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| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 04:35:38 -0700 |
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| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 04:35:38 -0700 |
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diff --git a/10938-h/10938-h.htm b/10938-h/10938-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3a4e89c --- /dev/null +++ b/10938-h/10938-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,15797 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?> +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> + +<html> + +<head> +<title>The Headsman, by James Fenimore Cooper</title> + +<style type="text/css"> + <!-- + + body { + margin .5em; + font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; + } + + h1, h2, h3, h4 { + text-align: center; + font-weight: bold; + font-variant: small-caps + } + + .smallcaps { font-variant: small-caps } + + a { text-decoration: none; } + a:hover { background-color: #ffffcc } + + hr { + height: 1px; + } + + p.abs { + width: 80%; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + } + + ul { + list-style-type: none; + } + + div.note { + width: 40%; + float: right; + clear: right; + border-style: dashed; + border-width: 1px; + border-color: #000000; + background-color: #ccffcc; + font-size: .8em; + margin: 10px; + } + + div.note p { + margin: 10px 10px 10px 10px; + } + +--> +</style> +</head> + +<body> +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10938 ***</div> + +<div class="tp"> +<h1 class="title">The Headsman:</h1> + +<h2 class="subtitle">or, The Abbaye des Vignerons.</h2> + +<h2 class="subtitle">A Tale</h2> + +<h2 class="author">By J. Fenimore Cooper.</h2> + +<blockquote class="epi" style="width: 40%;margin-left: auto;margin-right: auto"><p> + "How oft the sight of means to do ill deeds<br /> + Makes deeds ill done."</p></blockquote> + + +<h3>Complete in One Volume.</h3> + + +<h4>1860.</h4> +</div> + + +<div class="chapter" id="intro"> +<h2>Introduction.</h2> + + + +<p>Early in October 1832, a travelling-carriage stopped on the summit of that +long descent where the road pitches from the elevated plain of Moudon in +Switzerland to the level of the lake of Geneva, immediately above the +little city of Vévey. The postilion had dismounted to chain a wheel, and +the halt enabled those he conducted to catch a glimpse of the lovely +scenery of that remarkable view.</p> + +<p>The travellers were an American family, which had long been wandering +about Europe, and which was now destined it knew not whither, having just +traversed a thousand miles of Germany in its devious course. Four years +before, the same family had halted on the same spot, nearly on the same +day of the month of October, and for precisely the same object. It was +then journeying to Italy, and as its members hung over the view of the +Leman, with its accessories of Chillon, Châtelard, Blonay, Meillerie, the +peaks of Savoy, and the wild ranges of the Alps, they had felt regret that +the fairy scene was so soon to pass away. The case was now different, and +yielding to the charm of a nature so noble and yet so soft, within a few +hours, the carriage was in remise, a house was taken, the baggage +unpacked, and the household gods of the travellers were erected, for the +twentieth time, in a strange land.</p> + +<p>Our American (for the family had its head) was familiar with the ocean, +and the sight of water awoke old and pleasant recollections. He was +hardly established in Vévey as a housekeeper, before he sought a boat. +Chance brought him to a certain Jean Descloux (we give the spelling at +hazard,) with whom he soon struck up a bargain, and they launched forth in +company upon the lake.</p> + +<p>This casual meeting was the commencement of an agreeable and friendly +intercourse. Jean Descloux, besides being a very good boatman, was a +respectable philosopher in his way; possessing a tolerable stock of +general information. His knowledge of America, in particular, might be +deemed a little remarkable. He knew it was a continent, which lay west of +his own quarter of the world; that it had a place in it called New Vévey; +that all the whites who had gone there were not yet black, and that there +were plausible hopes it might one day be civilized. Finding Jean so +enlightened on a subject under which most of the eastern savans break +down, the American thought it well enough to prick him closely on other +matters. The worthy boatman turned out to be a man of singularly just +discrimination. He was a reasonably-good judge of the weather; had divers +marvels to relate concerning the doings of the lake; thought the city very +wrong for not making a port in the great square; always maintained that +the wine of St. Saphorin was very savory drinking for those who could get +no better; laughed at the idea of their being sufficient cordage in the +world to reach the bottom of the Genfer See; was of opinion that the trout +was a better fish than the fêrà; spoke with singular moderation of his +ancient masters, the bourgeoïsie of Berne, which, however, he always +affirmed kept singularly bad roads In Vaud, while those around its own +city were the best in Europe, and otherwise showed himself to be a +discreet and observant man. In short, honest Jean Descloux was a fair +sample of that homebred, upright common-sense which seems to form the +instinct of the mass, and which it is greatly the fashion to deride in +those circles in which mystification passes for profound thinking, bold +assumption for evidence, a simper for wit, particular personal advantages +for liberty, and in which it is deemed a mortal offence against good +manners to hint that Adam and Eve were the common parents of mankind.</p> + +<p>"Monsieur has chosen a good time to visit Vévey," observed Jean Descloux, +one evening, that they were drifting in front of the town, the whole +scenery resembling a fairy picture rather than a portion of this +much-abused earth; "it blows sometimes at this end of the lake in a way to +frighten the gulls out of it. We shall see no more of the steam-boat after +the last of the month."</p> + +<p>The American cast a glance at the mountain, drew upon his memory for +sundry squalls and gales which he had seen himself, and thought the +boatman's figure of speech less extravagant than it had at first seemed.</p> + +<p>"If your lake craft were better constructed, they would make better +weather," he quietly observed.</p> + +<p>Monsieur Descloux had no wish to quarrel with a customer who employed him +every evening, and who preferred floating with the current to being rowed +with a crooked oar. He manifested his prudence, therefore, by making a +reserved reply.</p> + +<p>"No doubt, monsieur," he said, "that the people who live on the sea make +better vessels, and know how to sail them more skilfully. We had a proof +of that here at Vévey," (he pronounced the word like v-<i>vais</i>, agreeably +to the sounds of the French vowels,) "last summer, which you might like +to hear. An English gentleman--they say he was a captain in the +marine--had a vessel built at Nice, and dragged over the mountains to our +lake. He took a run across to Meillerie one fine morning, and no duck ever +skimmed along lighter or swifter! He was not a man to take advice from a +Swiss boatman, for he had crossed the line, and seen water spouts and +whales! Well, he was on his way back in the dark, and it came on to blow +here from off the mountains, and he stood on boldly towards our shore, +heaving the lead as he drew near the land, as if he had been beating into +Spithead in a fog,"--Jean chuckled at the idea of sounding in the +Leman--"while he flew along like a bold mariner, as no doubt he was!"</p> + +<p>"Landing, I suppose," said the American, "among the lumber in the great +square?"</p> + +<p>"Monsieur is mistaken. He broke his boat's nose against that wall; and the +next day, a piece of her, big enough to make a thole-pin, was not to be +found. He might as well have sounded the heavens!"</p> + +<p>"The lake has a bottom, notwithstanding?"</p> + +<p>"Your pardon, monsieur. The lake has no bottom. The sea may have a bottom, +but we have no bottom here."</p> + +<p>There was little use in disputing the point.</p> + +<p>Monsieur Descloux then spoke of the revolutions he had seen. He remembered +the time when Vaud was a province of Berne. His observations on this +subject were rational, and were well seasoned with wholesome common sense. +His doctrine was simply this. "If one man rule, he will rule for his own +benefit, and that of his parasites; if a minority rule, we have many +masters instead of one," (honest Jean had got hold here of a cant saying +of the privileged, which he very ingeniously converted against +themselves,) "all of whom must be fed and served; and if the majority +rule, and ruled wrongfully, why the minimum of harm is done." He admitted, +that the people might be deceived to their own injury, but then, he did +not think it was quite as likely to happen, as that they should be +oppressed when they were governed without any agency of their own. On +these points, the American and the Vaudois were absolutely of the same +mind.</p> + +<p>From politics the transition to poetry was natural, for a common +ingredient in both would seem to be fiction. On the subject of his +mountains, Monsieur Descloux was a thorough Swiss. He expatiated on their +grandeur, their storms, their height, and their glaciers, with eloquence. +The worthy boatman had some such opinions of the superiority of his own +country, as all are apt to form who have never seen any other. He dwelt on +the glories of an Abbaye des Vignerons, too, with the gusto of a Vévaisan, +and seemed to think it would be a high stroke of state policy, to get up a +new, <i>fête</i> of this kind as speedily as possible. In short, the world and +its interests were pretty generally discussed between these two +philosophers during an intercourse that extended to a month.</p> + +<p>Our American was not a man to let instruction of this nature easily escape +him. He lay hours at a time on the seats of Jean Descloux's boat, looking +up at the mountains, or watching some lazy sail on the lake, and +speculating on the wisdom of which he was so accidentally made the +repository. His view on one side was limited by the glacier of Mont Vélan, +a near neighbor of the celebrated col of St. Bernard; and on the other, +his eye could range to the smiling fields that surround Geneva. Within +this setting is contained one of the most magnificent pictures that Nature +ever drew, and he bethought him of the human actions, passions, and +interests of which it might have been the scene. By a connexion that was +natural enough to the situation, he imagined a fragment of life passed +between these grand limits, and the manner in which men could listen to +the never-wearied promptings of their impulses in the immediate presence +of the majesty of the Creator. He bethought him of the analogies that +exist between inanimate nature and our own wayward inequalities; of the +fearful admixture of good and evil of which we are composed; of the manner +in which the best betray their submission to the devils, and in which the +worst have gleams of that eternal principle of right, by which they have +been endowed by God; of those tempests which sometimes lie dormant in our +systems, like the slumbering lake in the calm, but which excited, equal +its fury when lashed by the winds; of the strength of prejudices; of the +worthlessness and changeable character of the most cherished of our +opinions, and of that strange, incomprehensible, and yet winning <i>mélange</i> +of contradictions, of fallacies, of truths, and of wrongs, which make up +the sum of our existence.</p> + +<p>The following pages are the result of this dreaming. The reader is left to +his own intelligence for the moral.</p> + +<p>A respectable English writer observed:--"All pages of human life are worth +reading; the wise instruct; the gay divert us; the imprudent teach us what +to shun; the absurd cure the spleen."</p> +</div> + + + +<h1 class="title">The Headsman</h1> + + + +<div class="chapter" id="ch01"> +<h2>Chapter I.</h2> + + +<blockquote class="epi"><p> Day glimmered and I went, a gentle breeze<br /> +Ruffling the Leman lake.</p> + +<p> Rogers.</p></blockquote> + + +<p>The year was in its fall, according to a poetical expression of our own, +and the morning bright, as the fairest and swiftest bark that navigated +the Leman lay at the quay of the ancient and historical town of Geneva, +ready to depart for the country of Vaud. This vessel was called the +Winkelried, in commemoration of Arnold of that name, who had so generously +sacrificed life and hopes to the good of his country, and who deservedly +ranks among the truest of those heroes of whom we have well-authenticated +legends. She had been launched at the commencement of the summer, and +still bore at the fore-top-mast-head a bunch of evergreens, profusely +ornamented with knots and streamers of riband, the offerings of the +patron's female friends, and the fancied gage of success. The use of +steam, and the presence of unemployed seamen of various nations, in this +idle season of the warlike, are slowly leading to innovations and +improvements in the navigation of the lakes of Italy and Switzerland, it +is true; but time, even at this hour, has done little towards changing the +habits and opinions of those who ply on these inland waters for a +subsistence. The Winkelried had the two low, diverging masts; the +attenuated and picturesquely-poised latine yards; the light, triangular +sails; the sweeping and projecting gangways; the receding and falling +stern; the high and peaked prow, with, in general, the classical and +quaint air of those vessels that are seen in the older paintings and +engravings. A gilded ball glittered on the summit of each mast, for no +canvass was set higher than the slender and well-balanced yards, and it +was above one of these that the wilted bush, with its gay appendages, +trembled and fluttered in a fresh western wind. The hull was worthy of so +much goodly apparel, being spacious, commodious, and, according to the +wants of the navigation, of approved mould. The freight, which was +sufficiently obvious, much the greatest part being piled on the ample +deck, consisted of what our own watermen would term an assorted cargo. It +was, however, chiefly composed of those foreign luxuries, as they were +then called, though use has now rendered them nearly indispensable to +domestic economy, which were consumed, in singular moderation, by the more +affluent of those who dwelt deeper among the mountains, and of the two +principal products of the dairy; the latter being destined to a market in +the less verdant countries of the south. To these must be added the +personal effects of an unusual number of passengers, which were stowed on +the top of the heavier part of the cargo, with an order and care that +their value would scarcely seem to require. The arrangement, however, was +necessary to the convenience and even to the security of the bark, having +been made by the patron with a view to posting each individual by his +particular wallet, in a manner to prevent confusion in the crowd, and to +leave the crew space and opportunity to discharge the necessary duties of +the navigation.</p> + +<p>With a vessel stowed, sails ready to drop, the wind fair, and the day +drawing on apace, the patron of the Winkelried, who was also her owner, +felt a very natural wish to depart. But an unlooked-for obstacle had just +presented itself at the water-gate, where the officer charged with the +duty of looking into the characters of all who went and came was posted, +and around whom some fifty representatives of half as many nations were +now clustered in a clamorous throng, filling the air with a confusion of +tongues that had some probable affinity to the noises which deranged the +workmen of Babel. It appeared, by parts of sentences and broken +remonstrances, equally addressed to the patron, whose name was Baptiste, +and to the guardian of the Genevese laws, a rumor was rife among these +truculent travellers, that Balthazar, the headsman, or executioner, of the +powerful and aristocratical canton of Berne, was about to be smuggled into +their company by the cupidity of the former, contrary, not only to what +was due to the feelings and rights of men of more creditable callings, +but, as it was vehemently and plausibly insisted, to the very safety of +those who were about to trust their fortunes to the vicissitudes of the +elements.</p> + +<p>Chance and the ingenuity of Baptiste had collected, on this occasion, as +party-colored and heterogeneous an assemblage of human passions, +interests, dialects, wishes, and opinions, as any admirer of diversity of +character could desire. There were several small traders, some returning +from adventures in Germany and France, and some bound southward, with +their scanty stock of wares; a few poor scholars, bent on a literary +pilgrimage to Rome; an artist or two, better provided with enthusiasm than +with either knowledge or taste, journeying with poetical longings towards +skies and tints of Italy; a <i>troupe</i> of street jugglers, who had been +turning their Neapolitan buffoonery to account among the duller and less +sophisticated inhabitants of Swabia; divers lacqueys out of place; some +six or eight capitalists who lived on their wits, and a nameless herd of +that set which the French call bad "subjects;" a title that is just now, +oddly enough, disputed between the dregs of society and a class that would +fain become its exclusive leaders and lords.</p> + +<p>These with some slight qualifications that it is not yet necessary to +particularise, composed that essential requisite of all fair +representation--the majority. Those who remained were of a different +caste. Near the noisy crowd of tossing heads and brandished arms, in and +around the gate, was a party containing the venerable and still fine +figure of a man in the travelling dress of one of superior condition, and +who did not need the testimony of the two or three liveried menials that +stood near his person, to give an assurance of his belonging to the more +fortunate of his fellow-creatures, as good and evil are usually estimated +in calculating the chances of life. On his arm leaned a female, so young, +and yet so lovely, as to cause regret in all who observed her fading +color, the sweet but melancholy smile that occasionally lighted her mild +and pleasing features, at some of the more marked exuberances of folly +among the crowd, and a form which, notwithstanding her lessened bloom, was +nearly perfect. If these symptoms of delicate health, did not prevent this +fair girl from being amused at the volubility and arguments of the +different orators, she oftener manifested apprehension at finding herself +the companion of creatures so untrained, so violent, so exacting, and so +grossly ignorant. A young man, wearing the roquelaure and other similar +appendages of a Swiss in foreign military service, a character to excite +neither observation nor comment in that age, stood at her elbow, +answering the questions that from time to time were addressed to him by +the others, in a manner to show he was an intimate acquaintance, though +there were signs about his travelling equipage to prove he was not exactly +of their ordinary society. Of all who were not immediately engaged in the +boisterous discussion at the gate, this young soldier, who was commonly +addressed by those near him as Monsieur Sigismund, was much the most +interested in its progress. Though of herculean frame, and evidently of +unusual physical force, he was singularly agitated. His cheek, which had +not yet lost the freshness due to the mountain air, would, at times, +become pale as that of the wilting flower near him; while at others, the +blood rushed across his brow in a torrent that seemed to threaten a +rupture of the starting vessels in which it so tumultuously flowed. Unless +addressed, however, he said nothing; his distress gradually subsiding, +until it was merely betrayed by the convulsive writhings of his fingers, +which unconsciously grasped the hilt of his sword.</p> + +<p>The uproar had now continued for some time: throats were getting sore, +tongues clammy, voices hoarse, and words incoherent, when a sudden check +was given to the useless clamor by an incident quite in unison with the +disturbance itself. Two enormous dogs were in attendance hard by, +apparently awaiting the movements of their respective masters, who were +lost to view in the mass of heads and bodies that stopped the passage of +the gate. One of these animals was covered with a short, thick coating of +hair, whose prevailing color was a dingy yellow, but whose throat and +legs, with most of the inferior parts of the body, were of a dull white. +Nature, on the other hand, had given a dusky, brownish, shaggy dress to +his rival, though his general hue was relieved by a few shades of a more +decided black. As respects weight and force of body, the difference +between the brutes was not very obvious, though perhaps it slightly +inclined in favor of the former, who in length, if not in strength, of +limb, however, had more manifestly the advantage.</p> + +<p>It would much exceed the intelligence we have brought to this task to +explain how far the instincts of the dogs sympathised in the savage +passions of the human beings around them, or whether they were conscious +that their masters had espoused opposite sides in the quarrel, and that it +became them, as faithful esquires, to tilt together by way of supporting +the honor of those they followed; but, after measuring each other for the +usual period with the eye, they came violently together, body to body, in +the manner of their species. The collision was fearful, and the struggle, +being between two creatures of so great size and strength, of the fiercest +kind. The roar resembled that of lions, effectually drowning the clamor of +human voices. Every tongue was mute, and each head was turned in the +direction of the combatants. The trembling girl recoiled with averted +face, while the young man stepped eagerly forward to protect her, for the +conflict was near the place they occupied; but powerful and active as was +his frame, he hesitated about mingling in an affray so ferocious. At this +critical moment, when it seemed that the furious brutes were on the point +of tearing each other in pieces, the crowd was pushed violently open, and +two men burst, side by side, out of the mass. One wore the black robes, +the conical, Asiatic-looking, tufted cap, and the white belt of an +Augustine monk, and the other had the attire of a man addicted to the +seas, without, however, being so decidedly maritime as to leave his +character a matter that was quite beyond dispute. The former was fair, +ruddy, with an oval, happy face, of which internal peace and good-will to +his fellows were the principal characteristics, while the latter had the +swarthy hue, bold lineaments, and glittering eye, of an Italian.</p> + +<p>"Uberto!" said the monk reproachfully, affecting the sort of offended +manner that one would be apt to show to a more intelligent creature, +willing, but at the same time afraid, to trust his person nearer to the +furious conflict, "shame on thee, old Uberto! Hast forgotten thy +schooling--hast no respect for thine own good name?"</p> + +<p>On the other hand, the Italian did not stop to expostulate; but throwing +himself with reckless hardihood on the dogs, by dint of kicks and blows, +of which much the heaviest portion fell on the follower of the Augustine, +he succeeded in separating the combatants.</p> + +<p>"Ha, Nettuno!" he exclaimed, with the severity of one accustomed to +exercise a stern and absolute authority, so soon as this daring exploit +was achieved, and he had recovered a little of the breath lost in the +violent exertion--"what dost mean? Canst find no better amusement than +quarrelling with a dog of San Bernardo! Fie upon thee, foolish Nettuno! I +am ashamed of thee, dog: thou, that hast discreetly navigated so many +seas, to lose thy temper on a bit of fresh water!"</p> + +<p>The dog, which was in truth no other than a noble animal of the well-known +Newfoundland breed, hung his head, and made signs of contrition, by +drawing nearer to his master with a tail that swept the ground, while his +late adversary quietly seated himself with a species of monastic dignity, +looking from the speaker to his foe, as if endeavoring to comprehend the +rebuke which his powerful and gallant antagonist took so meekly.</p> + +<p>"Father," said the Italian, "our dogs are both too useful, in their +several ways, and both of too good character to be enemies. I know Ubarto +of old, for the paths of St. Bernard and I are no strangers, and, if +report does the animal no more than justice, he hath not been an idle cur +among the snows."</p> + +<p>"He hath been the instrument of saving seven Christians from death." +answered the monk, beginning again to regard his mastiff with friendly +looks, for at first there had been keen reproach and severe displeasure in +his manner--"not to speak of the bodies that have been found by his +activity, after the vital spark had fled."</p> + +<p>"As for the latter, father, we can count little more in favor of the dog +than a good intention. Valuing services on this scale, I might ere this +have been the holy father himself, or at least a cardinal; but seven lives +saved, for their owners to die quietly in their beds, and with opportunity +to make their peace with heaven, is no bad recommendation for a dog. +Nettuno, here, is every way worthy to be the friend of old Uberto, for +thirteen drowning men have I myself seen him draw from the greedy jaws of +sharks and other monsters of deep water. What dost thou say, father; shall +we make peace between the brutes?"</p> + +<p>The Augustine expressed his readiness, as well as his desire, to aid in an +effort so laudable, and by dint of commands and persuasion, the dogs, who +were predisposed to peace from having had a mutual taste of the bitterness +of war, and who now felt for each other the respect which courage and +force are apt to create, were soon on the usual terms of animals of their +kind that have no particular grounds for contention.</p> + +<p>The guardian of the city improved the calm produced by this little +incident, to regain a portion of his lost authority. Beating back the +crowd with his cane, he cleared a space around the gate into which but +one of the travellers could enter at a time, while he professed himself +not only ready but determined to proceed with his duty, without further +procrastination. Baptiste, the patron, who beheld the precious moments +wasting, and who, in the delay, foresaw a loss of wind, which, to one of +his pursuits, was loss of money, now earnestly pressed the travellers to +comply with the necessary forms, and to take their stations in his bark +with all convenient speed.</p> + +<p>"Of what matter is it," continued the calculating waterman, who was rather +conspicuously known for the love of thrift that is usually attributed to +most of the inhabitants of that region, "whether there be one headsman or +twenty in the bark, so long as the good vessel can float and steer? Our +Leman winds are fickle friends, and the wise take them while in the humor. +Give me the breeze at west, and I will load the Winkelried to the water's +edge with executioners, or any other pernicious creatures thou wilt, and +thou mayest take the lightest bark that ever swam in the <i>bise</i>, and let +us see who will first make the haven of Vévey!"</p> + +<p>The loudest, and in a sense that is very important in all such +discussions, the principal, speaker in the dispute, was the leader of the +Neapolitan <i>troupe</i>, who, in virtue of good lungs, an agility that had no +competitor in any present, and a certain mixture of superstition and +bravado, that formed nearly equal ingredients in his character, was a man +likely to gain great influence with those who, from their ignorance and +habits, had an inherent love of the marvellous, and a profound respect for +all who possessed, in acting, more audacity, and, in believing, more +credulity than themselves. The vulgar like an excess, even if it be of +folly; for, in their eyes, the abundance of any particular quality is +very apt to be taken as the standard of its excellence.</p> + +<p>"This is well for him who receives, but it may be death to him that pays," +cried the son of the south, gaining not a little among his auditors by the +distinction, for the argument was sufficiently wily, as between the buyer +and the seller. "Thou wilt get thy silver for the risk, and we may get +watery graves for our weakness. Nought but mishaps can come of wicked +company, and accursed will they be, in the evil hour, that are found in +brotherly communion, with one whose trade is hurrying Christians into +eternity, before the time that has been lent by nature is fairly up. Santa +Madre! I would not be the fellow-traveller of such a wretch, across this +wild and changeable lake, for the honor of leaping and showing my poor +powers in the presence of the Holy Father, and the whole of the learned +conclave!"</p> + +<p>This solemn declaration, which was made with suitable gesticulation, and +an action of the countenance that was well adapted to prove the speaker's +sincerity, produced a corresponding effect on most of the listeners, who +murmured their applause in a manner sufficiently significant to convince +the patron he was not about to dispose of the difficulty, simply by virtue +of fair words. In this dilemma he bethought him of a plan of overcoming +the scruples of all present, in which he was warmly seconded by the agent +of the police, and to which, after the usual number of cavilling +objections that were generated by distrust, heated blood, and the +obstinacy of disputation, the other parties were finally induced to give +their consent. It was agreed that the examination should no longer be +delayed, but that a species of deputation from the crowd might take their +stand within the gate where all who passed would necessarily be subject +to their scrutiny, and, in the event of their vigilance detecting the +abhorred and proscribed Balthazar, that the patron should return his money +to the headsman, and preclude him from forming one of a party that was so +scrupulous of its association, and, apparently, with so little reason. The +Neapolitan, whose name was Pippo; one of the indigent scholars, for a +century since learning was rather the auxiliary than the foe of +superstition, and a certain Nicklaus Wagner, a fat Bernese, who was the +owner of most of the cheeses in the bark, were the chosen of the multitude +on this occasion. The first owed his election to his vehemence and +volubility, qualities that the ignoble vulgar are very apt to mistake for +conviction and knowledge; the second to his silence and a demureness of +air which pass with another class for the stillness of deep water; and the +last to his substance, as a man of known wealth, an advantage which, in +spite of all that alarmists predict on one side and enthusiasts affirm on +the other, will always carry greater weight with those who are less +fortunate in this respect, than is either reasonable or morally healthful, +provided it is not abused by arrogance or by the assumption of very +extravagant and oppressive privileges. As a matter of course, these +deputed guardians of the common rights were first obliged to submit their +own papers to the eye of the Genevese.[<a href="#fn01">1</a>]</p> + +<div class="note" id="fn01"><p> [Footnote 1: As we have so often alluded to this examination, it may be + well to explain, that the present system of gend'armerie and passports + did not then prevail in Europe; taking their rise nearly a century later + than that in which the events of this tale had place. But Geneva was a + small and exposed state, and the regulation to which there is reference + here, was one of the provisions which were resorted to, from time to + time in order to protect those liberties and that independence, of which + its citizens were so unceasingly and so wisely jealous.]</p></div> + +<p>The Neapolitan, than whom an archer knave, or one that had committed more +petty wrongs, did not present himself that day at the water-gate, was +regularly fortified by every precaution that the long experience of a +vagabond could suggest, and he was permitted to pass forthwith. The poor +Westphalian student presented an instrument fairly written out in +scholastic Latin, and escaped further trouble by the vanity of the +unlettered agent of the police, who hastily affirmed it was a pleasure to +encounter documents so perfectly in form. But the Bernese was about to +take his station by the side of the other two, appearing to think inquiry, +in his case, unnecessary. While moving through the passage in stately +silence, Nicklaus Wagner was occupied in securing the strings of a well +filled purse, which he had just lightened of a small copper coin, to +reward the varlet of the hostelry in which he had passed the night, and +who had been obliged to follow him to the port to obtain even this scanty +boon; and the Genevese was fain to believe that, in the urgency of this +important concern, he had overlooked those forms which all were, just +then, obliged to respect, on quitting the town.</p> + +<p>"Thou hast a name and character?" observed the latter, with official +brevity.</p> + +<p>"God help thee, friend!--I did not think Geneva had been so particular +with a Swiss;--and a Swiss who is so favorably known on the Aar, and +indeed over the whole of the great canton! I am Nicklaus Wagner, a name of +little account, perhaps, but which is well esteemed among men of +substance, and which has a right even to the Bürgerschaft--Nicklaus Wagner +of Berne--thou wilt scarce need more?"</p> + +<p>"Naught but proof of its truth. Thou wilt remember this is Geneva; the +laws of a small and exposed state need be particular in affairs of this +nature."</p> + +<p>"I never questioned thy state being Geneva; I only wonder thou shouldst +doubt my being Nicklaus Wagner! I can journey the darkest night that ever +threw a shadow from the mountains, any where between the Jura and the +Oberland, and none, shall say my word is to be disputed. Look 'ee, there +is the patron, Baptiste, who will tell thee, that if he were to land the +freight which is shipped in my name, his bark would float greatly the +lighter."</p> + +<p>All this time Nicklaus was nothing loth to show his papers, which were +quite in rule. He even held them, with a thumb and finger separating the +folds, ready to be presented to his questioner. The hesitation came from a +feeling of wounded vanity, which would gladly show that one of his local +importance and known substance was to be exempt from the exactions +required from men of smaller means. The officer, who had great practice in +this species of collision with his fellow-creatures, understood the +character with which he had to deal, and, seeing no good reason for +refusing to gratify a feeling which was innocent, though sufficiently +silly, he yielded to the Bernese pride.</p> + +<p>"Thou canst proceed," he said, turning the indulgence to account, with a +ready knowledge of his duty; "and when thou gettest again among thy +burghers, do us of Geneva the grace to say^ we treat our allies fairly."</p> + +<p>"I thought thy question hasty!" exclaimed the wealthy peasant, swelling +like one who gets justice, though tardily. "Now let us to this knotty +affair of the headsman."</p> + +<p>Taking his place with the Neapolitan and the Westphalian, Nicklaus assumed +the grave air of a judge, and an austerity of manner which proved that he +entered on his duty with a firm resolution to do justice.</p> + +<p>"Thou 'art well known here, pilgrim," observed the officer, with some +severity of tone, to the next that came to the gate.</p> + +<p>"St. Francis to speed, master, it were else wonderful! I should be so, for +the seasons scarce come and go more regularly."</p> + +<p>"There must be a sore conscience somewhere, that Rome and thou should need +each other so often?"</p> + +<p>The pilgrim, who was enveloped in a tattered coat, sprinkled with +cockle-shells, who wore his beard, and was altogether a disgusting picture +of human depravity, rendered still more revolting by an ill-concealed +hypocrisy, laughed openly and recklessly at the remark.</p> + +<p>"Thou art a follower of Calvin, master," he replied, "or thou would'st not +have said this. My own failings give me little trouble. I am engaged by +certain parishes of Germany to take upon my poor person their physical +pains, and it is not easy to name another that hath done as many messages +of this kind as myself, with better proofs of fidelity. If thou hast any +little offering to make, thou shalt see fair papers to prove what I +say;--papers that would pass at St. Peter's itself!"</p> + +<p>The officer perceived that he had to do with one of those unequivocal +hypocrites--if such a word can properly be applied to him who scarcely +thought deception necessary--who then made a traffic of expiations of this +nature; a pursuit that was common enough at the close of the seventeenth +and in the commencement of the eighteenth centuries, and which has not +even yet entirely disappeared from Europe. He threw the pass with +unconcealed aversion towards the profligate, who, recovering his document, +assumed unasked his station by the side of the three who had been +selected to decide on the fitness of those who were to be allowed to +embark.</p> + +<p>"Go to!" cried the officer, as he permitted this ebullition of disgust to +escape him; "thou hast well said that we are followers of Calvin. Geneva +has little in common with her of the scarlet mantle, and thou wilt do well +to remember this, in thy next pilgrimage, lest the beadle make +acquaintance with thy back,--Hold! who art thou?"</p> + +<p>"A heretic, hopelessly damned by anticipation, if that of yonder +travelling prayer-monger be the true faith;" answered one who was pressing +past, with a quiet assurance that had near carried its point without +incurring the risks of the usual investigation into his name and +character. It was the owner of Nettuno, whose aquatic air and perfect +self-possession now caused the officer to doubt whether he had not stopped +a waterman of the lake--a class privileged to come and go at will.</p> + +<p>"Thou knowest our usages," said the half-satisfied Genevese.</p> + +<p>"I were a fool else! Even the ass that often travels the same path comes +in time to tell its turns and windings. Art not satisfied with touching +the pride of the worthy Nicklaus Wagner, by putting the well-warmed +burgher to his proofs, but thou would'st e'en question me! Come hither, +Nettuno; thou shalt answer for both, being a dog of discretion. We are no +go-betweens of heaven and earth, thou knowest, but creatures that come +part of the water and part of the land!"</p> + +<p>The Italian spoke loud and confidently, and to the manner of one who +addressed himself more to the humors of those near than to the +understanding of the Genevese. He laughed, and looked about him in a +manner to extract an echo from the crowd, though not one among them all +could probably have given a sufficient reason why he had so readily taken +part with the stranger against the authorities of the town, unless it +might have been from the instinct of opposition to the law.</p> + +<p>"Thou hast a name?" continued the half-yielding, half-doubting guardian of +the port.</p> + +<p>"Dost take me to be worse off than the bark of Baptiste, there? I have +papers, too, if thou wilt that I go to the vessel in order to seek them. +This dog is Nettuno, a brute from a far country, where brutes swim like +fishes, and my name is Maso, though wicked-minded men call me oftener Il +Maledetto than by any other title."</p> + +<p>All in the throng, who understood the signification of what the Italian +said, laughed aloud, and apparently with great glee, for, to the grossly +vulgar, extreme audacity has an irresistible charm. The officer felt that +the merriment was against him, though he scarce knew why; and ignorant of +the language in which the other had given his extraordinary appellation, +he yielded to the contagion, and laughed with the others, like one who +understood the joke to the bottom. The Italian profited by this advantage, +nodded familiarly with a good-natured and knowing smile, and proceeded. +Whistling the dog to his side, he walked leisurely to the bark, into which +he was the first that entered, always preserving the deliberation and calm +of a man who felt himself privileged, and safe from farther molestation. +This cool audacity effected its purpose, though one long and closely +hunted by the law evaded the authorities of the town, when this singular +being took his seat by the little package which contained his scanty +wardrobe.</p> +</div> + + +<div class="chapter" id="ch02"> +<h2>Chapter II.</h2> + + +<blockquote class="epi"><p> "My nobiel liege! all my request<br /> +Ys for a nobile knyghte,<br /> +Who, tho' mayhap he has done wronge,<br /> +Hee thoughte ytt stylle was righte."</p> + +<p> Chatterton.</p></blockquote> + + +<p>While this impudent evasion of vigilance was successfully practised by so +old an offender, the trio of sentinels, with their volunteer assistant the +pilgrim, manifested the greatest anxiety to prevent the contamination of +admitting the highest executioner of the law to form one of the strangely +assorted company. No sooner did the Genevese permit a traveller to pass, +than they commenced their private and particular examination, which was +sufficiently fierce, for more than once had they threatened to turn back +the trembling, ignorant applicant on mere suspicion. The cunning Baptiste +lent himself to their feelings with the skill of a demagogue, affecting a +zeal equal to their own, while, at the same time, he took care most to +excite their suspicions where there was the smallest danger of their being +rewarded with success. Through this fiery ordeal one passed after another, +until most of the nameless vagabonds had been found innocent, and the +throng around the gate was so far lessened as to allow a freer circulation +in the thoroughfare. The opening permitted the venerable noble, who has +already been presented to the reader, to advance to the gate, accompanied +by the female, and closely followed by the menials. The servitor of the +police saluted the stranger with deference, for his calm exterior and +imposing presence were in singular contrast with the noisy declamation +and rude deportment of the rabble that had preceded.</p> + +<p>"I am Melchior de Willading, of Berne," said the traveller, quietly +offering the proofs of what he said, with the ease of one sure of his +impunity; "this is my child--my only child," the old man repeated the +latter words with melancholy emphasis, "and these, that wear my livery, +are old and faithful followers of my house. We go by the St. Bernard, to +change the ruder side of our Alps for that which is more grateful to the +weak--to see if there be a sun in Italy that hath warmth enough to revive +this drooping flower, and to cause it once more to raise its head +joyously, as until lately, it did ever in its native halls."</p> + +<p>The officer smiled and repeated his reverences, always declining to +receive the offered papers; for the aged father indulged the overflowing +of his feelings in a manner that would have awakened even duller +sympathies.</p> + +<p>"The lady has youth and a tender parent of her side," he said; "these are +much when health fails us."</p> + +<p>"She is indeed too young to sink so early!" returned the father, who had +apparently forgotten his immediate business, and was gazing with a tearful +eye at the faded but still eminently attractive features of the young +female, who rewarded his solicitude with a look of love; "but thou hast +not seen I am the man I represent myself to be."</p> + +<p>"It is not necessary, noble baron; the city knows of your presence, and I +have it, in especial charge, to do all that may be grateful to render the +passage through Geneva, of one so honored among our allies, agreeable to +his recollections."</p> + +<p>"Thy city's courtesy is of known repute," said the Baron de Willading, +replacing his papers in their usual envelope, and receiving the grace like +one accustomed to honors of this sort:--"art thou a father?"</p> + +<p>"Heaven has not been niggardly of gifts of this nature: my table feeds +eleven, besides those who gave them being."</p> + +<p>"Eleven!--The will of God is a fearful mystery! And this thou seest is the +sole hope of my line;--the only heir that is left to the name and lands of +Willading! Art thou at ease in thy condition?"</p> + +<p>"There are those in our town who are less so, with many thanks for the +friendliness of the question."</p> + +<p>A slight color suffused the face of Adelheid de Willading, for so was the +daughter of the Bernese called, and she advanced a step nearer to the +officer.</p> + +<p>"They who have so few at their own board, need think of those who have so +many," she said, dropping a piece of gold into the hand of the Genevese: +then she added, in a voice scarce louder than a whisper--"If the young and +innocent of thy household can offer a prayer in the behalf of a poor girl +who has much need of aid, 'twill be remembered of God, and it may serve to +lighten the grief of one who has the dread of being childless."