in the one thing needful, and if the highest and most
+sacred truths, as well as all that is beautiful and noble, are in his
+estimation nothing but folly," observed Aagé, "I have but little
+confidence in his knowledge of less important matters; and I would not
+give much for all the rest of his learning."
+
+"I thus judged once myself, of the sciences and arts that teach us but
+earthly things," answered the Icelander, "but while I was at the
+foreign universities a new light dawned upon me. I am indeed far from
+calling (like my learned travelling companion) the revelation of deity
+in nature the only true one, by which, as you have rightly observed, he
+hath in his inconsiderate zeal, betrayed a highly erroneous opinion;
+but even the wisdom of the heathen in worldly concerns is in nowise to
+be despised, and I have never seen anything that hath more strengthened
+my faith in the Almighty power and wisdom of the Triune God, than the
+marvellous effects of the powers of nature, with which this singular
+man hath made me acquainted."
+
+"What hath he shown you, then, of such great importance? Master
+Laurentius!" asked Aagé.
+
+"I have seen effects of his art, which I should in common with the
+ignorant multitude, and my prejudiced colleagues, have taken to be
+witchcraft and the work of the devil," answered the Icelander eagerly,
+"had he not explained them to me by the powers of nature, and from the
+great misjudged Roger Bacon's 'Opus Majus,' of which he carries a rare
+and invaluable manuscript with him. Not to speak of his great knowledge
+of plants and animals, and the properties and composition of metals;
+what most hath captivated me is all that points to the soul's dominion
+over time and decay, over life and death, over the universe, and all
+passive powers in nature. He affirms that by his art alone, without
+supernatural aid, he is able to preserve youth, and prevent the
+infirmities of age; he knows the course of the heavens, and the
+influence of the stars on human life; he hath a number of artful
+glasses, by which he is almost able to see the invisible; but his
+greatest and most wondrous art is the preparation of an
+inextinguishable fire, with which he imitates the thunder and lightning
+of the heavens. He hath shewn me a specimen of it, which hath
+astonished me. With a single handful of that subtle combustible matter,
+he can produce such an amazing thunder-clap, that the strongest wall
+would be rent by it, and such a burst of consuming flame, that he who
+rightly understands its powers, would be able to destroy a whole army
+with it, and devastate castles and towns."
+
+The knights stared in amazement at the Icelander, and some crossed
+themselves. "It is impossible! That no man can do! it cannot be done by
+natural means!--it must be done by witchcraft and devilry!" said the
+one to the other.
+
+Drost Aagé was silent, and looked sharply and gravely at the Icelander.
+"I hold you neither for an unwise man, nor for one who would deal in
+falsehood and deceit, good Master Laurentius!" he at length began,
+"although what you tell us of your learned companion borders on the
+incredible--but are you not yourself deceived? You say you have but
+known this man of miracles a short time. In your admiration of his arts
+and his rare knowledge of the secrets of nature, you have concerned
+yourself but little about his principles and way of thinking, which,
+however, I consider to be the most important points in every man's
+character, whether he be scholar or layman. If he is not a juggler or
+braggart, I fear he is something worse. He would fain have us laymen
+believe he had found the philosopher's stone. Those who talk openly of
+such things are generally enthusiasts or impostors."
+
+"That which is above our understanding, Sir Drost," answered the
+Icelander, "we are but too apt to misjudge as folly, or the invention
+of the evil-minded--but here our own self-conceit and vanity are to
+blame. That which the wisest men in the world have so long mused upon,
+cannot assuredly be an absurd imagination, and I doubt not the
+philosopher's stone will and must one day be found--if it be not found
+already. Perhaps we may meet at Skanor fair, Sir Drost!" he added,
+rising to depart, "My learned friend and travelling companion doth not
+visit princes and nobles only--the enlightenment of the ignorant vulgar
+is a more important object to him. I accompany him as amanuensis,
+partly from a present necessity, which I blush not to acknowledge, and
+in this lay mantle, that I may not give offence to my prejudiced
+colleagues; but I learn much in this way, and, as I said--I trust to
+return more rich in knowledge from these worldly bye-paths to the
+service of St. Olaf, and to my most venerable friend and protector at
+Nidaros, who probably may soon need support in the cause against his
+unruly canons."
+
+The conversation was now broken off with the Iceland clerk, as Sir
+Helmer rushed almost breathless into the apartment. "It _was_ Kaggé!
+Drost! there is no doubt of it," exclaimed Helmer, "but, by Satan!--he
+is already on board the Rostock vessel."
+
+"Who? the dead Kaggé? dream ye, Helmer? Was it he ye meant before?"
+
+"He, and none other--the base regicide! as surely as I have eyes and
+ears. He hath both his beard and eye-brows shaved; but I know his fox's
+face and screeching voice; the dull Rostocker mentioned his name
+himself in his drunkenness, out of defiance and pride. They insulted me
+in the ancient coarse fashion I will not name, and pushed off from
+shore with the outlaw before mine eyes."
+
+"We must arrest them at Skanor tomorrow," answered Aagé, "if the
+criminal is on board the Rostock vessel, he hath now peace and respite
+of life under the Hanse flag and the Lubeck law; but whenever he sets
+foot on Danish ground he dies! Such pestilent ware no Hanseatic hath
+the privilege of unloading." They then retired to rest. The Iceland
+clerk had gone, and no more was seen of either him or the learned
+Thrand Fistlier. The account they had heard of this worker of wonders
+continued, however, till a late hour in the night, the theme of the
+knights' conversation at the drinking table.
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAP. XIV.
+
+
+Drost Aagé retired to rest in silence, but he vainly tried to sleep. He
+was uncertain whether he ought not instantly to have captured the two
+overbearing Hanseatics on the ground of their former menace at Sjöberg;
+here they were no longer ambassadors and privileged persons. If they
+had circulated false coin, and openly protected an outlaw upon Danish
+ground, they might with strict justice be called to account. The
+knowledge that the base Kaggé still lived also disquieted him; but what
+still more banished sleep from the Drost's eyes, was the idea of the
+mysterious Master Thrand, and his wondrous arts. That a human being
+possessed such a power over nature as to be able to imitate the thunder
+and lightning of the heavens, with all their terrific effects, appeared
+to him an amazing prodigy, and what the enthusiastic Master Laurentius
+had said of the still deeper views of his master--of the preservation
+of youth by a mysterious art, and of the philosopher's stone, as
+something actually existent in nature, had especially inspired the
+meditative and somewhat visionary Aagé with singular musings.
+
+The countenance and mountebank deportment of the little deformed
+philosopher, had, indeed, awakened great doubts of his honesty, and
+what Aagé had comprehended of his expressions appeared to him strange
+and confused, as opposed to what he had been piously taught in
+childhood regarding the highest and eternal truths in which, despite
+his unhappy excommunication, he had been confirmed by his confessor,
+Master Petrus de Dacia, who had succeeded in making him at peace with
+himself and the church. But the Iceland clerk's ardent enthusiasm for
+Master Thrand and his worldly wisdom had not been without its effect;
+and Aagé was forced to confess there lay an acuteness and intelligence
+in the little mountebank's eye which he had never seen equalled in any
+of the pious and learned men he knew. Laurentius's open and ingenuous
+countenance bore witness also to the truth of his testimony as to what
+he had seen and admired in the disciple of the famous Roger Bacon; and
+the longer Aagé pondered on what he had heard, the more doubts and
+strange thoughts crowded upon his mind. Master Thrand's contempt of the
+age in which he lived, and the confidence with which he expressed
+himself respecting the only true revelation of nature with which he
+was, above all, conversant, had also excited a feeling of strange and
+painful uneasiness in Aagé's mind. The melancholy knight had often,
+when oppressed by the thought of his excommunication, sought peace and
+tranquillity in the contemplation of nature in lonely nights under a
+calm and starry sky, without, however, feeling able to dispense with
+the comfort and consolation of the church. He now stood, with his arms
+folded, in his sleeping chamber, gazing out on the gloomy heavens.
+"Were it possible!" said he to himself. "Am I wandering here with all
+my contemporaries in thick darkness? Know we neither our own nature nor
+that around us? Are all our purposes and energies but as the gropings
+of the blind, without aim or object? Will the time come when children
+will jeer at us as erring fools and insane dreamers, scared by what did
+not exist, and amused by empty juggling? Can this be? Can even that
+which is most high and sacred, which we have believed in and lived for
+with our fathers--for which thousands of inspired martyrs have died
+with a halo of glory around their beaming countenances--for which our
+pilgrims and Crusaders wend to Jerusalem, and renounce all the riches
+and treasures of this world--which was the spring of action in our
+ancestors' lives as our own, and made them heroes and conquerors in
+life and death--could all that be dreaming, deception, and ignorance?
+Could the existence and achievements of whole centuries have been a
+monstrous lie? No! No! If yonder fellow be not a liar and a cheat,
+there is neither truth, nor life, nor redemption, nor salvation." He
+shrunk with horror from his own thoughts. A sound now reached his ears
+which, at this moment, almost struck him with dismay. He fancied he
+once more heard the voice of the mysterious stranger close beside him.
+
+"Darest thou not yet face the naked truth? my dear Laurentius!" sounded
+the shrill voice of the philosopher, slowly and solemnly through the
+thin wooden partition of the adjoining chamber. "Dost thou dread to
+enter into the holy calling of a Leccar Brother, and priest of nature?
+Dost thou tremble at an initiation into the great church of the world,
+of which we are all originally priests; we who have eyes for truth, and
+courage to announce it, despite the repeated outcry of the fools of
+thirteen centuries! Look, I open unto thee the great sanctuary in the
+name of truth and science, and in the sight of that deity who dwells in
+the breast of the initiated. Cast off the miserable prejudices of thy
+time! Throw down the phantom thou callest the Church, and a saving
+faith, with the same strength with which thou hast rejected the
+senseless fables of heathenism! Cast off all that was not given thee
+when thou becamest a human being! Rid thyself of all exploded and worn
+out doctrines--cast off the whole puerile tissue of phantasms and
+visions of crude ages, which thou callest Revelation! Divest thyself of
+thy preconceptions regarding the essence of things, and of all the pomp
+and imagery thou callest poetry! Then gaze freely around thee, and tell
+me what remains!"
+
+"Nothing! nothing! learned master!" answered the voice of the young
+Icelander, in a desponding tone.
+
+"Yes, assuredly!" was the answer; "thou thyself remainest, and great
+eternal nature, and, if thou wilt, a great and mighty deity, which is
+the soul and life of this nature of which thou art thyself a part--all
+truth, all wisdom lie slumbering and buried there. Wake it if thou
+canst! Call forth deity in thyself and in nature! Rule it by that
+mighty art! Ask boldly, and force it to respond!"
+
+"That I am not able to do, my wise master!" said the voice of the young
+Icelander, within the partition; "but could I wake lifeless nature, and
+force her to solve the mysteries I gaze upon, would she answer aught
+else than what the dead have ever answered the living, what the dead
+Vola[11] answered Odin in our ancient poems, what the spirit of Samuel
+answered Saul in the presence of the Witch of Endor:--'Thou shalt die!
+to-morrow thou shalt die!'"
+
+"Well," resumed the philosopher, "were the answer not much more
+cheering, if it were but truth could a philosopher, a Leccar Brother, a
+priest of nature and truth demand or wish it otherwise? You _will_ have
+flattery, you _will_ all of you be cheated and deceived--therefore you
+cling so fast to that flattering lie, but hate and persecute truth as
+ungodliness, heresy, or devilry--therefore are popes and bishops, like
+the prophets and evangelists of old, still able to lead the whole human
+race blindfold round in an eternal circle of error from one age to
+another until they have their eyes opened, and see that they stand
+where their blind fathers stood, by the closed book of nature, which
+amid their dreaming they have forgotten to open through the lapse of
+ages. Look! there thou standest, my pupil! and art ready to despair,
+because all that fair jugglery hath vanished and been blown away by my
+breath as it were a spider's web, or bubbles of air! and thou seest
+nought but one enormous lifeless body which I call nature.--But look!
+the lifeless body wakes! 'Tis deity, and yet our slave,--obedient to
+the mightier manifestation of deity within us. Only through our means
+can nature's deity awake to consciousness and self-knowledge. In us,
+and in our will alone lives the only true God we should obey. Courage,
+Laurentius!--courage! Truth must make its way--the slumbering and
+disguised god of nature must be wakened and unveiled. It must open to
+us its vast recesses, it must restore to us what it hath robbed and
+hidden--the philosopher's stone must be found, even though its workings
+should seem to us eternal death and petrifaction."
+
+All was again hushed in the adjoining chamber; Aagé had thrown open a
+window, and the cool night air streamed in upon him; the sky had become
+clear--Aagé raised his eyes towards the starry vault, he grasped the
+cross-hilt of his sword, a heavy load oppressed his heart, he bent his
+knee in silent devotion, and rose, feeling that his prayer was answered
+by the return of a calm and cheerful frame of mind. "To God be thanks
+and praise! I know better however," he said, with a feeling of
+consolation. "He, within there, is a liar and deceiver, as surely as
+_He_ above is love itself! and He whom He sent unto us was the way, the
+truth, and the life!" Aagé was now about to betake himself to rest, but
+the voice of the learned Master Thrand again caught his ear. The young
+Icelander he heard no more. German was now spoken, but in a low
+whispering tone, and the talk seemed to be on worldly matters. Aagé
+tried not to overhear anything; it was repugnant to his feelings, and
+appeared to him dishonourable and unworthy, to become a concealed
+witness to the secrets of others. He thought of knocking to give notice
+of his presence and the thinness of the partition; but, at this moment,
+he heard the name of "Grand" mentioned, and he started. The whispering
+continued for a long time afterwards, and he caught words which caused
+him the greatest uneasiness. The talk was of the king and Junker
+Christopher, of the outlaws, of death, and downfall; but what it was he
+could neither hear nor comprehend, with any distinctness. At last all
+became silent. He conjectured that his foreign neighbour had left the
+inn, and towards morning Aagé fell asleep. When he was awakened at dawn
+by his squire, in order to embark in a Swedish vessel, he had dreamt
+the most marvellous things. He fancied he had beheld an entirely
+changed world; without monasteries and monks, without fortified
+castles, without the images of the Madonna and the saints, without
+kings and thrones, even without women and children, and with nothing
+but men, with keen staring eyes and diminutive and deformed bodies,
+like Master Thrand's. At last it seemed to him that the sun was burnt
+out and hung, like a great black coal, over his head; that the moon and
+all the stars were pulled down and used instead of stones, for fences
+and inclosures round small withered cabbage gardens. All trees and
+flowers were torn up and peeled into fibres; all birds and animals lay
+slaughtered and cut open; and the little hump-backed men sat, with
+great spectacles, examining the putrified carcases. All that he
+beheld,--the whole subverted and disjointed world, seemed to him at
+last metamorphosed into one enormous mass of stone, and a terrific
+voice sounded over the petrified world, and cried "Behold! _This_ is
+thy world! _this_ is thy God! _this_ is the philosopher's stone!" Amid
+his dismay at hearing this voice, Aagé awakened, just as his brisk
+squire knocked at his door, still so confused by his dream that he
+could not distinguish between what he had dreamed, and what he thought
+he had heard from behind the partition.
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAP. XV.
+
+
+At the fair of Skanor a great number of persons of all classes were
+assembled. It was thronged with skippers and merchants from every part
+of the world, but especially from Hamburgh, Lubeck, Rostock, Deventer,
+and Overyssel. These last were chiefly dealers in spices. They brought
+hither the most costly groceries to market from Venice and Genoa: wares
+were here to be seen even from India, Persia, and Egypt, which these
+enterprising traders had brought down the Rhine, and with which they
+journeyed to northern lands. Here lay many English vessels laden with
+wine; but what especially struck the eye were the splendid assortments
+of cloths, of all colours, which waved like flags from the vessels in
+the harbour, and lay in large bales in the streets under tents or
+wooden sheds.
+
+The situation of Skanor was advantageous for trade. The town extended
+quite to the shore of the coast of Skania, between Falsterbo and
+Malmoe. It lay to the north of Falsterbo, and was both larger and much
+more ancient than that town. Over the gate of the place was a stone
+with an inscription, in the ancient Scanian language, which bore
+witness to the antiquity of the town, and which afterwards ran thus in
+more modern rhyme:
+
+
+           "Lund and Skanor throve apace,
+            When Christ appeared to bring us grace."
+
+
+The great fairs of the town were particularly famed, and, during
+fair-time, many persons crossed over from Zealand. On the whole the
+intercourse between Scania and the Danish provinces was far more
+frequent than in aftertime, when this beautiful province, which bore
+the closest affinity to Zealand, was dismembered from the kingdom. Amid
+the crowd of visitors at the fair were seen knights, monks, and
+burghers of towns, both from Zealand and Scania, among peasants,
+knights' ladies, and gaily-attired dairy and kitchen maids from the
+nearest lordly castles, as well as ragged beggars and pretty country
+maidens, in the national costumes of Scania and Halland. The fair was
+thronged with musicians and jugglers of all kinds. Rosaries and little
+images of saints were exposed for sale by the side of every description
+of worldly wares and foreign luxuries.
+
+Over the two best stocked and most frequented booths at the fair, waved
+Henrik Gullandsfar's and Berner Kopmand's well-known flag and sign--a
+griffin and a dragon, with a bundle of lances tied together, and with
+the Lubek charter in their claws, defending their treasures against a
+troop of robbers in knightly attire, and ridiculously caricatured.
+These great merchants who had their agents, or resident grocers'
+apprentices, in the town, did not attend the sale of their goods in
+person, but were present at the unloading of their ships, to watch that
+no toll was demanded, contrary to the privileges of trade. The sound of
+music and dancing was heard in the taverns, and all places of
+entertainment. German ale and wine were poured out in abundance for the
+rich guests at the fair, while the poorer were content with Scanian and
+Zealand ale. Towards evening many drunken persons were to be seen; here
+and there disputes and fights occurred, and the provost with the
+watchmen and armed constables of the town were often forced to
+interfere.
+
+What attracted most attention at Skanor fair at this time was a booth
+hung with coloured lamps, close to the quay, where fireworks were
+exhibited, together with many new and curious sights, at which the
+spectators wondered and crossed themselves as though they beheld the
+delusions of the evil one. Here the learned Master Thrand had erected
+his optical theatre. He stood himself on a raised platform and
+harangued the mob on the excellence of his masterpieces, and their
+great superiority over all the relics, amulets, and false panacea with
+which people suffered themselves to be imposed upon by unlearned
+mountebanks and jugglers. He chiefly extolled his arts as being
+innocent, and grounded on the principles of nature; and invited the
+unprejudiced and sensible public to draw nearer, and attend to what he
+(rather, he said, for the sake of science and truth, than for worldly
+gain) was about to expound and exhibit. His admirer, the young Master
+Laurentius, who, in his red lay-mantle, was not suspected to be an
+ecclesiastic, zealously assisted him as an amanuensis, and collected
+from time to time in his hat, money from the spectators, but in a
+manner which showed that he was ashamed of this employment; to which,
+however, he had doubtless (though with another and more pious aim) been
+accustomed, when on the anniversaries of the dedication of St. Olaf's
+church at Nidaros, he had, as p[oe]nitentarius, collected alms for the
+treasury of the church.
+
+Close by the booth of the distinguished and learned mountebank stood a
+light, under the image of the Madonna, in a little stone-walled chapel,
+where was also an iron-bound poor-box nailed fast upon a block. No
+merchant or skipper went to or from his ship without first kneeling
+here and depositing a piece of money in the box for the poor, and for
+the treasury of the Holy Virgin. In the evening there stood by this
+chapel, which went by the name of the Quay Chapel, Sir Helmer Blaa,
+who, with the Drost's squire Canute of Fyen, and some young knights of
+Aagé's train, kept a sharp look out on every one who came up from the
+quay. The wind had been contrary all day, and the merchants were just
+come on shore. Berner Kopmand's Rostock vessel lay at anchor before
+them in the harbour. It had reached Skanor with a fair wind ere
+day-break. The indefatigable owner of the vessel had been on board the
+whole day superintending the unlading of the cargo, and ere it was
+dark, Sir Helmer thought he saw the outlawed fugitive on deck by his
+side. In case of the criminal's venturing to land preparations had been
+made for his seizure, with the knowledge of the provost; but the
+fugitive seemed not to purpose quitting his place of refuge. After
+vespers, however, Berner Kopmand and Henrik Gullandsfar landed with
+great parade, and a considerable train of armed seamen. They omitted
+not to cross themselves at the chapel, and to throw a loud-chinking
+offering into the poor-box, as they passed by the knights with an air
+of proud defiance.
+
+"How many false silver coins think ye are now in that box?" said Sir
+Helmer, aloud. The heavy Rostocker turned towards him with a look of
+rage; but Gullandsfar nudged his elbow with a grave look, and they
+passed on. Helmer and the other young knights followed them, and seemed
+to have a great desire to chastise their arrogance.
+
+Drost Aagé had not neglected to attend Thrand Fistlier's performances,
+and the optic theatre with which he entertained the astonished visitors
+at the fair. He had bought of the artist some of his most remarkable
+and valuable inventions, and gained information of their application
+and use. He could not refuse his admiration to what he here saw of the
+famous discoveries of Roger Bacon, and observed the whole exhibition
+with attention. It consisted chiefly of small optical cases in which
+the powers of the magnifying glass were applied in a manner hitherto
+unknown in the North, and by which the artist excited great
+astonishment. What was seen in these boxes was not only the
+transformation of small animals into monsters, but even a figurative
+metamorphosis of the world in Master Thrand's own taste:--saints and
+martyrs, miraculous sights, and legendary pictures, processions of
+monks with the Host, the banners of the Madonna, and crucifixes, were
+represented in a ridiculous manner by the side of all the Grecian and
+Roman gods with their profanest love adventures. All this passed in dim
+caricature before the eyes of the spectators, and gave place at last to
+a number of dazzling allegorical figures, intended to represent Wisdom,
+Philosophy, Freedom, Burgher Commerce, Political Economy, The Study of
+Nature, and other subjects of the same kind. As soon as it grew
+sufficiently dark for the purpose, Master Thrand exhibited small
+burning wheels, stars, and suns with many-coloured rays, which flew
+with a clear light into the air, and suddenly exploded with a slight
+report.
+
+The Drost considered this last exhibition both beautiful and
+remarkable; all these things, however, were but trifles compared with
+what Master Laurentius had related of the matchless and wondrous feats
+which this mountebank was capable of performing. The sight of the small
+stars and suns which flew up over the sea and burst in the calm evening
+sky, afforded endless amusement to the spectators, to whom it seemed an
+entirely novel and incomprehensible phenomenon; but the people's
+admiration of this dazzling diversion as well as the beautiful
+fantastic spectacle itself in its aërial theatre, threw Aagé into a
+singularly pensive mood.
+
+This glimpse of a new and secret art, whose vast and hidden workings he
+had already heard mentioned, struck him as being the forerunner of that
+new era announced by the mysterious artist, in which all opinions and
+ideas should be reformed and enlarged, and all that was ancient should
+vanish like the mimic suns and stars now waning and disappearing over
+the sea. Aagé could not forget the strange conversations he had heard
+between the artist and his pupil, of the delusive dream in which the
+whole Christian world was wandering. In the learned Master Thrand's
+peculiar conception of the doctrine of the notorious Leccar Brethren he
+saw but a haughty and contumacious insanity, which, should it ever
+become dominant, would subvert all that was beautiful and true, and
+sacred upon earth; his own dream of the petrified world was still
+fearfully present to his recollection. The noise and joyousness of the
+crowd became almost painful to him. At last he sought relief and
+freedom from these distressing thoughts in the little chapel of the
+quay. He bent his knee before the painted wooden image of the Madonna,
+who was here represented as usual with the child in her arms, and the
+globe of the world with a cross upon it, like a ball and sceptre in the
+child's hand. Aagé had folded his hands in prayer, but as he turned his
+eyes on the image, it was suddenly illuminated by a ball of fire sent
+up from the artist's booth. The Madonna's image appeared to him in the
+vivid flash of light like a horribly grinning idol--at the same moment
+he heard a loud report in the air, resembling a clap of thunder,
+followed by shrieks of terror from women and children. The little
+chapel shook; the ancient worm-eaten image of the Virgin tottered, and
+fell down at his feet. He started up, and rushed out of the chapel. The
+joyousness of the people was changed to fear and wrath. Some women had
+fainted; the life of one had been seriously endangered; a Capuchin's
+beard had been singed by the explosion. "Witchcraft! Sorcery!" was
+re-echoed in the crowd. "Stone him!--Burn him! the accursed wizard! He
+is a heretic!" cried some. "He hath said he will draw off all
+worshippers from our Lady and the saints--he saith he will match his
+thunders against the Lord's himself.--Stone him! Burn him! Cast him
+upon the beach! Tear down the wizard's house!"
+
+Amid all this commotion the enraged mob rushed upon the pyrotechnist's
+booth. The hapless little artist had hid himself with his amanuensis
+among some large boxes in an adjacent booth. Two of the enraged mob and
+a lay brother drew them forth from under the planks of the broken-down
+booth to give them up to the maltreatment of the mob. The provost and
+constables vainly strove to hinder these acts of violence. At last
+Drost Aagé stepped forth, and cried in an authoritative voice, "Stop
+there, countrymen! Peace here, in the king's name! Secure these
+jugglers, but injure not a hair of their heads. They shall be judged
+and punished according to the law of the land if they cannot give
+account of themselves. What they have shewn us was done by natural
+means, my friends! These people know more than we do of the powers of
+nature; but they abuse their wisdom by boasting and juggling, and by
+scoffing at sacred things."
+
+As soon as they heard the name of the king, and recognised his and the
+nation's favourite, the enraged mob was pacified. Thrand Fistlier and
+his amanuensis were instantly seized by the constables and conducted to
+the quay, with all their effects; followed by a great throng of people.
+Drost Aagé followed them himself on board a royal vessel, which was to
+sail next day to Helsingborg, and the captain, with his armed seamen,
+received orders to protect the captives from all injury.
+
+As soon as the captive mountebank heard he was in safety, but was to be
+taken as a prisoner to a fortress, he looked around him with a proud
+smile, "My noble persecuted master was right," he said. "The age is not
+sufficiently matured for us and our compeers. It is dangerous to be
+wise among fools; even the least glimpse of the light which is to
+appear is, as yet, too strong for these weak-sighted barbarians. It is
+not the first time a great genius hath appeared a century too soon!"
+
+"Silence, wretched juggler!" said Aagé. "The great man whom thou
+dishonourest, by calling thy master, was a wise and pious monk, I have
+been told, but no juggler and self-appointed priest. Thank the holy
+Virgin and her Son, whom thou deniest, for thy life to-day! It is not
+for thy wisdom, but for thy folly, and the confusion thou wouldest
+spread among the people, that I have caused thee to be bound."
+
+Ere Aagé quitted the vessel he took Master Laurentius aside, and gazed
+on him with a look of thoughtful interest. "You are too good to be this
+juggler's attendant and apprentice," he said; "your blind admiration
+for his knowledge of the perishing things of time, hath caused you to
+deny and dishonour your own holy calling, and the high vocation to
+which you are dedicated. St. Olaf, and the souls entrusted to you, you
+have deserted for this deformed artificer of hell-fire. From want and
+need you shall no longer be necessitated thus to degrade yourself. The
+captain of the vessel hath orders to care for your requirements; at
+Helsingborg he will provide you with suitable priest's attire, and
+money for your journey. To save your life, Master Laurentius, I have
+been forced to use you more hardly than I wished. When you arrive at
+Helsingborg, you are free and your own master; but your suspicious
+companion must, as a state prisoner, tarry the king's coming, and
+justify himself before him, if he can do so. It is known to me that he
+is a Leccar brother; as such it is forbidden to him to rove the country
+at large and mislead the people. I know, also, he wishes you to join
+his sect; but, I conjure you by that Almighty Lord and Master you have
+been near betraying--draw back, good Master Laurentius, and preserve
+your immortal soul! It hath assuredly a higher and a worthier calling,
+if your countenance and warm enthusiasm for what is beautiful and true
+have not deceived me. The Lord be with you! farewell!" Aagé quitted the
+ship without awaiting an answer from the deeply agitated youth, whose
+eyes were suffused with tears, and who vainly strove to reach him his
+fettered hand.
+
+The Drost rowed back to Skanor. It was dark night, and there was a
+great stir and tumult on the quay. A quarrel and serious affray had
+arisen between the Drost's knights and the Hanseatic merchants, who had
+been chased from the inn and had taken flight towards the harbour.
+Berner Kopmand and Henrik Gullandsfar, with their armed seamen, laid
+furiously about them, but could not compete in the dexterous use of
+their weapons with Sir Helmer and the other incensed young knights, who
+were supported by the Skanor burghers. "Cut the forgers down! The
+cheats! The overbearing dogs!" they shouted. "They have brought false
+coin here to the fair--they have outlaws on board!" The affray was
+serious and bloody. The Hanseatics withdrew, fighting, to their boats.
+It was impossible for Aagé to restore peace. The foreign merchants and
+the greater part of their seamen at last escaped to their ships, under
+cover of the night. They instantly hoisted sail. It was not until they
+were in the open sea that the knights missed Sir Helmer and the Drost's
+most active squire, Canute of Fyen.
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAP. XVI.
+
+
+Drost Aagé was compelled to prosecute his journey early the next
+morning, without having been able to discover Sir Helmer and the
+squire. When Aagé and the royal halberdiers left Skanor, they were
+followed through the streets by a great crowd of persons. It appeared
+that the burghers had learned, or conjectured, the object of this showy
+procession.
+
+The ballad, "For Eric the youthful king!" was as popular in Scania as
+in Denmark. "Long live king Eric and his true men!" shouted the crowd.
+"Bring him and Denmark a second Dagmar, good sirs!"
+
+Aagé rejoiced at these tokens of the disposition of the brave Scanians;
+but he entertained little hope of a happy result from his embassy, and
+he was under great anxiety for the fate of the brave Sir Helmer and his
+own alert and trusty squire. Two of his other squires, and three of the
+young knights remained dangerously wounded at Skanor.
+
+Sir Helmer, and his companions, had followed the bragging Rostocker and
+his seamen to their inn. They had unanimously resolved with their own
+hands to chastise and humble the overbearing Hanseatics. While at the
+inn the Drost's squire had displayed a false coin, with which one of
+the lower class had been imposed upon in Berner Kopmand's booth, and it
+was affirmed the Rostockers had brought with them whole chests of such
+money. It was conjectured, and with reason, that this false money was
+coined by the outlaws, who the preceding year had captured some of the
+king's chief coiners. Complaints of false coin had frequently been made
+before, and now that it was heard the Rostockers imported them by
+bushels, the indignation instantly became great and general, and a
+fight soon commenced with the foreign merchants and skippers. When the
+Hanseatics were chased from the quay of Skanor, Sir Helmer had eagerly
+pursued the armed seamen, and had assisted in rolling into the sea some
+chests containing their bad money; at last, accompanied by the Drost's
+squire, the daring Canute, he had sprung after them into the boat to
+hinder their flight; but here they were overpowered by numbers, and
+dragged captive on board the Rostock vessel.
+
+Sorely wounded, and with hands and feet fast bound, Helmer and his
+companion were thrown down into the ship's hold. Here they lay the
+whole night among a number of ale barrels, firkins of salt, and sacks
+of groceries, which had not been unladen. The vessel rolled heavily;
+the weather had become boisterous, and those on board seemed only
+busied in saving ship and goods. At length the weather grew calmer. The
+strong motion of the ship ceased; it glided slowly and almost
+imperceptibly forward, and all became quiet on deck. The wearied seamen
+appeared to sleep. Sir Helmer now perceived a faint light above his
+head. He thought it was daylight; but soon discovered it was the moon
+shining in upon him through a chink in the ship's hatches directly
+above him. He presently heard the voices of two men in the stillness of
+the night; and recognised the tones of Berner Kopmand and Henrik
+Gullandsfar. "I cannot sleep for wrath and wound-smarting," growled the
+Rostocker. "Lo! this is the free trade and security one has to expect
+when a greenhorn sits on the throne, and justice lies in the knights'
+lances. Pestilence and destruction on the whole pack of puffed-up
+aristocrats! The accursed sycophants and slaves of kings and tyrants!
+They would have it _seem_ as if they protected the people and the
+burghers--pshaw! It is but for themselves and their high master they
+fight. Had I not spoken those bold words against their strutting
+knight-king at Sjöborg, nor had that piece of royal game of an outlaw
+on board, our money would surely have been as good ware as before. They
+are a vile robber pack, the whole set of them that call themselves
+knights and noble, as well here as in Germany--as long as there are
+thrones and knights' castles left, neither trade nor burghership can
+thrive. So soon as the sun rises those two jackanapes we laid hold of
+shall dangle at the yard-arm."
+
+"Hearest thou, countryman?" whispered Helmer in the hold to his
+fellow-prisoner, "that concerns us two; a pleasant prospect! Could we
+but sink the ship and drown the braggart grocers we could go down to our
+home with some sort of pleasure."
+
+"That would be truly but a sorry jest, and a slender satisfaction. Sir
+Helmer; still, it would be better than to let oneself be hanged by
+those rascals," answered the squire. "I have torn the skin off my left
+hand," he continued; "but it can slip well enough out of the knot. If I
+am allowed but half an hour for it our bonds shall be loosened. I have
+a good clasp knife in my pocket; yonder lies a good ship's auger, and
+an axe; many a hearty blow shall be dealt ere they get the halter round
+our necks."
+
+"The Lord and St. George assist us!" whispered Helmer, breathing hard,
+"if I 'scape hence alive, and see my dear Anna again," he added, with a
+smothered sigh, "I promise St. George a new altar-table, and every
+bottle-nosed Hanseatic I meet a broken head!"
+
+"'Tis a pious vow, noble sir!" whispered the squire, "you will see it
+will help us. Now my hand slides out of the knot; but it pinches hard."
+
+"Hush!" whispered Helmer, rolling himself nearer to the chink in the
+hatches.
+
+"I ever told you it was a bad business with that money-trading, and
+that coining with the outlaws," now said the smoother, toned voice of
+Henrik Gullandsfar above the knight's head. "No clear profit is ever
+got by such dealings; it lessens faith, and rarely pays in the long
+run, Master Berner! No! with _pure_ gold and silver might we rule the
+world; and sober prudence would sway the gold sceptre--that I have ever
+said. With a little less eagerness we should, perhaps, have made a
+better market in Scania; but you will drive everything through with
+might, Master Berner!"
+
+"Might against might! that was ever my word in the covenant: there may
+be something in what you say," answered the Rostocker, "of the gold and
+silver sceptre; it may just as well, however, be alloyed with a little
+copper or tin, when none perceive it; but with pure sharp steel it must
+be defended. Ere we can lay the sword in the balance against all the
+crowns and armorial bearings in the world, our proud plan is but a
+glittering castle in the air."
+
+"Give time, Master Berner," resumed Gullandsfar; "the great Rome was
+not built in one day, yet she became the ruler of the world. Let us
+first rid the seas and the highways of petty robbers, and then we may
+let fly at the great in their castles and thrones. Let us first get
+possession of the sea! then shall it overflow the earth with our waves!
+It shall heap us up mountains of gold, and wash away every castle and
+throne that stands in our way. We Wisbye men lie very close to the King
+of Denmark; we must be cautious, even though as prudent merchants
+we give patriotism to death and the devil. You Rostockers are too
+hot-headed; one should not break too soon with authorities. The menace
+at Sjöberg was a stupid trick: I did but assent to it, and was silent
+for your sake. It never answers to bluster and threaten unless one can
+fight at the same time; and it answers just as little to fight, unless
+we know we are the strongest."
+
+"Out upon your caution!" growled the Rostocker. "We have power already
+if we will but use it; we may have as many souls in our service as we
+can pay for."
+
+"Men's souls are dear merchandise," observed Gullandsfar; "and besides
+it easily corrupts and spoils. How many marks of pure silver hath not
+that miserable fellow on the quarter deck yonder already cost you?
+And he is, after all, but a villanous outlaw and renegade from our
+high-born deadly foes. That pack no wise burgher should count on."
+
+"Such a fellow is worth his weight in gold," said the Rostocker with a
+laugh. "Mark! those aristocratic vermin shall now devour each other. A
+dishonoured and death-doomed knight, without castle and lands, whose
+honour and name have been scalded off him may be the best king-killer
+one could have; he, yonder, is practised in the trade! He was in
+Finnerup barn. I will let him loose in the harbour! I will smuggle him
+in among our agents--there will soon be troubled waters to fish in. The
+crowned green-horn shall not have turned his back on us at Sjöberg for
+nothing. Mark! he shall have other things to think on than keeping his
+bridal in the summer."
+
+"We are not authorised by the covenant to go so far as that, however,
+Master Berner," remarked Gullandsfar. "What yon dishonoured knight may
+have to avenge is his own concern; his and your secret trade concerns
+not the league; I would rather have nothing to do with that smuggling
+traffic. When the prosperity of the league, and a great and matchless
+plan like ours is in question, we should wisely set aside private
+revenge, and all petty personal views."
+
+"Do you slink? Are you afraid, Master colleague?" growled Berner
+Kopmand, beginning to talk loud. "Let not that concern _you_ my wise
+Master Henrik! You need not tell an old reckoner what is small and what
+is great. I can as well as you make a difference between what I
+undertake in the Hanse-towns' name, and what I risk in my own. If I
+reckon wrong, the loss is Berner Kopmand's. I know what that man can
+stand; and you are right--the covenant hath naught to do with it!"
+
+"If it fails, it may however injure our trade and enterprises in great
+matters," replied Henrik Gullandsfar in a tone of calm calculation.
+"Consider the point well, Master Berner! All ports are now open to us;
+the king is proud and authoritative, but nevertheless he favours us far
+more than we could expect from his policy. Our 'prentices and agents
+are protected in the sea-ports--our trade is as free and untaxed here
+as any where--it hath not struck any one but the king himself that the
+road to salt and pepper, to ale and German cloth, as we heard from his
+own lips, is equally broad and convenient for all, and Danish corn and
+cattle will give a good return, and pay both wages and taxes. St.
+Nicolas and St. Hermes be thanked! the _navigation is ours_. _They are
+too dull and lazy to understand their own interests_. The peasant is
+content with small beer, and the citizen with skim milk, and they let
+us run off with the ale and the cream; but if you make good your
+threat, secretly or openly, and if anything a little too notorious
+chances here, in which the Hanse have lot or part, people's eyes may be
+opened, and our trading dominion is at an end here in the north."
+
+"The eyes which might be most dangerous to us were they wide open, are
+just those I would have shut," muttered the Rostocker. "Greater service
+could none do the Hanse in these kingdoms and lands,--but silence! What
+is that? I heard something move under us. The captives are surely not
+loose?"
+
+"The captives! Death and misfortune!" exclaimed Henrik. "Have they cast
+them into the hold? Then perhaps they now know more than any living
+soul must carry farther."
+
+"It matters not, Master colleague," said the Rostocker with a scornful
+laugh, "they shall not carry it farther, however, than to the yard-arm!
+Now doth the sun rise red as pure gold--that sight they shall see for
+the last time. Ho! steersman!" he shouted, "how far are we?"
+
+"If a breeze springs up, we shall reach Kallebo ere it rings to mass in
+Copenhagen, Master!" answered a hoarse voice at the helm.
+
+"That's well! Then we will keep mattins and ship's law on our own
+ground, ere the Bishop takes Lubeck law out of our hands. Up! all
+hands! Ring the great bell!"
+
+The sound of a brass bell instantly assembled all the seamen upon deck.
+
+"Bring the prisoners up here, boatswain!" continued the captain of the
+vessel. "Sing out, fellows! Shout forth the poor sinners' vigil. Let
+the Danish scoundrels hear we are good Christians! and let their
+houndish souls go to hell amid song and clang!"
+
+While the ship's crew with a fearful bellowing chaunted a sort of hymn
+on the departure of sinners from the world, and two sturdy fellows in
+tarry jackets coolly fastened two ropes to the yard-arm, the hatches of
+the ship's hold were opened and the boatswain went below with two armed
+men. Cries and tumult were heard in the hold; all became instantly
+quiet again, but neither the boatswain nor the two men returned.
+
+"What is this?" exclaimed Berner Kopmand in dismay. "What is become of
+them? Those Danish hell-hounds must be loose! Down after them fellows!
+Bring them up here dead or alive! Hence! below! or ye shall be scourged
+at the mast!"
+
+The whole ship's crew were in commotion; they flocked to the hatchway,
+but none seemed to like to go below, despite the threats of the stern
+captain.
+
+"The first who sets foot here below dies!" said Sir Helmer's voice from
+the hold. "Ere, I and my comrade will let our necks be twisted by your
+grocer hands, by St. Michael and his flaming sword! ye shall all of ye
+go with us to the bottom of the sea--Any moment I please every soul of
+us shall perish. We have bored a ground-leak--we loosen ye a plank with
+a single pull."
+
+"That devil of a fellow!" cried the Rostocker, growing deadly pale, "he
+hath us all in his power. What are we to do?"
+
+"We must treat with them," answered Gullandsfar. "Aside all men! Let me
+speak with that worthy knight. This is doubtless a little stratagem of
+war, noble Sir knight!" began Master Henrik, courteously; "but since we
+cannot search into the matter without peril of our lives we will submit
+to necessity, and acknowledge you have this once very craftily ensnared
+us. What have ye done to our three men, noble sir?"
+
+"They have met with their deserts, and lie here stone dead," answered
+the knight. "Thus it shall fare with all of ye--if ye will fight with
+us fairly, three at once, we will encounter on dry boards; but if more
+come, the sea shall help us. Throw us our own good swords below
+instantly! or we will try who best can swim."
+
+"You have won back your freedom with honour, noble sir!" answered
+Gullandsfar, "If ye would believe my word you might safely come here
+among us; we are peaceable people, and purpose not to measure our skill
+in arms with yours. Your swords shall instantly be returned to you;
+but upon one condition, noble knight--you must only use the sword in
+self-defence, and not to assault any of us as long as you are here on
+board; for this I demand your knightly word of Honour."
+
+"That I promise on my faith and honour," cried Helmer,--and two swords
+were instantly thrown down to them.
+
+"We will set you unscathed on shore at Copenhagen, noble sir,"
+continued Henrik Gullandsfar, "provided you promise to be silent
+concerning what you perhaps may have heard and perceived, which might
+get us into disfavour in high places, or injure our trade and
+enterprises."
+
+"I leave grocers and pettifoggers to wage war with the tongue,"
+answered the knight haughtily. "What I have heard of your fine plans
+and projects I deem not worth wasting one word upon; but from this hour
+I defy you all to the death.--Until I set foot on shore you are
+unmolested; but from the moment we separate broken heads will be the
+consequence of our meeting."
+
+"That is but natural," returned Gullandsfar. "We accept your proffer in
+the first instance; keep but quiet! In a few hours you will be on
+shore."
+
+There was a murmur of dissatisfaction and uneasiness on board the
+vessel. Some of the boldest seamen grumbled at the shameful peace with
+the two captives. They blamed Henrik Gullandsfar for cowardice and
+treachery; but none cared to go down into the hold, and dare an
+encounter with the redoubted captives, who had both ship and crew in
+their power. At last, however, they submitted to necessity. Berner
+Kopmand had lost the use of his tongue, and the discreet Master Henrik
+had taken the command of the ship. He ordered every one to go quietly
+about their business, and was obeyed without any objections being made.
+The captain himself stood on the forecastle, with rolling eyes and
+crimson cheeks. He concealed with his large person a man in a black
+priestly mantle, who conversed with him in a low tone, and kept his
+back constantly turned towards the stern. A fresh breeze had sprung up.
+The wind was favourable, and ere noon the vessel glided into Kallebo
+strand, between the Isle of Amak and the green pastures of the village
+of Solbierg, which occupied the whole of the western side where the
+suburb of Copenhagen, Vesterbro, was afterwards built. It was a fine
+spring day. The proud castle of Axelhuus[12] rose towards the east in
+the sunshine, with its circular walls and its two round towers, and was
+mirrored in the surrounding waters. The castle lay apart from the town,
+without any bridge, and was only accessible by boats. Behind the castle
+island were two other small islands, almost covered with buildings,
+whither boats were constantly plying. The one was the abode of the
+stationary skippers, and on the other (Bremen Island) the warehouses of
+the Bremen merchants seemed to tower in emulation of the castle of
+Axelhuus itself. The Rostock vessel steered not to the great haven,
+from which the city afterwards derived its name, but ran into the
+Catsound, on both sides of which were seen a number of small houses of
+frame-work, the walls of which were plastered with clay, and the roofs
+thatched with straw and reeds; between the houses were cabbage gardens
+and orchards, with wooden fences, or thorn hedges; and in the
+neighbourhood of the quay was seen the little church of St. Clement.
+
+
+
+                               FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 1: The word Runes is here used in its original
+signification,--that of mystery or secret. Each letter of the Runic
+alphabet was supposed to possess a mysterious and magical power. In the
+Scandinavian mythology, each Rune was originally dedicated to some
+deity; it also denoted some natural quality or object: their Asiatic
+origin is now proved beyond doubt. There is a remarkable poem in the
+elder Edda--the Song of Brynhildé, in which mention is made of several
+kinds of Runes. Among them may be classed numerous amulets of most of
+the Asiatic tribes, as well as of the Egyptians, Greeks, &c., on which
+these characters were cut or traced. The custom among sailors of
+marking their skins with letters and devices may clearly be traced to
+Runic origin, and the tattooing among savage tribes is evidently
+similarly derived. In Wilson's account of the Pelew Islands, King Abba
+Thulé is represented as tattooed with two crosses on the breast and two
+on one shoulder, with a snake, and these distinct northern Runes
+[Illustration of rune]. In the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth
+centuries, when superstition dragged her victims to the stake
+throughout all Christian Europe, the use of Runes became an especial
+object for the persecutions exercised by the authorities and clergy of
+Iceland,--the word Rune there signifying a mysterious and magical
+character. The songs of the Finns and Laps, which are supposed by them
+to possess magic powers, are still called Runes.--_Translator_. Vide
+_Professor Finn Magnussen's Notes to the Elder Edda_, vol. iii.]
+
+[Footnote 2: King Eric the Sixth of Denmark, surnamed Plough Penny, the
+son and successor of Valdemar the Victorious, was murdered by the
+command of his brother, Junker Abel, Duke of Slesvig, under
+circumstances of peculiar atrocity, on the 4th of August, 1250. Abel
+had frequently rebelled against his brother; but at last finding that
+his forces were unequal to the contest, he had recourse to stratagem,
+and made overtures of friendship to Eric, who gladly accepted them, and
+hesitated not to visit his brother at one of his palaces in Slesvig.
+After an apparently cordial reception, however, the duke contrived to
+turn the conversation on their former feuds, and reproached the king
+with having devastated his territories, saying, "Dost thou not remember
+how thou didst plunder my town of Slesvig, and compel my daughter to
+fly barefoot to a place of shelter? Thou shalt not do so twice." Eric
+was then seized and led to the river Slie, where he was placed in a
+boat, beheaded, and his body sunk by stones into the deepest part of
+the stream. In order to cover this crime, Duke Abel and twenty-four of
+his knights, according to the usage of those times, endeavoured to
+clear themselves of suspicion, by solemnly affirming that the king had
+met with his death by the upsetting of the boat, but two months
+afterwards the headless trunk floated to the river side, and the murder
+became known. The body was deposited in St. Benedict's church at
+Ringsted, where the Translator not long ago was shown one of the bones
+through an aperture of the walled-up niche.]
+
+[Footnote 3: The placing runes upon the tongue was employed in Runic
+magic to waken the dead priestess, and compel her to give a prophetic
+answer to the magician whose spells had aroused her from the sleep of
+death. In the song of Vegtam, in the Elder Edda, known to the English
+reader in our poet Gray's fine translation, "The Descent of Odin," the
+Scandinavian bard describes the magic power of runes traced on the
+ground towards the north, and repeated as incantations, in calling
+forth the prophetic response from the tomb.
+
+
+      "Right against the eastern gate,
+      By the moss-grown pile he sate,
+      Where long of yore to sleep was laid
+      The dust of the prophetic maid;
+      Facing to the northern clime,
+      Thrice he traced the Runic rhyme;
+      Thrice pronounced in accents dread,
+      The thrilling verse that wakes the dead,
+      Till from out the hollow ground,
+      Slowly breathed a sullen sound."
+
+                    _Translator's Note_.]
+
+[Footnote 4: Baldur, the son of Odin, was slain by Hother, a Danish
+warrior, his rival in the affections of Nanna, a Norwegian princess.]
+
+[Footnote 5: Fragment of an old Danish ballad entitled "Agneté and the
+Merman."]
+
+[Footnote 6: One of the most ancient and characteristic ballads of the
+north. It is the subject of one of M. Ohlenschlager's most popular
+tragedies.]
+
+[Footnote 7: The superstitious belief in the existence of mermen,
+prevailed in Denmark at no very remote period. It seems probable that
+the pirates or Vikings of the north availed themselves of this
+superstition, by assuming the disguise of mermen to scare the
+inhabitants from those coasts it was important they should possess. The
+adventures of some Scandinavian pirate and maiden probably gave rise to
+the curious old ballad of Agneté and the Merman. See the Danish "Kjĉmpe
+Viser."--_Translator_.]
+
+[Footnote 8: Fragment of an heroic ballad.]
+
+[Footnote 9: Varulve (Manwolf) according to ancient superstition, a man
+who had been metamorphosed for a certain time into a wolf. The
+superstitions of the Scandinavians, as handed down in the Sagas and
+Kempe Vise (heroic ballads), partake so much of the character of
+Eastern fable, that there can be little doubt of their Asiatic
+origin.--_Translator_.]
+
+[Footnote 10: Nidaros, the ancient name of Drontheim in Norway.]
+
+[Footnote 11: "Vola's qvad," or "The Song of the Prophetess," is one of
+the most imaginative poems in the Elder Edda. It opens with an account
+of the springing forth of creation from chaos, and after announcing
+death as the final doom of all physical nature, ends by foretelling the
+rise of a better and brighter world, from the ocean in which the first
+had been engulphed.--_Translator_.]
+
+[Footnote 12: The name of the ancient castle of Copenhagen, built by
+Bishop Absalon in the thirteenth century as a defence against pirates.]
+
+
+
+
+                       END OF THE SECOND VOLUME.
+
+
+
+                                London:
+                      Printed by A. Spottiswoode,
+                           New-Street-Square.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of King Eric and the Outlaws, Vol. 2, by 
+Bernhard Severin Ingemann
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+<title>King Eric and the Outlaws; or, the Throne, the Church, and the People. Vol. II.</title>
+<meta name="Author" content="Bernard Severin Ingemann">
+<meta name="Publisher" content="Long, Brown, Green, ;amp; Longmans">
+<meta name="Date" content="1843">
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+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of King Eric and the Outlaws, Vol. 2, 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. 2
+       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 #36632]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK KING ERIC AND THE OUTLAWS, VOL. 2 ***
+
+
+
+
+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/kingericandoutl00chapgoog</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<div style="line-height:200%">
+<h2>KING ERIC</h2>
+
+<h5>AND</h5>
+
+<h3>THE OUTLAWS.</h3>
+
+<h4>VOL. II.</h4>
+</div>
+
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<div style="margin-left:40%">
+<h5><span class="sc">London</span>:<br>
+Printed by <span class="sc">A. Spottiswoode</span>,<br>
+New-Street-Square.</h5>
+</div>
+<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. II.</h3>
+<hr style="width:10%; color:black">
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h3>LONDON:</h3>
+<h4>LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, &amp; LONGMANS,</h4>
+<h5>PATERNOSTER-ROW.</h5>
+<h3>1843.</h3>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2>CHAPTER I.</h2>
+
+
+<p class="normal">When the king reached Kallundborg castle, and beheld the drawbridge
+raised, and the well fortified castle in a complete state of defence, a
+flush of anger crossed his cheek, his hand involuntarily clenched the
+hilt of his sword, and for an instant he was near forgetting his
+promise, and drawing it out of the scabbard. Count Henrik reined in his
+war horse impatiently before the outermost fortification, awaiting an
+answer to the message he had shouted, in the king's name, to the
+nearest warder. &quot;Matchless presumption!&quot; exclaimed the king; &quot;know they
+I am here myself? and do they still tarry with an answer, when they
+have but to be silent and to obey?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;They take their time, my liege!&quot; answered Count Henrik. &quot;It is
+unparalleled impudence.--If you command, the trumpet shall be instantly
+sounded for storm; the sword burns in my hand.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Not yet!&quot; answered the king, and took his hand from the hilt of his
+sword.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">At this moment a trumpet sounded from the outer rampart, and a tall
+warrior in armour, with closed visor, stepped forth on the battlement.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The castle opens not to any armed man!&quot; he shouted in a rough tone,
+which however appeared assumed and tremulous; &quot;it will be defended to
+the last, against every attack; this is our noble junker's strict order
+and behest.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Madman!&quot; exclaimed Eric; and Count Henrik seemed about to give an
+impetuous reply.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Not a word more!&quot; continued the king, with a stern nod.--&quot;We stoop not
+to further parley with rebels and traitors.--You will beleaguer the
+castle on all sides, and get all in readiness for a storm; until
+twenty-four hours are over, no spear must be thrown--if the rebels dare
+to enact their impudent threats against the town, we shall have to
+think but of saving it and quenching the flames. If aught chances here,
+I must know it instantly; you will not fail to find me at the
+Franciscan monastery.&quot; So saying, the king turned his horse's head, and
+rode with a great part of his train into the large monastery, close to
+the castle. Here stood the guardian and all the fraternity with their
+shaven heads uncovered, in two rows before the stone steps in the yard
+of the monastery. The aged guardian, in common with the rest of his
+fraternity, wore an ashen grey cloak with a cowl at the back, and a
+thick cord round the waist. Despite the winter cold, they were all
+without shoes and stockings, with wooden sandals under their bare feet.
+They received the king with manifest signs of alarm and uneasiness.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Be easy, ye pious men,&quot; said the king, in a mild voice, as he sprang
+from his horse, and acknowledged their greeting and the guardian's
+pious address in a friendly manner; &quot;I come to you as your friend and
+protector. If it please God and our Lady, no evil shall happen to your
+monastery or our good and loyal town. It is not your fault that our
+brother the junker hath appointed a madman to be his commandant; for we
+trust in the Lord and the mighty Saint Christopher, that our dear
+brother hath not himself lost his wits. I will await him here, until he
+can receive the news of my coming, and give explanation in person of
+this matter. If there is danger astir, I will share it with you; at
+present I wish but to see whether your guest-house and refectory can
+stand this unexpected visitation; meanwhile it shall be recompensed
+beforehand to the monastery.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Noble sovereign,&quot; answered the guardian, &quot;destroy not by any worldly
+compensation the pleasure which you now bestow on us, in our fear and
+trembling: poverty is, as you know, the first rule of our holy order.
+If you will vouchsafe to share the indigence of the penitent, gracious
+king, doubt not then our willingness to give, and share without
+recompence; and tempt us not to accept what the holy Franciscus himself
+hath strictly forbid us to touch.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Well, the rule is surely not so strictly kept here,&quot; said the king,
+with a good-natured smile, as he entered into the large guest-house of
+the monastery, and saw the door standing open to the refectory, where a
+table, with fasting fare, was spread for the monks, but a larger, with
+flasks of wine and dishes of substantial meat, was prepared for the
+entertainment of the distinguished worldly guests. &quot;Here, however, we
+shall not come to suffer want,&quot; continued the king; &quot;here we find not
+frugal fare alone, but God's gifts, almost to superfluity.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What we are able to offer your grace hath been sent hither by the
+burghers.--Where the Lord's anointed enters he brings a blessing with
+him,&quot;--answered the guardian, making a genuflection with his hands
+crossed over his breast.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Blessing?&quot; replied the king, a dark cloud suddenly passing over his
+brow.--&quot;Hum! even though he be given over to the Devil and the
+destruction of the fleshy venerable father?&quot; he asked with bitterness,
+and in a low voice, as he drew the guardian aside and gazed at him,
+with a sharp, searching look.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The aged monk turned pale at these words of the king, and involuntarily
+crossed himself, as he heaved a deep sigh. &quot;The holy church proclaims
+to us absolution even for deadly sins, and justification through grace
+and conversion,&quot; said he, folding his lean hands. &quot;Its curse falls only
+in reality on the head of the profligate and ungodly.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But when the archbishop, the prince of the Danish church, out of
+revenge and hate, hath proclaimed thy sovereign to be such an one?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Were you such <i>in truth</i>, my liege and sovereign, alas! I must then
+echo the dreadful sentence within my heart, though it should break in
+doing so, and were your wrath even to crush me,&quot; answered the old man,
+with deep solemnity, again pressing his folded hands upon his breast;
+&quot;but the Lord preserve my soul from taking part in the counsels of the
+revengeful and the judgments of the unrighteous! The church's might and
+authority are certainly great, noble king,&quot; he continued, &quot;but
+vengeance and judgment are the Lord's, even as grace for the penitent
+belongeth unto him; power is given us to build up, but not to pull
+down; we can do nothing against the truth, but all for the truth. If
+even a bishop himself should err in our true believing church, and
+abuse the church's authority against God's word, no priest or Christian
+hath leave to consent unto him, saith the holy Augustine.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Right, pious father! that is also my creed and my comfort, and what
+the learned Master Peter also hath told me. You have then no fear that
+I bring with me a curse or evil spirits over this threshold?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No assuredly!&quot; answered the guardian solemnly, with uplifted hand and
+look,--&quot;I know my noble liege is not profane and ungodly, a despiser of
+penitence and pious works, or one whom in the power of the word it is
+permitted to give over to the destruction of the flesh, for the soul's
+eternal salvation. I know, therefore, that the Prince of Darkness can
+have no power over your dear-bought soul; and that no sinful curse can
+destroy the peace of God in your heart, or wipe off the holy ointment
+from your crowned head.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">A mild emotion was visible in the king's countenance at these words of
+the guardian. &quot;Give me your blessing, pious father!&quot; he said, in a
+subdued tone; &quot;you have spoken words which penetrate my inmost soul.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The reconciled and all-merciful God preserve your life and crown, and
+above all the precious peace of your soul!&quot; prayed the guardian, and
+laid his shrivelled hand on the head of the king, who bent to receive
+the blessing, &quot;in so far as you are <i>yourself</i> placable and merciful,&quot;
+he added with emphasis, and a piercing gaze.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Hum, placable?&quot; repeated the king, hastily, raising his head; &quot;even
+towards rebels and traitors?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;They assuredly need mercy most,&quot; answered the guardian. &quot;Be not wroth,
+my liege,&quot; he continued, gently and impressively; &quot;there is a holy
+word, which at this moment strangely trembles on my lips: 'If thy
+brother sin against thee,' it is written, 'then chastise him; but if he
+repents, then forgive him!'&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But when he does <i>not</i> repent?&quot; asked the king, gazing on the guardian
+with an excited look.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Then pray for him till he does, that thy mother's son may not be a
+castaway; and for the sake of thine own peace!&quot; whispered the
+ecclesiastic.--&quot;A brother offended is harder to be won than a strong
+city, and quarrels are as bars before a palace.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But strong cities may fall, and the palaces of rebels may be forced,&quot;
+exclaimed the king, suddenly assuming a stern tone, and the mild
+emotion expressed in his countenance became clouded. &quot;The wise king
+Solomon hath also taught me to count more on a faithful friend than a
+false brother. Did not a prophet once say to his people, in a
+traitorous and corrupted time like ours--'Put not your trust in any
+brother, for every brother will certainly deceive?' I could wish that
+holy man were wrong. But enough of this,&quot; said Eric, hastily breaking
+off the solemn converse. &quot;Let us now think a little of worldly things,
+and not despise the care of the body. We have ridden a long way today,
+to be shut out of our own castle here.&quot; So saying, the king went with
+hasty strides into the refectory; the guardian followed him with a
+sorrowful aspect, and the rejoicing of the brethren, over the king's
+piety and mildness, seemed somewhat diminished.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Kallundborg castle was now regularly beleaguered, and the warlike and
+experienced Count Henrik of Mecklenborg neglected none of the necessary
+preparations for a storm, as far as he was able with so small a force,
+and without engines for storming. Meanwhile, ere the sun went down, he
+saw his force augmented, as Drost Aagé with his hundred horsemen
+galloped into the town, and joined him without the castle walls. As
+soon as the Drost had provided for the wants of his troops, and had
+consulted with Count Henrik, he repaired to the monastery of grey
+friars, where he was instantly admitted to the king in the library.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Here sat Eric in a thoughtful mood, in the guardian's great arm-chair,
+before an oaken table, on which lay a large annotated Bible as well as
+the writings of St. Augustine and other fathers of the church, open
+before him. He held a manuscript of Master Petrus de Dacia's in his
+hand, in which he was diligently making marks and dashes with his pen,
+and seemed employed in comparing it with the passages at which the
+writings of the fathers were opened. By the side of these spiritual
+writings, however, lay also three worldly books in handsome red velvet
+binding, which the king had brought with him. It was the famous
+chivalrous poem Ivain and Tristan, in Hartman von Awe's and Gottfried
+von Strasborg's version, as well as the adventurous history of Florez
+and Blanzeflor, which was the favourite poem of all enamoured knights
+and ladies.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">When Drost Aagé crossed the threshold, the king pushed aside the table
+and hastily started up. &quot;Aagé, my dear Aagé! do I see thee again, at
+last!&quot; he joyfully exclaimed, and went forward to meet him with open
+arms, but stopped in dismay, as he looked more narrowly at the young
+Drost. &quot;Is it thyself?&quot; he continued; &quot;how thou art changed! Truly thou
+hast been in murderous hands. Those accursed outlaws!&quot; he said
+passionately, as he stamped on the floor; &quot;why have I not rooted them
+out of the earth?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Think no more of that, my noble liege,&quot; said Aagé. &quot;I am now well
+again, and at your service.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Come, rest thee; thou hast exerted thyself above thy strength. Master
+Peter hath then brought thee a letter and a message?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;All is done as you commanded, my liege, though I fear it is a
+step----&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Leave me to care for that, Aagé--met ye with opposition?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Holbeck castle is in your possession; it cost not a drop of blood, but
+caused great joy at the castle.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Good; and the junker?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I saw him not; it is said, though, he was there, but escaped.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;A bad sign, Aagé! A loyal vassal would have staid, and have called
+thee strictly to give account of thy authority. He asked then, not even
+once, the ground of my wrath? He ventured not an indignant remonstrance
+touching injustice and violent measures?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;He kept quite out of sight; he must have conceived suspicions.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Hum! no prince flies thus from his castle, when he knows himself to be
+innocent. How then can I doubt? The contumacy here, and his shameless
+expressions to Bruncké----&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What hath already chanced may however still be but an unhappy
+misunderstanding, my liege,&quot; observed Aagé; &quot;and the traitorous Bruncké
+none can trust.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Well, let Christopher speak for himself, if he is able. By all the
+holy men, I would willingly give the half of my life could I say with
+truth, 'I have a brother.' Yet, the Lord and our holy Lady be thanked,
+I have still a faithful friend, and my beloved Ingeborg, and a loyal
+and loving people. What have I to complain of?&quot; So saying, the king
+laid his arm confidingly on Aagé's shoulder, and a repressed tear
+glistened in his ardent blue eye. &quot;Since we met last, my dear Aagé,&quot; he
+continued in a firm and calm tone, &quot;I have become an excommunicated man
+like thee; but it no longer terrifies me. I have long thought--now I am
+convinced--that no one can condemn us save the Almighty and righteous
+God: but <i>he</i> will not condemn us; for, seest thou, he is merciful. He
+who believes in salvation and mercy, Aagé, will be saved, despite all
+the bishops and prelates in the world.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Sin not, my noble liege!&quot; exclaimed Aagé, with cautious sadness. &quot;I
+have also found peace for my soul, and a defence against the evil
+spirits to whom I was given over; but it was not in defiance, it was in
+love and hope, my liege.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Such a hope I have also, my Aagé; and love!--thou knowest but little
+what that is--thou that hast no Ingeborg! <i>My</i> love truly is as great
+as Sir Tristran's or the valiant Florez's. I shall not fear to
+break a lance for my Ingeborg with the pope himself and the whole
+priesthood--if it come to the worst.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;For Heaven's sake, my beloved liege, ponder----&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I <i>have</i> pondered much, Aagé; and first on what was most important,&quot;
+exclaimed the king seriously, interrupting his anxious friend. &quot;The
+matter of our salvation is too important to be decided by an
+authoritative word from the bishop or pope. Shall they presume to say
+to thee and me, 'Thou art accursed!--thou art given over to the Evil
+One?' No, truly! Where is it written that any human being hath such
+power? I always hoped--now I am assured--that the heavenly grace and
+mercy I believe in, alone can save me and all of us--come, I will prove
+it to thee; Master Petrus hath written it out for me; the church's holy
+fathers witness to it, and what is more, God's own unchangeable word.
+Yet it is too long to enter upon now; but, trust me, Aagé, no
+archbishop, not even the pope in Rome, can condemn us--if the church
+casts out believers, it is our church no longer, not the real and true
+one. Could the devil shut against us every stone-built church in the
+world, <i>one</i> church would still stand open to us, which no devil can
+shut; and lo! it is every where; where two believing souls are met
+together in the Lord's name.--See how wise I am grown, Aagé: it would
+be deemed heresy in Rome, and they would doom me to the stake did they
+know it; but I am wise enough also to be silent about it. Thou only
+shalt know it, and my Ingeborg, and whoever holds my immortal soul as
+dear as thou dost.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Aagé was silent, and looked at him in surprise.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I feel secure also about state and kingdom,&quot; continued the king. &quot;With
+God's help I shall defy both ban and interdict, both rebels and
+outlaws, without any one injuring a hair of my head, or that of my
+people's.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But a letter, craving pardon of the holy father, will certainly be
+necessary, my liege! In the matter of the archbishop, reconciliation
+and clemency must in a great measure supersede justice.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No, Aagé; I ask but justice; I ask no mercy of man, and in this matter
+none need expect mercy from me--let the pope judge between me and
+Grand! the mystery of unrighteousness shall be brought to light as
+surely as there is justice under the sun. If I am myself wrong in any
+thing, which well may chance, it is time enough to think of penitence
+and penance when doom is pronounced.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But the dispensation?&quot; said Aagé.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That <i>I</i> will <i>dispense</i> with in case of need; what hath been granted
+to a hundred others cannot be denied the King of Denmark.--Should
+it be denied, it is unjust; but an injustice to which <i>I will not</i>
+submit. Yet, seat thyself, Aagé; not a word more of these vexatious
+affairs,--my soul is weary of them. Come,&quot; he continued, gaily; &quot;now
+thou shalt hear a love poem: my dear Ingeborg hath herself written it
+out for me. Duchess Euphemia hath sent it to her from Norway; it will
+soon be read, both in Norwegian and Swedish. Here thou shalt see what a
+chivalrous lover can go through, and how fortune and our Lord are ever
+with all true and constant lovers.&quot; The king now sat down before the
+table, and read, in an animated tone, out of the adventures of Florez
+and Blanzeflor, which, however, were already known to Aagé.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Tristan I prefer, it is true,&quot; said the king; &quot;and our own old
+love-songs seem far more beautiful to me; but this book I especially
+like to have in my hand. Think! she has copied every word with her own
+lovely fingers.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Meanwhile evening drew on. The vesper bell rang, and the king went with
+Aagé to the church of the monastery, where he joined in the devotions
+of the Franciscans and the people, which however were not as calm and
+undisturbed as usual.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">As the night drew on the anxiety increased in the town with every hour.
+A general stillness prevailed; lights glimmered in all the houses; no
+one seemed any where to slumber. Around the beleaguered castle no sound
+was heard save the steps and clashing arms of the sentinels. Here and
+there a watch-fire gleamed in the cold winter's night, around which
+silent warriors, wrapped in ample mantles, were standing in groups;
+without the monastery Drost Aagé's horsemen were on guard. The Drost
+and Count Henrik rode up and down around the castle walls, where the
+faint clashing of weapons and the moving of heavy machines of defence
+were heard.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">By Aagé's counsel sentinels were also posted on the public quay
+south-east of the castle, and on the ancient sea-tower at the
+north-western extremity of the town, where there was also a
+landing-place, together with a now deserted and decayed fortification:
+this spot he deemed especially important whenever it might be desirable
+to cut off all possible communication with the castle. At midnight Aagé
+himself stood in the clear still starlight beside the solitary tower,
+at Count Henrik's side, and looked out on the bay, while they
+considered from what quarter the castle wall might best be mounted.
+While thus employed, Aagé observed a little fishing-boat, which lay
+half hidden under the mouldering rampart of the sea-tower; and just as
+he was going to draw Count Henrik's attention to it he saw a head, with
+a shaggy cap and a large scar resembling a hare-lip between the nose
+and mouth, peer forth from behind a half-fallen pillar close beside
+him. The prying head, however, instantly withdrew behind the pillar,
+and Aagé thought he recognised the notorious robber and incendiary, the
+Lolland deserter, Olé Ark, who had often been pursued, and who it was
+believed had been concerned in the archbishop's flight. Without any
+long deliberation he nodded to Count Henrik, and drew his sword; but at
+the same instant the fellow sprang out of his hiding-place, and fled
+down towards the rampart to the boat.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Stop him!&quot; shouted Aagé to the farthest sentinel, who stood with his
+lance in his hand, and his back leaning against the rampart, gazing out
+on a distant vessel, without observing the fugitive.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Just as the Drost's voice reached the ear of the sentinel, and he was
+about to turn round, he felt the stab of a dagger in his back, and fell
+to the earth with a groan of anguish, while the deserter rushed past
+him with the weapon glittering in his hand, and sprang into the boat.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The fugitive had already placed his oars, and was preparing to push off
+from shore, but then first perceived that in his haste he had forgot to
+loosen the rope which moored the boat to the rampart. While he now,
+with desperate exertion, struck once or twice in vain with his dagger
+on the rope, Aagé and Count Henrik stood directly opposite him with
+their drawn swords. Count Henrik hastily grasped the half-severed rope,
+and drew the boat towards him. The dagger of the despairing fugitive
+was raised gleaming in the air, but fell with the hand of the robber
+into the sea before a stroke of the Drost's sword, and, with a fearful
+howl, the wounded deserter fell back in the boat.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">At Count Henrik's call several men-at-arms hastened to the spot from
+the guard at the sea-tower, and presently bore the captive thither,
+after having, by the Drost's order, wrapped a cloth round his mutilated
+arm, to prevent his bleeding to death. The wounded sentinel was also
+carried to the tower; and while a message was sent to fetch a surgeon,
+the captured robber's garments, and all that he had about him, were
+narrowly searched. Besides a letter of absolution, a rosary, and a
+number of costly church ornaments, which appeared to be stolen
+property, a quantity of pitch and sulphur and other combustible matter
+was found on his person; and a key and a private letter were discovered
+carefully secreted in the lining of his cap. For the present no
+confession could be expected from the criminal, who had fallen into a
+swoon. The Drost took possession of the key and the letter, and
+repaired, with Count Henrik, to the nearest watch-fire. Here he opened
+the letter, and read it in a low tone.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;To no one!&quot;--thus ran the letter.--&quot;Obey and be silent, or thou diest!
+Dare the utmost! Spare not the town! Hide or burn the papers, if
+needful! Keep the trapdoor in readiness! Let his victory prove his
+downfall! I answer for the consequences. The bearer may be employed for
+the whole.... Burn this private letter instantly. From no one.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Drost Aagé had jointly with the king and Prince Christopher learnt what
+was then the still rare art of writing, from a canon, under the
+superintendence of Drost Hessel, and to his dismay he thought he
+recognised the stiff hand of the prince through the disguised character
+of the writing. He hastily folded up the letter, and turned deadly
+pale.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Now what runes<a name="div2Ref_01" href="#div2_01"><sup>[1]</sup></a> read ye there, Sir Drost?&quot; asked Count Henrik.--&quot;You
+do not feel well, I think.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;This private letter was surely to have been brought the commandant,&quot;
+exclaimed Aagé, eagerly, and the blood again rushed into his cheek. &quot;It
+is from no one, and to no one; yet I think I understand it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Let us see, Sir Drost--It is not surely any private love letter?--the
+fellow was a spy and traitor.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;If my noble liege's peace of mind be dear to you.&quot; answered Aagé
+anxiously, and seized his hand, &quot;let this unhallowed secret be mine
+alone! yet this much will I confide to you: it seems to concern the
+king's unhappy domestic relations; but I entreat you to be silent, even
+about this conjecture of mine. There is no proof against any one, only
+a suspicion--an unhappy one--but the aim of the writer shall be
+defeated: the letter must be destroyed.&quot;--So saying, he thrust his hand
+into his bosom, and threw the letter into the fire.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You are cautious, Drost,&quot; said Count Henrick, knitting his brow. &quot;I
+ask not to be initiated into your dark state secrets--as Drost you must
+know best what should here be concealed or made public. I ask only, as
+a man-at-arms and beleaguer, if the letter, which you have here
+somewhat hastily destroyed, was to have been brought into the castle,
+must there not be a private entrance hereabouts? Could it be found, it
+were of moment to us: without storming engines, it will be a hard
+spring enough for us to get over the circular wall.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You are right; there <i>must</i> be a secret entrance here,&quot; exclaimed Aagé
+suddenly, with sparkling eyes. &quot;I have a conjecture,--a thought strikes
+me, there is a tradition of a secret entrance from the sea-tower.
+The captive must show it me. I will be myself the bearer of the
+letter,--not such as when it caught the flames, and as it is now before
+the eye of the Omniscient, but rewritten, as a reconciling spirit
+dictates to my soul.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Good! I follow you with a troop.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No, count! that is impossible. The king's pride is aroused; he
+despises stratagem; he will and must through the gate, or over the
+stormed walls, and both of us cannot here be spared. If the secret
+passage is found, it will assuredly be difficult enough for one, alone
+and unarmed, to pass through it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Then let the adventure alone, Drost; for one it is too daring.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I will dare it nevertheless,&quot; said Aagé determinedly, after a moment's
+deliberation; &quot;but no one shall follow me, and no one must know it--not
+even the king. If I am not here again to-morrow at noon, then let the
+king know that I am probably a prisoner at the castle, or am about
+something by which I may serve him, and all of you, better even than
+were I at the head of the stormers--I count on your leading the attack,
+as agreed on. If it succeeds, then promise me but one thing, brave
+Count! let not the king set his foot but where the ground hath been
+tried and found safe; and should you see my shoulder scarf wave on any
+spot, then conclude all is not right, and let not the king approach
+such a place.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ha! ha!&quot; said Count Henrik, in a loud voice, and clapping Aagé on the
+shoulder, &quot;that was the secret, then, you would keep to yourself? You
+might just as well have let me read the letter, my mysterious Sir
+Drost! We may expect pitfalls then, and such sort of foxes' tricks?
+Well, when one has a hint of such things they are of no importance. Ha!
+the high-born junker! he is a base traitor truly, to seek after the
+life of his king and brother, and <i>such</i> a king and brother!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;In the name of the Lord above, who says so. Sir Count?&quot; exclaimed
+Aagé, in consternation and in a low tone: &quot;you shout as loud as though
+you meant to awake heaven and earth with what none may hear. Let not
+those unhappy words ever pass your lips again. I tell you once more, it
+is but a conjecture, a fearful suspicion: it would rend the king's
+heart if it came to his ears--the mere report might call forth bloody
+scenes, and bring down the greatest misery on the country and the royal
+house.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I approve your caution in this matter, noble Drost,&quot; said Count Henrik
+gravely, and in a subdued tone, as he looked around, with a sharp
+glance; &quot;be easy, no one can here have heard us. There you have my
+hand: where one word may cause such great misfortune, it shall
+assuredly never pass my lips. But drive that rash adventure out of thy
+head; it may cost you your life,--and to what end?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The saving of a more precious life,&quot; said Aagé. &quot;I must have certainty
+in this matter: if I am to guard the king's feet from secret snares, I
+must discover them first myself. God be with you! Farewell! He who hath
+been for two years excommunicated,&quot; he continued in a voice of emotion,
+&quot;hath learnt to defy robbers and devils.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The watch-fire lit up his pale enthusiastic countenance, and a mild
+light seemed to beam from his dark blue eyes, as he raised them towards
+the starry heaven. &quot;Follow me not!&quot; he added. &quot;I trust in the
+protection of Heaven, and the power of good spirits--then must earthly
+curses be dumb, and evil spirits fall into the bottomless pit.&quot;--So
+saying, he earnestly pressed Count Henrik's hand, and returned with
+hasty steps to the tower. Count Henrik shook his head, and gazed after
+him with a look of sympathy, but followed him not.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2>CHAP. II.</h2>
+
+<p class="normal">The ancient sea-tower was situated at some distance from the castle, in
+the most deserted quarter of the town, next the sea shore. It was a
+round watch-tower, built of freestone, with loopholes in the wall, and
+a sentry-walk above, between the rampart-like battlements. Below were
+two vaulted stone chambers, of which one was used as a guard-room in
+war time, and the other as a depository for the bodies of the drowned,
+until their burial. The tower was now chiefly used for hanging out
+lights at night, in stormy and bad weather, to guide sailors into the
+entrance of the bay.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In the guard-room Drost Aagé found the wounded sentinel at the point of
+death.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">A monk, who had been sent for from the monastery, was engaged in
+administering to him the last sacrament. On a table lay a paper, on
+which the pious Franciscan had just written the last testament of the
+dying man. An oil lamp hung upon the dirty wall, and lit up the stone
+vault and the solemn scene of death. With a sympathizing look at the
+dying man-at-arms Aagé quitted the guard-room, almost unnoticed, and
+opened the door to what was called &quot;the corpse chamber,&quot; from which,
+according to tradition, there had been, in Esbern Snare's time, a
+descent to a subterranean passage, and where Aagé conjectured he should
+discover the supposed secret entrance to the castle.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Into this murky chamber, which had the reputation of being haunted, the
+captive murderer had been brought. Through the aid of the surgeon he
+had been restored to consciousness, and had his wound dressed; but he
+talked and raved wildly. He had been bound to the bench appropriated to
+the bodies of the drowned, which served him as a couch, and all had
+deserted him with horror and aversion.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">When Drost Aagé entered this chamber, the light of a yellow horn
+lantern, which hung from the roof, fell on the murderer's swollen blue
+visage with the hare-lip scar and ugly projecting teeth: he laughed
+horribly, and ground his teeth like a chained wild beast. &quot;Comest
+thou hither, thou excommunicated hound!&quot; he muttered, thrusting
+forth his tongue from his foaming jaws; &quot;then thou art also dead and
+damned--that's some small comfort, though among devils--Now are the
+fishes gnawing at my fist, at the bottom of the sea, while I lie a
+corpse here in hell's antechamber--that was thy doing, thou pale ghost,
+with St. George's sword! I feared thou hadst come off free, for thy
+stupid piety's sake, and thy hound-like faithfulness.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Why so?&quot; asked Aagé, strangely affected by having half entered into
+the dark imaginings of the madman--&quot;How couldst thou think an
+excommunicated man could 'scape damnation?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Seest thou, comrade?&quot; whispered the bound robber, gazing wildly around
+him, &quot;the same holy man who gave thee over to the Evil One, gave me a
+passport to heaven's kingdom. It lies there in my jerkin; Satan's
+barber cut it off from me just now; and the letter was a lie,--like all
+virtue and piety in the world. If that holy man could give me a false
+warrant for salvation, he might also have made a false reckoning with
+thy soul. It pleaseth me, however, to see he is apt in some things,&quot; he
+continued, with a horrible laugh. &quot;I ever thought so: those black
+fellows can curse far better than they can bless. But who did thy
+business for thee? The hand that should have done it is gone to the
+Devil--Ha! there bites a hungry fish at my fingers' ends.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;From whom was the private letter? and to whom shouldst thou have
+brought it?&quot; asked Aagé, suddenly in a stern voice, and in a tone of
+overawing authority: &quot;confess the truth, and it shall fare better with
+thee, wretch, than thou hast deserved!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What! though I should break the most solemn oath I ever swore?&quot;
+muttered the robber. &quot;No, stern sir! let the Devil take his own, and
+Olé Ark's sinful soul too, if the worst come to the worst! I have sent
+many an accursed heretic and excommunicated man to hell, and truly also
+many an honest fellow to heaven; but if I am now myself about to go to
+the Devil, it shall be as a right-believing Christian; and none shall
+say of me I broke my sworn oath, even to the living Satan.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Tell me the way thou shouldst have gone, is it here?&quot; continued Aagé,
+looking around the large murky stone chamber.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The way to my master's den?&quot; muttered the robber with a grin--&quot;Wouldst
+ferret <i>that</i> out, comrade? Take care thou dost not burn thyself in
+it!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It is here, then,&quot; said Aagé to himself, looking around him, with
+still greater attention--&quot;And here is the key; is it not so?&quot; So
+saying, he produced the old rusty key which had been found on the
+robber's person together with the private letter.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Right, comrade, the key to hell!&quot; returned the raving murderer, with a
+horrid laugh.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Aagé now examined the whole vault, but discovered no trace of any
+cellar or descent. The floor was paved with large flags. He stamped on
+several places, and at last perceived a hollow sound, and the clang of
+metal under the stone floor. He took the lantern from the iron hook in
+the arch of the roof, and placed it on the floor. On doing so he
+discovered a large loose stone, which might be raised, and his
+conjecture was confirmed. The loose stone concealed a fast-locked iron
+trap-door, which, however, seemed too small to admit of the descent of
+any person. He tried the key, and it fitted. He opened the trap-door;
+the raw damp air of the vault rose up to him from a pitch-dark abyss,
+into which a ladder led down to an uncertain depth.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">While this examination was carrying on the insane murderer lay on the
+corpse bench, and grinned with horrible contortions. Aagé stood
+thoughtfully by the opening, pondering over his daring enterprise. It
+now struck him, for the first time, that, if undisguised, he must
+undoubtedly be recognised and his plan frustrated. His eye fell on the
+blood-stained jerkin, which had been stript from off the robber's
+person, in order to bind him, &quot;Well,&quot; he said, &quot;we exchange garments;
+there, thou hast my mantle and hat; I take thy jerkin and cap.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Good exchange enough,&quot; muttered Olé Ark; &quot;if my luck goes with my
+jerkin, he goeth down to fame and honour. Ha! loose my body, Satan, and
+let me follow him into the pit.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It was not without repugnance that Aagé clad himself in the soiled,
+stained dress of the vagabond, which, however, answered his purpose,
+and rendered him almost incognisable. He then took the lamp in his
+hand, and prepared to descend through the narrow aperture in the floor;
+but the scorn and defiance of the bound robber now changed into a
+piteous lament.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Mercy! mercy!&quot; he cried, &quot;take not the last glimpse of light from me!
