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diff --git a/43678-0.txt b/43678-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..496cffc --- /dev/null +++ b/43678-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11352 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 43678 *** + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 43678-h.htm or 43678-h.zip: + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/43678/43678-h/43678-h.htm) + or + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/43678/43678-h.zip) + + + Images of the original pages are available through + Internet Archive. See + http://archive.org/details/anneofgeiersteinsco01scotuoft + + +Transcriber's note: + + Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). + + Text enclosed by equal signs is in bold face (=bold=). + + + + + +Waverley Novels +Forty-Eight Volumes +Volume XLIII. + +Border Edition + +The Introductory Essays and Notes by Andrew Lang to this +Edition of the Waverley Novels are Copyright + + +[Illustration: THE DUEL. +Drawn and Etched by R. de Los Rios] + + +ANNE OF GEIERSTEIN + +by + +SIR WALTER SCOTT, BART. + +With Introductory Essay and Notes by Andrew Lang + +Ten Etchings + +VOLUME I. + + + + + + + +London +John C. Nimmo +14, King William Street, Strand +MDCCCXCIV + +Printed by Ballantyne, Hanson & Co. +At the Ballantyne Press, Edinburgh + + + + + THIS EDITION OF THE WAVERLEY NOVELS, + THE BORDER EDITION, + IS DEDICATED BY THE PUBLISHER + TO + THE HON. MRS. MAXWELL SCOTT OF ABBOTSFORD + AND HER CHILDREN, + WALTER, MARY, MICHAEL, ALICE, MALCOLM, + MARGARET, AND HERBERT, + GREAT-GRANDDAUGHTER AND GREAT-GREAT-GRANDCHILDREN + OF THE AUTHOR. + + + + + TO + The King's Most Gracious Majesty. + + SIRE, + +The Author of this Collection of Works of Fiction would not have +presumed to solicit for them your Majesty's august patronage, were it +not that the perusal has been supposed in some instances to have +succeeded in amusing hours of relaxation, or relieving those of +languor, pain, or anxiety, and therefore must have so far aided the +warmest wish of your Majesty's heart, by contributing in however small +a degree to the happiness of your people. + +They are therefore humbly dedicated to your Majesty, agreeably to +your gracious permission, by + + Your Majesty's Dutiful Subject, + WALTER SCOTT. + + ABBOTSFORD, + 1st January, 1829. + + + + +LIST OF ETCHINGS. + +PRINTED BY F. GOULDING, LONDON. + + +VOLUME THE FIRST. + + THE DUEL. Drawn and Etched by R. de Los Rios + (p. 99) Frontispiece + + GEIERSTEIN. Drawn and Etched by R. de Los + Rios To face page 48 + + IN THE STABLE. Drawn and Etched by R. de Los + Rios 192 + + THE EXAMINATION. Drawn and Etched by R. de + Los Rios 256 + + THE EXECUTION. Drawn and Etched by R. de Los + Rios 304 + + + + + ANNE OF GEIERSTEIN; + OR, + THE MAIDEN OF THE MIST. + + What! will the aspiring blood of Lancaster + Sink in the ground? + + SHAKSPEARE. + + + + +EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION + +TO + +ANNE OF GEIERSTEIN. + + +With "The Fair Maid of Perth" we take farewell of Scott at his best, +though "even from the stubble one may tell what the grain has been." +"Anne of Geierstein" was no favourite of the author's, and, as Mr. +Matthew Arnold says, the world does not contemplate with pleasure what +the poet creates without joy. The novel was begun in the late summer +or autumn of 1828, but for part of the time Scott neglected his Diary. +He was become (June 19) "a writing automaton," and suffered much pain +from rheumatism and rheumatic headaches. He feared that this affected +"the quality of the stuff," but he was not one who "waited for the +spark from heaven to fall." He plodded on, in these late years, +_invita Minerva_. Of old the goddess had generally been willing; but +now his task took the likeness of journalism, the round had to be +trodden, be he well or be he ill. Masterpieces are not written thus: +it is the moral effort that we admire, and the contempt for fame, even +for art, compared with the respect for duty. Scott believed in his +duty and in his power of will, but imagination will not obey a moral +dictate. We find Ballantyne "complaining of his manuscript": the +wearied hand no longer wrote legibly, despite the mechanical supports +which he used. "I cannot trace my _pieds de mouche_ but with great +labour and trouble" (June 22). He "wrought and endured," afflicted by +a hypochondriacal melancholy: "it may be chased away by study or by +exercise." He is nobly master of his fate, in every event. In July we +find him "beginning Simond's 'Switzerland,'" in search of local +colour, for he did not know Switzerland, nor even the Rhine. His +description of a storm in the mountains is, in the circumstances, +wonderfully accurate. He simply drew the hills above Loch Skene on a +grander scale. Morritt and Sir James Stuart of Allanbank, who were +well acquainted with the scenes, were "surprised at the felicity with +which he divined its character, and outdid, by the force of +imagination, all the efforts of a thousand actual tourists." Their +praise much encouraged Sir Walter (Lockhart, ix. 279). Ballantyne +"bored and bothered me with his criticisms," he said, for he did not +pretend to be a geologist, and to describe the formation of the rocks. +In January he "muzzed on"--I can call it little better--with "Anne of +Geierstein." The "materials are excellent, but the power of using them +is failing." In February (1829) he was better "pleased with his work." +The reason why he was better pleased may perhaps be gathered from his +Journal (Feb. 17): "I called on Skene, and borrowed a volume of his +journal to get some information about Burgundy and Provence. Something +may be made out of King René, but I wish I had thought of him sooner." +This is elucidated by a note of Mr. Skene's: "Sir Walter wished to see +a paper which I had some time before contributed to the Memoirs of the +Society of Antiquaries on the subject of the secret tribunals of +Germany, and upon which, accordingly, he grounded his scene in the +novel." Mr. Skene now suggested the introduction of King René of +Provence, as he himself could give topographical details. "He liked +the idea much ... and the whole dénouement of the story was changed, +and the Provence part woven into it, in the form in which it +ultimately came forth" (Journal, ii. 235, note). On March 8 "Cadell +totally condemns 'Anne of Geierstein' ... great dishonour in this, as +Trinculo says, besides an infinite loss. Yet worse has succeeded, but +it was while the fashion of the thing was fresh. I retrenched a good +deal about the Troubadours, which was really _hors de place_" (April +14). After some weeks of work and reflection, he came to the +conclusion that more pains would not serve his turn. Inspiration came +at once, if it came at all, and now his "braes and burn-sides" were +ceasing to inspire him. "I don't know why or wherefore, but I hate +'Anne'" (April 27). "The story will end, and shall end, because it +must end, and so here goes." He finished "Anne of Geierstein" on April +29, and began an historical work for Dr. Lardner on the same day. He +had been writing reviews and other trifles all the time. "Were +necessity out of the question, I would take the same literary labour +from choice--something more leisurely, though." + +The book was published in the middle of May, and was very popular in +Switzerland. Lockhart praises "occasional outbursts of the old poetic +spirit," as in the Alpine storm, the wild climb of Arthur, the duel, +the noble picture of the battle of Granson. No one else then writing +in England could have matched these passages. Lockhart especially +admired the sympathy with which an old and weary man "depicts the +feelings of youth with all their original glow and purity." "He was +always living over again in his children, young at heart whenever he +looked on them, and the world that was opening on them and their +friends. But, above all, he had a firm belief in the future reunion of +those whom death had parted." + +The novel is unlucky, perhaps, in the period chosen, which is not +sufficiently familiar to most readers. The forlorn cause of the House +of Lancaster now affects us very little, and the passion of Margaret +of Anjou is remote--it cannot stir us like the last view of the King, +in "Redgauntlet." The mechanism of the volume does suggest the +favourite topics of Mrs. Radcliffe, and the mysterious appearances and +disappearances of the heroine need a more plausible explanation than +they receive. The prophecy turning on the drawing of the bow is rather +dropped out of sight, and the magic scenes connected with the opal and +the mysterious bride suffer from being explained away. The miracle is +more easy of belief than the explanation. Though Charles the Bold is +painted with power in his pride and in his fall, he does not interest +us like Louis XI. or James VI., either in this novel or in "Quentin +Durward." It is probable enough that Scott, in his intended +continuation of "Quentin Durward," had this very period in his eye: +perhaps we need not regret that, with failing powers, he left Quentin +out of the tale. His place is filled by the good dull Sigismund, who +always warms up into a kind of brilliance when action is to be taken +or described. The hero and heroine do not differ much from Scott's +usual characters, in similar romantic circumstances, but Anne has less +of originality and charm, of course, than the women of his earlier +novels. The story, even on the least favourable estimate, is a rapid +novel of adventure: incident follows incident, and, as a modern critic +says, "the novel of character is one we often take up, the novel of +incident is one we cannot lay down;" if it be written with the spirit +of Scott, or of Dumas. That friendly master of romance was just about +to take up the pen which fell from the fingers of Sir Walter-- + + Uno avulso non deficit alter. + +Scott's imitators, in his lifetime, produced little or nothing of +merit: he was, however, to leave successors, the author of "Vingt Ans +Après" first and greatest; the author of "Esmond"; the author, we may +surely add, of "The Master of Ballantrae." Much as these differ from +Scott, both in quantity and quality of genius, in method, in style, +they are all "sealed of his tribe," like the spiritual children of Ben +Jonson. Scott is he + + Without whose life they had not been, + +and thus his example has borne, and still bears, new fruit in the most +innocent of intellectual pleasures. For a later generation Scott has +done what the romances and the epics did for chivalry, and fairy-tales +for all the world. In an unexpected place, the Memoirs of Dr. Adam +Clarke, we find a tribute to old romance and fairy-tale. Had he not +read these in boyhood, the learned and excellent Doctor declares, his +religion would have lacked imagination, and his character the courage +which he displayed in face of many dangers. Examples of lofty fancy, +of chivalrous courage, all that can attract and inspire youth, all +that makes against moody despair, and stolid commonplace, and creeping +prose, Scott gives, even in this late work, and he enlightens all with +humour, as in his admirable description of the despotic German +innkeeper, before whom the Earl of Oxford has to lower his bonnet. +While youth is youth, and men have yet a smack of it, we can be happy +with Arthur Philipson in his duel, with Sigismund in the fight, with +the cheery maid of Anne of Geierstein, and her honest ideas of love on +first principles, with that royal philosopher King René, with the +sagacious loyalty of Oxford, and the manly patriotism of the peasant +noble. That the conclusion is entangled, and the knots rather broken +than disengaged, is no unusual fault in Scott: it haunted his works +from the beginning. Considering his health, his absence, in this tale, +from scenes familiar to him, and times familiar to his readers, the +novel is remarkable for its interest. What success and merit it +possesses are mainly due, however, to a determined effort of the will, +not to a delighted and conscious inspiration. In his last essays, +though the will was indomitable, the material machinery of the brain +was shattered, and we can only criticise them as psychological +examples of unconquered courage. He had to see James Ballantyne, +broken by his wife's death, and "squandering his thoughts and senses +upon dowdy metaphysics, and abstruse theology." It was better for +Scott to work on, and die at his task, at the labour of a life which +would not be complete, would not offer the same invigorating +spectacle, had he thrown his pen away and confessed himself defeated. + +The historical sources of "Anne of Geierstein" are explained in +Scott's own Introduction and Notes. All the later part of the novel +follows the narrative of Commines closely, save for certain dramatic +liberties, as we shall point out in our additional annotations. + + ANDREW LANG. + + _May 1894._ + + + + +INTRODUCTION + +TO + +ANNE OF GEIERSTEIN. + + +This novel was written at a time when circumstances did not place +within my reach the stores of a library tolerably rich in historical +works, and especially the memoirs of the Middle Ages, amidst which I +had been accustomed to pursue the composition of my fictitious +narratives. In other words, it was chiefly the work of leisure hours +in Edinburgh, not of quiet mornings in the country. In consequence of +trusting to a memory, strongly tenacious certainly, but not less +capricious in its efforts, I have to confess on this occasion more +violations of accuracy in historical details, than can perhaps be +alleged against others of my novels. In truth, often as I have been +complimented on the strength of my memory, I have through life been +entitled to adopt old Beattie of Meikledale's answer to his parish +minister when eulogising him with respect to the same faculty. "No, +doctor," said the honest border-laird, "I have no command of my +memory; it only retains what happens to hit my fancy, and like enough, +sir, if you were to preach to me for a couple of hours on end, I might +be unable at the close of the discourse to remember one word of it." +Perhaps there are few men whose memory serves them with equal fidelity +as to many different classes of subjects; but I am sorry to say, that +while mine has rarely failed me as to any snatch of verse or trait of +character that had once interested my fancy, it has generally been a +frail support, not only as to names, and dates, and other minute +technicalities of history, but as to many more important things. + +I hope this apology will suffice for one mistake which has been +pointed out to me by the descendant of one of the persons introduced +in this story, and who complains with reason that I have made a +peasant deputy of the ancestor of a distinguished and noble family, +none of whom ever declined from the high rank to which, as far as my +pen trenched on it, I now beg leave to restore them. The name of the +person who figures as deputy of Soleure in these pages, was always, it +seems, as it is now, that of a patrician house. I am reminded by the +same correspondent of another slip, probably of less consequence. The +Emperor of the days my novel refers to, though the representative of +that Leopold who fell in the great battle of Sempach, never set up any +pretensions against the liberties of the gallant Swiss, but, on the +contrary, treated with uniform prudence and forbearance such of that +nation as had established their independence, and with wise, as well +as generous kindness, others who still continued to acknowledge fealty +to the imperial crown. Errors of this sort, however trivial, ought +never, in my opinion, to be pointed out to an author, without meeting +with a candid and respectful acknowledgment. + +With regard to a general subject of great curiosity and interest, in +the eyes at least of all antiquarian students, upon which I have +touched at some length in this narrative, I mean the _Vehmic_ +tribunals of Westphalia, a name so awful in men's ears during many +centuries, and which, through the genius of Goethe, has again been +revived in public fancy with a full share of its ancient terrors, I am +bound to state my opinion that a wholly new and most important light +has been thrown upon this matter since Anne of Geierstein first +appeared, by the elaborate researches of my ingenious friend, Mr. +Francis Palgrave, whose proof-sheets, containing the passages I allude +to, have been kindly forwarded to me, and whose complete work will be +before the public ere this Introduction can pass through the press. + +"In Germany," says this very learned writer, "there existed a singular +jurisdiction, which claimed a _direct descent from the Pagan policy +and mystic ritual of the earliest Teutons_. + +"We learn from the Historians of Saxony, that the 'Frey Feld gericht,' +or Free Field Court of Corbey, was, in Pagan times, under the +supremacy of the Priests of the Eresburgh, the Temple which contained +the Irminsule, or pillar of Irmin. After the conversion of the people, +the possessions of the temple were conferred by Louis the Pious upon +the Abbey which arose upon its site. The court was composed of sixteen +persons, who held their offices for life. The senior member presided +as the Gerefa or Graff; the junior performed the humbler duties of +'Frohner,' or summoner; the remaining fourteen acted as the Echevins, +and by them all judgments were pronounced or declared. When any one of +these died, a new member was elected by the Priests, from amongst the +twenty-two septs or families inhabiting the Gau or district, and who +included all the hereditary occupants of the soil. Afterwards, the +selection was made by the Monks, but always with the assent of the +Graff and of the 'Frohner.' + +"The seat of judgment, the King's seat, or 'Königs-stuhl,' was always +established on the greensward; and we collect from the context, that +the tribunal was also raised or appointed in the common fields of the +Gau, for the purpose of deciding disputes relating to the land within +its precinct. Such a 'King's seat' was a plot sixteen feet in length, +and sixteen feet in breadth; and when the ground was first +consecrated, the Frohner dug a grave in the centre, into which each of +the Free Echevins threw a handful of ashes, a coal, and a tile. If any +doubt arose whether a place of judgment had been duly hallowed, the +Judges sought for the tokens. If they were not found, then all the +judgments which had been given became null and void. It was also of +the very essence of the Court, that it should be held beneath the sky, +and by the light of the sun. All the ancient Teutonic judicial +assemblies were held in the open air; but some relics of solar worship +may perhaps be traced in the usage and in the language of this +tribunal. The forms adopted in the Free Field Court also betray a +singular affinity to the doctrines of the British Bards respecting +their Gorseddau, or Conventions, which were 'always held in the open +air, in the eye of the light, and in face of the sun.'[1] + +"When a criminal was to be judged, or a cause to be decided, the Graff +and the Free Echevins assembled around the 'Königs-stuhl;' and the +'Frohner,' having proclaimed silence, opened the proceedings by +reciting the following rhymes: + + "Sir Graff, with permission, + I beg you to say, + According to law, and without delay, + If I, your Knave, + Who judgment crave, + With your good grace, + Upon the King's seat this seat may place. + +"To this address the Graff replied: + + "While the sun shines with even light + Upon Masters and Knaves, I shall declare + The law of might, according to right. + Place the King's seat true and square, + Let even measure, for justice' sake, + Be given in sight of God and man, + That the plaintiff his complaint may make, + And the defendant answer,--if he can. + +"In conformity to this permission, the 'Frohner' placed the seat of +judgment in the middle of the plot, and then he spake for the second +time: + + "Sir Graff, Master brave, + I remind you of your honour, here, + And moreover that I am your Knave; + Tell me, therefore, for law sincere, + If these mete-wands are even and sure, + Fit for the rich and fit for the poor, + Both to measure land and condition; + Tell me as you would eschew perdition. + +"And so speaking, he laid the mete-wand on the ground. The Graff then +began to try the measure, by placing his right foot against the wand, +and he was followed by the other Free Echevins in rank and order, +according to seniority. The length of the mete-wand being thus proved, +the Frohner spake for the third time: + + "Sir Graff, I ask by permission, + If I with your mete-wand may mete + Openly, and without displeasure, + Here the king's free judgment seat. + +"And the Graff replied: + + "I permit right, + And I forbid wrong, + Under the pains and penalties + That to the old known laws belong. + +"Now was the time of measuring the mystic plot; it was measured by the +mete-wand along and athwart, and when the dimensions were found to be +true, the Graff placed himself in the seat of judgment, and gave the +charge to the assembled Free Echevins, warning them to pronounce +judgment, according to right and justice. + + "On this day, with common consent, + And under the clear firmament, + A free field court is established here, + In the open eye of day; + Enter soberly, ye who may. + The seat in its place is pight, + The mete-wand is found to be right; + Declare your judgments without delay: + And let the doom be truly given, + Whilst yet the Sun shines bright in heaven. + +"Judgment was given by the Free Echevins according to plurality of +voices." + +After observing that the author of Anne of Geierstein had, by what he +calls a "very excusable poetical licence," transferred something of +these judicial rhymes from the Free Field Court of the Abbey of +Corbey, to the Free Vehmic Tribunals of Westphalia, Mr. Palgrave +proceeds to correct many vulgar errors, in which the novel he remarks +on no doubt had shared, with respect to the actual constitution of +those last-named courts. "The protocols of their proceedings," he +says, "do not altogether realise the popular idea of their terrors and +tyranny." It may be allowed to me to question whether the mere +protocols of such tribunals are quite enough to annul all the import +of tradition respecting them; but in the following details there is no +doubt much that will instruct the antiquary, as well as amuse the +popular reader. + +"The Court," says Mr. Palgrave, "was held with known and notorious +publicity beneath the 'eye of light;' and the sentences, though speedy +and severe, were founded upon a regular system of established +jurisprudence, not so strange, even to England, as it may at first +sight appear. + +"Westphalia, according to its ancient constitution, was divided into +districts called 'Freygraffschafften,' each of which usually contained +one, and sometimes many, Vehmic tribunals, whose boundaries were +accurately defined. The right of the 'Stuhlherr,' or Lord, was of a +feudal nature, and could be transferred by the ordinary modes of +alienation; and if the Lord did not choose to act in his own person, +he nominated a 'Freigraff' to execute the office in his stead. The +Court itself was composed of 'Freyschöppfen,' Scabini, or Echevins, +nominated by the Graff, and who were divided into two classes: the +ordinary, and the 'Wissenden' or 'Witan,' who were admitted under a +strict and singular bond of secrecy. + +"The initiation of these, the participators in all the mysteries of +the tribunal, could only take place upon the 'red earth,' or within +the limits of the ancient Duchy of Westphalia. Bareheaded and ungirt, +the candidate is conducted before the dread tribunal. He is +interrogated as to his qualifications, or rather as to the absence of +any disqualification. He must be free born, a Teuton, and clear of any +accusation cognisable by the tribunal of which he is to become a +member.--If the answers are satisfactory, he then takes the oath, +swearing by the Holy Law, that he will conceal the secrets of the Holy +Vehme from wife and child--from father and mother--from sister and +brother--from fire and water--from every creature upon which the sun +shines, or upon which the rain falls--from every being between earth +and heaven. + +"Another clause relates to his active duties. He further swears, that +he will 'say forth' to the tribunal all crimes or offences which fall +beneath the secret ban of the Emperor, which he knows to be true, or +which he has heard from trustworthy report; and that he will not +forbear to do so, for love nor for loathing, for gold nor for silver +nor precious stones.--This oath being imposed upon him, the new +Freischopff was then intrusted with the secrets of the Vehmic +tribunal. He received the password, by which he was to know his +fellows, and the grip or sign by which they recognised each other in +silence; and he was warned of the terrible punishment awaiting the +perjured brother.--If he discloses the secrets of the Court, he is to +expect that he will be suddenly seized by the ministers of vengeance. +His eyes are bound, he is cast down on the soil, his tongue is torn +out through the back of his neck--and he is then to be hanged seven +times higher than any other criminal. And whether restrained by the +fear of punishment, or by the stronger ties of mystery, no instance +was ever known of any violation of the secrets of the tribunal. + +"Thus connected by an invisible bond, the members of the 'Holy Vehme' +became extremely numerous. In the fourteenth century, the league +contained upwards of one hundred thousand members. Persons of every +rank sought to be associated to this powerful community, and to +participate in the immunities which the brethren possessed. Princes +were eager to allow their ministers to become the members of this +mysterious and holy alliance; and the cities of the Empire were +equally anxious to enrol their magistrates in the Vehmic union. + +"The supreme government of the Vehmic tribunals was vested in the +great or general Chapter, composed of the Freegraves and all the other +initiated members, high and low. Over this assembly the Emperor might +preside in person, but more usually by his deputy, the Stadtholder of +the ancient Duchy of Westphalia; an office which, after the fall of +Henry the Lion, Duke of Brunswick, was annexed to the Archbishopric +of Cologne. + +"Before the general Chapter, all the members were liable to account +for their acts. And it appears that the 'Freegraves' reported the +proceedings which had taken place within their jurisdictions in the +course of the year. Unworthy members were expelled, or sustained a +severer punishment. Statutes, or 'Reformations,' as they were called, +were here enacted for the regulation of the Courts, and the amendment +of any abuses; and new and unforeseen cases, for which the existing +laws did not provide a remedy, received their determination in the +Vehmic Parliament. + +"As the Echevins were of two classes, uninitiated and initiated, so +the Vehmic Courts had also a twofold character; the 'Offenbare Ding' +was an Open Court or Folkmoot; but the 'Heimliche Acht' was the +far-famed Secret Tribunal. + +"The first was held three times in each year. According to the ancient +Teutonic usage, it usually assembled on Tuesday, anciently called +'Dingstag,' or court-day, as well as 'Diensttag,' or serving-day, the +first open or working day after the two great weekly festivals of +Sun-day and Moon-day. Here all the householders of the district, +whether free or bond, attended as suitors. The 'Offenbare Ding' +exercised a civil jurisdiction; and in this Folkmoot appeared any +complainant or appellant who sought to obtain the aid of the Vehmic +tribunal, in those cases when it did not possess that summary +jurisdiction from which it has obtained such fearful celebrity. Here +also the suitors of the district made presentments or 'wroge,' as they +are termed, of any offences committed within their knowledge, and +which were to be punished by the Graff and Echevins. + +"The criminal jurisdiction of the Vehmic Tribunal took the widest +range. The 'Vehme' could punish mere slander and contumely. Any +violation of the Ten Commandments was to be restrained by the +Echevins. Secret crimes, not to be proved by the ordinary testimony of +witnesses, such as magic, witchcraft, and poison, were particularly to +be restrained by the Vehmic Judges; and they sometimes designated +their jurisdiction as comprehending every offence against the honour +of man or the precepts of religion. Such a definition, if definition +it can be called, evidently allowed them to bring every action of +which an individual might complain, within the scope of their +tribunals. The forcible usurpation of land became an offence against +the 'Vehme.' And if the property of an humble individual was occupied +by the proud Burghers of the Hanse, the power of the Defendants might +afford a reasonable excuse for the interference of the Vehmic power. + +"The Echevins, as Conservators of the Ban of the Empire, were bound to +make constant circuits within their districts, by night and by day. If +they could apprehend a thief, a murderer, or the perpetrator of any +other heinous crime in possession of the 'mainour,' or in the very +act--or if his own mouth confessed the deed, they hung him upon the +next tree. But to render this execution legal, the following +requisites were necessary: fresh suit, or the apprehension and +execution of the offender before daybreak or nightfall;--the visible +evidence of the crime;--and lastly, that three Echevins, at least, +should seize the offender, testify against him, and judge of the +recent deed. + +"If, without any certain accuser, and without the indication of crime, +an individual was strongly and vehemently suspected; or when the +nature of the offence was such as that its proof could only rest upon +opinion and presumption, the offender then became subject to what the +German jurists term the inquisitorial proceeding; it became the duty +of the Echevin to denounce the 'Leumund,' or manifest evil fame, to +the secret tribunal. If the Echevins and the Freygraff were satisfied +with the presentment, either from their own knowledge, or from the +information of their compeer, the offender was said to be +'verfämbt;'--his life was forfeited; and wherever he was found by the +brethren of the tribunal, they executed him without the slightest +delay or mercy. An offender who had escaped from the Echevins was +liable to the same punishment; and such also was the doom of the party +who, after having been summoned pursuant to an appeal preferred in +open court, made default in appearing. But one of the 'Wissenden' was +in no respect liable to the summary process, or to the inquisitorial +proceeding, unless he had revealed the secrets of the Court. He was +presumed to be a true man; and if accused upon vehement suspicion, or +'Leumund,' the same presumption or evil repute which was fatal to the +uninitiated might be entirely rebutted by the compurgatory oath of the +free Echevin. If a party, accused by appeal, did not shun +investigation, he appeared in the open court, and defended himself +according to the ordinary rules of law. If he absconded, or if the +evidence or presumptions were against him, the accusation then came +before the Judges of the Secret Court, who pronounced the doom. The +accusatorial process, as it was termed, was also, in many cases, +brought in the first instance before the 'Heimliche Acht.' Proceeding +upon the examination of witnesses, it possessed no peculiar character, +and its forms were those of the ordinary courts of justice. It was +only in this manner that one of the 'Wissenden,' or Witan, could be +tried; and the privilege of being exempted from the summary process, +or from the effects of the 'Leumund,' appears to have been one of the +reasons which induced so many of those who did not tread the 'red +earth' to seek to be included in the Vehmic bond. + +"There was no mystery in the assembly of the Heimliche Acht. Under the +oak, or under the lime-tree, the Judges assembled, in broad daylight, +and before the eye of heaven; but the tribunal derived its name from +the precautions which were taken, for the purpose of preventing any +disclosure of its proceedings which might enable the offender to +escape the vengeance of the Vehme. Hence, the fearful oath of secrecy +which bound the Echevins. And if any stranger was found present in the +Court, the unlucky intruder instantly forfeited his life as a +punishment for his temerity. If the presentment or denunciation did +chance to become known to the offender, the law allowed him a right of +appeal. But the permission was of very little utility, it was a +profitless boon, for the Vehmic Judges always laboured to conceal the +judgment from the hapless criminal, who seldom was aware of his +sentence until his neck was encircled by the halter. + +"Charlemagne, according to the traditions of Westphalia, was the +founder of the Vehmic tribunal; and it was supposed that he instituted +the Court for the purpose of coercing the Saxons, ever ready to +relapse into the idolatry from which they had been reclaimed, not by +persuasion, but by the sword. This opinion, however, is not confirmed +either by documentary evidence or by contemporary historians. And if +we examine the proceedings of the Vehmic tribunal, we shall see that, +in principle, it differs in no essential character from the summary +jurisdiction exercised in the townships and hundreds of Anglo-Saxon +England. Amongst us, the thief or the robber was equally liable to +summary punishment, if apprehended by the men of the township; and the +same rules disqualified them from proceeding to summary execution. An +English outlaw was exactly in the situation of him who had escaped +from the hands of the Echevins, or who had failed to appear before the +Vehmic Court: he was condemned unheard, nor was he confronted with his +accusers. The inquisitorial proceedings, as they are termed by the +German jurists, are identical with our ancient presentments. +Presumptions are substituted for proofs, and general opinion holds the +place of a responsible accuser. He who was untrue to all the people in +the Saxon age, or liable to the malecredence of the inquest at a +subsequent period, was scarcely more fortunate than he who was branded +as 'Leumund' by the Vehmic law. + +"In cases of open delict and of outlawry, there was substantially no +difference whatever between the English and the Vehmic proceedings. +But in the inquisitorial process, the delinquent was allowed, +according to our older code, to run the risk of the ordeal. He was +accused by or before the Hundred, or the Thanes of the Wapentake; and +his own oath cleared him, if a true man; but he 'bore the iron' if +unable to avail himself of the credit derived from a good and fair +reputation. The same course may have been originally adopted in +Westphalia; for the 'Wissend,' when accused, could exculpate himself +by his compurgatory oath, being presumed to be of good fame; and it +is, therefore, probable that an uninitiated offender, standing a stage +lower in character and credibility, was allowed the last resort of the +ordeal. But when the 'Judgment of God' was abolished by the decrees of +the Church, it did not occur to the Vehmic Judges to put the offender +upon his second trial by the visne, which now forms the distinguishing +characteristic of the English law, and he was at once considered as +condemned. The Heimliche Acht is a presentment not traversable by the +offender. + +"_The Vehmic Tribunals can only be considered as the original +jurisdictions of the 'Old Saxons,' which survived the subjugation of +their country. The singular and mystic forms of initiation, the system +of enigmatical phrases, the use of the signs and symbols of +recognition, may probably be ascribed to the period when the whole +system was united to the worship of the Deities of Vengeance, and when +the sentence was promulgated by the Doomsmen, assembled, like the Asi +of old, before the altars of Thor or Woden._ Of this connection with +ancient pagan policy, so clearly to be traced in the Icelandic Courts, +the English territorial jurisdictions offer some very faint vestiges; +but the mystery had long been dispersed, and the whole system passed +into the ordinary machinery of the law. + +"As to the Vehmic Tribunals, it is acknowledged, that in a truly +barbarous age and country, their proceedings, however violent, were +not without utility. Their severe and secret vengeance often deterred +the rapacity of the noble robber, and protected the humble suppliant; +the extent, and even the abuse, of their authority was in some measure +justified in an Empire divided into numerous independent +jurisdictions, and not subjected to any paramount tribunal, able to +administer impartial justice to the oppressed. But as the times +improved, the Vehmic tribunals degenerated. The Echevins, chosen from +the inferior ranks, did not possess any personal consideration. +Opposed by the opulent cities of the Hanse, and objects of the +suspicion and the enmity of the powerful aristocracy, the tribunals of +some districts were abolished by law, and others took the form of +ordinary territorial jurisdictions; the greater number fell into +desuetude. Yet, as late as the middle of the eighteenth century, a +few Vehmic tribunals existed in name, though, as it may be easily +supposed, without possessing any remnant of their pristine +power."--PALGRAVE _on the Rise and Progress of the English +Commonwealth. Proofs and Illustrations._ p. 157. + +I have marked _by italic letters_ the most important passage of the +above quotation. The view it contains seems to me to have every +appearance of truth and justice--and if such should, on maturer +investigation, turn out to be the fact, it will certainly confer no +small honour on an English scholar to have discovered the key to a +mystery, which had long exercised in vain the laborious and profound +students of German antiquity. + +There are probably several other points on which I ought to have +embraced this opportunity of enlarging; but the necessity of preparing +for an excursion to foreign countries, in quest of health and +strength, that have been for some time sinking, makes me cut short my +address upon the present occasion. + +Although I had never been in Switzerland, and numerous mistakes must +of course have occurred in my attempts to describe the local scenery +of that romantic region, I must not conclude without a statement +highly gratifying to myself, that the work met with a reception of +more than usual cordiality among the descendants of the Alpine heroes +whose manners I had ventured to treat of; and I have in particular to +express my thanks to the several Swiss gentlemen who have, since the +novel was published, enriched my little collection of armour with +specimens of the huge weapon that sheared the lances of the Austrian +chivalry at Sempach, and was employed with equal success on the bloody +days of Granson and Morat. Of the ancient doublehanded _espadons_ of +the Switzer, I have, in this way, received, I think, not less than +six, in excellent preservation, from as many different individuals, +who thus testified their general approbation of these pages. They are +not the less interesting, that gigantic swords, of nearly the same +pattern and dimensions, were employed, in their conflicts with the +bold knights and men-at-arms of England, by Wallace, and the sturdy +foot-soldiers who, under his guidance, laid the foundations of +Scottish independence. + +The reader who wishes to examine with attention the historical events +of the period which the novel embraces will find ample means of doing +so in the valuable works of Zschokké and M. de Barante--which last +author's account of the Dukes of Burgundy is among the most valuable +of recent accessions of European literature--and in the new Parisian +edition of Froissart, which has not as yet attracted so much attention +in this country as it well deserves to do. + + W.S. + + ABBOTSFORD, _Sept. 17, 1831_. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[1] Owen Pugh's Elegies of Lewarch Hen, Pref., p. 46. The place of +these meetings was set apart by forming a circle of stones round the +_Maen Gorsedd_, or Stone of the Gorsedd. + + + + +ANNE OF GEIERSTEIN; + +OR, + +THE MAIDEN OF THE MIST. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + The mists boil up around the glaciers; clouds + Rise curling fast beneath me, white and sulphurous, + Like foam from the roused ocean ... + ... I am giddy. + _Manfred._ + + +The course of four centuries has well-nigh elapsed since the series of +events which are related in the following chapters took place on the +Continent. The records which contained the outlines of the history, +and might be referred to as proof of its veracity, were long preserved +in the superb library of the Monastery of St. Gall, but perished, with +many of the literary treasures of that establishment, when the convent +was plundered by the French revolutionary armies. The events are +fixed, by historical date, to the middle of the fifteenth +century--that important period, when chivalry still shone with a +setting ray, soon about to be totally obscured: in some countries, by +the establishment of free institutions; in others, by that of +arbitrary power, which alike rendered useless the interference of +those self-endowed redressers of wrongs, whose only warrant of +authority was the sword. + +Amid the general light which had recently shone upon Europe, France, +Burgundy, and Italy, but more especially Austria, had been made +acquainted with the character of a people of whose very existence they +had before been scarcely conscious. It is true, that the inhabitants +of those countries which lie in the vicinity of the Alps, that immense +barrier, were not ignorant that, notwithstanding their rugged and +desolate appearance, the secluded valleys which winded among those +gigantic mountains nourished a race of hunters and shepherds; men who, +living in a state of primeval simplicity, compelled from the soil a +subsistence gained by severe labour, followed the chase over the most +savage precipices and through the darkest pine forests, or drove their +cattle to spots which afforded them a scanty pasturage, even in the +vicinage of eternal snows. But the existence of such a people, or +rather of a number of small communities who followed nearly the same +poor and hardy course of life, had seemed to the rich and powerful +princes in the neighbourhood a matter of as little consequence, as it +is to the stately herds which repose in a fertile meadow, that a few +half-starved goats find their scanty food among the rocks which +overlook their rich domain. + +But wonder and attention began to be attracted towards these +mountaineers, about the middle of the fourteenth century, when reports +were spread abroad of severe contests, in which the German chivalry, +endeavouring to suppress insurrections among their Alpine vassals, +had sustained repeated and bloody defeats, although having on their +side numbers and discipline, and the advantage of the most perfect +military equipment then known and confided in. Great was the wonder +that cavalry, which made the only efficient part of the feudal armies +of these ages, should be routed by men on foot; that warriors sheathed +in complete steel should be overpowered by naked peasants who wore no +defensive armour, and were irregularly provided with pikes, halberts, +and clubs, for the purpose of attack; above all, it seemed a species +of miracle, that knights and nobles of the highest birth should be +defeated by mountaineers and shepherds. But the repeated victories of +the Swiss at Laupen, Sempach [_a_],[2] and on other less distinguished +occasions, plainly intimated that a new principle of civil +organisation, as well as of military movements, had arisen amid the +stormy regions of Helvetia. + +Still, although the decisive victories which obtained liberty for the +Swiss Cantons, as well as the spirit of resolution and wisdom with +which the members of the little confederation had maintained +themselves against the utmost exertions of Austria, had spread their +fame abroad through all the neighbouring countries; and although they +themselves were conscious of the character and actual power which +repeated victories had acquired for themselves and their country, yet +down to the middle of the fifteenth century, and at a later date, the +Swiss retained in a great measure the wisdom, moderation, and +simplicity of their ancient manners; so much so, that those who were +intrusted with the command of the troops of the Republic in battle, +were wont to resume the shepherd's staff when they laid down the +truncheon, and, like the Roman dictators, to retire to complete +equality with their fellow-citizens, from the eminence of military +command to which their talents, and the call of their country, had +raised them. + +It is, then, in the Forest Cantons of Switzerland, in the autumn of +1474, while these districts were in the rude and simple state we have +described, that our tale opens. + + * * * * * + +Two travellers, one considerably past the prime of life, the other +probably two or three and twenty years old, had passed the night at +the little town of Lucerne, the capital of the Swiss state of the same +name, and beautifully situated on the Lake of the Four Cantons. Their +dress and character seemed those of merchants of a higher class, and +while they themselves journeyed on foot, the character of the country +rendering that by far the most easy mode of pursuing their route, a +young peasant lad, from the Italian side of the Alps, followed them +with a sumpter mule, laden apparently with men's wares and baggage, +which he sometimes mounted, but more frequently led by the bridle. + +The travellers were uncommonly fine-looking men, and seemed connected +by some very near relationship,--probably that of father and son; for +at the little inn where they lodged on the preceding evening, the +great deference and respect paid by the younger to the elder had not +escaped the observation of the natives, who, like other sequestered +beings, were curious in proportion to the limited means of information +which they possessed. They observed also, that the merchants, under +pretence of haste, declined opening their bales, or proposing traffic +to the inhabitants of Lucerne, alleging in excuse that they had no +commodities fitted for the market. The females of the town were the +more displeased with the reserve of the mercantile travellers, because +they were given to understand that it was occasioned by the wares in +which they dealt being too costly to find customers among the +Helvetian mountains; for it had transpired, by means of their +attendant, that the strangers had visited Venice, and had there made +many purchases of rich commodities, which were brought from India and +Egypt to that celebrated emporium, as to the common mart of the +Western World, and thence dispersed into all quarters of Europe. Now +the Swiss maidens had of late made the discovery that gauds and gems +were fair to look upon, and, though without the hope of being able to +possess themselves of such ornaments, they felt a natural desire to +review and handle the rich stores of the merchants, and some +displeasure at being prevented from doing so. + +It was also observed, that though the strangers were sufficiently +courteous in their demeanour, they did not evince that studious +anxiety to please, displayed by the travelling pedlars or merchants of +Lombardy or Savoy, by whom the inhabitants of the mountains were +occasionally visited; and who had been more frequent in their rounds +of late years, since the spoils of victory had invested the Swiss with +some wealth, and had taught many of them new wants. Those peripatetic +traders were civil and assiduous, as their calling required; but the +new visitors seemed men who were indifferent to traffic, or at least +to such slender gains as could be gathered in Switzerland. + +Curiosity was further excited by the circumstance that they spoke to +each other in a language which was certainly neither German, Italian, +nor French, but from which an old man serving in the cabaret, who had +once been as far as Paris, supposed they might be English; a people of +whom it was only known in these mountains, that they were a fierce +insular race, at war with the French for many years, and a large body +of whom had long since invaded the Forest Cantons [_b_], and sustained +such a defeat in the valley of Russwyl as was well remembered by the +grey-haired men of Lucerne, who received the tale from their fathers. + +The lad who attended the strangers was soon ascertained to be a youth +from the Grisons country, who acted as their guide, so far as his +knowledge of the mountains permitted. He said they designed to go to +Bâle, but seemed desirous to travel by circuitous and unfrequented +routes. The circumstances just mentioned increased the general desire +to know more of the travellers and of their merchandise. Not a bale, +however, was unpacked, and the merchants, leaving Lucerne next +morning, resumed their toilsome journey, preferring a circuitous route +and bad roads, through the peaceful cantons of Switzerland, to +encountering the exactions and rapine of the robber chivalry of +Germany, who, like so many sovereigns, made war each at his own +pleasure, and levied tolls and taxes on every one who passed their +domains, of a mile's breadth, with all the insolence of petty +tyranny. + +For several hours after leaving Lucerne, the journey of our travellers +was successfully prosecuted. The road, though precipitous and +difficult, was rendered interesting by those splendid phenomena, which +no country exhibits in a more astonishing manner than the mountains of +Switzerland, where the rocky pass, the verdant valley, the broad lake, +and the rushing torrent, the attributes of other hills as well as +these, are interspersed with the magnificent and yet fearful horrors +of the glaciers, a feature peculiar to themselves. + +It was not an age in which the beauties or grandeur of a landscape +made much impression either on the minds of those who travelled +through the country, or who resided in it. To the latter, the objects, +however dignified, were familiar, and associated with daily habits and +with daily toil; and the former saw, perhaps, more terror than beauty +in the wild region through which they passed, and were rather +solicitous to get safe to their night's quarters, than to comment on +the grandeur of the scenes which lay between them and their place of +rest. Yet our merchants, as they proceeded on their journey, could not +help being strongly impressed by the character of the scenery around +them. Their road lay along the side of the lake, at times level and +close on its very margin, at times rising to a great height on the +side of the mountain, and winding along the verge of precipices which +sank down to the water as sharp and sheer as the wall of a castle +descending upon the ditch which defends it. At other times it +traversed spots of a milder character,--delightful green slopes, and +lowly retired valleys, affording both pasturage and arable ground, +sometimes watered by small streams, which winded by the hamlet of +wooden huts with their fantastic little church and steeple, meandered +round the orchard and the mount of vines, and, murmuring gently as +they flowed, found a quiet passage into the lake. + +"That stream, Arthur," said the elder traveller, as with one consent +they stopped to gaze on such a scene as I have described, "resembles +the life of a good and a happy man." + +"And the brook, which hurries itself headlong down yon distant hill, +marking its course by a streak of white foam," answered Arthur,--"what +does that resemble?" + +"That of a brave and unfortunate one," replied his father. + +"The torrent for me," said Arthur; "a headlong course which no human +force can oppose, and then let it be as brief as it is glorious." + +"It is a young man's thought," replied his father; "but I am well +aware that it is so rooted in thy heart, that nothing but the rude +hand of adversity can pluck it up." + +"As yet the root clings fast to my heart's strings," said the young +man; "and methinks adversity's hand hath had a fair grasp of it." + +"You speak, my son, of what you little understand," said his father. +"Know, that till the middle of life be passed, men scarce distinguish +true prosperity from adversity, or rather they court as the favours of +fortune what they should more justly regard as the marks of her +displeasure. Look at yonder mountain, which wears on its shaggy brow a +diadem of clouds, now raised and now depressed, while the sun glances +upon, but is unable to dispel it;--a child might believe it to be a +crown of glory--a man knows it to be the signal of tempest." + +Arthur followed the direction of his father's eye to the dark and +shadowy eminence of Mount Pilatus. + +"Is the mist on yonder wild mountain so ominous, then?" asked the +young man. + +"Demand of Antonio," said his father; "he will tell you the legend." + +The young merchant addressed himself to the Swiss lad who acted as +their attendant, desiring to know the name of the gloomy height, +which, in that quarter, seems the leviathan of the huge congregation +of mountains assembled about Lucerne. + +The lad crossed himself devoutly, as he recounted the popular legend, +that the wicked Pontius Pilate, Proconsul of Judea, had here found the +termination of his impious life; having, after spending years in the +recesses of that mountain which bears his name, at length, in remorse +and despair rather than in penitence, plunged into the dismal lake +which occupies the summit. Whether water refused to do the +executioner's duty upon such a wretch, or whether, his body being +drowned, his vexed spirit continued to haunt the place where he +committed suicide, Antonio did not pretend to explain. But a form was +often, he said, seen to emerge from the gloomy waters, and go through +the action of one washing his hands; and when he did so, dark clouds +of mist gathered first round the bosom of the Infernal Lake (such it +had been styled of old), and then, wrapping the whole upper part of +the mountain in darkness, presaged a tempest or hurricane, which was +sure to follow in a short space. He added, that the evil spirit was +peculiarly exasperated at the audacity of such strangers as ascended +the mountain to gaze at his place of punishment, and that, in +consequence, the magistrates of Lucerne had prohibited any one from +approaching Mount Pilatus, under severe penalties. Antonio once more +crossed himself as he finished his legend; in which act of devotion he +was imitated by his hearers, too good Catholics to entertain any doubt +of the truth of the story. + +"How the accursed heathen scowls upon us!" said the younger of the +merchants, while the cloud darkened and seemed to settle on the brow +of Mount Pilatus. "_Vade retro!_ Be thou defied, sinner!" + +A rising wind, rather heard than felt, seemed to groan forth, in the +tone of a dying lion, the acceptance of the suffering spirit to the +rash challenge of the young Englishman. The mountain was seen to send +down its rugged sides thick wreaths of heaving mist, which, rolling +through the rugged chasms that seamed the grisly hill, resembled +torrents of rushing lava pouring down from a volcano. The ridgy +precipices, which formed the sides of these huge ravines, showed their +splintery and rugged edges over the vapour, as if dividing from each +other the descending streams of mist which rolled around them. As a +strong contrast to this gloomy and threatening scene, the more distant +mountain range of Rigi shone brilliant with all the hues of an +autumnal sun. + +While the travellers watched this striking and varied contrast, which +resembled an approaching combat betwixt the powers of Light and +Darkness, their guide, in his mixed jargon of Italian and German, +exhorted them to make haste on their journey. The village to which he +proposed to conduct them, he said, was yet distant, the road bad, and +difficult to find, and if the Evil One (looking to Mount Pilatus, and +crossing himself) should send his darkness upon the valley, the path +would be both doubtful and dangerous. The travellers, thus admonished, +gathered the capes of their cloaks close round their throats, pulled +their bonnets resolvedly over their brows, drew the buckle of the +broad belts which fastened their mantles, and each with a mountain +staff in his hand, well shod with an iron spike, they pursued their +journey, with unabated strength and undaunted spirit. + +With every step the scenes around them appeared to change. Each +mountain, as if its firm and immutable form were flexible and varying, +altered in appearance, like that of a shadowy apparition, as the +position of the strangers relative to them changed with their motions, +and as the mist, which continued slowly though constantly to descend, +influenced the rugged aspect of the hills and valleys which it +shrouded with its vapoury mantle. The nature of their progress, too, +never direct, but winding by a narrow path along the sinuosities of +the valley, and making many a circuit round precipices and other +obstacles which it was impossible to surmount, added to the wild +variety of a journey, in which, at last, the travellers totally lost +any vague idea which they had previously entertained concerning the +direction in which the road led them. + +"I would," said the elder, "we had that mystical needle which mariners +talk of, that points ever to the north, and enables them to keep their +way on the waters, when there is neither cape nor headland, sun, +moon, nor stars, nor any mark in heaven or earth, to tell them how to +steer." + +"It would scarce avail us among these mountains," answered the youth; +"for though that wonderful needle may keep its point to the northern +Pole-star, when it is on a flat surface like the sea, it is not to be +thought it would do so when these huge mountains arise like walls, +betwixt the steel and the object of its sympathy." + +"I fear me," replied the father, "we shall find our guide, who has +been growing hourly more stupid since he left his own valley, as +useless as you suppose the compass would be among the hills of this +wild country.--Canst tell, my boy," said he, addressing Antonio in bad +Italian, "if we be in the road we purposed?" + +"If it please St. Antonio"--said the guide, who was obviously too much +confused to answer the question directly. + +"And that water, half covered with mist, which glimmers through the +fog, at the foot of this huge black precipice--is it still a part of +the Lake of Lucerne, or have we lighted upon another since we ascended +that last hill?" + +Antonio could only answer that they ought to be on the Lake of Lucerne +still, and that he hoped that what they saw below them was only a +winding branch of the same sheet of water. But he could say nothing +with certainty. + +"Dog of an Italian!" exclaimed the younger traveller, "thou deservest +to have thy bones broken, for undertaking a charge which thou art as +incapable to perform as thou art to guide us to heaven!" + +"Peace, Arthur," said his father; "if you frighten the lad, he runs +off, and we lose the small advantage we might have by his knowledge; +if you use your baton, he rewards you with the stab of a knife,--for +such is the humour of a revengeful Lombard. Either way, you are marred +instead of helped.--Hark thee hither, my boy," he continued, in his +indifferent Italian, "be not afraid of that hot youngster, whom I will +not permit to injure thee; but tell me, if thou canst, the names of +the villages by which we are to make our journey to-day." + +The gentle mode in which the elder traveller spoke reassured the lad, +who had been somewhat alarmed at the harsh tone and menacing +expressions of his younger companion; and he poured forth, in his +patois, a flood of names, in which the German guttural sounds were +strangely intermixed with the soft accents of the Italian, but which +carried to the hearer no intelligible information concerning the +object of his question; so that at length he was forced to conclude, +"Even lead on, in Our Lady's name, or in St. Antonio's, if you like it +better: we shall but lose time, I see, in trying to understand each +other." + +They moved on as before, with this difference, that the guide, leading +the mule, now went first, and was followed by the other two, whose +motions he had formerly directed by calling to them from behind. The +clouds meantime became thicker and thicker, and the mist, which had at +first been a thin vapour, began now to descend in the form of a small +thick rain, which gathered like dew upon the capotes of the +travellers. Distant rustling and groaning sounds were heard among the +remote mountains, similar to those by which the Evil Spirit of Mount +Pilatus had seemed to announce the storm. The boy again pressed his +companions to advance, but at the same time threw impediments in the +way of their doing so, by the slowness and indecision which he showed +in leading them on. + +Having proceeded in this manner for three or four miles, which +uncertainty rendered doubly tedious, the travellers were at length +engaged in a narrow path, running along the verge of a precipice. +Beneath was water, but of what description they could not ascertain. +The wind, indeed, which began to be felt in sudden gusts, sometimes +swept aside the mist so completely as to show the waves glimmering +below; but whether they were those of the same lake on which their +morning journey had commenced, whether it was another and separate +sheet of water of a similar character, or whether it was a river or +large brook, the view afforded was too indistinct to determine. Thus +far was certain, that they were not on the shores of the Lake of +Lucerne, where it displays its usual expanse of waters; for the same +hurricane gusts which showed them water in the bottom of the glen gave +them a transient view of the opposite side, at what exact distance +they could not well discern, but near enough to show tall abrupt rocks +and shaggy pine-trees, here united in groups, and there singly +anchored among the cliffs which overhung the water. This was a more +distinct landscape than the farther side of the lake would have +offered, had they been on the right road. + +Hitherto the path, though steep and rugged, was plainly enough +indicated, and showed traces of having been used both by riders and +foot passengers. But suddenly, as Antonio with the loaded mule had +reached a projecting eminence, around the peak of which the path made +a sharp turn, he stopped short, with his usual exclamation, addressed +to his patron saint. It appeared to Arthur that the mule shared the +terrors of the guide; for it started back, put forwards its fore feet +separate from each other, and seemed, by the attitude which it +assumed, to intimate a determination to resist every proposal to +advance, at the same time expressing horror and fear at the prospect +which lay before it. + +Arthur pressed forward, not only from curiosity, but that he might if +possible bear the brunt of any danger before his father came up to +share it. In less time than we have taken to tell the story, the young +man stood beside Antonio and the mule, upon a platform of rock on +which the road seemed absolutely to terminate, and from the farther +side of which a precipice sank sheer down, to what depth the mist did +not permit him to discern, but certainly uninterrupted for more than +three hundred feet. + +The blank expression which overcast the visage of the younger +traveller, and traces of which might be discerned in the physiognomy +of the beast of burden, announced alarm and mortification at this +unexpected and, as it seemed, insurmountable obstacle. Nor did the +looks of the father, who presently after came up to the same spot, +convey either hope or comfort. He stood with the others gazing on the +misty gulf beneath them, and looking all around, but in vain, for some +continuation of the path, which certainly had never been originally +designed to terminate in this summary manner. As they stood uncertain +what to do next, the son in vain attempting to discover some mode of +passing onward, and the father about to propose that they should +return by the road which had brought them hither, a loud howl of the +wind, more wild than they had yet heard, swept down the valley. All +being aware of the danger of being hurled from the precarious station +which they occupied, snatched at bushes and rocks by which to secure +themselves, and even the poor mule seemed to steady itself in order to +withstand the approaching hurricane. The gust came with such +unexpected fury that it appeared to the travellers to shake the very +rock on which they stood, and would have swept them from its surface +like so many dry leaves, had it not been for the momentary precautions +which they had taken for their safety. But as the wind rushed down the +glen, it completely removed for the space of three or four minutes the +veil of mist which former gusts had only served to agitate or +discompose, and showed them the nature and cause of the interruption +which they had met with so unexpectedly. + +The rapid but correct eye of Arthur was then able to ascertain that +the path, after leaving the platform of rock on which they stood, had +originally passed upwards in the same direction along the edge of a +steep bank of earth, which had then formed the upper covering of a +stratum of precipitous rocks. But it had chanced, in some of the +convulsions of nature which take place in those wild regions, where +she works upon a scale so formidable, that the earth had made a slip, +or almost a precipitous descent, from the rock, and been hurled +downwards with the path, which was traced along the top, and with +bushes, trees, or whatever grew upon it, into the channel of the +stream; for such they could now discern the water beneath them to be, +and not a lake, or an arm of a lake, as they had hitherto supposed. + +The immediate cause of this phenomenon might probably have been an +earthquake, not unfrequent in that country. The bank of earth, now a +confused mass of ruins inverted in its fall, showed some trees growing +in a horizontal position, and others, which, having pitched on their +heads in their descent, were at once inverted and shattered to pieces, +and lay a sport to the streams of the river which they had heretofore +covered with gloomy shadow. The gaunt precipice which remained behind, +like the skeleton of some huge monster divested of its flesh, formed +the wall of a fearful abyss, resembling the face of a newly wrought +quarry, more dismal of aspect from the rawness of its recent +formation, and from its being as yet uncovered with any of the +vegetation with which nature speedily mantles over the bare surface +even of her sternest crags and precipices. + +Besides remarking these appearances, which tended to show that this +interruption of the road had been of recent occurrence, Arthur was +able to observe, on the farther side of the river, higher up the +valley, and rising out of the pine forests, interspersed with rocks, a +square building of considerable height, like the ruins of a Gothic +tower. He pointed out this remarkable object to Antonio, and demanded +if he knew it; justly conjecturing that, from the peculiarity of the +site, it was a landmark not easily to be forgotten by any who had seen +it before. Accordingly, it was gladly and promptly recognised by the +lad, who called out cheerfully that the place was Geierstein--that is, +as he explained it, the Rock of the Vultures. He knew it, he said, by +the old tower, as well as by a huge pinnacle of rock which arose near +it, almost in the form of a steeple, to the top of which the +lammer-geier (one of the largest birds of prey known to exist) had in +former days transported the child of an ancient lord of the castle. He +proceeded to recount the vow which was made by the Knight of +Geierstein to Our Lady of Einsiedlen; and, while he spoke, the castle, +rocks, woods, and precipices again faded in mist. But as he concluded +his wonderful narrative with the miracle which restored the infant +again to its father's arms, he cried out suddenly, "Look to +yourselves--the storm!--the storm!" It came accordingly, and, sweeping +the mist before it, again bestowed on the travellers a view of the +horrors around them. + +"Ay!" quoth Antonio, triumphantly, as the gust abated, "old Pontius +loves little to hear of Our Lady of Einsiedlen; but she will keep her +own with him--Ave Maria!" + +"That tower," said the young traveller, "seems uninhabited. I can +descry no smoke, and the battlement appears ruinous." + +"It has not been inhabited for many a day," answered the guide. "But I +would I were at it, for all that. Honest Arnold Biederman, the +Landamman [chief magistrate] of the Canton of Unterwalden, dwells +near, and, I warrant you, distressed strangers will not want the best +that cupboard and cellar can find them, wherever he holds rule." + +"I have heard of him," said the elder traveller, whom Antonio had been +taught to call Seignor Philipson; "a good and hospitable man, and one +who enjoys deserved weight with his countrymen." + +"You have spoken him right, Seignor," answered the guide: "and I would +we could reach his house, where you should be sure of hospitable +treatment, and a good direction for your next day's journey. But how +we are to get to the Vulture's Castle, unless we had wings like the +vulture, is a question hard to answer." + +Arthur replied by a daring proposal, which the reader will find in the +next chapter. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[2] See Editor's Notes at the end of the Volume. Wherever a similar +reference occurs, the reader will understand that the same direction +applies. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + Away with me. + The clouds grow thicker--there--now lean on me. + Place your foot here--here, take this staff, and cling + A moment to that shrub--now, give me your hand. + + * * * * * + + The chalet will be gained within an hour. + _Manfred._ + + +After surveying the desolate scene as accurately as the stormy state +of the atmosphere would permit, the younger of the travellers +observed, "In any other country, I should say the tempest begins to +abate; but what to expect in this land of desolation, it were rash to +decide. If the apostate spirit of Pilate be actually on the blast, +these lingering and more distant howls seem to intimate that he is +returning to his place of punishment. The pathway has sunk with the +ground on which it was traced--I can see part of it lying down in the +abyss, marking, as with a streak of clay, yonder mass of earth and +stone. But I think it possible, with your permission, my father, that +I could still scramble forward along the edge of the precipice, till I +come in sight of the habitation which the lad tells us of. If there be +actually such a one, there must be an access to it somewhere; and if I +cannot find the path out, I can at least make a signal to those who +dwell near the Vulture's Nest yonder, and obtain some friendly +guidance." + +"I cannot consent to your incurring such a risk," said his father; +"let the lad go forward, if he can and will. He is mountain-bred, and +I will reward him richly." + +But Antonio declined the proposal absolutely and decidedly. "I am +mountain-bred," he said, "but I am no chamois-hunter; and I have no +wings to transport me from cliff to cliff, like a raven--gold is not +worth life." + +"And God forbid," said Seignor Philipson, "that I should tempt thee to +weigh them against each other!--Go on, then, my son--I follow thee." + +"Under your favour, dearest sir, no," replied the young man; "it is +enough to endanger the life of one--and mine, far the most worthless, +should, by all the rules of wisdom as well as nature, be put first in +hazard." + +"No, Arthur," replied his father, in a determined voice; "no, my +son--I have survived much, but I will not survive thee." + +"I fear not for the issue, father, if you permit me to go alone; but I +cannot--dare not--undertake a task so perilous, if you persist in +attempting to share it, with no better aid than mine. While I +endeavoured to make a new advance, I should be ever looking back to +see how you might attain the station which I was about to leave--And +bethink you, dearest father, that if I fall, I fall an unregarded +thing, of as little moment as the stone or tree which has toppled +headlong down before me. But you--should your foot slip, or your hand +fail, bethink you what and how much must needs fall with you!" + +"Thou art right, my child," said the father. "I still have that which +binds me to life, even though I were to lose in thee all that is dear +to me.