</p> + +<p>"God bless thee, lady!" said the officer, little used to deal with such +spirits, and touched by the mild resignation and piety of the speaker, +whose simple but winning manner moved him nearly to tears; "all of my +family, old as well as young, shall bethink them of thee and thine."</p> + +<p>Adelheid's cheek resumed its paleness, and she quietly accompanied her +father, as he slowly proceeded towards the bark. A scene of this nature +did not fail to shake the pertinacity of those who stood at watch near the +gate. Of course they had nothing to say to any of the rank of Melchior de +Willading, who went into the bark without a question. The influence of +beauty and station united to so much simple grace as that shown by the +fair actor in the little incident we have just related, was much too +strong for the ill-trained feelings of the Neapolitan and his companions. +They not only let all the menials pass unquestioned also, but it was some +little time before their vigilance resumed its former truculence. The two +or three travellers that succeeded had the benefit of this fortunate +change of disposition.</p> + +<p>The next who came to the gate was the young soldier, whom the Baron de +Willading had so often addressed as Monsieur Sigismund. His papers were +regular, and no obstacle was offered to his departure. It may be doubted +how far this young man would have been disposed to submit to these +extra-official inquiries of the three deputies of the crowd, had there +been a desire to urge them, for he went towards the quay, with an eye that +expressed any other sensation than that of amity or compliance. Respect, +or a more equivocal feeling, proved his protection; for none but the +pilgrim, who displayed ultra-zeal in the pursuit of his object, ventured +so far as to hazard even a smothered remark as he passed.</p> + +<p>"There goes an arm and a sword that might well shorten a Christian's +days," said the dissolute and shameless dealer in the church's abuses, +"and, yet no one asks his name or calling!"</p> + +<p>"Thou hadst better put the question thyself," returned the sneering Pippo, +"since penitence is thy trade. For myself, I am content with whirling +round at my own bidding, without taking a hint from that young giant's +arm."</p> + +<p>The poor scholar and the burgher of Berne appeared to acquiesce in this +opinion, and no more said in the matter. In the mean while there was +another at the gate. The new applicant had little in his exterior to renew +the vigilance of the superstitious trio. A quiet, meek-looking man, +seemingly of a middle condition in life, and of an air altogether calm and +unpretending, had submitted his passport to the faithful guardian of the +city. The latter read the document, cast a quick and inquiring glance at +its owner, and returned the paper in a way to show haste, and a desire to +be rid of him.</p> + +<p>"It is well," he said; "thou canst, go thy way."</p> + +<p>"How now!" cried the Neapolitan, to whom buffoonery was a congenial +employment, as much by natural disposition as by practice; "How now!--have +we Balthazar at last, in this bloody-minded and fierce-looking traveller?" +As the speaker had expected, this sally was rewarded by a general laugh, +and he was accordingly encouraged to proceed. "Thou knowest our office, +friend," added the unfeeling mountebank, "and must show us thy hands. None +pass who bear the stain of blood!"</p> + +<p>The traveller appeared staggered, for he was plainly a man of retired and +peaceable habits, who had been thrown, by the chances of the road, in +contact with one only too practised in this unfeeling species of wit. He +showed his open palm, however, with a direct and confiding simplicity, +that drew a shout of merriment from all the by-standers.</p> + +<p>"This will not do; soap, and ashes, and the tears of victims, may have +washed out the marks of his work from Balthazar himself. The spots we seek +are on the soul, man, and we must look into that, ere thou art permitted +to make one in this goodly company."</p> + +<p>"Thou didst not question yonder young soldier thus," returned the +stranger, whose eye kindled, as even the meek repel unprovoked outrage, +though his frame trembled violently at being subject to open insults from +men so rude and unprincipled; "thou didst not dare to question yonder +young soldier thus!"</p> + +<p>"By the prayers of San Gennaro! which are known to stop running and melted +lava, I would rather thou should'st undertake that office than I. Yonder +young soldier is an honorable decapitator, and it is a pleasure to be his +companion on a journey; for, no doubt, some six or eight of the saints are +speaking in his behalf daily. But he we seek is the outcast of all, good +or bad, whether in heaven or on earth, or in that other hot abode to which +he will surely be sent when his time shall come."</p> + +<p>"And yet he does no more than execute the law!"</p> + +<p>"What is law to opinion, friend? But go thy way; none suspect thee to be +the redoubtable enemy of our heads. Go thy way, for Heaven's sake, and +mutter thy prayers to be delivered from Balthazar's axe."</p> + +<p>The countenance of the stranger worked, as if he would have answered; then +suddenly changing his purpose, he passed on, and instantly disappeared in +the bark. The monk of St. Bernard came next. Both the Augustine and his +dog were old acquaintances of the officer, who did not require any +evidence of his character or errand from the former.</p> + +<p>"We are the protectors of life and not its foes," observed the monk, as, +leaving the more regular watchman of the place, he drew near to those, +whose claims to the office would have admitted of dispute: "we live among +the snows, that Christians may not die without the church's comfort."</p> + +<p>"Honor, holy Augustine, to thee and thy office!" said the Neapolitan, who, +reckless and abandoned as he was, possessed that instinct of respect for +those who deny their natures for the good of others which is common to +all, however tainted by cupidity themselves. "Thou and thy dog, old +Uberto, can freely pass, with our best good wishes for both."</p> + +<p>There no longer remained any to examine, and, after a short consultation +among the more superstitious of the travellers, they came to the very +natural opinion that, intimidated by their just remonstrances, the +offensive headsman had shrunk, unperceived, from the crowd, and that they +were at length happily relieved from his presence. The annunciation of the +welcome tidings drew much self-felicitation from the different members of +the motley company, and all eagerly embarked, for Baptiste now loudly and +vehemently declared that a single moment of further delay was entirely out +of the question.</p> + +<p>"Of what are you thinking, men!" he exclaimed with well-acted heat; "are +the Leman winds liveried lackeys, to come and go as may suit your fancies; +now to blow west, and now east, as shall be most wanted, to help you on +your journeys? Take example of the noble Melchior de Willading, who has +long been in his place, and pray the saints, if you will, in your several +fashions, that this fair western wind do not quit us in punishment of our +neglect."</p> + +<p>"Yonder come others, in haste, to be of the party!" interrupted the +cunning Italian; "loosen thy fasts quickly, Master Baptiste, or, by San +Gennaro! we shall still be detained!"</p> + +<p>The Patron suddenly checked himself, and hurried back to the gate, in +order to ascertain what he might expect from this unlooked-for turn of +fortune.</p> + +<p>Two travellers, in the attire of men familiar with the road, accompanied +by a menial, and followed by a porter staggering under the burthen of +their luggage, were fast approaching the water-gate, as if conscious the +least delay might cause their being left. This party was led by one +considerably past the meridian of life, and who evidently was enabled to +maintain his post more by the deference of his companions than by his +physical force. A cloak was thrown across one arm, while in the hand of +the other he carried the rapier, which all of gentle blood then considered +a necessary appendage of their rank.</p> + +<p>"You were near losing the last bark that sails for the Abbaye des +Vignerons, Signori," said the Genevese, recognizing the country of the +strangers at a glance, "if, as I judge from your direction and haste, +these festivities are in your minds."</p> + +<p>"Such is our aim," returned the elder of the travellers, "and, as thou +sayest, we are, of a certainty, tardy. A hasty departure and bad roads +have been the cause--but as, happily, we are yet in time to profit by this +bark, wilt do us the favor to look into our authority to pass?"</p> + +<p>The officer perused the offered document with the customary care, turning +it from side to side, as if all were not right, though in a way to show +that he regretted the informality.</p> + +<p>"Signore, your pass is quite in rule as touches Savoy and the country of +Nice, but it wants the city's forms."</p> + +<p>"By San Francesco! more's the pity. We are honest gentlemen of Genoa, +hurrying to witness the revels at Vévey, of which rumor gives an enticing +report, and our sole desire is to come and go peaceably. As thou seest, we +are late; for hearing at the post, on alighting, that a bark was about to +spread its sails for the other extremity of the lake, we had no time to +consult all the observances that thy city's rules may deem necessary. So +many turn their faces the same way, to witness these ancient games, that +we had not thought out quick passage through the town of sufficient +importance to give thy authorities the trouble to look into our proofs."</p> + +<p>"Therein, Signore, you have judged amiss. It is my sworn duty to stay all +who want the republic's permission to proceed."</p> + +<p>"This is unfortunate, to say no more. Art thou the patron of the bark, +friend?"</p> + +<p>"And her owner, Signore," answered Baptiste, who listened to the discourse +with longings equal to his doubts. "I should be a great deal too happy to +count such honorable travellers among my passengers."</p> + +<p>"Thou wilt then delay thy departure until this gentleman shall see the +authorities of the town, and obtain the required permission to quit it? +Thy compliance shall not go unrewarded."</p> + +<p>As the Genoese concluded, he dropped into a palm that was well practised +in bribes a sequin of the celebrated republic of which he was a citizen. +Baptiste had long cultivated an aptitude to suffer himself to be +influenced by gold, and it was with unfeigned reluctance that he admitted +the necessity of refusing, in this instance, to profit by his own good +dispositions. Still retaining the money, however, for he did not well know +how to overcome his reluctance to part with it, he answered in a manner +sufficiently embarrassed, to show the other that he had at least gained a +material advantage by his liberality.</p> + +<p>"His Excellency knows not what he asks," said the patron, fumbling the +coin between a finger and thumb; "our Genevese citizens love to keep house +till the sun is up, lest they should break their necks by walking about +the uneven streets in the dark, and it will be two long hours before a +single bureau will open its windows in the town. Besides, your man of the +police is not like us of the lake, happy to get a morsel when the weather +and occasion permit; but he is a regular feeder, that must have his grapes +and his wine before he will use his wits for the benefit of his employers. +The Winkelried would weary of doing nothing, with this fresh western +breeze humming between her masts, while the poor gentleman was swearing +before the town-house gate at the laziness of the officers. I know the +rogues better than your Excellency, and would advise some other +expedient."</p> + +<p>Baptiste looked, with a certain expression, at the guardian of the +water-gate, and in a manner to make his meaning sufficiently clear to the +travellers. The latter studied the countenance of the Genevese a moment, +and, better practised than the patron, or a more enlightened judge of +character, he fortunately refused to commit himself by offering to +purchase the officer's good-will. If there are too many who love to be +tempted to forget their trusts, by a well-managed venality, there are a +few who find a greater satisfaction in being thought beyond its influence. +The watchman of the gate happened to be one of the latter class, and, by +one of the many unaccountable workings of human feeling, the very vanity +which had induced him to suffer Il Maledetto to go through unquestioned, +rather than expose his own ignorance, now led him to wish he might make +some return for the stranger's good opinion of his honesty.</p> + +<p>"Will you let me look again at the pass, Signore?" asked the Genevese, as +if he thought a sufficient legal warranty for that which he now strongly +desired to do might yet be found in the instrument itself.</p> + +<p>The inquiry was useless, unless it was to show that the elder Genoese was +called the Signer Grimaldi and that his companion went by the name of +Marcelli. Shaking his head he returned the paper in the manner of a +disappointed man.</p> + +<p>"Thou canst not have read half of what the paper contains," said Baptiste +peevishly; "your reading and writing are not such easy matters, that a +squint of the eye is all-sufficient. Look at it again, and thou mayest yet +find all in rule. It is unreasonable to suppose Signori of their rank +would journey like vagabonds, with papers to be suspected."</p> + +<p>"Nothing is wanting but our city signatures, without which my duty will +let none go by, that are truly travellers."</p> + +<p>"This comes, Signore, of the accursed art of writing, which is much pushed +and greatly abused of late. I have heard the aged watermen of the Leman +praise the good old time, when boxes and bales went and came, and no ink +touched paper between him that sent and him that carried; and yet it has +now reached the pass that a christian may not transport himself on his own +legs without calling on the scriveners for permission!"</p> + +<p>"We lose the moments in words, when it were far better to be doing," +returned the Signore Grimaldi. "The pass is luckily in the language of the +country, and needs but a glance to get the approval of the authorities. +Thou wilt do well to say thou canst remain the time necessary to see this +little done."</p> + +<p>"Were your excellency to offer me the Doge's crown as a bribe, this could +not be. Our Leman winds will not wait for king or noble, bishop or priest, +and duty to those I have in the bark commands me to quit the port as soon +as possible."</p> + +<p>"Thou art truly well charged with living freight already," said the +Genoese, regarding the deeply loaded bark with a half-distrustful eye 'I +hope thou hast not overdone thy vessel's powers in receiving so many?"</p> + +<p>"I could gladly reduce the number a little, excellent Signore, for all +that you see piled among the boxes and tubs are no better than so many +knaves, fit only to give trouble and raise questions touching the +embarkation of those who are willing to pay better than themselves. The +noble Swiss, whom you see seated near the stern, with his daughter and +people, the worthy Melchior de Willading, gives a more liberal reward for +his passage to Vévey than all those nameless rogues together."</p> + +<p>The Genoese made a hasty movement towards the patron, with an earnestness +of eye and air that betrayed a sudden and singular interest in what he +heard.</p> + +<p>"Did'st thou say de Willading?" he exclaimed, eager as one of much fewer +years would have been at the unexpected announcement of some pleasurable +event. "Melchior, too, of that honorable name?"</p> + +<p>"Signore, the same. None other bears the title now, for the old line, they +say, is drawing to an end. I remember this same baron, when he was as +ready to launch his boat into a troubled lake, as any in Switzerland--"</p> + +<p>"Fortune hath truly favored me, good Marcelli!" interrupted the other, +grasping the hand of his companion, with strong feeling. "Go thou to the +bark, master patron, and advise thy passenger that--what shall we say to +Melchior? Shall we tell him at once, who waits him here, or shall we +practise a little on his failing memory? By San Francesco! we will do +this, Enrico, that we may try his powers! 'Twill be pleasant to see him +wonder and guess--my life on it, however, that he knows me at a glance. I +am truly little changed for one that hath seen so much."</p> + +<p>The Signor Marcelli lowered his eyes respectfully at this opinion of his +friend, but he did not see fit to discourage a belief which was merely a +sudden ebullition, produced by the recollection of younger days. Baptiste +was instantly dispatched with a request that the baron would do a stranger +of rank the favor to come to the water-gate.</p> + +<p>"Tell him 'tis a traveller disappointed in the wish to be of his company," +repeated the Genoese. "That will suffice. I know him courteous, and he is +not my Melchior, honest Marcelli, if he delay an instant:--thou seest! he +is already quitting the bark, for never did I know him refuse an act of +friendliness--dear, dear Melchior--thou art the same at seventy as thou +wast at thirty!"</p> + +<p>Here the agitation of the Genoese got the better of him, and he walked +aside, under a sense of shame, lest he might betray unmanly weakness. In +the mean time, the Baron de Willading advanced from the water-side, +without suspecting that his presence was required for more than an act of +simple courtesy.</p> + +<p>"Baptiste tells me that gentlemen of Genoa are here, who are desirous of +hastening to the games of Vévey," said the latter, raising his beaver, +"and that my presence may be of use in obtaining the pleasure of their +company."</p> + +<p>"I will not unmask till we are fairly and decently embarked, Enrico," +whispered the Signor Grimaldi; "nay--by the mass! not till we are fairly +disembarked! The laugh against him will never be forgotten. Signore," +addressing the Bernese with affected composure, endeavoring to assume the +manner of a stranger, though his voice trembled with eagerness at each +syllable, "we are indeed of Genoa, and most anxious to be of the party in +your bark--but--he little suspects who speaks to him, Marcelli!--but, +Signore, there has been some small oversight touching the city +signatures, and we have need of friendly assistance, either to pass the +gate, or to detain the bark until the forms of the place shall have been +respected.'</p> + +<p>"Signore, the city of Geneva hath need to be watchful, for it is an +exposed and weak state, and I have little hope that my influence can cause +this trusty watchman to dispense with his duty. Touching the bark, a small +gratuity will do much with honest Baptiste, should there not be a question +of the stability of the breeze, in which case he might be somewhat of a +loser."</p> + +<p>"You say the truth, noble Melchior," put in the patron; "were the wind +ahead, or were it two hours earlier in the morning, the little delay +should not cost the strangers a batz--that is to say, nothing +unreasonable; but as it is, I have not twenty minutes more to lose, evep +were all the city magistrates cloaking to be of the party, in their proper +and worshipful persons."</p> + +<p>"I greatly regret, Sigriore, it should be so," resumed the baron, turning +to the applicant with the consideration of one accustomed to season his +refusals by a gracious manner; "but these watermen have their secret +signs, by which, it would seem, they know the latest moment they may with +prudence delay."</p> + +<p>"By the mass! Marcelli, I will try him a little--should have known him in +a carnival dress. Signor Barone, we are but poor Italian gentlemen, it is +true, of Genoa. You have heard of our republic, beyond question--the poor +state of Genoa?"</p> + +<p>"Though of no great pretensions to letters, Signore," answered Melchior, +smiling, "I am not quite ignorant that such a state exists. You could not +have named a city on the shores of your Mediterranean that would sooner +warm my heart than this very town of which you speak. Many of my happiest +hours were passed within its walls, and often, even at this late day, do I +live over again my life to recall the pleasures of that merry period. Were +there leisure, I could repeat a list of honorable and much esteemed names +that are familiar to your ears, in proof of what I say."</p> + +<p>"Name them, Signor Barone;--for the love of the saints, and the blessed +virgin, name them, I beseech you!"</p> + +<p>A little amazed at the eagerness of the other. Melchior de Willading +earnestly regarded his furrowed face; and, for an instant, an expression +like incertitude crossed his own features.</p> + +<p>"Nothing would be easier, Signore, than to name many. The first in my +memory, as he has always been the first in my love, is Gaetano Grimaldi, +of whom, I doubt not, both of you have often heard?"</p> + +<p>"We have, we have! That is--yes, I think we may say, Marcelli, that we +have often heard of him, and not unfavorably. Well, what of this +Grimaldi?"</p> + +<p>"Signore, the desire to converse of your noble townsman is natural, but +were I to yield to my wishes to speak of Gaetano, I fear the honest +Baptiste might have reason to complain."</p> + +<p>"To the devil with Baptiste and his bark! Melchior,--my good +Melchior!--dearest, dearest Melchior! hast thou indeed forgotten me?"</p> + +<p>Here the Genoese opened wide his arms, and stood ready to receive the +embrace of his friend. The Baron de Willading was troubled, but he was +still so far from suspecting the real fact, that he could not have easily +told the reason why. He gazed wistfully at the working features of the +fine old man who stood before him, and though memory seemed to flit around +the truth, it was in gleams so transient as completely to baffle his +wishes.</p> + +<p>"Dost thou deny me, de Willading?--dost thou refuse to own the friend of +thy youth--the companion of thy pleasures--the sharer of thy sorrows--- +thy comrade in the wars--nay, more--thy confidant in a dearer tie?"</p> + +<p>"None but Gaetano Grimaldi himself can claim these titles!" burst from the +lips of the trembling baron.</p> + +<p>"Am I aught else?--am I not this Gaetano?--that Gaetano--thy +Gaetano,--old and very dear friend?"</p> + +<p>"Thou Gaetano!" exclaimed the Bernois, recoiling a step, instead of +advancing to meet the eager embrace of the Genoese, whose impetuous +feelings were little cooled by time--"thou, the gallant, active, daring, +blooming Grimaldi! Signore, you trifle with an old man's affections."</p> + +<p>"By the holy mass, I do not deceive thee! Ha, Marcelli, he is slow to +believe as ever, but fast and certain as the vow of a churchman when +convinced. If we are to distrust each other for a few wrinkles, thou wilt +find objections rising against thine own identity as well as against mine, +friend Melchior. I am none other than Gaetano--the Gaetano of thy +youth--the friend thou hast not seen these many long and weary years."</p> + +<p>Recognition was slow in making its way in the mind of the Bernese. +Lineament after lineament, however, became successively known to him, and +most of all, the voice served to awaken long dormant recollections. But, +as heavy natures are said to have the least self-command when fairly +excited, so did the baron betray the most ungovernable emotion of the two, +when conviction came at last to confirm the words of his friend. He threw +himself on the neck of the Genoese, and the old man wept in a manner that +caused him to withdraw aside, in order to conceal the tears which had so +suddenly and profusely broken from fountains that he had long thought +nearly dried.</p> +</div> + + +<div class="chapter" id="ch03"> +<h2>Chapter III.</h2> + + +<blockquote class="epi"><p> Ha, cousin Silence, that thou hadst seen<br /> +That, that this knight and I have seen!</p> + +<p> <i>King Henry IV.</i></p></blockquote> + + +<p>The calculating patron of the Winkelried had patiently watched the +progress of the foregoing scene with great inward satisfaction, but now +that the strangers seemed to be assured of support powerful as that of +Melchior de Willading, he was disposed to turn it to account without +farther delay. The old men were still standing with their hands grasping +each other, after another warm and still closer embrace, and with tears +rolling down the furrowed face of each, when Baptiste advanced to put in +his raven-like remonstrance.</p> + +<p>"Noble gentlemen," he said, "if the felicitations of one humble as I can +add to the pleasure of this happy meeting, I beg you to accept them; but +the wind has no heart for friendships nor any thought for the gains or +losses of us watermen. I feel it my duty, as patron of the bark, to recall +to your honors that many poor travellers, far from their homes and pining +families, are waiting our leisure, not to speak of foot-sore pilgrims and +other worthy adventurers, who are impatient in their hearts, though +respect for their superiors keeps them tongue-tied, while we are losing +the best of the breeze."</p> + +<p>"By San Francesco! the varlet is right;" said the Genoese, hurriedly +erasing the marks of his recent weakness from his cheeks. "We are +forgetful of all these worthy people while joy at our meeting is so +strong, and it is time that we thought of others. Canst thou aid me in +dispensing with the city's signatures?"</p> + +<p>The Baron de Willading paused; for well-disposed at first to assist any +gentlemen who found themselves in an unpleasant embarrassment, it will be +readily imagined that the case lost none of its interest, when he found +that his oldest and most tried friend was the party in want of his +influence. Still it was much easier to admit the force of this new and +unexpected appeal than to devise the means of success. The officer was, to +use a phrase which most men seem to think supplies a substitute for reason +and principle, too openly committed to render it probable he would easily +yield. It was necessary, however, to make the trial, and the baron, +therefore, addressed the keeper of the water-gate more urgently than he +had yet done in behalf of the strangers.</p> + +<p>"It is beyond my functions; there is not one of our Syndics whom I would +more gladly oblige than yourself, noble baron," answered the officer; "but +the duty of the watchman is to adhere strictly to the commands of those +who have placed him at his post."</p> + +<p>"Gaetano, we are not the men to complain of this! We have stood together +too long in the same trench, and have too often slept soundly, in +situations where failure in this doctrine might have cost us our lives, to +quarrel with the honest Genevese for his watchfulness. To be frank, 'twere +little use to tamper with the fidelity of a Swiss or with that of his +ally."</p> + +<p>"With the Swiss that is well paid to be vigilant!" answered the Genoese, +laughing in a way to show that he had only revived one of those standing +but biting jests, that they who love each other best are perhaps most +accustomed to practice.</p> + +<p>The Baron de Willading took the facetiousness of his friend in good part, +returning the mirth of the other in a manner to show that the allusion +recalled days when their hours had idly passed in the indulgence of +spontaneous outbreakings of animal spirits.</p> + +<p>"Were this thy Italy, Gaetano, a sequin would not only supply the place of +a dozen signatures, but, by the name of thy favorite, San Francesco! it +would give the honest gate-keeper that gift of second-sight on which the +Scottish seers are said to pride themselves."</p> + +<p>"Well, the two sides of the Alps will keep their characters, even though +we quarrel about their virtues--but we shall never see again the days that +we have known! Neither the games of Vévey, nor the use of old jokes, will +make us the youths we have been, dear de Willading!"</p> + +<p>"Signore, a million of pardons," interrupted Baptiste, "but this western +wind is more inconstant even than the spirits of the young."</p> + +<p>"The rogue is again right, and we forget yonder cargo of honest +travellers, who are wishing us both in Abraham's bosom, for keeping the +impatient bark in idleness at the quay. Good Marcelli, hast thou aught to +suggest in this strait?"</p> + +<p>"Signore, you forget that we have another document that may be found +sufficient"--the person questioned, who appeared to fill a middle station +between that of a servant and that of a companion, rather hinted than +observed:</p> + +<p>"Thou sayest true--and yet I would gladly avoid producing it--but anything +is better than the loss of thy company, Melchior."</p> + +<p>"Name it not! We shall not separate, though the Winkelried rot where she +lies. 'Twere easier to separate our faithful cantons than two such +friends."</p> + +<p>"Nay, noble baron, you forget the wearied pilgrims and the many anxious +travellers in the bark."</p> + +<p>"If twenty crowns will purchase thy consent, honest Baptiste, we will have +no further discussion."</p> + +<p>"It is scarce in human will to withstand you, noble Sir!--Well, the +pilgrims have weary feet, and rest will only fit them the better for the +passage of the mountains; and as for the others, why let them quit the +bark if they dislike the conditions. I am not a man to force my commerce +on any."</p> + +<p>"Nay, nay, I will have none of this. Keep thy gold, Melchior, and let the +honest Baptiste keep his passengers, to say nothing of his conscience."</p> + +<p>"I beseech your excellency," interrupted Baptiste, "not to distress +yourself in tenderness for me. I am ready to do far more disagreeable +things to oblige so noble a gentleman."</p> + +<p>"I will none of it! Signor officer, wilt thou do me the favor to cast a +glance at this?"</p> + +<p>As the Genoese concluded, he placed in the hands of the watchman at the +gate, a paper different from that which he had first shown. The officer +perused the new instrument with deep attention, and, when half through its +contents, his eyes left the page to become rivetted in respectful +attention on the face of the expectant Italian. He then read the passport +to the end. Raising his cap ceremoniously, the keeper of the gate left the +passage free, bowing with deep deference to the strangers.</p> + +<p>"Had I sooner known this," he said, "there would have been no delay. I +hope your excellency will consider my ignorance--?"</p> + +<p>"Name it not, friend. Thou hast done well; in proof of which I beg thy +acceptance of a small token of esteem."</p> + +<p>The Genoese dropped a sequin into the hand of the officer, passing him, at +the same time, on his way to the waterside. As the reluctance of the other +to receive gold came rather from a love of duty than from any particular +aversion to the metal itself, this second offering met with a more +favorable reception than the first. The Baron de Willading was not without +surprise at the sudden success of his friend, though he was far too +prudent and well-bred to let his wonder be seen.</p> + +<p>Every obstacle to the departure of the Winkelried was now removed, and +Baptiste and his crew were soon actively engaged in loosening the sails +and in casting off the fasts. The movement of the bark was at first slow +and heavy, for the wind was intercepted by the buildings of the town; but, +as she receded from the shore, the canvass began to flap and belly, and +ere long it filled outward with a report like that of a musket; after +which the motion of the travellers began to bear some relation to their +nearly exhausted patience.</p> + +<p>Soon after the party which had been so long detained at the water-gate +were embarked, Adelheid first learned the reason of the delay. She had +long known, from the mouth of her father, the name and early history of +the Signor Grimaldi, a Genoese of illustrious family, who had been the +sworn friend and the comrade of Melchior de Willading, when the latter +pursued his career in arms in the wars of Italy. These circumstances +having passed long before her own birth, and even before the marriage of +her parents, and she being the youngest and the only survivor of a +numerous family of children, they were, as respected herself, events that +already began to assume the hue of history. She received the old man +frankly and even with affection, though in his yielding but still fine +form, she had quite as much difficulty as her father in recognizing the +young, gay, gallant, brilliant, and handsome Gaetano Grimaldi that her +imagination had conceived from the verbal descriptions she had so often +heard, and from her fancy was still wont to draw as he was painted in the +affectionate descriptions of her father. When he suddenly and +affectionately offered a kiss, the color flushed her face, for no man but +he to whom she owed her being had ever before taken that liberty; but, +after an instant of virgin embarrassment, she laughed, and blushingly +presented her cheek to receive the salute.</p> + +<p>"The last tidings I had of thee, Melchior," said the Italian, "was the +letter sent by the Swiss Ambassador, who took our city in his way as he +traveled south, and which was written on the occasion of the birth of this +very girl."</p> + +<p>"Not of this, dear friend, but of an elder sister, who is, long since, a +cherub in heaven. Thou seest the ninth precious gift that God bestowed, +and thou seest all that is now left of his bounty."</p> + +<p>The countenance of the Signor Grimaldi lost its joyousness, and a deep +pause in the discourse succeeded. They lived in an age when communications +between friends that were separated by distance, and by the frontiers of +different states, were rare and uncertain. The fresh and novel affections +of marriage had first broken an intercourse that was continued, under such +disadvantages as marked the period, long after their duties called them +different ways; and time, with its changes and the embarrassments of wars, +had finally destroyed nearly every link in the chain of their +correspondence. Each had, therefore, much of a near and interesting +character to communicate to the other, and each dreaded to speak, lest he +might cause some wound, that was not perfectly healed, to bleed anew. The +volume of matter conveyed in the few words uttered by the Baron de +Willading, showed both in how many ways they might inflict pain without +intention, and how necessary it was to be guarded in their discourse +during the first days of their renewed intercourse.</p> + +<p>"This girl at least is a treasure of itself, of which I must envy thee the +possession," the Signor Grimaldi at length rejoined.</p> + +<p>The Swiss made one of those quick movements which betray surprise, and it +was very apparent, that, just at the moment, he was more affected by some +interest of his friend, than by the apprehensions which usually beset him +when any very direct allusion was made to his surviving child.</p> + +<p>"Gaetano, thou hast a son!"</p> + +<p>"He is lost--hopelessly--irretrievably lost--at least, to me!"</p> + +<p>These were brief but painful glimpses into each other's concerns, and +another melancholy and embarrassed pause followed. As the Baron de +Willading witnessed the sorrow that deeply shadowed the face of the +Genoese, he almost felt that Providence, in summoning his own boys to +early graves, might have spared him the still bitterer grief of mourning +over the unworthiness of a living son.</p> + +<p>"These are God's decrees, Melchior," the Italian continued of his own +accord, "and we, as soldiers, as men, and more than either, as Christians, +should know how to submit. The letter, of which I spoke, contained the +last direct tidings that I received of thy welfare, though different +travellers have mentioned thee as among the honored and trusted of thy +country, without descending to the particulars of thy private life."</p> + +<p>"The retirement of our mountains, and the little intercourse of strangers +with the Swiss, have denied me even this meagre satisfaction as respects +thee and thy fortunes. Since the especial courier sent, according to our +ancient agreement, to announce--"</p> + +<p>The baron hesitated, for he felt he was again touching on forbidden +ground.</p> + +<p>"To announce the birth of my unhappy boy," continued the Signor Grimaldi, +firmly.</p> + +<p>"To announce that much-wished-for event, I have not had news of thee, +except in a way so vague, as to whet the desire to know more rather than +to appease the longings of love."</p> + +<p>"These doubts are the penalties that friendship pays to separation. We +enlist the affections in youth with the recklessness of hope, and, when +called different ways by duties or interest, we first begin to perceive +that the world is not the heaven we thought it, but that each enjoyment +has its price, as each grief has its solace. Thou hast carried arms since +we were soldiers in company?"</p> + +<p>"As a Swiss only."</p> + +<p>The answer drew a gleam of habitual humor from, the keen eye of the +Italian, whose countenance was apt to change as rapidly as his thoughts.</p> + +<p>"In what service?"</p> + +<p>"Nay, a truce to thy old pleasantries, good Grimaldi--and yet I should +scarce love thee, as I do, wert thou other than thou art! I believe we +come at last to prize even the foibles of those we truly esteem!"</p> + +<p>"It must be so, young lady, or boyish follies would long since have weaned +thy father from me. I have never spared him on the subjects of snows and +money, and yet he beareth with me marvellously. Well, strong love endureth +much. Hath the baron often spoken to thee of old Grimaldi--young +Grimaldi, I should say--and of the many freaks of our thoughtless days?"</p> + +<p>"So much, Signore," returned Adelheid, who had wept and smiled by turns +during the interrupted dialogue of her father and his friend, "that I can +repeat most of your youthful histories. The castle of Willading is deep +among the mountains, and it is rare indeed for the foot of stranger to +enter its gates. During the long evenings of our severe winters, I have +listened as a daughter would be apt to listen to the recital of most of +your common adventures, and in listening, I have not only learned to know, +but to esteem, one that is justly so dear to my parent."</p> + +<p>"I make no doubt, now, thou hast the history of the plunge into the canal, +by over-stooping to see the Venetian beauty, at thy finger's ends?"</p> + +<p>"I do remember some such act of humid gallantry," returned Adelheid, +laughing.</p> + +<p>"Did thy father tell thee, child, of the manner in which he bore me off in +a noble rescue from a deadly charge of the Imperial cavalry?"</p> + +<p>"I have heard some light allusion to such an event, too," returned +Adelheid, evidently trying to recall the history of the affair, to her +mind "but--"</p> + +<p>"Light does he call it, and of small account? I wish never to see another +as heavy! This is the impartiality of thy narratives, good Melchior, in +which a life preserved, wounds received, and a charge to make the German +quail, are set down as matters to be touched with a light hand!".</p> + +<p>"If I did thee this service, it was more than deserved by the manner in +which, before Milan----"</p> + +<p>"Well, let it all pass together. We are old fools, young lady, and should +we get garrulous in each other's praise, thou mightest mistake us for +braggarts; a character that, in truth, neither wholly merits. Didst thou +ever tell the girl, Melchior, of our mad excursion into the forests of the +Apennines, in search of a Spanish lady that had fallen into the hands of +banditti; and how we passed weeks on a foolish enterprise of errantry, +that had become useless, by the timely application of a few sequins on the +part of the husband, even before we started on the chivalrous, not to say +silly excursion?"</p> + +<p>"Say chivalrous, but not silly," answered Adelheid, with the simplicity of +a young and sincere mind. "Of this adventure I have heard; but to me it +has never seemed ridiculous. A generous motive might well excuse an +undertaking of less favorable auspices."</p> + +<p>"'Tis fortunate," returned the Signor Grimaldi, thoughtfully, "that, if +youth and exaggerated opinions lead us to commit mad pranks under the name +of spirit and generosity, there are other youthful and generous minds to +reflect our sentiments and to smile upon our folly."</p> + +<p>"This is more like the wary grey-headed ex-pounder of wisdom than like the +hot-headed Gaetano Grimaldi of old!" exclaimed the baron, though he +laughed while uttering the words, as if he felt, at least a portion of the +other's indifference to those exaggerated feelings that had entered much +into the characters of both in youth. "The time has been when the words, +policy and calculation, would have cost a companion thy favor!"</p> + +<p>"'Tis said that the prodigal of twenty makes? the miser of seventy. It is +certain that even our southern sun does not warm the blood of threescore +as suddenly as it heats that of one. But we will not darken thy daughter's +views of the future by a picture too faithfully drawn, lest she become +wise before her time. I have often questioned, Melchior, which is the most +precious gift of nature, a worm fancy, or the colder powers of reason. But +if I must say which I most love, the point becomes less difficult of +decision. I would prefer each in its season, or rather the two united, +with a gradual change in their influence. Let the youth commence with the +first in the ascendant, and close with the last. He who begins life too +cold a reasoner may end it a calculating egotist; and he who is ruled +solely by his imagination is in danger of having his mind so ripened as to +bring forth the fruits of a visionary. Had it pleased heaven to have left +me the dear son I possessed for so short a period, I would rather have +seen him leaning to the side of exaggeration in his estimate of men, +before experience came to chill his hopes, than to see him scan his +fellows with a too philosophical eye in boyhood. 'Tis said we are but clay +at the best, but the ground, before it has been well tilled, sends forth +the plants that are most congenial to its soil, and though it be of no +great value, give me the spontaneous and generous growth of the weed, +which proves the depth of the loam, rather than a stinted imitation of +that which cultivation may, no doubt, render more useful if not more +grateful."</p> + +<p>The allusion to his lost son caused another cloud to pass athwart the brow +of the Genoese.</p> + +<p>"Thou seest, Adelheid," he continued, after a pause--"for Adelheid will I +call thee, in virtue of a second father's rights--that we are making our +folly respectable, at least to ourselves--Master Patron, thou hast a +well-charged bark!"</p> + +<p>"Thanks to your two honors;" answered Baptiste, who stood at the helm, +near the group of principal passengers. "These windfalls come rarely to +the poor, and we must make much of such as offer. The games at Vévey have +called every craft on the Leman to the upper end of the lake, and a little +mother-wit led me to trust to the last turn of the wheel, which, as you +see, Signore has not come up a blank."</p> + +<p>"Have many strangers passed by your city on their way to these sports?"</p> + +<p>"Many hundreds, noble gentleman; and report speaks of thousands that are +collecting at Vévey and in the neighboring villages. The country of Vaud +has not had a richer harvest from her games this many a year."</p> + +<p>It is fortunate, Melchior, that the desire to witness these revels should +have arisen in us at the same moment. The hope of at last obtaining +certain tidings of thy welfare was the chief inducement that caused me to +steal from Genoa, whither I am compelled to return forthwith. There is +truly something providential in this meeting!"</p> + +<p>"I so esteem it," returned the Baron de Willading; "though the hope of +soon embracing thee was strongly alive in me. Thou art mistaken in +fancying that curiosity, or a wish to mingle with the multitude at Vévey, +has drawn me from my castle. Italy was in my eye, as it has long been in +my heart." + +"How!--Italy?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing less. This fragile plant of the mountains has drooped of late in +her native air, and skilful advisers have counselled the sunny side of the +Alps as a shelter to revive her animation. I have promised Roger de Blonay +to pass a night or two within his ancient walls, and then we are destined +to seek the hospitality of the monks of St. Bernard. Like thee, I had +hoped this unusual sortie from my hold might lead to intelligence touching +the fortunes of one I have never ceased to love."</p> + +<p>The Signor Grimaldi turned a more scrutinizing took towards the face of +their female companion. Her gentle and winning beauty gave him pleasure; +but, with his attention quickened by what had just fallen from her +father, he traced, in silent pain, the signs of that early fading which +threatened to include this last hope of his friend in the common fate of +the family. Disease had not, however, set its seal on the sweet face of +Adelheid, in a manner to attract the notice of a common observer. The +lessening of the bloom, the mournful character of a dove-like eye, and a +look of thoughtfulness, on a brow that he had ever known devoid of care +and open as day with youthful ingenuousness, were the symptoms that first +gave the alarm to her father, whose previous losses, and whose +solitariness, as respects the ties of the world, had rendered him keenly +alive to impressions of such a nature. The reflections excited by this +examination brought painful recollections to all, and it was long before +the discourse was renewed.