+Now comes the Devil himself to rend me to pieces--Ha! let me not lie a
+corpse here in the dark--Mercy! mercy!&quot; he howled, and pulled and tore
+at the cords which bound him.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Pray to thy God and Judge for mercy,&quot; said Aagé; &quot;I cannot help thee.&quot;
+He then squeezed himself through the narrow opening, with the lantern
+in his hand, and pulled the trap-door after him, that he might not hear
+the howls of the madman; but was nearly falling down head foremost from
+the ladder, on hearing, to his dismay, that the trap-door, which had a
+spring-lock, fell and closed over his head. He felt now as though he
+were entombed alive. He had forgotten to take the key with him; and the
+faint howling of the robber soon seemed lost in triumphant laughter
+above the grave which had closed over him.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Aagé grew dizzy, but recovered himself, and clung fast to the slippery
+steps of the ladder, while he continued to descend. At last he stood at
+the bottom: the descent was steep and deep, but it led to a narrow
+vaulted passage, which was so low as hardly to admit of his walking
+upright. The air was foul and suffocating, and he often trod on
+sprawling toads and other reptiles. He held up the lantern before him,
+but beheld nothing save the long narrow passage, to which he could
+discern no end; its direction, however, convinced him that it must
+undoubtedly lead to the castle. He went forward with hasty steps, and
+looked anxiously at the light in the lamp, which gleamed fainter and
+fainter. The air seemed not to contain sufficient nourishment for life
+and flame. He had hardly proceeded more than a hundred paces ere what
+he feared took place--the light went out in the lantern, and he stood
+in the dark. He felt a degree of alarm and a want of power and courage,
+which was quite foreign to his nature; at the same time he heard a
+hollow clang far behind, as if the iron trap-door had been again opened
+and clapped to. He involuntarily quickened his steps, but slipped every
+moment on slimy reptiles, and was often forced to pause in order to
+take breath, while the air he inhaled seemed to lame every limb and to
+contract his lungs. He was nearly sinking down in a state of
+insensibility; but he now thought he heard a sound as of stealthy steps
+behind him, and his increased apprehension inspired him with renewed
+strength. &quot;Is any one there?&quot; he shouted, and turned round; but no one
+answered, and there was suddenly a deathlike stillness again.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It was so dark that he could not see his own hand before his eyes. In
+order not to awaken suspicion by his bold enterprise he had taken off
+his sword in the corpse-chamber, and was entirely defenceless. In his
+childhood, Aagé had not been wholly free from the dread of supernatural
+beings; and, according to the creed of the age, the idea of the
+influence of a mighty world of spirits on human life was closely
+connected with religious belief. Aagé nowise doubted the possibility of
+the appearance of evil as well as of good spirits; but this idea never
+disquieted him in open day, when he knew he was on a lawful errand, and
+had his sword with its cross-hilt at his side. &quot;Is it honourable and
+chivalrous to steal along thus?&quot; he said to himself. &quot;Why took I not my
+good sword with me? It was hard, though, to take the light from him
+above there--he lies now in the pains of hell on yonder bench, and
+curses me;--or hath he got loose, and is he lurking after me in the
+dark?&quot; He now thought he heard again distinctly, at every stride he
+took, the same sound, as of stealthy footsteps behind him; but each
+time he turned round all was still as before. This consciousness of the
+presence of an unknown being in the dark passage put him into a state
+of fearful apprehension, and recalled those images of horror to his
+imagination, which he felt himself least able to combat. &quot;Is he now
+dead above there?--is it his maniac spirit which persecutes thee?&quot; he
+whispered to himself; and the form of the frantic murderer appeared to
+his imagination far more terrific than when he beheld it actually
+stretched on the corpse-bench; &quot;or is it thou, old Pallé!&quot; he
+exclaimed, almost with an outcry of terror. The scene of the murder in
+Finnerup barn, which had haunted him in his childhood, and the image of
+the aged and insane regicide he had himself slain on the body of the
+murdered king, were again vividly present to his imagination. His hair
+stood on end; it seemed to him as if he was now actually about to fight
+with demons and evil spirits in the dark pit of the grave,--a fancy
+which had often disquieted him in dreams, and which lately had been the
+dominant plague of his fevered imagination. At last his terror
+increased to such a degree that he could no longer control it; he
+turned suddenly round, and rushed with all his might with clenched
+hands towards the place where he again thought he distinguished the
+stealthy footsteps. He then distinctly heard a clanking sword strike
+against the wall close beside his ear. &quot;Ha! a human being after all!
+Wretched murderer! is it thou?&quot; he shouted, quite recovering his
+courage at the discovery of a real and bodily pursuer, and sprang
+forward towards the unseen deadly foe, while he struck aside the sword,
+which seemed to be wielded by a left and powerless arm. The sword flew
+clanging forward in the dark passage; but at the same moment Aagé felt
+his neck clutched almost to suffocation by a pair of convulsively
+strained arms, dripping wet.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ha! ha! have I pounced on thee at last, hell-hound?&quot; suddenly roared a
+wild rough voice in his ear, and Aagé recognised the tones of the
+wounded robber. &quot;I have long enough lain a corpse--now thou mayst take
+my place, comrade!&quot; This terrific voice presently rose into the howl of
+a wild beast, and Aagé felt the madman's tusks in his forehead; he
+struck desperately around him, and strove with all his might to free
+himself from the suffocating grasp of the monster, but in vain; and he
+was long compelled to combat and wrestle with him ere he succeeded in
+throwing him to the ground, and was even then still forced to struggle
+with the robber, whose howls were growing weaker and weaker, without,
+however, being able to free his neck from his convulsive grasp. At last
+the clutching arms loosened from round his neck, and his frantic
+adversary lay silent and apparently dead, or in a swoon, under his
+knee.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The Lord have mercy on his sinful soul,&quot; sighed Aagé, rising half
+breathless. His opponent now made a sudden movement as if to rise, but
+fell back, with a rattling in his throat; and Aagé perceived, for the
+first time, that he was in all probability wading in the blood of the
+wounded murderer. He hastened on with rapid strides. Once or twice he
+stopped out of breath, and fancied he again heard the murderer stealing
+after him. At last he hit against something hard, and discovered by
+feeling that it was a large door of metal. He shook it with all his
+might, but it appeared to be locked on the other side, and immoveable.
+He thundered at it with his iron-shod heels, and each stroke rung
+hollow through the vault. After the lapse of some time a little shutter
+opened in the door, and the light of a dark lantern, and a swarthy
+warrior-like visage, appeared. &quot;Who is there? and from whom?&quot; asked the
+man-at-arms.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No one, from no one,&quot; answered Aagé, suddenly calling to mind the
+mysterious expression in the private letter.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Right! thou knowest the watchword,&quot; was the answer; &quot;and one
+only?--without arms?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;As thou seest--but open quick!--there is no time to lose.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Come, give time! The guard must first know of it.&quot; The shutter closed
+again, and Aagé heard the sound of a horn, which was answered at some
+distance: soon after the iron door opened, and a strong-built
+steel-clad warrior stepped out and advanced towards him into the
+passage, with a light in the one hand and a drawn sword in the other.
+He eyed the disguised Drost from head to foot, by the light of the
+lantern, and started back a couple of paces. &quot;Faugh! how thou look'st,
+thou bloodhound!&quot; he said, with disgust. &quot;'Tis hard for an honest
+fellow to let such guests in, when the king himself must stand
+without.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I have had a hard joust on the road, brave countryman.&quot; said Aagé;
+&quot;but haste thee!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Come, come; give time, thou scoundrel! The bandage over thy eyes
+first.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What! bandage! and foul words to me!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Of course, loggerhead! Thou mightest be a spy and traitor, as thou art
+a bloodhound and accursed robber; thou lookest fit for all such trades.
+The bandage over the eyes instantly, thou hound! or I kick thee back
+into thy fox-hole.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It was with difficulty that Aagé subdued his ire, and recollected that
+he was not Drost here, nor able to justify himself; he bore this rough
+usage in silence, allowed his eyes to be bandaged, and was thus led
+through the iron gate. He heard it bolted and barred after him. Soon
+afterwards he heard the sound of chains and pullies, as if a drawbridge
+was being lowered, and he perceived he was led upon a swinging bridge.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Go straight forward, scoundrel! or thou fallest into the moat,&quot;
+muttered his companion close behind him. A cold shudder came over him;
+but he was silent, and went straight onward.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ay, truly thou hast had better luck than I wished thee,&quot; it was
+muttered behind him; &quot;but thou hast another bridge to cross; that is
+ten times worse; here thou art quit of <i>me</i>.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Aagé heard his warlike companion re-cross the bridge, which was
+immediately afterwards raised. He conjectured that he was within the
+outermost rampart of the castle, towards the north-west, which lay
+between the sea-tower and the circular wall, for he had paid close
+attention to the direction in which he had proceeded. He had now two
+new companions, who were as little sparing as the former in
+contemptuous expressions respecting his cut-throat appearance and
+supposed marauding trade. Aagé suffered himself to be led onward by
+them without answering a word to their threats and scoffs, which
+secretly rejoiced him, as a token of their dispositions and honourable
+feelings. At last a horn was again sounded; it was answered as before
+at some distance. A drawbridge was again lowered, and Aagé perceived he
+was directly under the castle wall; for he heard a noise above his head
+like the moving of balista and other warlike machines. He felt an
+unfriendly poke in the back, and stood as before on a rocking-bridge.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Straight on, fellow, or thou fallest into the moat!&quot; said a warning
+voice behind him. &quot;Goest thou a hair's breadth aside thou art a dead
+man!&quot; He commended his soul to God, and went on. His guides allowed him
+to proceed alone for some time, and appeared to rejoice over his deadly
+peril. Meanwhile, as he perceived the rocking under his feet had
+ceased, he knew they had passed over the inner castle moat, and were
+within the circular wall. At last he was led up a staircase; but the
+bandage was not yet removed from his eyes. It was not till he had been
+led in many circuitous directions, as if through a labyrinth of
+passages and stairs, that he was freed from the bandage over his eyes,
+and found himself in an apartment of the castle which was not unknown
+to him, and where he was ordered to await the commandant.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It was still night. One of the men-at-arms who had last followed him
+remained standing at the door with a lantern and a drawn sword, and
+apparently watching him with fear and abhorrence.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Who dost thou take me for?&quot; asked Aagé.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;For one of the junker's secret emissaries,&quot; was the answer. &quot;Surely,
+good tidings thou bringest not, since thou comest pale and bloody from
+the secret passage. Hark! now they are taking the burning stones from
+the furnace. Kallundborg town will presently be in flames.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The Lord forbid!&quot; cried Aagé: &quot;call the commandant instantly! I have
+strict prohibition from the junker.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Thou lookest not as if thou hadst,&quot; said the man, starting.--&quot;I will
+run then. Thou wilt do no mischief meanwhile?&quot; The man hastily
+departed, and took the lantern with him. Aagé looked out at the window,
+and saw with alarm that burning stones were carried on gridirons across
+the yard to the balista on the walls.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Stop, fellows!&quot; said a rough voice in the castle yard. &quot;There is a
+protest from the junker: not a shot must be fired as yet.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;A noble fellow at heart, after all!&quot; said Aagé to himself, believing
+he had heard the commandant's voice. The door opened soon afterwards; a
+tall warrior, with a stern grave countenance, and armed from head to
+foot, entered the apartment with a light in his hand. When he beheld
+Aagé's blood-stained face and figure he retreated a step, and placed
+the light on the table, while he hastily laid his hand on his large
+battle sword. &quot;What fellow art thou?&quot; he asked, in a stern and rough
+voice. &quot;Doth the junker send pale corpses to plague me? Answer, fellow?
+Who art thou? Tell me thy watchwords, or I cut thee down on the spot!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No one, from no one,&quot; answered Aagé; and the commandant took his hand
+from the hilt of his sword.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Speak, thou messenger of ill! If thou bringest me a prohibition from
+the junker, it is, of course, against mercy and delay? Is the town to
+burn? Is the Franciscan monastery first to be fired? There sleeps the
+king to-night.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The town is to be spared,&quot; answered Aagé. &quot;The castle is to be opened
+to the king at sunrise--the papers are to be given up, and the door of
+the pit nailed fast.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Dost thou rave, fellow?&quot; cried the commandant, in amazement. &quot;Darest
+<i>thou</i> speak what <i>I</i> hardly dare think? Would the junker recall by
+thy
+mouth that which he commanded me with his own, on pain of death? Who
+then is to be punished for all that hath here been done, and stand in
+the gap between us and the king's anger?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You should fly the king's as well as the junker's wrath, and carry
+your secret and your knowledge of a weighty transaction with you into
+exile.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And stand branded a perjurer and traitor before all the world? No,
+fellow! were that even the junker's command, I obey it not. What I have
+sworn I must keep; but the responsibility is the junker's. I have sold
+him my life--but my honour, as a warrior, is my own. Show me black and
+white for what thou sayest, or I will cause thee to be hanged as a spy
+and traitor!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Now, in the Lord's name!&quot; said Aagé, as he suddenly threw off the
+robber's cap and dress, and stood in his well-known knightly attire
+before the commandant, &quot;I cannot, I will not deceive a man of honour
+like you. I am Drost Aagé; I announce to you the will of my liege and
+sovereign, not that of the junker; you may now deal with me as you can
+answer to God and your own conscience: but if the royal house and your
+fatherland be dearer to you than your own pride and an imaginary
+fealty, you will follow my counsel, and make the great sacrifice I ask
+of you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Sir Drost!&quot; answered the commandant, bowing with haughty coldness;
+&quot;you have ventured on a daring game. You are now my prisoner; how I
+shall act depends not on me. Oaths and vows are more binding than man's
+pleasure and man's will. I am an old-fashioned warrior, do you
+see--Your subtle state policy and artificial virtues I understand
+not--the law I acknowledge says, obey that which is commanded thee by
+thy lawful superior, and let him who commanded it answer for the
+consequences.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But when you see the most destructive, the most fearful consequences
+before your eyes; when your superior hath broken his oath of fealty,
+and abused his rights----&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That concerns not me. I keep steady to him to whom I swore allegiance;
+but <i>he</i> must answer for what is done here, be it good or evil.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But when you swore an ungodly oath, and fealty to a rebel?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Then must I keep the oath I swore to him, though, by way of thanks, he
+should cause me to be hung for it, or go to hell. There is no choice
+here: had I even entered the devil's service, Sir Drost, I must endure
+to the end, however fearful that end may be!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Your pride blinds your eyes to truth and justice, noble sir!&quot;
+exclaimed Aagé gazing on the tall steel-clad chieftain with a species
+of admiration; &quot;but hear me, I conjure you by the living Lord!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You must excuse me. Sir Drost!&quot; interrupted the chief, with cold
+calmness. &quot;My time is short, I have perhaps not many hours to live; I
+expect thanks neither from the king nor the junker, and perhaps but
+little honour on this side the prison and the grave; but all things
+according to order. You are now going to the tower, and I to the
+battlement--to-morrow you perhaps will sit at the king's right hand,
+while I lie on the wheel: but so long as we are at our posts, each must
+do his duty, and, as I said, all things according to order.&quot; So saying,
+he stamped on the floor, and three men-at-arms entered.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Take this knight instantly to the prison tower&quot;--ordered the
+commandant, nodding to the two nearest him.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And thou, Bent!&quot; he said, addressing himself to the third, &quot;let the
+stones be heated again: it was a false protest--off with thee!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The two men instantly seized Aagé, and led him towards a secret door,
+which they opened in the wall. Aagé turned round once more, and called
+to the chief, in the highest state of anxiety and alarm. &quot;Think upon
+your immortal soul, in what you do! remember, you should obey God
+rather than sinful men.&quot; More he could not say, for the private door
+was closed behind him.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The third man-at-arms still lingered, as if he expected the stern
+command he had received would be recalled; but the imperturbable chief
+glanced menacingly at him. &quot;The stones are to be heated, I tell thee.
+Art thou deaf, fellow? Off with thee! Obedience or death, while I
+command here!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The man-at-arms turned quickly round, and departed gloomy and silent
+through the door, beside which he stood.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The commandant strode hastily once or twice up and down the floor, with
+his hand upon his broad forehead. At last he stopped at a prie-dieu,
+and bent his knee, while his eye rested on the open prayer book. &quot;Ye
+servants,&quot; he muttered, and folded his hands, &quot;obey your masters
+according to the flesh, in <i>all</i> things;&quot; he then rose, signed a cross
+over his broad steel-clad breast, and went in silence and with hasty
+steps out of the door.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2>CHAP. III.</h2>
+
+<p class="normal">It was near daybreak. The alarm and anxiety had ceased, with which the
+inhabitants of Kallundborg had seen the night draw on. The peace and
+stillness which had prevailed the whole night seemed to have lulled the
+burghers, as well as the men-at-arms, into security. The lights were
+extinguished in most of the houses. The men-at-arms nodded over the
+expiring watch fires, and reposed on their mantles, in quiet groups,
+while some paced up and down on guard, beside the piled-up lances. Even
+the gay and vigilant Count Henrik was weary of the strained attention
+which he now deemed unnecessary: he had sat down to rest, under an
+image of the Madonna, without the Franciscan monastery, where a light
+was always burning. He had lately inspected the sentries, and found
+every thing in good order. He felt wearied, but kept off sleep, and his
+eyes open, while his gaze dwelt on the waning and half-hidden stars.
+His soul dreamed of warlike honours and proud victories, by the side of
+the Danish monarch, and of the admiration of the ladies of Mecklenborg
+when he should return with merited laurels and tokens of royal favour
+to his fatherland. While engaged in these reveries, which led him
+through half a life in a few minutes, he was suddenly disturbed by the
+working of the balista, and a fearful alarm of fire from the monastery.
+He started up, and beheld, with dismay, that burning stones were flying
+from the loopholes and walls of the castle, in different directions,
+and a high flame shot up from the storehouse of the monastery. In an
+instant he was actively exerting himself in the rescue of the town and
+monastery. Engines for extinguishing the flames were every where at
+hand. There was a fearful tumult in the town; but the alarm was however
+greater than the misfortune seemed likely to prove. Some single houses,
+it is true, were fired; but the greater part were protected by the
+snow, although the roofs were of straw. Many glowing stones from the
+balista missed their mark, many cooled ere they fell. The storehouse of
+the monastery instantly caught fire: it was necessary to sacrifice it,
+and partly to pull it down; but not a single stone fell on the
+principal building, nor on the guest-house, where the king had
+established himself.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Meanwhile the king was instantly astir; none were more zealous and
+active than he and Count Henrik; they rode constantly through the
+streets, and were always first on the spot where any house was fired.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The king was highly exasperated--he often cast a glance of menace at
+the castle. He halted without the burning monastery, by the count's
+side, just as another discharge from the balista took place, and a
+large burning stone fell down between their horses, and rolled hissing
+into the snow.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My liege!&quot; exclaimed Count Henrik, &quot;the burghers may put out the
+flames, but we can do more; let us sally forth and storm instantly.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Not yet,&quot; answered the king, shaking his head. &quot;Look,&quot; he continued,
+pointing to the flame-lit copper roof of the principal building of the
+monastery; &quot;when the sun stands highest, and the tower shadow falls
+yonder, then will it be time; then will my patience have reached its
+limits--its uttermost bounds.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">As soon as it was daylight the firing from the balista through the
+loopholes, ceased; but the parapets upon the outer wall were observed
+to be filled with men-at-arms. The towers of the wall were also
+perceived to be strongly garrisoned, and a numerous array of lances and
+battle-axes glittered over the battlements in the grey dawn of morning.
+The wall before the gate in particular was strongly manned, as well as
+the tower above the gate, where they seemed most to apprehend an
+attack. The great iron portcullis between the gate and the outward wall
+was drawn up by strong iron rings. There was great alarm and tumult at
+the castle and its garrison: a desperate storm and revenge for the
+night's disturbance was apparently apprehended. The fire meanwhile had
+been put out, as well in the monastery as in the town. The pious
+Franciscans rang to mattins, as usual, and the king did not neglect to
+share in their devotion.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But--what is become of Aagé?--Where is the Drost?&quot; he asked Count
+Henrik, as he again vaulted on his horse, without the church of the
+monastery, in order to inspect the hastily prepared storming machines
+with his general. &quot;I saw him not the whole night, nor even just
+now at mattins; it is not his wont, however, to sleep when I watch or
+pray--least of all when danger is impending.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I have not seen him since midnight,&quot; answered Count Henrik,
+endeavouring to hide his embarrassment and uneasiness; &quot;After our
+adventure beside the sea-tower, I saw him last by yonder watch-fire,&quot;
+added the count, assuming a gay air. &quot;It was a fine night; all around
+was so still and peaceful. He must have got love fancies or some kind
+of visionary notions into his head. He went towards the tower, without
+desiring my company, and bade me not expect him before noon.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Strange!&quot; said the king, &quot;Aagé upon a light love adventure, and at
+this time! It cannot be. Humph! what became of the spy you captured?
+Hath he been examined? Hath he confessed?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;He hath disappeared, my liege! 'tis a strange and almost
+incomprehensible tale. I was myself at the sea-tower, two hours after
+midnight, the man-at-arms was dead, but the devil had carried off his
+murderer: that, they swore roundly, was the fact. He had lain bound in
+the corpse-chamber of the drowned; no egress was possible; at midnight
+he was heard to cry and howl, that the devil was carrying him off. No
+one dared to enter the chamber, and when I came neither robber or Drost
+was to be seen.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;How! the Drost!&quot; interrupted the king; &quot;what hath all this to do with
+Aagé? He lay not in the chamber with the murderer.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;True--excuse me, your grace,&quot; answered Count Henrik, clearing
+his throat. &quot;I speak at random, I perceive: that comes from the
+night-watch.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Truly, count! we must be broad awake to-day, especially since Aagé is
+not here,&quot; answered the king hastily, and rode down towards the tower.
+&quot;I will find out what is meant by that devil's story.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Count Henrik followed the king. The report of the disappearance of the
+bound murderer, had already collected a crowd of curious persons, who
+crossed themselves on hearing the terrific tale, which they repeated
+one to another, with still more marvellous and more terrible
+circumstances. Place was respectfully made for the king, who heard with
+wonder from the guard the same tale as that current in the crowd, with
+the alarming addition, that the Drost had entered at midnight into the
+chamber of the raving murderer, and that all traces of him had likewise
+disappeared. Various opinions were however entertained of the affair,
+and some thought it was not the Drost, but the devil, who, in the
+Drost's form, had entered the chamber of the dying murderer, to carry
+him off in person.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Tush!&quot; said the king, &quot;lead me to that accursed corpse-chamber! There
+must be some trick in this.&quot; He hastily entered the murky stone
+chamber, and looked around it on all sides with anxious attention.
+There was no furniture except the bench appropriated to the bodies of
+the drowned, which was streaked with blood, and on which hung some rent
+and half-decayed rope. From the high iron grating in the wall, which
+was hardly large enough to admit a sparrow, fell a faint light, which
+glimmered on a plumed hat lying in a corner. &quot;What see I here?&quot;
+exclaimed the king in astonishment. &quot;The Drost's hat and plume;
+and there is his green mantle also. Plundered, murdered, great
+God!--Yet no! a robber would surely have made off with the booty. The
+captured murderer was certainly sorely wounded?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;To the death of the body, most gracious liege, according to the
+surgeon's opinion,&quot; answered an aged monk, who, with a curious crowd of
+the lower class, had thronged together with the men-at-arms, into the
+tower after the king. &quot;Ah, yes,&quot; continued the solemn Franciscan, in a
+tone of devout exhortation, &quot;it was a fearful end. Here we see
+manifestly how the ungodly are punished. This blood crieth not unto
+heaven, like the innocent Abel's, but it crieth unto hardened sinners
+upon earth, from the road to the bottomless pit, that they may behold
+the traces of the damned with fear and trembling. My pious hearers, men
+may now-a-days delay <i>temporal</i> death, by means of surgeons and
+apothecaries, with St. Cosmo's and St. Damian's help; but <i>eternal</i>
+death they never can: when the term is out, lo! then cometh he who hath
+the bond, and fetches that which is his own, without respect of
+persons. Here hath been given a sign, to the terror and warning of many
+in our ungodly time: Sancta Maria! ora pronobis!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It is thou then, monk, who puttest those vagaries into the people's
+head?&quot; interrupted the king at last, with impetuous impatience.
+&quot;Believest thou, in truth, that the Evil One hath carried off yon
+murderer, both body and soul?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;St. Franciscus preserve me from doubting it!&quot; answered the monk,
+crossing himself. &quot;He who can carry off the souls of the ungodly can
+doubtless annihilate their sinful bodies. Lo! he hath but left these
+blood-drops behind, as a witness of the power which is given him, and
+also, though <i>he</i> willed it not, to the honour of the all-righteous
+Judge. The truth is so manifest in our sight, it were blindness and
+heretical presumption to doubt.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And, my Drost, my faithful Aagé, believest thou the same of him?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Be not wroth, my liege?&quot; answered the Franciscan with frankness, and
+laying his meagre hand on his breast, &quot;my conscience forbids me to
+witness falsely on the brink of the grave, to please or flatter the
+great and mighty, or to conceal the wondrous things which have taken
+place in our sight, for the conversion of hardened sinners, with fear
+and trembling. The noble Drost hath also disappeared in an
+incomprehensible manner, and seeing that we know he had fallen under
+the awful ban of the church, and was given over by our most venerable
+archbishop to the destruction of the flesh, and the power of the great
+enemy of souls!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Silence, presumptuous monk! thou knowest not what thou sayest!&quot;
+exclaimed the king, in the greatest wrath, darting a lightning glance
+at the pale trembling monk; &quot;let the prince of darkness take that which
+is his! I will not quarrel either with him or thee for that; but this I
+know, no devil shall injure a hair of my faithful Drost Aagé's head,
+whether he be dead or alive. There must have been a murder here, a foul
+misdeed,&quot; he continued, &quot;a shameless treachery. So help me God, and all
+the holy men, it shall be discovered, and sternly avenged! Hence, monk!
+hie thee to thy cell, and pray the Lord to enlighten thy understanding.
+Thy intentions are good--it were sin to be wroth with thee. Go hence,
+good people; ye stand in our way. Hither, my true men; the floor must
+be broken up; the tower must be pulled down. If the Drost be not found,
+one stone shall not remain upon another.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">At the king's stern command the monk and all the idle spectators
+departed. The spearmen came with spears and boat-hooks, and whatever
+was at hand, and began to break up the stone floor. It was not long ere
+they discovered the loose stone in the corner by the little iron
+trap-door, which was hardly discernible in the faint glimmer of
+daylight from the grating. &quot;Look, look!&quot; was the cry; &quot;a trap-door! a
+pitfall!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ha! the murderer's pit! Here we have it!&quot; exclaimed the king. &quot;Torches
+here, quick! I will go below, myself.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Let that be my business, my liege,&quot; said Count Henrik. &quot;Here is
+assuredly the secret entrance to the castle,&quot; he added in a low voice;
+&quot;perhaps it might be used for our attack.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No, Count! a king's path lies not through a fox's den&quot;--interrupted
+the king, proudly: &quot;bring me but my faithful Aagé!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Torches were quickly brought, and the passage was searched. The king
+however suffered himself to be withheld from descending. Count Henrik
+hasted forward with eagerness and curiosity, holding a torch in his
+hand, and accompanied by three men-at-arms. The torches were often
+nearly extinguished by the subterranean air; they found however and
+recognised the robber's body, which was immediately borne off by two of
+the men, while Count Henrik and the third pursued the search. At last
+they reached the great iron gate, which they vainly attempted to burst
+open. Within, the sounding of horns and the clash of numerous weapons
+were heard, and Count Henrik considered it advisable to hasten back.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The king had meanwhile obtained information of every circumstance
+respecting the Drost's nocturnal visit to the tower, and was in some
+degree tranquillised by the sight of the robber's body, when Count
+Henrik returned and acquainted him with what he had discovered. &quot;The
+daring Drost is assuredly alive, if not quite in safety, my liege,&quot;
+said the Count, as he ascended from the secret passage, quite spent and
+breathless. &quot;As the murderer was found dead and alone, he cannot have
+mastered the brave Drost; but it is plain they have had a hard struggle
+together. Here is the Drost's sword; it was found close to the body.
+There is actually a secret passage to the castle; but it is strongly
+guarded, and we were near falling into the enemy's hand.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Well, now we know where Aagé is,&quot; said the king; &quot;he meant well; but
+'tis an arch trick he hath played us. Ere the sun goes down he shall be
+free, by God's assistance,&quot; he added. &quot;Woe to the traitors, should they
+injure a hair of his head!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The king left the tower, and the preparations for storming were
+continued with increased zeal.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Towards noon the king, mounted on his white steed, stationed himself
+without the eastern rampart of the castle: he was stern and silent. He
+often looked with uneasy expectation and rising indignation towards the
+gate of the town, where, in a few moments, his brother the junker would
+appear, did he purpose taking any measures to effect a reconciliation.
+Some horsemen, who were placed on the look-out on the hill by St.
+George's hospital, returned at the time appointed, at full gallop, and
+announced that the expected party was not to be seen on the road.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Now then, in the name of the righteous God,&quot; exclaimed the king in a
+low voice, but greatly incensed, &quot;I have no longer a brother; the
+measure is full--Let them sound to storm, Count Henrik; let the
+trumpets thunder forth my wrath!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Hardly was the command uttered ere the trumpets sounded to storm. The
+sun stood highest in the heaven, and the tower shadow fell upon the
+roof of the monastery. The whole force was instantly in activity. The
+attack was made according to the plan concerted with the Drost, from
+three sides at once; but on two sides feignedly, in order to mislead
+the enemy, while the principal assault, in which the whole force of the
+troop combined by degrees, was directed against the eastern wall, by
+the tower gate.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The outermost drawbridge was speedily pulled down by the boat-hooks of
+the brave boatmen and seamen. With the aid of all the fire ladders
+belonging to the town, the outer wall was quickly mounted. No leader
+was here present, and the junker's Zealand peasants, as well as the
+Samsöers, fought unwillingly against their countrymen. A brave
+resistance was indeed made against the German Count Henrik, but
+wherever the king himself appeared, the weapons dropped from the hands
+of the Danish defenders of the wall, while they fell at his feet and
+implored mercy. The outer wall came thus speedily into the power of the
+king, who was himself one of the first who mounted it; but the most
+vigorous defence was made from the tower, over the fortified gate.
+Within was heard a powerful voice of command, and from the loopholes
+and battlements rained a thick shower of stones and javelins. Count
+Henrik saw the danger, and hastened to form a roof of shields for the
+king's protection, while it was vainly attempted to tear down the great
+portcullis which served as a sort of raised iron drawbridge over the
+moat, between the outer wall and the gate.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Fire the gate!&quot; commanded the king, with wrathful impetuosity.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Fire! fire, here!&quot; was echoed from mouth to mouth, and crowds soon
+flocked from the town, with torches of pitch, with fire and splintered
+tar-barrels, which they threw in over the portcullis. The gate and the
+tower were soon shrouded in smoke and flame, amid the shouts of the
+besiegers.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2>CHAP. IV.</h2>
+
+<p class="normal">During this eager and hazardous attack, on the eastern side of the
+castle, the captive Drost Aagé stood before the iron-grated loophole in
+the square upper tower, which rose from the middle of the principal
+western wing of the castle. Far below, perpendicularly from the prison
+grating, the great wooden staircase projected into the castle court,
+from which, through a balcony, was the entrance into the vestibule of
+the upper story. The prison tower was separated from the besieged gate
+by the two principal wings to the north and south of the circular
+court, by the ladies' apartment, and the knights' hall. From his high
+prison grating Aagé was thus enabled to witness the combat and
+strenuous efforts, as well of the assailants as of the besieged. He had
+succeeded in climbing up into the recess in the wall within the
+grating, whence he looked out with steadfast gaze and throbbing heart
+over the castle yard towards the tower gate. Here he knew the principal
+attack was to be made. He had for some time heard the din of the fight,
+and perceived how all the forces combined to assault and defend this
+one point. He now beheld the dense pillar of smoke rising without the
+gate, and observed at the same time, through the loopholes of the
+tower, that the garrison were putting their largest machines of defence
+in motion in order to crush the besiegers with stones and beams, ere
+they could succeed in firing the gate. &quot;Must I stand passive here,
+while the king is in battle and danger?&quot; exclaimed Aagé, as he shook
+the iron gate in wrath. He had nearly fallen down backwards into his
+prison, as a fragment of the ancient wall loosened and fell in before
+him, together with a part of the grating. &quot;A hint!&quot; he exclaimed in
+surprise; &quot;thanks be to thee, my good angel! thou art, then, more
+powerful than the Evil One.&quot; He instantly conceived the design of
+availing himself of this accident to make a venturous flight from the
+tower, in the hope of hastening to the assistance of the besiegers, and
+perhaps of opening the gate to them. He bound his shoulder scarf to
+that part of the grating which remained firm, and made preparations for
+letting himself down to a lower shelf of the tower wall; but at this
+moment he heard a voice, which constrained him to draw back, and filled
+him with dismay. He had leaned his head against a pillar of the tower,
+which being raised the whole height of the building conducted the sound
+to his ear from an unfathomable depth. Directly under him, where the
+high wooden staircase projected, was a deep vault with a well,
+concealed under the uppermost landing, which led through the balcony to
+the great vestibule of the castle. This vault, with its deep well, was,
+in cases of emergency, the last defence of the castle, and might prove
+a frightful grave for every besieger who was not aware of the
+contrivance, as in the landing of the stairs was a concealed trap-door,
+which could suddenly be let down from within to plunge the entering foe
+and the supposed victor into the abyss. This contrivance for the
+defence of the castle had been recently planned by the junker: neither
+the king nor the Drost knew of it; and as a secret and extreme defence,
+it had even been kept concealed from most of the inmates of the castle.
+The existence of such a stratagem had been already suspected by Aagé,
+from the contents of the private letter he had seized and destroyed;
+but the distant voice which reached his ear from beneath now flashed
+conviction like lightning across his mind.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;There shalt thou stand!&quot; sounded the stern voice of the commandant, in
+a low and hollow tone. &quot;If the gate falls, and they throng in hither,
+then mark--the moment thou hearest a footstep on the stair, let down
+the door!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">A faint voice replied; but Aagé heard not the answer.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Whatever blood flows here comes on the junker's head!&quot; said the
+commandant's voice again; &quot;he must answer for it here and yonder--We
+are but the instruments of death in his hand--Enquire not! think not!
+be silent and obey or thou art perjured and damned eternally!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Aagé stood as if petrified with terror: from some single words which
+were added, the whole fearful contrivance became clear to him: even the
+voice of the stern chief appeared to him to tremble while issuing the
+terrible mandate.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">All was again hushed in the hidden abyss, while the clash of arms and
+the din of battle at the castle gate increased, and overpowered every
+other sound. A high flame presently shot up through the pillar of smoke
+above the gate, and a shout of dismay was heard from the burning tower,
+the defenders of which were now forced to fly to escape perishing in
+the flames. Without resounded the victorious shouts of the besiegers,
+while the rattling of iron chains, and a hollow clanging noise
+announced that the outer portcullis between the wall and the gate was
+pulled down; to this a still louder crash succeeded; the besiegers
+burst the burning gate.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">An overwhelming dread seized the listening captive: almost without
+knowing on what he was about to venture, he swung himself out of the
+loosened prison grating, and let himself down by his shoulder scarf so
+low towards the tower wall that he was able to take his stand on a
+projecting buttress; but hardly had he succeeded in doing this, ere
+another fragment of the prison wall loosened, together with the iron
+grating to which his scarf was bound; it flew past his head and dashed
+against the iron railing of the balcony below, where his scarf remained
+hanging. He himself lost his balance, and was forced to let go his
+hold; but he snatched involuntarily, as if with the instinct of
+self-preservation, at the projecting buttress on which his foot had
+just rested, and thus continued to cling, while he succeeded in resting
+one foot on the corner of the sloping porch above the staircase
+entrance. He stood thus directly over the stair, yet still at such a
+height above it as to involve the certainty of sustaining a serious
+injury in case of falling. He had ascertained that the trap-door of the
+well was immediately under his feet, and that the first footstep upon
+it would be the signal for its falling, and opening its deep and
+certain grave. It was hardly possible for Aagé to continue his hold
+long in this hanging position. Amid the universal tumult no one
+perceived him. He now heard the crash caused by the bursting of the
+gates, and the victorious shout, &quot;The castle is won! Long live young
+king Eric!&quot; The king had already entered the castle as a victor through
+the flaming gate. Aagé could not turn his head round and look down into
+the yard without losing his balance; but he heard, and instantly
+recognised the king's and Count Henrik's voices far below him.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Beware, my liege! here is a pitfall!&quot; he shouted with all his might;
+but his voice was too faint; he was exhausted by his desperate
+exertions, and no one appeared to hear him amid the universal clashing
+of weapons, and the noisy shouts of victory. He was, besides, hidden by
+the pillar of the tower from those who were nearest to the upper story
+of the building. &quot;Farewell, sweet Margaretha! farewell, love and life!&quot;
+he gasped; &quot;I must below.&quot; His fall and death, at this moment, appeared
+to be the only means of saving the king's life. &quot;Long live my king!&quot; he
+shouted, and let go his hold of the buttress. All seemed to grow dark
+before him; he fancied he was falling an unfathomable depth; but beyond
+this he was unconscious of what was passing around him.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Aagé, Aagé's voice!&quot; cried the king, who, excited by the fight and the
+storm, stood at the head of his victorious troop of knights at the foot
+of the high wooden staircase. He had heard Aagé's voice, but where he
+knew not; some of the furthest men-at-arms had seen him fall down from
+the porch on the landing of the stairs, but the general noise and
+tumult overpowered their shouts of alarm. The king had already set his
+foot on the first step of the stair.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Back, my liege! treachery!&quot; shouted Count Henrik suddenly. &quot;Yonder
+hangs the Drost's shoulder scarf; there is certainly a pitfall here.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The long red scarf hung just above their heads from the iron railing of
+the balcony.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;As I live, my faithful Aagé; I heard him bemoan himself above there,&quot;
+said the king eagerly, without heeding the warning, and hastened up the
+stair; but Count Henrik rushed after him and seized his arm ere he
+reached the uppermost landing. They both stopped as in amazement, and
+at the same moment uttered a cry of horror on seeing the unhappy Drost
+lie deadly pale and bleeding at the top of the staircase.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Dead! dead!&quot; cried the king, and was hastening up to him; but Count
+Henrik still detained him, while he himself sprang forward, and tramped
+on every step of the hollow stair. Aagé opened his eyes, and recognised
+the king. &quot;Back from the grave, my liege!&quot; he called with a faint
+voice, as he rolled himself forward to the king's feet, and clasped his
+knees. &quot;Aagé! great Heavens! what is this?&quot; exclaimed the king, and
+raised him in his arms. At the same instant the door of the hall of the
+upper story opened, and a tall, steel-clad knight, disarmed, and with
+an uncovered and hoary head, stepped across the balcony, and took his
+stand on the uppermost landing of the stair. &quot;You stand beside a grave,
+King Eric!&quot; he said in a terrific voice; &quot;I had prepared it for you;
+but a higher power presides here; now shall it open, and swallow me up
+before your eyes.&quot; He stamped with all his might on the rocking and
+creaking trap-door under his feet. &quot;Ha! why tarriest thou, slave?&quot; he
+shouted in a voice of thunder. &quot;Away with the bolt; draw it quick.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No, no, in the name of a merciful Heaven!&quot; said a beseeching voice
+from the castle cellar far beneath him; &quot;I cannot; I would sooner be
+perjured and eternally damned.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What is all this?&quot; asked the king in the greatest amazement. &quot;Doth
+that man rave? Who is he?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The commandant of the castle, my liege,&quot; answered Count Henrik, who
+stood with his drawn sword before the king, and with the one foot on
+the trap-door.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Bind that madman,&quot; commanded the king to the knights nearest him,
+without withdrawing his gaze from the signs of returning life in Aagé's
+face. He bore him himself in his arms, with Count Henrik's assistance,
+over the creaking trap-door, and over the balcony, into the upper hall.
+As soon as Count Henrik had seen the Drost and the king in safety he
+hastened back to the shouting men-at-arms, to secure and guard all the
+entrances, and prevent any disorder from the disarming of the garrison.
+It was not till the king saw that Aagé's consciousness was returning,
+and that his limbs, however bruised, still were not seriously injured,
+that he looked towards the knights who surrounded him, and assisted in
+tending the Drost. At the door of the antechamber stood the tall
+commandant of the castle, with his arms tied behind his back, between
+two halberdiers; he gazed before him, mute and pale, as a marble
+statue. &quot;Had I <i>such</i> a master to die for!&quot; he muttered in a deep and
+hardly audible voice, and a tear rolled down between the furrows of the
+aged warrior's haughty and unmoved countenance.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Count Henrik soon re-entered the hall with hasty steps. &quot;My liege,&quot; he
+said aloud, &quot;the margrave is without the gate; the highborn junker is
+with him. They entreat your grace to withhold your stern sentence and
+wrath, and hear what the prince hath to say in his defence.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Let him step hither instantly,&quot; commanded the king, and the sternness
+of his countenance seemed mingled with profound sorrow. &quot;The hour of
+judgment is come,&quot; he added; &quot;but I condemn no one unheard.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Count Henrik bowed in silence and departed. A deathlike stillness
+prevailed in the chamber. Drost Aagé reposed, pale and bleeding, on a
+bench, with his head leaning on the king's breast, and appeared as yet
+not to have fully recovered his consciousness after his shattering and
+stunning fall. His temples had been chafed with wine; at a signal from
+the king he was carried into the ladies' apartment, that he might
+repose in quiet, and be more carefully tended. As he was borne off the
+king pressed his feeble hand, and looked on him with affection and
+sadness. Aagé gazed fixedly and anxiously upon the king. &quot;Remember you
+are to pass sentence on a brother,&quot; he whispered in a faint voice. He
+would have said more, but the king motioned to him to be silent, and
+turned from him as he hastily passed his hand over his high and glowing
+forehead.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">A deep stillness once more prevailed around. The king's knights had
+ranged themselves in solemn silence at his side: they yet stood with
+their drawn swords in their hands, and the halberdiers were stationed
+with their long spears by the door guarding the gloomy chief, who
+looked like one petrified. Footsteps were soon heard on the hollow
+stair, where the trap-door had already been secured. Count Henrik
+opened the door, and remained standing on the balcony. He bowed coldly
+as Junker Christopher and the Margrave of Brandenborg entered,
+followed by their knightly train. The margrave's wonted gaiety and
+light-heartedness had vanished. He seemed exhausted from violent
+exertion, and in an anxious and uneasy mood. When the tall Junker
+Christopher uncovered his black locks, which floated wild and tangled
+around his shoulders, and advanced towards the king, his feet appeared
+to totter, while, however, there was a cold and forced smile on his
+long, large-featured visage.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My royal brother hath visited me in a peculiar fashion,&quot; he said in a
+tone of bitterness, as he greeted Eric with a stiff and formal bow. &quot;I
+lament that I was not informed of your gracious visit, that I might
+have received my royal liege in a fitting manner, and have prevented
+the senseless acts of my vassals as well as the deeds of violence, of
+which I perceive traces here.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I am wont, even when unannounced, to find the castles of my vassals
+and servants open as well to my ambassadors as to me,&quot; answered the
+king with stern vehemence. &quot;The contumacy I have here met with is high
+treason; the gate of a fortress hath been shut against me in my own
+kingdom: where this happens, fief and goods are forfeited, be the
+criminal who he may! I perceive, also, that my life has been basely and
+treacherously sought after: it is a Judas act and miscreant deed; it
+stirs up my inmost soul;&quot; he continued in a voice of emotion, and with
+a doubtful glance at the prince's sullen countenance. &quot;It is bitter and
+dreadful to me to think that my own brother could have shared these
+crimes--So, however, it seems to mortal eyes; but if ye can justify
+yourself, Prince Christopher of Denmark, speak! and with a single word
+remove from my heart the heaviest weight that ever oppressed it! Are
+you guilty or not?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Who accuses me?&quot; exclaimed the junker haughtily, and with vehemence.
+&quot;Who dares to mark me out for contumacy and treason? Where is my
+accuser? Where is my commandant? His is the responsibility for what
+hath happened. Where is he?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Here!&quot; said a powerful and hollow voice from the door of the apartment
+close behind him. It seemed as though the prince shrunk at the sound,
+while he turned and gazed on the aged warrior with a wild and haggard
+look.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Crush me, if you will, Prince Christopher,&quot; continued the chief; &quot;I am
+prepared for death; my life is yours, but not my honour--Here stands
+your aged loyal servant, the only one who was true to you here at the
+castle. Therefore do I now stand bound as a miscreant and traitor; but
+I swear by the most high God, in the sight of the king and of Danish
+chivalry, I have but fulfilled my duty--I obeyed the command of that
+master to whom I swore fealty and obedience. No one can serve two
+masters; every one must account to his own. I have mine; but that he
+commanded, he must himself answer for.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Dost thou rave?&quot; shouted the prince, foaming with rage. &quot;Did I order
+thee to defend the castle against other than my foes?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;True, sir junker! against your foes,&quot; repeated the warrior, &quot;whether
+they were great or small, whether they wore helmet or crown--that was
+your stern behest; and if you named not the king, assuredly it was him
+you meant, so help me St. George and the merciful God, in my last
+hour!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Liar! calumniator! mad, presumptuous rebel and traitor!&quot; shouted the
+prince, as if in a transport of rage, and rushing menacingly towards
+the bound commandant. &quot;Darest thou thus to pervert my commands? Wouldst
+thou read in my soul, and make my thoughts traitors to my king? Nay,
+now I see it; I penetrate thy plan, traitor! Thou wouldst set strife
+and enmity between me and my royal brother! thou wouldst waken
+rebellion and civil war in the country--thou art a kinsman of Marsk
+Stig; thou art a secret friend of the outlawed regicides.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The king started and gazed on the prisoner with a searching look; the
+proud chief seemed to have lost his self-possession; he stared upon the
+junker with fixed and strained eyes, but no word passed his lips.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;See you, my liege, the traitor is struck dumb;&quot; continued the junker,
+turning once more with a look of proud triumph to the prisoner. &quot;Canst
+thou deny the traitor's blood in thy veins, wretch? Canst thou deny
+thou art a friend of the outlaws?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I am proud of my birth,&quot; said the commandant, regaining his
+self-possession by a desperate effort. &quot;My unfortunate friends I disown
+not either, even though they be outlawed and accursed in this world;
+but the charge you ground thereon, I deny and despise.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Take him to the prison tower, my men!&quot; called the junker hastily in a
+proud authoritative tone; &quot;I am his master and judge, by the laws of
+the country. The crime he would roll on his master's head, shall
+assuredly fall on his own, and crush him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Some knights of the prince's train had already approached the prisoner
+to lead him away; but they lingered, and cast a timid and inquiring
+look at the king.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Haste not!&quot; ordered the king with vehemence; &quot;so long as I am present
+myself, no one commands beside me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The junker's knights drew back respectfully at these words. The captive
+had raised his eyes towards the ceiling of the apartment, and seemed to
+be internally preparing himself for death.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You deny, then, all participation in what here hath happened. Junker
+Christopher?&quot; continued the king in a thoughtful and gloomy mood, while
+his searching gaze still dwelt on the wild and passionate countenance
+of the junker. &quot;I ask you not to swear by your salvation--With a
+brother's salvation I would not even redeem my crown or life; but I
+demand your knightly and princely word, in confirmation of your
+testimony. This chief's birth, and his friendship for my deadly foes, I
+ask not of: it is now question of the present rebellious and traitorous
+transaction. Can you confidently affirm, on your knightly and princely
+word, that your commandant hath in this matter acted according to his
+own arbitration, and against your order?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yes, by my knightly and princely honour!&quot; cried the prince with a
+glowing and fierce countenance, and bit his lips in wrath.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Those words you will repent at the last judgment day, junker!&quot; said
+the commandant in his ear with a deep and hollow voice, as if from the
+grave, and gazing on him with a deathlike stare.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Silence, mad liar!&quot; interrupted the junker. &quot;I will show you, my royal
+brother and liege,&quot; he continued in a raised voice, and turned from the
+thunder-stricken captive, &quot;I will show you that I can maintain
+discipline in my castle--none shall go unpunished, who have dared to
+insult you in my name, and abuse the power you have entrusted to me by
+contumacy and treason--I demand instant justice and sentence on this
+criminal, according to the jurisdiction of the castle and law of the
+land.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I cannot deny you the power of judging and passing sentence upon your
+servants.&quot; answered the king. &quot;Whatever may have been your commandant's
+transgression, he must answer for it! He shall instantly be brought
+before the castle tribunal, and be sentenced according to law; but if
+he be pronounced guilty in the absence of proof, and from the want of
+explanations, which can be known to none but yourself, it shall be left
+to you to award the sentence. Junker Christopher! if your conscience
+can answer for it before God and men!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Well, then! he is doomed; he shall assuredly lie on the wheel ere the
+sun rise again,&quot; muttered the junker: &quot;you have heard the king's
+command: obey! take the captive to the justice court!&quot; He addressed
+these words with an authoritative air to his knights, and they
+instantly led off the prisoner, who cast a proud and contemptuous look
+at his master, and pointed menacingly towards heaven.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The king had thrown himself into a chair, thoughtful and silent, with
+his hand before his brow; a severe conflict seemed passing in his
+inmost soul. He now rose up suddenly, and cast a stern and penetrating
+glance at his brother: &quot;Pass sentence, and execute it on thy servant
+in my name, as thou wouldst be judged thyself in the sight of the
+all-knowing and righteous God!&quot; he said in a low tone of admonition. &quot;I
+invest thee, also, with my highest prerogative--that of mercy. If he
+<i>be</i> mad--if his blood can be spared, without breach of law--by
+all the holy men! I ask it not in pledge of the truth of thy
+declaration. The word of honour of a knight and prince needs no bloody
+confirmation--There is my hand, brother Christopher,&quot; he added, and his
+voice trembled; &quot;I will believe thee, whether thy servant be found
+innocent or guilty.&quot; The junker gave Eric his hand, in gloomy silence,
+and with an averted countenance; there was, for a moment, a general and
+anxious silence.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Let the musicians strike up. Sir Junker! now there is surely peace and
+good understanding again, my royal friends!&quot; said Margrave Waldemar,
+hastily breaking silence, in his gay, volatile tone; &quot;it rejoiceth me
+that I have contributed towards it, even though I have foundered my
+best horse in the cause: now we will forget the whole vexatious
+affair, and let the junker's good wine wash away all remains of
+misunderstanding.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You are right, Waldemar!&quot; exclaimed Junker Christopher, with a gay
+mien, and looked boldly round the hall; &quot;I ought not to forget I am
+host here, although my honoured guests have taken me somewhat by
+surprise.&quot; He then opened the door himself into the knights' hall, and
+besought the king to enter: he himself followed with the Margrave,
+Count Henrik, and the whole numerous train of knights.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The king continued silent and thoughtful. He seemed to put a restraint
+on himself to conceal his mistrust of his brother. Margrave Waldemar
+was evidently desirous to cheer the king, and place the intercourse
+between the brothers on a more easy footing. The quarrel as yet was
+only but slightly accommodated; but Junker Christopher seemed carefully
+to shun all closer explanation; he merely ventured on a passing comment
+on the beleaguering of Holbek castle by the Drost, as if it was but a
+rumour which he had heard, and as if he trusted, at all events, it was
+only a precipitate act of the Drost and a misunderstanding of the will
+of his royal brother. He evaded the grave answer which hovered on the
+king's lips, and employed himself zealously and courteously in
+attending to the wants of his guests. The door of the large dining hall
+was presently thrown open, where a table of refreshments always stood
+ready for the junker and his followers, when they were on a visit at
+the castle. From the gallery, in the great hall above, sounded the
+joyous tones of hunting horns and trumpets, and Kallundborg castle,
+which lately rung with the clash of weapons and din of war, soon
+re-echoed with the ringing of goblets and the mirth of festivity.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It was nearly evening ere the royal party were assembled at table. As
+soon as the junker had seated his guests, and a lively and easy
+conversation had in some degree commenced, he departed, with a hasty
+excuse, and remained absent above half an hour. He returned gloomy and
+pale, but appeared afterwards in high spirits, excited by the wine and
+the company at table. To the king's inquiry as to what had so long
+deprived his guests of his company, he answered in a low tone, &quot;I have
+been attending the court of justice, my liege! I would not let the
+judges wait for my explanation; matters of life and death it is ever
+best to get out of hand, ere we come to the drinking table.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The king became again silent and thoughtful, but the junker frequently
+drained his goblet, and Margrave Waldemar sought, by many a merry jest,
+to disperse the dark thoughts which frequently seemed to disturb the
+festivities in honour of a reconciliation; which, however, appeared
+rather to be forced than the effect of mutual good understanding.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The king purposed not to pass the night it the castle, where he had met
+with such hostile reception; but as it grew dark and late it was
+difficult for him to reject his brother's repeated invitation, without
+again betraying a distrust he wished he could wholly drive from his
+mind. As the junker at last, with a cheerful air, once more earnestly
+urged his invitation, while he drained the last goblets of wine with
+the king, to a speedy and happy union with the lovely Princess
+Ingeborg, and to a brotherly understanding, the cloud on Eric's brow
+vanished, and the last remains of mistrust seemed to be banished from
+his kindly heart. He pressed his brother's hand warmly, and drained his
+cup to the bottom: &quot;Well, Christopher! I remain,&quot; he continued, in a
+confidential tone and half aside. &quot;All shall be forgotten as in old
+times, when the good Drost Peter settled our childish disputes, and our
+mother Agnes joined our hands together.&quot; The king now appeared
+perfectly happy and satisfied; Christopher often laughed loudly. This
+cheerful tone soon pervaded the whole assemblage.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">After the repast the king seated himself with his brother at a
+backgammon board; he only shook the dice, however, while he ordered the
+state of his faithful Aagé to be inquired into, and waited in vain for
+a word of frankness and confidence from Christopher. The junker was
+especially courteous and attentive, but he still seemed desirous, by
+indifferent talk, to ward off all approaches to serious conversation.
+At this moment an officer of justice entered, and put a sheet of
+parchment into his hand: he became suddenly silent, and changed colour.
+The attendant hastily departed.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What was that? my brother!&quot; asked the king. &quot;The death doom of my
+presumptuous servant, according to the verdict of the court of justice
+of this castle, and to the law of the land,&quot; answered the junker,
+without looking at him; &quot;will you confirm it? Upon life and death you
+yourself determine?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;As the friend and kinsman of the outlaws, he was doubtless my foe; but
+how guilty he is thou must know best,&quot; answered the king, with stern
+solemnity; &quot;thou hast my authority for it: in my name to confirm the
+doom, or to pardon, as justice or moderation prompt thee. None save
+thou and the all-seeing God can know with certainty whether thy command
+could have been thus misinterpreted--If there be the least doubt,
+then----&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No, there is no doubt here,&quot; exclaimed the junker impetuously, with a
+dark and gloomy countenance, and a wild and frightful glance, as he
+rose from the backgammon table, and departed with hasty strides.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The king looked long after him, with a serious and thoughtful gaze. He
+started up suddenly once or twice, and put his hand to his brow. &quot;No!&quot;
+he said, &quot;it is impossible--I have his knightly and princely word of
+honour.&quot; The margrave now approached gaily and courteously, and took
+the vacant seat near the king at the table, where he soon succeeded in
+introducing a lively and amusing conversation.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2>CHAP. V.</h2>
+
+<p class="normal">The Drost had been brought from the ladies' apartment to a remote and
+quiet chamber, in the knights' story. Although he had sustained no
+serious injury in his heavy fall, he was, however, shattered in every
+limb, and unable to move. After a restorative bath, he had been carried
+to his couch and had fallen asleep; but the harrowing anxiety which he
+had endured so agitated his mind that it was impossible for him to
+sleep soundly. At one time he dreamed he was wrestling with corpses in
+dark graves, at another that he hovered over unfathomable abysses; but
+the idea of the king's danger, and the pitfall under the staircase,
+seemed to work most powerfully upon his imagination, and he frequently
+exclaimed in his disturbed slumber, &quot;Beware, my liege! Now opens the
+grave under thy feet. Believe him not, believe him not, he is a
+traitor!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It was late in the evening. A lamp burned on the table in Aagé's
+chamber, and an aged, withered crone sat by his bed, muttering
+constantly to herself with toothless gums and shaking head. The door
+presently opened, and the king entered the darkened chamber,
+accompanied by Count Henrik and Junker Christopher. The nurse instantly
+withdrew, half in alarm, and with oft-repeated curtsey, without,
+however, allowing herself to be interrupted in her mutterings, and
+unconscious monologue. Junker Christopher and Count Henrik remained
+standing at the entrance, where they conversed together in a low tone
+and at intervals, of the chase and their horses, and of the large
+antlers of the stag over the door, while the king approached the
+Drost's couch, and drew the lamp forward on the table that he might
+have a full view of his features. Aagé appeared for a moment to be
+sleeping soundly; but as the king stood by his couch, and with
+sympathising sorrow bent over his handsome though pallid face, the
+Drost suddenly opened his eyes and stared wildly before him. &quot;Is it
+thou, my liege?&quot; he whispered; &quot;art thou still living in this murderous
+den? Beware! Believe him not!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Recollect thyself, my Aagé, thou dreamest,&quot; said the king. &quot;Thy
+pious wish is fulfilled; I and my brother are reconciled. Look!
+there he stands. He also wishes to see thee. The whole was a
+misunderstanding--the desperate plan of a rebel--one of the outlaws'
+race and friends. Be calm, my Aagé; I am now a peaceful guest here with
+my brother--We have drunk to reconciliation and brotherly fellowship
+together--I have done him injustice also in the affair with Bruncké. I
+will give him back both Holbek and Kallunborg. He is now to accompany
+me on the expedition against the dukes.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Noble, generous, kingly soul!&quot; exclaimed Aagé, seemingly quite roused
+from his dreaming state. &quot;Hath a word, hath a cup of wine effaced such
+enmity and wrath? Now the Lord and our blessed Lady be praised! Love
+healeth all wounds, and mercy is a precious virtue. <i>How</i> great is now
+thy love and clemency, my liege!&quot; he continued, again somewhat wildly,
+and as if half dreaming; &quot;doth it extend even unto the outlaws and
+their unhappy race--even unto Marsk Stig's kindred and children?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ha! breathe not that accursed name, Aagé,&quot; interrupted the king, with
+stern vehemence; &quot;<i>so</i> far my clemency will never extend--Now sleep
+well, my faithful Aagé,&quot; he added, with his former mildness and
+affection. &quot;Think not on what it is best to forget--they tell me thou
+art already out of danger, and can, perhaps, follow me to-morrow, or in
+a few days.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Where sleeps my liege to-night?&quot; asked Aagé, in an anxious voice, and
+again gazing wildly around him.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Close by thee, here in the knights' story; only be thou calm and sleep
+in peace. I sleep under a brother's roof.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Come, my royal brother,&quot; interrupted Christopher, hastily approaching
+the couch, &quot;speak no more with that sick dreamer, he is in a fair way
+to infect you with his feverish phantasies.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Good night, my Aagé,&quot; said the king, pressing the Drost's hand as he
+departed. &quot;I will keep that I promised him,&quot; he said to the junker. &quot;I
+will sleep near him, here in the knights' story.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;As you command, my royal brother,&quot; answered the junker, with a cold
+and bitter smile; and they left the sick chamber.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Count Henrik had also given his hand to Aagé, and was about to follow
+the king; but the Drost detained him for a moment, in a state of
+painful anxiety. &quot;Look, look!&quot; he whispered, &quot;there goes the murdered
+King Eric with Junker Abel<a name="div2Ref_02" href="#div2_02"><sup>[2]</sup></a>; <i>they</i> once were brothers! and, hark! a
+flood roars beneath this castle. It is surely the bloody Slie,--take
+heed!--take heed, that no misfortune happens here!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You have perturbed dreams, Drost Aagé,&quot; said Count Henrik, letting go
+Aagé's fevered hand. &quot;Sleep ye but in quiet; I watch.&quot; He then hastened
+after the king and the junker; but first glanced out of the window, and
+saw with secret horror, by the deepening star-light, a high, black
+scaffold in the back court of the castle, without the knights' story.
+He hastily drew the curtain before the window and departed; whereupon
+the old nurse (still shaking and muttering) re-entered the Drost's
+chamber. She was attired in the homely dress of a country burgher's
+wife; her eyes were large and sunken, and her pale, emaciated visage
+greatly resembled that of a corpse. With a distaff and a rosary in her
+hand, she resumed her station by the Drost's couch before the lamp,
+which she drew aside, that it might not shine in the face of the
+patient. All was now soon quiet in this wing of the castle, which only
+comprised the sleeping apartments of the knights. Aagé lay long
+listening in anxiety. In the unusual stillness of the evening, however,
+a distant sound as of lutes and mirthful songs reached his ear.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What is that?&quot; he asked, raising his head with pain and difficulty.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;There is merriment in the knights' hall, noble sir! yes in troth! that
+there is,&quot; answered the nurse; &quot;our stern junker hath caused minstrels
+and jugglers to be fetched from the town. There is no lack either of
+mead or sweet wine, that knoweth the precious Lord in heaven! He drinks
+to friendship with his brother, they say. Alack yes!&quot; she added, &quot;the
+great can be merry, doubtless, and leave care to the fiddle; ay! ay!
+when they quarrel among themselves, it all falls on the small! yes, in
+troth! does it--all falls on the small. My departed husband was, by my
+troth, doomed to death, in the great Marsk Stig's feud--alack yes! by
+my troth was he, he was but a poor man, I must tell ye: <i>he</i> had
+neither knightly nor princely honour to swear himself free with, like
+the high-born junker; no, by my troth! had he not, that was the whole
+mishap. There sits now our old commandant in the tower--ay! ay! he will
+hardly see sun or moon more; they say he is to be executed to-night;
+alack yes! and yesterday he was master here at the castle; yes, in
+troth! was he so, but so goeth it in the world; alack yes.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Executed?&quot; repeated Aagé; &quot;the Lord have mercy on his soul; the king
+is strict and hasty: ha! but knew he?----&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;He doubtless knew, what we all know, that his high-born brother hath
+borne false witness,&quot; sighed the old woman; &quot;but what care the great
+about cutting off an insignificant head, when they would save their
+own? The law must have its course--yes, in troth! that it must, <i>one</i>
+head doubtless must fall, after such a commotion and uproar, but the
+junker's is placed too high, I trow! 'What should great lords keep
+servants for, if they could not wash themselves clean in their blood?'
+said my departed husband, when he was executed; yes, in troth! said he
+so, the blessed soul--But see now if ye can get to sleep, noble young
+sir! that is assuredly best for you. I talk mayhap rather too much:
+'tis my bosom sin, they say--yes, by my troth! one talks too little,
+and another too much; was there no such thing as talk, no poor man
+would talk himself over to the evil one, and no high-born rogue would
+talk himself from the gallows.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I must speak with the king,&quot; burst forth Aagé, with eagerness, and
+vainly strove to rise, but his strength entirely forsook him, and he
+fell back in a swoon. The old nurse thought he slept, and indeed he
+soon appeared to have fallen into a kind of slumber. The nurse looked
+at him several times, with the lamp in her hand, and nodded, as she
+continued to chatter to herself; &quot;Ay! ay! a good honest face, in
+troth!&quot; she muttered. &quot;But who is honest in this sinful world? he
+consorts with the great,--ay! ay! and those good folk one should never
+believe--no in troth, one should never believe. He would have spoken
+with the king--yes, forsooth! when it is question of saving a poor
+devil's life, and telling the king that his brother is a rogue and
+traitor; then such a fine courtier fellow swoons or falls asleep, till
+it is too late. Wake up, Sir Knight! wake up!&quot; She shook him in vain;
+&quot;Alack! I verily believe it is death's sleep,--well then he is excused:
+after such a fall and being battered into a pudding, there can
+doubtless be no great life in him--he draws breath though, I believe!
+yes, in troth he does! Youth is strong, perhaps nature will help
+herself--Hark! now they follow the king to bed,&quot; she continued, and
+listened: &quot;he will surely sleep close by here, ay! ay! This is his
+favourite servant, this same Drost. Weil, the Lord keep his hand over
+the king! he means well by us all; yes, in troth he does--alack yes!
+even though he should doom many a poor devil to death--but indeed
+that's his business--it is therefore he is king. He upholds law and
+justice, yes in troth! and makes, besides, no difference between high
+and low. Should he now have doomed to death his own brother according
+to the flesh? That would have been too hard--yes, in troth, would it;
+he is after all but a man, and who is just in all things in this sinful
+world? Ay, ay! but the junker--alack, yes! The Lord preserve us from
+him--if we get <i>him</i> for a king, it will be a bad look-out--yes, in
+troth will it! alack, yes!&quot; Thus she muttered to herself, and nodded
+beside the lamp until she fell asleep in the arm-chair. It might be
+somewhat past midnight, when Drost Aagé awoke, strengthened in body,
+and refreshed by the deep sleep, caused by exhaustion, which seemed to
+have given a favourable turn to his illness. He was still, however, in
+a feverish state; he looked around him with surprise, and appeared not
+to know where was. The pale sleeping nurse, beside the lamp, seemed to
+him, as the light faintly lit up her emaciated visage, like a sitting
+corpse. He half arose and stared fixedly at her; he remarked signs of
+strong agitation in her deathlike face; her toothless gums mumbled, but
+without any sound; it appeared as though she wished to speak, but had
+not the power to utter a word. It seemed to him, as if he now beheld
+what he had often heard and read of in ancient sagas and poems of olden
+time. The dark vaulted chamber in his imagination was a subterranean
+prophet's cave, and the old mumbling crone a dead prophetess, on whose
+tongue Runic letters had been laid to cause her to prophesy.<a name="div2Ref_03" href="#div2_03"><sup>[3]</sup></a> He
+tried to rise and the attempt succeeded; his shattered limbs were
+strengthened and pliant. He wrapped the white woollen coverlet around
+him, and soon stood listening on the floor, and gazing on the old
+woman's visage. &quot;Whom talkest thou with?--corpse! what dost mumble of
+in thy grave?&quot; he whispered, and she moved her mouth still faster.
+&quot;Murder, murder!&quot; she exclaimed, at length, in audible words. &quot;Hark,
+hark! now his head falls before the axe.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">At the same instant Aagé actually heard with dismay a sound outside the
+window, as of the stroke of an axe; he rushed forward, and pulled aside
+the curtain. The light of a number of torches glared on him from the
+back court of the castle. He saw with horror, a body of men-at-arms
+surrounding a scaffold, on which stood an executioner with a bloody
+head in his hand. A cold shudder came over Aagé; he knew not, as yet,
+whether he waked or dreamed; he stood speechless, as if rooted to the
+spot, and gazed on the horrid sight; a low chant fell on his ear, and
+he beheld a crowd of Franciscan monks advance under the scaffold with a
+black coffin. Among the spectators he recognised Junker Christopher's
+dark countenance, strongly lit up by a torch. The bloody head fell from
+the executioner's hand, and it seemed to him, to his inexpressible
+horror, to be the king's; he staggered back and overturned the table
+with the lamp. The old woman waked in affright, and shrieked loudly;
+but Aagé rushed out of the chamber, into the dark passage, in
+indescribable consternation. &quot;Murdered!--the king murdered!&quot; was the
+cry of his inmost soul; but no word passed his lips; he went on, like a
+sleep-walker, with staring eyes, not knowing whither he was going.
+&quot;Here he was to sleep--here close by me,&quot;--he thought, and stopped at a
+side door. He had already extended his hand to open it, when he saw a
+light, and heard footsteps at a distance in the passage. The door
+beside which he stood, was enclosed between two pillars projecting from
+the wall--he stopped behind one of the pillars, and kept his eye on the
+light in the passage. It approached slowly, and often stopped; at last
+it came so near that he could see, it was carried by a tall figure in a
+dark mantle. The light fell only on the lower part of the shrouded
+form; his walk was tottering and hesitating; a large sword glittered
+under his mantle. The figure came nearer and nearer; but with stealthy
+and almost noiseless steps. At last it advanced close to the pillar,
+behind which Aagé stood, and paused again. The light was now; raised,
+while the shrouded bearer looked around him on all sides, and the light
+fell on a long and wildly glaring visage--it was Junker Christopher.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ha! fratricide! regicide!&quot; shouted Aagé, in a frenzy, and rushed out
+upon him.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">With a cry of alarm the junker let fall the light, and sprang backward.
+&quot;Murder! help! a madman!&quot; he shouted, and drew his sword.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Amid this noise the door between the pillars opened, and Count Henrik
+stepped forth with a light. &quot;What is the matter here?&quot; he asked
+eagerly, but in a low tone. &quot;Who dares to wake the king?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The king! the king!&quot; exclaimed Aagé, with inexpressible joy, &quot;he
+lives?--the Lord be praised! it was then but a dreadful dream! but saw
+I not the junker here?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yes, assuredly, thou saw'st him, madman!&quot; cried the junker, returning
+his sword into the sheath. &quot;Had you not come out. Count Henrik, I
+should have cut that mad fellow down on the spot. He fell upon me here,
+with a wild incoherent speech, as I was stealing softly to my chamber
+that I might not wake the king. If I see aright, it is the chivalrous
+Sir Drost, who is walking in his sleep, or would play the ghost. One
+would think my castle was turned into a madhouse.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;A <i>singular</i> adventure, noble Junker,&quot; said Count Henrik, gazing with
+a penetrating look on his perturbed countenance. &quot;Our good Drost is
+sick, as you know, and hath disquiet fevered dreams,&quot; he added in a
+light courtier-like tone. &quot;He must in his phantasies have taken you for
+a murderer and traitor; but you must excuse him; his loyalty and
+devotion for your royal brother are alone to blame for it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You come from an execution, Sir Junker!&quot; said Aagé, whose
+self-possession was now fully restored; &quot;it was, I presume, your
+unhappy commandant, who so ill underwood your order and will?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Right!&quot; answered the prince; &quot;he hath got his well-merited wages--the
+presumptuous madman! but madness spreads here, I perceive.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Your highness's imagination hath surely also been at work,&quot; continued
+Aagé, &quot;since my dreams could scare you thus. I beseech you meanwhile
+graciously to pardon me for stopping you just beside <i>this</i> door. It
+was, perhaps, however, a lucky chance; you might easily have made a
+mistake between your own and the king's sleeping chamber.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Go to thy couch, madman!&quot; replied the junker, with gloomy harshness,
+and with his hand on his sword. &quot;You dream as yet it seems to me, and
+might deserve to be wakened by my good sword--One should bind and shut
+up a visionary and dreamer like you when one would have a quiet night:&quot;
+so saying, he hastily snatched his candle, which Count Henrik had taken
+up from the floor and lighted, and the junker went with rapid strides
+through the next side door into his own sleeping apartment.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I have a fearful suspicion,&quot; whispered Aagé to Count Henrik; &quot;but I
+was ill and over-excited--I may be wrong: it is too dreadful to think
+of--Let it not disturb the king's peace.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What you mean, Drost, I am also loth to think of,&quot; answered the count,
+&quot;though after what hath here happened, almost every thing is possible.
+Come, let us stay here together to-night.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">They then both entered the door between the pillars, and all was soon
+perfectly quiet at the castle.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The next morning early the king and his men rode out of the burnt and
+dilapidated gate of Kallundborg castle. Count Henrik, Margrave
+Waldemar, and Junker Christopher accompanied him on horseback, together
+with his fifty knights, and a numerous troop of lancers. Drost Aagé
+followed slowly behind in a litter, borne by two horses. He was far
+from recovered from the effects of his dangerous fall, but was not to
+be kept back.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The king and his brother rode in silence through the town, at some
+distance from their train. &quot;Thou hast surely wished to take from me the
+desire of being oftener thy guest at Kallundborg, Christopher!&quot; said
+the king in a gloomy, dissatisfied mood, as they rode slowly up the
+hill to St. George's hospital, and looked back on the castle and town.
+&quot;I have used thy fair castle gate badly it is true; some broken pates,
+too, I have left behind me; but neither didst <i>thou</i> prepare me any
+fair spectacle at my mattins.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What! the criminal on the wheel?&quot; muttered Christopher. &quot;Hath his head
+said good morning to you from the stake? The fault was not mine: that
+unpleasant sight would have been kept from your eyes, but you yourself
+chose your sleeping apartment with that unsightly prospect. To say
+truth, my royal brother,&quot; he added in an upbraiding tone, &quot;you seemed
+to me to require <i>proof</i> that there was no manner of doubt in this
+case.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That word then sounded ill to thee,&quot; answered the king. &quot;Understood'st
+thou me not? There might be a doubt of the criminal's sanity, but not
+of his miscreant deed; there might be a doubt of the ambiguity of thy
+commands to him, without there being the slightest doubt of thy
+meaning, as thou didst explain it to me on thy knightly word. Only on
+that ground did I make over to thee my privilege of pardon, together
+with the power of confirming the sentence: there was no need, either,
+to hasten with the execution of the bloody doom.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It was needful to decide the matter ere you left the castle,&quot; replied
+Christopher eagerly. &quot;I, for my part, had no ground for doubt. I have
+shown I feared not to witness the fall of the traitor's head, as your
+Drost can affirm, if he hath come to his senses.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;He is now quite collected,&quot; answered the king. &quot;I know he walked in
+his sleep last night, and gave thee a start by my door.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ay, indeed! hath he told you of that pleasant adventure!&quot; said the
+junker, starting and changing colour. &quot;Had he been in his right senses,
+I would have demanded that he be declared infamous for the audacious
+outrage.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;As I have heard the circumstance, he is excused: thy alarm he hath
+also accounted for to me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;How mean ye?&quot; asked Christopher, in the greatest anxiety.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Truly, it is not good to return to one's couch with such a bloody
+spectacle before one's eyes,&quot; said the king, with not unsympathising
+glance at the junker pale and agitated countenance. &quot;Be not ashamed of
+it, Christopher! mayhap it does thy heart honour--Thou wert sick at
+heart, and greatly moved by the sight of thine aged servant's execution
+Aagé supposed. I see myself how it hath taken hold on thee. It is the
+first death-warrant thou hast sealed--I know by experience such acts
+excite peculiar and painful feelings.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">As the king said these words the junker's countenance seemed suddenly
+to brighten, and he again breathed more freely. &quot;In truth, my royal
+brother,&quot; he said, hastily while a deep crimson flush succeeded to his
+former paleness, &quot;the stupid fellow was a brave man, notwithstanding!