--Our Lady and our Lady's Knight bless thee and prosper thee, +my child! Thy foot is young, thy hand is strong--thou hast not climbed +Plynlimmon in vain. Be bold, but be wary--remember there is a man who, +failing thee, has but one act of duty to bind him to the earth, and, +that discharged, will soon follow thee." + +The young man accordingly prepared for his journey, and, stripping +himself of his cumbrous cloak, showed his well-proportioned limbs in a +jerkin of grey cloth, which sat close to his person. The father's +resolution gave way when his son turned round to bid him farewell. He +recalled his permission, and in a peremptory tone forbade him to +proceed. But, without listening to the prohibition, Arthur had +commenced his perilous adventure. Descending from the platform on +which he stood, by the boughs of an old ash-tree, which thrust itself +out of the cleft of a rock, the youth was enabled to gain, though at +great risk, a narrow ledge, the very brink of the precipice, by +creeping along which he hoped to pass on till he made himself heard or +seen from the habitation, of whose existence the guide had informed +him. His situation, as he pursued this bold purpose, appeared so +precarious, that even the hired attendant hardly dared to draw breath +as he gazed on him. The ledge which supported him seemed to grow so +narrow, as he passed along it, as to become altogether invisible, +while sometimes with his face to the precipice, sometimes looking +forward, sometimes glancing his eyes upward, but never venturing to +cast a look below, lest his brain should grow giddy at a sight so +appalling, he wound his way onward. To his father and the attendant, +who beheld his progress, it was less that of a man advancing in the +ordinary manner, and resting by aught connected with the firm earth, +than that of an insect crawling along the face of a perpendicular +wall, of whose progressive movement we are indeed sensible, but cannot +perceive the means of its support. And bitterly, most bitterly, did +the miserable parent now lament, that he had not persisted in his +purpose to encounter the baffling and even perilous measure of +retracing his steps to the habitation of the preceding night. He +should then, at least, have partaken the fate of the son of his love. + +Meanwhile, the young man's spirits were strongly braced for the +performance of his perilous task. He laid a powerful restraint on his +imagination, which in general was sufficiently active, and refused to +listen, even for an instant, to any of the horrible insinuations by +which fancy augments actual danger. He endeavoured manfully to reduce +all around him to the scale of right reason, as the best support of +true courage. "This ledge of rock," he urged to himself, "is but +narrow, yet it has breadth enough to support me; these cliffs and +crevices in the surface are small and distant, but the one affords as +secure a resting-place to my feet, the other as available a grasp to +my hands, as if I stood on a platform of a cubit broad, and rested my +arm on a balustrade of marble. My safety, therefore, depends on +myself. If I move with decision, step firmly, and hold fast, what +signifies how near I am to the mouth of an abyss?" + +Thus estimating the extent of his danger by the measure of sound sense +and reality, and supported by some degree of practice in such +exercise, the brave youth went forward on his awful journey, step by +step, winning his way with a caution and fortitude and presence of +mind which alone could have saved him from instant destruction. At +length he gained a point where a projecting rock formed the angle of +the precipice, so far as it had been visible to him from the platform. +This, therefore, was the critical point of his undertaking; but it was +also the most perilous part of it. The rock projected more than six +feet forward over the torrent, which he heard raging at the depth of a +hundred yards beneath, with a noise like subterranean thunder. He +examined the spot with the utmost care, and was led, by the existence +of shrubs, grass, and even stunted trees, to believe that this rock +marked the farthest extent of the slip or slide of earth, and that, +could he but turn round the angle of which it was the termination, he +might hope to attain the continuation of the path which had been so +strangely interrupted by this convulsion of nature. But the crag +jutted out so much as to afford no possibility of passing either under +or around it; and as it rose several feet above the position which +Arthur had attained, it was no easy matter to climb over it. This was, +however, the course which he chose, as the only mode of surmounting +what he hoped might prove the last obstacle to his voyage of +discovery. A projecting tree afforded him the means of raising and +swinging himself up to the top of the crag. But he had scarcely +planted himself on it, had scarcely a moment to congratulate himself, +on seeing, amid a wild chaos of cliffs and wood, the gloomy ruins of +Geierstein, with smoke arising, and indicating something like a human +habitation beside them, when, to his extreme terror, he felt the huge +cliff on which he stood tremble, stoop slowly forward, and gradually +sink from its position. Projecting as it was, and shaken as its +equilibrium had been by the recent earthquake, it lay now so +insecurely poised, that its balance was entirely destroyed, even by +the addition of the young man's weight. + +Aroused by the imminence of the danger, Arthur, by an instinctive +attempt at self-preservation, drew cautiously back from the falling +crag into the tree by which he had ascended, and turned his head back +as if spell-bound, to watch the descent of the fatal rock from which +he had just retreated. It tottered for two or three seconds, as if +uncertain which way to fall, and, had it taken a sidelong direction, +must have dashed the adventurer from his place of refuge, or borne +both the tree and him headlong down into the river. After a moment of +horrible uncertainty, the power of gravitation determined a direct and +forward descent. Down went the huge fragment, which must have weighed +at least twenty tons, rending and splintering in its precipitate +course the trees and bushes which it encountered, and settling at +length in the channel of the torrent, with a din equal to the +discharge of a hundred pieces of artillery. The sound was re-echoed +from bank to bank, from precipice to precipice, with emulative +thunders; nor was the tumult silent till it rose into the region of +eternal snows, which, equally insensible to terrestrial sounds and +unfavourable to animal life, heard the roar in their majestic +solitude, but suffered it to die away without a responsive voice. + +What, in the meanwhile, were the thoughts of the distracted father, +who saw the ponderous rock descend, but could not mark whether his +only son had borne it company in its dreadful fall! His first impulse +was to rush forward along the face of the precipice, which he had seen +Arthur so lately traverse; and when the lad Antonio withheld him, by +throwing his arms around him, he turned on the guide with the fury of +a bear which had been robbed of her cubs. + +"Unhand me, base peasant," he exclaimed, "or thou diest on the spot!" + +"Alas!" said the poor boy, dropping on his knees before him, "I too +have a father!" + +The appeal went to the heart of the traveller, who instantly let the +lad go, and holding up his hands, and lifting his eyes towards heaven, +said, in accents of the deepest agony, mingled with devout +resignation, "_Fiat voluntas tua!_--he was my last, and loveliest, and +best beloved, and most worthy of my love; and yonder," he added, +"yonder over the glen soar the birds of prey, who are to feast on his +young blood.--But I will see him once more," exclaimed the miserable +parent, as the huge carrion vulture floated past him on the thick +air,--"I will see my Arthur once more, ere the wolf and the eagle +mangle him--I will see all of him that earth still holds. Detain me +not--but abide here, and watch me as I advance. If I fall, as is most +likely, I charge you to take the sealed papers, which you will find in +the valise, and carry them to the person to whom they are addressed, +with the least possible delay. There is money enough in the purse to +bury me with my poor boy, and to cause masses be said for our souls, +and yet leave you a rich recompense for your journey." + +The honest Swiss lad, obtuse in his understanding, but kind and +faithful in his disposition, blubbered as his employer spoke, and, +afraid to offer further remonstrance or opposition, saw his temporary +master prepare himself to traverse the same fatal precipice over the +verge of which his ill-fated son had seemed to pass to the fate which, +with all the wildness of a parent's anguish, his father was hastening +to share. + +Suddenly there was heard, from beyond the fatal angle from which the +mass of stone had been displaced by Arthur's rash ascent, the loud +hoarse sound of one of those huge horns made out of the spoils of the +urus, or wild bull, of Switzerland, which in ancient times announced +the terrors of the charge of these mountaineers, and, indeed, served +them in war instead of all musical instruments. + +"Hold, sir, hold!" exclaimed the Grison. "Yonder is a signal from +Geierstein. Some one will presently come to our assistance, and show +us the safer way to seek for your son.--And look you--at yon green +bush that is glimmering through the mist, St. Antonio preserve me, as +I see a white cloth displayed there! it is just beyond the point where +the rock fell." + +The father endeavoured to fix his eyes on the spot, but they filled so +fast with tears that they could not discern the object which the guide +pointed out.--"It is all in vain," he said, dashing the tears from his +eyes--"I shall never see more of him than his lifeless remains!" + +"You will--you will see him in life!" said the Grison. "St. Antonio +wills it so--See, the white cloth waves again!" + +"Some remnant of his garments," said the despairing father,--"some +wretched memorial of his fate.--No, my eyes see it not--I have beheld +the fall of my house--would that the vultures of these crags had +rather torn them from their sockets!" + +"Yet look again," said the Swiss; "the cloth hangs not loose upon a +bough--I can see that it is raised on the end of a staff, and is +distinctly waved to and fro. Your son makes a signal that he is safe." + +"And if it be so," said the traveller, clasping his hands together, +"blessed be the eyes that see it, and the tongue that tells it! If we +find my son, and find him alive, this day shall be a lucky one for +thee too." + +"Nay," answered the lad, "I only ask that you will abide still, and +act by counsel, and I will hold myself quit for my services. Only, it +is not creditable to an honest lad to have people lose themselves by +their own wilfulness; for the blame, after all, is sure to fall upon +the guide, as if he could prevent old Pontius from shaking the mist +from his brow, or banks of earth from slipping down into the valley at +a time, or young harebrained gallants from walking upon precipices as +narrow as the edge of a knife, or madmen, whose grey hairs might make +them wiser, from drawing daggers like bravos in Lombardy." + +Thus the guide ran on, and in that vein he might have long continued, +for Seignor Philipson heard him not. Each throb of his pulse, each +thought of his heart, was directed towards the object which the lad +referred to as a signal of his son's safety. He became at length +satisfied that the signal was actually waved by a human hand; and, as +eager in the glow of reviving hope as he had of late been under the +influence of desperate grief, he again prepared for the attempt of +advancing towards his son, and assisting him, if possible, in +regaining a place of safety. But the entreaties and reiterated +assurances of his guide induced him to pause. + +"Are you fit," he said, "to go on the crag? Can you repeat your Credo +and Ave without missing or misplacing a word? for, without that, our +old men say your neck, had you a score of them, would be in +danger.--Is your eye clear, and your feet firm?--I trow the one +streams like a fountain, and the other shakes like the aspen which +overhangs it! Rest here till those arrive who are far more able to +give your son help than either you or I are. I judge, by the fashion +of his blowing, that yonder is the horn of the Goodman of Geierstein, +Arnold Biederman. He hath seen your son's danger, and is even now +providing for his safety and ours. There are cases in which the aid of +one stranger, well acquainted with the country, is worth that of three +brothers who know not the crags." + +"But if yonder horn really sounded a signal," said the traveller, "how +chanced it that my son replied not?" + +"And if he did so, as is most likely he did," rejoined the Grison, +"how should we have heard him? The bugle of Uri itself sounded amid +these horrible dins of water and tempest like the reed of a shepherd +boy; and how think you we should hear the holloa of a man?" + +"Yet, methinks," said Seignor Philipson, "I do hear something amid +this roar of elements which is like a human voice--but it is not +Arthur's." + +"I wot well, no," answered the Grison; "that is a woman's voice. The +maidens will converse with each other in that manner, from cliff to +cliff, through storm and tempest, were there a mile between." + +"Now, Heaven be praised for this providential relief!" said Seignor +Philipson; "I trust we shall yet see this dreadful day safely ended. I +will holloa in answer." + +He attempted to do so, but, inexperienced in the art of making himself +heard in such a country, he pitched his voice in the same key with +that of the roar of wave and wind; so that, even at twenty yards from +the place where he was speaking, it must have been totally +indistinguishable from that of the elemental war around them. The lad +smiled at his patron's ineffectual attempts, and then raised his voice +himself in a high, wild, and prolonged scream, which, while produced +with apparently much less effort than that of the Englishman, was +nevertheless a distinct sound, separated from others by the key to +which it was pitched, and was probably audible to a very considerable +distance. It was presently answered by distant cries of the same +nature, which gradually approached the platform, bringing renovated +hope to the anxious traveller. + +If the distress of the father rendered his condition an object of deep +compassion, that of the son, at the same moment, was sufficiently +perilous. We have already stated, that Arthur Philipson had commenced +his precarious journey along the precipice with all the coolness, +resolution, and unshaken determination of mind which was most +essential to a task where all must depend upon firmness of nerve. But +the formidable accident which checked his onward progress was of a +character so dreadful as made him feel all the bitterness of a death +instant, horrible, and, as it seemed, inevitable. The solid rock had +trembled and rent beneath his footsteps, and although, by an effort +rather mechanical than voluntary, he had withdrawn himself from the +instant ruin attending its descent, he felt as if the better part of +him, his firmness of mind and strength of body, had been rent away +with the descending rock, as it fell thundering, with clouds of dust +and smoke, into the torrents and whirlpools of the vexed gulf beneath. +In fact, the seaman swept from the deck of a wrecked vessel, drenched +in the waves, and battered against the rocks on the shore, does not +differ more from the same mariner, when, at the commencement of the +gale, he stood upon the deck of his favourite ship, proud of her +strength and his own dexterity, than Arthur, when commencing his +journey, from the same Arthur, while clinging to the decayed trunk of +an old tree, from which, suspended between heaven and earth, he saw +the fall of the crag which he had so nearly accompanied. The effects +of his terror, indeed, were physical as well as moral, for a thousand +colours played before his eyes; he was attacked by a sick dizziness, +and deprived at once of the obedience of those limbs which had +hitherto served him so admirably; his arms and hands, as if no longer +at his own command, now clung to the branches of the tree, with a +cramp-like tenacity over which he seemed to possess no power, and now +trembled in a state of such complete nervous relaxation as led him to +fear that they were becoming unable to support him longer in his +position. + +An incident, in itself trifling, added to the distress occasioned by +this alienation of his powers. All living things in the neighbourhood +had, as might be supposed, been startled by the tremendous fall to +which his progress had given occasion. Flights of owls, bats, and +other birds of darkness, compelled to betake themselves to the air, +had lost no time in returning into their bowers of ivy, or the harbour +afforded them by the rifts and holes of the neighbouring rocks. One of +this ill-omened flight chanced to be a lammer-geier, or Alpine +vulture, a bird larger and more voracious than the eagle himself, and +which Arthur had not been accustomed to see, or at least to look upon +closely. With the instinct of most birds of prey, it is the custom of +this creature, when gorged with food, to assume some station of +inaccessible security, and there remain stationary and motionless for +days together, till the work of digestion has been accomplished, and +activity returns with the pressure of appetite. Disturbed from such a +state of repose, one of these terrific birds had risen from the ravine +to which the species gives its name, and having circled unwillingly +round, with a ghastly scream and a flagging wing, it had sunk down +upon the pinnacle of a crag, not four yards from the tree in which +Arthur held his precarious station. Although still in some degree +stupefied by torpor, it seemed encouraged by the motionless state of +the young man to suppose him dead, or dying, and sat there and gazed +at him, without displaying any of that apprehension which the fiercest +animals usually entertain from the vicinity of man. + +As Arthur, endeavouring to shake off the incapacitating effects of his +panic fear, raised his eyes to look gradually and cautiously around, +he encountered those of the voracious and obscene bird, whose head and +neck denuded of feathers, her eyes surrounded by an iris of an +orange-tawny colour, and a position more horizontal than erect, +distinguished her as much from the noble carriage and graceful +proportions of the eagle, as those of the lion place him in the ranks +of creation above the gaunt, ravenous, grisly, yet dastard wolf. + +As if arrested by a charm, the eyes of young Philipson remained bent +on this ill-omened and ill-favoured bird, without his having the power +to remove them. The apprehension of dangers, ideal as well as real, +weighed upon his weakened mind, disabled as it was by the +circumstances of his situation. The near approach of a creature, not +more loathsome to the human race than averse to come within their +reach, seemed as ominous as it was unusual. Why did it gaze on him +with such glaring earnestness, projecting its disgusting form, as if +presently to alight upon his person? The foul bird, was she the demon +of the place to which her name referred? and did she come to exult +that an intruder on her haunts seemed involved amid their perils, with +little hope or chance of deliverance? Or was it a native vulture of +the rocks, whose sagacity foresaw that the rash traveller was soon +destined to become its victim? Could the creature, whose senses are +said to be so acute, argue from circumstances the stranger's +approaching death, and wait, like a raven or hooded crow by a dying +sheep, for the earliest opportunity to commence her ravenous banquet? +Was he doomed to feel its beak and talons before his heart's blood +should cease to beat? Had he already lost the dignity of humanity, +the awe which the being formed in the image of his Maker inspires into +all inferior creatures? + +Apprehensions so painful served more than all that reason could +suggest to renew in some degree the elasticity of the young man's +mind. By waving his handkerchief, using, however, the greatest +precaution in his movements, he succeeded in scaring the vulture from +his vicinity. It rose from its resting-place, screaming harshly and +dolefully, and sailed on its expanded pinions to seek a place of more +undisturbed repose, while the adventurous traveller felt a sensible +pleasure at being relieved of its disgusting presence. + +With more collected ideas, the young man, who could obtain, from his +position, a partial view of the platform he had left, endeavoured to +testify his safety to his father, by displaying, as high as he could, +the banner by which he had chased off the vulture. Like them, too, he +heard, but at a less distance, the burst of the great Swiss horn, +which seemed to announce some near succour. He replied by shouting and +waving his flag, to direct assistance to the spot where it was so much +required; and, recalling his faculties, which had almost deserted him, +he laboured mentally to recover hope, and with hope the means and +motive for exertion. + +A faithful Catholic, he eagerly recommended himself in prayer to Our +Lady of Einsiedlen, and, making vows of propitiation, besought her +intercession, that he might be delivered from his dreadful condition. +"Or, gracious Lady!" he concluded his orison, "if it is my doom to +lose my life like a hunted fox amidst this savage wilderness of +tottering crags, restore at least my natural sense of patience and +courage, and let not one who has lived like a man, though a sinful +one, meet death like a timid hare!" + +Having devoutly recommended himself to that Protectress, of whom the +legends of the Catholic Church form a picture so amiable, Arthur, +though every nerve still shook with his late agitation, and his heart +throbbed with a violence that threatened to suffocate him, turned his +thoughts and observation to the means of effecting his escape. But, as +he looked around him, he became more and more sensible how much he was +enervated by the bodily injuries and the mental agony which he had +sustained during his late peril. He could not, by any effort of which +he was capable, fix his giddy and bewildered eyes on the scene around +him;--they seemed to reel till the landscape danced along with them, +and a motley chaos of thickets and tall cliffs, which interposed +between him and the ruinous Castle of Geierstein, mixed and whirled +round in such confusion, that nothing, save the consciousness that +such an idea was the suggestion of partial insanity, prevented him +from throwing himself from the tree, as if to join the wild dance to +which his disturbed brain had given motion. + +"Heaven be my protection!" said the unfortunate young man, closing his +eyes, in hopes, by abstracting himself from the terrors of his +situation, to compose his too active imagination, "my senses are +abandoning me!" + +He became still more convinced that this was the case, when a female +voice, in a high-pitched but eminently musical accent, was heard at +no great distance, as if calling to him. He opened his eyes once +more, raised his head, and looked towards the place whence the sounds +seemed to come, though far from being certain that they existed saving +in his own disordered imagination. The vision which appeared had +almost confirmed him in the opinion that his mind was unsettled, and +his senses in no state to serve him accurately. + +Upon the very summit of a pyramidical rock, that rose out of the depth +of the valley, was seen a female figure, so obscured by mist that only +the outline could be traced. The form, reflected against the sky, +appeared rather the undefined lineaments of a spirit than of a mortal +maiden; for her person seemed as light, and scarcely more opaque, than +the thin cloud that surrounded her pedestal. Arthur's first belief +was, that the Virgin had heard his vows, and had descended in person +to his rescue; and he was about to recite his Ave Maria, when the +voice again called to him with the singular shrill modulation of the +mountain halloo, by which the natives of the Alps can hold conference +with each other from one mountain ridge to another, across ravines of +great depth and width. + +While he debated how to address this unexpected apparition, it +disappeared from the point which it at first occupied, and presently +after became again visible, perched on the cliff out of which +projected the tree in which Arthur had taken refuge. Her personal +appearance, as well as her dress, made it then apparent that she was a +maiden of these mountains, familiar with their dangerous paths. He saw +that a beautiful young woman stood before him, who regarded him with +a mixture of pity and wonder. + +"Stranger," she at length said, "who are you, and whence come you?" + +"I am a stranger, maiden, as you justly term me," answered the young +man, raising himself as well as he could. "I left Lucerne this +morning, with my father, and a guide. I parted with them not three +furlongs from hence. May it please you, gentle maiden, to warn them of +my safety, for I know my father will be in despair upon my account?" + +"Willingly," said the maiden; "but I think my uncle, or some one of my +kinsmen, must have already found them, and will prove faithful guides. +Can I not aid you? Are you wounded? Are you hurt? We were alarmed by +the fall of a rock--ay, and yonder it lies, a mass of no ordinary +size." + +As the Swiss maiden spoke thus, she approached so close to the verge +of the precipice, and looked with such indifference into the gulf, +that the sympathy which connects the actor and spectator upon such +occasions brought back the sickness and vertigo from which Arthur had +just recovered, and he sank back into his former more recumbent +posture, with something like a faint groan. + +"You are then ill?" said the maiden, who observed him turn pale. +"Where and what is the harm you have received?" + +"None, gentle maiden, saving some bruises of little import; but my +head turns, and my heart grows sick, when I see you so near the verge +of the cliff." + +"Is that all?" replied the Swiss maiden. "Know, stranger, that I do +not stand on my uncle's hearth with more security than I have stood +upon precipices compared to which this is a child's leap. You too, +stranger, if, as I judge from the traces, you have come along the edge +of the precipice which the earth-slide hath laid bare, ought to be far +beyond such weakness, since surely you must be well entitled to call +yourself a cragsman." + +"I might have called myself so half an hour since," answered Arthur; +"but I think I shall hardly venture to assume the name in future." + +"Be not downcast," said his kind adviser, "for a passing qualm, which +will at times cloud the spirit and dazzle the eyesight of the bravest +and most experienced. Raise yourself upon the trunk of the tree, and +advance closer to the rock out of which it grows. Observe the place +well. It is easy for you, when you have attained the lower part of the +projecting stem, to gain by one bold step the solid rock upon which I +stand, after which there is no danger or difficulty worthy of mention +to a young man, whose limbs are whole, and whose courage is active." + +"My limbs are indeed sound," replied the youth; "but I am ashamed to +think how much my courage is broken. Yet I will not disgrace the +interest you have taken in an unhappy wanderer, by listening longer to +the dastardly suggestions of a feeling which till to-day has been a +stranger to my bosom." + +The maiden looked on him anxiously, and with much interest, as, +raising himself cautiously, and moving along the trunk of the tree, +which lay nearly horizontal from the rock, and seemed to bend as he +changed his posture, the youth at length stood upright, within what, +on level ground, had been but an extended stride to the cliff on which +the Swiss maiden stood. But instead of being a step to be taken on the +level and firm earth, it was one which must cross a dark abyss, at the +bottom of which a torrent surged and boiled with incredible fury. +Arthur's knees knocked against each other, his feet became of lead, +and seemed no longer at his command; and he experienced, in a stronger +degree than ever, that unnerving influence, which those who have been +overwhelmed by it in a situation of like peril never can forget, and +which others, happily strangers to its power, may have difficulty even +in comprehending. + +The young woman discerned his emotion, and foresaw its probable +consequences. As the only mode in her power to restore his confidence, +she sprang lightly from the rock to the stem of the tree, on which she +alighted with the ease and security of a bird, and in the same instant +back to the cliff; and extending her hand to the stranger, "My arm," +she said, "is but a slight balustrade; yet do but step forward with +resolution, and you will find it as secure as the battlement of +Berne." But shame now overcame terror so much, that Arthur, declining +assistance which he could not have accepted without feeling lowered in +his own eyes, took heart of grace, and successfully achieved the +formidable step which placed him upon the same cliff with his kind +assistant. + +To seize her hand and raise it to his lips, in affectionate token of +gratitude and respect, was naturally the youth's first action; nor was +it possible for the maiden to have prevented him from doing so, +without assuming a degree of prudery foreign to her character, and +occasioning a ceremonious debate upon a matter of no great +consequence, where the scene of action was a rock scarce five feet +long by three in width, and which looked down upon a torrent roaring +some three hundred feet below. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + Cursed be the gold and silver, which persuade + Weak man to follow far fatiguing trade. + The lily, peace, outshines the silver store, + And life is dearer than the golden ore. + Yet money tempts us o'er the desert brown, + To every distant mart and wealthy town. + _Hassan, or the Camel-driver._ + + +Arthur Philipson and Anne of Geierstein, thus placed together in a +situation which brought them into the closest possible contiguity, +felt a slight degree of embarrassment; the young man, doubtless, from +the fear of being judged a poltroon in the eyes of the maiden by whom +he had been rescued, and the young woman, perhaps, in consequence of +the exertion she had made, or a sense of being placed suddenly in a +situation of such proximity to the youth whose life she had probably +saved. + +"And now, maiden," said Arthur, "I must repair to my father. The life +which I owe to your assistance can scarce be called welcome to me, +unless I am permitted to hasten to his rescue." + +He was here interrupted by another bugle-blast, which seemed to come +from the quarter in which the elder Philipson and his guide had been +left by their young and daring companion. Arthur looked in that +direction; but the platform, which he had seen but imperfectly from +the tree, when he was perched in that place of refuge, was invisible +from the rock on which they now stood. + +"It would cost me nothing to step back on yonder root," said the young +woman, "to spy from thence whether I could see aught of your friends. +But I am convinced they are under safer guidance than either yours or +mine; for the horn announces that my uncle, or some of my young +kinsmen, have reached them. They are by this time on their way to the +Geierstein, to which, with your permission, I will become your guide; +for you may be assured that my uncle Arnold will not allow you to pass +farther to-day; and we shall but lose time by endeavouring to find +your friends, who, situated where you say you left them, will reach +the Geierstein sooner than we shall. Follow me, then, or I must +suppose you weary of my guidance." + +"Sooner suppose me weary of the life which your guidance has in all +probability saved," replied Arthur, and prepared to attend her; at the +same time taking a view of her dress and person, which confirmed the +satisfaction he had in following such a conductor, and which we shall +take the liberty to detail somewhat more minutely than he could do at +that time. + +An upper vest, neither so close as to display the person, a habit +forbidden by the sumptuary laws of the canton, nor so loose as to be +an incumbrance in walking or climbing, covered a close tunic of a +different colour, and came down beneath the middle of the leg, but +suffered the ankle, in all its fine proportions, to be completely +visible. The foot was defended by a sandal, the point of which was +turned upwards, and the crossings and knots of the strings, which +secured it on the front of the leg, were garnished with silver rings. +The upper vest was gathered round the middle by a sash of +party-coloured silk, ornamented with twisted threads of gold; while +the tunic, open at the throat, permitted the shape and exquisite +whiteness of a well-formed neck to be visible at the collar, and for +an inch or two beneath. The small portion of the throat and bosom thus +exposed was even more brilliantly fair than was promised by the +countenance, which last bore some marks of having been freely exposed +to the sun and air, by no means in a degree to diminish its beauty, +but just so far as to show that the maiden possessed the health which +is purchased by habits of rural exercise. Her long fair hair fell down +in a profusion of curls on each side of a face, whose blue eyes, +lovely features, and dignified simplicity of expression implied at +once a character of gentleness and of the self-relying resolution of a +mind too virtuous to suspect evil, and too noble to fear it. Above +these locks, beauty's natural and most beseeming ornament--or rather, +I should say, amongst them--was placed the small bonnet, which, from +its size, little answered the purpose of protecting the head, but +served to exercise the ingenuity of the fair wearer, who had not +failed, according to the prevailing custom of the mountain maidens, to +decorate the tiny cap with a heron's feather, and the then unusual +luxury of a small and thin chain of gold, long enough to encircle the +cap four or five times, and having the ends secured under a broad +medal of the same costly metal. + +I have only to add, that the stature of the young person was +something above the common size, and that the whole contour of her +form, without being in the slightest degree masculine, resembled that +of Minerva, rather than the proud beauties of Juno, or the yielding +graces of Venus. The noble brow, the well-formed and active limbs, the +firm and yet light step--above all, the total absence of anything +resembling the consciousness of personal beauty, and the open and +candid look, which seemed desirous of knowing nothing that was hidden, +and conscious that she herself had nothing to hide, were traits not +unworthy of the goddess of wisdom and of chastity. + +The road which the young Englishman pursued, under the guidance of +this beautiful young woman, was difficult and unequal, but could not +be termed dangerous, at least in comparison to those precipices over +which Arthur had recently passed. It was, in fact, a continuation of +the path which the slip or slide of earth, so often mentioned, had +interrupted; and although it had sustained damage in several places at +the period of the same earthquake, yet there were marks of these +having been already repaired in such a rude manner as made the way +sufficient for the necessary intercourse of a people so indifferent as +the Swiss to smooth or level paths. The maiden also gave Arthur to +understand, that the present road took a circuit for the purpose of +gaining that on which he was lately travelling, and that, if he and +his companions had turned off at the place where this new track united +with the old pathway, they would have escaped the danger which had +attended their keeping the road by the verge of the precipice. + +The path which they now pursued was rather averted from the torrent, +though still within hearing of its sullen thunders, which seemed to +increase as they ascended parallel to its course, till suddenly the +road, turning short, and directing itself straight upon the old +castle, brought them within sight of one of the most splendid and +awful scenes of that mountainous region. + +The ancient tower of Geierstein, though neither extensive nor +distinguished by architectural ornament, possessed an air of terrible +dignity by its position on the very verge of the opposite bank of the +torrent, which, just at the angle of the rock on which the ruins are +situated, falls sheer over a cascade of nearly a hundred feet in +height, and then rushes down the defile, through a trough of living +rock, which perhaps its waves have been deepening since time itself +had a commencement. Facing, and at the same time looking down upon +this eternal roar of waters, stood the old tower, built so close to +the verge of the precipice that the buttresses with which the +architect had strengthened the foundation seemed a part of the solid +rock itself, and a continuation of its perpendicular ascent. As usual +throughout Europe in the feudal times, the principal part of the +building was a massive square pile, the decayed summit of which was +rendered picturesque, by flanking turrets of different sizes and +heights, some round, some angular, some ruinous, some tolerably +entire, varying the outline of the building as seen against the stormy +sky. + +A projecting sallyport, descending by a flight of steps from the +tower, had in former times given access to a bridge connecting the +castle with that side of the stream on which Arthur Philipson and his +fair guide now stood. A single arch, or rather one rib of an arch, +consisting of single stones, still remained, and spanned the river +immediately in front of the waterfall. In former times this arch had +served for the support of a wooden drawbridge, of more convenient +breadth, and of such length and weight as must have been rather +unmanageable, had it not been lowered on some solid resting-place. It +is true, the device was attended with this inconvenience, that even +when the drawbridge was up, there remained a possibility of +approaching the castle gate by means of this narrow rib of stone. But +as it was not above eighteen inches broad, and could only admit the +daring foe who should traverse it to a doorway regularly defended by +gate and portcullis, and having flanking turrets and projections, from +which stones, darts, melted lead, and scalding water might be poured +down on the soldiery who should venture to approach Geierstein by this +precarious access, the possibility of such an attempt was not +considered as diminishing the security of the garrison. + +In the time we treat of, the castle being entirely ruined and +dismantled, and the door, drawbridge, and portcullis gone, the +dilapidated gateway, and the slender arch which connected the two +sides of the stream, were used as a means of communication between the +banks of the river, by the inhabitants of the neighbourhood, whom +habit had familiarised with the dangerous nature of the passage. + +Arthur Philipson had, in the meantime, like a good bow when new +strung, regained the elasticity of feeling and character which was +natural to him. It was not indeed with perfect composure that he +followed his guide, as she tripped lightly over the narrow arch, +composed of rugged stones, and rendered wet and slippery with the +perpetual drizzle of the mist issuing from the neighbouring cascade. +Nor was it without apprehension that he found himself performing this +perilous feat in the neighbourhood of the waterfall itself, whose +deafening roar he could not exclude from his ears, though he took care +not to turn his head towards its terrors, lest his brain should again +be dizzied by the tumult of the waters as they shot forward from the +precipice above, and plunged themselves into what seemed the +fathomless gulf below. But notwithstanding these feelings of +agitation, the natural shame to show cowardice where a beautiful young +female exhibited so much indifference, and the desire to regain his +character in the eyes of his guide, prevented Arthur from again giving +way to the appalling feelings by which he had been overwhelmed a short +time before. Stepping firmly on, yet cautiously supporting himself +with his piked staff, he traced the light footsteps of his guide along +the bridge of dread, and followed her through the ruined sallyport, to +which they ascended by stairs which were equally dilapidated. + +The gateway admitted them into a mass of ruins, formerly a sort of +courtyard to the donjon, which rose in gloomy dignity above the wreck +of what had been works destined for external defence, or buildings for +internal accommodation. They quickly passed through these ruins, over +which vegetation had thrown a wild mantle of ivy, and other creeping +shrubs, and issued from them through the main gate of the castle into +one of those spots in which Nature often embosoms her sweetest +charms, in the midst of districts chiefly characterised by waste and +desolation. + +The castle in this aspect also rose considerably above the +neighbouring ground, but the elevation of the site, which towards the +torrent was an abrupt rock, was on this side a steep eminence, which +had been scarped like a modern glacis, to render the building more +secure. It was now covered with young trees and bushes, out of which +the tower itself seemed to rise in ruined dignity. Beyond this hanging +thicket the view was of a very different character. A piece of ground, +amounting to more than a hundred acres, seemed scooped out of the +rocks and mountains, which, retaining the same savage character with +the tract in which the travellers had been that morning bewildered, +enclosed, and as it were defended, a limited space of a mild and +fertile character. The surface of this little domain was considerably +varied, but its general aspect was a gentle slope to the south-west. + +The principal object which it presented was a large house composed of +huge logs, without any pretence to form or symmetry, but indicating, +by the smoke which arose from it, as well as the extent of the +neighbouring offices, and the improved and cultivated character of the +fields around, that it was the abode, not of splendour certainly, but +of ease and competence. An orchard of thriving fruit-trees extended to +the southward of the dwelling. Groves of walnut and chestnut grew in +stately array, and even a vineyard, of three or four acres, showed +that the cultivation of the grape was understood and practised. It is +now universal in Switzerland, but was, in those early days, almost +exclusively confined to a few more fortunate proprietors, who had +the rare advantage of uniting intelligence with opulent, or at least +easy, circumstances. + + [Illustration: GEIERSTEIN. + Drawn and Etched by R. de los Rios.] + +There were fair ranges of pasture-fields, into which the fine race of +cattle which constitute the pride and wealth of the Swiss mountaineers +had been brought down from the more Alpine grazings where they had fed +during the summer, to be near shelter and protection when the autumnal +storms might be expected. On some selected spots, the lambs of the +last season fed in plenty and security, and in others, huge trees, the +natural growth of the soil, were suffered to remain, from motives of +convenience probably, that they might be at hand when timber was +required for domestic use, but giving, at the same time, a woodland +character to a scene otherwise agricultural. Through this +mountain-paradise the course of a small brook might be traced, now +showing itself to the sun, which had by this time dispelled the fogs, +now intimating its course, by its gently sloping banks, clothed in +some places with lofty trees, or concealing itself under thickets of +hawthorn and nut bushes. This stream, by a devious and gentle course, +which seemed to indicate a reluctance to leave this quiet region, +found its way at length out of the sequestered domain, and, like a +youth hurrying from the gay and tranquil sports of boyhood into the +wild career of active life, finally united itself with the boisterous +torrent, which, breaking down tumultuously from the mountains, shook +the ancient Tower of Geierstein as it rolled down the adjacent rock, +and then rushed howling through the defile in which our youthful +traveller had well-nigh lost his life. + +Eager as the younger Philipson was to rejoin his father, he could not +help pausing for a moment to wonder how so much beauty should be found +amid such scenes of horror, and to look back on the Tower of +Geierstein, and on the huge cliff from which it derived its name, as +if to ascertain, by the sight of these distinguished landmarks, that +he was actually in the neighbourhood of the savage wild where he had +encountered so much danger and terror. Yet so narrow were the limits +of this cultivated farm, that it hardly required such a retrospect to +satisfy the spectator that the spot susceptible of human industry, and +on which it seemed that a considerable degree of labour had been +bestowed, bore a very small proportion to the wilderness in which it +was situated. It was on all sides surrounded by lofty hills, in some +places rising into walls of rock, in others clothed with dark and +savage forests of the pine and the larch, of primeval antiquity. Above +these, from the eminence on which the tower was situated, could be +seen the almost rosy hue in which an immense glacier threw back the +sun; and still higher over the frozen surface of that icy sea arose, +in silent dignity, the pale peaks of those countless mountains, on +which the snow eternally rests. + +What we have taken some time to describe, occupied young Philipson +only for one or two hurried minutes; for on a sloping lawn, which was +in front of the farm-house, as the mansion might properly be styled, +he saw five or six persons, the foremost of whom, from his gait, his +dress, and the form of his cap, he could easily distinguish as the +parent whom he hardly expected at one time to have again beheld. + +He followed, therefore, his conductress with a glad step, as she led +the way down the steep ascent on which the ruined tower was situated. +They approached the group whom Arthur had noticed, the foremost of +which was his father, who hastily came forward to meet him, in company +with another person, of advanced age, and stature well-nigh gigantic, +and who, from his simple yet majestic bearing, seemed the worthy +countryman of William Tell, Stauffacher, Winkelried, and other Swiss +worthies, whose stout hearts and hardy arms had, in the preceding age, +vindicated against countless hosts their personal liberty, and the +independence of their country. + +With a natural courtesy, as if to spare the father and son many +witnesses to a meeting which must be attended with emotion, the +Landamman himself, in walking forward with the elder Philipson, signed +to those by whom he was attended, all of whom seemed young men, to +remain behind. They remained accordingly, examining, as it seemed, the +guide Antonio, upon the adventures of the strangers. Anne, the +conductress of Arthur Philipson, had but time to say to him, "Yonder +old man is my uncle, Arnold Biederman, and these young men are my +kinsmen," when the former, with the elder traveller, were close before +them. The Landamman, with the same propriety of feeling which he had +before displayed, signed to his niece to move a little aside; yet +while requiring from her an account of her morning's expedition, he +watched the interview of the father and son with as much curiosity as +his natural sense of complaisance permitted him to testify. It was of +a character different from what he had expected. + +We have already described the elder Philipson as a father devotedly +attached to his son, ready to rush on death when he had expected to +lose him, and equally overjoyed at heart, doubtless, to see him again +restored to his affections. It might have been therefore expected that +the father and son would have rushed into each other's arms, and such +probably was the scene which Arnold Biederman expected to have +witnessed. + +But the English traveller, in common with many of his countrymen, +covered keen and quick feelings with much appearance of coldness and +reserve, and thought it a weakness to give unlimited sway even to the +influence of the most amiable and most natural emotions. Eminently +handsome in youth, his countenance, still fine in his more advanced +years, had an expression which intimated an unwillingness either to +yield to passion or encourage confidence. His pace, when he first +beheld his son, had been quickened by the natural wish to meet him; +but he slackened it as they drew near to each other, and when they +met, said in a tone rather of censure and admonition than +affection,--"Arthur, may the Saints forgive the pain thou hast this +day given me." + +"Amen," said the youth. "I must need pardon since I have given you +pain. Believe, however, that I acted for the best." + +"It is well, Arthur, that in acting for the best, according to your +forward will, you have not encountered the worst." + +"That I have not," answered the son, with the same devoted and patient +submission, "is owing to this maiden," pointing to Anne, who stood at +a few paces' distance, desirous perhaps of avoiding to witness the +reproof of the father, which might seem to her rather ill-timed and +unreasonable. + +"To the maiden my thanks shall be rendered," said his father, "when I +can study how to pay them in an adequate manner; but is it well or +comely, think you, that you should receive from a maiden the succour +which it is your duty as a man to extend to the weaker sex?" + +Arthur held down his head and blushed deeply, while Arnold Biederman, +sympathising with his feelings, stepped forward and mingled in the +conversation. + +"Never be abashed, my young guest, that you have been indebted for +aught of counsel or assistance to a maiden of Unterwalden. Know that +the freedom of their country owes no less to the firmness and wisdom +of her daughters than to that of her sons.--And you, my elder guest, +who have, I judge, seen many years and various lands, must have often +known examples how the strong are saved by the help of the weak, the +proud by the aid of the humble." + +"I have at least learned," said the Englishman, "to debate no point +unnecessarily with the host who has kindly harboured me;" and after +one glance at his son, which seemed to kindle with the fondest +affection, he resumed, as the party turned back towards the house, a +conversation which he had been maintaining with his new acquaintance +before Arthur and the maiden had joined them. + +Arthur had in the meantime an opportunity of observing the figure and +features of their Swiss landlord, which, I have already hinted, +exhibited a primeval simplicity mixed with a certain rude dignity, +arising out of its masculine and unaffected character. The dress did +not greatly differ in form from the habit of the female which we have +described. It consisted of an upper frock, shaped like the modern +shirt, and only open at the bosom, worn above a tunic or under +doublet. But the man's vest was considerably shorter in the skirts, +which did not come lower down than the kilt of the Scottish +Highlander; a species of boots or buskins rose above the knee, and the +person was thus entirely clothed. A bonnet made of the fur of the +marten, and garnished with a silver medal, was the only part of the +dress which displayed anything like ornament; the broad belt which +gathered the garment together was of buff leather, secured by a large +brass buckle. + +But the figure of him who wore this homely attire, which seemed almost +wholly composed of the fleeces of the mountain sheep and the spoils of +animals of the chase, would have commanded respect wherever the wearer +had presented himself, especially in those warlike days, when men were +judged of according to the promising or unpromising qualities of their +thews and sinews. To those who looked at Arnold Biederman from this +point of view, he displayed the size and form, the broad shoulders and +prominent muscles, of a Hercules. But to such as looked rather at his +countenance, the steady sagacious features, open front, large blue +eyes, and deliberate resolution which it expressed, more resembled the +character of the fabled King of Gods and Men. He was attended by +several sons and relatives, young men, among whom he walked, +receiving, as his undeniable due, respect and obedience, similar to +that which a herd of deer are observed to render to the monarch stag. + +While Arnold Biederman walked and spoke with the elder stranger, the +young men seemed closely to scrutinise Arthur, and occasionally +interrogated in whispers their relation Anne, receiving from her brief +and impatient answers, which rather excited than appeased the vein of +merriment in which the mountaineers indulged, very much, as it seemed +to the young Englishman, at the expense of their guest. To feel +himself exposed to derision was not softened by the reflection, that +in such a society it would probably be attached to all who could not +tread on the edge of a precipice with a step as firm and undismayed as +if they walked the street of a city. However unreasonable ridicule may +be, it is always unpleasing to be subjected to it, but more +particularly is it distressing to a young man, where beauty is a +listener. It was some consolation to Arthur that he thought the maiden +certainly did not enjoy the jest, and seemed by word and look to +reprove the rudeness of her companions; but this he feared was only +from a sense of humanity. + +"She, too, must despise me," he thought, "though civility, unknown to +these ill-taught boors, has enabled her to conceal contempt under the +guise of pity. She can but judge of me from that which she has +seen--if she could know me better" (such was his proud thought), "she +might perhaps rank me more highly." + +As the travellers entered the habitation of Arnold Biederman, they +found preparations made in a large apartment, which served the purpose +of general accommodation, for a homely but plentiful meal. A glance +round the walls showed the implements of agriculture and the chase; +but the eyes of the elder Philipson rested upon a leathern corselet, a +long heavy halberd, and a two-handed sword, which were displayed as a +sort of trophy. Near these, but covered with dust, unfurbished and +neglected, hung a helmet, with a visor, such as was used by knights +and men-at-arms. The golden garland, or coronal twisted around it, +though sorely tarnished, indicated noble birth and rank; and the +crest, which was a vulture of the species which gave name to the old +castle and its adjacent cliff, suggested various conjectures to the +English guest, who, acquainted in a great measure with the history of +the Swiss revolution, made little doubt that in this relic he saw some +trophy of the ancient warfare between the inhabitants of these +mountains, and the feudal lord to whom they had of yore appertained. + +A summons to the hospitable board disturbed the train of the English +merchant's reflections; and a large company, comprising the whole +inhabitants of every description that lived under Biederman's roof, +sat down to a plentiful repast of goat's flesh, fish, preparations of +milk of various kinds, cheese, and, for the upper mess, the venison of +a young chamois. The Landamman himself did the honours of the table +with great kindness and simplicity, and urged the strangers to show, +by their appetite, that they thought themselves as welcome as he +desired to make them. During the repast, he carried on a conversation +with his elder guest, while the younger people at table, as well as +the menials, ate in modesty and silence. Ere the dinner was finished, +a figure crossed on the outside of the large window which lighted the +eating-hall, the sight of which seemed to occasion a lively sensation +amongst such as observed it. + +"Who passed?" said old Biederman to those seated opposite to the +window. + +"It is our cousin, Rudolph of Donnerhugel," answered one of Arnold's +sons eagerly. + +The annunciation seemed to give great pleasure to the younger part of +the company, especially the sons of the Landamman; while the head of +the family only said with a grave, calm voice,--"Your kinsman is +welcome--tell him so, and let him come hither." + +Two or three arose for this purpose, as if there had been a contention +among them who should do the honours of the house to the new guest. He +entered presently--a young man, unusually tall, well-proportioned and +active, with a quantity of dark-brown locks curling around his face, +together with mustaches of the same, or rather a still darker hue. His +cap was small considering the quantity of his thickly clustering hair, +and rather might be said to hang upon one side of his head than to +cover it. His clothes were of the same form and general fashion as +those of Arnold, but made of much finer cloth, the manufacture of the +German loom, and ornamented in a rich and fanciful manner. One sleeve +of his vest was dark green, curiously laced and embroidered with +devices in silver, while the rest of the garment was scarlet. His sash +was twisted and netted with gold, and besides answering the purpose of +a belt, by securing the upper garment round his waist, sustained a +silver-hilted poniard. His finery was completed by boots, the tips of +which were so long as to turn upwards with a peak, after a prevailing +fashion in the Middle Ages. A golden chain hung round his neck, and +sustained a large medallion of the same metal. + +This young gallant was instantly surrounded by the race of Biederman, +among whom he appeared to be considered as the model upon which the +Swiss youth ought to build themselves, and whose gait, opinions, +dress, and manners all ought to follow who would keep pace with the +fashion of the day, in which he reigned an acknowledged and unrivalled +example. + +By two persons in the company, however, it seemed to Arthur Philipson +that this young man was received with less distinguished marks of +regard than those with which he was hailed by the general voice of the +youths present. Arnold Biederman himself was at least no way warm in +welcoming the young Bernese, for such was Rudolph's country. The young +man drew from his bosom a sealed packet, which he delivered to the +Landamman with demonstrations of great respect, and seemed to expect +that Arnold, when he had broken the seal and perused the contents, +would say something to him on the subject. But the patriarch only bade +him be seated, and partake of their meal, and Rudolph found a place +accordingly next to Anne of Geierstein, which was yielded to him by +one of the sons of Arnold with ready courtesy. + +It seemed also to the observant young Englishman, that the new comer +was received with marked coldness by the maiden, to whom he appeared +eager and solicitous to pay his compliments, by whose side he had +contrived to seat himself at the well-furnished board, and to whom he +seemed more anxious to recommend himself, than to partake of the food +which it offered. He observed the gallant whisper her, and look +towards him. Anne gave a very brief reply, but one of the young +Biedermans, who sat on his other hand, was probably more +communicative, as the youths both laughed, and the maiden again seemed +disconcerted, and blushed with displeasure. + +"Had I either of these sons of the mountain," thought young Philipson, +"upon six yards of level greensward, if there be so much flat ground +in this country, methinks I were more likely to spoil their mirth than +to furnish food for it. It is as marvellous to see such conceited +boors under the same roof with so courteous and amiable a damsel, as +it would be to see one of their shaggy bears dance a rigadoon with a +maiden like the daughter of our host. Well, I need not concern myself +more than I can help about her beauty or their breeding, since morning +will separate me from them for ever." + +As these reflections passed through the young guest's mind, the father +of the family called for a cup of wine, and having required the two +strangers to pledge him in a maple cup of considerable size, he sent a +similar goblet to Rudolph Donnerhugel. "Yet you," he said, "kinsman, +are used to more highly flavoured wine than the half-ripened grapes of +Geierstein can supply.--Would you think it, Sir Merchant," he +continued, addressing Philipson, "there are burghers of Berne who send +for wine for their own drinking both to France and Germany?" + +"My kinsman disapproves of that," replied Rudolph; "yet every place +is not blessed with vineyards like Geierstein, which produces all that +heart and eye can desire." This was said with a glance at his fair +companion, who did not appear to take the compliment, while the envoy +of Berne proceeded: "But our wealthier burghers, having some +superfluous crowns, think it no extravagance to barter them for a +goblet of better wine than our own mountains can produce. But we will +be more frugal when we have at our disposal tuns of the wine of +Burgundy, for the mere trouble of transporting them." + +"How mean you by that, cousin Rudolph?" said Arnold Biederman. + +"Methinks, respected kinsman," answered the Bernese, "your letters +must have told you that our Diet is likely to declare war against +Burgundy?" + +"Ah! And you know, then, the contents of my letters?" said Arnold; +"another mark how times are changed at Berne, and with the Diet of +Switzerland. When did all her grey-haired statesmen die, that our +allies should have brought beardless boys into their councils?" + +"The Senate of Berne, and the Diet of the Confederacy," said the young +man, partly abashed, partly in vindication of what he had before +spoken, "allow the young men to know their purposes, since it is they +by whom they must be executed. The head which thinks may well confide +in the hand that strikes." + +"Not till the moment of dealing the blow, young man," said Arnold +Biederman, sternly. "What kind of counsellor is he who talks loosely +the secrets of state affairs before women and strangers? Go, Rudolph, +and all of ye, and try by manly exercises which is best fitted to +serve your country, rather than give your judgment upon her +measures.--Hold, young man," he continued, addressing Arthur, who had +arisen, "this does not apply to you, who are unused to mountain +travel, and require rest after it." + +"Under your favour, sir, not so," said the elder stranger. "We hold, +in England, that the best refreshment after we have been exhausted by +one species of exercise is to betake ourselves to another; as riding, +for example, affords more relief to one fatigued by walking, than a +bed of down would. So, if your young men will permit, my son will join +their exercises." + +"He will find them rough playmates," answered the Switzer; "but be it +at your pleasure." + +The young men went out accordingly to the open lawn in front of the +house. Anne of Geierstein, and some females of the household, sat down +on a bank to judge which performed best, and shouts, loud laughing, +and all that announces the riot of juvenile spirits occupied by manly +sports, was soon after heard by the two seniors, as they sat together +in the hall. The master of the house resumed the wine-flask, and, +having filled the cup of his guest, poured the remainder into his own. + +"At an age, worthy stranger," he said, "when the blood grows colder, +and the feelings heavier, a moderate cup of wine brings back light +thoughts, and makes the limbs supple. Yet, I almost wish that Noah had +never planted the grape, when of late years I have seen with my own +eyes my countrymen swill wine like very Germans, till they were like +gorged swine, incapable of sense, thought, or motion." + +"It is a vice," said the Englishman, "which I have observed gains +ground in your country, where within a century I have heard it was +totally unknown." + +"It was so," said the Swiss, "for wine was seldom made at home, and +never imported from abroad; for indeed none possessed the means of +purchasing that, or aught else, which our valleys produce not. But our +wars and our victories have gained us wealth as well as fame; and in +the poor thoughts of one Switzer, at least, we had been better without +both, had we not also gained liberty by the same exertion. It is +something, however, that commerce may occasionally send into our +remote mountains a sensible visitor like yourself, worthy guest, whose +discourse shows him to be a man of sagacity and discernment; for +though I love not the increasing taste for trinkets and gewgaws which +you merchants introduce, yet I acknowledge that we simple mountaineers +learn from men like you more of the world around us, than we could +acquire by our own exertions. You are bound, you say, to Bâle, and +thence to the Duke of Burgundy's leaguer?" + +"I am so, my worthy host," said the merchant--"that is, providing I +can perform my journey with safety." + +"Your safety, good friend, may be assured, if you list to tarry for +two or three days; for in that space I shall myself take the journey, +and with such an escort as will prevent any risk of danger. You will +find in me a sure and faithful guide, and I shall learn from you much +of other countries, which it concerns me to know better than I do. Is +it a bargain?" + +"The proposal is too much to my advantage to be refused," said the +Englishman; "but may I ask the purpose of your journey?" + +"I chid yonder boy but now," answered Biederman, "for speaking on +public affairs without reflection, and before the whole family; but +our tidings and my errand need not be concealed from a considerate +person like you, who must indeed soon learn it from public rumour. You +know doubtless the mutual hatred which subsists between Louis XI. of +France and Charles of Burgundy, whom men call the Bold; and having +seen these countries, as I understand from your former discourse, you +are probably well aware of the various contending interests, which, +besides the personal hatred of the sovereigns, make them +irreconcilable enemies. Now Louis, whom the world cannot match for +craft and subtlety, is using all his influence, by distributions of +large sums amongst some of the counsellors of our neighbours of Berne, +by pouring treasures into the exchequer of that state itself, by +holding out the bait of emolument to the old men, and encouraging the +violence of the young, to urge the Bernese into a war with the Duke. +Charles, on the other hand, is acting, as he frequently does, exactly +as Louis could have wished. Our neighbours and allies of Berne do not, +like us of the Forest Cantons, confine themselves to pasture or +agriculture, but carry on considerable commerce, which the Duke of +Burgundy has in various instances interrupted, by the exactions and +violence of his officers in the frontier towns, as is doubtless well +known to you." + +"Unquestionably," answered the merchant; "they are universally +regarded as vexatious." + +"You will not then be surprised, that, solicited by the one sovereign, +and aggrieved by the other, proud of past victories, and ambitious of +additional power, Berne and the City Cantons of our confederacy, whose +representatives, from their superior wealth and better education, have +more to say in our Diet than we of the Forests, should be bent upon +war, from which it has hitherto happened that the Republic has always +derived victory, wealth, and increase of territory." + +"Ay, worthy host, and of glory," said Philipson, interrupting him with +some enthusiasm; "I wonder not that the brave youths of your states +are willing to thrust themselves upon new wars, since their past +victories have been so brilliant and so far-famed." + +"You are no wise merchant, kind guest," answered the host, "if you +regard success in former desperate undertakings as an encouragement to +future rashness. Let us make a better use of past victories. When we +fought for our liberties God blessed our arms; but will He do so if we +fight either for aggrandisement or for the gold of France?" + +"Your doubt is just," said the merchant, more sedately; "but suppose +you draw the sword to put an end to the vexatious exactions of +Burgundy?" + +"Hear me, good friend," answered the Switzer; "it may be that we of +the Forest Cantons think too little of those matters of trade, which +so much engross the attention of the burghers of Berne. Yet we will +not desert our neighbours and allies in a just quarrel; and it is +well-nigh settled that a deputation shall be sent to the Duke of +Burgundy to request redress. In this embassy the General Diet now +assembled at Berne have requested that I should take some share; and +hence the journey in which I propose that you should accompany me." + +"It will be much to my satisfaction to travel in your company, worthy +host," said the Englishman. "But, as I am a true man, methinks your +port and figure resemble an envoy of defiance rather than a messenger +of peace." + +"And I too might say," replied the Switzer, "that your language and +sentiments, my honoured guest, rather belong to the sword than the +measuring-wand." + +"I was bred to the sword, worthy sir, before I took the cloth-yard in +my hand," replied Philipson, smiling, "and it may be I am still more +partial to my old trade than wisdom would altogether recommend." + +"I thought so," said Arnold; "but then you fought most likely under +your country's banners against a foreign and national enemy; and in +that case I will admit that war has something in it which elevates the +heart above the due sense it should entertain of the calamity +inflicted and endured by God's creatures on each side. But the warfare +in which I was engaged had no such gilding. It was the miserable war +of Zurich [_c_], where Switzers levelled their pikes against the +bosoms of their own countrymen; and quarter was asked and refused in +the same kindly mountain language. From such remembrances your warlike +recollections are probably free." + +The merchant hung down his head and pressed his forehead with his +hand, as one to whom the most painful thoughts were suddenly +recalled. + +"Alas!" he said, "I deserve to feel the pain which your words inflict. +What nation can know the woes of England that has not felt them--what +eye can estimate them which has not seen a land torn and bleeding with +the strife of two desperate factions, battles fought in every +province, plains heaped with slain, and scaffolds drenched in blood! +Even in your quiet valleys, methinks, you may have heard of the Civil +Wars of England?" + +"I do indeed bethink me," said the Switzer, "that England had lost her +possessions in France during many years of bloody internal wars +concerning the colour of a rose--was it not?--But these are ended." + +"For the present," answered Philipson, "it would seem so." + +As he spoke, there was a knock at the door; the master of the house +said, "Come in!" the door opened, and, with the reverence which was +expected from young persons towards their elders in those pastoral +regions, the fine form of Anne of Geierstein presented itself. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + And now the well-known bow the master bore, + Turn'd on all sides, and view'd it o'er and o'er; + Whilst some deriding, "How he turns the bow! + Some other like it sure the man must know: + Or else would copy--or in bows he deals; + Perhaps he makes them, or perhaps he steals." + POPE'S _Homer's Odyssey_. + + +The fair maiden approached with the half-bashful half-important look +which sits so well on a young housekeeper, when she is at once proud +and ashamed of the matronly duties she is called upon to discharge, +and whispered something in her uncle's ear. + +"And could not the idle-pated boys have brought their own errand--what +is it they want that they cannot ask themselves, but must send thee to +beg it for them? Had it been anything reasonable, I should have heard +it dinned into my ears by forty voices, so modest are our Swiss youths +become nowadays." She stooped forward, and again whispered in his ear, +as he fondly stroked her curling tresses with his ample hand, and +replied, "The bow of Buttisholz, my dear? Why, the youths surely are +not grown stronger since last year, when none of them could bend it? +But yonder it hangs with its three arrows. Who is the wise champion +that is challenger at a game where he is sure to be foiled?" + +"It is this gentleman's son, sir," said the maiden, "who, not being +able to contend with my cousins in running, leaping, hurling the bar, +or pitching the stone, has challenged them to ride, or to shoot with +the English long-bow." + +"To ride," said the venerable Swiss, "were difficult where there are +no horses, and no level ground to career upon if there were. But an +English bow he shall have, since we happen to possess one. Take it to +the young men, my niece, with the three arrows, and say to them from +me, that he who bends it will do more than William Tell, or the +renowned Stauffacher, could have done." + +As the maiden went to take the weapon from the place where it hung +amid the group of arms which Philipson had formerly remarked, the +English merchant observed, "that were the minstrels of his land to +assign her occupation, so fair a maiden should be bow-bearer to none +but the little blind god Cupid." + +"I will have nothing of the blind god Cupid," said Arnold, hastily, +yet half laughing at the same time; "we have been deafened with the +foolery of minstrels and strolling minnesingers, ever since the +wandering knaves have found there were pence to be gathered among us. +A Swiss maiden should only sing Albert Ischudi's ballads, or the merry +lay of the going out and return of the cows to and from the mountain +pastures." + +While he spoke, the damsel had selected from the arms a bow of +extraordinary strength, considerably above six feet in length, with +three shafts of a cloth-yard long. Philipson asked to look at the +weapons, and examined them closely. "It is a tough piece of yew," he +said. "I should know it, since I have dealt in such commodities in my +time; but when I was of Arthur's age, I could have bent it as easily +as a boy bends a willow." + +"We are too old to boast like boys," said Arnold Biederman, with +something of a reproving glance at his companion. "Carry the bow to +thy kinsmen, Anne, and let him who can bend it say he beat Arnold +Biederman." As he spoke, he turned his eyes on the spare yet muscular +figure of the Englishman, then again glanced down on his own stately +person. + +"You must remember, good my host," said Philipson, "that weapons are +wielded not by strength, but by art and sleight of hand. What most I +wonder at, is to see in this place a bow made by Matthew of Doncaster, +a bowyer who lived at least a hundred years ago, remarkable for the +great toughness and strength of the weapons which he made, and which +are now become somewhat unmanageable, even by an English yeoman." + +"How are you assured of the maker's name, worthy guest?" replied the +Swiss. + +"By old Matthew's mark," answered the Englishman, "and his initials +cut upon the bow. I wonder not a little to find such a weapon here, +and in such good preservation." + +"It has been regularly waxed, oiled, and kept in good order," said the +Landamman, "being preserved as a trophy of a memorable day. It would +but grieve you to recount its early history, since it was taken in a +day fatal to your country." + +"My country," said the Englishman, composedly, "has gained so many +victories, that her children may well afford to hear of a single +defeat. But I knew not that the English ever warred in Switzerland." + +"Not precisely as a nation," answered Biederman; "but it was in my +grandsire's days, that a large body of roving soldiers, composed of +men from almost all countries, but especially Englishmen, Normans, and +Gascons, poured down on the Argau, and the districts adjacent. They +were headed by a great warrior called Ingelram de Couci, who pretended +some claims upon the Duke of Austria; to satisfy which, he ravaged +indifferently the Austrian territory and that of our Confederacy. His +soldiers were hired warriors--Free Companions they called +themselves--that seemed to belong to no country, and were as brave in +the fight as they were cruel in their depredations. Some pause in the +constant wars betwixt France and England had deprived many of those +bands of their ordinary employment, and battle being their element, +they came to seek it among our valleys. The air seemed on fire with +the blaze of their armour, and the very sun was darkened at the flight +of their arrows. They did us much evil, and we sustained the loss of +more than one battle. But we met them at Buttisholz, and mingled the +blood of many a rider (noble, as they were called and esteemed) with +that of their horses. The huge mound that covers the bones of man and +steed is still called the English barrow." + +Philipson was silent for a minute or two, and then replied, "Then let +them sleep in peace. If they did wrong, they paid for it with their +lives; and that is all the ransom that mortal man can render for his +transgressions.--Heaven pardon their souls!" + +"Amen," replied the Landamman, "and those of all brave men!--My +grandsire was at the battle, and was held to have demeaned himself +like a good soldier; and this bow has been ever since carefully +preserved in our family. There is a prophecy about it, but I hold it +not worthy of remark." + +Philipson was about to inquire further, but was interrupted by a loud +cry of surprise and astonishment from without. + +"I must out," said Biederman, "and see what these wild lads are doing. +It is not now as formerly in this land, when the young dared not judge +for themselves, till the old man's voice had been heard." + +He went forth from the lodge, followed by his guest. The company who +had witnessed the games were all talking, shouting, and disputing in +the same breath; while Arthur Philipson stood a little apart from the +rest, leaning on the unbent bow with apparent indifference. At the +sight of the Landamman all were silent. + +"What means this unwonted clamour?" he said, raising a voice to which +all were accustomed to listen with reverence.--"Rudiger," addressing +the eldest of his sons, "has the young stranger bent the bow?" + +"He has, father," said Rudiger; "and he has hit the mark. Three such +shots were never shot by William Tell." + +"It was chance--pure chance," said the young Swiss from Berne. "No +human skill could have done it, much less a puny lad, baffled in all +besides that he attempted among us." + +"But what _has_ been done?" said the Landamman.