</p> + +<p>In the mean time, the Winkelried was not idle. As the vessel receded from +the cover of the buildings and the hills, the force of the breeze was +felt, and her speed became quickened in proportion; though the watermen of +her crew often studied the manner in which she dragged her way through the +element with a shake of the head, that was intended to express their +consciousness that too much had been required of the craft. The cupidity +of Baptiste had indeed charged his good bark to the uttermost. The water +was nearly on a line with the low stern, and when the bark had reached a +part of the lake where the waves were rolling with some force, it was +found that the vast weight was too much to be lifted by the feeble and +broken efforts of these miniature seas. The consequences were, however, +more vexatious than alarming. A few wet feet among the less quiet of the +passengers, with an occasional slapping of a sheet of water against the +gangways, and a consequent drift of spray across the pile of human heads +in the centre of the bark, were all the immediate personal +inconveniencies. Still unjustifiable greediness of gain, had tempted the +patron to commit the unseaman-like fault of overloading his vessel. The +decrease of speed was another and a graver consequence of his cupidity, +since it might prevent their arrival in port before the breeze had +expended itself.</p> + +<p>The lake of Geneva lies nearly in the form of a crescent, stretching from +the south-west towards the north-east. Its northern, or the Swiss shore, +is chiefly what is called, in the language of the country, a <i>côte</i>, or a +declivity that admits of cultivation; and, with few exceptions, it has +been, since the earliest periods of history, planted with the generous +vine. Here the Romans had many stations and posts, vestiges of which are +still visible. The confusion and the mixture of interests that succeeded +the fall of the empire, gave rise, in the middle ages, to various baronial +castles, ecclesiastical towns, and towers of defence, which still stand on +the margin of this beautiful sheet of water, or ornament the eminences a +little inland. At the time of which we write, the whole coast of the +Leman, if so imposing a word may be applied to the shores of so small a +body of water, was in the possession of the three several states of +Geneva, Savoy, and Berne. The first consisted of a mere fragment of +territory at the western, or lower horn of the crescent; the second +occupied nearly the whole of the southern side of the sheet, or the cavity +of the half-moon; while the latter was mistress of the whole of the convex +border, and of the eastern horn. The shores of Savoy are composed, with +immaterial exceptions, of advanced spurs of the high Alps, among which +towers Mont Blanc, like a sovereign seated in majesty in the midst of a +brilliant court, the rocks frequently rising from the water's edge in +perpendicular masses. None of the lakes of this remarkable region possess +a greater variety of scenery than that of Geneva, which changes from the +smiling aspect of fertility and cultivation, at its lower extremity, to +the sublimity of a savage and sublime nature at its upper. Vévey, the +haven for which the Winkelried was bound, lies at the distance of three +leagues from the head of the lake, or the point where it receives the +Rhone; and Geneva, the port from which the reader has just seen her take +her departure, is divided by that river as it glances out of the blue +basin of the Leman again, to traverse the fertile fields of France, on its +hurried course towards the distant Mediterranean.</p> + +<p>It is well known that the currents of air, on all bodies of water that lie +amid high and broken mountains, are uncertain both as to their direction +and their force. This was the difficulty which had most disturbed Baptiste +during the delay of the bark, for the experienced waterman well knew it +required the first and the freest effort of the wind to "drive the breeze +home," as it is called by seamen, against the opposing currents that +frequently descend from the mountains which surrounded his port. In +addition to this difficulty, the shape of the lake was another reason why +the winds rarely blow in the same direction over the whole of its surface +at the same time. Strong and continued gales commonly force themselves +down into the deep basin, and push their way, against all resistance, into +every crevice of the rocks; but a power less than this, rarely succeeds in +favoring the bark with the same breeze, from the entrance to the outlet of +the Rhone.</p> + +<p>As a consequence of these peculiarities, the passengers of the Winkelried +had early evidence that they had trifled too long with the fickle air. The +breeze carried them up abreast of Lausanne in good season, but here the +influence of the mountains began to impair its force, and, by the time the +sun had a little fallen towards the long, dark, even line of the Jura, the +good vessel was driven to the usual expedients of jibing and hauling-in of +sheets.</p> + +<p>Baptiste had only to blame his own cupidity for this disappointment; and +the consciousness that, had he complied with the engagement, made on the +previous evening with the mass of his passengers, to depart with the dawn, +he should now have been in a situation to profit by any turn of fortune +that was likely to arise from the multitude of strangers who were in +Vévey, rendered him moody. As is usual with the headstrong and selfish +when they possess the power, others were made to pay for the fault that he +alone had committed. His men were vexed with contradictory and useless +orders; the inferior passengers were accused of constant neglect of his +instructions, a fault which he did not hesitate to affirm had caused the +bark to sail less swiftly than usual, and he no longer even answered the +occasional question of those for whom he felt habitual deference, with his +former respect and readiness.</p> +</div> + + +<div class="chapter" id="ch04"> +<h2>Chapter IV.</h2> + + +<blockquote class="epi"><p> Thrice to thine, and thrice to mine,<br /> +And thrice again, to make up nine</p> + +<p> Macbeth.</p></blockquote> + + +<p>Baffling and light airs kept the Winkelried a long time nearly stationary, +and it was only by paying the greatest attention to trimming the sails and +to all the little minutiæ of the waterman's art that the vessel was +worked into the eastern horn of the crescent, as the sun touched the hazy +line of the Jura. Here the wind tailed entirely, the surface of the lake +becoming as glassy and smooth as a mirror, and further motion, for the +time at least, was quite out of the question. The crew, perceiving the +hopelessness of their exertions, and fatigued with the previous toil, +threw themselves among the boxes and bales, and endeavored to catch a +little sleep, in anticipation of the north breeze, which, at this season +of the year, usually blew from the shores of Vaud within an hour or two of +the disappearance of the sun.</p> + +<p>The deck of the bark was now left to the undisputed possession of her +passengers. The day had latterly been sultry, for the season, the even +water having cast back the hot rays in fierce reflection, and, as evening +drew on, a refreshing coolness came to relieve the densely packed and +scorching travellers. The effect of such a change was like that which +would have been observed among a flock of heavily fleeced sheep, which, +after gasping for breath beneath trees and hedges, during the time of the +sun's power, are seen scattering over their pastures to feed, or to play +their antics, as a grateful shade succeeds to cool their panting sides.</p> + +<p>Baptiste, as is but too apt to be the case with men possessed of brief +authority, during the day had mercilessly played the tyrant with all the +passengers that were beneath the privileged degrees, more than once +threatening to come to extremities with several, who had betrayed +restlessness under the restraint and suffering of their unaccustomed +situation. Perhaps there is no man who feels less for the complaints of +the novice than your weather-beaten and hardened mariner; for, +familiarized to the suffering and confinement of a vessel, and at liberty +himself to seek relief in his duties and avocations, he can scarcely enter +into the privations and embarrassments of those to whom all is so new and +painful. But, in the patron of the Winkelried, there existed a natural in +difference to the grievances of others, and a narrow selfishness of +disposition, in aid of the opinions which had been formed by a life of +hardship and exposure. He considered the vulgar passenger as so much +troublesome freight, which, while it brought the advantage of a higher +remuneration than the same cubic measurement of inanimate matter, had the +unpleasant drawback of volition and motion. With this general tendency to +bully and intimidate, the wary patron had, however, made a silent +exception in favor of the Italian, who has introduced himself to the +reader by the ill-omened name of Il Maledetto, or the accursed. This +formidable personage had enjoyed a perfect immunity from the effects of +Baptiste's tyranny, which he had been able to establish by a very simple +and quiet process. Instead of cowering at the fierce glance, or recoiling +at the rude remonstrances of the churlish patron, he had chosen his time, +when the latter was in one of his hottest ebullitions of anger, and when +maledictions and menaces flowed out of his mouth in torrents, coolly to +place himself on the very spot that the other had proscribed, where he +maintained his ground with a quietness and composure which it might have +been difficult to say was more to be imputed to extreme ignorance, or to +immeasurable contempt. At least so reasoned the spectators; some thinking +that the stranger meant to bring affairs to a speedy issue by braving the +patron's fury, and others charitably inferring that he knew no better. But +thus did not Baptiste reason himself. He saw by the calm eye and resolute +demeanor of his passenger that he himself, his pretended professional +difficulties, his captiousness, and his threats, were alike despised; and +he shrank from collision with such a spirit, precisely on the principle +that the intimidated among the rest of the travellers shrunk from a +contest with his own. From this moment Il Maledetto, or, as he was called +by Baptiste him self, who it would appear had some knowledge of his +person, Maso, became as completely the master of his own movements, as if +he had been one of the more honored in the stern of the bark, or even her +patron. He did not abuse his advantage, however, rarely quitting the +indicated station near his own effects, where he had been mainly content +to repose in listless indolence, like the others, dozing away the minutes.</p> + +<p>But the scene was now altogether changed. The instant the wrangling, +discontented, and unhappy, because disappointed, patron, confessed his +inability to reach his port before the coming of the expected +night-breeze, and threw himself on a bale, to conceal his dissatisfaction +in sleep, head arose after head from among the pile of freight, and body +after body followed the nobler member, until the whole mass was alive with +human beings. The invigorating coolness, the tranquil hour, the prospect +of a safe if not a speedy arrival, and the relief from excessive +weariness, produced a sudden and agreeable re-action in the feelings of +all. Even the Baron de Willading and his friends, who had shared in none +of the especial privations just named, joined in the general exhibition of +satisfaction and good-will, rather aiding by their smiles and affability +than restraining by their presence the whims and jokes of the different +individuals among the motley group of their nameless companions.</p> + +<p>The aspect and position of the bark, as well as the prospects of those on +board as they were connected with their arrival, now deserve to be more +particularly mentioned. The manner in which the vessel was loaded to the +water's edge has already been more than once alluded to. The whole of the +centre of the broad deck, a portion of the Winkelried which, owing to the +over-hanging gangways, possessed, in common with all the similar craft of +the Leman, a greater width than is usual in vessels of the same tonnage +elsewhere, was so cumbered with freight as barely to leave a passage to +the crew, forward and aft, by stepping among the boxes and bales that were +piled much higher than their own heads. A little vacant space was left +near the stern, in which it was possible for the party who occupied that +part of the deck to move, though in sufficiently straitened limits, while +the huge tiller played in its semicircle behind. At the other extremity, +as is absolutely necessary in all navigation, the forecastle was +reasonably clear, though even this important part of the deck was +bristling with the flukes of no less than nine anchors that lay in a row +across its breadth, the wild roadsteads of this end of the lake rendering +such a provision of ground-tackle absolutely indispensable to the safety +of every craft that ventured into its eastern horn. The effect of the +whole, seen as it was in a state of absolute rest, was to give to the +Winkelried the appearance of a small mound in the midst of the water, that +was crowded with human beings, and seemingly so incorporated with the +element oh which it floated as to grow out of its bosom; an image that the +fancy was not slow to form, aided as it was by the reflection of the mass +that the unruffled lake threw back from its mirror-like face, as perfectly +formed, as unwieldy, and nearly as distinct, as the original. To this +picture of a motionless rock, or island, the spars, sails, and high, +pointed beak, however, formed especial exceptions. The yards hung, as +seamen term it, a cockbill, or in such negligent and picturesque positions +as an artist would most love to draw, while the drapery of the canvass was +suspended in graceful and spotless festoons, as it had fallen by chance, +or been cast carelessly from the hands of the boatmen. The beak, or prow, +rose in its sharp gallant stem, resembling the stately neck of a swan, +slightly swerving from its direction, or inclining in a nearly +imperceptible sweep, as the hull yielded to the secret influence of the +varying currents.</p> + +<p>When the teeming pile of freight, therefore, began so freely to bring +forth, and traveller after traveller left his wallet, there was no great +space found in which they could stretch their wearied limbs, or seek the +change they needed. But suffering is a good preparative for pleasure, and +there is no sweetner of liberty like previous confinement. Baptiste was no +sooner heard to snore, than the whole hummock of cargo was garnished with +upright bodies and stretching arms and legs, as mice are known to steal +from their holes during the slumbers of their mortal enemy, the cat.</p> + +<p>The reader has been made sufficiently acquainted with the moral +composition of the Winkelried's living freight, in the opening chapter. As +it had undergone no other alteration than that produced by lassitude, he +is already prepared, therefore, to renew his communications with its +different members, all of whom were well disposed to show off in their +respective characters, the moment they were favored with an opportunity. +The mercurial Pippo, as he had been the most difficult to restrain during +the day, was the first to steal from his lair, now that the Argus-like +eyes of Baptiste permitted the freedom, and the exhilarating, coolness of +the sunset invited action. His success emboldened others, and, ere long, +the buffoon had an admiring audience around him, that was well-disposed to +laugh at his witticisms, and to applaud all his practical jokes. Gaining +courage as he proceeded, the buffoon gradually went from liberty to +liberty, until he was at length triumphantly established on what might be +termed an advanced spur of the mountain formed by the tubs of Nicklaus +Wagner, in the regular exercise of his art; while a crowd of amused and +gaping spectators clustered about him, peopling every eminence of the +height, and even invading the more privileged deck in their eagerness to +see and to admire.</p> + +<p>Though frequently reduced by adverse fortune to the lowest shifts of his +calling, such as the horse-play of Policinello, and the imitation of +uncouth sounds, that resembled nothing either in heaven or earth, Pippo +was a clever knave in his way, and was quite equal to a display of the +higher branches of his art, whenever chance gave him an audience capable +of estimating his qualities. On the present occasion he was obliged to +address himself both to the polished and to the unpolished; for the +proximity of their position, as well as a good-natured readiness to lend +themselves to fooleries that were so agreeable to most around them, had +brought the more gentle portion of the passengers within the influence of +his wit.</p> + +<p>"And now, illustrissimi signori," continued the wily juggler, after having +drawn a burst of applause by one of his happiest hits in a sleight-of-hand +exhibition, "I come to the most imposing and the most mysterious part of +my knowledge--that of looking into the future, and of foretelling events. +If there are any among you who would wish to know how long they are to eat +the bread of toil, let them come to me; if there is a youth that wishes +to learn whether the heart of his mistress is made of flesh or of stone--a +maiden that would see into a youth's faith and constancy, while her long +eyelashes cover her sight like a modest silken veil--or a noble, that +would fain have an insight into the movements of his rivals at court or +council, let them all put their questions to Pippo, who has an answer +ready for each, and an answer so real, that the most expert among the +listeners will be ready to swear that a lie from his mouth is worth more +than truth from that of another man."</p> + +<p>"He that would gain credit for knowledge of the future," gravely observed +the Signor Grimaldi, who had listened to his countryman's voluble eulogium +on his own merits with a good-natured laugh, "had best commence by showing +his familiarity with the past. Who and what is he that speaks to thee, as +a specimen of thy skill in sooth-saying?"</p> + +<p>"His eccellenza is more than he seems, less than he deserves to be, and as +much as any present. He hath an old and a prized friend at his elbow; hath +come because it was his pleasure, to witness the games at Vévey--will +depart for the same reason, when they are over, and will seek his home at +his leisure--not like a fox stealing into his hole, but as the stately +ship sails, gallantly, and by the light of the sun, into her haven."</p> + +<p>"This will never do, Pippo," returned the good-humoured old noble; "at +need I might equal this myself. Thou shouldst relate that which is less +probable, while it is more true."</p> + +<p>"Signore, we prophets like to sleep in whole skins. If it be your +eccellenza's pleasure and that of your noble company to listen to the +truly wonderful, I will tell some of these honest people matters touching +their own interests that they do not know themselves, and yet it shall be +as clear to every body else as the sun in the heavens at noon-day."</p> + +<p>"Thou wilt, probably, tell them their faults?"</p> + +<p>"Your eccellenza has a right to my place, for no prophet could have better +divined my intention;" answered the laughing knave. "Come nearer, friend," +he added, beckoning to the Bernois; "thou art Nicklaus Wagner, a fat +peasant of the great canton, and a warm husbandman, that fancies he has a +title to the respect of all he meets because some one among his fathers +bought a right in the bürgerschaft. Thou hast a large stake in the +Winkelried, and art at this moment thinking what punishment is good enough +for an impudent soothsayer who dares dive so unceremoniously into the +secrets of so warm a citizen, while all around thee wish thy cheeses had +never left the dairy, to the discomfort of our limbs and to the great +detriment of the bark's speed."</p> + +<p>This sally at the expense of Nicklaus drew a burst of merriment from the +listeners; for the selfish spirit he had manifested throughout the day had +won little favor with a majority of his fellow travellers, who had all the +generous propensities that are usually so abundant among those who have +little or nothing to bestow, and who were by this time so well disposed to +be merry that much less would have served to stimulate their mirth.</p> + +<p>"Wert thou the owner of this good freight friend, thou might find its +presence less uncomfortable than thou now appearest to think," returned +the literal peasant, who had no humour for raillery, and to whom a jest on +the subject of property had that sort of irreverend character that popular +opinion and holy sayings have attached to waste. "The cheeses are well +enough where they find themselves; if thou dislikest their company thou +hast the alternative of the water."</p> + +<p>"A truce between us, worshipful burgher! and let our skirmish end in +something that may be useful to both. Thou hast that which would be +acceptable to me, and I have that which no owner of cheeses would refuse, +did he know the means by which it might be come at honestly."</p> + +<p>Nicklaus growled a few words of distrust and indifference, but it was +plain that the ambiguous language of the juggler, as usual, had succeeded +in awakening interest. With the affectation of a mind secretly conscious +of its own infirmity, he pretended to be indifferent to what the other +professed a readiness to reveal, while with the rapacity of a grasping +spirit he betrayed a longing to know more.</p> + +<p>"First I will tell thee," said Pippo, with a parade of good-nature, "that +thou deservest to remain in ignorance, as a punishment of thy pride and +want of faith; but it is the failing of your prophet to let that be known +which he ought to conceal. Thou flatterest thyself this is the fattest +cargo of cheeses that will cross the Swiss waters this season, on their +way to an Italian market? Shake not thy head.--'Tis useless to deny it to +a man of my learning!"</p> + +<p>"Nay, I know there are others as heavy, and, it may be, as good; but this +has the advantage of being the first, a circumstance that is certain to +command a price."</p> + +<p>"Such is the blindness of one that nature sent on earth to deal in +cheeses!"--The Herr Von Willading and his friends smiled among themselves +at the cool impudence of the mountebank--"Thou fanciest it is so; and at +this moment, a heavily laden bark is driving before a favorable gale, near +the upper end of the lake of the four cantons, while a long line of mules +is waiting at Flüellen, to bear its freight by the paths of the St. +Gothard, to Milano and other rich markets of the south. In virtue of my +secret power, I see that, in despite of all thy cravings, it will arrive +before thine."</p> + +<p>Nicklaus fidgeted, for the graphic particularity of Pippo almost led him +to believe the augury might be true.</p> + +<p>"Had this bark sailed according to our covenant," he said, with a +simplicity that betrayed his uneasiness, "the beasts bespoken by me would +now be loading at Villeneuve; and, if there be justice in Vaud, I shall +hold Baptiste responsible for any disadvantage that may come of the +neglect."</p> + +<p>"Luckily, the generous Baptiste is asleep," returned Pippo, "or we might +hear objections to this scheme. But, Signiori, I see you are satisfied +with this insight into the character of the warm peasant of Berne, who, to +say truth, has not much to conceal from us, and I will turn my searching +looks into the soul of this pious pilgrim, the reverend Conrado, whose +unction may well go near to be a leaven sufficient to lighten all in the +bark of their burthens of backslidings. Thou earnest the penitence and +prayers of many sinners, besides some merchandise of this nature of thine +own."</p> + +<p>"I am bound to Loretto, with the mental offerings of certain Christians, +who are too much occupied with their daily concerns to make the journey in +person," answered the pilgrim, who never absolutely threw aside his +professional character, though he cared in general so little about his +hypocrisy being known. "I am poor, and humble of appearance, but I have +seen miracles in my day!"</p> + +<p>"If any trust valuable offerings to thy keeping, thou art a living miracle +in thine own person! I can foresee that thou wilt bear nought else beside +aves."</p> + +<p>"Nay, I pretend to deal in little more. The rich and great, they that +send vessels of gold and rich dresses to Our Lady, employ their own +favorite messengers; I am but the bearer of prayer and the substitute for +the penitent. The sufferings that I undergo in the flesh are passed to the +credit of my employers, who get the benefit of my aches and pains. I +pretend to be no more than their go-between, as yonder manner has so +lately called me."</p> + +<p>Pippo turned suddenly, following the direction of the other's eye, and +cast a glance at the self-styled Il Maledetto. This individual, of all +the common herd, had alone forborne to join the gaping and amused crowd +near the juggler. His forbearance, or want of curiosity, had left him in +the quiet possession of the little platform that was made by the stowage +of the boxes, and he now stood on the summit of the pile, conspicuous by +his situation and mein, the latter being remarkable for its unmoved +calmness, heightened by the understanding manner that is so peculiar to a +seaman when afloat."</p> + +<p>"Wilt thou have the history of thy coming perils, friend mariner?" cried +the mercurial mountebank: "A journal of thy future risks and tempests to +amuse you in this calm? Such a picture of sea-monsters and of coral that +grows in the ocean's caverns, where mariners sleep, that shall give thee +the night-mare for months, and cause thee to dream of wrecks and bleached +bones for the rest of thy life? Thou hast only to wish it, to have the +adventures of thy next voyage laid before thee, like a map."</p> + +<p>"Thou would'st gain more credit with me, as one cunning in thy art, by +giving the history of the last."</p> + +<p>"The request is reasonable, and thou shalt have it: for I love the bold +adventurer that trusts himself hardily upon the great deep;" answered the +unabashed Pippo. "My first lessons in necromancy were received on the mole +of Napoli, amid burly Inglesi, straight-nosed Greeks, swarthy Sicilians, +and Maltese with spirits as fine as the gold of their own chains. This was +the school in which I learned to know my art, and an apt scholar I proved +in all that touches the philosophy and humanity of my craft. Signore, thy +palm?"</p> + +<p>Maso spread his sinewy hand in the direction of the juggler, without +descending from his elevation, and in a way to show that, while he would +not balk the common humor, he was superior to the gaping wonder and +childish credulity of most of those who watched the result. Pippo affected +to stretch out his neck, in order to study the hard and dark lines, and +then he resumed his revelations, like one perfectly satisfied with what he +had discovered.</p> + +<p>"The hand is masculine, and has been familiar with many friends in its +time. It hath dealt with steel, and cordage, and saltpetre, and most of +all with gold. Signori, the true seat of a man's digestion lies in the +palm of his hand; if that is free to give and to receive, he will never +have a costive conscience, for of all damnable inconveniences that afflict +mortals, that of a conscience that will neither give up nor take is the +heaviest curse. Let a man have as much sagacity as shall make him a +cardinal, if it get entangled in the meshes of one of your unyielding +consciences, ye shall see him a mendicant brother to his dying day; let +him be born a prince with a close-ribbed opinion of this sort, and he had +better have been born a beggar, for his reign will be like a river from +which the current sets outward, without any return. No, my friends, a palm +like this of Maso's is a favorable sign, since it hinges on a pliant will, +that will open and shut like a well-formed eye, or the jacket of a +shell-fish, at its owner's pleasure. Thou hast drawn near to many a port +before this of Vévey, after the sun has fallen low, Signor Maso!"</p> + +<p>"In that I have taken a seaman's chances, which depend more on the winds +than on his own wishes."</p> + +<p>"Thou esteemest the bottom of the craft in which thou art required to +sail, as far more important than her ancient. Thou hast an eye for a keel, +but none for color; unless, indeed, as it may happen to be convenient to +seem that thou art not."</p> + +<p>"Nay, Master Soothsayer, I suspect thee to be an officer of some of the +Holy Brotherhoods, sent in this guise to question us poor travellers to +our ruin!" answered Maso. "I am, what thou seest, but a poor mariner that +hath no better bark under him than this of Baptiste, and on a sea no +larger than a Swiss lake."</p> + +<p>"Shrewdly observed," said Pippo, winking to those near him, though he so +little liked the eye and bearing of the other that he was not sorry to +turn to some new subject. "But what matters it, Signori, to be speaking of +the qualities of men! We are all alike, honorable, merciful, more disposed +to help others than to help ourselves, and so little given to selfishness, +that nature has been obliged to supply every mother's son of us with a +sort of goad, that shall be constantly pricking us on to look after our +own interests. Here are animals whose dispositions are less understood, +and we will bestow a useful minute in examining their qualities. Reverend +Augustine, this mastiff of thine is named Uberto?"</p> + +<p>"He is known by that appellation throughout the cantons and their allies. +The fame of the dog reaches even to Turin and to most of the towns in the +plain of Lombardy."</p> + +<p>"Now, Signori, you perceive that this is but a secondary creature in the +scale of animals. Do him good and he will be grateful; do him harm, and he +will forgive. Feed him, and he is satisfied. He will travel the paths of +the St. Bernard, night and day, to do credit to his training, and when the +toil is ended, all he asks is just as much meat as will keep the breath +within his ribs. Had heaven given Uberto a conscience and greater wit, the +first might have shown him the impiety of working for travellers on holy +days and festas, while the latter would be apt to say he was a fool for +troubling himself about the safety of others at all."</p> + +<p>"And yet his masters, the good Augustines themselves, do not hold so +selfish a creed!" observed Adelheid.</p> + +<p>"Ah! they have heaven in view! I cry the reverend Augustine's pardon--but, +lady, the difference is in the length of the calculation. Woe's me, +brethren; I would that my parents had educated me for a bishop, or a +viceroy, or some other modest employment, that this learned craft of mine +might have fallen into better hands! Ye would lose in instruction, but I +should be removed from the giddy heights of ambition, and die at last with +some hopes of being a saint. Fair lady, thou travellest on a bootless +errand, if I know the reason that tempts thee to cross the Alps at this +late season of the year."</p> + +<p>This sudden address caused both Adelheid and her father to start, for, in +despite of pride and the force of reason, it is seldom that we can +completely redeem our opinions from the shackles of superstition, and that +dread of the unseen future which appears to have been entailed upon our +nature, as a ceaseless monitor of the eternal state of being to which all +are hastening, with steps so noiseless and yet so sure. The countenance of +the maiden changed, and she turned a quick, involuntary glance at her +anxious parent, as if to note the effect of this rude announcement on him +before she answered.</p> + +<p>"I go in quest of the blessing, health," she said, "and I should be sorry +to think thy prognostic likely to be realized. With youth, a good +constitution, and tender friends of my side, there is reason to think thou +mayest, in this at least, prove a false prophet."</p> + +<p>"Lady, hast thou hope?"</p> + +<p>Pippo ventured this question as he had adventured his opinion; that is to +say, recklessly, pretendingly, and with great indifference to any effect +it might have, except as it was likely to establish his reputation with +the crowd. Still, it would seem, that by one of those singular +coincidences that are hourly occurring in real life, he had unwittingly +touched a sensitive chord in the system of his fair fellow-traveller. Her +eyes sank to the deck at this abrupt question, the color again stole to +her polished temples, and the least practised in the emotions of the sex +might have detected painful embarrassment in her mein. She was, however, +spared the awkwardness of a reply, by the unexpected and prompt +interference of Maso.</p> + +<p>"Hope is the last of our friends to prove recreant," said this mariner, +"else would the cases of many in company be bad enough, thine own +included, Pippo; for, judging by the outward signs, the Swabian campaign +has not been rich in spoils."</p> + +<p>"Providence has ordered the harvests of wit much as it has ordered the +harvests of the field," returned the juggler, who felt the sarcasm of the +other's remark with all the poignancy that it could derive from truth; +since, to expose his real situation, he was absolutely indebted to an +extraordinary access of generosity in Baptiste, for his very passage +across the Leman. "One year, thou shall find the vineyard dripping liquors +precious as diamonds, while, the next, barrenness shall make it its seat. +To-day the peasant will complain that poverty prevents him from building +the covering necessary to house his crops, while to-morrow he will be +heard groaning over empty garners. Abundance and famine travel the earth +hard upon each other's heels, and it is not surprising that he who lives +by his wits should sometimes fail of his harvest, as well as he who lives +by his hands."</p> + +<p>"If constant custom can secure success, the pious Conrad should be +prosperous," answered Maso, "for, of all machinery, that of sin is the +least seldom idle. His trade at least can never fail for want of +employers."</p> + +<p>"Thou hast it, Signor Maso; and it is for this especial reason that I wish +my parents had educated me for a bishoprick. He that is charged with +reproving his fellow creatures for their vices need never know an idle +hour."</p> + +<p>"Thou dost not understand what thou sayest," put in Conrad; "love for the +saints has much fallen away since my youth, and where there is one +Christian ready now to bestow his silver, in order to get the blessing of +some favorite shrine, there were then ten. I have heard the elders of us +pilgrims say, that, fifty years since, 'twas a pleasure to bear the sins +of a whole parish, for ours is a business in which the load does not so +much depend on the amount as the quality; and, in their time there were +willing offerings, frank confessions, and generous consideration for those +who undertook the toil."</p> + +<p>"In such a trade, the less thou hast to answer for, in behalf of others, +the more will pass to thy credit on the score of thine own backslidings," +pithily remarked Nicklaus Wagner, who was a sturdy Protestant, and apt +enough at levelling these side-hits at those who professed a faith, +obnoxious to the attacks of all who dissented from the opinions and the +spiritual domination of Rome.</p> + +<p>But Conrad was a rare specimen of what may be effected by training and +well-rooted prejudices. In presenting this man to the mind of the reader, +we have no intention to impugn the doctrines of the particular church to +which he belonged, but simply to show, as the truth will fully warrant, to +what a pass of flagrant and impudent pretension the qualities of man, +unbridled by the wholesome corrective of a sound and healthful opinion, +was capable of conducting abuses on the most solemn and gravest subjects. +In that age usages prevailed, and were so familial to the minds of the +actors as to excite neither reflection nor comment, which would now lead +to revolutions, and a general rising in defence of principles which are +held to be clear as the air we breathe. Though we entertain no doubt of +the existence of that truth which pervades the universe, and to which all +things tend, we think the world, in its practices, its theories, and its +conventional standards of right and wrong, is in a condition of constant +change, which it should be the business of the wise and good to favor, so +long as care is had that the advantage is not bought by a re-action of +evil, that shall more than prove its counterpoise. Conrad was one of the +lowest class of those fungi that grow out of the decayed parts of the +moral, as their more material types prove the rottenness of the vegetable, +world; and the probability of the truth of the portraiture is not to be +loosely denied, without mature reflection on the similar anomalies that +are yet to be found on every side of us, or without studying the history +of the abuses which then disgraced Christianity, and which, in truth, +became so intolerable in their character, and so hideous in their +features, as to be the chief influencing cause to bring about their own +annihilation.</p> + +<p>Pippo, who had that useful tact which enables a man to measure his own +estimation with others, was not slow to perceive that the more enlightened +part of his audience began to tire of this pretending buffoonery. +Resorting to a happy subterfuge, by means of one of his sleight-of-hand +expedients, he succeeded in transferring the whole of that portion of the +spectators who still found amusement in his jugglery, to the other end of +the vessel, where they established themselves among the anchors, ready as +ever to swallow an aliment, that seems to find an unextinguishable +appetite for its reception among the vulgar. Here he continued his +exhibition, now moralizing in the quaint and often in the pithy manner, +which renders the southern buffoon so much superior to his duller +competitor of the north, and uttering a wild jumble of wholesome truths, +loose morality, and witty inuendoes, the latter of which never failed to +extort roars of laughter from all but those who happened to be their +luckless subjects.</p> + +<p>Once or twice Baptiste raised his head, and stared about him with drowsy +eyes, but, satisfied there was nothing to be done in the way of forcing +the vessel ahead, he resumed his nap, without interfering in the pastime +of those whom he had hitherto seemed to take pleasure in annoying. Left +entirely to themselves, therefore, the crowd on the forecastle represented +one of those every-day but profitable pictures of life, which abound under +our eyes, but which, though they are pregnant with instruction, are +treated with the indifference that would seem to be the inevitable +consequence of familiarity.</p> + +<p>The crowded and overloaded bark might have been compared to the vessel of +human life, which floats at all times subject to the thousand accidents of +a delicate and complicated machinery: the lake, so smooth and alluring in +its present tranquillity, but so capable of lashing its iron-bound coasts +with fury, to a treacherous world, whose smile is almost always as +dangerous as its frown; and, to complete the picture, the idle, laughing, +thoughtless, and yet inflammable group that surrounded the buffoon, to the +unaccountable medley of human sympathies, of sudden and fierce passions, +of fun and frolic, so inexplicably mingled with the grossest egotism that +enters into the heart of man: in a word, to so much that is beautiful and +divine, with so much that would seem to be derived directly from the +demons, a compound which composes this mysterious and dread state of +being, and which we are taught, by reason and revelation, is only a +preparation for another still more incomprehensible and wonderful.</p> +</div> + + +<div class="chapter" id="ch05"> +<h2>Chapter V.</h2> + + +<blockquote class="epi"><p> "How like a fawning publican he looks!"</p> + +<p> Shylock.</p></blockquote> + + +<p>The change of the juggler's scene of action left the party in the stern of +the barge, in quiet possession of their portion of the vessel. Baptiste +and his boatmen still slept among the boxes; Maso continued to pace his +elevated platform above their heads; and the meek-looking stranger, whose +entrance into the barge had drawn so many witticisms from Pippo, sate a +little apart, silent, furtively observant, and retiring, in the identical +spot he had occupied throughout the day. With these exceptions, the whole +of the rest of the travellers were crowding around the person of the +mountebank. Perhaps we have not done well, however, in classing either of +the two just named with the more common herd, for there were strong points +of difference to distinguish both from most of their companions.</p> + +<p>The exterior and the personal appointments of the unknown traveller, who +had shrunk so sensitively before the hits of the Neapolitan, was greatly +superior to those of any other in the bark beneath the degree of the +gentle, not even excepting those of the warm peasant Nicklaus Wagner, the +owner of so large a portion of the freight. There was a decency of air +that commanded more respect than it was then usual to yield to the +nameless, a quietness of demeanor that denoted reflection and the habit of +self-study and self-correction, together with a deference to others that +was well adapted to gain friends. In the midst of the noisy, clamorous +merriment of all around him, his restrained and rebuked manner had won +upon the favor of the more privileged, who had unavoidably noticed the +difference, and had prepared the way to a more frank communication between +the party of the noble, and one who, if not their equal in the usual +points of worldly distinction, was greatly superior to those among whom he +had been accidentally cast by the chances of his journey. Not so with +Maso; he, apparently, had little in common with the unobtruding and silent +being that sat so near his path, in the short turns he was making to and +fro across the pile of freight. The mariner was thirty, while the head of +the unknown traveller was already beginning to be sprinkled with gray. The +walk, attitudes, and gestures, of the former, were also those of a man +confident of himself, a little addicted to be indifferent to others, and +far more disposed to lead than to follow. These are qualities that it may +be thought his present situation was scarcely suited to discover, but they +had been made sufficiently apparent, by the cool, calculating looks he +threw, from time to time, at the manoeuvres commanded by Baptiste, the +expressive sneer with which he criticised his decisions, and a few biting +remarks which had escaped him in the course of the day, and which had +conveyed any thing but compliments to the nautical skill of the patron and +his fresh-water followers. Still there were signs of better stuff in this +suspicious-looking person than are usually seen about men, whose attire, +pursuits and situation, are so indicative of the world's pressing hard +upon their principles, as happened to be the fact with this poor and +unknown seaman. Though ill clad, and wearing about him the general tokens +of a vagrant life, and that loose connexion with society that is usually +taken as sufficient evidence of one's demerits, his countenance +occasionally denoted thought, and, during the day, his eye had frequently +wandered towards the group of his more intelligent fellow-passengers, as +if he found subjects of greater interest in their discourse, than in the +rude pleasantries and practical jokes of those nearer his person.</p> + +<p>The high-bred are always courteous, except in cases in which presumption +repels civility; for they who are accustomed to the privileges of station, +think far less of their immunities, than they, who by being excluded from +the fancied advantages, are apt to exaggerate a superiority that a short +experience would show becomes of very questionable value in the +possession. Without this equitable provision of Providence, the laws of +civilized society would become truly intolerable, for, if peace of mind, +pleasure, and what is usually termed happiness, were the exclusive +enjoyment of those who are rich and honoured, there would, indeed, be so +crying an injustice in their present ordinances as could not long +withstand the united assaults of reason and justice. But, happily for the +relief of the less gifted and the peace of the world, the fact is very +different. Wealth has its peculiar woes; honors and privileges pall in the +use; and, perhaps, as a rule, there is less of that regulated contentment, +which forms the nearest approach to the condition of the blessed of which +this unquiet state of being is susceptible, among those who are usually +the most envied by their fellow-creatures, than in any other of the +numerous gradations into which the social scale has been divided. He who +reads our present legend with the eyes that we could wish, will find in +its moral the illustration of this truth; for, if it is our intention to +delineate some of the wrongs that spring from the abuses of the privileged +and powerful, we hope equally to show how completely they fall short of +their object, by failing to confer that exclusive happiness which is the +goal that all struggle to attain.