+It was not the most agreeable duty you put upon me. I was in some sort
+a party concerned; but I was perfectly right; no one could know my
+criminal servant as well as I; and the sentence was passed according to
+law and justice, by impartial men. Your Drost is an excellent knight,&quot;
+he added, &quot;but somewhat disposed to be visionary: he is devoted to you,
+however, and I have nought against him, on account of his foolish
+dreamings.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Count Henrick and Margrave Waldemar now approached the royal brothers,
+and the conversation turned on indifferent topics. The procession
+proceeded on the road to Korsóer, from whence the king intended to
+cross the Belts, in order to join the Marsk, and the forces which were
+to march against the turbulent dukes of Slesvig.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">At the famous sea-fight of Grönsund, the young King Eric had gained a
+decided victory over these haughty princes, who frequently sought to
+withdraw their allegiance to the Danish crown, and since the regicide
+of Eric Glipping had secretly, as well as openly, made common cause
+with the foes of the country and the outlawed regicides. By this
+victory the king had indeed gained a high reputation with the dukes as
+well as with the neighbouring northern powers, and the princes of north
+Germany; but the quarrel with the archbishop and the Romish see, and
+still more the king's excommunication at Sjöborg, had given all his
+foes courage, and renewed their hopes of shaking his throne, and
+frustrating his bold projects. It was feared, not without reason, that
+the young high-spirited King of Denmark, who now appeared as though he
+would defy ban and interdict, might possibly have a desire to regain
+the influence and power won by the great Waldemar the Victorious in
+Germany. That monarch's chivalrous character, and the lustre his
+conquests had shed on the Danish name, seemed early to have inspired
+his bold descendant with the wish to tread in the paths of his renowned
+ancestor, and a glorious reputation like that of Waldemar the
+Victorious was assuredly the secret wish of Eric's heart, though he
+lived in a time and under circumstances which demanded no ordinary
+degree of power and wisdom, in a sovereign, even to save the country
+from downfall, and preserve his own life and crown.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The renewed demands of the dukes, and the revival of long-accommodated
+differences, but, especially, tidings of the outlaws having again found
+protection and shelter in Slesvig, had in a great measure induced the
+king to take up arms; and since the archbishop's flight, he had become
+much more precipitate than formerly, and more inclined to carry every
+thing through by the strong hand. The people well knew but cheerfully
+tolerated Eric's youthful and often impetuous eagerness, and his liking
+for chivalrous pomp. His firmness of purpose was indeed often called
+obstinacy; and it was admitted he was not altogether free from an
+excessive love of show, but from his childhood he had been the people's
+darling, and such he continued to remain.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">This breach with the dukes appeared to many to be rash and
+inconsiderate; but the king's wrath was deemed justifiable, and the
+public mind was calmed by the belief that with all his impetuosity he
+had too much love for his people, and possessed too much sound policy
+not to spare the blood of his warriors, and the scanty revenues of his
+country, could he, sword in hand, honourably negotiate. The calm,
+thoughtful Drost Aagé contributed not a little to restrain the king's
+vehemence, and now that Eric's older and more experienced counsellors,
+the aged Jon Little and Drost Hessel were absent, the greater number and
+most peaceably minded of the people rejoiced to see Drost Aagé in the
+king's train. The Drost's suffering state, and the perilous adventure
+which had caused it, which was daily exaggerated by rumour, with the
+most marvellous additions, attracted towards him the sympathy and
+admiration of the lower classes. Those especially who had before
+shunned him as an excommunicated man, now mourned over his misfortune,
+since the king himself shared the same fate. The energetic and warlike
+Count Henrik of Mecklenborg, with his bold commanding glance, also
+found favour with the people, who looked up to him with confidence. He
+and Aagé were often received with animated shouts of acclamation, while
+a dumb and almost timorous courtesy was, on the contrary, shown to the
+gloomy Junker Christopher; and the foreign Margrave Waldemar, who
+always rode by the junker's side, was looked on as a half suspicious
+guest, whose presence might well be dispensed with. Wherever the
+procession passed, the young chivalrous monarch himself was received
+with the most loyal demonstrations of the people's affection, which had
+been more than ever called forth by the knowledge of the ecclesiastical
+persecution he then endured. Even the much dreaded lightnings of
+excommunication seemed transformed into a halo of martyrdom around the
+head of Eric, the avenger of his father, and the defender of the
+throne; especially as the greater and most estimable part of the Danish
+clergy boldly declared his cause to be just and honourable.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The sorrow and displeasure which it was known had been caused the king
+by his brother the junker's suspicious conduct had still more increased
+the sympathy of the people for him.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;For Eric, the youthful king!&quot; was the general salutation, when all
+hats and caps waved in the air in his honour. &quot;Away with the red hat
+from Rome! Away with all traitors! King Eric! and none other!&quot; often
+resounded as he rode through the crowded street. &quot;Long live Princess
+Ingeborg! Long live the king's true love!&quot; also shouted many a merry
+bachelor. Where this salutation greeted the king, his own greeting
+became doubly kind and gracious. &quot;Thanks, good people! thanks!&quot; he
+answered cheerfully, and waved his hand; &quot;if the Lord and our blessed
+Lady will it so, you shall see her here as your queen in the summer!&quot;</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2>CHAP. VI.</h2>
+
+<p class="normal">On Sommersted heath, in the province of Haddersleben, a bloody battle
+seemed likely to take place between Eric and his haughty kinsmen, the
+Dukes of Slesvig and Langeland, in whose army it was asserted many of
+the regicides were enlisted; notwithstanding it had been stipulated by
+treaty the preceding year, that these exiled criminals should be no
+less outlawed by these princes, than by the king, and his brother. When
+the dukes beheld the forces, at the head of which the incensed king,
+attended by his fifty chosen knights, was marching against them, they
+appeared to hesitate, and the swords of the one party seemed to keep
+those of the other in the sheath. Through the Drost's mediation a truce
+was negotiated; according to which all hostilities were to cease, the
+dukes' troops were to lay down their arms, and no outlaws suffered to
+continue in their service; all claims also on the part of the dukes
+were to be suspended, until formal terms could be agreed upon. For this
+purpose an amicable interview between these princes and their royal
+liege was proposed to take place at Wordingborg castle.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Drost and privy council rarely succeeded in persuading the king to
+a reconciliation, or to enter into a formal treaty of peace with any
+opponent who had protected his father's murderers. The only person who,
+under such circumstances, had been occasionally successful in acting as
+mediator, was Eric's sagacious and kindhearted stepfather, Count
+Gerhard, who ever stood in a friendly and almost fatherly relation to
+the young monarch.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The present peace also with Norway was only a truce, occasionally
+renewed for single years or months; for the outlaws had constantly met
+with protection from the Norwegian King Eric, and Duke Hako; and
+according to his promise given to these fugitives, the Norwegian king
+was unable to conclude a permanent peace with Denmark, unless his
+Danish guests should be again admitted into their native land. Many of
+these deadly foes to the royal house of Denmark had, indeed, fallen in
+their unsuccessful expedition against Denmark; some had been seized and
+maltreated by the populace, or captured by the king's commanders, and
+executed for robbery and incendiarism. This had been the fate of Arved
+Bengtson, one of the wildest and fiercest of the regicides, who with
+ten of his comrades had fallen into the hands of the stern Tulé
+Ebbeson, and the whole of the eleven had been mercilessly beheaded. But
+each time the number of their chiefs was thus diminished, the revenge
+and defiance of those who were left increased. From their connection
+with foreign powers, with Archbishop Grand, and with the papal see,
+these exiled noblemen were the most dangerous enemies of the country.
+So long as one of them was living the king considered himself under the
+necessity of being constantly prepared for war, and the mention of an
+outlaw was almost sufficient to make him gird on his armour.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">After the conclusion of the truce with the Dukes of Slesvig, the king
+visited his royal manors in Jutland and in the Isles; but he disbanded
+his troops only so far as to admit of their being assembled again in a
+few days at the Marsk's summons. The young king sought, as much as it
+was possible, to atone for whatever injustice had been committed during
+the government of his unhappy father. Even his bitterest enemies were
+forced to acknowledge his disinterested zeal in the administration of
+justice; but despite the respect and affection of which Eric received
+the most gratifying proofs from his people, his personal safety was,
+nevertheless, often endangered, as the condition of the country was in
+general in a very unsettled state. The outlaws belonged to most noble
+families in Denmark, and had not a few kinsmen, friends, and secret
+adherents, who endeavoured to protect them from the indignation of the
+people, whenever they secretly or openly dared to venture back to their
+father-land, for the purpose of exciting disturbance or seeking
+opportunities for revenge. All the discontented in the country, all
+restless spirits, and those who were at war with law and authority, all
+criminals and burgher politicians, who feared or hated kingly rule,
+joined themselves to these martyrs in the cause of liberty, and foes of
+despotism as they were denominated. Some powerful prelates, the
+archbishop's friends, were on their side, although the clergy in
+general were devoted to the king. Meanwhile the most sincere patriots
+could not deny that the discontented had often real grievances to
+complain of, and that the lawful rights of citizenship were frequently
+infringed. The king's friends and devoted subjects often went too far
+in their zeal for his security; and state functionaries not
+unfrequently exercised violence and injustice in his name, where they
+suspected any one of siding with the outlaws. Among the discontented in
+the country, and the secret partisans of the outlaws, such proceedings
+served as a pretext and excuse for similar conduct towards the king's
+servants and friends; what especially disquieted all lovers of their
+country, was the dread of a general closing of the churches, in case
+the king did not yield in the affair of the archbishop. An apprehension
+also prevailed of civil war and dangerous conspiracies of the outlaws,
+and other disturbers of the peace; particularly if any open breach
+should take place between the king and his brother, the junker.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">During the first chilly days of spring, the roads to Wordingborg were
+unusually thronged on occasion of the important treaty of peace just
+concluded with the Dukes of Slesvig. The splendid festivities and
+tournaments which were the delight of the chivalrous king, were now in
+preparation to celebrate the event. Many knights and nobles from
+Jutland and the Isles journeyed to Wordingborg, to display their
+splendour before the king and the court, as well as to share in the
+expected festivities in honour of the peace, which however was regarded
+by the king's friends rather in the light of a victory.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">A party of three knights, with a numerous train of squires and
+attendants, rode one evening amid storm and hail through the forest
+near Suséa, and approached the great forest monastery of St. Peter. The
+accommodations for travellers were but scarce and simple. The public
+inns established in the time of King Eric Glipping were few and
+generally despised; travellers of high degree, therefore, often took
+shelter in monasteries, which were occasionally put to much cost and
+inconvenience by these sometimes forcibly-imposed visitations. The
+monasteries had been, in fact, exempted by a royal decree, from the
+ancient obligation of giving free entertainment to travellers; they
+were even forbidden to receive wayfaring guests, where there was any
+public inn in the neighbourhood; but the prohibition was hardly ever
+observed even by the clergy themselves, as it was contrary to the rules
+of the monasteries.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The knights and their train seemed nowise inclined to pass by without
+visiting the rich &quot;Forest Monastery&quot; (as it was called) which now, with
+its high, white and notched gable ends, and its shining copper roof,
+came in sight above the forest in the fitful light of the stormy
+evening. The party drew near the great oak avenue within the domain of
+the monastery, and the attendants pointed, gladly, to the smoking
+chimneys: but the two foremost knights had shrouded themselves in their
+mantles, and drawn their large travelling hoods over their eyes. They
+seemed, notwithstanding the increasing storm, so absorbed in their own
+thoughts that they cared but little about the road, or the inviting
+hearth of the monastery. They were the same tall, silent knights, who
+had so mysteriously visited Prince Christopher at Holbek Castle, the
+night on which it was garrisoned by Drost Aagé. The little hump-backed
+man in the red cloak, who was then their companion, was not now seen in
+their train; but they were accompanied by Prince Christopher's
+gentleman of the bedchamber, the fat short-necked Sir Pallé, who
+frequently lamented over the weather, and seemed as weary of the
+journey as of his taciturn and unsociable travelling companions.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;This way! up the monastery avenue, sir knights!&quot; he called,
+impatiently. &quot;You would not surely go farther in this infernal tempest?
+It is a good way yet to Nestved, and to that dog-hole of an inn, the
+road every way is long. We stand in need of a good supper, and a good
+night's rest--I know Pater, head-cook.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;<i>I</i> know the <i>abbot</i>,&quot; answered the taller of the two grave knights,
+with a haughty mien. &quot;At all events, I know myself and my squires, and
+what a wayfaring man may demand.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;For the Lord's sake! let us not play the braggart, excellent Sir
+Brock!&quot; said Pallé, rather in alarm, and drawing his bridle. &quot;If we
+proceed with violence and bragging, the pious monks may shut the door
+in our faces, and make the king our enemy to boot; one should, by my
+troth, seek a shelter by fair means when one slinks past law and
+ordinance.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Bah! Here one may make light of secular law and royal ordinance,&quot;
+answered Sir Brock, scornfully. &quot;St. Bent's rules no king can shake.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Let us only not attack the rules of the monastery, worthy knights!&quot;
+sighed Sir Pallé, slapping his empty stomach, &quot;or we may have to put up
+with fasting fare this evening, and learn of St. Bent to knock out the
+flesh tooth.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;If that tooth had been knocked out in the monastery there would
+scarcely be so many butchers in Nestved,&quot; remarked the other
+knight; &quot;keep easy, Sir Pallé; I promise you a fat roast for this
+evening--Every Sunday the Nestved butchers are forced to pay their
+tribute in good roasts and sausages.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The Abbot understands that,&quot; said Sir Brock, with a nod. &quot;That is a
+fellow who knows how to uphold his rights both with high and low--trust
+me, Sir Papĉ, the Nestved burghers may well provide him wine for his
+roast--the whole town hath to thank the monastery and the rich abbot
+for its rise. Truly, these are burgher and grocer times we live in--we
+now see villages and towns where before we saw lordly castles, and
+domains, and mark, now, if the grocers' houses will not at last shoot
+up over both lordly castles and monasteries. It passes the
+comprehension, both of king and statesmen, how to keep the people under
+finger and thumb; but it is well enough understood by <i>him</i> yonder.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You know the abbot then, Sir Brock?&quot; resumed Pallé, inquisitively, and
+with a look of curiosity. &quot;He must be a mighty prelate; they say, he
+was a good friend of Archbishop Grand's. You have surely no errand to
+him? You know more of him, perhaps, than I do of Pater, head-cook; for
+that is but a slight acquaintance. On second thoughts. Sir Knight,
+would it not be better in these troublous and suspicious times, to pass
+by the monastery and put up with the dog-hole of an inn?--unless you
+really have any errand here--you have perhaps known the abbot long. Sir
+Brock? You are even perhaps of his kindred?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Excellent! Go on! if you have more queries, or any more scruples, let
+me have all out at once, and have done with it,&quot; said the tall Sir
+Brock, with an air of contempt. &quot;To speak plainly, my good Sir Pallé,
+you seem somewhat inquisitive. You have asked me of more during this
+journey, than I would answer my confessor in a whole year.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And you are as mysterious and cautious as though you took me for a
+tell-tale, and a man not to be counted on,&quot; answered Pallé, in a tone
+of annoyance. &quot;If the high-born junker hath trusted me to bring you a
+private letter, you may well suppose I am among his most confidential
+friends.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;A confidant is wont, however, to know what tidings he brings,&quot;
+remarked the tall knight.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You think, perhaps, I know them not,&quot; returned Pallé, assuming an air
+of consequence. &quot;It will rejoice the noble junker to see you and your
+friends at Wordingborg, in order to come to a closer and mutual
+understanding.--Is it not so?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ha, indeed! my sly Sir Pallé; you understand then, the noble art of
+opening wax seals?--another time you must do it more dexterously, or,
+at least, be able to hold your tongue about it. The high-born junker
+hath known his messenger, and hath not entrusted you with a greater
+secret than he might suffer to be cried in the streets through every
+town.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The other knight laughed scornfully. Pallé was silent, wroth, and crest
+fallen. The party now halted, drew bridle before the gate of the
+monastery, and knocked loudly at it. The porter put forth his shaven
+head from a shutter, and inquired in a peevish tone, who it was, and
+what was wanted so late.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Wayfaring and christian men,&quot; was the answer. &quot;If you are a pious man
+of God, Father Porter, sin not by asking forbidden questions, but
+unlock the gate instantly, in St. Bent's and St. Peter's name!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;In nomine St. Benedict! Anianensis et St. Petri Apostoli,&quot; answered
+the clerical porter, and instantly withdrew the great iron bolt which
+secured the gate.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;See ye,&quot; said Sir Niels Brock, &quot;St. Bent and St. Peter are more
+powerful here than kings and worldly despots.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Although the most important household matters were managed by the monks
+themselves, according to monastic rule, the travellers, on their
+entering the monastery, were instantly received by a whole crowd of
+attendant lay-brothers and conversers, who took off their mantles, and
+eagerly waited on them with handbasons and whatever they required.
+Father Porter had allowed himself to be replaced at his post by a
+lay-brother, that he might not miss the evening devotion and the
+evening meal that accompanied it. After an announcement to the Abbot,
+he followed the three knights to the refectory, while a lay-brother
+attended to the wants of the train.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2>CHAP. VII.</h2>
+
+<p class="normal">In the high-vaulted refectory, the small arched windows of which looked
+out into the garden of the monastery, and were darkened by a row of
+lime-trees, sat the heavy-built abbot Johan in his laced leathern
+arm-chair, with a lamp before him, at the supper-table, holding a kind
+of instructive discourse for the edification of the humbly-listening
+brethren of the order and the pupils of the monastery. Nearest him sat
+eleven monks in black cloaks, among whom Peter Porter took his place as
+the twelfth. The same number of little boys, who were educating as
+monks, and wore black benedictine mantles, as well as the brethren of
+the order, took the lowest place at the table, and eagerly partook of
+the repast, while, however, they seemed to listen very attentively to
+the abbot's discourse. On the entrance of the travellers the dignified
+prelate half rose from his seat, with a look of annoyance, and bade
+them welcome in St. Peter's and St. Bent's name, but almost without
+vouchsafing them a glance, and in a tone which betrayed that it was
+only in compliance with the rules of his order that he received such
+self-invited guests. However, when the two tall knights approached him
+nearer, with a reverent and courteous salutation, and the lamp on the
+table lit up Sir Niels Brock's martial visage, the abbot's proud
+bearing and repulsive looks suddenly changed. He signed a blessing over
+the knight and his companions, and, with courteous condescension,
+besought them to be seated, while he hastily, with a side-wink of the
+eye, laid his finger on his mouth, and continued to address them as
+strangers.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Besides the twelve brethren of the order and the monkishly-clad
+children, there sat a person at the table, also in a black benedictine
+mantle, but without the hood and complete dress of the order. He had
+hastily risen on the entrance of the travellers, and appeared about to
+withdraw; but, on hearing Sir Niels Brock's powerful voice, he turned
+round to the newly-arrived guests, and nodded familiarly to Brock. It
+now appeared that this person bore not the tonsure, and was even
+adorned with a warrior-like beard; his forehead and eye-brows were
+hidden by his yellowish red and combed down hair.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Brock started, and greeted him with surprise, but in silence.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;A guest from the world who hath sought safety in the dress of our holy
+order and the sanctuary of the monastery,&quot; said the abbot. &quot;I can,
+therefore, only present him to you without mention of his name, as I
+also have received you in the holy Bent's and St. Peter's name, without
+asking of your name in the world, or the object of your journey.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Your hospitality and high mindedness are well known throughout the
+country, pious sir,&quot; said Brock, with another obeisance. &quot;We are not,
+it is true, among the persecuted. The object of our journey also is no
+secret; but we equally acknowledge, with thanks and reverence, the
+shelter these holy walls afford from storms of <i>all</i> kinds.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;From the hour in which, by God's grace, I received the bishop's mitre
+and the holy crosier,&quot; resumed the abbot, with the air of a prince of
+the church, but with stooping head, and a kind of studied rhetorical
+tone, &quot;be it said without all vain self-commendation, and to the honour
+of the Most High!--from the time St. Peter and his holy heir set me a
+ruler over these souls, and over this asylum of the pious and
+oppressed, I have striven according to my poor ability in the spirit of
+St. Benedict of Nurcia, and with the pious will of St. Benedict of
+Anianes before mine eyes, to give succour and protection to all
+travellers and pilgrims, and all outlawed and persecuted persons,
+against the wild turbulence of nature, as well as against human
+ferocity and the violence and persecution of an ungodly world. You just
+now interrupted me in a godly discourse, my guests! I spoke of the
+Church's might and authority, which is now so scandalously assaulted by
+the blind children of this world in our ungodly times. I was
+inculcating the duties of our holy order on the children, and for the
+edification of my dependents, on occasion of the crying deeds of
+violence and injustice we daily hear of and see before our eyes. You
+have also surely heard how shamelessly and treacherously the king's men
+have dealt with the outlawed Count Jacob's men in Halland, and what an
+outrageous and arbitrary act the royal vassal, Jonas Fries, hath lately
+perpetrated here, on the boundary of my abbey's consecrated ground and
+territory?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What I have heard is almost past belief, pious Father Abbot,&quot; answered
+Brock; &quot;but the matter is related very differently by the friends of
+freedom and those of despotism. Rumour hath indeed possibly exaggerated
+the stern vassal's despotic act.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My fugitive guest, who sits there, can bear testimony to the truth,&quot;
+said the abbot. &quot;The unhappy victim to the lawlessness and barbarity of
+that royal vassal was his good friend and comrade.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It is as true as that I stand here,&quot; began the warrior-like personage
+in the monk's cloak, and rose from his seat. His accent sounded
+half-Norwegian; the combed-down hair slipped aside for an instant from
+his brow, and over his wild fiery eye a pair of bristly meeting
+eye-brows and a large red scar were visible. &quot;Thus are law and justice
+now upheld in Denmark,&quot; he continued. &quot;I had come down hither in
+reliance on truce and treaty, but truth and justice are no longer
+recognised, where the friends of freedom are outlawed. My comrade had
+saved my life, and freed me from a degrading captivity; he was, like
+myself, in the service of the Norwegian king. Three days since he was
+taken captive at my side in broad day-light, by Sir Jonas Fries
+himself, and dragged to his castle.--I escaped to the sanctuary of the
+abbey; but when I yesterday, with the pious abbot's men, would have
+liberated my unhappy comrade, we found him hanged, without law or
+sentence, on Jonas Fries's closed castle gate.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ha, indeed! the more madly they act the sooner they will have to
+account for it,&quot; exclaimed Brock, in a powerful martial tone, and
+striking his large battle sword against the flagged floor. &quot;The master
+who hath such zealous servants may fare badly at last--that deed of
+violence shall prove a firebrand----&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;We meddle not here with worldly matters,&quot; interrupted the abbot
+hastily, with an admonitory wink, and a side glance at the attentive
+and startled monks, who all, however, sat silent with humbly drooping
+heads, and appeared to fear, rather than love, their despotic and
+mighty superior. &quot;Worldly matters are to me and my dependents, but
+vehicles for spiritual things,&quot; continued the prelate with a devout
+air, &quot;and I only permit any discourse concerning them when it may serve
+us for holy and edifying meditation, according to St. Benedict of
+Anianes' pious will and injunction. I now forbid all further talk on
+such subjects here. Refresh yourselves, my stranger guests! Pray a
+silent prayer, brother bed-maker, and discharge thy duty towards the
+strangers! Pray in silence, and retire to rest, children! Let every
+brother set about his evening work! You must not suppose, my unknown
+guests,&quot; he added, &quot;that the conversers and lay brothers you have seen
+here, alone perform the bodily labour which is incumbent on us all--it
+is precisely in order to gain bodily strength for the performance of
+the stern duties of our order that I give, as you see, occasional
+dispensations with respect to the nourishment of the frail body with
+substantial meat.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The brethren of the order and the monkishly clad children now folded
+their hands, and muttered a prayer; they then departed, after they had
+all, with a deep and submissive inclination of the head, kissed the
+abbot's hand, which lay extended for the purpose on the arm of his
+chair, in which he remained sitting, and gazed on his guests with an
+attentive and searching glance. &quot;You are welcome. Sir Niels Brock and
+Sir Johan Papĉ,&quot; now commenced the abbot, in a confidential and
+condescending tone, with a side look at Sir Pallé. &quot;This knight I know
+not, but I presume you bring none with you but your most confidential
+friends.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The high-born Junker Christopher's gentleman of the bed-chamber, Sir
+Pallé, accompanies us to Wordingborg by his lord's command,&quot; said
+Brock, hastily, &quot;although we cannot boast of knowing him intimately.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ay, indeed! You are welcome also, Sir Pallé,&quot; resumed the abbot, in a
+tone of haughty condescension, once more assuming the dignified mien of
+a prelate. &quot;Your master, the junker, is now said deeply to repent his
+sin and cruelty against our most learned and God-fearing archbishop,
+and to feel a longing after peace and reconciliation with the holy
+church? With all his errors, he seems still, however, to be of a more
+tractable and pious mind than his hardened brother, and it may one day,
+perhaps, stand him in good stead, for God resisteth the proud, but
+giveth grace to the humble.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yes, my lord junker will now assuredly be converted, pious Sir Abbot,&quot;
+answered Pallé, thrusting a large piece of meat into his mouth, by
+which he was hindered from continuing his speech.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;To judge from the build of Sir Pallé's person, <i>he</i> stands most in
+need of refreshment and rest,&quot; said Brock, with significance.
+&quot;According to his assurance, there is now the best understanding
+between the junker and his brother.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ay, indeed! hum! well, then! It is good assuredly that brothers should
+be united, provided it be in that which is right,&quot; said the prelate,
+and broke off the conversation. Little was now said, and that only on
+indifferent topics. Sir Pallé's gormandising appetite perceptibly
+decreased at the cautious pause in the conversation, and at the
+sight of the fugitive in the monk's cloak, who had remained silently
+sitting at that end of the table which was least lighted up, and who
+kept his scrutinising eyes fixed upon him. As no one either ate or
+drank any more, the abbot folded his hands and muttered a Latin
+prayer; after which he rang a little silver hand-bell, and Pater
+master-of-the-household entered.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;This knight desires instantly to retire to rest,&quot; said the abbot,
+pointing to Pallé; &quot;perhaps you will go with him as his contubernalis
+over yonder.&quot; As he said this, he winked at Sir Papĉ, and the taciturn
+knight immediately accompanied Sir Pallé and the master of the
+household across the court yard of the monastery to the guesthouse,
+which was situated apart.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">As soon as the abbot was alone with Brock and the disguised fugitive,
+he gave them a mysterious nod and arose. He took the lamp in his hand,
+and opened a private door in the refectory which led to a long vaulted
+passage. He went on before, and they followed him in silence through
+the passage, and up a winding stair to the library of the monastery and
+the prelate's private chamber; he opened all the doors himself, and
+locked them carefully behind him. Sir Pallé's indolence and love of
+good cheer seemed to be contending with curiosity and repressed alarm.
+&quot;Whom take you yon sharp-eyed fugitive to be, Sir Papĉ?&quot; he asked his
+silent travelling companion, as soon as the monk had shown them to
+their sleeping apartment and departed.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I care not who he is,&quot; said the knight sullenly, and took off his
+vest.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It is assuredly one of the outlaws,&quot; continued Pallé, anxiously.
+&quot;Truly it is strange to have sat at table, and now to sleep under the
+same roof with such a fellow. It might get wind one day, and waken
+suspicion.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I will give you good counsel, Sir Pallé,&quot; answered the sullen knight.
+&quot;Take your horse out of the stable again, and ride off at full speed,
+despite night and storm! Our company may also seem suspicious to you. A
+man like you, who holds his own peace and safety dearer than aught
+beside, should never devote himself to the service of any master in
+these troublous times. As far as I can judge you are as little fit for
+the junker's as the king's service, and least of all to be your own
+master, like me and other free men.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The devil! Sir Papĉ! what do you take me for?&quot; said Pallé, bridling up
+and highly affronted; &quot;think ye I am afraid for my skin? I would fain
+see the man who hath oftener risked life and blood in the service of my
+master, than I have, and yet as a free man dare snap my fingers at the
+world's rulers and tyrants. What my master, the junker, is about, he
+must know best himself, and answer for--it concerns not me--<i>his</i> head
+truly is placed too high to be imperilled. When it comes to the push,
+all falls on those beneath; yet when he calls you and Sir Niels his
+friends, and sends you greeting and courteous invitation, as his
+servant, I surely run no risk by companionship with you;--but an
+<i>outlaw!</i> think! perhaps even one of the regicides!--to have sat at
+table with him may cost us all dear.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You are in a very unpleasant position, Sir Pallé.&quot; said the haughty
+partizan, with a contemptuous smile. &quot;With the king, you stand not
+well, they say; and though you have already settled yourself
+comfortably in the junker's service, it may end badly enough, after
+all. If he gets but a hint how you keep the seal of his private
+letters----&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It is a shameful falsehood, I deny it positively,&quot; answered Pallé,
+glowing crimson. &quot;But for the Lord's and our dear lady's sake,
+excellent Sir Papĉ! bring me not into trouble by such talk, and beseech
+Sir Niels also to be silent about it. I am in truth innocent as an
+unborn babe. I know not in the least what either you or the junker have
+in hand, and there was not a word about it in the letter; that is what
+you say yourself; for what know <i>I</i> of it?&quot; he added hastily. &quot;But
+whatever it may be,&quot; he continued, &quot;I pray you only to consider that,
+after all, the king is a mighty man, and not to be jested with when he
+is wroth. Even my own master, the high-born junker, I would in all
+confidence here between us two, counsel ye to deal somewhat cautiously
+with. Too much confidence in the great answers not, either;--in our
+times one should in troth know how to obey the commands of one's
+master, and nevertheless use one's own understanding,--do you see? To
+speak plainly. Sir Papĉ! since the commandant at Kallundborg was forced
+to lose his head, I have often had uneasy dreams.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Now good night, my dear Pallé!&quot; said the knight, clapping him
+compassionately on the shoulder. &quot;I would not for a great deal be in
+your place. It must be grievous for an honest knight adventurer like
+you, who so faithfully strives to serve the great, not to be able to
+fathom his master's mind, any more than his own stomach.&quot; The knight
+then strode into his sleeping apartment and shut the door after him
+with a scornful laugh.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Another awkward scrape!&quot; muttered Sir Pallé, striking his forehead. He
+threw himself into a chair and yawned. It seemed as though his body and
+soul were at war. He appeared to feel a desire to sleep, but could not
+rest. He threw himself once or twice on the couch, but soon rose again,
+panting and puffing with uneasiness. All was now quiet at the
+monastery; nothing was to be heard but the howling of the storm through
+the chimney and around the high gable ends of the roof. After some
+deliberation, Pallé wrapped himself in his mantle, and stole softly out
+of the door. He found the anti-chamber of the guest-house open, and
+slipped out into the court-yard of the monastery. He looked around him
+on all sides. It was dark and gloomy; there was not a light to be seen
+in any of the twelve cells; but, from the second story of the principal
+building a solitary lamp shone through the creaking boughs of the lime
+trees. The light came from an apartment which Pater, head-cook, had
+pointed out to him as the abbot's private chamber. Before it stood a
+remarkably tall, thick, lime tree, which was not yet in leaf. Sir Pallé
+stole forward under the tree, and endeavoured to climb up its trunk;
+the build of his figure rendered this very difficult for him to do; but
+he succeeded at last by dint of much exertion, in getting so high up in
+the tree, that at some distance he could peep in through the small
+lit-up window panes. He beheld the abbot and Sir Niels Brock very
+singularly occupied. A tall warlike form stood before them in ancient
+knightly armour. The abbot was in full costume; he placed a helmet
+(over which he appeared to be pronouncing a benedicité) upon the
+warrior's head. Brock seemed to be rubbing the eye-brows and beard of
+the armour-clad personage with an ointment. Pallé listened in vain, the
+storm prevented his hearing a single word of what was said; but he now
+saw that the abbot opened a cupboard, and produced a black book with
+silver clasps, which looked to him like a Testament. Sir Niels Brock,
+as well as the steel-clad warrior, laid their hands on the book and
+knelt. They remained in this position while the abbot fetched a silver
+chalice from the cupboard, and went through the same ceremonies as on
+the performance of low mass. He took a silver wine-flagon, filled the
+chalice, signed a benediction over it, and drank himself. He then
+opened a silver box, signed a cross, and a blessing likewise over it,
+and seemed to administer the sacrament to each of the kneeling knights.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Gracious Heaven! He is surely giving them the sacrament!&quot; whispered
+Pallé to himself, &quot;what can all this mean?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The abbot now stepped back, and appeared to be speaking with great
+emphasis and energetic enthusiasm. At last the knights arose and kissed
+the bishop's hand, and the dismayed spy recognised the powerful tones
+of Niels Brock, who clapped the steel clad warrior on the shoulder and
+said, in a loud tone, &quot;Now, then! in the name of all the saints, have
+you courage, Kaggé! The devil himself could not know ye now, or injure
+a hair of your consecrated head.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">On hearing the name of Kaggé, Sir Pallé became so alarmed, that he lost
+his balance. The branch broke on which he had placed his foot, and he
+was forced to let himself slide down the trunk of the lime-tree without
+being able to save the skin of his hands or his rich attire, in which
+great rents were torn. He fell with violence to the ground, and stunned
+by fear and pain, stole back again in this pitiable plight to his
+chamber.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Abbot Johan did not appear to his guests on the following morning, and
+when Brock and Papĉ, during mattins, rode forth from the monastery with
+the worn-out and hapless Sir Pallé, the party had received an addition
+in the person of a stranger, mounted on a large well-fed horse from the
+abbot's stable, and clad in an old-fashioned suit of armour. His hair
+and brow were hidden by an ample helmet, fastened under the chin with a
+silver clasp. His meeting eye-brows and broad beard were shining, and
+coal-black; over his coat of mail he wore a large silver chain, in
+token of a knight's sacred vow. Sir Pallé hardly dared to turn his eyes
+on him. It was, indeed, impossible for him to recognize in this figure
+the fugitive guest at the monastery; but he was nevertheless convinced
+it was he, whom he now knew to be the outlawed regicide, Kaggé himself.
+Pallé looked as though he already felt the rope round his neck, at the
+thought of the dangerous company into which he was thrown. This new and
+mysterious travelling companion rode in silence between his two
+powerful friends. His glance was wild and restless; at first setting
+out he often looked behind on all sides, as if he feared to be
+recognised and pursued; but he soon, however, nodded confidentially to
+his companions, and presently fell into a deep reverie. His dark
+imaginings were occasionally interrupted by a wild and half-smothered
+laugh.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I have met with a good friend and kinsman here in the monastery,&quot; said
+Brock, in a careless tone, to Pallé. &quot;He is a merry fellow, as you
+doubtless perceive; and laughs at his own thoughts when there is a lack
+of mirth and wit in his companions. He hath a true love at Wordingborg
+whom he would surprise; but therefore he would rather be unknown, and
+you can surely be silent where one ill-timed word might prove dangerous
+to yourself.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yes, doubtless,&quot; answered Pallé, &quot;silence is a virtue necessity
+teaches every wise man in our times; and here it is easy for me to be
+silent, since I know not even the name of your honourable friend and
+kinsman.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That I will confide to you: he is called Johan Limbek, but gives
+himself out to be Ako Krummedigé, or Blackbeard, going on a pilgrimage
+to the holy land,&quot; continued Brock in a lowered tone; &quot;but keep this to
+yourself. My kinsman is not to be jested with, do you see, and if you
+disturb his love adventure by unseasonable talk you must be prepared to
+break a sharp lance with him. He fights better than the devil himself.
+I would only just mention to you,--he hath broken the neck of many a
+doughty knight, ere this, in love adventures.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;He will scarcely find a rival in me,&quot; answered Pallé, &quot;although I am
+reputed to stand high in the favour of the fair.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Assuredly,&quot; replied Sir Niels, and laughed. &quot;Who knows not that rare
+ballad of Sir Pallé's wooing fair Gundelillé's driver lad?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Would that all dainty maidens and wooing were at the devil!&quot; returned
+Pallé, angrily. &quot;That dainty maiden will never more make a fool of any
+honest man, as surely as Marsk Stig's vagabond brood are caged for life
+at Wordingborg.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">At these words the steel-clad traveller became attentive, and measured
+Sir Pallé with a scornful and angry look.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;See you,&quot; whispered Sir Niels, &quot;my enamoured friend cannot even hear
+maidens and rivals spoken of without the blood instantly boiling within
+him. Beware, as I said before, Sir Pallé, that you do not meddle with
+his concerns.&quot; So saying, he turned, with a contemptuous look, from the
+perplexed gentleman of the bedchamber, and joined his two other
+companions, who seemed as little in a communicative mood as himself.
+Absorbed in gloomy reverie, and almost without another word being
+spoken, the travellers pursued the journey to Wordingborg.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2>CHAP. VIII.</h2>
+
+<p class="normal">When the two powerful and well-known knights, Niels Brock and Johan
+Papĉ, with their outlawed friend between them, and the anxious Sir
+Pallé at their side, rode with their train through the gates of
+Wordingborg, there was so much bustle among the gathering crowd in the
+town that they were scarcely noticed. The king had arrived with his
+brother the junker and his numerous train of knights--Drost Aagé, Marsk
+Oluffsen, Count Henrik of Mecklenborg, and nearly all his most
+important councillors were with him. The castle was filled with
+princely guests and their splendid trains. Duke Valdemar of Slesvig,
+and his brother the gigantic Duke Eric of Langeland, had just made
+their entry into the castle, and there was much talk among the populace
+of the long legs of Duke Eric, of which none had ever seen the like.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'Tis a devil of a fellow, yon long-shanks,&quot; said the sentinel at the
+castle gate to his comrade. &quot;'Twas surely he who slew Drost Skelm in
+Nyborg just under the king's nose.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No, comrade, he slew him in his bed; I know that better,&quot; answered the
+other man-at-arms. &quot;I was myself among the king's spear-men at the
+Danish court: it will be just four years come next Lady-day; the heat
+was great, and they drank hard at court--the long-legged lord is fierce
+when he is hot in the head or drunk; and at that time, sure enough, he
+sided with the outlaws. Had the king been present, long-shanks would
+scarcely have ventured on so rough a jest--he was forced to flee from
+Nyborg the same night, and for three years he durst not show his face
+before the king. For all that he is a very able fellow,&quot; continued the
+man-at-arms; &quot;and since he got a dressing at Grónsund he hath learned
+to take off his hat to our king. However fierce and mad he may be, he
+is nevertheless a hundred times honester than his wizened brother, the
+yellow scarecrow from Slesvig.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The talk now turned upon this generally unpopular prince. It was known
+that the ambitious and wily Duke Valdemar had aspired to the Danish
+crown, and been suspected of a secret understanding with Marsk Stig and
+the outlaws. Since the great sea-fight at Grónsund, his proud spirit
+had drooped, however; his last conspiracy and contumacy against his
+liege sovereign resembled the flaring up of a burnt-out and exhausted
+volcano. The duke's sallow, withered visage and long nose were the
+subjects of the coarse jests and biting comments of the populace,
+although his well-known acuteness, and sagacious state-policy still
+appeared to be dreaded.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The king's step-father. Count Gerhard of Holstein, or the one-eyed
+count, as he was called by the people, was, on the contrary, much
+lauded. Since his marriage with Queen Agnes he often sojourned at the
+castle of Nykiöping. He had on this day arrived from Falster, to act as
+counsellor and mediator in the treaty with the Dukes. Much reliance was
+placed on his uprightness and wisdom, and his frank and joyous
+deportment gained him general favour.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Every hour brought new arrivals to the town and castle, and among them
+were seen many venerable prelates and bishops known to be devoted to
+the king. Among others, the Bishops of Aarhuus and Ribé, and the
+provincial Prior of the Dominicans, the venerable Master Olaus, who
+stood at the head of the Danish clergy's appeal to the pope against the
+enforcement of the interdict according to the constitution of Veilé.
+This estimable and truly patriotic prelate, with his mild, calm, aged
+face, and snowy ring of hair around his tonsure, was almost worshipped
+by the people, and wherever he appeared it was whispered that it was he
+who would deliver the country from ban and interdict.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Every traveller who announced himself to the Marsk as the king's
+vassal, or belonging to Danish knighthood, was instantly assigned a
+place in the large upper story of the castle appropriated to the use of
+the knights. The spacious apartments in this side wing were, however,
+nearly all occupied, when Sir Niels Brock and Sir Johan Papĉ announced
+themselves to the Marsk, with their unknown friend, whom they gave out
+to be Sir Ako Blackbeard of the renowned race of Krummedigé. He had
+returned home from a pilgrimage, it was said, and had vowed silence at
+the holy grave, and bound himself not to lay aside the armour of his
+ancestor until the knight's vow was fulfilled which he had there made
+to the Lord. Such vows were then not uncommon. They met with ready
+approbation, and carried with them a claim to special honour, and a
+species of religious reverence. As the king's vassals, and Danish
+knights of some consideration, the three travellers likewise were now
+admitted at the castle. Sir Pallé had separated from them as soon as
+possible, and announced their arrival to his master the junker,
+without, however, mentioning the suspicious guest they had brought with
+them. Disquieted by this secret, he went from one party to another,
+feeling, as it were, that he carried his life in his hand. He was seen,
+now among the king's, now among the junker's friends, where, with
+assumed eagerness, he adopted the prevailing tone of the company he was
+in. He presently, however, rejoined Brock and other haughty and
+independent knights, who spake freely and boldly both against the king
+and the junker, and whom he desired not to offend, nor to be despised
+by, for servile or timid conduct. He thus thought to secure his safety
+under all circumstances; but he considered no party as perfectly safe,
+and could not determine in what manner he might best avail himself of
+the important discovery he had made while in the great lime-tree in the
+court of the forest monastery.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Notwithstanding the stir which was necessarily caused by the presence
+of so many strangers in the castle and the town, a remarkable stillness
+prevailed, and a stern seriousness pervaded the assemblage at the
+castle. There were no public amusements. The king only appeared at
+mattins and mass, and at table, noon and evening, in the great upper
+hall, where were placed two long dining-tables--one for the king and
+his princely guests, as well as for the prelates and chief men of the
+state, and another for the Danish knights in general, and the guests
+who had joined them. Among them sat the mysterious personage from the
+forest monastery, between Sir Niels Brock and Sir Johan Papĉ. According
+to his knight's vow, the pretended Sir Ako kept on his helmet as well
+as the old-fashioned armour, and his silence and solemn deportment were
+regarded with respect. At the same table sat the knights and courtiers
+of the duke's train, with the German professors of minstrelsy and other
+learned and foreign visitors. When the noontide repast was over, the
+company dispersed. Some remained in the spacious apartments of the
+castle, where they amused themselves with chess and backgammon, or
+listened to the German minstrels' lays and tales of chivalry;
+others went to the tennis-court, or the riding-house, and the
+great tilting-yard, where they whiled away the time with tennis,
+horse-racing, and martial exercises; some parties went a hawking in the
+chase, or rode through the town in order to show themselves in all
+their splendour to the ladies of the place. Many were interested in
+surveying the royal fleet which lay in the harbour, while others took
+the opportunity of bargaining with the Hanseatic merchants and
+skippers, or of making purchases of the famous Wordingborg cloth,
+which, next to that of Ypres and Ghent, was in especial demand, and
+bore as high a price as that of Bruges. In the evening the sound of
+lutes and love ditties was heard, as well in the castle as in the town,
+where the youthful knights were in search of acquaintance and love
+adventures.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The important negociations with the dukes appeared for the first few
+days, entirely to occupy the king and his council. Through the
+mediation of Count Gerhard, a peace was soon concluded, and on the most
+honourable terms for the king. A herald then summoned the knights and
+guests together in the great knights' hall of the castle. Here the king
+was seated on a raised throne, between his brother the junker and Count
+Gerhard, surrounded by the dukes and all his vassals, as well as the
+state council, and the prelates present at the castle. The Drost read
+aloud the ratified treaty of peace, in which Duke Valdemar pledged
+himself that no injustice should be done to the king's peasants in the
+dukedom, and also scrupulously to perform his duties of vassalage to
+the Danish crown. On these terms the king consented to pardon him and
+his brother as well as every one who had sided with the duke in this
+feud, with the stern exception, however, that henceforth every knight
+and squire who had been proved to have taken part in his father's
+murder should be doomed to death wherever they should be found.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">While this article of the treaty was read, the king looked around the
+assemblage with a severe and what seemed to many, a threatening glance.
+There were not a few present of the acknowledged friends and kinsmen of
+the outlaws, and in the train of the Duke of Slesvig were several
+persons unknown both to the Marsk and the Drost, who had excited
+suspicion by their mysterious and unruly deportment. This strict clause
+in the treaty appeared greatly to disappoint the expectations of the
+Duke's friends, and their confidence in this politic prince. He himself
+sat with downcast eyes, and vainly strove to assume an air of calm
+indifference.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Drost finished the reading of the treaty, which excited great
+attention, and awakened interest of very different kinds, without a
+single sound being heard in the numerous and anxious assembly. The
+concluding article however seemed in some degree to soften the stern
+victor-like tone, which characterised the treaty. By a just recognition
+of the rights of his brave opponent, the king had invested Duke Eric of
+Langeland with the fiefs of Oe and of Alt, which he was entitled to
+demand in right of his consort Sophia's inheritance. This article
+terminated the essential part of the treaty, and the assemblage broke
+up.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Count Gerhard still purposed remaining some days longer, and the Duke
+of Langeland, who was especially pleased with the king's uprightness,
+and with the whole treaty, also remained; but his brother the Duke of
+Slesvig immediately quitted the castle with his whole retinue. He left
+Wordingborg with his hat slouched low over his eyes, apparently
+depressed and humbled to a degree which he had never before manifested.
+He was escorted part of the way by Junker Christopher, who on this
+occasion seemed desirous to surpass the king in generous sympathy and
+attentions towards this fallen aspirant to the throne of Denmark, who
+owed his downfall to his own rancorous animosity and deluded ambition.
+Sir Niels Brock and Sir John Papĉ, who appeared to seize every
+opportunity of approaching the junker without exciting remark, had
+joined his train.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It was not until late in the evening that Prince Christopher returned.
+He had sent Papĉ with the rest of his train on before, and arrived a
+whole hour later in the town, accompanied by Brock. They rode slowly
+along the dusky road, and conversed in a low tone, and at intervals,
+together. They found the town lighted up with flambeaux and torches, on
+occasion of the ratification of the treaty. Songs and merry lutes
+resounded from several houses. At the castle, the knight's hall was
+illuminated; music and song was also to be heard there. Workmen were
+busied at the lists by the light of lanterns; and carpenters were
+employed in erecting railings and a high stand for the next day's
+tournament, in which the king himself intended taking a part.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ay! he will never tire of this child's play,&quot; muttered Junker
+Christopher, after he had rode past the lists and had seen these
+preparations; &quot;he squanders more on such nonsense in a year, than both
+Samsóe and Kallundborg bring me in; he ruins the country with it, and
+will at last break his own neck in this foolery.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;His courtiers are too polite and obsequious for that,&quot; answered
+Brock--&quot;there is assuredly not one among his strutting halberdiers, or
+knights of the round table, who would not willingly let himself be
+pushed out of his saddle ten times a day, to please his chivalrous
+master. Credit me, they have regularly exercised themselves in the art
+of kicking up their heels in the air, as soon as he touches them with
+his lance.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;They would be badly paid for such courtesy, did they venture on it,&quot;
+answered the junker. &quot;After the most trifling tilt, a strict knights'
+council is held; and he pays almost more attention to those mock
+fights, regulated by all the foreign laws and rules of honour, than to
+the manners and morals of his subjects.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Doth he also mix with stranger-knights and masters of arms on such
+occasions?&quot; asked Brock. It is the first time of my attending this kind
+of entertainment.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh yes!&quot; muttered the junker, &quot;when his vanity may be flattered, he
+despises no laurels. Hitherto he hath really passed for an invincible
+king Arthur.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Perhaps he may meet with his overmatch, nevertheless,&quot; said Brock in a
+lowered tone, and looking cautiously around him. &quot;I never fight for
+sport myself; but give heed to-morrow, high-born junker--Know you the
+ancient tradition of the puling enamoured demi-god Baldur, and the bold
+Hother?&quot;<a name="div2Ref_04" href="#div2_04"><sup>[4]</sup></a></p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;How mean ye?&quot; asked the junker, stalling.----</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I have a good friend,--I know of a foreign knight I would say--a
+master of his weapon, who in such courteous game might have a mind to
+play Hother.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ay! indeed!&quot; muttered Christopher, looking uneasily around,--&quot;you
+should caution your friend, though, against playing so dangerous a
+game; you should least of all speak to me, Sir Brock, of such friends
+and their wishes. What I have confided to you, in no wise warrants such
+presumptuous confidence. Whatever there may be between me and a certain
+mighty personage, matters will hardly be pushed so far as you and your
+bold friends think.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Be pleased to understand me aright, high-born junker,&quot; interrupted Sir
+Niels hastily. &quot;I speak but of a sport; I know they amuse themselves
+here at times with mumming, and such diversions.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;They may amuse themselves as they please, for aught I care,&quot; muttered
+the junker, gloomily; &quot;but I will be out of the game. Half one's life
+is but a sorry piece of mumming, whether we play friend or foe. It will
+be seen who hath best enacted his part, when the childs' play here is
+ended, and people think in earnest again in Denmark. He then spurred
+his horse, and rode into the court of the castle.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;After the junker and Brock had dismounted from their horses in the
+castle-yard, and as they were passing the maidens' tower, they heard
+the sound of a lute, and saw a knightly figure hastily conceal himself
+behind the pillars of the tower.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Hath every one gone mad? Serenades here in the country, and that even
+ere the nightingale hath come!&quot; muttered the junker with a scornful
+laugh, and wrapping himself in his mantle to keep out the cold wind.
+&quot;Hum! as is the master so are his servants--are we not far advanced
+here in courtesy, and gentle customs Sir Niels! Know ye ought of such
+gallantry in Jutland? All will now go on in as chivalrous a fashion as
+in Spain and Italy. That we may thank these vagabond minstrels for,
+with their ballads and their books of adventures, which my chivalrous
+brother even takes with him in his pocket, on his campaigns. In the
+knights' hall there, they are now talking, no doubt, of the beautiful
+Florez and Blantzeflor, and of the virtuous Tristan and King Arthur.
+All that is indispensable if one would pass for a courteous and courtly
+knight;--and without, here, wanders a fool to sing serenades in the
+moonlight, to the owls of Wordingborg tower.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;If that was a prison we passed. Sir Junker,&quot; observed his companion,
+&quot;it might be easily explained without such players' tricks.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Well possibly,&quot; said the junker nodding. &quot;It was here the Drost took
+the liberty of caging Marsk Stig's raven brood instead of at
+Kallundborg. Even the pretty vagabond ladies we shall find have their
+adorers.&quot; The junker then ascended the stairs of the balcony.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2>CHAP. IX.</h2>
+
+<p class="normal">In the castle-yard, before the knights' hall, stood a crowd of curious
+grooms and kitchen maids, to hear the singing, and gaze at the king and
+the stranger-guests. Amid this gossiping and jesting throng, wandered a
+fat, silent personage, closely muffled in a cloak. The maidens crowded
+together, and giggled whenever he came near them, and the one joked the
+other about him as a well-known wooer of the whole fair sex. It was the
+generally self-satisfied and obsequious Sir Pallé, who now however
+looked most solemn and thoughtful. He had here for some time listened
+to the jests of the maidens and their talkative admiration of the
+king's handsome presence and his splendour, and of all the pomp they
+beheld. This seemed however but little to amuse him to-night; he yawned
+with a sigh, and went with undecided steps towards the maidens' tower;
+he now heard the sound of a lute in that part of the square, where fell
+a partial shadow, and the cold wind whistled in eddies around the
+pillars of the tower. He paused, and listened attentively; the sounds
+continued, and he thought he discerned a dark form standing under the
+tower window. He drew nearer with curiosity, and distinctly beheld a
+man with a knight's helmet, around whose person fluttered an ample
+mantle; while he gazed up at the grated window, and occasionally struck
+the cords of a lute with wild earnestness. Pallé leaned back in alarm
+against the wall, and thought he had recognised the mysterious guest of
+the forest monastery. The cold perspiration broke out on his forehead;
+but his curiosity overcame his fright, and he remained standing. He
+heard a whisper, which was answered from above, and a deep but low
+voice, now sung beneath:</p>
+
+<div class="poem2">
+<p class="t0" style="text-indent:-8px">&quot;Oh list then, Agneté, thus sue I to thee!<a name="div2Ref_05" href="#div2_05"><sup>[5]</sup></a><br>
+Wilt thou be moved my true love to be?</p>
+<p class="t4">Ho! ho! ho!</p>
+<p class="t0">Wilt thou be moved my true love to be,<br>
+To morrow they lead here the dance so free?&quot;</p>
+</div>
+
+<p class="normal">The deep voice ceased; the little window rattled behind the grating,
+and a sweet female voice sang from above--</p>
+
+<div class="poem2">
+<p class="t0" style="text-indent:-8px">&quot;Oh yes, by my troth, that will I indeed,<br>
+O'er the sea so blue if thou'lt bear me with speed--</p>
+<p class="t4">Ha! ha! ha!</p>
+<p class="t0">O'er the sea so blue if thou'lt bear me with speed,<br>
+But not to its depths will I dive with thee,<br>
+Then to-morrow we'll lead the dance so free.&quot;</p>
+</div>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ha! Gundelille's voice, Ulrica Stig!&quot; muttered Pallé; &quot;ay, indeed, a
+love adventure then! and yonder outlawed hound on <i>my</i> preserve. This
+shall soon be put a stop to!&quot; In his jealous eagerness he plucked up
+courage, and first stole a good way back from the tower; he then went
+briskly forward again, and growled forth a song, while he tramped hard,
+letting his long sword clatter after him on the stone pavement; but he
+had hardly swaggered ten paces from the tower ere the disguised figure
+rushed past him like lightning and threw him on the ground; he felt at
+the same time a stab in his right side. &quot;Murder! help!&quot; gasped Pallé,
+in a low voice. He dared not cry aloud and give the alarm lest the
+terrible fugitive should return and despatch him at once. &quot;Alas! poor
+unoffending fellow I that am!&quot; he moaned, &quot;when I carry my head highest
+I even get run through the body. Those accursed women! they are only
+created to be my ruin--&quot; He hasted to get upon his legs, and ran as hard
+as he could over the dusky part of the court-yard to his chamber in the
+knights' story, where in all secresy he had his wound examined and
+bound up. His ample mantle had parried the thrust, and the wound seemed
+trifling; but it pained him exceedingly, and the fright had so
+overpowered him that he was compelled to retire to his couch. To the
+many inquisitive questions put to him as to who it was that had wounded
+him, he dared not answer a word; and the more he thought of his
+mysterious rival the more alarmed he became. &quot;The Drost!--send for the
+Drost!&quot; he at last exclaimed in a low tone. &quot;It is a state secret; no
+other may know it.&quot; Nobody attended much to this expression, which was
+regarded merely as one of his customary boasts of a knowledge of state
+affairs and secrets which it was known would never be entrusted to him.
+At last, however, his attendants were forced to humour him, and sent a
+messenger to summon the Drost.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Meanwhile the Lady Ulrica stood alone, and listened at the little
+grated window in in the maidens' tower. On a work-table in the chamber
+stood a lamp, and a handsome fisher-maiden's costume, trimmed with
+pearls and silk ribbon, lay upon it. A sweet female voice was heard
+singing in the adjoining apartment; here sat her sister, the meek
+Margaretha, before the lamp, occupied in embroidering a large piece of
+tapestry for an altar-cloth. The edge or border consisted of skilfully
+worked foliage, with figures and scenes taken from life. There sprang
+hart and hind--here danced ladies and knights in miniature; but within
+the border hung the Saviour on the cross, and the Virgin Mary stood
+with St. John and St. Magdalen at the foot of the cross as Mater
+Dolorosa, represented as usual with a sword through the bosom. In the
+foreground knelt a knight in black armour, with his consort and two
+little maidens in mourning attire. In these figures she had pourtrayed
+her father, the mighty Marsk Stig, and her proud and unhappy mother
+Ingeborg, together with herself and her sister, as children. While
+Margaretha sat diligently occupied in this employment, and sang the
+ballad of Hagbarth and Signé, she noticed not what her capricious
+sister was about.<a name="div2Ref_06" href="#div2_06"><sup>[6]</sup></a></p>
+
+<p class="normal">The distant sound of the festive din at the castle occasionally reached
+the lonely prison of the captive maidens; when this happened, Ulrica
+always became impatient, and wept at the thought of her exclusion from
+these festivities, and Margaretha found it a hard task to comfort her.
+Each time the sprightly little Karen came to supply their wants, Ulrica
+eagerly and inquisitively questioned her of all that passed, and the
+maiden was forced to give a description of all the stranger guests and
+knights. It was only when Margaretha heard Drost Aagé's name, and
+Karen's account of what she knew of his dangerous adventure at
+Kallundborg, that she forgot her work, her hands dropped into her lap,
+and she listened with attentive interest. What their attendant related
+of the king, of his condescension towards the lowest, and his just
+strictness towards the great and mighty, she also heard with a species
+of interest, although not without a melancholy and sometimes bitter
+smile when she thought of her own fate; but when Ulrica would be
+informed of the looks of each of the stranger knights, of the colour of
+their hair, beard, and clothes--how they sat at table, and with what
+they were served, Margaretha was near losing patience; she therefore
+was very glad when Ulrica, as now, took a fancy to shut herself up in
+the little tiring chamber, there to busy herself with her gay apparel,
+and gossip with their attendant Karen. Since the maiden had on the
+morning of this day mentioned the tournament which was in preparation,
+and the dance and masque which it was hoped would take place the next
+evening, Ulrica had become joyous again. When she was not whispering
+and gossiping with Karen, she sang quite gaily in the little tiring
+chamber to which she had taken a special fancy.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Ulrica had shut herself up this evening in her favourite retreat. She
+was again busied with her gay attire, and was humming a merry ballad
+about Carl of Risé and Lady Rigmor; but she now heard her sister's
+sweet melancholy song as she sat at her pious occupation, and the tears
+suddenly started to the eyes of the easily excited Ulrica; she rose in
+haste, as if scared by her own thoughts, and threw her decorations on
+the floor. She opened the door, and flew to embrace her meek sister
+with eager emotion.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What is this, Ulrica? What ails thee, dearest sister?&quot; asked
+Margaretha, with sympathising uneasiness, as she returned her ardent
+demonstrations of affection.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ah! I grew all on a sudden so anxious and sad,&quot; said Ulrica. &quot;Thy song
+was so sweet and sorrowful, just like a lonely forsaken bird's in its
+cage, and I thought how it would be if thou wert left <i>quite</i> alone in
+this horrid tower, with no one whatever to care for thee and comfort
+thee as thou hast comforted me and spoken kindly to me every day.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Thou art still with me, dear Ulrica, and truly I sit here with a
+cheerful heart at my precious tapestry. When the Lord wills it our
+prison doors will assuredly open for us, and ere that time we need not
+expect it. We will, however, never sorrow as those who have no hope.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That is true indeed,&quot; said Ulrica, half offended, and wiping her eyes.
+&quot;When thou canst but embroider and tell thy rosary, and the adventures
+of courteous knights, or sing the Drost's ballads, thou carest but
+little for the whole fair world without; but <i>I</i> can endure this life
+no longer: when I hear the sea dashing below at night I often wish that
+a merman would come and carry me off like Agneté. I would almost rather
+be at the bottom of the sea than in this wearisome prison-hole.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Never make such foolish and ungodly wishes, dear sister,&quot; answered
+Margaretha, half alarmed, and involuntarily crossing herself. &quot;It is
+better, however, to be in prison and innocent than at liberty and
+guilty, rememberest thou not what stands in holy writ about St. Peter
+in prison, and what he said?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I know all that well enough,&quot; interrupted Ulrica, pettishly; &quot;but,
+nevertheless, there came an angel and took him out.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;If the Lord and our Lady will it so, such an angel might be sent to us
+also,&quot; continued Margaretha. &quot;It needs but an angel's thought in a
+kindly soul. I, too, should rejoice to see God's fair world again, when
+that might be with honour and without sin--but thou wert speaking of
+mermen<a name="div2Ref_07" href="#div2_07"><sup>[7]</sup></a> and evil spirits, and I heard before how wildly thou sang'st;
+it sounded to me like Agneté's answer to the merman--as though thou
+wert an unhappy deluded maiden like her. Ah, sweet sister! I know too
+well who thou art thinking of; but beware of him! he is assuredly just
+as false as the ocean foam, and as the hapless Agneté's bridegroom.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I require not he should be one hair better,&quot; answered Ulrica, eagerly.
+&quot;Truly it was that foolish fickle Agneté, and not her bridegroom, who
+was false and faithless. She broke her vow, and left her wedded husband
+and her little children, and would not return to them, however much he
+besought her--such goodness and piety <i>I</i> cannot understand; no, truly,
+<i>he</i> was far more good and honourable! I ever pitied him, poor wretch!
+So <i>very</i> frightful, either, he could not have been,&quot; she continued;
+&quot;he had fair hair and sparkling eyes like Sir Kaggé. Just listen!&quot; and
+she sang--</p>
+
+<div class="poem2">
+<p class="t0" style="text-indent:-8px">&quot;His hair was as the pure gold bright,<br>
+His eyes they sparkled with joyous light.&quot;</p>
+</div>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But it surely was no good sign,&quot; observed Margaretha, &quot;when he entered
+into the church, and all the holy images turned to the wall. Alas,
+dearest sister, I could never look at Sir Kaggé's small sparkling
+snake-like eye, but it seemed as though all pious and godly images fled
+from my soul.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ah, thou art so unreasonable,&quot; exclaimed Ulrica impetuously; &quot;so
+terribly unreasonable, that it is impossible longer to bear with thee.
+I shall run from thee as soon as I can,--that I tell thee beforehand;
+but then,&quot; she added half sadly--&quot;ah, then thou must not weep and mourn
+for me, Margaretha! Wilt thou promise me that? or--wilt thou come too?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What art thou thinking of, poor dear child! art thou ever dreaming of
+flight, and yet canst not find in thy heart to leave me? Make up thy
+mind to be patient, sweet Ulrica! After all, we <i>cannot</i> escape, and I
+<i>would not</i> if we could. With all his severity, the king is still good
+and just, every one here says so; he will surely one day come to know
+we are innocent, and will let us wander free out of his kingdom; that
+is the utmost we can hope for, after what hath happened; and this hope
+I do not give up.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The king!&quot; resumed Ulrica with vehemence, and with a proud toss of the
+head; &quot;truly the king is a revengeful, an obstinate, and unjust tyrant.
+I would tell him so to his face, even were I certain he were my real
+brother, as people say; but he should beware,&quot; she continued, with a
+look of defiance, &quot;it is neither chivalrous nor kingly, to keep ladies
+and noble knights' daughters, perhaps even a king's daughter, in
+prison. I know however of <i>one</i> knight in the world who hath courage to
+avenge us, and free me from this degradation.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You terrify me, dear bewildered child! Art thou dreaming again of that
+fearful greatness, and thinking of ungodly revenge! This comes not of
+thyself--That dreadful Kaggé can surely never be here again?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;If he <i>were</i> here, should I tell it to thee, that thou in thy
+conscientiousness might betray it to the zealous Sir Drost, and that I
+might see my only friend on the wheel to-morrow?--thus far extends not
+our sisterhood. A little while ago, I cared for thee, with my whole
+heart,&quot; she continued, in a voice of lamentation, &quot;but <i>now</i> I cannot
+abide thee; thou dost hate and despise the only human being that cares
+for me, and thou mightest almost make me fear him did I not know him
+better--this is not good of thee, Margaretha.&quot; She burst into a flood
+of tears, held both her hands before her eyes, and pushed away her
+sorrowing and sympathising sister, with her pretty elbows.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Weep not, be not naughty and wroth, dearest Ulrica,&quot; entreated
+Margaretha. &quot;I hate no living soul in the world. Perhaps even Kaggé may
+be better than I think; but if he is here and thou canst send a message
+to him, then for heaven's sake, beseech him to fly, and not plot more
+mischief.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No, no!&quot; said Ulrica, impatiently, and stamping with her little feet,
+without, however, taking her hands from her eyes. &quot;Who says he is here?
+Would he <i>were</i> here, and was going to help me hence! If I were once
+gone, thou wouldst miss me though, Margaretha! Then thou wouldst rue
+having made me so naughty and wroth and untoward to-night. Now thou
+mayst sit down at thine ease, and think how thou wilt be able to make
+me good again--I am going to my couch without even kissing thee, and
+bidding thee good night,&quot; so saying, she ran to her couch, sprang into
+it with her clothes and shoes on, and drew up the down quilt quite over
+her head.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Margaretha seated herself on the side of the couch, and spoke gently
+and soothingly to her. She would have taken the thick down quilt from
+her face, but the little self-willed maiden held it fast with both
+hands, and appeared to be strongly convulsed under it. Margaretha
+became alarmed and feared she was ill; at last she was nearly weeping
+herself; but Ulrica presently set up a loud laugh, and sprang from
+under the quilt. &quot;Look! now! am good again!&quot; she said, playfully, and
+hopped a graceful dancing step. &quot;Come now, Margaretha, and thou shalt
+see all my finery; for I will be present at the gay dance to-morrow,
+that I tell thee; and if thou dost not let me slip out of the door with
+little Karen, I jump out of the window and break my neck,--then thou
+wilt be quit of me. Come and thou shalt see all my fine things!&quot; so
+saying, she threw her arms round her grave sister's neck, kissed her
+and skipped with her into the little tiring chamber.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2>CHAP. X.</h2>
+
+<p class="normal">Some of the company in the knights' hall were entertaining themselves
+with singing and lutes, but Junker Christopher had sat down to a grave
+game at chess with the Duke of Langeland. Sir Niels Brock, Sir Johan
+Papĉ and their silent friend with the helmet, tried their fortune at
+dice and backgammon. Count Gerhard listened with the king, the Marsk,
+and the young knights, to the adventures and songs of the German
+minstrels. These foreign masters of song sought especially to entertain
+the king and his guests with lays composed in honour of all crowned
+heads, whom they lauded as their munificent patrons and protectors. At
+last they addressed themselves immediately to the king in a strain of
+somewhat exaggerated panegyric, particularly on his learning, and in
+the same metre and high-flown phrase in which the Minnesingers formerly
+sang the praises of their loves. Count Gerhard smiled, and the king at
+last became impatient. &quot;No! this goes too far!&quot; he exclaimed; &quot;would
+you make me believe, Master Rumelant, that you are enamoured of me as
+though I were a fair maiden? No more of this! Sing to us, rather of the
+brave Nibélungen, and the hero Siégfred.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;As you command! most mighty prince! My generous and noble patron!&quot;
+answered Master Rumelant, with a bow; but he had been thrown into such
+confusion by the king's displeasure at his flatteries, that he could
+recollect nothing perfectly, but jumbled different songs together.
+&quot;Stop! let <i>me</i>!&quot; interrupted Master Poppé, with his warrior-like
+voice, and he now began the bold and spirited German epic poem of the
+brave Nibélungen, in tones which rang through the hall. The lay gained
+great applause, but it was a long epic, which became wearisome by the
+monotony of the melody or recitative. When Poppé paused only for a
+moment to take breath, or recollect, Master Rumelant instantly took up
+the lay, and as soon as he made any mistake, or faultered, Master Poppé
+recommenced with renovated powers; and thus it seemed as though the
+poem would never be ended.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The king was, however, an attentive listener, and laughed once or twice
+right heartily at the naïve and vivid descriptions; but at last he grew
+tired, and cleared his throat several times. &quot;Excellent! excellent!
+good sirs; thanks!&quot; he said, interrupting the unwearied singers. &quot;That
+is enough for one time. There is marrow and bone in your heroic lays,
+as well as in your warriors; they are almost as hard to despatch. Now
+we should like to hear a Danish song. We have, indeed, no such single
+heroic poem, unless it be our chronicles. In reality, they compose an
+epic which I trust will never be ended. Our war songs are but fragments
+of them, but they are therefore better suited for songs. They never
+flag, but go on briskly, and that I ought to like right well, since I
+am myself of a somewhat impetuous temper. We have, besides, no real
+master of the art as yet,&quot; he continued: &quot;but our songs are national,
+and are sung both by knight and peasant. Where is the Drost?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Drost had been some time ago summoned from the hall, and no one
+knew where he was.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Now Marsk Oluffsen! do <i>you</i> sing of our warriors and heroes!&quot; said
+the king. &quot;But have a care you split not the good arches here in our
+hall! I know your voice well.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I would rather fight than sing songs for you, my liege!&quot; answered the
+Marsk; &quot;they say I sing like a growling bear, but if you desire it I
+will willingly growl you out a song.&quot; He then cleared his throat, and
+began in a bass voice as deep and hollow as from an abyss.</p>
+
+<div class="poem2">
+<p class="t0" style="text-indent:-8px">&quot;It was young Ulf van Jern,</p>
+<p class="t1">Unto the king went he,</p>
+<p class="t0">My father's death for to avenge,</p>
+<p class="t1">Your men will you lend me.&quot;<a name="div2Ref_08" href="#div2_08"><sup>[8]</sup></a></p>
+</div>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Silence!&quot; exclaimed the king, stamping vehemently on the floor.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Marsk was silent, and stared at him in astonishment.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What are ye thinking of, Sir Marsk! would you remind the king of his
+father's death?&quot; whispered Count Henrik in his ear.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;By all the martyrs! who ever thought of that?&quot; said the Marsk, and
+hastily withdrew. Soon after, the master of the household stepped
+forward, and summoned the king and his guests to the supper-table, as
+he threw open the door of the dining-hall.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">As was customary when the king was present, all the etiquettes of the
+table were observed according to chivalrous usage. Each knight had his
+appointed seat, with a small separate trencher and napkin. When the
+king went to take his place, he was wont to walk round the table of his
+knights, and at times to cast an observant glance over these small
+napkins, which were to lie whole and smoothly spread before the seats
+of the knights, with bread and trenchers, or plates, in a prescribed
+position. If a rent or a slit was found in the napkin, or if the bread
+lay reversed, it implied a charge touching the honour of the knight to
+whom the bread and napkin belonged, and the person thus accused was
+instantly obliged to leave the table, and remain shut out from the
+community of knights, until he should have justified himself. The day
+preceding a tournament there were generally a herald and two
+pursuivants, or under-heralds, present, at the king's table and that of
+his knights, to watch over the observance of these customs. This was
+the case on this evening.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">When the king came to the middle of the knights' table, he stopped, on
+remarking three trenchers upon which the bread lay reversed; he
+started, and nodded to the herald.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Who are to sit here?&quot; asked the king with a stern look.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The high-born knights, Sir Niels Brock and Sir Johan Papĉ, my liege,&quot;
+answered the herald, with lowered staff and a precise deportment. &quot;Also
+a certain Ako Krummedigé, whom no one knows. It is he to whom it hath
+been permitted to wear his helmet here in the hall, and keep silence
+towards every one, according to his knights' vow at the holy
+sepulchre.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Who is their accuser?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;An unknown knight, my liege! but he hath placed his covered shield as
+a pledge in the armoury; he will appear and give his name when it is
+demanded.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Well! be watchful, herald! fulfil thy duty!&quot; so saying, the king went
+to take his seat.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Shortly afterwards Sir Niels and Sir Papĉ, with their mysterious
+friend, appeared, and were about to take their accustomed places. On
+seeing the reversed bread, however, they started; the knight of the
+helmet changed colour and drew back a step; but Brock and Papĉ hastily
+replaced the bread in prescribed form, and took their seats with a look
+of haughty defiance; at the same moment the herald advanced with a
+drawn sword in his hand, directly opposite to them on the other side of
+the table; he slit, with the point of his sword, the three small
+napkins before them. &quot;Sir Niels Brock, Sir Johan Papĉ, and you who call
+yourself Sir Ako Krummedigé!&quot; he said, solemnly, &quot;In the name of Danish
+chivalry, I cut asunder, as I have done your table napkins, every tie
+of fellowship between you and knighthood. You are accused of treachery
+and treason; of a Judas deed and projected regicide; therefore you are
+ejected from the king's, and every honourable knight's society, until
+you have met your accuser and justified yourselves, if you are able to
+do so; in consideration of the gravity of the accusation, I demand of
+ye, besides, your weapons, and announce to you that you are put under
+knightly arrest.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The herald then beckoned, and the two pursuivants advanced to receive
+the swords of the prisoners, and lead them to their confinement. All
+the guests rose in astonishment, and the king's knights and halberdiers
+drew their swords.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Confounded mummery!&quot; muttered the tall knight, Brock, as he rose.
+&quot;There, herald!&quot; he called in a loud voice, and threw his glove on the
+table--&quot;Take that to my accuser! wherever he meets me, my good sword
+shall prove him to be a liar and a fool--where is he? Dare he not name
+himself and look me in the face?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Here he stands!&quot; said a voice from the door of the dining hall, and
+Drost Aagé stood there erect and calm on the threshold, with his hand
+on his sword, gazing with a searching look on the three accused
+knights.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I laugh at the accusation of a dreamer and a visionary,&quot; cried Brock
+in a proud and scornful tone. &quot;We meet. Sir Drost! I do but deposit my
+sword in the hands of these men that I may receive it to-morrow,
+acquitted by the king and knighthood, after washing out the blot here
+cast on mine and my friends' honour with the blood of the calumniator.&quot;
+He then delivered up his sword to the pursuivants.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Papĉ had risen likewise; he also threw his glove with a contemptuous
+smile on the table--&quot;There lies my pledge.&quot; he said, &quot;and here is my
+answer to my accuser, whoever he may be, even though he should be given
+over to the devil, and the destruction of the flesh.&quot; So saying, he
+flung his large battle sword on the flagged floor at the herald's feet.
+They then both went with haughty and hasty strides out of the door,
+casting one or two flashing glances at the Drost, and with the
+pretended Ako Krummedigé between them. This silent and disguised knight
+had become as blanched in the face as his slit trencher-napkin. He had
+given up his sword to the pursuivants; no sound issued from his blue
+compressed lips--but his glance rolled with fearful wildness beneath
+his bushy and blackened eyebrows; his legs tottered under him, and he
+was forced to take hold of the strong Sir Niels to keep himself from
+sinking on the floor. The Drost himself followed these dangerous
+prisoners to see that the formalities of their imprisonment were
+legally and properly conducted.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">This singular occurrence had excited great astonishment. The general
+silence was soon succeeded by a low whispering. The two daring knights
+were well known; every one was aware that they were suspected of having
+abetted the archbishop's flight. It was also known that they belonged
+to the discontented in the land;--of friends they had not a few; and
+they passed for brave, independent lovers of their country, who cared
+not to flatter royalty, but had strength and courage to maintain the
+liberties of the people, and their own rights in council against the
+mightiest. That they should have joined in treasonable conspiracies did
+not seem probable; and it was supposed the Drost had been too
+precipitate in making this singular charge. As the king's favourite, he
+was not free from the attacks of envy. &quot;It is sad to think of the young
+Drost,&quot; whispered one of the junker's knights, &quot;he is such a dreamer he
+scents treason everywhere, and makes the king to be hated, by his
+ill-timed zeal.&quot; Respecting the unknown knight with the helmet, and his
+guilt, there were many conjectures; he appeared in a suspicious light
+to most of the company--but that one of the outlaws should have dared
+to enter into the king's presence and sit at his table, seemed an act
+of such presumptuous daring, that none believed it to be possible.
+Meanwhile, all took their seats. Although the wine-flasks soon went
+round, the company appeared, however, unable to forget the unpleasant
+transaction which had clouded the king's countenance, as well as his
+step-father's; and, as it seemed, had also thrown Junker Christopher
+into an anxious and uneasy mood. It was not until all were seated, that
+Drost Aagé again entered the supper hall. He also was silent and
+depressed. He took his seat directly opposite the king and Junker
+Christopher. The three nearest knights rose to make room for him,
+according to the ancient usages of the table, and he sat down without
+saying a word respecting the accused and their crime. He seemed lost in
+reverie, and appeared not to notice the unusual flagging of the
+conversation around him; but his attention was in reality rivetted with
+affectionate sympathy on the deep emotion he thought he discovered in
+the king's countenance. The gloomy sternness before depicted in it
+seemed now to be lost in thoughtful sadness. Eric sat with his wine cup
+in his hand, and regarded with a kindly look his friend and step-father
+Count Gerhard; at last he nodded involuntarily, and turned towards his
+reconciled foe, Duke Eric of Langeland. &quot;A health in honour of the
+negotiator of peace and of my reconciled kinsman!&quot; he said, suddenly
+rising from his seat. All the knights stood up--and the king
+continued--&quot;Even this feast in honour of peace hath been made gloomy to
+me by traitors; they shall have their deserts; to-morrow is the day for
+passing sentence; to-day we will not think on it. At <i>this</i> moment, I
+trust in the Lord and our blessed Lady that no secret traitor drains a
+cup in our hall. Long live Count Gerhard and Duke Eric!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Long life to them, and long live our noble king!&quot; was echoed from
+mouth to mouth, with great and nearly universal enthusiasm, while the
+goblets rang, and the horn-players, on a signal from the herald, made
+their instruments resound through the hall.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Junker Christopher had also joined in the general shout of acclamation,
+and the king appeared especially to rejoice at hearing his brother's
+voice so animated on this occasion. His eye sought the junker's while
+he rung his glass against his; but Christopher's glance was cold,
+restless, and irresolute, while his cheek glowed, and he twisted the
+corner of his napkin with his left hand. A smothered sigh escaped the
+king's breast as he again resumed his seat. Aagé now observed, with
+great astonishment, that there was a large rent in Junker Christopher's
+napkin, which he was vainly striving to conceal with his hand. The king
+seemed to have made the same discovery at the same instant. He had
+suddenly changed colour, and his countenance expressed a fearful degree
+of wrath and grief; he made a movement as if he were about to start up,
+but instantly recovered himself by a strong internal effort; he set
+down his cup directly before him on the table, and, by pushing his own
+napkin from him, contrived to hide with it the rent in his brother's.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">A look of affectionate admiration from Drost Aagé was repressed by a
+stern glance of the king's serious eye while he laid his finger on his
+lips. &quot;Music!&quot; he called, and gave a signal to the herald. The hall
+soon resounded with lively hunting horns. The gravity of the guests
+presently disappeared, and each talked gaily with his neighbour; the
+king himself appeared gay and in spirits, although Aagé, indeed,
+remarked that it cost him a desperate effort. When the castle chaplain,
+at the conclusion of the feast, was about to pronounce the blessing,
+all the knights had become so joyous and loud-tongued, that the herald
+was twice compelled to remind them of the etiquette of the table. When
+the repast was ended the king retired in haste to his private chamber,
+and beckoned gravely to Aagé to follow him. When Christopher rose, he
+threw his napkin, as if by accident, under the table; he then went out
+on the hall balcony, and whistled; soon afterwards the prince's large
+hunting-hound came bounding through the hall, with a crumpled napkin in
+his mouth.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The king had entered the private chamber with Aagé; he had thrown
+himself into a chair, and held his hand before his eyes. He remained a
+long time in this posture. Aagé stood in silence opposite to him,
+regarding him with a look of sorrowful sympathy. The king at last took
+his hand from his eyes, and he appeared to have wept. &quot;Who hath dared
+to destroy love and confidence between brothers?&quot; he exclaimed; &quot;if it
+was you, Drost Aagé, it is the last time I call you my Drost.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I it was not, my noble liege!&quot; answered Aagé; &quot;<i>who</i> it was I know
+not. May the Lord pardon that man among your true servants who so
+unwisely and rashly hath grieved you! It must have been done secretly,
+and without the herald's knowledge.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I despise a secret accusation,&quot; continued the king; &quot;it is unlawful;
+it is in a high degree deserving of chastisement; it shall--yet no--no
+examination can take place in this case. If he <i>is</i> a traitor,&quot; he
+continued, and deep grief was again visible in his countenance, &quot;were
+he capable! Be it as God wills--<i>I</i> injure not a hair of his head.
+Should I disgrace my father in his children? Should I doom my mother's
+son outlawed and dishonoured? Should I myself, Great God!----&quot; He
+paused, and his hair seemed to stand on end with horror. &quot;Look at me,
+Aagé,&quot; he resumed; &quot;could <i>such</i> a thought be harboured here?&quot; He laid
+his hand on his high and glowing forehead. &quot;It burns within,&quot; he
+continued; &quot;but no unseen Cain's mark burns there. My hand was sternly
+raised against him--love me he cannot--fear me he must. Well! let him
+tremble before his liege and sovereign until he learns to love his
+brother. Now, not a word more of this! It is perhaps only spite and
+slander. Who dares charge my left hand of treachery against the right?
+I know nothing as yet--I <i>will</i> know nothing--I have known enough of
+evil----&quot; He began again after a thoughtful pause, and with a gloomy
+downcast look--&quot;have I not had traitors around me since I was a child?