--"Nay, speak not all +at once!--Anne of Geierstein, thou hast more sense and breeding than +these boys--tell me how the game has gone." + +The maiden seemed a little confused at this appeal, but answered with +a composed and downcast look-- + +"The mark was, as usual, a pigeon to a pole. All the young men, except +the stranger, had practised at it with the cross-bow and long-bow, +without hitting it. When I brought out the bow of Buttisholz, I +offered it first to my kinsmen. None would accept of it, saying, +respected uncle, that a task too great for you must be far too +difficult for them." + +"They said well," answered Arnold Biederman; "and the stranger, did he +string the bow?" + +"He did, my uncle, but first he wrote something on a piece of paper, +and placed it in my hands." + +"And did he shoot and hit the mark?" continued the surprised Switzer. + +"He first," said the maiden, "removed the pole a hundred yards farther +than the post where it stood." + +"Singular!" said the Landamman, "that is double the usual distance." + +"He then drew the bow," continued the maiden, "and shot off, one after +another, with incredible rapidity, the three arrows which he had stuck +into his belt. The first cleft the pole, the second cut the string, +the third killed the poor bird as it rose into the air." + +"By St. Mary of Einsiedlen," said the old man, looking up in amaze, +"if your eyes really saw this, they saw such archery as was never +before witnessed in the Forest States!" + +"I say nay to that, my revered kinsman," replied Rudolph Donnerhugel, +whose vexation was apparent; "it was mere chance, if not illusion or +witchery." + +"What say'st thou of it thyself, Arthur," said his father, half +smiling. "Was thy success by chance or skill?" + +"My father," said the young man, "I need not tell you that I have done +but an ordinary feat for an English bowman. Nor do I speak to gratify +that misproud and ignorant young man. But to our worthy host and his +family, I make answer. This youth charges me with having deluded men's +eyes, or hit the mark by chance. For illusion, yonder is the pierced +pole, the severed string, and the slain bird, they will endure sight +and handling; and, besides, if that fair maiden will open the note +which I put into her hand, she will find evidence to assure you, that +even before I drew the bow, I had fixed upon the three marks which I +designed to aim at." + +"Produce the scroll, good niece," said her uncle, "and end the +controversy." + +"Nay, under your favour, my worthy host," said Arthur, "it is but some +foolish rhymes addressed to the maiden's own eye." + +"And under your favour, sir," said the Landamman, "whatsoever is fit +for my niece's eyes may greet my ears." + +He took the scroll from the maiden, who blushed deeply when she +resigned it. The character in which it was written was so fine that +the Landamman in surprise exclaimed, "No clerk of St. Gall could have +written more fairly.--Strange," he again repeated, "that a hand which +could draw so true a bow, should have the cunning to form characters +so fair." He then exclaimed anew, "Ha! verses, by Our Lady! What, have +we minstrels disguised as traders?" He then opened the scroll, and +read the following lines:-- + + If I hit mast, and line, and bird, + An English archer keeps his word. + Ah! maiden, didst thou aim at me, + A single glance were worth the three. + +"Here is rare rhyming, my worthy guest," said the Landamman, shaking +his head; "fine words to make foolish maidens fain. But do not excuse +it; it is your country-fashion, and we know how to treat it as such." +And without further allusion to the concluding couplet, the reading of +which threw the poet as well as the object of the verses into some +discomposure, he added gravely, "You must now allow, Rudolph +Donnerhugel, that the stranger has fairly attained the three marks +which he proposed to himself." + +"That he has attained them is plain," answered the party to whom the +appeal was made; "but that he has done this fairly may be doubted, if +there are such things as witchery and magic in this world." + +"Shame, shame, Rudolph!" said the Landamman. "Can spleen and envy have +weight with so brave a man as you, from whom my sons ought to learn +temperance, forbearance, and candour, as well as manly courage and +dexterity?" + +The Bernese coloured high under this rebuke, to which he ventured not +to attempt a reply. + +"To your sports till sunset, my children," continued Arnold; "while I +and my worthy friend occupy our time with a walk, for which the +evening is now favourable." + +"Methinks," said the English merchant, "I should like to visit the +ruins of yonder castle, situated by the waterfall. There is something +of melancholy dignity in such a scene which reconciles us to the +misfortunes of our own time, by showing that our ancestors, who were +perhaps more intelligent or more powerful, have nevertheless, in their +days, encountered cares and distresses similar to those which we now +groan under." + +"Have with you, my worthy sir," replied his host; "there will be time +also upon the road to talk of things that you should know." + +The slow step of the two elderly men carried them by degrees from the +limits of the lawn, where shout and laugh and halloo were again +revived. Young Philipson, whose success as an archer had obliterated +all recollection of former failure, made other attempts to mingle in +the manly pastimes of the country, and gained a considerable portion +of applause. The young men, who had but lately been so ready to join +in ridiculing him, now began to consider him as a person to be looked +up and appealed to; while Rudolph Donnerhugel saw with resentment that +he was no longer without a rival in the opinion of his male cousins, +perhaps of his kinswoman also. The proud young Swiss reflected with +bitterness that he had fallen under the Landamman's displeasure, +declined in reputation with his companions, of whom he had been +hitherto the leader, and even hazarded a more mortifying +disappointment, all, as his swelling heart expressed it, through the +means of a stranger stripling, of neither blood nor fame, who could +not step from one rock to another without the encouragement of a girl. + +In this irritated mood, he drew near the young Englishman, and while +he seemed to address him on the chances of the sports which were still +proceeding, he conveyed, in a whisper, matter of a far different +tendency. Striking Arthur's shoulder with the frank bluntness of a +mountaineer, he said aloud: "Yonder bolt of Ernest whistled through +the air like a falcon when she stoops down the wind!" and then +proceeded in a deep low voice, "You merchants sell gloves--do you ever +deal in single gauntlets, or only in pairs?" + +"I _sell_ no single glove," said Arthur, instantly apprehending him, +and sufficiently disposed to resent the scornful looks of the Bernese +champion during the time of their meal, and his having but lately +imputed his successful shooting to chance or sorcery,--"I _sell_ no +single glove, sir, but never refuse to exchange one." + +"You are apt, I see," said Rudolph. "Look at the players while I +speak, or our purpose will be suspected.--You are quicker, I say, of +apprehension than I expected. If we exchange our gloves, how shall +each redeem his own?" + +"With our good swords," said Arthur Philipson. + +"In armour, or as we stand?" + +"Even as we stand," said Arthur. "I have no better garment of proof +than this doublet--no other weapon than my sword; and these, Sir +Switzer, I hold enough for the purpose.--Name time and place." + +"The old castle-court at Geierstein," replied Rudolph; "the time +sunrise;--but we are watched.--I have lost my wager, stranger," he +added, speaking aloud, and in an indifferent tone of voice, "since +Ulrick has made a cast beyond Ernest.--There is my glove, in token I +shall not forget the flask of wine." + +"And there is mine," said Arthur, "in token I will drink it with you +merrily." + +Thus, amid the peaceful though rough sports of their companions, did +these two hot-headed youths contrive to indulge their hostile +inclinations towards each other, by settling a meeting of deadly +purpose. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + I was one + Who loved the greenwood bank and lowing herd, + The russet prize, the lowly peasant's life, + Season'd with sweet content, more than the halls + Where revellers feast to fever-height. Believe me, + There ne'er was poison mix'd in maple bowl. + ANONYMOUS. + + +Leaving the young persons engaged with their sports, the Landamman of +Unterwalden and the elder Philipson walked on in company, conversing +chiefly on the political relations of France, England, and Burgundy, +until the conversation was changed as they entered the gate of the old +castle-yard of Geierstein, where arose the lonely and dismantled keep, +surrounded by the ruins of other buildings. + +"This has been a proud and a strong habitation in its time," said +Philipson. + +"They were a proud and powerful race who held it," replied the +Landamman. "The Counts of Geierstein have a history which runs back to +the times of the old Helvetians, and their deeds are reported to have +matched their antiquity. But all earthly grandeur has an end, and free +men tread the ruins of their feudal castle, at the most distant sight +of whose turrets serfs were formerly obliged to vail their bonnets, if +they would escape the chastisement of contumacious rebels." + +"I observe," said the merchant, "engraved on a stone under yonder +turret, the crest, I conceive, of the last family, a vulture perched +on a rock, descriptive, doubtless, of the word Geierstein." + +"It is the ancient cognisance of the family," replied Arnold +Biederman, "and, as you say, expresses the name of the castle, being +the same with that of the knights who so long held it." + +"I also remarked in your hall," continued the merchant, "a helmet +bearing the same crest or cognisance. It is, I suppose, a trophy of +the triumph of the Swiss peasants over the nobles of Geierstein, as +the English bow is preserved in remembrance of the battle of +Buttisholz?" + +"And you, fair sir," replied the Landamman, "would, I perceive, from +the prejudices of your education, regard the one victory with as +unpleasant feelings as the other?--Strange, that the veneration for +rank should be rooted even in the minds of those who have no claim to +share it! But clear up your downcast brows, my worthy guest, and be +assured, that though many a proud baron's castle, when Switzerland +threw off the bonds of feudal slavery, was plundered and destroyed by +the just vengeance of an incensed people, such was not the lot of +Geierstein. The blood of the old possessors of these towers still +flows in the veins of him by whom these lands are occupied." + +"What am I to understand by that, Sir Landamman?" said Philipson. "Are +not you yourself the occupant of this place?" + +"And you think, probably," answered Arnold, "because I live like the +other shepherds, wear homespun grey, and hold the plough with my own +hands, I cannot be descended from a line of ancient nobility? This +land holds many such gentle peasants, Sir Merchant; nor is there a +more ancient nobility than that of which the remains are to be found +in my native country. But they have voluntarily resigned the +oppressive part of their feudal power, and are no longer regarded as +wolves amongst the flock, but as sagacious mastiffs, who attend the +sheep in time of peace, and are prompt in their defence when war +threatens our community." + +"But," repeated the merchant, who could not yet reconcile himself to +the idea that his plain and peasant-seeming host was a man of +distinguished birth, "you bear not the name, worthy sir, of your +fathers--They were, you say, the Counts of Geierstein, and you +are"---- + +"Arnold Biederman, at your command," answered the magistrate. "But +know,--if the knowledge can make you sup with more sense of dignity or +comfort,--I need but put on yonder old helmet, or, if that were too +much trouble, I have only to stick a falcon's feather into my cap, and +call myself Arnold, Count of Geierstein. No man could gainsay +me--though whether it would become my Lord Count to drive his bullocks +to the pasture, and whether his Excellency the High and Well-born +could, without derogation, sow a field or reap it, are questions which +should be settled beforehand. I see you are confounded, my respected +guest, at my degeneracy; but the state of my family is very soon +explained. + +"My lordly fathers ruled this same domain of Geierstein, which in +their time was very extensive, much after the mode of feudal +barons--that is, they were sometimes the protectors and patrons, but +oftener the oppressors of their subjects. But when my grandfather, +Heinrich of Geierstein, flourished, he not only joined the +Confederates to repel Ingelram de Couci and his roving bands, as I +already told you, but, when the wars with Austria were renewed, and +many of his degree joined with the host of the Emperor Leopold, my +ancestor adopted the opposite side, fought in front of the +Confederates, and contributed by his skill and valour to the decisive +victory at Sempach, in which Leopold lost his life, and the flower of +Austrian chivalry fell around him. My father, Count Williewald, +followed the same course, both from inclination and policy. He united +himself closely with the state of Unterwalden, became a citizen of the +Confederacy, and distinguished himself so much that he was chosen +Landamman of the Republic. He had two sons,--myself, and a younger +brother, Albert; and possessed, as he felt himself, of a species of +double character, he was desirous, perhaps unwisely (if I may censure +the purpose of a deceased parent), that one of his sons should succeed +him in his Lordship of Geierstein, and the other support the less +ostentatious, though not in my thought less honourable condition, of a +free citizen of Unterwalden, possessing such influence among his +equals in the Canton as might be acquired by his father's merits and +his own. When Albert was twelve years old, our father took us on a +short excursion to Germany, where the form, pomp, and magnificence +which we witnessed made a very different impression on the mind of my +brother and on my own. What appeared to Albert the consummation of +earthly splendour seemed to me a weary display of tiresome and useless +ceremonials. Our father explained his purpose, and offered to me, as +his eldest son, the large estate belonging to Geierstein, reserving +such a portion of the most fertile ground as might make my brother one +of the wealthiest citizens, in a district where competence is esteemed +wealth. The tears gushed from Albert's eyes--'And must my brother,' he +said, 'be a noble Count, honoured and followed by vassals and +attendants, and I a homespun peasant among the grey-bearded shepherds +of Unterwalden?--No, father--I respect your will--but I will not +sacrifice my own rights. Geierstein is a fief held of the empire, and +the laws entitle me to my equal half of the lands. If my brother be +Count of Geierstein, I am not the less Count Albert of Geierstein; and +I will appeal to the Emperor, rather than that the arbitrary will of +one ancestor, though he be my father, shall cancel in me the rank and +rights which I have derived from a hundred.' My father was greatly +incensed. 'Go,' he said, 'proud boy, give the enemy of thy country a +pretext to interfere in her affairs--appeal to the will of a foreign +prince from the pleasure of thy father. Go, but never again look me in +the face, and dread my eternal malediction!' Albert was about to reply +with vehemence, when I entreated him to be silent and hear me speak. I +had, I said, all my life loved the mountain better than the plain; had +been more pleased to walk than to ride; more proud to contend with +shepherds in their sports than with nobles in the lists; and happier +in the village dance than among the feasts of the German nobles. 'Let +me, therefore,' I said, 'be a citizen of the republic of Unterwalden; +you will relieve me of a thousand cares; and let my brother Albert +wear the coronet and bear the honours of Geierstein.' After some +further discussion, my father was at length contented to adopt my +proposal, in order to attain the object which he had so much at heart. +Albert was declared heir of his castle and his rank, by the title of +Count Albert of Geierstein; and I was placed in possession of these +fields and fertile meadows amidst which my house is situated, and my +neighbours called me Arnold Biederman." + +"And if Biederman," said the merchant, "means, as I understand the +word, a man of worth, candour, and generosity, I know none on whom the +epithet could be so justly conferred. Yet let me observe, that I +praise the conduct which, in your circumstances, I could not have +bowed my spirit to practise. Proceed, I pray you, with the history of +your house, if the recital be not painful to you." + +"I have little more to say," replied the Landamman. "My father died +soon after the settlement of his estate in the manner I have told you. +My brother had other possessions in Swabia and Westphalia, and seldom +visited his paternal castle, which was chiefly occupied by a +seneschal, a man so obnoxious to the vassals of the family, that but +for the protection afforded by my near residence, and relationship +with his lord, he would have been plucked out of the Vulture's Nest, +and treated with as little ceremony as if he had been the vulture +himself. Neither, to say the truth, did my brother's occasional visits +to Geierstein afford his vassals much relief, or acquire any +popularity for himself. He heard with the ears and saw with the eyes +of his cruel and interested steward, Ital Schreckenwald, and would not +listen even to my interference and admonition. Indeed, though he +always demeaned himself with personal kindness towards me, I believe +he considered me as a dull and poor-spirited clown, who had disgraced +my noble blood by my mean propensities. He showed contempt on every +occasion for the prejudices of his countrymen, and particularly by +wearing a peacock's feather in public, and causing his followers to +display the same badge, though the cognisance of the House of Austria, +and so unpopular in this country, that men have been put to death for +no better reason than for carrying it in their caps. In the meantime I +was married to my Bertha, now a saint in heaven, by whom I had six +stately sons, five of whom you saw surrounding my table this day. +Albert also married. His wife was a lady of rank in Westphalia, but +his bridal-bed was less fruitful; he had only one daughter, Anne of +Geierstein. Then came on the wars between the city of Zurich and our +Forest Cantons, in which so much blood was shed, and when our brethren +of Zurich were so ill advised as to embrace the alliance of Austria. +Their Emperor strained every nerve to avail himself of the favourable +opportunity afforded by the disunion of the Swiss, and engaged all +with whom he had influence to second his efforts. With my brother he +was but too successful; for Albert not only took arms in the Emperor's +cause, but admitted into the strong fortress of Geierstein a band of +Austrian soldiers, with whom the wicked Ital Schreckenwald laid waste +the whole country, excepting my little patrimony." + +"It came to a severe pass with you, my worthy host," said the +merchant, "since you were to decide against the cause of your country +or that of your brother." + +"I did not hesitate," continued Arnold Biederman. "My brother was in +the Emperor's army, and I was not therefore reduced to act personally +against him; but I denounced war against the robbers and thieves with +whom Schreckenwald had filled my father's house. It was waged with +various fortune. The seneschal, during my absence, burnt down my +house, and slew my youngest son, who died, alas! in defence of his +father's hearth. It is little to add that my lands were wasted and my +flocks destroyed. On the other hand, I succeeded, with help of a body +of the peasants of Unterwalden, in storming the Castle of Geierstein. +It was offered back to me by the Confederates; but I had no desire to +sully the fair cause in which I had assumed arms, by enriching myself +at the expense of my brother; and besides, to have dwelt in that +guarded hold would have been a penance to one the sole protectors of +whose house of late years had been a latch and a shepherd's cur. The +castle was therefore dismantled, as you see, by order of the elders of +the Canton; and I even think that, considering the uses it was too +often put to, I look with more pleasure on the rugged remains of +Geierstein, than I ever did when it was entire, and apparently +impregnable." + +"I can understand your feelings," said the Englishman, "though I +repeat, my virtue would not perhaps have extended so far beyond the +circle of my family affections.--Your brother, what said he to your +patriotic exertions?" + +"He was, as I learnt," answered the Landamman, "dreadfully incensed, +having no doubt been informed that I had taken his castle with a view +to my own aggrandisement. He even swore he would renounce my kindred, +seek me through the battle, and slay me with his own hand. We were, in +fact, both at the battle of Freyenbach, but my brother was prevented +from attempting the execution of his vindictive purpose by a wound +from an arrow, which occasioned his being carried out of the mêlée. I +was afterwards in the bloody and melancholy fight at Mount-Herzel, and +that other onslaught at the Chapel of St. Jacob [_d_], which brought +our brethren of Zurich to terms, and reduced Austria once more to the +necessity of making peace with us. After this war of thirteen years, +the Diet passed sentence of banishment for life on my brother Albert, +and would have deprived him of his possessions, but forbore in +consideration of what they thought my good service. When the sentence +was intimated to the Count of Geierstein, he returned an answer of +defiance; yet a singular circumstance showed us not long afterwards +that he retained an attachment to his country, and amidst his +resentment against me, his brother, did justice to my unaltered +affection for him." + +"I would pledge my credit," said the merchant, "that what follows +relates to yonder fair maiden, your niece?" + +"You guess rightly," said the Landamman. "For some time we heard, +though indistinctly (for we have, as you know, but little +communication with foreign countries), that my brother was high in +favour at the court of the Emperor, but latterly that he had fallen +under suspicion, and, in the course of some of those revolutions +common at the courts of princes, had been driven into exile. It was +shortly after this news, and, as I think, more than seven years ago, +that I was returning from hunting on the farther side of the river, +had passed the narrow bridge as usual, and was walking through the +courtyard which we have lately left" (for their walk was now turned +homeward), "when a voice said, in the German language, 'Uncle, have +compassion upon me!' As I looked around, I beheld a girl of ten years +old approach timidly from the shelter of the ruins, and kneel down at +my feet. 'Uncle, spare my life,' she said, holding up her little hands +in the act of supplication, while mortal terror was painted upon her +countenance.--'Am I your uncle, little maiden?' said I; 'and if I am, +why should you fear me?'--'Because you are the head of the wicked and +base clowns who delight to spill noble blood,' replied the girl, with +a courage which surprised me.--'What is your name, my little maiden?' +said I; 'and who, having planted in your mind opinions so unfavourable +to your kinsman, has brought you hither, to see if he resembles the +picture you have received of him?'--'It was Ital Schreckenwald that +brought me hither,' said the girl, only half comprehending the nature +of my question.--'Ital Schreckenwald?' I repeated, shocked at the name +of a wretch I have so much reason to hate. A voice from the ruins, +like that of a sullen echo from the grave, answered, 'Ital +Schreckenwald!' and the caitiff issued from his place of concealment, +and stood before me, with that singular indifference to danger which +he unites to his atrocity of character. I had my spiked mountain-staff +in my hand--What should I have done--or what would you have done, +under like circumstances?" + +"I would have laid him on the earth, with his skull shivered like an +icicle!" said the Englishman, fiercely. + +"I had well-nigh done so," replied the Swiss, "but he was unarmed, a +messenger from my brother, and therefore no object of revenge. His own +undismayed and audacious conduct contributed to save him. 'Let the +vassal of the noble and high-born Count of Geierstein hear the words +of his master, and let him look that they are obeyed,' said the insolent +ruffian. 'Doff thy cap, and listen; for though the voice is mine, the +words are those of the noble Count.'--'God and man know,' replied I, +'if I owe my brother respect or homage--it is much if, in respect for +him, I defer paying to his messenger the meed I dearly owe him. +Proceed with thy tale, and rid me of thy hateful presence.'--'Albert +Count of Geierstein, thy lord and my lord,' proceeded Schreckenwald, +'having on his hand wars, and other affairs of weight, sends his +daughter, the Countess Anne, to thy charge, and graces thee so far as +to intrust to thee her support and nurture, until it shall suit his +purposes to require her back from thee; and he desires that thou apply +to her maintenance the rents and profits of the lands of Geierstein, +which thou hast usurped from him.'--'Ital Schreckenwald,' I replied, +'I will not stop to ask if this mode of addressing me be according to +my brother's directions, or thine own insolent pleasure. If +circumstances have, as thou sayest, deprived my niece of her natural +protector, I will be to her as a father, nor shall she want aught +which I have to give her. The lands of Geierstein are forfeited to the +state, the castle is ruinous, as thou seest, and it is much of thy +crimes that the house of my fathers is desolate. But where I dwell +Anne of Geierstein shall dwell, as my children fare shall she fare, +and she shall be to me as a daughter. And now thou hast thine +errand--Go hence, if thou lovest thy life; for it is unsafe parleying +with the father, when thy hands are stained with the blood of the +son.' The wretch retired as I spoke, but took his leave with his usual +determined insolence of manner.--'Farewell,' he said, 'Count of the +Plough and Harrow--farewell, noble companion of paltry burghers!' He +disappeared, and released me from the strong temptation under which I +laboured, and which urged me to stain with his blood the place which +had witnessed his cruelty and his crimes. I conveyed my niece to my +house, and soon convinced her that I was her sincere friend. I inured +her, as if she had been my daughter, to all our mountain exercises; +and while she excels in these the damsels of the district, there burst +from her such sparkles of sense and courage, mingled with delicacy, as +belong not--I must needs own the truth--to the simple maidens of these +wild hills, but relish of a nobler stem, and higher breeding. Yet they +are so happily mixed with simplicity and courtesy, that Anne of +Geierstein is justly considered as the pride of the district; nor do I +doubt but that, if she should make a worthy choice of a husband, the +state would assign her a large dower out of her father's possessions, +since it is not our maxim to punish the child for the faults of the +parent." + +"It will naturally be your anxious desire, my worthy host," replied +the Englishman, "to secure to your niece, in whose praises I have deep +cause to join with a grateful voice, such a suitable match as her +birth and expectations, but above all her merit, demand." + +"It is, my good guest," said the Landamman, "that which hath often +occupied my thoughts. The over-near relationship prohibits what would +have been my most earnest desire, the hope of seeing her wedded to one +of my own sons. This young man, Rudolph Donnerhugel, is brave, and +highly esteemed by his fellow-citizens; but more ambitious, and more +desirous of distinction, than I would desire for my niece's companion +through life. His temper is violent, though his heart, I trust, is +good. But I am like to be unpleasantly released from all care on this +score, since my brother, having, as it seemed, forgotten Anne for +seven years and upwards, has, by a letter which I have lately +received, demanded that she shall be restored to him.--You can read, +my worthy sir, for your profession requires it. See, here is the +scroll, coldly worded, but far less unkindly than his unbrotherly +message by Ital Schreckenwald--Read it, I pray you, aloud." + +The merchant read accordingly. + + "BROTHER--I thank you for the care you have taken of my + daughter, for she has been in safety when she would + otherwise have been in peril, and kindly used, when she + would have been in hardship. I now entreat you to restore + her to me, and trust that she will come with the virtues + which become a woman in every station, and a disposition + to lay aside the habits of a Swiss villager, for the + graces of a high-born maiden.--Adieu. I thank you once + more for your care, and would repay it were it in my + power; but you need nothing I can give, having renounced + the rank to which you were born, and made your nest on the + ground where the storm passes over you. I rest your + brother, + + "GEIERSTEIN." + +"It is addressed 'to Count Arnold of Geierstein, called Arnold +Biederman.' A postscript requires you to send the maiden to the court +of the Duke of Burgundy.--This, good sir, appears to me the language +of a haughty man, divided betwixt the recollection of old offence and +recent obligation. The speech of his messenger was that of a malicious +vassal, desirous of venting his own spite under pretence of doing his +lord's errand." + +"I so receive both," replied Arnold Biederman. + +"And do you intend," continued the merchant, "to resign this beautiful +and interesting creature to the conduct of her father, wilful as he +seems to be, without knowing what his condition is, or what his power +of protecting her?" + +The Landamman hastened to reply. "The tie which unites the parent to +the child is the earliest and the most hallowed that binds the human +race. The difficulty of her travelling in safety has hitherto +prevented my attempting to carry my brother's instructions into +execution. But as I am now likely to journey in person towards the +court of Charles, I have determined that Anne shall accompany me; and +as I will myself converse with my brother, whom I have not seen for +many years, I shall learn his purpose respecting his daughter, and it +may be I may prevail on Albert to suffer her to remain under my +charge.--And now, sir, having told you of my family affairs at some +greater length than was necessary, I must crave your attention, as a +wise man, to what further I have to say. You know the disposition +which young men and women naturally have to talk, jest, and sport with +each other, out of which practice arise often more serious +attachments, which they call loving _par amours_. I trust, if we are +to travel together, you will so school your young man as to make him +aware that Anne of Geierstein cannot, with propriety on her part, be +made the object of his thoughts or attentions." + +The merchant coloured with resentment, or something like it. "I asked +not to join your company, Sir Landamman--it was you who requested +mine," he said; "if my son and I have since become in any respect the +objects of your suspicion, we will gladly pursue our way separately." + +"Nay, be not angry, worthy guest," said the Landamman; "we Switzers do +not rashly harbour suspicions; and that we may not harbour them, we +speak, respecting the circumstances out of which they might arise, +more plainly than is the wont of more civilised countries. When I +proposed to you to be my companion on the journey, to speak the truth, +though it may displease a father's ear, I regarded your son as a soft, +faint-hearted youth, who was, as yet at least, too timid and +milky-blooded to attract either respect or regard from the maidens. +But a few hours have presented him to us in the character of such a +one as is sure to interest them. He has accomplished the emprise of +the bow, long thought unattainable, and with which a popular report +connects an idle prophecy. He has wit to make verses, and knows +doubtless how to recommend himself by other accomplishments which bind +young persons to each other, though they are lightly esteemed by men +whose beards are mixed with grey, like yours, friend merchant, and +mine own. Now, you must be aware, that since my brother broke terms +with me, simply for preferring the freedom of a Swiss citizen to the +tawdry and servile condition of a German courtier, he will not approve +of any one looking towards his daughter who hath not the advantage of +noble blood, or who hath, what he would call, debased himself by +attention to merchandise, to the cultivation of land--in a word, to +any art that is useful. Should your son love Anne of Geierstein, he +prepares for himself danger and disappointment. And, now you know the +whole,--I ask you, Do we travel together or apart?" + +"Even as ye list, my worthy host," said Philipson, in an indifferent +tone; "for me, I can but say that such an attachment as you speak of +would be as contrary to my wishes as to those of your brother, or what +I suppose are your own. Arthur Philipson has duties to perform totally +inconsistent with his playing the gentle bachelor to any maiden in +Switzerland, take Germany to boot, whether of high or low degree. He +is an obedient son, besides--hath never seriously disobeyed my +commands, and I will have an eye upon his motions." + +"Enough, my friend," said the Landamman; "we travel together, then, +and I willingly keep my original purpose, being both pleased and +instructed by your discourse." + +Then changing the conversation, he began to ask whether his +acquaintance thought that the league entered into by the King of +England and the Duke of Burgundy would continue stable. "We hear +much," continued the Swiss, "of the immense army with which King +Edward proposes the recovery of the English dominions in France." + +"I am well aware," said Philipson, "that nothing can be so popular in +my country as the invasion of France, and the attempt to reconquer +Normandy, Maine, and Gascony, the ancient appanages of our English +crown. But I greatly doubt whether the voluptuous usurper, who now +calls himself king, will be graced by Heaven with success in such an +adventure. This Fourth Edward is brave indeed, and has gained every +battle in which he drew his sword, and they have been many in number. +But since he reached, through a bloody path, to the summit of his +ambition, he has shown himself rather a sensual debauchee than a +valiant knight; and it is my firm belief, that not even the chance of +recovering all the fair dominions which were lost during the civil +wars excited by his ambitious house will tempt him to exchange the +soft beds of London, with sheets of silk and pillows of down, and the +music of a dying lute to lull him to rest, for the turf of France and +the réveille of an alarm trumpet." + +"It is the better for us should it prove so," said the Landamman; "for +if England and Burgundy were to dismember France, as in our father's +days was nearly accomplished, Duke Charles would then have leisure to +exhaust his long-hoarded vengeance against our Confederacy." + +As they conversed thus, they attained once more the lawn in front of +Arnold Biederman's mansion, where the contention of the young men had +given place to the dance performed by the young persons of both sexes. +The dance was led by Anne of Geierstein and the youthful stranger; +which, although it was the most natural arrangement, where the one was +a guest, and the other represented the mistress of the family, +occasioned the Landamman's exchanging a glance with the elder +Philipson, as if it had held some relation to the suspicions he had +recently expressed. + +But so soon as her uncle and his elder guest appeared, Anne of +Geierstein took the earliest opportunity of a pause to break off the +dance, and to enter into conversation with her kinsman, as if on the +domestic affairs under her attendance. Philipson observed that his +host listened seriously to his niece's communication; and, nodding in +his frank manner, seemed to intimate that her request should receive a +favourable consideration. + +The family were presently afterwards summoned to attend the evening +meal, which consisted chiefly of the excellent fish afforded by the +neighbouring streams and lakes. A large cup, containing what was +called the _schlaf-trunk_, or sleeping-drink, then went round, which +was first quaffed by the master of the household, then modestly tasted +by the maiden, next pledged by the two strangers, and finally emptied +by the rest of the company. Such were then the sober manners of the +Swiss, afterwards much corrupted by their intercourse with more +luxurious regions. The guests were conducted to the sleeping-apartments, +where Philipson and young Arthur occupied the same couch, and shortly +after the whole inhabitants of the household were locked in sound +repose. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + When we two meet, we meet like rushing torrents; + Like warring winds, like flames from various points, + That mate each other's fury--there is naught + Of elemental strife, were fiends to guide it, + Can match the wrath of man. + FRENAUD. + + +The elder of our two travellers, though a strong man and familiar with +fatigue, slept sounder and longer than usual on the morning which was +now beginning to dawn, but his son Arthur had that upon his mind which +early interrupted his repose. + +The encounter with the bold Switzer, a chosen man of a renowned race +of warriors, was an engagement which, in the opinion of the period in +which he lived, was not to be delayed or broken. He left his father's +side, avoiding as much as possible the risk of disturbing him, though +even in that case the circumstance would not have excited any +attention, as he was in the habit of rising early, in order to make +preparations for the day's journey, to see that the guide was on his +duty, and that the mule had his provender, and to discharge similar +offices which might otherwise have given trouble to his father. The +old man, however, fatigued with the exertions of the preceding day, +slept, as we have said, more soundly than his wont, and Arthur, arming +himself with his good sword, sallied out to the lawn in front of the +Landamman's dwelling, amid the magic dawn of a beautiful harvest +morning in the Swiss mountains. + +The sun was just about to kiss the top of the most gigantic of that +race of Titans, though the long shadows still lay on the rough grass, +which crisped under the young man's feet with a strong intimation of +frost. But Arthur looked not round on the landscape, however lovely, +which lay waiting one flash from the orb of day to start into +brilliant existence. He drew the belt of his trusty sword which he was +in the act of fastening when he left the house, and ere he had secured +the buckle he was many paces on his way towards the place where he was +to use it. + +It was still the custom of that military period to regard a summons to +combat as a sacred engagement, preferable to all others which could be +formed; and stifling whatever inward feelings of reluctance Nature +might oppose to the dictates of fashion, the step of a gallant to the +place of encounter was required to be as free and ready as if he had +been going to a bridal. I do not know whether this alacrity was +altogether real on the part of Arthur Philipson; but, if it were +otherwise, neither his look nor pace betrayed the secret. + +Having hastily traversed the fields and groves which separated the +Landamman's residence from the old castle of Geierstein, he entered +the courtyard from the side where the castle overlooked the land; and +nearly in the same instant his almost gigantic antagonist, who looked +yet more tall and burly by the pale morning light than he had seemed +the preceding evening, appeared ascending from the precarious bridge +beside the torrent, having reached Geierstein by a different route +from that pursued by the Englishman. + +The young champion of Berne had hanging along his back one of those +huge two-handed swords, the blade of which measured five feet, and +which were wielded with both hands. These were almost universally used +by the Swiss; for, besides the impression which such weapons were +calculated to make upon the array of the German men-at-arms, whose +armour was impenetrable to lighter swords, they were also well +calculated to defend mountain passes, where the great bodily strength +and agility of those who bore them enabled the combatants, in spite of +their weight and length, to use them with much address and effect. One +of these gigantic swords hung round Rudolph Donnerhugel's neck, the +point rattling against his heel, and the handle extending itself over +his left shoulder, considerably above his head. He carried another in +his hand. + +"Thou art punctual," he called out to Arthur Philipson, in a voice +which was distinctly heard above the roar of the waterfall, which it +seemed to rival in sullen force. "But I judged thou wouldst come +without a two-handed sword. There is my kinsman Ernest's," he said, +throwing on the ground the weapon which he carried, with the hilt +towards the young Englishman. "Look, stranger, that thou disgrace it +not, for my kinsman will never forgive me if thou dost. Or thou mayst +have mine if thou likest it better." + +The Englishman looked at the weapon with some surprise, to the use of +which he was totally unaccustomed. + +"The challenger," he said, "in all countries where honour is known, +accepts the arms of the challenged." + +"He who fights on a Swiss mountain, fights with a Swiss brand," +answered Rudolph. "Think you our hands are made to handle penknives?" + +"Nor are ours made to wield scythes," said Arthur; and muttered +betwixt his teeth, as he looked at the sword, which the Swiss +continued to offer him--"_Usum non habeo_ [_e_], I have not proved the +weapon." + +"Do you repent the bargain you have made?" said the Swiss; "if so, cry +craven, and return in safety. Speak plainly, instead of prattling +Latin like a clerk or a shaven monk." + +"No, proud man," replied the Englishman, "I ask thee no forbearance. I +thought but of a combat between a shepherd and a giant, in which God +gave the victory to him who had worse odds of weapons than falls to my +lot to-day. I will fight as I stand; my own good sword shall serve my +need now, as it has done before." + +"Content!--But blame not me who offered thee equality of weapons," +said the mountaineer. "And now hear me. This is a fight for life or +death--yon waterfall sounds the alarum for our conflict.--Yes, old +bellower," he continued, looking back, "it is long since thou hast +heard the noise of battle;--and look at it ere we begin, stranger, for +if you fall, I will commit your body to its waters." + +"And if thou fall'st, proud Swiss," answered Arthur, "as well I trust +thy presumption leads to destruction, I will have thee buried in the +church at Einsiedlen, where the priests shall sing masses for thy +soul--thy two-handed sword shall be displayed above thy grave, and a +scroll shall tell the passenger, Here lies a bear's cub of Berne, +slain by Arthur the Englishman." + +"The stone is not in Switzerland, rocky as it is," said Rudolph, +scornfully, "that shall bear that inscription. Prepare thyself for +battle." + +The Englishman cast a calm and deliberate glance around the scene of +action--a courtyard, partly open, partly encumbered with ruins, in +less and larger masses. + +"Methinks," said he to himself, "a master of his weapon, with the +instructions of Bottaferma of Florence in his remembrance, a light +heart, a good blade, a firm hand, and a just cause, might make up a +worse odds than two feet of steel." + +Thinking thus, and imprinting on his mind, as much as the time would +permit, every circumstance of the locality around him which promised +advantage in the combat, and taking his station in the middle of the +courtyard where the ground was entirely clear, he flung his cloak from +him, and drew his sword. + +Rudolph had at first believed that his foreign antagonist was an +effeminate youth, who would be swept from before him at the first +flourish of his tremendous weapon. But the firm and watchful attitude +assumed by the young man reminded the Swiss of the deficiencies of his +own unwieldy implement, and made him determine to avoid any +precipitation which might give advantage to an enemy who seemed both +daring and vigilant. He unsheathed his huge sword, by drawing it over +the left shoulder, an operation which required some little time, and +might have offered formidable advantage to his antagonist, had +Arthur's sense of honour permitted him to begin the attack ere it was +completed. The Englishman remained firm, however, until the Swiss, +displaying his bright brand to the morning sun, made three or four +flourishes as if to prove its weight, and the facility with which he +wielded it--then stood firm within sword-stroke of his adversary, +grasping his weapon with both hands, and advancing it a little before +his body, with the blade pointed straight upwards. The Englishman, on +the contrary, carried his sword in one hand, holding it across his +face in a horizontal position, so as to be at once ready to strike, +thrust, or parry. + +"Strike, Englishman!" said the Switzer, after they had confronted each +other in this manner for about a minute. + +"The longest sword should strike first," said Arthur; and the words +had not left his mouth when the Swiss sword rose, and descended with a +rapidity which, the weight and size of the weapon considered, appeared +portentous. No parry, however dexterously interposed, could have +baffled the ruinous descent of that dreadful weapon, by which the +champion of Berne had hoped at once to begin the battle and end it. +But young Philipson had not over-estimated the justice of his own eye, +or the activity of his limbs. Ere the blade descended, a sudden spring +to one side carried him from beneath its heavy sway, and before the +Swiss could again raise his sword aloft he received a wound, though a +slight one, upon the left arm. Irritated at the failure and at the +wound, the Switzer heaved up his sword once more, and availing himself +of a strength corresponding to his size, he discharged towards his +adversary a succession of blows, downright, athwart, horizontal, and +from left to right, with such surprising strength and velocity, that +it required all the address of the young Englishman, by parrying, +shifting, eluding, or retreating, to evade a storm of which every +individual blow seemed sufficient to cleave a solid rock. The +Englishman was compelled to give ground, now backwards, now swerving +to the one side or the other, now availing himself of the fragments of +the ruins, but watching all the while, with the utmost composure, the +moment when the strength of his enraged enemy might become somewhat +exhausted, or when by some improvident or furious blow he might again +lay himself open to a close attack. The latter of these advantages had +nearly occurred, for in the middle of his headlong charge the Switzer +stumbled over a large stone concealed among the long grass, and ere he +could recover himself received a severe blow across the head from his +antagonist. It lighted upon his bonnet, the lining of which enclosed a +small steel cap, so that he escaped unwounded, and springing up, +renewed the battle with unabated fury, though it seemed to the young +Englishman with breath somewhat short, and blows dealt with more +caution. + +They were still contending with equal fortune, when a stern voice, +rising over the clash of swords, as well as the roar of waters, called +out in a commanding tone, "On your lives, forbear!" + +The two combatants sank the points of their swords, not very sorry +perhaps for the interruption of a strife which must otherwise have had +a deadly termination. They looked round, and the Landamman stood +before them, with anger frowning on his broad and expressive forehead. + +"How now, boys?" he said. "Are you guests of Arnold Biederman, and do +you dishonour his house by acts of violence more becoming the wolves +of the mountains, than beings to whom the great Creator has given a +form after His own likeness, and an immortal soul to be saved by +penance and repentance?" + +"Arthur," said the elder Philipson, who had come up at the same time +with their host, "what frenzy is this? Are your duties of so light and +heedless a nature, as to give time and place for quarrels and combats +with every idle boor who chances to be boastful at once and +bull-headed?" + +The young men, whose strife had ceased at the entrance of these +unexpected spectators, stood looking at each other, and resting on +their swords. + +"Rudolph Donnerhugel," said the Landamman, "give thy sword to me--to +me, the owner of this ground, the master of this family, and +magistrate of the canton." + +"And which is more," answered Rudolph, submissively, "to you who are +Arnold Biederman, at whose command every native of these mountains +draws his sword or sheathes it." + +He gave his two-handed sword to the Landamman. + +"Now, by my honest word," said Biederman, "it is the same with which +thy father Stephen fought so gloriously at Sempach, abreast with the +famous De Winkelried! Shame it is, that it should be drawn on a +helpless stranger.--And you, young sir," continued the Swiss, +addressing Arthur, while his father said at the same time, "Young man, +yield up your sword to the Landamman." + +"It shall not need, sir," replied the young Englishman, "since, for my +part, I hold our strife at an end. This gallant gentleman called me +hither, on a trial, as I conceive, of courage: I can give my +unqualified testimony to his gallantry and swordmanship; and as I +trust he will say nothing to the shame of my manhood, I think our +strife has lasted long enough for the purpose which gave rise to it." + +"Too long for me," said Rudolph, frankly; "the green sleeve of my +doublet, which I wore of that colour out of my love to the Forest +Cantons, is now stained into as dirty a crimson as could have been +done by any dyer in Ypres or Ghent. But I heartily forgive the brave +stranger who has spoiled my jerkin, and given its master a lesson he +will not soon forget. Had all Englishmen been like your guest, worthy +kinsman, methinks the mound at Buttisholz had hardly risen so high." + +"Cousin Rudolph," said the Landamman, smoothing his brow as his +kinsman spoke, "I have ever thought thee as generous as thou art +harebrained and quarrelsome; and you, my young guest, may rely, that +when a Swiss says the quarrel is over, there is no chance of its being +renewed. We are not like the men of the valleys to the eastward, who +nurse revenge as if it were a favourite child. And now, join hands, my +children, and let us forget this foolish feud." + +"Here is my hand, brave stranger," said Donnerhugel; "thou hast taught +me a trick of fence, and when we have broken our fast we will, by your +leave, to the forest, where I will teach you a trick of woodcraft in +return. When your foot hath half the experience of your hand, and your +eye hath gained a portion of the steadiness of your heart, you will +not find many hunters to match you." + +Arthur, with all the ready confidence of youth, readily embraced a +proposition so frankly made, and before they reached the house various +subjects of sport were eagerly discussed between them, with as much +cordiality as if no disturbance of their concord had taken place. + +"Now this," said the Landamman, "is as it should be. I am ever ready +to forgive the headlong impetuosity of our youth, if they will be but +manly and open in their reconciliation, and bear their heart on their +tongue, as a true Swiss should." + +"These two youths had made but wild work of it, however," said +Philipson, "had not your care, my worthy host, learned of their +rendezvous, and called me to assist in breaking their purpose. May I +ask how it came to your knowledge so opportunely?" + +"It was e'en through means of my domestic fairy," answered Arnold +Biederman, "who seems born for the good luck of my family,--I mean my +niece, Anne, who had observed a glove exchanged betwixt the two young +braggadocios, and heard them mention Geierstein and break of day. Oh, +sir, it is much to see a woman's sharpness of wit! It would have been +long enough ere any of my thick-headed sons had shown themselves so +apprehensive." + +"I think I see our propitious protectress peeping at us from yonder +high ground," said Philipson; "but it seems as if she would willingly +observe us without being seen in return." + +"Ay," said the Landamman, "she has been looking out to see that there +has been no hurt done; and now, I warrant me, the foolish girl is +ashamed of having shown such a laudable degree of interest in a matter +of the kind." + +"Methinks," said the Englishman, "I would willingly return my thanks, +in your presence, to the fair maiden to whom I have been so highly +indebted." + +"There can be no better time than the present," said the Landamman; +and he sent through the groves the maiden's name, in one of those +shrilly accented tones which we have already noticed. + +Anne of Geierstein, as Philipson had before observed, was stationed +upon a knoll at some distance, and concealed, as she thought, from +notice, by a screen of brushwood. She started at her uncle's summons, +therefore, but presently obeyed it; and avoiding the young men, who +passed on foremost, she joined the Landamman and Philipson, by a +circuitous path through the woods. + +"My worthy friend and guest would speak with you, Anne," said the +Landamman, so soon as the morning greeting had been exchanged. The +Swiss maiden coloured over brow as well as cheek, when Philipson, with +a grace which seemed beyond his calling, addressed her in these +words:-- + +"It happens sometimes to us merchants, my fair young friend, that we +are unlucky enough not to possess means for the instant defraying of +our debts; but he is justly held amongst us as the meanest of mankind +who does not acknowledge them. Accept, therefore, the thanks of a +father, whose son your courage, only yesterday, saved from +destruction, and whom your prudence has, this very morning, rescued +from a great danger. And grieve me not, by refusing to wear these +earrings," he added, producing a small jewel-case, which he opened as +he spoke: "they are, it is true, only of pearls, but they have not +been thought unworthy the ears of a countess"---- + +"And must, therefore," said the old Landamman, "show misplaced on the +person of a Swiss maiden of Unterwalden; for such and no more is my +niece Anne while she resides in my solitude. Methinks, good Master +Philipson, you display less than your usual judgment in matching the +quality of your gifts with the rank of her on whom they are +bestowed--as a merchant, too, you should remember that large guerdons +will lighten your gains." + +"Let me crave your pardon, my good host," answered the Englishman, +"while I reply, that at least I have consulted my own sense of the +obligation under which I labour, and have chosen, out of what I have +at my free disposal, that which I thought might best express it. I +trust the host whom I have found hitherto so kind will not prevent +this young maiden from accepting what is at least not unbecoming the +rank she is born to; and you will judge me unjustly if you think me +capable of doing either myself or you the wrong, of offering any token +of a value beyond what I can well spare." + +The Landamman took the jewel-case into his own hand. + +"I have ever set my countenance," he said, "against gaudy gems, which +are leading us daily further astray from the simplicity of our fathers +and mothers.--And yet," he added, with a good-humoured smile, and +holding one of the earrings close to his relation's face, "the +ornaments do set off the wench rarely, and they say girls have more +pleasure in wearing such toys than grey-haired men can comprehend. +Wherefore, dear Anne, as thou hast deserved a dearer trust in a +greater matter, I refer thee entirely to thine own wisdom, to accept +of our good friend's costly present, and wear it or not as thou +thinkest fit." + +"Since such is your pleasure, my best friend and kinsman," said the +young maiden, blushing as she spoke, "I will not give pain to our +valued guest, by refusing what he desires so earnestly that I should +accept; but, by his leave, good uncle, and yours, I will bestow these +splendid earrings on the shrine of Our Lady of Einsiedlen, to express +our general gratitude to her protecting favour, which has been around +us in the terrors of yesterday's storm, and the alarms of this +morning's discord." + +"By Our Lady, the wench speaks sensibly!" said the Landamman; "and her +wisdom has applied the bounty well, my good guest, to bespeak prayers +for thy family and mine, and for the general peace of Unterwalden.--Go +to, Anne, thou shalt have a necklace of jet at next shearing-feast, if +our fleeces bear any price in the market." + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + Let him who will not proffer'd peace receive, + Be sated with the plagues which war can give; + And well thy hatred of the peace is known, + If now thy soul reject the friendship shown. + HOOLE'S _Tasso_. + + +The confidence betwixt the Landamman and the English merchant appeared +to increase during the course of a few busy days, which occurred +before that appointed for the commencement of their journey to the +court of Charles of Burgundy. The state of Europe, and of the +Helvetian Confederacy, has been already alluded to; but, for the +distinct explanation of our story, may be here briefly recapitulated. + +In the interval of a week, whilst the English travellers remained at +Geierstein, meetings or diets were held, as well of the City Cantons +of the Confederacy as of those of the Forest. The former, aggrieved by +the taxes imposed on their commerce by the Duke of Burgundy, rendered +yet more intolerable by the violence of the agents whom he employed in +such oppression, were eager for war, in which they had hitherto +uniformly found victory and wealth. Many of them were also privately +instigated to arms by the largesses of Louis XI., who spared neither +intrigues nor gold to effect a breach betwixt these dauntless +confederates and his formidable enemy, Charles the Bold. + +On the other hand, there were many reasons which appeared to render it +impolitic for the Switzers to engage in war with one of the most +wealthy, most obstinate, and most powerful princes in Europe--for such +unquestionably was Charles of Burgundy--without the existence of some +strong reason affecting their own honour and independence. Every day +brought fresh intelligence from the interior that Edward the Fourth of +England had entered into a strict and intimate alliance, offensive and +defensive, with the Duke of Burgundy, and that it was the purpose of +the English King, renowned for his numerous victories over the rival +House of Lancaster, by which, after various reverses, he had obtained +undisputed possession of the throne, to reassert his claims to those +provinces of France so long held by his ancestors. It seemed as if +this alone were wanting to his fame, and that, having subdued his +internal enemies, he now turned his eyes to the regaining of those +rich and valuable foreign possessions which had been lost during the +administration of the feeble Henry VI. and the civil discords so +dreadfully prosecuted in the wars of the White and Red Roses. It was +universally known, that throughout England generally the loss of the +French provinces was felt as a national degradation; and that not only +the nobility, who had in consequence been deprived of the large fiefs +which they had held in Normandy, Gascony, Maine, and Anjou, but the +warlike gentry, accustomed to gain both fame and wealth at the expense +of France, and the fiery yeomanry, whose bows had decided so many +fatal battles, were as eager to renew the conflict, as their ancestors +of Cressy, Poitiers, and Agincourt had been to follow their sovereign +to the fields of victory, on which their deeds had conferred deathless +renown. + +The latest and most authentic intelligence bore, that the King of +England was on the point of passing to France in person (an invasion +rendered easy by his possession of Calais), with an army superior in +numbers and discipline to any with which an English monarch had ever +before entered that kingdom; that all the hostile preparations were +completed, and that the arrival of Edward might instantly be expected; +whilst the powerful co-operation of the Duke of Burgundy, and the +assistance of numerous disaffected French noblemen in the provinces +which had been so long under the English dominion, threatened a +fearful issue of the war to Louis XI., sagacious, wise, and powerful +as that prince unquestionably was. + +It would no doubt have been the wisest policy of Charles of Burgundy, +when thus engaging in an alliance against his most formidable +neighbour, and hereditary as well as personal enemy, to have avoided +all cause of quarrel with the Helvetian Confederacy, a poor but most +warlike people, who already had been taught by repeated successes to +feel that their hardy infantry could, if necessary, engage on terms of +equality, or even of advantage, the flower of that chivalry which had +hitherto been considered as forming the strength of European battle. +But the measures of Charles, whom fortune had opposed to the most +astucious and politic monarch of his time, were always dictated by +passionate feeling and impulse, rather than by a judicious +consideration of the circumstances in which he stood. Haughty, proud, +and uncompromising, though neither destitute of honour nor +generosity, he despised and hated what he termed the paltry +associations of herdsmen and shepherds, united with a few towns which +subsisted chiefly by commerce; and instead of courting the Helvetian +Cantons, like his crafty enemy, or at least affording them no +ostensible pretence of quarrel, he omitted no opportunity of showing +the disregard and contempt in which he held their upstart consequence, +and of evincing the secret longing which he entertained to take +vengeance upon them for the quantity of noble blood which they had +shed, and to compensate the repeated successes they had gained over +the feudal lords, of whom he imagined himself the destined avenger. + +The Duke of Burgundy's possessions in the Alsatian territory [_f_] +afforded him many opportunities for wreaking his displeasure upon the +Swiss League. The little castle and town of Ferette, lying within ten +or eleven miles of Bâle, served as a thoroughfare to the traffic of +Berne and Soleure, the two principal towns of the confederation. In +this place the Duke posted a governor, or seneschal, who was also an +administrator of the revenue, and seemed born on purpose to be the +plague and scourge of his republican neighbours. + +Archibald von Hagenbach was a German noble, whose possessions lay in +Suabia, and was universally esteemed one of the fiercest and most +lawless of that frontier nobility known by the name of Robber-knights +and Robber-counts. These dignitaries, because they held their fiefs of +the Holy Roman Empire, claimed as complete sovereignty within their +territories of a mile square as any reigning prince of Germany in his +more extended dominions. They levied tolls and taxes on strangers, +and imprisoned, tried, and executed those who, as they alleged, had +committed offences within their petty domains. But especially, and in +further exercise of their seignorial privileges, they made war on each +other, and on the Free Cities of the Empire, attacking and plundering +without mercy the caravans, or large trains of wagons, by which the +internal commerce of Germany was carried on. + +A succession of injuries done and received by Archibald of Hagenbach, +who had been one of the fiercest sticklers for this privilege of +_faustrecht_, or club-law, as it may be termed, had ended in his being +obliged, though somewhat advanced in life, to leave a country where +his tenure of existence was become extremely precarious, and to engage +in the service of the Duke of Burgundy, who willingly employed him, as +he was a man of high descent and proved valour, and not the less, +perhaps, that he was sure to find in a man of Hagenbach's fierce, +rapacious, and haughty disposition, the unscrupulous executioner of +whatsoever severities it might be his master's pleasure to enjoin. + +The traders of Berne and Soleure, accordingly, made loud and violent +complaints of Hagenbach's exactions. The impositions laid on +commodities which passed through his district of La Ferette, to +whatever place they might be ultimately bound, were arbitrarily +increased, and the merchants and traders who hesitated to make instant +payment of what was demanded were exposed to imprisonment and personal +punishment. The commercial towns of Germany appealed to the Duke +against this iniquitous conduct on the part of the Governor of La +Ferette, and requested of his Grace's goodness that he would withdraw +Von Hagenbach from their neighbourhood; but the Duke treated their +complaints with contempt. The Swiss League carried their remonstrances +higher, and required that justice should be done on the Governor of La +Ferette, as having offended against the law of nations; but they were +equally unable to attract attention or obtain redress. + +At length the Diet of the Confederation determined to send the solemn +deputation which has been repeatedly mentioned. One or two of these +envoys joined with the calm and prudent Arnold Biederman, in the hope +that so solemn a measure might open the eyes of the Duke to the wicked +injustice of his representative; others among the deputies, having no +such peaceful views, were determined, by this resolute remonstrance, +to pave the way for hostilities. + +Arnold Biederman was an especial advocate for peace, while its +preservation was compatible with national independence, and the honour +of the Confederacy; but the younger Philipson soon discovered that the +Landamman alone, of all his family, cherished these moderate views. +The opinion of his sons had been swayed and seduced by the impetuous +eloquence and overbearing influence of Rudolph of Donnerhugel, who, by +some feats of peculiar gallantry, and the consideration due to the +merit of his ancestors, had acquired an influence in the councils of +his native canton, and with the youth of the League in general, beyond +what was usually yielded by these wise republicans to men of his early +age. Arthur, who was now an acceptable and welcome companion of all +their hunting parties and other sports, heard nothing among the young +men but anticipations of war, rendered delightful by the hopes of +booty and of distinction, which were to be obtained by the Switzers. +The feats of their ancestors against the Germans had been so wonderful +as to realise the fabulous victories of romance; and while the present +race possessed the same hardy limbs, and the same inflexible courage, +they eagerly anticipated the same distinguished success. When the +Governor of La Ferette was mentioned in the conversation, he was +usually spoken of as the bandog of Burgundy, or the Alsatian mastiff; +and intimations were openly given, that if his course were not +instantly checked by his master, and he himself withdrawn from the +frontiers of Switzerland, Archibald of Hagenbach would find his +fortress no protection from the awakened indignation of the wronged +inhabitants of Soleure, and particularly of those of Berne. + +This general disposition to war among the young Switzers was reported +to the elder Philipson by his son, and led him at one time to hesitate +whether he ought not rather to resume all the inconveniences and +dangers of a journey, accompanied only by Arthur, than run the risk of +the quarrels in which he might be involved by the unruly conduct of +these fierce mountain youths, after they should have left their own +frontiers. Such an event would have had, in a peculiar degree, the +effect of destroying every purpose of his journey; but respected as +Arnold Biederman was by his family and countrymen, the English +merchant concluded, upon the whole, that his influence would be able +to restrain his companions until the great question of peace or war +should be determined, and especially until they should have discharged +their commission by obtaining an audience of the Duke of Burgundy; and +after this he should be separated from their society, and not liable +to be engaged in any responsibility for their ulterior measures. + +After a delay of about ten days, the deputation commissioned to +remonstrate with the Duke on the aggressions and exactions of +Archibald of Hagenbach at length assembled at Geierstein, whence the +members were to journey forth together. They were three in number, +besides the young Bernese, and the Landamman of Unterwalden. One was, +like Arnold, a proprietor from the Forest Cantons, wearing a dress +scarcely handsomer than that of a common herdsman, but distinguished +by the beauty and size of his long silvery beard. His name was +Nicholas Bonstetten. Melchior Sturmthal, banner-bearer of Berne, a man +of middle age, and a soldier of distinguished courage, with Adam +Zimmerman, a burgess of Soleure, who was considerably older, completed +the number of the envoys. + +Each was dressed after his best fashion; but notwithstanding that the +severe eye of Arnold Biederman censured one or two silver +belt-buckles, as well as a chain of the same metal, which decorated +the portly person of the burgess of Soleure, it seemed that a powerful +and victorious people, for such the Swiss were now to be esteemed, +were never represented by an embassy of such patriarchal simplicity. +The deputies travelled on foot, with their piked staves in their +hands, like pilgrims bound for some place of devotion. Two mules, +which bore their little stock of baggage, were led by young lads, sons +or cousins of members of the embassy, who had obtained permission in +this manner to get such a glance of the world beyond the mountains as +this journey promised to afford. + +But although their retinue was small, so far as respected either state +or personal attendance and accommodation, the dangerous circumstances +of the times, and the very unsettled state of the country beyond their +own territories, did not permit men charged with affairs of such +importance to travel without a guard. Even the danger arising from the +wolves, which, when pinched by the approach of winter, have been known +to descend from their mountain fastnesses into open villages, such as +those the travellers might choose to quarter in, rendered the presence +of some escort necessary; and the bands of deserters from various +services, who formed parties of banditti on the frontiers of Alsatia +and Germany, combined to recommend such a precaution. + +Accordingly, about twenty of the selected youth from the various Swiss +cantons, including Rudiger, Ernest, and Sigismund, Arnold's three +eldest sons, attended upon the deputation. They did not, however, +observe any military order, or march close or near to the patriarchal +train. On the contrary, they formed hunting parties of five or six +together, who explored the rocks, woods, and passes of the mountains, +through which the envoys journeyed. Their slower pace allowed the +active young men, who were accompanied by their large shaggy dogs, +full time to destroy wolves and bears, or occasionally to surprise a +chamois among the cliffs; while the hunters, even while in pursuit of +their sport, were careful to examine such places as might afford +opportunity for ambush, and thus ascertained the safety of the party +whom they escorted, more securely than if they had attended close on +their train. A peculiar note on the huge Swiss bugle, before +described, formed of the horn of the mountain bull, was the signal +agreed upon for collecting in a body should danger occur. Rudolph +Donnerhugel, so much younger than his brethren in the same important +commission, took the command of this mountain body-guard, whom he +usually accompanied in their sportive excursions. In point of arms, +they were well provided; bearing two-handed swords, long partisans and +spears, as well as both cross and long bows, short cutlasses, and +huntsmen's knives. The heavier weapons, as impeding their activity, +were carried with the baggage, but were ready to be assumed on the +slightest alarm. + +Arthur Philipson, like his late antagonist, naturally preferred the +company and sports of the younger men to the grave conversation and +slow pace of the fathers of the mountain commonwealth. There was, +however, one temptation to loiter with the baggage, which, had other +circumstances permitted, might have reconciled the young Englishman to +forego the opportunities of sport which the Swiss youth so eagerly +sought after, and endure the slow pace and grave conversation of the +elders of the party. In a word, Anne of Geierstein, accompanied by a +Swiss girl her attendant, travelled in the rear of the deputation. + +The two females were mounted upon asses, whose slow step hardly kept +pace with the baggage mules; and it may be fairly suspected that +Arthur Philipson, in requital of the important services which he had +received from that beautiful and interesting young woman, would have +deemed it no extreme hardship to have afforded her occasionally his +assistance on the journey, and the advantage of his conversation to +relieve the tediousness of the way. But he dared not presume to offer +attentions which the customs of the country did not seem to permit, +since they were not attempted by any of the maiden's cousins, or even +by Rudolph Donnerhugel, who certainly had hitherto appeared to neglect +no opportunity to recommend himself to his fair cousin. Besides, +Arthur had reflection enough to be convinced, that in yielding to the +feelings which impelled him to cultivate the acquaintance of this +amiable young person, he would certainly incur the serious displeasure +of his father, and probably also that of her uncle, by whose +hospitality they had profited, and whose safe-conduct they were in the +act of enjoying. + +The young Englishman, therefore, pursued the same amusements which +interested the other young men of the party, managing only, as +frequently as their halts permitted, to venture upon offering to the +maiden such marks of courtesy as could afford no room for remark or +censure. And his character as a sportsman being now well established, +he sometimes permitted himself, even when the game was afoot, to +loiter in the vicinity of the path on which he could at least mark the +flutter of the grey wimple of Anne of Geierstein, and the outline of +the form which it shrouded. This indolence, as it seemed, was not +unfavourably construed by his companions, being only accounted an +indifference to the less noble or less dangerous game; for when the +object was a bear, wolf, or other animal of prey, no spear, cutlass, +or bow of the party, not even those of Rudolph Donnerhugel, were so +prompt in the chase as those of the young Englishman. + +Meantime, the elder Philipson had other and more serious subjects of +consideration. He was a man, as the reader must have already seen, of +much acquaintance with the world, in which he had acted parts +different from that which he now sustained. Former feelings were +recalled and awakened, by the view of sports familiar to his early +years. The clamour of the hounds, echoing from the wild hills and dark +forests through which they travelled; the sight of the gallant young +huntsmen, appearing, as they brought the object of their chase to bay, +amid airy cliffs and profound precipices, which seemed impervious to +the human foot; the sounds of halloo and horn reverberating from hill +to hill, had more than once well-nigh impelled him to take a share in +the hazardous but animating amusement, which, next to war, was then in +most parts of Europe the most serious occupation of life. But the +feeling was transient, and he became yet more deeply interested in +studying the manners and opinions of the persons with whom he was +travelling. + +They seemed to be all coloured with the same downright and blunt +simplicity which characterised Arnold Biederman, although it was in +none of them elevated by the same dignity of thought or profound +sagacity. In speaking of the political state of their country, they +affected no secrecy; and although, with the exception of Rudolph, +their own young men were not admitted into their councils, the +exclusion seemed only adopted with a view to the necessary +subordination of youth to age, and not for the purpose of observing +any mystery. In the presence of the elder Philipson, they freely +discussed the pretensions of the Duke of Burgundy, the means which +their country possessed of maintaining her independence, and the firm +resolution of the Helvetian League to bid defiance to the utmost force +the world could bring against it, rather than submit to the slightest +insult. In other respects, their views appeared wise and moderate, +although both the Banneret of Berne and the consequential Burgher of +Soleure seemed to hold the consequences of war more lightly than they +were viewed by the cautious Landamman of Unterwalden, and his +venerable companion, Nicholas Bonstetten, who subscribed to all his +opinions. + +It frequently happened that, quitting these subjects, the conversation +turned on such as were less attractive to their fellow-traveller. The +signs of the weather, the comparative fertility of recent seasons, the +most advantageous mode of managing their orchards and rearing their +crops, though interesting to the mountaineers themselves, gave +Philipson slender amusement; and notwithstanding that the excellent +Meinherr Zimmerman of Soleure would fain have joined with him in +conversation respecting trade and merchandise, yet the Englishman, who +dealt in articles of small bulk and considerable value, and traversed +sea and land to carry on his traffic, could find few mutual topics to +discuss with the Swiss trader, whose commerce only extended into the +neighbouring districts of Burgundy and Germany, and whose goods +consisted of coarse woollen cloths, fustian, hides, peltry, and such +ordinary articles. + +But ever and anon, while the Switzers were discussing some paltry +interests of trade, or describing some process of rude cultivation, or +speaking of blights in grain, and the murrain amongst cattle, with all +the dull minuteness of petty farmers and traders met at a country +fair, a well-known spot would recall the name and story of a battle in +which some of them had served (for there were none of the party who +had not been repeatedly in arms), and the military details, which in +other countries were only the theme of knights and squires who had +acted their part in them, or of learned clerks who laboured to record +them, were, in this singular region, the familiar and intimate +subjects of discussion with men whose peaceful occupations seemed to +place them at an immeasurable distance from the profession of a +soldier. This led the Englishman to think of the ancient inhabitants +of Rome, where the plough was so readily exchanged for the sword, and +the cultivation of a rude farm for the management of public affairs. +He hinted this resemblance to the Landamman, who was naturally +gratified with the compliment to his country, but presently +replied--"May Heaven continue among us the homebred virtues of the +Romans, and preserve us from their lust of conquest and love of +foreign luxuries!" + +The slow pace of the travellers, with various causes of delay which it +is unnecessary to dwell upon, occasioned the deputation spending two +nights on the road before they reached Bâle. The small towns or +villages in which they quartered, received them with such marks of +respectful hospitality as they had the means to bestow, and their +arrival was a signal for a little feast, with which the heads of the +community uniformly regaled them. + +On such occasions, while the elders of the village entertained the +deputies of the Confederation, the young men of the escort were +provided for by those of their own age, several of whom, usually aware +of their approach, were accustomed to join in the chase of the day, +and made the strangers acquainted with the spots where game was most +plenty. + +These feasts were never prolonged to excess, and the most special +dainties which composed them were kids, lambs, and game, the produce +of the mountains. Yet it seemed, both to Arthur Philipson and his +father, that the advantages of good cheer were more prized by the +Banneret of Berne and the Burgess of Soleure than by their host the +Landamman and the Deputy of Schwitz. There was no excess committed, as +we have already said; but the deputies first mentioned obviously +understood the art of selecting the choicest morsels, and were +connoisseurs in the good wine, chiefly of foreign growth, with which +they freely washed it down. Arnold was too wise to censure what he had +no means of amending: he contented himself by observing in his own +person a rigorous diet, living indeed almost entirely upon vegetables +and fair water, in which he was closely imitated by the old +grey-bearded Nicholas Bonstetten, who seemed to make it his principal +object to follow the Landamman's example in everything. + +It was, as we have already said, the third day after the commencement +of their journey, before the Swiss deputation reached the vicinity of +Bâle, in which city, then one of the largest in the south-western +extremity of Germany, they proposed taking up their abode for the +evening, nothing doubting a friendly reception. The town, it is true, +was not then, nor till about thirty years afterwards, a part of the +Swiss Confederation, to which it was only joined in 1501; but it was a +Free Imperial City, connected with Berne, Soleure, Lucerne, and other +towns of Switzerland by mutual interests and constant intercourse. It +was the object of the deputation to negotiate, if possible, a peace, +which could not be more useful to themselves than to the city of Bâle, +considering the interruptions of commerce which must be occasioned by +a rupture between the Duke of Burgundy and the Cantons, and the great +advantage which that city would derive by preserving a neutrality, +situated as it was betwixt these two hostile powers. + +They anticipated, therefore, as welcome a reception from the +authorities of Bâle as they had received while in the bounds of their +own Confederation, since the interests of that city were so deeply +concerned in the objects of their mission. The next chapter will show +how far these expectations were realised. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + They saw that city, welcoming the Rhine, + As from his mountain heritage he bursts, + As purposed proud Orgetorix of yore, + Leaving the desert region of the hills, + To lord it o'er the fertile plains of Gaul. + _Helvetia._ + + +The eyes of the English travellers, wearied with a succession of wild +mountainous scenery, now gazed with pleasure upon a country still +indeed irregular and hilly in its surface, but capable of high +cultivation, and adorned with cornfields and vineyards. The Rhine, a +broad and large river, poured its grey stream in a huge sweep through +the landscape, and divided into two portions the city of Bâle, which +is situated on its banks. The southern part, to which the path of the +Swiss deputies conducted them, displayed the celebrated cathedral, and +the lofty terrace which runs in front of it, and seemed to remind the +travellers that they now approached a country in which the operations +of man could make themselves distinguished even among the works of +nature, instead of being lost, as the fate of the most splendid +efforts of human labour must have been, among those tremendous +mountains which they had so lately traversed. + +They were yet a mile from the entrance of the city, when the party was +met by one of the magistrates, attended by two or three citizens +mounted on mules, the velvet housings of which expressed wealth and +quality. They greeted the Landamman of Unterwalden and his party in a +respectful manner, and the latter prepared themselves to hear, and +make a suitable reply to, the hospitable invitation which they +naturally expected to receive. + +The message of the community of Bâle was, however, diametrically +opposite to what they had anticipated. It was delivered with a good +deal of diffidence and hesitation by the functionary who met them, and +who certainly, while discharging his commission, did not appear to +consider it as the most respectable which he might have borne. There +were many professions of the most profound and fraternal regard for +the cities of the Helvetian League, with whom the orator of Bâle +declared his own state to be united in friendship and interests. But +he ended by intimating, that, on account of certain cogent and weighty +reasons, which should be satisfactorily explained at more leisure, the +Free City of Bâle could not, this evening, receive within its walls +the highly respected deputies, who were travelling, at the command of +the Helvetian Diet, to the court of the Duke of Burgundy. + +Philipson marked with much interest the effect which this most +unexpected intimation produced on the members of the embassage. +Rudolph Donnerhugel, who had joined their company as they approached +Bâle, appeared less surprised than his associates, and, while he +remained perfectly silent, seemed rather anxious to penetrate their +sentiments than disposed to express his own. It was not the first time +the sagacious merchant had observed that this bold and fiery young +man could, when his purposes required it, place a strong constraint +upon the natural impetuosity of his temper. For the others, the +Banneret's brow darkened; the face of the Burgess of Soleure became +flushed like the moon when rising in the north-west; the grey-bearded +Deputy of Schwitz looked anxiously on Arnold Biederman; and the +Landamman himself seemed more moved than was usual in a person of his +equanimity. At length he replied to the functionary of Bâle, in a +voice somewhat altered by his feelings:-- + +"This is a singular message to the deputies of the Swiss Confederacy, +bound as we are upon an amicable mission, on which depends the +interest of the good citizens of Bâle, whom we have always treated as +our good friends, and who still profess to be so. The shelter of their +roofs, the protection of their walls, the wonted intercourse of +hospitality, is what no friendly state hath a right to refuse to the +inhabitants of another." + +"Nor is it with their will that the community of Bâle refuse it, +worthy Landamman," replied the magistrate. "Not you alone, and your +worthy associates, but your escort, and your very beasts of burden, +should be entertained with all the kindness which the citizens of Bâle +could bestow--But we act under constraint." + +"And by whom exercised?" said the Banneret, bursting out into passion. +"Has the Emperor Sigismund profited so little by the example of his +predecessors"---- + +"The Emperor," replied the delegate of Bâle, interrupting the +Banneret, "is a well-intentioned and peaceful monarch, as he has been +ever; but----there are Burgundian troops, of late marched into the +Sundgaw, and messages have been sent to our state from Count Archibald +of Hagenbach." + +"Enough said," replied the Landamman. "Draw not farther the veil from +a weakness for which you blush. I comprehend you entirely. Bâle lies +too near the citadel of La Ferette to permit its citizens to consult +their own inclinations. Brother, we see where your difficulty lies--we +pity you--and we forgive your inhospitality." + +"Nay, but hear me to an end, worthy Landamman," answered the +magistrate. "There is here in the vicinity an old hunting-seat of the +Counts of Falkenstein, called Graffs-lust,[3] which, though ruinous, +yet may afford better lodgings than the open air, and is capable of +some defence--though Heaven forbid that any one should dare to intrude +upon your repose! And hark ye hither, my worthy friends;--if you find +in the old place some refreshments, as wine, beer, and the like, use +them without scruple, for they are there for your accommodation." + +"I do not refuse to occupy a place of security," said the Landamman; +"for although the causing us to be excluded from Bâle may be only done +in the spirit of petty insolence and malice, yet it may also, for what +we can tell, be connected with some purpose of violence. Your +provisions we thank you for; but we will not, with my consent, feed at +the cost of friends who are ashamed to own us unless by stealth." + +"One thing more, my worthy sir," said the official of Bâle--"You have +a maiden in company, who, I presume to think, is your daughter. There +is but rough accommodation where you are going, even for men;--for +women there is little better, though what we could we have done to +arrange matters as well as may be. But rather let your daughter go +with us back to Bâle, where my dame will be a mother to her, till next +morning, when I will bring her to your camp in safety. We promised to +shut our gates against the men of the Confederacy, but the women were +not mentioned." + +"You are subtle casuists, you men of Bâle," answered the Landamman; +"but know, that from the time in which the Helvetians sallied forth to +encounter Cæsar down to the present hour, the women of Switzerland, in +the press of danger, have had their abode in the camp of their +fathers, brothers, and husbands, and sought no further safety than +they might find in the courage of their relations. We have enough of +men to protect our women, and my niece shall remain with us, and take +the fate which Heaven may send us." + +"Adieu, then, worthy friend," said the magistrate of Bâle; "it grieves +me to part with you thus, but evil fate will have it so. Yonder grassy +avenue will conduct you to the old hunting-seat, where Heaven send +that you may pass a quiet night; for, apart from other risks, men say +that these ruins have no good name. Will you yet permit your niece, +since such the young person is, to pass to Bâle for the night in my +company?" + +"If we are disturbed by beings like ourselves," said Arnold Biederman, +"we have strong arms, and heavy partisans; if we should be visited, as +your words would imply, by those of a different description, we have, +or should have, good consciences, and confidence in Heaven.--Good +friends, my brethren on this embassy, have I spoken your sentiments as +well as mine own?" + +The other deputies intimated their assent to what their companion had +said, and the citizens of Bâle took a courteous farewell of their +guests, endeavouring, by the excess of civility, to atone for their +deficiency in effective hospitality. After their departure, Rudolph +was the first to express his sense of their pusillanimous behaviour, +on which he had been silent during their presence. "Coward dogs!" he +said; "may the Butcher of Burgundy flay the very skins from them with +his exactions, to teach them to disown old friendships, rather than +abide the lightest blast of a tyrant's anger!" + +"And not even their own tyrant either," said another of the group--for +several of the young men had gathered round their seniors, to hear the +welcome which they expected from the magistrates of Bâle. + +"No," replied Ernest, one of Arnold Biederman's sons, "they do not +pretend that their own prince the Emperor hath interfered with them; +but a word of the Duke of Burgundy, which should be no more to them +than a breath of wind from the west, is sufficient to stir them to +such brutal inhospitality. It were well to march to the city, and +compel them at the sword's point to give us shelter." + +A murmur of applause arose amongst the youth around, which awakened +the displeasure of Arnold Biederman. + +"Did I hear," he said, "the tongue of a son of mine, or was it that +of a brutish Lanzknecht,[4] who has no pleasure but in battle or +violence? Where is the modesty of the youth of Switzerland, who were +wont to wait the signal for action till it pleased the elders of the +canton to give it, and were as gentle as maidens till the voice of +their patriarchs bade them be bold as lions?" + +"I meant no harm, father," said Ernest, abashed with this rebuke, "far +less any slight towards you; but I must needs say"---- + +"Say not a word, my son," replied Arnold, "but leave our camp +to-morrow by break of day; and, as thou takest thy way back to +Geierstein, to which I command thine instant return, remember, that he +is not fit to visit strange countries who cannot rule his tongue +before his own countrymen, and to his own father." + +The Banneret of Berne, the Burgess of Soleure, even the long-bearded +Deputy from Schwitz, endeavoured to intercede for the offender, and +obtain a remission of his banishment; but it was in vain. + +"No, my good friends and brethren, no," replied Arnold. "These young +men require an example; and though I am grieved in one sense that the +offence has chanced within my own family, yet I am pleased in another +light, that the delinquent should be one over whom I can exercise full +authority, without suspicion of partiality.--Ernest, my son, thou hast +heard my commands: Return to Geierstein with the morning's light, and +let me find thee an altered man when I return thither." + +The young Swiss, who was evidently much hurt and shocked at this +public affront, placed one knee on the ground, and kissed his +father's right hand, while Arnold, without the slightest sign of +anger, bestowed his blessing upon him; and Ernest, without a word of +remonstrance, fell into the rear of the party. The deputation then +proceeded down the avenue which had been pointed out to them, and at +the bottom of which arose the massy ruins of Graffs-lust; but there +was not enough of daylight remaining to discern their exact form. They +could observe as they drew nearer, and as the night became darker, +that three or four windows were lighted up, while the rest of the +front remained obscured in gloom. When they arrived at the place, they +perceived it was surrounded by a large and deep moat, the sullen +surface of which reflected, though faintly, the glimmer of the lights +within. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[3] Graffs-lust--_i. e._, Count's-delight. + +[4] A private soldier of the German infantry. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + _Francisco._ Give you good-night. + + _Marcellus._ O, farewell, honest soldier. + Who hath relieved you? + + _Francisco._ Give you good-night; Bernardo hath my place. + _Hamlet._ + + +The first occupation of our travellers was to find the means of +crossing the moat, and they were not long of discovering the _tête de +pont_ on which the drawbridge, when lowered, had formerly rested. The +bridge itself had been long decayed, but a temporary passage of +fir-trees and planks had been constructed, apparently very lately, +which admitted them to the chief entrance of the castle. On entering +it, they found a wicket opening under the archway, which, glimmering +with light, served to guide them to a hall prepared evidently for +their accommodation as well as circumstances had admitted of. + +A large fire of well-seasoned wood burned blithely in the chimney, and +had been maintained so long there, that the air of the hall, +notwithstanding its great size and somewhat ruinous aspect, felt mild +and genial. There was also at the end of the apartment a stack of +wood, large enough to maintain the fire had they been to remain there +a week. Two or three long tables in the hall stood covered and ready +for their reception; and, on looking more closely, several large +hampers were found in a corner, containing cold provisions of every +kind, prepared with great care, for their immediate use. The eyes of +the good Burgess of Soleure twinkled when he beheld the young men in +the act of transferring the supper from the hampers and arranging it +on the table. + +"Well," said he, "these poor men of Bâle have saved their character; +since, if they have fallen short in welcome, they have abounded in +good cheer." + +"Ah, friend!" said Arnold Biederman, "the absence of the landlord is a +great deduction from the entertainment. Better half an apple from the +hand of your host, than a bridal feast without his company." + +"We owe them the less for their banquet," said the Banneret. "But, +from the doubtful language they held, I should judge it meet to keep a +strong guard to-night, and even that some of our young men should, +from time to time, patrol around the old ruins. The place is strong +and defensible, and so far our thanks are due to those who have acted +as our quarter-masters. We will, however, with your permission, my +honoured brethren, examine the house within, and then arrange regular +guards and patrols.--To your duty then, young men, and search these +ruins carefully,--they may perchance contain more than ourselves; for +we are now near one who, like a pilfering fox, moves more willingly by +night than by day, and seeks his prey amidst ruins and wildernesses +rather than in the open field." + +All agreed to this proposal. The young men took torches, of which a +good provision had been left for their use, and made a strict search +through the ruins. + +The greater part of the castle was much more wasted and ruinous than +the portion which the citizens of Bâle seemed to have destined for the +accommodation of the embassy. Some parts were roofless, and the whole +desolate. The glare of light--the gleam of arms--the sound of the +human voice, and echoes of mortal tread, startled from their dark +recesses bats, owls, and other birds of ill omen, the usual +inhabitants of such time-worn edifices, whose flight through the +desolate chambers repeatedly occasioned alarm amongst those who heard +the noise without seeing the cause, and shouts of laughter when it +became known. They discovered that the deep moat surrounded their +place of retreat on all sides, and of course that they were in safety +against any attack which could be made from without, except it was +attempted by the main entrance, which it was easy to barricade, and +guard with sentinels. They also ascertained by strict search, that +though it was possible an individual might be concealed amid such a +waste of ruins, yet it was altogether impossible that any number which +might be formidable to so large a party as their own could have +remained there without a certainty of discovery. These particulars +were reported to the Banneret, who directed Donnerhugel to take charge +of a body of six of the young men, such as he should himself choose, +to patrol on the outside of the building till the first cock-crowing, +and at that hour to return to the castle, when the same number were to +take the duty till morning dawned, and then be relieved in their turn. +Rudolph declared his own intention to remain on guard the whole night; +and as he was equally remarkable for vigilance as for strength and +courage, the external watch was considered as safely provided for, it +being settled that, in case of any sudden reencounter, the deep and +hoarse sound of the Swiss bugle should be the signal for sending +support to the patrolling party. + +Within side the castle the precautions were taken with equal +vigilance. A sentinel, to be relieved every two hours, was appointed +to take post at the principal gate, and other two kept watch on the +other side of the castle, although the moat appeared to insure safety +in that quarter. + +These precautions being taken, the remainder of the party sat down to +refresh themselves, the deputies occupying the upper part of the hall, +while those of their escort modestly arranged themselves in the lower +end of the same large apartment. Quantities of hay and straw, which +were left piled in the wide castle, were put to the purpose for which +undoubtedly they had been destined by the citizens of Bâle, and, with +the aid of cloaks and mantles, were judged excellent good bedding by a +hardy race, who, in war or the chase, were often well satisfied with a +much worse night's lair. + +The attention of the Bâlese had even gone so far as to provide for +Anne of Geierstein separate accommodation, more suitable to her use +than that assigned to the men of the party. An apartment, which had +probably been the buttery of the castle, entered from the hall, and +had also a doorway leading out into a passage connected with the +ruins; but this last had hastily, yet carefully, been built up with +large hewn stones taken from the ruins; without mortar, indeed, or any +other cement, but so well secured by their own weight, that an +attempt to displace them must have alarmed not only any one who might +be in the apartment itself, but also those who were in the hall +adjacent, or indeed in any part of the castle. In the small room thus +carefully arranged and secured there were two pallet-beds and a large +fire, which blazed on the hearth, and gave warmth and comfort to the +apartment. Even the means of devotion were not forgotten, a small +crucifix of bronze being hung over a table, on which lay a breviary. + +Those who first discovered this little place of retreat came back loud +in praise of the delicacy of the citizens of Bâle, who, while +preparing for the general accommodation of the strangers, had not +failed to provide separately and peculiarly for that of their female +companion. + +Arnold Biederman felt the kindness of this conduct. "We should pity +our friends of Bâle, and not nourish resentment against them," he +said. "They have stretched their kindness towards us as far as their +personal apprehensions permitted; and that is saying no small matter +for them, my masters, for no passion is so unutterably selfish as that +of fear.--Anne, my love, thou art fatigued. Go to the retreat provided +for you, and Lizette shall bring you from this abundant mass of +provisions what will be fittest for your evening meal." + +So saying, he led his niece into the little bedroom, and, looking +round with an air of complacency, wished her good repose; but there +was something on the maiden's brow which seemed to augur that her +uncle's wishes would not be fulfilled. From the moment she had left +Switzerland, her looks had become clouded; her intercourse with those +who approached her had grown more brief and rare; her whole appearance +was marked with secret anxiety or secret sorrow. This did not escape +her uncle, who naturally imputed it to the pain of parting from him, +which was probably soon to take place, and to her regret at leaving +the tranquil spot in which so many years of her youth had been spent. + +But Anne of Geierstein had no sooner entered the apartment than her +whole frame trembled violently, and the colour leaving her cheeks +entirely, she sank down on one of the pallets, where, resting her +elbows on her knees, and pressing her hands on her forehead, she +rather resembled a person borne down by mental distress, or oppressed +by some severe illness, than one who, tired with a journey, was in +haste to betake herself to needful rest. Arnold was not quicksighted +as to the many sources of female passion. He saw that his niece +suffered; but imputing it only to the causes already mentioned, +augmented by the hysterical effects often produced by fatigue, he +gently blamed her for having departed from her character of a Swiss +maiden ere she was yet out of reach of a Swiss breeze of wind. + +"Thou must not let the dames of Germany or Flanders think that our +daughters have degenerated from their mothers; else must we fight the +battles of Sempach and Laupen over again, to convince the Emperor, and +this haughty Duke of Burgundy, that our men are of the same mettle +with their forefathers. And as for our parting, I do not fear it. My +brother is a Count of the Empire, indeed, and therefore he must needs +satisfy himself that everything over which he possesses any title +shall be at his command, and sends for thee to prove his right of +doing so. But I know him well: He will no sooner be satisfied that he +may command thy attendance at pleasure, than he will concern himself +about thee no more. Thee? Alas! poor thing, in what couldst thou aid +his courtly intrigues and ambitious plans? No, no--thou art not for +the noble Count's purpose, and must be content to trudge back to rule +the dairy at Geierstein, and be the darling of thine old peasantlike +uncle." + +"Would to God we were there even now!" said the maiden, in a tone of +wretchedness which she strove in vain to conceal or suppress. + +"That may hardly be till we have executed the purpose which brought us +hither," said the literal Landamman. "But lay thee on thy pallet, +Anne--take a morsel of food, and three drops of wine, and thou wilt +wake to-morrow as gay as on a Swiss holiday, when the pipe sounds the +réveille." + +Anne was now able to plead a severe headache, and declining all +refreshment, which she declared herself incapable of tasting, she bade +her uncle good-night. She then desired Lizette to get some food for +herself, cautioning her, as she returned, to make as little noise as +possible, and not to break her repose if she should have the good +fortune to fall asleep. Arnold Biederman then kissed his niece, and +returned to the hall, where his colleagues in office were impatient to +commence an attack on the provisions which were in readiness; to which +the escort of young men, diminished by the patrols and sentinels, were +no less disposed than their seniors. + +The signal of assault was given by the Deputy from Schwitz, the eldest +of the party, pronouncing in patriarchal form a benediction over the +meal. The travellers then commenced their operations with a vivacity +which showed that the uncertainty whether they should get any food, +and the delays which had occurred in arranging themselves in their +quarters, had infinitely increased their appetites. Even the +Landamman, whose moderation sometimes approached to abstinence, seemed +that night in a more genial humour than ordinary. His friend of +Schwitz, after his example, ate, drank, and spoke more than usual; +while the rest of the deputies pushed their meal to the verge of a +carousal. The elder Philipson marked the scene with an attentive and +anxious eye, confining his applications to the wine-cup to such +pledges as the politeness of the times called upon him to reply to. +His son had left the hall just as the banquet began, in the manner +which we are now to relate. + +Arthur had proposed to himself to join the youths who were to perform +the duty of sentinels within, or patrols on the outside of their place +of repose, and had indeed made some arrangement for that purpose with +Sigismund, the third of the Landamman's sons. But while about to steal +a parting glance at Anne of Geierstein, before offering his service as +he proposed, there appeared on her brow such a deep and solemn +expression, as diverted his thoughts from every other subject, +excepting the anxious doubts as to what could possibly have given rise +to such a change. The placid openness of brow; the eye which expressed +conscious and fearless innocence; the lips which, seconded by a look +as frank as her words, seemed ever ready to speak, in kindness and in +confidence, that which the heart dictated, were for the moment +entirely changed in character and expression, and in a degree and +manner for which no ordinary cause could satisfactorily account. +Fatigue might have banished the rose from the maiden's beautiful +complexion, and sickness or pain might have dimmed her eye and clouded +her brow. But the look of deep dejection with which she fixed her eyes +at times on the ground, and the startled and terrified glance which +she cast around her at other intervals, must have had their rise in +some different source. Neither could illness or weariness explain the +manner in which her lips were contracted or compressed together, like +one who makes up her mind to act or behold something that is fearful, +or account for the tremor which seemed at times to steal over her +insensibly, though by a strong effort she was able at intervals to +throw it off. For this change of expression there must be in the heart +some deeply melancholy and afflicting cause. What could that cause be? + +It is dangerous for youth to behold beauty in the pomp of all her +charms, with every look bent upon conquest--more dangerous to see her +in the hour of unaffected and unapprehensive ease and simplicity, +yielding herself to the graceful whim of the moment, and as willing to +be pleased as desirous of pleasing. There are minds which may be still +more affected by gazing on beauty in sorrow, and feeling that pity, +that desire of comforting the lovely mourner, which the poet has +described as so nearly akin to love. But to a spirit of that romantic +and adventurous cast which the Middle Ages frequently produced, the +sight of a young and amiable person evidently in a state of terror +and suffering, which had no visible cause, was perhaps still more +impressive than beauty, in her pride, her tenderness, or her sorrow. +Such sentiments, it must be remembered, were not confined to the +highest ranks only, but might then be found in all classes of society +which were raised above the mere peasant or artisan. Young Philipson +gazed on Anne of Geierstein with such intense curiosity, mingled with +pity and tenderness, that the bustling scene around him seemed to +vanish from his eyes, and leave no one in the noisy hall save himself +and the object of his interest. + +What could it be that so evidently oppressed and almost quailed a +spirit so well balanced, and a courage so well tempered, when, being +guarded by the swords of the bravest men perhaps to be found in +Europe, and lodged in a place of strength, even the most timid of her +sex might have found confidence? Surely if an attack were to be made +upon them, the clamour of a conflict in such circumstances could +scarce be more terrific than the roar of those cataracts which he had +seen her despise? At least, he thought, she ought to be aware that +there is one, who is bound by friendship and gratitude to fight to the +death in her defence. Would to Heaven, he continued in the same +reverie, it were possible to convey to her, without sign or speech, +the assurance of my unalterable resolution to protect her in the worst +of perils!--As such thoughts streamed through his mind, Anne raised +her eyes in one of those fits of deep feeling which seemed to +overwhelm her; and, while she cast them round the hall, with a look of +apprehension, as if she expected to see amid the well-known +companions of her journey some strange and unwelcome apparition, they +encountered the fixed and anxious gaze of young Philipson. They were +instantly bent on the ground, while a deep blush showed how much she +was conscious of having attracted his attention by her previous +deportment. + +Arthur, on his part, with equal consciousness, blushed as deeply as +the maiden herself, and drew himself back from her observation. But +when Anne rose up, and was escorted by her uncle to her bedchamber, in +the manner we have already mentioned, it seemed to Philipson as if she +had carried with her from the apartment the lights with which it was +illuminated, and left it in the twilight melancholy of some funeral +hall. His deep musings were pursuing the subject which occupied them +thus anxiously, when the manly voice of Donnerhugel spoke close in his +ear-- + +"What, comrade, has our journey to-day fatigued you so much that you +go to sleep upon your feet?" + +"Now Heaven forbid, Hauptman," said the Englishman, starting from his +reverie, and addressing Rudolph by this name (signifying Captain, or +literally Head-man), which the youth of the expedition had by +unanimous consent bestowed on him,--"Heaven forbid I should sleep, if +there be aught like action in the wind." + +"Where dost thou propose to be at cock-crow?" said the Swiss. + +"Where duty shall call me, or your experience, noble Hauptman, shall +appoint," replied Arthur. "But, with your leave, I purposed to take +Sigismund's guard on the bridge till midnight or morning dawn. He +still feels the sprain which he received in his spring after yonder +chamois, and I persuaded him to take some uninterrupted rest, as the +best mode of restoring his strength." + +"He will do well to keep his counsel, then," again whispered +Donnerhugel; "the old Landamman is not a man to make allowances for +mishaps, when they interfere with duty. Those who are under his orders +should have as few brains as a bull, as strong limbs as a bear, and be +as impassible as lead or iron to all the casualties of life, and all +the weaknesses of humanity." + +Arthur replied in the same tone: "I have been the Landamman's guest +for some time, and have seen no specimens of any such rigid +discipline." + +"You are a stranger," said the Swiss, "and the old man has too much +hospitality to lay you under the least restraint. You are a volunteer, +too, in whatever share you choose to take in our sports or our +military duty; and therefore, when I ask you to walk abroad with me at +the first cock-crowing, it is only in the event that such exercise +shall entirely consist with your own pleasure." + +"I consider myself as under your command for the time," said +Philipson; "but, not to bandy courtesy, at cock-crow I shall be +relieved from my watch on the drawbridge, and will be by that time +glad to exchange the post for a more extended walk." + +"Do you not choose more of this fatiguing, and probably unnecessary +duty, than may befit your strength?" said Rudolph. + +"I take no more than you do," said Arthur, "as you propose not to take +rest till morning." + +"True," answered Donnerhugel, "but I am a Swiss." + +"And I," answered Philipson quickly, "am an Englishman." + +"I did not mean what I said in the sense you take it," said Rudolph, +laughing; "I only meant, that I am more interested in this matter than +you can be, who are a stranger to the cause in which we are personally +engaged." + +"I am a stranger, no doubt," replied Arthur; "but a stranger who has +enjoyed your hospitality, and who, therefore, claims a right, while +with you, to a share in your labours and dangers." + +"Be it so," said Rudolph Donnerhugel. "I shall have finished my first +rounds at the hour when the sentinels at the castle are relieved, and +shall be ready to recommence them in your good company." + +"Content," said the Englishman. "And now I will to my post, for I +suspect Sigismund is blaming me already, as oblivious of my promise." + +They hastened together to the gate, where Sigismund willingly yielded +up his weapon and his guard to young Philipson, confirming the idea +sometimes entertained of him, that he was the most indolent and least +spirited of the family of Geierstein. Rudolph could not suppress his +displeasure. + +"What would the Landamman say," he demanded, "if he saw thee thus +quietly yield up post and partisan to a stranger?" + +"He would say I did well," answered the young man, nothing daunted; +"for he is for ever reminding us to let the stranger have his own way +in everything; and English Arthur stands on this bridge by his own +wish, and no asking of mine.--Therefore, kind Arthur, since thou wilt +barter warm straw and a sound sleep for frosty air and a clear +moonlight, I make thee welcome with all my heart. Hear your duty. You +are to stop all who enter, or attempt to enter, or till they give the +password. If they are strangers, you must give alarm. But you will +suffer such of our friends as are known to you to pass outwards, +without challenge or alarm, because the deputation may find occasion +to send messengers abroad." + +"A murrain on thee, thou lazy losel!" said Rudolph--"Thou art the only +sluggard of thy kin." + +"Then am I the only wise man of them all," said the youth.--"Hark ye, +brave Hauptman, ye have supped this evening,--have ye not?" + +"It is a point of wisdom, ye owl," answered the Bernese, "not to go +into the forest fasting." + +"If it is wisdom to eat when we are hungry," answered Sigismund, +"there can be no folly in sleeping when we are weary." So saying, and +after a desperate yawn or two, the relieved sentinel halted off, +giving full effect to the sprain of which he complained. + +"Yet there is strength in those loitering limbs, and valour in that +indolent and sluggish spirit," said Rudolph to the Englishman. "But it +is time that I, who censure others, should betake me to my own +task.--Hither, comrades of the watch, hither." + +The Bernese accompanied these words with a whistle, which brought from +within six young men, whom he had previously chosen for the duty, and +who, after a hurried supper, now waited his summons. One or two of +them had large bloodhounds or lyme-dogs, which, though usually +employed in the pursuit of animals of chase, were also excellent for +discovering ambuscades, in which duty their services were now to be +employed. One of these animals was held in a leash, by the person who, +forming the advance of the party, went about twenty yards in front of +them; a second was the property of Donnerhugel himself, who had the +creature singularly under command. Three of his companions attended +him closely, and the two others followed, one of whom bore a horn of +the Bernese wild bull, by way of bugle. This little party crossed the +moat by the temporary bridge, and moved on to the verge of the forest, +which lay adjacent to the castle, and the skirts of which were most +likely to conceal any ambuscade that could be apprehended. The moon +was now up, and near the full, so that Arthur, from the elevation on +which the castle stood, could trace their slow, cautious march, amid +the broad silver light, until they were lost in the depths of the +forest. + +When this object had ceased to occupy his eyes, the thoughts of his +lonely watch again returned to Anne of Geierstein, and to the singular +expression of distress and apprehension which had that evening clouded +her beautiful features. Then the blush which had chased, for the +moment, paleness and terror from her countenance, at the instant his +eyes encountered hers--was it anger--was it modesty--was it some +softer feeling, more gentle than the one, more tender than the other? +Young Philipson, who, like Chaucer's Squire, was "as modest as a +maid," almost trembled to give to that look the favourable +interpretation which a more self-satisfied gallant would have applied +to it without scruple. No hue of rising or setting day was ever so +lovely in the eyes of the young man as that blush was in his +recollection; nor did ever enthusiastic visionary or poetical dreamer +find out so many fanciful forms in the clouds, as Arthur divined +various interpretations from the indications of interest which had +passed over the beautiful countenance of the Swiss maiden. + +In the meantime, the thought suddenly burst on his reverie, that it +could little concern him what was the cause of the perturbation she +had exhibited. They had met at no distant period for the first +time--they must soon part for ever. She could be nothing more to him +than the remembrance of a beautiful vision, and he could have no other +part in her memory save as a stranger from a foreign land, who had +been a sojourner for a season in her uncle's house, but whom she could +never expect to see again. When this idea intruded on the train of +romantic visions which agitated him, it was like the sharp stroke of +the harpoon, which awakens the whale from slumbering torpidity into +violent action. The gateway in which the young soldier kept his watch +seemed suddenly too narrow for him. He rushed across the temporary +bridge, and hastily traversed a short space of ground in front of the +_tête de pont_, or defensive work, on which its outer extremity +rested. + +Here for a time he paced the narrow extent to which he was confined by +his duty as a sentinel, with long and rapid strides, as if he had been +engaged by vow to take the greatest possible quantity of exercise upon +that limited space of ground. His exertion, however, produced the +effect of in some degree composing his mind, recalling him to himself, +and reminding him of the numerous reasons which prohibited his fixing +his attention, much more his affections, upon this young person, +however fascinating she was. + +I have surely, he thought, as he slackened his pace, and shouldered +his heavy partisan, sense enough left to recollect my condition and my +duties--to think of my father, to whom I am all in all--and to think +also on the dishonour which must accrue to me, were I capable of +winning the affections of a frank-hearted and confiding girl, to whom +I could never do justice by dedicating my life to return them. "No," +he said to himself, "she will soon forget me, and I will study to +remember her no otherwise than I would a pleasing dream, which hath +for a moment crossed a night of perils and dangers, such as my life +seems doomed to be." + +As he spoke, he stopped short in his walk, and as he rested on his +weapon a tear rose unbidden to his eye, and stole down his cheek +without being wiped away. But he combated this gentler mood of passion +as he had formerly battled with that which was of a wilder and more +desperate character. Shaking off the dejection and sinking of spirit +which he felt creeping upon him, he resumed, at the same time, the air +and attitude of an attentive sentinel, and recalled his mind to the +duties of his watch, which, in the tumult of his feelings, he had +almost forgotten. But what was his astonishment, when, as he looked +out on the clear landscape, there passed from the bridge towards the +forest, crossing him in the broad moonlight, the living and moving +likeness of Anne of Geierstein! + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + We know not when we sleep nor when we wake. + Visions distinct and perfect cross our eye, + Which to the slumberer seem realities; + And while they waked, some men have seen such sights + As set at naught the evidence of sense, + And left them well persuaded they were dreaming. + ANONYMOUS. + + +The apparition of Anne of Geierstein crossed her lover--her admirer, +at least we must call him--within shorter time than we can tell the +story. But it was distinct, perfect, and undoubted. In the very +instant when the young Englishman, shaking off his fond despondency, +raised his head to look out upon the scene of his watch, she came from +the nearer end of the bridge, crossing the path of the sentinel, upon +whom she did not even cast a look, and passed with a rapid yet steady +pace towards the verge of the woodland. + +It would have been natural, though Arthur had been directed not to +challenge persons who left the castle, but only such as might approach +it, that he should nevertheless, had it only been in mere civility, +have held some communication, however slight, with the maiden as she +crossed his post. But the suddenness of her appearance took from him +for the instant both speech and motion. It seemed as if his own +imagination had raised up a phantom, presenting to his outward senses +the form and features which engrossed his mind; and he was silent, +partly at least from the idea that what he gazed upon was immaterial +and not of this world. + +It would have been no less natural that Anne of Geierstein should have +in some manner acknowledged the person who had spent a considerable +time under the same roof with her, had been often her partner in the +dance, and her companion in the field; but she did not evince the +slightest token of recognition, nor even look towards him as she +passed; her eye was on the wood, to which she advanced swiftly and +steadily, and she was hidden by its boughs ere Arthur had recollected +himself sufficiently to determine what to do. + +His first feeling was anger at himself for suffering her to pass +unquestioned, when it might well chance that upon any errand which +called her forth at so extraordinary a time and place he might have +been enabled to afford her assistance, or at least advice. This +sentiment was for a short time so predominant, that he ran towards the +place where he had seen the skirt of her dress disappear, and, +whispering her name as loud as the fear of alarming the castle +permitted, conjured her to return, and hear him but for a few brief +moments. No answer, however, was returned; and when the branches of +the trees began to darken over his head and to intercept the +moonlight, he recollected that he was leaving his post, and exposing +his fellow-travellers, who were trusting in his vigilance, to the +danger of surprise. + +He hastened, therefore, back to the castle gate, with matter for +deeper and more inextricable doubt and anxiety than had occupied him +during the commencement of his watch. He asked himself in vain with +what purpose that modest young maiden, whose manners were frank, but +whose conduct had always seemed so delicate and reserved, could sally +forth at midnight like a damsel-errant in romance, when she was in a +strange country and suspicious neighbourhood; yet he rejected, as he +would have shrunk from blasphemy, any interpretation which could have +thrown censure upon Anne of Geierstein. No, nothing was she capable of +doing for which a friend could have to blush. But connecting her +previous agitation with the extraordinary fact of her leaving the +castle, alone and defenceless, at such an hour, Arthur necessarily +concluded it must argue some cogent reason, and, as was most likely, +of an unpleasant nature.--"I will watch her return," he internally +uttered, "and, if she will give me an opportunity, I will convey to +her the assurance that there is one faithful bosom in her +neighbourhood, which is bound in honour and gratitude to pour out +every drop of its blood, if by doing so it can protect her from the +slightest inconvenience. This is no silly flight of romance, for which +common-sense has a right to reproach me; it is only what I ought to +do, what I must do, or forego every claim to be termed a man of +honesty or honour." + +Yet scarce did the young man think himself anchored on a resolution +which seemed unobjectionable, than his thoughts were again adrift. He +reflected that Anne might have a desire to visit the neighbouring town +of Bâle, to which she had been invited the day before, and where her +uncle had friends. It was indeed an uncommon hour to select for such a +purpose; but Arthur was aware that the Swiss maidens feared neither +solitary walks nor late hours, and that Anne would have walked among +her own hills by moonlight much farther than the distance betwixt +their place of encampment and Bâle, to see a sick friend, or for any +similar purpose. To press himself on her confidence, then, might be +impertinence, not kindness; and as she had passed him without taking +the slightest notice of his presence, it was evident she did not mean +voluntarily to make him her confidant; and probably she was involved +in no difficulties where his aid could be useful. In that case, the +duty of a gentleman was to permit her to return as she had gone forth, +unnoticed and unquestioned, leaving it with herself to hold +communication with him or not as she should choose. + +Another idea, belonging to the age, also passed through his mind, +though it made no strong impression upon it. This form, so perfectly +resembling Anne of Geierstein, might be a deception of the sight, or +it might be one of those fantastic apparitions, concerning which there +were so many tales told in all countries, and of which Switzerland and +Germany had, as Arthur well knew, their full share. The internal and +undefinable feelings which restrained him from accosting the maiden, +as might have been natural for him to have done, are easily explained, +on the supposition that his mortal frame shrank from an encounter with +a being of a different nature. There had also been some expressions of +the magistrate of Bâle, which might apply to the castle's being liable +to be haunted by beings from another world. But though the general +belief in such ghostly apparitions prevented the Englishman from being +positively incredulous on the subject, yet the instructions of his +father, a man of great intrepidity and distinguished good sense, had +taught him to be extremely unwilling to refer anything to supernatural +interferences which was capable of explanation by ordinary rules; and +he therefore shook off, without difficulty, any feelings of +superstitious fear which for an instant connected itself with his +nocturnal adventure. He resolved finally to suppress all disquieting +conjecture on the subject, and to await firmly, if not patiently, the +return of the fair vision, which, if it should not fully explain the +mystery, seemed at least to afford the only chance of throwing light +upon it. + +Fixed, therefore, in purpose, he traversed the walk which his duty +permitted, with his eyes fixed on the part of the forest where he had +seen the beloved form disappear, and forgetful for the moment that his +watch had any other purpose than to observe her return. But from this +abstraction of mind he was roused by a distant sound in the forest, +which seemed the clash of armour. Recalled at once to a sense of his +duty, and its importance to his father and his fellow-travellers, +Arthur planted himself on the temporary bridge, where a stand could +best be made, and turned both eyes and ears to watch for approaching +danger. The sound of arms and footsteps came nearer--spears and +helmets advanced from the greenwood glade, and twinkled in the +moonlight. But the stately form of Rudolph Donnerhugel, marching in +front, was easily recognised, and announced to our sentinel the return +of the patrol. Upon their approach to the bridge, the challenge, and +interchange of sign and countersign, which is usual on such occasions, +took place in due form; and as Rudolph's party filed off one after +another into the castle, he commanded them to wake their companions, +with whom he intended to renew the patrol, and at the same time to +send a relief to Arthur Philipson, whose watch on the bridge was now +ended. This last fact was confirmed by the deep and distant toll of +the Minster clock from the town of Bâle, which, prolonging its sullen +sound over field and forest, announced that midnight was past. + +"And now, comrade," continued Rudolph to the Englishman, "have the +cold air and long watch determined thee to retire to food and rest, or +dost thou still hold the intention of partaking our rounds?" + +In very truth it would have been Arthur's choice to have remained in +the place where he was, for the purpose of watching Anne of +Geierstein's return from her mysterious excursion. He could not easily +have found an excuse for this, however, and he was unwilling to give +the haughty Donnerhugel the least suspicion that he was inferior in +hardihood, or in the power of enduring fatigue, to any of the tall +mountaineers, whose companion he chanced to be for the present. He did +not, therefore, indulge even a moment's hesitation; but while he +restored the borrowed partisan to the sluggish Sigismund, who came +from the castle yawning and stretching himself like one whose slumbers +had been broken by no welcome summons, when they were deepest and +sweetest, he acquainted Rudolph that he retained his purpose of +partaking in his reconnoitring duty. They were speedily joined by the +rest of the patrolling party, amongst whom was Rudiger, the eldest +son of the Landamman of Unterwalden; and when, led by the Bernese +champion, they had reached the skirts of the forest, Rudolph commanded +three of them to attend Rudiger Biederman. + +"Thou wilt make thy round to the left side," said the Bernese; "I will +draw off to the right--see thou keepest a good look-out, and we will +meet merrily at the place appointed. Take one of the hounds with you. +I will keep Wolf-fanger, who will open on a Burgundian as readily as +on a bear." + +Rudiger moved off with his party to the left, according to the +directions received; and Rudolph, having sent forward one of his +number in front, and stationed another in the rear, commanded the +third to follow himself and Arthur Philipson, who thus constituted the +main body of the patrol. Having intimated to their immediate attendant +to keep at such distance as to allow them freedom of conversation, +Rudolph addressed the Englishman with the familiarity which their +recent friendship had created.--"And now, King Arthur, what thinks the +Majesty of England of our Helvetian youth? Could they win guerdon in +tilt or tourney, thinkest thou, noble prince? Or would they rank but +amongst the coward knights of Cornouailles?"[5] + +"For tilt and tourney I cannot answer," said Arthur, summoning up his +spirits to reply, "because I never beheld one of you mounted on a +steed, or having spear in rest. But if strong limbs and stout hearts +are to be considered, I would match you Swiss gallants with those of +any country in the universe, where manhood is to be looked for, +whether it be in heart or hand." + +"Thou speakest us fair; and, young Englishman," said Rudolph, "know +that we think as highly of thee, of which I will presently afford thee +a proof. Thou talkedst but now of horses. I know but little of them; +yet I judge thou wouldst not buy a steed which thou hadst only seen +covered with trappings, or encumbered with saddle and bridle, but +wouldst desire to look at him when stripped, and in his natural state +of freedom?" + +"Ay, marry, would I," said Arthur. "Thou hast spoken on that as if +thou hadst been born in a district called Yorkshire, which men call +the merriest part of Merry England." + +"Then I tell thee," said Rudolph Donnerhugel, "that thou hast seen our +Swiss youth but half, since thou hast observed them as yet only in +their submissive attendance upon the elders of their Cantons, or, at +most, in their mountain-sports, which, though they may show men's +outward strength and activity, can throw no light on the spirit and +disposition by which that strength and activity are to be guided and +directed in matters of high enterprise." + +The Swiss probably designed that these remarks should excite the +curiosity of the stranger. But the Englishman had the image, look, and +form of Anne of Geierstein, as she had passed him in the silent hours +of his watch, too constantly before him, to enter willingly upon a +subject of conversation totally foreign to what agitated his mind. He, +therefore, only compelled himself to reply in civility, that he had no +doubt his esteem for the Swiss, both aged and young, would increase in +proportion with his more intimate knowledge of the nation. + +He was then silent; and Donnerhugel, disappointed, perhaps, at having +failed to excite his curiosity, walked also in silence by his side. +Arthur, meanwhile, was considering with himself whether he should +mention to his companion the circumstance which occupied his own mind, +in the hope that the kinsman of Anne of Geierstein, and ancient friend +of her house, might be able to throw some light on the subject. + +But he felt within his mind an insurmountable objection to converse +with the Swiss on a subject in which Anne was concerned. That Rudolph +made pretensions to her favour could hardly be doubted; and though +Arthur, had the question been put to him, must in common consistency +have resigned all competition on the subject, still he could not bear +to think on the possibility of his rival's success, and would not +willingly have endured to hear him pronounce her name. + +Perhaps it was owing to this secret irritability that Arthur, though +he made every effort to conceal and to overcome the sensation, still +felt a secret dislike to Rudolph Donnerhugel, whose frank but somewhat +coarse familiarity was mingled with a certain air of protection and +patronage, which the Englishman thought was by no means called for. He +met the openness of the Bernese, indeed, with equal frankness, but he +was ever and anon tempted to reject or repel the tone of superiority +by which it was accompanied. The circumstances of their duel had given +the Swiss no ground for such triumph; nor did Arthur feel himself +included in that roll of the Swiss youth over whom Rudolph exercised +domination by general consent. So little did Philipson relish this +affectation of superiority, that the poor jest, that termed him King +Arthur, although quite indifferent to him when applied by any of the +Biedermans, was rather offensive when Rudolph took the same liberty; +so that he often found himself in the awkward condition of one who is +internally irritated, without having any outward manner of testifying +it with propriety. Undoubtedly, the root of all this tacit dislike to +the young Bernese was a feeling of rivalry; but it was a feeling which +Arthur dared not avow even to himself. It was sufficiently powerful, +however, to suppress the slight inclination he had felt to speak with +Rudolph on the passage of the night which had most interested him; and +as the topic of conversation introduced by his companion had been +suffered to drop, they walked on side by side in silence, "with the +beard on the shoulder," as the Spaniard says--looking round, that is, +on all hands; and thus performing the duty of a vigilant watch. + +At length, after they had walked nearly a mile through forest and +field, making a circuit around the ruins of Graffs-lust, of such an +extent as to leave no room for an ambush betwixt them and the place, +the old hound, led by the vidette who was foremost, stopped, and +uttered a low growl. + +"How now, Wolf-fanger!" said Rudolph, advancing.--"What, old fellow! +dost thou not know friends from foes? Come, what sayest thou, on +better thoughts?--Thou must not lose character in thy old age--try it +again." + +The dog raised his head, snuffed the air all around, as if he +understood what his master had said, then shook his head and tail, as +if answering to his voice. + +"Why, there it is now," said Donnerhugel, patting the animal's shaggy +back; "second thoughts are worth gold; thou seest it is a friend after +all." + +The dog again shook his tail, and moved forward with the same +unconcern as before; Rudolph fell back into his place, and his +companion said to him-- + +"We are about to meet Rudiger and our companions, I suppose, and the +dog hears their footsteps, though we cannot." + +"It can scarcely yet be Rudiger," said the Bernese; "his walk around +the castle is of a wider circumference than ours. Some one approaches, +however, for Wolf-fanger is again dissatisfied--Look sharply out on +all sides." + +As Rudolph gave his party the word to be on the alert, they reached an +open glade, in which were scattered, at considerable distance from +each other, some old pine-trees of gigantic size, which seemed yet +huger and blacker than ordinary, from their broad sable tops and +shattered branches being displayed against the clear and white moonlight. +"We shall here, at least," said the Swiss, "have the advantage of +seeing clearly whatever approaches. But I judge," said he, after +looking around for a minute, "it is but some wolf or deer that has +crossed our path, and the scent disturbs the hound--Hold--stop--yes, +it must be so; he goes on." + +The dog accordingly proceeded, after having given some signs of doubt, +uncertainty, and even anxiety. Apparently, however, he became +reconciled to what had disturbed him, and proceeded once more in the +ordinary manner. + +"This is singular!" said Arthur Philipson; "and, to my thinking, I saw +an object close by yonder patch of thicket, where, as well as I can +guess, a few thorn and hazel bushes surround the stems of four or five +large trees." + +"My eye has been on that very thicket for these five minutes past, and +I saw nothing," said Rudolph. + +"Nay, but," answered the young Englishman, "I saw the object, whatever +it was, while you were engaged in attending to the dog. And by your +permission, I will forward and examine the spot." + +"Were you, strictly speaking, under my command," said Donnerhugel, "I +would command you to keep your place. If they be foes, it is essential +that we should remain together. But you are a volunteer in our watch, +and therefore may use your freedom." + +"I thank you," answered Arthur, and sprang quickly forward. + +He felt, indeed, at the moment, that he was not acting courteously as +an individual, nor perhaps correctly as a soldier; and that he ought +to have rendered obedience, for the time, to the captain of the party +in which he had enlisted himself. But, on the other hand, the object +which he had seen, though at a distance and imperfectly, seemed to +bear a resemblance to the retiring form of Anne of Geierstein, as she +had vanished from his eyes, an hour or two before, under the cover of +the forest; and his ungovernable curiosity to ascertain whether it +might not be the maiden in person, allowed him to listen to no other +consideration. + +Ere Rudolph had spoken out his few words of reply, Arthur was halfway +to the thicket. It was, as it had seemed at a distance, of small +extent, and not fitted to hide any person who did not actually couch +down amongst the dwarf bushes and underwood. Anything white, also, +which bore the human size and form must, he thought, have been +discovered among the dark-red stems and swarthy-coloured bushes which +were before him. These observations were mingled with other thoughts. +If it was Anne of Geierstein whom he had a second time seen, she must +have left the more open path, desirous probably of avoiding notice; +and what right or title had he to direct upon her the observation of +the patrol? He had, he thought, observed that, in general, the maiden +rather repelled than encouraged the attentions of Rudolph Donnerhugel; +or, where it would have been discourteous to have rejected them +entirely, that she endured without encouraging them. What, then, could +be the propriety of his intruding upon her private walk, singular, +indeed, from time and place, but which, on that account, she might be +more desirous to keep secret from the observation of one who was +disagreeable to her? Nay, was it not possible that Rudolph might +derive advantage to his otherwise unacceptable suit, by possessing the +knowledge of something which the maiden desired to be concealed? + +As these thoughts pressed upon him, Arthur made a pause, with his eyes +fixed on the thicket, from which he was now scarce thirty yards +distant; and although scrutinising it with all the keen accuracy which +his uncertainty and anxiety dictated, he was actuated by a strong +feeling that it would be wisest to turn back to his companions, and +report to Rudolph that his eyes had deceived him. + +But while he was yet undecided whether to advance or return, the +object which he had seen became again visible on the verge of the +thicket, and advanced straight towards him, bearing, as on the former +occasion, the exact dress and figure of Anne of Geierstein! This +vision--for the time, place, and suddenness of the appearance made it +seem rather an illusion than a reality--struck Arthur with surprise, +which amounted to terror. The figure passed within a spear's-length, +unchallenged by him, and giving not the slightest sign of recognition; +and, directing its course to the right hand of Rudolph, and the two or +three who were with him, was again lost among the broken ground and +bushes. + +Once more the young man was reduced to a state of the most +inextricable doubt; nor was he roused from the stupor into which he +was thrown, till the voice of the Bernese sounded in his ear--"Why, +how now, King Arthur--art thou asleep, or art thou wounded?" + +"Neither," said Philipson, collecting himself; "only much surprised." + +"Surprised? and at what, most royal"---- + +"Forbear foolery," said Arthur, somewhat sternly, "and answer as thou +art a man--Did she not meet thee?--didst thou not see her?" + +"See her!--see whom?" said Donnerhugel. "I saw no one. And I could +have sworn you had seen no one either, for I had you in my eye the +whole time of your absence, excepting two or three moments. If you saw +aught, why gave you not the alarm?" + +"Because it was only a woman," answered Arthur, faintly. + +"Only a woman!" repeated Rudolph, in a tone of contempt. "By my honest +word, King Arthur, if I had not seen pretty flashes of valour fly from +thee at times, I should be apt to think that thou hadst only a woman's +courage thyself. Strange, that a shadow by night, or a precipice in +the day, should quell so bold a spirit as thou hast often shown"---- + +"And as I will ever show, when occasion demands it," interrupted the +Englishman, with recovered spirit. "But I swear to you, that if I be +now daunted, it is by no mere earthly fears that my mind hath been for +a moment subdued." + +"Let us proceed on our walk," said Rudolph; "we must not neglect the +safety of our friends. This appearance, of which thou speakest, may be +but a trick to interrupt our duty." + +They moved on through the moonlight glades. A minute's reflection +restored young Philipson to his full recollection, and with that to +the painful consciousness that he had played a ridiculous and unworthy +part in the presence of the person whom (of the male sex, at least) he +would the very last have chosen as a witness of his weakness. + +He ran hastily over the relations which stood betwixt himself, +Donnerhugel, the Landamman, his niece, and the rest of that family; +and, contrary to the opinion which he had entertained but a short +while before, settled in his own mind that it was his duty to mention +to the immediate leader under whom he had placed himself, the +appearance which he had twice observed in the course of that night's +duty. There might be family circumstances--the payment of a vow, +perhaps, or some such reason--which might render intelligible to her +connections the behaviour of this young lady. Besides, he was for the +present a soldier on duty, and these mysteries might be fraught with +evils to be anticipated or guarded against; in either case, his +companions were entitled to be made aware of what he had seen. It must +be supposed that this resolution was adopted when the sense of duty, +and of shame for the weakness which he had exhibited, had for the +moment subdued Arthur's personal feelings towards Anne of +Geierstein--feelings, also, liable to be chilled by the mysterious +uncertainty which the events of that evening had cast, like a thick +mist, around the object of them. + +While the Englishman's reflections were taking this turn, his captain +or companion, after a silence of several minutes, at length addressed +him. + +"I believe," he said, "my dear comrade, that, as being at present your +officer, I have some title to hear from you the report of what you +have just now seen, since it must be something of importance which +could so strongly agitate a mind so firm as yours. But if, in your own +opinion, it consists with the general safety to delay your report of +what you have seen until we return to the castle, and then to deliver +it to the private ear of the Landamman, you have only to intimate your +purpose; and, far from urging you to place confidence in me +personally, though I hope I am not undeserving of it, I will authorise +your leaving us, and returning instantly to the castle." + +This proposal touched him to whom it was made exactly in the right +place. An absolute demand of his confidence might perhaps have been +declined; the tone of moderate request and conciliation fell +presently in with the Englishman's own reflections. + +"I am sensible," he said, "Hauptman, that I ought to mention to you +that which I have seen to-night; but on the first occasion, it did not +fall within my duty to do so; and, now that I have a second time +witnessed the same appearance, I have felt for these few seconds so +much surprised at what I have seen, that even yet I can scarce find +words to express it." + +"As I cannot guess what you may have to say," replied the Bernese, "I +must beseech you to be explicit. We are but poor readers of riddles, +we thick-headed Switzers." + +"Yet it is but a riddle which I have to place before you, Rudolph +Donnerhugel," answered the Englishman, "and a riddle which is far +beyond my own guessing at." He then proceeded, though not without +hesitation, "While you were performing your first patrol amongst the +ruins, a female crossed the bridge from within the castle, walked by +my post without saying a single word, and vanished under the shadows +of the forest." + +"Ha!" exclaimed Donnerhugel, and made no further answer. + +Arthur proceeded. "Within these five minutes, the same female form +passed me a second time, issuing from the little thicket and clump of +firs, and disappeared, without exchanging a word. Know, further, this +apparition bore the form, face, gait, and dress of your kinswoman, +Anne of Geierstein." + +"Singular enough," said Rudolph, in a tone of incredulity. "I must +not, I suppose, dispute your word, for you would receive doubt on my +part as a mortal injury--such is your northern chivalry. Yet, let me +say, I have eyes as well as you, and I scarce think they quitted you +for a minute. We were not fifty yards from the place where I found you +standing in amazement. How, therefore, should not we also have seen +that which you say and think you saw?" + +"To that I can give no answer," said Arthur. "Perhaps your eyes were +not exactly turned upon me during the short space in which I saw this +form--perhaps it might be visible--as they say fantastic appearances +sometimes are--to only one person at a time." + +"You suppose, then, that the appearance was imaginary, or fantastic?" +said the Bernese. + +"Can I tell you?" replied the Englishman. "The Church gives its +warrant that there are such things; and surely it is more natural to +believe this apparition to be an illusion, than to suppose that Anne +of Geierstein, a gentle and well-nurtured maiden, should be traversing +the woods at this wild hour, when safety and propriety so strongly +recommend her being within doors." + +"There is much in what you say," said Rudolph; "and yet there are +stories afloat, though few care to mention them, which seem to allege +that Anne of Geierstein is not altogether such as other maidens; and +that she has been met with, in body and spirit, where she could hardly +have come by her own unassisted efforts." + +"Ha!" said Arthur; "so young, so beautiful, and already in league with +the destroyer of mankind! It is impossible." + +"I said not so," replied the Bernese; "nor have I leisure at present +to explain my meaning more fully. As we return to the castle of +Graffs-lust, I may have an opportunity to tell you more. But I +chiefly brought you on this patrol to introduce you to some friends, +whom you will be pleased to know, and who desire your acquaintance; +and it is here I expect to meet them." + +So saying, he turned round the projecting corner of a rock, and an +unexpected scene was presented to the eyes of the young Englishman. + +In a sort of nook, or corner, screened by the rocky projection, there +burned a large fire of wood, and around it sat, reclined, or lay, +twelve or fifteen young men in the Swiss garb, but decorated with +ornaments and embroidery, which reflected back the light of the fire. +The same red gleam was returned by silver wine-cups, which circulated +from hand to hand with the flasks which filled them. Arthur could also +observe the relics of a banquet, to which due honour seemed to have +been lately rendered. + +The revellers started joyfully up at the sight of Donnerhugel and his +companions, and saluted him, easily distinguished as he was by his +stature, by the title of Captain, warmly and exultingly uttered, +while, at the same time, every tendency to noisy acclamation was +cautiously suppressed. The zeal indicated that Rudolph came most +welcome--the caution that he came in secret, and was to be received +with mystery. + +To the general greeting he answered,--"I thank you, my brave comrades. +Has Rudiger yet reached you?" + +"Thou seest he has not," said one of the party; "had it been so, we +would have detained him here till your coming, brave Captain." + +"He has loitered on his patrol," said the Bernese. "We too were +delayed, yet we are here before him. I bring with me, comrades, the +brave Englishman, whom I mentioned to you as a desirable associate in +our daring purpose." + +"He is welcome, most welcome to us," said a young man, whose richly +embroidered dress of azure blue gave him an air of authority; "most +welcome is he, if he brings with him a heart and a hand to serve our +noble task." + +"For both I will be responsible," said Rudolph. "Pass the wine-cup, +then, to the success of our glorious enterprise, and the health of +this our new associate!" + +While they were replenishing the cups with wine of a quality far +superior to any which Arthur had yet tasted in these regions, he +thought it right, before engaging himself in the pledge, to learn the +secret object of the association which seemed desirous of adopting +him. + +"Before I engage my poor services to you, fair sirs, since it pleases +you to desire them, permit me," he said, "to ask the purpose and +character of the undertaking in which they are to be employed." + +"Shouldst thou have brought him hither," said the cavalier in blue to +Rudolph, "without satisfying him and thyself on that point?" + +"Care not thou about it, Lawrenz," replied the Bernese, "I know my +man.