</p> + +<p>Neither the Baron de Willading, nor his noble friend, the Genoese, though +educated in the opinions of their caste, and necessarily under the +influence of the prejudices of the age, was addicted to the insolence of +vulgar pride. Their habits had revolted at the coarseness of the majority +of the travellers, and they were glad to be rid of them by the expedient +of Pippo; but no sooner did the modest, decent air of the stranger who +remained, make itself apparent, than they felt a desire to compensate him +for the privations he had already undergone, by showing the civilities +that their own rank rendered so easy and usually so grateful. With this +view, then, as soon as the noisy <i>troupe</i> had departed, the Signor +Grimaldi raised his beaver with that discreet and imposing politeness +which equally attracts and repels, and, addressing the solitary stranger, +he invited him to descend, and stretch his legs on the part of the deck +which had hitherto been considered exclusively devoted to the use of his +own party. The other started, reddened, and looked like one who doubted +whether he had heard aright.</p> + +<p>"These noble gentlemen would be glad if you would come down, and take +advantage of this opportunity to relieve your limbs;" said the young +Sigismund, raising his own athletic arm towards the stranger, to offer its +assistance in helping him to reach the deck.</p> + +<p>Still the unknown traveller hesitated, in the manner of one who fears he +might overstep discretion, by obtruding beyond the limits imposed by +modesty. He glanced furtively upwards at the place where Maso bad posted +himself, and muttered something of an intention to profit by its present +nakedness.</p> + +<p>"It has an occupant who does not seem disposed to admit another," said +Sigismund, smiling; "your mariner has a self-possession when afloat, that +usually gives him the same superiority that the well-armed swasher has +among the timid in the street. You would do well, then, to accept the +offer of the noble Genoese."</p> + +<p>The stranger, who had once or twice been called rather ostentatiously by +Baptiste the Herr Müller, during the day, as if the patron were disposed +to let his hearers know that he had those who at least bore creditable +names, even among his ordinary passengers, no longer delayed. He came +down from his seat, and moved about the deck in his usual, quiet, subdued +manner, but in a way to show that he found a very sensible and grateful +relief in being permitted to make the change. Sigismund was rewarded for +this act of good-nature by a smile from Adelheid, who thought his warm +interference in behalf of one, seemingly so much his inferior, did no +discredit to his rank. It is possible that the youthful soldier had some +secret sentiment of the advantage he derived from his kind interest in the +stranger, for his brow flushed, and he looked more satisfied with himself, +after this little office of humanity had been performed.</p> + +<p>"You are better among us here," the baron kindly observed, when the Herr +Müller was fairly established in his new situation, "than among the +freight of the honest Nicklaus Wagner, who, Heaven help the worthy +peasant! has loaded us fairly to the water's edge, with the notable +industry of his dairy people. I like to witness the prosperity of our +burghers, but it would have been better for us travellers, at least, had +there been less of the wealth of honest Nicklaus in our company. Are you +of Berne, or of Zurich?"</p> + +<p>"Of Berne, Herr Baron."</p> + +<p>"I might have guessed that by finding you on the Genfer See, instead of +the Wallenstätter. There are many of the Müllers in the Emmen Thal?"</p> + +<p>"The Herr is right; the name is frequent, both in that valley, and in +Entlibuch."</p> + +<p>"It is a frequent appellation among us of the Teutonick stock. I had many +Müllers in my company, Gaetano, when we lay before Mantua, I remember that +two of the brave fellows were buried in the marshes of that low country; +for the fever helped the enemy as much as the sword, in the life-wasting +campaign of the year we besieged the place."</p> + +<p>The more observant Italian saw that the stranger was distressed by the +personal nature of the conversation, and, while he quietly assented to his +friend's remark, he took occasion to give it a new direction.</p> + +<p>"You travel, like ourselves, Signore, to get a look at these far-famed +revels of the Vévasians?"</p> + +<p>"That, and affairs, have brought me into this honorable company;" answered +the Herr Müller, whom no kindness of tone, however, could win from his +timid and subdued manner of speaking.</p> + +<p>"And thou, father," turning to the Augustine, "art journeying towards thy +mountain residence, after a visit of love to the valleys and their +people?"</p> + +<p>The monk of St. Bernard assented to the truth of this remark, explaining +the manner in which his community were accustomed annually to appeal to +the liberality of the generous in Switzerland, in behalf of an institution +that was founded in the interest of humanity, without reference to +distinction of faith.</p> + +<p>"'Tis a blessed brotherhood," answered the Genoese, crossing himself, +perhaps as much from habit as from devotion, "and the traveller need wish +it well. I have never shared of your hospitality, but all report speaks +fairly of it, and the title of a brother of San Bernardo, should prove a +passport to the favor of every Christian."</p> + +<p>"Signore," said Maso, stopping suddenly, and taking his part uninvited in +the discourse, and yet in a way to avoid the appearance of an impertinent +interference, "none know this better than I! A wanderer these many years, +I have often seen the stony roof of the hospice with as much pleasure as I +have ever beheld the entrance of my haven, when an adverse gale was +pressing against my canvass. Honor and a rich <i>quête</i> to the clavier of +the convent, therefore, for it is bringing succor to the poor and rest to +the weary!"</p> + +<p>As he uttered this opinion, Maso decorously raised his cap, and pursued +his straitened walk with the industry of a caged tiger. It was so unusual +for one of his condition to obtrude on the discourse of the fair and +noble, that the party exchanged looks of surprise; but, the Signor +Grirnaldi, more accustomed than most of his friends to the frank +deportment and bold speech of mariners, from having dwelt long on the +coast of the Mediterranean, felt disposed rather to humor than to repulse +this disposition to talk.</p> + +<p>"Thou art a Genoese, by thy dialect," he said, assuming as a matter of +course the right to question one of years so much fewer, and of a +condition so much inferior to his own.</p> + +<p>"Signore," returned Maso, uncovering himself again, though his manner +betrayed profound personal respect rather than the deference of the +vulgar, "I was born in the city of palaces, though it was my fortune first +to see the light beneath a humble roof. The poorest of us are proud of the +splendor of Genova la Superba, even if its glory has come from our own +groans."</p> + +<p>The Signor Grimaldi frowned. But, ashamed to permit himself to be +disturbed by an allusion so vague, and perhaps so unpremeditated, and more +especially coming as it did from so insignificant a source, his brow +regained its expression of habitual composure.</p> + +<p>An instant of reflection, told him it would be in better taste to continue +the conversation, than churlishly to cut it short for so light a cause.</p> + +<p>"Thou art too young to have had much connexion, either in advantage or in +suffering," he rejoined, "with the erection of the gorgeous dwellings to +which thou alludest."</p> + +<p>"This is true, Signore; except as one is the better or worse for those who +have gone before him. I am what I seem, more by the acts of others than by +any faults of my own. I envy not the rich or great, however; for one that +has seen as much of life as I, knows the difference between the gay colors +of the garment, and that of the shrivelled and diseased skin it conceals. +We make our feluccas glittering and fine with paint, when their timbers +work the most, and when the treacherous planks are ready to let in the sea +to drown us."</p> + +<p>"Thou hast the philosophy of it, young man, and hast uttered a biting +truth, for those who waste their prime in chasing a phantom. Thou hast +well bethought thee of these matters, for, if content with thy lot, no +palace of our city would make thee happier."</p> + +<p>"If, Signore, is a meaning word!--Content is like the north-star--we +seamen steer for it, while none can ever reach it!"</p> + +<p>"Am I then deceived in thee, after all? Is thy seeming moderation only +affected; and would'st thou be the patron of the bark in which fortune +hath made thee only a passenger?"</p> + +<p>"And a bad fortune it hath proved," returned Maso, laughing. "We appear +fated to pass the night in it, for, so far from seeing any signs of this +land-breeze of which Baptiste has so confidently spoken, the air seems to +have gone to sleep as well as the crew. Thou art accustomed to this +climate, reverend Augustine; is it usual to see so deep a calm on the +Leman at this late season?"</p> + +<p>A question like this was well adapted to effect the speaker's wish to +change the discourse, for it very naturally directed the attention of all +present from a subject that was rather tolerated from idleness than +interesting in itself, to the different natural phenomena by which they +were surrounded. The sunset had now fairly passed, and the travellers were +at the witching moment that precedes the final disappearance of the day. A +calm so deep rested on the limpid lake, that it was not easy to +distinguish the line which separated the two elements, in those places +where the blue of the land was confounded with the well-known and peculiar +color of the Leman.</p> + +<p>The precise position of the Winkelried was near mid-way between the shores +of Vaud and those of Savoy, though nearer to the first than to the last. +Not another sail was visible on the whole of the watery expanse, with the +exception of one that hung lazily from its yard, in a small bark that was +pulling towards St. Gingoulph, bearing Savoyards returning to their homes +from the other side of the lake, and which, in that delusive landscape, +appeared to the eye to be within a stone's throw of the base of the +mountain, though, in truth, still a weary row from the land.</p> + +<p>Nature has spread her work on a scale so magnificent in this sublime +region that ocular deceptions of this character abound, and it requires +time and practice to judge of those measurements which have been rendered +familiar in other scenes. In like manner to the bark under the rocks of +Savoy, there lay another, a heavy-moulded boat, nearly in a line with +Villeneuve, which seemed to float in the air instead of its proper +element, and whose oars were seen to rise and fall beneath a high mound, +that was rendered shapeless by refraction. This was a craft, bearing hay +from the meadows at the mouth of the Rhone to their proprietors in the +villages of the Swiss coast. A few light boats were pulling about in +front of the town of Vévey, and a forest of low masts and latine yards, +seen in the hundred picturesque attitudes peculiar to the rig, crowded the +wild anchorage that is termed its port.</p> + +<p>An air-line drawn from St. Saphorin to Meillerie, would have passed +between the spars of the Winkelried, her distance from her haven, +consequently, a little exceeded a marine league. This space might readily +have been conquered in an hour or two by means of the sweeps, but for the +lumbered condition of the decks, which would have rendered their use +difficult, and the unusual draught of the bark, which would have caused +the exertion to be painful. As it has been seen, Baptiste preferred +waiting for the arrival of the night breeze to having recourse to an +expedient so toil some and slow.</p> + +<p>We have already said, that the point just described was at the place where +the Leman fairly enters its eastern horn, and where its shores possess +their boldest and finest faces. On the side of Savoy, the coast was a +sublime wall of rocks, here and there clothed with chestnuts, or indented +with ravines and dark glens, and naked and wild along the whole line of +their giddy summits. The villages so frequently mentioned, and which have +become celebrated in these later times by the touch of genius, clung to +the uneven declivities, their lower dwellings laved by the lake, and their +upper confounded with the rugged faces of the mountains. Beyond the limits +of the Leman, the Alps shot up into still higher pinnacles, occasionally +showing one of those naked excrescences of granite, which rise for a +thousand feet above the rest of the range--a trifle in the stupendous +scale of the vast piles--and which, in the language of the country are not +inaptly termed Dents, from some fancied and plausible resemblance to +human teeth. The verdant meadows of Noville, Aigle and Bex. spread for +leagues between these snow-capped barriers, so dwindled to the eye, +however, that the spectator believed that to be a mere bottom, which was, +in truth, a broad and fertile plain. Beyond these again, came the +celebrated pass of St. Maurice, where the foaming Rhone dashed between two +abutments of rock, as if anxious to effect its exit before the +superincumbent mountains could come together, and shut it out for ever +from the inviting basin to which it was hurrying with a never-ceasing din. +Behind this gorge, so celebrated as the key of the Valais, and even of the +Alps in the time of the conquerors of the world, the back-ground took a +character of holy mystery. The shades of evening lay thick in that +enormous glen, which was sufficiently large to contain a sovereign state, +and the dark piles of mountains beyond were seen in a hazy, confused +array. The setting was a grey boundary of rocks, on which fleecy clouds +rested, as if tired with their long and high flight, and on which the +parting day still lingered soft and lucid. One cone of dazzling white +towered over all. It resembled a bright stepping-stone between heaven and +earth, the heat of the hot sun falling innocuously against its sides, like +the cold and pure breast of a virgin repelling those treacherous +sentiments which prove the ruin of a shining and glorious innocence. +Across the summit of this brilliant and cloud-like peak, which formed the +most distant object in the view, ran the imaginary line that divided Italy +from the regions of the north. Drawing nearer, and holding its course on +the opposite shore, the eye embraced the range of rampart-like rocks that +beetle over Villeneuve and Chillon, the latter a snow-white pile that +seemed to rest partly on the land and partly, on the water. On the vast +débris of the mountains clustered the hamlets of Clarens, Montreux, +Châtelard, and all those other places, since rendered so familiar to the +reader of fiction by the vivid pen of Rousseau. Above the latter village +the whole of the savage and rocky range receded, leaving the lake-shore to +vine-clad côtes that stretch away far to the west.</p> + +<p>This scene; at all times alluring and grand, was now beheld under its most +favorable auspices. The glare of day had deserted all that belonged to +what might be termed the lower world, leaving in its stead the mild hues, +the pleasing shadows, and the varying tints of twilight. It is true that a +hundred châlets dotted the Alps, or those mountain pasturages which spread +themselves a thousand fathoms above the Leman, on the foundation of rock +that lay like a wall behind Montreux, shining still with the brightness of +a bland even, but all below was fast catching the more sombre colors of +the hour.</p> + +<p>As the transition from day to night grew more palpable, the hamlets of +Savoy became gray and hazy, the shades thickened around the bases of the +mountains in a manner to render their forms indistinct and massive, and +the milder glory of the scene was transferred to their summits. Seen by +sun-light, these noble heights appear a long range of naked granite, piled +on a foundation of chestnut-covered hills, and buttressed by a few such +salient spurs as are perhaps necessary to give variety and agreeable +shadows to their acclivities. Their outlines were now drawn in those +waving lines that the pencil of Raphael would have loved to sketch, dark, +distinct, and appearing to be carved by art. The inflected and capricious +edges of the rocks stood out in high relief against the back-ground of +pearly sky, resembling so much ebony wrought into every fantastic +curvature that a wild and vivid fancy could conceive. Of all the wonderful +and imposing sights of this extraordinary region, there is perhaps none in +which there is so exquisite an admixture of the noble, the beautiful, and +the bewitching, as in this view of these natural arabesques of Savoy, seen +at the solemn hour of twilight.</p> + +<p>The Baron de Willading and his friends stood uncovered, in reverence of +the sublime picture, which could only come from the hands of the Creator, +and with unalloyed enjoyment of the bland tranquillity of the hour. +Exclamations of pleasure had escaped them, as the exhibition advanced; for +the view, like the shifting of scenes, was in a constant state of +transition under the waning and changing light, and each had eagerly +pointed out to the others some peculiar charm of the view. The sight was, +in sooth, of a nature to preclude selfishness, no one catching a glimpse +that he did not wish to be shared by all. Vévey, their journey, the +fleeting minutes, and their disappointment, were all forgotten in the +delight of witnessing this evening landscape, and the silence was broken +only to express those feelings of delight which had long been uppermost in +every bosom.</p> + +<p>"I doff my beaver to thy Switzerland, friend Melchior," cried the Signor +Grimaldi, after directing the attention of Adelheid to one of the peaks of +Savoy, of which he had just remarked that it seemed a spot where an angel +might love to light in his visits to the earth; "if thou hast much of +this, we of Italy must look to it, or--by the shades of our fathers! we +shall lose our reputation for natural beauty. How is it young lady; hast +thou many of these sun-sets at Willading? or, is this, after all, but an +exception to what thou seest in common--as much a matter of astonishment +to thyself, as--by San Francesco! good Marcelli, we must even own, it is +to thee and me!"</p> + +<p>Adelheid laughed at the old noble's good-humored rhapsody, but, much as +she loved her native land, she could not pervert the truth by pretending +that the sight was one to be often met with.</p> + +<p>"If we have not this, however, we have our glaciers, our lakes, our +cottages, our châlets, our Oberland, and such glens as have an eternal +twilight of their own."</p> + +<p>"Ay, my true-hearted and pretty Swiss, this is well for thee who wilt +affirm that a drop of thy snow-water is worth a thousand limpid springs, +or thou art not the true child of old Melchior de Willading; but it is +lost on the cooler head of one who has seen other lands. Father Xavier, +thou art a neutral, for thy dwelling is on the dividing ridge between the +two countries, and I appeal to thee to know if these Helvetians have much +of this quality of evening?"</p> + +<p>The worthy monk met the question in the spirit with which it was asked, +for the elasticity of the air, and the heavenly tranquillity and +bewitching loveliness of the hour, well disposed him to be joyous.</p> + +<p>"To maintain my character as an impartial judge," he answered, "I will say +that each region has its own advantages. If Switzerland is the most +wonderful and imposing, Italy is the most winning. The latter leaves more +durable impressions and is more fondly cherished. One strikes the senses, +but the other slowly winds its way into the affections; and he who has +freely vented his admiration in exclamations and epithets in one, will, in +the end, want language to express all the secret longings, the fond +recollections, the deep repinings, that he retains for the other."</p> + +<p>"Fairly reasoned, friend Melchior, and like an able umpire, leaving to +each his share of consolation and vanity. Herr Müller, dost thou agree in +a decision that gives thy much vaunted Switzerland so formidable a rival?"</p> + +<p>"Signore," answered the meek traveller, "I see enough to admire and love +in both, as is always the fact with that which God hath formed. This is a +glorious world for the happy, and most might be so, could they summon +courage to be innocent."</p> + +<p>"The good Augustine will tell thee that this bears hard on certain points +of theology, in which our common nature is treated with but indifferent +respect. He that would continue innocent must struggle hard with his +propensities."</p> + +<p>The stranger was thoughtful, and Sigismund; whose eye had been earnestly +riveted on his face, thought that it denoted more of peace then usual.</p> + +<p>"Signore," rejoined the Herr Müller, when time had been given for +reflection, "I believe it is good for us to know unhappiness. He that is +permitted too much of his own will gets to be headstrong, and, like the +overfed bullock, difficult to be managed; whereas, he who lives under the +displeasure of his fellow-creatures is driven to look closely into +himself, and comes, at last, to chasten his spirit by detecting its +faults."</p> + +<p>"Art thou a follower of Calvin?" demanded the Augustine suddenly, +surprised to hear opinions so healthful in the mouth of a dissenter from +the true church.</p> + +<p>"Father, I belong neither to Rome nor to the religion of Geneva. I am a +humble worshipper of God, and a believer in the blessed mediation of his +holy Son."</p> + +<p>"How!--Where dost thou find such sentiments out of the pale of the +church?"</p> + +<p>"In mine own heart. This is my temple, holy Augustine, and I never enter +it without adoration for its Almighty founder. A cloud was over the roof +of my father at my birth, and I have not been permitted to mingle much +with men; but the solitude of my life has driven me to study my own +nature, which I hope has become none the worse for the examination. I know +I am an unworthy and sinful man, and I hope others are as much better than +I as their opinions of themselves would give reason to think."</p> + +<p>The words of the Herr Müller, which lost none of their weight by his +unaffected and quiet manner, excited curiosity. At first, most of the +listeners were disposed to believe him one of those exaggerated spirits +who exalt themselves by a pretended self-abasement, but his natural, +quiet, and thoughtful deportment soon produced a more favorable opinion. +There was a habit of reflection, a retreating inward look about his eye, +that revealed the character of one long and truly accustomed to look more +at himself than at others, and which wrought singularly in his behalf.</p> + +<p>"We may not all have these flattering opinions of ourselves that thy words +would seem to imply Signor Müller," observed the Genoese, his tone +changing to one better suited to soothe the feelings of the person +addressed, while a shade insensibly stole over his own venerable features; +"neither are all at peace that so seem. If it will be any consolation to +thee to know that others are probably no more happy than thyself, I will +add that I have known much pain, and that, too, amid circumstances which +most would deem fortunate, and which, I fear, a great majority of mankind +might be disposed to envy."</p> + +<p>"I should be base indeed to seek consolation in such a source! I do not +complain, Signore, though my whole life has so passed that I can hardly +say that I enjoy it. It is not easy to smile when we know that all frown +upon us; else could I be content. As it is, I rather feel than repine."</p> + +<p>"This is a most singular condition of the mind;" whispered Adelheid to +young Sigismund; for both had been deeply attentive listeners to the calm +but strong language of the Herr Müller. The young man did not answer, and +his fair companion saw with surprise, that he was pale, and with +difficulty noticed her remark with a smile.</p> + +<p>"The frowns of men, my son," observed the monk, "are usually reserved for +those who offend its ordinances. The latter may not be always just, but +there is a common sentiment which refuses to visit innocence, even in the +narrow sense in which we understand the word, with undeserved +displeasure."</p> + +<p>The Herr Müller looked earnestly at the Augustine, and he seemed about to +answer; but, checking the impulse, he bowed in submission. At the same +time, a wild, painful smile gleamed on his face.</p> + +<p>"I agree with thee, good canon," rejoined the simple-minded baron: "we are +much addicted to quarrelling with the world, but, after all, when we look +closely into the matter, it will commonly be found that the cause of our +grievances exists in ourselves."</p> + +<p>"Is there no Providence, father?" exclaimed Adelheid, a little +reproachfully for one of her respectful habits and great filial +tenderness. "Can we recall the dead to life, or keep those quick whom God +is pleased to destroy?"</p> + +<p>"Thou hast me, girl!--there is a truth in this that no bereaved parent can +deny!"</p> + +<p>This remark produced an embarrassed pause, during which the Herr Müller +gazed furtively about him, looking from the face of one to that of +another, as if seeking for some countenance on which he could rely. But +he turned away to the view of those hills which had been so curiously +wrought by the finger of the Almighty, and seemed to lose himself in their +contemplation.</p> + +<p>"This is some spirit that has been bruised by early indiscretion," said +the Signor Grimaldi, in a low voice, "and whose repentance is strangely +mixed with resignation. I know not whether such a man is most to be envied +or pitied. There is a fearful mixture of resignation and of suffering in +his air."</p> + +<p>"He has not the mien of a stabber or a knave," answered the baron. "If he +comes truly of the Müllers of the Emmen Thal, or even of those of +Entlibuch, I should know something of his history. They are warm burghers, +and mostly of fair name. It is true, that in my youth one of the family +got out of favor with the councils, on account of some concealment of +their lawful claims in the way of revenue, but the man made an atonement +that was deemed sufficient in amount, and the matter was forgotten. It is +not usual, Herr Müller, to meet citizens in our canton who go for neither +Rome nor Calvin."</p> + +<p>"It is not usual, mein Herr, to meet men placed as I am. Neither Rome nor +Calvin is sufficient for me;--I have need of God!"</p> + +<p>"I fear thou hast taken life?"</p> + +<p>The stranger bowed, and his face grew livid, seemingly with the intensity +of his own thoughts. Melchior de Willading so disliked the expression, +that he turned away his eyes in uneasiness. The other glanced frequently +at the forward part of the bark, and he seemed struggling hard to speak, +but, for some strong reason, unable to effect his purpose. Uncovering +himself, at length, he said steadily, as if superior to shame, while he +fully felt the import of his communication, but in a voice that was +cautiously suppressed--</p> + +<p>"I am Balthazar, of your canton, Herr Baron, and I pray your powerful +succor, should those untamed spirits on the forecastle come to discover +the truth. My blood hath been made to curdle to-day whilst listening to +their heartless threats and terrible maledictions. Without this fear, I +should have kept my secret,--for God knows I am not proud of my office!"</p> + +<p>The general and sudden surprise, accompanied as it was by a common +movement of aversion, induced the Signor Grimaldi to demand the reason.</p> + +<p>"Thy name is not in much favour apparently, Herr Müller, or Herr +Balthazar, whichever it is thy pleasure to be called," observed the +Genoese, casting a quick glance around the circle. "There is some mystery +in it, that to me needs explanation."</p> + +<p>"Signore, I am the headsman of Berne."</p> + +<p>Though long schooled in the polished habits of his high condition, which +taught him ordinarily to repress strong emotions, the Signor Grimaldi +could not conceal the start which this unexpected announcement produced, +for he had not escaped the usual prejudices of men.</p> + +<p>"Truly, we have been fortunate in our associate, Melchior," he said drily, +turning without ceremony from the man whose modest, quiet mien had lately +interested him so much, but whose manner he now took to be assumed,--few +pausing to investigate the motives of those who are condemned of +opinion:--"here has been much excellent and useful morality thrown away +upon a very unworthy subject!"</p> + +<p>The baron received the intelligence of the real name of their travelling +companion with less feeling. He had been greatly puzzled to account for +the singular language he had heard, and he found relief in so brief a +solution of the difficulty.</p> + +<p>"The pretended name, after all, then, is only a cloak to conceal the +truth! I knew the Müllers of the Emmen Thal so well, that I had great +difficulty in fitting the character which the honest man gave of himself +fairly upon any one of them all. But it is now clear enough, and doubtless +Balthazar has no great reason to be proud of the turn which Fortune has +played his family in making them executioners."</p> + +<p>"Is the office hereditary?" demanded the Genoese, quickly.</p> + +<p>"It is. Thou knowest that we of Berne have great respect for ancient +usages. He that is born to the Bürgerschaft will die in the exercise of +his rights, and he that is born out of its venerable pale must be +satisfied to live out of it, unless he has gold or favor. Our institutions +are a hint from nature, which leaves men as they are created, preserving +the order and harmony of society by venerable and well-defined laws, as is +wise and necessary. In nature, he that is born strong remains strong, and +he that has little force must be content with his feebleness."</p> + +<p>The Signor Grimaldi looked like one who felt contrition.</p> + +<p>"Art thou, in truth, an hereditary executioner?" he asked, addressing +Balthazar himself.</p> + +<p>"Signore, I am: else would hand of mine have never taken life. 'Tis a hard +duty to perform, even under the obligations and penalties of the +law;--otherwise, it were accursed!"</p> + +<p>"Thy fathers deemed it a privilege!"</p> + +<p>"We suffer for their error: Signore, the sins of the fathers, in our case, +have indeed been visited on the children to the latest generations."</p> + +<p>The countenance of the Genoese grew brighter and his voice resumed the +polished tones in which he usually spoke.</p> + +<p>"Here has been some injustice of a certainty," he said, "or one of thy +appearance would not be found in this cruel position. Depend on our +authority to protect thee, should the danger thou seemest to apprehend +really occur. Still the laws must be respected, though not always of the +rigid impartiality that we might wish. Thou hast owned the imperfection of +human nature, and it is not wonderful that its work should have flaws."</p> + +<p>"I complain not now of the usage, which to me has become habit, but I +dread the untamed fury of these ignorant and credulous men, who have taken +a wild fancy that my presence might bring a curse upon the bark."</p> + +<p>There are accidental situations which contain more healthful morals than +can be drawn from a thousand ingenious and plausible homilies, and in +which facts, in their naked simplicity, are far more eloquent than any +meaning that can be conveyed by words. Such was the case with this meek +and unexpected appeal of Balthazar. All who heard him saw his situation +under very different colors from those in which it would have been +regarded had the subject presented itself under ordinary circumstances. A +common and painful sentiment attested strongly against the oppression that +had given birth to his wrongs, and the good Melchior de Willading himself +wondered how a case of this striking injustice could have arisen under the +laws of Berne.</p> +</div> + + +<div class="chapter" id="ch06"> +<h2>Chapter VI.</h2> + + +<blockquote class="epi"><p> Methought I saw a thousand fearful wrecks,<br /> + A thousand men that fishes gnawed upon;<br /> + Wedges of gold, great anchors, heaps of pearl,<br /> + Inestimable stones, unvalued jewels,<br /> + All scattered in the bottom of the sea.</p> + +<p> <i>Richard III.</i></p></blockquote> + +<p> +The flitting twilight was now on the wane, and the shades of evening were +gathering fast over the deep basin of the lake. The figure of Maso, as he +continued to pace his elevated platform, was drawn dark and distinct +against the southern sky, in which some of the last rays of the sun still +lingered, but objects on both shores were getting to be confounded with +the shapeless masses of the mountains. Here and there a pale star peeped +out, though most of the vault that stretched across the confined horizon +was shut in by dusky clouds. A streak of dull, unnatural light was seen in +the quarter which lay above the meadows of the Rhone, and nearly in a +direction with the peak of Mont Blanc, which, though not visible from this +portion of the Leman, was known to lie behind the ramparts of Savoy, like +a monarch of the hills entrenched in his citadel of rocks and ice.</p> + +<p>The change, the lateness of the hour, and the unpleasant reflections left +by the short dialogue with Balthazar, produced a strong and common desire +to see the end of a navigation that was beginning to be irksome. Those +objects which had lately yielded so much and so pure a delight were now +getting to be black and menacing, and the very sublimity of the scale on +which Nature had here thrown together her elements was an additional +source of uncertainty and alarm. Those fairy-like, softly-delineated, +natural arabesques, which had so lately been dwelt upon with rapture were +now converted into dreary crags that seemed to beetle above the helpless +bark, giving unpleasant admonitions of the savage and inhospitable +properties of their iron-bound bases, which were known to prove +destructive to all who were cast against them while the elements were in +disorder.</p> + +<p>These changes in the character of the scene, which in some respects began +to take the aspect of omens, were uneasily witnessed by all in the stern +of the bark, though the careless laughter, the rude joke, and the noisy +cries, which from time to time arose on the forecastle, sufficiently +showed that the careless spirits it held were still indulging in the +coarse enjoyments most suited to their habits. One individual, however, +was seen stealing from the crowd, and establishing himself on the pile of +freight, as if he had a mind more addicted to reflection, and less +disposed to unmeaning revelry, than most of those whom he had just +abandoned. This was the Westphalian student, who, wearied with amusements +that were below the level of his acquirements, and suddenly struck with +the imposing aspect of the lake and the mountains, had stolen apart to +muse on his distant home and the beings most dear to him, under an +excitement that suited those morbid sensibilities which he had long +encouraged by a very subtle metaphysical system of philosophy. Until now, +Maso had paced his lofty post with his eye fixed chiefly on the heavens in +the direction of Mont Blanc, occasionally turning it, however, over the +motionless bulk of the bark, but when the student placed himself across +his path, he stopped and smiled at the abstracted air and riveted regard +with which the youth gazed at a star.</p> + +<p>"Art thou an astronomer, that thou lookest so closely at yonder shining +world?" demanded Il Maledetto, with the superiority that the mariner +afloat is wont successfully to assume over the unhappy wight of a +landsman, who is very liable to admit his own impotency on the novel and +dangerous element:--"the astrologer himself would not study it more +deeply."</p> + +<p>"This is the hour agreed upon between me and one that I love to bring the +unseen principle of our spirits together, by communing through its +medium."</p> + +<p>"I have heard of such means of intercourse. Dost see more than others by +reason of such an assistant?"</p> + +<p>"I see the object which is gazed upon, at this moment, by kind blue eyes +that have often looked upon me in affection. When we are in a strange +land, and in a fearful situation, such a communion has its pleasures!"</p> + +<p>Maso laid his hand upon the shoulder of the student, which he pressed with +the force of a vice.</p> + +<p>"Thou art right," he said, moodily; "make the most of thy friendships, +and, if there are any that love thee, tighten the knot by all the means +thou hast. None know the curse of being deserted in this selfish and cruel +battle of interest better than I! Be not ashamed of thy star, but gaze at +it till thy eye-strings crack. See the bright eyes of her that loves thee +in its twinkling, her constancy in its lustre, and her melancholy in its +sadness; lose not the happy moments, for there will soon be a dark curtain +to shut out its view."</p> + +<p>The Westphalian was struck with the singular energy as well as with the +poetry of the mariner, and he distrusted the obvious allusion to the +clouds, which were, in fact, fast covering the vault above their heads.</p> + +<p>"Dost thou like the night?" he demanded, turning from his star in doubt.</p> + +<p>"It might be fairer. This is a wild region, and your cold Swiss lakes +sometimes become too hot for the stoutest seaman's heart. Gaze at thy star +young man, while thou mayest, and bethink thee of the maiden thou lovest +and of all her kindness; we are on a crazy water, and pleasant thoughts +should not be lightly thrown away."</p> + +<p>Maso walked away, leaving the student alarmed, uneasy at he knew not what, +and yet bent with childish eagerness on regarding the little luminary that +occasionally was still seen wading among volumes of vapor. At this +instant, a shout of unmeaning, clamorous merriment arose on the +forecastle.</p> + +<p>Il Maledetto did not remain any longer on the pile, but abandoning it to +the new occupant, he descended among the silent, thoughtful party who were +in possession of the cleared space near the stern. It was now so dark that +some little attention was necessary to distinguish faces, even at trifling +distances. But, by means of moving among these privileged persons with +great coolness and seeming indifference, he soon succeeded in placing +himself near the Genoese and the Augustine.</p> + +<p>"Signore," he said, in Italian, raising his cap to the former with the +same marked respect as before, though it was evidently no easy matter to +impress him with the deference that the obscure usually feel for the +great--"this is likely to prove an unfortunate end to a voyage that began +with so fair appearances. I could wish that your eccellenza, with all this +noble and fair company, was safely landed in the town of Vévey."</p> + +<p>"Dost thou mean that we have cause to fear more than delay?"</p> + +<p>"Signore, the mariner's life is one of unequal chances: now he floats in a +lazy calm, and presently he is tossed between heaven and earth, in a way +to make the stoutest heart sick. My knowledge of these waters is not +great, but there are signs making themselves seen in the sky, here above +the peak that lies in the direction of Mont Blanc, that would trouble me, +were this our own clue but treacherous Mediterranean."</p> + +<p>"What thinkest thou of this, father; a long residence in the Alps must +have given thee some insight into their storms?"</p> + +<p>The Augustine had been grave and thoughtful from the moment that he ceased +to converse with Balthazar. He, too, had been struck with the omens, and, +long used to study the changes of the weather, in a region where the +elements sometimes work their will on a scale commensurate with the +grandeur of the mountains, his thoughts had been anxiously recurring to +the comforts and security of some of those hospitable roofs in the city to +which they were bound, and which were always ready to receive the clavier +of St. Bernard, in return for the services and self-denial of his +brotherhood.</p> + +<p>"With Maso, I could wish we were safely landed," answered the good canon; +"the intense heat that a day like this creates in our valleys and on the +lakes so weakens the sub-strata, or foundations of air, that the cold +masses which collect around the glaciers sometimes descend like avalanches +from their heights, to fill the vacuum. The shock is fearful, even to +those who meet it in the glens and among the rocks, but the plunge of such +a column of air upon one of the lakes is certain to be terrible."</p> + +<p>"And thou thinkest there is danger of one of these phenomena at present?"</p> + +<p>"I know not; but I would we were housed! That unnatural light above, and +this deep tranquillity below, which surpasses an ordinary cairn have +already driven me to my aves."</p> + +<p>"The reverend Augustine speaks like a book man, and one who has passed his +time, up in his mountain-convent, in study and reflection," rejoined Maso; +"whereas the reasons I have to offer savor more of the seaman's practice. +A calm like this, will be followed, sooner or later, by a commotion in the +atmosphere. I like not the absence of the breeze from the land, on which +Baptiste counted so surely, and, taking that symptom with the signs of +yonder hot sky, I look soon to see this extraordinary quiet displaced by +some violent struggle among the winds. Nettuno, too, my faithful dog, has +given notice, by the manner in which he snuffs the air, that we are not to +pass the night in this motionless condition."</p> + +<p>"I had hoped ere this to be quietly in our haven. What means yonder bright +light? Is it a star in the heavens, or does it merely lie against the side +of the huge mountain?"</p> + +<p>"There shines old Roger de Blonay!" cried the baron, heartily; "he knows +of our being in the bark, and he has fired his beacon that we may steer by +its light."</p> + +<p>The conjecture seemed probable, for, while the day remained, the castle of +Blonay, seated on the bosom of the mountain that shelters Vévey to the +north-east, had been plainly visible. It had been much admired, a pleasing +object in a view that was so richly studded with hamlets and castles, and +Adelheid had pointed it out to Sigismund as the immediate goal of her +journey. The lord of Blonay being apprized of the intended visit nothing +was more probable than that he, an old and tried friend of Melchior de +Willading's should show this sign of impatience; partly in compliment to +those whom he expected, and partly as a signal that might be really useful +to those who navigated the Leman, in a night that threatened so much murky +obscurity.</p> + +<p>The Signor Grimaldi rightly deemed the circumstances grave, and, calling +to him his friend and Sigismund, he communicated the apprehensions of the +monk and Maso. A braver man than Melchior de Willading did not dwell in +all Switzerland, but he did not hear the gloomy predictions of the Genoese +without shaking in every limb.</p> + +<p>"My poor enfeebled Adelheid!" he said, yielding to a father's tenderness: +"what will become of this frail plant, if exposed to a tempest in an +unsheltered bark?"</p> + +<p>"She will be with her father, and with her father's friend," answered the +maiden herself; for the narrow limits to which they were necessarily +confined, and the sudden burst of feeling in the parent, which had +rendered him incautious in pitching his voice, made her the mistress of +the cause of alarm. "I have heard enough of what the good Father Xavier +and this mariner have said, to know that we are in a situation that might +be better; but am I not with tried friends? I know already what the Herr +Sigismund can do in behalf of my life, and come what may, we have all a +beneficent guardian in One, who will not leave any of us to perish without +remembering we are his children."</p> + +<p>"This girl shames us all," said the Signor Grimaldi; "but it is often thus +with these fragile beings, who rise the firmest and noblest in moments +when prouder man begins to despair. They put their trust in God, who is a +prop to sustain even those who are feebler than our gentle Adel held. But +we will not exaggerate the causes of apprehension, which, after all, may +pass away like many other threatening dangers, and leave us hours of +felicitation and laughter in return for a few minutes of fright."</p> + +<p>"Say, rather of thanksgiving," observed the clavier, "for the aspect of +the heavens is getting to be fearfully solemn. Thou, who art a +mariner--hast thou nothing to suggest?"</p> + +<p>"We have the simple expedient of our sweeps, father; but, after neglecting +their use so long, it is now too late to have recourse to them. We could +not reach Vévey by such means, with this bark loaded to the water's edge, +before the night would change, and, the water once fairly in motion, they +could not be used at all."</p> + +<p>"But we have our sails," put in the Genoese; "they at least may do us good +service when the wind shall come."