+Have I not seen my father murdered, and his shameless murderers in my
+presence? Have not their bloody hands been secretly and openly raised
+against my life from the hour in which I doomed them outlawed? yet have
+they not had the power to touch me,&quot; he continued with cheerfulness,
+and raised his head. &quot;No assassin's dagger hath yet reached me, even
+though excommunicated and given over to the Evil One. I know it, Aagé;
+I have seen it--the hand of the righteous Lord was betwixt me and my
+deadly foes. No traitor and murderer--not even a soul murderer--no
+sinful archbishop or pope--not the arch-fiend himself--shall shake the
+crown upon this head.&quot; As he said these words he raised his hand and
+looked upwards with a glance of almost prophetic inspiration, and there
+was a nobleness and majesty in his countenance which seemed capable of
+humbling the most presumptuous foe.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My liege!&quot; exclaimed Aagé, with heartfelt joy, &quot;the spirit which
+speaks through you at this hour is not alone the spirit of royalty and
+justice, but surely that of love also.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Go to my brother, my faithful Aagé,&quot; interrupted the king hastily;
+&quot;take him this----&quot; He took a gold chain from his neck, to which hung
+an image of the Madonna. &quot;Pray him to accept this jewel from his
+brother, as a memorial of this celebration of peace. Tell him our
+unhappy father wore this image to the day of his death.&quot; The king
+turned hastily away, and seemed desirous to hide the sorrowful emotion
+which had caused his voice to falter. Aagé stood with the chain in his
+hand, and was about to give vent to the warmth of his feelings; but the
+king turned suddenly, and said, in a stern voice, &quot;Tomorrow a council
+of knights will be held. The accused shall be arraigned, and defend
+themselves if they can. All are equal here with respect to the law--be
+they friends or foes. Woe to the accuser who hath not ample proof, were
+he even my dearest friend! Go! and the Lord be with thee.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Aagé bowed in silence, with wounded feelings, and would have departed,
+but the king, on perceiving his emotion, stretched out his arms towards
+him, and pressed him to his heart, without saying a word more.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Aagé hastily departed with the chain. When the king was alone in his
+chamber, he put his hand into his vest, and drew forth a rosary,
+garnished with pearls and rubies. &quot;Thy Christmas gift when we were
+children, my Ingeborg!&quot; he said, with deep emotion. &quot;What thou knewest
+I would ask for besides, thy angel joined me in prayer for at the
+throne of Grace.--Christopher! Christopher! may God forgive thee the
+thought thine eye betrayed!&quot; He then imprinted a kiss on the rosary,
+replaced it in his vest, and sat down quietly before his table to
+attend to state affairs.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2>CHAP. XI.</h2>
+
+<p class="normal">Early the next morning a herald-pursuivant stood in Drost Aagé's
+sleeping apartment, with his large plumed hat in one hand, and a long,
+pointed sword in the other. The Drost hastened to put on his garments,
+while he listened with anxious attention to the information which was
+given him. The three accused knights had disappeared in the night,
+together with the men-at-arms, who had relieved guard at midnight
+before the door of the knights' story. Sir Niels Brock's and Sir Johan
+Papĉ's horses had been taken out of the stable--none of their squires
+or servants were to be seen in the castle; but the large well-fed horse
+which the pretended Sir Ako Krummedigé had bestrode was still standing
+in the stable. The pursuivant who brought these tidings to the Drost
+delivered to him, at the same time, the sword which at the repast of
+the preceding evening he had received from the mysterious knight with
+the helmet, and drew the Drost's attention to a singular contrivance in
+it. The hilt was hollow, and contained a fluid, which, by means of a
+spring, might be imparted to the blade. A dog, whose skin had been
+scratched with this sword, had died in convulsions.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ha! a poisoned weapon!&quot; exclaimed Aagé in alarm, returning the sword
+with a look of horror; &quot;take it instantly before the judgment hall of
+the castle--Thou canst of course bear witness on oath from whom thou
+didst receive it?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That I shall find it hard to do. Sir Drost, seeing no one knows who he
+really is,&quot; answered the pursuivant; &quot;but that it was the dumb knight
+with the helmet--him they call Sir Krummedigé--I can take my oath upon.
+I should also announce, Sir Drost,&quot; he continued, &quot;that the junker's
+gentleman of the bedchamber, Sir Pallé, died last night of his wound,
+although it was so trifling that we jeered him about it almost to the
+last. The surgeon swears he hath been wounded by a three-edged poisoned
+dagger.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Our Lady be merciful unto us!&quot; exclaimed Aagé. &quot;His deadly terror was
+then but too well founded--We have had a poisoner then as our guest!
+Even now he may perhaps be among us!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Drost hastily left his chamber. Soon afterwards Marsk Oluffsen's
+rough voice was heard in the court of the castle, and ere it rang for
+mattins a knight, at the head of a troop of horse, rode at full gallop
+out of the castle gate. The Marsk himself, it was said, was gone to the
+chase. He dashed on with a number of hunters and hounds through the
+park. The Drost searched the whole castle. Ere mattins were ended, the
+Marsk and his huntsmen brought a bound captive to the tower. It was the
+mute knight with the helmet. His beard and eyebrows had changed colour,
+and it was soon known that he was one of the outlaws.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Amid the bustle caused at the castle by providing for the court, and
+attending on its numerous guests, much notice was not attracted towards
+these serious proceedings. The expected tournament and the knightly
+festivities occupied every one. The squires polished their master's
+arms and costly saddle-furniture; the prancing chargers were trained
+and tended; and the mild spring weather seemed to promise a bright day
+for the festivity. From the town and the neighbourhood crowds of gaily
+attired persons flocked to the castle. The splendidly accoutred knights
+careered eagerly and indefatigably with each other. All the castle
+windows which looked on the tilt-yard were already crowded with richly
+attired ladies, and most persons seemed to have forgotten both mattins
+and mass for the festival. It was whispered, indeed, that the
+tournament would not take place; but no one was disposed to believe
+this, as workmen began to bestir themselves, and preparations were
+still carried on, which kept expectation alive. Meanwhile the king was
+seen to ride as usual to mass with his princely guests, attended by his
+halberdiers. He was grave and thoughtful. Junker Christopher rode in
+gloomy silence by his side; he wore over his breast the large gold
+chain, with the image of the Madonna, which the king was wont to wear
+himself; and this token of distinction was regarded as a sign that all
+misunderstanding must have been removed between the brothers. The
+junker's eye meanwhile avoided the king's, and not one word was
+exchanged between them on the road to and from church.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">After mass, the king instantly repaired to the knights' hall with all
+his men, and it was announced by the heralds that a knights' council,
+and a court of justice would be held. The tournament and the other
+festivities were in the meantime announced by the Marsk to be given up;
+and people now flocked to the knights' hall to see the king administer
+justice among his knights. He sat with an unusually stern and grave
+aspect on the raised ivory throne, and was surrounded by regal state
+and splendour. He first examined into the conduct of some young knights
+who were accused of minor faults and transgressions of the laws of
+chivalry. Those who either could not prove their innocence according to
+the established proceedings of temporal justice, or where doubt was
+entertained, relied on sword and lance, for redeeming their honour were
+sternly banished the castle; but those who acknowledged and repented a
+pardonable error, obtained permission by bold and knightly deeds, to
+regain their place and rank among the king's men.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Drost now stepped forth in his own and in the name of the murdered
+Sir Pallé, with an accusation against the pretended Sir Ako Krummidigé,
+as the assassin of that slain knight, as well as against Sir Niels
+Brock and Sir Johan Papĉ, as traitors and secret conspirators against
+state and crown, and he craved permission, in case the testimony he
+brought forward was not considered sufficient to establish his charge,
+to confirm it with sword and lance, to be judged by God, in a combat
+for life and death with the traitors. As the two knights so seriously
+accused, had escaped by unlawful flight, they were proclaimed to be
+suspected, and cited to appear and defend themselves before the
+expiration of six weeks and one day, if they would not be passed
+sentence upon as traitors; but the pretended Ako Krummedigé, whose real
+name was now discovered by sufficient evidence, was led before the
+tribunal. He was clad in the ancient armour in which he was attired on
+his first arrival; he wore also the helmet and shield he had brought
+with him from the monastery, and on which the famous armorial bearings
+of the noble family of the Hvides were noticed for the first time; but
+he had no sword by his side, and was surrounded by a strong guard. The
+glossy black was removed from his stiff beard, which now resembled the
+bristles of a boar; and from his bushy, meeting-eyebrows which were
+considered by the lower orders as a <a name="div2Ref_09" href="#div2_09"><sup>[9]</sup></a>&quot;Wolfman's mark.&quot; and by which
+the outlawed Sir Kaggé was especially distinguished.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He was pale, and stared wildly around him. When he heard himself named
+and accused, and beheld the king in the large circle of attentive
+knights, he seemed to struggle against appearing cast down or humbled.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He raised his head, and stepped forward with a bold and haughty look,
+and even with the assumption of a degree of knightly dignity. &quot;I greet
+thee, King Eric Ericson!&quot; he said, in a loud voice. &quot;I greet every
+brave knight who serves with honour here at court! Christ preserve
+every dear son of Denmark from the misfortune which brings me hither!
+But if there be brave and true Danish men here present, the man who
+became outlawed for Denmark's freedom and the honour of Danish chivalry
+will not lack weapons and defenders.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Talk not of freedom and honour, <i>thou</i> who hast nought but effrontery
+and deeds of infamy to boast of!&quot; began the king with calm and cold
+contempt. &quot;Under the name of a pious and honourable man, thou hast
+crept into my hall among men of honour, and abused the sacred laws of
+chivalry, to hide deceit and treachery. Thy mask hath fallen off
+traitor! thy poisoned weapon hath betrayed thee--Thou wert chased from
+Denmark for a Judas deed; yet still thou hast dared to enter my
+presence. <i>One</i> assassination thou hast already perpetrated in my royal
+castle, and another thou hast meditated--Canst thou deny it? Hast thou
+a word to say in thy defence, miscreant?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The prisoner bit his lips, and ground his teeth. &quot;If I come not
+precisely from the holy sepulchre,&quot; he muttered, &quot;I come, however, from
+the graves of kinsmen and friends, and from the corpses of murdered
+comrades. The fool whose mouth I have stopped, was a soulless lump of
+flesh, on whom I did but whet my dagger. What I purposed besides, is no
+concern of any one; but what I had promised, it was my fixed resolve to
+perform. Against tyrants no weapon is dishonourable, King Eric! and if
+an outlawed man hath neither rights nor safety, how then can you
+suppose he will let himself be bound by your pitiful laws?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Have ye considered the matter, my knights!&quot; said the king; &quot;then
+pronounce doom upon this audacious criminal, according to the laws of
+God and man!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;He hath forfeited honour and life, according to the laws of the land,&quot;
+was the unanimous verdict. &quot;According to strict justice, he hath even
+forfeited hand and eye.&quot; The herald pronounced the doom in a loud
+voice.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">When Kaggé heard his death doom, his knees shook, and he looked around
+him with a rapid and searching glance, as if expecting to find
+defenders or protectors against the sentence, among the spectators, but
+there was a death-like stillness; no one moved tongue or hand in his
+defence. He seemed humbled, and now bent on one knee before the
+tribunal. &quot;Bethink you, King Eric!&quot; he said, in a supplicating tone, &quot;I
+served in your royal father's castle, and he himself gave me the praise
+of being the best squire he had. His death was never my wish, I would
+have saved him had it been in my power; although he had broken his
+contract and had himself loosened the tie which bound Denmark's crown
+to his head.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I remember well thou didst serve in my father's castle, for hire and
+for garments,&quot; answered the king; &quot;but I know, and every man in Denmark
+knows, also, that thou wert in Finnerup barn, on that bloody St.
+Cecilia's eve, and thy sword was not the <i>last which</i> was plunged into
+the breast of thy unhappy master and king. As a faithless traitor and
+regicide thou wert however but outlawed while I was a minor, but now
+thou shalt suffer just punishment, as surely as I wear Denmark's
+crown!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Is there not a single free man here, who dares to speak a word for
+me?&quot; cried the captive, springing up with a wild look. &quot;Ha! slaves of a
+tyrant! I despise ye,&quot; he continued, looking frantically around him.
+&quot;The deed for which I was outlawed, was the proudest ever achieved by
+Danish man. A tyrant's murder hath been an honoured deed so long as the
+world hath stood, wherever a spark of freedom was in the spirit of the
+people--Now there are nought but cowardly slaves in Denmark, and it
+shames me to call you countrymen. There you stand aghast! because a
+bold word is heard again in kingly hall--You have courage only for
+crawling in the dust before a revengeful despot, and to doom the last
+friend of freedom to the scaffold--Is it not enough for you to see my
+blood? Will you saw off my hands and feet? Will you pluck out my eyes,
+that no free man may see you blush? Will you deal thus with a
+descendant of Skialm--Hvide's noble race? I am a knight,&quot; he added
+proudly. &quot;I demand but to be judged by the law of knighthood--That is
+recognised over all the world, but under this country's laws I stand no
+longer.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Who dubbed thee a knight? asked the king, with a contemptuous look.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The greatest knight in Denmark's kingdom,&quot; answered the captive,
+drawing himself up with a look of defiance. &quot;The man whose shoe latchet
+no knight here was worthy to loose--The Marsk of Denmark's kingdom,
+Stig Anderson Hvide, and if your chivalrous bearing is aught else than
+empty boast and mockery, King Eric, you will suffer me to be judged
+with equity according to the law which is as the apple of your eye.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Be it so, by all the holy men!&quot; exclaimed the king with glowing
+cheeks; &quot;according to the law of chivalry shall thy doom be executed,
+since thou dost thyself demand it, and thou shalt learn what it is to
+be doomed to dishonour. The knighthood which an outlawed regicide gave
+thee is truly but little honour worth, nevertheless thou shalt not take
+it with thee to thy dishonourable death. Thy hands and feet thou shalt
+keep, and thy false eyes also--but the honour thou boastest of, thou
+shalt lose according to law, for the sake of chivalry--and thy life for
+my father's sake alone.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">At a signal from the king, the captive was now removed, and a council
+of the oldest knights met together to decide upon the mode of carrying
+the sentence into execution, according to the laws of chivalry.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Three hours afterwards, the captive was led in full knightly armour,
+and on horseback, to a high scaffold within the lists, under which the
+king himself appeared on horseback, surrounded by all his knights. The
+castle chaplain stood on the scaffold, at the head of a row of monks
+from the Dominican monastery. The captive was led up hither, not indeed
+to suffer death, but, according to the laws of chivalry to be ejected
+from the community of knights in a manner the most degrading. There was
+a crowd assembled; all the windows of the castle, as well as the stands
+on the lists were thronged with curious spectators. From the window of
+the servants' hall, close by the maidens' tower, peeped forth a fair
+little inquisitive face which was remarked for its beauty and
+animation; it was the captive Lady Ulrica, who without knowing what was
+going forward, had persuaded the tractable Karen to take her with her,
+to see the great procession which was talked of. No one knew what was
+to happen. The whole transaction was hitherto unknown in Denmark, where
+the young King Eric was the first sovereign who endeavoured to
+introduce all the usages of chivalry, and the novelty and mystery of
+the proceeding, tended still more to heighten curiosity. Ulrica beheld
+the priests on the high scaffold, and a knight in full armour led upon
+it: his back was turned to the window, and she did not recognise him. A
+rough sour-visaged man in a red cloak, with an iron club in hand, now
+stepped forward, he looked like an executioner, but however carried
+neither sword nor axe. He tore the shield from the knight, and struck
+off his armour; after which he broke the shield and armour into pieces
+with his iron club, and cast the fragments at his feet.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Gracious heaven! Is this an execution?&quot; cried Ulrica in dismay. The
+knight was now led down from the scaffold. He turned his pale and
+terrible countenance towards her, and she recognised him. &quot;Kaggé!
+righteous heaven!&quot; she exclaimed with a shriek, and sank swooning in
+the arms of her attendants. They hastened to carry her back to the
+tower, and to the fostering care of her gentle sister.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The armorial bearings were taken from Kaggé's broken shield; they were
+now, together with the shield, fastened to the tail of a mare, and thus
+dragged in the mire through the streets of Wordingborg, followed by the
+scoffs of the herald, which were echoed by the enraged mob.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The disarmed knight was meanwhile led upon the dunghill near the
+stables of the castle; here his gold spurs were taken off, and on the
+same degrading spot the tail of the horse he rode last was docked.
+While the attention of the spectators was rivetted on these singular
+proceedings, the dishonoured knight made a vain attempt to escape. He
+was now bound with cords, and again led upon the scaffold--there he
+stood staring wildly around him and foaming with rage, while the
+priests chanted a requiem over him as over the dead. He looked around
+in a frenzy; when, however, he perceived that the sword of the
+executioner was not glittering over his head, he seemed not as yet to
+have abandoned all hope of life, and drew himself up in desperate
+defiance. The solemn death-chant, nevertheless, appeared to awe him,
+and to damp his resolution. Ere it was ended, he sank down in an
+attitude of prayer. The chanting ceased, and the castle chaplain
+presently stepped forward with the holy scriptures, and began to read
+with a loud voice the Psalmist's denunciations against traitors--&quot;Let
+there be none to extend mercy unto him, let his posterity be cut off,
+and in the generation following let their name be blotted out. As he
+loved cursing, so let it come unto him; as he delighted not in
+blessing, so let it be far from him----&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Nay! silence with thy curses Priest! Whether they be scripture or
+not!&quot; called the king with vehemence. &quot;His soul must be judged by the
+merciful God. It is here question only of knightly honour.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But the chaplain had entered with such zeal into his text, that,
+without heeding the king's words, he still added, &quot;When he shall be
+judged, let him be condemned, and let his prayer become sin----&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The kneeling knight started up at these words, and glared frantically
+at the priest, &quot;Know then, every free man in Denmark! and judge if it
+were sin!&quot; he shouted--&quot;I prayed in this hour to the vanquisher of
+monsters, St. Magnus, and all the saints, that king Glipping's accursed
+race might be rooted out of the earth, as he was himself by this hand
+in Finnerup Barn.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Thou didst declare the truth unto him priest!&quot; said the king,
+suppressing with difficulty his exasperated feelings-- &quot;yet--no more
+ecclesiastical cursing! his thoughts and prayers are for God to judge;
+this criminal stands here only before his earthly judges.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The priest was silent; the king now turned solemnly to the
+pursuivant-at-arms, and asked, &quot;Say, what is this criminal's name?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Sir Aagé Kaggé, of the noble race and lineage of the high-born
+Hvides,&quot; answered the pursuivant-at-arms.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That is not <i>his</i> name who here stands in our sight,&quot; cried the
+herald, &quot;for in <i>him</i> I and Danish chivalry only recognise a traitor, a
+deceiver, and a false swearer.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The king thrice asked the name of the criminal. The herald-pursuivant
+named it each time, and each time the herald cried, &quot;that is not HIS
+name!&quot; with the same annulling addition. When the herald had proclaimed
+these words for the last time, he received from the hand of the
+pursuivant-at-arms an ewer with hot water; he then mounted the scaffold
+with it, and dashed the water over the head and shoulders of the
+dishonoured knight, with these words, &quot;Thus I efface the sacred mark of
+knighthood from this corpse.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">As soon as these words were uttered, the criminal was looked upon as
+dead, and treated as an actual corpse. He was dragged by cords down
+from the scaffold, and tied on a bier. A pall was spread over him, and
+while the king and all his knights rode back to the castle, Kaggé,
+followed by a scoffing mob of the lowest class, was borne to the
+church, where the priests again prayed and chanted over him as over the
+dead. When the pall was at last removed, in order to lead him to actual
+death, he lay senseless on the bier, and it was doubted whether he
+ought in this state to be carried to the place of execution.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Go hence and let him alone! The sun hath gone down, and he shall be
+unmolested here till to-morrow,&quot; said a powerful and authoritative
+voice, and the Commendator of the monastery of the Holy Ghost stepped
+solemnly forward in his white dress as master of the choir, with his
+double twelve-pointed silver cross on his breast. All recognised him,
+and bowed reverently with folded hands, and half-bended knees, to
+receive his blessing.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The provost and his attendants, who were to conduct the prisoner to the
+place of execution, seemed, however, somewhat doubtful and lingered.
+&quot;<i>I</i> am responsible! Go hence all of you, and let the sinner lie here
+till to-morrow!&quot; repeated the Commendator, &quot;his soul shall have time to
+prepare for its separation from the sinful body. It is the duty of my
+holy office to care for the souls of the departing. In the name of the
+church and the holy spirit, I command the temporal authority here
+present to give way!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Every one departed; the Commendator last quitted the church, and
+ordered the church door to be locked. By command of the provost, a
+strong guard of men-at-arms was stationed before it.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">When the provost and his attendants early the following morning entered
+the church to lead the unknighted captive (already dead in law) to
+execution, a real corpse was found bound to the bier. Some thought that
+the proceedings of the previous day were sufficient to kill him; others
+deemed it probable that he might have expired from dread when he came
+to himself in the night, and found himself alone and bound on the bier
+in the deserted church. The idea that terror had caused the death of
+the miscreant captive while lying in such wretched plight the whole
+night, in expectation of his death, now excited a species of compassion
+in the same mob who on the preceding day could not sufficiently taunt
+and scoff the detested assassin; and it was discovered that, after all,
+the king had been far too strict, and that even the pious Commendator
+himself had in a great degree augmented the sinner's punishment by
+caring for his soul in such sort; and allowing him the space of a whole
+night to die of terror, during his preparation for death. The face of
+the corpse was swollen, and already in such a state that none could
+recognise the outlawed knight, excepting from the bristly beard and
+meeting eyebrows. The body was instantly, and in all privacy, buried
+without the customary ritual of the church, and in unconsecrated
+ground. But hardly was the dead man interred, ere a low murmur was
+heard among the restless populace that it could scarcely have been the
+right corpse after all. The speedy change in the appearance of the body
+so early in the spring was deemed exceedingly suspicious, and it was
+rumoured that the beard and eye-brows were undoubtedly false. It was
+known that the outlawed Aagé Kaggé had been a kinsman of Archbishop
+Grand; and the Commendator of the order of the Holy Ghost, who from the
+monastery might have ingress to the church, was conjectured to have
+availed himself of his authority on this occasion, to save a kinsman of
+that mighty and dangerous prelate. This rumour, however, was instantly
+put down by the provost and his attendants, whom it might have caused
+seriously to be brought to account. It reached neither the ears of the
+King nor the Drost, and it was believed at court (as had been in legal
+form announced by the temporal authorities of the town) that the
+outlawed regicide had been found lifeless on the bier, and that the
+body had been buried in the morning, after lawful inspection.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The stern solemnity which pervaded the king's proceedings at this time
+at Wordingborg was remarked by all. The festivities which had been
+looked forward to with pleasure on occasion of the treaty with the
+Dukes, were wholly relinquished, and all the stranger nobles and
+knights soon left the castle. Junker Christopher had taken a cold and
+hasty farewell, and it was said had repaired to Kallundborg or Holbeck.
+Both these castles had been restored to him with full investiture of
+the fiefs. Ere his departure, he had announced that the maidens' tower
+was carelessly guarded, and that the fair prisoners were in
+communication with the household, and probably even with persons of
+more consideration. This information compelled the commandant to
+observe more strictness in guarding the captives. The obliging little
+Karen was replaced by a grave female attendant, and no one but herself
+and a monk skilled in medicine were admitted to the tower. The youngest
+of the captive maidens was ill, it was said, and not quite in her right
+mind. She imagined she had seen an execution, and that she herself was
+a princess who had an unfortunate prince for a lover. This gave rise to
+much gossip, and all manner of conjectures among the household at the
+castle. Drost Aagé was spoken of as the most zealous friend and
+advocate of the captive maidens, and it was supposed that by means of
+his influence their cause would soon be decided in their favour.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The king, with his state council and halberdiers, remained until past
+Easter at Wordingborg Castle, from whence were issued many royal
+mandates and ordinances. In these matters the Drost was, next to the
+king himself, especially occupied, and was seldom seen to join the
+other knights in their diversions within the lists or in the tennis
+court. He was, as usual, grave and pensive. Occasionally he was seen in
+the moonlight spring evenings to wander alone, as if lost in reverie,
+around the maidens' tower. Since the king's arrival at Wordingborg,
+Aagé had not seen the captive maidens; it appeared that he had heard
+the gossiping reports of his warm interest for them, and that he feared
+to injure their cause or their reputation by a visit.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2>CHAP. XII.</h2>
+
+<p class="normal">It was a fortnight after Easter. The trees of the chase were springing
+into leaf. Flocks of twittering starlings in whirling clouds hovered
+and sang above the towers of Wordingborg Castle. The cuckoo's note was
+heard in the beech groves, and the nightingale was come. The Marsk
+stood in the ante-chamber awaiting orders. Ah inquiry was made after
+the Drost. He had repaired to the maidens' tower with the judges of the
+court of justice of the castle, in order to be present at an
+examination of Marsk Stig's daughters. He had himself hastened this act
+of justice, in his firm conviction of their innocence; he hoped by his
+testimony to be instrumental towards their acquittal, and that the
+affair might, from the king's presence there, come to a speedy and
+happy termination. The Drost's longing to see the fair Margaretha
+again, had perhaps some share in the haste and zeal with which he
+followed the grave judges. But hardly had he entered the prison with
+these personages, and had met, and responded to, a tender and
+melancholy glance from the gentle Margaretha, ere Ulrica, who appeared
+to have been sitting quietly before her sister's tapestry frame,
+suddenly started up with a wild look and dishevelled hair, and rushed
+menacingly towards them. &quot;Ye have murdered him, ye monsters,&quot;--she
+cried--&quot;Ye have murdered my true knight--are ye now come to drag me
+also to the scaffold? Look! here I am!--tarry not!--bring forward your
+chains!--bring forward your executioner! Lead me but to death! I
+despise life and all of ye! I knew Kaggé was here to avenge my
+degradation, and lead me out of this vile captivity. Me, you may murder
+also--the sooner the better. I ask no other freedom--call but your
+executioner, and put an end to my sorrow! I knew the king's life was in
+danger, and I was silent to save my friend and true knight--but my
+sister is innocent--none shall injure a hair of <i>her</i> head. She
+besought me to move him to flee, and cause no mishap--that I can
+witness on the gospels.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Both were then, it seems, cognizant of the presence of the outlawed
+regicide and of his treasonable purpose,&quot; said the chief judge; &quot;Sir
+Drost! the testimony we have here from the most guilty of the two,
+renders them both, at the least, state prisoners for their lifetime.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Drost Aagé appeared thunderstruck. &quot;The unhappy lady must rave,&quot; he
+said, hastily recollecting himself. &quot;She hath been ill, and not in her
+right mind, as we know--her confession and testimony are of no weight.
+Her knowledge of yon miscreant I have indeed observed; but it is
+impossible she could have been an accomplice in his crime, and still
+less her pious sister; that I will stake my life upon! Answer us! for
+the sake of the Lord in heaven, tell us the truth noble Lady
+Margaretha! Knew you Kaggé was here in disguise at the castle, and
+seeking after the king's life?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I knew it, Sir Drost.&quot; answered Margaretha calmly, with her hand on
+her heart. &quot;But by the lips of the Holy Virgin, and the Spirit of holy
+truth, it lay not in my power, nor in my sister's, to hinder his
+coming. When I heard he was here, and what he meditated, it was night,
+and our prison door was locked. It was not possible for me to caution
+you and the king against him, had I even (which I trust in God I had)
+courage and strength and will to do so. In the morning it was affirmed
+he had escaped, and--I was silent, that I might not plunge an erring
+unhappy soul into still greater misery.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;A serious case! a very serious case!&quot; said the judge. &quot;We must examine
+into all the circumstances of the affair.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">While the examination was continued the commandant of the castle
+entered, and summoned the Drost to the king. Aagé left the chamber with
+a deep sigh, and a sorrowing glance at the unhappy maidens, of whose
+acquittal and liberation from prison he now almost despaired.
+With feelings of deep emotion the Drost joined the Marsk in the
+ante-chamber, where he was to await the king's commands. They heard the
+king pacing with hasty steps up and down his private chamber.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;There are snakes in the grass, Drost!&quot; said the Marsk. &quot;Why did they
+not instantly cut off the heads of those hounds, without ceremony, and
+cast their high-born friend and protector into the tower. Now they have
+all 'scaped, the whole pack of them, and we have enough to do to be on
+our guard.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Whom mean you, Sir Marsk?&quot; asked Aagé absently. &quot;You have received
+letters I know?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yes, in abundance--Brock and Papĉ got off for that once; they are
+scouring Jutland round, and stirring up the people about these
+priest-riots and the shutting of the churches, which all dread so much;
+just as if a church-door was a fortress gate with ramparts and towers,
+and had St. Paul himself for a porter. I thought truly, it was a bad
+business when those haughty nobles laid their heads together so often
+with the junker, and had slit napkins laid before their noses. I should
+have been right glad to have hewn the whole pack of them in pieces; but
+amid all our stupid ceremonies with trencher and napkin, and tattered
+clouts, we let fly the birds of prey, and the junker into the bargain,
+although he got a rent to hide which made his ears glowing red.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;How, Sir Marsk!&quot; exclaimed Aagé, a conjecture suddenly flashing across
+his mind. &quot;You surely were not yourself his secret accuser?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You have hit it, Drost! I cared not much to keep the secret: had any
+one asked, my answer would have been ready, and my good sword with it,
+if required: proofs and such like frippery I had not, it is true--that
+was the worst of it; but, however, I had my conjectures and my own
+thoughts. I cannot abide that fellow, do you see--were he guiltless,
+and had he courage to defend his honour,--by the foul fiend! he would
+not have sat there as if upon thorns, and have hid that little rent. I
+was just going by the table, do you see? and saw how matters stood with
+those three mangy hounds. The junker's napkin lay so conveniently at
+hand, my blood was up, and it struck me the high-born junker would be
+the better for a little alarm.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;By your favour. Sir Marsk! it was a most rash proceeding; by acting
+thus, you have increased the misunderstanding between the king and his
+brother.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;So much the better; either keep with him or break with him--one or the
+other; nought comes of this truckling: but so far you are right--I
+should not have busied myself with those apish ceremonies, they better
+beseem all of <i>you</i>. I should rather have said it right out, and
+answered for it instantly with my hand on my neck:--but enough of
+this--Know ye Master Grand is here?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Grand! the Archbishop? Where?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;At Copenhagen, and with a royal convoy. That was a piece of folly,
+also--<i>You</i> were, no doubt, one in council?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It was not deemed necessary,&quot; answered Aagé, repressing his annoyance
+at the Marsk's offensive bluntness. &quot;The counsel you so flatteringly
+attribute to me was not mine either. The state council and the king
+himself considered it good policy. The cardinal demanded it, and
+offered his mediation. If the archbishop becomes manageable, and
+recalls the ban, he, of course, could not come hither without an
+assurance of personal safety.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Do ye not yet know that fellow better?&quot; answered the Marsk. &quot;Ere
+<i>he</i> becomes tractable, heaven and earth will pass away. In this
+respect, the king is not far behind him--but if he <i>will</i> be at the
+archbishop--by Satan! he should not have given him a convoy, and
+allowed him to set foot again upon Danish ground, though the whole
+state-council should get a colic from fright. Now, Grand and that
+accursed red hat sit like a pair of popes at Axelhuus, and none dare
+injure a hair of their heads: there they may begin the game, and stir
+us up the whole country in a trice. The cardinal hath already confirmed
+that confounded constitution of Veilé, and the Bishop of Roskild now
+causes all his churches to be shut. The storm will and must burst soon,
+and then all depends on how wind and current drive.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Great Heavens! is it possible?&quot; exclaimed Aagé, in dismay. &quot;Have you
+certain tidings, Sir Marsk? Doth the king know it?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I have brought him some doses on a fasting stomach in a couple of
+letters--that he hath swallowed them you may know from the clatter of
+his spurs and boot-heels--You brought him letters from Sweden, Drost!
+Love letters, doubtless, and fine ballads from his betrothed? Were
+there any tidings of a rational kind?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;None of a very cheering description,&quot; answered Aagé, looking with
+uneasiness towards the king's door. &quot;What the princess hath imparted I
+know not; but the excellent Master Petrus can effect nothing with the
+state-council touching the king's marriage.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;S'Death!&quot; said the Marsk, rubbing his hands. &quot;Then it will not be easy
+to get to talk with him to-day. These are knots which it will be hard
+even for <i>your</i> state-policy to loose, my wise Sir Drost! but if <i>I</i>
+know the king well, he will give all your fine wisdom to the devil, and
+keep him to me and his good sword.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Against rebels we may use the sword, Marsk, but neither against bishop
+nor pope, and just as little against the king's future brother-in-law,&quot;
+answered Aagé. &quot;We stand in need of discretion in this matter, and,
+above all, of the help of the Lord.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The door of the king's private chamber now opened, and the king himself
+looked out into the ante-chamber, and nodded. His countenance indicated
+passion and anxiety, and the Marsk, as well as the Drost, entered the
+chamber with a thoughtful aspect.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">An hour afterwards Marsk Oluffsen departed with the Wordingborg troop
+of horse on his way to Jutland; and Drost Aagé set out, attended by
+twelve knights and squires, as ambassador to the Swedish court, with a
+letter which inspired him with secret anxiety for his king and country.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Among the twelve knights appointed to accompany Drost Aagé to Sweden,
+was Sir Pallé's brother-in-law, the brave knight, Helmer Blaa, who had
+made himself famous by gaining his bride by dint of arms, and
+vanquishing Sir Pallé and her six brothers, who had all fallen upon him
+at once. He was young, of a tall and well-proportioned figure, with
+sparkling brown eyes, and remarkably light and agile in his movements.
+He was a native of Fyen, of high birth; a great friend of the Drost's,
+and devoted heart and soul to the king.</p>
+
+
+<p class="center" style="font-size:90%">&quot;He rides in the saddle so free--&quot;</p>
+
+
+<p class="continue">was wont to be carolled forth by the lower orders whenever they saw
+Helmer riding his handsome Arabian horse, which flew with him swift as
+the wind, and was the gift of royal favour to him on his marriage-day
+the preceding summer.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Drost Aagé rode for an hour in calm silence by the side of this gallant
+knight, on the road to Kiöge, from whence he was to embark for Skanór
+on the Swedish coast.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Count Henrik goes with the king of course?&quot; said Sir Helmer, at last
+breaking silence. &quot;If one would visit a bishop's nest in these times,
+it must assuredly be with sword and coat of mail.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Count Henrik stirs not from his side,&quot; answered Aagé--&quot;that he hath
+promised me with word and hand--I now go hence unwillingly; Grand's
+thirst for revenge, and the boldness of the outlaws know no bounds.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That accursed Kaggé! He made an end also of my fat seal of a
+brother-in-law--that lump of flesh, indeed, I accounted not much of;
+his miserable death, however, I have vowed to St. George to avenge,
+chiefly for my dear wife's sake. She had but that one brother left
+since I came to mishap with all the others; but it was done openly,
+and in honourable self-defence; she hath not even loved me the less
+either for that affair--but to fight by stealth, and with a poisoned
+weapon--faugh! 'Twas an accursed Italian trick--such was never before
+the usage here in the north. Are you quite certain the wretched
+assassin is dead and buried in good earnest, Sir Drost? The people have
+divers tales to tell. He who hath had no shame in his life would not
+die of shame, I should think--One hath seen ere this a cunning fox run
+from the trap and leave his tail behind him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Aagé started. &quot;I saw him not after death,&quot; he answered; &quot;but his end
+was certainly announced by the provost and Commendator of the
+monastery. There can surely be no doubt of the truth.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The Commendator is a holy man of God, doubtless,&quot; replied Helmer, with
+an incredulous smile; &quot;one ought not, indeed, to suspect him of deceit
+and treason, even though he be a good friend of Master Grand's, and
+might have wished to save the dishonoured life of one of so high and
+holy a race. I first heard that unbelieving gossip when the body was
+thrown into the carrion pit, and consumed with unslacked lime; it
+doubtless showed great caution and good care for the public health; but
+they will have it it was a corpse from the hospital of the monastery,
+with beard and eyebrows of good Danish boar bristles.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Can it be possible!&quot; exclaimed Aagé. &quot;Should he be alive and at
+liberty, he would then become a more pestilent foe than all the outlaws
+put together--Yon dishonoured miscreant is capable of any crime; he
+hath now hardly aught more to lose.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Be that as it may,&quot; answered Helmer, &quot;if Kaggé be above ground, so is
+my arm and my good sword also--the Lord be praised for it!--and
+wherever I meet him, I am his man.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;If the miscreant is alive, and falls into our hands, we can but bind
+his hands and wash our own of the matter,&quot; answered Aagé.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">They now continued their journey in grave silence for another hour.
+Each time Aagé thought of the unfortunate daughters of Marsk Stig in
+the maidens' tower a sigh burst from his heart; and whenever he felt
+the king's important letter within his vest it seemed to him as if he
+was oppressed by the future fate of king and country.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;We received but scanty orders,&quot; resumed Helmer Blaa again, seemingly
+wearied by the long silence and the Drost's reverie. &quot;We were to learn
+the rest from you, Drost; but you seem to have left tongue and speech
+at Wordingborg.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You know what is of most importance,&quot; answered Aagé. &quot;It concerns King
+Eric's highest happiness in this world. As matters stand now with the
+archbishop and pope, you may easily imagine there are great
+difficulties about the dispensation for his marriage; if we cannot
+prevail on King Birger and his state council to permit the marriage to
+take place ere St. John's Day, and that despite both pope and clergy,
+then--more should not be said,&quot; he added, in a lowered voice; &quot;then I
+fear matters will stand badly, Sir Helmer.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Not worse surely than with me when they threw hindrances in the way of
+my marriage!&quot; answered Helmer. &quot;How such difficulties may be got over
+our bold king knows full as well as I--&quot; So saying, he gaily struck
+upon his clanking sword.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That did very well with your brother-in-law, brave Helmer,&quot; said Aagé.
+&quot;It concerned only half a dozen of our worst knights. HERE state and
+kingdom are in question. The king is of a hasty temper, you know; he is
+only but too ready to imitate your bold manner of wooing; but if he is
+to win his bride by war and battle, there will be a bloody bridal here
+in the summer, to as little pleasure for Denmark as for Sweden.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;There you may perhaps be in the right, Drost,&quot; answered Helmer. &quot;There
+is a difference between <i>my</i> brothers-in-law and the king's, I own; but
+if honour and our king's fortune in love are now at stake, assuredly no
+Danish knight will hesitate to become his bridegroom's man with sword
+and lance, however hard one might be put to it. This much we must allow
+to the Swede--he ever fights like a brave fellow. Swedish knighthood
+yields not to us in manhood; but when we sing,</p>
+
+<p class="center" style="font-size:90%">'For Eric the youthful king!'</p>
+
+
+<p class="continue">the heart of no Danish man will sink below his belt, I know, were the
+Swede ten times as strong, and had they ten Thorkild Knudsons in
+council and camp.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Let us not talk too loud of these things,&quot; said Aagé, in a low voice,
+and allowing the other knights to pass by, while he and Helmer
+slackened their pace. &quot;Honourable warfare is indeed ever to be
+preferred to a deceitful and shameful peace,&quot; he continued; &quot;but the
+Lord and St. George forbid it should come to a breach now, just when
+love and good will seem in truth desirous to make us and our brave
+neighbours friends. Could these unhappy scruples be removed I should
+deem both Denmark and Sweden fortunate indeed. If a noble Swedish
+princess sits on the throne of Denmark's queens, and a Danish one on
+that of Sweden, we might then hope to see extinguished the last spark
+of ancient national hate and fraternal enmity. We may say what we
+please in our pride, and boast of Danish greatness in the days of
+Canute the Great and the Valdemars; Scandinavians were, however,
+brethren in the beginning; we have shared honour and fame with each
+other all over the world, among Longobards and Goths and Northmen; and
+we must combine together again, if aught great is to be achieved by the
+powers of the north.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It may be so,&quot; answered Sir Helmer. &quot;I am well nigh of your opinion,
+especially since it hath now come to something more than mere state
+policy and cold calculations with these betrothings of royal children.
+This one at first was but a politic scheme of Queen Agnes and Drost
+Hessel; in such plans there are seldom any truth and honesty. Strange
+enough it should turn out as it hath done; for every man, both here and
+in Sweden's land, knows that our young king is almost more enamoured
+than a Sir Tristan or Florez in the new books of chivalry; and
+the fair Princess Ingeborg--here they already call her our second
+Dagmar--although we have but heard she is pious and mild, and hath
+pretty blue eyes and beautiful golden hair, like Dagmar. I shall be
+well pleased to see her,&quot; he added. &quot;No Swedish or Danish knights can
+ever commend her sufficiently, and she is, indeed, well nigh praised to
+the disparagement of our own lovely ladies--that vexes me I own.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I saw her at Helsingborg, at the bridal of Count Gerhard and Queen
+Agnes,&quot; said Aagé, and his pensive eye sparkled. &quot;She was then still
+almost a child; but she hath since ever seemed to me like one of God's
+holy angels, destined to diffuse the blessings of peace and love
+through this land and kingdom. There is but one female form in the
+world which I could compare with her, or perhaps even exalt above her
+in fair and noble presence,&quot; he added with emotion; but suddenly paused
+and cleared his throat with some embarrassment.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Now, out with it, Drost Aagé; I am not jealous,&quot; said Sir Helmer, with
+a pleased and proud look. &quot;You mean doubtless my fair young wife--It is
+worthy a true knight to admire the beauty of a young and fair woman in
+all reverence and honour. She hath well nigh the fairest presence of
+any woman here in the country; every one says so who sees her, both
+here and in Fyen; and I have nought against it. I know assuredly she
+holds me dearest of all, although I came to mishap, as you know, both
+with her uncle and those stiff-necked brothers. She is now at my
+castle, longing to have me back again; if it please the Lord and St.
+George, she shall soon hear a good report of me, if there is anything
+to be done in earnest.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Drost Aagé's usually pale cheek had become crimson. &quot;You guessed wrong,
+however, this once Sir Helmer&quot;--he said, with a smile; &quot;the lady I
+thought of was another, without disparagement to your fair young wife.
+But, if we would reach Kjögé ere midnight, we must ride faster. In a
+steady trot, and at the long run, I think my Danish horse will be a
+match for your Arabian.&quot; He spurred his horse, and Sir Helmer hastened
+to redeem the honour of his favourite Arabian, while he shook his head
+at the Drost's want of discernment in the matter of female beauty.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2>CHAP. XIII.</h2>
+
+<p class="normal">When they reached Kjögé it was three hours past vespers, and after
+burgher bedtime. In this town, as yet, neither the great Franciscan nor
+Carmelite monasteries were erected, which afterwards became so
+celebrated. Here the travellers were forced to be content with one of
+the unpretending hostelries from the time of Eric Glipping, which were
+often stigmatised as dungeons and farthing taverns.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">During the last two years the town had been frequently visited by the
+Hanseatic merchants, since the king had extended their trading
+privileges; and when these active traders went to or from the great
+fairs at Skanor or Falsterbo, or to the herring fishery, on the Swedish
+coast, they often ran their vessels into Kjögé bay, to wait for a
+favourable wind, and dispose of their wares to the burghers of Kjögé.
+The bay was now full of Hanseatic merchant vessels, and the numerous
+lights in the ships shone fair upon the shore. Drost Aagé, with his
+train, had much difficulty in getting a room in what was called the
+ale-house, near the harbour. In the large public room of the tavern,
+where the guests were wont to beguile the time until late at night,
+with drinking and dice, there was on the entrance of the Drost and his
+knights, much hubbub and loud-tongued talk among the guests, which,
+however, was suddenly hushed on the appearance of the richly-attired
+strangers, in whom the king's knights and halberdiers were instantly
+recognised. At the upper end of the long oaken table, which was fixed
+to the floor, sat a heavy-built, consequential-looking personage, with
+a sable-bordered cap and tunic; it was Berner Kopmand, from Rostock (so
+notorious for his wealth and pride) who had bid defiance to the king at
+Sjöberg. He lolled in his seat with an air of importance, and had laid
+one leg upon the table, that he might be more completely at his ease.
+His broad visage glowed from the effects of wine; he held a silver
+goblet in his hand, and had a large wine-flask before him. By his side
+sat his trusty friend and trading companion, Henrik Gullandsfar, from
+Wisbye, with a large purse in his hand, from which he threw some coins
+into the host's cap. Between them stood a backgammon board, on which
+the dice were swimming in ale and wine, and which Berner Kopmand kicked
+aside to make room for his ponderous foot. Here they sat, surrounded by
+a number of Hanseatic merchants, skippers and boatmen. All were armed,
+like themselves, with broad battle swords and sabres, and drank merrily
+to their own success. When the Drost and his knights entered, the two
+merchants remained sitting in their easy posture, without returning the
+greeting of the strangers, and whispers and murmurs of dissatisfaction
+were heard among the guests.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In the least lit-up part of the room sat two men with the cross of the
+order of the Holy Ghost on their black travelling mantles. The one drew
+his hood over his brow; he instantly arose, and with his ecclesiastical
+colleague presently disappeared in the throng of guests, who were
+flocking in and out. Sir Helmer had noticed the deportment of the monk;
+he hastily approached Aagé to whisper a word in his ear, but the Drost,
+who had instantly recognised the two arrogant Hanseatic merchants, had
+turned his whole attention upon their bearing, and was pondering within
+himself, how far it would be wise or necessary to meddle with them, or
+attach any significance to their former powerless menace.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Short and sweet, my good friends!&quot; now began the heavy Rostocker, with
+lisping tongue, while he struck the heel of his boot on the table to
+obtain a hearing, and seemed wrath at the pause in the talk. &quot;The
+Lauenberg knight was forced to dangle from our new gallows, despite the
+cry of his high birth and lineage; and the high-born Duke Albert of
+Saxony was ready to choke with rage. It is therefore, he now protects
+and eggs on these high-born highwaymen. But we will no longer suffer
+ourselves to be plundered and pulled by the nose, unavenged, by knights
+and princes. We shall one day teach all these high and mighty lords,
+where the gold lies buried, the blessed bright gold which rules the
+world, and what the rich and combined Hanse-towns can do. We merchants
+and small folk, have now also learned something of the art of war, and
+the art of politics, and he who treads on our corns may beware of Lubek
+law, and the Rostock gallows--Hurra! freedom in trade! freedom in word
+and deed! To hell with all tyrants and aristocrats!&quot; So saying, Berner
+Kopmand kicked the empty wine flask off the table, while he moved his
+foot to the floor, and rose reeling with the goblet at his lips.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The foreign merchants and skippers, shouted and drank. Henrik
+Gullandsfar shook his head, and pulled his drunken colleague by the
+sleeve, with a side glance at the Drost and the king's halberdiers.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I give them to death and the devil! I can buy them up body and soul,
+and their forefathers into the bargain,&quot; growled the proud burgher
+magnate of Rostock--allowing himself, however, to be led out of the
+apartment, by the sober and more wary Gullandsfar. The other merchants
+and skippers now departed one after another, singing and whistling as
+they went. Aagé had instantly perceived that the conduct of the proud
+Hanseatics was meant as defiance and insult; but he had himself, as
+Drost, two years before, jointly with the state-council, confirmed the
+great privileges which were granted to these traders, and the law
+strictly forbade all violent and arbitrary proceedings towards them so
+long as they themselves refrained from committing any act of violence.
+Aagé remained silent, with a contemptuous smile, and warned to the
+incensed knights to keep quiet. But Sir Helmer's blood boiled,--he had
+sat upon thorns since his eye had caught the monk. As the Hanseatic
+sea-men left the inn, he thought he once more caught a glance, through
+the open door, of the same figure, among the tumultuous throng which
+was hastening to the vessels. He whispered a few hurried words in the
+Drost's ear, and rushed out of the apartment. Aagé looked gravely and
+thoughtfully after him. He gave a secret signal to two of the most
+discreet knights to follow him, and requested the others to remain.
+They now seated themselves at the almost deserted table. The humble and
+officious host hastened to serve them, and to remove the empty flasks
+and cans of ale. Their wrath which they had repressed with difficulty,
+had rendered the knights silent, and their humour was manifested only
+in taunting exclamations and jeers at the grocer-heroes, as they were
+designated. It was indeed allowed that the proud Berner Kopmand's
+inveteracy against the nobles of the land was not altogether unfounded.
+The knights' castles in Denmark, were not in fact robber-holds, as in
+Germany; foreign traders here enjoyed the greatest security, and had
+even greater privileges than the burghers of the country; but the
+knights delighted in scoffing at the uncouth and awkward bearing of the
+armed grocers; even Drost Aagé with all his moderation, and in spite of
+all that he had himself effected for the security of trade and the
+extension of commerce, could not altogether suppress the feeling of
+aristocratic contempt, entertained by those in his own rank for this
+class of persons, whose growing prosperity and wealth were often united
+with a degree of insolence and envious pride, which excited and
+fostered this mutual bad-feeling.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The attention of Aagé and the knights was soon directed towards two
+singular strangers who still remained with them at table; the one was a
+young man of a good figure and remarkably animated countenance; he wore
+a dark red, and rather thread-bare lay mantle, but the black cap which
+covered his tonsure, and a canon's hat which lay by his side on the
+table, appeared to denote him an ecclesiastic. At one time he talked
+Latin, at another Icelandic and Danish, with his next neighbour, whom
+he addressed as master, and to whom he shewed marked respect. When the
+young clerk spoke Danish, he frequently pronounced the words wrong. At
+times he became enthusiastic, and recited as well from the ancient
+classics as from old northern poems. His neighbour was a little,
+deformed man, with a hump upon his back, a thin sharp visage, and an
+intelligent piercing eye; his head was sunk deep between his shoulders,
+and hardly reached above the table, but his arms were uncommonly long
+and thin; he occasionally put on and took off a pair of large
+spectacles set in lead, and had a number of singular instruments and
+boxes before him on the table. He wore a bright-red mantle, bordered
+with fur, over a lay-brother's blue dress, and his head was adorned
+with a scarlet cap, trimmed with gold lace and tassels. In this showy
+garb, which rendered the deformity of his person still more striking,
+he resembled one of those foreign mountebanks and quacks, who at the
+great fairs were wont to exhibit feats before the mob, and vend relics,
+amulets, and universal remedies against all ailments; this personage
+however, had an air of much greater distinction and pretension. It was
+the same little red-cloaked man, who, with Sir Niels Brock and Sir
+Johan Papĉ, had paid the nightly visit to Junker Christopher, at Holbek
+castle. In his dying hour Sir Pallé had described him to the Drost,
+when in his alarm, he had made him the depositary of his secrets. Aagé
+however had never before beheld this figure and did not remember Sir
+Pallé's confused description.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The little man sat with a flask of wine before him, which he appeared
+to be examining with close attention. &quot;Bad!--adulterated!&quot; he now said
+in Danish to the Icelander, also in a foreign and Icelandic accent,
+while he puckered up his sharp nose. &quot;See you this sediment. Master
+Laurentius? In the light of art and science, truth will one day become
+manifest in small things as well as in great--Eureka!&quot; he continued,
+with a self-satisfied smile, &quot;What would my great master Roger have
+said, if such a flask of wine had been set before him? Even without
+these skilful, searching eyes--for which I am in some measure indebted
+to his great optical discovery--although I may justly claim the honour
+of the practical application--even without my wondrous spectacles, he
+would perhaps have discovered that which I need all this apparatus to
+detect. The nature of poisons is altogether unknown and occult, Master
+Laurentius!&quot; he added, mysteriously, but so loud as to be heard by all.
+&quot;Not only for the preservation of life and health, but much more for
+the sake of science and art, an intimate knowledge of the essence of
+things is of the highest importance to us. Here in the north, however,
+people care but little for such matters; they gulp down everything,
+like the dumb beasts, without possessing the wise instincts of animals,
+and without seeking by wisdom and art to find a remedy for the narrow
+limits of our physical nature. All learning here is expended in
+theological subtleties, and what are called godly things--which,
+however, they know nought of--poor fools! Our common-place scholars
+still chew the cud of mysticism, the useless learning of the schools,
+and the dry, worn-out Aristoteles. Ignorance of all that is true and
+useful, renders forgers and cheats quite safe here, and these
+overbearing merchants can enrich themselves at the expence of this
+ignorant people, as much as they choose. There you see one of their new
+coins! I have detected its composition! It contains more tin and lead
+than silver; the Danish king's image and superscription are here, it is
+true--the size is precisely that of the royal coinage; but four of
+those go to a silver mark, and this is of six times less value. What an
+enormous profit might not a single ship-load of such coins bring those
+fellows!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Drost Aagé had become attentive, and found in the stranger's last
+assertion an important confirmation of a charge generally made against
+the Rostock merchants. The attention of the Drost and the knights did
+not appear to displease the intelligent little man--he seemed, indeed,
+not to heed them--but he now continued to converse in Danish with the
+young clerk, and though he appeared to speak in a whisper, he
+nevertheless enunciated every word in a singularly distinct, and
+perfectly audible tone. &quot;Nothing is small in science and in nature,&quot; he
+continued, &quot;the least may here lead to the greatest; in every blade of
+grass their lies a world. How long will men shut their eyes on the
+great and only true revelation of the Deity, through the miracles and
+holy writ of nature! Mark my young friend! the time will come when
+the colossus of ignorance, barbarism, and madness, which hath been
+erected on nature's grave, and worshipped for centuries--must fall.
+As is the course of temporal things, so is that of the spiritual
+world--Stagnation is death and rottenness. We have stood stationary
+with antiquity and tradition. The powerful ferment of life hath
+subsided--life hath lost its savour. What is it but senseless oriental
+adventures, and the childish dreams of our race, which have turned
+men's brains, and kept us at a distance from nature and the source of
+true wisdom for nearly thirteen centuries? The heathens were far above
+us. What are we in science and art compared with the Greeks and
+Egyptians?--and yet even they were erring. They also had their idols,
+their fancies and dreams of a Tartarus and Elysium, and withal, that
+madness now worshipped under the name of poetry.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Stop, my learned master!&quot; interrupted the young Icelander with
+eagerness. &quot;Now you attack <i>my</i> sanctuary--let the world change its
+fashion as it may--let Time devour his own children, as in ancient
+fable! But what hath been beautiful in every age, none can destroy--it
+must re-appear, though under new forms. True, eternal poetry shall
+rescue and embalm all wherein was life or beauty, as well in our times
+as in those gone by. Its image and memorial no cold enlightening wisdom
+shall ever efface.</p>
+
+<div class="poem2">
+<p class="t0" style="text-indent:-8px">&quot;Cattle die,<br>
+Wise men die,<br>
+Time itself dies too--<br>
+One thing I know<br>
+That never dies--<br>
+Judgment on the dead.&quot;</p>
+</div>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Be it so!&quot; answered the little sage with a scornful smile, &quot;Judgment
+shall not die; the art of judging is the only one that is immortal; the
+poetry of all ages shall vanish as soon as the world understands itself
+and its own thoughts. When the kernel is found we may cast away the
+shell, or give it to children to play with. It was a true saying,
+though, of that old heathen bard--the judgment on the dead <i>is</i>
+eternal--but when this generation hath passed away a succeeding one
+will jeer at the achievements of their fathers, and what is now
+worshipped shall be the scorn of posterity. But one likes not to hear
+such things, Master Laurentius! The kernel of truth is unpalatable; it
+suits not the taste of the vulgar and uninitiated; and he who proffers
+it runs the risk of being stoned by the enemies of truth and the slaves
+of prejudice. What my great Master Roger was forced to confess is known
+to all the world; if he found not himself the philosopher's stone, he
+hath, however, shewn us where to seek for it, and what was hidden from
+his sharp gaze is not necessarily hid from that of his disciples.&quot; So
+saying, the little man rose with a look of proud importance; he
+departed with a slight salutation to Drost Aagé and the knights, in
+whose looks he was well satisfied to perceive the astonishment which
+his last mysterious remark, about the philosopher's stone especially,
+seemed to have excited.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The young clerk remained behind, and now addressed himself to Drost
+Aagé, whose rank and name were known to him. He introduced himself to
+the Drost as an Iceland theologian, jurist, and poet, who in his ardent
+zeal for knowledge and enlightenment, had quitted his easy office of
+priest of St. Olaf's church and p&#339;nitentarius of the Archbishop of
+Nidaros,<a name="div2Ref_10" href="#div2_10"><sup>[10]</sup></a> to visit foreign universities with his learned countryman
+and fellow-traveller Magister Thrand Fistlier, a disciple, as he
+asserted, of the renowned Roger Bacon, whose wonderful knowledge, and
+free and bold opinions, had drawn on him so shameful a persecution from
+his ecclesiastical brethren, and who, after many years' imprisonment,
+had died two years since in England.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The young Iceland clerk now purposed, under the protection of his
+learned friend, to visit the Danish court, where he hoped to find that
+the king would lend a favourable ear to his own and the ancient
+Icelandic poems; while his travelling companion intended to display his
+wondrous arts before the king, and to make known some very important
+discoveries in natural philosophy, which might prove of incalculable
+use and effect both in war and peace. The report of the young King
+Eric's especial regard for science, and the intrepidity with which he
+dared to oppose the usurpations of the court of Rome and the hierarchy,
+had induced the learned Master Thrand to seek freedom and protection in
+Denmark.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You will doubtless both be welcome to the king,&quot; answered Aagé,
+looking narrowly at him, &quot;he favours and protects all fair and useful
+sciences. Your travelling companion belongs not to the herd of common
+mountebanks, as far as I can judge: if he can prove what he affirmed,
+of the false coin brought hither into this country, his learning may be
+most important to us. But since you are a theologian and scholar,
+Master Laurentius, I would but ask you one question,&quot; continued Aagé,
+&quot;Doth not your companion entertain some confused opinions on sacred
+subjects? His expressions struck me as being somewhat singular,
+although I, as a layman, understand not such matters. I well know,
+however, those who are called Leccar Brethren,--who will only believe
+in the Creator, but neither in God's Son, nor in the Holy Spirit, nor
+in an universal christian church,--are as little tolerated in this
+country as by any right-thinking monarch in Christendom; you must in
+nowise believe our king's unfortunate position in regard to the
+Archbishop of Lund and the papal court hath made any alteration in his
+opinions in what concerns the matter of his own and his people's
+salvation.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;From the errors of the Leccari I believe myself free.&quot; answered the
+young Icelander, with some embarrassment; &quot;about my learned companion's
+theology, I must confess I have not greatly troubled myself; seeing
+that he is a worldly philosopher and not a theologian. Of the noble art
+of bardship he hath not either any conception; I admire him solely for
+his rare knowledge of the secrets of nature.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;If he errs in the one thing needful, and if the highest and most
+sacred truths, as well as all that is beautiful and noble, are in his
+estimation nothing but folly,&quot; observed Aagé, &quot;I have but little
+confidence in his knowledge of less important matters; and I would not
+give much for all the rest of his learning.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I thus judged once myself, of the sciences and arts that teach us but
+earthly things,&quot; answered the Icelander, &quot;but while I was at the
+foreign universities a new light dawned upon me. I am indeed far from
+calling (like my learned travelling companion) the revelation of deity
+in nature the only true one, by which, as you have rightly observed, he
+hath in his inconsiderate zeal, betrayed a highly erroneous opinion;
+but even the wisdom of the heathen in worldly concerns is in nowise to
+be despised, and I have never seen anything that hath more strengthened
+my faith in the Almighty power and wisdom of the Triune God, than the
+marvellous effects of the powers of nature, with which this singular
+man hath made me acquainted.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What hath he shown you, then, of such great importance? Master
+Laurentius!&quot; asked Aagé.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I have seen effects of his art, which I should in common with the
+ignorant multitude, and my prejudiced colleagues, have taken to be
+witchcraft and the work of the devil,&quot; answered the Icelander eagerly,
+&quot;had he not explained them to me by the powers of nature, and from the
+great misjudged Roger Bacon's 'Opus Majus,' of which he carries a rare
+and invaluable manuscript with him. Not to speak of his great knowledge
+of plants and animals, and the properties and composition of metals;
+what most hath captivated me is all that points to the soul's dominion
+over time and decay, over life and death, over the universe, and all
+passive powers in nature. He affirms that by his art alone, without
+supernatural aid, he is able to preserve youth, and prevent the
+infirmities of age; he knows the course of the heavens, and the
+influence of the stars on human life; he hath a number of artful
+glasses, by which he is almost able to see the invisible; but his
+greatest and most wondrous art is the preparation of an
+inextinguishable fire, with which he imitates the thunder and lightning
+of the heavens. He hath shewn me a specimen of it, which hath
+astonished me. With a single handful of that subtle combustible matter,
+he can produce such an amazing thunder-clap, that the strongest wall
+would be rent by it, and such a burst of consuming flame, that he who
+rightly understands its powers, would be able to destroy a whole army
+with it, and devastate castles and towns.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The knights stared in amazement at the Icelander, and some crossed
+themselves. &quot;It is impossible! That no man can do! it cannot be done by
+natural means!--it must be done by witchcraft and devilry!&quot; said the
+one to the other.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Drost Aagé was silent, and looked sharply and gravely at the Icelander.
+&quot;I hold you neither for an unwise man, nor for one who would deal in
+falsehood and deceit, good Master Laurentius!&quot; he at length began,
+&quot;although what you tell us of your learned companion borders on the
+incredible--but are you not yourself deceived? You say you have but
+known this man of miracles a short time. In your admiration of his arts
+and his rare knowledge of the secrets of nature, you have concerned
+yourself but little about his principles and way of thinking, which,
+however, I consider to be the most important points in every man's
+character, whether he be scholar or layman. If he is not a juggler or
+braggart, I fear he is something worse. He would fain have us laymen
+believe he had found the philosopher's stone. Those who talk openly of
+such things are generally enthusiasts or impostors.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That which is above our understanding, Sir Drost,&quot; answered the
+Icelander, &quot;we are but too apt to misjudge as folly, or the invention
+of the evil-minded--but here our own self-conceit and vanity are to
+blame. That which the wisest men in the world have so long mused upon,
+cannot assuredly be an absurd imagination, and I doubt not the
+philosopher's stone will and must one day be found--if it be not found
+already. Perhaps we may meet at Skanor fair, Sir Drost!&quot; he added,
+rising to depart, &quot;My learned friend and travelling companion doth not
+visit princes and nobles only--the enlightenment of the ignorant vulgar
+is a more important object to him. I accompany him as amanuensis,
+partly from a present necessity, which I blush not to acknowledge, and
+in this lay mantle, that I may not give offence to my prejudiced
+colleagues; but I learn much in this way, and, as I said--I trust to
+return more rich in knowledge from these worldly bye-paths to the
+service of St. Olaf, and to my most venerable friend and protector at
+Nidaros, who probably may soon need support in the cause against his
+unruly canons.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The conversation was now broken off with the Iceland clerk, as Sir
+Helmer rushed almost breathless into the apartment. &quot;It <i>was</i> Kaggé!
+Drost! there is no doubt of it,&quot; exclaimed Helmer, &quot;but, by Satan!--he
+is already on board the Rostock vessel.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Who? the dead Kaggé? dream ye, Helmer? Was it he ye meant before?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;He, and none other--the base regicide! as surely as I have eyes and
+ears. He hath both his beard and eye-brows shaved; but I know his fox's
+face and screeching voice; the dull Rostocker mentioned his name
+himself in his drunkenness, out of defiance and pride. They insulted me
+in the ancient coarse fashion I will not name, and pushed off from
+shore with the outlaw before mine eyes.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;We must arrest them at Skanor tomorrow,&quot; answered Aagé, &quot;if the
+criminal is on board the Rostock vessel, he hath now peace and respite
+of life under the Hanse flag and the Lubeck law; but whenever he sets
+foot on Danish ground he dies! Such pestilent ware no Hanseatic hath
+the privilege of unloading.&quot; They then retired to rest. The Iceland
+clerk had gone, and no more was seen of either him or the learned
+Thrand Fistlier. The account they had heard of this worker of wonders
+continued, however, till a late hour in the night, the theme of the
+knights' conversation at the drinking table.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2>CHAP. XIV.</h2>
+
+<p class="normal">Drost Aagé retired to rest in silence, but he vainly tried to sleep. He
+was uncertain whether he ought not instantly to have captured the two
+overbearing Hanseatics on the ground of their former menace at Sjöberg;
+here they were no longer ambassadors and privileged persons. If they
+had circulated false coin, and openly protected an outlaw upon Danish
+ground, they might with strict justice be called to account. The
+knowledge that the base Kaggé still lived also disquieted him; but what
+still more banished sleep from the Drost's eyes, was the idea of the
+mysterious Master Thrand, and his wondrous arts. That a human being
+possessed such a power over nature as to be able to imitate the thunder
+and lightning of the heavens, with all their terrific effects, appeared
+to him an amazing prodigy, and what the enthusiastic Master Laurentius
+had said of the still deeper views of his master--of the preservation
+of youth by a mysterious art, and of the philosopher's stone, as
+something actually existent in nature, had especially inspired the
+meditative and somewhat visionary Aagé with singular musings.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The countenance and mountebank deportment of the little deformed
+philosopher, had, indeed, awakened great doubts of his honesty, and
+what Aagé had comprehended of his expressions appeared to him strange
+and confused, as opposed to what he had been piously taught in
+childhood regarding the highest and eternal truths in which, despite
+his unhappy excommunication, he had been confirmed by his confessor,
+Master Petrus de Dacia, who had succeeded in making him at peace with
+himself and the church. But the Iceland clerk's ardent enthusiasm for
+Master Thrand and his worldly wisdom had not been without its effect;
+and Aagé was forced to confess there lay an acuteness and intelligence
+in the little mountebank's eye which he had never seen equalled in any
+of the pious and learned men he knew. Laurentius's open and ingenuous
+countenance bore witness also to the truth of his testimony as to what
+he had seen and admired in the disciple of the famous Roger Bacon; and
+the longer Aagé pondered on what he had heard, the more doubts and
+strange thoughts crowded upon his mind. Master Thrand's contempt of the
+age in which he lived, and the confidence with which he expressed
+himself respecting the only true revelation of nature with which he
+was, above all, conversant, had also excited a feeling of strange and
+painful uneasiness in Aagé's mind. The melancholy knight had often,
+when oppressed by the thought of his excommunication, sought peace and
+tranquillity in the contemplation of nature in lonely nights under a
+calm and starry sky, without, however, feeling able to dispense with
+the comfort and consolation of the church. He now stood, with his arms
+folded, in his sleeping chamber, gazing out on the gloomy heavens.
+&quot;Were it possible!&quot; said he to himself. &quot;Am I wandering here with all
+my contemporaries in thick darkness? Know we neither our own nature nor
+that around us? Are all our purposes and energies but as the gropings
+of the blind, without aim or object? Will the time come when children
+will jeer at us as erring fools and insane dreamers, scared by what did
+not exist, and amused by empty juggling? Can this be? Can even that
+which is most high and sacred, which we have believed in and lived for
+with our fathers--for which thousands of inspired martyrs have died
+with a halo of glory around their beaming countenances--for which our
+pilgrims and Crusaders wend to Jerusalem, and renounce all the riches
+and treasures of this world--which was the spring of action in our
+ancestors' lives as our own, and made them heroes and conquerors in
+life and death--could all that be dreaming, deception, and ignorance?
+Could the existence and achievements of whole centuries have been a
+monstrous lie? No! No! If yonder fellow be not a liar and a cheat,
+there is neither truth, nor life, nor redemption, nor salvation.&quot; He
+shrunk with horror from his own thoughts. A sound now reached his ears
+which, at this moment, almost struck him with dismay. He fancied he
+once more heard the voice of the mysterious stranger close beside him.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Darest thou not yet face the naked truth? my dear Laurentius!&quot; sounded
+the shrill voice of the philosopher, slowly and solemnly through the
+thin wooden partition of the adjoining chamber. &quot;Dost thou dread to
+enter into the holy calling of a Leccar Brother, and priest of nature?
+Dost thou tremble at an initiation into the great church of the world,
+of which we are all originally priests; we who have eyes for truth, and
+courage to announce it, despite the repeated outcry of the fools of
+thirteen centuries! Look, I open unto thee the great sanctuary in the
+name of truth and science, and in the sight of that deity who dwells in
+the breast of the initiated. Cast off the miserable prejudices of thy
+time! Throw down the phantom thou callest the Church, and a saving
+faith, with the same strength with which thou hast rejected the
+senseless fables of heathenism! Cast off all that was not given thee
+when thou becamest a human being! Rid thyself of all exploded and worn
+out doctrines--cast off the whole puerile tissue of phantasms and
+visions of crude ages, which thou callest Revelation! Divest thyself of
+thy preconceptions regarding the essence of things, and of all the pomp
+and imagery thou callest poetry! Then gaze freely around thee, and tell
+me what remains!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Nothing! nothing! learned master!&quot; answered the voice of the young
+Icelander, in a desponding tone.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yes, assuredly!&quot; was the answer; &quot;thou thyself remainest, and great
+eternal nature, and, if thou wilt, a great and mighty deity, which is
+the soul and life of this nature of which thou art thyself a part--all
+truth, all wisdom lie slumbering and buried there. Wake it if thou
+canst! Call forth deity in thyself and in nature! Rule it by that
+mighty art! Ask boldly, and force it to respond!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That I am not able to do, my wise master!&quot; said the voice of the young
+Icelander, within the partition; &quot;but could I wake lifeless nature, and
+force her to solve the mysteries I gaze upon, would she answer aught
+else than what the dead have ever answered the living, what the dead
+Vola<a name="div2Ref_11" href="#div2_11"><sup>[11]</sup></a> answered Odin in our ancient poems, what the spirit of Samuel
+answered Saul in the presence of the Witch of Endor:--'Thou shalt die!
+to-morrow thou shalt die!'&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Well,&quot; resumed the philosopher, &quot;were the answer not much more
+cheering, if it were but truth could a philosopher, a Leccar Brother, a
+priest of nature and truth demand or wish it otherwise? You <i>will</i> have
+flattery, you <i>will</i> all of you be cheated and deceived--therefore you
+cling so fast to that flattering lie, but hate and persecute truth as
+ungodliness, heresy, or devilry--therefore are popes and bishops, like
+the prophets and evangelists of old, still able to lead the whole human
+race blindfold round in an eternal circle of error from one age to
+another until they have their eyes opened, and see that they stand
+where their blind fathers stood, by the closed book of nature, which
+amid their dreaming they have forgotten to open through the lapse of
+ages. Look! there thou standest, my pupil! and art ready to despair,
+because all that fair jugglery hath vanished and been blown away by my
+breath as it were a spider's web, or bubbles of air! and thou seest
+nought but one enormous lifeless body which I call nature.--But look!
+the lifeless body wakes! 'Tis deity, and yet our slave,--obedient to
+the mightier manifestation of deity within us. Only through our means
+can nature's deity awake to consciousness and self-knowledge. In us,
+and in our will alone lives the only true God we should obey. Courage,
+Laurentius!--courage! Truth must make its way--the slumbering and
+disguised god of nature must be wakened and unveiled. It must open to
+us its vast recesses, it must restore to us what it hath robbed and
+hidden--the philosopher's stone must be found, even though its workings
+should seem to us eternal death and petrifaction.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">All was again hushed in the adjoining chamber; Aagé had thrown open a
+window, and the cool night air streamed in upon him; the sky had become
+clear--Aagé raised his eyes towards the starry vault, he grasped the
+cross-hilt of his sword, a heavy load oppressed his heart, he bent his
+knee in silent devotion, and rose, feeling that his prayer was answered
+by the return of a calm and cheerful frame of mind. &quot;To God be thanks
+and praise! I know better however,&quot; he said, with a feeling of
+consolation. &quot;He, within there, is a liar and deceiver, as surely as
+<i>He</i> above is love itself! and He whom He sent unto us was the way, the
+truth, and the life!&quot; Aagé was now about to betake himself to rest, but
+the voice of the learned Master Thrand again caught his ear. The young
+Icelander he heard no more. German was now spoken, but in a low
+whispering tone, and the talk seemed to be on worldly matters. Aagé
+tried not to overhear anything; it was repugnant to his feelings, and
+appeared to him dishonourable and unworthy, to become a concealed
+witness to the secrets of others. He thought of knocking to give notice
+of his presence and the thinness of the partition; but, at this moment,
+he heard the name of &quot;Grand&quot; mentioned, and he started. The whispering
+continued for a long time afterwards, and he caught words which caused
+him the greatest uneasiness. The talk was of the king and Junker
+Christopher, of the outlaws, of death, and downfall; but what it was he
+could neither hear nor comprehend, with any distinctness. At last all
+became silent. He conjectured that his foreign neighbour had left the
+inn, and towards morning Aagé fell asleep. When he was awakened at dawn
+by his squire, in order to embark in a Swedish vessel, he had dreamt
+the most marvellous things. He fancied he had beheld an entirely
+changed world; without monasteries and monks, without fortified
+castles, without the images of the Madonna and the saints, without
+kings and thrones, even without women and children, and with nothing
+but men, with keen staring eyes and diminutive and deformed bodies,
+like Master Thrand's. At last it seemed to him that the sun was burnt
+out and hung, like a great black coal, over his head; that the moon and
+all the stars were pulled down and used instead of stones, for fences
+and inclosures round small withered cabbage gardens. All trees and
+flowers were torn up and peeled into fibres; all birds and animals lay
+slaughtered and cut open; and the little hump-backed men sat, with
+great spectacles, examining the putrified carcases. All that he
+beheld,--the whole subverted and disjointed world, seemed to him at
+last metamorphosed into one enormous mass of stone, and a terrific
+voice sounded over the petrified world, and cried &quot;Behold! <i>This</i> is
+thy world! <i>this</i> is thy God! <i>this</i> is the philosopher's stone!&quot; Amid
+his dismay at hearing this voice, Aagé awakened, just as his brisk
+squire knocked at his door, still so confused by his dream that he
+could not distinguish between what he had dreamed, and what he thought
+he had heard from behind the partition.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2>CHAP. XV.</h2>
+
+<p class="normal">At the fair of Skanor a great number of persons of all classes were
+assembled. It was thronged with skippers and merchants from every part
+of the world, but especially from Hamburgh, Lubeck, Rostock, Deventer,
+and Overyssel. These last were chiefly dealers in spices. They brought
+hither the most costly groceries to market from Venice and Genoa: wares
+were here to be seen even from India, Persia, and Egypt, which these
+enterprising traders had brought down the Rhine, and with which they
+journeyed to northern lands. Here lay many English vessels laden with
+wine; but what especially struck the eye were the splendid assortments
+of cloths, of all colours, which waved like flags from the vessels in
+the harbour, and lay in large bales in the streets under tents or
+wooden sheds.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The situation of Skanor was advantageous for trade. The town extended
+quite to the shore of the coast of Skania, between Falsterbo and
+Malmoe. It lay to the north of Falsterbo, and was both larger and much
+more ancient than that town. Over the gate of the place was a stone
+with an inscription, in the ancient Scanian language, which bore
+witness to the antiquity of the town, and which afterwards ran thus in
+more modern rhyme:</p>
+
+<div class="poem2">
+<p class="t0" style="text-indent:-8px">&quot;Lund and Skanor throve apace,<br>
+When Christ appeared to bring us grace.&quot;</p>
+</div>
+
+<p class="normal">The great fairs of the town were particularly famed, and, during
+fair-time, many persons crossed over from Zealand. On the whole the
+intercourse between Scania and the Danish provinces was far more
+frequent than in aftertime, when this beautiful province, which bore
+the closest affinity to Zealand, was dismembered from the kingdom. Amid
+the crowd of visitors at the fair were seen knights, monks, and
+burghers of towns, both from Zealand and Scania, among peasants,
+knights' ladies, and gaily-attired dairy and kitchen maids from the
+nearest lordly castles, as well as ragged beggars and pretty country
+maidens, in the national costumes of Scania and Halland. The fair was
+thronged with musicians and jugglers of all kinds. Rosaries and little
+images of saints were exposed for sale by the side of every description
+of worldly wares and foreign luxuries.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Over the two best stocked and most frequented booths at the fair, waved
+Henrik Gullandsfar's and Berner Kopmand's well-known flag and sign--a
+griffin and a dragon, with a bundle of lances tied together, and with
+the Lubek charter in their claws, defending their treasures against a
+troop of robbers in knightly attire, and ridiculously caricatured.
+These great merchants who had their agents, or resident grocers'
+apprentices, in the town, did not attend the sale of their goods in
+person, but were present at the unloading of their ships, to watch that
+no toll was demanded, contrary to the privileges of trade. The sound of
+music and dancing was heard in the taverns, and all places of
+entertainment. German ale and wine were poured out in abundance for the
+rich guests at the fair, while the poorer were content with Scanian and
+Zealand ale. Towards evening many drunken persons were to be seen; here
+and there disputes and fights occurred, and the provost with the
+watchmen and armed constables of the town were often forced to
+interfere.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">What attracted most attention at Skanor fair at this time was a booth
+hung with coloured lamps, close to the quay, where fireworks were
+exhibited, together with many new and curious sights, at which the
+spectators wondered and crossed themselves as though they beheld the
+delusions of the evil one. Here the learned Master Thrand had erected
+his optical theatre. He stood himself on a raised platform and
+harangued the mob on the excellence of his masterpieces, and their
+great superiority over all the relics, amulets, and false panacea with
+which people suffered themselves to be imposed upon by unlearned
+mountebanks and jugglers. He chiefly extolled his arts as being
+innocent, and grounded on the principles of nature; and invited the
+unprejudiced and sensible public to draw nearer, and attend to what he
+(rather, he said, for the sake of science and truth, than for worldly
+gain) was about to expound and exhibit. His admirer, the young Master
+Laurentius, who, in his red lay-mantle, was not suspected to be an
+ecclesiastic, zealously assisted him as an amanuensis, and collected
+from time to time in his hat, money from the spectators, but in a
+manner which showed that he was ashamed of this employment; to which,
+however, he had doubtless (though with another and more pious aim) been
+accustomed, when on the anniversaries of the dedication of St. Olaf's
+church at Nidaros, he had, as p&#339;nitentarius, collected alms for the
+treasury of the church.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Close by the booth of the distinguished and learned mountebank stood a
+light, under the image of the Madonna, in a little stone-walled chapel,
+where was also an iron-bound poor-box nailed fast upon a block. No
+merchant or skipper went to or from his ship without first kneeling
+here and depositing a piece of money in the box for the poor, and for
+the treasury of the Holy Virgin. In the evening there stood by this
+chapel, which went by the name of the Quay Chapel, Sir Helmer Blaa,
+who, with the Drost's squire Canute of Fyen, and some young knights of
+Aagé's train, kept a sharp look out on every one who came up from the
+quay. The wind had been contrary all day, and the merchants were just
+come on shore. Berner Kopmand's Rostock vessel lay at anchor before
+them in the harbour. It had reached Skanor with a fair wind ere
+day-break. The indefatigable owner of the vessel had been on board the
+whole day superintending the unlading of the cargo, and ere it was
+dark, Sir Helmer thought he saw the outlawed fugitive on deck by his
+side. In case of the criminal's venturing to land preparations had been
+made for his seizure, with the knowledge of the provost; but the
+fugitive seemed not to purpose quitting his place of refuge. After
+vespers, however, Berner Kopmand and Henrik Gullandsfar landed with
+great parade, and a considerable train of armed seamen. They omitted
+not to cross themselves at the chapel, and to throw a loud-chinking
+offering into the poor-box, as they passed by the knights with an air
+of proud defiance.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;How many false silver coins think ye are now in that box?&quot; said Sir
+Helmer, aloud. The heavy Rostocker turned towards him with a look of
+rage; but Gullandsfar nudged his elbow with a grave look, and they
+passed on. Helmer and the other young knights followed them, and seemed
+to have a great desire to chastise their arrogance.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Drost Aagé had not neglected to attend Thrand Fistlier's performances,
+and the optic theatre with which he entertained the astonished visitors
+at the fair. He had bought of the artist some of his most remarkable
+and valuable inventions, and gained information of their application
+and use. He could not refuse his admiration to what he here saw of the
+famous discoveries of Roger Bacon, and observed the whole exhibition
+with attention. It consisted chiefly of small optical cases in which
+the powers of the magnifying glass were applied in a manner hitherto
+unknown in the North, and by which the artist excited great
+astonishment. What was seen in these boxes was not only the
+transformation of small animals into monsters, but even a figurative
+metamorphosis of the world in Master Thrand's own taste:--saints and
+martyrs, miraculous sights, and legendary pictures, processions of
+monks with the Host, the banners of the Madonna, and crucifixes, were
+represented in a ridiculous manner by the side of all the Grecian and
+Roman gods with their profanest love adventures. All this passed in dim
+caricature before the eyes of the spectators, and gave place at last to
+a number of dazzling allegorical figures, intended to represent Wisdom,
+Philosophy, Freedom, Burgher Commerce, Political Economy, The Study of
+Nature, and other subjects of the same kind. As soon as it grew
+sufficiently dark for the purpose, Master Thrand exhibited small
+burning wheels, stars, and suns with many-coloured rays, which flew
+with a clear light into the air, and suddenly exploded with a slight
+report.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Drost considered this last exhibition both beautiful and
+remarkable; all these things, however, were but trifles compared with
+what Master Laurentius had related of the matchless and wondrous feats
+which this mountebank was capable of performing. The sight of the small
+stars and suns which flew up over the sea and burst in the calm evening
+sky, afforded endless amusement to the spectators, to whom it seemed an
+entirely novel and incomprehensible phenomenon; but the people's
+admiration of this dazzling diversion as well as the beautiful
+fantastic spectacle itself in its aërial theatre, threw Aagé into a
+singularly pensive mood.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">This glimpse of a new and secret art, whose vast and hidden workings he
+had already heard mentioned, struck him as being the forerunner of that
+new era announced by the mysterious artist, in which all opinions and
+ideas should be reformed and enlarged, and all that was ancient should
+vanish like the mimic suns and stars now waning and disappearing over
+the sea. Aagé could not forget the strange conversations he had heard
+between the artist and his pupil, of the delusive dream in which the
+whole Christian world was wandering. In the learned Master Thrand's
+peculiar conception of the doctrine of the notorious Leccar Brethren he
+saw but a haughty and contumacious insanity, which, should it ever
+become dominant, would subvert all that was beautiful and true, and
+sacred upon earth; his own dream of the petrified world was still
+fearfully present to his recollection. The noise and joyousness of the
+crowd became almost painful to him. At last he sought relief and
+freedom from these distressing thoughts in the little chapel of the
+quay. He bent his knee before the painted wooden image of the Madonna,
+who was here represented as usual with the child in her arms, and the
+globe of the world with a cross upon it, like a ball and sceptre in the
+child's hand. Aagé had folded his hands in prayer, but as he turned his
+eyes on the image, it was suddenly illuminated by a ball of fire sent
+up from the artist's booth. The Madonna's image appeared to him in the
+vivid flash of light like a horribly grinning idol--at the same moment
+he heard a loud report in the air, resembling a clap of thunder,
+followed by shrieks of terror from women and children. The little
+chapel shook; the ancient worm-eaten image of the Virgin tottered, and
+fell down at his feet. He started up, and rushed out of the chapel. The
+joyousness of the people was changed to fear and wrath. Some women had
+fainted; the life of one had been seriously endangered; a Capuchin's
+beard had been singed by the explosion. &quot;Witchcraft! Sorcery!&quot; was
+re-echoed in the crowd. &quot;Stone him!--Burn him! the accursed wizard! He
+is a heretic!&quot; cried some. &quot;He hath said he will draw off all
+worshippers from our Lady and the saints--he saith he will match his
+thunders against the Lord's himself.--Stone him! Burn him! Cast him
+upon the beach! Tear down the wizard's house!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Amid all this commotion the enraged mob rushed upon the pyrotechnist's
+booth. The hapless little artist had hid himself with his amanuensis
+among some large boxes in an adjacent booth. Two of the enraged mob and
+a lay brother drew them forth from under the planks of the broken-down
+booth to give them up to the maltreatment of the mob. The provost and
+constables vainly strove to hinder these acts of violence. At last
+Drost Aagé stepped forth, and cried in an authoritative voice, &quot;Stop
+there, countrymen! Peace here, in the king's name! Secure these
+jugglers, but injure not a hair of their heads. They shall be judged
+and punished according to the law of the land if they cannot give
+account of themselves. What they have shewn us was done by natural
+means, my friends! These people know more than we do of the powers of
+nature; but they abuse their wisdom by boasting and juggling, and by
+scoffing at sacred things.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">As soon as they heard the name of the king, and recognised his and the
+nation's favourite, the enraged mob was pacified. Thrand Fistlier and
+his amanuensis were instantly seized by the constables and conducted to
+the quay, with all their effects; followed by a great throng of people.