--Be it known, then, to you, my good friend," he continued, +addressing the Englishman, "that my comrades and I are determined at +once to declare the freedom of the Swiss commerce, and to resist to +the death, if it be necessary, all unlawful and extortionate demands +on the part of our neighbours." + +"I understand so much," said the young Englishman, "and that the +present deputation proceeds to the Duke of Burgundy with remonstrances +to that effect." + +"Hear me," replied Rudolph. "The question is like to be brought to a +bloody determination long ere we see the Duke of Burgundy's most +august and most gracious countenance. That his influence should be +used to exclude us from Bâle, a neutral town, and pertaining to the +empire, gives us cause to expect the worst reception when we enter his +own dominions. We have even reason to think that we might have +suffered from his hatred already, but for the vigilance of the ward +which we have kept. Horsemen, from the direction of La Ferette, have +this night reconnoitred our posts; and had they not found us prepared, +we had, without question, been attacked in our quarters. But since we +have escaped to-night, we must take care for to-morrow. For this +purpose, a number of the bravest youth of the city of Bâle, incensed +at the pusillanimity of their magistrates, are determined to join us, +in order to wipe away the disgrace which the cowardly inhospitality of +their magistracy has brought on their native place." + +"That we will do ere the sun, that will rise two hours hence, shall +sink into the western sky," said the cavalier in blue; and those +around joined him in stern assent. + +"Gentle sirs," replied Arthur, when there was a pause, "let me remind +you, that the embassy which you attend is a peaceful one, and that +those who act as its escort ought to avoid anything which can augment +the differences which it comes to reconcile. You cannot expect to +receive offence in the Duke's dominions, the privileges of envoys +being respected in all civilised countries; and you will, I am sure, +desire to offer none." + +"We may be subjected to insult, however," replied the Bernese, "and +that through your concerns, Arthur Philipson, and those of thy +father." + +"I understand you not," replied Philipson. + +"Your father," answered Donnerhugel, "is a merchant, and bears with +him wares of small bulk but high value?" + +"He does so," answered Arthur; "and what of that?" + +"Marry," answered Rudolph, "that if it be not better looked to, the +Bandog of Burgundy is like to fall heir to a large proportion of your +silks, satins, and jewellery work." + +"Silks, satins, and jewels!" exclaimed another of the revellers; "such +wares will not pass toll-free where Archibald of Hagenbach hath +authority." + +"Fair sirs," resumed Arthur, after a moment's consideration, "these +wares are my father's property, not mine; and it is for him, not me, +to pronounce how much of them he might be content to part with in the +way of toll, rather than give occasion to a fray in which his +companions, who have received him into their society, must be exposed +to injury as well as himself. I can only say, that he has weighty +affairs at the court of Burgundy, which must render him desirous of +reaching it in peace with all men; and it is my private belief that, +rather than incur the loss and danger of a broil with the garrison of +La Ferette, he would be contented to sacrifice all the property which +he has at present with him. Therefore, I must request of you, +gentlemen, a space to consult his pleasure on this occasion; assuring +you, that if it be his will to resist the payment of these duties to +Burgundy, you shall find in me one who is fully determined to fight to +the last drop of his blood." + +"Good King Arthur," said Rudolph; "thou art a dutiful observer of the +Fifth Commandment, and thy days shall be long in the land. Do not +suppose us neglectful of the same duty, although, for the present, we +conceive ourselves bound, in the first place, to attend to the weal of +our country, the common parent of our fathers and ourselves. But as +you know our profound respect for the Landamman, you need not fear +that we shall willingly offer him offence, by rashly engaging in +hostilities, or without some weighty reason; and an attempt to plunder +his guest would have been met, on his part, with resistance to the +death. I had hoped to find both you and your father prompt enough to +resent such a gross injury. Nevertheless, if your father inclines to +present his fleece to be shorn by Archibald of Hagenbach, whose +scissors, he will find, clip pretty closely, it would be unnecessary +and uncivil in us to interpose. Meantime, you have the advantage of +knowing, that in case the Governor of La Ferette should be disposed to +strip you of skin as well as fleece, there are more men close at hand +than you looked for, whom you will find both able and willing to +render you prompt assistance." + +"On these terms," said the Englishman, "I make my acknowledgments to +these gentlemen of Bâle, or whatever other country hath sent them +forth, and pledge them in a brotherly cup to our further and more +intimate acquaintance." + +"Health and prosperity to the United Cantons, and their friends!" +answered the Blue Cavalier. "And death and confusion to all besides." + +The cups were replenished; and instead of a shout of applause, the +young men around testified their devoted determination to the cause +which was thus announced, by grasping each other's hands, and then +brandishing their weapons with a fierce yet noiseless gesture. + +"Thus," said Rudolph Donnerhugel, "our illustrious ancestors, the +fathers of Swiss independence, met in the immortal field of Rutli, +between Uri and Unterwalden. Thus they swore to each other, under the +blue firmament of heaven, that they would restore the liberty of their +oppressed country; and history can tell how well they kept their +word." + +"And she shall record," said the Blue Cavalier, "how well the present +Switzers can preserve the freedom which their fathers won.--Proceed in +your rounds, good Rudolph, and be assured that at the signal of the +Hauptman the soldiers will not be far absent;--all is arranged as +formerly, unless you have new orders to give us." + +"Hark thee hither, Lawrenz," said Rudolph to the Blue Cavalier,--and +Arthur could hear him say,--"Beware, my friend, that the Rhine wine be +not abused;--if there is too much provision of it, manage to destroy +the flasks;--a mule may stumble, thou knowest, or so. Give not way to +Rudiger in this. He is grown a wine-bibber since he joined us. We must +bring both heart and hand to what may be done to-morrow."--They then +whispered so low, that Arthur could hear nothing of their further +conference, and bid each other adieu, after clasping hands, as if +they were renewing some solemn pledge of union. + +Rudolph and his party then moved forward, and were scarce out of sight +of their new associates, when the vidette, or foremost of their +patrol, gave the signal of alarm. Arthur's heart leaped to his +lips--"It is Anne of Geierstein!" he said internally. + +"The dogs are silent," said the Bernese. "Those who approach must be +the companions of our watch." + +They proved, accordingly, to be Rudiger and his party, who, halting on +the appearance of their comrades, made and underwent a formal +challenge; such advance had the Swiss already made in military +discipline, which was but little and rudely studied by the infantry in +other parts of Europe. Arthur could hear Rudolph take his friend +Rudiger to task for not meeting him at the halting-place appointed. +"It leads to new revelry on your arrival," he said, "and to-morrow +must find us cool and determined." + +"Cool as an icicle, noble Hauptman," answered the son of the +Landamman, "and determined as the rock it hangs upon." + +Rudolph again recommended temperance, and the young Biederman promised +compliance. The two parties passed each other with friendly though +silent greeting; and there was soon a considerable distance between +them. + +The country was more open on the side of the castle, around which +their duty now led them, than where it lay opposite to the principal +gate. The glades were broad, the trees thinly scattered over pasture +land, and there were no thickets, ravines, or similar places of +ambush, so that the eye might, in the clear moonlight, well command +the country. + +"Here," said Rudolph, "we may judge ourselves secure enough for some +conference; and therefore may I ask thee, Arthur of England, now thou +hast seen us more closely, what thinkest thou of the Switzer youth? If +thou hast learned less than I could have wished, thank thine own +uncommunicative temper, which retired in some degree from our +confidence." + +"Only in so far as I could not have answered, and therefore ought not +to have received it," said Arthur. "The judgment I have been enabled +to form amounts, in few words, to this: Your purposes are lofty and +noble as your mountains; but the stranger from the low country is not +accustomed to tread the circuitous path by which you ascend them. My +foot has been always accustomed to move straight forward upon the +greensward." + +"You speak in riddles," answered the Bernese. + +"Not so," returned the Englishman. "I think you ought plainly to +mention to your seniors (the nominal leaders of young men who seem +well disposed to take their own road) that you expect an attack in the +neighbourhood of La Ferette, and hope for assistance from some of the +townsmen of Bâle." + +"Ay, truly," answered Donnerhugel; "and the Landamman would stop his +journey till he despatched a messenger for a safe-conduct to the Duke +of Burgundy; and should he grant it, there were an end of all hope of +war." + +"True," replied Arthur; "but the Landamman would thereby obtain his +own principal object, and the sole purpose of the mission--that is, +the establishment of peace." + +"Peace--peace?" answered the Bernese, hastily. "Were my wishes alone +to be opposed to those of Arnold Biederman, I know so much of his +honour and faith, I respect so highly his valour and patriotism, that +at his voice I would sheathe my sword, even if my most mortal enemy +stood before me. But mine is not the single wish of a single man; the +whole of my canton, and that of Soleure, are determined on war. It was +by war, noble war, that our fathers came forth from the house of their +captivity--it was by war, successful and glorious war, that a race, +who had been held scarce so much worth thinking on as the oxen which +they goaded, emerged at once into liberty and consequence, and were +honoured because they were feared, as much as they had been formerly +despised because they were unresisting." + +"This may be all very true," said the young Englishman; "but, in my +opinion, the object of your mission has been determined by your Diet +or House of Commons. They have resolved to send you with others as +messengers of peace; but you are secretly blowing the coals of war; +and while all, or most of your senior colleagues are setting out +to-morrow in expectation of a peaceful journey, you stand prepared for +a combat, and look for the means of giving cause for it." + +"And is it not well that I do stand so prepared?" answered Rudolph. +"If our reception in Burgundy's dependencies be peaceful, as you say +the rest of the deputation expect, my precautions will be needless; +but at least they can do no harm. If it prove otherwise, I shall be +the means of averting a great misfortune from my colleagues, my +kinsman Arnold Biederman, my fair cousin Anne, your father, +yourself--from all of us, in short, who are joyously travelling +together." + +Arthur shook his head. "There is something in all this," he said, +"which I understand not, and will not seek to understand. I only pray +that you will not make my father's concerns the subject of breaking +truce; it may, as you hint, involve the Landamman in a quarrel, which +he might otherwise have avoided. I am sure my father will never +forgive it." + +"I have pledged my word," said Rudolph, "already to that effect. But +if he should like the usage of the Bandog of Burgundy less than you +seem to apprehend he will, there is no harm in your knowing that, in +time of need, he may be well and actively supported." + +"I am greatly obliged by the assurance," replied the Englishman. + +"And thou mayst thyself, my friend," continued Rudolph, "take a +warning from what thou hast heard: Men go not to a bridal in armour, +nor to a brawl in silken doublet." + +"I will be clad to meet the worst," said Arthur; "and for that purpose +I will don a light hauberk of well-tempered steel, proof against spear +or arrow; and I thank you for your kindly counsel." + +"Nay, thank not me," said Rudolph; "I were ill deserving to be a +leader did I not make those who are to follow me--more especially so +trusty a follower as thou art--aware of the time when they should +buckle on their armour, and prepare for hard blows." + +Here the conversation paused for a moment or two, neither of the +speakers being entirely contented with his companion, although neither +pressed any further remark. + +The Bernese, judging from the feelings which he had seen predominate +among the traders of his own country, had entertained little doubt +that the Englishman, finding himself powerfully supported in point of +force, would have caught at the opportunity to resist paying the +exorbitant imposts with which he was threatened at the next town, +which would probably, without any effort on Rudolph's part, have led +to breaking off the truce on the part of Arnold Biederman himself, and +to an instant declaration of hostilities. On the other hand, young +Philipson could not understand or approve of Donnerhugel's conduct, +who, himself a member of a peaceful deputation, seemed to be animated +with the purpose of seizing an opportunity to kindle the flames of +war. + +Occupied by these various reflections, they walked side by side for +some time without speaking together, until Rudolph broke silence. + +"Your curiosity is then ended, Sir Englishman," said he, "respecting +the apparition of Anne of Geierstein?" + +"Far from it," replied Philipson; "but I would unwillingly intrude any +questions on you while you are busy with the duties of your patrol." + +"That may be considered as over," said the Bernese, "for there is not +a bush near us to cover a Burgundian knave, and a glance around us +from time to time is all that is now needful to prevent surprise. And +so, listen while I tell a tale, never sung or harped in hall or bower, +and which, I begin to think, deserves as much credit, at least, as is +due to the Tales of the Round Table, which ancient troubadours and +minne-singers dole out to us as the authentic chronicles of your +renowned namesake. + +"Of Anne's ancestors on the male side of the house," continued +Rudolph, "I dare say you have heard enough, and are well aware how +they dwelt in the old walls at Geierstein beside the cascade, grinding +their vassals, devouring the substance of their less powerful +neighbours, and plundering the goods of the travellers whom ill luck +sent within ken of the vulture's eyry, the one year; and in the next, +wearying the shrines for mercy for their trespasses, overwhelming the +priests with the wealth which they showered upon them, and, finally, +vowing vows, and making pilgrimages, sometimes as palmers, sometimes +as crusaders as far as Jerusalem itself, to atone for the iniquities +which they had committed without hesitation or struggle of +conscience." + +"Such, I have understood," replied the young Englishman, "was the +history of the house of Geierstein, till Arnold, or his immediate +ancestors, exchanged the lance for the sheep-hook." + +"But it is said," replied the Bernese, "that the powerful and wealthy +Barons of Arnheim, of Swabia, whose only female descendant became the +wife to Count Albert of Geierstein, and the mother of this young +person, whom Swiss call simply Anne, and Germans Countess Anne of +Geierstein, were nobles of a different caste. They did not restrict +their lives within the limits of sinning and repenting--of plundering +harmless peasants, and pampering fat monks; but were distinguished +for something more than building castles with dungeons and +folter-kammers, or torture-chambers, and founding monasteries with +Galilees and Refectories. + +"These same Barons of Arnheim were men who strove to enlarge the +boundaries of human knowledge, and converted their castle into a +species of college, where there were more ancient volumes than the +monks have piled together in the library of St. Gall. Nor were their +studies in books alone. Deep buried in their private laboratories, +they attained secrets which were afterwards transmitted through the +race from father to son, and were supposed to have approached nearly +to the deepest recesses of alchemy. The report of their wisdom and +their wealth was often brought to the Imperial footstool; and in the +frequent disputes which the Emperors maintained with the Popes of old, +it is said they were encouraged, if not instigated, by the counsels of +the Barons of Arnheim, and supported by their treasures. It was, +perhaps, such a course of politics, joined to the unusual and +mysterious studies which the family of Arnheim so long pursued, which +excited against them the generally received opinion, that they were +assisted in their superhuman researches by supernatural influences. +The priests were active in forwarding this cry against men who, +perhaps, had no other fault than that of being wiser than themselves. + +"'Look what guests,' they said, 'are received in the halls of Arnheim! +Let a Christian knight, crippled in war with the Saracens, present +himself on the drawbridge, he is guerdoned with a crust and a cup of +wine, and required to pass on his way. If a palmer, redolent of the +sanctity acquired by his recent visits to the most holy shrines, and +by the sacred relics which attest and reward his toil, approach the +unhallowed walls, the warder bends his crossbow, and the porter shuts +the gate, as if the wandering saint brought the plague with him from +Palestine. But comes there a greybearded, glib-tongued Greek, with his +parchment scrolls, the very letters of which are painful to Christian +eyes--comes there a Jewish Rabbin, with his Talmud and Cabala--comes +there a swarthy sun-burnt Moor, who can boast of having read the +language of the Stars in Chaldea, the cradle of astrological +science--Lo, the wandering impostor or sorcerer occupies the highest +seat at the Baron of Arnheim's board, shares with him the labours of +the alembic and the furnace, learns from him mystic knowledge, like +that of which our first parents participated to the overthrow of their +race, and requites it with lessons more dreadful than he receives, +till the profane host has added to his hoard of unholy wisdom all that +the pagan visitor can communicate. And these things are done in +Almain, which is called the Holy Roman Empire, of which so many +priests are princes!--they are done, and neither ban nor monition is +issued against a race of sorcerers, who, from age to age, go on +triumphing in their necromancy!' + +"Such arguments, which were echoed from mitred Abbots to the cell of +Anchorites, seem, nevertheless, to have made little impression on the +Imperial council. But they served to excite the zeal of many a Baron +and Free Count of the Empire, who were taught by them to esteem a war +or feud with the Barons of Arnheim as partaking of the nature, and +entitled to the immunities, of a crusade against the enemies of the +Faith, and to regard an attack upon these obnoxious potentates as a +mode of clearing off their deep scores with the Christian Church. But +the Lords of Arnheim, though not seeking for quarrel, were by no means +unwarlike, or averse to maintaining their own defence. Some, on the +contrary, belonging to this obnoxious race, were not the less +distinguished as gallant knights and good men-at-arms. They were, +besides, wealthy, secured and strengthened by great alliances, and in +an eminent degree wise and provident. This the parties who assailed +them learned to their cost. + +"The confederacies formed against the Lords of Arnheim were broken up; +the attacks which their enemies meditated were anticipated and +disconcerted; and those who employed actual violence were repelled +with signal loss to the assailants: until at length an impression was +produced in their neighbourhood, that by their accurate information +concerning meditated violence, and their extraordinary powers of +resisting and defeating it, the obnoxious Barons must have brought to +their defence means which merely human force was incapable of +overthrowing; so that, becoming as much feared as hated, they were +suffered for the last generation to remain unmolested. And this was +the rather the case, that the numerous vassals of this great house +were perfectly satisfied with their feudal superiors, abundantly ready +to rise in their defence, and disposed to believe that, whether their +lords were sorcerers or no, their own condition would not be mended by +exchanging their government, either for the rule of the crusaders in +this holy warfare, or that of the churchmen by whom it was instigated. +The race of these barons ended in Herman von Arnheim, the maternal +grandfather of Anne of Geierstein. He was buried with his helmet, +sword, and shield, as is the German custom with the last male of a +noble family. + +"But he left an only daughter, Sybilla of Arnheim, to inherit a +considerable portion of his estate; and I never heard that the strong +imputation of sorcery which attached to her house, prevented numerous +applications, from persons of the highest distinction in the Empire, +to her legal guardian, the Emperor, for the rich heiress's hand in +marriage. Albert of Geierstein, however, though an exile, obtained the +preference. He was gallant and handsome, which recommended him to +Sybilla; and the Emperor, bent at the time on the vain idea of +recovering his authority in the Swiss mountains, was desirous to show +himself generous to Albert, whom he considered as a fugitive from his +country for espousing the imperial cause. You may thus see, most noble +King Arthur, that Anne of Geierstein, the only child of their +marriage, descends from no ordinary stock; and that circumstances in +which she may be concerned are not to be explained or judged of so +easily, or upon the same grounds of reasoning, as in the case of +ordinary persons." + +"By my honest word, Sir Rudolph of Donnerhugel," said Arthur, +studiously labouring to keep a command upon his feelings, "I can see +nothing in your narrative, and understand nothing from it, unless it +be that because in Germany, as in other countries, there have been +fools who have annexed the idea of witchcraft and sorcery to the +possession of knowledge and wisdom, you are therefore disposed to +stigmatise a young maiden, who has always been respected and beloved +by those around her, as a disciple of arts which, I trust, are as +uncommon as unlawful." + +Rudolph paused ere he replied. + +"I could have wished," he said, "that you had been satisfied with the +general character of Anne of Geierstein's maternal family, as offering +some circumstances which may account for what you have, according to +your own report, this night witnessed, and I am really unwilling to go +into more particular details. To no one can Anne of Geierstein's fame +be so dear as to me. I am, after her uncle's family, her nearest +relative, and had she remained in Switzerland, or should she, as is +most probable, return thither after the present visit to her father, +perhaps our connection might be drawn yet closer. This has, indeed, +only been prevented by certain prejudices of her uncle's respecting +her father's authority, and the nearness of our relationship, which, +however, comes within reach of a licence very frequently obtained. But +I only mention these things, to show you how much more tender I must +necessarily hold Anne of Geierstein's reputation, than it is possible +for you to do, being a stranger, known to her but a short while since, +and soon to part with her, as I understand your purpose, for ever." + +The turn taken in this kind of apology irritated Arthur so highly, +that it required all the reasons which recommended coolness to enable +him to answer with assumed composure. + +"I can have no ground, Sir Hauptman," he said, "to challenge any +opinion which you may entertain of a young person with whom you are so +closely connected, as you appear to be with Anne of Geierstein. I only +wonder that, with such regard for her as your relationship implies, +you should be disposed to receive, on popular and trivial traditions, +a belief which must injuriously affect your kinswoman, more especially +one with whom you intimate a wish to form a still more close +connection. Bethink you, sir, that in all Christian lands, the +imputation of sorcery is the most foul which can be thrown on +Christian man or woman." + +"And I am so far from intimating such an imputation," said Rudolph, +somewhat fiercely, "that, by the good sword I wear, he that dared give +breath to such a thought against Anne of Geierstein must undergo my +challenge, and take my life, or lose his own. But the question is not +whether the maiden herself practises sorcery, which he who avers had +better get ready his tomb, and provide for his soul's safety; the +doubt lies here, whether, as the descendant of a family whose +relations with the unseen world are reported to have been of the +closest degree, elfish and fantastical beings may not have power to +imitate her form, and to present her appearance where she is not +personally present--in fine, whether they have permission to play at +her expense fantastical tricks, which they cannot exercise over other +mortals, whose forefathers have ever regulated their lives by the +rules of the Church, and died in regular communion with it. And as I +sincerely desire to retain your esteem, I have no objection to +communicate to you more particular circumstances respecting her +genealogy, confirming the idea I have now expressed. But you will +understand they are of the most private nature, and that I expect +secrecy under the strictest personal penalty." + +"I shall be silent, sir," replied the young Englishman, still +struggling with suppressed passion, "on everything respecting the +character of a maiden whom I am bound to respect so highly. But the +fear of no man's displeasure can add a feather's weight to the +guarantee of my own honour." + +"Be it so," said Rudolph; "it is not my wish to awake angry feelings; +but I am desirous, both for the sake of your good opinion, which I +value, and also for the plainer explanation of what I have darkly +intimated, to communicate to you what otherwise I would much rather +have left untold." + +"You must be guided by your own sense of what is necessary and proper +in the case," answered Philipson; "but remember I press not on your +confidence for the communication of anything that ought to remain +secret, far less where that young lady is the subject." + +Rudolph answered, after a minute's pause,--"Thou hast seen and heard +too much, Arthur, not to learn the whole, or at least all that I know, +or apprehend, on the mysterious subject. It is impossible but the +circumstances must at times recur to your recollection, and I am +desirous that you should possess all the information necessary to +understand them as clearly as the nature of the facts will permit. We +have yet, keeping leftward to view the bog, upwards of a mile to make +ere the circuit of the castle is accomplished. It will afford leisure +enough for the tale I have to tell." + +"Speak on--I listen!" answered the Englishman, divided between his +desire to know all that it was possible to learn concerning Anne of +Geierstein, and his dislike to hear her name pronounced with such +pretensions as those of Donnerhugel, together with the revival of his +original prejudices against the gigantic Swiss, whose manners, always +blunt, nearly to coarseness, seemed now marked by assumed superiority +and presumption. Arthur listened, however, to his wild tale, and the +interest which he took in it soon overpowered all other sensations. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[5] The chivalry of Cornwall are generally undervalued in the +Norman-French romances. The cause is difficult to discover. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +DONNERHUGEL'S NARRATIVE. + + These be the adept's doctrines--every element + Is peopled with its separate race of spirits. + The airy Sylphs on the blue ether float; + Deep in the earthy cavern skulks the Gnome; + The sea-green Naiad skims the ocean-billow, + And the fierce fire is yet a friendly home + To its peculiar sprite--the Salamander. + ANONYMOUS. + + +I told you (said Rudolph) that the Lords of Arnheim, though from +father to son they were notoriously addicted to secret studies, were, +nevertheless, like the other German nobles, followers of war and the +chase. This was peculiarly the case with Anne's maternal grandfather, +Herman of Arnheim, who prided himself on possessing a splendid stud of +horses, and one steed in particular, the noblest ever known in these +circles of Germany. I should make wild work were I to attempt a +description of such an animal, so I will content myself with saying +his colour was jet black, without a hair of white either on his face +or feet. For this reason, and the wildness of his disposition, his +master had termed him Apollyon; a circumstance which was secretly +considered as tending to sanction the evil reports which touched the +house of Arnheim, being, it was said, the naming of a favourite animal +after a foul fiend. + +It chanced, one November day, that the Baron had been hunting in the +forest, and did not reach home till nightfall. There were no guests +with him, for, as I hinted to you before, the castle of Arnheim seldom +received any other than those from whom its inhabitants hoped to gain +augmentation of knowledge. The Baron was seated alone in his hall, +illuminated with cressets and torches. His one hand held a volume +covered with characters unintelligible to all save himself. The other +rested on the marble table, on which was placed a flask of Tokay wine. +A page stood in respectful attendance near the bottom of the large and +dim apartment, and no sound was heard save that of the night wind, +when it sighed mournfully through the rusty coats of mail, and waved +the tattered banners which were the tapestry of the feudal hall. At +once the footstep of a person was heard ascending the stairs in haste +and trepidation; the door of the hall was thrown violently open, and, +terrified to a degree of ecstasy, Caspar, the head of the Baron's +stable, or his master of horse, stumbled up almost to the foot of the +table at which his lord was seated, with the exclamation in his +mouth,-- + +"My lord, my lord, a fiend is in the stable!" + +"What means this folly?" said the Baron, arising, surprised and +displeased at an interruption so unusual. + +"Let me endure your displeasure," said Caspar, "if I speak not truth! +Apollyon"---- + +Here he paused. + +"Speak out, thou frightened fool," said the Baron; "is my horse sick, +or injured?" + +The master of the stalls again gasped forth the word, "Apollyon!" + +"Say on," said the Baron; "were Apollyon in presence personally, it +were nothing to shake a brave man's mind." + +"The devil," answered the master of the horse, "is in Apollyon's +stall!" + +"Fool!" exclaimed the nobleman, snatching a torch from the wall; "what +is it that could have turned thy brain in such silly fashion? Things +like thee, that are born to serve us, should hold their brains on a +firmer tenure, for our sakes, if not for that of their worthless +selves." + +As he spoke, he descended to the court of the castle, to visit the +stately range of stables which occupied all the lower part of the +quadrangle on one side. He entered, where fifty gallant steeds stood +in rows, on each side of the ample hall. At the side of each stall +hung the weapons of offence and defence of a man-at-arms, as bright as +constant attention could make them, together with the buff-coat which +formed the trooper's under garment. The Baron, followed by one or two +of the domestics, who had assembled full of astonishment at the +unusual alarm, hastened up to the head of the stable, betwixt the rows +of steeds. As he approached the stall of his favourite horse, which +was the uppermost of the right-hand row, the gallant steed neither +neighed, nor shook his head, nor stamped with his foot, nor gave the +usual signs of joy at his lord's approach; a faint moaning, as if he +implored assistance, was the only acknowledgment he gave of the +Baron's presence. + +Sir Herman held up the torch, and discovered that there was indeed a +tall dark figure standing in the stall, resting his hand on the +horse's shoulder. "Who art thou," said the Baron, "and what dost thou +here?" + +"I seek refuge and hospitality," replied the stranger; "and I conjure +thee to grant it me, by the shoulder of thy horse, and by the edge of +thy sword, and so as they may never fail thee when thy need is at the +utmost!" + +"Thou art, then, a brother of the Sacred Fire," said Baron Herman of +Arnheim; "and I may not refuse thee the refuge which thou requirest of +me, after the ritual of the Persian Magi. From whom, and for what +length of time, dost thou crave my protection?" + +"From those," replied the stranger, "who shall arrive in quest of me +before the morning cock shall crow, and for the full space of a year +and a day from this period." + +"I may not refuse thee," said the Baron, "consistently with my oath +and my honour. For a year and a day I will be thy pledge, and thou +shalt share with me roof and chamber, wine and food. But thou too must +obey the law of Zoroaster, which, as it says, Let the Stronger protect +the weaker brother, says also, Let the Wiser instruct the brother who +hath less knowledge. I am the stronger, and thou shalt be safe under +my protection; but thou art the wiser, and must instruct me in the +more secret mysteries." + +"You mock your servant," said the strange visitor; "but if aught is +known to Dannischemend which can avail Herman, his instructions shall +be as those of a father to a son." + +"Come forth, then, from thy place of refuge," said the Baron of +Arnheim. "I swear to thee by the sacred fire which lives without +terrestrial fuel, and by the fraternity which is betwixt us, and +by the shoulder of my horse, and the edge of my good sword, I will be +thy warrand for a year and a day, if so far my power shall extend." + + [Illustration: IN THE STABLE. + Drawn and Etched by R. de los Rios.] + +The stranger came forth accordingly; and those who saw the singularity +of his appearance, scarce wondered at the fears of Caspar, the +stall-master, when he found such a person in the stable, by what mode +of entrance he was unable to conceive. When he reached the lighted +hall to which the Baron conducted him, as he would have done a welcome +and honoured guest, the stranger appeared to be very tall, and of a +dignified aspect. His dress was Asiatic, being a long black caftan, or +gown, like that worn by Armenians, and a lofty square cap, covered +with the wool of Astracan lambs. Every article of the dress was black, +which gave relief to the long white beard, that flowed down over his +bosom. His gown was fastened by a sash of black silk network, in +which, instead of a poniard or sword, was stuck a silver case, +containing writing-materials, and a roll of parchment. The only +ornament of his apparel consisted in a large ruby of uncommon +brilliancy, which, when he approached the light, seemed to glow with +such liveliness as if the gem itself had emitted the rays which it +only reflected back. To the offer of refreshment the stranger replied, +"Bread I may not eat, water shall not moisten my lips, until the +avenger shall have passed by the threshold." + +The Baron commanded the lamps to be trimmed, and fresh torches to be +lighted, and, sending his whole household to rest, remained seated in +the hall along with the stranger, his suppliant. At the dead hour of +midnight, the gates of the castle were shaken as by a whirlwind, and a +voice, as of a herald, was heard to demand a herald's lawful prisoner, +Dannischemend, the son of Hali. The warder then heard a lower window +of the hall thrown open, and could distinguish his master's voice +addressing the person who had thus summoned the castle. But the night +was so dark that he might not see the speakers, and the language which +they used was either entirely foreign, or so largely interspersed with +strange words, that he could not understand a syllable which they +said. Scarce five minutes had elapsed, when he who was without again +elevated his voice as before, and said in German, "For a year and a +day, then, I forbear my forfeiture;--but coming for it when that time +shall elapse, I come for my right, and will no longer be withstood." + +From that period, Dannischemend, the Persian, was a constant guest at +the castle of Arnheim, and, indeed, never for any visible purpose +crossed the drawbridge. His amusements, or studies, seemed centred in +the library of the castle, and in the laboratory, where the Baron +sometimes toiled in conjunction with him for many hours together. The +inhabitants of the castle could find no fault in the Magus, or +Persian, excepting his apparently dispensing with the ordinances of +religion, since he neither went to mass nor confession, nor attended +upon other religious ceremonies. The chaplain did indeed profess +himself satisfied with the state of the stranger's conscience; but it +had been long suspected that the worthy ecclesiastic held his easy +office on the very reasonable condition of approving the principles, +and asserting the orthodoxy, of all guests whom the Baron invited to +share his hospitality. + +It was observed that Dannischemend was rigid in paying his devotions, +by prostrating himself in the first rays of the rising sun, and that +he constructed a silver lamp of the most beautiful proportions, which +he placed on a pedestal, representing a truncated column of marble, +having its base sculptured with hieroglyphical imagery. With what +essences he fed this flame was unknown to all, unless perhaps to the +Baron; but the flame was more steady, pure, and lustrous than any +which was ever seen, excepting the sun of heaven itself, and it was +generally believed that the Magian made it an object of worship in the +absence of that blessed luminary. Nothing else was observed of him, +unless that his morals seemed severe, his gravity extreme, his general +mode of life very temperate, and his fasts and vigils of frequent +recurrence. Except on particular occasions, he spoke to no one of the +castle but the Baron; but, as he had money and was liberal, he was +regarded by the domestics with awe indeed, but without fear or +dislike. + +Winter was succeeded by spring, summer brought her flowers, and autumn +her fruits, which ripened and were fading, when a foot-page, who +sometimes attended them in the laboratory to render manual assistance +when required, heard the Persian say to the Baron of Arnheim, "You +will do well, my son, to mark my words; for my lessons to you are +drawing to an end, and there is no power on earth which can longer +postpone my fate." + +"Alas, my master!" said the Baron, "and must I then lose the benefit +of your direction, just when your guiding hand becomes necessary to +place me on the very pinnacle of the temple of wisdom?" + +"Be not discouraged, my son," answered the sage; "I will bequeath the +task of perfecting you in your studies to my daughter, who will come +hither on purpose. But remember, if you value the permanence of your +family, look not upon her as aught else than a helpmate in your +studies; for if you forget the instructress in the beauty of the +maiden, you will be buried with your sword and your shield, as the +last male of your house; and further evil, believe me, will arise; for +such alliances never come to a happy issue, of which my own is an +example.--But hush, we are observed." + +The household of the castle of Arnheim having but few things to +interest them, were the more eager observers of those which came under +their notice; and when the termination of the period when the Persian +was to receive shelter in the castle began to approach, some of the +inmates, under various pretexts, but which resolved into very terror, +absconded, while others held themselves in expectation of some +striking and terrible catastrophe. None such, however, took place; and +on the expected anniversary, long ere the witching hour of midnight, +Dannischemend terminated his visit in the castle of Arnheim, by riding +away from the gate in the guise of an ordinary traveller. The Baron +had meantime taken leave of his tutor with many marks of regret, and +some which amounted even to sorrow. The sage Persian comforted him by +a long whisper, of which the last part only was heard--"By the first +beam of sunshine she will be with you. Be kind to her, but not over +kind." He then departed, and was never again seen or heard of in the +vicinity of Arnheim. + +The Baron was observed during all the day after the departure of the +stranger to be particularly melancholy. He remained, contrary to his +custom, in the great hall, and neither visited the library nor the +laboratory, where he could no longer enjoy the company of his departed +instructor. At dawn of the ensuing morning, Sir Herman summoned his +page, and, contrary to his habits, which used to be rather careless in +respect of apparel, he dressed himself with great accuracy; and as he +was in the prime of life, and of a noble figure, he had reason to be +satisfied with his appearance. Having performed his toilet, he waited +till the sun had just appeared above the horizon, and, taking from the +table the key of the laboratory, which the page believed must have +lain there all night, he walked thither, followed by his attendant. At +the door the Baron made a pause, and seemed at one time to doubt +whether he should not send away the page, at another to hesitate +whether he should open the door, as one might do who expected some +strange sight within. He pulled up resolution, however, turned the +key, threw the door open, and entered. The page followed close behind +his master, and was astonished to the point of extreme terror at what +he beheld, although the sight, however extraordinary, had in it +nothing save what was agreeable and lovely. + +The silver lamp was extinguished, or removed from its pedestal, where +stood in place of it a most beautiful female figure in the Persian +costume, in which the colour of pink predominated. But she wore no +turban or headdress of any kind, saving a blue riband drawn through +her auburn hair, and secured by a gold clasp, the outer side of which +was ornamented by a superb opal, which, amid the changing lights +peculiar to that gem, displayed internally a slight tinge of red like +a spark of fire. + +The figure of this young person was rather under the middle size, but +perfectly well formed; the Eastern dress, with the wide trousers +gathered round the ankles, made visible the smallest and most +beautiful feet which had ever been seen, while hands and arms of the +most perfect symmetry were partly seen from under the folds of the +robe. The little lady's countenance was of a lively and expressive +character, in which spirit and wit seemed to predominate; and the +quick dark eye, with its beautifully formed eyebrow, seemed to presage +the arch remark to which the rosy and half-smiling lip appeared ready +to give utterance. + +The pedestal on which she stood, or rather was perched, would have +appeared unsafe had any figure heavier than her own been placed there. +But, however she had been transported thither, she seemed to rest on +it as lightly and safely as a linnet, when it has dropped from the sky +on the tendril of a rose-bud. The first beam of the rising sun, +falling through a window directly opposite to the pedestal, increased +the effect of this beautiful figure, which remained as motionless as +if it had been carved in marble. She only expressed her sense of the +Baron of Arnheim's presence by something of a quicker respiration, and +a deep blush, accompanied by a slight smile. + +Whatever reason the Baron of Arnheim might have for expecting to see +some such object as now exhibited its actual presence, the degree of +beauty which it presented was so much beyond his expectation, that for +an instant he stood without breath or motion. At once, however, he +seemed to recollect that it was his duty to welcome the fair stranger +to his castle, and to relieve her from her precarious situation. He +stepped forward accordingly with the words of welcome on his tongue, +and was extending his arms to lift her from the pedestal, which was +nearly six feet high; but the light and active stranger merely +accepted the support of his hand, and descended on the floor as light +and as safe as if she had been formed of gossamer. It was, indeed, +only by the momentary pressure of her little hand that the Baron of +Arnheim was finally made sensible that he had to do with a being of +flesh and blood. + +"I am come as I have been commanded," she said, looking around her. +"You must expect a strict and diligent mistress, and I hope for the +credit of an attentive pupil." + +After the arrival of this singular and interesting being in the castle +of Arnheim, various alterations took place within the interior of the +household. A lady of high rank and small fortune, the respectable +widow of a Count of the Empire, who was the Baron's blood relation, +received and accepted an invitation to preside over her kinsman's +domestic affairs, and remove, by her countenance, any suspicions which +might arise from the presence of Hermione, as the beautiful Persian +was generally called. + +The Countess Waldstetten carried her complaisance so far as to be +present on almost all occasions, whether in the laboratory or library, +when the Baron of Arnheim received lessons from, or pursued studies +with, the young and lovely tutor who had been thus strangely +substituted for the aged Magus. If this lady's report was to be +trusted, their pursuits were of a most extraordinary nature, and the +results which she sometimes witnessed were such as to create fear as +well as surprise. But she strongly vindicated them from practising +unlawful arts, or overstepping the boundaries of natural science. + +A better judge of such matters, the Bishop of Bamberg himself, made a +visit to Arnheim, on purpose to witness the wisdom of which so much +was reported through the whole Rhine-country. He conversed with +Hermione, and found her deeply impressed with the truths of religion, +and so perfectly acquainted with its doctrines, that he compared her +to a doctor of theology in the dress of an Eastern dancing-girl. When +asked regarding her knowledge of languages and science, he answered, +that he had been attracted to Arnheim by the most extravagant reports +on these points, but that he must return confessing "the half thereof +had not been told unto him." + +In consequence of this indisputable testimony, the sinister reports +which had been occasioned by the singular appearance of the fair +stranger were in a great measure lulled to sleep, especially as her +amiable manners won the involuntary good-will of every one that +approached her. + +Meantime a marked alteration began to take place in the interviews +between the lovely tutor and her pupil. These were conducted with the +same caution as before, and never, so far as could be observed, took +place without the presence of the Countess of Waldstetten, or some +other third person of respectability. But the scenes of these meetings +were no longer the scholar's library, or the chemist's laboratory;--the +gardens, the groves, were resorted to for amusement, and parties of +hunting and fishing, with evenings spent in the dance, seemed to +announce that the studies of wisdom were for a time abandoned for the +pursuits of pleasure. It was not difficult to guess the meaning of +this; the Baron of Arnheim and his fair guest, speaking a language +different from all others, could enjoy their private conversation, +even amid all the tumult of gaiety around them; and no one was +surprised to hear it formally announced, after a few weeks of gaiety, +that the fair Persian was to be wedded to the Baron of Arnheim. + +The manners of this fascinating young person were so pleasing, her +conversation so animated, her wit so keen, yet so well tempered with +good nature and modesty, that, notwithstanding her unknown origin, her +high fortune attracted less envy than might have been expected in a +case so singular. Above all, her generosity amazed and won the hearts +of all the young persons who approached her. Her wealth seemed to be +measureless, for the many rich jewels which she distributed among her +fair friends would otherwise have left her without ornaments for +herself. These good qualities, her liberality above all, together with +a simplicity of thought and character which formed a beautiful +contrast to the depth of acquired knowledge which she was well known +to possess--these, and her total want of ostentation, made her +superiority be pardoned among her companions. Still there was notice +taken of some peculiarities, exaggerated perhaps by envy, which seemed +to draw a mystical distinction between the beautiful Hermione and the +mere mortals with whom she lived and conversed. + +In the merry dance she was so unrivalled in lightness and agility that +her performance seemed that of an aërial being. She could, without +suffering from her exertion, continue the pleasure till she had tired +out the most active revellers; and even the young Duke of +Hochspringen, who was reckoned the most indefatigable at that exercise +in Germany, having been her partner for half an hour, was compelled to +break off the dance, and throw himself, totally exhausted, on a couch, +exclaiming he had been dancing not with a woman, but with an _ignis +fatuus_. + +Other whispers averred that while she played with her young companions +in the labyrinth and mazes of the castle gardens at hide-and-seek, or +similar games of activity, she became animated with the same +supernatural alertness which was supposed to inspire her in the dance. +She appeared amongst her companions, and vanished from them, with a +degree of rapidity which was inconceivable; and hedges, treillage, or +such like obstructions, were surmounted by her in a manner which the +most vigilant eye could not detect; for, after being observed on the +side of the barrier at one instant, in another she was beheld close +beside the spectator. + +In such moments, when her eyes sparkled, her cheeks reddened, and her +whole frame became animated, it was pretended that the opal clasp +amid her tresses, the ornament which she never laid aside, shot forth +the little spark, or tongue of flame, which it always displayed, with +an increased vivacity. In the same manner, if in the half-darkened +hall the conversation of Hermione became unusually animated, it was +believed that the jewel became brilliant, and even displayed a +twinkling and flashing gleam which seemed to be emitted by the gem +itself, and not produced in the usual manner, by the reflection of +some external light. Her maidens were also heard to surmise that when +their mistress was agitated by any hasty or brief resentment (the only +weakness of temper which she was sometimes observed to display), they +could observe dark-red sparks flash from the mystic brooch, as if it +sympathised with the wearer's emotions. The women who attended on her +toilet further reported that this gem was never removed but for a few +minutes, when the Baroness's hair was combed out; that she was +unusually pensive and silent during the time it was laid aside, and +particularly apprehensive when any liquid was brought near it. Even in +the use of holy water at the door of the church she was observed to +omit the sign of the cross on the forehead, for fear, it was supposed, +of the water touching the valued jewel. + +These singular reports did not prevent the marriage of the Baron of +Arnheim from proceeding as had been arranged. It was celebrated in the +usual form, and with the utmost splendour, and the young couple seemed +to commence a life of happiness rarely to be found on earth. In the +course of twelve months, the lovely Baroness presented her husband +with a daughter, which was to be christened Sybilla, after the Count's +mother. As the health of the child was excellent, the ceremony was +postponed till the recovery of the mother from her confinement. Many +were invited to be present on the occasion, and the castle was +thronged with company. + +It happened that amongst the guests was an old lady, notorious for +playing in private society the part of a malicious fairy in a +minstrel's tale. This was the Baroness of Steinfeldt, famous in the +neighbourhood for her insatiable curiosity and overweening pride. She +had not been many days in the castle, ere, by the aid of a female +attendant, who acted as an intelligencer, she had made herself +mistress of all that was heard, said, or suspected, concerning the +peculiarities of the Baroness Hermione. It was on the morning of the +day appointed for the christening, while the whole company were +assembled in the hall, and waiting till the Baroness should appear, to +pass with them to the chapel, that there arose between the censorious +and haughty dame whom we have just mentioned, and the Countess +Waldstetten, a violent discussion concerning some point of disputed +precedence. It was referred to the Baron von Arnheim, who decided in +favour of the Countess. Madame de Steinfeldt instantly ordered her +palfrey to be prepared, and her attendants to mount. + +"I leave this place," she said, "which a good Christian ought never to +have entered; I leave a house of which the master is a sorcerer, the +mistress a demon who dares not cross her brow with holy water, and +their trencher companion one who, for a wretched pittance, is willing +to act as match-maker between a wizard and an incarnate fiend!" + +She then departed, with rage in her countenance and spite in her +heart. + +The Baron of Arnheim then stepped forward, and demanded of the knights +and gentlemen around if there were any among them who would dare to +make good with his sword the infamous falsehoods thrown upon himself, +his spouse, and his kinswoman. + +There was a general answer, utterly refusing to defend the Baroness of +Steinfeldt's words in so bad a cause, and universally testifying the +belief of the company that she spoke in the spirit of calumny and +falsehood. + +"Then let that lie fall to the ground which no man of courage will +hold up," said the Baron of Arnheim; "only, all who are here this +morning shall be satisfied whether the Baroness Hermione doth or doth +not share the rites of Christianity." + +The Countess of Waldstetten made anxious signs to him while he spoke +thus; and when the crowd permitted her to approach near him, she was +heard to whisper, "Oh, be not rash! try no experiment! there is +something mysterious about that opal talisman; be prudent, and let the +matter pass by." + +The Baron, who was in a more towering passion than well became the +wisdom to which he made pretence--although it will be perhaps allowed +that an affront so public, and in such a time and place, was enough to +shake the prudence of the most staid, and the philosophy of the most +wise--answered sternly and briefly, "Are you, too, such a fool?" and +retained his purpose. + +The Baroness of Arnheim at this moment entered the hall, looking just +so pale from her late confinement as to render her lovely countenance +more interesting, if less animated, than usual. Having paid her +compliments to the assembled company, with the most graceful and +condescending attention, she was beginning to inquire why Madame de +Steinfeldt was not present, when her husband made the signal for the +company to move forward to the chapel, and lent the Baroness his arm +to bring up the rear. The chapel was nearly filled by the splendid +company, and all eyes were bent on their host and hostess, as they +entered the place of devotion immediately after four young ladies, who +supported the infant babe in a light and beautiful litter. + +As they passed the threshold, the Baron dipped his finger in the +font-stone, and offered holy water to his lady, who accepted it, as +usual, by touching his finger with her own. But then, as if to confute +the calumnies of the malevolent lady of Steinfeldt, with an air of +sportive familiarity which was rather unwarranted by the time and +place, he flirted on her beautiful forehead a drop or two of the +moisture which remained on his own hand. The opal, on which one of +these drops had lighted, shot out a brilliant spark like a falling +star, and became the instant afterwards lightless and colourless as a +common pebble, while the beautiful Baroness sank on the floor of the +chapel with a deep sigh of pain. All crowded around her in dismay. The +unfortunate Hermione was raised from the ground, and conveyed to her +chamber; and so much did her countenance and pulse alter, within the +short time necessary to do this, that those who looked upon her +pronounced her a dying woman. She was no sooner in her own apartment +than she requested to be left alone with her husband. He remained an +hour in the room, and when he came out he locked and double locked the +door behind him. He then betook himself to the chapel, and remained +there for an hour or more, prostrated before the altar. + +In the meantime, most of the guests had dispersed in dismay, though +some abode out of courtesy or curiosity. There was a general sense of +impropriety in suffering the door of the sick lady's apartment to +remain locked; but, alarmed at the whole circumstances of her illness, +it was some time ere any one dared disturb the devotions of the Baron. + +At length medical aid arrived, and the Countess of Waldstetten took +upon her to demand the key. She spoke more than once to a man, who +seemed incapable of hearing, at least of understanding, what she said. +At length he gave her the key, and added sternly, as he did so, that +all aid was unavailing, and that it was his pleasure that all +strangers should leave the castle. There were few who inclined to +stay, when, upon opening the door of the chamber in which the Baroness +had been deposited little more than two hours before, no traces of her +could be discovered, unless that there was about a handful of +light-grey ashes, like such as might have been produced by burning +fine paper, found on the bed where she had been laid. A solemn funeral +was nevertheless performed, with masses, and all other spiritual +rites, for the soul of the high and noble Lady Hermione of Arnheim; +and it was exactly on that same day three years that the Baron +himself was laid in the grave of the same chapel of Arnheim, with +sword, shield, and helmet, as the last male of his family. + + * * * * * + +Here the Swiss paused, for they were approaching the bridge of the +castle of Graffs-lust. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + + Believe me, sir, + It carries a rare form.--But 'tis a spirit. + _The Tempest._ + + +There was a short silence after the Bernese had concluded his singular +tale. Arthur Philipson's attention had been gradually and intensely +attracted by a story which was too much in unison with the received +ideas of the age to be encountered by the unhesitating incredulity +with which it must have been heard in later and more enlightened +times. + +He was also considerably struck by the manner in which it had been +told by the narrator, whom he had hitherto only regarded in the light +of a rude huntsman or soldier; whereas he now allowed Donnerhugel +credit for a more extensive acquaintance with the general manners of +the world than he had previously anticipated. The Swiss rose in his +opinion as a man of talent, but without making the slightest progress +in his affections. "The swashbuckler," he said to himself, "has +brains, as well as brawn and bones, and is fitter for the office of +commanding others than I formerly thought him." Then, turning to his +companion, he thanked him for the tale, which had shortened the way in +so interesting a manner. + +"And it is from this singular marriage," he continued, "that Anne of +Geierstein derives her origin?" + +"Her mother," answered the Swiss, "was Sybilla of Arnheim, the infant +at whose christening the mother died--disappeared--or whatever you may +list to call it. The barony of Arnheim, being a male fief, reverted to +the Emperor. The castle has never been inhabited since the death of +the last lord, and has, as I have heard, become in some sort ruinous. +The occupations of its ancient proprietors, and, above all, the +catastrophe of its last inhabitant, have been thought to render it no +eligible place of residence." + +"Did there appear anything preternatural," said the Englishman, "about +the young Baroness, who married the brother of the Landamman?" + +"So far as I have heard," replied Rudolph, "there were strange +stories. It was said that the nurses, at the dead of night, have seen +Hermione, the last Baroness of Arnheim, stand weeping by the side of +the child's cradle, and other things to the same purpose. But here I +speak from less correct information than that from which I drew my +former narrative." + +"And since the credibility of a story, not very probable in itself, +must needs be granted, or withheld, according to the evidence on which +it is given, may I ask you," said Arthur, "to tell me what is the +authority on which you have so much reliance?" + +"Willingly," answered the Swiss. "Know that Theodore Donnerhugel, the +favourite page of the last Baron of Arnheim, was my father's brother. +Upon his master's death he retired to his native town of Berne, and +most of his time was employed in training me up to arms and martial +exercises, as well according to the fashion of Germany as of +Switzerland, for he was master of all. He witnessed with his own +eyes, and heard with his own ears, great part of the melancholy and +mysterious events which I have detailed to you. Should you ever visit +Berne, you may see the good old man." + +"You think, then," said Arthur, "that the appearance which I have this +night seen is connected with the mysterious marriage of Anne of +Geierstein's grandfather?" + +"Nay," replied Rudolph, "think not that I can lay down any positive +explanation of a thing so strange. I can only say, that unless I did +you the injustice to disbelieve your testimony respecting the +apparition of this evening, I know no way to account for it, except by +remembering that there is a portion of the young lady's blood which is +thought not to be derived from the race of Adam, but more or less +directly from one of those elementary spirits which have been talked +of both in ancient and modern times. But I may be mistaken. We will +see how she bears herself in the morning, and whether she carries in +her looks the weariness and paleness of a midnight watcher. If she +doth not, we may be authorised in thinking, either that your eyes have +strangely deceived you, or that they have been cheated by some +spectral appearance, which is not of this world." + +To this the young Englishman attempted no reply. Nor was there time +for any, for they were immediately afterwards challenged by the +sentinel from the drawbridge. + +The question, "Who goes there?" was twice satisfactorily answered, +before Sigismund would admit the patrol to cross the drawbridge. + +"Ass and mule that thou art," said Rudolph, "what was the meaning of +thy delay?" + +"Ass and mule thyself, Hauptman!" said the Swiss, in answer to this +objurgation. "I have been surprised by a goblin on my post once +to-night already, and I have got so much experience upon that matter +that I will not easily be caught a second time." + +"What goblin, thou fool," said Donnerhugel, "would be idle enough to +play his gambols at the expense of so very poor an animal as thou +art?" + +"Thou art as cross as my father, Hauptman," replied Sigismund, "who +cries fool and blockhead at every word I speak; and yet I have lips, +teeth, and tongue to speak with, just like other folk." + +"We will not contest the matter, Sigismund," said Rudolph. "It is +clear, that if thou dost differ from other people, it is in a +particular which thou canst hardly be expected to find out or +acknowledge. But what, in the name of simplicity, is it which hath +alarmed thee on thy post?" + +"Marry, thus it was, Hauptman," returned Sigismund Biederman. "I was +something tired, you see, with looking up at the broad moon, and +thinking what in the universe it could be made of, and how we came to +see it just as well here as at home, this place being so many miles +from Geierstein. I was tired, I say, of this and other perplexing +thoughts, so I drew my fur cap down over my ears, for I promise you +the wind blew shrill; and then I planted myself firm on my feet, with +one of my legs a little advanced, and both my hands resting on my +partisan, which I placed upright before me to rest upon; and so I shut +mine eyes." + +"Shut thine eyes, Sigismund, and thou upon thy watch!" exclaimed +Donnerhugel. + +"Care not thou for that," answered Sigismund; "I kept my ears open. +And yet it was to little purpose, for something came upon the bridge +with a step as stealthy as that of a mouse. I looked up with a start +at the moment it was opposite to me, and when I looked up--whom think +you I saw?" + +"Some fool like thyself," said Rudolph, at the same time pressing +Philipson's foot to make him attend to the answer; a hint which was +little necessary, since he waited for it in the utmost agitation. Out +it came at last. + +"By St. Mark, it was our own Anne of Geierstein!" + +"It is impossible!" replied the Bernese. + +"I should have said so too," quoth Sigismund, "for I had peeped into +her bedroom before she went thither, and it was so bedizened that a +queen or a princess might have slept in it; and why should the wench +get out of her good quarters, with all her friends about her to guard +her, and go out to wander in the forest?" + +"May be," said Rudolph, "she only looked from the bridge to see how +the night waned." + +"No," said Sigismund; "she was returning from the forest. I saw her +when she reached the end of the bridge, and thought of striking at +her, conceiving it to be the devil in her likeness. But I remembered +my halberd is no birch switch to chastise boys and girls with; and had +I done Anne any harm, you would all have been angry with me, and, to +speak truth, I should have been ill pleased with myself; for although +she doth make a jest of me now and then, yet it were a dull house ours +were we to lose Anne." + +"Ass," answered the Bernese, "didst thou speak to this form, or goblin +as you call it?" + +"Indeed I did not, Captain Wiseacre. My father is ever angry with me +when I speak without thinking, and I could not at that particular +moment think on anything to the purpose. Neither was there time to +think, for she passed me like a snow-flake upon a whirlwind. I marched +into the castle after her, however, calling on her by name; so the +sleepers were awakened, and men flew to their arms, and there was as +much confusion as if Archibald of Hagenbach had been among us with +sword and pike. And who should come out of her little bedroom, as much +startled and as much in a bustle as any of us, but Mrs. Anne herself! +And as she protested she had never left her room that night, why I, +Sigismund Biederman, was made to stand the whole blame, as if I could +prevent people's ghosts from walking. But I told her my mind when I +saw them all so set against me. 'And, Mistress Anne,' quoth I, 'it's +well known the kindred you come of; and, after this fair notice, if +you send any of your double-gangers[6] [_g_] to me, let them put iron +skull-caps on their heads, for I will give them the length and weight +of a Swiss halberd, come in what shape they list.' However, they all +cried 'Shame on me!' and my father drove me out again, with as little +remorse as if I had been the old house-dog, which had stolen in from +his watch to the fireside." + +The Bernese replied, with an air of coldness approaching to contempt, +"You have slept on your watch, Sigismund--a high military offence, +and you have dreamed while you slept. You were in good luck that the +Landamman did not suspect your negligence, or, instead of being sent +back to your duty like a lazy watch-dog, you might have been scourged +back like a faithless one to your kennel at Geierstein, as chanced to +poor Ernest for a less matter." + +"Ernest has not yet gone back, though," said Sigismund, "and I think +he may pass as far into Burgundy as we shall do in this journey. I +pray you, however, Hauptman, to treat me not dog-like, but as a man, +and send some one to relieve me, instead of prating here in the cold +night air. If there be anything to do to-morrow, as I well guess there +may, a mouthful of food, and a minute of sleep, will be but a fitting +preparative, and I have stood watch here these two mortal hours." + +With that the young giant yawned portentously, as if to enforce the +reasons of his appeal. + +"A mouthful and a minute?" said Rudolph,--"a roasted ox, and a +lethargy like that of the Seven Sleepers, would scarce restore you to +the use of your refreshed and waking senses. But I am your friend, +Sigismund, and you are secure in my favourable report; you shall be +instantly relieved, that you may sleep, if it be possible, without +disturbances from dreams.--Pass on, young men" (addressing the others, +who by this time had come up), "and go to your rest. Arthur of England +and I will report to the Landamman and the Banneret the account of our +patrol." + +The patrol accordingly entered the castle, and were soon heard joining +their slumbering companions. Rudolph Donnerhugel seized Arthur's arm, +and, while they went towards the hall, whispered in his ear,-- + +"These are strange passages!