</p> + +<p>Maso shook his head, but he made no answer. After a brief pause, in which +he seemed to study the heavens still more closely, he went to the spot +where the patron yet lay lost in sleep, and shook him rudely.--"Ho! +Baptiste! awake! there is need here of thy counsel and of thy commands."</p> + +<p>The drowsy owner of the bark rubbed his eyes, and slowly regained the use +of his faculties.</p> + +<p>"There is not a breath of wind," he muttered; "why didst awake me, +Maso?--One that hath led thy life should know that sleep is sweet to those +who toil."</p> + +<p>"Ay, 'tis their advantage over the pampered and idle. Look at the heavens, +man, and let us know what thou thinkest of their appearance. Is there the +stuff in thy Winkelried to ride out a storm like this we may have to +encounter?"</p> + +<p>"Thou talkest like a foolish quean that has been frightened by the +fluttering of her own poultry. The lake was never more calm, or the bark +in greater safety."</p> + +<p>"Dost see yonder bright light; here, over the tower of thy Vévey church?"</p> + +<p>"Ay, 'tis a gallant star! and a fair sign for the mariner."</p> + +<p>"Fool, 'tis a hot flame in Roger de Blonay's beacon. They begin to see +that we are in danger on the shore, and they cast out their signals to +give us notice to be active. They think us be-stirring ourselves like +stout men, and those used to the water, while, in truth, we are as +undisturbed as if the bark were a rock that might laugh at the Leman and +its waves. The man is benumbed," continued Maso, turning away towards the +anxious listeners; "he will not see that which is getting to be but too +plain to all the others in his vessel."</p> + +<p>Another idle and general laugh from the forecastle came to contradict this +opinion of Maso's, and to prove how easy it is for the ignorant to exist +in security, even on the brink of destruction. This was the moment, when +nature gave the first of those signals that were "intelligible to vulgar +capacities. The whole vault of the heavens was now veiled, with the +exception of the spot so often named, which lay nearly above the brawling +torrents of the Rhone. This fiery opening resembled a window admitting of +fearful glimpses into the dreadful preparations that were making up among +the higher peaks of the Alps. A flash of red quivering light was emitted, +and a distant, rumbling rush, that was not thunder but rather resembled +the wheelings of a thousand squadrons into line, followed the flash. The +forecastle was deserted to a man, and the hillock of freight was again +darkly seen peopled with crouching human forms. Just then the bark which +had so long lain in a state of complete rest slowly and heavily raised its +bows, as if laboring under its great and unusual burthen, while a sluggish +swell passed beneath its entire length, lifting the whole mass, foot by +foot, and passing away by the stern, to cast itself on the shores of Vaud.</p> + +<p>"'Tis madness to waste the precious moments longer!" said Maso hurriedly, +on whom this plain and intelligent hint was not lost. "Signori, we must be +bold and prompt, or we shall be overtaken by the tempest unprepared. I +speak not for myself, since, by the aid of this faithful dog, and favored +by my own arms, I have always the shore for a hope. But there is one in +the bark I would wish to save, even at some hazard to myself. Baptiste is +unnerved by fear, and we must act for our selves or perish!"</p> + +<p>"What wouldest thou?" demanded the Signor Grimaldi; "he that can proclaim +the danger should have some expedient to divert it?"</p> + +<p>"More timely exertion would have given us the resource of ordinary means; +but, like those who die in their sins, we have foolishly wasted most +precious minutes. We must lighten the bark, though it cost the whole of +her freight."</p> + +<p>A cry from Nicklaus Wagner announced that the spirit of avarice was still +active as ever in his bosom. Even Baptiste, who had lost all his dogmatism +and his disposition to command, under the imposing omens which had now +made themselves apparent even to him, loudly joined in the protest against +this waste of property. It is rare that any sudden and extreme proposal, +like this of Maso's, meets with a quick echo in the judgments of those to +whom the necessity is unexpectedly presented. The danger did not seem +sufficiently imminent to have recourse to an expedient so decided; and, +though startled and aroused, the untamed spirits of those who crowded +the, menaced pile were rather in a state of uneasiness, than of that +fierce excitement to which they were so capable of being wrought, and +which was in some degree necessary to induce even them, thriftless and +destitute as they were, to be the agents of effecting so great a +destruction of properly. The project of the cool and calculating Maso +would therefore have failed entirely, but for another wheeling of those +airy squadrons, and a second wave which lifted the groaning bark until the +loosened yards swung creaking above their heads. The canvass flapped, too, +in the darkness, like some huge bird of prey fluttering its feathers +previously to taking wing.</p> + +<p>"Holy and just Ruler of the land and the sea!" exclaimed the Augustine, +"remember thy repentant children, and have us, at this awful moment, in +thy omnipotent protection!"</p> + +<p>"The winds are come down, and even the dumb lake sends us the signal to be +ready!" shouted Maso. "Overboard with the freight, if ye would live!"</p> + +<p>A sudden heavy plunge into the water, proved that the mariner was in +earnest. Notwithstanding the imposing and awful signs with which they were +surrounded, every individual of the nameless herd bethought him of the +puck that contained his own scanty worldly effects, and there was a +general and quick movement, with a view to secure them. As each man +succeeded in effecting his own object, he was led away by that community +of feeling which rules a multitude. The common rush was believed to be +with a view to succor Maso, though each man secretly knew the falsity of +the impression as respected his own particular case; and box after box +began to tumble into the water, as new and eager recruits lent themselves +to the task. The impulse was quickly imparted from one to another, until +even young Sigismund was active in the work. On these slight accidents do +the most important results depend, when the hot impulses that govern the +mass obtain the ascendant.</p> + +<p>It is not to be supposed that either Baptiste, or Nicklaus Wagner, +witnessed the waste of their joint effects with total indifference. So far +from this, each used every exertion in his power to prevent it, not only +by his voice, but with his hands. One menaced the law--the other +threatened Maso with condign punishment for his interference with a +patron's rights and duties; but their remonstrances were uttered to +inattentive ears. Maso knew himself to be irresponsible by situation, for +it was not an easy matter to bring him within the grasp of the +authorities; and as for the others, most of them were far too +insignificant to feel much apprehension for a reparation that would be +most likely, if it fell at all, to fall on those who were more able to +bear it. Sigismund alone exerted himself under a sense of his liabilities; +but he worked for one that was far dearer to him than gold, and little did +he bethink him of any other consequences than those which might befall the +precious life of Adelheid de Willading.</p> + +<p>The meagre packages of the common passengers had been thrown in a place of +safety, with the sort of unreflecting instinct with which we take care of +our limbs when in danger. This timely precaution permitted each to work +with a zeal that found no drawback in personal interest, and the effect +was in proportion. A hundred hands were busy, and nearly as many throbbing +hearts lent their impulses to the accomplishment of the one important +object.</p> + +<p>Baptiste and his people, aided by laborers of the port, had passed an +entire day in heaping that pile on the deck of the Winkelried, which was +now crumbling to pieces with a rapidity that seemed allied to magic. The +patron and Nicklaus Wagner bawled themselves hoarse, with uttering useless +threats and deprecations, for by this time the laborers in the work of +destruction had received some such impetus as the rolling stone acquires +by the increased momentum of its descent. Packages, boxes, bales, and +everything that came to hand, were hurled into the water frantically, and +without other thought than of the necessity of lightening the groaning +bark of its burthen. The agitation of the lake, too, was regularly +increasing, wave following wave, in a manner to cause the vessel to pitch +heavily, as it rose upon the coming, or sunk with the receding swell. At +length, a shout announced that, in one portion of the pile, the deck was +attained!</p> + +<p>The work now proceeded with greater security to those engaged, for, +hitherto the motion of the bark, and the unequal footing, frequently +rendered their situations, in the darkness and confusion, to the last +degree hazardous. Maso now abandoned his own active agency in the toil, +for no sooner did he see the others fairly and zealously enlisted in the +undertaking, than he ceased his personal efforts to give those directions +which, coming from one accustomed to the occupation, were far more +valuable than any service that could be derived from a single arm.</p> + +<p>"Thou art known to me, Signor Maso," said Baptiste, hoarse with his +impotent efforts to restrain the torrent, "and thou shalt answer for this, +as well as for other of thy crimes, so soon as we reach the haven of +Vévey!"</p> + +<p>"Dotard! thou would'st carry thyself and all with thee, by thy narrowness +of spirit, to a port from which, when it is once entered, none ever sail +again."</p> + +<p>"It lieth between ye both," rejoined Nicklaus Wagner; "thou art not less +to blame than these madmen, Baptiste. Hadst thou left the town at the hour +named in our conditions, this danger could not have overtaken us."</p> + +<p>"Am I a god to command the winds! I would that I had never seen thee or +thy cheeses, or that thou wouldst relieve me of thy presence, and go after +them into the lake."</p> + +<p>"This comes of sleeping on duty; nay, I know not but that a proper use of +the oars would still bring us in, in safety, and without necessary harm to +the property of any. Noble Baron de Willading, here may be occasion for +your testimony, and, as a citizen of Berne, I pray you to heed well the +circumstances."</p> + +<p>Baptiste was not in a humor to bear these merited reproaches, and he +rejoined upon the aggrieved Nicklaus in a manner that would speedily have +brought their ill-timed wrangle to an issue, had not Maso passed rudely +between them, shoving them asunder with the sinews of a giant. This +repulse served to keep the peace for the moment, but the wordy war +continued with so much acrimony, and with so many unmeasured terms, that +Adelheid and her maids, pale and terror-struck by the surrounding scene as +they were, gladly shut their ears, to exclude epithets of such bitterness +and menace that they curdled the blood. Maso passed on among the workmen, +when he had interposed between the disputants. He gave his orders with +perfect self-possession, though his understanding eye perceived that, +instead of magnifying the danger, he had himself not fully anticipated its +extent. The rolling of the waves was now incessant, and the quick, washing +rush of the water, a sound familiar to the seaman, announced that they +had become so large that their summits broke, sending their lighter foam +ahead. There were symptoms, too, which proved that their situation was +understood by those on the land. Lights were flashing along the strand +near Vévey, and it was not difficult to detect, even at the distance at +which they lay, the evidences of a strong feeling among the people of the +town.</p> + +<p>"I doubt not that we have been seen," said Melchior de Willading, "and +that our friends are busy in devising means to aid us. Roger de Blonay is +not a man to see us perish without an effort, nor would the worthy +bailiff, Peter Hofmeister, be idle, knowing that a brother of the +bürgerschaft, and old school associate, hath need of his assistance."</p> + +<p>"None can come to us, without running an equal risk with ourselves," +answered the Genoese. "It were better that we should be left to our own +exertions. I like the coolness of this unknown mariner, and I put my faith +in God!"</p> + +<p>A new shout proclaimed that the deck had been gained, on the other side of +the bark. Much the greater part of the deck-load had now irretrievably +disappeared, and the movements of the relieved vessel were more lively and +sane. Maso called to him one or two of the regular crew, and together they +rolled up the canvass, in a manner peculiar to the latine rig; for a +breath of hot air, the first of any sort that had been felt for many hours +passed athwart the bark. This duty was performed, as canvass is known to +be furled at need, but it was done securely. Maso then went among the +laborers again, encouraging them with his voice, and directing their +efforts with his counsel.</p> + +<p>"Thou art not equal to thy task," he said, addressing one who was vainly +endeavoring to roll a bale to the side of the vessel, a little apart from +the rest of the busy crowd; "thou wilt do better to assist the others, +than to waste thy force here."</p> + +<p>"I feel the strength to remove a mountain! Do we not work for our lives?"</p> + +<p>The mariner bent forward, and looked into the other's face. These frantic +and ill-directed efforts came from the Westphalian student.</p> + +<p>"Thy star has disappeared," he rejoined, smiling--for Maso had smiled in +scenes far more imposing, than even that with which he was now surrounded.</p> + +<p>"She gazes at it still; she thinks of one that loves her, who is +journeying far from the fatherland."</p> + +<p>"Hold! Since thou wilt have it so, I will help thee to cast this bale into +the water. Place thine arm thus; an ounce of well-directed force is worth +a pound that acts against itself."</p> + +<p>Stooping together, their united strength did that which had baffled the +single efforts of the scholar. The package rolled to the gangway, and the +German, frenzied with excitement, shouted aloud! The bark lurched, and the +bale went over the side, as if the lifeless mass were suddenly possessed +with the desire to perform the evolution which its inert weight had so +long resisted. Maso recovered his footing, which had been deranged by the +unexpected movement, with a seaman's dexterity, but his companion was no +longer at his side. Kneeling on the gangway, he perceived the dark bale +disappearing in the element, with the feet of the Westphalian dragging +after. He bent forward to grasp the rising body, but it never returned to +the surface, being entangled in the cords, or, what was equally probable, +retained by the frantic grasp of the student, whose mind had yielded to +the awful character of the night.</p> + +<p>The life of Il Maledetto had been one of great vicissitudes and peril. He +had often seen men pass suddenly into the other state of existence, and +had been calm himself amid the cries, the groans, and what is far more +appalling, the execrations of the dying, but never before had he witnessed +so brief and silent an end. For more than a minute, he hung suspended over +the dark and working water, expecting to see the student return; and, when +hope was reluctantly abandoned, he arose to his feet, a startled and +admonished man. Still discretion did not desert him. He saw the +uselessness, and even the danger, of distracting the attention of the +workmen, and the ill-fated scholar was permitted to pass away without a +word of regret or a comment on his fate. None knew of his loss but the +wary mariner, nor was his person missed by any of those who had spent the +day in his company. But she to whom he hud plighted his faith on the banks +of the Elbe long gazed at that pale star, and wept in bitterness that her +feminine constancy met with no return. Her true affections long outlived +their object, for his image was deeply enshrined in a warm female heart. +Days, weeks, months, and years passed for her in the wasting cheerlessness +of hope deferred, but the dark Leman never gave up its secret, and he to +whom her lover's fate alone was known little bethought him of an accident +which, if not forgotten, was but one of many similar frightful incidents +in his eventful career.</p> + +<p>Maso re-appeared among the crowd, with the forced composure of one who +well knew that authority was most efficient when most calm. The command of +the vessel was now virtually with him, Baptiste, enervated by the +extraordinary crisis, and choking with passion, being utterly incapable of +giving a distinct or a useful order. It was fortunate for those in the +bark that the substitute was so good, for more fearful signs never +impended over the Leman than those which darkened the hour.</p> + +<p>We have necessarily consumed much time in relating these events, the pen +not equalling the activity of the thoughts. Twenty minutes, however, had +not passed since the tranquillity of the lake was first disturbed, and so +great had been the exertions of those in the Winkelried, that the time +appeared to be shorter. But, though it had been so well employed, neither +had the powers of the air been idle. The unnatural opening in the heavens +was shut, and, at short intervals, those fearful wheelings of the aërial +squadrons were drawing nearer. Thrice had fitful breathings of warm air +passed over the bark, and occasionally, as she plunged into a sea that was +heavier than common, the faces of those on board were cooled, as it might +be with some huge fan. These were no more, however, than sudden changes in +the atmosphere, of which veins were displaced by the distant struggle +between the heated air of the lake and that which had been chilled on the +glaciers, or, they were the still more simple result of the violent +agitation of the vessel.</p> + +<p>The deep darkness which shut in the vault, giving to the embedded Leman +the appearance of a gloomy, liquid glen, contributed to the awful +sublimity of the night. The ramparts of Savoy were barely distinguishable +from the flying clouds, having the appearance of black walls, seemingly +within reach of the hand; while the more varied and softer côtes of Vaud +lay an indefinable and sombre mass, less menacing, it is true, but equally +confused and unattainable.</p> + +<p>Still the beacon blazed in the grate of old Roger de Blonay, and flaring +torches glided along the strand. The shore seemed alive with human +beings, able as themselves to appreciate and to feel for their situation.</p> + +<p>The deck was now cleared, and the travellers were collected in a group +between the masts. Pippo had lost all his pleasantry under the dread signs +of the hour, and Conrad, trembling with superstition and terror, was free +from hypocrisy. They, and those with them, discoursed on their chances, on +the nature of the risks they ran, and on its probable causes.</p> + +<p>"I see no image of Maria, nor even a pitiful lamp to any of the blessed, +in this accursed bark!" said the juggler, after several had hazarded their +quaint and peculiar opinions. "Let the patron come forth, and answer for +his negligence."</p> + +<p>The passengers were about equally divided between those who dissented from +and those who worshipped with Rome. This proposal, therefore, met with a +mixed reception. The latter protested against the neglect, while the +former, equally under the influence of abject fear, were loud in declaring +that the idolatry itself might cost them all their lives.</p> + +<p>"The curse of heaven alight on the evil tongue that first uttered the +thought!" muttered the trembling Pippo between his teeth, too prudent to +fly openly in the face of so strong an opposition, and yet too credulous +not to feel the omission in every nerve--"Hast nothing by thee, pious +Conrad, that may avail a Christian?"</p> + +<p>The pilgrim reached forth his hand with a rosary and cross. The sacred +emblem passed from mouth to mouth, among the believers, with a zeal little +short of that they had manifested in unloading the deck. Encouraged by +this sacrifice, they called loudly upon Baptiste to present himself. +Confronted with these unnurtured spirits, the patron shook in every limb, +for, between anger and abject fear, his self-command had by this time +absolutely deserted him. To the repeated appeals to procure a light, that +it might be placed before a picture of the mother of God which Conrad +produced, he objected his Protestant faith, the impossibility of +maintaining the flame while the bark pitched so violently, and the divided +opinions of the passengers. The Catholics bethought them of the country +and influence of Maso, and they loudly called upon him, for the love of +God! to come and enforce their requests. But the mariner was occupied on +the forecastle, lowering one anchor after another into the water, +passively assisted by the people of the bark, who wondered at a precaution +so useless, since no rope could reach the bottom, even while they did not +dare deny his orders. Something was now said of the curse that had +alighted on the vessel, in consequence of its patron's intention to embark +the headsman. Baptiste trembled to the skin of his crown, and his blood +crept with a superstitious awe.</p> + +<p>"Dost think there can really be aught in this!" he asked, with parched +lips and a faltering tongue.</p> + +<p>All distinction of faith was lost in the general ridicule. Now the +Westphalian was gone, there was not a man among them to doubt that a +navigation, so accompanied, would be cursed. Baptiste stammered, muttered +many incoherent sentences, and finally, in his impotency, he permitted the +dangerous secret to escape him.</p> + +<p>The intelligence that Balthazar was among them produced a solemn and deep +silence. The fact, however, furnished as conclusive evidence of the cause +of their peril to the minds of these untutored beings, as a mathematician +could have received from the happiest of his demonstrations. New light +broke in upon them, and the ominous stillness was followed by a general +demand for the patron to point out the man. Obeying this order, partly +under the influence of a terror that was allied to his moral weakness, and +partly in bodily fear, he shoved the headsman forward, substituting the +person of the proscribed man for his own, and, profiting by the occasion, +he stole out of the crowd.</p> + +<p>When the Herr Müller, or as he was now known and called, Balthazar, was +rudely pushed into the hands of these ferocious agents of superstition, +the apparent magnitude of the discovery induced a general and breathless +pause. Like the treacherous calm that had so long reigned upon the lake, +it was a precursor of a fearful and violent explosion. Little was said, +for the occasion was too ominous for a display of vulgar feeling, but +Conrad, Pippo, and one or two more, silently raised the fancied offender +in their arms, and bore him desperately towards the side of the bark.</p> + +<p>"Call on Maria, for the good of thy soul!" whispered the Neapolitan, with +a strange mixture of Christian zeal, in the midst of all his ferocity.</p> + +<p>The sound of words like these usually conveys the idea of charity and +love, but, notwithstanding this gleam of hope, Balthazar still found +himself borne towards his fate.</p> + +<p>On quitting the throng that clustered together in a dense body between the +masts, Baptiste encountered his old antagonist, Nicklaus Wagner. The fury +which had so long been pent in his breast suddenly found vent, and, in the +madness of the moment, he struck him. The stout Bernese grappled his +assailant, and the struggle became fierce as that of brutes. Scandalized +by such a spectacle, offended by the disrespect, and ignorant of what else +was passing near--for the crowd had uttered its resolutions in the +suppressed voices of men determined--the Baron de Willading and the Signor +Grimaldi advanced with dignity and firmness to prevent the shameful +strife. At this critical moment the voice of Balthazar was heard above the +roar of the coming wind, not calling on Maria, as he had been admonished, +but appealing to the two old nobles to save him. Sigismund sprang forward +like a lion, at the cry, but too late to reach those who were about to +cast the headsman from the gangway, he was just in time to catch the body, +by its garments, when actually sailing in the air. By a vast effort of +strength its direction was diverted. Instead of alighting in the water, +Balthazar encountered the angry combatants, who, driven back on the two +nobles, forced the whole four over the side of the bark into the water.</p> + +<p>The struggle between the two bodies of air ceased, that on the surface of +the lake yielding to the avalanche from above, and the tempest came +howling upon the bark.</p> +</div> + + +<div class="chapter" id="ch07"> +<h2>Chapter VII.</h2> + + +<blockquote class="epi"><p> ---and now the glee<br /> + Of the loud hills shakes with their mountain-mirth.</p> + +<p> Byron.</p></blockquote> + +<p> +It is necessary to recapitulate a little, in order to connect events. The +signs of the hour had been gradually but progressively increasing. While +the lake was unruffled, a stillness so profound prevailed, that sounds +from the distant port, such as the heavy fall of an oar, or a laugh from +the waterman, had reached the ears of those in the Winkelried, bringing +with them the feeling of security, and the strong charm of a calm at even. +To these succeeded the gathering in the heavens, and the roaring of the +winds, as they came rushing down the sides of the Alps, in their first +descent into the basin of the Leman. As the sight grew useless, except as +it might study the dark omens of the impending vault, the sense of hearing +became doubly acute, and it had been a powerful agent in heightening the +vague but acute apprehensions of the travellers. The rushes of the wind, +which at first were broken, at intervals resembling the roar of a +chimney-top in a gale, had soon reached the fearful grandeur of those +aërial wheelings of squadrons, to which we have more than once alluded, +passing off in dread mutterings, that, in the deep quiet of all other +things, bore a close affinity to the rumbling of a surf upon the +sea-shore. The surface of the lake was first broken after one of these +symptoms, and it was this infallible sign of a gale which had assured Maso +there was no time to lose. This movement of the element in a calm is a +common phenomenon on waters that are much environed with elevated and +irregular head-lands, and it is a certain proof that wind is on some +distant portion of the sheet. It occurs frequently on the ocean, too, +where the mariner is accustomed to find a heavy sea setting in one +direction, the effects of some distant storm, while the breeze around him +is blowing in its opposite. It had been succeeded by the single rolling +swell, like the outer circle of waves produced by dropping a stone into +the water, and the regular and increasing agitation of the lake, until the +element broke as in a tempest, and that seemingly of its own volition, +since not a breath of air was stirring. This last and formidable symptom +of the force of the coming gust, however, had now become so unequivocal, +that, at the moment when the three travellers and the patron fell from her +gangway, the Winkelried, to use a seaman's phrase, was literally wallowing +in the troughs of the seas.</p> + +<p>A dull unnatural light preceded the winds, and notwithstanding the +previous darkness, the nature of the accident was fully apparent to all. +Even the untamed spirits that had just been bent upon so fierce a +sacrifice to their superstitious dread, uttered cries of horror, while the +piercing shriek of Adelheid sounded, in that fearful moment, as if beings +of super-human attributes were riding in the gale. The name of Sigismund +was heard, too, in one of those wild appeals that the frantic suffer to +escape them, in their despair. But the interval between the plunge into +the water and the swoop of the tempest was so short, that, to the senses +of the travellers, the whole seemed the occurrence of the same teeming +moment.</p> + +<p>Maso had completed his work on the forecasts, had seen that other +provisions which he had ordered were duly made, and had reached the +tiller, just in time to witness and to understand all that occurred. +Adelheid and her female attendants were already lashed to the principal +masts, and ropes were given to the others around her, as indispensable +precautions; for the deck of the bark, now cleared of every particle of +its freight, was as exposed and as defenceless against the power of the +wind, as a naked heath. Such was the situation of the Winkelried, when the +omens of the night changed to their dread reality.</p> + +<p>Instinct, in cases of sudden and unusual danger must do the office of +reason. There was no necessity to warn the unthinking but panic-struck +crowd to provide for their own safety, for every man in the centre of the +barge threw his body flaon the deck, and grasped the cords that Maso had +taken care to provide for that purpose, with the tenacity with which all +who possess life cling to the means of existence. The dogs gave beautiful +proofs of the secret and wonderful means that nature has imparted, to +answer the ends of their creation. Old Uberto crouched, cowering, and +oppressed with a sense of helplessness, at the side of his master, while +the Newfoundland follower of the mariner went leaping from gangway to +gangway, snuffing the heated air, and barking wildly, as if he would +challenge the elements to close for the strife.</p> + +<p>A vast body of warm air had passed unheeded athwart the bark, during the +minute that preceded the intended sacrifice of Balthazar. It was the +forerunner of the hurricane, which had chased it from the bed where it had +been sleeping, since the warm and happy noon-tide. Ten thousand chariots +at their speed could not have equalled the rumbling that succeeded, when +the winds came booming over the lake. As if too eager to permit anything +within their fangs to escape, they brought with them a wild, dull light, +which filled while it clouded the atmosphere, and which, it was scarcely +fanciful to imagine, had been hurried down, in their vortex, from those +chill glaciers, where they had so long been condensing their forces for +the present descent. The waves were not increased, but depressed by the +pressure of this atmospheric column, though it took up hogshead, of water +from their crests, scattering it in fine penetrating spray, till the +entire space between the heavens and the earth seemed saturated with its +particles.</p> + +<p>The Winkelried received the shock at a moment when the lee-side of her +broad deck was wallowing in the trough, and its weather was protruded on +the summit of a swell. The wind howled when it struck the pent limits, as +if angered at being thwarted, and there was a roar under the wide +gangways, resembling that of lions. The reeling vessel was raised in a +manner to cause those or board to believe it about to be lifted bodily +from the water, but the ceaseless rolling of the element restored the +balance. Maso afterwards affirmed that nothing but this accidental +position, which formed a sort of lee, prevented all in the bark from being +swept from the deck, before the first gust of the hurricane.</p> + +<p>Sigismund had heard the heart-rending appeal of Adelheid, and, +notwithstanding the awful strife of the elements and the fearful character +of the night, he alone breasted the shock on his feet. Though aided by a +rope, and bowed like a reed, his herculean frame trembled under the shock, +in a way to render even his ability to resist seriously doubtful. But, the +first blast expended, he sprang to the gangway, and leaped into the +cauldron of the lake unhesitatingly, and yet in the possession of all his +faculties. He was desperately bent on saving a life so dear to Adelheid, +or on dying in the attempt.</p> + +<p>Maso had watched the crisis with a seaman's eye, a seaman's resources, and +a seaman's coolness. He had not refused to quit his feet, but kneeling on +one knee, he pressed the tiller down, lashed it, and clinging to the +massive timber, faced the tempest with the steadiness of a water-god. +There was sublimity in the intelligence, deliberation, and calculating +skill, with which this solitary, unknown, and nearly hopeless, mariner +obeyed his professional instinct, in that fearful concussion of the +elements, which, loosened from every restraint, now appeared abandoned to +their own wild and fierce will. He threw aside his cap, pushed forward his +thick but streaming locks, as veils to protect his eyes, and watched the +first encounter of the wind, as the wary but sullen lion keeps his gaze on +the hostile elephant. A grim smile stole across his features, when he felt +the vessel settle again into its watery bed, after that breathless moment +in which there had been reason to fear it might actually be lifted from +its proper element. Then the precaution, which had seemed so useless and +incomprehensible to others, came in play. The bark made a fearful whirl +from the spot where it had so long lain, yielding to the touch of the gust +like a vane turning on its pivot, while the water gurgled several streaks +on deck. But the cables were no sooner taut than the numerous anchors +resisted, and brought the bark head to wind. Maso felt the yielding of the +vessel's stern, as she swung furiously round, and he cheered aloud. The +trembling of the timbers, the dashing against the pointed beak, and that +high jet of water, which shot up over the bows and fell heavily on the +forecastle, washing aft in a flood, were so many evidences that the cables +were true. Advancing from his post, with some such dignity as a master of +fence displays in the exercise of his art, he shouted for his dog.</p> + +<p>"Nettuno!--Nettuno!--where art thou, brave Nettuno?"</p> + +<p>The faithful animal was whining near him, unheard in that war of the +elements. He waited only for this encouragement to act. No sooner was his +master's voice heard, than, barking bravely, he snuffed the gale, dashed +to the side of the vessel, and leaped into the boiling lake.</p> + +<p>When Melchior de Willading and his friend returned to the surface, after +their plunge, it was like men making their appearance in a world abandoned +to the infernal humors of the fiends of darkness. The reader will +understand it was at the instant of the swoop of the winds, that has just +been detailed, for what we have taken so many pages to describe in words, +scarce needed a minute of time in the accomplishment.</p> + +<p>Maso knelt on the verge of the gangway, sustaining himself by passing an +arm around a shroud, and, bending forward, he gazed into the cauldron of +the lake with aching eyes. Once or twice, he thought he heard the stifled +breathing of one who struggled with the raging water; but, in that roar of +the winds, it was easy to be deceived. He shouted encouragement to his +dog, however, and gathering a small rope rapidly, he made a heaving coil +of one of its ends. This he cast far from him, with a peculiar swing and +dexterity, hauling-in, and repeating the experiments, steadily and with +unwearied industry. The rope was necessarily thrown at hazard, for the +misty light prevented more than it aided vision; and the howling of the +powers of the air filled his ears with sounds that resembled the laugh of +devils.</p> + +<p>In the cultivation of the youthful manly exercises, neither of the old +nobles had neglected the useful skill of being able to buffet with the +waves. But both possessed what was far better, in such a strait, than the +knowledge of a swimmer, in that self-command and coolness in emergencies +which they are apt to acquire, who pass their time in encountering the +hazards and in overcoming the difficulties of war. Each retained a +sufficiency of recollection, therefore, on coming to the surface, to +understand his situation, and not to increase the danger by the +ill-directed and frantic efforts that usually drown the frightened. The +case was sufficiently desperate, at the best, without the additional risk +of distraction, for the bark had already drifted to some unseen spot, +that, as respects them, was quite unattainable. In this uncertainty, it +would have been madness to steer amid the waste of waters, as likely to +go wrong as right, and they limited their efforts to mutual support and +encouragement, placing their trust in God.</p> + +<p>Not so with Sigismund. To him the roaring tempest was mute, the boiling +and hissing lake had no horrors, and he had plunged into the fathomless +Leman as recklessly as he could have leaped to land. The shriek, the +"Sigismund! oh, Sigismund!" of Adelheid, was in his ears, and her cry of +anguish thrilled on every nerve. The athletic young Swiss was a practised +and expert swimmer, or it is improbable that even these strong impulses +could have overcome the instinct of self-preservation. In a tranquil +basin, it would have been no extraordinary or unusual feat for him to +conquer the distance between the Winkelried and the shores of Vaud; but, +like all the others, on casting himself into the water, he was obliged to +shape his course at random, and this, too, amid such a driving spray as +rendered even respiration difficult. As has been said, the waves were +compressed into their bed rather than augmented by the wind; but, had it +been otherwise, the mere heaving and settling of the element, while it +obstructs his speed, offers a support rather than an obstacle to the +practised swimmer.</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding all these advantages, the strength of his impulses, and +the numberless occasions on which he had breasted the surges of the +Mediterranean, Sigismund, on recovering from his plunge, felt the fearful +chances of the risk he ran, as the stern soldier meets the hazards of +battle, in which he knows if there is victory there is also death. He +dashed the troubled water aside, though he swam blindly, and each stroke +urged him farther from the bark, his only hope of safety. He was between +dark rolling mounds, and, on rising to their summits, a hurricane of mist +made him glad to sink again within a similar shelter. The breaking crests +of the waves, which were glancing off in foam, also gave him great +annoyance, for such was their force, that, more than once, he was hurled +helpless as a log before them. Still he swam boldly, and with strength; +nature having gifted him with more than the usual physical energy of man. +But, uncertain in his course, unable to see the length of his own body, +and pressed hard upon by the wind, even the spirit of Sigismund Steinbach +could not long withstand so many adverse circumstances. He had already +turned, wavering in purpose, thinking to catch a glimpse of the bark in +the direction he had come, when a dark mass floated immediately before his +eyes, and he felt the cold clammy nose of the dog, scenting about his +face. The admirable instinct, or we might better say, the excellent +training of Nettuno, told him that his services were not needed here, and, +barking with wild delight, as if in mockery of the infernal din of the +tempest, he sheered aside, and swam swiftly on. A thought flashed like +lightning on the brain of Sigismund. His best hope was in the inexplicable +faculties of this animal. Throwing forward an arm, he seized the bushy +tail of the dog, and suffered himself to be dragged ahead, he knew not +whither, though he seconded the movement with his own exertions. Another +bark proclaimed that the experiment was successful, and voices, rising as +it were from the water, close at hand, announced the proximity of human +beings. The brunt of the hurricane was past, and the washing of the waves, +which had been stilled by the roar and the revelry of the winds, again +became audible.</p> + +<p>The strength of the two struggling old men was sinking fast. The Signor +Grimaldi had, thus far, generously sustained his friend, who was less +expert than himself in the water, and he continued to cheer him with a +hope he did not feel himself, nobly refusing to the last to separate their +fortunes.</p> + +<p>"How dost find thyself, old Melchior?" he asked. "Cheer thee, friend--I +think there is succor at hand."</p> + +<p>The water gurgled at the mouth of the baron, who was near the gasp.</p> + +<p>"'Tis late--bless thee, dearest Gaetano--God be with my child--my +Adelheid--poor Adelheid!"</p> + +<p>The utterance of this precious name, under a father's agony of spirit, +most probably saved his life. The sinewy arm of Sigismund, directed by the +words, grasped his dress, and he felt at once that a new and preserving +power had interposed between him and the caverns of the lake. It was time, +for the water had covered the face of the failing baron, ere the muscular +arm of the youth came to perform its charitable office.</p> + +<p>"Yield thee to the dog, Signore," said Sigismund, clearing his mouth of +water to speak calmly, once assured of his own burthen; "trust to his +sagacity, and,--God keep us in mind!--all may yet be well!"</p> + +<p>The Signor Grimaldi retained sufficient presence of mind to follow this +advice, and it was probably quite as fortunate that his friend had so far +lost his consciousness, as to become an unresisting burthen in the hands +of Sigismund.</p> + +<p>"Nettuno!--gallant Nettuno!"--swept past them on the gale for the first +time, the partial hushing of the winds permitting the clear call of Maso +to reach so far. The sound directed the efforts of Sigismund, though the +dog had swum steadily away the moment he had the Genoese in his gripe, and +with a certainty of manner that showed he was at no loss for a direction.</p> + +<p>But Sigismund had taxed his powers too far. He, who could have buffeted +an ordinary sea for hours, was now completely exhausted by the unwonted +exertions, the deadening influence of the tempest, and the log-like weight +of his burthen He would not desert the father of Adelheid, and yet each +fainting and useless stroke told him to despair. The dog had already +disappeared in the darkness, and he was even uncertain again of the true +position of the bark. He prayed in agony for a single glimpse of the +rocking masts and yards, or to catch one syllable of the cheering voice of +Maso. But in both his wishes were vain. In place of the former, he had +naught but the veiled misty light, that had come on with the hurricane; +and, instead of the latter, his ears were filled with the washing of the +waves and the roars of the gusts. The blasts now descended to the surface +of the lake, and now went whirling and swelling upward, in a way to lead +the listener to fancy that the viewless winds might, for once, be seen. +For a single painful instant, in one of those disheartening moments of +despair that will come over the stoutest, his hand was about to relinquish +its hold of the baron, and to make the last natural struggle for life; but +that fair and modest picture of maiden loveliness and truth, which had so +long haunted his waking hours and adorned his night-dreams, interposed to +prevent the act. After this brief and fleeting weakness, the young man +seemed endowed with new energy. He swam stronger, and with greater +apparent advantage, than before.</p> + +<p>"Nettuno--gallant Nettuno!"--again drove over him, bringing with it the +chilling certainty, that turned from his course by the rolling of the +water he had thrown away these desperate efforts, by taking a direction +which led him from the bark. While there was the smallest appearance of +success no difficulties, of whatever magnitude, could entirely extinguish +hope; but when the dire conviction that he had been actually aiding, +instead of diminishing the danger, pressed upon Sigismund, he abandoned +his efforts. The most he endeavored or hoped to achieve, was to keep his +own head and that of his companion above the fatal element, while he +answered the cry of Maso with a shout of despair.</p> + +<p>"Nettuno!--gallant Nettuno!"--again flew past on the gale.</p> + +<p>This cry might have been an answer, or it might merely be the Italian +encouraging his dog to bear on the body, with which it was already loaded +Sigismund uttered a shout, which he felt must be the last. He struggled +desperately, but in vain the world and its allurements were vanishing from +his thoughts, when a dark line whirled over him, and fell thrashing upon +the very wave which covered his face. An instinctive grasp caught it, and +the young soldier felt himself impelled ahead. He had seized the rope +which the mariner had not ceased to throw, as the fisherman casts his +line, and he was at the side of the bark, before his confused faculties +enabled him to understand the means employed for his rescue.</p> + +<p>Maso took a hasty turn with the rope, and, stooping forward, favored by a +roll of the vessel, he drew the Baron de Willading upon deck. Watching his +time, he repeated the experiment, always with admirable coolness and +dexterity, placing Sigismund also in safety. The former was immediately +dragged senseless to the centre of the bark, where he received those +attentions that had just been eagerly offered to the Signior Grimaldi, and +with the same happy results. But Sigismund motioned all away from himself, +knowing that their cares were needed elsewhere. He staggered forward a +few paces, and then, yielding to a complete exhaustion of his power, he +fell at full length on the wet planks. He long lay panting, speechless, +and unable to move, with a sense of death on his frame.