+Drost Aagé followed them himself on board a royal vessel, which was to
+sail next day to Helsingborg, and the captain, with his armed seamen,
+received orders to protect the captives from all injury.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">As soon as the captive mountebank heard he was in safety, but was to be
+taken as a prisoner to a fortress, he looked around him with a proud
+smile, &quot;My noble persecuted master was right,&quot; he said. &quot;The age is not
+sufficiently matured for us and our compeers. It is dangerous to be
+wise among fools; even the least glimpse of the light which is to
+appear is, as yet, too strong for these weak-sighted barbarians. It is
+not the first time a great genius hath appeared a century too soon!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Silence, wretched juggler!&quot; said Aagé. &quot;The great man whom thou
+dishonourest, by calling thy master, was a wise and pious monk, I have
+been told, but no juggler and self-appointed priest. Thank the holy
+Virgin and her Son, whom thou deniest, for thy life to-day! It is not
+for thy wisdom, but for thy folly, and the confusion thou wouldest
+spread among the people, that I have caused thee to be bound.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Ere Aagé quitted the vessel he took Master Laurentius aside, and gazed
+on him with a look of thoughtful interest. &quot;You are too good to be this
+juggler's attendant and apprentice,&quot; he said; &quot;your blind admiration
+for his knowledge of the perishing things of time, hath caused you to
+deny and dishonour your own holy calling, and the high vocation to
+which you are dedicated. St. Olaf, and the souls entrusted to you, you
+have deserted for this deformed artificer of hell-fire. From want and
+need you shall no longer be necessitated thus to degrade yourself. The
+captain of the vessel hath orders to care for your requirements; at
+Helsingborg he will provide you with suitable priest's attire, and
+money for your journey. To save your life, Master Laurentius, I have
+been forced to use you more hardly than I wished. When you arrive at
+Helsingborg, you are free and your own master; but your suspicious
+companion must, as a state prisoner, tarry the king's coming, and
+justify himself before him, if he can do so. It is known to me that he
+is a Leccar brother; as such it is forbidden to him to rove the country
+at large and mislead the people. I know, also, he wishes you to join
+his sect; but, I conjure you by that Almighty Lord and Master you have
+been near betraying--draw back, good Master Laurentius, and preserve
+your immortal soul! It hath assuredly a higher and a worthier calling,
+if your countenance and warm enthusiasm for what is beautiful and true
+have not deceived me. The Lord be with you! farewell!&quot; Aagé quitted the
+ship without awaiting an answer from the deeply agitated youth, whose
+eyes were suffused with tears, and who vainly strove to reach him his
+fettered hand.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Drost rowed back to Skanor. It was dark night, and there was a
+great stir and tumult on the quay. A quarrel and serious affray had
+arisen between the Drost's knights and the Hanseatic merchants, who had
+been chased from the inn and had taken flight towards the harbour.
+Berner Kopmand and Henrik Gullandsfar, with their armed seamen, laid
+furiously about them, but could not compete in the dexterous use of
+their weapons with Sir Helmer and the other incensed young knights, who
+were supported by the Skanor burghers. &quot;Cut the forgers down! The
+cheats! The overbearing dogs!&quot; they shouted. &quot;They have brought false
+coin here to the fair--they have outlaws on board!&quot; The affray was
+serious and bloody. The Hanseatics withdrew, fighting, to their boats.
+It was impossible for Aagé to restore peace. The foreign merchants and
+the greater part of their seamen at last escaped to their ships, under
+cover of the night. They instantly hoisted sail. It was not until they
+were in the open sea that the knights missed Sir Helmer and the Drost's
+most active squire, Canute of Fyen.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2>CHAP. XVI.</h2>
+
+<p class="normal">Drost Aagé was compelled to prosecute his journey early the next
+morning, without having been able to discover Sir Helmer and the
+squire. When Aagé and the royal halberdiers left Skanor, they were
+followed through the streets by a great crowd of persons. It appeared
+that the burghers had learned, or conjectured, the object of this showy
+procession.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The ballad, &quot;For Eric the youthful king!&quot; was as popular in Scania as
+in Denmark. &quot;Long live king Eric and his true men!&quot; shouted the crowd.
+&quot;Bring him and Denmark a second Dagmar, good sirs!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Aagé rejoiced at these tokens of the disposition of the brave Scanians;
+but he entertained little hope of a happy result from his embassy, and
+he was under great anxiety for the fate of the brave Sir Helmer and his
+own alert and trusty squire. Two of his other squires, and three of the
+young knights remained dangerously wounded at Skanor.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Sir Helmer, and his companions, had followed the bragging Rostocker and
+his seamen to their inn. They had unanimously resolved with their own
+hands to chastise and humble the overbearing Hanseatics. While at the
+inn the Drost's squire had displayed a false coin, with which one of
+the lower class had been imposed upon in Berner Kopmand's booth, and it
+was affirmed the Rostockers had brought with them whole chests of such
+money. It was conjectured, and with reason, that this false money was
+coined by the outlaws, who the preceding year had captured some of the
+king's chief coiners. Complaints of false coin had frequently been made
+before, and now that it was heard the Rostockers imported them by
+bushels, the indignation instantly became great and general, and a
+fight soon commenced with the foreign merchants and skippers. When the
+Hanseatics were chased from the quay of Skanor, Sir Helmer had eagerly
+pursued the armed seamen, and had assisted in rolling into the sea some
+chests containing their bad money; at last, accompanied by the Drost's
+squire, the daring Canute, he had sprung after them into the boat to
+hinder their flight; but here they were overpowered by numbers, and
+dragged captive on board the Rostock vessel.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Sorely wounded, and with hands and feet fast bound, Helmer and his
+companion were thrown down into the ship's hold. Here they lay the
+whole night among a number of ale barrels, firkins of salt, and sacks
+of groceries, which had not been unladen. The vessel rolled heavily;
+the weather had become boisterous, and those on board seemed only
+busied in saving ship and goods. At length the weather grew calmer. The
+strong motion of the ship ceased; it glided slowly and almost
+imperceptibly forward, and all became quiet on deck. The wearied seamen
+appeared to sleep. Sir Helmer now perceived a faint light above his
+head. He thought it was daylight; but soon discovered it was the moon
+shining in upon him through a chink in the ship's hatches directly
+above him. He presently heard the voices of two men in the stillness of
+the night; and recognised the tones of Berner Kopmand and Henrik
+Gullandsfar. &quot;I cannot sleep for wrath and wound-smarting,&quot; growled the
+Rostocker. &quot;Lo! this is the free trade and security one has to expect
+when a greenhorn sits on the throne, and justice lies in the knights'
+lances. Pestilence and destruction on the whole pack of puffed-up
+aristocrats! The accursed sycophants and slaves of kings and tyrants!
+They would have it <i>seem</i> as if they protected the people and the
+burghers--pshaw! It is but for themselves and their high master they
+fight. Had I not spoken those bold words against their strutting
+knight-king at Sjöborg, nor had that piece of royal game of an outlaw
+on board, our money would surely have been as good ware as before. They
+are a vile robber pack, the whole set of them that call themselves
+knights and noble, as well here as in Germany--as long as there are
+thrones and knights' castles left, neither trade nor burghership can
+thrive. So soon as the sun rises those two jackanapes we laid hold of
+shall dangle at the yard-arm.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Hearest thou, countryman?&quot; whispered Helmer in the hold to his
+fellow-prisoner, &quot;that concerns us two; a pleasant prospect! Could we
+but sink the ship and drown the braggart grocers we could go down to our
+home with some sort of pleasure.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That would be truly but a sorry jest, and a slender satisfaction. Sir
+Helmer; still, it would be better than to let oneself be hanged by
+those rascals,&quot; answered the squire. &quot;I have torn the skin off my left
+hand,&quot; he continued; &quot;but it can slip well enough out of the knot. If I
+am allowed but half an hour for it our bonds shall be loosened. I have
+a good clasp knife in my pocket; yonder lies a good ship's auger, and
+an axe; many a hearty blow shall be dealt ere they get the halter round
+our necks.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The Lord and St. George assist us!&quot; whispered Helmer, breathing hard,
+&quot;if I 'scape hence alive, and see my dear Anna again,&quot; he added, with a
+smothered sigh, &quot;I promise St. George a new altar-table, and every
+bottle-nosed Hanseatic I meet a broken head!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'Tis a pious vow, noble sir!&quot; whispered the squire, &quot;you will see it
+will help us. Now my hand slides out of the knot; but it pinches hard.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Hush!&quot; whispered Helmer, rolling himself nearer to the chink in the
+hatches.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I ever told you it was a bad business with that money-trading, and
+that coining with the outlaws,&quot; now said the smoother, toned voice of
+Henrik Gullandsfar above the knight's head. &quot;No clear profit is ever
+got by such dealings; it lessens faith, and rarely pays in the long
+run, Master Berner! No! with <i>pure</i> gold and silver might we rule the
+world; and sober prudence would sway the gold sceptre--that I have ever
+said. With a little less eagerness we should, perhaps, have made a
+better market in Scania; but you will drive everything through with
+might, Master Berner!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Might against might! that was ever my word in the covenant: there may
+be something in what you say,&quot; answered the Rostocker, &quot;of the gold and
+silver sceptre; it may just as well, however, be alloyed with a little
+copper or tin, when none perceive it; but with pure sharp steel it must
+be defended. Ere we can lay the sword in the balance against all the
+crowns and armorial bearings in the world, our proud plan is but a
+glittering castle in the air.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Give time, Master Berner,&quot; resumed Gullandsfar; &quot;the great Rome was
+not built in one day, yet she became the ruler of the world. Let us
+first rid the seas and the highways of petty robbers, and then we may
+let fly at the great in their castles and thrones. Let us first get
+possession of the sea! then shall it overflow the earth with our waves!
+It shall heap us up mountains of gold, and wash away every castle and
+throne that stands in our way. We Wisbye men lie very close to the King
+of Denmark; we must be cautious, even though as prudent merchants
+we give patriotism to death and the devil. You Rostockers are too
+hot-headed; one should not break too soon with authorities. The menace
+at Sjöberg was a stupid trick: I did but assent to it, and was silent
+for your sake. It never answers to bluster and threaten unless one can
+fight at the same time; and it answers just as little to fight, unless
+we know we are the strongest.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Out upon your caution!&quot; growled the Rostocker. &quot;We have power already
+if we will but use it; we may have as many souls in our service as we
+can pay for.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Men's souls are dear merchandise,&quot; observed Gullandsfar; &quot;and besides
+it easily corrupts and spoils. How many marks of pure silver hath not
+that miserable fellow on the quarter deck yonder already cost you?
+And he is, after all, but a villanous outlaw and renegade from our
+high-born deadly foes. That pack no wise burgher should count on.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Such a fellow is worth his weight in gold,&quot; said the Rostocker with a
+laugh. &quot;Mark! those aristocratic vermin shall now devour each other. A
+dishonoured and death-doomed knight, without castle and lands, whose
+honour and name have been scalded off him may be the best king-killer
+one could have; he, yonder, is practised in the trade! He was in
+Finnerup barn. I will let him loose in the harbour! I will smuggle him
+in among our agents--there will soon be troubled waters to fish in. The
+crowned green-horn shall not have turned his back on us at Sjöberg for
+nothing. Mark! he shall have other things to think on than keeping his
+bridal in the summer.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;We are not authorised by the covenant to go so far as that, however,
+Master Berner,&quot; remarked Gullandsfar. &quot;What yon dishonoured knight may
+have to avenge is his own concern; his and your secret trade concerns
+not the league; I would rather have nothing to do with that smuggling
+traffic. When the prosperity of the league, and a great and matchless
+plan like ours is in question, we should wisely set aside private
+revenge, and all petty personal views.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Do you slink? Are you afraid, Master colleague?&quot; growled Berner
+Kopmand, beginning to talk loud. &quot;Let not that concern <i>you</i> my wise
+Master Henrik! You need not tell an old reckoner what is small and what
+is great. I can as well as you make a difference between what I
+undertake in the Hanse-towns' name, and what I risk in my own. If I
+reckon wrong, the loss is Berner Kopmand's. I know what that man can
+stand; and you are right--the covenant hath naught to do with it!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;If it fails, it may however injure our trade and enterprises in great
+matters,&quot; replied Henrik Gullandsfar in a tone of calm calculation.
+&quot;Consider the point well, Master Berner! All ports are now open to us;
+the king is proud and authoritative, but nevertheless he favours us far
+more than we could expect from his policy. Our 'prentices and agents
+are protected in the sea-ports--our trade is as free and untaxed here
+as any where--it hath not struck any one but the king himself that the
+road to salt and pepper, to ale and German cloth, as we heard from his
+own lips, is equally broad and convenient for all, and Danish corn and
+cattle will give a good return, and pay both wages and taxes. St.
+Nicolas and St. Hermes be thanked! the <i>navigation is ours</i>. <i>They are
+too dull and lazy to understand their own interests</i>. The peasant is
+content with small beer, and the citizen with skim milk, and they let
+us run off with the ale and the cream; but if you make good your
+threat, secretly or openly, and if anything a little too notorious
+chances here, in which the Hanse have lot or part, people's eyes may be
+opened, and our trading dominion is at an end here in the north.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The eyes which might be most dangerous to us were they wide open, are
+just those I would have shut,&quot; muttered the Rostocker. &quot;Greater service
+could none do the Hanse in these kingdoms and lands,--but silence! What
+is that? I heard something move under us. The captives are surely not
+loose?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The captives! Death and misfortune!&quot; exclaimed Henrik. &quot;Have they cast
+them into the hold? Then perhaps they now know more than any living
+soul must carry farther.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It matters not, Master colleague,&quot; said the Rostocker with a scornful
+laugh, &quot;they shall not carry it farther, however, than to the yard-arm!
+Now doth the sun rise red as pure gold--that sight they shall see for
+the last time. Ho! steersman!&quot; he shouted, &quot;how far are we?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;If a breeze springs up, we shall reach Kallebo ere it rings to mass in
+Copenhagen, Master!&quot; answered a hoarse voice at the helm.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That's well! Then we will keep mattins and ship's law on our own
+ground, ere the Bishop takes Lubeck law out of our hands. Up! all
+hands! Ring the great bell!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The sound of a brass bell instantly assembled all the seamen upon deck.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Bring the prisoners up here, boatswain!&quot; continued the captain of the
+vessel. &quot;Sing out, fellows! Shout forth the poor sinners' vigil. Let
+the Danish scoundrels hear we are good Christians! and let their
+houndish souls go to hell amid song and clang!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">While the ship's crew with a fearful bellowing chaunted a sort of hymn
+on the departure of sinners from the world, and two sturdy fellows in
+tarry jackets coolly fastened two ropes to the yard-arm, the hatches of
+the ship's hold were opened and the boatswain went below with two armed
+men. Cries and tumult were heard in the hold; all became instantly
+quiet again, but neither the boatswain nor the two men returned.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What is this?&quot; exclaimed Berner Kopmand in dismay. &quot;What is become of
+them? Those Danish hell-hounds must be loose! Down after them fellows!
+Bring them up here dead or alive! Hence! below! or ye shall be scourged
+at the mast!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The whole ship's crew were in commotion; they flocked to the hatchway,
+but none seemed to like to go below, despite the threats of the stern
+captain.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The first who sets foot here below dies!&quot; said Sir Helmer's voice from
+the hold. &quot;Ere, I and my comrade will let our necks be twisted by your
+grocer hands, by St. Michael and his flaming sword! ye shall all of ye
+go with us to the bottom of the sea--Any moment I please every soul of
+us shall perish. We have bored a ground-leak--we loosen ye a plank with
+a single pull.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That devil of a fellow!&quot; cried the Rostocker, growing deadly pale, &quot;he
+hath us all in his power. What are we to do?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;We must treat with them,&quot; answered Gullandsfar. &quot;Aside all men! Let me
+speak with that worthy knight. This is doubtless a little stratagem of
+war, noble Sir knight!&quot; began Master Henrik, courteously; &quot;but since we
+cannot search into the matter without peril of our lives we will submit
+to necessity, and acknowledge you have this once very craftily ensnared
+us. What have ye done to our three men, noble sir?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;They have met with their deserts, and lie here stone dead,&quot; answered
+the knight. &quot;Thus it shall fare with all of ye--if ye will fight with
+us fairly, three at once, we will encounter on dry boards; but if more
+come, the sea shall help us. Throw us our own good swords below
+instantly! or we will try who best can swim.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You have won back your freedom with honour, noble sir!&quot; answered
+Gullandsfar, &quot;If ye would believe my word you might safely come here
+among us; we are peaceable people, and purpose not to measure our skill
+in arms with yours. Your swords shall instantly be returned to you;
+but upon one condition, noble knight--you must only use the sword in
+self-defence, and not to assault any of us as long as you are here on
+board; for this I demand your knightly word of Honour.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That I promise on my faith and honour,&quot; cried Helmer,--and two swords
+were instantly thrown down to them.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;We will set you unscathed on shore at Copenhagen, noble sir,&quot;
+continued Henrik Gullandsfar, &quot;provided you promise to be silent
+concerning what you perhaps may have heard and perceived, which might
+get us into disfavour in high places, or injure our trade and
+enterprises.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I leave grocers and pettifoggers to wage war with the tongue,&quot;
+answered the knight haughtily. &quot;What I have heard of your fine plans
+and projects I deem not worth wasting one word upon; but from this hour
+I defy you all to the death.--Until I set foot on shore you are
+unmolested; but from the moment we separate broken heads will be the
+consequence of our meeting.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That is but natural,&quot; returned Gullandsfar. &quot;We accept your proffer in
+the first instance; keep but quiet! In a few hours you will be on
+shore.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">There was a murmur of dissatisfaction and uneasiness on board the
+vessel. Some of the boldest seamen grumbled at the shameful peace with
+the two captives. They blamed Henrik Gullandsfar for cowardice and
+treachery; but none cared to go down into the hold, and dare an
+encounter with the redoubted captives, who had both ship and crew in
+their power. At last, however, they submitted to necessity. Berner
+Kopmand had lost the use of his tongue, and the discreet Master Henrik
+had taken the command of the ship. He ordered every one to go quietly
+about their business, and was obeyed without any objections being made.
+The captain himself stood on the forecastle, with rolling eyes and
+crimson cheeks. He concealed with his large person a man in a black
+priestly mantle, who conversed with him in a low tone, and kept his
+back constantly turned towards the stern. A fresh breeze had sprung up.
+The wind was favourable, and ere noon the vessel glided into Kallebo
+strand, between the Isle of Amak and the green pastures of the village
+of Solbierg, which occupied the whole of the western side where the
+suburb of Copenhagen, Vesterbro, was afterwards built. It was a fine
+spring day. The proud castle of Axelhuus<a name="div2Ref_12" href="#div2_12"><sup>[12]</sup></a> rose towards the east in
+the sunshine, with its circular walls and its two round towers, and was
+mirrored in the surrounding waters. The castle lay apart from the town,
+without any bridge, and was only accessible by boats. Behind the castle
+island were two other small islands, almost covered with buildings,
+whither boats were constantly plying. The one was the abode of the
+stationary skippers, and on the other (Bremen Island) the warehouses of
+the Bremen merchants seemed to tower in emulation of the castle of
+Axelhuus itself. The Rostock vessel steered not to the great haven,
+from which the city afterwards derived its name, but ran into the
+Catsound, on both sides of which were seen a number of small houses of
+frame-work, the walls of which were plastered with clay, and the roofs
+thatched with straw and reeds; between the houses were cabbage gardens
+and orchards, with wooden fences, or thorn hedges; and in the
+neighbourhood of the quay was seen the little church of St. Clement.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h3>FOOTNOTES</h3>
+<br>
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div2_01" href="#div2Ref_01">Footnote 1</a>: The word Runes
+is here used in its original
+signification,--that of mystery or secret. Each letter of the Runic
+alphabet was supposed to possess a mysterious and magical power. In the
+Scandinavian mythology, each Rune was originally dedicated to some
+deity; it also denoted some natural quality or object: their Asiatic
+origin is now proved beyond doubt. There is a remarkable poem in the
+elder Edda--the Song of Brynhildé, in which mention is made of several
+kinds of Runes. Among them may be classed numerous amulets of most of
+the Asiatic tribes, as well as of the Egyptians, Greeks, &amp;c., on which
+these characters were cut or traced. The custom among sailors of
+marking their skins with letters and devices may clearly be traced to
+Runic origin, and the tattooing among savage tribes is evidently
+similarly derived. In Wilson's account of the Pelew Islands, King Abba
+Thulé is represented as tattooed with two crosses on the breast and two
+on one shoulder, with a snake, and these distinct northern Runes
+[Illustration of rune]. In the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth
+centuries, when superstition dragged her victims to the stake
+throughout all Christian Europe, the use of Runes became an especial
+object for the persecutions exercised by the authorities and clergy of
+Iceland,--the word Rune there signifying a mysterious and magical
+character. The songs of the Finns and Laps, which are supposed by them
+to possess magic powers, are still called Runes.--<i>Translator</i>. Vide
+<i>Professor Finn Magnussen's Notes to the Elder Edda</i>, vol. iii.</p>
+
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div2_02" href="#div2Ref_02">Footnote 2</a>: King Eric the
+Sixth of Denmark, surnamed Plough Penny, the
+son and successor of Valdemar the Victorious, was murdered by the
+command of his brother, Junker Abel, Duke of Slesvig, under
+circumstances of peculiar atrocity, on the 4th of August, 1250. Abel
+had frequently rebelled against his brother; but at last finding that
+his forces were unequal to the contest, he had recourse to stratagem,
+and made overtures of friendship to Eric, who gladly accepted them, and
+hesitated not to visit his brother at one of his palaces in Slesvig.
+After an apparently cordial reception, however, the duke contrived to
+turn the conversation on their former feuds, and reproached the king
+with having devastated his territories, saying, &quot;Dost thou not remember
+how thou didst plunder my town of Slesvig, and compel my daughter to
+fly barefoot to a place of shelter? Thou shalt not do so twice.&quot; Eric
+was then seized and led to the river Slie, where he was placed in a
+boat, beheaded, and his body sunk by stones into the deepest part of
+the stream. In order to cover this crime, Duke Abel and twenty-four of
+his knights, according to the usage of those times, endeavoured to
+clear themselves of suspicion, by solemnly affirming that the king had
+met with his death by the upsetting of the boat, but two months
+afterwards the headless trunk floated to the river side, and the murder
+became known. The body was deposited in St. Benedict's church at
+Ringsted, where the Translator not long ago was shown one of the bones
+through an aperture of the walled-up niche.</p>
+
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div2_03" href="#div2Ref_03">Footnote 3</a>: The placing
+runes upon the tongue was employed in Runic
+magic to waken the dead priestess, and compel her to give a prophetic
+answer to the magician whose spells had aroused her from the sleep of
+death. In the song of Vegtam, in the Elder Edda, known to the English
+reader in our poet Gray's fine translation, &quot;The Descent of Odin,&quot; the
+Scandinavian bard describes the magic power of runes traced on the
+ground towards the north, and repeated as incantations, in calling
+forth the prophetic response from the tomb.</p>
+
+<div class="poem2">
+<p class="t0">Right against the eastern gate,<br>
+By the moss-grown pile he sate,<br>
+Where long of yore to sleep was laid<br>
+The dust of the prophetic maid;<br>
+Facing to the northern clime,<br>
+Thrice he traced the Runic rhyme;<br>
+Thrice pronounced in accents dread,<br>
+The thrilling verse that wakes the dead,<br>
+Till from out the hollow ground,<br>
+Slowly breathed a sullen sound.&quot;</p>
+</div>
+<p class="right"><i>Translator's Note</i>.</p>
+
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div2_04" href="#div2Ref_04">Footnote 4</a>: Baldur, the
+son of Odin, was slain by Hother, a Danish
+warrior, his rival in the affections of Nanna, a Norwegian princess.</p>
+
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div2_05" href="#div2Ref_05">Footnote 5</a>: Fragment of an
+old Danish ballad entitled &quot;Agneté and the
+Merman.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div2_06" href="#div2Ref_06">Footnote 6</a>: One of the
+most ancient and characteristic ballads of the
+north. It is the subject of one of M. Ohlenschlager's most popular
+tragedies.</p>
+
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div2_07" href="#div2Ref_07">Footnote 7</a>: The
+superstitious belief in the existence of mermen,
+prevailed in Denmark at no very remote period. It seems probable that
+the pirates or Vikings of the north availed themselves of this
+superstition, by assuming the disguise of mermen to scare the
+inhabitants from those coasts it was important they should possess. The
+adventures of some Scandinavian pirate and maiden probably gave rise to
+the curious old ballad of Agneté and the Merman. See the Danish &quot;Kjĉmpe
+Viser.&quot;--<i>Translator</i>.</p>
+
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div2_08" href="#div2Ref_08">Footnote 8</a>: Fragment of an
+heroic ballad.</p>
+
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div2_09" href="#div2Ref_09">Footnote 9</a>: Varulve
+(Manwolf) according to ancient superstition, a man
+who had been metamorphosed for a certain time into a wolf. The
+superstitions of the Scandinavians, as handed down in the Sagas and
+Kempe Vise (heroic ballads), partake so much of the character of
+Eastern fable, that there can be little doubt of their Asiatic
+origin.--<i>Translator</i>.</p>
+
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div2_10" href="#div2Ref_10">Footnote 10</a>: Nidaros, the
+ancient name of Drontheim in Norway.</p>
+
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div2_11" href="#div2Ref_11">Footnote 11</a>: &quot;Vola's
+qvad,&quot; or &quot;The Song of the Prophetess,&quot; is one of
+the most imaginative poems in the Elder Edda. It opens with an account
+of the springing forth of creation from chaos, and after announcing
+death as the final doom of all physical nature, ends by foretelling the
+rise of a better and brighter world, from the ocean in which the first
+had been engulphed.--<i>Translator</i>.</p>
+
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div2_12" href="#div2Ref_12">Footnote 12</a>: The name of
+the ancient castle of Copenhagen, built by
+Bishop Absalon in the thirteenth century as a defence against pirates.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h3>END OF THE SECOND 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. 2, by 
+Bernhard Severin Ingemann
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diff --git a/36632.txt b/36632.txt
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of King Eric and the Outlaws, Vol. 2, 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. 2
+       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 #36632]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK KING ERIC AND THE OUTLAWS, VOL. 2 ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Charles Bowen, from page scans provided by the Web Archive
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's Notes:
+
+   1. Page scan source:
+      http://www.archive.org/details/kingericandoutl00chapgoog
+
+   2. The diphthong oe is represented by [oe].
+
+
+
+
+                               KING ERIC
+
+                                  AND
+
+                              THE OUTLAWS.
+
+                                VOL. II.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                                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. II.
+                             *   *   *   *
+
+
+
+                                LONDON:
+                   LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, & LONGMANS,
+                            PATERNOSTER-ROW.
+                                 1843.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAPTER I.
+
+
+When the king reached Kallundborg castle, and beheld the drawbridge
+raised, and the well fortified castle in a complete state of defence, a
+flush of anger crossed his cheek, his hand involuntarily clenched the
+hilt of his sword, and for an instant he was near forgetting his
+promise, and drawing it out of the scabbard. Count Henrik reined in his
+war horse impatiently before the outermost fortification, awaiting an
+answer to the message he had shouted, in the king's name, to the
+nearest warder. "Matchless presumption!" exclaimed the king; "know they
+I am here myself? and do they still tarry with an answer, when they
+have but to be silent and to obey?"
+
+"They take their time, my liege!" answered Count Henrik. "It is
+unparalleled impudence.--If you command, the trumpet shall be instantly
+sounded for storm; the sword burns in my hand."
+
+"Not yet!" answered the king, and took his hand from the hilt of his
+sword.
+
+At this moment a trumpet sounded from the outer rampart, and a tall
+warrior in armour, with closed visor, stepped forth on the battlement.
+
+"The castle opens not to any armed man!" he shouted in a rough tone,
+which however appeared assumed and tremulous; "it will be defended to
+the last, against every attack; this is our noble junker's strict order
+and behest."
+
+"Madman!" exclaimed Eric; and Count Henrik seemed about to give an
+impetuous reply.
+
+"Not a word more!" continued the king, with a stern nod.--"We stoop not
+to further parley with rebels and traitors.--You will beleaguer the
+castle on all sides, and get all in readiness for a storm; until
+twenty-four hours are over, no spear must be thrown--if the rebels dare
+to enact their impudent threats against the town, we shall have to
+think but of saving it and quenching the flames. If aught chances here,
+I must know it instantly; you will not fail to find me at the
+Franciscan monastery." So saying, the king turned his horse's head, and
+rode with a great part of his train into the large monastery, close to
+the castle. Here stood the guardian and all the fraternity with their
+shaven heads uncovered, in two rows before the stone steps in the yard
+of the monastery. The aged guardian, in common with the rest of his
+fraternity, wore an ashen grey cloak with a cowl at the back, and a
+thick cord round the waist. Despite the winter cold, they were all
+without shoes and stockings, with wooden sandals under their bare feet.
+They received the king with manifest signs of alarm and uneasiness.
+
+"Be easy, ye pious men," said the king, in a mild voice, as he sprang
+from his horse, and acknowledged their greeting and the guardian's
+pious address in a friendly manner; "I come to you as your friend and
+protector. If it please God and our Lady, no evil shall happen to your
+monastery or our good and loyal town. It is not your fault that our
+brother the junker hath appointed a madman to be his commandant; for we
+trust in the Lord and the mighty Saint Christopher, that our dear
+brother hath not himself lost his wits. I will await him here, until he
+can receive the news of my coming, and give explanation in person of
+this matter. If there is danger astir, I will share it with you; at
+present I wish but to see whether your guest-house and refectory can
+stand this unexpected visitation; meanwhile it shall be recompensed
+beforehand to the monastery."
+
+"Noble sovereign," answered the guardian, "destroy not by any worldly
+compensation the pleasure which you now bestow on us, in our fear and
+trembling: poverty is, as you know, the first rule of our holy order.
+If you will vouchsafe to share the indigence of the penitent, gracious
+king, doubt not then our willingness to give, and share without
+recompence; and tempt us not to accept what the holy Franciscus himself
+hath strictly forbid us to touch."
+
+"Well, the rule is surely not so strictly kept here," said the king,
+with a good-natured smile, as he entered into the large guest-house of
+the monastery, and saw the door standing open to the refectory, where a
+table, with fasting fare, was spread for the monks, but a larger, with
+flasks of wine and dishes of substantial meat, was prepared for the
+entertainment of the distinguished worldly guests. "Here, however, we
+shall not come to suffer want," continued the king; "here we find not
+frugal fare alone, but God's gifts, almost to superfluity."
+
+"What we are able to offer your grace hath been sent hither by the
+burghers.--Where the Lord's anointed enters he brings a blessing with
+him,"--answered the guardian, making a genuflection with his hands
+crossed over his breast.
+
+"Blessing?" replied the king, a dark cloud suddenly passing over his
+brow.--"Hum! even though he be given over to the Devil and the
+destruction of the fleshy venerable father?" he asked with bitterness,
+and in a low voice, as he drew the guardian aside and gazed at him,
+with a sharp, searching look.
+
+The aged monk turned pale at these words of the king, and involuntarily
+crossed himself, as he heaved a deep sigh. "The holy church proclaims
+to us absolution even for deadly sins, and justification through grace
+and conversion," said he, folding his lean hands. "Its curse falls only
+in reality on the head of the profligate and ungodly."
+
+"But when the archbishop, the prince of the Danish church, out of
+revenge and hate, hath proclaimed thy sovereign to be such an one?"
+
+"Were you such _in truth_, my liege and sovereign, alas! I must then
+echo the dreadful sentence within my heart, though it should break in
+doing so, and were your wrath even to crush me," answered the old man,
+with deep solemnity, again pressing his folded hands upon his breast;
+"but the Lord preserve my soul from taking part in the counsels of the
+revengeful and the judgments of the unrighteous! The church's might and
+authority are certainly great, noble king," he continued, "but
+vengeance and judgment are the Lord's, even as grace for the penitent
+belongeth unto him; power is given us to build up, but not to pull
+down; we can do nothing against the truth, but all for the truth. If
+even a bishop himself should err in our true believing church, and
+abuse the church's authority against God's word, no priest or Christian
+hath leave to consent unto him, saith the holy Augustine."
+
+"Right, pious father! that is also my creed and my comfort, and what
+the learned Master Peter also hath told me. You have then no fear that
+I bring with me a curse or evil spirits over this threshold?"
+
+"No assuredly!" answered the guardian solemnly, with uplifted hand and
+look,--"I know my noble liege is not profane and ungodly, a despiser of
+penitence and pious works, or one whom in the power of the word it is
+permitted to give over to the destruction of the flesh, for the soul's
+eternal salvation. I know, therefore, that the Prince of Darkness can
+have no power over your dear-bought soul; and that no sinful curse can
+destroy the peace of God in your heart, or wipe off the holy ointment
+from your crowned head."
+
+A mild emotion was visible in the king's countenance at these words of
+the guardian. "Give me your blessing, pious father!" he said, in a
+subdued tone; "you have spoken words which penetrate my inmost soul."
+
+"The reconciled and all-merciful God preserve your life and crown, and
+above all the precious peace of your soul!" prayed the guardian, and
+laid his shrivelled hand on the head of the king, who bent to receive
+the blessing, "in so far as you are _yourself_ placable and merciful,"
+he added with emphasis, and a piercing gaze.
+
+"Hum, placable?" repeated the king, hastily, raising his head; "even
+towards rebels and traitors?"
+
+"They assuredly need mercy most," answered the guardian. "Be not wroth,
+my liege," he continued, gently and impressively; "there is a holy
+word, which at this moment strangely trembles on my lips: 'If thy
+brother sin against thee,' it is written, 'then chastise him; but if he
+repents, then forgive him!'"
+
+"But when he does _not_ repent?" asked the king, gazing on the guardian
+with an excited look.
+
+"Then pray for him till he does, that thy mother's son may not be a
+castaway; and for the sake of thine own peace!" whispered the
+ecclesiastic.--"A brother offended is harder to be won than a strong
+city, and quarrels are as bars before a palace."
+
+"But strong cities may fall, and the palaces of rebels may be forced,"
+exclaimed the king, suddenly assuming a stern tone, and the mild
+emotion expressed in his countenance became clouded. "The wise king
+Solomon hath also taught me to count more on a faithful friend than a
+false brother. Did not a prophet once say to his people, in a
+traitorous and corrupted time like ours--'Put not your trust in any
+brother, for every brother will certainly deceive?' I could wish that
+holy man were wrong. But enough of this," said Eric, hastily breaking
+off the solemn converse. "Let us now think a little of worldly things,
+and not despise the care of the body. We have ridden a long way today,
+to be shut out of our own castle here." So saying, the king went with
+hasty strides into the refectory; the guardian followed him with a
+sorrowful aspect, and the rejoicing of the brethren, over the king's
+piety and mildness, seemed somewhat diminished.
+
+Kallundborg castle was now regularly beleaguered, and the warlike and
+experienced Count Henrik of Mecklenborg neglected none of the necessary
+preparations for a storm, as far as he was able with so small a force,
+and without engines for storming. Meanwhile, ere the sun went down, he
+saw his force augmented, as Drost Aage with his hundred horsemen
+galloped into the town, and joined him without the castle walls. As
+soon as the Drost had provided for the wants of his troops, and had
+consulted with Count Henrik, he repaired to the monastery of grey
+friars, where he was instantly admitted to the king in the library.
+
+Here sat Eric in a thoughtful mood, in the guardian's great arm-chair,
+before an oaken table, on which lay a large annotated Bible as well as
+the writings of St. Augustine and other fathers of the church, open
+before him. He held a manuscript of Master Petrus de Dacia's in his
+hand, in which he was diligently making marks and dashes with his pen,
+and seemed employed in comparing it with the passages at which the
+writings of the fathers were opened. By the side of these spiritual
+writings, however, lay also three worldly books in handsome red velvet
+binding, which the king had brought with him. It was the famous
+chivalrous poem Ivain and Tristan, in Hartman von Awe's and Gottfried
+von Strasborg's version, as well as the adventurous history of Florez
+and Blanzeflor, which was the favourite poem of all enamoured knights
+and ladies.
+
+When Drost Aage crossed the threshold, the king pushed aside the table
+and hastily started up. "Aage, my dear Aage! do I see thee again, at
+last!" he joyfully exclaimed, and went forward to meet him with open
+arms, but stopped in dismay, as he looked more narrowly at the young
+Drost. "Is it thyself?" he continued; "how thou art changed! Truly thou
+hast been in murderous hands. Those accursed outlaws!" he said
+passionately, as he stamped on the floor; "why have I not rooted them
+out of the earth?"
+
+"Think no more of that, my noble liege," said Aage. "I am now well
+again, and at your service."
+
+"Come, rest thee; thou hast exerted thyself above thy strength. Master
+Peter hath then brought thee a letter and a message?"
+
+"All is done as you commanded, my liege, though I fear it is a
+step----"
+
+"Leave me to care for that, Aage--met ye with opposition?"
+
+"Holbeck castle is in your possession; it cost not a drop of blood, but
+caused great joy at the castle."
+
+"Good; and the junker?"
+
+"I saw him not; it is said, though, he was there, but escaped."
+
+"A bad sign, Aage! A loyal vassal would have staid, and have called
+thee strictly to give account of thy authority. He asked then, not even
+once, the ground of my wrath? He ventured not an indignant remonstrance
+touching injustice and violent measures?"
+
+"He kept quite out of sight; he must have conceived suspicions."
+
+"Hum! no prince flies thus from his castle, when he knows himself to be
+innocent. How then can I doubt? The contumacy here, and his shameless
+expressions to Bruncke----"
+
+"What hath already chanced may however still be but an unhappy
+misunderstanding, my liege," observed Aage; "and the traitorous Bruncke
+none can trust."
+
+"Well, let Christopher speak for himself, if he is able. By all the
+holy men, I would willingly give the half of my life could I say with
+truth, 'I have a brother.' Yet, the Lord and our holy Lady be thanked,
+I have still a faithful friend, and my beloved Ingeborg, and a loyal
+and loving people. What have I to complain of?" So saying, the king
+laid his arm confidingly on Aage's shoulder, and a repressed tear
+glistened in his ardent blue eye. "Since we met last, my dear Aage," he
+continued in a firm and calm tone, "I have become an excommunicated man
+like thee; but it no longer terrifies me. I have long thought--now I am
+convinced--that no one can condemn us save the Almighty and righteous
+God: but _he_ will not condemn us; for, seest thou, he is merciful. He
+who believes in salvation and mercy, Aage, will be saved, despite all
+the bishops and prelates in the world."
+
+"Sin not, my noble liege!" exclaimed Aage, with cautious sadness. "I
+have also found peace for my soul, and a defence against the evil
+spirits to whom I was given over; but it was not in defiance, it was in
+love and hope, my liege."
+
+"Such a hope I have also, my Aage; and love!--thou knowest but little
+what that is--thou that hast no Ingeborg! _My_ love truly is as great
+as Sir Tristran's or the valiant Florez's. I shall not fear to
+break a lance for my Ingeborg with the pope himself and the whole
+priesthood--if it come to the worst."
+
+"For Heaven's sake, my beloved liege, ponder----"
+
+"I _have_ pondered much, Aage; and first on what was most important,"
+exclaimed the king seriously, interrupting his anxious friend. "The
+matter of our salvation is too important to be decided by an
+authoritative word from the bishop or pope. Shall they presume to say
+to thee and me, 'Thou art accursed!--thou art given over to the Evil
+One?' No, truly! Where is it written that any human being hath such
+power? I always hoped--now I am assured--that the heavenly grace and
+mercy I believe in, alone can save me and all of us--come, I will prove
+it to thee; Master Petrus hath written it out for me; the church's holy
+fathers witness to it, and what is more, God's own unchangeable word.
+Yet it is too long to enter upon now; but, trust me, Aage, no
+archbishop, not even the pope in Rome, can condemn us--if the church
+casts out believers, it is our church no longer, not the real and true
+one. Could the devil shut against us every stone-built church in the
+world, _one_ church would still stand open to us, which no devil can
+shut; and lo! it is every where; where two believing souls are met
+together in the Lord's name.--See how wise I am grown, Aage: it would
+be deemed heresy in Rome, and they would doom me to the stake did they
+know it; but I am wise enough also to be silent about it. Thou only
+shalt know it, and my Ingeborg, and whoever holds my immortal soul as
+dear as thou dost."
+
+Aage was silent, and looked at him in surprise.
+
+"I feel secure also about state and kingdom," continued the king. "With
+God's help I shall defy both ban and interdict, both rebels and
+outlaws, without any one injuring a hair of my head, or that of my
+people's."
+
+"But a letter, craving pardon of the holy father, will certainly be
+necessary, my liege! In the matter of the archbishop, reconciliation
+and clemency must in a great measure supersede justice."
+
+"No, Aage; I ask but justice; I ask no mercy of man, and in this matter
+none need expect mercy from me--let the pope judge between me and
+Grand! the mystery of unrighteousness shall be brought to light as
+surely as there is justice under the sun. If I am myself wrong in any
+thing, which well may chance, it is time enough to think of penitence
+and penance when doom is pronounced."
+
+"But the dispensation?" said Aage.
+
+"That _I_ will _dispense_ with in case of need; what hath been granted
+to a hundred others cannot be denied the King of Denmark.--Should
+it be denied, it is unjust; but an injustice to which _I will not_
+submit. Yet, seat thyself, Aage; not a word more of these vexatious
+affairs,--my soul is weary of them. Come," he continued, gaily; "now
+thou shalt hear a love poem: my dear Ingeborg hath herself written it
+out for me. Duchess Euphemia hath sent it to her from Norway; it will
+soon be read, both in Norwegian and Swedish. Here thou shalt see what a
+chivalrous lover can go through, and how fortune and our Lord are ever
+with all true and constant lovers." The king now sat down before the
+table, and read, in an animated tone, out of the adventures of Florez
+and Blanzeflor, which, however, were already known to Aage.
+
+"Tristan I prefer, it is true," said the king; "and our own old
+love-songs seem far more beautiful to me; but this book I especially
+like to have in my hand. Think! she has copied every word with her own
+lovely fingers."
+
+Meanwhile evening drew on. The vesper bell rang, and the king went with
+Aage to the church of the monastery, where he joined in the devotions
+of the Franciscans and the people, which however were not as calm and
+undisturbed as usual.
+
+As the night drew on the anxiety increased in the town with every hour.
+A general stillness prevailed; lights glimmered in all the houses; no
+one seemed any where to slumber. Around the beleaguered castle no sound
+was heard save the steps and clashing arms of the sentinels. Here and
+there a watch-fire gleamed in the cold winter's night, around which
+silent warriors, wrapped in ample mantles, were standing in groups;
+without the monastery Drost Aage's horsemen were on guard. The Drost
+and Count Henrik rode up and down around the castle walls, where the
+faint clashing of weapons and the moving of heavy machines of defence
+were heard.
+
+By Aage's counsel sentinels were also posted on the public quay
+south-east of the castle, and on the ancient sea-tower at the
+north-western extremity of the town, where there was also a
+landing-place, together with a now deserted and decayed fortification:
+this spot he deemed especially important whenever it might be desirable
+to cut off all possible communication with the castle. At midnight Aage
+himself stood in the clear still starlight beside the solitary tower,
+at Count Henrik's side, and looked out on the bay, while they
+considered from what quarter the castle wall might best be mounted.
+While thus employed, Aage observed a little fishing-boat, which lay
+half hidden under the mouldering rampart of the sea-tower; and just as
+he was going to draw Count Henrik's attention to it he saw a head, with
+a shaggy cap and a large scar resembling a hare-lip between the nose
+and mouth, peer forth from behind a half-fallen pillar close beside
+him. The prying head, however, instantly withdrew behind the pillar,
+and Aage thought he recognised the notorious robber and incendiary, the
+Lolland deserter, Ole Ark, who had often been pursued, and who it was
+believed had been concerned in the archbishop's flight. Without any
+long deliberation he nodded to Count Henrik, and drew his sword; but at
+the same instant the fellow sprang out of his hiding-place, and fled
+down towards the rampart to the boat.
+
+"Stop him!" shouted Aage to the farthest sentinel, who stood with his
+lance in his hand, and his back leaning against the rampart, gazing out
+on a distant vessel, without observing the fugitive.
+
+Just as the Drost's voice reached the ear of the sentinel, and he was
+about to turn round, he felt the stab of a dagger in his back, and fell
+to the earth with a groan of anguish, while the deserter rushed past
+him with the weapon glittering in his hand, and sprang into the boat.
+
+The fugitive had already placed his oars, and was preparing to push off
+from shore, but then first perceived that in his haste he had forgot to
+loosen the rope which moored the boat to the rampart. While he now,
+with desperate exertion, struck once or twice in vain with his dagger
+on the rope, Aage and Count Henrik stood directly opposite him with
+their drawn swords. Count Henrik hastily grasped the half-severed rope,
+and drew the boat towards him. The dagger of the despairing fugitive
+was raised gleaming in the air, but fell with the hand of the robber
+into the sea before a stroke of the Drost's sword, and, with a fearful
+howl, the wounded deserter fell back in the boat.
+
+At Count Henrik's call several men-at-arms hastened to the spot from
+the guard at the sea-tower, and presently bore the captive thither,
+after having, by the Drost's order, wrapped a cloth round his mutilated
+arm, to prevent his bleeding to death. The wounded sentinel was also
+carried to the tower; and while a message was sent to fetch a surgeon,
+the captured robber's garments, and all that he had about him, were
+narrowly searched. Besides a letter of absolution, a rosary, and a
+number of costly church ornaments, which appeared to be stolen
+property, a quantity of pitch and sulphur and other combustible matter
+was found on his person; and a key and a private letter were discovered
+carefully secreted in the lining of his cap. For the present no
+confession could be expected from the criminal, who had fallen into a
+swoon. The Drost took possession of the key and the letter, and
+repaired, with Count Henrik, to the nearest watch-fire. Here he opened
+the letter, and read it in a low tone.
+
+"To no one!"--thus ran the letter.--"Obey and be silent, or thou diest!
+Dare the utmost! Spare not the town! Hide or burn the papers, if
+needful! Keep the trapdoor in readiness! Let his victory prove his
+downfall! I answer for the consequences. The bearer may be employed for
+the whole.... Burn this private letter instantly. From no one."
+
+Drost Aage had jointly with the king and Prince Christopher learnt what
+was then the still rare art of writing, from a canon, under the
+superintendence of Drost Hessel, and to his dismay he thought he
+recognised the stiff hand of the prince through the disguised character
+of the writing. He hastily folded up the letter, and turned deadly
+pale.
+
+"Now what runes[1] read ye there, Sir Drost?" asked Count Henrik.--"You
+do not feel well, I think."
+
+"This private letter was surely to have been brought the commandant,"
+exclaimed Aage, eagerly, and the blood again rushed into his cheek. "It
+is from no one, and to no one; yet I think I understand it."
+
+"Let us see, Sir Drost--It is not surely any private love letter?--the
+fellow was a spy and traitor."
+
+"If my noble liege's peace of mind be dear to you." answered Aage
+anxiously, and seized his hand, "let this unhallowed secret be mine
+alone! yet this much will I confide to you: it seems to concern the
+king's unhappy domestic relations; but I entreat you to be silent, even
+about this conjecture of mine. There is no proof against any one, only
+a suspicion--an unhappy one--but the aim of the writer shall be
+defeated: the letter must be destroyed."--So saying, he thrust his hand
+into his bosom, and threw the letter into the fire.
+
+"You are cautious, Drost," said Count Henrick, knitting his brow. "I
+ask not to be initiated into your dark state secrets--as Drost you must
+know best what should here be concealed or made public. I ask only, as
+a man-at-arms and beleaguer, if the letter, which you have here
+somewhat hastily destroyed, was to have been brought into the castle,
+must there not be a private entrance hereabouts? Could it be found, it
+were of moment to us: without storming engines, it will be a hard
+spring enough for us to get over the circular wall."
+
+"You are right; there _must_ be a secret entrance here," exclaimed Aage
+suddenly, with sparkling eyes. "I have a conjecture,--a thought strikes
+me, there is a tradition of a secret entrance from the sea-tower.
+The captive must show it me. I will be myself the bearer of the
+letter,--not such as when it caught the flames, and as it is now before
+the eye of the Omniscient, but rewritten, as a reconciling spirit
+dictates to my soul."
+
+"Good! I follow you with a troop."
+
+"No, count! that is impossible. The king's pride is aroused; he
+despises stratagem; he will and must through the gate, or over the
+stormed walls, and both of us cannot here be spared. If the secret
+passage is found, it will assuredly be difficult enough for one, alone
+and unarmed, to pass through it."
+
+"Then let the adventure alone, Drost; for one it is too daring."
+
+"I will dare it nevertheless," said Aage determinedly, after a moment's
+deliberation; "but no one shall follow me, and no one must know it--not
+even the king. If I am not here again to-morrow at noon, then let the
+king know that I am probably a prisoner at the castle, or am about
+something by which I may serve him, and all of you, better even than
+were I at the head of the stormers--I count on your leading the attack,
+as agreed on. If it succeeds, then promise me but one thing, brave
+Count! let not the king set his foot but where the ground hath been
+tried and found safe; and should you see my shoulder scarf wave on any
+spot, then conclude all is not right, and let not the king approach
+such a place."
+
+"Ha! ha!" said Count Henrik, in a loud voice, and clapping Aage on the
+shoulder, "that was the secret, then, you would keep to yourself? You
+might just as well have let me read the letter, my mysterious Sir
+Drost! We may expect pitfalls then, and such sort of foxes' tricks?
+Well, when one has a hint of such things they are of no importance. Ha!
+the high-born junker! he is a base traitor truly, to seek after the
+life of his king and brother, and _such_ a king and brother!"
+
+"In the name of the Lord above, who says so. Sir Count?" exclaimed
+Aage, in consternation and in a low tone: "you shout as loud as though
+you meant to awake heaven and earth with what none may hear. Let not
+those unhappy words ever pass your lips again. I tell you once more, it
+is but a conjecture, a fearful suspicion: it would rend the king's
+heart if it came to his ears--the mere report might call forth bloody
+scenes, and bring down the greatest misery on the country and the royal
+house."
+
+"I approve your caution in this matter, noble Drost," said Count Henrik
+gravely, and in a subdued tone, as he looked around, with a sharp
+glance; "be easy, no one can here have heard us. There you have my
+hand: where one word may cause such great misfortune, it shall
+assuredly never pass my lips. But drive that rash adventure out of thy
+head; it may cost you your life,--and to what end?"
+
+"The saving of a more precious life," said Aage. "I must have certainty
+in this matter: if I am to guard the king's feet from secret snares, I
+must discover them first myself. God be with you! Farewell! He who hath
+been for two years excommunicated," he continued in a voice of emotion,
+"hath learnt to defy robbers and devils."
+
+The watch-fire lit up his pale enthusiastic countenance, and a mild
+light seemed to beam from his dark blue eyes, as he raised them towards
+the starry heaven. "Follow me not!" he added. "I trust in the
+protection of Heaven, and the power of good spirits--then must earthly
+curses be dumb, and evil spirits fall into the bottomless pit."--So
+saying, he earnestly pressed Count Henrik's hand, and returned with
+hasty steps to the tower. Count Henrik shook his head, and gazed after
+him with a look of sympathy, but followed him not.
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAP. II.
+
+
+The ancient sea-tower was situated at some distance from the castle, in
+the most deserted quarter of the town, next the sea shore. It was a
+round watch-tower, built of freestone, with loopholes in the wall, and
+a sentry-walk above, between the rampart-like battlements. Below were
+two vaulted stone chambers, of which one was used as a guard-room in
+war time, and the other as a depository for the bodies of the drowned,
+until their burial. The tower was now chiefly used for hanging out
+lights at night, in stormy and bad weather, to guide sailors into the
+entrance of the bay.
+
+In the guard-room Drost Aage found the wounded sentinel at the point of
+death.
+
+A monk, who had been sent for from the monastery, was engaged in
+administering to him the last sacrament. On a table lay a paper, on
+which the pious Franciscan had just written the last testament of the
+dying man. An oil lamp hung upon the dirty wall, and lit up the stone
+vault and the solemn scene of death. With a sympathizing look at the
+dying man-at-arms Aage quitted the guard-room, almost unnoticed, and
+opened the door to what was called "the corpse chamber," from which,
+according to tradition, there had been, in Esbern Snare's time, a
+descent to a subterranean passage, and where Aage conjectured he should
+discover the supposed secret entrance to the castle.
+
+Into this murky chamber, which had the reputation of being haunted, the
+captive murderer had been brought. Through the aid of the surgeon he
+had been restored to consciousness, and had his wound dressed; but he
+talked and raved wildly. He had been bound to the bench appropriated to
+the bodies of the drowned, which served him as a couch, and all had
+deserted him with horror and aversion.
+
+When Drost Aage entered this chamber, the light of a yellow horn
+lantern, which hung from the roof, fell on the murderer's swollen blue
+visage with the hare-lip scar and ugly projecting teeth: he laughed
+horribly, and ground his teeth like a chained wild beast. "Comest
+thou hither, thou excommunicated hound!" he muttered, thrusting
+forth his tongue from his foaming jaws; "then thou art also dead and
+damned--that's some small comfort, though among devils--Now are the
+fishes gnawing at my fist, at the bottom of the sea, while I lie a
+corpse here in hell's antechamber--that was thy doing, thou pale ghost,
+with St. George's sword! I feared thou hadst come off free, for thy
+stupid piety's sake, and thy hound-like faithfulness."
+
+"Why so?" asked Aage, strangely affected by having half entered into
+the dark imaginings of the madman--"How couldst thou think an
+excommunicated man could 'scape damnation?"
+
+"Seest thou, comrade?" whispered the bound robber, gazing wildly around
+him, "the same holy man who gave thee over to the Evil One, gave me a
+passport to heaven's kingdom. It lies there in my jerkin; Satan's
+barber cut it off from me just now; and the letter was a lie,--like all
+virtue and piety in the world. If that holy man could give me a false
+warrant for salvation, he might also have made a false reckoning with
+thy soul. It pleaseth me, however, to see he is apt in some things," he
+continued, with a horrible laugh. "I ever thought so: those black
+fellows can curse far better than they can bless. But who did thy
+business for thee? The hand that should have done it is gone to the
+Devil--Ha! there bites a hungry fish at my fingers' ends."
+
+"From whom was the private letter? and to whom shouldst thou have
+brought it?" asked Aage, suddenly in a stern voice, and in a tone of
+overawing authority: "confess the truth, and it shall fare better with
+thee, wretch, than thou hast deserved!"
+
+"What! though I should break the most solemn oath I ever swore?"
+muttered the robber. "No, stern sir! let the Devil take his own, and
+Ole Ark's sinful soul too, if the worst come to the worst! I have sent
+many an accursed heretic and excommunicated man to hell, and truly also
+many an honest fellow to heaven; but if I am now myself about to go to
+the Devil, it shall be as a right-believing Christian; and none shall
+say of me I broke my sworn oath, even to the living Satan."
+
+"Tell me the way thou shouldst have gone, is it here?" continued Aage,
+looking around the large murky stone chamber.
+
+"The way to my master's den?" muttered the robber with a grin--"Wouldst
+ferret _that_ out, comrade? Take care thou dost not burn thyself in
+it!"
+
+"It is here, then," said Aage to himself, looking around him, with
+still greater attention--"And here is the key; is it not so?" So
+saying, he produced the old rusty key which had been found on the
+robber's person together with the private letter.
+
+"Right, comrade, the key to hell!" returned the raving murderer, with a
+horrid laugh.
+
+Aage now examined the whole vault, but discovered no trace of any
+cellar or descent. The floor was paved with large flags. He stamped on
+several places, and at last perceived a hollow sound, and the clang of
+metal under the stone floor. He took the lantern from the iron hook in
+the arch of the roof, and placed it on the floor. On doing so he
+discovered a large loose stone, which might be raised, and his
+conjecture was confirmed. The loose stone concealed a fast-locked iron
+trap-door, which, however, seemed too small to admit of the descent of
+any person. He tried the key, and it fitted. He opened the trap-door;
+the raw damp air of the vault rose up to him from a pitch-dark abyss,
+into which a ladder led down to an uncertain depth.
+
+While this examination was carrying on the insane murderer lay on the
+corpse bench, and grinned with horrible contortions. Aage stood
+thoughtfully by the opening, pondering over his daring enterprise. It
+now struck him, for the first time, that, if undisguised, he must
+undoubtedly be recognised and his plan frustrated. His eye fell on the
+blood-stained jerkin, which had been stript from off the robber's
+person, in order to bind him, "Well," he said, "we exchange garments;
+there, thou hast my mantle and hat; I take thy jerkin and cap."
+
+"Good exchange enough," muttered Ole Ark; "if my luck goes with my
+jerkin, he goeth down to fame and honour. Ha! loose my body, Satan, and
+let me follow him into the pit."
+
+It was not without repugnance that Aage clad himself in the soiled,
+stained dress of the vagabond, which, however, answered his purpose,
+and rendered him almost incognisable. He then took the lamp in his
+hand, and prepared to descend through the narrow aperture in the floor;
+but the scorn and defiance of the bound robber now changed into a
+piteous lament.
+
+"Mercy! mercy!" he cried, "take not the last glimpse of light from me!
+Now comes the Devil himself to rend me to pieces--Ha! let me not lie a
+corpse here in the dark--Mercy! mercy!" he howled, and pulled and tore
+at the cords which bound him.
+
+"Pray to thy God and Judge for mercy," said Aage; "I cannot help thee."
+He then squeezed himself through the narrow opening, with the lantern
+in his hand, and pulled the trap-door after him, that he might not hear
+the howls of the madman; but was nearly falling down head foremost from
+the ladder, on hearing, to his dismay, that the trap-door, which had a
+spring-lock, fell and closed over his head. He felt now as though he
+were entombed alive. He had forgotten to take the key with him; and the
+faint howling of the robber soon seemed lost in triumphant laughter
+above the grave which had closed over him.
+
+Aage grew dizzy, but recovered himself, and clung fast to the slippery
+steps of the ladder, while he continued to descend. At last he stood at
+the bottom: the descent was steep and deep, but it led to a narrow
+vaulted passage, which was so low as hardly to admit of his walking
+upright. The air was foul and suffocating, and he often trod on
+sprawling toads and other reptiles. He held up the lantern before him,
+but beheld nothing save the long narrow passage, to which he could
+discern no end; its direction, however, convinced him that it must
+undoubtedly lead to the castle. He went forward with hasty steps, and
+looked anxiously at the light in the lamp, which gleamed fainter and
+fainter. The air seemed not to contain sufficient nourishment for life
+and flame. He had hardly proceeded more than a hundred paces ere what
+he feared took place--the light went out in the lantern, and he stood
+in the dark. He felt a degree of alarm and a want of power and courage,
+which was quite foreign to his nature; at the same time he heard a
+hollow clang far behind, as if the iron trap-door had been again opened
+and clapped to. He involuntarily quickened his steps, but slipped every
+moment on slimy reptiles, and was often forced to pause in order to
+take breath, while the air he inhaled seemed to lame every limb and to
+contract his lungs. He was nearly sinking down in a state of
+insensibility; but he now thought he heard a sound as of stealthy steps
+behind him, and his increased apprehension inspired him with renewed
+strength. "Is any one there?" he shouted, and turned round; but no one
+answered, and there was suddenly a deathlike stillness again.
+
+It was so dark that he could not see his own hand before his eyes. In
+order not to awaken suspicion by his bold enterprise he had taken off
+his sword in the corpse-chamber, and was entirely defenceless. In his
+childhood, Aage had not been wholly free from the dread of supernatural
+beings; and, according to the creed of the age, the idea of the
+influence of a mighty world of spirits on human life was closely
+connected with religious belief. Aage nowise doubted the possibility of
+the appearance of evil as well as of good spirits; but this idea never
+disquieted him in open day, when he knew he was on a lawful errand, and
+had his sword with its cross-hilt at his side. "Is it honourable and
+chivalrous to steal along thus?" he said to himself. "Why took I not my
+good sword with me? It was hard, though, to take the light from him
+above there--he lies now in the pains of hell on yonder bench, and
+curses me;--or hath he got loose, and is he lurking after me in the
+dark?" He now thought he heard again distinctly, at every stride he
+took, the same sound, as of stealthy footsteps behind him; but each
+time he turned round all was still as before. This consciousness of the
+presence of an unknown being in the dark passage put him into a state
+of fearful apprehension, and recalled those images of horror to his
+imagination, which he felt himself least able to combat. "Is he now
+dead above there?--is it his maniac spirit which persecutes thee?" he
+whispered to himself; and the form of the frantic murderer appeared to
+his imagination far more terrific than when he beheld it actually
+stretched on the corpse-bench; "or is it thou, old Palle!" he
+exclaimed, almost with an outcry of terror. The scene of the murder in
+Finnerup barn, which had haunted him in his childhood, and the image of
+the aged and insane regicide he had himself slain on the body of the
+murdered king, were again vividly present to his imagination. His hair
+stood on end; it seemed to him as if he was now actually about to fight
+with demons and evil spirits in the dark pit of the grave,--a fancy
+which had often disquieted him in dreams, and which lately had been the
+dominant plague of his fevered imagination. At last his terror
+increased to such a degree that he could no longer control it; he
+turned suddenly round, and rushed with all his might with clenched
+hands towards the place where he again thought he distinguished the
+stealthy footsteps. He then distinctly heard a clanking sword strike
+against the wall close beside his ear. "Ha! a human being after all!
+Wretched murderer! is it thou?" he shouted, quite recovering his
+courage at the discovery of a real and bodily pursuer, and sprang
+forward towards the unseen deadly foe, while he struck aside the sword,
+which seemed to be wielded by a left and powerless arm. The sword flew
+clanging forward in the dark passage; but at the same moment Aage felt
+his neck clutched almost to suffocation by a pair of convulsively
+strained arms, dripping wet.
+
+"Ha! ha! have I pounced on thee at last, hell-hound?" suddenly roared a
+wild rough voice in his ear, and Aage recognised the tones of the
+wounded robber. "I have long enough lain a corpse--now thou mayst take
+my place, comrade!" This terrific voice presently rose into the howl of
+a wild beast, and Aage felt the madman's tusks in his forehead; he
+struck desperately around him, and strove with all his might to free
+himself from the suffocating grasp of the monster, but in vain; and he
+was long compelled to combat and wrestle with him ere he succeeded in
+throwing him to the ground, and was even then still forced to struggle
+with the robber, whose howls were growing weaker and weaker, without,
+however, being able to free his neck from his convulsive grasp. At last
+the clutching arms loosened from round his neck, and his frantic
+adversary lay silent and apparently dead, or in a swoon, under his
+knee.
+
+"The Lord have mercy on his sinful soul," sighed Aage, rising half
+breathless. His opponent now made a sudden movement as if to rise, but
+fell back, with a rattling in his throat; and Aage perceived, for the
+first time, that he was in all probability wading in the blood of the
+wounded murderer. He hastened on with rapid strides. Once or twice he
+stopped out of breath, and fancied he again heard the murderer stealing
+after him. At last he hit against something hard, and discovered by
+feeling that it was a large door of metal. He shook it with all his
+might, but it appeared to be locked on the other side, and immoveable.
+He thundered at it with his iron-shod heels, and each stroke rung
+hollow through the vault. After the lapse of some time a little shutter
+opened in the door, and the light of a dark lantern, and a swarthy
+warrior-like visage, appeared. "Who is there? and from whom?" asked the
+man-at-arms.
+
+"No one, from no one," answered Aage, suddenly calling to mind the
+mysterious expression in the private letter.
+
+"Right! thou knowest the watchword," was the answer; "and one
+only?--without arms?"
+
+"As thou seest--but open quick!--there is no time to lose."
+
+"Come, give time! The guard must first know of it." The shutter closed
+again, and Aage heard the sound of a horn, which was answered at some
+distance: soon after the iron door opened, and a strong-built
+steel-clad warrior stepped out and advanced towards him into the
+passage, with a light in the one hand and a drawn sword in the other.
+He eyed the disguised Drost from head to foot, by the light of the
+lantern, and started back a couple of paces. "Faugh! how thou look'st,
+thou bloodhound!" he said, with disgust. "'Tis hard for an honest
+fellow to let such guests in, when the king himself must stand
+without."
+
+"I have had a hard joust on the road, brave countryman." said Aage;
+"but haste thee!"
+
+"Come, come; give time, thou scoundrel! The bandage over thy eyes
+first."
+
+"What! bandage! and foul words to me!"
+
+"Of course, loggerhead! Thou mightest be a spy and traitor, as thou art
+a bloodhound and accursed robber; thou lookest fit for all such trades.
+The bandage over the eyes instantly, thou hound! or I kick thee back
+into thy fox-hole."
+
+It was with difficulty that Aage subdued his ire, and recollected that
+he was not Drost here, nor able to justify himself; he bore this rough
+usage in silence, allowed his eyes to be bandaged, and was thus led
+through the iron gate. He heard it bolted and barred after him. Soon
+afterwards he heard the sound of chains and pullies, as if a drawbridge
+was being lowered, and he perceived he was led upon a swinging bridge.
+
+"Go straight forward, scoundrel! or thou fallest into the moat,"
+muttered his companion close behind him. A cold shudder came over him;
+but he was silent, and went straight onward.
+
+"Ay, truly thou hast had better luck than I wished thee," it was
+muttered behind him; "but thou hast another bridge to cross; that is
+ten times worse; here thou art quit of _me_."
+
+Aage heard his warlike companion re-cross the bridge, which was
+immediately afterwards raised. He conjectured that he was within the
+outermost rampart of the castle, towards the north-west, which lay
+between the sea-tower and the circular wall, for he had paid close
+attention to the direction in which he had proceeded. He had now two
+new companions, who were as little sparing as the former in
+contemptuous expressions respecting his cut-throat appearance and
+supposed marauding trade. Aage suffered himself to be led onward by
+them without answering a word to their threats and scoffs, which
+secretly rejoiced him, as a token of their dispositions and honourable
+feelings. At last a horn was again sounded; it was answered as before
+at some distance. A drawbridge was again lowered, and Aage perceived he
+was directly under the castle wall; for he heard a noise above his head
+like the moving of balista and other warlike machines. He felt an
+unfriendly poke in the back, and stood as before on a rocking-bridge.
+
+"Straight on, fellow, or thou fallest into the moat!" said a warning
+voice behind him. "Goest thou a hair's breadth aside thou art a dead
+man!" He commended his soul to God, and went on. His guides allowed him
+to proceed alone for some time, and appeared to rejoice over his deadly
+peril. Meanwhile, as he perceived the rocking under his feet had
+ceased, he knew they had passed over the inner castle moat, and were
+within the circular wall. At last he was led up a staircase; but the
+bandage was not yet removed from his eyes. It was not till he had been
+led in many circuitous directions, as if through a labyrinth of
+passages and stairs, that he was freed from the bandage over his eyes,
+and found himself in an apartment of the castle which was not unknown
+to him, and where he was ordered to await the commandant.
+
+It was still night. One of the men-at-arms who had last followed him
+remained standing at the door with a lantern and a drawn sword, and
+apparently watching him with fear and abhorrence.
+
+"Who dost thou take me for?" asked Aage.
+
+"For one of the junker's secret emissaries," was the answer. "Surely,
+good tidings thou bringest not, since thou comest pale and bloody from
+the secret passage. Hark! now they are taking the burning stones from
+the furnace. Kallundborg town will presently be in flames."
+
+"The Lord forbid!" cried Aage: "call the commandant instantly! I have
+strict prohibition from the junker."
+
+"Thou lookest not as if thou hadst," said the man, starting.--"I will
+run then. Thou wilt do no mischief meanwhile?" The man hastily
+departed, and took the lantern with him. Aage looked out at the window,
+and saw with alarm that burning stones were carried on gridirons across
+the yard to the balista on the walls.
+
+"Stop, fellows!" said a rough voice in the castle yard. "There is a
+protest from the junker: not a shot must be fired as yet."
+
+"A noble fellow at heart, after all!" said Aage to himself, believing
+he had heard the commandant's voice. The door opened soon afterwards; a
+tall warrior, with a stern grave countenance, and armed from head to
+foot, entered the apartment with a light in his hand. When he beheld
+Aage's blood-stained face and figure he retreated a step, and placed
+the light on the table, while he hastily laid his hand on his large
+battle sword. "What fellow art thou?" he asked, in a stern and rough
+voice. "Doth the junker send pale corpses to plague me? Answer, fellow?
+Who art thou? Tell me thy watchwords, or I cut thee down on the spot!"
+
+"No one, from no one," answered Aage; and the commandant took his hand
+from the hilt of his sword.
+
+"Speak, thou messenger of ill! If thou bringest me a prohibition from
+the junker, it is, of course, against mercy and delay? Is the town to
+burn? Is the Franciscan monastery first to be fired? There sleeps the
+king to-night."
+
+"The town is to be spared," answered Aage. "The castle is to be opened
+to the king at sunrise--the papers are to be given up, and the door of
+the pit nailed fast."
+
+"Dost thou rave, fellow?" cried the commandant, in amazement. "Darest
+_thou_ speak what _I_ hardly dare think? Would the junker recall by thy
+mouth that which he commanded me with his own, on pain of death? Who
+then is to be punished for all that hath here been done, and stand in
+the gap between us and the king's anger?"
+
+"You should fly the king's as well as the junker's wrath, and carry
+your secret and your knowledge of a weighty transaction with you into
+exile."
+
+"And stand branded a perjurer and traitor before all the world? No,
+fellow! were that even the junker's command, I obey it not. What I have
+sworn I must keep; but the responsibility is the junker's. I have sold
+him my life--but my honour, as a warrior, is my own. Show me black and
+white for what thou sayest, or I will cause thee to be hanged as a spy
+and traitor!"
+
+"Now, in the Lord's name!" said Aage, as he suddenly threw off the
+robber's cap and dress, and stood in his well-known knightly attire
+before the commandant, "I cannot, I will not deceive a man of honour
+like you. I am Drost Aage; I announce to you the will of my liege and
+sovereign, not that of the junker; you may now deal with me as you can
+answer to God and your own conscience: but if the royal house and your
+fatherland be dearer to you than your own pride and an imaginary
+fealty, you will follow my counsel, and make the great sacrifice I ask
+of you."
+
+"Sir Drost!" answered the commandant, bowing with haughty coldness;
+"you have ventured on a daring game. You are now my prisoner; how I
+shall act depends not on me. Oaths and vows are more binding than man's
+pleasure and man's will. I am an old-fashioned warrior, do you
+see--Your subtle state policy and artificial virtues I understand
+not--the law I acknowledge says, obey that which is commanded thee by
+thy lawful superior, and let him who commanded it answer for the
+consequences."
+
+"But when you see the most destructive, the most fearful consequences
+before your eyes; when your superior hath broken his oath of fealty,
+and abused his rights----"
+
+"That concerns not me. I keep steady to him to whom I swore allegiance;
+but _he_ must answer for what is done here, be it good or evil."
+
+"But when you swore an ungodly oath, and fealty to a rebel?"
+
+"Then must I keep the oath I swore to him, though, by way of thanks, he
+should cause me to be hung for it, or go to hell. There is no choice
+here: had I even entered the devil's service, Sir Drost, I must endure
+to the end, however fearful that end may be!"
+
+"Your pride blinds your eyes to truth and justice, noble sir!"
+exclaimed Aage gazing on the tall steel-clad chieftain with a species
+of admiration; "but hear me, I conjure you by the living Lord!"
+
+"You must excuse me. Sir Drost!" interrupted the chief, with cold
+calmness. "My time is short, I have perhaps not many hours to live; I
+expect thanks neither from the king nor the junker, and perhaps but
+little honour on this side the prison and the grave; but all things
+according to order. You are now going to the tower, and I to the
+battlement--to-morrow you perhaps will sit at the king's right hand,
+while I lie on the wheel: but so long as we are at our posts, each must
+do his duty, and, as I said, all things according to order." So saying,
+he stamped on the floor, and three men-at-arms entered.
+
+"Take this knight instantly to the prison tower"--ordered the
+commandant, nodding to the two nearest him.
+
+"And thou, Bent!" he said, addressing himself to the third, "let the
+stones be heated again: it was a false protest--off with thee!"
+
+The two men instantly seized Aage, and led him towards a secret door,
+which they opened in the wall. Aage turned round once more, and called
+to the chief, in the highest state of anxiety and alarm. "Think upon
+your immortal soul, in what you do! remember, you should obey God
+rather than sinful men." More he could not say, for the private door
+was closed behind him.
+
+The third man-at-arms still lingered, as if he expected the stern
+command he had received would be recalled; but the imperturbable chief
+glanced menacingly at him. "The stones are to be heated, I tell thee.
+Art thou deaf, fellow? Off with thee! Obedience or death, while I
+command here!"
+
+The man-at-arms turned quickly round, and departed gloomy and silent
+through the door, beside which he stood.
+
+The commandant strode hastily once or twice up and down the floor, with
+his hand upon his broad forehead. At last he stopped at a prie-dieu,
+and bent his knee, while his eye rested on the open prayer book. "Ye
+servants," he muttered, and folded his hands, "obey your masters
+according to the flesh, in _all_ things;" he then rose, signed a cross
+over his broad steel-clad breast, and went in silence and with hasty
+steps out of the door.
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAP. III.
+
+
+It was near daybreak. The alarm and anxiety had ceased, with which the
+inhabitants of Kallundborg had seen the night draw on. The peace and
+stillness which had prevailed the whole night seemed to have lulled the
+burghers, as well as the men-at-arms, into security. The lights were
+extinguished in most of the houses. The men-at-arms nodded over the
+expiring watch fires, and reposed on their mantles, in quiet groups,
+while some paced up and down on guard, beside the piled-up lances. Even
+the gay and vigilant Count Henrik was weary of the strained attention
+which he now deemed unnecessary: he had sat down to rest, under an
+image of the Madonna, without the Franciscan monastery, where a light
+was always burning. He had lately inspected the sentries, and found
+every thing in good order. He felt wearied, but kept off sleep, and his
+eyes open, while his gaze dwelt on the waning and half-hidden stars.
+His soul dreamed of warlike honours and proud victories, by the side of
+the Danish monarch, and of the admiration of the ladies of Mecklenborg
+when he should return with merited laurels and tokens of royal favour
+to his fatherland. While engaged in these reveries, which led him
+through half a life in a few minutes, he was suddenly disturbed by the
+working of the balista, and a fearful alarm of fire from the monastery.
+He started up, and beheld, with dismay, that burning stones were flying
+from the loopholes and walls of the castle, in different directions,
+and a high flame shot up from the storehouse of the monastery. In an
+instant he was actively exerting himself in the rescue of the town and
+monastery. Engines for extinguishing the flames were every where at
+hand. There was a fearful tumult in the town; but the alarm was however
+greater than the misfortune seemed likely to prove. Some single houses,
+it is true, were fired; but the greater part were protected by the
+snow, although the roofs were of straw. Many glowing stones from the
+balista missed their mark, many cooled ere they fell. The storehouse of
+the monastery instantly caught fire: it was necessary to sacrifice it,
+and partly to pull it down; but not a single stone fell on the
+principal building, nor on the guest-house, where the king had
+established himself.
+
+Meanwhile the king was instantly astir; none were more zealous and
+active than he and Count Henrik; they rode constantly through the
+streets, and were always first on the spot where any house was fired.
+
+The king was highly exasperated--he often cast a glance of menace at
+the castle. He halted without the burning monastery, by the count's
+side, just as another discharge from the balista took place, and a
+large burning stone fell down between their horses, and rolled hissing
+into the snow.
+
+"My liege!" exclaimed Count Henrik, "the burghers may put out the
+flames, but we can do more; let us sally forth and storm instantly."
+
+"Not yet," answered the king, shaking his head. "Look," he continued,
+pointing to the flame-lit copper roof of the principal building of the
+monastery; "when the sun stands highest, and the tower shadow falls
+yonder, then will it be time; then will my patience have reached its
+limits--its uttermost bounds."
+
+As soon as it was daylight the firing from the balista through the
+loopholes, ceased; but the parapets upon the outer wall were observed
+to be filled with men-at-arms. The towers of the wall were also
+perceived to be strongly garrisoned, and a numerous array of lances and
+battle-axes glittered over the battlements in the grey dawn of morning.