--How think you we should report them to +the deputation?" + +"That I must refer to yourself," said Arthur; "you are the captain of +our watch. I have done my duty in telling you what I saw--or thought I +saw--it is for you to judge how far it is fitting to communicate it to +the Landamman; only, as it concerns the honour of his family, to his +ear alone I think it should be confided." + +"I see no occasion for that," said the Bernese, hastily; "it cannot +affect or interest our general safety. But I may take occasion +hereafter to speak with Anne on this subject." + +This latter hint gave as much pain to Arthur as the general proposal +of silence on an affair so delicate had afforded him satisfaction. But +his uneasiness was of a kind which he felt it necessary to suppress, +and he therefore replied with as much composure as he could assume:-- + +"You will act, Sir Hauptman, as your sense of duty and delicacy shall +dictate. For me, I shall be silent on what you call the strange +passages of the night, rendered doubly wonderful by the report of +Sigismund Biederman." + +"And also on what you have seen and heard concerning our auxiliaries +of Berne?" said Rudolph. + +"On that I shall certainly be silent," said Arthur; "unless thus far, +that I mean to communicate to my father the risk of his baggage being +liable to examination and seizure at La Ferette." + +"It is needless," said Rudolph; "I will answer with head and hand for +the safety of everything belonging to him." + +"I thank you in his name," said Arthur; "but we are peaceful +travellers, to whom it must be much more desirable to avoid a broil +than to give occasion for one, even when secure of coming out of it +triumphantly." + +"These are the sentiments of a merchant, but not of a soldier," said +Rudolph, in a cold and displeased tone; "but the matter is your own, +and you must act in it as you think best. Only remember, if you go to +La Ferette without our assistance, you hazard both goods and life." + +They entered, as he spoke, the apartment of their fellow-travellers. +The companions of their patrol had already laid themselves down +amongst their sleeping comrades at the lower end of the room. The +Landamman and the Bannerman of Berne heard Donnerhugel make a report, +that his patrol, both before and after midnight, had been made in +safety, and without any encounter which expressed either danger or +suspicion. The Bernese then wrapped him in his cloak, and, lying down +on the straw, with that happy indifference to accommodation, and +promptitude to seize the moment of repose, which is acquired by a life +of vigilance and hardship, was in a few minutes fast asleep. + +Arthur remained on foot but a little longer, to dart an earnest look +on the door of Anne of Geierstein's apartment, and to reflect on the +wonderful occurrences of the evening. But they formed a chaotic +mystery, for which he could see no clue, and the necessity of holding +instant communication with his father compelled him forcibly to turn +his thoughts in that direction. He was obliged to observe caution and +secrecy in accomplishing his purpose. For this he laid himself down +beside his parent, whose couch, with the hospitality which he had +experienced from the beginning of his intercourse with the +kind-hearted Swiss, had been arranged in what was thought the most +convenient place of the apartment, and somewhat apart from all others. +He slept sound, but awoke at the touch of his son, who whispered to +him in English, for the greater precaution, that he had important +tidings for his private ear. + +"An attack on our post?" said the elder Philipson. "Must we take to +our weapons?" + +"Not now," said Arthur; "and I pray of you not to rise or make +alarm--this matter concerns us alone." + +"Tell it instantly, my son," replied his father; "you speak to one too +much used to danger to be startled at it." + +"It is a case for your wisdom to consider," said Arthur. "I had +information, while upon the patrol, that the Governor of La Ferette +will unquestionably seize upon your baggage and merchandise, under +pretext of levying dues claimed by the Duke of Burgundy. I have also +been informed that our escort of Swiss youth are determined to resist +this exaction, and conceive themselves possessed of the numbers and +means sufficient to do so successfully." + +"By St. George, that must not be!" said the elder Philipson. "It would +be an evil requital to the true-hearted Landamman, to give the fiery +Duke a pretext for that war which the excellent old man is so +anxiously desirous to avoid, if it be possible. Any exactions, however +unreasonable, I will gladly pay. But to have my papers seized on were +utter ruin. I partly feared this, and it made me unwilling to join +myself to the Landamman's party. We must now break off from it. This +rapacious governor will not surely lay hands on the deputation, which +seeks his master's court under protection of the law of nations; but I +can easily see how he might make our presence with them a pretext for +quarrel, which will equally suit his own avaricious spirit and the +humour of these fiery young men, who are seeking for matter of +offence. This shall not be taken for our sake. We will separate +ourselves from the deputies, and remain behind till they are passed +on. If this De Hagenbach be not the most unreasonable of men, I will +find a way to content him so far as we are individually concerned. +Meanwhile, I will instantly wake the Landamman," he said, "and +acquaint him with our purpose." + +This was immediately done, for Philipson was not slow in the execution +of his resolutions. In a minute he was standing by the side of Arnold +Biederman, who, raised on his elbow, was listening to his +communication, while, over the shoulder of the Landamman, rose the +head and long beard of the deputy from Schwitz, his large clear blue +eyes gleaming from beneath a fur cap, bent on the Englishman's face, +but stealing a glance aside now and then to mark the impression which +what was said made upon his colleague. + +"Good friend and host," said the elder Philipson, "we have heard for a +certainty that our poor merchandise will be subjected to taxation or +seizure on our passage through La Ferette, and I would gladly avoid +all cause of quarrel, for your sake as well as our own." + +"You do not doubt that we can and will protect you?" replied the +Landamman. "I tell you, Englishman, that the guest of a Swiss is as +safe by his side as an eaglet under the wing of its dam; and to leave +us because danger approaches is but a poor compliment to our courage +or constancy. I am desirous of peace; but not the Duke of Burgundy +himself should wrong a guest of mine, so far as my power might prevent +it." + +At this the deputy from Schwitz clenched a fist like a bull's +knuckles, and showed it above the shoulders of his friend. + +"It is even to avoid this, my worthy host," replied Philipson, "that I +intend to separate from your friendly company sooner than I desire or +purposed. Bethink you, my brave and worthy host, you are an ambassador +seeking a national peace, I a trader seeking private gain. War, or +quarrels which may cause war, are alike ruinous to your purpose and +mine. I confess to you frankly, that I am willing and able to pay a +large ransom, and when you are departed I will negotiate for the +amount. I will abide in the town of Bâle till I have made fair terms +with Archibald de Hagenbach; and even if he is the avaricious +extortioner you describe him, he will be somewhat moderate with me +rather than run the risk of losing his booty entirely, by my turning +back or taking another route." + +"You speak wisely, Sir Englishman," said the Landamman; "and I thank +you for recalling my duty to my remembrance. But you must not, +nevertheless, be exposed to danger. So soon as we move forward, the +country will be again open to the devastations of the Burgundian +Riders and Lanz-knechts, who will sweep the roads in every direction. +The people of Bâle are unhappily too timorous to protect you; they +would yield you up upon the Governor's first hint; and for justice or +lenity, you might as well expect it in hell as from Hagenbach." + +"There are conjurations, it is said, that can make hell itself +tremble," said Philipson; "and I have means to propitiate even this De +Hagenbach, providing I can get to private speech with him. But I own I +can expect nothing from his wild riders, but to be put to death for +the value of my cloak." + +"If that be the case," said the Landamman, "and if you must needs +separate from us, for which I deny not that you have alleged wise and +worthy reasons, wherefore should you not leave Graffs-lust two hours +before us? The roads will be safe, as our escort is expected; and you +will probably, if you travel early, find De Hagenbach sober, and as +capable as he ever is of hearing reason--that is, of perceiving his +own interest. But after his breakfast is washed down with Rhine-wine, +which he drinks every morning before he hears mass, his fury blinds +even his avarice." + +"All I want, in order to execute this scheme," said Philipson, "is the +loan of a mule to carry my valise, which is packed up with your +baggage." + +"Take the she-mule," said the Landamman; "she belongs to my brother +here from Schwitz; he will gladly bestow her on thee." + +"If she were worth twenty crowns, and my comrade Arnold desired me to +do so," said the old whitebeard. + +"I will accept her as a loan with gratitude," said the Englishman. +"But how can you dispense with the use of the creature? You have only +one left." + +"We can easily supply our want from Bâle," said the Landamman. "Nay, +we can make this little delay serve your purpose, Sir Englishman. I +named for our time of departure the first hour after daybreak; we will +postpone it to the second hour, which will give us enough of time to +get a horse or mule, and you, Sir Philipson, space to reach La +Ferette, where I trust you will have achieved your business with De +Hagenbach to your contentment, and will join company again with us as +we travel through Burgundy." + +"If our mutual objects will permit our travelling together, worthy +Landamman," answered the merchant, "I shall esteem myself most happy +in becoming the partner of your journey.--And now resume the repose +which I have interrupted." + +"God bless you, wise and true-hearted man," said the Landamman, rising +and embracing the Englishman. "Should we never meet again, I will +still remember the merchant who neglected thoughts of gain, that he +might keep the path of wisdom and rectitude. I know not another who +would not have risked the shedding a lake of blood to save five ounces +of gold.--Farewell thou too, gallant young man. Thou hast learned +among us to keep thy foot firm while on the edge of a Helvetian crag, +but none can teach thee so well as thy father to keep an upright path +among the morasses and precipices of human life." + +He then embraced and took a kind farewell of his friends, in which, as +usual, he was imitated by his friend of Schwitz, who swept with his +long beard the right and left cheeks of both the Englishmen, and +again made them heartily welcome to the use of his mule. All then once +more composed themselves to rest, for the space which remained before +the appearance of the autumnal dawn. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[6] Double-walkers, a name in Germany for those aërial duplicates of +humanity who represent the features and appearance of other living +persons. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + + The enmity and discord, which of late + Sprung from the rancorous outrage of your Duke + To merchants, our well-dealing countrymen,-- + Who, wanting guilders to redeem their lives, + Have seal'd his rigorous statutes with their bloods, + Excludes all pity from our threat'ning looks. + _Comedy of Errors._ + + +The dawn had scarce begun to touch the distant horizon, when Arthur +Philipson was on foot to prepare for his father's departure and his +own, which, as arranged on the preceding night, was to take place two +hours before the Landamman and his attendants proposed to leave the +ruinous castle of Graffs-lust. It was no difficult matter for him to +separate the neatly arranged packages which contained his father's +effects from the clumsy bundles in which the baggage of the Swiss was +deposited. The one set of mails was made up with the neatness of men +accustomed to long and perilous journeys; the other, with the rude +carelessness of those who rarely left their home, and who were +altogether inexperienced. + +A servant of the Landamman assisted Arthur in this task, and in +placing his father's baggage on the mule belonging to the bearded +deputy from Schwitz. From this man also he received instructions +concerning the road from Graffs-lust to Brisach (the chief citadel of +La Ferette), which was too plain and direct to render it likely that +they should incur any risk of losing their way, as had befallen them +when travelling on the Swiss mountains. Everything being now prepared +for their departure, the young Englishman awakened his father, and +acquainted him that all was ready. He then retired towards the +chimney, while his father, according to his daily custom, repeated the +prayer of St. Julian, the patron of travellers, and adjusted his dress +for the journey. + +It will not be wondered at, that, while the father went through his +devotions, and equipped himself for travel, Arthur, with his heart +full of what he had seen of Anne of Geierstein for some time before, +and his brain dizzy with the recollection of the incidents of the +preceding night, should have kept his eyes riveted on the door of the +sleeping-apartment at which he had last seen that young person +disappear; that is, unless the pale and seemingly fantastic form which +had twice crossed him so strangely should prove no wandering spirit of +the elements, but the living substance of the person whose appearance +it bore. So eager was his curiosity on this subject, that he strained +his eyes to the utmost, as if it had been possible for them to have +penetrated through wood and walls into the chamber of the slumbering +maiden, in order to discover whether her eye or cheek bore any mark +that she had last night been a watcher or a wanderer. + +"But that was the proof to which Rudolph appealed," he said +internally, "and Rudolph alone will have the opportunity of remarking +the result. Who knows what advantage my communication may give him in +his suit with yonder lovely creature? And what must she think of me, +save as one light of thought and loose of tongue, to whom nothing +extraordinary can chance, but he must hasten to babble it into the +ears of those who are nearest to him at the moment? I would my tongue +had been palsied ere I said a syllable to yonder proud yet wily +prize-fighter! I shall never see her more--that is to be counted for +certain. I shall never know the true interpretation of those mysteries +which hang around her. But to think I may have prated something +tending to throw her into the power of yonder ferocious boor will be a +subject of remorse to me while I live." + +Here he was startled out of his reverie by the voice of his father. +"Why, how now, boy? Art thou waking, Arthur, or sleeping on thy feet +from the fatigue of last night's service?" + +"Not so, my father," answered Arthur, at once recollecting himself. +"Somewhat drowsy, perhaps; but the fresh morning air will soon put +that to flight." + +Walking with precaution through the group of sleepers who lay around, +the elder Philipson, when they had gained the door of the apartment, +turned back, and, looking on the straw couch which the large form of +the Landamman, and the silvery beard of his constant companion, +touched by the earliest beams of light, distinguished as that of +Arnold Biederman, he muttered between his lips an involuntary adieu. + +"Farewell, mirror of ancient faith and integrity,--farewell, noble +Arnold,--farewell, soul of truth and candour--to whom cowardice, +selfishness, and falsehood are alike unknown!" + +And farewell, thought his son, to the loveliest, and most candid, yet +most mysterious of maidens!--But the adieu, as may well be believed, +was not, like that of his father, expressed in words. + +They were soon after on the outside of the gate. The Swiss domestic +was liberally recompensed, and charged with a thousand kind words of +farewell and of remembrance to the Landamman from his English guests, +mingled with hopes and wishes that they might soon meet again in the +Burgundian territory. The young man then took the bridle of the mule, +and led the animal forward on their journey at an easy pace, his +father walking by his side. + +After a silence of some minutes, the elder Philipson addressed Arthur. +"I fear me," he said, "we shall see the worthy Landamman no more. The +youths who attend him are bent upon taking offence--the Duke of +Burgundy will not fail, I fear, to give them ample occasion--and the +peace which the excellent man desires for the land of his fathers will +be shipwrecked ere they reach the Duke's presence; though, even were +it otherwise, how the proudest prince in Europe will brook the moody +looks of burgesses and peasants (so will Charles of Burgundy term the +friends we have parted from) is a question too easily answered. A war, +fatal to the interests of all concerned, save Louis of France, will +certainly take place; and dreadful must be the contest, if the ranks +of the Burgundian chivalry shall encounter those iron sons of the +mountains, before whom so many of the Austrian nobility have been +repeatedly prostrated." + +"I am so much convinced of the truth of what you say, my father," +replied Arthur, "that I judge even this day will not pass over without +a breach of truce. I have already put on my shirt of mail, in case we +should meet bad company betwixt Graffs-lust and Brisach; and I would +to Heaven that you would observe the same precaution. It will not +delay our journey; and I confess to you, that I, at least, will travel +with much greater consciousness of safety should you do so." + +"I understand you, my son," replied the elder Philipson. "But I am a +peaceful traveller in the Duke of Burgundy's territories, and must not +willingly suppose that, while under the shadow of his banner, I must +guard myself against banditti, as if I were in the wilds of Palestine. +As for the authority of his officers, and the extent of their +exactions, I need not tell you that they are, in our circumstances, +things to be submitted to without grief or grudging." + +Leaving the two travellers to journey towards Brisach at their +leisure, I must transport my readers to the eastern gate of that small +town, which, situated on an eminence, had a commanding prospect on +every side, but especially towards Bâle. It did not properly make a +part of the dominions of the Duke of Burgundy, but had been placed in +his hands in pawn, or in pledge, for the repayment of a considerable +sum of money, due to Charles by the Emperor Sigismund of Austria, to +whom the seigniory of the place belonged in property. But the town lay +so conveniently for distressing the commerce of the Swiss, and +inflicting on that people, whom he at once hated and despised, similar +marks of his malevolence, as to encourage a general opinion, that the +Duke of Burgundy, the implacable and unreasonable enemy of these +mountaineers, would never listen to any terms of redemption, however +equitable or advantageous, which might have the effect of restoring +to the Emperor an advanced post of such consequence to the +gratification of his dislike as Brisach. + +The situation of the little town was in itself strong, but the +fortifications which surrounded it were barely sufficient to repel any +sudden attack, and not adequate to resist for any length of time a +formal siege. The morning beams had shone on the spire of the church +for more than an hour, when a tall, thin, elderly man, wrapped in a +morning gown, over which was buckled a broad belt, supporting on the +left side a sword, on the right a dagger, approached the barbican of +the eastern gate. His bonnet displayed a feather, which, or the tail +of a fox in lieu of it, was the emblem of gentle blood throughout all +Germany, and a badge highly prized by those who had a right to wear +it. + +The small party of soldiers who had kept watch there during the course +of the preceding night, and supplied sentinels both for ward and +outlook, took arms on the appearance of this individual, and drew +themselves up in the form of a guard, which receives with military +reverence an officer of importance. Archibald de Hagenbach's +countenance, for it was the Governor himself, expressed that settled +peevishness and ill temper which characterise the morning hours of a +valetudinary debauchee. His head throbbed, his pulse was feverish, and +his cheek was pale--symptoms of his having spent the last night, as +was his usual custom, amid wine-stoups and flagons. Judging from the +haste with which his soldiers fell into their ranks, and the awe and +silence which reigned among them, it appeared that they were +accustomed to expect and dread his ill humour on such occasions. He +glanced at them, accordingly, an inquisitive and dissatisfied look, as +if he sought something on which to vent his peevishness, and then +asked for the "loitering dog Kilian." + +Kilian presently made his appearance, a stout hard-favoured +man-at-arms, a Bavarian by birth, and by rank the personal squire of +the Governor. + +"What news of the Swiss churls, Kilian?" demanded Archibald de +Hagenbach. "They should, by their thrifty habits, have been on the +road two hours since. Have the peasant-clods presumed to ape the +manners of gentlemen, and stuck by the flask till cock-crow?" + +"By my faith, it may well be," answered Kilian; "the burghers of Bâle +gave them full means of carousal." + +"How, Kilian?--They dared not offer hospitality to the Swiss drove of +bullocks, after the charge we sent them to the contrary?" + +"Nay, the Bâlese received them not into the town," replied the squire; +"but I learned, by sure espial, that they afforded them means of +quartering at Graffs-lust, which was furnished with many a fair gammon +and pasty, to speak naught of flasks of Rhine-wine, barrels of beer, +and stoups of strong waters." + +"The Bâlese shall answer this, Kilian," said the Governor. "Do they +think I am for ever to be thrusting myself between the Duke and his +pleasure on their behalf?--The fat porkers have presumed too much +since we accepted some trifling gifts at their hands, more for gracing +of them, than for any advantage we could make of their paltry +donations. Was it not the wine from Bâle which we were obliged to +drink out in pint goblets, lest it should become sour before morning?" + +"It was drunk out, and in pint goblets too," said Kilian; "so much I +can well remember." + +"Why, go to, then," said the Governor; "they shall know, these beasts +of Bâle, that I hold myself no way obliged by such donations as these, +and that my remembrance of the wines which I carouse rests no longer +than the headache which the mixtures they drug me with never fail of +late years to leave behind, for the next morning's pastime." + +"Your excellency," replied the squire, "will make it, then, a quarrel +between the Duke of Burgundy and the city of Bâle, that they gave this +indirect degree of comfort and assistance to the Swiss deputation?" + +"Ay, marry will I," said De Hagenbach, "unless there be wise men among +them, who shall show me good reasons for protecting them. Oh, the +Bâlese do not know our Noble Duke, nor the gift he hath for chastising +the gutter-blooded citizens of a free town. Thou canst tell them, +Kilian, as well as any man, how he dealt with the villains of Liège, +when they would needs be pragmatical." + +"I will apprise them of the matter," said Kilian, "when opportunity +shall serve, and I trust I shall find them in a temper disposed to +cultivate your honourable friendship." + +"Nay, if it is the same to them, it is quite indifferent to me, +Kilian," continued the Governor; "but, methinks, whole and sound +throats are worth some purchase, were it only to swallow +black-puddings and schwarz-beer, to say nothing of Westphalian hams +and Nierensteiner--I say, a slashed throat is a useless thing, +Kilian." + +"I will make the fat citizens to understand their danger, and the +necessity of making interest," answered Kilian. "Sure, I am not now to +learn how to turn the ball into your excellency's lap." + +"You speak well," said Sir Archibald;--"but how chanced it thou hast +so little to say to the Switzers' leaguer? I should have thought an +old trooper like thee would have made their pinions flutter amidst the +good cheer thou tellest me of." + +"I might as well have annoyed an angry hedgehog with my bare finger," +said Kilian. "I surveyed Graffs-lust myself;--there were sentinels on +the castle walls, a sentinel on the bridge, besides a regular patrol +of these Swiss fellows who kept strict watch. So that there was +nothing to be done, otherwise, knowing your excellency's ancient +quarrel, I would have had a hit at them, when they should never have +known who hurt them. I will tell you, however, fairly, that these +churls are acquiring better knowledge in the art of war than the best +Ritter knight." + +"Well, they will be the better worth the looking after when they +arrive," said De Hagenbach; "they come forth in state doubtless, with +all their finery, their wives' chains of silver, their own medals, and +rings of lead and copper.--Ah, the base hinds, they are unworthy that +a man of noble blood should ease them of their trash!" + +"There is better ware among them, if my intelligence hath not deceived +me," replied Kilian; "there are merchants"---- + +"Pshaw! the packhorses of Berne and Soleure," said the Governor, "with +their paltry lumber, cloth too coarse to make covers for horses of +any breeding, and linen that is more like hair-cloth than any +composition of flax. I will strip them, however, were it but to vex +the knaves. What! not content with claiming to be treated like an +independent people, and sending forth deputies and embassies forsooth, +they expect, I warrant, to make the indemnities of ambassadors cover +the introduction of a cargo of their contraband commodities, and thus +insult the noble Duke of Burgundy, and cheat him at the same time? But +De Hagenbach is neither knight nor gentleman if he allow them to pass +unchallenged." + +"And they are better worth being stopped," said Kilian, "than your +excellency supposes; for they have English merchants along with them, +and under their protection." + +"English merchants!" exclaimed De Hagenbach, his eyes sparkling with +joy; "English merchants, Kilian! Men talk of Cathay and Ind, where +there are mines of silver, and gold, and diamonds; but, on the faith +of a gentleman, I believe these brutish Islanders have the caves of +treasure wholly within their own foggy land! And then the variety of +their rich merchandise,--Ha, Kilian! is it a long train of mules--a +jolly tinkling team?--By Our Lady's glove! the sound of it is already +jingling in my ears, more musically than all the harps of all the +minne-singers at Heilbron!" + +"Nay, my lord, there is no great train," replied the squire;--"only +two men, as I am given to understand, with scarce so much baggage as +loads a mule; but, it is said, of infinite value, silk and samite, +lace and furs, pearls and jewellery-work--perfumes from the East, and +gold-work from Venice." + +"Raptures and paradise! say not a word more," exclaimed the rapacious +knight of Hagenbach; "they are all our own, Kilian! Why, these are the +very men I have dreamed of twice a week for this month past--ay, two +men of middle stature, or somewhat under it--with smooth, round, fair, +comely visages, having stomachs as plump as partridges, and purses as +plump as their stomachs--Ha, what say'st thou to my dream, Kilian?" + +"Only, that, to be quite soothfast," answered the squire, "it should +have included the presence of a score, or thereabouts, of sturdy young +giants as ever climbed cliff, or carried bolt to whistle at a +chamois--a lusty plump of clubs, bills, and partisans, such as make +shields crack like oaten cakes, and helmets ring like church-bells." + +"The better, knave, the better!" exclaimed the Governor, rubbing his +hands. "English pedlars to plunder! Swiss bullies to beat into +submission! I wot well, we can have nothing of the Helvetian swine +save their beastly bristles--it is lucky they bring these two island +sheep along with them. But we must get ready our boar-spears, and +clear the clipping-pens for exercise of our craft.--Here, Lieutenant +Schonfeldt!" + +An officer stepped forth. + +"How many men are here on duty?" + +"About sixty," replied the officer. "Twenty out on parties in +different directions, and there may be forty or fifty in their +quarters." + +"Order them all under arms instantly;--hark ye, not by trumpet or +bugle, but by warning them individually in their quarters, to draw to +arms as quietly as possible, and rendezvous here at the eastern gate. +Tell the villains there is booty to be gained, and they shall have +their share." + +"On these terms," said Schonfeldt, "they will walk over a spider's web +without startling the insect that wove it. I will collect them without +loss of an instant." + +"I tell thee, Kilian," continued the exulting commandant, again +speaking apart with his confidential attendant, "nothing could come so +luckily as the chance of this onslaught. Duke Charles desires to +affront the Swiss,--not, look you, that he cares to act towards them +by his own direct orders, in such a manner as might be termed a breach +of public faith towards a peaceful embassy; but the gallant follower +who shall save his prince the scandal of such an affair, and whose +actions may be termed a mistake or misapprehension, shall, I warrant +you, be accounted to have done knightly service. Perchance a frown may +be passed upon him in public, but in private the Duke will know how to +esteem him.--Why standest thou so silent, man, and what ails thy ugly +ill-looking aspect? Thou art not afraid of twenty Switzer boys, and we +at the head of such a band of spears?" + +"The Swiss," answered Kilian, "will give and take good blows, yet I +have no fear of them. But I like not that we should trust too much to +Duke Charles. That he would be, in the first instance, pleased with +any dishonour done the Swiss is likely enough; but if, as your +excellency hints, he finds it afterwards convenient to disown the +action, he is a prince likely to give a lively colour to his disavowal +by hanging up the actors." + +"Pshaw!" said the commandant, "I know where I stand. Such a trick were +like enough to be played by Louis of France, but it is foreign to the +blunt character of our Bold one of Burgundy.--Why the devil stand'st +thou still, man, simpering like an ape at a roasted chestnut, which he +thinks too warm for his fingers?" + +"Your excellency is wise as well as warlike," said the esquire, "and +it is not for me to contest your pleasure. But this peaceful +embassy--these English merchants--if Charles goes to war with Louis, +as the rumour is current, what he should most of all desire is the +neutrality of Switzerland, and the assistance of England, whose King +is crossing the sea with a great army. Now you, Sir Archibald of +Hagenbach, may well do that in the course of this very morning which +will put the Confederated Cantons in arms against Charles, and turn +the English from allies into enemies." + +"I care not," said the commandant; "I know the Duke's humour well, and +if he, the master of so many provinces, is willing to risk them in a +self-willed frolic, what is it to Archibald de Hagenbach, who has not +a foot of land to lose in the cause?" + +"But you have life, my lord," said the esquire. + +"Ay, life!" replied the knight; "a paltry right to exist, which I have +been ready to stake every day of my life for dollars--ay, and for +kreutzers--and think you I will hesitate to pledge it for +broad-pieces, jewels of the East, and goldsmith's work of Venice? No, +Kilian; these English must be eased of their bales, that Archibald de +Hagenbach may drink a purer flask than their thin Moselle, and wear a +brocade doublet instead of greasy velvet. Nor is it less necessary +that Kilian should have a seemly new jerkin, with a purse of ducats to +jingle at his girdle." + +"By my faith," said Kilian, "that last argument hath disarmed my +scruples, and I give up the point, since it ill befits me to dispute +with your excellency." + +"To the work then," said his leader. "But stay--we must first take the +church along with us. The Priest of St. Paul's hath been moody of +late, and spread abroad strange things from the pulpit, as if we were +little better than common pillagers and robbers. Nay, he hath had the +insolence to warn me, as he termed it, twice, in strange form. It were +well to break the growling mastiff's bald head; but since that might +be ill taken by the Duke, the next point of wisdom is to fling him a +bone." + +"He may be a dangerous enemy," said the squire dubiously; "his power +is great with the people." + +"Tush!" replied Hagenbach, "I know how to disarm the shaveling. Send +to him, and tell him to come hither to speak with me. Meanwhile have +all our force under arms; let the barbican and barrier be well manned +with archers; station spearmen in the houses on each hand of the +gateway; and let the street be barricaded with carts, well bound +together, but placed as if they had been there by accident--place a +body of determined fellows in these carts, and behind them. So soon as +the merchants and their mules enter (for that is the main point), up +with your drawbridge, down with the portcullis, send a volley of +arrows among those who are without, if they make any scuffle; disarm +and secure those who have entered, and are cooped up between the +barricade before, and the ambush behind and around them--And _then_, +Kilian"---- + +"And then," said his esquire, "shall we, like merry Free Companions, +be knuckle deep in the English budgets"---- + +"And, like jovial hunters," replied the knight, "elbow-deep in Swiss +blood." + +"The game will stand at bay though," answered Kilian. "They are led by +that Donnerhugel whom we have heard of, whom they call the Young Bear +of Berne. They will turn to their defence." + +"The better, man--wouldst thou kill sheep rather than hunt wolves? +Besides, our toils are set, and the whole garrison shall assist. Shame +on thee, Kilian, thou wert not wont to have so many scruples!" + +"Nor have I now," said Kilian. "But these Swiss bills, and two-handed +swords of the breadth of four inches, are no child's play.--And then +if you call all our garrison to the attack, to whom will your +excellency intrust the defence of the other gates, and the circuit of +the walls?" + +"Lock, bolt, and chain up the gates," replied the Governor, "and bring +the keys hither. There shall no one leave the place till this affair +is over. Let some score of the citizens take arms for the duty of +guarding the walls; and look they discharge it well, or I will lay a +fine on them which they shall discharge to purpose." + +"They will grumble," said Kilian. "They say, that not being the Duke's +subjects, though the place is impledged to his Grace, they are not +liable to military service." + +"They lie! the cowardly slaves," answered De Hagenbach. "If I have not +employed them much hitherto, it is because I scorn their assistance; +nor would I now use their help, were it for anything save to keep a +watch, by looking out straight before them. Let them obey, as they +respect their property, persons, and families." + +A deep voice behind them repeated the emphatic language of +Scripture,--"I have seen the wicked man flourish in his power even +like unto a laurel, but I returned and he was not--yea, I sought him, +but he was not to be found." + +Sir Archibald de Hagenbach turned sternly, and encountered the dark +and ominous looks of the Priest of St. Paul's, dressed in the +vestments of his order. + +"We are busy, father," said the Governor, "and will hear your +preachment another time." + +"I come by your summons, Sir Governor," said the priest, "or I had not +intruded myself where I well knew my preachments, if you term them so, +will do no good." + +"Oh, I crave your mercy, reverend father," said De Hagenbach. "Yes, it +is true that I did send for you, to desire your prayers and kind +intercession with Our Lady and St. Paul, in some transactions which +are likely to occur this morning, and in which, as the Lombard says, I +do espy _roba di guadagno_." + +"Sir Archibald," answered the priest calmly, "I well hope and trust +that you do not forget the nature of the glorified Saints so far as to +ask them for their blessing upon such exploits as you have been too +oft engaged in since your arrival amongst us--an event which of itself +gave token of the divine anger. Nay, let me say, humble as I am, that +decency to a servant of the altar should check you from proposing to +me to put up prayers for the success of pillage and robbery." + +"I understand you, father," said the rapacious Governor, "and you +shall see I do. While you are the Duke's subject, you must by your +office put up your prayers for his success in matters that are fairly +managed. You acknowledge this with a graceful bend of your reverend +head? Well, then, I will be as reasonable as you are. Say we desire +the intercession of the good Saints, and of you, their pious orator, +in something a little out of the ordinary path, and, if you will, +somewhat of a doubtful complexion,--are we entitled to ask you or them +for their pains and trouble without a just consideration? Surely no. +Therefore I vow and solemnly promise, that if I have good fortune in +this morning's adventure, St. Paul shall have an altar-cloth and a +basin of silver, large or little, as my booty will permit--Our Lady a +web of satin for a full suit, with a necklace of pearl for +holidays--and thou, priest, some twenty pieces of broad English gold, +for acting as go-between betwixt ourselves and the blessed Apostles, +whom we acknowledge ourselves unworthy to negotiate with in our +profane person. And now, Sir Priest, do we understand each other, for +I have little time to lose? I know you have hard thoughts of me, but +you see the devil is not quite so horrible as he is painted." + +"Do we understand each other?" answered the Black Priest of St. +Paul's, repeating the Governor's question--"Alas, no! and I fear me we +never shall. Hast thou never heard the words spoken by the holy +hermit, Berchtold of Offringen, to the implacable Queen Agnes, who had +revenged with such dreadful severity the assassination of her father, +the Emperor Albert?" + +"Not I," returned the knight; "I have neither studied the chronicles +of emperors, nor the legends of hermits; and therefore, Sir Priest, an +you like not my proposal, let us have no further words on the matter. +I am unwont to press my favours, or to deal with priests who require +entreaty, when gifts are held out to them." + +"Hear yet the words of the holy man," said the priest. "The time may +come, and that shortly, when you would gladly desire to hear what you +scornfully reject." + +"Speak on, but be brief," said Archibald de Hagenbach; "and know, +though thou mayst terrify or cajole the multitude, thou now speakest +to one whose resolution is fixed far beyond the power of thy eloquence +to melt." + +"Know, then," said the Priest of St. Paul's, "that Agnes, daughter of +the murdered Albert, after shedding oceans of blood in avenging his +bloody death, founded at length the rich abbey of Königsfeldt; and, +that it might have a superior claim to renowned sanctity, made a +pilgrimage in person to the cell of the holy hermit, and besought of +him to honour her abbey by taking up his residence there. But what was +his reply?--Mark it and tremble. 'Begone, ruthless woman,' said the +holy man; 'God will not be served with blood-guiltiness, and rejects +the gifts which are obtained by violence and robbery. The Almighty +loves mercy, justice, and humanity, and by the lovers of these only +will He be worshipped.' And now, Archibald of Hagenbach, once, twice, +thrice, hast thou had warning. Live as becomes a man on whom sentence +is passed, and who must expect execution." + +Having spoken these words with a menacing tone and frowning aspect, +the Priest of St. Paul's turned away from the Governor, whose first +impulse was to command him to be arrested. But when he recollected the +serious consequences which attached to the laying violent hands on a +priest, he suffered him to depart in peace, conscious that his own +unpopularity might render any attempt to revenge himself an act of +great rashness. He called, therefore, for a beaker of Burgundy, in +which he swallowed down his displeasure, and had just returned to +Kilian the cup, which he had drained to the bottom, when the warden +winded a blast from the watch-tower, which betokened the arrival of +strangers at the gate of the city. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + + I will resist such entertainment, till + My enemy has more power. + _The Tempest._ + + +"That blast was but feebly blown," said De Hagenbach, ascending to the +ramparts, from which he could see what passed on the outside of the +gate. "Who approaches, Kilian?" + +The trusty squire was hastening to meet him with the news. + +"Two men with a mule, an it please your excellency; and merchants, I +presume them to be." + +"Merchants? 'Sdeath, villain! pedlars you mean. Heard ever man of +English merchants tramping it on foot, with no more baggage than one +mule can manage to carry? They must be beggarly Bohemians, or those +whom the French people call Escossais. The knaves! they shall pay with +the pining of their paunches for the poverty of their purses." + +"Do not be too hasty, an please your excellency," quoth the squire; +"small budgets hold rich goods. But, rich or poor, they are our men, +at least they have all the marks--the elder, well-sized and +dark-visaged, may write fifty and five years, a beard somewhat +grizzled;--the younger, some two-and-twenty, taller than the first, +and a well-favoured lad, with a smooth chin and light-brown +mustaches." + +"Let them be admitted," said the Governor, turning back in order again +to descend to the street, "and bring them into the folter-kammer of +the toll-house." + +So saying, he betook himself to the place appointed, which was an +apartment in the large tower that protected the eastern gateway, in +which were deposited the rack, with various other instruments of +torture, which the cruel and rapacious Governor was in the habit of +applying to such prisoners from whom he was desirous of extorting +either booty or information. He entered the apartment, which was dimly +lighted, and had a lofty Gothic roof which could be but imperfectly +seen, while nooses and cords hanging down from thence announced a +fearful connection with various implements of rusted iron that hung +round the walls or lay scattered on the floor. + +A faint stream of light through one of the numerous and narrow slits, +or shot-holes, with which the walls were garnished, fell directly upon +the person and visage of a tall swarthy man, seated in what, but for +the partial illumination, would have been an obscure corner of this +evil-boding apartment. His features were regular, and even handsome, +but of a character peculiarly stern and sinister. This person's dress +was a cloak of scarlet; his head was bare, and surrounded by shaggy +locks of black, which time had partly grizzled. He was busily employed +in furbishing and burnishing a broad two-handed sword, of a peculiar +shape, and considerably shorter than the weapons of that kind which we +have described as used by the Swiss. He was so deeply engaged in his +task, that he started as the heavy door opened with a jarring noise, +and the sword, escaping from his hold, rolled on the stone floor with +a heavy clash. + +"Ha! Scharfgerichter," said the Knight, as he entered the +folter-kammer, "thou art preparing for thy duty?" + +"It would ill become your excellency's servant," answered the man, in +a harsh deep tone, "to be found idle. But the prisoner is not far off, +as I can judge by the fall of my sword, which infallibly announces the +presence of him who shall feel its edge." + +"The prisoners are at hand, Francis," replied the Governor; "but thy +omen has deceived thee for once. They are fellows for whom a good rope +will suffice, and thy sword drinks only noble blood." + +"The worse for Francis Steinernherz," replied the official in scarlet: +"I trusted that your excellency, who have ever been a bountiful +patron, should this day have made me noble." + +"Noble!" said the Governor; "thou art mad--Thou noble! The common +executioner!" + +"And wherefore not, Sir Archibald de Hagenbach? I think the name of +Francis Steinernherz _von_ Blut-acker will suit nobility, being fairly +and legally won, as well as another. Nay, do not stare on me thus. If +one of my profession shall do his grim office on nine men of noble +birth, with the same weapon, and with a single blow to each patient, +hath he not a right to his freedom from taxes, and his nobility by +patent?" + +"So says the law," said Sir Archibald, after reflecting for a +moment,--"but rather more in scorn than seriously, I should judge, +since no one was ever known to claim the benefit of it." + +"The prouder boast for him," said the functionary, "that shall be the +first to demand the honours due to a sharp sword and a clean stroke. +I, Francis Steinernherz, will be the first noble of my profession, +when I shall have despatched one more knight of the Empire." + +"Thou hast been ever in _my_ service, hast thou not?" demanded De +Hagenbach. + +"Under what other master," replied the executioner, "could I have +enjoyed such constant practice? I have executed your decrees on +condemned sinners since I could swing a scourge, lift a crowbar, or +wield this trusty weapon; and who can say I ever failed of my first +blow, or needed to deal a second? Tristrem of the Hospital, and his +famous assistants, Petit André and Trois Eschelles, are novices +compared with me in the use of the noble and knightly sword. Marry, I +should be ashamed to match myself with them in the field practice with +bowstring and dagger; these are no feats worthy of a Christian man who +would rise to honour and nobility." + +"Thou art a fellow of excellent address, and I do not deny it," +replied De Hagenbach. "But it cannot be--I trust it cannot be--that +when noble blood is becoming scarce in the land, and proud churls are +lording it over knights and barons, I myself should have caused so +much to be spilled?" + +"I will number the patients to your excellency by name and title," +said Francis, drawing out a scroll of parchment, and reading with a +commentary as he went on,--"There was Count William of Elvershoe--he +was my assay-piece, a sweet youth, and died most like a Christian." + +"I remember--he was indeed a most smart youth, and courted my +mistress," said Sir Archibald. + +"He died on St. Jude's, in the year of grace 1455," said the +executioner. + +"Go on--but name no dates," said the Governor. + +"Sir Miles of Stockenborg"---- + +"He drove off my cattle," observed his excellency. + +"Sir Louis of Riesenfeldt"--continued the executioner. + +"He made love to my wife," commented the Governor. + +"The three Yung-herren of Lammerbourg--you made their father, the +Count, childless in one day." + +"And he made me landless," said Sir Archibald, "so that account is +settled.--Thou needest read no further," he continued: "I admit thy +record, though it is written in letters somewhat of the reddest. I had +counted these three young gentlemen as one execution." + +"You did me the greater wrong," said Francis; "they cost three good +separate blows of this good sword." + +"Be it so, and God be with their souls," said Hagenbach. "But thy +ambition must go to sleep for a while, Scharfgerichter, for the stuff +that came hither to-day is for dungeon and cord, or perhaps a touch of +the rack or strappado--there is no honour to win on them." + +"The worse luck mine," said the executioner. "I had dreamed so surely +that your honour had made me noble;--and then the fall of my sword?" + +"Take a bowl of wine, and forget your auguries." + +"With your honour's permission, no," said the executioner; "to drink +before noon were to endanger the nicety of my hand." + +"Be silent, then, and mind your duty," said De Hagenbach. + +Francis took up his sheathless sword, wiped the dust reverently from +it, and withdrew into a corner of the chamber, where he stood leaning +with his hands on the pommel of the fatal weapon. + +Almost immediately afterwards, Kilian entered at the head of five or +six soldiers, conducting the two Philipsons, whose arms were tied down +with cords. + +"Approach me a chair," said the Governor, and took his place gravely +beside a table, on which stood writing-materials. "Who are these men, +Kilian, and wherefore are they bound?" + +"So please your excellency," said Kilian, with a deep respect of +manner, which entirely differed from the tone, approaching to +familiarity, with which he communicated with his master in private, +"we thought it well that these two strangers should not appear armed +in your gracious presence; and when we required of them to surrender +their weapons at the gate, as is the custom of the garrison, this +young gallant must needs offer resistance. I admit he gave up his +weapon at his father's command." + +"It is false!" exclaimed young Philipson; but his father making a sign +to him to be silent, he obeyed instantly. + +"Noble sir," said the elder Philipson, "we are strangers, and +unacquainted with the rules of this citadel; we are Englishmen, and +unaccustomed to submit to personal mishandling; we trust you will +have excuse for us, when we found ourselves, without any explanation +of the cause, rudely seized on by we knew not whom. My son, who is +young and unthinking, did partly draw his weapon, but desisted at my +command, without having altogether unsheathed his sword, far less made +a blow. For myself, I am a merchant, accustomed to submit to the laws +and customs of the countries in which I traffic; I am in the +territories of the Duke of Burgundy, and I know his laws and customs +must be just and equitable. He is the powerful and faithful ally of +England, and I fear nothing while under his banner." + +"Hem! hem!" replied De Hagenbach, a little disconcerted by the +Englishman's composure, and perhaps recollecting, that, unless his +passions were awakened (as in the case of the Swiss, whom he +detested), Charles of Burgundy deserved the character of a just though +severe prince,--"Fair words are well, but hardly make amends for foul +actions. You have drawn swords in riot, and opposition to the Duke's +soldiers, when obeying the mandates which regulate their watch." + +"Surely, sir," answered Philipson, "this is a severe construction of a +most natural action. But, in a word, if you are disposed to be +rigorous, the simple action of drawing, or attempting to draw a sword, +in a garrison town, is only punishable by pecuniary fine, and such we +must pay, if it be your will." + +"Now, here is a silly sheep," said Kilian to the executioner, beside +whom he had stationed himself, somewhat apart from the group, "who +voluntarily offers his own fleece to the clipper." + +"It will scarcely serve as a ransom for his throat, Sir Squire," +answered Francis Steinernherz; "for, look you, I dreamed last night +that our master made me noble, and I knew by the fall of my sword that +this is the man by whom I am to mount to gentility. I must this very +day deal on him with my good sword." + +"Why, thou ambitious fool," said the esquire, "this is no noble, but +an island pedlar--a mere English citizen." + +"Thou art deceived," said the executioner, "and hast never looked on +men when they are about to die." + +"Have I not?" said the squire. "Have I not looked on five pitched +fields, besides skirmishes and ambuscades innumerable?" + +"That tries not the courage," said the Scharfgerichter. "All men will +fight when pitched against each other. So will the most paltry +curs--so will the dunghill fowls. But he is brave and noble who can +look on a scaffold and a block, a priest to give him absolution, and +the headsman and good sword which is to mow him down in his strength, +as he would look upon things indifferent; and such a man is that whom +we now behold." + +"Yes," answered Kilian, "but that man looks not on such an +apparatus--he only sees our illustrious patron, Sir Archibald de +Hagenbach." + +"And he who looks upon Sir Archibald," said the executioner, "being, +as yonder man assuredly is, a person of sense and apprehension, looks +he not upon sword and headsman? Assuredly that prisoner apprehends as +much, and being so composed as he is under such conviction, it shows +him to be a nobleman by blood, or may I myself never win nobility!" + +"Our master will come to compromise with him, I judge," replied +Kilian; "he looks smilingly on him." + +"Never trust to me, then," said the man in scarlet; "there is a glance +in Sir Archibald's eye which betokens blood, as surely as the dog-star +bodes pestilence." + +While these dependants of Sir Archibald de Hagenbach were thus +conversing apart, their master had engaged the prisoners in a long +train of captious interrogatories concerning their business in +Switzerland, their connection with the Landamman, and the cause of +their travelling into Burgundy, to all which the senior Philipson gave +direct and plain answers, excepting to the last. He was going, he +said, into Burgundy, for the purpose of his traffic--his wares were at +the disposal of the Governor, who might detain all, or any part of +them, as he might be disposed to make himself answerable to his +master. But his business with the Duke was of a private nature, +respecting some particular matters of commerce, in which others as +well as he himself were interested. To the Duke alone, he declared, +would he communicate the affair; and he pressed it strongly on the +Governor, that if he should sustain any damage in his own person or +that of his son, the Duke's severe displeasure would be the inevitable +consequence. + +De Hagenbach was evidently much embarrassed by the steady tone of his +prisoner, and more than once held counsel with the bottle, his +never-failing oracle in cases of extreme difficulty. Philipson had +readily surrendered to the Governor a list or invoice of his +merchandise, which was of so inviting a character that Sir Archibald +absolutely gloated over it. After remaining in deep meditation for +some time, he raised his head and spoke thus:-- + +"You must be well aware, Sir Merchant, that it is the Duke's pleasure +that no Swiss merchandise shall pass through his territories; and +that, nevertheless, you having been, by your own account, some time in +that country, and having also accompanied a body of men calling +themselves Swiss Deputies, I am authorised to believe that these +valuable articles are rather the property of those persons, than of a +single individual of so poor an appearance as yourself, and that, +should I demand pecuniary satisfaction, three hundred pieces of gold +would not be an extravagant fine for so bold a practice; and you might +wander where you will with the rest of your wares, so you bring them +not into Burgundy." + +"But it is to Burgundy, and to the Duke's presence, that I am +expressly bound," said the Englishman. "If I go not thither my journey +is wrecked, and the Duke's displeasure is certain to light on those +who may molest me. For I make your excellency aware, that your +gracious Prince already knows of my journey, and will make strict +inquiry where and by whom I have been intercepted." + +Again the Governor was silent, endeavouring to decide how he might +best reconcile the gratification of his rapacity with precaution for +his safety. After a few minutes' consideration he again addressed his +prisoner. + +"Thou art very positive in thy tale, my good friend; but my orders are +equally so to exclude merchandise coming from Switzerland. What if I +put thy mule and baggage under arrest?" + +"I cannot withstand your power, my lord, to do what you will. I will +in that case go to the Duke's footstool, and do my errand there." + +"Ay, and my errand also," answered the Governor. "That is, thou wilt +carry thy complaint to the Duke against the Governor of La Ferette, +for executing his orders too strictly?" + +"On my life and honest word," answered the Englishman, "I will make no +complaint. Leave me but my ready money, without which I can hardly +travel to the Duke's court, and I will look no more after these goods +and wares than the stag looks after the antlers which he shed last +year." + +Again the Governor of La Ferette looked doubtful, and shook his head. + +"Men in such a case as yours," he said, "cannot be trusted, nor, to +say truth, is it reasonable to expect they should be trustworthy. +These same wares, designed for the Duke's private hand, in what do +they consist?" + +"They are under seal," replied the Englishman. + +"They are of rare value, doubtless?" continued the Governor. + +"I cannot tell," answered the elder Philipson; "I know the Duke sets +great store by them. But your excellency knows, that great princes +sometimes place a high value on trifles." + +"Bear you them about you?" said the Governor. "Take heed how you +answer--Look around you on these engines, which can bring a dumb man +to speak, and consider I have the power to employ them!" + +"And I the courage to support their worst infliction," answered +Philipson, with the same impenetrable coolness which he had maintained +throughout the whole conference. + +"Remember, also," said Hagenbach, "that I can have your person +searched as thoroughly as your mails and budgets." + +"I do remember that I am wholly in thy power; and that I may leave +thee no excuse for employing force on a peaceful traveller, I will own +to you," said Philipson, "that I have the Duke's packet in the bosom +of my doublet." + +"Bring it forth," answered the Governor. + +"My hands are tied, both in honour and literally," said the +Englishman. + +"Pluck it from his bosom, Kilian," said Sir Archibald; "let us see +this gear he talks of." + +"Could resistance avail," replied the stout merchant, "you should +pluck forth my heart first. But I pray all who are present to observe +that the seals are every one whole and unbroken at this moment when it +is forcibly taken from my person." + +As he spoke thus he looked around on the soldiers, whose presence De +Hagenbach had perhaps forgotten. + +"How, dog!" said Sir Archibald, giving way to his passion, "would you +stir up mutiny among my men-at-arms?--Kilian, let the soldiers wait +without." + +So saying, he hastily placed under cover of his own robe the small but +remarkably well-secured packet which Kilian had taken from the +merchant's person. The soldiers withdrew, lingering, however, and +looking back, like children brought away from a show before its final +conclusion. + +"So, fellow!" again began De Hagenbach, "we are now more private. Wilt +thou deal more on the level with me, and tell me what this packet is, +and whence it comes?" + +"Could all your garrison be crowded into this room, I can only answer +as before.--The contents I do not precisely know--the person by whom +it was sent I am determined not to name." + +"Perhaps your son," said the Governor, "may be more compliant." + +"He cannot tell you that of which he is himself ignorant," answered +the merchant. + +"Perchance the rack may make you both find your tongues;--and we will +try it on the young fellow first, Kilian, since thou knowest we have +seen men shrink from beholding the wrenched joints of their children, +that would have committed their own old sinews to the stretching with +much endurance." + +"You may make the trial," said Arthur, "and Heaven will give me +strength to endure"---- + +"And me courage to behold," added his father. + +All this while the Governor was turning and re-turning the little +packet in his hand, curiously inspecting every fold, and regretting, +doubtless, in secret, that a few patches of wax, placed under an +envelope of crimson satin, and ligatures of twisted silk cord, should +prevent his eager eyes from ascertaining the nature of the treasure +which he doubted not it concealed. At length he again called in the +soldiers, and delivered up the two prisoners to their charge, +commanding that they should be kept safely, and in separate holds, and +that the father, in particular, should be most carefully looked +after. + +"I take you all here to witness," exclaimed the elder Philipson, +despising the menacing signs of De Hagenbach, "that the Governor +detains from me a packet, addressed to his most gracious lord and +master, the Duke of Burgundy." + +De Hagenbach actually foamed at the mouth with passion. + +"And should I _not_ detain it?" he exclaimed, in a voice inarticulate +with rage. "May there not be some foul practice against the life of +our most gracious sovereign, by poison or otherwise, in this +suspicious packet, brought by a most suspicious bearer? Have we never +heard of poisons which do their work by the smell? And shall we, who +keep the gate, as I may say, of his Grace of Burgundy's dominions, +give access to what may rob Europe of its pride of chivalry, Burgundy +of its prince, and Flanders of her father?--No! Away with these +miscreants, soldiers--down to the lowest dungeons with them--keep them +separate, and watch them carefully. This treasonable practice has been +meditated with the connivance of Berne and Soleure." + +Thus Sir Archibald de Hagenbach raved, with a raised voice and +inflamed countenance, lashing himself as it were into passion, until +the steps of the soldiers, and the clash of their arms, as they +retired with the prisoners, were no longer audible. His complexion, +when these had ceased, waxed paler than was natural to him--his brow +was furrowed with anxious wrinkles--and his voice became lower and +more hesitating than ordinary, as, turning to his esquire, he said, +"Kilian, we stand upon a slippery plank, with a raging torrent beneath +us--What is to be done?" + + [Illustration: THE EXAMINATION. + Drawn and Etched by R. de Los Rios.] + +"Marry, to move forward with a resolved yet prudent step," answered +the crafty Kilian. "It is unlucky that all these fellows should have +seen the packet, and heard the appeal of yonder iron-nerved trader. +But this ill luck has befallen us, and the packet having been in your +excellency's hands, you will have all the credit of having broken the +seals; for, though you leave them as entire as the moment they were +impressed, it will only be supposed they have been ingeniously +replaced. Let us see what are the contents, before we determine what +is to be done with them. They must be of rare value, since the churl +merchant was well contented to leave behind all his rich mule's-load +of merchandise, so that this precious packet might pass unexamined." + +"They may be papers on some political matter. Many such, and of high +importance, pass secretly between Edward of England and our bold +Duke." Such was the reply of De Hagenbach. + +"If they be papers of consequence to the Duke," answered Kilian, "we +can forward them to Dijon.--Or they may be such as Louis of France +would purchase with their weight of gold." + +"For shame, Kilian!" said the Knight. "Wouldst thou have me betray my +master's secrets to the King of France? Sooner would I lay my head on +the block." + +"Indeed? And yet your excellency hesitates not to"---- + +Here the squire stopped, apparently for fear of giving offence, by +affixing a name too broad and intelligible to the practices of his +patron. + +"To plunder the Duke, thou wouldst say, thou impudent slave? And, +saying so, thou wouldst be as dull as thou art wont to be," answered +De Hagenbach. "I partake, indeed, in the plunder which the Duke takes +from aliens; and reason good. Even so the hound and the hawk have +their share of the quarry they bring down--ay, and the lion's share +too, unless the huntsman or falconer be all the nearer to them. Such +are the perquisites of my rank; and the Duke, who placed me here for +the gratification of his resentment, and the bettering of my fortune, +does not grudge them to a faithful servant. And, indeed, I may term +myself, in so far as this territory of La Ferette extends, the Duke's +full representative, or, as it may be termed, ALTER EGO--and, +thereupon, I will open this packet, which, being addressed to him, is +thereby equally addressed to me." + +Having thus in a manner talked himself up to an idea of his own high +authority, he cut the strings of the packet which he had all this +while held in his hand, and, undoing the outer coverings, produced a +very small case made of sandalwood. + +"The contents," he said, "had need to be valuable, as they lie in so +little compass." + +So saying he pressed the spring, and the casket, opening, displayed a +necklace of diamonds, distinguished by brilliancy and size, and +apparently of extraordinary value. The eyes of the avaricious +Governor, and his no less rapacious attendant, were so dazzled with +the unusual splendour, that for some time they could express nothing +save joy and surprise. + +"Ay, marry, sir," said Kilian, "the obstinate old knave had reasons +for his hardihood. My own joints should have stood a strain or two ere +I surrendered such sparklers as these.--And now, Sir Archibald, may +your trusty follower ask you how this booty is to be divided between +the Duke and his Governor, according to the most approved rules of +garrison towns?" + +"Faith, we will suppose the garrison stormed, Kilian; and in a storm, +thou know'st, the first finder takes all--with due consideration +always of his trusty followers." + +"As myself, for example," said Kilian. + +"Ay, and myself, for example," answered a voice, which sounded like +the echo of the esquire's words, from the remote corner of the ancient +apartment. + +"'Sdeath! we are overheard," exclaimed the Governor, starting and +laying his hand on his dagger. + +"Only by a faithful follower, as the worthy esquire observes," said +the executioner, moving slowly forward. + +"Villain, how didst thou dare watch me?" said Sir Archibald de +Hagenbach. + +"Trouble not yourself for that, sir," said Kilian. "Honest +Steinernherz has no tongue to speak, or ear to hear, save according to +your pleasure. Indeed, we must shortly have taken him into our +counsels, seeing these men must be dealt upon, and that speedily." + +"Indeed!" said De Hagenbach; "I had thought they might be spared." + +"To tell the Duke of Burgundy how the Governor of La Ferette accounts +to his treasurer for the duties and forfeitures at his custom-house?" +demanded Kilian. + +"'Tis true," said the Knight; "dead men have neither teeth nor +tongue--they bite not, and they tell no tales. Thou wilt take order +with them, Scharfgerichter." + +"I will, my lord," answered the executioner, "on condition that, if +this must be in the way of dungeon execution, which I call cellar +practice, my privilege to claim nobility shall be saved and reserved +to me, and the execution shall be declared to be as effectual to my +claim, as it might have been if the blow had been dealt in broad +daylight, with my honourable blade of office." + +De Hagenbach stared at the executioner, as not understanding what he +meant; on which Kilian took occasion to explain, that the +Scharfgerichter was strongly impressed, from the free and dauntless +conduct of the elder prisoner, that he was a man of noble blood, from +whose decapitation he would himself derive all the advantages proposed +to the headsman who should execute his function on nine men of +illustrious extraction. + +"He may be right," said Sir Archibald, "for here is a slip of +parchment, commending the bearer of this carcanet to the Duke, +desiring him to accept it as a true token from one well known to him, +and to give the bearer full credence in all that he should say on the +part of those by whom he is sent." + +"By whom is the note signed, if I may make bold to ask?" said Kilian. + +"There is no name--the Duke must be supposed to collect that +information from the gems, or perhaps the handwriting." + +"On neither of which he is likely to have a speedy opportunity of +exercising his ingenuity," said Kilian. + +De Hagenbach looked at the diamonds, and smiled darkly. The +Scharfgerichter, encouraged by the familiarity into which he had in a +manner forced himself, returned to his plea, and insisted on the +nobility of the supposed merchant. Such a trust, and such a letter of +unlimited credence, could never, he contended, be intrusted to a man +meanly born.[7] + +"Thou art deceived, thou fool," said the Knight; "kings now use the +lowest tools to do their dearest offices. Louis has set the example of +putting his barber, and the valets of his chamber, to do the work +formerly intrusted to dukes and peers; and other monarchs begin to +think that it is better, in choosing their agents for important +affairs, to judge rather by the quality of men's brains than that of +their blood. And as for the stately look and bold bearing which +distinguish yonder fellow in the eyes of cravens like thee, it belongs +to his country, not his rank. Thou think'st it is in England as in +Flanders, where a city-bred burgher of Ghent, Liège, or Ypres is as +distinct an animal from a knight of Hainault as a Flanders wagon horse +from a Spanish jennet. But thou art deceived. England has many a +merchant as haughty of heart, and as prompt of hand, as any noble-born +son of her rich bosom. But be not dejected, thou foolish man; do thy +business well on this merchant, and we shall presently have on our +hands the Landamman of Unterwalden, who, though a churl by his choice, +is yet a nobleman by blood, and shall, by his well-deserved death, +aid thee to get rid of the peasant slough which thou art so weary of." + +"Were not your excellency better adjourn these men's fate," said +Kilian, "till you hear something of them from the Swiss prisoners whom +we shall presently have in our power?" + +"Be it as you will," said Hagenbach, waving his hand, as if putting +aside some disagreeable task. "But let all be finished ere I hear of +it again." + +The stern satellites bowed obedience, and the deadly conclave broke +up; their chief carefully securing the valuable gems, which he was +willing to purchase at the expense of treachery to the sovereign in +whose employment he had enlisted himself, as well as the blood of two +innocent men. Yet, with a weakness of mind not uncommon to great +criminals, he shrank from the thoughts of his own baseness and +cruelty, and endeavoured to banish the feeling of dishonour from his +mind, by devolving the immediate execution of his villany upon his +subordinate agents. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[7] Louis XI. was probably the first king of France who flung aside +all affectation of choosing his ministers from among the nobility. He +often placed men of mean birth in situations of the highest trust. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + + And this place our forefathers built for man! + _Old Play._ + + +The dungeon in which the younger Philipson was immured was one of +those gloomy caverns which cry shame on the inhumanity of our +ancestors. They seem to have been almost insensible to the distinction +betwixt innocence and guilt, as the consequences of mere accusation +must have been far more severe in those days than is in our own that +species of imprisonment which is adjudged as an express punishment for +crime. + +The cell of Arthur Philipson was of considerable length, but dark and +narrow, and dug out of the solid rock upon which the tower was +founded. A small lamp was allowed him, not, however, without some +grumbling, but his arms were still kept bound; and when he asked for a +draught of water, one of the grim satellites by whom he was thrust +into this cell answered surlily that he might endure his thirst for +all the time his life was likely to last--a gloomy response, which +augured that his privations would continue as long as his life, yet +neither be of long duration. By the dim lamp he had groped his way to +a bench, or rough seat, cut in the rock; and, as his eyes got +gradually accustomed to the obscurity of the region in which he was +immured, he became aware of a ghastly cleft in the floor of his +dungeon, somewhat resembling the opening of a draw-well, but irregular +in its aperture, and apparently the mouth of a gulf of Nature's +conformation, slightly assisted by the labour of human art. + +"Here, then, is my death-bed," he said, "and that gulf perhaps the +grave which yawns for my remains! Nay, I have heard of prisoners being +plunged into such horrid abysses while they were yet alive, to die at +leisure, crushed with wounds, their groans unheard, and their fate +unpitied!" + +He approached his head to the dismal cavity, and heard, as at a great +depth, the sound of a sullen and, as it seemed, subterranean stream. +The sunless waves appeared murmuring for their victim. Death is +dreadful at all ages; but in the first springtide of youth, with all +the feelings of enjoyment afloat, and eager for gratification, to be +snatched forcibly from the banquet to which the individual has but +just sat down, is peculiarly appalling, even when the change comes in +the ordinary course of nature. But to sit, like young Philipson, on +the brink of the subterranean abyss, and ruminate in horrid doubt +concerning the mode in which death was to be inflicted, was a +situation which might break the spirit of the boldest; and the +unfortunate captive was wholly unable to suppress the natural tears +that flowed from his eyes in torrents, and which his bound arms did +not permit him to wipe away. We have already noticed that, although a +gallant young man in aught of danger which was to be faced and +overcome by active exertion, the youth was strongly imaginative, and +sensitive to a powerful extent to all those exaggerations which, in a +situation of helpless uncertainty, fancy lends to distract the soul +of him who must passively expect an approaching evil. + +Yet the feelings of Arthur Philipson were not selfish. They reverted +to his father, whose just and noble character was as much formed to +attract veneration, as his unceasing paternal care and affection to +excite love and gratitude. He too was in the hands of remorseless +villains, who were determined to conceal robbery by secret murder--he +too, undaunted in so many dangers, resolute in so many encounters, lay +bound and defenceless, exposed to the dagger of the meanest stabber. +Arthur remembered, too, the giddy peak of the rock near Geierstein, +and the grim vulture which claimed him as its prey. Here was no angel +to burst through the mist, and marshal him on a path of safety--here +the darkness was subterranean and eternal, saving when the captive +should behold the knife of the ruffian flash against the lamp which +lent him light to aim the fatal blow. This agony of mind lasted until +the feelings of the unhappy prisoner arose to ecstasy. He started up, +and struggled so hard to free himself of his bonds, that it seemed +they should have fallen from him as from the arms of the mighty +Nazarene. But the cords were of too firm a texture; and after a +violent and unavailing struggle, in which the ligatures seemed to +enter his flesh, the prisoner lost his balance, and, while the feeling +thrilled through him that he was tumbling backward into the +subterranean abyss, he fell to the ground with great force. + +Fortunately he escaped the danger which in his agony he apprehended, +but so narrowly, that his head struck against the low and broken fence +with which the mouth of the horrible pit was partly surrounded. Here +he lay stunned and motionless, and, as the lamp was extinguished in +his fall, immersed in absolute and total darkness. He was recalled to +sensation by a jarring noise. + +"They come--they come--the murderers! Oh, Lady of Mercy! and oh, +gracious Heaven, forgive my transgressions!" + +He looked up, and observed, with dazzled eyes, that a dark form +approached him, with a knife in one hand and a torch in the other. He +might well have seemed the man who was to do the last deed upon the +unhappy prisoner, if he had come alone. But he came not alone--his +torch gleamed upon the white dress of a female, which was so much +illuminated by it that Arthur could discover a form, and had even a +glimpse of features, never to be forgotten, though now seen under +circumstances least of all to be expected. The prisoner's unutterable +astonishment impressed him with a degree of awe which overcame even +his personal fear--"Can these things be?" was his muttered reflection. +"Has she really the power of an elementary spirit? Has she conjured up +this earthlike and dark demon to concur with her in my deliverance?" + +It appeared as if his guess were real; for the figure in black, giving +the light to Anne of Geierstein, or at least the form which bore her +perfect resemblance, stooped over the prisoner, and cut the cord that +bound his arms, with so much despatch that it seemed as if it fell +from his person at a touch. Arthur's first attempt to arise was +unsuccessful, and a second time it was the hand of Anne of +Geierstein--a living hand, sensible to touch as to sight--which aided +to raise and to support him, as it had formerly done when the +tormented waters of the river thundered at their feet. Her touch +produced an effect far beyond that of the slight personal aid which +the maiden's strength could have rendered. Courage was restored to his +heart, vigour and animation to his benumbed and bruised limbs; such +influence does the human mind, when excited to energy, possess over +the infirmities of the human body. He was about to address Anne in +accents of the deepest gratitude. But the accents died away on his +tongue, when the mysterious female, laying her finger on her lips, +made him a sign to be silent, and at the same time beckoned him to +follow her. He obeyed in silent amazement. They passed the entrance of +the melancholy dungeon, and through one or two short but intricate +passages, which, cut out of the rock in some places, and built in +others with hewn stone of the same kind, probably led to holds similar +to that in which Arthur was so lately a captive. + +The recollection that his father might be immured in some such horrid +cell as he himself had just quitted, induced Arthur to pause as they +reached the bottom of a small winding staircase, which conducted +apparently from this region of the building. + +"Come," he said, "dearest Anne, lead me to his deliverance! I must not +leave my father." + +She shook her head impatiently, and beckoned him on. + +"If your power extends not to save my father's life, I will remain and +save him or die!