</p> + +<p>"Nettuno! gallant, gallant Nettuno!"--shouted the indefatigable Maso, +still at his post on the gangway, whence he cast his rope with unchanging +perseverance. The fitful winds, which had already played so many fierce +antics that eventful night, sensibly lulled, and, giving one or two sighs, +as if regretting that they were about to be curbed again by that almighty +Master, from whose benevolent hands they had so furtively escaped, as +suddenly ceased blowing. The yards creaked, swinging loosely, above the +crowded deck, and the dull washing of water filled the ear. To these +diminished sounds were to be added the barking of the dog, who was still +abroad in the darkness, and a struggling noise like the broken and +smothered attempts of human voices. Although the time appeared an age to +all who awaited the result, scarcely five minutes had elapsed since the +accident occurred and the hurricane had reached them. There was still +hope, therefore, for those who yet remained in the water. Maso felt the +eagerness of one who had already been successful beyond his hopes, and, in +his desire to catch some guiding signal, he leaned forward, till the +rolling lake washed into his face.</p> + +<p>"Ha! gallant--gallant Nettuno!"</p> + +<p>Men certainly spoke, and that near him. But the sounds resembled words +uttered beneath a cover. The wind whistled, too, though but for a moment, +and then it seemed to sail upward into the dark vault of the heavens. +Nettuno barked audibly, and his master answered with another shout, for +the sympathy of man in his kind is inextinguishable.</p> + +<p>"My brave, my noble Nettuno!"</p> + +<p>The stillness was now imposing, and Maso heard the dog growl. This +ill-omened signal was undeniably followed by smothered voices. The latter +became clearer, as if the mocking winds were willing that a sad exhibition +of human frailty should be known, or, what is more probable, violent +passion had awakened stronger powers of speech. This much the mariner +understood.</p> + +<p>"Loosen thy grasp, accursed Baptiste!"</p> + +<p>"Wretch, loosen thine own!"</p> + +<p>"Is God naught with thee?"</p> + +<p>"Why dost throttle so, infernal Nicklaus?"</p> + +<p>"Thou wilt die damned!"</p> + +<p>"Thou chokest--villain--pardon!--pardon!"</p> + +<p>He heard no more. The merciful elements interposed to drown the appalling +strife. Once or twice the dog howled, but the tempest came across the +Leman again in its might, as if the short pause had been made merely to +take breath. The winds took a new direction; and the bark, still held by +its anchors, swung wide off from its former position, tending in towards +the mountains of Savoy. During the first burst of this new blast, even +Maso was glad to crouch to the deck, for millions of infinitely fine +particles were lifted from the lake, and driven on with the atmosphere +with a violence to take away his breath. The danger of being swept before +the furious tide of the driving element was also an accident not +impossible. When the lull returned, no exertion of his faculties could +catch a single sound foreign to the proper character of the scene, such as +the plash of the water, and the creaking of the long, swinging yards.</p> + +<p>The mariner now felt a deep concern for his dog. He called to him until he +grew hoarse, but fruitlessly. The change of position, with the constant +and varying drift of the vessel, had carried them beyond the reach of the +human voice. More time was expended in summoning "Nettuno! gallant +Nettuno!" than had been consumed in the passage of all the events which it +has been necessary to our object to relate so minutely, and always with +the same want of success. The mind of Maso was pitched to a degree far +above the opinions and habits of those with whom his life brought him +ordinarily in contact, but as even fine gold will become tarnished by +exposure to impure air, he had not entirely escaped the habitual +weaknesses of the Italians of his class. When he found that no cry could +recall his faithful companion, he threw himself upon the deck in a +paroxysm of passion, tore his hair, and wept audibly.</p> + +<p>"Nettuno! my brave, my faithful Nettuno!" he said. "What are all these to +me, without thee! Thou alone lovedst me--thou alone hast passed with me +through fair and foul--through good and evil, without change, or wish for +another master! When the pretended friend has been false, thou hast +remained faithful! When others were sycophants thou wert never a +flatterer!"</p> + +<p>Struck with this singular exhibition of sorrow, the good Augustine, who, +until now, like all the others, had been looking to his own safety, or +employed in restoring the exhausted, took advantage of the favorable +change in the weather, and advanced with the language of consolation.</p> + +<p>"Thou hast saved all our lives, bold mariner," he said; "and there are +those in the bark who will know how to reward thy courage and skill, +Forget, then, thy dog, and indulge in a grateful heart to Maria and the +saints, that they have been our friends and thine in this exceeding +jeopardy."</p> + +<p>"Father, I have eaten with the animal--slept with the animal--fought, +swum, and made merry with him, and I could now drown with him! What are +thy nobles and their gold to me, without my dog? The gallant brute will +die the death of despair, swimming about in search of the bark in the +midst of the darkness, until even one of his high breed and courage must +suffer his heart to burst."</p> + +<p>"Christians have been called into the dread presence, unconfessed and +unshrived, to-night; and we should bethink us of their souls, rather than +indulge in this grief in behalf of one that, however faithful, ends but an +unreasoning and irresponsible existence."</p> + +<p>All this was thrown away upon Maso, who crossed himself habitually at the +allusion to the drowned, but who did not the less bewail the loss of his +dog, whom he seemed to love, like the affection that David bore for +Jonathan, with a love surpassing that of women. Perceiving that his +counsel was useless, the good Augustine turned away, to knee and offer up +his own orisons of gratitude, and to bethink him of the dead.</p> + +<p>"Nettuno! <i>povera, carissima bestia!</i>" continued Maso, "whither art thou +swimming, in this infernal quarrel between the air and water? Would I were +with thee, dog! No mortal shall ever share the love I bore thee, <i>povero +Nettuno!</i>--I will never take another to my heart, like thee!"</p> + +<p>The outbreaking of Maso's grief was sudden, and it was brief in its +duration. In this respect it might be likened to the hurricane that had +just passed. Excessive violence, in both cases, appeared to bring its own +remedy, for the irregular fitful gusts from the mountains had already +ceased, and were succeeded by a strong but steady gale from the north; and +the sorrow of Maso soon ended its characteristic plaints, to take a more +continued and even character.</p> + +<p>During the whole of the foregoing scenes, the Common passengers had +crouched to the deck, partly in stupor, partly in superstitious dread, +and much of the time, from a positive inability to move without incurring +the risk of being driven from the defenceless vessel into the lake. But, +as the wind diminished in force, and the motion of the bark became more +regular, they rallied their senses, like men who had been in a trance, and +one by one they rose to their feet. About this time Adelheid heard the +sound of her father's voice, blessing her care, and consoling her sorrow. +The north wind blew away the canopy of clouds, and the stars shone upon +the angry Leman, bringing with them some such promise of divine aid as the +pillar of fire afforded to the Israelites in their passage of the Red Sea. +Such an evidence of returning peace brought renewed confidence. All in the +bark, passengers as well as crew, took courage at the benignant signs, +while Adelheid wept, in gratitude and joy, over the gray hairs of her +father.</p> + +<p>Maso had now obtained complete command of the Winkelried, as much by the +necessity of the case, as by the unrivalled skill and courage he had +manifested during the fearful minutes of their extreme jeopardy. No sooner +did he succeed in staying his own grief, than he called the people about +him, and issued his orders for the new measures that had become necessary.</p> + +<p>All who have ever been subject to their influence know that there is +nothing more uncertain than the winds. Their fickleness has passed into a +proverb; but their inconstancy, as well as their power, from the fanning +air to the destructive tornado, are to be traced to causes that are +sufficiently clear, though hid in their nature from the calculations of +our forethought. The tempest of the night was owing to the simple fact, +that a condensed and chilled column of the mountains had pressed upon the +heated substratum of the lake, and the latter, after a long resistance, +suddenly finding vent for its escape, had been obliged to let in the +cataract from above. As in all extraordinary efforts, whether physical or +moral, reaction would seem to be a consequence of excessive action, the +currents of air, pushed beyond their proper limits, were now setting back +again, like a tide on its reflux. This cause produced the northern gale +that succeeded the hurricane.</p> + +<p>The wind that came from off the shores of Vaud was steady and fresh. The +barks of the Leman are not constructed for beating to windward, and it +might even have been questioned, whether the Winkelried would have borne +her canvass against so heavy a breeze. Maso, however, appeared to +understand himself thoroughly, and as he had acquired the influence which +hardihood and skill are sure to obtain over doubt and timidity in +situations of hazard, he was obeyed by all on board with submission, if +not with zeal. No more was heard of the headsman or of his supposed agency +in the storm; and, as he prudently kept himself in the back-ground, so as +not to endanger a revival of the superstition of his enemies, he seemed +entirely forgotten.</p> + +<p>The business of getting the anchors occupied a considerable time, for Maso +refused, now there existed no necessity for the sacrifice, to permit a +yarn to be cut; but, released from this hold on the water, the bark +whirled away, and was soon driving before the wind. The mariner was at the +helm, and, causing the head-sail to be loosened, he steered directly for +the rocks of Savoy. This manoeuvre excited disagreeable suspicions in the +minds of several on board, for the lawless character of their pilot had +been more than suspected in the course of their short acquaintance, and +the coast towards which they were furiously rushing known to be +iron-bound, and, in such a gale fatal to all who came rudely upon its +rocks. Half-an-hour removed their apprehensions. When near enough to the +mountains to feel their deadening influence on the gale, the natural +effect of the eddies, formed by their resistance to the currents, he +luffed-to and set his main-sail. Relieved by this wise precaution, the +Winkelried now wore her canvass gallantly, and she dashed along the shore +of Savoy with a foaming beak, shooting past ravine, valley, glen, and +hamlet, as if sailing in air.</p> + +<p>In less than an hour, St. Gingoulph, or the village through which the +dividing line between the territories of Switzerland and those of the King +of Sardinia passes, was abeam, and the excellent calculations of the +sagacious Maso became still more apparent. He had foreseen another shift +of wind, as the consequence of all this poise and counterpoise, and he was +here met by the true breeze of the night. The last current came out of the +gorge of the Valais, sullen, strong, and hoarse, bringing him, however, +fairly to windward of his port. The Winkelried was cast in season, and, +when the gale struck her anew, her canvass drew fairly, and she walked out +from beneath the mountains into the broad lake, like a swan obeying its +instinct.</p> + +<p>The passage across the width of the Leman, in that horn of the crescent +and in such a breeze, required rather more than an hour. This time was +occupied among the common herd in self-felicitations, and in those vain +boastings that distinguish the vulgar who have escaped an imminent danger +without any particular merit of their own. Among those whose spirits were +better trained and more rebuked, there were attentions to the sufferers +and deep thanksgivings with the touching intercourse of the grateful and +happy. The late scenes, and the fearful fate of the patron and Nicholaus +Wagner, cast a shade upon their joy, but all inwardly felt that they had +been snatched from the jaws of death.</p> + +<p>Maso shaped his course by the beacon that still blazed in the grate of old +Roger de Blonay. With his eye riveted on the luff of his sail, his hip +bearing hard against the tiller, and a heart that relieved itself, from +time to time, with bitter sighs, he ruled the bark like a presiding +spirit.</p> + +<p>At length the black mass of the côtes of Vaud took more distinct and +regular forms. Here and there, a tower or a tree betrayed its outlines +against the sky, and then the objects on the margin of the lake began to +stand out in gloomy relief from the land. Lights flared along the strand, +and cries reached them, from the shore. A dark shapeless pile stood +directly athwart their watery path, and, at the next moment, it took the +aspect of a ruined castle-like edifice. The canvass flapped and was +handed, the Winkelried rose and set more slowly and with a gentler +movement, and glided into the little, secure, artificial haven of La Tour +de Peil. A forest of latine yards and low masts lay before them, but, by +giving the bark a rank sheer, Maso brought her to her berth, by the side +of another lake craft, with a gentleness of collision that, as the +mariners have it, would not have broken an egg.</p> + +<p>A hundred voices greeted the travellers; for their approach had been seen +and watched with intense anxiety. Fifty eager Vévaisans poured upon her +deck, in a noisy crowd, the instant it was possible. Among others, a dark +shaggy object bounded foremost. It leaped wildly forward, and Maso found +himself in the embraces of Nettuno. A little later, when delight and a +more tempered feeling permitted examination, a lock of human hair was +discovered entangled in the teeth of the dog, and the following week the +bodies of Baptiste and the peasant of Berne were found still clenched in +the desperate death-gripe, washed upon the shores of Vaud.</p> +</div> + + +<div class="chapter" id="ch08"> +<h2>Chapter VIII.</h2> + + +<blockquote class="epi"><p> The moon is up; by Heaven a lovely eve!<br /> + Long streams of light, o'er glancing waves expand,<br /> + Now lads on shore may sigh and maids believe:<br /> + Such be our fate when we return to land!</p> + +<p> Byron.</p></blockquote> + +<p> +The approach of the Winkelried had been seen from Vévey throughout the +afternoon and evening. The arrival of the Baron de Willading and his +daughter was expected by many in the town, the rank and influence of the +former in the great canton rendering him an object of interest to more +than those who felt affection for his person and respect for his upright +qualities. Roger de Blonay had not been his only youthful friend, for the +place contained another, with whom he was intimate by habit, if not from a +community of those principles which are the best cement of friendships.</p> + +<p>The officer charged with the especial supervision of the districts or +circles, into which Berne had caused its dependent territory of Vaud to be +divided, was termed a <i>bailli</i>, a title that our word bailiff will +scarcely render, except as it may strictly mean a substitute for the +exercise of authority that is the property of another, but which, for the +want of a better term, we may be compelled occasionally to use. The +bailli, or bailiff, of Vévey was Peter Hofmeister, a member of one of +those families of the bürgerschaft, or the municipal aristocracy of the +canton, which found its institutions venerable, just, and, and if one +might judge from their language, almost sacred, simply because it had been +in possession of certain exclusive privileges under their authority, that +were not only comfortable in their exercise but fecund in other worldly +advantages. This Peter Hofmeister was, in the main, a hearty, +well-meaning, and somewhat benevolent person, but, living as he did under +the secret consciousness that all was not as it should be, he pushed his +opinions on the subject of vested interests, and on the stability of +temporal matters, a little into extremes, pretty much on the same +principle as that on which the engineer expends the largest portion of his +art in fortifying the weakest point of the citadel, taking care that there +shall be a constant flight of shot, great and small, across the most +accessible of its approaches. By one of the exclusive ordinances of those +times, in which men were glad to get relief from the violence and rapacity +of the baron and the satellite of the prince, ordinances that it was the +fashion of the day to term liberty, the family of Hofmeister had come into +the exercise of a certain charge, or monopoly, that, in truth, had always +constituted its wealth and importance, but of which it was accustomed to +speak as forming its principal claim to the gratitude of the public, for +duties that had been performed not only so well, but for so long a period, +by an unbroken succession of patriots descended from the same stock. They +who judged of the value attached to the possession of this charge, by the +animation with which all attempts to relieve them of the burthen were +repelled, must have been in error; for, to hear their friends descant on +the difficulties of the duties, of the utter impossibility that they +should be properly discharged by any family that had not been in their +exercise just one hundred and seventy-two years and a half, the precise +period of the hard servitude of the Hofmeisters, and the rare merit of +their self-devotion to the common good, it would seem that they were so +many modern Curtii, anxious to leap into the chasm of uncertain and +endless toil, to save the Republic from the ignorance and peculations of +certain interested and selfish knaves, who wished to enjoy the same high +trusts, for a motive so unworthy as that of their own particular +advantage. This subject apart, however, and with a strong reservation in +favor of the supremacy of Berne, on whom his importance depended, a better +or a more philanthropic man than Peter Hofmeister would not have been +easily found. He was a hearty laugher, a hard drinker, a common and +peculiar failing of the age, a great respecter of the law, as was meet in +one so situated, and a bachelor of sixty-eight, a time of life that, by +referring his education to a period more remote by half a century, than +that in which the incidents of our legend took place, was not at all in +favor of any very romantic predilection in behalf of the rest of the human +race. In short, the Herr Hofmeister was a bailiff, much as Balthazar was a +headsman, on account of some particular merit or demerit, (it might now be +difficult to say which,) of one of his ancestors, by the laws of the +canton, and by the opinions of men. The only material difference between +them was in the fact, that the one greatly enjoyed his station, while the +other had but an indifferent relish for his trust.</p> + +<p>When Roger de Blonay, by the aid of a good glass, had assured himself that +the bark which lay off St. Saphorin, in the even tide, with yards +a-cock-bill, and sails pendent in their picturesque drapery, contained a +party of gentle travellers who occupied the stern, and saw by the plumes +and robes that a female of condition was among them, he gave an order to +prepare the beacon-fire, and descended to the port, in order to be in +readiness to receive his friend. Here he found the bailiff, pacing the +public promenade, which is washed by the limpid water of the lake, with +the air of a man who had more on his mind than the daily cares of office. +Although the Baron de Blonay was a Vaudois, and looked upon all the +functionaries of his country's conquerors with a species of hereditary +dislike, he was by nature a man of mild and courteous qualities, and the +meeting was, as usual, friendly in the externals, and of seeming +cordiality. Great care was had by both to speak in the second person; on +the part of the Vaudois, that it might be seen he valued himself as, at +least, the equal of the representative of Berne, and, on that of the +bailiff, in order to show that his office made him as good as the head of +the oldest house in all that region.</p> + +<p>"Thou expectest to see friends from Genf in yonder bark?" said the Herr +Hofmeister, abruptly.</p> + +<p>"And thou?"</p> + +<p>"A friend, and one more than a friend;" answered the bailiff, evasively. +"My advices tell me that Melchior de Willading will sojourn among us +during the festival of the Abbaye, and secret notice has been sent that +there will be another here, who wishes to see our merry-making, without +pretension to the honors that he might fairly claim."</p> + +<p>"It is not rare for nobles of mark, and even princes, to visit us on these +occasions, under feigned names and without the <i>éclat</i> of their rank, for +the great, when they descend to follies, seldom like to bring their high +condition within their influence."</p> + +<p>"The wiser they. I have my own troubles with these accursed fooleries, +for--it may be a weakness, but it is one that is official--I cannot help +imagining that a bailiff cuts but a shabby figure before the people, in +the presence of so many gods and goddesses. To own to thee the truth, I +rejoice that he who cometh, cometh as he doth.--Hast letters of late date +from Berne?"</p> + +<p>"None; though report says that there is like to be a change among some of +those who fill the public trusts."</p> + +<p>"So much the worse!" growled the bailiff. "Is it to be expected that men +who never did an hour's duty in a charge can acquit themselves like those +who have, it might be said, sucked in practice with their mother's milk?"</p> + +<p>"Ay; this is well enough for thee; but others say that even the Erlachs +had a beginning."</p> + +<p>"Himmel! Am I a heathen to deny this? As many beginnings as thou wilt, +good Roger, but I like not thy ends. No doubt an Erlach is mortal, like +all of us, and even a created being; but a man is not a charge. Let the +clay die, if thou wilt, but, if thou wouldst have faithful or skilful +servants look to the true successor. But we will have none of this +to-day.--Hast many guests at Blonay?"</p> + +<p>"Not one. I look for the company of Melchior de Willading and his +daughter--and yet I like not the time! There are evil signs playing about +the high peaks and in the neighborhood of the Dents since the sun has +set!"</p> + +<p>"Thou art ever in a storm up in thy castle there! The Leman was never more +peaceable, and I should take it truly in evil part, were the rebellious +lake to get into one of its fits of sudden anger with so precious a +freight on its bosom."</p> + +<p>"I do not think the Genfer See will regard even a bailiff's displeasure!" +rejoined the Baron de Blonay, laughing. "I repeat it; the signs are +suspicious. Let us consult the watermen, for it may be well to send a +light-pulling boat to bring the travellers to land."</p> + +<p>Roger de Blonay and the bailiff walked towards the little earthen mole, +that partially protects the roadstead of Vévey, and which is for ever +forming and for ever washing away before the storms of winter, in order to +consult some of those who were believed to be expert in detecting the +symptoms that precede any important changes of the atmosphere. The +opinions were various. Most believed there would be a gust; but, as the +Winkelried was known to be a new and well-built bark, and none could tell +how much beyond her powers she had been loaded by the cupidity of +Baptiste, and as it was generally thought the wind would be as likely to +bring her up to her haven as to be against her, there appeared no +sufficient reason for sending off the boat; especially as it was believed +the bark would be not only drier but safer than a smaller craft, should +they be overtaken by the wind. This indecision, so common in cases of +uncertainty, was the means of exposing Adelheid and her father to all +those fearful risks they had just run.</p> + +<p>When the night came on, the people of the town began to understand that +the tempest would be grave for those who were obliged to encounter it, +even in the best bark on the Leman. The darkness added to the danger, for +vessels had often run against the land by miscalculating their distances; +and the lights were shown along the strand, by order of the bailiff, who +manifested an interest so unusual in those on board the Winkelried, as to +draw about them more than the sympathy that would ordinarily be felt for +travellers in distress. Every exertion that the case admitted was made in +their behalf, and, the moment the state of the lake allowed, boats were +sent off, in every probable direction, to their succor. But the Winkelried +was running along the coast of Savoy, ere any ventured forth, and the +search proved fruitless. When the rumor spread, however, that a sail was +to be discerned coming out from under the wide shadow of the opposite +mountains, and that it was steering for La Tour de Peil, a village with a +far safer harbor than that of Vévey, and but an arrow's flight from the +latter town, crowds rushed to the spot. The instant it was known that the +missing party was in her, the travellers were received with cheers of +delight and cries of hearty greeting.</p> + +<p>The bailiff and Roger de Blonay hastened forward to receive the Baron de +Willading and his friends, who were carried in a tumultuous and joyful +manner into the old castle that adjoins the port, and from which, in +truth, the latter derives its name. The Bernois noble was too much +affected with the scenes through which he had so lately passed, and with +the strong and ungovernable tenderness of Adelheid, who had wept over him +as a mother sobs over her recovered child, to exchange greetings with him +of Vaud, in the hearty, cordial manner that ordinarily characterized their +meetings. Still their peculiar habits shone through the restraint.</p> + +<p>"Thou seest me just rescued from the fishes of thy Leman, dear de Blonay," +he said, squeezing the other's hand with emotion, as, leaning on his +shoulder, they went into the château. "But for yonder brave youth, and as +honest a mariner as ever floated on water, fresh or salt, all that is left +of old Melchior de Willading would, at this moment, be of less value than +the meanest férà in thy lake!"</p> + +<p>"God be praised that thou art as we see thee! We feared for thee, and +boats are out at this moment in search of thy bark: but it has been wiser +ordered. This brave young man, who, I see, is both a Swiss and a soldier, +is doubly welcome among us,--in the two characters just named, and as one +that hath done thee and us so great a service."</p> + +<p>Sigismund received the compliments which he so well merited with modesty. +The bailiff, however, not content with making the usual felicitations, +whispered in his ear that a service like this, rendered to one of its most +esteemed nobles, would not be forgotten by the Councils on a proper +occasion.</p> + +<p>"Thou art happily arrived, Herr Melchior," he then added, aloud; "come as +thou wilt, floating or sailing in air. We have thee among us none the +worse for the accident, and we thank God, as Roger de Blonay has just so +well observed. Our Abbaye is like to be a gallant ceremony, for divers +gentlemen of name are in the town, and I hear of more that are pricking +forward among the mountains from countries beyond the Rhine. Hadst thou no +other companions in the bark but these I see around us?"</p> + +<p>"There is another, and I wonder that he is not here! 'Tis a noble Genoese, +that thou hast often heard me name, Sire de Blonay, as one that I love. +Gaetano Grimaldi is a name familiar to thee, or the words of friendship +have been uttered in an idle ear."</p> + +<p>"I have heard so much of the Italian that I can almost fancy him an old +and tried acquaintance. When thou first returnedst from the Italian wars, +thy tongue was never weary of recounting his praises: it was Gaetano said +this--Gaetano thought thus--Gaetano did that! Surely he is not of thy +company?"</p> + +<p>"He, and no other! A lucky meeting on the quay of Genf brought us together +again after a separation of full thirty years, and, as if Heaven had +reserved its trials for the occasion, we have been made to go through the +late danger in company. I had him in my arms in that fearful moment, +Roger, when the sky, and the mountains, and all of earth, even to that +dear girl, were fading, as I thought for ever, from my sight,--he, that +had already been my partner in so many risks, who had bled for me, watched +for me, ridden for me, and did all other things that love could prompt for +me, was brought by Providence to be my companion in the awful strait +through which I have just passed!"</p> + +<p>While the Baron was still speaking, his friend entered with the quiet and +dignified mien he always maintained, when it was not his pleasure to throw +aside the reserve of high station, or when he yielded to the torrents of +feeling that sometimes poured through his southern temperament, in a way +to unsettle the deportment of mere convention. He was presented to Roger +de Blonay and the bailiff, as the person just alluded to, and as the +oldest and most tried of the friends of his introducer. His reception by +the former was natural and warm, while the Herr Hofmeister was so +particular in his professions of pleasure and respect as to excite not +only notice but surprise.</p> + +<p>"Thanks, thanks, good Peterchen," said the Baron de Willading, for such +was the familiar diminutive by which the bustling bailiff was usually +addressed by those who could take the liberty; thanks, honest Peterchen; +thy kindness to Gaetano is so much love shown to myself."</p> + +<p>"I honor thy friends as thyself, Herr von Willading," returned the +bailiff; "for thou hast a claim to the esteem of the bürgerschaft and all +its servants; but the homage paid to the Signor Grimaldi is due on his own +account. We are but poor Swiss, that dwell in the midst of wild mountains, +little favored by the sun if ye will, and less known to the world;--but we +have our manners! A man that hath been intrusted with authority as long as +I were unfit for his trust, did he not tell, as it might be by instinct, +when he has those in his presence that are to be honored. Signore, the +loss of Melchior von Willading before our haven, would have made the lake +unpleasant to us all, for months, not to say years; but, had so great a +calamity arrived as that of your death by means of our waters, I could +have prayed that the mountains might fall into the basin, and bury the +offending Leman under their rocks!"</p> + +<p>Melchior de Willading and old Roger de Blonay laughed heartily at +Peterchen's hyperbolical compliments; though it was quite plain that the +worthy bailiff himself fancied he had said a clever thing.</p> + +<p>"I thank you, Signore, no less than my friend de Willading," returned the +Genoese, a gleam of humor lighting his eye. "This courteous reception +quite outdoes us of Italy; for I doubt if there be a man south of the +Alps, who would be willing to condemn either of our seas to so +overwhelming a punishment, for a fault so venial, or at least so natural. +I beg, however, that the lake may be pardoned; since, at the worst, it was +but a secondary agent in the affair, and, I doubt not, it would have +treated us as it treats all travellers, had we kept out of its embraces. +The crime must be imputed to the winds, and as they are the offspring of +the hills, I fear it will be found that these very mountains, to which you +look for retribution, will be convicted at last as the true devisers and +abettors of the plot against our lives."</p> + +<p>The bailiff chuckled and simpered, like a man pleased equally with his own +wit and with that he had excited in others, and the discourse changed; +though, throughout the night, as indeed was the fact on all other +occasions during his visit, the Signor Grimaldi received from him so +marked and particular attentions, as to create a strong sentiment in favor +of the Italian among those who had been chiefly accustomed to see +Peterchen enact the busy, important, dignified, local functionary.</p> + +<p>Attention was now paid to the first wants of the travellers, who had great +need of refreshments after the fatigues and exposure of the day. To obtain +the latter, Roger de Blonay insisted that they should ascend to his +castle, in whose grate the welcoming beacon still blazed. By means of +<i>chars-à-banc</i>, the peculiar vehicle of the country, the short distance +was soon overcome, the bailiff, not a little to the surprise of the owner +of the house, insisting on seeing the strangers safely housed within its +walls. At the gate of Blonay, however, Peterchen took his leave, making a +hundred apologies for his absence, on the ground of the extensive duties +that had devolved on his shoulders in consequence of the approaching fête.</p> + +<p>"We shall have a mild winter, for I have never known the Herr Hofmeister +so courteous;" observed Roger de Blonay, while showing his guests into the +castle. "Thy Bernese authorities, Melchior, are little apt to be lavish of +their compliments to us poor nobles of Vaud."</p> + +<p>"Signore, you forget the interest of our friend;" observed the laughing +Genoese. "There are other and better bailiwicks, beyond a question, in +the gifts of the Councils, and the Signor de Willading has a loud voice in +their disposal. Have I found a solution for this zeal?"</p> + +<p>"Thou hast not," returned the baron, "for Peterchen hath little hope +beyond that of dying where he has lived, the deputed ruler of a small +district. The worthy man should have more credit for a good heart, his +own, no doubt, being touched at seeing those who are, as it may be, +redeemed from the grave. I owe him grace for the kindness, and should a +better thing really offer, and could my poor voice be of account, why, I +do not say it should be silent; it is serving the public well, to put men +of these kind feelings into places of trust."</p> + +<p>This opinion appeared very natural to the listeners, all of whom, with the +exception of the Signor Grimaldi, joined in echoing the sentiment. The +latter, more experienced in the windings of the human heart, or possessing +some reasons known only to himself, merely smiled at the remarks that he +heard, as if he thoroughly understood the difference between the homage +that is paid to station, and that which a generous and noble nature is +compelled to yield to its own impulses.</p> + +<p>An hour later, the light repast was ended, and Roger de Blonay informed +his guests that they would be well repaid for walking a short distance, by +a look at the loveliness of the night. In sooth, the change was already so +great, that it was not easy for the imagination to convert the soft and +smiling scene that lay beneath and above the towers of Blonay, into the +dark vault and the angry lake from which they had so lately escaped.</p> + +<p>Every cloud had already sailed far away towards the plains of Germany, and +the moon had climbed so high above the ragged Dent de Jaman as to its rays +to stream into, the basin of the Leman. A thousand pensive stars spangled +the vauk images of the benign omnipotence which unceasingly pervades and +governs the universe, whatever may be the local derangements or accidental +struggles of the inferior agents. The foaming and rushing waves had gone +down nearly as fast as they had arisen, and, in their stead, remained +myriads of curling ridges along which the glittering moonbeams danced, +rioting with mild impunity on the surface of the placid sheet. Boats were +out again, pulling for Savoy or the neighboring villages: and the whole +view betokened the renewed confidence of those who trusted habitually to +the fickle and blustering elements.</p> + +<p>"There is a strong and fearful resemblance between the human passions and +these hot and angry gusts of nature;" observed the Signor Grimaldi, after +they had stood silently regarding the scene for several musing +minutes--"alike quick to be aroused and to be appeased; equally +ungovernable while in the ascendant, and admitting the influence of a +wholesome reaction, that brings a more sober tranquillity, when the fit is +over. Your northern phlegm may render the analogy less apparent, but it is +to be found as well among the cooler temperaments of the Teutonic stock, +as among us of warmer blood. Do not this placid hill-side, yon lake, and +the starry heavens, look as if they regretted their late unseemly +violence, and wished to cheat the beholder into forgetfulness of their +attack on our safety, as an impetuous but generous nature would repent it +of the blow given in anger, or of the cutting speech that had escaped in a +moment of spleen? What hast thou to say to my opinion, Signor Sigismund, +for none know better than thou the quality of the tempest we have +encountered?"</p> + +<p>"Signore," answered the young soldier, modestly, "you forget this brave +mariner, without whose coolness and forethought all would have been lost. +He has come up to Blonay, at our own request, but, until now, he has been +overlooked."</p> + +<p>Maso came forward at a signal from Sigismund, and stood before the party +to whom he had rendered so signal aid, with a composure that was not +easily disturbed.</p> + +<p>"I have come up to the castle, Signore, at your commands," he said, +addressing the Genoese; "but, having my own affairs on hand, must now beg +to know your pleasure?"</p> + +<p>"We have, in sooth, been negligent of thy merit. On landing, my first +thought was of thee, as thou knowest: but other things had caused me to +forget thee. Thou art, like myself, an Italian?"</p> + +<p>"Signore, I am."</p> + +<p>"Of what country?"</p> + +<p>"Of your own, Signore; a Genoese, as I have said before."</p> + +<p>The other remembered the circumstance, though it did not seem to please +him. He looked around, as if to detect what others thought, and then +continued his questions.</p> + +<p>"A Genoese!" he repeated, slowly: "if this be so, we should know something +of each other. Hast ever heard of me, in thy frequent visits to the port?"</p> + +<p>Maso smiled; at first, he appeared disposed to be facetious; but a dark +cloud passed over his swarthy lineaments, and he lost his pleasantry, in +an air of thoughtfulness that struck his interrogator as singular.</p> + +<p>"Signore," he said, after a pause, "most that follow my manner of life +know something of your eccellenza; if it is only to be questioned of this +that I am here, I pray leave to be permitted to go my way."</p> + +<p>"No, by San Francesco! thou quittest us not so unceremoniously. I am +wrong to assume the manner of a superior with one to whom I owe my life, +and am well answered. But there is a heavy account to be settled between +us, and I will do something towards wiping out the balance, which is so +greatly against me, now; leaving thee to apply for a further statement, +when we shall both be again in our own Genoa."</p> + +<p>The Signor Grimaldi had reached forth an arm, while speaking, and received +a well-filled purse from his countryman and companion, Marcelli. This was +soon emptied of its contents, a fair show of sequins, all of which were +offered to the mariner, without reservation. Maso looked coldly at the +glittering pile, and, by his hesitation, left a doubt whether he did not +think the reward insufficient.</p> + +<p>"I tell thee it is but the present gage of further payment. At Genoa our +account shall be fairly settled; but this is all that a traveller can +prudently spare. Thou wilt come to me in our own town, and we will look to +all thy interests."</p> + +<p>"Signore, you offer that for which men do all acts, whether of good or of +evil. They jeopard their souls for this very metal; mock at God's laws; +overlook the right; trifle with justice, and become devils incarnate to +possess it; and yet, though nearly penniless, I am so placed as to be +compelled to refuse what you offer."</p> + +<p>"I tell thee, Maso, that it shall be increased hereafter--or--we are not +so poor as to go a-begging! Good Marcelli, empty thy hoards, and I will +have, recourse to Melchior de Willading's purse for our wants, until we +can get nearer to our own supplies."</p> + +<p>"And is Melchior de Willading to pass for nothing, in all this!" exclaimed +the Baron; "put up thy gold, Gaetano, and leave me to satisfy the honest +mariner for the present. At a later day, he can come to thee, in Italy: +but here, on my own ground, I claim the right to be his banker."</p> + +<p>"Signore," returned Maso, earnestly and with more of gentle feeling than +he was accustomed to betray, "you are both liberal beyond my desires, and +but too well disposed for my poor wants. I have come up to the castle at +your order, and to do you pleasure, but not in the hope to get money. I am +poor; that it would be useless to deny, for appearances are against me--" +here he laughed, his auditors thought in a manner that was forced--"but +poverty and meanness are not always inseparable. You have more than +suspected to-day that my life is free, and I admit it; but it is a mistake +to believe that, because men quit the high-road which some call honesty, +in any particular practice, they are without human feeling. I have been +useful in saving your lives, Signori, and there is more pleasure in the +reflection, than I should find in having the means to earn twice the gold +ye offer. Here is the Signor Capitano," he added, taking Sigismund by the +arm, and dragging him forward, "lavish your favors on him, for no practice +of mine could have been of use without his bravery. If ye give him all in +your treasuries, even to its richest pearl, ye will do no more than +reason."</p> + +<p>As Maso ceased, he cast a glance towards the attentive, breathless +Adelheid, that continued to utter his meaning even after the tongue was +silent The bright suffusion that covered the maiden's face was visible +even by the pale moonlight, and Sigismund shrunk back from his rude grasp +in the manner in which the guilty retire from notice.</p> + +<p>"These opinions are creditable to thee, Maso," returned the Genoese, +affecting not to understand his more particular meaning, "and they excite +a stronger wish to be thy friend. I will say no more on the subject at +present, for I see thy humor. Thou wilt let me see thee at Genoa?"</p> + +<p>The expression of Maso's countenance was inexplicable, but he retained his +usual indifference of manner.</p> + +<p>"Signor Gaetano," he said, using a mariner's freedom in the address, +"there are nobles in Genoa that might better knock at the door of your +palace than I; and there are those, too, in the city that would gossip, +were it known that you received such guests."</p> + +<p>"This is tying thyself too closely to an evil and a dangerous trade. I +suspect thee to be of the contraband, but surely it is not a pursuit so +free from danger, of so much repute, or, judging by thy attire, of so much +profit even, that thou needest be wedded to it for life. Means can be +found to relieve thee from its odium, by giving thee a place in those +customs with which thou hast so often trifled."</p> + +<p>Maso laughed outright.</p> + +<p>"So it is, Signore, in this moral world of ours. He who would run a fair +course, in any particular trust has only to make himself dangerous to be +bought up. Your thief-takers are desperate rogues out of business; your +tide-waiter has got his art by cheating the revenue; and I have been in +lands where it was said, that all they who most fleeced the people began +their calling as suffering patriots. The rule is firmly enough established +without the help of my poor name, and, by your leave, I will remain as I +am; one that hath his pleasure in living amid risks, and who takes his +revenge of the authorities by railing at them when defeated, and in +laughing at them when in success."</p> + +<p>"Young man, thou hast in thee the materials of a better life!"</p> + +<p>"Signore, this may be true," answered Maso, whose countenance again grew +dark; "we boast of being the lords of the creation, but the bark of poor +Baptista was not less master of its movements, in the late gust, than we +are masters of our fortunes. Signor Grimaldi, I have in me the materials +that make a man; but the laws, and the opinions, and the accursed strife +of men, have left me what I am. For the first fifteen years of my career, +the church was to be my stepping-stone to a cardinal's hat or a fat +priory; but the briny sea-water washed out the necessary unction."</p> + +<p>"Thou art better born than thou seemest--thou hast friends who should be +grieved at this?"</p> + +<p>The eye of Maso flashed, but he bent it aside, as if bearing down, by the +force of an indomitable will, some sudden and fierce impulse.