+The wall before the gate in particular was strongly manned, as well as
+the tower above the gate, where they seemed most to apprehend an
+attack. The great iron portcullis between the gate and the outward wall
+was drawn up by strong iron rings. There was great alarm and tumult at
+the castle and its garrison: a desperate storm and revenge for the
+night's disturbance was apparently apprehended. The fire meanwhile had
+been put out, as well in the monastery as in the town. The pious
+Franciscans rang to mattins, as usual, and the king did not neglect to
+share in their devotion.
+
+"But--what is become of Aage?--Where is the Drost?" he asked Count
+Henrik, as he again vaulted on his horse, without the church of the
+monastery, in order to inspect the hastily prepared storming machines
+with his general. "I saw him not the whole night, nor even just
+now at mattins; it is not his wont, however, to sleep when I watch or
+pray--least of all when danger is impending."
+
+"I have not seen him since midnight," answered Count Henrik,
+endeavouring to hide his embarrassment and uneasiness; "After our
+adventure beside the sea-tower, I saw him last by yonder watch-fire,"
+added the count, assuming a gay air. "It was a fine night; all around
+was so still and peaceful. He must have got love fancies or some kind
+of visionary notions into his head. He went towards the tower, without
+desiring my company, and bade me not expect him before noon."
+
+"Strange!" said the king, "Aage upon a light love adventure, and at
+this time! It cannot be. Humph! what became of the spy you captured?
+Hath he been examined? Hath he confessed?"
+
+"He hath disappeared, my liege! 'tis a strange and almost
+incomprehensible tale. I was myself at the sea-tower, two hours after
+midnight, the man-at-arms was dead, but the devil had carried off his
+murderer: that, they swore roundly, was the fact. He had lain bound in
+the corpse-chamber of the drowned; no egress was possible; at midnight
+he was heard to cry and howl, that the devil was carrying him off. No
+one dared to enter the chamber, and when I came neither robber or Drost
+was to be seen."
+
+"How! the Drost!" interrupted the king; "what hath all this to do with
+Aage? He lay not in the chamber with the murderer."
+
+"True--excuse me, your grace," answered Count Henrik, clearing
+his throat. "I speak at random, I perceive: that comes from the
+night-watch."
+
+"Truly, count! we must be broad awake to-day, especially since Aage is
+not here," answered the king hastily, and rode down towards the tower.
+"I will find out what is meant by that devil's story."
+
+Count Henrik followed the king. The report of the disappearance of the
+bound murderer, had already collected a crowd of curious persons, who
+crossed themselves on hearing the terrific tale, which they repeated
+one to another, with still more marvellous and more terrible
+circumstances. Place was respectfully made for the king, who heard with
+wonder from the guard the same tale as that current in the crowd, with
+the alarming addition, that the Drost had entered at midnight into the
+chamber of the raving murderer, and that all traces of him had likewise
+disappeared. Various opinions were however entertained of the affair,
+and some thought it was not the Drost, but the devil, who, in the
+Drost's form, had entered the chamber of the dying murderer, to carry
+him off in person.
+
+"Tush!" said the king, "lead me to that accursed corpse-chamber! There
+must be some trick in this." He hastily entered the murky stone
+chamber, and looked around it on all sides with anxious attention.
+There was no furniture except the bench appropriated to the bodies of
+the drowned, which was streaked with blood, and on which hung some rent
+and half-decayed rope. From the high iron grating in the wall, which
+was hardly large enough to admit a sparrow, fell a faint light, which
+glimmered on a plumed hat lying in a corner. "What see I here?"
+exclaimed the king in astonishment. "The Drost's hat and plume;
+and there is his green mantle also. Plundered, murdered, great
+God!--Yet no! a robber would surely have made off with the booty. The
+captured murderer was certainly sorely wounded?"
+
+"To the death of the body, most gracious liege, according to the
+surgeon's opinion," answered an aged monk, who, with a curious crowd of
+the lower class, had thronged together with the men-at-arms, into the
+tower after the king. "Ah, yes," continued the solemn Franciscan, in a
+tone of devout exhortation, "it was a fearful end. Here we see
+manifestly how the ungodly are punished. This blood crieth not unto
+heaven, like the innocent Abel's, but it crieth unto hardened sinners
+upon earth, from the road to the bottomless pit, that they may behold
+the traces of the damned with fear and trembling. My pious hearers, men
+may now-a-days delay _temporal_ death, by means of surgeons and
+apothecaries, with St. Cosmo's and St. Damian's help; but _eternal_
+death they never can: when the term is out, lo! then cometh he who hath
+the bond, and fetches that which is his own, without respect of
+persons. Here hath been given a sign, to the terror and warning of many
+in our ungodly time: Sancta Maria! ora pronobis!"
+
+"It is thou then, monk, who puttest those vagaries into the people's
+head?" interrupted the king at last, with impetuous impatience.
+"Believest thou, in truth, that the Evil One hath carried off yon
+murderer, both body and soul?"
+
+"St. Franciscus preserve me from doubting it!" answered the monk,
+crossing himself. "He who can carry off the souls of the ungodly can
+doubtless annihilate their sinful bodies. Lo! he hath but left these
+blood-drops behind, as a witness of the power which is given him, and
+also, though _he_ willed it not, to the honour of the all-righteous
+Judge. The truth is so manifest in our sight, it were blindness and
+heretical presumption to doubt."
+
+"And, my Drost, my faithful Aage, believest thou the same of him?"
+
+"Be not wroth, my liege?" answered the Franciscan with frankness, and
+laying his meagre hand on his breast, "my conscience forbids me to
+witness falsely on the brink of the grave, to please or flatter the
+great and mighty, or to conceal the wondrous things which have taken
+place in our sight, for the conversion of hardened sinners, with fear
+and trembling. The noble Drost hath also disappeared in an
+incomprehensible manner, and seeing that we know he had fallen under
+the awful ban of the church, and was given over by our most venerable
+archbishop to the destruction of the flesh, and the power of the great
+enemy of souls!"
+
+"Silence, presumptuous monk! thou knowest not what thou sayest!"
+exclaimed the king, in the greatest wrath, darting a lightning glance
+at the pale trembling monk; "let the prince of darkness take that which
+is his! I will not quarrel either with him or thee for that; but this I
+know, no devil shall injure a hair of my faithful Drost Aage's head,
+whether he be dead or alive. There must have been a murder here, a foul
+misdeed," he continued, "a shameless treachery. So help me God, and all
+the holy men, it shall be discovered, and sternly avenged! Hence, monk!
+hie thee to thy cell, and pray the Lord to enlighten thy understanding.
+Thy intentions are good--it were sin to be wroth with thee. Go hence,
+good people; ye stand in our way. Hither, my true men; the floor must
+be broken up; the tower must be pulled down. If the Drost be not found,
+one stone shall not remain upon another."
+
+At the king's stern command the monk and all the idle spectators
+departed. The spearmen came with spears and boat-hooks, and whatever
+was at hand, and began to break up the stone floor. It was not long ere
+they discovered the loose stone in the corner by the little iron
+trap-door, which was hardly discernible in the faint glimmer of
+daylight from the grating. "Look, look!" was the cry; "a trap-door! a
+pitfall!"
+
+"Ha! the murderer's pit! Here we have it!" exclaimed the king. "Torches
+here, quick! I will go below, myself.
+
+"Let that be my business, my liege," said Count Henrik. "Here is
+assuredly the secret entrance to the castle," he added in a low voice;
+"perhaps it might be used for our attack."
+
+"No, Count! a king's path lies not through a fox's den"--interrupted
+the king, proudly: "bring me but my faithful Aage!"
+
+Torches were quickly brought, and the passage was searched. The king
+however suffered himself to be withheld from descending. Count Henrik
+hasted forward with eagerness and curiosity, holding a torch in his
+hand, and accompanied by three men-at-arms. The torches were often
+nearly extinguished by the subterranean air; they found however and
+recognised the robber's body, which was immediately borne off by two of
+the men, while Count Henrik and the third pursued the search. At last
+they reached the great iron gate, which they vainly attempted to burst
+open. Within, the sounding of horns and the clash of numerous weapons
+were heard, and Count Henrik considered it advisable to hasten back.
+
+The king had meanwhile obtained information of every circumstance
+respecting the Drost's nocturnal visit to the tower, and was in some
+degree tranquillised by the sight of the robber's body, when Count
+Henrik returned and acquainted him with what he had discovered. "The
+daring Drost is assuredly alive, if not quite in safety, my liege,"
+said the Count, as he ascended from the secret passage, quite spent and
+breathless. "As the murderer was found dead and alone, he cannot have
+mastered the brave Drost; but it is plain they have had a hard struggle
+together. Here is the Drost's sword; it was found close to the body.
+There is actually a secret passage to the castle; but it is strongly
+guarded, and we were near falling into the enemy's hand."
+
+"Well, now we know where Aage is," said the king; "he meant well; but
+'tis an arch trick he hath played us. Ere the sun goes down he shall be
+free, by God's assistance," he added. "Woe to the traitors, should they
+injure a hair of his head!"
+
+The king left the tower, and the preparations for storming were
+continued with increased zeal.
+
+Towards noon the king, mounted on his white steed, stationed himself
+without the eastern rampart of the castle: he was stern and silent. He
+often looked with uneasy expectation and rising indignation towards the
+gate of the town, where, in a few moments, his brother the junker would
+appear, did he purpose taking any measures to effect a reconciliation.
+Some horsemen, who were placed on the look-out on the hill by St.
+George's hospital, returned at the time appointed, at full gallop, and
+announced that the expected party was not to be seen on the road.
+
+"Now then, in the name of the righteous God," exclaimed the king in a
+low voice, but greatly incensed, "I have no longer a brother; the
+measure is full--Let them sound to storm, Count Henrik; let the
+trumpets thunder forth my wrath!"
+
+Hardly was the command uttered ere the trumpets sounded to storm. The
+sun stood highest in the heaven, and the tower shadow fell upon the
+roof of the monastery. The whole force was instantly in activity. The
+attack was made according to the plan concerted with the Drost, from
+three sides at once; but on two sides feignedly, in order to mislead
+the enemy, while the principal assault, in which the whole force of the
+troop combined by degrees, was directed against the eastern wall, by
+the tower gate.
+
+The outermost drawbridge was speedily pulled down by the boat-hooks of
+the brave boatmen and seamen. With the aid of all the fire ladders
+belonging to the town, the outer wall was quickly mounted. No leader
+was here present, and the junker's Zealand peasants, as well as the
+Samsoeers, fought unwillingly against their countrymen. A brave
+resistance was indeed made against the German Count Henrik, but
+wherever the king himself appeared, the weapons dropped from the hands
+of the Danish defenders of the wall, while they fell at his feet and
+implored mercy. The outer wall came thus speedily into the power of the
+king, who was himself one of the first who mounted it; but the most
+vigorous defence was made from the tower, over the fortified gate.
+Within was heard a powerful voice of command, and from the loopholes
+and battlements rained a thick shower of stones and javelins. Count
+Henrik saw the danger, and hastened to form a roof of shields for the
+king's protection, while it was vainly attempted to tear down the great
+portcullis which served as a sort of raised iron drawbridge over the
+moat, between the outer wall and the gate.
+
+"Fire the gate!" commanded the king, with wrathful impetuosity.
+
+"Fire! fire, here!" was echoed from mouth to mouth, and crowds soon
+flocked from the town, with torches of pitch, with fire and splintered
+tar-barrels, which they threw in over the portcullis. The gate and the
+tower were soon shrouded in smoke and flame, amid the shouts of the
+besiegers.
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAP. IV.
+
+
+During this eager and hazardous attack, on the eastern side of the
+castle, the captive Drost Aage stood before the iron-grated loophole in
+the square upper tower, which rose from the middle of the principal
+western wing of the castle. Far below, perpendicularly from the prison
+grating, the great wooden staircase projected into the castle court,
+from which, through a balcony, was the entrance into the vestibule of
+the upper story. The prison tower was separated from the besieged gate
+by the two principal wings to the north and south of the circular
+court, by the ladies' apartment, and the knights' hall. From his high
+prison grating Aage was thus enabled to witness the combat and
+strenuous efforts, as well of the assailants as of the besieged. He had
+succeeded in climbing up into the recess in the wall within the
+grating, whence he looked out with steadfast gaze and throbbing heart
+over the castle yard towards the tower gate. Here he knew the principal
+attack was to be made. He had for some time heard the din of the fight,
+and perceived how all the forces combined to assault and defend this
+one point. He now beheld the dense pillar of smoke rising without the
+gate, and observed at the same time, through the loopholes of the
+tower, that the garrison were putting their largest machines of defence
+in motion in order to crush the besiegers with stones and beams, ere
+they could succeed in firing the gate. "Must I stand passive here,
+while the king is in battle and danger?" exclaimed Aage, as he shook
+the iron gate in wrath. He had nearly fallen down backwards into his
+prison, as a fragment of the ancient wall loosened and fell in before
+him, together with a part of the grating. "A hint!" he exclaimed in
+surprise; "thanks be to thee, my good angel! thou art, then, more
+powerful than the Evil One." He instantly conceived the design of
+availing himself of this accident to make a venturous flight from the
+tower, in the hope of hastening to the assistance of the besiegers, and
+perhaps of opening the gate to them. He bound his shoulder scarf to
+that part of the grating which remained firm, and made preparations for
+letting himself down to a lower shelf of the tower wall; but at this
+moment he heard a voice, which constrained him to draw back, and filled
+him with dismay. He had leaned his head against a pillar of the tower,
+which being raised the whole height of the building conducted the sound
+to his ear from an unfathomable depth. Directly under him, where the
+high wooden staircase projected, was a deep vault with a well,
+concealed under the uppermost landing, which led through the balcony to
+the great vestibule of the castle. This vault, with its deep well, was,
+in cases of emergency, the last defence of the castle, and might prove
+a frightful grave for every besieger who was not aware of the
+contrivance, as in the landing of the stairs was a concealed trap-door,
+which could suddenly be let down from within to plunge the entering foe
+and the supposed victor into the abyss. This contrivance for the
+defence of the castle had been recently planned by the junker: neither
+the king nor the Drost knew of it; and as a secret and extreme defence,
+it had even been kept concealed from most of the inmates of the castle.
+The existence of such a stratagem had been already suspected by Aage,
+from the contents of the private letter he had seized and destroyed;
+but the distant voice which reached his ear from beneath now flashed
+conviction like lightning across his mind.
+
+"There shalt thou stand!" sounded the stern voice of the commandant, in
+a low and hollow tone. "If the gate falls, and they throng in hither,
+then mark--the moment thou hearest a footstep on the stair, let down
+the door!"
+
+A faint voice replied; but Aage heard not the answer.
+
+"Whatever blood flows here comes on the junker's head!" said the
+commandant's voice again; "he must answer for it here and yonder--We
+are but the instruments of death in his hand--Enquire not! think not!
+be silent and obey or thou art perjured and damned eternally!"
+
+Aage stood as if petrified with terror: from some single words which
+were added, the whole fearful contrivance became clear to him: even the
+voice of the stern chief appeared to him to tremble while issuing the
+terrible mandate.
+
+All was again hushed in the hidden abyss, while the clash of arms and
+the din of battle at the castle gate increased, and overpowered every
+other sound. A high flame presently shot up through the pillar of smoke
+above the gate, and a shout of dismay was heard from the burning tower,
+the defenders of which were now forced to fly to escape perishing in
+the flames. Without resounded the victorious shouts of the besiegers,
+while the rattling of iron chains, and a hollow clanging noise
+announced that the outer portcullis between the wall and the gate was
+pulled down; to this a still louder crash succeeded; the besiegers
+burst the burning gate.
+
+An overwhelming dread seized the listening captive: almost without
+knowing on what he was about to venture, he swung himself out of the
+loosened prison grating, and let himself down by his shoulder scarf so
+low towards the tower wall that he was able to take his stand on a
+projecting buttress; but hardly had he succeeded in doing this, ere
+another fragment of the prison wall loosened, together with the iron
+grating to which his scarf was bound; it flew past his head and dashed
+against the iron railing of the balcony below, where his scarf remained
+hanging. He himself lost his balance, and was forced to let go his
+hold; but he snatched involuntarily, as if with the instinct of
+self-preservation, at the projecting buttress on which his foot had
+just rested, and thus continued to cling, while he succeeded in resting
+one foot on the corner of the sloping porch above the staircase
+entrance. He stood thus directly over the stair, yet still at such a
+height above it as to involve the certainty of sustaining a serious
+injury in case of falling. He had ascertained that the trap-door of the
+well was immediately under his feet, and that the first footstep upon
+it would be the signal for its falling, and opening its deep and
+certain grave. It was hardly possible for Aage to continue his hold
+long in this hanging position. Amid the universal tumult no one
+perceived him. He now heard the crash caused by the bursting of the
+gates, and the victorious shout, "The castle is won! Long live young
+king Eric!" The king had already entered the castle as a victor through
+the flaming gate. Aage could not turn his head round and look down into
+the yard without losing his balance; but he heard, and instantly
+recognised the king's and Count Henrik's voices far below him.
+
+"Beware, my liege! here is a pitfall!" he shouted with all his might;
+but his voice was too faint; he was exhausted by his desperate
+exertions, and no one appeared to hear him amid the universal clashing
+of weapons, and the noisy shouts of victory. He was, besides, hidden by
+the pillar of the tower from those who were nearest to the upper story
+of the building. "Farewell, sweet Margaretha! farewell, love and life!"
+he gasped; "I must below." His fall and death, at this moment, appeared
+to be the only means of saving the king's life. "Long live my king!" he
+shouted, and let go his hold of the buttress. All seemed to grow dark
+before him; he fancied he was falling an unfathomable depth; but beyond
+this he was unconscious of what was passing around him.
+
+"Aage, Aage's voice!" cried the king, who, excited by the fight and the
+storm, stood at the head of his victorious troop of knights at the foot
+of the high wooden staircase. He had heard Aage's voice, but where he
+knew not; some of the furthest men-at-arms had seen him fall down from
+the porch on the landing of the stairs, but the general noise and
+tumult overpowered their shouts of alarm. The king had already set his
+foot on the first step of the stair.
+
+"Back, my liege! treachery!" shouted Count Henrik suddenly. "Yonder
+hangs the Drost's shoulder scarf; there is certainly a pitfall here."
+
+The long red scarf hung just above their heads from the iron railing of
+the balcony.
+
+"As I live, my faithful Aage; I heard him bemoan himself above there,"
+said the king eagerly, without heeding the warning, and hastened up the
+stair; but Count Henrik rushed after him and seized his arm ere he
+reached the uppermost landing. They both stopped as in amazement, and
+at the same moment uttered a cry of horror on seeing the unhappy Drost
+lie deadly pale and bleeding at the top of the staircase.
+
+"Dead! dead!" cried the king, and was hastening up to him; but Count
+Henrik still detained him, while he himself sprang forward, and tramped
+on every step of the hollow stair. Aage opened his eyes, and recognised
+the king. "Back from the grave, my liege!" he called with a faint
+voice, as he rolled himself forward to the king's feet, and clasped his
+knees. "Aage! great Heavens! what is this?" exclaimed the king, and
+raised him in his arms. At the same instant the door of the hall of the
+upper story opened, and a tall, steel-clad knight, disarmed, and with
+an uncovered and hoary head, stepped across the balcony, and took his
+stand on the uppermost landing of the stair. "You stand beside a grave,
+King Eric!" he said in a terrific voice; "I had prepared it for you;
+but a higher power presides here; now shall it open, and swallow me up
+before your eyes." He stamped with all his might on the rocking and
+creaking trap-door under his feet. "Ha! why tarriest thou, slave?" he
+shouted in a voice of thunder. "Away with the bolt; draw it quick."
+
+"No, no, in the name of a merciful Heaven!" said a beseeching voice
+from the castle cellar far beneath him; "I cannot; I would sooner be
+perjured and eternally damned."
+
+"What is all this?" asked the king in the greatest amazement. "Doth
+that man rave? Who is he?"
+
+"The commandant of the castle, my liege," answered Count Henrik, who
+stood with his drawn sword before the king, and with the one foot on
+the trap-door.
+
+"Bind that madman," commanded the king to the knights nearest him,
+without withdrawing his gaze from the signs of returning life in Aage's
+face. He bore him himself in his arms, with Count Henrik's assistance,
+over the creaking trap-door, and over the balcony, into the upper hall.
+As soon as Count Henrik had seen the Drost and the king in safety he
+hastened back to the shouting men-at-arms, to secure and guard all the
+entrances, and prevent any disorder from the disarming of the garrison.
+It was not till the king saw that Aage's consciousness was returning,
+and that his limbs, however bruised, still were not seriously injured,
+that he looked towards the knights who surrounded him, and assisted in
+tending the Drost. At the door of the antechamber stood the tall
+commandant of the castle, with his arms tied behind his back, between
+two halberdiers; he gazed before him, mute and pale, as a marble
+statue. "Had I _such_ a master to die for!" he muttered in a deep and
+hardly audible voice, and a tear rolled down between the furrows of the
+aged warrior's haughty and unmoved countenance.
+
+Count Henrik soon re-entered the hall with hasty steps. "My liege," he
+said aloud, "the margrave is without the gate; the highborn junker is
+with him. They entreat your grace to withhold your stern sentence and
+wrath, and hear what the prince hath to say in his defence."
+
+"Let him step hither instantly," commanded the king, and the sternness
+of his countenance seemed mingled with profound sorrow. "The hour of
+judgment is come," he added; "but I condemn no one unheard."
+
+Count Henrik bowed in silence and departed. A deathlike stillness
+prevailed in the chamber. Drost Aage reposed, pale and bleeding, on a
+bench, with his head leaning on the king's breast, and appeared as yet
+not to have fully recovered his consciousness after his shattering and
+stunning fall. His temples had been chafed with wine; at a signal from
+the king he was carried into the ladies' apartment, that he might
+repose in quiet, and be more carefully tended. As he was borne off the
+king pressed his feeble hand, and looked on him with affection and
+sadness. Aage gazed fixedly and anxiously upon the king. "Remember you
+are to pass sentence on a brother," he whispered in a faint voice. He
+would have said more, but the king motioned to him to be silent, and
+turned from him as he hastily passed his hand over his high and glowing
+forehead.
+
+A deep stillness once more prevailed around. The king's knights had
+ranged themselves in solemn silence at his side: they yet stood with
+their drawn swords in their hands, and the halberdiers were stationed
+with their long spears by the door guarding the gloomy chief, who
+looked like one petrified. Footsteps were soon heard on the hollow
+stair, where the trap-door had already been secured. Count Henrik
+opened the door, and remained standing on the balcony. He bowed coldly
+as Junker Christopher and the Margrave of Brandenborg entered,
+followed by their knightly train. The margrave's wonted gaiety and
+light-heartedness had vanished. He seemed exhausted from violent
+exertion, and in an anxious and uneasy mood. When the tall Junker
+Christopher uncovered his black locks, which floated wild and tangled
+around his shoulders, and advanced towards the king, his feet appeared
+to totter, while, however, there was a cold and forced smile on his
+long, large-featured visage.
+
+"My royal brother hath visited me in a peculiar fashion," he said in a
+tone of bitterness, as he greeted Eric with a stiff and formal bow. "I
+lament that I was not informed of your gracious visit, that I might
+have received my royal liege in a fitting manner, and have prevented
+the senseless acts of my vassals as well as the deeds of violence, of
+which I perceive traces here."
+
+"I am wont, even when unannounced, to find the castles of my vassals
+and servants open as well to my ambassadors as to me," answered the
+king with stern vehemence. "The contumacy I have here met with is high
+treason; the gate of a fortress hath been shut against me in my own
+kingdom: where this happens, fief and goods are forfeited, be the
+criminal who he may! I perceive, also, that my life has been basely and
+treacherously sought after: it is a Judas act and miscreant deed; it
+stirs up my inmost soul;" he continued in a voice of emotion, and with
+a doubtful glance at the prince's sullen countenance. "It is bitter and
+dreadful to me to think that my own brother could have shared these
+crimes--So, however, it seems to mortal eyes; but if ye can justify
+yourself, Prince Christopher of Denmark, speak! and with a single word
+remove from my heart the heaviest weight that ever oppressed it! Are
+you guilty or not?"
+
+"Who accuses me?" exclaimed the junker haughtily, and with vehemence.
+"Who dares to mark me out for contumacy and treason? Where is my
+accuser? Where is my commandant? His is the responsibility for what
+hath happened. Where is he?"
+
+"Here!" said a powerful and hollow voice from the door of the apartment
+close behind him. It seemed as though the prince shrunk at the sound,
+while he turned and gazed on the aged warrior with a wild and haggard
+look.
+
+"Crush me, if you will, Prince Christopher," continued the chief; "I am
+prepared for death; my life is yours, but not my honour--Here stands
+your aged loyal servant, the only one who was true to you here at the
+castle. Therefore do I now stand bound as a miscreant and traitor; but
+I swear by the most high God, in the sight of the king and of Danish
+chivalry, I have but fulfilled my duty--I obeyed the command of that
+master to whom I swore fealty and obedience. No one can serve two
+masters; every one must account to his own. I have mine; but that he
+commanded, he must himself answer for."
+
+"Dost thou rave?" shouted the prince, foaming with rage. "Did I order
+thee to defend the castle against other than my foes?"
+
+"True, sir junker! against your foes," repeated the warrior, "whether
+they were great or small, whether they wore helmet or crown--that was
+your stern behest; and if you named not the king, assuredly it was him
+you meant, so help me St. George and the merciful God, in my last
+hour!"
+
+"Liar! calumniator! mad, presumptuous rebel and traitor!" shouted the
+prince, as if in a transport of rage, and rushing menacingly towards
+the bound commandant. "Darest thou thus to pervert my commands? Wouldst
+thou read in my soul, and make my thoughts traitors to my king? Nay,
+now I see it; I penetrate thy plan, traitor! Thou wouldst set strife
+and enmity between me and my royal brother! thou wouldst waken
+rebellion and civil war in the country--thou art a kinsman of Marsk
+Stig; thou art a secret friend of the outlawed regicides."
+
+The king started and gazed on the prisoner with a searching look; the
+proud chief seemed to have lost his self-possession; he stared upon the
+junker with fixed and strained eyes, but no word passed his lips.
+
+"See you, my liege, the traitor is struck dumb;" continued the junker,
+turning once more with a look of proud triumph to the prisoner. "Canst
+thou deny the traitor's blood in thy veins, wretch? Canst thou deny
+thou art a friend of the outlaws?"
+
+"I am proud of my birth," said the commandant, regaining his
+self-possession by a desperate effort. "My unfortunate friends I disown
+not either, even though they be outlawed and accursed in this world;
+but the charge you ground thereon, I deny and despise."
+
+"Take him to the prison tower, my men!" called the junker hastily in a
+proud authoritative tone; "I am his master and judge, by the laws of
+the country. The crime he would roll on his master's head, shall
+assuredly fall on his own, and crush him."
+
+Some knights of the prince's train had already approached the prisoner
+to lead him away; but they lingered, and cast a timid and inquiring
+look at the king.
+
+"Haste not!" ordered the king with vehemence; "so long as I am present
+myself, no one commands beside me."
+
+The junker's knights drew back respectfully at these words. The captive
+had raised his eyes towards the ceiling of the apartment, and seemed to
+be internally preparing himself for death.
+
+"You deny, then, all participation in what here hath happened. Junker
+Christopher?" continued the king in a thoughtful and gloomy mood, while
+his searching gaze still dwelt on the wild and passionate countenance
+of the junker. "I ask you not to swear by your salvation--With a
+brother's salvation I would not even redeem my crown or life; but I
+demand your knightly and princely word, in confirmation of your
+testimony. This chief's birth, and his friendship for my deadly foes, I
+ask not of: it is now question of the present rebellious and traitorous
+transaction. Can you confidently affirm, on your knightly and princely
+word, that your commandant hath in this matter acted according to his
+own arbitration, and against your order?"
+
+"Yes, by my knightly and princely honour!" cried the prince with a
+glowing and fierce countenance, and bit his lips in wrath.
+
+"Those words you will repent at the last judgment day, junker!" said
+the commandant in his ear with a deep and hollow voice, as if from the
+grave, and gazing on him with a deathlike stare.
+
+"Silence, mad liar!" interrupted the junker. "I will show you, my royal
+brother and liege," he continued in a raised voice, and turned from the
+thunder-stricken captive, "I will show you that I can maintain
+discipline in my castle--none shall go unpunished, who have dared to
+insult you in my name, and abuse the power you have entrusted to me by
+contumacy and treason--I demand instant justice and sentence on this
+criminal, according to the jurisdiction of the castle and law of the
+land."
+
+"I cannot deny you the power of judging and passing sentence upon your
+servants." answered the king. "Whatever may have been your commandant's
+transgression, he must answer for it! He shall instantly be brought
+before the castle tribunal, and be sentenced according to law; but if
+he be pronounced guilty in the absence of proof, and from the want of
+explanations, which can be known to none but yourself, it shall be left
+to you to award the sentence. Junker Christopher! if your conscience
+can answer for it before God and men!"
+
+"Well, then! he is doomed; he shall assuredly lie on the wheel ere the
+sun rise again," muttered the junker: "you have heard the king's
+command: obey! take the captive to the justice court!" He addressed
+these words with an authoritative air to his knights, and they
+instantly led off the prisoner, who cast a proud and contemptuous look
+at his master, and pointed menacingly towards heaven.
+
+The king had thrown himself into a chair, thoughtful and silent, with
+his hand before his brow; a severe conflict seemed passing in his
+inmost soul. He now rose up suddenly, and cast a stern and penetrating
+glance at his brother: "Pass sentence, and execute it on thy servant
+in my name, as thou wouldst be judged thyself in the sight of the
+all-knowing and righteous God!" he said in a low tone of admonition. "I
+invest thee, also, with my highest prerogative--that of mercy. If he
+_be_ mad--if his blood can be spared, without breach of law--by
+all the holy men! I ask it not in pledge of the truth of thy
+declaration. The word of honour of a knight and prince needs no bloody
+confirmation--There is my hand, brother Christopher," he added, and his
+voice trembled; "I will believe thee, whether thy servant be found
+innocent or guilty." The junker gave Eric his hand, in gloomy silence,
+and with an averted countenance; there was, for a moment, a general and
+anxious silence.
+
+"Let the musicians strike up. Sir Junker! now there is surely peace and
+good understanding again, my royal friends!" said Margrave Waldemar,
+hastily breaking silence, in his gay, volatile tone; "it rejoiceth me
+that I have contributed towards it, even though I have foundered my
+best horse in the cause: now we will forget the whole vexatious
+affair, and let the junker's good wine wash away all remains of
+misunderstanding."
+
+"You are right, Waldemar!" exclaimed Junker Christopher, with a gay
+mien, and looked boldly round the hall; "I ought not to forget I am
+host here, although my honoured guests have taken me somewhat by
+surprise." He then opened the door himself into the knights' hall, and
+besought the king to enter: he himself followed with the Margrave,
+Count Henrik, and the whole numerous train of knights.
+
+The king continued silent and thoughtful. He seemed to put a restraint
+on himself to conceal his mistrust of his brother. Margrave Waldemar
+was evidently desirous to cheer the king, and place the intercourse
+between the brothers on a more easy footing. The quarrel as yet was
+only but slightly accommodated; but Junker Christopher seemed carefully
+to shun all closer explanation; he merely ventured on a passing comment
+on the beleaguering of Holbek castle by the Drost, as if it was but a
+rumour which he had heard, and as if he trusted, at all events, it was
+only a precipitate act of the Drost and a misunderstanding of the will
+of his royal brother. He evaded the grave answer which hovered on the
+king's lips, and employed himself zealously and courteously in
+attending to the wants of his guests. The door of the large dining hall
+was presently thrown open, where a table of refreshments always stood
+ready for the junker and his followers, when they were on a visit at
+the castle. From the gallery, in the great hall above, sounded the
+joyous tones of hunting horns and trumpets, and Kallundborg castle,
+which lately rung with the clash of weapons and din of war, soon
+re-echoed with the ringing of goblets and the mirth of festivity.
+
+It was nearly evening ere the royal party were assembled at table. As
+soon as the junker had seated his guests, and a lively and easy
+conversation had in some degree commenced, he departed, with a hasty
+excuse, and remained absent above half an hour. He returned gloomy and
+pale, but appeared afterwards in high spirits, excited by the wine and
+the company at table. To the king's inquiry as to what had so long
+deprived his guests of his company, he answered in a low tone, "I have
+been attending the court of justice, my liege! I would not let the
+judges wait for my explanation; matters of life and death it is ever
+best to get out of hand, ere we come to the drinking table."
+
+The king became again silent and thoughtful, but the junker frequently
+drained his goblet, and Margrave Waldemar sought, by many a merry jest,
+to disperse the dark thoughts which frequently seemed to disturb the
+festivities in honour of a reconciliation; which, however, appeared
+rather to be forced than the effect of mutual good understanding.
+
+The king purposed not to pass the night it the castle, where he had met
+with such hostile reception; but as it grew dark and late it was
+difficult for him to reject his brother's repeated invitation, without
+again betraying a distrust he wished he could wholly drive from his
+mind. As the junker at last, with a cheerful air, once more earnestly
+urged his invitation, while he drained the last goblets of wine with
+the king, to a speedy and happy union with the lovely Princess
+Ingeborg, and to a brotherly understanding, the cloud on Eric's brow
+vanished, and the last remains of mistrust seemed to be banished from
+his kindly heart. He pressed his brother's hand warmly, and drained his
+cup to the bottom: "Well, Christopher! I remain," he continued, in a
+confidential tone and half aside. "All shall be forgotten as in old
+times, when the good Drost Peter settled our childish disputes, and our
+mother Agnes joined our hands together." The king now appeared
+perfectly happy and satisfied; Christopher often laughed loudly. This
+cheerful tone soon pervaded the whole assemblage.
+
+After the repast the king seated himself with his brother at a
+backgammon board; he only shook the dice, however, while he ordered the
+state of his faithful Aage to be inquired into, and waited in vain for
+a word of frankness and confidence from Christopher. The junker was
+especially courteous and attentive, but he still seemed desirous, by
+indifferent talk, to ward off all approaches to serious conversation.
+At this moment an officer of justice entered, and put a sheet of
+parchment into his hand: he became suddenly silent, and changed colour.
+The attendant hastily departed.
+
+"What was that? my brother!" asked the king. "The death doom of my
+presumptuous servant, according to the verdict of the court of justice
+of this castle, and to the law of the land," answered the junker,
+without looking at him; "will you confirm it? Upon life and death you
+yourself determine?"
+
+"As the friend and kinsman of the outlaws, he was doubtless my foe; but
+how guilty he is thou must know best," answered the king, with stern
+solemnity; "thou hast my authority for it: in my name to confirm the
+doom, or to pardon, as justice or moderation prompt thee. None save
+thou and the all-seeing God can know with certainty whether thy command
+could have been thus misinterpreted--If there be the least doubt,
+then----"
+
+"No, there is no doubt here," exclaimed the junker impetuously, with a
+dark and gloomy countenance, and a wild and frightful glance, as he
+rose from the backgammon table, and departed with hasty strides.
+
+The king looked long after him, with a serious and thoughtful gaze. He
+started up suddenly once or twice, and put his hand to his brow. "No!"
+he said, "it is impossible--I have his knightly and princely word of
+honour." The margrave now approached gaily and courteously, and took
+the vacant seat near the king at the table, where he soon succeeded in
+introducing a lively and amusing conversation.
+
+
+
+
+                                CHAP. V.
+
+
+The Drost had been brought from the ladies' apartment to a remote and
+quiet chamber, in the knights' story. Although he had sustained no
+serious injury in his heavy fall, he was, however, shattered in every
+limb, and unable to move. After a restorative bath, he had been carried
+to his couch and had fallen asleep; but the harrowing anxiety which he
+had endured so agitated his mind that it was impossible for him to
+sleep soundly. At one time he dreamed he was wrestling with corpses in
+dark graves, at another that he hovered over unfathomable abysses; but
+the idea of the king's danger, and the pitfall under the staircase,
+seemed to work most powerfully upon his imagination, and he frequently
+exclaimed in his disturbed slumber, "Beware, my liege! Now opens the
+grave under thy feet. Believe him not, believe him not, he is a
+traitor!"
+
+It was late in the evening. A lamp burned on the table in Aage's
+chamber, and an aged, withered crone sat by his bed, muttering
+constantly to herself with toothless gums and shaking head. The door
+presently opened, and the king entered the darkened chamber,
+accompanied by Count Henrik and Junker Christopher. The nurse instantly
+withdrew, half in alarm, and with oft-repeated curtsey, without,
+however, allowing herself to be interrupted in her mutterings, and
+unconscious monologue. Junker Christopher and Count Henrik remained
+standing at the entrance, where they conversed together in a low tone
+and at intervals, of the chase and their horses, and of the large
+antlers of the stag over the door, while the king approached the
+Drost's couch, and drew the lamp forward on the table that he might
+have a full view of his features. Aage appeared for a moment to be
+sleeping soundly; but as the king stood by his couch, and with
+sympathising sorrow bent over his handsome though pallid face, the
+Drost suddenly opened his eyes and stared wildly before him. "Is it
+thou, my liege?" he whispered; "art thou still living in this murderous
+den? Beware! Believe him not!"
+
+"Recollect thyself, my Aage, thou dreamest," said the king. "Thy
+pious wish is fulfilled; I and my brother are reconciled. Look!
+there he stands. He also wishes to see thee. The whole was a
+misunderstanding--the desperate plan of a rebel--one of the outlaws'
+race and friends. Be calm, my Aage; I am now a peaceful guest here with
+my brother--We have drunk to reconciliation and brotherly fellowship
+together--I have done him injustice also in the affair with Bruncke. I
+will give him back both Holbek and Kallunborg. He is now to accompany
+me on the expedition against the dukes."
+
+"Noble, generous, kingly soul!" exclaimed Aage, seemingly quite roused
+from his dreaming state. "Hath a word, hath a cup of wine effaced such
+enmity and wrath? Now the Lord and our blessed Lady be praised! Love
+healeth all wounds, and mercy is a precious virtue. _How_ great is now
+thy love and clemency, my liege!" he continued, again somewhat wildly,
+and as if half dreaming; "doth it extend even unto the outlaws and
+their unhappy race--even unto Marsk Stig's kindred and children?"
+
+"Ha! breathe not that accursed name, Aage," interrupted the king, with
+stern vehemence; "_so_ far my clemency will never extend--Now sleep
+well, my faithful Aage," he added, with his former mildness and
+affection. "Think not on what it is best to forget--they tell me thou
+art already out of danger, and can, perhaps, follow me to-morrow, or in
+a few days."
+
+"Where sleeps my liege to-night?" asked Aage, in an anxious voice, and
+again gazing wildly around him.
+
+"Close by thee, here in the knights' story; only be thou calm and sleep
+in peace. I sleep under a brother's roof."
+
+"Come, my royal brother," interrupted Christopher, hastily approaching
+the couch, "speak no more with that sick dreamer, he is in a fair way
+to infect you with his feverish phantasies."
+
+"Good night, my Aage," said the king, pressing the Drost's hand as he
+departed. "I will keep that I promised him," he said to the junker. "I
+will sleep near him, here in the knights' story."
+
+"As you command, my royal brother," answered the junker, with a cold
+and bitter smile; and they left the sick chamber.
+
+Count Henrik had also given his hand to Aage, and was about to follow
+the king; but the Drost detained him for a moment, in a state of
+painful anxiety. "Look, look!" he whispered, "there goes the murdered
+King Eric with Junker Abel[2]; _they_ once were brothers! and, hark! a
+flood roars beneath this castle. It is surely the bloody Slie,--take
+heed!--take heed, that no misfortune happens here!"
+
+"You have perturbed dreams, Drost Aage," said Count Henrik, letting go
+Aage's fevered hand. "Sleep ye but in quiet; I watch." He then hastened
+after the king and the junker; but first glanced out of the window, and
+saw with secret horror, by the deepening star-light, a high, black
+scaffold in the back court of the castle, without the knights' story.
+He hastily drew the curtain before the window and departed; whereupon
+the old nurse (still shaking and muttering) re-entered the Drost's
+chamber. She was attired in the homely dress of a country burgher's
+wife; her eyes were large and sunken, and her pale, emaciated visage
+greatly resembled that of a corpse. With a distaff and a rosary in her
+hand, she resumed her station by the Drost's couch before the lamp,
+which she drew aside, that it might not shine in the face of the
+patient. All was now soon quiet in this wing of the castle, which only
+comprised the sleeping apartments of the knights. Aage lay long
+listening in anxiety. In the unusual stillness of the evening, however,
+a distant sound as of lutes and mirthful songs reached his ear.
+
+"What is that?" he asked, raising his head with pain and difficulty.
+
+"There is merriment in the knights' hall, noble sir! yes in troth! that
+there is," answered the nurse; "our stern junker hath caused minstrels
+and jugglers to be fetched from the town. There is no lack either of
+mead or sweet wine, that knoweth the precious Lord in heaven! He drinks
+to friendship with his brother, they say. Alack yes!" she added, "the
+great can be merry, doubtless, and leave care to the fiddle; ay! ay!
+when they quarrel among themselves, it all falls on the small! yes, in
+troth! does it--all falls on the small. My departed husband was, by my
+troth, doomed to death, in the great Marsk Stig's feud--alack yes! by
+my troth was he, he was but a poor man, I must tell ye: _he_ had
+neither knightly nor princely honour to swear himself free with, like
+the high-born junker; no, by my troth! had he not, that was the whole
+mishap. There sits now our old commandant in the tower--ay! ay! he will
+hardly see sun or moon more; they say he is to be executed to-night;
+alack yes! and yesterday he was master here at the castle; yes, in
+troth! was he so, but so goeth it in the world; alack yes."
+
+"Executed?" repeated Aage; "the Lord have mercy on his soul; the king
+is strict and hasty: ha! but knew he?----"
+
+"He doubtless knew, what we all know, that his high-born brother hath
+borne false witness," sighed the old woman; "but what care the great
+about cutting off an insignificant head, when they would save their
+own? The law must have its course--yes, in troth! that it must, _one_
+head doubtless must fall, after such a commotion and uproar, but the
+junker's is placed too high, I trow! 'What should great lords keep
+servants for, if they could not wash themselves clean in their blood?'
+said my departed husband, when he was executed; yes, in troth! said he
+so, the blessed soul--But see now if ye can get to sleep, noble young
+sir! that is assuredly best for you. I talk mayhap rather too much:
+'tis my bosom sin, they say--yes, by my troth! one talks too little,
+and another too much; was there no such thing as talk, no poor man
+would talk himself over to the evil one, and no high-born rogue would
+talk himself from the gallows."
+
+"I must speak with the king," burst forth Aage, with eagerness, and
+vainly strove to rise, but his strength entirely forsook him, and he
+fell back in a swoon. The old nurse thought he slept, and indeed he
+soon appeared to have fallen into a kind of slumber. The nurse looked
+at him several times, with the lamp in her hand, and nodded, as she
+continued to chatter to herself; "Ay! ay! a good honest face, in
+troth!" she muttered. "But who is honest in this sinful world? he
+consorts with the great,--ay! ay! and those good folk one should never
+believe--no in troth, one should never believe. He would have spoken
+with the king--yes, forsooth! when it is question of saving a poor
+devil's life, and telling the king that his brother is a rogue and
+traitor; then such a fine courtier fellow swoons or falls asleep, till
+it is too late. Wake up, Sir Knight! wake up!" She shook him in vain;
+"Alack! I verily believe it is death's sleep,--well then he is excused:
+after such a fall and being battered into a pudding, there can
+doubtless be no great life in him--he draws breath though, I believe!
+yes, in troth he does! Youth is strong, perhaps nature will help
+herself--Hark! now they follow the king to bed," she continued, and
+listened: "he will surely sleep close by here, ay! ay! This is his
+favourite servant, this same Drost. Weil, the Lord keep his hand over
+the king! he means well by us all; yes, in troth he does--alack yes!
+even though he should doom many a poor devil to death--but indeed
+that's his business--it is therefore he is king. He upholds law and
+justice, yes in troth! and makes, besides, no difference between high
+and low. Should he now have doomed to death his own brother according
+to the flesh? That would have been too hard--yes, in troth, would it;
+he is after all but a man, and who is just in all things in this sinful
+world? Ay, ay! but the junker--alack, yes! The Lord preserve us from
+him--if we get _him_ for a king, it will be a bad look-out--yes, in
+troth will it! alack, yes!" Thus she muttered to herself, and nodded
+beside the lamp until she fell asleep in the arm-chair. It might be
+somewhat past midnight, when Drost Aage awoke, strengthened in body,
+and refreshed by the deep sleep, caused by exhaustion, which seemed to
+have given a favourable turn to his illness. He was still, however, in
+a feverish state; he looked around him with surprise, and appeared not
+to know where was. The pale sleeping nurse, beside the lamp, seemed to
+him, as the light faintly lit up her emaciated visage, like a sitting
+corpse. He half arose and stared fixedly at her; he remarked signs of
+strong agitation in her deathlike face; her toothless gums mumbled, but
+without any sound; it appeared as though she wished to speak, but had
+not the power to utter a word. It seemed to him, as if he now beheld
+what he had often heard and read of in ancient sagas and poems of olden
+time. The dark vaulted chamber in his imagination was a subterranean
+prophet's cave, and the old mumbling crone a dead prophetess, on whose
+tongue Runic letters had been laid to cause her to prophesy.[3] He
+tried to rise and the attempt succeeded; his shattered limbs were
+strengthened and pliant. He wrapped the white woollen coverlet around
+him, and soon stood listening on the floor, and gazing on the old
+woman's visage. "Whom talkest thou with?--corpse! what dost mumble of
+in thy grave?" he whispered, and she moved her mouth still faster.
+"Murder, murder!" she exclaimed, at length, in audible words. "Hark,
+hark! now his head falls before the axe."
+
+At the same instant Aage actually heard with dismay a sound outside the
+window, as of the stroke of an axe; he rushed forward, and pulled aside
+the curtain. The light of a number of torches glared on him from the
+back court of the castle. He saw with horror, a body of men-at-arms
+surrounding a scaffold, on which stood an executioner with a bloody
+head in his hand. A cold shudder came over Aage; he knew not, as yet,
+whether he waked or dreamed; he stood speechless, as if rooted to the
+spot, and gazed on the horrid sight; a low chant fell on his ear, and
+he beheld a crowd of Franciscan monks advance under the scaffold with a
+black coffin. Among the spectators he recognised Junker Christopher's
+dark countenance, strongly lit up by a torch. The bloody head fell from
+the executioner's hand, and it seemed to him, to his inexpressible
+horror, to be the king's; he staggered back and overturned the table
+with the lamp. The old woman waked in affright, and shrieked loudly;
+but Aage rushed out of the chamber, into the dark passage, in
+indescribable consternation. "Murdered!--the king murdered!" was the
+cry of his inmost soul; but no word passed his lips; he went on, like a
+sleep-walker, with staring eyes, not knowing whither he was going.
+"Here he was to sleep--here close by me,"--he thought, and stopped at a
+side door. He had already extended his hand to open it, when he saw a
+light, and heard footsteps at a distance in the passage. The door
+beside which he stood, was enclosed between two pillars projecting from
+the wall--he stopped behind one of the pillars, and kept his eye on the
+light in the passage. It approached slowly, and often stopped; at last
+it came so near that he could see, it was carried by a tall figure in a
+dark mantle. The light fell only on the lower part of the shrouded
+form; his walk was tottering and hesitating; a large sword glittered
+under his mantle. The figure came nearer and nearer; but with stealthy
+and almost noiseless steps. At last it advanced close to the pillar,
+behind which Aage stood, and paused again. The light was now; raised,
+while the shrouded bearer looked around him on all sides, and the light
+fell on a long and wildly glaring visage--it was Junker Christopher.
+
+"Ha! fratricide! regicide!" shouted Aage, in a frenzy, and rushed out
+upon him.
+
+With a cry of alarm the junker let fall the light, and sprang backward.
+"Murder! help! a madman!" he shouted, and drew his sword.
+
+Amid this noise the door between the pillars opened, and Count Henrik
+stepped forth with a light. "What is the matter here?" he asked
+eagerly, but in a low tone. "Who dares to wake the king?"
+
+"The king! the king!" exclaimed Aage, with inexpressible joy, "he
+lives?--the Lord be praised! it was then but a dreadful dream! but saw
+I not the junker here?"
+
+"Yes, assuredly, thou saw'st him, madman!" cried the junker, returning
+his sword into the sheath. "Had you not come out. Count Henrik, I
+should have cut that mad fellow down on the spot. He fell upon me here,
+with a wild incoherent speech, as I was stealing softly to my chamber
+that I might not wake the king. If I see aright, it is the chivalrous
+Sir Drost, who is walking in his sleep, or would play the ghost. One
+would think my castle was turned into a madhouse."
+
+"A _singular_ adventure, noble Junker," said Count Henrik, gazing with
+a penetrating look on his perturbed countenance. "Our good Drost is
+sick, as you know, and hath disquiet fevered dreams," he added in a
+light courtier-like tone. "He must in his phantasies have taken you for
+a murderer and traitor; but you must excuse him; his loyalty and
+devotion for your royal brother are alone to blame for it."
+
+"You come from an execution, Sir Junker!" said Aage, whose
+self-possession was now fully restored; "it was, I presume, your
+unhappy commandant, who so ill underwood your order and will?"
+
+"Right!" answered the prince; "he hath got his well-merited wages--the
+presumptuous madman! but madness spreads here, I perceive."
+
+"Your highness's imagination hath surely also been at work," continued
+Aage, "since my dreams could scare you thus. I beseech you meanwhile
+graciously to pardon me for stopping you just beside _this_ door. It
+was, perhaps, however, a lucky chance; you might easily have made a
+mistake between your own and the king's sleeping chamber."
+
+"Go to thy couch, madman!" replied the junker, with gloomy harshness,
+and with his hand on his sword. "You dream as yet it seems to me, and
+might deserve to be wakened by my good sword--One should bind and shut
+up a visionary and dreamer like you when one would have a quiet night:"
+so saying, he hastily snatched his candle, which Count Henrik had taken
+up from the floor and lighted, and the junker went with rapid strides
+through the next side door into his own sleeping apartment.
+
+"I have a fearful suspicion," whispered Aage to Count Henrik; "but I
+was ill and over-excited--I may be wrong: it is too dreadful to think
+of--Let it not disturb the king's peace."
+
+"What you mean, Drost, I am also loth to think of," answered the count,
+"though after what hath here happened, almost every thing is possible.
+Come, let us stay here together to-night."
+
+They then both entered the door between the pillars, and all was soon
+perfectly quiet at the castle.
+
+The next morning early the king and his men rode out of the burnt and
+dilapidated gate of Kallundborg castle. Count Henrik, Margrave
+Waldemar, and Junker Christopher accompanied him on horseback, together
+with his fifty knights, and a numerous troop of lancers. Drost Aage
+followed slowly behind in a litter, borne by two horses. He was far
+from recovered from the effects of his dangerous fall, but was not to
+be kept back.
+
+The king and his brother rode in silence through the town, at some
+distance from their train. "Thou hast surely wished to take from me the
+desire of being oftener thy guest at Kallundborg, Christopher!" said
+the king in a gloomy, dissatisfied mood, as they rode slowly up the
+hill to St. George's hospital, and looked back on the castle and town.
+"I have used thy fair castle gate badly it is true; some broken pates,
+too, I have left behind me; but neither didst _thou_ prepare me any
+fair spectacle at my mattins."
+
+"What! the criminal on the wheel?" muttered Christopher. "Hath his head
+said good morning to you from the stake? The fault was not mine: that
+unpleasant sight would have been kept from your eyes, but you yourself
+chose your sleeping apartment with that unsightly prospect. To say
+truth, my royal brother," he added in an upbraiding tone, "you seemed
+to me to require _proof_ that there was no manner of doubt in this
+case."
+
+"That word then sounded ill to thee," answered the king. "Understood'st
+thou me not? There might be a doubt of the criminal's sanity, but not
+of his miscreant deed; there might be a doubt of the ambiguity of thy
+commands to him, without there being the slightest doubt of thy
+meaning, as thou didst explain it to me on thy knightly word. Only on
+that ground did I make over to thee my privilege of pardon, together
+with the power of confirming the sentence: there was no need, either,
+to hasten with the execution of the bloody doom."
+
+"It was needful to decide the matter ere you left the castle," replied
+Christopher eagerly. "I, for my part, had no ground for doubt. I have
+shown I feared not to witness the fall of the traitor's head, as your
+Drost can affirm, if he hath come to his senses."
+
+"He is now quite collected," answered the king. "I know he walked in
+his sleep last night, and gave thee a start by my door."
+
+"Ay, indeed! hath he told you of that pleasant adventure!" said the
+junker, starting and changing colour. "Had he been in his right senses,
+I would have demanded that he be declared infamous for the audacious
+outrage."
+
+"As I have heard the circumstance, he is excused: thy alarm he hath
+also accounted for to me."
+
+"How mean ye?" asked Christopher, in the greatest anxiety.
+
+"Truly, it is not good to return to one's couch with such a bloody
+spectacle before one's eyes," said the king, with not unsympathising
+glance at the junker pale and agitated countenance. "Be not ashamed of
+it, Christopher! mayhap it does thy heart honour--Thou wert sick at
+heart, and greatly moved by the sight of thine aged servant's execution
+Aage supposed. I see myself how it hath taken hold on thee. It is the
+first death-warrant thou hast sealed--I know by experience such acts
+excite peculiar and painful feelings."
+
+As the king said these words the junker's countenance seemed suddenly
+to brighten, and he again breathed more freely. "In truth, my royal
+brother," he said, hastily while a deep crimson flush succeeded to his
+former paleness, "the stupid fellow was a brave man, notwithstanding!
+It was not the most agreeable duty you put upon me. I was in some sort
+a party concerned; but I was perfectly right; no one could know my
+criminal servant as well as I; and the sentence was passed according to
+law and justice, by impartial men. Your Drost is an excellent knight,"
+he added, "but somewhat disposed to be visionary: he is devoted to you,
+however, and I have nought against him, on account of his foolish
+dreamings."
+
+Count Henrick and Margrave Waldemar now approached the royal brothers,
+and the conversation turned on indifferent topics. The procession
+proceeded on the road to Korsoer, from whence the king intended to
+cross the Belts, in order to join the Marsk, and the forces which were
+to march against the turbulent dukes of Slesvig.
+
+At the famous sea-fight of Groensund, the young King Eric had gained a
+decided victory over these haughty princes, who frequently sought to
+withdraw their allegiance to the Danish crown, and since the regicide
+of Eric Glipping had secretly, as well as openly, made common cause
+with the foes of the country and the outlawed regicides. By this
+victory the king had indeed gained a high reputation with the dukes as
+well as with the neighbouring northern powers, and the princes of north
+Germany; but the quarrel with the archbishop and the Romish see, and
+still more the king's excommunication at Sjoeborg, had given all his
+foes courage, and renewed their hopes of shaking his throne, and
+frustrating his bold projects. It was feared, not without reason, that
+the young high-spirited King of Denmark, who now appeared as though he
+would defy ban and interdict, might possibly have a desire to regain
+the influence and power won by the great Waldemar the Victorious in
+Germany. That monarch's chivalrous character, and the lustre his
+conquests had shed on the Danish name, seemed early to have inspired
+his bold descendant with the wish to tread in the paths of his renowned
+ancestor, and a glorious reputation like that of Waldemar the
+Victorious was assuredly the secret wish of Eric's heart, though he
+lived in a time and under circumstances which demanded no ordinary
+degree of power and wisdom, in a sovereign, even to save the country
+from downfall, and preserve his own life and crown.
+
+The renewed demands of the dukes, and the revival of long-accommodated
+differences, but, especially, tidings of the outlaws having again found
+protection and shelter in Slesvig, had in a great measure induced the
+king to take up arms; and since the archbishop's flight, he had become
+much more precipitate than formerly, and more inclined to carry every
+thing through by the strong hand. The people well knew but cheerfully
+tolerated Eric's youthful and often impetuous eagerness, and his liking
+for chivalrous pomp. His firmness of purpose was indeed often called
+obstinacy; and it was admitted he was not altogether free from an
+excessive love of show, but from his childhood he had been the people's
+darling, and such he continued to remain.
+
+This breach with the dukes appeared to many to be rash and
+inconsiderate; but the king's wrath was deemed justifiable, and the
+public mind was calmed by the belief that with all his impetuosity he
+had too much love for his people, and possessed too much sound policy
+not to spare the blood of his warriors, and the scanty revenues of his
+country, could he, sword in hand, honourably negotiate. The calm,
+thoughtful Drost Aage contributed not a little to restrain the king's
+vehemence, and now that Eric's older and more experienced counsellors,
+the aged Jon Little and Drost Hessel were absent, the greater number and
+most peaceably minded of the people rejoiced to see Drost Aage in the
+king's train. The Drost's suffering state, and the perilous adventure
+which had caused it, which was daily exaggerated by rumour, with the
+most marvellous additions, attracted towards him the sympathy and
+admiration of the lower classes. Those especially who had before
+shunned him as an excommunicated man, now mourned over his misfortune,
+since the king himself shared the same fate. The energetic and warlike
+Count Henrik of Mecklenborg, with his bold commanding glance, also
+found favour with the people, who looked up to him with confidence. He
+and Aage were often received with animated shouts of acclamation, while
+a dumb and almost timorous courtesy was, on the contrary, shown to the
+gloomy Junker Christopher; and the foreign Margrave Waldemar, who
+always rode by the junker's side, was looked on as a half suspicious
+guest, whose presence might well be dispensed with. Wherever the
+procession passed, the young chivalrous monarch himself was received
+with the most loyal demonstrations of the people's affection, which had
+been more than ever called forth by the knowledge of the ecclesiastical
+persecution he then endured. Even the much dreaded lightnings of
+excommunication seemed transformed into a halo of martyrdom around the
+head of Eric, the avenger of his father, and the defender of the
+throne; especially as the greater and most estimable part of the Danish
+clergy boldly declared his cause to be just and honourable.
+
+The sorrow and displeasure which it was known had been caused the king
+by his brother the junker's suspicious conduct had still more increased
+the sympathy of the people for him.
+
+"For Eric, the youthful king!" was the general salutation, when all
+hats and caps waved in the air in his honour. "Away with the red hat
+from Rome! Away with all traitors! King Eric! and none other!" often
+resounded as he rode through the crowded street. "Long live Princess
+Ingeborg! Long live the king's true love!" also shouted many a merry
+bachelor. Where this salutation greeted the king, his own greeting
+became doubly kind and gracious. "Thanks, good people! thanks!" he
+answered cheerfully, and waved his hand; "if the Lord and our blessed
+Lady will it so, you shall see her here as your queen in the summer!"
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAP. VI.
+
+
+On Sommersted heath, in the province of Haddersleben, a bloody battle
+seemed likely to take place between Eric and his haughty kinsmen, the
+Dukes of Slesvig and Langeland, in whose army it was asserted many of
+the regicides were enlisted; notwithstanding it had been stipulated by
+treaty the preceding year, that these exiled criminals should be no
+less outlawed by these princes, than by the king, and his brother. When
+the dukes beheld the forces, at the head of which the incensed king,
+attended by his fifty chosen knights, was marching against them, they
+appeared to hesitate, and the swords of the one party seemed to keep
+those of the other in the sheath. Through the Drost's mediation a truce
+was negotiated; according to which all hostilities were to cease, the
+dukes' troops were to lay down their arms, and no outlaws suffered to
+continue in their service; all claims also on the part of the dukes
+were to be suspended, until formal terms could be agreed upon. For this
+purpose an amicable interview between these princes and their royal
+liege was proposed to take place at Wordingborg castle.
+
+The Drost and privy council rarely succeeded in persuading the king to
+a reconciliation, or to enter into a formal treaty of peace with any
+opponent who had protected his father's murderers. The only person who,
+under such circumstances, had been occasionally successful in acting as
+mediator, was Eric's sagacious and kindhearted stepfather, Count
+Gerhard, who ever stood in a friendly and almost fatherly relation to
+the young monarch.
+
+The present peace also with Norway was only a truce, occasionally
+renewed for single years or months; for the outlaws had constantly met
+with protection from the Norwegian King Eric, and Duke Hako; and
+according to his promise given to these fugitives, the Norwegian king
+was unable to conclude a permanent peace with Denmark, unless his
+Danish guests should be again admitted into their native land. Many of
+these deadly foes to the royal house of Denmark had, indeed, fallen in
+their unsuccessful expedition against Denmark; some had been seized and
+maltreated by the populace, or captured by the king's commanders, and
+executed for robbery and incendiarism. This had been the fate of Arved
+Bengtson, one of the wildest and fiercest of the regicides, who with
+ten of his comrades had fallen into the hands of the stern Tule
+Ebbeson, and the whole of the eleven had been mercilessly beheaded. But
+each time the number of their chiefs was thus diminished, the revenge
+and defiance of those who were left increased. From their connection
+with foreign powers, with Archbishop Grand, and with the papal see,
+these exiled noblemen were the most dangerous enemies of the country.
+So long as one of them was living the king considered himself under the
+necessity of being constantly prepared for war, and the mention of an
+outlaw was almost sufficient to make him gird on his armour.
+
+After the conclusion of the truce with the Dukes of Slesvig, the king
+visited his royal manors in Jutland and in the Isles; but he disbanded
+his troops only so far as to admit of their being assembled again in a
+few days at the Marsk's summons. The young king sought, as much as it
+was possible, to atone for whatever injustice had been committed during
+the government of his unhappy father. Even his bitterest enemies were
+forced to acknowledge his disinterested zeal in the administration of
+justice; but despite the respect and affection of which Eric received
+the most gratifying proofs from his people, his personal safety was,
+nevertheless, often endangered, as the condition of the country was in
+general in a very unsettled state. The outlaws belonged to most noble
+families in Denmark, and had not a few kinsmen, friends, and secret
+adherents, who endeavoured to protect them from the indignation of the
+people, whenever they secretly or openly dared to venture back to their
+father-land, for the purpose of exciting disturbance or seeking
+opportunities for revenge. All the discontented in the country, all
+restless spirits, and those who were at war with law and authority, all
+criminals and burgher politicians, who feared or hated kingly rule,
+joined themselves to these martyrs in the cause of liberty, and foes of
+despotism as they were denominated. Some powerful prelates, the
+archbishop's friends, were on their side, although the clergy in
+general were devoted to the king. Meanwhile the most sincere patriots
+could not deny that the discontented had often real grievances to
+complain of, and that the lawful rights of citizenship were frequently
+infringed. The king's friends and devoted subjects often went too far
+in their zeal for his security; and state functionaries not
+unfrequently exercised violence and injustice in his name, where they
+suspected any one of siding with the outlaws. Among the discontented in
+the country, and the secret partisans of the outlaws, such proceedings
+served as a pretext and excuse for similar conduct towards the king's
+servants and friends; what especially disquieted all lovers of their
+country, was the dread of a general closing of the churches, in case
+the king did not yield in the affair of the archbishop. An apprehension
+also prevailed of civil war and dangerous conspiracies of the outlaws,
+and other disturbers of the peace; particularly if any open breach
+should take place between the king and his brother, the junker.
+
+During the first chilly days of spring, the roads to Wordingborg were
+unusually thronged on occasion of the important treaty of peace just
+concluded with the Dukes of Slesvig. The splendid festivities and
+tournaments which were the delight of the chivalrous king, were now in
+preparation to celebrate the event. Many knights and nobles from
+Jutland and the Isles journeyed to Wordingborg, to display their
+splendour before the king and the court, as well as to share in the
+expected festivities in honour of the peace, which however was regarded
+by the king's friends rather in the light of a victory.
+
+A party of three knights, with a numerous train of squires and
+attendants, rode one evening amid storm and hail through the forest
+near Susea, and approached the great forest monastery of St. Peter. The
+accommodations for travellers were but scarce and simple. The public
+inns established in the time of King Eric Glipping were few and
+generally despised; travellers of high degree, therefore, often took
+shelter in monasteries, which were occasionally put to much cost and
+inconvenience by these sometimes forcibly-imposed visitations. The
+monasteries had been, in fact, exempted by a royal decree, from the
+ancient obligation of giving free entertainment to travellers; they
+were even forbidden to receive wayfaring guests, where there was any
+public inn in the neighbourhood; but the prohibition was hardly ever
+observed even by the clergy themselves, as it was contrary to the rules
+of the monasteries.
+
+The knights and their train seemed nowise inclined to pass by without
+visiting the rich "Forest Monastery" (as it was called) which now, with
+its high, white and notched gable ends, and its shining copper roof,
+came in sight above the forest in the fitful light of the stormy
+evening. The party drew near the great oak avenue within the domain of
+the monastery, and the attendants pointed, gladly, to the smoking
+chimneys: but the two foremost knights had shrouded themselves in their
+mantles, and drawn their large travelling hoods over their eyes. They
+seemed, notwithstanding the increasing storm, so absorbed in their own
+thoughts that they cared but little about the road, or the inviting
+hearth of the monastery. They were the same tall, silent knights, who
+had so mysteriously visited Prince Christopher at Holbek Castle, the
+night on which it was garrisoned by Drost Aage. The little hump-backed
+man in the red cloak, who was then their companion, was not now seen in
+their train; but they were accompanied by Prince Christopher's
+gentleman of the bedchamber, the fat short-necked Sir Palle, who
+frequently lamented over the weather, and seemed as weary of the
+journey as of his taciturn and unsociable travelling companions.
+
+"This way! up the monastery avenue, sir knights!" he called,
+impatiently. "You would not surely go farther in this infernal tempest?
+It is a good way yet to Nestved, and to that dog-hole of an inn, the
+road every way is long. We stand in need of a good supper, and a good
+night's rest--I know Pater, head-cook."
+
+"_I_ know the _abbot_," answered the taller of the two grave knights,
+with a haughty mien. "At all events, I know myself and my squires, and
+what a wayfaring man may demand."
+
+"For the Lord's sake! let us not play the braggart, excellent Sir
+Brock!" said Palle, rather in alarm, and drawing his bridle. "If we
+proceed with violence and bragging, the pious monks may shut the door
+in our faces, and make the king our enemy to boot; one should, by my
+troth, seek a shelter by fair means when one slinks past law and
+ordinance."
+
+"Bah! Here one may make light of secular law and royal ordinance,"
+answered Sir Brock, scornfully. "St. Bent's rules no king can shake."
+
+"Let us only not attack the rules of the monastery, worthy knights!"
+sighed Sir Palle, slapping his empty stomach, "or we may have to put up
+with fasting fare this evening, and learn of St. Bent to knock out the
+flesh tooth."
+
+"If that tooth had been knocked out in the monastery there would
+scarcely be so many butchers in Nestved," remarked the other
+knight; "keep easy, Sir Palle; I promise you a fat roast for this
+evening--Every Sunday the Nestved butchers are forced to pay their
+tribute in good roasts and sausages."
+
+"The Abbot understands that," said Sir Brock, with a nod. "That is a
+fellow who knows how to uphold his rights both with high and low--trust
+me, Sir Papae, the Nestved burghers may well provide him wine for his
+roast--the whole town hath to thank the monastery and the rich abbot
+for its rise. Truly, these are burgher and grocer times we live in--we
+now see villages and towns where before we saw lordly castles, and
+domains, and mark, now, if the grocers' houses will not at last shoot
+up over both lordly castles and monasteries. It passes the
+comprehension, both of king and statesmen, how to keep the people under
+finger and thumb; but it is well enough understood by _him_ yonder."
+
+"You know the abbot then, Sir Brock?" resumed Palle, inquisitively, and
+with a look of curiosity. "He must be a mighty prelate; they say, he
+was a good friend of Archbishop Grand's. You have surely no errand to
+him? You know more of him, perhaps, than I do of Pater, head-cook; for
+that is but a slight acquaintance. On second thoughts. Sir Knight,
+would it not be better in these troublous and suspicious times, to pass
+by the monastery and put up with the dog-hole of an inn?--unless you
+really have any errand here--you have perhaps known the abbot long. Sir
+Brock? You are even perhaps of his kindred?"
+
+"Excellent! Go on! if you have more queries, or any more scruples, let
+me have all out at once, and have done with it," said the tall Sir
+Brock, with an air of contempt. "To speak plainly, my good Sir Palle,
+you seem somewhat inquisitive. You have asked me of more during this
+journey, than I would answer my confessor in a whole year.
+
+"And you are as mysterious and cautious as though you took me for a
+tell-tale, and a man not to be counted on," answered Palle, in a tone
+of annoyance. "If the high-born junker hath trusted me to bring you a
+private letter, you may well suppose I am among his most confidential
+friends."
+
+"A confidant is wont, however, to know what tidings he brings,"
+remarked the tall knight.
+
+"You think, perhaps, I know them not," returned Palle, assuming an air
+of consequence. "It will rejoice the noble junker to see you and your
+friends at Wordingborg, in order to come to a closer and mutual
+understanding.--Is it not so?"
+
+"Ha, indeed! my sly Sir Palle; you understand then, the noble art of
+opening wax seals?--another time you must do it more dexterously, or,
+at least, be able to hold your tongue about it. The high-born junker
+hath known his messenger, and hath not entrusted you with a greater
+secret than he might suffer to be cried in the streets through every
+town."
+
+The other knight laughed scornfully. Palle was silent, wroth, and crest
+fallen. The party now halted, drew bridle before the gate of the
+monastery, and knocked loudly at it. The porter put forth his shaven
+head from a shutter, and inquired in a peevish tone, who it was, and
+what was wanted so late.
+
+"Wayfaring and christian men," was the answer. "If you are a pious man
+of God, Father Porter, sin not by asking forbidden questions, but
+unlock the gate instantly, in St. Bent's and St. Peter's name!"
+
+"In nomine St. Benedict! Anianensis et St. Petri Apostoli," answered
+the clerical porter, and instantly withdrew the great iron bolt which
+secured the gate.
+
+"See ye," said Sir Niels Brock, "St. Bent and St. Peter are more
+powerful here than kings and worldly despots."
+
+Although the most important household matters were managed by the monks
+themselves, according to monastic rule, the travellers, on their
+entering the monastery, were instantly received by a whole crowd of
+attendant lay-brothers and conversers, who took off their mantles, and
+eagerly waited on them with handbasons and whatever they required.
+Father Porter had allowed himself to be replaced at his post by a
+lay-brother, that he might not miss the evening devotion and the
+evening meal that accompanied it. After an announcement to the Abbot,
+he followed the three knights to the refectory, while a lay-brother
+attended to the wants of the train.
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAP. VII.
+
+
+In the high-vaulted refectory, the small arched windows of which looked
+out into the garden of the monastery, and were darkened by a row of
+lime-trees, sat the heavy-built abbot Johan in his laced leathern
+arm-chair, with a lamp before him, at the supper-table, holding a kind
+of instructive discourse for the edification of the humbly-listening
+brethren of the order and the pupils of the monastery. Nearest him sat
+eleven monks in black cloaks, among whom Peter Porter took his place as
+the twelfth. The same number of little boys, who were educating as
+monks, and wore black benedictine mantles, as well as the brethren of
+the order, took the lowest place at the table, and eagerly partook of
+the repast, while, however, they seemed to listen very attentively to
+the abbot's discourse. On the entrance of the travellers the dignified
+prelate half rose from his seat, with a look of annoyance, and bade
+them welcome in St. Peter's and St. Bent's name, but almost without
+vouchsafing them a glance, and in a tone which betrayed that it was
+only in compliance with the rules of his order that he received such
+self-invited guests. However, when the two tall knights approached him
+nearer, with a reverent and courteous salutation, and the lamp on the
+table lit up Sir Niels Brock's martial visage, the abbot's proud
+bearing and repulsive looks suddenly changed. He signed a blessing over
+the knight and his companions, and, with courteous condescension,
+besought them to be seated, while he hastily, with a side-wink of the
+eye, laid his finger on his mouth, and continued to address them as
+strangers.
+
+Besides the twelve brethren of the order and the monkishly-clad
+children, there sat a person at the table, also in a black benedictine
+mantle, but without the hood and complete dress of the order. He had
+hastily risen on the entrance of the travellers, and appeared about to
+withdraw; but, on hearing Sir Niels Brock's powerful voice, he turned
+round to the newly-arrived guests, and nodded familiarly to Brock. It
+now appeared that this person bore not the tonsure, and was even
+adorned with a warrior-like beard; his forehead and eye-brows were
+hidden by his yellowish red and combed down hair.
+
+Brock started, and greeted him with surprise, but in silence.
+
+"A guest from the world who hath sought safety in the dress of our holy
+order and the sanctuary of the monastery," said the abbot. "I can,
+therefore, only present him to you without mention of his name, as I
+also have received you in the holy Bent's and St. Peter's name, without
+asking of your name in the world, or the object of your journey."
+
+"Your hospitality and high mindedness are well known throughout the
+country, pious sir," said Brock, with another obeisance. "We are not,
+it is true, among the persecuted. The object of our journey also is no
+secret; but we equally acknowledge, with thanks and reverence, the
+shelter these holy walls afford from storms of _all_ kinds."
+
+"From the hour in which, by God's grace, I received the bishop's mitre
+and the holy crosier," resumed the abbot, with the air of a prince of
+the church, but with stooping head, and a kind of studied rhetorical
+tone, "be it said without all vain self-commendation, and to the honour
+of the Most High!--from the time St. Peter and his holy heir set me a
+ruler over these souls, and over this asylum of the pious and
+oppressed, I have striven according to my poor ability in the spirit of
+St. Benedict of Nurcia, and with the pious will of St. Benedict of
+Anianes before mine eyes, to give succour and protection to all
+travellers and pilgrims, and all outlawed and persecuted persons,
+against the wild turbulence of nature, as well as against human
+ferocity and the violence and persecution of an ungodly world. You just
+now interrupted me in a godly discourse, my guests! I spoke of the
+Church's might and authority, which is now so scandalously assaulted by
+the blind children of this world in our ungodly times. I was
+inculcating the duties of our holy order on the children, and for the
+edification of my dependents, on occasion of the crying deeds of
+violence and injustice we daily hear of and see before our eyes. You
+have also surely heard how shamelessly and treacherously the king's men
+have dealt with the outlawed Count Jacob's men in Halland, and what an
+outrageous and arbitrary act the royal vassal, Jonas Fries, hath lately
+perpetrated here, on the boundary of my abbey's consecrated ground and
+territory?"
+
+"What I have heard is almost past belief, pious Father Abbot," answered
+Brock; "but the matter is related very differently by the friends of
+freedom and those of despotism. Rumour hath indeed possibly exaggerated
+the stern vassal's despotic act."
+
+"My fugitive guest, who sits there, can bear testimony to the truth,"
+said the abbot. "The unhappy victim to the lawlessness and barbarity of
+that royal vassal was his good friend and comrade."
+
+"It is as true as that I stand here," began the warrior-like personage
+in the monk's cloak, and rose from his seat. His accent sounded
+half-Norwegian; the combed-down hair slipped aside for an instant from
+his brow, and over his wild fiery eye a pair of bristly meeting
+eye-brows and a large red scar were visible. "Thus are law and justice
+now upheld in Denmark," he continued. "I had come down hither in
+reliance on truce and treaty, but truth and justice are no longer
+recognised, where the friends of freedom are outlawed. My comrade had
+saved my life, and freed me from a degrading captivity; he was, like
+myself, in the service of the Norwegian king. Three days since he was
+taken captive at my side in broad day-light, by Sir Jonas Fries
+himself, and dragged to his castle.--I escaped to the sanctuary of the
+abbey; but when I yesterday, with the pious abbot's men, would have
+liberated my unhappy comrade, we found him hanged, without law or
+sentence, on Jonas Fries's closed castle gate."
+
+"Ha, indeed! the more madly they act the sooner they will have to
+account for it," exclaimed Brock, in a powerful martial tone, and
+striking his large battle sword against the flagged floor. "The master
+who hath such zealous servants may fare badly at last--that deed of
+violence shall prove a firebrand----"
+
+"We meddle not here with worldly matters," interrupted the abbot
+hastily, with an admonitory wink, and a side glance at the attentive
+and startled monks, who all, however, sat silent with humbly drooping
+heads, and appeared to fear, rather than love, their despotic and
+mighty superior. "Worldly matters are to me and my dependents, but
+vehicles for spiritual things," continued the prelate with a devout
+air, "and I only permit any discourse concerning them when it may serve
+us for holy and edifying meditation, according to St. Benedict of
+Anianes' pious will and injunction. I now forbid all further talk on
+such subjects here. Refresh yourselves, my stranger guests! Pray a
+silent prayer, brother bed-maker, and discharge thy duty towards the
+strangers! Pray in silence, and retire to rest, children! Let every
+brother set about his evening work! You must not suppose, my unknown
+guests," he added, "that the conversers and lay brothers you have seen
+here, alone perform the bodily labour which is incumbent on us all--it
+is precisely in order to gain bodily strength for the performance of
+the stern duties of our order that I give, as you see, occasional
+dispensations with respect to the nourishment of the frail body with
+substantial meat."
+
+The brethren of the order and the monkishly clad children now folded
+their hands, and muttered a prayer; they then departed, after they had
+all, with a deep and submissive inclination of the head, kissed the
+abbot's hand, which lay extended for the purpose on the arm of his
+chair, in which he remained sitting, and gazed on his guests with an
+attentive and searching glance. "You are welcome. Sir Niels Brock and
+Sir Johan Papae," now commenced the abbot, in a confidential and
+condescending tone, with a side look at Sir Palle. "This knight I know
+not, but I presume you bring none with you but your most confidential
+friends."
+
+"The high-born Junker Christopher's gentleman of the bed-chamber, Sir
+Palle, accompanies us to Wordingborg by his lord's command," said
+Brock, hastily, "although we cannot boast of knowing him intimately."
+
+"Ay, indeed! You are welcome also, Sir Palle," resumed the abbot, in a
+tone of haughty condescension, once more assuming the dignified mien of
+a prelate. "Your master, the junker, is now said deeply to repent his
+sin and cruelty against our most learned and God-fearing archbishop,
+and to feel a longing after peace and reconciliation with the holy
+church? With all his errors, he seems still, however, to be of a more
+tractable and pious mind than his hardened brother, and it may one day,
+perhaps, stand him in good stead, for God resisteth the proud, but
+giveth grace to the humble."
+
+"Yes, my lord junker will now assuredly be converted, pious Sir Abbot,"
+answered Palle, thrusting a large piece of meat into his mouth, by
+which he was hindered from continuing his speech.
+
+"To judge from the build of Sir Palle's person, _he_ stands most in
+need of refreshment and rest," said Brock, with significance.
+"According to his assurance, there is now the best understanding
+between the junker and his brother."
+
+"Ay, indeed! hum! well, then! It is good assuredly that brothers should
+be united, provided it be in that which is right," said the prelate,
+and broke off the conversation. Little was now said, and that only on
+indifferent topics. Sir Palle's gormandising appetite perceptibly
+decreased at the cautious pause in the conversation, and at the
+sight of the fugitive in the monk's cloak, who had remained silently
+sitting at that end of the table which was least lighted up, and who
+kept his scrutinising eyes fixed upon him. As no one either ate or
+drank any more, the abbot folded his hands and muttered a Latin
+prayer; after which he rang a little silver hand-bell, and Pater
+master-of-the-household entered.
+
+"This knight desires instantly to retire to rest," said the abbot,
+pointing to Palle; "perhaps you will go with him as his contubernalis
+over yonder." As he said this, he winked at Sir Papae, and the taciturn
+knight immediately accompanied Sir Palle and the master of the
+household across the court yard of the monastery to the guesthouse,
+which was situated apart.
+
+As soon as the abbot was alone with Brock and the disguised fugitive,
+he gave them a mysterious nod and arose. He took the lamp in his hand,
+and opened a private door in the refectory which led to a long vaulted
+passage. He went on before, and they followed him in silence through
+the passage, and up a winding stair to the library of the monastery and
+the prelate's private chamber; he opened all the doors himself, and
+locked them carefully behind him. Sir Palle's indolence and love of
+good cheer seemed to be contending with curiosity and repressed alarm.