--Anne, dearest Anne"---- + +She answered not, but her companion replied, in a deep voice, not +unsuitable to his appearance, "Speak, young man, to those who are +permitted to answer you; or rather, be silent, and listen to my +instructions, which direct to the only course which can bring thy +father to freedom and safety." + +They ascended the stair, Anne of Geierstein going first; while Arthur, +who followed close behind, could not help thinking that her form gave +existence to a part of the light which her garment reflected from the +torch. This was probably the effect of the superstitious belief +impressed on his mind by Rudolph's tale respecting her mother, and +which was confirmed by her sudden appearance in a place and situation +where she was so little to have been expected. He had not much time, +however, to speculate upon her appearance or demeanour, for, mounting +the stair with a lighter pace than he was able at the time to follow +closely, she was no longer to be seen when he reached the +landing-place. But whether she had melted into the air, or turned +aside into some other passage, he was not permitted a moment's leisure +to examine. + +"Here lies your way," said his sable guide; and at the same time +dashing out the light, and seizing Philipson by the arm, he led him +along a dark gallery of considerable length. The young man was not +without some momentary misgivings, while he recollected the ominous +looks of his conductor, and that he was armed with a dagger, or knife, +which he could plunge of a sudden into his bosom. But he could not +bring himself to dread treachery from any one whom he had seen in +company with Anne of Geierstein; and in his heart he demanded her +pardon for the fear which had flashed across him, and resigned himself +to the guidance of his companion, who advanced with hasty but light +footsteps, and cautioned him by a whisper to do the same. + +"Our journey," he at length said, "ends here." + +As he spoke, a door gave way, and admitted them into a gloomy Gothic +apartment, furnished with large oaken presses, apparently filled with +books and manuscripts. As Arthur looked round, with eyes dazzled with +the sudden gleam of daylight from which he had been for some time +excluded, the door by which they had entered disappeared. This, +however, did not greatly surprise him, who judged that, being formed +in appearance to correspond with the presses around the entrance which +they had used, it could not when shut be distinguished from them; a +device sometimes then practised, as indeed it often is at the present +day. He had now a full view of his deliverer, who, when seen by +daylight, showed only the vestments and features of a clergyman, +without any of that expression of supernatural horror which the +partial light and the melancholy appearance of all in the dungeon had +combined to impress on him. + +Young Philipson once more breathed with freedom, as one awakened from +a hideous dream; and the supernatural qualities with which his +imagination had invested Anne of Geierstein having begun to vanish, he +addressed his deliverer thus: "That I may testify my thanks, holy +father, where they are so especially due, let me inquire of you if +Anne of Geierstein"---- + +"Speak of that which pertains to your house and family," answered the +priest, as briefly as before. "Hast thou so soon forgot thy father's +danger?" + +"By heavens, no!" replied the youth. "Tell me but how to act for his +deliverance, and thou shalt see how a son can fight for a parent!" + +"It is well, for it is needful," said the priest. "Don thou this +vestment, and follow me." + +The vestment presented was the gown and hood of a novice. + +"Draw the cowl over thy face," said the priest, "and return no answer +to any man who meets thee. I will say thou art under a vow.--May +Heaven forgive the unworthy tyrant who imposes on us the necessity of +such profane dissimulation! Follow me close and near--beware that you +speak not." + +The business of disguise was soon accomplished, and the Priest of St. +Paul's, for such he was, moving on, Arthur followed him a pace or two +behind, assuming as well as he could the modest step and humble +demeanour of a spiritual novice. On leaving the library, or study, and +descending a short stair, he found himself in the street of Brisach. +Irresistibly tempted to look back, he had only time, however, to see +that the house he had left was a very small building of a Gothic +character, on the one side of which rose the church of St. Paul's, and +on the other the stern black gate-house, or entrance-tower. + +"Follow me, Melchior," said the deep voice of the priest; and his keen +eyes were at the same time fixed upon the supposed novice, with a look +which instantly recalled Arthur to a sense of his situation. + +They passed along, nobody noticing them, unless to greet the priest +with a silent obeisance, or muttered phrase of salutation, until, +having nearly gained the middle of the village, the guide turned +abruptly off from the street, and, moving northward by a short lane, +reached a flight of steps, which, as usual in fortified towns, led to +the banquette, or walk behind the parapet, which was of the old Gothic +fashion, flanked with towers from space to space, of different forms +and various heights at different angles. + +There were sentinels on the walls; but the watch, as it seemed, was +kept not by regular soldiers, but by burghers, with spears, or swords, +in their hands. The first whom they passed said to the priest, in a +half-whispered tone, "Holds our purpose?" + +"It holds," replied the Priest of St. Paul's.--"Benedicite!" + +"_Deo Gratias!_" replied the armed citizen, and continued his walk +upon the battlements. + +The other sentinels seemed to avoid them; for they disappeared when +they came near, or passed them without looking, or seeming to observe +them. At last their walk brought them to an ancient turret, which +raised its head above the wall, and in which there was a small door +opening from the battlement. It was in a corner, distinct from and +uncommanded by any of the angles of the fortification. In a +well-guarded fortress, such a point ought to have had a sentinel for +its special protection, but no one was there upon duty. + +"Now mark me," said the priest, "for your father's life, and, it may +be, that of many a man besides, depends upon your attention, and no +less upon your despatch.--You can run?--you can leap?" + +"I feel no weariness, father, since you freed me," answered Arthur; +"and the dun deer that I have often chased shall not beat me in such a +wager." + +"Observe then," replied the Black Priest of St. Paul's, "this turret +contains a staircase, which descends to a small sallyport. I will give +you entrance to it--The sallyport is barred on the inside, but not +locked. It will give you access to the moat, which is almost entirely +dry. On crossing it, you will find yourself in the circuit of the +outer barriers. You may see sentinels, but they will not see +you--speak not to them, but make your way over the palisade as you +can. I trust you can climb over an undefended rampart?" + +"I have surmounted a defended one," said Arthur. "What is my next +charge?--All this is easy." + +"You will see a species of thicket, or stretch of low bushes--make for +it with all speed. When you are there, turn to the eastward; but +beware, while holding that course, that you are not seen by the +Burgundian Free Companions, who are on watch on that part of the +walls. A volley of arrows, and the sally of a body of cavalry in +pursuit, will be the consequence, if they get sight of you; and their +eyes are those of the eagle, that spy the carnage afar off." + +"I will be heedful," said the young Englishman. + +"You will find," continued the priest, "upon the outer side of the +thicket a path, or rather a sheep-track, which, sweeping at some +distance from the walls, will conduct you at last into the road +leading from Brisach to Bâle. Hasten forward to meet the Swiss, who +are advancing. Tell them your father's hours are counted, and that +they must press on if they would save him; and say to Rudolph +Donnerhugel, in especial, that the Black Priest of St. Paul's waits to +bestow upon him his blessing at the northern sallyport. Dost thou +understand me?" + +"Perfectly," answered the young man. + +The Priest of St. Paul's then pushed open the low-browed gate of the +turret, and Arthur was about to precipitate himself down the stair +which opened before him. + +"Stay yet a moment," said the priest, "and doff the novice's habit, +which can only encumber thee." + +Arthur in a trice threw it from him, and was again about to start. + +"Stay yet a moment longer," continued the Black Priest. "This gown may +be a tell-tale--Stay, therefore, and help me to pull off my upper +garment." + +Inwardly glowing with impatience, Arthur yet saw the necessity of +obeying his guide; and when he had pulled the long and loose upper +vestment from the old man, he stood before him in a cassock of black +serge, befitting his order and profession, but begirt, not with a +suitable sash such as clergymen wear, but with a most uncanonical +buff-belt, supporting a short two-edged sword, calculated alike to +stab and to smite. + +"Give me now the novice's habit," said the venerable father, "and over +that I will put the priestly vestment. Since for the present I have +some tokens of the laity about me, it is fitting it should be covered +with a double portion of the clerical habit." + +As he spoke thus he smiled grimly; and his smile had something more +frightful and withering than the stern frown, which suited better with +his features, and was their usual expression. + +"And now," said he, "what does the fool tarry for, when life and death +are in his speed?" + +The young messenger waited not a second hint, but at once descended +the stairs, as if it had been by a single step, found the portal, as +the priest had said, only secured by bars on the inside, offering +little resistance save from their rusted state, which made it +difficult to draw them. Arthur succeeded, however, and found himself +at the side of the moat, which presented a green and marshy +appearance. Without stopping to examine whether it was deep or +shallow, and almost without being sensible of the tenacity of the +morass, the young Englishman forced his way through it, and attained +the opposite side, without attracting the attention of two worthy +burghers of Brisach, who were the guardians of the barriers. One of +them indeed was deeply employed in the perusal of some profane +chronicle, or religious legend; the other was as anxiously engaged in +examining the margin of the moat, in search of eels, perhaps, or +frogs, for he wore over his shoulder a scrip for securing some such +amphibious booty. + +Seeing that, as the priest foretold, he had nothing to apprehend from +the vigilance of the sentinels, Arthur dashed at the palisade, in hope +to catch hold of the top of the stockade, and so to clear it by one +bold leap. He overrated his powers of activity, however, or they were +diminished by his recent bonds and imprisonment. He fell lightly +backward on the ground, and, as he got to his feet, became aware of +the presence of a soldier, in yellow and blue, the livery of De +Hagenbach, who came running towards him, crying to the slothful and +unobservant sentinels, "Alarm!--alarm!--you lazy swine! Stop the dog, +or you are both dead men." + +The fisherman, who was on the farther side, laid down his eel-spear, +drew his sword, and, flourishing it over his head, advanced towards +Philipson with very moderate haste. The student was yet more +unfortunate, for, in his hurry to fold up his book and attend to his +duty, he contrived to throw himself (inadvertently, doubtless) full in +the soldier's way. The latter, who was running at top speed, +encountered the burgher with a severe shock which threw both down; but +the citizen, being a solid and substantial man, lay still where he +fell, while the other, less weighty, and probably less prepared for +the collision, lost his balance and the command of his limbs at once, +and, rolling over the edge of the moat, was immersed in the mud and +marsh. The fisher and the student went with deliberate speed to assist +the unexpected and unwelcome partner of their watch; while Arthur, +stimulated by the imminent sense of danger, sprang at the barrier with +more address and vigour than before, and, succeeding in his leap, +made, as he had been directed, with his utmost speed for the covert of +the adjacent bushes. He reached them without hearing any alarm from +the walls. But he was conscious that his situation had become +extremely precarious, since his escape from the town was known to one +man at least who would not fail to give the alarm in case he was able +to extricate himself from the marsh--a feat, however, in which it +seemed to Arthur that the armed citizens were likely to prove rather +his apparent than actual assistants. While such thoughts shot across +his mind, they served to augment his natural speed of foot, so that in +less space than could have been thought possible, he reached the +thinner extremity of the thicket, whence, as intimated by the Black +Priest, he could see the eastern tower and the adjoining battlements +of the town-- + + With hostile faces throng'd, and fiery arms. + +It required, at the same time, some address on the part of the +fugitive to keep so much under shelter as to prevent himself from +being seen in his turn by those whom he saw so plainly. He therefore +expected every moment to hear a bugle wind, or to behold that bustle +and commotion among the defenders which might prognosticate a sally. +Neither, however, took place, and heedfully observing the footpath, or +track, which the priest had pointed out to him, young Philipson +wheeled his course out of sight of the guarded towers, and soon +falling into the public and frequented road, by which his father and +he had approached the town in the morning, he had the happiness, by +the dust and flash of arms, to see a small body of armed men advancing +towards Brisach, whom he justly concluded to be the van of the Swiss +deputation. + +He soon met the party, which consisted of about ten men, with Rudolph +Donnerhugel at their head. The figure of Philipson, covered with mud, +and in some places stained with blood (for his fall in the dungeon had +cost him a slight wound), attracted the wonder of every one, who +crowded around to hear the news. Rudolph alone appeared unmoved. Like +the visage on the ancient statues of Hercules, the physiognomy of the +bulky Bernese was large and massive, having an air of indifferent and +almost sullen composure, which did not change but in moments of the +fiercest agitation. + +He listened without emotion to the breathless tale of Arthur +Philipson, that his father was in prison, and adjudged to death. + +"And what else did you expect?" said the Bernese, coldly. "Were you +not warned? It had been easy to have foreseen the misfortune, but it +may be impossible to prevent it." + +"I own--I own," said Arthur, wringing his hands, "that you were wise, +and that we were foolish.--But oh! do not think of our folly in the +moment of our extremity! Be the gallant and generous champion which +your Cantons proclaim you--give us your aid in this deadly strait!" + +"But how, or in what manner?" said Rudolph, still hesitating. "We have +dismissed the Bâlese, who were willing to have given assistance, so +much did your dutiful example weigh with us. We are now scarce above a +score of men--how can you ask us to attack a garrison town, secured by +fortifications, and where there are six times our number?" + +"You have friends within the fortifications," replied Arthur--"I am +sure you have. Hark in your ear--The Black Priest sent to you--to you, +Rudolph Donnerhugel of Berne--that he waits to give you his blessing +at the northern sallyport." + +"Ay, doubtless," said Rudolph, shaking himself free of Arthur's +attempt to engage him in private conference, and speaking so that all +around might hear him, "there is little doubt on't; I will find a +priest at the northern sallyport to confess and absolve me, and a +block, axe, and headsman to strike my throat asunder when he has done. +But I will scarce put the neck of my father's son into such risk. If +they assassinate an English pedlar, who has never offended them, what +will they do with the Bear of Berne, whose fangs and talons Archibald +de Hagenbach has felt ere now?" + +Young Philipson at these words clasped his hands together, and held +them up to heaven, as one who abandons hope, excepting thence. The +tears started to his eyes, and, clenching his hands and setting his +teeth, he turned his back abruptly upon the Swiss. + +"What means this passion?" said Rudolph. "Whither would you now?" + +"To rescue my father, or perish with him," said Arthur; and was about +to run wildly back to La Ferette, when a strong but kindly grasp +detained him. + +"Tarry a little till I tie my garter," said Sigismund Biederman, "and +I will go with you, King Arthur." + +"You? oaf!" exclaimed Rudolph. "You?--and without orders?" + +"Why, look you, cousin Rudolph," said the youth, continuing, with +great composure, to fasten his garter, which, after the fashion of the +time, was somewhat intricately secured--"you are always telling us +that we are Swiss and freemen; and what is the advantage of being a +freeman, if one is not at liberty to do what he has a mind? You are my +Hauptman, look you, so long as it pleases me, and no longer." + +"And why shouldst thou desert me now, thou fool? Why at this minute, +of all other minutes in the year?" demanded the Bernese. + +"Look you," replied the insubordinate follower, "I have hunted with +Arthur for this month past, and I love him--he never called me fool or +idiot, because my thoughts came slower, maybe, and something duller, +than those of other folk. And I love his father--the old man gave me +this baldrick and this horn, which I warrant cost many a kreutzer. He +told me, too, not to be discouraged, for that it was better to think +justly than to think fast, and that I had sense enough for the one if +not for the other. And the kind old man is now in Hagenbach's +butcher-shambles!--But we will free him, Arthur, if two men may. Thou +shalt see me fight, while steel blade and ashen shaft will hold +together." + +So saying, he shook in the air his enormous partisan, which quivered +in his grasp like a slip of willow. Indeed, if Iniquity was to be +struck down like an ox, there was not one in that chosen band more +likely to perform the feat than Sigismund; for though somewhat shorter +in stature than his brethren, and of a less animated spirit, yet his +breadth of shoulders and strength of muscles were enormous, and if +thoroughly aroused and disposed for the contest, which was very rarely +the case, perhaps Rudolph himself might, as far as sheer force went, +have had difficulty in matching him. + +Truth of sentiment and energy of expression always produce an effect +on natural and generous characters. Several of the youths around began +to exclaim that Sigismund said well; that if the old man had put +himself in danger, it was because he thought more of the success of +their negotiation than of his own safety, and had taken himself from +under their protection, rather than involve them in quarrels on his +account. "We are the more bound," they said, "to see him unscathed; +and we will do so." + +"Peace! all you wiseacres," said Rudolph, looking round with an air of +superiority; "and you, Arthur of England, pass on to the Landamman, +who is close behind. You know he is our chief commander, he is no less +your father's sincere friend, and, whatever he may determine in your +father's favour, you will find most ready executors of his pleasure in +all of us." + +His companions appeared to concur in this advice, and young Philipson +saw that his own compliance with the recommendation was indispensable. +Indeed, although he still suspected that the Bernese, by his various +intrigues, as well with the Swiss youth as with those of Bâle, and, as +might be inferred from the Priest of St. Paul's, by communication even +within the town of La Ferette, possessed the greater power of +assisting him at such a conjuncture; yet he trusted far more in the +simple candour and perfect faith of Arnold Biederman, and pressed +forward to tell to him his mournful tale, and crave his assistance. + +From the top of a bank which he reached in a few minutes after he +parted from Rudolph and the advanced guard, he saw beneath him the +venerable Landamman and his associates, attended by a few of the +youths, who no longer were dispersed upon the flanks of the party, but +attended on them closely, and in military array, as men prepared to +repel any sudden attack. + +Behind came a mule or two with baggage, together with the animals +which, in the ordinary course of their march, supported Anne of +Geierstein and her attendant. Both were occupied by female figures as +usual, and, to the best of Arthur's ken, the foremost had the +well-known dress of Anne, from the grey mantle to a small heron's +plume, which, since entering Germany, she had worn in compliance with +the custom of the country, and in evidence of her rank as a maiden of +birth and distinction. Yet, if the youth's eyes brought him true +tidings at present, what was the character of their former +information, when, scarce more than half an hour since, they had +beheld, in the subterranean dungeon of Brisach, the same form which +they now rested upon, in circumstances so very different! The feeling +excited by this thought was powerful, but it was momentary, like the +lightning which blazes through a midnight sky, which is but just seen +ere it vanishes into darkness. Or, rather, the wonder excited by this +marvellous incident only maintained its ground in his thoughts by +allying itself with the anxiety for his father's safety, which was +their predominant occupation. + +"If there be indeed a spirit," he said, "which wears that beautiful +form, it must be beneficent as well as lovely, and will extend to my +far more deserving father the protection which his son has twice +experienced." + +But ere he had time to prosecute such a thought further, he had met +the Landamman and his party. Here his appearance and his condition +excited the same surprise as they had formerly occasioned to Rudolph +and the vanguard. To the repeated interrogatories of the Landamman he +gave a brief account of his own imprisonment, and of his escape, of +which he suffered the whole glory to rest with the Black Priest of St. +Paul's, without mentioning one word of the more interesting female +apparition, by which he had been attended and assisted in his +charitable task. On another point also Arthur was silent. He saw no +propriety in communicating to Arnold Biederman the message which the +priest had addressed to Rudolph's ear alone. Whether good should come +of it or no, he held sacred the obligation of silence imposed upon him +by a man from whom he had just received the most important assistance. + +The Landamman was struck dumb for a moment with sorrow and surprise at +the news which he heard. The elder Philipson had gained his respect, +as well by the purity and steadiness of the principles which he +expressed, as by the extent and depth of his information, which was +peculiarly valuable and interesting to the Switzer, who felt his +admirable judgment considerably fettered for want of that knowledge of +countries, times, and manners, with which his English friend often +supplied him. + +"Let us press forward," he said to the Banneret of Berne and the other +deputies; "let us offer our mediation betwixt the tyrant De Hagenbach +and our friend, whose life is in danger. He must listen to us, for I +know his master expects to see this Philipson at his court. The old +man hinted to me so much. As we are possessed of such a secret, +Archibald de Hagenbach will not dare to brave our vengeance, since we +might easily send to Duke Charles information how the Governor of La +Ferette abuses his power, in matters where not only the Swiss but +where the Duke himself is concerned." + +"Under your reverend favour, my worthy sir," answered the Banneret of +Berne, "we are Swiss Deputies, and go to represent the injuries of +Switzerland alone. If we embroil ourselves with the quarrels of +strangers, we shall find it more difficult to settle advantageously +those of our own country; and if the Duke should, by this villany done +upon English merchants, bring upon him the resentment of the English +monarch, such breach will only render it more a matter of peremptory +necessity for him to make a treaty advantageous to the Swiss Cantons." + +There was so much worldly policy in this advice, that Adam Zimmerman +of Soleure instantly expressed his assent, with the additional +argument, that their brother Biederman had told them scarce two hours +before how these English merchants had, by his advice and their own +free desire, parted company with them that morning, on purpose that +they might not involve the Deputies in the quarrels which might be +raised by the Governor's exactions on his merchandise. + +"Now what advantage," he said, "shall we derive from this same parting +of company, supposing, as my brother seems to urge, we are still to +consider this Englishman's interest as if he were our fellow-traveller, +and under our especial protection?" + +This personal reasoning pinched the Landamman somewhat closely, for he +had but a short while before descanted on the generosity of the elder +Philipson, who had freely exposed himself to danger, rather than that +he should embarrass their negotiation by remaining one of their +company; and it completely shook the fealty of the white-bearded +Nicholas Bonstetten, whose eyes wandered from the face of Zimmerman, +which expressed triumphant confidence in his argument, to that of his +friend the Landamman, which was rather more embarrassed than usual. + +"Brethren," said Arnold at length with firmness and animation, "I +erred in priding myself upon the worldly policy which I taught to you +this morning. This man is not of our country, doubtless, but he is of +our blood--a copy of the common Creator's image--and the more worthy +of being called so, as he is a man of integrity and worth. We might +not, without grievous sin, pass such a person, being in danger, +without affording him relief, even if he lay accidentally by the side +of our path; much less should we abandon him if the danger has been +incurred in our own cause, and that we might escape the net in which +he is himself caught. Be not, therefore, downcast--We do God's will in +succouring an oppressed man. If we succeed by mild means, as I trust +we shall, we do a good action at a cheap rate;--if not, God can assert +the cause of humanity by the hands of few as well as of many." + +"If such is your opinion," said the Bannerman of Berne, "not a man +here will shrink from you. For me, I pleaded against my own +inclinations when I advised you to avoid a breach with the Burgundian. +But as a soldier, I must needs say, I would rather fight the garrison, +were they double the number they talk of, in a fair field, than +undertake to storm their defences." + +"Nay," said the Landamman, "I sincerely hope we shall both enter and +depart from the town of Brisach, without deviating from the pacific +character with which our mission from the Diet invests us." + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + + For Somerset, off with his guilty head! + _3d Part of Henry VI._ + + +The Governor of La Ferette stood on the battlements of the eastern +entrance-tower of his fortress, and looked out on the road to Bâle, +when first the vanguard of the Swiss mission, then the centre and +rear, appeared in the distance. At the same moment the van halting, +the main body closed with it, while the females and baggage, and mules +in the rear, moved in their turn up to the main body, and the whole +were united in one group. + +A messenger then stepped forth, and winded one of those tremendous +horns, the spoils of the wild-bulls, so numerous in the Canton of Uri, +that they are supposed to have given rise to its name. + +"They demand admittance," said the esquire. + +"They shall have it," answered Sir Archibald de Hagenbach. "Marry, how +they may pass out again, is another and a deeper question." + +"Think yet a moment, noble sir," continued the esquire. "Bethink you, +these Switzers are very fiends in fight, and have, besides, no booty +to repay the conquest--some paltry chains of good copper, perchance, +or adulterated silver. You have knocked out the marrow--do not damage +your teeth by trying to grind the bone." + +"Thou art a fool, Kilian," answered De Hagenbach, "and it may be a +coward besides. The approach of some score, or at most some score and +a half, of Swiss partisans, makes thee draw in thy horns like a snail +at a child's finger! Mine are strong and inflexible as those of the +Urus, of whom they talk so much, and on which they blow so boldly. +Keep in mind, thou timid creature, that if the Swiss deputies, as they +presume to call themselves, are permitted to pass free, they carry to +the Duke stories of merchants bound to his court, and fraught with +precious commodities, specially addressed to his Grace! Charles has +then at once to endure the presence of the ambassadors, whom he +contemns and hates, and learns by them that the Governor of La +Ferette, permitting such to pass, has nevertheless presumed to stop +those whom he would full gladly see; for what prince would not +blithely welcome such a casket as that which we have taken from yonder +strolling English pedlar?" + +"I see not how the assault on these ambassadors will mend your +excellency's plea for despoiling the Englishmen," said Kilian. + +"Because thou art a blind mole, Kilian," answered his chief. "If +Burgundy hears of a ruffle between my garrison and the mountain +churls, whom he scorns, and yet hates, it will drown all notice of the +two pedlars who have perished in the fray. If after-inquiry should +come, an hour's ride transports me with my confidants into the +Imperial dominions, where, though the Emperor be a spiritless fool, +the rich prize I have found on these islanders will ensure me a good +reception." + +"I will stick by your excellency to the last," returned the esquire; +"and you shall yourself witness that, if a fool, I am at least no +coward." + +"I never thought thee such when it came to hand-blows," said De +Hagenbach; "but in policy thou art timid and irresolute. Hand me mine +armour, Kilian, and beware thou brace it well. The Swiss pikes and +swords are no wasp-stings." + +"May your excellency wear it with honour and profit," said Kilian; +and, according to the duty of his office, he buckled upon his +principal the complete panoply of a knight of the empire. "Your +purpose of assaulting the Swiss then holds firm," said Kilian. "But +what pretext will your excellency assign?" + +"Let me alone," said Archibald de Hagenbach, "to take one, or to make +one. Do you only have Schonfeldt and the soldiers on their stations. +And remember the words are--'Burgundy to the Rescue!' When these words +are first spoken, let the soldiers show themselves,--when repeated, +let them fall on. And now that I am accoutred, away to the churls and +admit them." + +Kilian bowed and withdrew. + +The bugle of the Switzers had repeatedly emitted its angry roar, +exasperated by the delay of nearly half an hour, without an answer +from the guarded gate of Brisach; and every blast declared, by the +prolonged echoes which it awakened, the increased impatience of those +who summoned the town. At length the portcullis arose, the gate +opened, the drawbridge fell, and Kilian, in the equipage of a +man-at-arms arrayed for fight, rode forth on an ambling palfrey. + +"What bold men are ye, sirs, who are here in arms before the fortress +of Brisach, appertaining in right and seignorie to the thrice noble +Duke of Burgundy and Lorraine, and garrisoned for his cause and +interest by the excellent Sir Archibald, Lord of Hagenbach, Knight of +the most Holy Roman Empire?" + +"So please you, Sir Esquire," said the Landamman, "for such I +conjecture you to be by the feather in your bonnet, we are here with +no hostile intentions; though armed, as you see, to defend us in a +perilous journey, where we are something unsafe by day, and cannot +always repose by night in places of security. But our arms have no +offensive purpose; if they had such, our numbers had not been so few +as you see them." + +"What, then, is your character and purpose?" said Kilian, who had +learned to use, in his master's absence, the lordly and insolent tone +of the Governor himself. + +"We are Delegates," answered the Landamman, in a calm and even tone of +voice, without appearing to take offence at, or to observe, the +insolent demeanour of the esquire, "from the Free and Confederated +Cantons of the Swiss States and provinces, and from the good town of +Soleure, who are accredited from our Diet of Legislature to travel to +the presence of his Grace the Duke of Burgundy, on an errand of high +importance to both countries, and with the hope of establishing with +your master's lord--I mean with the noble Duke of Burgundy--a sure and +steadfast peace, upon such terms as shall be to the mutual honour and +advantage of both countries, and to avert disputes, and the effusion +of Christian blood, which may otherwise be shed for want of timely and +good understanding." + +"Show me your letters of credence," said the esquire. + +"Under your forgiveness, Sir Esquire," replied the Landamman, "it will +be time enough to exhibit these, when we are admitted to the presence +of your master the Governor." + +"That is as much as to say, wilful will to it. It is well, my masters; +and yet you may take this advice from Kilian of Kersberg. It is +sometimes better to reel backwards than to run forwards.--My master, +and my master's master, are more ticklish persons than the dealers of +Bâle, to whom you sell your cheeses. Home, honest men, home! your way +lies before you, and you are fairly warned." + +"We thank thee for thy counsel," said the Landamman, interrupting the +Banneret of Berne, who had commenced an angry reply, "supposing it +kindly meant; if not, an uncivil jest is like an overcharged gun, +which recoils on the cannoneer. Our road lies onward through Brisach, +and onward we propose to go, and take such hap as that which we may +find before us." + +"Go onward then, in the devil's name," said the squire, who had +entertained some hope of deterring them from pursuing their journey, +but found himself effectually foiled. + +The Switzers entered the town, and, stopped by the barricade of cars +which the Governor had formed across the street, at about twenty yards +from the gate, they drew themselves up in military order, with their +little body formed into three lines, the two females and the fathers +of the deputation being in the centre. The little phalanx presented a +double front, one to each side of the street, while the centre line +faced so as to move forward, and only waited for the removal of the +barricade in order to do so. But while they stood thus inactive, a +knight in complete armour appeared from a side door of the great +tower, under the arch of which they had entered into the town. His +visor was raised, and he walked along the front of the little line +formed by the Swiss, with a stern and frowning aspect. + +"Who are you," he said, "who have thus far intruded yourselves in arms +into a Burgundian garrison?" + +"With your excellency's leave," said the Landamman, "we are men who +come on a peaceful errand, though we carry arms for our own defence. +Deputies we are from the towns of Berne and Soleure, the Cantons of +Uri, Schwitz, and Unterwalden, come to adjust matters of importance +with the gracious Duke of Burgundy and Lorraine." + +"What towns, what cantons?" said the Governor of La Ferette. "I have +heard no such names among the Free Cities of Germany.--Berne, truly! +when became Berne a free state?" + +"Since the twenty-first day of June," said Arnold Biederman, "in the +year of grace one thousand three hundred and thirty-nine, on which day +the battle of Laupen was fought." + +"Away, vain old man!" said the Knight. "Thinkest thou that such idle +boasts can avail thee here? We have heard, indeed, of some insurgent +villages and communities among the Alps, and how they rebelled against +the Emperor, and by the advantage of fastnesses, ambuscades, and +lurking-places, how they have murdered some knights and gentlemen sent +against them by the Duke of Austria; but we little thought that such +paltry townships and insignificant bands of mutineers had the +insolence to term themselves Free States, and propose to enter into +negotiation as such with a mighty prince like Charles of Burgundy." + +"May it please your excellency," replied the Landamman, with perfect +temper; "your own laws of chivalry declare, that if the stronger wrong +the weaker, or the noble does injury to the less gentle, the very act +levels distinctions between them, and the doer of an injury becomes +bound to give condign satisfaction, of such kind as the wronged party +shall demand." + +"Hence to thy hills, churl!" exclaimed the haughty Knight; "there comb +thy beard and roast thy chestnuts. What! because a few rats and mice +find retreat among the walls and wainscoting of our dwelling-houses, +shall we therefore allow them to intrude their disgusting presence, +and their airs of freedom and independence, into our personal +presence? No, we will rather crush them beneath the heel of our +ironshod boots." + +"We are not men to be trodden on," said Arnold Biederman, calmly; +"those who have attempted it have found us stumbling-blocks. Lay, Sir +Knight, lay aside for an instant this haughty language, which can only +lead to warfare, and listen to the words of peace. Dismiss our +comrade, the English merchant Philipson, on whom you have this morning +laid unlawful hands; let him pay a moderate sum for his ransom, and +we, who are bound instantly to the Duke's presence, will bear a fair +report to him of his Governor of La Ferette." + +"You will be so generous, will you!" said Sir Archibald, in a tone of +ridicule. "And what pledge shall I have that you will favour me so +kindly as you propose?" + +"The word of a man who never broke his promise," answered the stoical +Landamman. + +"Insolent hind!" replied the Knight, "dost thou stipulate? _Thou_ +offer thy paltry word as a pledge betwixt the Duke of Burgundy and +Archibald de Hagenbach? Know that ye go not to Burgundy at all, or you +go thither with fetters on your hands and halters round your +necks.--So ho, Burgundy to the Rescue!" + +Instantly, as he spoke, the soldiers showed themselves before, behind, +and around the narrow space where the Swiss had drawn themselves up. +The battlements of the town were lined with men, others presented +themselves at the doors of each house in the street, prepared to +sally, and, at the windows, prepared to shoot, as well with guns as +with bows and crossbows. The soldiers who defended the barricade also +started up, and seemed ready to dispute the passage in front. The +little band, encompassed and overmatched, but neither startled nor +disheartened, stood to their arms. The centre rank under the Landamman +prepared to force their way over the barricade. The two fronts stood +back to back, ready to dispute the street with those that should issue +from the houses. It could not fail to prove a work of no small blood +and toil to subdue this handful of determined men, even with five +times their number. Some sense of this, perhaps, made Sir Archibald +delay giving the signal for onset, when suddenly behind arose a cry +of, "Treason, treason!" + +A soldier, covered with mud, rushed before the Governor, and said, in +hurried accents, that, as he endeavoured to stop a prisoner who had +made his escape some short time since, he had been seized by the +burghers of the town, and well-nigh drowned in the moat. He added, +that the citizens were even now admitting the enemy into the place. + +"Kilian," said the Knight, "take two score of men--hasten to the +northern sallyport; stab, cut down, or throw from the battlements, +whomsoever you meet in arms, townsmen or strangers. Leave me to settle +with these peasants by fair means or foul." + +But ere Kilian could obey his master's commands, a shout arose in the +rear, where they cried, "Bâle! Bâle!--Freedom! freedom!--The day is +our own!" + +Onward came the youth of Bâle, who had not been at such a distance but +that Rudolph had contrived to recall them--onward came many Swiss who +had hovered around the embassy, holding themselves in readiness for +such a piece of service; and onward came the armed citizens of La +Ferette, who, compelled to take arms and mount guard by the tyranny of +De Hagenbach, had availed themselves of the opportunity to admit the +Bâlese at the sallyport through which Philipson had lately made his +escape. + +The garrison, somewhat discouraged before by the firm aspect of the +Swiss, who had held their numbers at defiance, were totally +disconcerted by this new and unexpected insurrection. Most of them +prepared rather to fly than to fight, and they threw themselves in +numbers from the walls, as the best chance of escaping. Kilian and +some others, whom pride prevented from flying, and despair from asking +quarter, fought with fury, and were killed on the spot. In the midst +of this confusion the Landamman kept his own bands unmoved, permitting +them to take no share in the action, save to repel such violence as +was offered to them. + +"Stand fast all!" sounded the deep voice of Arnold Biederman along +their little body. "Where is Rudolph?--Save lives, but take +none.--Why, how now, Arthur Philipson! stand fast, I say." + +"I cannot stand fast," said Arthur, who was in the act of leaving the +ranks. "I must seek my father in the dungeons; they may be slaying him +in this confusion while I stand idle here." + +"By our Lady of Einsiedlen, you say well," answered the Landamman; +"that I should have forgot my noble guest! I will help thee to search +for him, Arthur--the affray seems well-nigh ended.--Ho, there, Sir +Banneret, worthy Adam Zimmerman, my good friend Nicholas Bonstetten, +keep our men standing firm--Have nothing to do with this affray, but +leave the men of Bâle to answer their own deeds. I return in a few +minutes." + +So saying, he hurried after Arthur Philipson, whose recollection +conducted him, with sufficient accuracy, to the head of the dungeon +stairs. There they met an ill-looking man clad in a buff jerkin, who +bore at his girdle a bunch of rusted keys, which intimated the nature +of his calling. + +"Show me the prison of the English merchant," said Arthur Philipson, +"or thou diest by my hand!" + +"Which of them desire you to see?" answered the official;--"the old +man, or the young one?" + +"The old," said young Philipson. "His son has escaped thee." + +"Enter here then, gentlemen," said the jailer, undoing the spring-bolt +of a heavy door. + +At the upper end of the apartment lay the man they came to seek for, +who was instantly raised from the ground, and loaded with their +embraces. + +"My dear father!"--"My worthy guest!" said his son and friend at the +same moment, "how fares it with you?" + +"Well," answered the elder Philipson, "if you, my friend, and son, +come, as I judge from your arms and countenance, as conquerors, and at +liberty--ill, if you come to share my prison-house." + +"Have no fear of that," said the Landamman; "we have been in danger, +but are remarkably delivered.--Your evil lair has benumbed you. Lean +on me, my noble guest, and let me assist you to better quarters." + +Here he was interrupted by a heavy clash, as it seemed, of iron, and +differing from the distant roar of the popular tumult, which they +still heard from the open street, as men hear the deep voice of a +remote and tempestuous ocean. + +"By St. Peter of the fetters!" said Arthur, who instantly discovered +the cause of the sound, "the jailer has cast the door to the staple, +or it has escaped his grasp. The spring-lock has closed upon us, and +we cannot be liberated saving from the outside.--Ho, jailer dog! +villain! open the door, or thou diest!" + +"He is probably out of hearing of your threats," said the elder +Philipson, "and your cries avail you nothing. But are you sure the +Swiss are in possession of the town?" + +"We are peaceful occupants of it," answered the Landamman, "though +without a blow given on our side." + +"Why, then," said the Englishman, "your followers will soon find you +out. Arthur and I are paltry ciphers, and our absence might easily +pass over unobserved; but you are too important a figure not to be +missed and looked after, when the sum of your number is taken." + +"I well hope it will prove so," said the Landamman, "though methinks I +show but scurvily, shut up here like a cat in a cupboard when he has +been stealing cream.--Arthur, my brave boy, dost thou see no means of +shooting back the bolt?" + +Arthur, who had been minutely examining the lock, replied in the +negative; and added, that they must take patience perforce, and arm +themselves to wait calmly their deliverance, which they could do +nothing to accelerate. + +Arnold Biederman, however, felt somewhat severely the neglect of his +sons and companions. + +"All my youths, uncertain whether I am alive or dead, are taking the +opportunity of my absence, doubtless, for pillage and licence--and the +politic Rudolph, I presume, cares not if I should never reappear on +the stage--the Banneret, and the white-bearded fool Bonstetten, who +calls me his friend--every neighbour has deserted me--and yet they +know that I am anxious for the safety of the most insignificant of +them all, as dearer to me than my own. By heavens! it looks like +stratagem; and shows as if the rash young men desired to get rid of a +rule too regular and peaceful to be pleasing to those who are eager +for war and conquest." + +The Landamman, fretted out of his usual serenity of temper, and afraid +of the misbehaviour of his countrymen in his absence, thus reflected +upon his friends and companions, while the distant noise soon died +away into the most absolute and total silence. + +"What is to do now?" said Arthur Philipson. "I trust they will take +the opportunity of quiet to go through the roll-call, and inquire then +who are a-missing." + +It seemed as if the young man's wish had some efficacy, for he had +scarce uttered it before the lock was turned, and the door set ajar by +some one who escaped upstairs from behind it, before those who were +set at liberty could obtain a glance of their deliverer. + +"It is the jailer, doubtless," said the Landamman, "who may be +apprehensive, as he has some reason, that we might prove more incensed +at our detention in the dungeon, than grateful for our deliverance." + +As they spoke thus they ascended the narrow stairs, and issued from +the door of the Gate-house tower, where a singular spectacle awaited +them. The Swiss Deputies and their escort still remained standing fast +and firm on the very spot where Hagenbach had proposed to assail them. +A few of the late Governor's soldiers, disarmed, and cowering from the +rage of a multitude of the citizens, who now filled the streets, stood +with downcast looks behind the phalanx of the mountaineers, as their +safest place of retreat. But this was not all. + +The cars, so lately placed to obstruct the passage of the street, were +now joined together, and served to support a platform, or scaffold, +which had been hastily constructed of planks. On this was placed a +chair, in which sat a tall man, with his head, neck, and shoulders +bare, the rest of his body clothed in bright armour. His countenance +was as pale as death, yet young Philipson recognised the hard-hearted +Governor, Sir Archibald Hagenbach. He appeared to be bound to the +chair. On his right, and close beside him, stood the Priest of St. +Paul's, muttering prayers, with his breviary in his hand; while on his +left, and somewhat behind the captive, appeared a tall man, attired in +red [_h_], and leaning with both hands on the naked sword, which has +been described on a former occasion. The instant that Arnold Biederman +appeared, and before the Landamman could open his lips to demand the +meaning of what he saw, the priest drew back, the executioner stepped +forward, the sword was brandished, the blow was struck, and the +victim's head rolled on the scaffold. A general acclamation and +clapping of hands, like that by which a crowded theatre approves of +some well-graced performer, followed this feat of dexterity. While the +headless corpse shot streams from the arteries, which were drunk up by +the sawdust that strewed the scaffold, the executioner gracefully +presented himself alternately at the four corners of the stage, +modestly bowing, as the multitude greeted him with cheers of +approbation. + +"Nobles, knights, gentlemen of free-born blood, and good citizens," he +said, "who have assisted at this act of high justice, I pray you to +bear me witness that this judgment hath been executed after the form +of the sentence, at one blow, and without stroke missed or repeated." + +The acclamations were reiterated. + +"Long live our Scharfgerichter Steinernherz, and many a tyrant may he +do his duty on!" + +"Noble friends," said the executioner, with the deepest obeisance, "I +have yet another word to say, and it must be a proud one.--God be +gracious to the soul of this good and noble knight, Sir Archibald de +Hagenbach. He was the patron of my youth, and my guide to the path of +honour. Eight steps have I made towards freedom and nobility on the +heads of freeborn knights and nobles, who have fallen by his authority +and command; and the ninth, by which I have attained it, is upon his +own, in grateful memory of which I will expend this purse of gold, +which but an hour since he bestowed on me, in masses for his soul. +Gentlemen, noble friends, and now my equals, La Ferette has lost a +nobleman and gained one. Our Lady be gracious to the departed knight, +Sir Archibald de Hagenbach, and bless and prosper the progress of +Stephen Steinernherz von Blutsacker, now free and noble of right!"[8] + +With that he took the feather out of the cap of the deceased, which, +soiled with the blood of the wearer, lay near his body upon the +scaffold, and, putting it into his own official bonnet, received the +homage of the crowd in loud huzzas, which were partly in earnest, +partly in ridicule of such an unusual transformation. + +Arnold Biederman at length found breath, which the extremity of +surprise had at first denied him. Indeed, the whole execution had +passed much too rapidly for the possibility of his interference. + +"Who has dared to act this tragedy?" he said indignantly. "And by what +right has it taken place?" + +A cavalier, richly dressed in blue, replied to the question-- + +"The free citizens of Bâle have acted for themselves, as the fathers +of Swiss liberty set them an example; and the tyrant, De Hagenbach, +has fallen by the same right which put to death the tyrant Geysler. We +bore with him till his cup was brimming over, and then we bore no +longer." + +"I say not but that he deserved death," replied the Landamman; "but +for your own sake, and for ours, you should have forborne him till the +Duke's pleasure was known." + +"What tell you us of the Duke?" answered Laurenz Neipperg, the same +blue cavalier whom Arthur had seen at the secret rendezvous of the +Bâlese youth, in company with Rudolph. "Why talk you of Burgundy to +us, who are none of his subjects? The Emperor, our only rightful lord, +had no title to pawn the town and fortifications of La Ferette, being +as it is a dependency of Bâle, to the prejudice of our free city. He +might have pledged the revenue indeed; and supposing him to have done +so, the debt has been paid twice over by the exactions levied by +yonder oppressor, who has now received his due. But pass on, Landamman +of Unterwalden. If our actions displease you, abjure them at the +footstool of the Duke of Burgundy; but, in doing so, abjure the memory +of William Tell and Stauffacher, of Furst and Melchtal, the fathers of +Swiss freedom." + +"You speak truth," said the Landamman; "but it is in an ill-chosen and +unhappy time. Patience would have remedied your evils, which none felt +more deeply, or would have redressed more willingly, than I. But oh, +imprudent young man, you have thrown aside the modesty of your age, +and the subjection you owe to your elders. William Tell and his +brethren were men of years and judgment, husbands and fathers, having +a right to be heard in council, and to be foremost in action. +Enough--I leave it with the fathers and senators of your own city, to +acknowledge or to reprove your actions.--But you, my friends,--you, +Banneret of Berne,--you, Rudolph,--above all, you, Nicholas +Bonstetten, my comrade and my friend, why did you not take this +miserable man under your protection? The action would have shown +Burgundy that we were slandered by those who have declared us desirous +of seeking a quarrel with him, or of inciting his subjects to revolt. +Now, all these prejudices will be confirmed in the minds of men, +naturally more tenacious of evil impressions than of those which are +favourable." + +"As I live by bread, good gossip and neighbour," answered Nicholas +Bonstetten, "I thought to obey your injunctions to a tittle; so much +so, that I once thought of breaking in and protecting the man, when +Rudolph Donnerhugel reminded me that your last orders were, to stand +firm, and let the men of Bâle answer for their own actions; and +surely, said I to myself, my gossip Arnold knows better than all of us +what is fitting to be done." + +"Ah, Rudolph, Rudolph," said the Landamman, looking on him with a +displeased countenance, "wert thou not ashamed thus to deceive an old +man?" + +"To say I deceived him is a hard charge; but from you, Landamman," +answered the Bernese, with his usual deference, "I can bear anything. +I will only say, that, being a member of this embassy, I am obliged +to think, and to give my opinion as such, especially when he is not +present who is wise enough to lead and direct us all." + +"Thy words are always fair, Rudolph," replied Arnold Biederman, "and I +trust so is thy meaning. Yet there are times when I somewhat doubt +it.--But let disputes pass, and let me have your advice, my friends; +and for that purpose go we where it may best profit us, even to the +church, where we will first return our thanks for our deliverance from +assassination, and then hold counsel what next is to be done." + +The Landamman led the way, accordingly, to the church of St. Paul's, +while his companions and associates followed in their order. This gave +Rudolph, who, as youngest, suffered the others to precede him, an +opportunity to beckon to him the Landamman's eldest son, Rudiger, and +whisper to him to get rid of the two English merchants. + +"Away with them, my dear Rudiger, by fair means, if possible; but away +with them directly. Thy father is besotted with these two English +pedlars, and will listen to no other counsel; and thou and I know, +dearest Rudiger, that such men as these are unfit to give laws to +free-born Switzers. Get the trumpery they have been robbed of, or as +much of it as is extant, together as fast as thou canst, and send them +a-travelling, in Heaven's name." + +Rudiger nodded intelligently, and went to offer his services to +expedite the departure of the elder Philipson. He found the sagacious +merchant as desirous to escape from the scene of confusion now +presented in the town, as the young Swiss could be to urge his +departure. He only waited to recover the casket of which De Hagenbach +had possessed himself, and Rudiger Biederman set on foot a strict +search after it, which was the more likely to be successful, that the +simplicity of the Swiss prevented them from setting the true value +upon its contents. A strict and hasty search was immediately +instituted, both on the person of the dead De Hagenbach, on which the +precious packet was not to be found, and on all who had approached him +at his execution, or were supposed to enjoy his confidence. + +Young Arthur Philipson would gladly have availed himself of a few +moments to bid farewell to Anne of Geierstein. But the grey wimple was +no longer seen in the ranks of the Switzers, and it was reasonable to +think that, in the confusion which followed the execution of De +Hagenbach, and the retreat of the leaders of the little battalion, she +had made her escape into some of the adjacent houses, while the +soldiers around her, no longer restrained by the presence of their +chiefs, had dispersed, some to search for the goods of which the +Englishmen had been despoiled, others doubtless to mingle with and +join in the rejoicings of the victorious youths of Bâle, and of those +burghers of La Ferette by whom the fortifications of the town had been +so gently surrendered. + +The cry amongst them was universal, that Brisach, so long considered +as the curb of the Swiss confederates, and the barrier against their +commerce, should henceforth be garrisoned, as their protection against +the encroachments and exactions of the Duke of Burgundy and his +officers. The whole town was in a wild but joyful jubilee, while the +citizens vied with each other in offering to the Swiss every +species of refreshment, and the youths who attended upon the mission +hurried gaily, and in triumph, to profit by the circumstances, which +had so unexpectedly converted the ambuscade so treacherously laid for +them, into a genial and joyous reception. + + [Illustration: THE EXECUTION. + Drawn and Etched by R. de Los Rios.] + +Amid this scene of confusion, it was impossible for Arthur to quit his +father, even to satisfy the feelings which induced him to wish for a +few moments at his own disposal. Sad, thoughtful, and sorrowful, amid +the general joy, he remained with the parent whom he had so much +reason to love and honour, to assist him in securing and placing on +their mule the various packages and bales which the honest Switzers +had recovered after the death of De Hagenbach, and which they emulated +each other in bringing to their rightful owner; while they were with +difficulty prevailed on to accept the guerdon which the Englishman, +from the means which he had still left upon his person, was disposed +not merely to offer but to force upon the restorers of his property, +and which, in their rude and simple ideas, seemed greatly to exceed +the value of what they had recovered for him. + +This scene had scarcely lasted ten or fifteen minutes, when Rudolph +Donnerhugel approached the elder Philipson, and in a tone of great +courtesy invited him to join the council of the Chiefs of the Embassy +of the Swiss Cantons, who, he said, were desirous of having the +advantage of his experience upon some important questions respecting +their conduct on these unexpected occurrences. + +"See to our affairs, Arthur, and stir not from the spot on which I +leave you," said Philipson to his son. "Look especially after the +sealed packet of which I was so infamously and illegally robbed: its +recovery is of the utmost consequence." + +So speaking, he instantly prepared himself to attend the Bernese, who +in a confidential manner whispered, as he went arm-in-arm with him +towards the church of St. Paul's,-- + +"I think a man of your wisdom will scarce advise us to trust ourselves +to the mood of the Duke of Burgundy, when he has received such an +injury as the loss of this fortress, and the execution of his officer. +You, at least, would be too judicious to afford us any further the +advantage of your company and society, since to do so would be +wilfully to engage in our shipwreck." + +"I will give my best advice," answered Philipson, "when I shall be +more particularly acquainted with the circumstances under which it is +asked of me." + +Rudolph muttered an oath, or angry exclamation, and led Philipson to +the church without further argument. + +In a small chapel adjoining to the church, and dedicated to St. Magnus +the Martyr, the four deputies were assembled in close conclave, around +the shrine in which the sainted hero stood, armed as when he lived. +The Priest of St. Paul's was also present, and seemed to interest +himself deeply in the debate which was taking place. When Philipson +entered, all were for a moment silent, until the Landamman addressed +him thus: "Seignor Philipson, we esteem you a man far travelled, well +versed in the manners of foreign lands, and acquainted with the +conditions of this Duke Charles of Burgundy; you are therefore fit to +advise us in a matter of great weight. You know with what anxiety we +go on this mission for peace with the Duke; you also know what has +this day happened, which may probably be represented to Charles in the +worst colours. Would you advise us, in such a case, to proceed to the +Duke's presence, with the odium of this action attached to us? or +should we do better to return home, and prepare for war with +Burgundy?" + +"How do your own opinions stand on the subject?" said the cautious +Englishman. + +"We are divided," answered the Banneret of Berne. "I have borne the +banner of Berne against her foes for thirty years; I am more willing +to carry it against the lances of the knights of Hainault and +Lorraine, than to undergo the rude treatment which we must look to +meet at the footstool of the Duke." + +"We put our heads in the lion's mouth if we go forward," said +Zimmerman of Soleure;--"my opinion is, that we draw back." + +"I would not advise retreat," said Rudolph Donnerhugel, "were my life +alone concerned; but the Landamman of Unterwalden is the father of the +United Cantons, and it would be parricide if I consented to put his +life in peril. My advice is, that we return, and that the Confederacy +stand on their defence." + +"My opinion is different," said Arnold Biederman; "nor will I forgive +any man who, whether in sincere or feigned friendship, places my poor +life in the scale with the advantage of the Cantons. If we go forward, +we risk our heads--be it so. But if we turn back, we involve our +country in war with a power of the first magnitude in Europe. Worthy +citizens! you are brave in fight--show your fortitude as boldly now; +and let us not hesitate to incur such personal danger as may attend +ourselves, if by doing so we can gain a chance of peace for our +country." + +"I think and vote with my neighbour and gossip, Arnold Biederman," +said the laconic deputy from Schwitz. + +"You hear how we are divided in opinion," said the Landamman to +Philipson. "What is your opinion?" + +"I would first ask of you," said the Englishman, "what has been your +part in this storming of a town occupied by the Duke's forces, and +putting to death his Governor?" + +"So help me, Heaven!" said the Landamman, "as I knew not of any +purpose of storming the town until it unexpectedly took place." + +"And for the execution of De Hagenbach," said the Black Priest, "I +swear to you, stranger, by my holy order, that it took place under the +direction of a competent court, whose sentence Charles of Burgundy +himself is bound to respect, and whose proceedings the deputies of the +Swiss mission could neither have advanced nor retarded." + +"If such be the case, and if you can really prove yourselves free of +these proceedings," answered Philipson, "which must needs be highly +resented by the Duke of Burgundy, I would advise you by all means to +proceed upon your journey; with the certainty that you will obtain +from that prince a just and impartial hearing, and it may be a +favourable answer. I know Charles of Burgundy; I may even say that, +our different ranks and walks of life considered, I know him well. He +will be deeply incensed by the first tidings of what has here +chanced, which he will no doubt interpret to your disfavour. But if, +in the course of investigation, you are able to clear yourselves of +these foul imputations, a sense of his own injustice may perhaps turn +the balance in your favour, and in that case he will rush from the +excess of censure into that of indulgence. But your cause must be +firmly stated to the Duke, by some tongue better acquainted with the +language of courts than yours; and such a friendly interpreter might I +have proved to you, had I not been plundered of the valuable packet +which I bore with me in order to present to the Duke, and in testimony +of my commission to him." + +"A paltry fetch," whispered Donnerhugel to the Banneret, "that the +trader may obtain from us satisfaction for the goods of which he has +been plundered." + +The Landamman himself was perhaps for a moment of the same opinion. + +"Merchant," he said, "we hold ourselves bound to make good to +you--that is, if our substance can effect it--whatever loss you may +have sustained, trusting to our protection." + +"Ay, that we will," said the old man of Schwitz, "should it cost us +twenty zechins to make it good." + +"To your guarantee of immunity I can have no claim," said Philipson, +"seeing I parted company with you before I sustained any loss. And I +regret the loss, not so much for its value, although that is greater +than you may fancy; but chiefly because, that the contents of the +casket I bore being a token betwixt a person of considerable +importance and the Duke of Burgundy, I shall not, I fear, now that I +am deprived of them, receive from his grace that credence which I +desire, both for my own sake and yours. Without them, and speaking +only in the person of a private traveller, I may not take upon me as I +might have done, when using the names of the persons whose mandates I +carried." + +"This important packet," said the Landamman, "shall be most rigorously +sought for, and carefully re-delivered to thee. For ourselves, not a +Swiss of us knows the value of its contents; so that if they are in +the hands of any of our men, they will be returned of course as +baubles, upon which they set no value." + +As he spoke, there was a knocking at the door of the chapel. Rudolph, +who stood nearest to it, having held some communication with those +without, observed with a smile, which he instantly repressed, lest it +had given offence to Arnold Biederman,--"It is Sigismund, the good +youth--Shall I admit him to our council?" + +"To what purpose, poor simple lad?" said his father, with a sorrowful +smile. + +"Yet let me undo the door," said Philipson; "he is anxious to enter, +and perhaps he brings news. I have observed, Landamman, that the young +man, though with slowness of ideas and expression, is strong in his +principles, and sometimes happy in his conceptions." + +He admitted Sigismund accordingly; while Arnold Biederman felt, on the +one hand, the soothing compliment which Philipson had paid to a boy, +certainly the dullest of his family, and, on the other, feared some +public display of his son's infirmity, or lack of understanding. +Sigismund, however, seemed all confidence; and he certainly had +reason to be so, since, as the shortest mode of explanation, he +presented to Philipson the necklace of diamonds, with the casket in +which it had been deposited. + +"This pretty thing is yours," he said. "I understand so much from your +son Arthur, who tells me you will be glad to have it again." + +"Most cordially do I thank you," said the merchant. "The necklace is +certainly mine; that is, the packet of which it formed the contents +was under my charge; and it is at this moment of greater additional +value to me than even its actual worth, since it serves as my pledge +and token for the performance of an important mission.--And how, my +young friend," he continued, addressing Sigismund, "have you been so +fortunate as to recover what we have sought for hitherto in vain? Let +me return my best acknowledgments; and do not think me over-curious if +I ask how it reached you." + +"For that matter," said Sigismund, "the story is soon told. I had +planted myself as near the scaffold as I could, having never beheld an +execution before; and I observed the executioner, who I thought did +his duty very cleverly, just in the moment that he spread a cloth over +the body of De Hagenbach, snatch something from the dead man's bosom, +and huddle it hastily into his own; so, when the rumour arose that an +article of value was a-missing, I hurried in quest of the fellow. I +found he had bespoke masses to the extent of a hundred crowns at the +high altar of St. Paul's; and I traced him to the tavern of the +village, where some ill-looking men were joyously drinking to him as +a free citizen and a nobleman. So I stepped in amongst them with my +partisan, and demanded of his lordship either to surrender to me what +he had thus possessed himself of, or to try the weight of the weapon I +carried. His lordship, my Lord Hangman, hesitated, and was about to +make a brawl. But I was something peremptory, and so he judged it best +to give me the parcel, which I trust you, Seignor Philipson, will find +safe and entire as it was taken from you. And--and--I left them to +conclude their festivities--and that is the whole of the story." + +"Thou art a brave lad," said Philipson; "and with a heart always +right, the head can seldom be far wrong. But the Church shall not lose +its dues, and I take it on myself, ere I leave La Ferette, to pay for +the masses which the man had ordered for the sake of De Hagenbach's +soul, snatched from the world so unexpectedly." + +Sigismund was about to reply; but Philipson, fearing he might bring +out some foolery to diminish the sense which his father had so +joyously entertained of his late conduct, immediately added, "Hie +away, my good youth, and give to my son Arthur this precious casket." + +With simple exultation at receiving applause to which he was little +accustomed, Sigismund took his leave, and the council were once more +left to their own privacy. + +There was a moment's silence; for the Landamman could not overcome the +feeling of exquisite pleasure at the sagacity which poor Sigismund, +whose general conduct warranted no such expectations, had displayed on +the present occasion. It was not, however, a feeling to which +circumstances permitted him to give vent, and he reserved it for his +own secret enjoyment, as a solace to the anxiety which he had hitherto +entertained concerning the limited intellect of this simple-minded +young man. When he spoke, it was to Philipson, with the usual candour +and manliness of his character. + +"Seignor Philipson," he said, "we will hold you bound by no offer +which you made while these glittering matters were out of your +possession; because a man may often think that if he were in such and +such a situation he would be able to achieve certain ends which, that +position being attained, he may find himself unable to accomplish. But +I now ask you, whether, having thus fortunately and unexpectedly +regained possession of what you say will give you certain credence +with the Duke of Burgundy, you conceive yourself entitled to mediate +with him on our behalf, as you formerly proposed?" + +All bent forward to hear the merchant's answer. + +"Landamman," he replied, "I never spoke the word in difficulty which I +was not ready to redeem when that difficulty was removed. You say, and +I believe, that you had no concern with this storming of La Ferette. +You say also, that the life of De Hagenbach was taken by a judicature +over which you had no control, and exercised none--let a protocol be +drawn up, averring these circumstances, and, as far as possible, +proving them. Intrust it to me--under seal if you will--and if such +points be established, I will pledge my word as a--as a--as an honest +man and a true-born Englishman, that the Duke of Burgundy will neither +detain nor offer you any personal injury. I also hope to show to +Charles strong and weighty reasons why a league of friendship betwixt +Burgundy and the United Cantons of Helvetia is, on his grace's part, a +wise and generous measure. But it is possible I may fail in this last +point; and if I do, I shall deeply grieve for it. In warranting your +safe passage to the Duke's court, and your safe return from it to your +own country, I think I cannot fail. If I do, my own life, and that of +my beloved and only child, shall pay the ransom for my excess of +confidence in the Duke's justice and honour." + +The other deputies stood silent, and looked on the Landamman; but +Rudolph Donnerhugel spoke. + +"Are we then to trust our own lives, and, what is still dearer to us, +that of our honoured associate, Arnold Biederman, on the simple word +of a foreign trader? We all know the temper of the Duke, and how +vindictively and relentlessly he has ever felt towards our country and +its interests. Methinks this English merchant should express the +nature of his interest at the court of Burgundy more plainly, if he +expects us to place such implicit reliance in it." + +"That, Seignor Rudolph Donnerhugel," replied the merchant, "I find +myself not at liberty to do. I pry not into your secrets, whether they +belong to you as a body or as individuals. My own are sacred. If I +consulted my own safety merely, I should act most wisely to part +company with you here. But the object of your mission is peace; and +your sudden return, after what has chanced at La Ferette, will make +war inevitable. I think I can assure you of a safe and free audience +from the Duke, and I am willing, for the chance of securing the peace +of Christendom, to encounter any personal peril which may attach to +myself." + +"Say no more, worthy Philipson," said the Landamman; "thy good faith +is undoubted on our part, and ill luck is his who cannot read it +written on thy manly forehead. We go forward, then, prepared to risk +our own safety at the hand of a despotic prince, rather than leave +undischarged the mission which our country has intrusted us with. He +is but half a brave man who will risk his life only in the field of +battle. There are other dangers, to front which is equally honourable; +and since the weal of Switzerland demands that we should encounter +them, not one of us will hesitate to take the risk." + +The other members of the mission bowed in assent, and the conclave +broke up to prepare for their farther entrance into Burgundy. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[8] Note I. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + + Upon the mountain's heathery side, + The day's last lustre shone, + And rich with many a radiant hue, + Gleam'd gaily on the Rhone. + SOUTHEY. + + +The English merchant was now much consulted by the Swiss Commissioners +in all their motions. He exhorted them to proceed with all despatch on +their journey, so as to carry to the Duke their own account of the +affair of Brisach, and thus anticipate all rumours less favourable to +their conduct on the occasion. For this purpose Philipson recommended +that the Deputies, dismissing their escort, whose arms and numbers +might give umbrage and suspicion, while they were too few for defence, +should themselves proceed by rapid journeys on horseback towards +Dijon, or wherever the Duke might chance to be for the time. + +This proposal was, however, formally resisted by the very person who +had hitherto been the most ductile of the party, and the willing echo +of the Landamman's pleasure. On the present occasion, notwithstanding +that Arnold Biederman declared the advice of Philipson excellent, +Nicholas Bonstetten stood in absolute and insurmountable opposition; +because, having hitherto trusted to his own limbs for transporting +himself to and fro on all occasions, he could by no means be +persuaded to commit himself to the discretion of a horse. As he was +found obstinately positive on this subject, it was finally determined +that the two Englishmen should press forward on their journey, with +such speed as they might, and that the elder of them should make the +Duke acquainted with so much as to the capture of La Ferette as he had +himself witnessed of the matter. The particulars which had attended +the death of De Hagenbach, the Landamman assured him, would be sent to +the Duke by a person of confidence, whose attestation on the subject +could not be doubted. + +This course was adopted, as Philipson expressed his confidence of +getting an early and private audience with his grace of Burgundy. + +"My best intercession," he said, "you have a good right to reckon +upon; and no one can bear more direct testimony than I can to the +ungovernable cruelty and rapacity of De Hagenbach, of which I had so +nearly been the victim. But of his trial and execution I neither know +nor can tell anything; and as Duke Charles is sure to demand why +execution was done upon his officer without an appeal to his own +tribunal, it will be well that you either provide me with such facts +as you have to state, or send forward, at least, as speedily as +possible, the evidence which you have to lay before him on that most +weighty branch of the subject." + +The proposal of the merchant created some visible embarrassment on the +countenance of the Swiss, and it was with obvious hesitation that +Arnold Biederman, having led him aside, addressed him in a whisper-- + +"My good friend," he said, "mysteries are in general like the hateful +mists which disfigure the noblest features of nature; yet, like mists, +they will sometimes intervene when we most desire their absence, when +we most desire to be plain and explicit. The manner of De Hagenbach's +death you saw--we will take care that the Duke is informed of the +authority by which it was inflicted. This is all that I can at present +tell you on the subject; and let me add, that the less you speak of it +with any one, you will be the more likely to escape inconvenience." + +"Worthy Landamman," said the Englishman, "I also am by nature, and +from the habits of my country, a hater of mysteries. Yet, such is my +firm confidence in your truth and honour, that you shall be my guide +in these dark and secret transactions, even as amongst the mists and +precipices of your native land, and I rest contented in either case to +place unlimited confidence in your sagacity. Let me only recommend +that your explanation with Charles be instant, as well as clear and +candid. Such being the case, I trust my poor interest with the Duke +may be reckoned for something in your favour. Here then we part, but, +as I trust, soon to meet again." + +The elder Philipson now rejoined his son, whom he directed to hire +horses, together with a guide, to conduct them with all speed to the +presence of the Duke of Burgundy. By various inquiries in the town, +and especially among the soldiers of the slain De Hagenbach, they at +length learned that Charles had been of late occupied in taking +possession of Lorraine, and, being now suspicious of unfriendly +dispositions on the part of the Emperor of Germany, as well as of +Sigismund Duke of Austria, had drawn a considerable part of his army +together near Strasburg, in order to be prepared against any attempt +of these princes, or of the Free Imperial Cities, which might +interfere with his course of conquest. The Duke of Burgundy, at this +period, well deserved his peculiar epithet of the Bold, since, +surrounded by enemies, like one of the nobler animals of the chase, he +yet astounded, by his stern and daring countenance, not only the +princes and states we have mentioned, but even the King of France, +equally powerful, and far more politic, than himself. + +To his camp, therefore, the English travellers bent their way, each +full of such deep and melancholy reflection as, perhaps, prevented his +bestowing much attention on the other's state of mind. They rode as +men deeply immersed in their own thoughts, and with less intercourse +than had been usual betwixt them on their former journeys. The +nobleness of the elder Philipson's nature, and his respect for the +Landamman's probity, joined with gratitude for his hospitality, had +prevented him from separating his cause from that of the Swiss +deputies, nor did he now repent his generosity in adhering to them. +But when he recollected the nature and importance of the personal +affairs which he himself had to despatch with a proud, imperious, and +irritable prince, he could not but regret the circumstances which had +involved his own particular mission, of so much consequence to himself +and his friends, with that of persons likely to be so highly obnoxious +to the Duke as Arnold Biederman and his companions; and, however +grateful for the hospitality of Geierstein, he regretted, +nevertheless, the circumstances which had obliged him to accept of it. + +The thoughts of Arthur were no less anxious. He found himself anew +separated from the object to which his thoughts were, almost against +his own will, constantly returning. And this second separation had +taken place after he had incurred an additional load of gratitude, and +found new as well as more mysterious food for his ardent imagination. +How was he to reconcile the character and attributes of Anne of +Geierstein, whom he had known so gentle, candid, pure, and simple, +with those of the daughter of a sage, and of an elementary spirit, to +whom night was as day, and an impervious dungeon the same as the open +portico of a temple? Could they be identified as the same being? or, +while strictly alike in shape and lineament, was the one a tenant of +the earth, the other only a phantom, permitted to show itself among +those of a nature in which she did not partake? Above all, must he +never see her more, or receive from her own lips an explanation of the +mysteries which were so awfully entwined with his recollections of +her? Such were the questions which occupied the mind of the younger +traveller, and prevented him from interrupting, or even observing, the +reverie in which his father was plunged. + +Had either of the travellers been disposed to derive amusement from +the country through which their road lay, the vicinity of the Rhine +was well qualified to afford it. The ground on the left bank of that +noble river is indeed rather flat and tame; and the mountains of +Alsace, a ridge of which sweeps along its course, do not approach so +near as greatly to vary the level surface of the valley which divides +them from its shores. But the broad stream itself, hurrying forward +with dizzy rapidity, and rushing around the islets by which its course +is interrupted, is one of the most majestic spectacles in nature. The +right bank is dignified at once, and adorned, by the numerous +eminences covered with wood, and interspersed with valleys, which +constitute the district so well known by the name of the Black Forest, +to which superstition attached so many terrors, and credulity such a +variety of legends. Terrors, indeed, it had, of a real and existing +character. The old castles, seen from time to time on the banks of the +river itself, or on the ravines and large brooks which flow into it, +were then no picturesque ruins, rendered interesting by the stories +which were told about their former inhabitants, but constituted the +real and apparently impregnable strongholds of that Robber-chivalry +whom we have already frequently mentioned, and of whom, since Goethe, +an author born to arouse the slumbering fame of his country, has +dramatised the story of Goetz of Berlichingen, we have had so many +spirit-stirring tales. The danger attending the vicinity of these +fortresses was only known on the right, or German bank of the Rhine, +for the breadth and depth of that noble stream effectually prevented +any foray of their inhabitants from reaching Alsace. The former was in +possession of the Cities or Free Towns of the Empire, and thus the +feudal tyranny of the German lords was chiefly exerted at the expense +of their own countrymen, who, irritated and exhausted with their +rapine and oppression, were compelled to erect barriers against it, of +a nature as interesting and extraordinary as were the wrongs from +which they endeavoured to protect themselves. + +But the left bank of the river, over great part of which Charles of +Burgundy exercised his authority, under various characters, was under +the regular protection of the ordinary magistrates, who were supported +in the discharge of their duty by large bands of mercenary soldiers. +These were maintained by Charles out of his private revenue; he, as +well as his rival Louis, and other princes of the period, having +discovered that the feudal system gave an inconvenient degree of +independence to their vassals, and thinking, of course, that it was +better to substitute in its place a standing army, consisting of Free +Companies, or soldiers by profession. Italy furnished most of these +bands, which composed the strength of Charles's army, at least the +part of it in which he most trusted. + +Our travellers, therefore, pursued their way by the banks of the +river, in as great a degree of security as could well be enjoyed in +that violent and distracted time, until at length the father, after +having eyed for some time the person whom Arthur had hired to be their +guide, suddenly asked of his son who or what the man was. Arthur +replied that he had been too eager to get a person who knew the road, +and was willing to show it, to be very particular in inquiring into +his station or occupation; but that he thought, from the man's +appearance, he must be one of those itinerant ecclesiastics, who +travel through the country with relics, pardons, and other religious +trinkets, and were in general but slightly respected, excepting by the +lower orders, on whom these vendors of superstitious wares were often +accused of practising gross deceptions. + +The man's appearance was rather that of a lay devotee, or palmer, +bound on his pilgrimage to different shrines, than of a mendicant +friar, or questionary. He wore the hat, scrip, staff, and coarse +dalmatic, somewhat like the military cloak of the modern hussar, which +were used by such persons on their religious peregrinations. St. +Peter's keys, rudely shaped out of some scarlet rag of cloth, appeared +on the back of his mantle, placed, as heralds say, saltire wise. This +devotee seemed a man of fifty and upwards, well-made, and stout for +his age, with a cast of countenance which, though not positively ugly, +was far from being well-favoured. There was shrewdness, and an alert +expression in his eye and actions, which made some occasional contrast +with the sanctimonious demeanour of the character he now bore. This +difference betwixt his dress and physiognomy was by no means uncommon +among persons of his description, many of whom embraced this mode of +life, rather to indulge roving and idle habits, than from any +religious call. + +"Who art thou, good fellow?" said the elder Philipson; "and by what +name am I to call thee while we are fellow-travellers?" + +"Bartholomew, sir," said the man; "Brother Bartholomew--I might say +Bartholomæus, but it does not become a poor lay brother like me to +aspire to the honour of a learned termination." + +"And whither does thy journey tend, good Brother Bartholomew?" + +"In whichever direction your worship chooses to travel, and to require +my services as guide," answered the palmer; "always premising, you +allow me leisure for my devotions at such holy stations as we pass on +our route." + +"That is, thine own journey hath no professed or pressing object or +end?" said the Englishman. + +"None, as your worship says, peculiar," said the itinerant; "or I +might rather say, that my journey, good sir, embraces so many objects, +that it is matter of indifference to me which of them I accomplish +first. My vow binds me for four years to travel from one shrine, or +holy place, to another; but I am not directly tied to visit them by +any precise rule of rotation." + +"That is to say, thy vow of pilgrimage does not prevent thee from +hiring thyself to wait upon travellers as their guide," replied +Philipson. + +"If I can unite the devotion I owe to the blessed saints whose shrines +I visit, with a service rendered to a wandering fellow-creature who +desires to be directed upon his journey, I do maintain," replied +Bartholomew, "that the objects are easily to be reconciled to each +other." + +"Especially as a little worldly profit may tend to cement the two +duties together, if otherwise incompatible," said Philipson. + +"It pleases your honour to say so," replied the pilgrim; "but you +yourself may, if you will, derive from my good company something more +than the mere knowledge of the road in which you propose to travel. I +can make your journey more edifying by legends of the blessed saints +whose holy relics I have visited, and pleasing, by the story of the +wonderful things which I have seen and heard in my travels. I can +impart to you an opportunity of providing yourself with his +Holiness's pardon, not only for the sins which you have committed, +but also granting you indulgence for future errors." + +"These things are highly available doubtless," replied the merchant; +"but, good Bartholomew, when I desire to speak of them, I apply to my +father confessor, to whom I have been uniformly regular in committing +the charge of my conscience, and who must be, therefore, well +acquainted with my state of mind, and best accustomed to prescribe +what its case may require." + +"Nevertheless," said Bartholomew, "I trust your worship is too +religious a man, and too sound a Catholic, to pass any hallowed +station without endeavouring to obtain some share of the benefits +which it is the means of dispensing to those who are ready and willing +to deserve them. More especially as all men, of whatever trade and +degree, hold respect to the holy saint who patroniseth his own +mystery; so I hope you, being a merchant, will not pass the Chapel of +Our Lady of the Ferry, without making some fitting orison." + +"Friend Bartholomew," said Philipson, "I have not heard of the shrine +which you recommend to me; and, as my business is pressing, it were +better worth my while to make a pilgrimage hither on purpose to make +mine homage at a fitter season, than to delay my journey at present. +This, God willing, I will not fail to do, so that I may be held +excused for delaying my reverence till I can pay it more respectfully, +and at greater leisure." + +"May it please you not to be wroth," said the guide, "if I say that +your behaviour in this matter is like that of a fool, who, finding a +treasure by the road-side, omits to put it in his bosom and carry it +along with him, proposing to return from a distance on a future day, +of express purpose to fetch it." + +Philipson, something astonished at the man's pertinacity, was about to +answer hastily and angrily, but was prevented by the arrival of three +strangers, who rode hastily up from behind them. + +The foremost of these was a young female, most elegantly attired, and +mounted upon a Spanish jennet, which she reined with singular grace +and dexterity. She wore on her right hand such a glove as that which +was used to carry hawks, and had a merlin perched upon it. Her head +was covered with a montero cap, and, as was frequently the custom at +the period, she wore on her face a kind of black silk vizard, which +effectually concealed her features. Notwithstanding this disguise, +Arthur Philipson's heart sprang high at the appearance of these +strangers, for he was at once certain he recognised the matchless form +of the Swiss maiden by whom his mind was so anxiously occupied. Her +attendants were a falconer with his hunting-pole, and a female, both +apparently her domestics. The elder Philipson, who had no such +accuracy of recollection as his son manifested upon the occasion, saw +in the fair stranger only some dame or damsel of eminence engaged in +the amusement of hawking, and, in return to a brief salutation, merely +asked her, with suitable courtesy, as the case demanded, whether she +had spent the morning in good sport. + +"Indifferent, good friend," said the lady. "I dare not fly my hawk so +near the broad river, lest he should soar to the other side, and so I +might lose my companion. But I reckon on finding better game when I +have crossed to the other side of the ferry, which we are now +approaching." + +"Then your ladyship," said Bartholomew, "will hear mass in Hans' +Chapel, and pray for your success?" + +"I were a heathen to pass the holy place without doing so," replied +the damsel. + +"That, noble damsel, touches the point we were but now talking of," +said the guide Bartholomew; "for know, fair mistress, that I cannot +persuade this worthy gentleman how deeply the success of his +enterprise is dependent upon his obtaining the blessing of Our Lady of +the Ferry." + +"The good man," said the young maiden, seriously, and even severely, +"must know little of the Rhine. I will explain to the gentleman the +propriety of following your advice." + +She then rode close to young Philipson, and spoke in Swiss, for she +had hitherto used the German language, "Do not start, but hear me!" +and the voice was that of Anne of Geierstein. "Do not, I say, be +surprised--or at least show not your wonder--you are beset by dangers. +On this road, especially, your business is known--your lives are laid +in wait for. Cross over the river at the Ferry of the Chapel, or Hans' +Ferry, as it is usually termed." + +Here the guide drew so near to them that it was impossible for her to +continue the conversation without being overheard. At that same moment +a woodcock sprang from some bushes, and the young lady threw off her +merlin in pursuit. + +"Sa ho--sa ho--wo ha!" hollowed the falconer, in a note which made the +thicket ring again; and away he rode in pursuit. The elder Philipson +and the guide himself followed the chase eagerly with their eyes, so +attractive was the love of that brave sport to men of all ranks. But +the voice of the maiden was a lure, which would have summoned Arthur's +attention from matters more deeply interesting. + +"Cross the Rhine," she again repeated, "at the Ferry to Kirch-hoff, on +the other side of the river. Take your lodgings at the Golden Fleece, +where you will find a guide to Strasburg. I must stay here no longer." + +So saying, the damsel raised herself in her saddle, struck her horse +lightly with the loose reins, and the mettled animal, already +impatient at her delay, and the eager burst of its companions, flew +forward at such a pace, as if he had meant to emulate the flight of +the hawk, and of the prey he pursued. The lady and her attendants soon +vanished from the sight of the travellers. + +A deep silence for some time ensued, during which Arthur studied how +to communicate the warning he had received, without awakening the +suspicions of their guide. But the old man broke silence himself, +saying to Bartholomew, "Put your horse into more motion, I pray you, +and ride onward a few yards; I would have some private conference with +my son." + +The guide obeyed, and, as if with the purpose of showing a mind too +profoundly occupied by heavenly matters to admit a thought concerning +those of this transitory world, he thundered forth a hymn in praise of +St. Wendelin the Shepherd, in a strain so discordant as startled every +bird from every bush by which they passed. There was never a more +unmelodious melody, whether sacred or profane, than that under +protection of which the elder Philipson thus conferred with his son. + +"Arthur," he said, "I am much convinced that this howling hypocritical +vagrant has some plot upon us; and I had well-nigh determined that the +best mode to baffle it would be to consult my own opinion, and not +his, as to our places of repose, and the direction of our journey." + +"Your judgment is correct, as usual," said his son. "I am well +convinced of yonder man's treachery, from a whisper in which that +maiden informed me that we ought to take the road to Strasburg, by the +eastern side of the river, and for that purpose cross over to a place +called Kirch-hoff, on the opposite bank." + +"Do you advise this, Arthur?" replied his father. + +"I will pledge my life for the faith of this young person," replied +his son. + +"What!" said his father, "because she sits her palfrey fairly, and +shows a faultless shape? Such is the reasoning of a boy--and yet my +own old and cautious heart feels inclined to trust her. If our secret +is known in this land, there are doubtless many who may be disposed to +think they have an interest in barring my access to the Duke of +Burgundy, even by the most violent means; and well you know that I +should on my side hold my life equally cheap, could I discharge mine +errand at the price of laying it down. I tell thee, Arthur, that my +mind reproaches me for taking hitherto over little care of insuring +the discharge of my commission, owing to the natural desire I had to +keep thee in my company. There now lie before us two ways, both +perilous and uncertain, by which we may reach the Duke's Court. We may +follow this guide, and take the chance of his fidelity, or we may +adopt the hint of yonder damsel-errant, and cross over to the other +side of the Rhine, and again repass the river at Strasburg. Both roads +are perhaps equally perilous. I feel it my duty to diminish the risk +of the miscarriage of my commission, by sending thee across to the +right bank, while I pursue my proposed course upon the left. Thus, if +one of us be intercepted, the other may escape, and the important +commission which he bears may be duly executed." + +"Alas, my father!" said Arthur, "how is it possible for me to obey +you, when by doing so I must leave you alone, to incur so many +dangers, to struggle with so many difficulties, in which my aid might +be at least willing, though it could only be weak? Whatever befall us +in these delicate and dangerous circumstances, let us at least meet it +in company." + +"Arthur, my beloved son," said his father, "in parting from thee I am +splitting mine own heart in twain; but the same duty which commands us +to expose our bodies to death, as peremptorily orders us not to spare +our most tender affections. We must part." + +"Oh, then," replied his son, eagerly, "let me at least prevail in one +point. Do thou, my father, cross the Rhine, and let me prosecute the +journey by the route originally proposed." + +"And why, I pray you," answered the merchant, "should I go one of +these roads in preference to the other?" + +"Because," said Arthur eagerly. "I would warrant yonder maiden's faith +with my life." + +"Again, young man?" said his father. "And wherefore so confident in +that young maiden's faith? Is it merely from the confidence which +youth reposes in that which is fair and pleasing, or have you had +further acquaintance with her than the late brief conversation with +her admitted?" + +"Can I give you an answer?" replied his son. "We have been long absent +from lands of knights and ladies, and is it not natural that we should +give to those who remind us of the honoured ties of chivalry and +gentle blood, the instinctive credence which we refuse to such a poor +wretch as this itinerant mountebank, who gains his existence by +cheating, with false relics and forged legends, the poor peasants +amongst whom he travels?" + +"It is a vain imagination, Arthur," said his father; "not unbefitting, +indeed, an aspirant to the honours of chivalry, who draws his ideas of +life and its occurrences from the romances of the minstrels, but too +visionary for a youth who has seen, as thou hast, how the business of +this world is conducted. I tell thee, and thou wilt learn to know I +say truth, that around the homely board of our host the Landamman were +ranged truer tongues, and more faithful hearts, than the _cour +plénière_ of a monarch has to boast. Alas! the manly spirit of ancient +faith and honour has fled even from the breast of kings and knights, +where, as John of France said, it ought to continue to reside a +constant inhabitant, if banished from all the rest of the world." + +"Be that as it may, dearest father," replied the younger Philipson, +"I pray you to be persuaded by me; and if we must part company, let it +be by your taking the right bank of the Rhine, since I am persuaded it +is the safest route." + +"And if it be the safest," said his father, with a voice of tender +reproach, "is that a reason why I should spare my own almost exhausted +thread of life, and expose thine, my dear son, which has but begun its +course?" + +"Nay, father," answered the son with animation, "in speaking thus you +do not consider the difference of our importance to the execution of +the purpose which you have so long entertained, and which seems now so +nigh being accomplished. Think how imperfectly I might be able to +discharge it, without knowledge of the Duke's person, or credentials +to gain his confidence. I might indeed repeat your words, but the +circumstances would be wanting to attract the necessary faith, and of +consequence, your scheme, for the success of which you have lived, and +now are willing to run the risk of death, would miscarry along with +me." + +"You cannot shake my resolution," said the elder Philipson, "or +persuade me that my life is of more importance than yours. You only +remind me that it is you, and not I, who ought to be the bearer of +this token to the Duke of Burgundy. Should you be successful in +reaching his court or camp, your possession of these gems will be +needful to attach credit to your mission; a purpose for which they +would be less necessary to me, who can refer to other circumstances +under which I might claim credence, if it should please Heaven to +leave me alone to acquit myself of this important commission, which, +may Our Lady, in her mercy, forefend! Understand, therefore, that, +should an opportunity occur by which you can make your way to the +opposite side of the Rhine, you are to direct your journey so as again +to cross to this bank at Strasburg, where you will inquire for news of +me at the Flying Stag, a hostelry in that city, which you will easily +discover. If you hear no tidings of me at that place, you will proceed +to the Duke, and deliver to him this important packet." + +Here he put into his son's hand, with as much privacy as possible, the +case containing the diamond necklace. + +"What else your duty calls on you to do," continued the elder +Philipson, "you well know; only I conjure you, let no vain inquiries +after my fate interfere with the great duty you have there to +discharge. In the meantime, prepare to bid me a sudden farewell, with +a heart as bold and confident as when you went before me, and +courageously led the way amid the rocks and storms of Switzerland. +Heaven was above us then, as it is over us now. Adieu, my beloved +Arthur! Should I wait till the moment of separation, there may be but +short time to speak the fatal word, and no eye save thine own must see +the tear which I now wipe away." + +The painful feeling which accompanied this anticipation of their +parting was so sincere on Arthur's part, as well as that of his +father, that it did not at first occur to the former, as a source of +consolation, that it seemed likely he might be placed under the +guidance of the singular female, the memory of whom haunted him. True +it was, that the beauty of Anne of Geierstein, as well as the +striking circumstances in which she had exhibited herself, had on that +very morning been the principal occupation of his mind; but they were +now chased from it by the predominant recollection, that he was about +to be separated in a moment of danger from a father so well deserving +of his highest esteem and his fondest affection. + +Meanwhile, that father dashed from his eye the tear which his devoted +stoicism could not suppress, and, as if afraid of softening his +resolution by indulging his parental fondness, he recalled the pious +Bartholomew, to demand of him how far they were from the Chapel of the +Ferry. + +"Little more than a mile," was the reply; and when the Englishman +required further information concerning the cause of its erection, he +was informed, that an old boatman and fisherman, named Hans, had long +dwelt at the place, who gained a precarious livelihood by transporting +travellers and merchants from one bank of the river to the other. The +misfortune, however, of losing first one boat and then a second, in +the deep and mighty stream, with the dread inspired in travellers by +the repetition of such accidents, began to render his profession an +uncertain one. Being a good Catholic, the old man's distress took a +devotional turn. He began to look back on his former life, and +consider by what crimes he had deserved the misfortunes which darkened +the evening of his days. His remorse was chiefly excited by the +recollection that he had, on one occasion, when the passage was +peculiarly stormy, refused to discharge his duty as a ferryman, in +order to transport to the other shore a priest, who bore along with +him an image of the Virgin, destined for the village of Kirch-hoff, +on the opposite or right bank of the Rhine. For this fault Hans +submitted to severe penance, as he was now disposed to consider as +culpable his doubt of the Virgin's power of protecting herself, her +priest, and the bark employed in her service; besides which, the +offering of a large share of his worldly goods to the church of +Kirch-hoff expressed the truth of the old man's repentance. Neither +did he ever again permit himself to interpose any delay in the journey +of men of holy Church; but all ranks of the clergy, from the mitred +prelate to the barefooted friar, might at any time of day or night +have commanded the services of him and his boat. + +While prosecuting so laudable a course of life, it became at length +the lot of Hans to find, on the banks of the Rhine, a small image of +the Virgin, thrown by the waves, which appeared to him exactly to +resemble that which he had formerly ungraciously refused to carry +across, when under charge of the sacristan of Kirch-hoff. He placed it +in the most conspicuous part of his hut, and poured out his soul +before it in devotion, anxiously inquiring for some signal by which he +might discover whether he was to consider the arrival of her holy +image as a pledge that his offences were forgiven. In the visions of +the night, his prayers were answered, and Our Lady, assuming the form +of the image, stood by his bedside, for the purpose of telling him +wherefore she had come hither. + +"My trusty servant," she said, "men of Belial have burned my dwelling +at Kirch-hoff, spoiled my chapel, and thrown the sacred image which +represents me into the swoln Rhine, which swept me downward. Now, I +have resolved to dwell no longer in the neighbourhood of the profane +doers of this deed, or of the cowardly vassals who dared not prevent +it. I am, therefore, compelled to remove my habitation, and, in +despite of the opposing current, I determined to take the shore on +this side, being resolved to fix my abode with thee, my faithful +servant, that the land in which thou dwellest may be blessed, as well +as thou and thy household." + +As the vision spoke, she seemed to wring from her tresses the water in +which they had been steeped, while her disordered dress and fatigued +appearance was that of one who has been buffeting with the waves. + +Next morning brought intelligence that, in one of the numerous feuds +of that fierce period, Kirch-hoff had been sacked, the church +destroyed, and the church treasury plundered. + +In consequence of the fisherman's vision being thus remarkably +confirmed, Hans entirely renounced his profession; and, leaving it to +younger men to supply his place as ferryman, he converted his hut into +a rustic chapel, and he himself, taking orders, attended upon the +shrine as a hermit, or daily chaplain. The figure was supposed to work +miracles, and the ferry became renowned from its being under the +protection of the Holy Image of Our Lady, and her no less holy +servant. + +When Bartholomew had concluded his account of the Ferry and its +Chapel, the travellers had arrived at the place itself. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + + Upon the Rhine, upon the Rhine they cluster, + The grapes of juice divine, + Which make the soldier's jovial courage muster; + O blessed be the Rhine! + _Drinking Song._[9] + + +A cottage or two on the side of the river, beside which were moored +one or two fishing-boats, showed the pious Hans had successors in his +profession as a boatman. The river, which at a point a little lower +was restrained by a chain of islets, expanded more widely, and moved +less rapidly, than when it passed these cottages, affording to the +ferryman a smoother surface, and a less heavy stream to contend with, +although the current was even there too strong to be borne up against, +unless the river was in a tranquil state. + +On the opposite bank, but a good deal lower than the hamlet which gave +name to the ferry, was seated on a small eminence, screened by trees +and bushes, the little town of Kirch-hoff. A skiff departing from the +left bank was, even on favourable occasions, carried considerably to +leeward ere it could attain the opposite side of the deep and full +stream of the Rhine, so that its course was oblique towards +Kirch-hoff. On the other hand, a boat departing from Kirch-hoff must +have great advantage both of wind and oars, in order to land its +loading or crew at the Chapel of the Ferry, unless it were under the +miraculous influence which carried the image of the Virgin in that +direction. The communication, therefore, from the east to the west +bank was only maintained by towing boats up the stream, to such a +height on the eastern side that the leeway which they made during the +voyage across might correspond with the point at which they desired to +arrive, and enable them to attain it with ease. Hence it naturally +happened that, the passage from Alsace into Suabia being the most +easy, the ferry was more used by those who were desirous of entering +Germany, than by travellers who came in an opposite direction. + +When the elder Philipson had by a glance around him ascertained the +situation of the ferry, he said firmly to his son,--"Begone, my dear +Arthur, and do what I have commanded thee." + +With a heart rent with filial anxiety, the young man obeyed, and took +his solitary course towards the cottages, near which the barks were +moored, which were occasionally used for fishing, as well as for the +purposes of the ferry. + +"Your son leaves us?" said Bartholomew to the elder Philipson. + +"He does for the present," said his father, "as he has certain +inquiries to make in yonder hamlet." + +"If they be," answered the guide, "any matters connected with your +honour's road, I laud the Saints that I can better answer your +inquiries than those ignorant boors, who hardly understand your +language." + +"If we find that their information needs thy commentary," said +Philipson, "we will request it--meanwhile, lead on to the chapel, +where my son will join us." + +They moved towards the chapel, but with slow steps, each turning his +looks aside to the fishing-hamlet; the guide as if striving to see +whether the younger traveller was returning towards them, the father +anxious to descry, on the broad bosom of the Rhine, a sail unloosed, +to waft his son across to that which might be considered as the safer +side. But though the looks of both guide and traveller were turned in +the direction of the river, their steps carried them towards the +chapel, to which the inhabitants, in memory of the founder, had given +the title of Hans-Kapelle. + +A few trees scattered around gave an agreeable and silvan air to the +place; and the chapel, that appeared on a rising ground at some +distance from the hamlet, was constructed in a style of pleasing +simplicity, which corresponded with the whole scene. Its small size +confirmed the tradition that it had originally been merely the hut of +a peasant; and the cross of fir-trees, covered with bark, attested the +purpose to which it was now dedicated. The chapel and all around it +breathed peace and solemn tranquillity, and the deep sound of the +mighty river seemed to impose silence on each human voice which might +presume to mingle with its awful murmur. + +When Philipson arrived in the vicinity, Bartholomew took the advantage +afforded by his silence to thunder forth two stanzas to the praise of +the Lady of the Ferry, and her faithful worshipper Hans, after which +he broke forth into the rapturous exclamation,--"Come hither, ye who +fear wreck, here is your safe haven!--Come hither, ye who die of +thirst, here is a well of mercy open to you!--Come, those who are +weary and far-travelled, this is your place of refreshment!"--And more +to the same purpose he might have said, but Philipson sternly imposed +silence on him. + +"If thy devotion were altogether true," he said, "it would be less +clamorous; but it is well to do what is good in itself, even if it is +a hypocrite who recommends it.--Let us enter this holy chapel, and +pray for a fortunate issue to our precarious travels." + +The pardoner caught up the last words. + +"Sure was I," he said, "that your worship is too well advised to pass +this holy place without imploring the protection and influence of Our +Lady of the Ferry. Tarry but a moment until I find the priest who +serves the altar, that he may say a mass on your behalf." + +Here he was interrupted by the door of the chapel suddenly opening, +when an ecclesiastic appeared on the threshold. Philipson instantly +knew the Priest of St. Paul's, whom he had seen that morning at La +Ferette. Bartholomew also knew him, as it would seem; for his +officious hypocritical eloquence failed him in an instant, and he +stood before the priest with his arms folded on his breast, like a man +who waits for the sentence of condemnation. + +"Villain," said the ecclesiastic, regarding the guide with a severe +countenance, "dost thou lead a stranger into the houses of the Holy +Saints, that thou mayst slay him, and possess thyself of his spoils? +But Heaven will no longer bear with thy perfidy. Back, thou wretch, +to meet thy brother miscreants, who are hastening hitherward. Tell +them thy arts were unavailing, and that the innocent stranger is under +MY protection--under my protection, which those who presume to violate +will meet with the reward of Archibald de Hagenbach!" + +The guide stood quite motionless, while addressed by the priest in a +manner equally menacing and authoritative; and no sooner did the +latter cease speaking, than, without offering a word either in +justification or reply, Bartholomew turned round, and retreated at a +hasty pace by the same road which had conducted the traveller to the +chapel. + +"And do you, worthy Englishman," continued the priest, "enter into +this chapel, and perform in safety those devotions, by means of which +yonder hypocrite designed to detain you until his brethren in iniquity +came up.--But first, wherefore are you alone? I trust naught evil hath +befallen your young companion?" + +"My son," said Philipson, "crosses the Rhine at yonder ferry, as we +had important business to transact on the other side." + +As he spoke thus, a light boat, about which two or three peasants had +been for some time busy, was seen to push from the shore, and shoot +into the stream, to which it was partly compelled to give way, until a +sail stretched along the slender yard, and supporting the bark against +the current, enabled her to stand obliquely across the river. + +"Now, praise be to God!" said Philipson, who was aware that the bark +he looked upon must be in the act of carrying his son beyond the reach +of the dangers by which he was himself surrounded. + +"Amen!" answered the priest, echoing the pious ejaculation of the +traveller. "Great reason have you to return thanks to Heaven." + +"Of that I am convinced," replied Philipson; "but yet from you I hope +to learn the special cause of danger from which I have escaped?" + +"This is neither time nor place for such an investigation," answered +the Priest of St. Paul's. "It is enough to say, that yonder fellow, +well known for his hypocrisy and his crimes, was present when the +young Switzer, Sigismund, reclaimed from the executioner the treasure +of which you were robbed by Hagenbach. Thus Bartholomew's avarice was +awakened. He undertook to be your guide to Strasburg, with the +criminal intent of detaining you by the way till a party came up, +against whose numbers resistance would have been in vain. But his +purpose has been anticipated.--And now, ere giving vent to other +worldly thoughts, whether of hope or fear--to the chapel, sir, and +join in orisons to Him who hath been your aid, and to those who have +interceded with him in your behalf." + +Philipson entered the chapel with his guide, and joined in returning +thanks to Heaven, and the tutelary power of the spot, for the escape +which had been vouchsafed to him. + +When this duty had been performed, Philipson intimated his purpose of +resuming his journey, to which the Black Priest replied, "That far +from delaying him in a place so dangerous, he would himself accompany +him for some part of the journey, since he also was bound to the +presence of the Duke of Burgundy." + +"You, my father!--you!" said the merchant, with some astonishment. + +"And wherefore surprised?" answered the priest. "Is it so strange that +one of my order should visit a prince's court? Believe me, there are +but too many of them to be found there." + +"I do not speak with reference to your order," answered Philipson, +"but in regard of the part which you have this day acted, in abetting +the execution of Archibald de Hagenbach. Know you so little of the +fiery Duke of Burgundy as to imagine you can dally with his resentment +with more safety than you would pull the mane of a sleeping lion?" + +"I know his mood well," said the priest; "and it is not to excuse but +to defend the death of De Hagenbach that I go to his presence. The +Duke may execute his serfs and bondsmen at his pleasure, but there is +a spell upon my life which is proof to all his power. But let me +retort the question--You, Sir Englishman, knowing the conditions of +the Duke so well--you, so lately the guest and travelling companion of +the most unwelcome visitors who could approach him--you, implicated, +in appearance at least, in the uproar at La Ferette--what chance is +there of your escaping his vengeance? and wherefore will you throw +yourself wantonly within his power?" + +"Worthy father," said the merchant, "let each of us, without offence +to the other, keep his own secret. I have, indeed, no spell to secure +me from the Duke's resentment--I have limbs to suffer torture and +imprisonment, and property which may be seized and confiscated. But I +have had in former days many dealings with the Duke; I may even say I +have laid him under obligations, and hope my interest with him may in +consequence be sufficient, not only to save me from the consequences +of this day's procedure, but be of some avail to my friend the +Landamman." + +"But if you are in reality bound to the court of Burgundy as a +merchant," said the priest, "where are the wares in which you traffic? +Have you no merchandise save that which you carry on your person? I +heard of a sumpter-horse with baggage. Has yonder villain deprived you +of it?" + +This was a trying question to Philipson, who, anxious about the +separation from his son, had given no direction whether the baggage +should remain with himself, or should be transported to the other side +of the Rhine. He was, therefore, taken at advantage by the priest's +inquiry, to which he answered with some incoherence,--"I believe my +baggage is in the hamlet--that is, unless my son has taken it across +the Rhine with him." + +"That we will soon learn," answered the priest. + +Here a novice appeared from the vestiary of the chapel at his call, +and received commands to inquire at the hamlet whether Philipson's +bales, with the horse which transported them, had been left there, or +ferried over along with his son. + +The novice, being absent a few minutes, presently returned with the +baggage-horse, which, with its burden, Arthur, from regard to his +father's accommodation, had left on the western side of the river. The +priest looked on attentively, while the elder Philipson, mounting his +own horse, and taking the rein of the other in his hand, bade the +Black Priest adieu in these words,--"And now, father, farewell! I +must pass on with my bales, since there is little wisdom in travelling +with them after nightfall, else would I gladly suit my pace, with your +permission, so as to share the way with you." + +"If it is your obliging purpose to do so, as indeed I was about to +propose," said the priest, "know I will be no stay to your journey. I +have here a good horse; and Melchior, who must otherwise have gone on +foot, may ride upon your sumpter-horse. I the rather propose this +course, as it will be rash for you to travel by night. I can conduct +you to an hostelry about five miles off, which we may reach with +sufficient daylight, and where you will be lodged safely for your +reckoning." + +The English merchant hesitated a moment. He had no fancy for any new +companion on the road, and although the countenance of the priest was +rather handsome, considering his years, yet the expression was such as +by no means invited confidence. On the contrary, there was something +mysterious and gloomy which clouded his brow, though it was a lofty +one, and a similar expression gleamed in his cold grey eye, and +intimated severity and even harshness of disposition. But +notwithstanding this repulsive circumstance, the priest had lately +rendered Philipson a considerable service, by detecting the treachery +of his hypocritical guide, and the merchant was not a man to be +startled from his course by any imaginary prepossessions against the +looks or manners of any one, or apprehensions of machinations against +himself. He only revolved in his mind the singularity attending his +destiny, which, while it was necessary for him to appear before the +Duke of Burgundy in the most conciliatory manner, seemed to force upon +him the adoption of companions who must needs be obnoxious to that +prince; and such, he was too well aware, must be the case with the +Priest of St. Paul's. Having reflected for an instant, he courteously +accepted the offer of the priest to guide him to some place of rest +and entertainment, which must be absolutely necessary for his horse +before he reached Strasburg, even if he himself could have dispensed +with it. + +The party being thus arranged, the novice brought forth the priest's +steed, which he mounted with grace and agility, and the neophyte, +being probably the same whom Arthur had represented during his escape +from La Ferette, took charge, at his master's command, of the +baggage-horse of the Englishman; and crossing himself, with a humble +inclination of his head, as the priest passed him, he fell into the +rear, and seemed to pass the time, like the false brother Bartholomew, +in telling his beads, with an earnestness which had perhaps more of +affected than of real piety. The Black Priest of St. Paul's, to judge +by the glance which he cast upon his novice, seemed to disdain the +formality of the young man's devotion. He rode upon a strong black +horse, more like a warrior's charger than the ambling palfrey of a +priest, and the manner in which he managed him was entirely devoid of +awkwardness and timidity. His pride, whatever was its character, was +not certainly of a kind altogether professional, but had its origin in +other swelling thoughts which arose in his mind, to mingle with and +enhance the self-consequence of a powerful ecclesiastic. + +As Philipson looked on his companion from time to time, his +scrutinising glance was returned by a haughty smile, which seemed to +say, "You may gaze on my form and features, but you cannot penetrate +my mystery." + +The looks of Philipson, which were never known to sink before mortal +man, seemed to retort, with equal haughtiness, "Nor shall you, proud +priest, know that you are now in company with one whose secret is far +more important than thine own can be." + +At length the priest made some advance towards conversation, by +allusion to the footing upon which, by a mutual understanding, they +seemed to have placed their intercourse. + +"We travel then," he said, "like two powerful enchanters, each +conscious of his own high and secret purpose; each in his own chariot +of clouds, and neither imparting to his companion the direction or +purpose of his journey." + +"Excuse me, father," answered Philipson; "I have neither asked your +purpose, nor concealed my own, so far as it concerns you. I repeat, I +am bound to the presence of the Duke of Burgundy, and my object, like +that of any other merchant, is to dispose of my wares to advantage." + +"Doubtless, it would seem so," said the Black Priest, "from the +extreme attention to your merchandise, which you showed not above half +an hour since, when you knew not whether your bales had crossed the +river with your son, or were remaining in your own charge. Are English +merchants usually so indifferent to the sources of their traffic?" + +"When their lives are in danger," said Philipson, "they are sometimes +negligent of their fortune." + +"It is well," replied the priest, and again resumed his solitary +musings; until another half-hour's travelling brought them to a +_dorf_, or village, which the Black Priest informed Philipson was that +where he proposed to stop for the night. + +"The novice," he said, "will show you the inn, which is of good +reputation, and where you may lodge with safety. For me, I +have to visit a penitent in this village who desires my ghostly +offices;--perhaps I may see you again this evening, perhaps not till +the next morning;--at any rate, adieu for the present." + +So saying, the priest stopped his horse, while the novice, coming +close up to Philipson's side, conducted him onward through the narrow +street of the village, whilst the windows exhibited here and there a +twinkling gleam, announcing that the hour of darkness was arrived. +Finally, he led the Englishman through an archway into a sort of +courtyard, where there stood a car or two of a particular shape, used +occasionally by women when they travel, and some other vehicles of the +same kind. Here the young man threw himself from the sumpter-horse, +and placing the rein in Philipson's hand, disappeared in the +increasing darkness, after pointing to a large but dilapidated +building, along the front of which not a spark of light was to be +discovered from any of the narrow and numerous windows, which were +dimly visible in the twilight. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[9] This is one of the best and most popular of the German ditties:-- + + "Am Rhein, am Rhein, da wachsen unsere Reben, + Gesegnet sei der Rhein," &c. + + + + +AUTHOR'S NOTES. + + +Note I. p. 300. + +There is abundant evidence that in the Middle Ages the office of +public executioner was esteemed highly honourable all over Germany. It +still is, in such parts of that country as retain the old custom of +execution by stroke of sword, very far from being held discreditable +to the extent to which we carry our feelings on the subject, and which +exposed the magistrates of a Scotch town, I rather think no less a one +than Glasgow, to a good deal of ridicule when they advertised, some +few years ago, on occasion of the death of their hangman, that "none +but persons of respectable character" need apply for the vacant +situation. At this day in China, in Persia, and probably in other +Oriental kingdoms, the Chief Executioner is one of the great officers +of state, and is as proud of the emblem of his fatal duty as any +European Lord Chamberlain of his Golden Key. + +The circumstances of the strange trial and execution of the Knight of +Hagenbach are detailed minutely by M. de Barante, from contemporary +MS. documents; and the reader will be gratified with a specimen of +that writer's narrative. A translation is also given for the benefit +of many of my kind readers. + + "De toutes parts on était accourus par milliers pour + assister au procès de ce cruel gouverneur, tant la haine + était grande contre lui. De sa prison, il entendait + retentir sur le pont le pas des chevaux, et s'enquérait à + son geôlier de ceux qui arrivaient: soit pour être ses + juges, soit pour être témoins de son supplice. Parfois le + geôlier répondait, 'Ce sont des étrangers; je ne les + connais pas.' 'Ne sont-ce pas,' disait le prisonnier, 'des + gens assez mal vêtus, de haute taille, de forte apparence, + montés sur des chevaux aux courtes oreilles?' et si le + geôlier répondait: 'Oui.'--'Ah ce sont les Suisses,' + s'écriait Hagenbach; 'Mon Dieu, ayez pitié de moi!' et il + se rappelait toutes les insultes qu'il leur avait faites, + toutes ses insolences envers eux. Il pensait, mais trop + tard, que c'était leur alliance avec la maison d'Autriche + qui était cause de sa perte. Le 4 Mai, 1474, après avoir + été mis à la question, il fut, à la diligence d'Hermann + d'Eptingen, gouverneur pour l'archiduc, amené devant ses + juges, sur la place publique de Brisach. Sa contenance + était ferme et d'un homme qui ne craint pas la mort. Henri + Iselin de Bâle porta la parole au nom d'Hermann + d'Eptingen, agissant pour le seigneur du pays. Il parla à + peu près en ces termes: 'Pierre de Hagenbach, chevalier, + maître d'hôtel de Monseigneur le Duc de Bourgogne, et son + gouverneur dans le pays de Sératte et Haute Alsace, aurait + dû respecter les privilèges reservés par l'acte + d'engagement; mais il n'a pas moins frotté aux pieds les + lois de Dieu et des hommes, que les droits jurés et + garantis au pays. Il a fait mettre à mort sans jugement + quatre honnêtes bourgeois de Sératte; il a depouillé la + ville de Brisach de sa juridiction, et y a établi juges et + consuls de son choix; il a rompu et dispersé les + communautés de la bourgeoisie et des métiers; il a levé + des impôts par sa seule volonté; il a, contre toutes les + lois, logé chez les habitans des gens de guerre--Lombards, + Français, Picards, ou Flamands; et a favorisé leur + désordres et pillages. Il leur a même commandé d'égorger + leurs hôtes durant la nuit, et avait fait préparer, pour y + embarquer les femmes et les enfans, des bateaux qui + devaient être submergés dans le Rhin. Enfin, lors même + qu'il rejetterait de telles cruautés sur les ordres qu'il + a reçus, comment pourrait il s'excuser d'avoir fait + violence et outrage à l'honneur de tant de filles et + femmes, et même de saintes religieuses?' + + "D'autres accusations furent portées dans les + interrogatoires; et des témoins attestèrent les violences + faites aux gens de Mulhausen et aux marchands de Bâle. + + "Pour suivre toutes les formes de la justice, on avait + donné un avocat à l'accusé. 'Messire Pierre de Hagenbach,' + dit-il, 'ne reconnaît d'autre juge et d'autre seigneur que + Monseigneur le Duc de Bourgogne, dont il avait commission, + et recevait les commandemens. Il n'avait nul droit de + contrôler les ordres qu'il était chargé d'exécuter; et son + devoir était d'obéir. Ne sait-on pas quelle soumission les + gens de guerre doivent à leur seigneur et maître? Croit-on + que le landvogt de Monseigneur le Duc eût à lui remontrer + et à lui résister? Et monseigneur n'a-t-il pas ensuite, + par sa présence, confirmé et ratifié tout ce qui avait été + fait en son nom? Si des impôts ont été demandés, c'est + qu'il avait besoin d'argent. Pour les recueillir, il a + bien fallu punir ceux qui se refusaient à payer. C'est ce + que Monseigneur le Duc, et même l'empereur, quand ils sont + venus, ont reconnu nécessaire. Le logement des gens de + guerre était aussi la suite des ordres du Duc. Quant à la + juridiction de Brisach; le landvogt pouvait-il souffrir + cette résistance? Enfin, dans une affaire si grave, où il + y va de la vie, convient-il de produire comme un + véritable grief, le dernier dont a parlé l'accusateur? + Parmi ceux qui écoutent, y en a-t-il un seul qui puisse se + vanter de ne pas avoir saisi les occasions de se divertir? + N'est-il pas clair que Messire de Hagenbach a seulement + profité de la bonne volonté de quelques femmes ou filles; + ou, pour mettre les choses au pis, qu'il n'a exercé + d'autre contrainte envers elles qu'au moyen de son bon + argent?' + + "Les juges siégèrent long temps sur leur tribunal. Douze + heures entières passèrent sans que l'affaire fût terminée. + Le Sire de Hagenbach, toujours ferme et calme, n'allégua + d'autres défenses, d'autres excuses, que celles qu'il + avait donné déjà sous la torture--les ordres et la volonté + de son seigneur, qui était son seul juge, et le seul qui + pût lui demander compte. + + "Enfin, à sept heures du soir, à la clarté des flambeaux, + les juges, après avoir déclaré qu'à eux appartenait le + droit de prononcer sur les crimes imputés au landvogt, le + firent rappeler; et rendirent leur sentence qui le + condamna à mort. Il ne s'émeut pas davantage; et demanda + pour toute grace d'avoir seulement la tête tranchée. Huit + bourreaux des diverses villes se présentèrent pour + exécuter l'arrêt. Celui de Colmar, qui passait pour le + plus adroit, fut préféré. Avant de le conduire à + l'échafaud, les seize chevaliers qui faisaient partie des + juges requirent que Messire de Hagenbach fût dégradé de sa + dignité de chevalier et de tous ses honneurs. Pour lors + s'avança Gaspard Hurter, héraut de l'empereur; et il dit: + 'Pierre de Hagenbach, il me déplaît grandement que vous + ayez si mal employé votre vie mortelle: de sorte qu'il + convient que vous perdiez non-seulement la dignité et + ordre de chevalerie, mais aussi la vie. Votre devoir était + de rendre la justice, de protéger la veuve et l'orphelin; + de respecter les femmes et les filles, d'honorer les + saints prêtres; de vous opposer à toute injuste violence; + et, au contraire, vous avez commis tout ce que vous deviez + empêcher. Ayant ainsi forfait au noble ordre de + chevalerie, et aux sermens que vous aviez jurés, les + chevaliers ici présens m'ont enjoint de vous en ôter les + insignes. Ne les voyant pas sur vous en ce moment, je vous + proclame indigne chevalier de Saint George, au nom et à + l'honneur duquel on vous avait autrefois honoré de l'ordre + de chevalerie.' Puis s'avança Hermann d'Eptingen: 'Puis + qu'on vient de te dégrader de chevalerie, je te dépouille + de ton collier, chaîne d'or, anneau, poignard, éperon, + gantelet.' Il les lui prit et lui en frappa le visage, et + ajouta: 'Chevaliers, et vous qui désirez le devenir, + j'espère que cette punition publique vous servira + d'exemple, et que vous vivrez dans la crainte de Dieu, + noblement et vaillamment, selon la dignité de la + chevalerie et l'honneur de votre nom.' Enfin, le prévôt + d'Einsilheim et maréchal de cette commission de juges se + leva, et s'adressant au bourreau, lui dit: 'Faites selon + la justice.' + + "Tous les juges montèrent à cheval ainsi qu'Hermann + d'Eptingen. Au milieu d'eux marchait Pierre de Hagenbach, + entre deux prêtres. C'était pendant la nuit. Des torches + éclairaient la marche; une foule immense se pressait + autour de ce triste cortège. Le condamné s'entretenait + avec son confesseur d'un air pieux et recueilli, mais + ferme; se recommandant aussi aux prières de tous ceux qui + l'entouraient. Arrivé dans une prairie devant la porte de + la ville, il monta sur l'échafaud d'un pas assuré; puis + élevant la voix:-- + + "'Je n'ai pas peur de la mort,' dit-il; 'encore que je ne + l'attendisse pas de cette sorte, mais bien les armes à la + main; que je plains c'est tout le sang que le mien fera + couler. Monseigneur ne laissera point ce jour sans + vengeance pour moi. Je ne regrette ni ma vie, ni mon + corps. J'étais homme--priez pour moi.' Il s'entretint + encore un instant avec son confesseur, présenta la tête et + reçut le coup."--M. DE BARANTE, tom. x. p. 197. + + + TRANSLATION. + + "Such was the detestation in which this cruel governor was + held, that multitudes flocked in from all quarters to be + present at his trial. He heard from his prison the bridge + re-echo with the tread of horses, and would ask of his + jailer respecting those who were arriving, whether they + might be his judges, or those desirous of witnessing his + punishment. Sometimes the jailer would answer, 'These are + strangers whom I know not.'--'Are not they,' said the + prisoner, 'men meanly clad, tall in stature, and of bold + mien, mounted on short-eared horses?' And if the jailer + answered in the affirmative, 'Ah, these are the Swiss,' + cried Hagenbach. 'My God, have mercy on me!' and he + recalled to mind all the insults and cruelties he had + heaped upon them. He considered, but too late, that their + alliance with the house of Austria had been his + destruction. + + "On the 4th of May, 1474, after being put to the torture, + he was brought before his judges in the public square of + Brisach, at the instance of Hermann d'Eptingen, who + governed for the Archduke. His countenance was firm, as + one who fears not death. Henry Iselin of Bâle first spoke + in the name of Hermann d'Eptingen, who acted for the lord + of the country. He proceeded in nearly these + terms:--'Peter de Hagenbach, knight, steward of my lord + the Duke of Burgundy, and his governor in the country of + Seratte and Haute Alsace, was bound to observe the + privileges reserved by act of compact, but he has alike + trampled under foot the laws of God and man, and the + rights which have been guaranteed by oath to the country. + He has caused four worshipful burgesses of Seratte to be + put to death without trial; he has spoiled the city of + Brisach, and established there judges and consuls chosen + by himself; he has broken and dispersed the various + communities of burghers and craftsmen; he has levied + imposts of his own will; contrary to every law, he has + quartered upon the inhabitants soldiers of various + countries, Lombards, French, men of Picardy and Flemings, + and has encouraged them in pillage and disorder; he has + even commanded these men to butcher their hosts during + night, and had caused boats to be prepared to embark + therein women and children to be sunk in the Rhine. + Finally, should he plead the orders which he had received + as an excuse for these cruelties, how can he clear himself + of having dishonoured so many women and maidens, even + those under religious vows?' + + "Other accusations were brought against him by + examination, and witnesses proved outrages committed on + the people of Mulhausen, and the merchants of Bâle. + + "That every form of justice might be observed, an advocate + was appointed to defend the accused. 'Messire Peter de + Hagenbach,' said he, 'recognises no other judge or master + than my lord the Duke of Burgundy, whose commission he + bore and whose orders he received. He had no control over + the orders he was charged to execute;--his duty was to + obey. Who is ignorant of the submission due by military + retainers to their lord and master? Can any one believe + that the landvogt of my lord the Duke could remonstrate + with or resist him? And has not my lord confirmed and + ratified by his presence all acts done in his name? If + imposts have been levied, it was because he had need of + money; to obtain it, it was necessary to punish those who + refused payment: this proceeding my lord the Duke, and the + Emperor himself, when present, have considered as + expedient. The quartering of soldiers was also in + accordance with the orders of the Duke. With respect to + the jurisdiction of Brisach, could the landvogt permit any + resistance from that quarter? To conclude, in so serious + an affair,--one which touches the life of the + prisoner,--can the last accusation be really considered a + grievance? Among all those who hear me, is there one man + who can say he has never committed similar imprudences? Is + it not evident that Messire de Hagenbach has only taken + advantage of the good-will of some girls and women, or, at + the worst, that his money was the only restraint imposed + upon them?' + + "The judges sat for a long time on the tribunal. Twelve + hours elapsed before the termination of the trial. The + Knight of Hagenbach, always calm and undaunted, brought + forward no other defence or excuse than what he had before + given when under the torture; viz. the orders and will of + his lord, who alone was his judge, and who alone could + demand an explanation. At length, at seven in the evening, + and by the light of torches, the judges, after having + declared it their province to pronounce judgment on the + crimes of which the landvogt was accused, caused him to be + called before them, and delivered their sentence + condemning him to death. He betrayed no emotion, and only + demanded as a favour, that he should be beheaded. Eight + executioners of various towns presented themselves to + execute the sentence; the one belonging to Colmar, who was + accounted the most expert, was preferred. + + "Before conducting him to the scaffold, the sixteen + knights, who acted as judges, required that Messire de + Hagenbach should be degraded from the dignity of knight, + and from all his honours. Then advanced Gaspar Hurter, + herald of the Emperor, and said:--'Peter de Hagenbach, I + deeply deplore that you have so employed your mortal life, + that you must lose not only the dignity and honour of + knighthood, but your life also. Your duty was to render + justice, to protect the widow and orphan, to respect women + and maidens, to honour the holy priests, to oppose every + unjust outrage: but you have yourself committed what you + ought to have opposed in others. Having broken, therefore, + the oaths which you have sworn, and having forfeited the + noble order of knighthood, the knights here present have + enjoined me to deprive you of its insignia. Not perceiving + them on your person at this moment, I proclaim you + unworthy Knight of St. George, in whose name and honour + you were formerly admitted in the order of knighthood.' + Then Hermann d'Eptingen advanced. 'Since you are degraded + from knighthood, I deprive you of your collar, gold chain, + ring, poniard, spur, and gauntlet.' He then took them from + him, and, striking him on the face, added:--'Knights, and + you who aspire to that honour, I trust this public + punishment will serve as an example to you, and that you + will live in the fear of God, nobly and valiantly, in + accordance with the dignity of knighthood, and the honour + of your name.' At last the provost of Einselheim, and + marshal of that commission of judges, arose, and + addressing himself to the executioner,--'Let justice be + done.' + + "All the judges, along with Hermann d'Eptingen, mounted on + horseback; in the midst of them walked Peter de Hagenbach + between two priests. It was night, and they marched by the + light of torches; an immense crowd pressed around this sad + procession. The prisoner conversed with his confessor, + with pious, collected, and firm demeanour, recommending + himself to the prayers of the spectators. On arriving at a + meadow without the gate of the town, he mounted the + scaffold with a firm step, and elevating his voice, + exclaimed:-- + + "'I fear not death, I have always expected it; not, + indeed, in this manner, but with arms in my hand. I + regret alone the blood which mine will cause to be shed; + my lord will not permit this day to pass unavenged. I + regret neither my life nor body. I was a man--pray for + me!' He conversed an instant more with his confessor, + presented his head, and received the blow."--M. DE + BARANTE, tom. x. p. 197. + + + + +EDITOR'S NOTES. + + +(_a_) p. 3. Laupen and Sempach. The former battle was fought in 1339, +and resulted in a triumph of the city of Berne over the neighbouring +_noblesse_. Sempach (July 9, 1386) was the famous victory of Uri, +Schwyz, Unterwalden, and Lucerne over a much larger force of Austrian +chivalry. Leopold III. and Arnold von Winkelried fell in this action. + +(_b_) p. 6. "A large body of whom had long since invaded the Forest +Cantons." This foray was called the English, or Gugler, war (1374-75). +Enguerrand (Ingelram) de Coucy, husband of Isabella, daughter of +Edward III., was endeavouring to gain some towns in the Aargau, which +he claimed through his mother, Catherine, daughter of Leopold III., +who fell at Sempach in 1386. Many Englishmen served under Enguerrand: +they were routed in the Entlibuch, in 1375, by the men of Lucerne, +Schwyz, Berne, and Unterwalden. + +(_c_) p. 65. "The war of Zurich." Civil war, mainly arising from the +conquests and ambitions of the Cantons, broke out in 1436, and, with +intervals, lasted till 1450. Zurich renounced the Hapsburg alliance, +and most of her lost lands were restored by her opponents, the +Confederates. + +(_d_) p. 86. "The Chapel of St. Jacob." Zurich was defeated at St. +Jacob, on the Sihl, in 1443. There was also a battle near the Leper +hospital of St. Jacob on the Birs, on August 26, 1444. + +(_e_) p. 100. "_Usum non habeo._" The reference, of course, is to +David's refusal of armour before his duel with Goliath. + +(_f_) p. 113. "The Duke of Burgundy's possessions in Alsatian +territory." A history of these complex matters cannot be written in a +note to a romance. The reader who is anxious for information may +consult Mr. Kirk's "Charles the Bold," vol. ii. book iv. ch. iv. +(London, 1863). Mr. Kirk supplies an interesting defence of Hagenbach, +and does not believe in a spontaneous popular insurrection, caused by +his tyranny. The intrigues of Louis XI. receive the credit, or +discredit, of the whole affair, which culminated in the ruin of +Burgundy. The Swiss declared war "simply as the strong, intelligent, +hired bravoes of a foreign potentate, too weak, too timid, or too +crafty to strike with his own hand." + +(_g_) p. 214. "Double gangers." This is the appearance described and +criticised by Mr. Kirk in his "Secret Commonwealth" (1691) as "The +Co-Walker." The learned author explains that we have all our spiritual +shadows in the "Secret Commonwealth": it is these which are sometimes +seen when the real human being is not present. The end of the +"Co-Walker" is that he "goes to his own herd." Goethe is said to have +seen his own co-walker, and the same experience occurred to a living +person of the Editor's acquaintance, in the open air, where no mirror +could account for the hallucination. Even the sceptical Lucretius +admits the existence of such apparitions, which he explains by what +Kirk calls "exuvious fumes." The passage is not very intelligible, +because the author's ideas were not very distinct. + +(_h_) p. 299. "A tall man, attired in red." The headsman was, in fact, +"a short man with a short sword," the executioner of Colmar (Kirk, +"Charles the Bold," ii. 240). Hagenbach was racked four times before +his death. "Schilling confesses that a general sympathy was excited by +Hagenbach's Christian-like demeanour." His real name was Peter. Mr. +Kirk endeavours to "whitewash" Hagenbach. As that unfortunate hero had +"a gaunt countenance deeply caved between the jaw-bones, and restless +searching blood-shot eyes" ("Vitæ SS. Gervasii et Prothasii," 1506), +we may presume that his character was unamiable. + + ANDREW LANG. + + _May 1894._ + + + + +GLOSSARY. + + + =Abye=, to pay the penalty of, to atone for. + + =Aigrette=, a plume of feathers. + + =Alembic=, an old chemical apparatus or vessel, used for + distilling. + + =Astucious=, astute, shrewd, cunning. + + + =Baaren-hauter=, a nickname for a German private soldier. + + =Ban-dog=, a large fierce dog. + + =Banneret=, a standard-bearer. + + =Banquette=, the walk behind the parapet of a fortress. + + =Barbican=, the outwork defending the gate of a fortress. + + =Bartizan=, a small overhanging turret or projecting + parapet. + + =Brache=, a kind of sporting dog. + + =Braggadocio=, a blusterer, a boaster. + + + =Caftan=, a long robe worn by men in the East. + + "=Cour plénière=," in ancient French history a gathering of + all a king's vassals. + + =Cresset=, a large kind of candlestick for holding a small + fire or illuminant. + + + =Dalmatic=, =dalmatique=, a long ecclesiastical robe. + + =Diet=, the national assembly. + + =Doomsmen=, all who gathered at the doom, or great popular + court of the ancient Scandinavians. + + =Dorf=, a village. + + =Double-ganger=, =Doppelgänger=, a spectral counterpart of a + living person. + + + =Earth-shoot=, a landslip. + + =Emprise=, feat, enterprise. + + =Espadon=, a long heavy sword. + + + "=Fain, to make one=," to please, to give pleasure or joy + to. + + =Faustrecht=, the right claimed by the petty barons of the + Empire to wage private warfare. + + =Folter-kammer=, a torture-chamber. + + + =Gammon=, a smoked ham. + + =Gauds=, trinkets, ornaments. + + =Gear=, business, affair; property. + + =Geierstein=, vulture-stone. + + =Graffs-lust=, the count's delight. + + + =Hauberk=, a shirt of mail. + + =Hauptman=, a captain. + + =Hundred=, an old subdivision of the English counties. + + + =Kreutzer=, a German copper coin, worth one third of a penny + English. + + + =Lammer-geier=, the bearded vulture. + + =Landamman=, the chief magistrate in a Swiss canton. + + =Landvogt=, a bailiff. + + =Lanzknecht=, a German mercenary soldier. + + =Largesse=, a free distribution of money. + + =Leaguer=, a camp. + + =Losel=, a slothful person. + + =Lyme-hound=, a large dog. + + + "=Maen Gorsedd=," the stone of the British bards. + + =Mail=, a trunk. + + =Mainour=, a thing stolen, discovered in the hands of the + thief. + + =Malecredence=, mistrust. + + =Merlin=, a kind of hawk, formerly trained to hunt game + birds. + + =Minnesinger=, a poet-minstrel of mediæval Germany. + + =Montero-cap=, a horseman's scarlet cap of fine Spanish + cloth trimmed with fur. + + =Morisco=, a Moor of Spain. + + + =Palmer=, a pilgrim to the Holy Land. + + "=Par amours=," forbidden love. + + =Partisan=, a kind of pike or halberd. + + =Peltry=, skins and furs of wild animals. + + =Pight=, pitched, placed, fixed. + + =Ptisan=, a decoction of barley. + + + =Rigadoon=, a dance with a peculiar hopping step. + + "=Roba di guadagno=," profitable goods. + + =Romaunt=, a story or tale in verse. + + + =Saltire-wise=, two lines crossing one another diagonally + like a St. Andrew's cross. + + =Samite=, a textile made of gold cloth or satin. + + =Schlaf-trunk=, a sleeping-draught. + + =Schwarz-bier=, black beer. + + =Schwarz-reiter=, a German mercenary horse-soldier + + =Seigniory=, the right of ownership vested in a feudal + superior or lord. + + =Shaveling=, a priest. + + =Soothfast=, true, worthy of belief. + + =Stoup=, a drinking-cup. + + =Strappado=, a cruel form of military punishment. + + =Strick-kind=, the child of the cord--the prisoner on trial + before the Vehmic Tribunal. + + =Switzer=, a native of Switzerland. + + + =Thane=, intermediate between a freeman and a noble. + + =Treillage=, trellis-work. + + + =Vail=, to doff, to lower, to take off. + + =Verjämbt=, condemned by the Vehmic Tribunal. + + =Vestiary=, a room for keeping vestments. + + =Visne=, venue, the place where a law action can be tried. + + + =Wapentake=, an old subdivision of the English counties. + + =Warrand=, a defender. + + =Wassail=, ale or wine sweetened and flavoured with spices. + + =Welked=, marked with protuberances or ridges. + + =Wimple=, a shawl worn by women out of doors. + + =Wroge=, =Vroge=, lists of offences that called for the + attention of the court. + + + =Yung-herr=, =Jung-her=, =Junker=, a young man. + + + =Zechin=, a Venetian gold coin, worth from 9_s._ to 10_s._ + + + + + END OF VOL. I. + + + _Printed by_ BALLANTYNE, HANSON & CO. + _Edinburgh and London._ + + + + + * * * * * * + + + + +Transcriber's note: + +Obvious typographical errors have been corrected. + +Inconsistent spelling, hyphenation, and capitalization (e.g. his +grace/Grace) in the original document have been preserved. + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 43678 *** |