</p> + +<p>"I was born of woman!" he said, with singular emphasis.</p> + +<p>"And thy mother--is she not pained at thy present course--does she know of +thy career?"</p> + +<p>The haggard smile to which this question gave birth induced the Genoese to +regret that he had put it. Maso evidently struggled to subdue some feeling +which harrowed his very soul, and his success was owing to such a command +of himself as men rarely obtain.</p> + +<p>"She is dead," he answered, huskily; "she is a saint with the angels. Had +she lived, I should never have been a mariner, and--and--" laying his hand +on his throat, as if to keep down the sense of suffocation, he smiled, and +added, laughingly,--"ay, and the good Winkelried would have been a +wreck."</p> + +<p>"Maso, thou must come to me at Genoa. I must see more of thee, and +question thee further of thy fortunes. A fair spirit has been perverted in +thy fall, and the friendly aid of one who is not without influence may +still restore its tone."</p> + +<p>The Signor Grimaldi spoke warmly, like one who sincerely felt regret, and +his voice had all the melancholy and earnestness of such a sentiment. The +truculent nature of Maso was touched by this show of interest, and a +multitude of fierce passions were at once subdued. He approached the noble +Genoese, and respectfully took his hand.</p> + +<p>"Pardon the freedom, Signore," he said more mildly, intently regarding the +wrinkled and attenuated fingers, with the map-like tracery of veins, that +he held in his own brown and hard palm; "this is not the first time that +our flesh has touched each other, though it is the first time that our +hands have joined. Let it now be in amity. A humor has come over me, and I +would crave your pardon, venerable noble, for the freedom. Signore, you +are aged, and honored, and stand high, doubtless, in Heaven's favor, as in +that of man--grant me, then, your blessing, ere I go my way."</p> + +<p>As Maso preferred this extraordinary request, he knelt with an air of so +much reverence and sincerity as to leave little choice as to granting it. +The Genoese was surprised, but not disconcerted. With perfect dignity and +self-possession, and with a degree of feeling that was not unsuited to the +occasion, the fruit of emotions so powerfully awakened, he pronounced the +benediction. The mariner arose, kissed the hand which he still held, made +a hurried sign of salutation to all, leaped down the declivity on which +they stood, and vanished among the shadows of a copse.</p> + +<p>Sigismund, who had witnessed this unusual scene with surprise, watched him +to the last, and he saw, by the manner in which he dashed his hand across +his eyes, that his fierce nature had been singularly shaken. On recovering +his thoughts, the Signor Grimaldi, too, felt certain there had been no +mockery in the conduct of their inexplicable preserver, for a hot tear had +fallen on his hand ere it was liberated. He was himself strongly agitated +by what had passed, and, leaning on his friend, he slowly re-entered the +gates of Blonay.</p> + +<p>"This extraordinary demand of Maso's has brought up the sad image of my +own poor son, dear Melchior," he said; "would to Heaven that he could have +received this blessing, and that it might have been of use to him, in the +sight of God! Nay, he may yet hear of it--for, canst thou believe it, I +have thought that Maso may be one of his lawless associates, and that some +wild desire to communicate this scene has prompted the strange request I +granted."</p> + +<p>The discourse continued, but it became secret, and of the most +confidential kind. The rest of the party soon sought their beds, though +lamps were burning in the chambers of the two old nobles to a late hour of +the night.</p> +</div> + + +<div class="chapter" id="ch09"> +<h2>Chapter IX.</h2> + + +<blockquote class="epi"><p> Where are my Switzers? Let them guard the door:<br /> + What is the matter?</p> + +<p> Hamlet.</p></blockquote> + +<p> +The American autumn, or fall, as we poetically and affectionately term +this generous and mellow season among ourselves, is thought to be +unsurpassed, in its warm and genial lustre, its bland and exhilarating +airs, and its admirable constancy, by the decline of the year in nearly +every other portion of the earth. Whether attachment to our own fair and +generous land, has led us to over-estimate its advantages or not, and +bright and cheerful as our autumnal days certainly are, a fairer morning +never dawned upon the Alleghanies, than that which illumined the Alps, on +the reappearance of the sun after the gust of the night which has been so +lately described. As the day advanced, the scene grew gradually more +lovely, until warm and glowing Italy itself could scarce present a +landscape more winning, or one possessing a fairer admixture of the grand +and the soft, than that which greeted the eye of Adelheid de Willading, +as, leaning on the arm of her father, she issued from the gate of Blonay, +upon its elevated and gravelled terrace.</p> + +<p>It has already been said that this ancient and historical building stood +against the bosom of the mountains, at the distance of a short league +behind the town of Vévey. All the elevations of this region are so many +spurs of the same vast pile, and that on which Blonay has now been seated +from the earliest period of the middle ages belongs to that particular +line of rocky ramparts, which separates the Valais from the centre cantons +of the confederation of Switzerland, and which is commonly known as the +range of the Oberland Alps. This line of snow-crowned rocks terminates in +perpendicular precipices on the very margin of the Leman, and forms, on +the side of the lake, a part of that magnificent setting which renders the +south-eastern horn of its crescent so wonderfully beautiful. The upright +natural wall that overhangs Villeneuve and Chillon stretches along the +verge of the water, barely leaving room for a carriage-road, with here +and there a cottage at its base, for the distance of two leagues, when it +diverges from the course of the lake, and, withdrawing inland, it is +finally lost among the minor eminences of Fribourg. Every one has observed +those sloping declivities, composed of the washings of torrents, the +<i>débris</i> of precipices, and what may be termed the constant drippings of +perpendicular eminencies and which lie like broad buttresses at their +feet, forming a sort of foundation or basement for the superincumbent +mass. Among the Alps, where nature has acted on so sublime a scale, and +where all the proportions are duly observed, these <i>débris</i> of the high +mountains frequently contain villages and towns, or form vast fields, +vineyards, and pasturages, according to their elevation or their exposure +towards the sun. It may be questioned, in strict geology, whether the +variegated acclivity that surrounds Vévey, rich in villages and vines, +hamlets and castles, has been thus formed, or whether the natural +convulsions which expelled the upper rocks from the crust of the earth +left their bases in the present broken and beautiful forms; but the fact +is not important to the effect, which is that just named, and which gives +to these vast ranges of rock secondary and fertile bases, that, in other +regions, would be termed mountains of themselves.</p> + +<p>The castle and family of Blonay, for both still exist, are among the +oldest of Vaud. A square, rude tower, based upon a foundation of rock, one +of those ragged masses that thrust their naked heads occasionally through +the soil of the declivity, was the commencement of the hold. Other +edifices have been reared around this nucleus in different ages, until the +whole presents one of those peculiar and picturesque piles, that ornament +so many both of the savage and of the softer sites of Switzerland.</p> + +<p>The terrace towards which Adelheid and her father advanced was an +irregular walk, shaded by venerable trees that had been raised near the +principal or the carriage gate of the castle, on a ledge of those rocks +that form the foundation of the buildings themselves. It had its parapet +walls, its seats, its artificial soil, and its gravelled <i>allées</i>, as is +usual with these antiquated ornaments; but it also had, what is better +than these, one of the most sublime and lovely views that ever greeted +human eyes. Beneath it lay the undulating and teeming declivity, rich in +vines, and carpeted with sward, here dotted by hamlets, there park-like +and rural with forest trees, while there was no quarter that did not show +the roof of a château or the tower of some rural church. There is little +of magnificence in Swiss architecture, which never much surpasses, and is, +perhaps, generally inferior to our own; but the beauty and quaintness of +the sites, the great variety of the surfaces, the hill-sides, and the +purity of the atmosphere, supply charms that are peculiar to the country. +Vévey lay at the water-side, many hundred feet lower, and seemingly on a +narrow strand, though in truth enjoying ample space; while the houses of +St. Saphorin, Corsier, Montreux, and of a dozen more villages, were +clustered together, like so many of the compact habitations of wasps stuck +against the mountains. But the principal charm was in the Leman. One who +had never witnessed the lake in its fury, could not conceive the +possibility of danger in the tranquil shining sheet that was now spread +like a liquid mirror, for leagues, beneath the eye. Some six or seven +barks were in view, their sails drooping in negligent forms, as if +disposed expressly to become models for the artist, their yards inclining +as chance had cast them, and their hulls looming large, to complete the +picture. To these near objects must be added the distant view, which +extended to the Jura in one direction, and which in the other was bounded +by the frontiers of Italy, whose aërial limits were to be traced in that +region which appears to belong neither to heaven nor to earth, the abode +of eternal frosts. The Rhone was shining, in spots, among the meadows of +the Valais, for the elevation of the castle admitted of its being seen, +and Adelheid endeavored to trace among the mazes of the mountains the +valleys which led to those sunny countries, towards which they journeyed.</p> + +<p>The sensations of both father and daughter, when they came beneath the +leafy canopy of the terrace, were those of mute delight. It was evident, +by the expression of their countenances, that they were in a favorable +mood to receive pleasurable impressions; for the face of each was full of +that quiet happiness which succeeds sudden and lively joy. Adelheid had +been weeping; but, judging from the radiance of her eyes, the healthful +and brightening bloom of her cheeks, and the struggling smiles that played +about her ripe lips, the tears had been sweet, rather than painful. Though +still betraying enough of physical frailty to keep alive the concern of +all who loved her, there was a change for the better in her appearance, +which was so sensible as to strike the least observant of those who lived +in daily communication with the invalid.</p> + +<p>"If pure and mild air, a sunny sky, and ravishing scenery, be what they +seek who cross the Alps, my father," said Adelheid, after they had stood a +moment, gazing at the magnificent panorama, "why should the Swiss quit his +native land? Is there in Italy aught more soft, more winning or more +healthful, than this?"</p> + +<p>"This spot has often been called the Italy of our mountains. The fig +ripens near yonder village of Montreux, and, open to the morning sun while +it is sheltered by the precipices above, the whole of that shore well +deserves its happy reputation. Still they whose spirits require diversion, +and whose constitutions need support, generally prefer to go into +countries where the mind has more occupation, and where a greater variety +of employments help the climate and nature to complete the cure."</p> + +<p>"But thou forgettest, father, it is agreed between us that I am now to +become strong, and active, and laughing, as we used to be at Willading, +when I first grew into womanhood."</p> + +<p>"If I could but see those days again, darling, my own closing hours would +be calm as those of a saint--though Heaven knows I have little pretension +to that blessed character in any other particular."</p> + +<p>"Dost thou not count a quiet conscience and a sure hope as something, +father?"</p> + +<p>"Have it as thou wilt, girl. Make a saint of me, or a bishop, or a hermit, +if thou wilt; the only reward I ask is, to see thee smiling and happy, as +thou never failedst to be during the first eighteen years of thy life. Had +I foreseen that thou wert to return from my good sister so little like +thyself, I would have forbidden the visit, much as I love her, and all +that are her's. But the wisest of us are helpless mortals, and scarce know +our own wants from hour to hour. Thou saidst, I think, that this brave +Sigismund honestly declared his belief that my consent could never be +given to one who had so little to boast of, in the way of birth and +fortune? There was, at least, good sense, and modesty, and right feeling, +in the doubt, but he should have thought better of my heart."</p> + +<p>"He said this;" returned Adelheid, in a timid and slightly trembling +voice, though it was quite apparent by the confiding expression of her +eye, that she had no longer any secret from her parent. "He had too much +honor to wish to win the daughter of a noble without the knowledge and +approbation of her friends."</p> + +<p>"That the boy should love thee, Adelheid, is natural; it is an additional +proof of his own merit--but that he should distrust my affection and +justice is an offence that I can scarce forgive. What are ancestry and +wealth to thy happiness?"</p> + +<p>"Thou forget'st, dear sir, he is yet to learn that my happiness, in any +measure, depends on his."</p> + +<p>Adelheid spoke quickly and with warmth.</p> + +<p>"He knew I was a father and that thou art an only child; one of his good +sense and right way of thinking should have better understood the feelings +of a man in my situation, than to doubt his natural affection."</p> + +<p>"As he has never been the parent of an only daughter, father," answered +the smiling Adelheid, for, in her present mood, smiles came easily, "he +may not have felt or anticipated all that thou imagin'st. He knew the +prejudices of the world on the subject of noble blood, and they are few +indeed, that, having much, are disposed to part with it to him who hath +little."</p> + +<p>"The lad reasoned more like an old miser than a young soldier, and I have +a great mind to let him feel my displeasure for thinking so meanly of me. +Have we not Willading, with all its fair lands, besides our rights in the +city, that we need go begging money of others, like needy mendicants! Thou +hast been in the conspiracy against my character, girl, or such a fear +could not have either uneasiness for a moment."</p> + +<p>"I never thought, father, that thou would'st reject him on account of +poverty, for I knew our own means sufficient for all our own wants; but I +did believe that he who could not boast the privileges of nobility might +fail to gain thy favor."</p> + +<p>"Are we not a republic?--is not the right of the bürgerschaft the one +essential right in Berne--why should I raise obstacles about that on which +the laws are silent?"</p> + +<p>Adelheid listened, as a female of her years would be apt to listen to +words so grateful, with a charmed ear; and yet she shook her head, in a +way to express an incredulity that was not altogether free from +apprehension.</p> + +<p>"For thy generous forgetfulness of old opinions in behalf of my happiness, +dearest father," she resumed, the tears starting unbidden to her +thoughtful blue eye, "I thank thee fervently. It is true that we are +inhabitants of a republic, but we are not the less noble."</p> + +<p>"Dost thou turn against thyself, and hunt up reasons why I should not do +that which thou hast just acknowledged to be so necessary to prevent thee +from following thy brothers and sisters to their early graves?"</p> + +<p>The blood rushed in a torrent to the face of Adelheid, for though, weeping +and in the moment of tender confidence which succeeded her thanksgivings +for the baron's safety, she had thrown herself on his bosom, and confessed +that the hopelessness of the sentiments with which she met the declared +love of Sigismund was the true cause of the apparent malady that had so +much alarmed her friends, the words which had flowed spontaneously from +her heart, in so tender a scene, had never appeared to her to convey a +meaning so strong, or one so wounding to virgin-pride, as that which her +father, in the strength of his masculine habits, had now given them.</p> + +<p>"In God's mercy, father, I shall live, whether united to Sigismund or not, +to smooth thine own decline, and to bless thy old age. A pious daughter +will never be torn so cruelly from one to whom she is the last and only +stay. I may mourn this disappointment, and foolishly wish, perhaps, it +might have been otherwise; but ours is not a house of which the maidens +die for their inclinations in favor of any youths, however deserving!"</p> + +<p>"Noble or simple," added the baron, laughing, for he saw that his daughter +spoke in sudden pique, rather than from her excellent heart. Adelheid, +whose good sense, and quick recollections, instantly showed her the +weakness of this little display of female feeling, laughed faintly in her +turn, though she repeated his words as if to give still more emphasis to +her own.</p> + +<p>"This will not do, my daughter. They who profess the republican doctrine, +should not be too rigid in their constructions of privileges. If Sigismund +be not noble, it will not be difficult to obtain for him that honorable +distinction, and, in failure of male line, he may bear the name and +sustain the honors of our family. In any case he will become of the +bürgerschaft, and that of itself will be all that is required in Berne."</p> + +<p>"In Berne, father," returned Adelheid, who had so far forgotten the recent +movement of pride as to smile on her fond and indulgent parent, though, +yielding to the waywardness of the happy, she continued to trifle with her +own feelings--"it is true. The bürgerschaft will be sufficient for all +the purposes of office and political privileges, but will it suffice for +the opinions of our equals, for the prejudices of society, or for your own +perfect contentment, when the freshness of gratitude shall have passed?"</p> + +<p>"Thou puttest these questions, girl, as if employed to defeat thine own +cause--Dost not truly love the boy, after all?"</p> + +<p>"On this subject, I have spoken sincerely and as became thy child," +frankly returned Adelheid. "He saved my life from imminent peril, as he +has now saved thine, and although my aunt, fearful of thy displeasure, +would not that thou should'st hear the tale, her prohibition could not +prevent gratitude from having its way. I have told thee that Sigismund has +declared his feelings, although he nobly abstained from even asking a +return, and I should not have been my mother's child, could I have +remained entirely indifferent to so much worth united to a service so +great What I have said of our prejudices is, then, rather for your +reflection, dearest sir, than for myself. I have thought much of all this, +and am ready to make any sacrifice to pride, and to bear all the remarks +of the world, in order to discharge a debt to one to whom I owe so much. +But, while it is natural, perhaps unavoidable, that I should feel thus, +thou art not necessarily to forget the other claims upon thee. It is true +that, in one sense, we are all to each other, but there is a tyrant that +will scarce let any escape from his reign; I mean opinion. Let us then not +deceive ourselves--though we of Berne affect the republic, and speak much +of liberty, it is a small state, and the influence of those that are +larger and more powerful among our neighbors rules in every thing that +touches opinion. A noble is as much a noble in Berne, in all but what the +law bestows, as he is in the Empire--and thou knowest we come of the +German root, which has struck deep into these prejudices."</p> + +<p>The Baron de Willading had been much accustomed to defer to the superior +mind and more cultivated understanding of his daughter, who, in the +retirement of her father's castle, had read and reflected far more than +her years would have probably permitted in the busier scenes of the world. +He felt the justice of her remark, and they had walked the entire length +of the terrace in profound silence, before he could summon the ideas +necessary to make a suitable answer.</p> + +<p>"The truth of what thou sayest, is not to be denied," he at length said, +"but it may be palliated. I have many friends in the German courts, and +favors may be had; letters of nobility will give the youth the station he +wants, after which he can claim thy hand without offence to any opinions, +whether of Berne or elsewhere."</p> + +<p>"I doubt if Sigismund will willingly become a party to this expedient. Our +own nobility is of ancient origin; it dates from a period anterior to the +existence of Berne as a city, and is much older than our institutions. I +remember to have heard him say, that when a people refuse to bestow these +distinctions themselves, their citizens can never receive them from others +without a loss of dignity and character, and one of his moral firmness +might hesitate to do what he thinks wrong for a boon so worthless as that +we offer."</p> + +<p>"By the soul of William Tell! should the unknown peasant dare--But he is a +brave boy, and twice has he done the last service to my race! I love him, +Adelheid, little less than thyself; and we will win him ever to our +purpose gently, and by degrees. A maiden of thy beauty and years to say +nothing of thy other qualities, thy name the lands of Willading, and the +rights of Berne are matters, after all, not to me lightly refused by a +nameless soldier who hath naught--"</p> + +<p>"But his courage, his virtues, his modesty, and his excellent sense, +father!"</p> + +<p>"Thou wilt not let me have the naked satisfaction of vaunting my own +wares! I see Gaetano Grimaldi making signs at his window, as if he were +about to come forth: go thou to thy chamber, that I may discourse of this +troublesome matter with that excellent friend; in good season thou shalt +know the result."</p> + +<p>Adelheid kissed the hand that she held in her own, and left him with a +thoughtful air. As she descended from the terrace, it was not with the +same elastic step as she had come up half an hour before.</p> + +<p>Early deprived of her mother, this strong-minded but delicate girl had +long been accustomed to make her father a confidant of all her hopes, +thoughts, and pictures of the future. Owing to her peculiar circumstances, +she would have had less hesitation than is usual to her sex in avowing to +her parent any of her attachments; but a dread that the declaration might +conduce to his unhappiness, without in any manner favoring her own cause, +had hitherto kept her silent. Her acquaintance with Sigismund had been +long and intimate. Rooted esteem and deep respect lay at the bottom of her +sentiments, which were, however, so lively as to have chased the rose from +her cheek in the endeavor to forget them, and to have led her sensitive +father to apprehend that she was suffering under that premature decay +which had already robbed him of his other children. There was in truth no +serious ground for this apprehension, so natural to one in the place of +the Baron de Willading; for, until thought, and reflection paled her +cheek, a more blooming maiden than Adelheid, or one that united more +perfect health with feminine delicacy, did not dwell among her native +mountains. She had quietly consented to the Italian journey, in the +expectation that it might serve to divert her mind from brooding over what +she had long considered hopeless, and with the natural desire to see lands +so celebrated, but not under any mistaken opinions of her own situation. +The presence of Sigismund, so far as she was concerned, was purely +accidental, although she could not prevent the pleasing idea from +obtruding--an idea so grateful to her womanly affections and maiden +pride--that the young soldier, who was in the service of Austria, and who +had become known to her in one of his frequent visits to his native land, +had gladly seized this favorable occasion to return to his colors. +Circumstances, which it is not necessary to recount, had enabled Adelheid +to make the youth acquainted with her father, though the interdictions of +her aunt, whose imprudence had led to the accident which nearly proved so +fatal, and from whose consequences she had been saved by Sigismund, +prevented her from explaining all the causes she had for showing him +respect and esteem. Perhaps the manner in which this young and imaginative +though sensible girl was compelled to smother a portion of her feelings +gave them intensity, and hastened that transition of sentiment from +gratitude to affection, which, in another case, might have only been +produced by a more open and prolonged association. As it was, she scarcely +knew herself how irretrievably her happiness was bound up in that of +Sigismund, though she had so long cherished his image in most of her +day-dreams, and had unconsciously admitted his influence over her mind and +hopes, until she learned that they were reciprocated.</p> + +<p>The Signor Grimaldi appeared on one end of the terrace, as Adelheid de +Willading descended at the other. The old nobles had separated late on +the previous night, after a private and confidential communication that +had shaken the soul of the Italian, and drawn strong and sincere +manifestations of sympathy from his friend. Though so prone to sudden +shades of melancholy, there was a strong touch of the humorous in the +native character of the Genoese, which came so quick upon his more painful +recollection, as greatly to relieve their weight, and to render him, in +appearance at least, a happy, while the truth would have shown that he was +a sorrowing man. He had been making his orisons with a grateful heart, and +he now came forth into the genial mountain air, like one who had relieved +his conscience of a heavy debt. Like most laymen of the Catholic +persuasion, he thought himself no longer bound to maintain a grave and +mortified exterior, when worship and penitence were duly observed, and he +joined his friend with a cheerfulness of air and voice that an ascetic, or +a puritan, might have attributed to levity, after the scenes through which +he had so lately passed.</p> + +<p>"The Virgin and San Francesco keep thee in mind, old friend!" said the +Signor Grimaldi, cordially kissing the two cheeks of the Baron de +Willading. "We both have reason to remember their care, though; heretic as +thou art, I doubt not thou hast already found some other mediators to +thank, that we now stand on this solid terrace of the Signor de Blonay, +instead of being worthless clay at the bottom of yonder treacherous lake."</p> + +<p>"I thank God for this, as for all his mercies--for thy life, Gaetano, as +well as for mine own."</p> + +<p>"Thou art right, thou art right, good Melchior: 'twas no affair for any +but Him who holds the universe in the hollow of his hand, in good faith, +for a minute later would have gathered both with our lathers. Still thou +wilt permit me, Catholic as I am, to remember the intercessors on whom I +called in the moment of extremity."</p> + +<p>"This is a subject on which we have never agreed, and on which we probably +never shall," answered the Bernese, with somewhat of the reserve of one +conscious of a stronger dissidence than he wished to express, as they +turned and commenced their walk up and down the terrace, "though I believe +it is the only matter of difference that ever existed between us."</p> + +<p>"Is it not extraordinary," returned the Genoese, "that men should consort +together in good and evil, bleed for each other, love each other, do all +acts of kindness to each other, as thou and I have done, Melchior, nay, be +in the last extremity, and feel more agony for the friend than for one's +self, and yet entertain such opinions of their respective creeds, as to +fancy the unbeliever in the devil's claws all this time, and to entertain +a latent distrust that the very soul which, in all other matters, is +deemed so noble and excellent, is to be everlastingly damned for the want +of certain opinions and formalities that we ourselves have been taught to +think essential?"</p> + +<p>"To tell thee the truth," returned the Swiss, rubbing his forehead like a +man who wished to brighten up his ideas, as one would brighten old silver, +by friction; "this subject, as thou well knowest, is not my strong side. +Luther and Calvin, with other sages, discovered that it was weakness to +submit to dogmas, without close examination, merely because they were +venerable, and they winnowed the wheat from the chaff. This we call a +reform. It is enough for me that men so wise were satisfied with their +researches and changes, and I feel little inclination to disturb a +decision that has now received the sanction of nearly two centuries of +practice. To be plain with thee, I hold it discreet to reverence the +opinions of my fathers."</p> + +<p>"Though it would seem not of thy grandfathers," said the Italian, drily, +but in perfect good humor. "By San Francesco! thou wouldst have made a +worthy cardinal, had chance brought thee into the world fifty leagues +farther south, or west, or east. But this is the way with the world, +whether it be your Turk, your Hindoo, or your Lutheran, and I fear it is +much the same with the children of St. Peter too. Each has his arguments +for faith, or politics, or any interest that may be named, which he uses +like a hammer to knock down the bricks of his opponent's reasons, and when +he finds himself in the other's intrenchments, why he gathers together the +scattered materials in order to build a wall for his own protection. Then +what was oppression yesterday is justifiable defence to-day; fanaticism +becomes logic; and credulity and pliant submission get, in two centuries, +to be deference to the venerable opinion of our fathers! But let it +go--thou wert speaking of thanking God, and in that; Roman though I am, I +fervently and devoutly join with or without saints' intercession."</p> + +<p>The honest baron did not like his friend's allusions, though they were +much too subtle for his ready comprehension, for the intellect of the +Swiss was a little frosted by constant residence among snows and in full +view of glaciers, and it wanted the volatile play of the Genoese's fancy, +which was apt to expand like air rarefied by the warmth of the sun. This +difference of temperament, however, so far from lessening their mutual +kindness, was, most probably, the real cause of its existence, since it is +well known that friendship, like love, is more apt to be generated by +qualities that vary a little from our own than by a perfect homogeneity of +character and disposition which is more liable to give birth to rivalry +and contention, than when each party has some distinct capital of his own +on which to adventure, and with which to keep alive the interest of him +who, in that particular feature, may be but indifferently provided. All +that is required for a perfect community of feeling is a mutual +recognition of, and a common respect for, certain great moral rules, +without which there can exist no esteem between the upright. The alliance +of knaves depends on motives so hackneyed and obvious, that we abstain +from any illustration of its principle as a work of supererogation. The +Signor Grimaldi and Melchior de Willading were both very upright and +justly-minded men, as men go, in intention at least, and their opposite +peculiarities and opinions had served, during hot youth, to keep alive the +interest of their communications, and were not likely, now that time had +mellowed their feelings and brought so many recollections to strengthen +the tie, to overturn what they had been originally the principal +instruments in creating.</p> + +<p>"Of thy readiness to thank God, I have never doubted," answered the baron, +when his friend had ended the remark just recorded, "but we know that his +favors are commonly shown to us here below by means of human instruments. +Ought we not, therefore, to manifest another sort of gratitude in favor of +the individual who was so serviceable in last night's gust?"</p> + +<p>"Thou meanest my untractable countryman? I have bethought me much since we +separated of his singular refusal, and hope still to find the means of +conquering his obstinacy."</p> + +<p>"I hope thou may'st succeed, and thou well know'st that I am always to be +counted on as an auxiliary. But he was not in my thoughts at the instant; +there is still another who nobly risked more than the mariner in our +behalf, since he risked life."</p> + +<p>"This is beyond question, and I have already reflected much on the means +of doing him good. He is a soldier of fortune, I learn, and if he will +take service in Genoa, I will charge myself with the care of his +preferment. Trouble not thyself, therefore, concerning the fortunes of +young Sigismund; thou knowest my means, and canst not doubt my will."</p> + +<p>The baron cleared his throat, for he had a secret reluctance to reveal his +own favorable intentions towards the young man, the last lingering feeling +of worldly pride, and the consequence of prejudices which were then +universal, and which are even now far from being extinct. A vivid picture +of the horrors of the past night luckily flashed across his mind, and the +good genius of his young preserver triumphed.</p> + +<p>"Thou knowest the youth is a Swiss," he said, "and, in virtue of the tie +of country, I claim at least an equal right to do him good."</p> + +<p>"We will not quarrel for precedence in this matter, but thou wilt do well +to remember that I possess especial means to push his interests;--means +that thou canst not by possibility use."</p> + +<p>"That is not proved;" interrupted the Baron de Willading. "I have not thy +particular station, it is true, Signor Gaetano, nor thy political power, +nor thy princely fortune; but, poor as I am in these, there is a boon in +my keeping that is worth them all, and which will be more acceptable to +the boy, or I much mistake his mettle, than any favors that thou hast +named or canst name."</p> + +<p>The Signor Grimaldi had pursued his walk, with eyes thoughtfully fastened +on the ground; but he now raised them, in surprise, to the countenance of +his friend, as if to ask an explanation. The baron was not only committed +by what had escaped him, but he was warming with opposition, for the best +may frequently do very excellent things under the influence of motives of +but a very indifferent aspect.</p> + +<p>"Thou knowest I have a daughter," resumed the Swiss firmly, determined to +break the ice at once, and expose a decision which he feared his friend +might deem a weakness.</p> + +<p>"Thou hast; and a fairer, or a modester, or a tenderer, and yet, unless my +judgment err, a firmer at need, is not to be found among all the excellent +of her excellent sex. But thou wouldst scarce think of bestowing Adelheid +in reward for such a service on one so little known, or without her wishes +being consulted?"</p> + +<p>"Girls of Adelheid's birth and breeding are ever ready to do what is meet +to maintain the honor of their families. I deem gratitude to be a debt +that must not stand long uncancelled against the name of Willading."</p> + +<p>The Genoese looked grave, and it was evident he listened to his friend +with something like displeasure.</p> + +<p>"We who have so nearly passed through life, good Melchior," he said, +"should know its difficulties and its hazards. The way is weary, and it +has need of all the solace that affection and a community of feeling can +yield to lighten its cares. I have never liked this heartless manner of +trafficking in the tenderest ties, to uphold a failing line or a failing +fortune; and better it were that Adelheid should pass her days unwooed in +thy ancient castle, than give her hand, under any sudden impulse of +sentiment, not less than under a cold calculation of interest. Such a +girl, my friend, is not to be bestowed without much care and reflection."</p> + +<p>"By the mass! to use one of thine own favorite oaths, I wonder to hear +thee talk thus!--thou, whom I knew a hot-blooded Italian, jealous as a +Turk, and maintaining at thy rapier's point that women were like the steel +of thy sword, so easily tarnished by rust, or evil breath, or neglect, +that no father or brother could be easy on the score of honor, until the +last of his name was well wedded, and that, too, to such as the wisdom of +her advisers should choose! I remember thee once saying thou couldst not +sleep soundly till thy sister was a wife or a nun."</p> + +<p>"This was the language of boyhood and thoughtless youth, and bitterly +rebuked have I been for having used it. I wived a beauteous and noble +virgin, de Willading; but I much fear that, while my fair conduct in her +behalf won her respect and esteem, I was too late to win her love. It is a +fearful thing to enter on the solemn and grave ties of married life, +without enlisting in the cause of happiness the support of the judgment, +the fancy, the tastes, with the feelings that are dependent on them, and, +more than all, those wayward inclinations, whose workings too often baffle +human foresight. If the hopes of the ardent and generous themselves are +deceived in the uncertain lottery of wedlock, the victim will struggle +hard to maintain the delusion; but when the calculations of others are +parent to the evil, a natural inducement, that comes of the devil I fear, +prompts us to aggravate, instead of striving to lessen, the evil."</p> + +<p>"Thou dost not speak of wedlock as one who found the condition happy, poor +Gaetano?"</p> + +<p>"I have told thee what I fear was but too true," returned the Genoese, +with a heavy sigh. "My birth, vast means, and I trust a fair name, induced +the kinsmen of my wife to urge her to a union, that I have since had +reason to fear her feelings not lead her to form. I had a terrible ally +too in the acknowledged unworthiness of him who had captivated her young +fancy, and whom, as age brought reflection, her reason condemned. I was +accepted, therefore, as a cure to a bleeding heart and broken peace, and +my office, at the best, was not such as a good man could desire, or a +proud man tolerate. The unhappy Angiolina died in giving birth to her +first child, the unhappy son of whom I have told thee so much. She found +peace at last in the grave!"</p> + +<p>"Thou hadst not time to give thy manly tenderness and noble qualities an +opportunity; else, my life on it, she would have come to love thee, +Gaetano, as all love thee who know thee!" returned the baron, warmly.</p> + +<p>"Thanks, my kind friend; but beware of making marriage a mere convenience. +There may be folly in calling each truant inclination that deep sentiment +and secret sympathy which firmly knits heart to heart, and doubtless a +common fortune may bind the worldly-minded together; but this is not the +holy union which keeps noble qualities in a family, and which fortifies +against the seductions of a world that is already too strong for honesty. +I remember to have heard from one that understood his fellow-creatures +well, that marriages of mere propriety tend to rob woman of her greatest +charm, that of superiority to the vulgar feeling of worldly calculations, +and that all communities in which they prevail become, of necessity, +selfish beyond the natural limits, and eventually corrupt"</p> + +<p>"This may be true;--but Adelheid loves the youth."</p> + +<p>"Ha! This changes the complexion of the affair. How dost thou know this?"</p> + +<p>"From her own lips. The secret escaped her, under the warmth and sincerity +of feeling that the late events so naturally excited."</p> + +<p>"And Sigismund!--he has thy approbation?--for I will not suppose that one +like thy daughter yielded her affections unsolicited."</p> + +<p>"He has--that is--he has. There is what the world will be apt to call an +obstacle, but it shall count for nothing with me. The youth is not noble."</p> + +<p>"The objection is serious, my honest friend. It is not wise to tax human +infirmity too much, where there is sufficient to endure from causes that +cannot be removed. Wedlock is a precarious experiment, and all unusual +motives for disgust should be cautiously avoided.--I would he were noble."</p> + +<p>"The difficulty shall be removed by the Emperor's favor. Thou hast princes +in Italy, too, that might be prevailed on to do us this grace, at need?"</p> + +<p>"What is the youth's origin and history, and by what means has a daughter +of thine been placed in a situation to love one that is simply born?"</p> + +<p>"Sigismund is a Swiss, and of a family of Bernese burghers, I should +think, though, to confess the truth, I know little more than that he has +passed several years in foreign service, and that he saved my daughter's +life from one of our mountain accidents, some two years since, as he has +now saved thine and mine. My sister, near whose castle the acquaintance +commenced, permitted the intercourse, which it would now be too late to +think of prohibiting. And, to speak honestly, I begin to rejoice the boy +is what he is, in order that our readiness to receive him to our arms may +be the more apparent. If the young fellow were the equal of Adelheid in +other things, as he is in person and character, he would have too much in +his favor.--No, by the faith of Calvin!--him whom thou stylest a +heretic--I think I rejoice that the boy is not noble!"</p> + +<p>"Have it as thou wilt," returned the Genoese whose countenance continued +to express distrust and thought, for his own experience had made him wary +on the subject of doubtful or ill-assorted alliances; "let his origin be +what it may, he shall not need gold. I charge myself with seeing that the +lands of Willading shall be fairly balanced: and here comes our hospitable +host to be witness of the pledge."</p> + +<p>Roger de Blonay advanced upon the terrace to greet his guests, as the +Signor Grimaldi concluded. The three old men continued their walk for an +hour longer, discussing the fortunes of the young pair, for Melchior de +Willading was as little disposed to make a secret of his intentions with +one of his friends as with the other.</p> +</div> + + +<div class="chapter" id="ch10"> +<h2>Chapter X.</h2> + + +<blockquote class="epi"><p> --But I have not the time to pause<br /> + Upon these gewgaws of the heart.</p> + +<p> Werner.</p></blockquote> + +<p> +Though the word castle is of common use in Europe, as applied to ancient +baronial edifices, the thing itself is very different in style, extent, +and cost, in different countries. Security, united to dignity and the +means of accommodating a train of followers suited to the means of the +noble, being the common object, the position and defences of the place +necessarily varied according to the general aspect of the region in which +it stood. Thus ditches and other broad expanses of water were much +depended on in all low countries, as in Flanders, Holland, parts of +Germany, and much of France; while hills, spurs of mountains, and more +especially the summits of conical rocks, were sought in Switzerland, +Italy, and wherever else these natural means of protection could readily +found. Other circumstances, such as climate wealth, the habits of a +people, and the nature of the feudal rights, also served greatly to modify +the appearance and extent of the building. The ancient hold in Switzerland +was originally little more than a square solid tower, perched upon a rock, +with turrets at its angles. Proof against fire from without, it had +ladders to mount from floor to floor and often contained its beds in the +deep recesses of the windows, or in alcoves wrought in the massive wall. +As greater security or greater means enabled, offices and constructions of +more importance arcse around its base, inclosing a court. These +necessarily followed the formation of the rock, until, in time, the +confused and inartificial piles, which are now seen mouldering on so many +of the minor spurs of the Alps, were created.</p> + +<p>As is usual in all ancient holds, the Rittersaal--the Salle des +Chevaliers--or the knights' hall, of Blonay, as it is differently called +in different languages, was both the largest and the most laboriously +decorated apartment of the edifice. It was no longer in the rude gaol-like +keep that grew, as it were, from the living rock, on which it had been +reared with so much skill as to render it difficult to ascertain where +nature ceased and art commenced; but it had been transferred, a century +before the occurrences; related in our tale, to a more modern portion of +the buildings that formed the south-eastern angle of the whole +construction. The room was spacious, square, simple, for such is the +fashion of the country, and lighted by windows that looked on one side +towards Valais, and on the other over the whole of the irregular, but +lovely declivity, to the margin of the Leman, and along that beautiful +sheet, embracing hamlet, village, city, castle, and purple mountain, until +the view was limited by the hazy Jura. The window on the latter side of +the knights' hall, had an iron balcony at a giddy height from the ground, +and in this airy look-out Adelheid had taken her seat, when, after +quitting her father, she mounted to the apartment common to all the guests +of the castle.