+"Whom take you yon sharp-eyed fugitive to be, Sir Papae?" he asked his
+silent travelling companion, as soon as the monk had shown them to
+their sleeping apartment and departed.
+
+"I care not who he is," said the knight sullenly, and took off his
+vest.
+
+"It is assuredly one of the outlaws," continued Palle, anxiously.
+"Truly it is strange to have sat at table, and now to sleep under the
+same roof with such a fellow. It might get wind one day, and waken
+suspicion."
+
+"I will give you good counsel, Sir Palle," answered the sullen knight.
+"Take your horse out of the stable again, and ride off at full speed,
+despite night and storm! Our company may also seem suspicious to you. A
+man like you, who holds his own peace and safety dearer than aught
+beside, should never devote himself to the service of any master in
+these troublous times. As far as I can judge you are as little fit for
+the junker's as the king's service, and least of all to be your own
+master, like me and other free men."
+
+"The devil! Sir Papae! what do you take me for?" said Palle, bridling up
+and highly affronted; "think ye I am afraid for my skin? I would fain
+see the man who hath oftener risked life and blood in the service of my
+master, than I have, and yet as a free man dare snap my fingers at the
+world's rulers and tyrants. What my master, the junker, is about, he
+must know best himself, and answer for--it concerns not me--_his_ head
+truly is placed too high to be imperilled. When it comes to the push,
+all falls on those beneath; yet when he calls you and Sir Niels his
+friends, and sends you greeting and courteous invitation, as his
+servant, I surely run no risk by companionship with you;--but an
+_outlaw!_ think! perhaps even one of the regicides!--to have sat at
+table with him may cost us all dear."
+
+"You are in a very unpleasant position, Sir Palle." said the haughty
+partizan, with a contemptuous smile. "With the king, you stand not
+well, they say; and though you have already settled yourself
+comfortably in the junker's service, it may end badly enough, after
+all. If he gets but a hint how you keep the seal of his private
+letters----"
+
+"It is a shameful falsehood, I deny it positively," answered Palle,
+glowing crimson. "But for the Lord's and our dear lady's sake,
+excellent Sir Papae! bring me not into trouble by such talk, and beseech
+Sir Niels also to be silent about it. I am in truth innocent as an
+unborn babe. I know not in the least what either you or the junker have
+in hand, and there was not a word about it in the letter; that is what
+you say yourself; for what know _I_ of it?" he added hastily. "But
+whatever it may be," he continued, "I pray you only to consider that,
+after all, the king is a mighty man, and not to be jested with when he
+is wroth. Even my own master, the high-born junker, I would in all
+confidence here between us two, counsel ye to deal somewhat cautiously
+with. Too much confidence in the great answers not, either;--in our
+times one should in troth know how to obey the commands of one's
+master, and nevertheless use one's own understanding,--do you see? To
+speak plainly. Sir Papae! since the commandant at Kallundborg was forced
+to lose his head, I have often had uneasy dreams."
+
+"Now good night, my dear Palle!" said the knight, clapping him
+compassionately on the shoulder. "I would not for a great deal be in
+your place. It must be grievous for an honest knight adventurer like
+you, who so faithfully strives to serve the great, not to be able to
+fathom his master's mind, any more than his own stomach." The knight
+then strode into his sleeping apartment and shut the door after him
+with a scornful laugh.
+
+"Another awkward scrape!" muttered Sir Palle, striking his forehead. He
+threw himself into a chair and yawned. It seemed as though his body and
+soul were at war. He appeared to feel a desire to sleep, but could not
+rest. He threw himself once or twice on the couch, but soon rose again,
+panting and puffing with uneasiness. All was now quiet at the
+monastery; nothing was to be heard but the howling of the storm through
+the chimney and around the high gable ends of the roof. After some
+deliberation, Palle wrapped himself in his mantle, and stole softly out
+of the door. He found the anti-chamber of the guest-house open, and
+slipped out into the court-yard of the monastery. He looked around him
+on all sides. It was dark and gloomy; there was not a light to be seen
+in any of the twelve cells; but, from the second story of the principal
+building a solitary lamp shone through the creaking boughs of the lime
+trees. The light came from an apartment which Pater, head-cook, had
+pointed out to him as the abbot's private chamber. Before it stood a
+remarkably tall, thick, lime tree, which was not yet in leaf. Sir Palle
+stole forward under the tree, and endeavoured to climb up its trunk;
+the build of his figure rendered this very difficult for him to do; but
+he succeeded at last by dint of much exertion, in getting so high up in
+the tree, that at some distance he could peep in through the small
+lit-up window panes. He beheld the abbot and Sir Niels Brock very
+singularly occupied. A tall warlike form stood before them in ancient
+knightly armour. The abbot was in full costume; he placed a helmet
+(over which he appeared to be pronouncing a benedicite) upon the
+warrior's head. Brock seemed to be rubbing the eye-brows and beard of
+the armour-clad personage with an ointment. Palle listened in vain, the
+storm prevented his hearing a single word of what was said; but he now
+saw that the abbot opened a cupboard, and produced a black book with
+silver clasps, which looked to him like a Testament. Sir Niels Brock,
+as well as the steel-clad warrior, laid their hands on the book and
+knelt. They remained in this position while the abbot fetched a silver
+chalice from the cupboard, and went through the same ceremonies as on
+the performance of low mass. He took a silver wine-flagon, filled the
+chalice, signed a benediction over it, and drank himself. He then
+opened a silver box, signed a cross, and a blessing likewise over it,
+and seemed to administer the sacrament to each of the kneeling knights.
+
+"Gracious Heaven! He is surely giving them the sacrament!" whispered
+Palle to himself, "what can all this mean?"
+
+The abbot now stepped back, and appeared to be speaking with great
+emphasis and energetic enthusiasm. At last the knights arose and kissed
+the bishop's hand, and the dismayed spy recognised the powerful tones
+of Niels Brock, who clapped the steel clad warrior on the shoulder and
+said, in a loud tone, "Now, then! in the name of all the saints, have
+you courage, Kagge! The devil himself could not know ye now, or injure
+a hair of your consecrated head."
+
+On hearing the name of Kagge, Sir Palle became so alarmed, that he lost
+his balance. The branch broke on which he had placed his foot, and he
+was forced to let himself slide down the trunk of the lime-tree without
+being able to save the skin of his hands or his rich attire, in which
+great rents were torn. He fell with violence to the ground, and stunned
+by fear and pain, stole back again in this pitiable plight to his
+chamber.
+
+Abbot Johan did not appear to his guests on the following morning, and
+when Brock and Papae, during mattins, rode forth from the monastery with
+the worn-out and hapless Sir Palle, the party had received an addition
+in the person of a stranger, mounted on a large well-fed horse from the
+abbot's stable, and clad in an old-fashioned suit of armour. His hair
+and brow were hidden by an ample helmet, fastened under the chin with a
+silver clasp. His meeting eye-brows and broad beard were shining, and
+coal-black; over his coat of mail he wore a large silver chain, in
+token of a knight's sacred vow. Sir Palle hardly dared to turn his eyes
+on him. It was, indeed, impossible for him to recognize in this figure
+the fugitive guest at the monastery; but he was nevertheless convinced
+it was he, whom he now knew to be the outlawed regicide, Kagge himself.
+Palle looked as though he already felt the rope round his neck, at the
+thought of the dangerous company into which he was thrown. This new and
+mysterious travelling companion rode in silence between his two
+powerful friends. His glance was wild and restless; at first setting
+out he often looked behind on all sides, as if he feared to be
+recognised and pursued; but he soon, however, nodded confidentially to
+his companions, and presently fell into a deep reverie. His dark
+imaginings were occasionally interrupted by a wild and half-smothered
+laugh.
+
+"I have met with a good friend and kinsman here in the monastery," said
+Brock, in a careless tone, to Palle. "He is a merry fellow, as you
+doubtless perceive; and laughs at his own thoughts when there is a lack
+of mirth and wit in his companions. He hath a true love at Wordingborg
+whom he would surprise; but therefore he would rather be unknown, and
+you can surely be silent where one ill-timed word might prove dangerous
+to yourself."
+
+"Yes, doubtless," answered Palle, "silence is a virtue necessity
+teaches every wise man in our times; and here it is easy for me to be
+silent, since I know not even the name of your honourable friend and
+kinsman."
+
+"That I will confide to you: he is called Johan Limbek, but gives
+himself out to be Ako Krummedige, or Blackbeard, going on a pilgrimage
+to the holy land," continued Brock in a lowered tone; "but keep this to
+yourself. My kinsman is not to be jested with, do you see, and if you
+disturb his love adventure by unseasonable talk you must be prepared to
+break a sharp lance with him. He fights better than the devil himself.
+I would only just mention to you,--he hath broken the neck of many a
+doughty knight, ere this, in love adventures."
+
+"He will scarcely find a rival in me," answered Palle, "although I am
+reputed to stand high in the favour of the fair."
+
+"Assuredly," replied Sir Niels, and laughed. "Who knows not that rare
+ballad of Sir Palle's wooing fair Gundelille's driver lad?"
+
+"Would that all dainty maidens and wooing were at the devil!" returned
+Palle, angrily. "That dainty maiden will never more make a fool of any
+honest man, as surely as Marsk Stig's vagabond brood are caged for life
+at Wordingborg."
+
+At these words the steel-clad traveller became attentive, and measured
+Sir Palle with a scornful and angry look.
+
+"See you," whispered Sir Niels, "my enamoured friend cannot even hear
+maidens and rivals spoken of without the blood instantly boiling within
+him. Beware, as I said before, Sir Palle, that you do not meddle with
+his concerns." So saying, he turned, with a contemptuous look, from the
+perplexed gentleman of the bedchamber, and joined his two other
+companions, who seemed as little in a communicative mood as himself.
+Absorbed in gloomy reverie, and almost without another word being
+spoken, the travellers pursued the journey to Wordingborg.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAP. VIII.
+
+
+When the two powerful and well-known knights, Niels Brock and Johan
+Papae, with their outlawed friend between them, and the anxious Sir
+Palle at their side, rode with their train through the gates of
+Wordingborg, there was so much bustle among the gathering crowd in the
+town that they were scarcely noticed. The king had arrived with his
+brother the junker and his numerous train of knights--Drost Aage, Marsk
+Oluffsen, Count Henrik of Mecklenborg, and nearly all his most
+important councillors were with him. The castle was filled with
+princely guests and their splendid trains. Duke Valdemar of Slesvig,
+and his brother the gigantic Duke Eric of Langeland, had just made
+their entry into the castle, and there was much talk among the populace
+of the long legs of Duke Eric, of which none had ever seen the like.
+
+"'Tis a devil of a fellow, yon long-shanks," said the sentinel at the
+castle gate to his comrade. "'Twas surely he who slew Drost Skelm in
+Nyborg just under the king's nose."
+
+"No, comrade, he slew him in his bed; I know that better," answered the
+other man-at-arms. "I was myself among the king's spear-men at the
+Danish court: it will be just four years come next Lady-day; the heat
+was great, and they drank hard at court--the long-legged lord is fierce
+when he is hot in the head or drunk; and at that time, sure enough, he
+sided with the outlaws. Had the king been present, long-shanks would
+scarcely have ventured on so rough a jest--he was forced to flee from
+Nyborg the same night, and for three years he durst not show his face
+before the king. For all that he is a very able fellow," continued the
+man-at-arms; "and since he got a dressing at Gronsund he hath learned
+to take off his hat to our king. However fierce and mad he may be, he
+is nevertheless a hundred times honester than his wizened brother, the
+yellow scarecrow from Slesvig."
+
+The talk now turned upon this generally unpopular prince. It was known
+that the ambitious and wily Duke Valdemar had aspired to the Danish
+crown, and been suspected of a secret understanding with Marsk Stig and
+the outlaws. Since the great sea-fight at Gronsund, his proud spirit
+had drooped, however; his last conspiracy and contumacy against his
+liege sovereign resembled the flaring up of a burnt-out and exhausted
+volcano. The duke's sallow, withered visage and long nose were the
+subjects of the coarse jests and biting comments of the populace,
+although his well-known acuteness, and sagacious state-policy still
+appeared to be dreaded.
+
+The king's step-father. Count Gerhard of Holstein, or the one-eyed
+count, as he was called by the people, was, on the contrary, much
+lauded. Since his marriage with Queen Agnes he often sojourned at the
+castle of Nykioeping. He had on this day arrived from Falster, to act as
+counsellor and mediator in the treaty with the Dukes. Much reliance was
+placed on his uprightness and wisdom, and his frank and joyous
+deportment gained him general favour.
+
+Every hour brought new arrivals to the town and castle, and among them
+were seen many venerable prelates and bishops known to be devoted to
+the king. Among others, the Bishops of Aarhuus and Ribe, and the
+provincial Prior of the Dominicans, the venerable Master Olaus, who
+stood at the head of the Danish clergy's appeal to the pope against the
+enforcement of the interdict according to the constitution of Veile.
+This estimable and truly patriotic prelate, with his mild, calm, aged
+face, and snowy ring of hair around his tonsure, was almost worshipped
+by the people, and wherever he appeared it was whispered that it was he
+who would deliver the country from ban and interdict.
+
+Every traveller who announced himself to the Marsk as the king's
+vassal, or belonging to Danish knighthood, was instantly assigned a
+place in the large upper story of the castle appropriated to the use of
+the knights. The spacious apartments in this side wing were, however,
+nearly all occupied, when Sir Niels Brock and Sir Johan Papae announced
+themselves to the Marsk, with their unknown friend, whom they gave out
+to be Sir Ako Blackbeard of the renowned race of Krummedige. He had
+returned home from a pilgrimage, it was said, and had vowed silence at
+the holy grave, and bound himself not to lay aside the armour of his
+ancestor until the knight's vow was fulfilled which he had there made
+to the Lord. Such vows were then not uncommon. They met with ready
+approbation, and carried with them a claim to special honour, and a
+species of religious reverence. As the king's vassals, and Danish
+knights of some consideration, the three travellers likewise were now
+admitted at the castle. Sir Palle had separated from them as soon as
+possible, and announced their arrival to his master the junker,
+without, however, mentioning the suspicious guest they had brought with
+them. Disquieted by this secret, he went from one party to another,
+feeling, as it were, that he carried his life in his hand. He was seen,
+now among the king's, now among the junker's friends, where, with
+assumed eagerness, he adopted the prevailing tone of the company he was
+in. He presently, however, rejoined Brock and other haughty and
+independent knights, who spake freely and boldly both against the king
+and the junker, and whom he desired not to offend, nor to be despised
+by, for servile or timid conduct. He thus thought to secure his safety
+under all circumstances; but he considered no party as perfectly safe,
+and could not determine in what manner he might best avail himself of
+the important discovery he had made while in the great lime-tree in the
+court of the forest monastery.
+
+Notwithstanding the stir which was necessarily caused by the presence
+of so many strangers in the castle and the town, a remarkable stillness
+prevailed, and a stern seriousness pervaded the assemblage at the
+castle. There were no public amusements. The king only appeared at
+mattins and mass, and at table, noon and evening, in the great upper
+hall, where were placed two long dining-tables--one for the king and
+his princely guests, as well as for the prelates and chief men of the
+state, and another for the Danish knights in general, and the guests
+who had joined them. Among them sat the mysterious personage from the
+forest monastery, between Sir Niels Brock and Sir Johan Papae. According
+to his knight's vow, the pretended Sir Ako kept on his helmet as well
+as the old-fashioned armour, and his silence and solemn deportment were
+regarded with respect. At the same table sat the knights and courtiers
+of the duke's train, with the German professors of minstrelsy and other
+learned and foreign visitors. When the noontide repast was over, the
+company dispersed. Some remained in the spacious apartments of the
+castle, where they amused themselves with chess and backgammon, or
+listened to the German minstrels' lays and tales of chivalry;
+others went to the tennis-court, or the riding-house, and the
+great tilting-yard, where they whiled away the time with tennis,
+horse-racing, and martial exercises; some parties went a hawking in the
+chase, or rode through the town in order to show themselves in all
+their splendour to the ladies of the place. Many were interested in
+surveying the royal fleet which lay in the harbour, while others took
+the opportunity of bargaining with the Hanseatic merchants and
+skippers, or of making purchases of the famous Wordingborg cloth,
+which, next to that of Ypres and Ghent, was in especial demand, and
+bore as high a price as that of Bruges. In the evening the sound of
+lutes and love ditties was heard, as well in the castle as in the town,
+where the youthful knights were in search of acquaintance and love
+adventures.
+
+The important negociations with the dukes appeared for the first few
+days, entirely to occupy the king and his council. Through the
+mediation of Count Gerhard, a peace was soon concluded, and on the most
+honourable terms for the king. A herald then summoned the knights and
+guests together in the great knights' hall of the castle. Here the king
+was seated on a raised throne, between his brother the junker and Count
+Gerhard, surrounded by the dukes and all his vassals, as well as the
+state council, and the prelates present at the castle. The Drost read
+aloud the ratified treaty of peace, in which Duke Valdemar pledged
+himself that no injustice should be done to the king's peasants in the
+dukedom, and also scrupulously to perform his duties of vassalage to
+the Danish crown. On these terms the king consented to pardon him and
+his brother as well as every one who had sided with the duke in this
+feud, with the stern exception, however, that henceforth every knight
+and squire who had been proved to have taken part in his father's
+murder should be doomed to death wherever they should be found.
+
+While this article of the treaty was read, the king looked around the
+assemblage with a severe and what seemed to many, a threatening glance.
+There were not a few present of the acknowledged friends and kinsmen of
+the outlaws, and in the train of the Duke of Slesvig were several
+persons unknown both to the Marsk and the Drost, who had excited
+suspicion by their mysterious and unruly deportment. This strict clause
+in the treaty appeared greatly to disappoint the expectations of the
+Duke's friends, and their confidence in this politic prince. He himself
+sat with downcast eyes, and vainly strove to assume an air of calm
+indifference.
+
+The Drost finished the reading of the treaty, which excited great
+attention, and awakened interest of very different kinds, without a
+single sound being heard in the numerous and anxious assembly. The
+concluding article however seemed in some degree to soften the stern
+victor-like tone, which characterised the treaty. By a just recognition
+of the rights of his brave opponent, the king had invested Duke Eric of
+Langeland with the fiefs of Oe and of Alt, which he was entitled to
+demand in right of his consort Sophia's inheritance. This article
+terminated the essential part of the treaty, and the assemblage broke
+up.
+
+Count Gerhard still purposed remaining some days longer, and the Duke
+of Langeland, who was especially pleased with the king's uprightness,
+and with the whole treaty, also remained; but his brother the Duke of
+Slesvig immediately quitted the castle with his whole retinue. He left
+Wordingborg with his hat slouched low over his eyes, apparently
+depressed and humbled to a degree which he had never before manifested.
+He was escorted part of the way by Junker Christopher, who on this
+occasion seemed desirous to surpass the king in generous sympathy and
+attentions towards this fallen aspirant to the throne of Denmark, who
+owed his downfall to his own rancorous animosity and deluded ambition.
+Sir Niels Brock and Sir John Papae, who appeared to seize every
+opportunity of approaching the junker without exciting remark, had
+joined his train.
+
+It was not until late in the evening that Prince Christopher returned.
+He had sent Papae with the rest of his train on before, and arrived a
+whole hour later in the town, accompanied by Brock. They rode slowly
+along the dusky road, and conversed in a low tone, and at intervals,
+together. They found the town lighted up with flambeaux and torches, on
+occasion of the ratification of the treaty. Songs and merry lutes
+resounded from several houses. At the castle, the knight's hall was
+illuminated; music and song was also to be heard there. Workmen were
+busied at the lists by the light of lanterns; and carpenters were
+employed in erecting railings and a high stand for the next day's
+tournament, in which the king himself intended taking a part.
+
+"Ay! he will never tire of this child's play," muttered Junker
+Christopher, after he had rode past the lists and had seen these
+preparations; "he squanders more on such nonsense in a year, than both
+Samsoe and Kallundborg bring me in; he ruins the country with it, and
+will at last break his own neck in this foolery."
+
+"His courtiers are too polite and obsequious for that," answered
+Brock--"there is assuredly not one among his strutting halberdiers, or
+knights of the round table, who would not willingly let himself be
+pushed out of his saddle ten times a day, to please his chivalrous
+master. Credit me, they have regularly exercised themselves in the art
+of kicking up their heels in the air, as soon as he touches them with
+his lance.
+
+"They would be badly paid for such courtesy, did they venture on it,"
+answered the junker. "After the most trifling tilt, a strict knights'
+council is held; and he pays almost more attention to those mock
+fights, regulated by all the foreign laws and rules of honour, than to
+the manners and morals of his subjects."
+
+"Doth he also mix with stranger-knights and masters of arms on such
+occasions?" asked Brock. It is the first time of my attending this kind
+of entertainment.
+
+"Oh yes!" muttered the junker, "when his vanity may be flattered, he
+despises no laurels. Hitherto he hath really passed for an invincible
+king Arthur."
+
+"Perhaps he may meet with his overmatch, nevertheless," said Brock in a
+lowered tone, and looking cautiously around him. "I never fight for
+sport myself; but give heed to-morrow, high-born junker--Know you the
+ancient tradition of the puling enamoured demi-god Baldur, and the bold
+Hother?"[4]
+
+"How mean ye?" asked the junker, stalling.----
+
+"I have a good friend,--I know of a foreign knight I would say--a
+master of his weapon, who in such courteous game might have a mind to
+play Hother."
+
+"Ay! indeed!" muttered Christopher, looking uneasily around,--"you
+should caution your friend, though, against playing so dangerous a
+game; you should least of all speak to me, Sir Brock, of such friends
+and their wishes. What I have confided to you, in no wise warrants such
+presumptuous confidence. Whatever there may be between me and a certain
+mighty personage, matters will hardly be pushed so far as you and your
+bold friends think."
+
+"Be pleased to understand me aright, high-born junker," interrupted Sir
+Niels hastily. "I speak but of a sport; I know they amuse themselves
+here at times with mumming, and such diversions."
+
+"They may amuse themselves as they please, for aught I care," muttered
+the junker, gloomily; "but I will be out of the game. Half one's life
+is but a sorry piece of mumming, whether we play friend or foe. It will
+be seen who hath best enacted his part, when the childs' play here is
+ended, and people think in earnest again in Denmark. He then spurred
+his horse, and rode into the court of the castle.
+
+"After the junker and Brock had dismounted from their horses in the
+castle-yard, and as they were passing the maidens' tower, they heard
+the sound of a lute, and saw a knightly figure hastily conceal himself
+behind the pillars of the tower."
+
+"Hath every one gone mad? Serenades here in the country, and that even
+ere the nightingale hath come!" muttered the junker with a scornful
+laugh, and wrapping himself in his mantle to keep out the cold wind.
+"Hum! as is the master so are his servants--are we not far advanced
+here in courtesy, and gentle customs Sir Niels! Know ye ought of such
+gallantry in Jutland? All will now go on in as chivalrous a fashion as
+in Spain and Italy. That we may thank these vagabond minstrels for,
+with their ballads and their books of adventures, which my chivalrous
+brother even takes with him in his pocket, on his campaigns. In the
+knights' hall there, they are now talking, no doubt, of the beautiful
+Florez and Blantzeflor, and of the virtuous Tristan and King Arthur.
+All that is indispensable if one would pass for a courteous and courtly
+knight;--and without, here, wanders a fool to sing serenades in the
+moonlight, to the owls of Wordingborg tower."
+
+"If that was a prison we passed. Sir Junker," observed his companion,
+"it might be easily explained without such players' tricks."
+
+"Well possibly," said the junker nodding. "It was here the Drost took
+the liberty of caging Marsk Stig's raven brood instead of at
+Kallundborg. Even the pretty vagabond ladies we shall find have their
+adorers." The junker then ascended the stairs of the balcony.
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAP. IX.
+
+
+In the castle-yard, before the knights' hall, stood a crowd of curious
+grooms and kitchen maids, to hear the singing, and gaze at the king and
+the stranger-guests. Amid this gossiping and jesting throng, wandered a
+fat, silent personage, closely muffled in a cloak. The maidens crowded
+together, and giggled whenever he came near them, and the one joked the
+other about him as a well-known wooer of the whole fair sex. It was the
+generally self-satisfied and obsequious Sir Palle, who now however
+looked most solemn and thoughtful. He had here for some time listened
+to the jests of the maidens and their talkative admiration of the
+king's handsome presence and his splendour, and of all the pomp they
+beheld. This seemed however but little to amuse him to-night; he yawned
+with a sigh, and went with undecided steps towards the maidens' tower;
+he now heard the sound of a lute in that part of the square, where fell
+a partial shadow, and the cold wind whistled in eddies around the
+pillars of the tower. He paused, and listened attentively; the sounds
+continued, and he thought he discerned a dark form standing under the
+tower window. He drew nearer with curiosity, and distinctly beheld a
+man with a knight's helmet, around whose person fluttered an ample
+mantle; while he gazed up at the grated window, and occasionally struck
+the cords of a lute with wild earnestness. Palle leaned back in alarm
+against the wall, and thought he had recognised the mysterious guest of
+the forest monastery. The cold perspiration broke out on his forehead;
+but his curiosity overcame his fright, and he remained standing. He
+heard a whisper, which was answered from above, and a deep but low
+voice, now sung beneath:
+
+
+           "Oh list then, Agnete, thus sue I to thee![5]
+            Wilt thou be moved my true love to be?
+              Ho! ho! ho!
+            Wilt thou be moved my true love to be,
+            To morrow they lead here the dance so free?"
+
+
+The deep voice ceased; the little window rattled behind the grating,
+and a sweet female voice sang from above--
+
+
+           "Oh yes, by my troth, that will I indeed,
+            O'er the sea so blue if thou'lt bear me with speed--
+              Ha! ha! ha!
+            O'er the sea so blue if thou'lt bear me with speed,
+            But not to its depths will I dive with thee,
+            Then to-morrow we'll lead the dance so free."
+
+
+"Ha! Gundelille's voice, Ulrica Stig!" muttered Palle; "ay, indeed, a
+love adventure then! and yonder outlawed hound on _my_ preserve. This
+shall soon be put a stop to!" In his jealous eagerness he plucked up
+courage, and first stole a good way back from the tower; he then went
+briskly forward again, and growled forth a song, while he tramped hard,
+letting his long sword clatter after him on the stone pavement; but he
+had hardly swaggered ten paces from the tower ere the disguised figure
+rushed past him like lightning and threw him on the ground; he felt at
+the same time a stab in his right side. "Murder! help!" gasped Palle,
+in a low voice. He dared not cry aloud and give the alarm lest the
+terrible fugitive should return and despatch him at once. "Alas! poor
+unoffending fellow I that am!" he moaned, "when I carry my head highest
+I even get run through the body. Those accursed women! they are only
+created to be my ruin--" He hasted to get upon his legs, and ran as hard
+as he could over the dusky part of the court-yard to his chamber in the
+knights' story, where in all secresy he had his wound examined and
+bound up. His ample mantle had parried the thrust, and the wound seemed
+trifling; but it pained him exceedingly, and the fright had so
+overpowered him that he was compelled to retire to his couch. To the
+many inquisitive questions put to him as to who it was that had wounded
+him, he dared not answer a word; and the more he thought of his
+mysterious rival the more alarmed he became. "The Drost!--send for the
+Drost!" he at last exclaimed in a low tone. "It is a state secret; no
+other may know it." Nobody attended much to this expression, which was
+regarded merely as one of his customary boasts of a knowledge of state
+affairs and secrets which it was known would never be entrusted to him.
+At last, however, his attendants were forced to humour him, and sent a
+messenger to summon the Drost.
+
+Meanwhile the Lady Ulrica stood alone, and listened at the little
+grated window in in the maidens' tower. On a work-table in the chamber
+stood a lamp, and a handsome fisher-maiden's costume, trimmed with
+pearls and silk ribbon, lay upon it. A sweet female voice was heard
+singing in the adjoining apartment; here sat her sister, the meek
+Margaretha, before the lamp, occupied in embroidering a large piece of
+tapestry for an altar-cloth. The edge or border consisted of skilfully
+worked foliage, with figures and scenes taken from life. There sprang
+hart and hind--here danced ladies and knights in miniature; but within
+the border hung the Saviour on the cross, and the Virgin Mary stood
+with St. John and St. Magdalen at the foot of the cross as Mater
+Dolorosa, represented as usual with a sword through the bosom. In the
+foreground knelt a knight in black armour, with his consort and two
+little maidens in mourning attire. In these figures she had pourtrayed
+her father, the mighty Marsk Stig, and her proud and unhappy mother
+Ingeborg, together with herself and her sister, as children. While
+Margaretha sat diligently occupied in this employment, and sang the
+ballad of Hagbarth and Signe, she noticed not what her capricious
+sister was about.[6]
+
+The distant sound of the festive din at the castle occasionally reached
+the lonely prison of the captive maidens; when this happened, Ulrica
+always became impatient, and wept at the thought of her exclusion from
+these festivities, and Margaretha found it a hard task to comfort her.
+Each time the sprightly little Karen came to supply their wants, Ulrica
+eagerly and inquisitively questioned her of all that passed, and the
+maiden was forced to give a description of all the stranger guests and
+knights. It was only when Margaretha heard Drost Aage's name, and
+Karen's account of what she knew of his dangerous adventure at
+Kallundborg, that she forgot her work, her hands dropped into her lap,
+and she listened with attentive interest. What their attendant related
+of the king, of his condescension towards the lowest, and his just
+strictness towards the great and mighty, she also heard with a species
+of interest, although not without a melancholy and sometimes bitter
+smile when she thought of her own fate; but when Ulrica would be
+informed of the looks of each of the stranger knights, of the colour of
+their hair, beard, and clothes--how they sat at table, and with what
+they were served, Margaretha was near losing patience; she therefore
+was very glad when Ulrica, as now, took a fancy to shut herself up in
+the little tiring chamber, there to busy herself with her gay apparel,
+and gossip with their attendant Karen. Since the maiden had on the
+morning of this day mentioned the tournament which was in preparation,
+and the dance and masque which it was hoped would take place the next
+evening, Ulrica had become joyous again. When she was not whispering
+and gossiping with Karen, she sang quite gaily in the little tiring
+chamber to which she had taken a special fancy.
+
+Ulrica had shut herself up this evening in her favourite retreat. She
+was again busied with her gay attire, and was humming a merry ballad
+about Carl of Rise and Lady Rigmor; but she now heard her sister's
+sweet melancholy song as she sat at her pious occupation, and the tears
+suddenly started to the eyes of the easily excited Ulrica; she rose in
+haste, as if scared by her own thoughts, and threw her decorations on
+the floor. She opened the door, and flew to embrace her meek sister
+with eager emotion.
+
+"What is this, Ulrica? What ails thee, dearest sister?" asked
+Margaretha, with sympathising uneasiness, as she returned her ardent
+demonstrations of affection.
+
+"Ah! I grew all on a sudden so anxious and sad," said Ulrica. "Thy song
+was so sweet and sorrowful, just like a lonely forsaken bird's in its
+cage, and I thought how it would be if thou wert left _quite_ alone in
+this horrid tower, with no one whatever to care for thee and comfort
+thee as thou hast comforted me and spoken kindly to me every day."
+
+"Thou art still with me, dear Ulrica, and truly I sit here with a
+cheerful heart at my precious tapestry. When the Lord wills it our
+prison doors will assuredly open for us, and ere that time we need not
+expect it. We will, however, never sorrow as those who have no hope."
+
+"That is true indeed," said Ulrica, half offended, and wiping her eyes.
+"When thou canst but embroider and tell thy rosary, and the adventures
+of courteous knights, or sing the Drost's ballads, thou carest but
+little for the whole fair world without; but _I_ can endure this life
+no longer: when I hear the sea dashing below at night I often wish that
+a merman would come and carry me off like Agnete. I would almost rather
+be at the bottom of the sea than in this wearisome prison-hole."
+
+"Never make such foolish and ungodly wishes, dear sister," answered
+Margaretha, half alarmed, and involuntarily crossing herself. "It is
+better, however, to be in prison and innocent than at liberty and
+guilty, rememberest thou not what stands in holy writ about St. Peter
+in prison, and what he said?"
+
+"I know all that well enough," interrupted Ulrica, pettishly; "but,
+nevertheless, there came an angel and took him out."
+
+"If the Lord and our Lady will it so, such an angel might be sent to us
+also," continued Margaretha. "It needs but an angel's thought in a
+kindly soul. I, too, should rejoice to see God's fair world again, when
+that might be with honour and without sin--but thou wert speaking of
+mermen[7] and evil spirits, and I heard before how wildly thou sang'st;
+it sounded to me like Agnete's answer to the merman--as though thou
+wert an unhappy deluded maiden like her. Ah, sweet sister! I know too
+well who thou art thinking of; but beware of him! he is assuredly just
+as false as the ocean foam, and as the hapless Agnete's bridegroom."
+
+"I require not he should be one hair better," answered Ulrica, eagerly.
+"Truly it was that foolish fickle Agnete, and not her bridegroom, who
+was false and faithless. She broke her vow, and left her wedded husband
+and her little children, and would not return to them, however much he
+besought her--such goodness and piety _I_ cannot understand; no, truly,
+_he_ was far more good and honourable! I ever pitied him, poor wretch!
+So _very_ frightful, either, he could not have been," she continued;
+"he had fair hair and sparkling eyes like Sir Kagge. Just listen!" and
+she sang--
+
+
+      "His hair was as the pure gold bright,
+      His eyes they sparkled with joyous light."
+
+
+"But it surely was no good sign," observed Margaretha, "when he entered
+into the church, and all the holy images turned to the wall. Alas,
+dearest sister, I could never look at Sir Kagge's small sparkling
+snake-like eye, but it seemed as though all pious and godly images fled
+from my soul."
+
+"Ah, thou art so unreasonable," exclaimed Ulrica impetuously; "so
+terribly unreasonable, that it is impossible longer to bear with thee.
+I shall run from thee as soon as I can,--that I tell thee beforehand;
+but then," she added half sadly--"ah, then thou must not weep and mourn
+for me, Margaretha! Wilt thou promise me that? or--wilt thou come too?"
+
+"What art thou thinking of, poor dear child! art thou ever dreaming of
+flight, and yet canst not find in thy heart to leave me? Make up thy
+mind to be patient, sweet Ulrica! After all, we _cannot_ escape, and I
+_would not_ if we could. With all his severity, the king is still good
+and just, every one here says so; he will surely one day come to know
+we are innocent, and will let us wander free out of his kingdom; that
+is the utmost we can hope for, after what hath happened; and this hope
+I do not give up."
+
+"The king!" resumed Ulrica with vehemence, and with a proud toss of the
+head; "truly the king is a revengeful, an obstinate, and unjust tyrant.
+I would tell him so to his face, even were I certain he were my real
+brother, as people say; but he should beware," she continued, with a
+look of defiance, "it is neither chivalrous nor kingly, to keep ladies
+and noble knights' daughters, perhaps even a king's daughter, in
+prison. I know however of _one_ knight in the world who hath courage to
+avenge us, and free me from this degradation."
+
+"You terrify me, dear bewildered child! Art thou dreaming again of that
+fearful greatness, and thinking of ungodly revenge! This comes not of
+thyself--That dreadful Kagge can surely never be here again?"
+
+"If he _were_ here, should I tell it to thee, that thou in thy
+conscientiousness might betray it to the zealous Sir Drost, and that I
+might see my only friend on the wheel to-morrow?--thus far extends not
+our sisterhood. A little while ago, I cared for thee, with my whole
+heart," she continued, in a voice of lamentation, "but _now_ I cannot
+abide thee; thou dost hate and despise the only human being that cares
+for me, and thou mightest almost make me fear him did I not know him
+better--this is not good of thee, Margaretha." She burst into a flood
+of tears, held both her hands before her eyes, and pushed away her
+sorrowing and sympathising sister, with her pretty elbows.
+
+"Weep not, be not naughty and wroth, dearest Ulrica," entreated
+Margaretha. "I hate no living soul in the world. Perhaps even Kagge may
+be better than I think; but if he is here and thou canst send a message
+to him, then for heaven's sake, beseech him to fly, and not plot more
+mischief."
+
+"No, no!" said Ulrica, impatiently, and stamping with her little feet,
+without, however, taking her hands from her eyes. "Who says he is here?
+Would he _were_ here, and was going to help me hence! If I were once
+gone, thou wouldst miss me though, Margaretha! Then thou wouldst rue
+having made me so naughty and wroth and untoward to-night. Now thou
+mayst sit down at thine ease, and think how thou wilt be able to make
+me good again--I am going to my couch without even kissing thee, and
+bidding thee good night," so saying, she ran to her couch, sprang into
+it with her clothes and shoes on, and drew up the down quilt quite over
+her head.
+
+Margaretha seated herself on the side of the couch, and spoke gently
+and soothingly to her. She would have taken the thick down quilt from
+her face, but the little self-willed maiden held it fast with both
+hands, and appeared to be strongly convulsed under it. Margaretha
+became alarmed and feared she was ill; at last she was nearly weeping
+herself; but Ulrica presently set up a loud laugh, and sprang from
+under the quilt. "Look! now! am good again!" she said, playfully, and
+hopped a graceful dancing step. "Come now, Margaretha, and thou shalt
+see all my finery; for I will be present at the gay dance to-morrow,
+that I tell thee; and if thou dost not let me slip out of the door with
+little Karen, I jump out of the window and break my neck,--then thou
+wilt be quit of me. Come and thou shalt see all my fine things!" so
+saying, she threw her arms round her grave sister's neck, kissed her
+and skipped with her into the little tiring chamber.
+
+
+
+
+                                CHAP. X.
+
+
+Some of the company in the knights' hall were entertaining themselves
+with singing and lutes, but Junker Christopher had sat down to a grave
+game at chess with the Duke of Langeland. Sir Niels Brock, Sir Johan
+Papae and their silent friend with the helmet, tried their fortune at
+dice and backgammon. Count Gerhard listened with the king, the Marsk,
+and the young knights, to the adventures and songs of the German
+minstrels. These foreign masters of song sought especially to entertain
+the king and his guests with lays composed in honour of all crowned
+heads, whom they lauded as their munificent patrons and protectors. At
+last they addressed themselves immediately to the king in a strain of
+somewhat exaggerated panegyric, particularly on his learning, and in
+the same metre and high-flown phrase in which the Minnesingers formerly
+sang the praises of their loves. Count Gerhard smiled, and the king at
+last became impatient. "No! this goes too far!" he exclaimed; "would
+you make me believe, Master Rumelant, that you are enamoured of me as
+though I were a fair maiden? No more of this! Sing to us, rather of the
+brave Nibelungen, and the hero Siegfred."
+
+"As you command! most mighty prince! My generous and noble patron!"
+answered Master Rumelant, with a bow; but he had been thrown into such
+confusion by the king's displeasure at his flatteries, that he could
+recollect nothing perfectly, but jumbled different songs together.
+"Stop! let _me_!" interrupted Master Poppe, with his warrior-like
+voice, and he now began the bold and spirited German epic poem of the
+brave Nibelungen, in tones which rang through the hall. The lay gained
+great applause, but it was a long epic, which became wearisome by the
+monotony of the melody or recitative. When Poppe paused only for a
+moment to take breath, or recollect, Master Rumelant instantly took up
+the lay, and as soon as he made any mistake, or faultered, Master Poppe
+recommenced with renovated powers; and thus it seemed as though the
+poem would never be ended.
+
+The king was, however, an attentive listener, and laughed once or twice
+right heartily at the naive and vivid descriptions; but at last he grew
+tired, and cleared his throat several times. "Excellent! excellent!
+good sirs; thanks!" he said, interrupting the unwearied singers. "That
+is enough for one time. There is marrow and bone in your heroic lays,
+as well as in your warriors; they are almost as hard to despatch. Now
+we should like to hear a Danish song. We have, indeed, no such single
+heroic poem, unless it be our chronicles. In reality, they compose an
+epic which I trust will never be ended. Our war songs are but fragments
+of them, but they are therefore better suited for songs. They never
+flag, but go on briskly, and that I ought to like right well, since I
+am myself of a somewhat impetuous temper. We have, besides, no real
+master of the art as yet," he continued: "but our songs are national,
+and are sung both by knight and peasant. Where is the Drost?"
+
+The Drost had been some time ago summoned from the hall, and no one
+knew where he was.
+
+"Now Marsk Oluffsen! do _you_ sing of our warriors and heroes!" said
+the king. "But have a care you split not the good arches here in our
+hall! I know your voice well."
+
+"I would rather fight than sing songs for you, my liege!" answered the
+Marsk; "they say I sing like a growling bear, but if you desire it I
+will willingly growl you out a song." He then cleared his throat, and
+began in a bass voice as deep and hollow as from an abyss.
+
+
+                 "It was young Ulf van Jern,
+                    Unto the king went he,
+                  My father's death for to avenge,
+                    Your men will you lend me."[8]
+
+
+"Silence!" exclaimed the king, stamping vehemently on the floor.
+
+The Marsk was silent, and stared at him in astonishment.
+
+"What are ye thinking of, Sir Marsk! would you remind the king of his
+father's death?" whispered Count Henrik in his ear.
+
+"By all the martyrs! who ever thought of that?" said the Marsk, and
+hastily withdrew. Soon after, the master of the household stepped
+forward, and summoned the king and his guests to the supper-table, as
+he threw open the door of the dining-hall.
+
+As was customary when the king was present, all the etiquettes of the
+table were observed according to chivalrous usage. Each knight had his
+appointed seat, with a small separate trencher and napkin. When the
+king went to take his place, he was wont to walk round the table of his
+knights, and at times to cast an observant glance over these small
+napkins, which were to lie whole and smoothly spread before the seats
+of the knights, with bread and trenchers, or plates, in a prescribed
+position. If a rent or a slit was found in the napkin, or if the bread
+lay reversed, it implied a charge touching the honour of the knight to
+whom the bread and napkin belonged, and the person thus accused was
+instantly obliged to leave the table, and remain shut out from the
+community of knights, until he should have justified himself. The day
+preceding a tournament there were generally a herald and two
+pursuivants, or under-heralds, present, at the king's table and that of
+his knights, to watch over the observance of these customs. This was
+the case on this evening.
+
+When the king came to the middle of the knights' table, he stopped, on
+remarking three trenchers upon which the bread lay reversed; he
+started, and nodded to the herald.
+
+"Who are to sit here?" asked the king with a stern look.
+
+"The high-born knights, Sir Niels Brock and Sir Johan Papae, my liege,"
+answered the herald, with lowered staff and a precise deportment. "Also
+a certain Ako Krummedige, whom no one knows. It is he to whom it hath
+been permitted to wear his helmet here in the hall, and keep silence
+towards every one, according to his knights' vow at the holy
+sepulchre."
+
+"Who is their accuser?"
+
+"An unknown knight, my liege! but he hath placed his covered shield as
+a pledge in the armoury; he will appear and give his name when it is
+demanded."
+
+"Well! be watchful, herald! fulfil thy duty!" so saying, the king went
+to take his seat.
+
+Shortly afterwards Sir Niels and Sir Papae, with their mysterious
+friend, appeared, and were about to take their accustomed places. On
+seeing the reversed bread, however, they started; the knight of the
+helmet changed colour and drew back a step; but Brock and Papae hastily
+replaced the bread in prescribed form, and took their seats with a look
+of haughty defiance; at the same moment the herald advanced with a
+drawn sword in his hand, directly opposite to them on the other side of
+the table; he slit, with the point of his sword, the three small
+napkins before them. "Sir Niels Brock, Sir Johan Papae, and you who call
+yourself Sir Ako Krummedige!" he said, solemnly, "In the name of Danish
+chivalry, I cut asunder, as I have done your table napkins, every tie
+of fellowship between you and knighthood. You are accused of treachery
+and treason; of a Judas deed and projected regicide; therefore you are
+ejected from the king's, and every honourable knight's society, until
+you have met your accuser and justified yourselves, if you are able to
+do so; in consideration of the gravity of the accusation, I demand of
+ye, besides, your weapons, and announce to you that you are put under
+knightly arrest."
+
+The herald then beckoned, and the two pursuivants advanced to receive
+the swords of the prisoners, and lead them to their confinement. All
+the guests rose in astonishment, and the king's knights and halberdiers
+drew their swords.
+
+"Confounded mummery!" muttered the tall knight, Brock, as he rose.
+"There, herald!" he called in a loud voice, and threw his glove on the
+table--"Take that to my accuser! wherever he meets me, my good sword
+shall prove him to be a liar and a fool--where is he? Dare he not name
+himself and look me in the face?"
+
+"Here he stands!" said a voice from the door of the dining hall, and
+Drost Aage stood there erect and calm on the threshold, with his hand
+on his sword, gazing with a searching look on the three accused
+knights.
+
+"I laugh at the accusation of a dreamer and a visionary," cried Brock
+in a proud and scornful tone. "We meet. Sir Drost! I do but deposit my
+sword in the hands of these men that I may receive it to-morrow,
+acquitted by the king and knighthood, after washing out the blot here
+cast on mine and my friends' honour with the blood of the calumniator."
+He then delivered up his sword to the pursuivants.
+
+Papae had risen likewise; he also threw his glove with a contemptuous
+smile on the table--"There lies my pledge." he said, "and here is my
+answer to my accuser, whoever he may be, even though he should be given
+over to the devil, and the destruction of the flesh." So saying, he
+flung his large battle sword on the flagged floor at the herald's feet.
+They then both went with haughty and hasty strides out of the door,
+casting one or two flashing glances at the Drost, and with the
+pretended Ako Krummedige between them. This silent and disguised knight
+had become as blanched in the face as his slit trencher-napkin. He had
+given up his sword to the pursuivants; no sound issued from his blue
+compressed lips--but his glance rolled with fearful wildness beneath
+his bushy and blackened eyebrows; his legs tottered under him, and he
+was forced to take hold of the strong Sir Niels to keep himself from
+sinking on the floor. The Drost himself followed these dangerous
+prisoners to see that the formalities of their imprisonment were
+legally and properly conducted.
+
+This singular occurrence had excited great astonishment. The general
+silence was soon succeeded by a low whispering. The two daring knights
+were well known; every one was aware that they were suspected of having
+abetted the archbishop's flight. It was also known that they belonged
+to the discontented in the land;--of friends they had not a few; and
+they passed for brave, independent lovers of their country, who cared
+not to flatter royalty, but had strength and courage to maintain the
+liberties of the people, and their own rights in council against the
+mightiest. That they should have joined in treasonable conspiracies did
+not seem probable; and it was supposed the Drost had been too
+precipitate in making this singular charge. As the king's favourite, he
+was not free from the attacks of envy. "It is sad to think of the young
+Drost," whispered one of the junker's knights, "he is such a dreamer he
+scents treason everywhere, and makes the king to be hated, by his
+ill-timed zeal." Respecting the unknown knight with the helmet, and his
+guilt, there were many conjectures; he appeared in a suspicious light
+to most of the company--but that one of the outlaws should have dared
+to enter into the king's presence and sit at his table, seemed an act
+of such presumptuous daring, that none believed it to be possible.
+Meanwhile, all took their seats. Although the wine-flasks soon went
+round, the company appeared, however, unable to forget the unpleasant
+transaction which had clouded the king's countenance, as well as his
+step-father's; and, as it seemed, had also thrown Junker Christopher
+into an anxious and uneasy mood. It was not until all were seated, that
+Drost Aage again entered the supper hall. He also was silent and
+depressed. He took his seat directly opposite the king and Junker
+Christopher. The three nearest knights rose to make room for him,
+according to the ancient usages of the table, and he sat down without
+saying a word respecting the accused and their crime. He seemed lost in
+reverie, and appeared not to notice the unusual flagging of the
+conversation around him; but his attention was in reality rivetted with
+affectionate sympathy on the deep emotion he thought he discovered in
+the king's countenance. The gloomy sternness before depicted in it
+seemed now to be lost in thoughtful sadness. Eric sat with his wine cup
+in his hand, and regarded with a kindly look his friend and step-father
+Count Gerhard; at last he nodded involuntarily, and turned towards his
+reconciled foe, Duke Eric of Langeland. "A health in honour of the
+negotiator of peace and of my reconciled kinsman!" he said, suddenly
+rising from his seat. All the knights stood up--and the king
+continued--"Even this feast in honour of peace hath been made gloomy to
+me by traitors; they shall have their deserts; to-morrow is the day for
+passing sentence; to-day we will not think on it. At _this_ moment, I
+trust in the Lord and our blessed Lady that no secret traitor drains a
+cup in our hall. Long live Count Gerhard and Duke Eric!"
+
+"Long life to them, and long live our noble king!" was echoed from
+mouth to mouth, with great and nearly universal enthusiasm, while the
+goblets rang, and the horn-players, on a signal from the herald, made
+their instruments resound through the hall.
+
+Junker Christopher had also joined in the general shout of acclamation,
+and the king appeared especially to rejoice at hearing his brother's
+voice so animated on this occasion. His eye sought the junker's while
+he rung his glass against his; but Christopher's glance was cold,
+restless, and irresolute, while his cheek glowed, and he twisted the
+corner of his napkin with his left hand. A smothered sigh escaped the
+king's breast as he again resumed his seat. Aage now observed, with
+great astonishment, that there was a large rent in Junker Christopher's
+napkin, which he was vainly striving to conceal with his hand. The king
+seemed to have made the same discovery at the same instant. He had
+suddenly changed colour, and his countenance expressed a fearful degree
+of wrath and grief; he made a movement as if he were about to start up,
+but instantly recovered himself by a strong internal effort; he set
+down his cup directly before him on the table, and, by pushing his own
+napkin from him, contrived to hide with it the rent in his brother's.
+
+A look of affectionate admiration from Drost Aage was repressed by a
+stern glance of the king's serious eye while he laid his finger on his
+lips. "Music!" he called, and gave a signal to the herald. The hall
+soon resounded with lively hunting horns. The gravity of the guests
+presently disappeared, and each talked gaily with his neighbour; the
+king himself appeared gay and in spirits, although Aage, indeed,
+remarked that it cost him a desperate effort. When the castle chaplain,
+at the conclusion of the feast, was about to pronounce the blessing,
+all the knights had become so joyous and loud-tongued, that the herald
+was twice compelled to remind them of the etiquette of the table. When
+the repast was ended the king retired in haste to his private chamber,
+and beckoned gravely to Aage to follow him. When Christopher rose, he
+threw his napkin, as if by accident, under the table; he then went out
+on the hall balcony, and whistled; soon afterwards the prince's large
+hunting-hound came bounding through the hall, with a crumpled napkin in
+his mouth.
+
+The king had entered the private chamber with Aage; he had thrown
+himself into a chair, and held his hand before his eyes. He remained a
+long time in this posture. Aage stood in silence opposite to him,
+regarding him with a look of sorrowful sympathy. The king at last took
+his hand from his eyes, and he appeared to have wept. "Who hath dared
+to destroy love and confidence between brothers?" he exclaimed; "if it
+was you, Drost Aage, it is the last time I call you my Drost."
+
+"I it was not, my noble liege!" answered Aage; "_who_ it was I know
+not. May the Lord pardon that man among your true servants who so
+unwisely and rashly hath grieved you! It must have been done secretly,
+and without the herald's knowledge."
+
+"I despise a secret accusation," continued the king; "it is unlawful;
+it is in a high degree deserving of chastisement; it shall--yet no--no
+examination can take place in this case. If he _is_ a traitor," he
+continued, and deep grief was again visible in his countenance, "were
+he capable! Be it as God wills--_I_ injure not a hair of his head.
+Should I disgrace my father in his children? Should I doom my mother's
+son outlawed and dishonoured? Should I myself, Great God!----" He
+paused, and his hair seemed to stand on end with horror. "Look at me,
+Aage," he resumed; "could _such_ a thought be harboured here?" He laid
+his hand on his high and glowing forehead. "It burns within," he
+continued; "but no unseen Cain's mark burns there. My hand was sternly
+raised against him--love me he cannot--fear me he must. Well! let him
+tremble before his liege and sovereign until he learns to love his
+brother. Now, not a word more of this! It is perhaps only spite and
+slander. Who dares charge my left hand of treachery against the right?
+I know nothing as yet--I _will_ know nothing--I have known enough of
+evil----" He began again after a thoughtful pause, and with a gloomy
+downcast look--"have I not had traitors around me since I was a child?
+Have I not seen my father murdered, and his shameless murderers in my
+presence? Have not their bloody hands been secretly and openly raised
+against my life from the hour in which I doomed them outlawed? yet have
+they not had the power to touch me," he continued with cheerfulness,
+and raised his head. "No assassin's dagger hath yet reached me, even
+though excommunicated and given over to the Evil One. I know it, Aage;
+I have seen it--the hand of the righteous Lord was betwixt me and my
+deadly foes. No traitor and murderer--not even a soul murderer--no
+sinful archbishop or pope--not the arch-fiend himself--shall shake the
+crown upon this head." As he said these words he raised his hand and
+looked upwards with a glance of almost prophetic inspiration, and there
+was a nobleness and majesty in his countenance which seemed capable of
+humbling the most presumptuous foe.
+
+"My liege!" exclaimed Aage, with heartfelt joy, "the spirit which
+speaks through you at this hour is not alone the spirit of royalty and
+justice, but surely that of love also."
+
+"Go to my brother, my faithful Aage," interrupted the king hastily;
+"take him this----" He took a gold chain from his neck, to which hung
+an image of the Madonna. "Pray him to accept this jewel from his
+brother, as a memorial of this celebration of peace. Tell him our
+unhappy father wore this image to the day of his death." The king
+turned hastily away, and seemed desirous to hide the sorrowful emotion
+which had caused his voice to falter. Aage stood with the chain in his
+hand, and was about to give vent to the warmth of his feelings; but the
+king turned suddenly, and said, in a stern voice, "Tomorrow a council
+of knights will be held. The accused shall be arraigned, and defend
+themselves if they can. All are equal here with respect to the law--be
+they friends or foes. Woe to the accuser who hath not ample proof, were
+he even my dearest friend! Go! and the Lord be with thee."
+
+Aage bowed in silence, with wounded feelings, and would have departed,
+but the king, on perceiving his emotion, stretched out his arms towards
+him, and pressed him to his heart, without saying a word more.
+
+Aage hastily departed with the chain. When the king was alone in his
+chamber, he put his hand into his vest, and drew forth a rosary,
+garnished with pearls and rubies. "Thy Christmas gift when we were
+children, my Ingeborg!" he said, with deep emotion. "What thou knewest
+I would ask for besides, thy angel joined me in prayer for at the
+throne of Grace.--Christopher! Christopher! may God forgive thee the
+thought thine eye betrayed!" He then imprinted a kiss on the rosary,
+replaced it in his vest, and sat down quietly before his table to
+attend to state affairs.
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAP. XI.
+
+
+Early the next morning a herald-pursuivant stood in Drost Aage's
+sleeping apartment, with his large plumed hat in one hand, and a long,
+pointed sword in the other. The Drost hastened to put on his garments,
+while he listened with anxious attention to the information which was
+given him. The three accused knights had disappeared in the night,
+together with the men-at-arms, who had relieved guard at midnight
+before the door of the knights' story. Sir Niels Brock's and Sir Johan
+Papae's horses had been taken out of the stable--none of their squires
+or servants were to be seen in the castle; but the large well-fed horse
+which the pretended Sir Ako Krummedige had bestrode was still standing
+in the stable. The pursuivant who brought these tidings to the Drost
+delivered to him, at the same time, the sword which at the repast of
+the preceding evening he had received from the mysterious knight with
+the helmet, and drew the Drost's attention to a singular contrivance in
+it. The hilt was hollow, and contained a fluid, which, by means of a
+spring, might be imparted to the blade. A dog, whose skin had been
+scratched with this sword, had died in convulsions.
+
+"Ha! a poisoned weapon!" exclaimed Aage in alarm, returning the sword
+with a look of horror; "take it instantly before the judgment hall of
+the castle--Thou canst of course bear witness on oath from whom thou
+didst receive it?"
+
+"That I shall find it hard to do. Sir Drost, seeing no one knows who he
+really is," answered the pursuivant; "but that it was the dumb knight
+with the helmet--him they call Sir Krummedige--I can take my oath upon.
+I should also announce, Sir Drost," he continued, "that the junker's
+gentleman of the bedchamber, Sir Palle, died last night of his wound,
+although it was so trifling that we jeered him about it almost to the
+last. The surgeon swears he hath been wounded by a three-edged poisoned
+dagger."
+
+"Our Lady be merciful unto us!" exclaimed Aage. "His deadly terror was
+then but too well founded--We have had a poisoner then as our guest!
+Even now he may perhaps be among us!"
+
+The Drost hastily left his chamber. Soon afterwards Marsk Oluffsen's
+rough voice was heard in the court of the castle, and ere it rang for
+mattins a knight, at the head of a troop of horse, rode at full gallop
+out of the castle gate. The Marsk himself, it was said, was gone to the
+chase. He dashed on with a number of hunters and hounds through the
+park. The Drost searched the whole castle. Ere mattins were ended, the
+Marsk and his huntsmen brought a bound captive to the tower. It was the
+mute knight with the helmet. His beard and eyebrows had changed colour,
+and it was soon known that he was one of the outlaws.
+
+Amid the bustle caused at the castle by providing for the court, and
+attending on its numerous guests, much notice was not attracted towards
+these serious proceedings. The expected tournament and the knightly
+festivities occupied every one. The squires polished their master's
+arms and costly saddle-furniture; the prancing chargers were trained
+and tended; and the mild spring weather seemed to promise a bright day
+for the festivity. From the town and the neighbourhood crowds of gaily
+attired persons flocked to the castle. The splendidly accoutred knights
+careered eagerly and indefatigably with each other. All the castle
+windows which looked on the tilt-yard were already crowded with richly
+attired ladies, and most persons seemed to have forgotten both mattins
+and mass for the festival. It was whispered, indeed, that the
+tournament would not take place; but no one was disposed to believe
+this, as workmen began to bestir themselves, and preparations were
+still carried on, which kept expectation alive. Meanwhile the king was
+seen to ride as usual to mass with his princely guests, attended by his
+halberdiers. He was grave and thoughtful. Junker Christopher rode in
+gloomy silence by his side; he wore over his breast the large gold
+chain, with the image of the Madonna, which the king was wont to wear
+himself; and this token of distinction was regarded as a sign that all
+misunderstanding must have been removed between the brothers. The
+junker's eye meanwhile avoided the king's, and not one word was
+exchanged between them on the road to and from church.
+
+After mass, the king instantly repaired to the knights' hall with all
+his men, and it was announced by the heralds that a knights' council,
+and a court of justice would be held. The tournament and the other
+festivities were in the meantime announced by the Marsk to be given up;
+and people now flocked to the knights' hall to see the king administer
+justice among his knights. He sat with an unusually stern and grave
+aspect on the raised ivory throne, and was surrounded by regal state
+and splendour. He first examined into the conduct of some young knights
+who were accused of minor faults and transgressions of the laws of
+chivalry. Those who either could not prove their innocence according to
+the established proceedings of temporal justice, or where doubt was
+entertained, relied on sword and lance, for redeeming their honour were
+sternly banished the castle; but those who acknowledged and repented a
+pardonable error, obtained permission by bold and knightly deeds, to
+regain their place and rank among the king's men.
+
+The Drost now stepped forth in his own and in the name of the murdered
+Sir Palle, with an accusation against the pretended Sir Ako Krummidige,
+as the assassin of that slain knight, as well as against Sir Niels
+Brock and Sir Johan Papae, as traitors and secret conspirators against
+state and crown, and he craved permission, in case the testimony he
+brought forward was not considered sufficient to establish his charge,
+to confirm it with sword and lance, to be judged by God, in a combat
+for life and death with the traitors. As the two knights so seriously
+accused, had escaped by unlawful flight, they were proclaimed to be
+suspected, and cited to appear and defend themselves before the
+expiration of six weeks and one day, if they would not be passed
+sentence upon as traitors; but the pretended Ako Krummedige, whose real
+name was now discovered by sufficient evidence, was led before the
+tribunal. He was clad in the ancient armour in which he was attired on
+his first arrival; he wore also the helmet and shield he had brought
+with him from the monastery, and on which the famous armorial bearings
+of the noble family of the Hvides were noticed for the first time; but
+he had no sword by his side, and was surrounded by a strong guard. The
+glossy black was removed from his stiff beard, which now resembled the
+bristles of a boar; and from his bushy, meeting-eyebrows which were
+considered by the lower orders as a [9]"Wolfman's mark." and by which
+the outlawed Sir Kagge was especially distinguished.
+
+He was pale, and stared wildly around him. When he heard himself named
+and accused, and beheld the king in the large circle of attentive
+knights, he seemed to struggle against appearing cast down or humbled.
+
+He raised his head, and stepped forward with a bold and haughty look,
+and even with the assumption of a degree of knightly dignity. "I greet
+thee, King Eric Ericson!" he said, in a loud voice. "I greet every
+brave knight who serves with honour here at court! Christ preserve
+every dear son of Denmark from the misfortune which brings me hither!
+But if there be brave and true Danish men here present, the man who
+became outlawed for Denmark's freedom and the honour of Danish chivalry
+will not lack weapons and defenders."
+
+"Talk not of freedom and honour, _thou_ who hast nought but effrontery
+and deeds of infamy to boast of!" began the king with calm and cold
+contempt. "Under the name of a pious and honourable man, thou hast
+crept into my hall among men of honour, and abused the sacred laws of
+chivalry, to hide deceit and treachery. Thy mask hath fallen off
+traitor! thy poisoned weapon hath betrayed thee--Thou wert chased from
+Denmark for a Judas deed; yet still thou hast dared to enter my
+presence. _One_ assassination thou hast already perpetrated in my royal
+castle, and another thou hast meditated--Canst thou deny it? Hast thou
+a word to say in thy defence, miscreant?"
+
+The prisoner bit his lips, and ground his teeth. "If I come not
+precisely from the holy sepulchre," he muttered, "I come, however, from
+the graves of kinsmen and friends, and from the corpses of murdered
+comrades. The fool whose mouth I have stopped, was a soulless lump of
+flesh, on whom I did but whet my dagger. What I purposed besides, is no
+concern of any one; but what I had promised, it was my fixed resolve to
+perform. Against tyrants no weapon is dishonourable, King Eric! and if
+an outlawed man hath neither rights nor safety, how then can you
+suppose he will let himself be bound by your pitiful laws?"
+
+"Have ye considered the matter, my knights!" said the king; "then
+pronounce doom upon this audacious criminal, according to the laws of
+God and man!"
+
+"He hath forfeited honour and life, according to the laws of the land,"
+was the unanimous verdict. "According to strict justice, he hath even
+forfeited hand and eye." The herald pronounced the doom in a loud
+voice.
+
+When Kagge heard his death doom, his knees shook, and he looked around
+him with a rapid and searching glance, as if expecting to find
+defenders or protectors against the sentence, among the spectators, but
+there was a death-like stillness; no one moved tongue or hand in his
+defence. He seemed humbled, and now bent on one knee before the
+tribunal. "Bethink you, King Eric!" he said, in a supplicating tone, "I
+served in your royal father's castle, and he himself gave me the praise
+of being the best squire he had. His death was never my wish, I would
+have saved him had it been in my power; although he had broken his
+contract and had himself loosened the tie which bound Denmark's crown
+to his head."
+
+"I remember well thou didst serve in my father's castle, for hire and
+for garments," answered the king; "but I know, and every man in Denmark
+knows, also, that thou wert in Finnerup barn, on that bloody St.
+Cecilia's eve, and thy sword was not the _last which_ was plunged into
+the breast of thy unhappy master and king. As a faithless traitor and
+regicide thou wert however but outlawed while I was a minor, but now
+thou shalt suffer just punishment, as surely as I wear Denmark's
+crown!"
+
+"Is there not a single free man here, who dares to speak a word for
+me?" cried the captive, springing up with a wild look. "Ha! slaves of a
+tyrant! I despise ye," he continued, looking frantically around him.
+"The deed for which I was outlawed, was the proudest ever achieved by
+Danish man. A tyrant's murder hath been an honoured deed so long as the
+world hath stood, wherever a spark of freedom was in the spirit of the
+people--Now there are nought but cowardly slaves in Denmark, and it
+shames me to call you countrymen. There you stand aghast! because a
+bold word is heard again in kingly hall--You have courage only for
+crawling in the dust before a revengeful despot, and to doom the last
+friend of freedom to the scaffold--Is it not enough for you to see my
+blood? Will you saw off my hands and feet? Will you pluck out my eyes,
+that no free man may see you blush? Will you deal thus with a
+descendant of Skialm--Hvide's noble race? I am a knight," he added
+proudly. "I demand but to be judged by the law of knighthood--That is
+recognised over all the world, but under this country's laws I stand no
+longer."
+
+"Who dubbed thee a knight? asked the king, with a contemptuous look.
+
+"The greatest knight in Denmark's kingdom," answered the captive,
+drawing himself up with a look of defiance. "The man whose shoe latchet
+no knight here was worthy to loose--The Marsk of Denmark's kingdom,
+Stig Anderson Hvide, and if your chivalrous bearing is aught else than
+empty boast and mockery, King Eric, you will suffer me to be judged
+with equity according to the law which is as the apple of your eye."
+
+"Be it so, by all the holy men!" exclaimed the king with glowing
+cheeks; "according to the law of chivalry shall thy doom be executed,
+since thou dost thyself demand it, and thou shalt learn what it is to
+be doomed to dishonour. The knighthood which an outlawed regicide gave
+thee is truly but little honour worth, nevertheless thou shalt not take
+it with thee to thy dishonourable death. Thy hands and feet thou shalt
+keep, and thy false eyes also--but the honour thou boastest of, thou
+shalt lose according to law, for the sake of chivalry--and thy life for
+my father's sake alone."
+
+At a signal from the king, the captive was now removed, and a council
+of the oldest knights met together to decide upon the mode of carrying
+the sentence into execution, according to the laws of chivalry.
+
+Three hours afterwards, the captive was led in full knightly armour,
+and on horseback, to a high scaffold within the lists, under which the
+king himself appeared on horseback, surrounded by all his knights. The
+castle chaplain stood on the scaffold, at the head of a row of monks
+from the Dominican monastery. The captive was led up hither, not indeed
+to suffer death, but, according to the laws of chivalry to be ejected
+from the community of knights in a manner the most degrading. There was
+a crowd assembled; all the windows of the castle, as well as the stands
+on the lists were thronged with curious spectators. From the window of
+the servants' hall, close by the maidens' tower, peeped forth a fair
+little inquisitive face which was remarked for its beauty and
+animation; it was the captive Lady Ulrica, who without knowing what was
+going forward, had persuaded the tractable Karen to take her with her,
+to see the great procession which was talked of. No one knew what was
+to happen. The whole transaction was hitherto unknown in Denmark, where
+the young King Eric was the first sovereign who endeavoured to
+introduce all the usages of chivalry, and the novelty and mystery of
+the proceeding, tended still more to heighten curiosity. Ulrica beheld
+the priests on the high scaffold, and a knight in full armour led upon
+it: his back was turned to the window, and she did not recognise him. A
+rough sour-visaged man in a red cloak, with an iron club in hand, now
+stepped forward, he looked like an executioner, but however carried
+neither sword nor axe. He tore the shield from the knight, and struck
+off his armour; after which he broke the shield and armour into pieces
+with his iron club, and cast the fragments at his feet.
+
+"Gracious heaven! Is this an execution?" cried Ulrica in dismay. The
+knight was now led down from the scaffold. He turned his pale and
+terrible countenance towards her, and she recognised him. "Kagge!
+righteous heaven!" she exclaimed with a shriek, and sank swooning in
+the arms of her attendants. They hastened to carry her back to the
+tower, and to the fostering care of her gentle sister.
+
+The armorial bearings were taken from Kagge's broken shield; they were
+now, together with the shield, fastened to the tail of a mare, and thus
+dragged in the mire through the streets of Wordingborg, followed by the
+scoffs of the herald, which were echoed by the enraged mob.
+
+The disarmed knight was meanwhile led upon the dunghill near the
+stables of the castle; here his gold spurs were taken off, and on the
+same degrading spot the tail of the horse he rode last was docked.
+While the attention of the spectators was rivetted on these singular
+proceedings, the dishonoured knight made a vain attempt to escape. He
+was now bound with cords, and again led upon the scaffold--there he
+stood staring wildly around him and foaming with rage, while the
+priests chanted a requiem over him as over the dead. He looked around
+in a frenzy; when, however, he perceived that the sword of the
+executioner was not glittering over his head, he seemed not as yet to
+have abandoned all hope of life, and drew himself up in desperate
+defiance. The solemn death-chant, nevertheless, appeared to awe him,
+and to damp his resolution. Ere it was ended, he sank down in an
+attitude of prayer. The chanting ceased, and the castle chaplain
+presently stepped forward with the holy scriptures, and began to read
+with a loud voice the Psalmist's denunciations against traitors--"Let
+there be none to extend mercy unto him, let his posterity be cut off,
+and in the generation following let their name be blotted out. As he
+loved cursing, so let it come unto him; as he delighted not in
+blessing, so let it be far from him----"
+
+"Nay! silence with thy curses Priest! Whether they be scripture or
+not!" called the king with vehemence. "His soul must be judged by the
+merciful God. It is here question only of knightly honour."
+
+But the chaplain had entered with such zeal into his text, that,
+without heeding the king's words, he still added, "When he shall be
+judged, let him be condemned, and let his prayer become sin----"
+
+The kneeling knight started up at these words, and glared frantically
+at the priest, "Know then, every free man in Denmark! and judge if it
+were sin!" he shouted--"I prayed in this hour to the vanquisher of
+monsters, St. Magnus, and all the saints, that king Glipping's accursed
+race might be rooted out of the earth, as he was himself by this hand
+in Finnerup Barn."
+
+"Thou didst declare the truth unto him priest!" said the king,
+suppressing with difficulty his exasperated feelings-- "yet--no more
+ecclesiastical cursing! his thoughts and prayers are for God to judge;
+this criminal stands here only before his earthly judges."
+
+The priest was silent; the king now turned solemnly to the
+pursuivant-at-arms, and asked, "Say, what is this criminal's name?"
+
+"Sir Aage Kagge, of the noble race and lineage of the high-born
+Hvides," answered the pursuivant-at-arms.
+
+"That is not _his_ name who here stands in our sight," cried the
+herald, "for in _him_ I and Danish chivalry only recognise a traitor, a
+deceiver, and a false swearer."
+
+The king thrice asked the name of the criminal. The herald-pursuivant
+named it each time, and each time the herald cried, "that is not HIS
+name!" with the same annulling addition. When the herald had proclaimed
+these words for the last time, he received from the hand of the
+pursuivant-at-arms an ewer with hot water; he then mounted the scaffold
+with it, and dashed the water over the head and shoulders of the
+dishonoured knight, with these words, "Thus I efface the sacred mark of
+knighthood from this corpse."
+
+As soon as these words were uttered, the criminal was looked upon as
+dead, and treated as an actual corpse. He was dragged by cords down
+from the scaffold, and tied on a bier. A pall was spread over him, and
+while the king and all his knights rode back to the castle, Kagge,
+followed by a scoffing mob of the lowest class, was borne to the
+church, where the priests again prayed and chanted over him as over the
+dead. When the pall was at last removed, in order to lead him to actual
+death, he lay senseless on the bier, and it was doubted whether he
+ought in this state to be carried to the place of execution.
+
+"Go hence and let him alone! The sun hath gone down, and he shall be
+unmolested here till to-morrow," said a powerful and authoritative
+voice, and the Commendator of the monastery of the Holy Ghost stepped
+solemnly forward in his white dress as master of the choir, with his
+double twelve-pointed silver cross on his breast. All recognised him,
+and bowed reverently with folded hands, and half-bended knees, to
+receive his blessing.
+
+The provost and his attendants, who were to conduct the prisoner to the
+place of execution, seemed, however, somewhat doubtful and lingered.
+"_I_ am responsible! Go hence all of you, and let the sinner lie here
+till to-morrow!" repeated the Commendator, "his soul shall have time to
+prepare for its separation from the sinful body. It is the duty of my
+holy office to care for the souls of the departing. In the name of the
+church and the holy spirit, I command the temporal authority here
+present to give way!"
+
+Every one departed; the Commendator last quitted the church, and
+ordered the church door to be locked. By command of the provost, a
+strong guard of men-at-arms was stationed before it.
+
+When the provost and his attendants early the following morning entered
+the church to lead the unknighted captive (already dead in law) to
+execution, a real corpse was found bound to the bier. Some thought that
+the proceedings of the previous day were sufficient to kill him; others
+deemed it probable that he might have expired from dread when he came
+to himself in the night, and found himself alone and bound on the bier
+in the deserted church. The idea that terror had caused the death of
+the miscreant captive while lying in such wretched plight the whole
+night, in expectation of his death, now excited a species of compassion
+in the same mob who on the preceding day could not sufficiently taunt
+and scoff the detested assassin; and it was discovered that, after all,
+the king had been far too strict, and that even the pious Commendator
+himself had in a great degree augmented the sinner's punishment by
+caring for his soul in such sort; and allowing him the space of a whole
+night to die of terror, during his preparation for death. The face of
+the corpse was swollen, and already in such a state that none could
+recognise the outlawed knight, excepting from the bristly beard and
+meeting eyebrows. The body was instantly, and in all privacy, buried
+without the customary ritual of the church, and in unconsecrated
+ground. But hardly was the dead man interred, ere a low murmur was
+heard among the restless populace that it could scarcely have been the
+right corpse after all. The speedy change in the appearance of the body
+so early in the spring was deemed exceedingly suspicious, and it was
+rumoured that the beard and eye-brows were undoubtedly false. It was
+known that the outlawed Aage Kagge had been a kinsman of Archbishop
+Grand; and the Commendator of the order of the Holy Ghost, who from the
+monastery might have ingress to the church, was conjectured to have
+availed himself of his authority on this occasion, to save a kinsman of
+that mighty and dangerous prelate. This rumour, however, was instantly
+put down by the provost and his attendants, whom it might have caused
+seriously to be brought to account. It reached neither the ears of the
+King nor the Drost, and it was believed at court (as had been in legal
+form announced by the temporal authorities of the town) that the
+outlawed regicide had been found lifeless on the bier, and that the
+body had been buried in the morning, after lawful inspection.
+
+The stern solemnity which pervaded the king's proceedings at this time
+at Wordingborg was remarked by all. The festivities which had been
+looked forward to with pleasure on occasion of the treaty with the
+Dukes, were wholly relinquished, and all the stranger nobles and
+knights soon left the castle. Junker Christopher had taken a cold and
+hasty farewell, and it was said had repaired to Kallundborg or Holbeck.
+Both these castles had been restored to him with full investiture of
+the fiefs. Ere his departure, he had announced that the maidens' tower
+was carelessly guarded, and that the fair prisoners were in
+communication with the household, and probably even with persons of
+more consideration. This information compelled the commandant to
+observe more strictness in guarding the captives. The obliging little
+Karen was replaced by a grave female attendant, and no one but herself
+and a monk skilled in medicine were admitted to the tower. The youngest
+of the captive maidens was ill, it was said, and not quite in her right
+mind. She imagined she had seen an execution, and that she herself was
+a princess who had an unfortunate prince for a lover. This gave rise to
+much gossip, and all manner of conjectures among the household at the
+castle. Drost Aage was spoken of as the most zealous friend and
+advocate of the captive maidens, and it was supposed that by means of
+his influence their cause would soon be decided in their favour.
+
+The king, with his state council and halberdiers, remained until past
+Easter at Wordingborg Castle, from whence were issued many royal
+mandates and ordinances. In these matters the Drost was, next to the
+king himself, especially occupied, and was seldom seen to join the
+other knights in their diversions within the lists or in the tennis
+court. He was, as usual, grave and pensive. Occasionally he was seen in
+the moonlight spring evenings to wander alone, as if lost in reverie,
+around the maidens' tower. Since the king's arrival at Wordingborg,
+Aage had not seen the captive maidens; it appeared that he had heard
+the gossiping reports of his warm interest for them, and that he feared
+to injure their cause or their reputation by a visit.
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAP. XII.
+
+
+It was a fortnight after Easter. The trees of the chase were springing
+into leaf. Flocks of twittering starlings in whirling clouds hovered
+and sang above the towers of Wordingborg Castle. The cuckoo's note was
+heard in the beech groves, and the nightingale was come. The Marsk
+stood in the ante-chamber awaiting orders. Ah inquiry was made after
+the Drost. He had repaired to the maidens' tower with the judges of the
+court of justice of the castle, in order to be present at an
+examination of Marsk Stig's daughters. He had himself hastened this act
+of justice, in his firm conviction of their innocence; he hoped by his
+testimony to be instrumental towards their acquittal, and that the
+affair might, from the king's presence there, come to a speedy and
+happy termination. The Drost's longing to see the fair Margaretha
+again, had perhaps some share in the haste and zeal with which he
+followed the grave judges. But hardly had he entered the prison with
+these personages, and had met, and responded to, a tender and
+melancholy glance from the gentle Margaretha, ere Ulrica, who appeared
+to have been sitting quietly before her sister's tapestry frame,
+suddenly started up with a wild look and dishevelled hair, and rushed
+menacingly towards them. "Ye have murdered him, ye monsters,"--she
+cried--"Ye have murdered my true knight--are ye now come to drag me
+also to the scaffold? Look! here I am!--tarry not!--bring forward your
+chains!--bring forward your executioner! Lead me but to death! I
+despise life and all of ye! I knew Kagge was here to avenge my
+degradation, and lead me out of this vile captivity. Me, you may murder
+also--the sooner the better. I ask no other freedom--call but your
+executioner, and put an end to my sorrow! I knew the king's life was in
+danger, and I was silent to save my friend and true knight--but my
+sister is innocent--none shall injure a hair of _her_ head. She
+besought me to move him to flee, and cause no mishap--that I can
+witness on the gospels."
+
+"Both were then, it seems, cognizant of the presence of the outlawed
+regicide and of his treasonable purpose," said the chief judge; "Sir
+Drost! the testimony we have here from the most guilty of the two,
+renders them both, at the least, state prisoners for their lifetime."
+
+Drost Aage appeared thunderstruck. "The unhappy lady must rave," he
+said, hastily recollecting himself. "She hath been ill, and not in her
+right mind, as we know--her confession and testimony are of no weight.
+Her knowledge of yon miscreant I have indeed observed; but it is
+impossible she could have been an accomplice in his crime, and still
+less her pious sister; that I will stake my life upon! Answer us! for
+the sake of the Lord in heaven, tell us the truth noble Lady
+Margaretha! Knew you Kagge was here in disguise at the castle, and
+seeking after the king's life?"
+
+"I knew it, Sir Drost." answered Margaretha calmly, with her hand on
+her heart. "But by the lips of the Holy Virgin, and the Spirit of holy
+truth, it lay not in my power, nor in my sister's, to hinder his
+coming. When I heard he was here, and what he meditated, it was night,
+and our prison door was locked. It was not possible for me to caution
+you and the king against him, had I even (which I trust in God I had)
+courage and strength and will to do so. In the morning it was affirmed
+he had escaped, and--I was silent, that I might not plunge an erring
+unhappy soul into still greater misery."
+
+"A serious case! a very serious case!" said the judge. "We must examine
+into all the circumstances of the affair."
+
+While the examination was continued the commandant of the castle
+entered, and summoned the Drost to the king. Aage left the chamber with
+a deep sigh, and a sorrowing glance at the unhappy maidens, of whose
+acquittal and liberation from prison he now almost despaired.
+With feelings of deep emotion the Drost joined the Marsk in the
+ante-chamber, where he was to await the king's commands. They heard the
+king pacing with hasty steps up and down his private chamber.
+
+"There are snakes in the grass, Drost!" said the Marsk. "Why did they
+not instantly cut off the heads of those hounds, without ceremony, and
+cast their high-born friend and protector into the tower. Now they have
+all 'scaped, the whole pack of them, and we have enough to do to be on
+our guard."
+
+"Whom mean you, Sir Marsk?" asked Aage absently. "You have received
+letters I know?"
+
+"Yes, in abundance--Brock and Papae got off for that once; they are
+scouring Jutland round, and stirring up the people about these
+priest-riots and the shutting of the churches, which all dread so much;
+just as if a church-door was a fortress gate with ramparts and towers,
+and had St. Paul himself for a porter. I thought truly, it was a bad
+business when those haughty nobles laid their heads together so often
+with the junker, and had slit napkins laid before their noses. I should
+have been right glad to have hewn the whole pack of them in pieces; but
+amid all our stupid ceremonies with trencher and napkin, and tattered
+clouts, we let fly the birds of prey, and the junker into the bargain,
+although he got a rent to hide which made his ears glowing red."
+
+"How, Sir Marsk!" exclaimed Aage, a conjecture suddenly flashing across
+his mind. "You surely were not yourself his secret accuser?"
+
+"You have hit it, Drost! I cared not much to keep the secret: had any
+one asked, my answer would have been ready, and my good sword with it,
+if required: proofs and such like frippery I had not, it is true--that
+was the worst of it; but, however, I had my conjectures and my own
+thoughts. I cannot abide that fellow, do you see--were he guiltless,
+and had he courage to defend his honour,--by the foul fiend! he would
+not have sat there as if upon thorns, and have hid that little rent. I
+was just going by the table, do you see? and saw how matters stood with
+those three mangy hounds. The junker's napkin lay so conveniently at
+hand, my blood was up, and it struck me the high-born junker would be
+the better for a little alarm."
+
+"By your favour. Sir Marsk! it was a most rash proceeding; by acting
+thus, you have increased the misunderstanding between the king and his
+brother."
+
+"So much the better; either keep with him or break with him--one or the
+other; nought comes of this truckling: but so far you are right--I
+should not have busied myself with those apish ceremonies, they better
+beseem all of _you_. I should rather have said it right out, and
+answered for it instantly with my hand on my neck:--but enough of
+this--Know ye Master Grand is here?"
+
+"Grand! the Archbishop? Where?"
+
+"At Copenhagen, and with a royal convoy. That was a piece of folly,
+also--_You_ were, no doubt, one in council?"
+
+"It was not deemed necessary," answered Aage, repressing his annoyance
+at the Marsk's offensive bluntness. "The counsel you so flatteringly
+attribute to me was not mine either. The state council and the king
+himself considered it good policy. The cardinal demanded it, and
+offered his mediation. If the archbishop becomes manageable, and
+recalls the ban, he, of course, could not come hither without an
+assurance of personal safety."
+
+"Do ye not yet know that fellow better?" answered the Marsk. "Ere
+_he_ becomes tractable, heaven and earth will pass away. In this
+respect, the king is not far behind him--but if he _will_ be at the
+archbishop--by Satan! he should not have given him a convoy, and
+allowed him to set foot again upon Danish ground, though the whole
+state-council should get a colic from fright. Now, Grand and that
+accursed red hat sit like a pair of popes at Axelhuus, and none dare
+injure a hair of their heads: there they may begin the game, and stir
+us up the whole country in a trice. The cardinal hath already confirmed
+that confounded constitution of Veile, and the Bishop of Roskild now
+causes all his churches to be shut. The storm will and must burst soon,
+and then all depends on how wind and current drive."
+
+"Great Heavens! is it possible?" exclaimed Aage, in dismay. "Have you
+certain tidings, Sir Marsk? Doth the king know it?"
+
+"I have brought him some doses on a fasting stomach in a couple of
+letters--that he hath swallowed them you may know from the clatter of
+his spurs and boot-heels--You brought him letters from Sweden, Drost!
+Love letters, doubtless, and fine ballads from his betrothed? Were
+there any tidings of a rational kind?"
+
+"None of a very cheering description," answered Aage, looking with
+uneasiness towards the king's door. "What the princess hath imparted I
+know not; but the excellent Master Petrus can effect nothing with the
+state-council touching the king's marriage."
+
+"S'Death!" said the Marsk, rubbing his hands. "Then it will not be easy
+to get to talk with him to-day. These are knots which it will be hard
+even for _your_ state-policy to loose, my wise Sir Drost! but if _I_
+know the king well, he will give all your fine wisdom to the devil, and
+keep him to me and his good sword."
+
+"Against rebels we may use the sword, Marsk, but neither against bishop
+nor pope, and just as little against the king's future brother-in-law,"
+answered Aage. "We stand in need of discretion in this matter, and,
+above all, of the help of the Lord."
+
+The door of the king's private chamber now opened, and the king himself
+looked out into the ante-chamber, and nodded. His countenance indicated
+passion and anxiety, and the Marsk, as well as the Drost, entered the
+chamber with a thoughtful aspect.
+
+An hour afterwards Marsk Oluffsen departed with the Wordingborg troop
+of horse on his way to Jutland; and Drost Aage set out, attended by
+twelve knights and squires, as ambassador to the Swedish court, with a
+letter which inspired him with secret anxiety for his king and country.
+
+Among the twelve knights appointed to accompany Drost Aage to Sweden,
+was Sir Palle's brother-in-law, the brave knight, Helmer Blaa, who had
+made himself famous by gaining his bride by dint of arms, and
+vanquishing Sir Palle and her six brothers, who had all fallen upon him
+at once. He was young, of a tall and well-proportioned figure, with
+sparkling brown eyes, and remarkably light and agile in his movements.
+He was a native of Fyen, of high birth; a great friend of the Drost's,
+and devoted heart and soul to the king.
+
+
+          "He rides in the saddle so free--"
+
+
+was wont to be carolled forth by the lower orders whenever they saw
+Helmer riding his handsome Arabian horse, which flew with him swift as
+the wind, and was the gift of royal favour to him on his marriage-day
+the preceding summer.
+
+Drost Aage rode for an hour in calm silence by the side of this gallant
+knight, on the road to Kioege, from whence he was to embark for Skanor
+on the Swedish coast.
+
+"Count Henrik goes with the king of course?" said Sir Helmer, at last
+breaking silence. "If one would visit a bishop's nest in these times,
+it must assuredly be with sword and coat of mail."
+
+"Count Henrik stirs not from his side," answered Aage--"that he hath
+promised me with word and hand--I now go hence unwillingly; Grand's
+thirst for revenge, and the boldness of the outlaws know no bounds."
+
+"That accursed Kagge! He made an end also of my fat seal of a
+brother-in-law--that lump of flesh, indeed, I accounted not much of;
+his miserable death, however, I have vowed to St. George to avenge,
+chiefly for my dear wife's sake. She had but that one brother left
+since I came to mishap with all the others; but it was done openly,
+and in honourable self-defence; she hath not even loved me the less
+either for that affair--but to fight by stealth, and with a poisoned
+weapon--faugh! 'Twas an accursed Italian trick--such was never before
+the usage here in the north. Are you quite certain the wretched
+assassin is dead and buried in good earnest, Sir Drost? The people have
+divers tales to tell. He who hath had no shame in his life would not
+die of shame, I should think--One hath seen ere this a cunning fox run
+from the trap and leave his tail behind him."
+
+Aage started. "I saw him not after death," he answered; "but his end
+was certainly announced by the provost and Commendator of the
+monastery. There can surely be no doubt of the truth."
+
+"The Commendator is a holy man of God, doubtless," replied Helmer, with
+an incredulous smile; "one ought not, indeed, to suspect him of deceit
+and treason, even though he be a good friend of Master Grand's, and
+might have wished to save the dishonoured life of one of so high and
+holy a race. I first heard that unbelieving gossip when the body was
+thrown into the carrion pit, and consumed with unslacked lime; it
+doubtless showed great caution and good care for the public health; but
+they will have it it was a corpse from the hospital of the monastery,
+with beard and eyebrows of good Danish boar bristles."
+
+"Can it be possible!" exclaimed Aage. "Should he be alive and at
+liberty, he would then become a more pestilent foe than all the outlaws
+put together--Yon dishonoured miscreant is capable of any crime; he
+hath now hardly aught more to lose."
+
+"Be that as it may," answered Helmer, "if Kagge be above ground, so is
+my arm and my good sword also--the Lord be praised for it!--and
+wherever I meet him, I am his man."
+
+"If the miscreant is alive, and falls into our hands, we can but bind
+his hands and wash our own of the matter," answered Aage.
+
+They now continued their journey in grave silence for another hour.
+Each time Aage thought of the unfortunate daughters of Marsk Stig in
+the maidens' tower a sigh burst from his heart; and whenever he felt
+the king's important letter within his vest it seemed to him as if he
+was oppressed by the future fate of king and country.
+
+"We received but scanty orders," resumed Helmer Blaa again, seemingly
+wearied by the long silence and the Drost's reverie. "We were to learn
+the rest from you, Drost; but you seem to have left tongue and speech
+at Wordingborg."
+
+"You know what is of most importance," answered Aage. "It concerns King
+Eric's highest happiness in this world. As matters stand now with the
+archbishop and pope, you may easily imagine there are great
+difficulties about the dispensation for his marriage; if we cannot
+prevail on King Birger and his state council to permit the marriage to
+take place ere St. John's Day, and that despite both pope and clergy,
+then--more should not be said," he added, in a lowered voice; "then I
+fear matters will stand badly, Sir Helmer."
+
+"Not worse surely than with me when they threw hindrances in the way of
+my marriage!" answered Helmer. "How such difficulties may be got over
+our bold king knows full as well as I--" So saying, he gaily struck
+upon his clanking sword.
+
+"That did very well with your brother-in-law, brave Helmer," said Aage.
+"It concerned only half a dozen of our worst knights. HERE state and
+kingdom are in question. The king is of a hasty temper, you know; he is
+only but too ready to imitate your bold manner of wooing; but if he is
+to win his bride by war and battle, there will be a bloody bridal here
+in the summer, to as little pleasure for Denmark as for Sweden."
+
+"There you may perhaps be in the right, Drost," answered Helmer. "There
+is a difference between _my_ brothers-in-law and the king's, I own; but
+if honour and our king's fortune in love are now at stake, assuredly no
+Danish knight will hesitate to become his bridegroom's man with sword
+and lance, however hard one might be put to it. This much we must allow
+to the Swede--he ever fights like a brave fellow. Swedish knighthood
+yields not to us in manhood; but when we sing,
+
+
+           'For Eric the youthful king!'
+
+
+the heart of no Danish man will sink below his belt, I know, were the
+Swede ten times as strong, and had they ten Thorkild Knudsons in
+council and camp."
+
+"Let us not talk too loud of these things," said Aage, in a low voice,
+and allowing the other knights to pass by, while he and Helmer
+slackened their pace. "Honourable warfare is indeed ever to be
+preferred to a deceitful and shameful peace," he continued; "but the
+Lord and St. George forbid it should come to a breach now, just when
+love and good will seem in truth desirous to make us and our brave
+neighbours friends. Could these unhappy scruples be removed I should
+deem both Denmark and Sweden fortunate indeed. If a noble Swedish
+princess sits on the throne of Denmark's queens, and a Danish one on
+that of Sweden, we might then hope to see extinguished the last spark
+of ancient national hate and fraternal enmity. We may say what we
+please in our pride, and boast of Danish greatness in the days of
+Canute the Great and the Valdemars; Scandinavians were, however,
+brethren in the beginning; we have shared honour and fame with each
+other all over the world, among Longobards and Goths and Northmen; and
+we must combine together again, if aught great is to be achieved by the
+powers of the north."
+
+"It may be so," answered Sir Helmer. "I am well nigh of your opinion,
+especially since it hath now come to something more than mere state
+policy and cold calculations with these betrothings of royal children.
+This one at first was but a politic scheme of Queen Agnes and Drost
+Hessel; in such plans there are seldom any truth and honesty. Strange
+enough it should turn out as it hath done; for every man, both here and
+in Sweden's land, knows that our young king is almost more enamoured
+than a Sir Tristan or Florez in the new books of chivalry; and
+the fair Princess Ingeborg--here they already call her our second
+Dagmar--although we have but heard she is pious and mild, and hath
+pretty blue eyes and beautiful golden hair, like Dagmar. I shall be
+well pleased to see her," he added. "No Swedish or Danish knights can
+ever commend her sufficiently, and she is, indeed, well nigh praised to
+the disparagement of our own lovely ladies--that vexes me I own."
+
+"I saw her at Helsingborg, at the bridal of Count Gerhard and Queen
+Agnes," said Aage, and his pensive eye sparkled. "She was then still
+almost a child; but she hath since ever seemed to me like one of God's
+holy angels, destined to diffuse the blessings of peace and love
+through this land and kingdom. There is but one female form in the
+world which I could compare with her, or perhaps even exalt above her
+in fair and noble presence," he added with emotion; but suddenly paused
+and cleared his throat with some embarrassment.
+
+"Now, out with it, Drost Aage; I am not jealous," said Sir Helmer, with
+a pleased and proud look. "You mean doubtless my fair young wife--It is
+worthy a true knight to admire the beauty of a young and fair woman in
+all reverence and honour. She hath well nigh the fairest presence of
+any woman here in the country; every one says so who sees her, both
+here and in Fyen; and I have nought against it. I know assuredly she
+holds me dearest of all, although I came to mishap, as you know, both
+with her uncle and those stiff-necked brothers. She is now at my
+castle, longing to have me back again; if it please the Lord and St.
+George, she shall soon hear a good report of me, if there is anything
+to be done in earnest."
+
+Drost Aage's usually pale cheek had become crimson. "You guessed wrong,
+however, this once Sir Helmer"--he said, with a smile; "the lady I
+thought of was another, without disparagement to your fair young wife.
+But, if we would reach Kjoege ere midnight, we must ride faster. In a
+steady trot, and at the long run, I think my Danish horse will be a
+match for your Arabian." He spurred his horse, and Sir Helmer hastened
+to redeem the honour of his favourite Arabian, while he shook his head
+at the Drost's want of discernment in the matter of female beauty.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAP. XIII.
+
+
+When they reached Kjoege it was three hours past vespers, and after
+burgher bedtime. In this town, as yet, neither the great Franciscan nor
+Carmelite monasteries were erected, which afterwards became so
+celebrated. Here the travellers were forced to be content with one of
+the unpretending hostelries from the time of Eric Glipping, which were
+often stigmatised as dungeons and farthing taverns.
+
+During the last two years the town had been frequently visited by the
+Hanseatic merchants, since the king had extended their trading
+privileges; and when these active traders went to or from the great
+fairs at Skanor or Falsterbo, or to the herring fishery, on the Swedish
+coast, they often ran their vessels into Kjoege bay, to wait for a
+favourable wind, and dispose of their wares to the burghers of Kjoege.
+The bay was now full of Hanseatic merchant vessels, and the numerous
+lights in the ships shone fair upon the shore. Drost Aage, with his
+train, had much difficulty in getting a room in what was called the
+ale-house, near the harbour. In the large public room of the tavern,
+where the guests were wont to beguile the time until late at night,
+with drinking and dice, there was on the entrance of the Drost and his
+knights, much hubbub and loud-tongued talk among the guests, which,
+however, was suddenly hushed on the appearance of the richly-attired
+strangers, in whom the king's knights and halberdiers were instantly
+recognised. At the upper end of the long oaken table, which was fixed
+to the floor, sat a heavy-built, consequential-looking personage, with
+a sable-bordered cap and tunic; it was Berner Kopmand, from Rostock (so
+notorious for his wealth and pride) who had bid defiance to the king at
+Sjoeberg. He lolled in his seat with an air of importance, and had laid
+one leg upon the table, that he might be more completely at his ease.
+His broad visage glowed from the effects of wine; he held a silver
+goblet in his hand, and had a large wine-flask before him. By his side
+sat his trusty friend and trading companion, Henrik Gullandsfar, from
+Wisbye, with a large purse in his hand, from which he threw some coins
+into the host's cap. Between them stood a backgammon board, on which
+the dice were swimming in ale and wine, and which Berner Kopmand kicked
+aside to make room for his ponderous foot. Here they sat, surrounded by
+a number of Hanseatic merchants, skippers and boatmen. All were armed,
+like themselves, with broad battle swords and sabres, and drank merrily
+to their own success. When the Drost and his knights entered, the two
+merchants remained sitting in their easy posture, without returning the
+greeting of the strangers, and whispers and murmurs of dissatisfaction
+were heard among the guests.
+
+In the least lit-up part of the room sat two men with the cross of the
+order of the Holy Ghost on their black travelling mantles. The one drew
+his hood over his brow; he instantly arose, and with his ecclesiastical
+colleague presently disappeared in the throng of guests, who were
+flocking in and out. Sir Helmer had noticed the deportment of the monk;
+he hastily approached Aage to whisper a word in his ear, but the Drost,
+who had instantly recognised the two arrogant Hanseatic merchants, had
+turned his whole attention upon their bearing, and was pondering within
+himself, how far it would be wise or necessary to meddle with them, or
+attach any significance to their former powerless menace.
+
+"Short and sweet, my good friends!" now began the heavy Rostocker, with
+lisping tongue, while he struck the heel of his boot on the table to
+obtain a hearing, and seemed wrath at the pause in the talk. "The
+Lauenberg knight was forced to dangle from our new gallows, despite the
+cry of his high birth and lineage; and the high-born Duke Albert of
+Saxony was ready to choke with rage. It is therefore, he now protects
+and eggs on these high-born highwaymen. But we will no longer suffer
+ourselves to be plundered and pulled by the nose, unavenged, by knights
+and princes. We shall one day teach all these high and mighty lords,
+where the gold lies buried, the blessed bright gold which rules the
+world, and what the rich and combined Hanse-towns can do. We merchants
+and small folk, have now also learned something of the art of war, and
+the art of politics, and he who treads on our corns may beware of Lubek
+law, and the Rostock gallows--Hurra! freedom in trade! freedom in word
+and deed! To hell with all tyrants and aristocrats!" So saying, Berner
+Kopmand kicked the empty wine flask off the table, while he moved his
+foot to the floor, and rose reeling with the goblet at his lips.
+
+The foreign merchants and skippers, shouted and drank. Henrik
+Gullandsfar shook his head, and pulled his drunken colleague by the
+sleeve, with a side glance at the Drost and the king's halberdiers.
+
+"I give them to death and the devil! I can buy them up body and soul,
+and their forefathers into the bargain," growled the proud burgher
+magnate of Rostock--allowing himself, however, to be led out of the
+apartment, by the sober and more wary Gullandsfar. The other merchants
+and skippers now departed one after another, singing and whistling as
+they went. Aage had instantly perceived that the conduct of the proud
+Hanseatics was meant as defiance and insult; but he had himself, as
+Drost, two years before, jointly with the state-council, confirmed the
+great privileges which were granted to these traders, and the law
+strictly forbade all violent and arbitrary proceedings towards them so
+long as they themselves refrained from committing any act of violence.
+Aage remained silent, with a contemptuous smile, and warned to the
+incensed knights to keep quiet. But Sir Helmer's blood boiled,--he had
+sat upon thorns since his eye had caught the monk. As the Hanseatic
+sea-men left the inn, he thought he once more caught a glance, through
+the open door, of the same figure, among the tumultuous throng which
+was hastening to the vessels. He whispered a few hurried words in the
+Drost's ear, and rushed out of the apartment. Aage looked gravely and
+thoughtfully after him. He gave a secret signal to two of the most
+discreet knights to follow him, and requested the others to remain.
+They now seated themselves at the almost deserted table. The humble and
+officious host hastened to serve them, and to remove the empty flasks
+and cans of ale. Their wrath which they had repressed with difficulty,
+had rendered the knights silent, and their humour was manifested only
+in taunting exclamations and jeers at the grocer-heroes, as they were
+designated. It was indeed allowed that the proud Berner Kopmand's
+inveteracy against the nobles of the land was not altogether unfounded.
+The knights' castles in Denmark, were not in fact robber-holds, as in
+Germany; foreign traders here enjoyed the greatest security, and had
+even greater privileges than the burghers of the country; but the
+knights delighted in scoffing at the uncouth and awkward bearing of the
+armed grocers; even Drost Aage with all his moderation, and in spite of
+all that he had himself effected for the security of trade and the
+extension of commerce, could not altogether suppress the feeling of
+aristocratic contempt, entertained by those in his own rank for this
+class of persons, whose growing prosperity and wealth were often united
+with a degree of insolence and envious pride, which excited and
+fostered this mutual bad-feeling.
+
+The attention of Aage and the knights was soon directed towards two
+singular strangers who still remained with them at table; the one was a
+young man of a good figure and remarkably animated countenance; he wore
+a dark red, and rather thread-bare lay mantle, but the black cap which
+covered his tonsure, and a canon's hat which lay by his side on the
+table, appeared to denote him an ecclesiastic. At one time he talked
+Latin, at another Icelandic and Danish, with his next neighbour, whom
+he addressed as master, and to whom he shewed marked respect. When the
+young clerk spoke Danish, he frequently pronounced the words wrong. At
+times he became enthusiastic, and recited as well from the ancient
+classics as from old northern poems. His neighbour was a little,
+deformed man, with a hump upon his back, a thin sharp visage, and an
+intelligent piercing eye; his head was sunk deep between his shoulders,
+and hardly reached above the table, but his arms were uncommonly long
+and thin; he occasionally put on and took off a pair of large
+spectacles set in lead, and had a number of singular instruments and
+boxes before him on the table. He wore a bright-red mantle, bordered
+with fur, over a lay-brother's blue dress, and his head was adorned
+with a scarlet cap, trimmed with gold lace and tassels. In this showy
+garb, which rendered the deformity of his person still more striking,
+he resembled one of those foreign mountebanks and quacks, who at the
+great fairs were wont to exhibit feats before the mob, and vend relics,
+amulets, and universal remedies against all ailments; this personage
+however, had an air of much greater distinction and pretension. It was
+the same little red-cloaked man, who, with Sir Niels Brock and Sir
+Johan Papae, had paid the nightly visit to Junker Christopher, at Holbek
+castle. In his dying hour Sir Palle had described him to the Drost,
+when in his alarm, he had made him the depositary of his secrets. Aage
+however had never before beheld this figure and did not remember Sir
+Palle's confused description.
+
+The little man sat with a flask of wine before him, which he appeared
+to be examining with close attention. "Bad!--adulterated!" he now said
+in Danish to the Icelander, also in a foreign and Icelandic accent,
+while he puckered up his sharp nose. "See you this sediment. Master
+Laurentius? In the light of art and science, truth will one day become
+manifest in small things as well as in great--Eureka!" he continued,
+with a self-satisfied smile, "What would my great master Roger have
+said, if such a flask of wine had been set before him? Even without
+these skilful, searching eyes--for which I am in some measure indebted
+to his great optical discovery--although I may justly claim the honour
+of the practical application--even without my wondrous spectacles, he
+would perhaps have discovered that which I need all this apparatus to
+detect. The nature of poisons is altogether unknown and occult, Master
+Laurentius!" he added, mysteriously, but so loud as to be heard by all.
+"Not only for the preservation of life and health, but much more for
+the sake of science and art, an intimate knowledge of the essence of
+things is of the highest importance to us. Here in the north, however,
+people care but little for such matters; they gulp down everything,
+like the dumb beasts, without possessing the wise instincts of animals,
+and without seeking by wisdom and art to find a remedy for the narrow
+limits of our physical nature. All learning here is expended in
+theological subtleties, and what are called godly things--which,
+however, they know nought of--poor fools! Our common-place scholars
+still chew the cud of mysticism, the useless learning of the schools,
+and the dry, worn-out Aristoteles. Ignorance of all that is true and
+useful, renders forgers and cheats quite safe here, and these
+overbearing merchants can enrich themselves at the expence of this
+ignorant people, as much as they choose. There you see one of their new
+coins! I have detected its composition! It contains more tin and lead
+than silver; the Danish king's image and superscription are here, it is
+true--the size is precisely that of the royal coinage; but four of
+those go to a silver mark, and this is of six times less value. What an
+enormous profit might not a single ship-load of such coins bring those
+fellows!"
+
+Drost Aage had become attentive, and found in the stranger's last
+assertion an important confirmation of a charge generally made against
+the Rostock merchants. The attention of the Drost and the knights did
+not appear to displease the intelligent little man--he seemed, indeed,
+not to heed them--but he now continued to converse in Danish with the
+young clerk, and though he appeared to speak in a whisper, he
+nevertheless enunciated every word in a singularly distinct, and
+perfectly audible tone. "Nothing is small in science and in nature," he
+continued, "the least may here lead to the greatest; in every blade of
+grass their lies a world. How long will men shut their eyes on the
+great and only true revelation of the Deity, through the miracles and
+holy writ of nature! Mark my young friend! the time will come when
+the colossus of ignorance, barbarism, and madness, which hath been
+erected on nature's grave, and worshipped for centuries--must fall.
+As is the course of temporal things, so is that of the spiritual
+world--Stagnation is death and rottenness. We have stood stationary
+with antiquity and tradition. The powerful ferment of life hath
+subsided--life hath lost its savour. What is it but senseless oriental
+adventures, and the childish dreams of our race, which have turned
+men's brains, and kept us at a distance from nature and the source of
+true wisdom for nearly thirteen centuries? The heathens were far above
+us. What are we in science and art compared with the Greeks and
+Egyptians?--and yet even they were erring. They also had their idols,
+their fancies and dreams of a Tartarus and Elysium, and withal, that
+madness now worshipped under the name of poetry."
+
+"Stop, my learned master!" interrupted the young Icelander with
+eagerness. "Now you attack _my_ sanctuary--let the world change its
+fashion as it may--let Time devour his own children, as in ancient
+fable! But what hath been beautiful in every age, none can destroy--it
+must re-appear, though under new forms. True, eternal poetry shall
+rescue and embalm all wherein was life or beauty, as well in our times
+as in those gone by. Its image and memorial no cold enlightening wisdom
+shall ever efface.
+
+
+                 "Cattle die,
+                  Wise men die,
+                  Time itself dies too--
+                  One thing I know
+                  That never dies--
+                  Judgment on the dead."
+
+
+"Be it so!" answered the little sage with a scornful smile, "Judgment
+shall not die; the art of judging is the only one that is immortal; the
+poetry of all ages shall vanish as soon as the world understands itself
+and its own thoughts. When the kernel is found we may cast away the
+shell, or give it to children to play with. It was a true saying,
+though, of that old heathen bard--the judgment on the dead _is_
+eternal--but when this generation hath passed away a succeeding one
+will jeer at the achievements of their fathers, and what is now
+worshipped shall be the scorn of posterity. But one likes not to hear
+such things, Master Laurentius! The kernel of truth is unpalatable; it
+suits not the taste of the vulgar and uninitiated; and he who proffers
+it runs the risk of being stoned by the enemies of truth and the slaves
+of prejudice. What my great Master Roger was forced to confess is known
+to all the world; if he found not himself the philosopher's stone, he
+hath, however, shewn us where to seek for it, and what was hidden from
+his sharp gaze is not necessarily hid from that of his disciples." So
+saying, the little man rose with a look of proud importance; he
+departed with a slight salutation to Drost Aage and the knights, in
+whose looks he was well satisfied to perceive the astonishment which
+his last mysterious remark, about the philosopher's stone especially,
+seemed to have excited.
+
+The young clerk remained behind, and now addressed himself to Drost
+Aage, whose rank and name were known to him. He introduced himself to
+the Drost as an Iceland theologian, jurist, and poet, who in his ardent
+zeal for knowledge and enlightenment, had quitted his easy office of
+priest of St. Olaf's church and p[oe]nitentarius of the Archbishop of
+Nidaros,[10] to visit foreign universities with his learned countryman
+and fellow-traveller Magister Thrand Fistlier, a disciple, as he
+asserted, of the renowned Roger Bacon, whose wonderful knowledge, and
+free and bold opinions, had drawn on him so shameful a persecution from
+his ecclesiastical brethren, and who, after many years' imprisonment,
+had died two years since in England.
+
+The young Iceland clerk now purposed, under the protection of his
+learned friend, to visit the Danish court, where he hoped to find that
+the king would lend a favourable ear to his own and the ancient
+Icelandic poems; while his travelling companion intended to display his
+wondrous arts before the king, and to make known some very important
+discoveries in natural philosophy, which might prove of incalculable
+use and effect both in war and peace. The report of the young King
+Eric's especial regard for science, and the intrepidity with which he
+dared to oppose the usurpations of the court of Rome and the hierarchy,
+had induced the learned Master Thrand to seek freedom and protection in
+Denmark.
+
+"You will doubtless both be welcome to the king," answered Aage,
+looking narrowly at him, "he favours and protects all fair and useful
+sciences. Your travelling companion belongs not to the herd of common
+mountebanks, as far as I can judge: if he can prove what he affirmed,
+of the false coin brought hither into this country, his learning may be
+most important to us. But since you are a theologian and scholar,
+Master Laurentius, I would but ask you one question," continued Aage,
+"Doth not your companion entertain some confused opinions on sacred
+subjects? His expressions struck me as being somewhat singular,
+although I, as a layman, understand not such matters. I well know,
+however, those who are called Leccar Brethren,--who will only believe
+in the Creator, but neither in God's Son, nor in the Holy Spirit, nor
+in an universal christian church,--are as little tolerated in this
+country as by any right-thinking monarch in Christendom; you must in
+nowise believe our king's unfortunate position in regard to the
+Archbishop of Lund and the papal court hath made any alteration in his
+opinions in what concerns the matter of his own and his people's
+salvation."
+
+"From the errors of the Leccari I believe myself free." answered the
+young Icelander, with some embarrassment; "about my learned companion's
+theology, I must confess I have not greatly troubled myself; seeing
+that he is a worldly philosopher and not a theologian. Of the noble art
+of bardship he hath not either any conception; I admire him solely for
+his rare knowledge of the secrets of nature."
+
+"If he errs in the one thing needful, and if the highest and most
+sacred truths, as well as all that is beautiful and noble, are in his
+estimation nothing but folly," observed Aage, "I have but little
+confidence in his knowledge of less important matters; and I would not
+give much for all the rest of his learning."
+
+"I thus judged once myself, of the sciences and arts that teach us but
+earthly things," answered the Icelander, "but while I was at the
+foreign universities a new light dawned upon me. I am indeed far from
+calling (like my learned travelling companion) the revelation of deity
+in nature the only true one, by which, as you have rightly observed, he
+hath in his inconsiderate zeal, betrayed a highly erroneous opinion;
+but even the wisdom of the heathen in worldly concerns is in nowise to
+be despised, and I have never seen anything that hath more strengthened
+my faith in the Almighty power and wisdom of the Triune God, than the
+marvellous effects of the powers of nature, with which this singular
+man hath made me acquainted."
+
+"What hath he shown you, then, of such great importance? Master
+Laurentius!" asked Aage.
+
+"I have seen effects of his art, which I should in common with the
+ignorant multitude, and my prejudiced colleagues, have taken to be
+witchcraft and the work of the devil," answered the Icelander eagerly,
+"had he not explained them to me by the powers of nature, and from the
+great misjudged Roger Bacon's 'Opus Majus,' of which he carries a rare
+and invaluable manuscript with him. Not to speak of his great knowledge
+of plants and animals, and the properties and composition of metals;
+what most hath captivated me is all that points to the soul's dominion
+over time and decay, over life and death, over the universe, and all
+passive powers in nature. He affirms that by his art alone, without
+supernatural aid, he is able to preserve youth, and prevent the
+infirmities of age; he knows the course of the heavens, and the
+influence of the stars on human life; he hath a number of artful
+glasses, by which he is almost able to see the invisible; but his
+greatest and most wondrous art is the preparation of an
+inextinguishable fire, with which he imitates the thunder and lightning
+of the heavens. He hath shewn me a specimen of it, which hath
+astonished me. With a single handful of that subtle combustible matter,
+he can produce such an amazing thunder-clap, that the strongest wall
+would be rent by it, and such a burst of consuming flame, that he who
+rightly understands its powers, would be able to destroy a whole army
+with it, and devastate castles and towns."
+
+The knights stared in amazement at the Icelander, and some crossed
+themselves. "It is impossible! That no man can do! it cannot be done by
+natural means!--it must be done by witchcraft and devilry!" said the
+one to the other.
+
+Drost Aage was silent, and looked sharply and gravely at the Icelander.
+"I hold you neither for an unwise man, nor for one who would deal in
+falsehood and deceit, good Master Laurentius!" he at length began,
+"although what you tell us of your learned companion borders on the
+incredible--but are you not yourself deceived? You say you have but
+known this man of miracles a short time. In your admiration of his arts
+and his rare knowledge of the secrets of nature, you have concerned
+yourself but little about his principles and way of thinking, which,
+however, I consider to be the most important points in every man's
+character, whether he be scholar or layman. If he is not a juggler or
+braggart, I fear he is something worse. He would fain have us laymen
+believe he had found the philosopher's stone. Those who talk openly of
+such things are generally enthusiasts or impostors."
+
+"That which is above our understanding, Sir Drost," answered the
+Icelander, "we are but too apt to misjudge as folly, or the invention
+of the evil-minded--but here our own self-conceit and vanity are to
+blame. That which the wisest men in the world have so long mused upon,
+cannot assuredly be an absurd imagination, and I doubt not the
+philosopher's stone will and must one day be found--if it be not found
+already. Perhaps we may meet at Skanor fair, Sir Drost!" he added,
+rising to depart, "My learned friend and travelling companion doth not
+visit princes and nobles only--the enlightenment of the ignorant vulgar
+is a more important object to him. I accompany him as amanuensis,
+partly from a present necessity, which I blush not to acknowledge, and
+in this lay mantle, that I may not give offence to my prejudiced
+colleagues; but I learn much in this way, and, as I said--I trust to
+return more rich in knowledge from these worldly bye-paths to the
+service of St. Olaf, and to my most venerable friend and protector at
+Nidaros, who probably may soon need support in the cause against his
+unruly canons."
+
+The conversation was now broken off with the Iceland clerk, as Sir
+Helmer rushed almost breathless into the apartment. "It _was_ Kagge!
+Drost! there is no doubt of it," exclaimed Helmer, "but, by Satan!--he
+is already on board the Rostock vessel."
+
+"Who? the dead Kagge? dream ye, Helmer? Was it he ye meant before?"
+
+"He, and none other--the base regicide! as surely as I have eyes and
+ears. He hath both his beard and eye-brows shaved; but I know his fox's
+face and screeching voice; the dull Rostocker mentioned his name
+himself in his drunkenness, out of defiance and pride. They insulted me
+in the ancient coarse fashion I will not name, and pushed off from
+shore with the outlaw before mine eyes."
+
+"We must arrest them at Skanor tomorrow," answered Aage, "if the
+criminal is on board the Rostock vessel, he hath now peace and respite
+of life under the Hanse flag and the Lubeck law; but whenever he sets
+foot on Danish ground he dies! Such pestilent ware no Hanseatic hath
+the privilege of unloading." They then retired to rest. The Iceland
+clerk had gone, and no more was seen of either him or the learned
+Thrand Fistlier. The account they had heard of this worker of wonders
+continued, however, till a late hour in the night, the theme of the
+knights' conversation at the drinking table.
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAP. XIV.
+
+
+Drost Aage retired to rest in silence, but he vainly tried to sleep. He
+was uncertain whether he ought not instantly to have captured the two
+overbearing Hanseatics on the ground of their former menace at Sjoeberg;
+here they were no longer ambassadors and privileged persons. If they
+had circulated false coin, and openly protected an outlaw upon Danish
+ground, they might with strict justice be called to account. The
+knowledge that the base Kagge still lived also disquieted him; but what
+still more banished sleep from the Drost's eyes, was the idea of the
+mysterious Master Thrand, and his wondrous arts. That a human being
+possessed such a power over nature as to be able to imitate the thunder
+and lightning of the heavens, with all their terrific effects, appeared
+to him an amazing prodigy, and what the enthusiastic Master Laurentius
+had said of the still deeper views of his master--of the preservation
+of youth by a mysterious art, and of the philosopher's stone, as
+something actually existent in nature, had especially inspired the
+meditative and somewhat visionary Aage with singular musings.
+
+The countenance and mountebank deportment of the little deformed
+philosopher, had, indeed, awakened great doubts of his honesty, and
+what Aage had comprehended of his expressions appeared to him strange
+and confused, as opposed to what he had been piously taught in
+childhood regarding the highest and eternal truths in which, despite
+his unhappy excommunication, he had been confirmed by his confessor,
+Master Petrus de Dacia, who had succeeded in making him at peace with
+himself and the church. But the Iceland clerk's ardent enthusiasm for
+Master Thrand and his worldly wisdom had not been without its effect;
+and Aage was forced to confess there lay an acuteness and intelligence
+in the little mountebank's eye which he had never seen equalled in any
+of the pious and learned men he knew. Laurentius's open and ingenuous
+countenance bore witness also to the truth of his testimony as to what
+he had seen and admired in the disciple of the famous Roger Bacon; and
+the longer Aage pondered on what he had heard, the more doubts and
+strange thoughts crowded upon his mind. Master Thrand's contempt of the
+age in which he lived, and the confidence with which he expressed
+himself respecting the only true revelation of nature with which he
+was, above all, conversant, had also excited a feeling of strange and
+painful uneasiness in Aage's mind. The melancholy knight had often,
+when oppressed by the thought of his excommunication, sought peace and
+tranquillity in the contemplation of nature in lonely nights under a
+calm and starry sky, without, however, feeling able to dispense with
+the comfort and consolation of the church. He now stood, with his arms
+folded, in his sleeping chamber, gazing out on the gloomy heavens.
+"Were it possible!" said he to himself. "Am I wandering here with all
+my contemporaries in thick darkness? Know we neither our own nature nor
+that around us? Are all our purposes and energies but as the gropings
+of the blind, without aim or object? Will the time come when children
+will jeer at us as erring fools and insane dreamers, scared by what did
+not exist, and amused by empty juggling? Can this be? Can even that
+which is most high and sacred, which we have believed in and lived for
+with our fathers--for which thousands of inspired martyrs have died
+with a halo of glory around their beaming countenances--for which our
+pilgrims and Crusaders wend to Jerusalem, and renounce all the riches
+and treasures of this world--which was the spring of action in our
+ancestors' lives as our own, and made them heroes and conquerors in
+life and death--could all that be dreaming, deception, and ignorance?
+Could the existence and achievements of whole centuries have been a
+monstrous lie? No! No! If yonder fellow be not a liar and a cheat,
+there is neither truth, nor life, nor redemption, nor salvation." He
+shrunk with horror from his own thoughts. A sound now reached his ears
+which, at this moment, almost struck him with dismay. He fancied he
+once more heard the voice of the mysterious stranger close beside him.
+
+"Darest thou not yet face the naked truth? my dear Laurentius!" sounded
+the shrill voice of the philosopher, slowly and solemnly through the
+thin wooden partition of the adjoining chamber. "Dost thou dread to
+enter into the holy calling of a Leccar Brother, and priest of nature?
+Dost thou tremble at an initiation into the great church of the world,
+of which we are all originally priests; we who have eyes for truth, and
+courage to announce it, despite the repeated outcry of the fools of
+thirteen centuries! Look, I open unto thee the great sanctuary in the
+name of truth and science, and in the sight of that deity who dwells in
+the breast of the initiated. Cast off the miserable prejudices of thy
+time! Throw down the phantom thou callest the Church, and a saving
+faith, with the same strength with which thou hast rejected the
+senseless fables of heathenism! Cast off all that was not given thee
+when thou becamest a human being! Rid thyself of all exploded and worn
+out doctrines--cast off the whole puerile tissue of phantasms and
+visions of crude ages, which thou callest Revelation! Divest thyself of
+thy preconceptions regarding the essence of things, and of all the pomp
+and imagery thou callest poetry! Then gaze freely around thee, and tell
+me what remains!"
+
+"Nothing! nothing! learned master!" answered the voice of the young
+Icelander, in a desponding tone.
+
+"Yes, assuredly!" was the answer; "thou thyself remainest, and great
+eternal nature, and, if thou wilt, a great and mighty deity, which is
+the soul and life of this nature of which thou art thyself a part--all
+truth, all wisdom lie slumbering and buried there. Wake it if thou
+canst! Call forth deity in thyself and in nature! Rule it by that
+mighty art! Ask boldly, and force it to respond!"
+
+"That I am not able to do, my wise master!" said the voice of the young
+Icelander, within the partition; "but could I wake lifeless nature, and
+force her to solve the mysteries I gaze upon, would she answer aught
+else than what the dead have ever answered the living, what the dead
+Vola[11] answered Odin in our ancient poems, what the spirit of Samuel
+answered Saul in the presence of the Witch of Endor:--'Thou shalt die!
+to-morrow thou shalt die!'"
+
+"Well," resumed the philosopher, "were the answer not much more
+cheering, if it were but truth could a philosopher, a Leccar Brother, a
+priest of nature and truth demand or wish it otherwise? You _will_ have
+flattery, you _will_ all of you be cheated and deceived--therefore you
+cling so fast to that flattering lie, but hate and persecute truth as
+ungodliness, heresy, or devilry--therefore are popes and bishops, like
+the prophets and evangelists of old, still able to lead the whole human
+race blindfold round in an eternal circle of error from one age to
+another until they have their eyes opened, and see that they stand
+where their blind fathers stood, by the closed book of nature, which
+amid their dreaming they have forgotten to open through the lapse of
+ages. Look! there thou standest, my pupil! and art ready to despair,
+because all that fair jugglery hath vanished and been blown away by my
+breath as it were a spider's web, or bubbles of air! and thou seest
+nought but one enormous lifeless body which I call nature.--But look!
+the lifeless body wakes! 'Tis deity, and yet our slave,--obedient to
+the mightier manifestation of deity within us. Only through our means
+can nature's deity awake to consciousness and self-knowledge. In us,
+and in our will alone lives the only true God we should obey. Courage,
+Laurentius!--courage! Truth must make its way--the slumbering and
+disguised god of nature must be wakened and unveiled. It must open to
+us its vast recesses, it must restore to us what it hath robbed and
+hidden--the philosopher's stone must be found, even though its workings
+should seem to us eternal death and petrifaction."
+
+All was again hushed in the adjoining chamber; Aage had thrown open a
+window, and the cool night air streamed in upon him; the sky had become
+clear--Aage raised his eyes towards the starry vault, he grasped the
+cross-hilt of his sword, a heavy load oppressed his heart, he bent his
+knee in silent devotion, and rose, feeling that his prayer was answered
+by the return of a calm and cheerful frame of mind. "To God be thanks
+and praise! I know better however," he said, with a feeling of
+consolation. "He, within there, is a liar and deceiver, as surely as
+_He_ above is love itself! and He whom He sent unto us was the way, the
+truth, and the life!" Aage was now about to betake himself to rest, but
+the voice of the learned Master Thrand again caught his ear. The young
+Icelander he heard no more. German was now spoken, but in a low
+whispering tone, and the talk seemed to be on worldly matters. Aage
+tried not to overhear anything; it was repugnant to his feelings, and
+appeared to him dishonourable and unworthy, to become a concealed
+witness to the secrets of others. He thought of knocking to give notice
+of his presence and the thinness of the partition; but, at this moment,
+he heard the name of "Grand" mentioned, and he started. The whispering
+continued for a long time afterwards, and he caught words which caused
+him the greatest uneasiness. The talk was of the king and Junker
+Christopher, of the outlaws, of death, and downfall; but what it was he
+could neither hear nor comprehend, with any distinctness. At last all
+became silent. He conjectured that his foreign neighbour had left the
+inn, and towards morning Aage fell asleep. When he was awakened at dawn
+by his squire, in order to embark in a Swedish vessel, he had dreamt
+the most marvellous things. He fancied he had beheld an entirely
+changed world; without monasteries and monks, without fortified
+castles, without the images of the Madonna and the saints, without
+kings and thrones, even without women and children, and with nothing
+but men, with keen staring eyes and diminutive and deformed bodies,
+like Master Thrand's. At last it seemed to him that the sun was burnt
+out and hung, like a great black coal, over his head; that the moon and
+all the stars were pulled down and used instead of stones, for fences
+and inclosures round small withered cabbage gardens. All trees and
+flowers were torn up and peeled into fibres; all birds and animals lay
+slaughtered and cut open; and the little hump-backed men sat, with
+great spectacles, examining the putrified carcases. All that he
+beheld,--the whole subverted and disjointed world, seemed to him at
+last metamorphosed into one enormous mass of stone, and a terrific
+voice sounded over the petrified world, and cried "Behold! _This_ is
+thy world! _this_ is thy God! _this_ is the philosopher's stone!" Amid
+his dismay at hearing this voice, Aage awakened, just as his brisk
+squire knocked at his door, still so confused by his dream that he
+could not distinguish between what he had dreamed, and what he thought
+he had heard from behind the partition.
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAP. XV.
+
+
+At the fair of Skanor a great number of persons of all classes were
+assembled. It was thronged with skippers and merchants from every part
+of the world, but especially from Hamburgh, Lubeck, Rostock, Deventer,
+and Overyssel. These last were chiefly dealers in spices. They brought
+hither the most costly groceries to market from Venice and Genoa: wares
+were here to be seen even from India, Persia, and Egypt, which these
+enterprising traders had brought down the Rhine, and with which they
+journeyed to northern lands. Here lay many English vessels laden with
+wine; but what especially struck the eye were the splendid assortments
+of cloths, of all colours, which waved like flags from the vessels in
+the harbour, and lay in large bales in the streets under tents or
+wooden sheds.
+
+The situation of Skanor was advantageous for trade. The town extended
+quite to the shore of the coast of Skania, between Falsterbo and
+Malmoe. It lay to the north of Falsterbo, and was both larger and much
+more ancient than that town. Over the gate of the place was a stone
+with an inscription, in the ancient Scanian language, which bore
+witness to the antiquity of the town, and which afterwards ran thus in
+more modern rhyme:
+
+
+           "Lund and Skanor throve apace,
+            When Christ appeared to bring us grace."
+
+
+The great fairs of the town were particularly famed, and, during
+fair-time, many persons crossed over from Zealand. On the whole the
+intercourse between Scania and the Danish provinces was far more
+frequent than in aftertime, when this beautiful province, which bore
+the closest affinity to Zealand, was dismembered from the kingdom. Amid
+the crowd of visitors at the fair were seen knights, monks, and
+burghers of towns, both from Zealand and Scania, among peasants,
+knights' ladies, and gaily-attired dairy and kitchen maids from the
+nearest lordly castles, as well as ragged beggars and pretty country
+maidens, in the national costumes of Scania and Halland. The fair was
+thronged with musicians and jugglers of all kinds. Rosaries and little
+images of saints were exposed for sale by the side of every description
+of worldly wares and foreign luxuries.
+
+Over the two best stocked and most frequented booths at the fair, waved
+Henrik Gullandsfar's and Berner Kopmand's well-known flag and sign--a
+griffin and a dragon, with a bundle of lances tied together, and with
+the Lubek charter in their claws, defending their treasures against a
+troop of robbers in knightly attire, and ridiculously caricatured.
+These great merchants who had their agents, or resident grocers'
+apprentices, in the town, did not attend the sale of their goods in
+person, but were present at the unloading of their ships, to watch that
+no toll was demanded, contrary to the privileges of trade. The sound of
+music and dancing was heard in the taverns, and all places of
+entertainment. German ale and wine were poured out in abundance for the
+rich guests at the fair, while the poorer were content with Scanian and
+Zealand ale. Towards evening many drunken persons were to be seen; here
+and there disputes and fights occurred, and the provost with the
+watchmen and armed constables of the town were often forced to
+interfere.
+
+What attracted most attention at Skanor fair at this time was a booth
+hung with coloured lamps, close to the quay, where fireworks were
+exhibited, together with many new and curious sights, at which the
+spectators wondered and crossed themselves as though they beheld the
+delusions of the evil one. Here the learned Master Thrand had erected
+his optical theatre. He stood himself on a raised platform and
+harangued the mob on the excellence of his masterpieces, and their
+great superiority over all the relics, amulets, and false panacea with
+which people suffered themselves to be imposed upon by unlearned
+mountebanks and jugglers. He chiefly extolled his arts as being
+innocent, and grounded on the principles of nature; and invited the
+unprejudiced and sensible public to draw nearer, and attend to what he
+(rather, he said, for the sake of science and truth, than for worldly
+gain) was about to expound and exhibit. His admirer, the young Master
+Laurentius, who, in his red lay-mantle, was not suspected to be an
+ecclesiastic, zealously assisted him as an amanuensis, and collected
+from time to time in his hat, money from the spectators, but in a
+manner which showed that he was ashamed of this employment; to which,
+however, he had doubtless (though with another and more pious aim) been
+accustomed, when on the anniversaries of the dedication of St. Olaf's
+church at Nidaros, he had, as p[oe]nitentarius, collected alms for the
+treasury of the church.
+
+Close by the booth of the distinguished and learned mountebank stood a
+light, under the image of the Madonna, in a little stone-walled chapel,
+where was also an iron-bound poor-box nailed fast upon a block. No
+merchant or skipper went to or from his ship without first kneeling
+here and depositing a piece of money in the box for the poor, and for
+the treasury of the Holy Virgin. In the evening there stood by this
+chapel, which went by the name of the Quay Chapel, Sir Helmer Blaa,
+who, with the Drost's squire Canute of Fyen, and some young knights of
+Aage's train, kept a sharp look out on every one who came up from the
+quay. The wind had been contrary all day, and the merchants were just
+come on shore. Berner Kopmand's Rostock vessel lay at anchor before
+them in the harbour. It had reached Skanor with a fair wind ere
+day-break. The indefatigable owner of the vessel had been on board the
+whole day superintending the unlading of the cargo, and ere it was
+dark, Sir Helmer thought he saw the outlawed fugitive on deck by his
+side. In case of the criminal's venturing to land preparations had been
+made for his seizure, with the knowledge of the provost; but the
+fugitive seemed not to purpose quitting his place of refuge. After
+vespers, however, Berner Kopmand and Henrik Gullandsfar landed with
+great parade, and a considerable train of armed seamen. They omitted
+not to cross themselves at the chapel, and to throw a loud-chinking
+offering into the poor-box, as they passed by the knights with an air
+of proud defiance.
+
+"How many false silver coins think ye are now in that box?" said Sir
+Helmer, aloud. The heavy Rostocker turned towards him with a look of
+rage; but Gullandsfar nudged his elbow with a grave look, and they
+passed on. Helmer and the other young knights followed them, and seemed
+to have a great desire to chastise their arrogance.
+
+Drost Aage had not neglected to attend Thrand Fistlier's performances,
+and the optic theatre with which he entertained the astonished visitors
+at the fair. He had bought of the artist some of his most remarkable
+and valuable inventions, and gained information of their application
+and use. He could not refuse his admiration to what he here saw of the
+famous discoveries of Roger Bacon, and observed the whole exhibition
+with attention. It consisted chiefly of small optical cases in which
+the powers of the magnifying glass were applied in a manner hitherto
+unknown in the North, and by which the artist excited great
+astonishment. What was seen in these boxes was not only the
+transformation of small animals into monsters, but even a figurative
+metamorphosis of the world in Master Thrand's own taste:--saints and
+martyrs, miraculous sights, and legendary pictures, processions of
+monks with the Host, the banners of the Madonna, and crucifixes, were
+represented in a ridiculous manner by the side of all the Grecian and
+Roman gods with their profanest love adventures. All this passed in dim
+caricature before the eyes of the spectators, and gave place at last to
+a number of dazzling allegorical figures, intended to represent Wisdom,
+Philosophy, Freedom, Burgher Commerce, Political Economy, The Study of
+Nature, and other subjects of the same kind. As soon as it grew
+sufficiently dark for the purpose, Master Thrand exhibited small
+burning wheels, stars, and suns with many-coloured rays, which flew
+with a clear light into the air, and suddenly exploded with a slight
+report.
+
+The Drost considered this last exhibition both beautiful and
+remarkable; all these things, however, were but trifles compared with
+what Master Laurentius had related of the matchless and wondrous feats
+which this mountebank was capable of performing. The sight of the small
+stars and suns which flew up over the sea and burst in the calm evening
+sky, afforded endless amusement to the spectators, to whom it seemed an
+entirely novel and incomprehensible phenomenon; but the people's
+admiration of this dazzling diversion as well as the beautiful
+fantastic spectacle itself in its aerial theatre, threw Aage into a
+singularly pensive mood.
+
+This glimpse of a new and secret art, whose vast and hidden workings he
+had already heard mentioned, struck him as being the forerunner of that
+new era announced by the mysterious artist, in which all opinions and
+ideas should be reformed and enlarged, and all that was ancient should
+vanish like the mimic suns and stars now waning and disappearing over
+the sea. Aage could not forget the strange conversations he had heard
+between the artist and his pupil, of the delusive dream in which the
+whole Christian world was wandering. In the learned Master Thrand's
+peculiar conception of the doctrine of the notorious Leccar Brethren he
+saw but a haughty and contumacious insanity, which, should it ever
+become dominant, would subvert all that was beautiful and true, and
+sacred upon earth; his own dream of the petrified world was still
+fearfully present to his recollection. The noise and joyousness of the
+crowd became almost painful to him. At last he sought relief and
+freedom from these distressing thoughts in the little chapel of the
+quay. He bent his knee before the painted wooden image of the Madonna,
+who was here represented as usual with the child in her arms, and the
+globe of the world with a cross upon it, like a ball and sceptre in the
+child's hand. Aage had folded his hands in prayer, but as he turned his
+eyes on the image, it was suddenly illuminated by a ball of fire sent
+up from the artist's booth. The Madonna's image appeared to him in the
+vivid flash of light like a horribly grinning idol--at the same moment
+he heard a loud report in the air, resembling a clap of thunder,
+followed by shrieks of terror from women and children. The little
+chapel shook; the ancient worm-eaten image of the Virgin tottered, and
+fell down at his feet. He started up, and rushed out of the chapel. The
+joyousness of the people was changed to fear and wrath. Some women had
+fainted; the life of one had been seriously endangered; a Capuchin's
+beard had been singed by the explosion. "Witchcraft! Sorcery!" was
+re-echoed in the crowd. "Stone him!--Burn him! the accursed wizard! He
+is a heretic!" cried some. "He hath said he will draw off all
+worshippers from our Lady and the saints--he saith he will match his
+thunders against the Lord's himself.--Stone him! Burn him! Cast him
+upon the beach! Tear down the wizard's house!"
+
+Amid all this commotion the enraged mob rushed upon the pyrotechnist's
+booth. The hapless little artist had hid himself with his amanuensis
+among some large boxes in an adjacent booth. Two of the enraged mob and
+a lay brother drew them forth from under the planks of the broken-down
+booth to give them up to the maltreatment of the mob. The provost and
+constables vainly strove to hinder these acts of violence. At last
+Drost Aage stepped forth, and cried in an authoritative voice, "Stop
+there, countrymen! Peace here, in the king's name! Secure these
+jugglers, but injure not a hair of their heads. They shall be judged
+and punished according to the law of the land if they cannot give
+account of themselves. What they have shewn us was done by natural
+means, my friends! These people know more than we do of the powers of
+nature; but they abuse their wisdom by boasting and juggling, and by
+scoffing at sacred things."
+
+As soon as they heard the name of the king, and recognised his and the
+nation's favourite, the enraged mob was pacified. Thrand Fistlier and
+his amanuensis were instantly seized by the constables and conducted to
+the quay, with all their effects; followed by a great throng of people.
+Drost Aage followed them himself on board a royal vessel, which was to
+sail next day to Helsingborg, and the captain, with his armed seamen,
+received orders to protect the captives from all injury.
+
+As soon as the captive mountebank heard he was in safety, but was to be
+taken as a prisoner to a fortress, he looked around him with a proud
+smile, "My noble persecuted master was right," he said. "The age is not
+sufficiently matured for us and our compeers. It is dangerous to be
+wise among fools; even the least glimpse of the light which is to
+appear is, as yet, too strong for these weak-sighted barbarians. It is
+not the first time a great genius hath appeared a century too soon!"
+
+"Silence, wretched juggler!" said Aage. "The great man whom thou
+dishonourest, by calling thy master, was a wise and pious monk, I have
+been told, but no juggler and self-appointed priest. Thank the holy
+Virgin and her Son, whom thou deniest, for thy life to-day! It is not
+for thy wisdom, but for thy folly, and the confusion thou wouldest
+spread among the people, that I have caused thee to be bound."
+
+Ere Aage quitted the vessel he took Master Laurentius aside, and gazed
+on him with a look of thoughtful interest. "You are too good to be this
+juggler's attendant and apprentice," he said; "your blind admiration
+for his knowledge of the perishing things of time, hath caused you to
+deny and dishonour your own holy calling, and the high vocation to
+which you are dedicated. St. Olaf, and the souls entrusted to you, you
+have deserted for this deformed artificer of hell-fire. From want and
+need you shall no longer be necessitated thus to degrade yourself. The
+captain of the vessel hath orders to care for your requirements; at
+Helsingborg he will provide you with suitable priest's attire, and
+money for your journey. To save your life, Master Laurentius, I have
+been forced to use you more hardly than I wished. When you arrive at
+Helsingborg, you are free and your own master; but your suspicious
+companion must, as a state prisoner, tarry the king's coming, and
+justify himself before him, if he can do so. It is known to me that he
+is a Leccar brother; as such it is forbidden to him to rove the country
+at large and mislead the people. I know, also, he wishes you to join
+his sect; but, I conjure you by that Almighty Lord and Master you have
+been near betraying--draw back, good Master Laurentius, and preserve
+your immortal soul! It hath assuredly a higher and a worthier calling,
+if your countenance and warm enthusiasm for what is beautiful and true
+have not deceived me. The Lord be with you! farewell!" Aage quitted the
+ship without awaiting an answer from the deeply agitated youth, whose
+eyes were suffused with tears, and who vainly strove to reach him his
+fettered hand.
+
+The Drost rowed back to Skanor. It was dark night, and there was a
+great stir and tumult on the quay. A quarrel and serious affray had
+arisen between the Drost's knights and the Hanseatic merchants, who had
+been chased from the inn and had taken flight towards the harbour.
+Berner Kopmand and Henrik Gullandsfar, with their armed seamen, laid
+furiously about them, but could not compete in the dexterous use of
+their weapons with Sir Helmer and the other incensed young knights, who
+were supported by the Skanor burghers. "Cut the forgers down! The
+cheats! The overbearing dogs!" they shouted. "They have brought false
+coin here to the fair--they have outlaws on board!" The affray was
+serious and bloody. The Hanseatics withdrew, fighting, to their boats.
+It was impossible for Aage to restore peace. The foreign merchants and
+the greater part of their seamen at last escaped to their ships, under
+cover of the night. They instantly hoisted sail. It was not until they
+were in the open sea that the knights missed Sir Helmer and the Drost's
+most active squire, Canute of Fyen.
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAP. XVI.
+
+
+Drost Aage was compelled to prosecute his journey early the next
+morning, without having been able to discover Sir Helmer and the
+squire. When Aage and the royal halberdiers left Skanor, they were
+followed through the streets by a great crowd of persons. It appeared
+that the burghers had learned, or conjectured, the object of this showy
+procession.
+
+The ballad, "For Eric the youthful king!" was as popular in Scania as
+in Denmark. "Long live king Eric and his true men!" shouted the crowd.
+"Bring him and Denmark a second Dagmar, good sirs!"
+
+Aage rejoiced at these tokens of the disposition of the brave Scanians;
+but he entertained little hope of a happy result from his embassy, and
+he was under great anxiety for the fate of the brave Sir Helmer and his
+own alert and trusty squire. Two of his other squires, and three of the
+young knights remained dangerously wounded at Skanor.
+
+Sir Helmer, and his companions, had followed the bragging Rostocker and
+his seamen to their inn. They had unanimously resolved with their own
+hands to chastise and humble the overbearing Hanseatics. While at the
+inn the Drost's squire had displayed a false coin, with which one of
+the lower class had been imposed upon in Berner Kopmand's booth, and it
+was affirmed the Rostockers had brought with them whole chests of such
+money. It was conjectured, and with reason, that this false money was
+coined by the outlaws, who the preceding year had captured some of the
+king's chief coiners. Complaints of false coin had frequently been made
+before, and now that it was heard the Rostockers imported them by
+bushels, the indignation instantly became great and general, and a
+fight soon commenced with the foreign merchants and skippers. When the
+Hanseatics were chased from the quay of Skanor, Sir Helmer had eagerly
+pursued the armed seamen, and had assisted in rolling into the sea some
+chests containing their bad money; at last, accompanied by the Drost's
+squire, the daring Canute, he had sprung after them into the boat to
+hinder their flight; but here they were overpowered by numbers, and
+dragged captive on board the Rostock vessel.
+
+Sorely wounded, and with hands and feet fast bound, Helmer and his
+companion were thrown down into the ship's hold. Here they lay the
+whole night among a number of ale barrels, firkins of salt, and sacks
+of groceries, which had not been unladen. The vessel rolled heavily;
+the weather had become boisterous, and those on board seemed only
+busied in saving ship and goods. At length the weather grew calmer. The
+strong motion of the ship ceased; it glided slowly and almost
+imperceptibly forward, and all became quiet on deck. The wearied seamen
+appeared to sleep. Sir Helmer now perceived a faint light above his
+head. He thought it was daylight; but soon discovered it was the moon
+shining in upon him through a chink in the ship's hatches directly
+above him. He presently heard the voices of two men in the stillness of
+the night; and recognised the tones of Berner Kopmand and Henrik
+Gullandsfar. "I cannot sleep for wrath and wound-smarting," growled the
+Rostocker. "Lo! this is the free trade and security one has to expect
+when a greenhorn sits on the throne, and justice lies in the knights'
+lances. Pestilence and destruction on the whole pack of puffed-up
+aristocrats! The accursed sycophants and slaves of kings and tyrants!
+They would have it _seem_ as if they protected the people and the
+burghers--pshaw! It is but for themselves and their high master they
+fight. Had I not spoken those bold words against their strutting
+knight-king at Sjoeborg, nor had that piece of royal game of an outlaw
+on board, our money would surely have been as good ware as before. They
+are a vile robber pack, the whole set of them that call themselves
+knights and noble, as well here as in Germany--as long as there are
+thrones and knights' castles left, neither trade nor burghership can
+thrive. So soon as the sun rises those two jackanapes we laid hold of
+shall dangle at the yard-arm."
+
+"Hearest thou, countryman?" whispered Helmer in the hold to his
+fellow-prisoner, "that concerns us two; a pleasant prospect! Could we
+but sink the ship and drown the braggart grocers we could go down to our
+home with some sort of pleasure."
+
+"That would be truly but a sorry jest, and a slender satisfaction. Sir
+Helmer; still, it would be better than to let oneself be hanged by
+those rascals," answered the squire. "I have torn the skin off my left
+hand," he continued; "but it can slip well enough out of the knot. If I
+am allowed but half an hour for it our bonds shall be loosened. I have
+a good clasp knife in my pocket; yonder lies a good ship's auger, and
+an axe; many a hearty blow shall be dealt ere they get the halter round
+our necks."
+
+"The Lord and St. George assist us!" whispered Helmer, breathing hard,
+"if I 'scape hence alive, and see my dear Anna again," he added, with a
+smothered sigh, "I promise St. George a new altar-table, and every
+bottle-nosed Hanseatic I meet a broken head!"
+
+"'Tis a pious vow, noble sir!" whispered the squire, "you will see it
+will help us. Now my hand slides out of the knot; but it pinches hard."
+
+"Hush!" whispered Helmer, rolling himself nearer to the chink in the
+hatches.
+
+"I ever told you it was a bad business with that money-trading, and
+that coining with the outlaws," now said the smoother, toned voice of
+Henrik Gullandsfar above the knight's head. "No clear profit is ever
+got by such dealings; it lessens faith, and rarely pays in the long
+run, Master Berner! No! with _pure_ gold and silver might we rule the
+world; and sober prudence would sway the gold sceptre--that I have ever
+said. With a little less eagerness we should, perhaps, have made a
+better market in Scania; but you will drive everything through with
+might, Master Berner!"
+
+"Might against might! that was ever my word in the covenant: there may
+be something in what you say," answered the Rostocker, "of the gold and
+silver sceptre; it may just as well, however, be alloyed with a little
+copper or tin, when none perceive it; but with pure sharp steel it must
+be defended. Ere we can lay the sword in the balance against all the
+crowns and armorial bearings in the world, our proud plan is but a
+glittering castle in the air."
+
+"Give time, Master Berner," resumed Gullandsfar; "the great Rome was
+not built in one day, yet she became the ruler of the world. Let us
+first rid the seas and the highways of petty robbers, and then we may
+let fly at the great in their castles and thrones. Let us first get
+possession of the sea! then shall it overflow the earth with our waves!
+It shall heap us up mountains of gold, and wash away every castle and
+throne that stands in our way. We Wisbye men lie very close to the King
+of Denmark; we must be cautious, even though as prudent merchants
+we give patriotism to death and the devil. You Rostockers are too
+hot-headed; one should not break too soon with authorities. The menace
+at Sjoeberg was a stupid trick: I did but assent to it, and was silent
+for your sake. It never answers to bluster and threaten unless one can
+fight at the same time; and it answers just as little to fight, unless
+we know we are the strongest."
+
+"Out upon your caution!" growled the Rostocker. "We have power already
+if we will but use it; we may have as many souls in our service as we
+can pay for."
+
+"Men's souls are dear merchandise," observed Gullandsfar; "and besides
+it easily corrupts and spoils. How many marks of pure silver hath not
+that miserable fellow on the quarter deck yonder already cost you?
+And he is, after all, but a villanous outlaw and renegade from our
+high-born deadly foes. That pack no wise burgher should count on."
+
+"Such a fellow is worth his weight in gold," said the Rostocker with a
+laugh. "Mark! those aristocratic vermin shall now devour each other. A
+dishonoured and death-doomed knight, without castle and lands, whose
+honour and name have been scalded off him may be the best king-killer
+one could have; he, yonder, is practised in the trade! He was in
+Finnerup barn. I will let him loose in the harbour! I will smuggle him
+in among our agents--there will soon be troubled waters to fish in. The
+crowned green-horn shall not have turned his back on us at Sjoeberg for
+nothing. Mark! he shall have other things to think on than keeping his
+bridal in the summer."
+
+"We are not authorised by the covenant to go so far as that, however,
+Master Berner," remarked Gullandsfar. "What yon dishonoured knight may
+have to avenge is his own concern; his and your secret trade concerns
+not the league; I would rather have nothing to do with that smuggling
+traffic. When the prosperity of the league, and a great and matchless
+plan like ours is in question, we should wisely set aside private
+revenge, and all petty personal views."
+
+"Do you slink? Are you afraid, Master colleague?" growled Berner
+Kopmand, beginning to talk loud. "Let not that concern _you_ my wise
+Master Henrik! You need not tell an old reckoner what is small and what
+is great. I can as well as you make a difference between what I
+undertake in the Hanse-towns' name, and what I risk in my own. If I
+reckon wrong, the loss is Berner Kopmand's. I know what that man can
+stand; and you are right--the covenant hath naught to do with it!"
+
+"If it fails, it may however injure our trade and enterprises in great
+matters," replied Henrik Gullandsfar in a tone of calm calculation.
+"Consider the point well, Master Berner! All ports are now open to us;
+the king is proud and authoritative, but nevertheless he favours us far
+more than we could expect from his policy. Our 'prentices and agents
+are protected in the sea-ports--our trade is as free and untaxed here
+as any where--it hath not struck any one but the king himself that the
+road to salt and pepper, to ale and German cloth, as we heard from his
+own lips, is equally broad and convenient for all, and Danish corn and
+cattle will give a good return, and pay both wages and taxes. St.
+Nicolas and St. Hermes be thanked! the _navigation is ours_. _They are
+too dull and lazy to understand their own interests_. The peasant is
+content with small beer, and the citizen with skim milk, and they let
+us run off with the ale and the cream; but if you make good your
+threat, secretly or openly, and if anything a little too notorious
+chances here, in which the Hanse have lot or part, people's eyes may be
+opened, and our trading dominion is at an end here in the north."
+
+"The eyes which might be most dangerous to us were they wide open, are
+just those I would have shut," muttered the Rostocker. "Greater service
+could none do the Hanse in these kingdoms and lands,--but silence! What
+is that? I heard something move under us. The captives are surely not
+loose?"
+
+"The captives! Death and misfortune!" exclaimed Henrik. "Have they cast
+them into the hold? Then perhaps they now know more than any living
+soul must carry farther."
+
+"It matters not, Master colleague," said the Rostocker with a scornful
+laugh, "they shall not carry it farther, however, than to the yard-arm!
+Now doth the sun rise red as pure gold--that sight they shall see for
+the last time. Ho! steersman!" he shouted, "how far are we?"
+
+"If a breeze springs up, we shall reach Kallebo ere it rings to mass in
+Copenhagen, Master!" answered a hoarse voice at the helm.
+
+"That's well! Then we will keep mattins and ship's law on our own
+ground, ere the Bishop takes Lubeck law out of our hands. Up! all
+hands! Ring the great bell!"
+
+The sound of a brass bell instantly assembled all the seamen upon deck.
+
+"Bring the prisoners up here, boatswain!" continued the captain of the
+vessel. "Sing out, fellows! Shout forth the poor sinners' vigil. Let
+the Danish scoundrels hear we are good Christians! and let their
+houndish souls go to hell amid song and clang!"
+
+While the ship's crew with a fearful bellowing chaunted a sort of hymn
+on the departure of sinners from the world, and two sturdy fellows in
+tarry jackets coolly fastened two ropes to the yard-arm, the hatches of
+the ship's hold were opened and the boatswain went below with two armed
+men. Cries and tumult were heard in the hold; all became instantly
+quiet again, but neither the boatswain nor the two men returned.
+
+"What is this?" exclaimed Berner Kopmand in dismay. "What is become of
+them? Those Danish hell-hounds must be loose! Down after them fellows!
+Bring them up here dead or alive! Hence! below! or ye shall be scourged
+at the mast!"
+
+The whole ship's crew were in commotion; they flocked to the hatchway,
+but none seemed to like to go below, despite the threats of the stern
+captain.
+
+"The first who sets foot here below dies!" said Sir Helmer's voice from
+the hold. "Ere, I and my comrade will let our necks be twisted by your
+grocer hands, by St. Michael and his flaming sword! ye shall all of ye
+go with us to the bottom of the sea--Any moment I please every soul of
+us shall perish. We have bored a ground-leak--we loosen ye a plank with
+a single pull."
+
+"That devil of a fellow!" cried the Rostocker, growing deadly pale, "he
+hath us all in his power. What are we to do?"
+
+"We must treat with them," answered Gullandsfar. "Aside all men! Let me
+speak with that worthy knight. This is doubtless a little stratagem of
+war, noble Sir knight!" began Master Henrik, courteously; "but since we
+cannot search into the matter without peril of our lives we will submit
+to necessity, and acknowledge you have this once very craftily ensnared
+us. What have ye done to our three men, noble sir?"
+
+"They have met with their deserts, and lie here stone dead," answered
+the knight. "Thus it shall fare with all of ye--if ye will fight with
+us fairly, three at once, we will encounter on dry boards; but if more
+come, the sea shall help us. Throw us our own good swords below
+instantly! or we will try who best can swim."
+
+"You have won back your freedom with honour, noble sir!" answered
+Gullandsfar, "If ye would believe my word you might safely come here
+among us; we are peaceable people, and purpose not to measure our skill
+in arms with yours. Your swords shall instantly be returned to you;
+but upon one condition, noble knight--you must only use the sword in
+self-defence, and not to assault any of us as long as you are here on
+board; for this I demand your knightly word of Honour."
+
+"That I promise on my faith and honour," cried Helmer,--and two swords
+were instantly thrown down to them.
+
+"We will set you unscathed on shore at Copenhagen, noble sir,"
+continued Henrik Gullandsfar, "provided you promise to be silent
+concerning what you perhaps may have heard and perceived, which might
+get us into disfavour in high places, or injure our trade and
+enterprises."
+
+"I leave grocers and pettifoggers to wage war with the tongue,"
+answered the knight haughtily. "What I have heard of your fine plans
+and projects I deem not worth wasting one word upon; but from this hour
+I defy you all to the death.--Until I set foot on shore you are
+unmolested; but from the moment we separate broken heads will be the
+consequence of our meeting."
+
+"That is but natural," returned Gullandsfar. "We accept your proffer in
+the first instance; keep but quiet! In a few hours you will be on
+shore."
+
+There was a murmur of dissatisfaction and uneasiness on board the
+vessel. Some of the boldest seamen grumbled at the shameful peace with
+the two captives. They blamed Henrik Gullandsfar for cowardice and
+treachery; but none cared to go down into the hold, and dare an
+encounter with the redoubted captives, who had both ship and crew in
+their power. At last, however, they submitted to necessity. Berner
+Kopmand had lost the use of his tongue, and the discreet Master Henrik
+had taken the command of the ship. He ordered every one to go quietly
+about their business, and was obeyed without any objections being made.
+The captain himself stood on the forecastle, with rolling eyes and
+crimson cheeks. He concealed with his large person a man in a black
+priestly mantle, who conversed with him in a low tone, and kept his
+back constantly turned towards the stern. A fresh breeze had sprung up.
+The wind was favourable, and ere noon the vessel glided into Kallebo
+strand, between the Isle of Amak and the green pastures of the village
+of Solbierg, which occupied the whole of the western side where the
+suburb of Copenhagen, Vesterbro, was afterwards built. It was a fine
+spring day. The proud castle of Axelhuus[12] rose towards the east in
+the sunshine, with its circular walls and its two round towers, and was
+mirrored in the surrounding waters. The castle lay apart from the town,
+without any bridge, and was only accessible by boats. Behind the castle
+island were two other small islands, almost covered with buildings,
+whither boats were constantly plying. The one was the abode of the
+stationary skippers, and on the other (Bremen Island) the warehouses of
+the Bremen merchants seemed to tower in emulation of the castle of
+Axelhuus itself. The Rostock vessel steered not to the great haven,
+from which the city afterwards derived its name, but ran into the
+Catsound, on both sides of which were seen a number of small houses of
+frame-work, the walls of which were plastered with clay, and the roofs
+thatched with straw and reeds; between the houses were cabbage gardens
+and orchards, with wooden fences, or thorn hedges; and in the
+neighbourhood of the quay was seen the little church of St. Clement.
+
+
+
+                               FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 1: The word Runes is here used in its original
+signification,--that of mystery or secret. Each letter of the Runic
+alphabet was supposed to possess a mysterious and magical power. In the
+Scandinavian mythology, each Rune was originally dedicated to some
+deity; it also denoted some natural quality or object: their Asiatic
+origin is now proved beyond doubt. There is a remarkable poem in the
+elder Edda--the Song of Brynhilde, in which mention is made of several
+kinds of Runes. Among them may be classed numerous amulets of most of
+the Asiatic tribes, as well as of the Egyptians, Greeks, &c., on which
+these characters were cut or traced. The custom among sailors of
+marking their skins with letters and devices may clearly be traced to
+Runic origin, and the tattooing among savage tribes is evidently
+similarly derived. In Wilson's account of the Pelew Islands, King Abba
+Thule is represented as tattooed with two crosses on the breast and two
+on one shoulder, with a snake, and these distinct northern Runes
+[Illustration of rune]. In the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth
+centuries, when superstition dragged her victims to the stake
+throughout all Christian Europe, the use of Runes became an especial
+object for the persecutions exercised by the authorities and clergy of
+Iceland,--the word Rune there signifying a mysterious and magical
+character. The songs of the Finns and Laps, which are supposed by them
+to possess magic powers, are still called Runes.--_Translator_. Vide
+_Professor Finn Magnussen's Notes to the Elder Edda_, vol. iii.]
+
+[Footnote 2: King Eric the Sixth of Denmark, surnamed Plough Penny, the
+son and successor of Valdemar the Victorious, was murdered by the
+command of his brother, Junker Abel, Duke of Slesvig, under
+circumstances of peculiar atrocity, on the 4th of August, 1250. Abel
+had frequently rebelled against his brother; but at last finding that
+his forces were unequal to the contest, he had recourse to stratagem,
+and made overtures of friendship to Eric, who gladly accepted them, and
+hesitated not to visit his brother at one of his palaces in Slesvig.
+After an apparently cordial reception, however, the duke contrived to
+turn the conversation on their former feuds, and reproached the king
+with having devastated his territories, saying, "Dost thou not remember
+how thou didst plunder my town of Slesvig, and compel my daughter to
+fly barefoot to a place of shelter? Thou shalt not do so twice." Eric
+was then seized and led to the river Slie, where he was placed in a
+boat, beheaded, and his body sunk by stones into the deepest part of
+the stream. In order to cover this crime, Duke Abel and twenty-four of
+his knights, according to the usage of those times, endeavoured to
+clear themselves of suspicion, by solemnly affirming that the king had
+met with his death by the upsetting of the boat, but two months
+afterwards the headless trunk floated to the river side, and the murder
+became known. The body was deposited in St. Benedict's church at
+Ringsted, where the Translator not long ago was shown one of the bones
+through an aperture of the walled-up niche.]
+
+[Footnote 3: The placing runes upon the tongue was employed in Runic
+magic to waken the dead priestess, and compel her to give a prophetic
+answer to the magician whose spells had aroused her from the sleep of
+death. In the song of Vegtam, in the Elder Edda, known to the English
+reader in our poet Gray's fine translation, "The Descent of Odin," the
+Scandinavian bard describes the magic power of runes traced on the
+ground towards the north, and repeated as incantations, in calling
+forth the prophetic response from the tomb.
+
+
+      "Right against the eastern gate,
+      By the moss-grown pile he sate,
+      Where long of yore to sleep was laid
+      The dust of the prophetic maid;
+      Facing to the northern clime,
+      Thrice he traced the Runic rhyme;
+      Thrice pronounced in accents dread,
+      The thrilling verse that wakes the dead,
+      Till from out the hollow ground,
+      Slowly breathed a sullen sound."
+
+                    _Translator's Note_.]
+
+[Footnote 4: Baldur, the son of Odin, was slain by Hother, a Danish
+warrior, his rival in the affections of Nanna, a Norwegian princess.]
+
+[Footnote 5: Fragment of an old Danish ballad entitled "Agnete and the
+Merman."]
+
+[Footnote 6: One of the most ancient and characteristic ballads of the
+north. It is the subject of one of M. Ohlenschlager's most popular
+tragedies.]
+
+[Footnote 7: The superstitious belief in the existence of mermen,
+prevailed in Denmark at no very remote period. It seems probable that
+the pirates or Vikings of the north availed themselves of this
+superstition, by assuming the disguise of mermen to scare the
+inhabitants from those coasts it was important they should possess. The
+adventures of some Scandinavian pirate and maiden probably gave rise to
+the curious old ballad of Agnete and the Merman. See the Danish "Kjaempe
+Viser."--_Translator_.]
+
+[Footnote 8: Fragment of an heroic ballad.]
+
+[Footnote 9: Varulve (Manwolf) according to ancient superstition, a man
+who had been metamorphosed for a certain time into a wolf. The
+superstitions of the Scandinavians, as handed down in the Sagas and
+Kempe Vise (heroic ballads), partake so much of the character of
+Eastern fable, that there can be little doubt of their Asiatic
+origin.--_Translator_.]
+
+[Footnote 10: Nidaros, the ancient name of Drontheim in Norway.]
+
+[Footnote 11: "Vola's qvad," or "The Song of the Prophetess," is one of
+the most imaginative poems in the Elder Edda. It opens with an account
+of the springing forth of creation from chaos, and after announcing
+death as the final doom of all physical nature, ends by foretelling the
+rise of a better and brighter world, from the ocean in which the first
+had been engulphed.--_Translator_.]
+
+[Footnote 12: The name of the ancient castle of Copenhagen, built by
+Bishop Absalon in the thirteenth century as a defence against pirates.]
+
+
+
+
+                       END OF THE SECOND VOLUME.
+
+
+
+                                London:
+                      Printed by A. Spottiswoode,
+                           New-Street-Square.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of King Eric and the Outlaws, Vol. 2, by
+Bernhard Severin Ingemann
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