</p> + +<p>We have already alluded generally to the personal appearance and to the +moral qualities of the Baron de Willading's daughter, but we now conceive +it necessary to make the reader more intimately acquainted with one who is +destined to act no mean part in the incidents of our tale. It has been +said that she was pleasing to the eye, but her beauty was of a kind that +depended more on expression, on a union of character with feminine grace, +than on the vulgar lines of regularity and symmetry. While she had no +feature that was defective, she had none that was absolutely faultless, +though all were combined with so much harmony and the soft expression of +the mild blue eye accorded so well with the gentle play of a sweet mouth, +that the soul of their owner seemed ready at all times to appear through +these ingenuous tell-tales of her thoughts. Still, maidenly reserve sate +in constant watch over all, and it was when the spectator thought himself +most in communion with her spirit, that he most felt its pure and +correcting influence. Perhaps a cast of high intelligence, of a natural +power to discriminate, which much surpassed the limited means accorded to +females of that age, contributed their share to hold those near her in +respect, and served in some degree as a mild and wise repellant, to +counteract the attractions of her gentleness and candor. In short, one +cast unexpectedly in her society would not have been slow to infer, and he +would have decided correctly, that Adelheid de Willading was a girl of +warm and tender affections, of a playful but regulated fancy, of a firm +and lofty sense of all her duties, whether natural or merely the result of +social obligations, of melting pity, and yet of a habit and quality to +think and act for herself, in all those cases in which it was fitting for +a maiden of her condition and years to assume such self-control.</p> + +<p>It was now more than a year since Adelheid had become fully sensible of +the force of her attachment for Sigismund Steinbach, and during all that +time she had struggled hard to overcome a feeling which she believed could +lead to no happy result. The declaration of the young man himself, a +declaration that was extorted involuntarily and in a moment of powerful +passion, was accompanied by an admission of its uselessness and folly, and +it first opened her eyes to the state of her own feelings. Though she had +listened, as all of her sex will listen, even when the passion is +hopeless, to such words coming from lips they love, it was with a +self-command that enabled her to retain her own secret, and with a settled +and pious resolution to do that which she believed to be her duty to +herself, to her father, and to Sigismund. From that hour she ceased to see +him, unless under circumstances when it would have drawn suspicion on her +motives to refuse, and while she never appeared to forget her heavy +obligations to the youth, she firmly denied herself the pleasure of even +mentioning his name when it could be avoided. But of all ungrateful and +reluctant tasks, that of striving to forget is the least likely to +succeed. Adelheid was sustained only by her sense of duty and the desire +not to disappoint her father's wishes, to which habit and custom had given +nearly the force of law with maidens of her condition, though her reason +and judgment no less than her affections were both strongly enlisted on +the other side. Indeed, with the single exception of the general unfitness +of a union between two of unequal stations, there was nothing to +discredit her choice, if that may be termed choice which, after all, was +more the result of spontaneous feeling and secret sympathy than of any +other cause, unless it were a certain equivocal reserve, and a manifest +uneasiness, whenever allusion was made to the early history and to the +family of the soldier. This sensitiveness on the part of Sigismund had +been observed and commented on by others as well as by herself, and it had +been openly ascribed to the mortification of one who had been thrown, by +chance, into an intimate association that was much superior to what he was +entitled to maintain by birth; a weakness but too common, and which few +have strength of mind to resist or sufficient pride to overcome. The +intuitive watchfulness of affection, however, led Adelheid to a different +conclusion; she saw that he never affected to conceal, while with equal +good taste he abstained from obtrusive allusions to the humble nature of +his origin, but she also perceived that there were points of his previous +history on which he was acutely sensitive, and which at first she feared +must be attributed to the consciousness of acts that his clear perception +of moral truth condemned, and which he could wish forgotten. For some time +Adelheid clung to this discovery as to a healthful and proper antidote to +her own truant inclinations, but native rectitude banished a suspicion +which had no sufficient ground, as equally unworthy of them both. The +effects of a ceaseless mental struggle, and of the fruitlessness of her +efforts to overcome her tenderness in behalf of Sigismund, have been +described in the fading of her bloom, in the painful solicitude of a +countenance naturally so sweet, and in the settled melancholy of her +playful and mellow eye. These were the real causes of the journey +undertaken by her father, and, in truth, of most of the other events +which we are about to describe.</p> + +<p>The prospect of the future had undergone a sudden change. The color, +though more the effect of excitement than of returning health--for he tide +of life, when rudely checked, does not resume its currents at the first +breath of happiness--again brightened her cheek and imparted brilliancy to +her looks, and smiles stole easily to those lips which had long been +growing pallid with anxiety. She leaned forward from the balcony, and +never before had the air of her native mountains seemed so balmy and +healing. At that moment the subject of her thoughts appeared on the +verdant declivity, among the luxuriant nut-trees that shade the natural +lawn of Blonay. He saluted her respectfully, and pointed to the glorious +panorama of the Leman. The heart of Adelheid beat violently; she struggled +for an instant with her fears and her pride, and then, for the first time +in her life, she made a signal that she wished him to join her.</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding the important service that the young soldier had rendered +to the daughter of the Baron de Willading, and the long intimacy which had +been its fruit, so great had been the reserve she had hitherto maintained, +by placing a constant restraint on her inclinations, though the simple +usages of Switzerland permitted greater familiarity of intercourse than +was elsewhere accorded to maidens of rank, that Sigismund at first stood +rooted to the ground, for he could not imagine the waving of the hand was +meant for him. Adelheid saw his embarrassment, and the signal was +repeated. The young man sprang up the acclivity with the rapidity of the +wind, and disappeared behind the walls of the castle.</p> + +<p>The barrier of reserve, so long and so success fully observed by +Adelheid, was now passed, and she felt as if a few short minutes must +decide her fate. The necessity of making a wide circuit in order to enter +the court still afforded a little time for reflection, however, and this +she endeavored to improve by collecting her thoughts and recovering her +self-possession.</p> + +<p>When Sigismund entered the knights' hall, he found the maiden still seated +near the open window of the balcony, pale and serious, but perfectly calm, +and with such an expression of radiant happiness in her countenance as he +had not seen reigning in those sweet lineaments for many painful, months. +The first feeling was that of pleasure at perceiving how well she bore the +alarms and dangers of the past night. This pleasure he expressed, with the +frankness admitted, by the habits of the Germans.</p> + +<p>"Thou wilt not suffer, Adelheid, by the exposure on the lake!" he said, +studying her face until the tell-tale blood stole to her very temples.</p> + +<p>"Agitation of the mind is a good antidote to the consequences of bodily +exposure. So far from suffering by what has passed, I feel stronger to-day +and better able to endure fatigue, than at any time since we came through +the gates of Willading. This balmy air, to me, seems Italy, and I see no +necessity to journey farther in search of what they said was necessary to +my health, agreeable objects and a generous sun."</p> + +<p>"You will not cross the St. Bernard!" he exclaimed in a tone of +disappointment.</p> + +<p>Adelheid smiled, and he felt encouraged, though the smile was ambiguous. +Notwithstanding the really noble sincerity of the maiden's disposition, +and her earnest desire to set his heart at ease, nature, or habit, or +education, for we scarcely know to which the weakness ought to be +ascribed, tempted her to avoid a direct explanation.</p> + +<p>"Why need one desire aught that is more lovely than this?" she answered, +evasively. "Here is a warm air, such a scene as Italy can scarcely +surpass, and a friendly roof. The experience of the last twenty-four hours +gives little encouragement for attempting the St. Bernard, notwithstanding +the fair promises of hospitality and welcome that have been so liberally +held out by the good canon."</p> + +<p>"Thy eye contradicts thy tongue, Adelheid; thou art happy and well enough +to use pleasantry to-day. For heaven's sake, do not neglect to profit by +this advantage, however, under a mistaken opinion that Blonay is the +well-sheltered Pisa. When the winter shall arrive, thou wilt see that +these mountains are still the icy Alps, and the winds will whistle through +this crazy castle, as they are wont to sing in the naked corridors of +Willading."</p> + +<p>"We have time before us, and can think of this. Thou wilt proceed to +Milan, no doubt, as soon as the revels of Vévey are ended."</p> + +<p>"The soldier has little choice but duty. My long and frequent leaves of +absence of late,--leaves that have been liberally granted to me on account +of important family-concerns,--impose an additional obligation to be +punctual, that I may not seem forgetful of favors already enjoyed. +Although we all owe a heavy debt to nature, our voluntary engagements have +ever seemed to me the most serious."</p> + +<p>Adelheid listened with breathless attention. Never before had he uttered +the word family, in reference to himself, in her presence. The allusion +appeared to have created unpleasant recollections in the mind of the young +man himself, for when he ceased to speak his countenance fell, and he +even appeared to be fast forgetting the presence of his fair companion. +The latter turned sensitively from a subject which she saw gave him pain, +and endeavored to call his thoughts to other things. By an unforeseen +fatality, the very expedient adopted hastened the explanation she would +now have given so much to postpone.</p> + +<p>"My father has often extolled the site of the Baron de Blonay's castle," +said Adelheid, gazing from the window, though all the fair objects of the +view floated unheeded before her eyes: "but, until now, I have always +suspected that friendly feeling had a great influence on his +descriptions."</p> + +<p>"You did him injustice then," answered Sigismund, advancing to the +opening: "of all the ancient holds of Switzerland, Blonay is perhaps +entitled to the palm, for possessing the fairest site. Regard yon +treacherous lake, Adelheid! Can we fancy that sleeping mirror the same +boiling cauldron on which we were so lately tossed, helpless and nearly +hopeless?"</p> + +<p>"Hopeless, Sigismund, but for thee!"</p> + +<p>"Thou forgett'st the daring Italian, without whose coolness and skill we +must indeed have irredeemably perished."</p> + +<p>"And what would it be to me if the worthless bark were saved, while my +father and his friend were abandoned to the frightful fate that befell the +patron and that unhappy peasant of Berne!"</p> + +<p>The pulses of the young man beat high, for there was a tenderness in the +tones of Adelheid to which he was unaccustomed, and which, indeed, he had +never before discovered in her voice.</p> + +<p>"I will go seek this brave mariner," he said, trembling lest his +self-command should be again lost by the seductions of such a +communion:--"it is time he had more substantial proofs of our gratitude."</p> + +<p>"No, Sigismund," returned the maiden; firmly, and in a way to chain him +to the spot, "thou must not quit me yet--I have much to say--much that +touches my future happiness, and, I am perhaps weak enough to believe, +thine."</p> + +<p>Sigismund was bewildered, for the manner of his companion, though the +color went and came in sudden and bright flashes across her pure brows, +was miraculously calm and full of dignity. He took the seat to which she +silently pointed, and sat motionless as if carved in stone, his faculties +absorbed in the single sense of hearing. Adelheid saw that the crisis was +arrived, and that retreat, without an appearance of levity that her +character and pride equally forbade, was impossible. The inbred and +perhaps the inherent feelings of her sex would now have caused her again +to avoid the explanation, at least as coming from herself, but that she +was sustained by a high and holy motive.</p> + +<p>"Thou must find great delight, Sigismund, in reflecting on thine own good +acts to others. But for thee Melchior de Willading would have long since +been childless; and but for thee his daughter would now be an orphan. The +knowledge that thou hast had the power and the will to succor thy friends +must be worth all other knowledge!"</p> + +<p>"As connected with thee, Adelheid, it is," he answered in a low voice: "I +would not exchange the secret happiness of having been of this use to +thee, and to those thou lovest, for the throne of the powerful prince I +serve. I have had my secret wrested from me already, and it is vain +attempting to deny it, if I would. Thou knowest I love thee; and, in spite +of myself, my heart cherishes the weakness. I rather rejoice, than dread, +to say that it will cherish it until it cease to feel. This is more than +I ever intended to repeat to thy modest ears, which ought not to be wounded +by idle declarations like these, but--thou smilest--Adelheid!--can thy +gentle spirit mock at a hopeless passion!"</p> + +<p>"Why should my smile mean mockery?"</p> + +<p>"Adelheid!--nay--this never can be. One of my birth--my ignoble, +nameless origin, cannot even intimate his wishes, with honor, to a lady of +thy name and expectations!"</p> + +<p>"Sigismund, it <i>can</i> be. Thou hast not well calculated either the heart of +Adelheid de Willading, or the gratitude of her father."</p> + +<p>The young man gazed earnestly at the face of the maiden, which, now that +she had disburdened her soul of its most secret thought, reddened to the +temples, more however with excitement than with shame, for she met his +ardent look with the mild confidence of innocence and affection. She +believed, and she had every reason so to believe, that her words would +give pleasure, and, with the jealous watchfulness of true love, she would +not willingly let a single expression of happiness escape her. But, +instead of the brightening eye, and the sudden expression of joy that she +expected, the young man appeared overwhelmed with feelings of a very +opposite, and indeed of the most painful, character. His breathing was +difficult, his look wandered, and his lips were convulsed. He passed his +hand across his brow, like a man in intense agony, and a cold perspiration +broke out, as by a dreadful inward working of the spirit, upon his +forehead and temples, in large visible drops.</p> + +<p>"Adelheid--dearest Adelheid--thou knowest not what thou sayest!--One like +me can never become thy husband."</p> + +<p>"Sigismund!--why this distress? Speak to me--ease thy mind by words. I +swear to thee that the consent of my father is accompanied on my part by +a willing heart. I love thee, Sigismund--wouldst thou have me--can I say +more?"</p> + +<p>The young man gazed at her incredulously, and then, as thought became more +clear, as one regards a much-prized object that is hopelessly lost. He +shook his head mournfully, and buried his face in his hands.</p> + +<p>"Say no more, Adelheid--for my sake--for thine own sake, say no more--in +mercy, be silent! Thou never canst be mine--No, no--honor forbids it; in +thee it would be madness, in me dishonor--we can never be united. What +fatal weakness has kept me near thee--I have long dreaded this--"</p> + +<p>"Dreaded!"</p> + +<p>"Nay, do not repeat my words,--for I scarce know what I say. Thou and thy +father have yielded, in a moment of vivid gratitude, to a generous, a +noble impulse--but it is not for me to profit by the accident that has +enabled me to gain this advantage. What would all of thy blood, all of the +republic say, Adelheid, were the noblest born, the best endowed, the +fairest, gentlest, best maiden of the canton, to wed a nameless, +houseless, soldier of fortune, who has but his sword and some gifts of +nature to recommend him? Thy excellent father will surely think better of +this, and we will speak of it no more!"</p> + +<p>"Were I to listen to the common feelings of my sex, Sigismund, this +reluctance to accept what both my father and myself offer might cause me +to feign displeasure. But, between thee and me, there shall be naught but +holy truth. My father has well weighed all these objections, and he has +generously decided to forget them. As for me, placed in the scale against +thy merits, they have never weighed at all. If thou canst not become noble +in order that we may be equals, I shall find more happiness in descending +to thy level, than by living in heartless misery at the vain height where +I have been placed by accident."</p> + +<p>"Blessed, ingenuous girl!--But what does it all avail? Our marriage is +impossible."</p> + +<p>"If thou knowest of any obstacle that would render it improper for a weak, +but virtuous girl--"</p> + +<p>"Hold, Adelheid!--do not finish the sentence. I am sufficiently +humbled--sufficiently debased--without this cruel suspicion."</p> + +<p>"Then why is our union impossible--when my father not only consents, but +wishes it may take place?"</p> + +<p>"Give me time for thought--thou shalt know all, Adelheid, sooner or later. +Yes, this is, at the least, due to thy noble frankness, Thou shouldst in +justice have known it long before."</p> + +<p>Adelheid regarded him in speechless apprehension, for the evident and +violent physical struggles of the young man too fearfully announced the +mental agony he endured. The color had fled from her own face, in which +the beauty of expression now reigned undisputed distress; but it was the +expression of the mingled sentiments of wonder, dread, tenderness, and +alarm. He saw that his own sufferings were fast communicating themselves +to his companion, and, by a powerful effort, he so far mastered his +emotions as to regain a portion of his self-command.</p> + +<p>"This explanation has been too heedlessly delayed," he continued: "cost +what it may, it shall be no longer postponed. Thou wilt not accuse me of +cruelty, or of dishonest silence, but remember the failing of human +nature, and pity rather than blame a weakness which may be the cause of as +much future sorrow to thyself, beloved Adelheid, as it is now of bitter +regret to me. I have never concealed from thee that my birth is derived +from that class which throughout Europe, is believed to be of inferior +rights to thine own; on this head, I am proud rather than humble, for the +invidious distinctions of usage have too often provoked comparisons, and I +have been in situations to know that the mere accidents of descent bestow +neither personal excellence, superior courage, nor higher intellect. +Though human inventions may serve to depress the less fortunate, God has +given fixed limits to the means of men. He that would be greater than his +kind, and illustrious by unnatural expedients, must debase others to +attain his end. By different means than these there is no nobility, and he +who is unwilling to admit an inferiority which exists only in idea can +never be humbled by an artifice so shallow. On the subject of mere birth, +as it is ordinarily estimated, whether it come from pride, or philosophy, +or the habit of commanding as a soldier those who might be deemed my +superiors as men, I have never been very sensitive. Perhaps the heavier +disgrace which crushes me may have caused this want to appear lighter than +it otherwise might."</p> + +<p>"Disgrace!" repeated Adelheid, in a voice that was nearly choked. "The +word is fearful, coming from one of thy regulated mind, and as applied to +himself."</p> + +<p>"I cannot choose another. Disgrace it is by the common consent of men--by +long and enduing opinion--it would almost seem by the just judgment of +God. Dost thou not believe, Adelheid, that there are certain races which +are deemed accursed, to answer some great and unseen end--races on whom +the holy blessings of Heaven never descend, as they visit the meek and +well-deserving that come of other lines!"</p> + +<p>"How can I believe this gross injustice, on the part of a Power that is +wise without bounds, and forgiving to parental love?"</p> + +<p>"Thy answer would be well, were this earth the universe, or this state of +being the last. But he whose sight extends beyond the grave, who fashions +justice, and mercy, and goodness, on a scale commensurate with his own +attributes, and not according to our limited means, is not to be estimated +by the narrow rules that we apply to men. No, we must not measure the +ordinances of God by laws that are plausible in our own eyes. Justice is a +relative and not an abstract quality; and, until we understand the +relations of the Deity to ourselves as well as we understand our own +relations to the Deity, we reason in the dark."</p> + +<p>"I do not like to hear thee speak thus, Sigismund, and, least of all, with +a brow so clouded, and in a voice so hollow!"</p> + +<p>"I will tell my tale more cheerfully, dearest. I have no right to make +thee the partner of my misery; and yet this is the manner I have reasoned, +and thought, and pondered--ay, until my brain has grown heated, and the +power to reason itself has nearly tottered. Ever since that accursed hour, +in which the truth became known to me, and I was made the master of the +fatal secret, have I endeavored to feel and reason thus."</p> + +<p>"What truth?--what secret?--If thou lovest me, Sigismund, speak calmly and +without reserve."</p> + +<p>The young man gazed at her anxious face in a way to show how deeply he +felt the weight of the blow he was about to give. Then, after a pause he +continued.</p> + +<p>"We have lately passed through a terrible scene together, dearest +Adelheid. It was one that may well lessen the distances set between us by +human laws and the tyranny of opinions. Had it been the will of God that +the bark should perish, what a confused crowd of ill-assorted spirits +would have passed together into eternity! We had them, there, of all +degrees of vice, as of nearly all degrees of cultivation, from the subtle +iniquity of the wily Neapolitan juggler to thine own pure soul. There +would have died in the Winkelried the noble of high degree, the reverend +priest, the soldier in the pride of his strength, and the mendicant! Death +is an uncompromising leveller, and the depths of the lake, at least, might +have washed out all our infamy, whether it came of real demerits or merely +from received usage; even the luckless Balthazar, the persecuted and hated +headsman, might have found those who would have mourned his loss."</p> + +<p>"If any could have died unwept in meeting such a fate, it must have been +one that, in common, awakes so little of human sympathy; and one too, who, +by dealing himself in the woes of others, has less claim to the compassion +that we yield to most of our species."</p> + +<p>"Spare me--in mercy, Adelheid, spare me--thou speakest of my father!"</p> +</div> + + +<div class="chapter" id="ch11"> +<h2>Chapter XI.</h2> + + +<blockquote class="epi"><p> Fortune had smil'd upon Guelberto's birth.<br /> + The heir of Valdespesa's rich domain;<br /> + An only child, he grew in years and worth,<br /> + And well repaid a father's anxious pain.</p> + +<p> Southey.</p></blockquote> + +<p> +As Sigismund uttered this communication, so terrible to the ear of his +listener, he arose and fled from the room. The possession of a kingdom +would not have tempted him to remain and note troubled air and rapid +strides as he passed them, but, too simple to suspect more than the +ordinary impetuosity of youth, he succeeded in getting through the +inferior gate of the castle and into the fields, without attracting any +embarrassing attention to his movements. Here he began to breathe more +freely, and the load which had nearly choked his respiration became +lightened. For half an hour the young man paced the greensward scarcely +conscious whither he went, until he found that his steps had again led him +beneath the window of the knights' hall. Glancing an eye upward, he saw +Adelheid still seated at the balcony, and apparently yet alone. He thought +she had been weeping, and he cursed the weakness which had kept him from +effecting the often-renewed resolution to remove himself, and his cruel +fortunes, for ever from before her mind. A second look, however, showed +him that he was again beckoned to ascend! The revolutions in the purposes +of lovers are sudden and easily effected; and Sigismund, through whose +mind a dozen ill-digested plans of placing the sea between himself and her +he loved had just been floating, was now hurriedly retracing his steps to +her presence.</p> + +<p>Adelheid had necessarily been educated under the influence of the +prejudices of the age and of the country in which she lived. The existence +of the office of headsman in Berne, and the nature of its hereditary +duties, were well known to her: and, though superior to the inimical +feeling which had so lately been exhibited against the luckless Balthazar, +she had certainly never anticipated a shock so cruel as was now produced, +by abruptly learning that this despised and persecuted being was the +father of the youth to whom she had yielded her virgin affections. When +the words which proclaimed the connexion had escaped the lips of +Sigismund, she listened like one who fancied that her ears deceived her. +She had prepared herself to learn that he derived his being from some +peasant or ignoble artisan, and, once or twice, as he drew nearer to the +fatal declaration, awkward glimmerings of a suspicion that some repulsive +moral unworthiness was connected with his origin troubled her imagination; +but her apprehensions could not, by possibility, once turn in the +direction of the revolting truth. It was some time before she was able to +collect her thoughts, or to reflect on the course it most became her to +pursue. But, as has been seen, it was long before she could summon the +self-command to request what she now saw was doubly necessary, another +meeting with her lover. As both had thought of nothing but his last words +during the short separation, there appeared no abruptness in the manner in +which he resumed the discourse, on seating himself at her side, exactly as +if they had not parted at all.</p> + +<p>"The secret has been torn from me, Adelheid. The headsman of the canton is +my father; were the fact publicly known, the heartless and obdurate laws +would compel me to be his successor. He has no other child, except a +gentle girl--one innocent and kind as thou."</p> + +<p>Adelheid covered her face with both her hands, as if to shut out a view of +the horrible truth. Perhaps an instinctive reluctance to permit her +companion to discover how great a blow had been given by this avowal of +his birth, had also its influence in producing the movement. They who have +passed the period of youth, and who can recall those days of inexperience +and hope, when the affections are fresh and the heart is untainted with +too much communion with the world,--and, especially, they who know of what +a delicate compound of the imaginative and the real the master-passion is +formed, how sensitively it regards all that can reflect credit on the +beloved object, and with what ingenuity it endeavors to find plausible +excuses for every blot that may happen, either by accident or demerit, to +tarnish the lustre of a picture that fancy has so largely aided in +drawing, will understand the rude nature of the shock that she had +received. But Adelheid de Willading, though a woman in the liveliness and +fervor of her imagination, as well as in the proneness to conceive her own +ingenuous conceptions to be more founded in reality than a sterner view of +things might possibly have warranted, was a woman also in the more +generous qualities of the heart, and in those enduring principles, which +seem to have predisposed the better part of the sex to make the heaviest +sacrifices rather than be false to their affections. While her frame +shuddered, therefore, with the violence and abruptness of the emotions she +had endured, dawnings of the right gleamed upon her pure mind, and it was +not long before she was able to contemplate the truth with the steadiness +of principle, though it might, at the same time, have been with much of +the lingering weakness of humanity. When she lowered her hands, she looked +towards the mute and watchful Sigismund, with a smile that caused the +deadly paleness of her features to resemble a gleam of the sun lighting +upon a spotless peak of her native mountains.</p> + +<p>"It would be vain to endeavor to conceal from thee, Sigismund," she said, +"that I could wish this were not so. I will confess even more--that when +the truth first broke upon me, thy repeated services, and, what is even +less pardonable, thy tried worth, were for an instant forgotten in the +reluctance I felt to admit that my fate could ever be united with one so +unhappily situated. There are moments when prejudices and habits are +stronger than reason; but their triumph is short in well-intentioned +minds. The terrible injustice of our laws have never struck me with such +force before, though last night, while those wretched travellers were so +eager for the blood of--of--?"</p> + +<p>"My father, Adelheid."</p> + +<p>"Of the author of thy being, Sigismund," she continued, with a solemnity +that proved to the young man how deeply she reverenced the tie, "I was +compelled to see that society might be cruelly unjust; but now I find its +laws and prohibitions visiting one like thee, so far from joining in its +oppression, my soul revolts against the wrong."</p> + +<p>"Thanks--thanks--a thousand thanks!" returned the young man, fervently. "I +did not expect less than this from thee, Mademoiselle de Willading."</p> + +<p>"If thou didst not expect more--far more, Sigismund," resumed the maiden, +her ashen hue brightened to crimson, "thou hast scarcely been less unjust +than the world; and I will add, thou hast never understood that Adelheid +de Willading, whose name is uttered with so cold a form. We all have +moments of weakness; moments when the seductions of life, the worthless +ties which bind together the thoughtless and selfish in what are called +the interests of the world, appear of more value than aught else. I am no +visionary, to fancy imaginary and factitious obligations superior to those +which nature and wisdom have created--for if there be much unjustifiable +cruelty in the practices, there is also much that is wise in the +ordinances, of society--or to think that a wayward fairy is to be indulged +at any and every expense to the feelings and opinions of others. On the +contrary; I well know that so long as men exist in the condition in which +they are, it is little more than common prudence to respect their habits; +and that ill-assorted unions, in general, contain in themselves a +dangerous enemy to happiness. Had I always known thy history, dread of the +consequences, or those cold forms which protect the fortunate would +probably have interposed to prevent either from learning much of the +other's character.--I say not this, Sigismund, as by thy eye I see thou +wouldst think, in reproach for any deception, for I well know the +accidental nature of our acquaintance, and that the intimacy was forced +upon thee by our own importunate gratitude, but simply, and in explanation +of my own feelings. As it is, we are not to judge of our situation by +ordinary rules, and I am not now to decide on your pretensions to my hand +merely as the daughter of the Baron de Willading receiving a proposal from +one whose birth is not noble, but as Adelheid should weigh the claims of +Sigismund, subject to some diminution of advantages, if thou wilt, that is +perhaps greater than she had at first anticipated."</p> + +<p>"Dost thou consider the acceptance of my hand possible, after what thou +knowest!" exclaimed the young man, in open wonder.</p> + +<p>"So far from regarding the question in that manner, I ask myself if it +will be right--if it be possible, to reject the preserver of my own life, +the preserver of my father's life, Sigismund Steinbach, because he is the +son of one that men persecute?"</p> + +<p>"Adelheid!"</p> + +<p>"Do not anticipate my words," said the maiden calmly, but in a way to +check his impatience by the quiet dignity of her manner, "This is an +important, I might say a solemn decision, and it has been presented to me +suddenly and without preparation. Thou wilt not think the worse of me, for +asking time to reflect before I give the pledge-that in my eyes, will be +for ever sacred. My father, believing thee to be of obscure origin, and +thoroughly conscious of thy worth, dear Sigismund, authorized me to speak +as I did in the beginning of our interview; but my father may possibly +think the conditions of his consent altered by this unhappy exposure of +the truth. It is meet that I tell him all, for thou knowest I must abide +by his decision. This thine own sense and filial piety will approve."</p> + +<p>In spite of the strong objectionable facts that he had just revealed, hope +had begun to steal upon the wishes of the young man, as he listened to the +consoling words of the single-minded and affectionate Adelheid. It would +scarcely have been possible for a youth so endowed by nature, and one so +inevitably conscious of his own value, though so modest in its exhibition, +not to feel encouraged by her ingenuous and frank admission, as she +betrayed his influence over her happiness in the undisguised and simple +manner related. But the intention to appeal to her father caused him to +view the subject more dispassionately, for his strong sense was not slow +in pointing out the difference between the two judges, in a case like his.</p> + +<p>"Trouble him not, Adelheid; the consciousness that his prudence denies +what a generous feeling might prompt him to bestow, may render him +unhappy. It is impossible that Melchior de Willading should consent to +give an only child to a son of the headsman of his canton. At some other +time, when the recollections of the late storm shall be less vivid, thine +own reason will approve of his decision."</p> + +<p>His companion, who was thoughtfully leaning her spotless brow on her hand, +did not appeal to hear his words. She had recovered from the shock given +by the sudden announcement of his origin, and was now musing intently, and +with cooler discrimination, on the commencement of their acquaintance, its +progress and all its little incidents, down to the two grave events which +had so gradually and firmly cemented the sentiments of esteem and +admiration in the stronger and indelible tie of affection.</p> + +<p>"If thou art the son of him thou namest, why art thou known by the name of +Steinbach, when Balthazar bears another?" demanded Adelheid anxious to +seize even the faintest hold of hope.</p> + +<p>"It was my intention to conceal nothing, but to lay before thee the +history of my life, with all the reasons that may have influenced my +conduct," returned Sigismund: "at some other time, when both are in a +calmer state of mind, I shall dare to entreat a hearing--"</p> + +<p>"Delay is unnecessary--it might even be improper. It is my duty to explain +every thing to my father, and he may wish to know why thou hast not always +appeared what thou art. Do not fancy, Sigismund, that I distrust thy +motive, but the wariness of the old and the confidence of the young have +so little in common!--I would rather that thou told me now."</p> + +<p>He yielded to the mild earnestness of her manner, and to the sweet, but +sad, smile with which she seconded the appeal.</p> + +<p>"If thou wilt hear the melancholy history, Adelheid," he said, "there is +no sufficient reason why I should wish to postpone the little it will be +necessary to say. You are probably familiar with the laws of the canton, I +mean those cruel ordinances by which a particular family is condemned, for +a better word can scarcely be found, to discharge the duties of this +revolting office. This duty may have been a privilege in the dark ages +but it is now become a tax that none, who have been educated with better +hopes, can endure to pay. My father, trained from infancy to expect the +employment, and accustomed to its discharge in contemplation, succeeded to +his parent while yet young; and, though formed by nature a meek and even a +compassionate man, he has never shrunk from his bloody tasks, whenever +required to fulfil them by the command of his superiors. But, touched by a +sentiment of humanity, it was his wish to avert from me what his better +reason led him to think the calamity of our race. I am the eldest born, +and, strictly, I was the child most liable to be called to assume the +office, but, as I have heard, the tender love of my mother induced her to +suggest a plan by which I, at least, might be rescued from the odium that +had so long been attached to our name. I was secretly conveyed from the +house while yet an infant; a feigned death concealed the pious fraud, and +thus far, Heaven be praised! the authorities are ignorant of my birth!"</p> + +<p>"And thy mother, Sigismund; I have great respect for that noble mother, +who, doubtless, is endowed with more than her sex's firmness and +constancy, since she must have sworn faith and love to thy father, knowing +his duties and the hopelessness of their being evaded? I feel a reverence +for a woman so superior to the weaknesses, and yet so true to the real and +best affections, of her sex!"</p> + +<p>The young man smiled so painfully as to cause his enthusiastic companion +to regret that she had put the question.</p> + +<p>"My mother is certainly a woman not only to be loved, but in many +particulars deeply to be revered. My poor and noble mother has a thousand +excellencies, being a most tender parent, with a heart so kind that it +would grieve her to see injury done even to the meanest living thing. She +was not a woman, surely, intended by God to be the mother of a line of +executioners!"</p> + +<p>"Thou seest, Sigismund," said Adelheid, nearly breathless in the desire to +seek an excuse for her own predilections, and to lessen the mental agony +he endured--"thou seest that one gentle and excellent woman, at least, +could trust her happiness to thy family. No doubt she was the daughter of +some worthy and just-viewing burgher of the canton, that had educated his +child to distinguish between misfortune and crime?"</p> + +<p>"She was an only child and an heiress, like thy self, Adelheid;" he +answered, looking about him as if he sought some object on which he might +cast part of the bitterness that loaded his heart. "Thou art not less the +Beloved and cherished of thine own parent than was my excellent mother of +her's!"</p> + +<p>"Sigismund, thy manner is startling!--What wouldst thou say?"</p> + +<p>"Neufchâtel, and other countries besides Berne, have their privileged! My +mother was the only child of the headsman of the first. Thus thou seest, +Adelheid, that I boast my quarterings as well as another. God be praised! +we are not legally compelled, however, to butcher the condemned of any +country but our own!"</p> + +<p>The wild bitterness with which this was uttered, and the energy of his +language, struck thrilling chords on every nerve of his listener.</p> + +<p>"So many honors should not be unsupported;" he resumed. "We are rich, for +people of humble wishes, and have ample means of living without the +revenues of our charge--I love to put forth our long-acquired honors! The +means of a respectable livelihood are far from being wanted. I have told +you of the kind intentions of my mother to redeem one of her children, at +least, from stigma which weighed upon us all, and the birth of a second +son enabled her to effect this charitable purpose, without attracting +attention. I was nursed and educated apart, for many years, in ignorance +of my birth. At a suitable age, notwithstanding the early death of my +brother, I was sent to seek advancement in the service of the house of +Austria, under the feigned name I bear. I will not tell thee the anguish I +felt, Adelheid, when the truth was at length revealed! Of all the +cruelties inflicted by society, there is none so unrighteous in its nature +as the stigma it entails in the succession of crime or misfortune: of all +its favors, none can find so little justification, in right and reason, as +the privileges accorded to the accident of descent." + +"And yet we are much accustomed to honor those that come of an ancient +line, and to see some part of the glory of the ancestor even in the most +remote descendant."</p> + +<p>"The more remote, the greater is the world's deference. What better proof +can we have of the world's weakness? Thus the immediate child of the hero, +he whose blood is certain, who bears the image of the father in his face, +who has listened to his counsels, and may be supposed to have derived, at +least, some portion of his greatness from the nearness of his origin, is +less a prince than he who has imbibed the current through a hundred vulgar +streams, and, were truth but known, may have no natural claim at all upon +the much-prized blood! This comes of artfully leading the mind to +prejudices, and of a vicious longing in man to forget his origin and +destiny, by wishing to be more than nature ever intended he should +become."</p> + +<p>"Surely, Sigismund, there is something justifiable in the sentiment of +desiring to belong to the good and noble!"</p> + +<p>"If good and noble were the same. Thou hast well designated the feeling; +so long as it is truly a sentiment, it is not only excusable but wise; for +who would not wish to come of the brave, and honest, and learned, or by +what other greatness they may be known?--it is wise, since the legacy of +his virtues is perhaps the dearest incentive that a good man has for +struggling against the currents of baser interest; but what hope is left +to one like me, who finds himself so placed that he can neither inherit +nor transmit aught but disgrace! I do not affect to despise the advantages +of birth, simply because I do not possess them; I only complain that +artful combinations have perverted what should be sentiment and taste, +into a narrow and vulgar prejudice, by which the really ignoble enjoy +privileges greater than those perhaps who are worthy of the highest honors +man can bestow."</p> + +<p>Adelheid had encouraged the digression which, with one less gifted with +strong good sense than Sigismund, might have only served to wound his +pride, but she perceived that he eased his mind by thus drawing on his +reason, and by setting up that which should be in opposition to that which +was.</p> + +<p>"Thou knowest," she answered, "that neither my father nor I am disposed to +lay much stress on the opinions of the world, as it concerns thee."</p> + +<p>"That is, neither will insist on nobility; but will either consent to +share the obloquy of a union with an hereditary executioner?"</p> + +<p>"Thou hast not yet related all it may be necessary to know that we may +decide."</p> + +<p>"There is left little to explain. The expedient of my kind parents has +thus far succeeded. Their two surviving children, my sister and myself, +were snatched, for a time at least, from their accursed fortune, while my +poor brother, who promised little, was left, by a partiality I will not +stop to examine, to pass as the inheritor of our infernal privileges-- +Nay, pardon, dearest Adelheid, I will be more cool; but death has saved +the youth from the execrable duties, and I am now the only male child of +Balthazar--yes," he added, laughing frightfully, "I, too have now a narrow +monopoly of all the honors of our house!"</p> + +<p>"Thou--thou, Sigismund--with thy habits, thy education, thy feelings, thou +surely canst not be required to discharge the duties of this horrible +office!"</p> + +<p>"It is easy to see that my high privileges do not charm you, Mademoiselle +de Willading; nor can I wonder at the taste. My chief surprise should be, +that you so long tolerate an executioner in your presence."</p> + +<p>"Did I not know and understand the bitterness of feeling natural to one so +placed, this language would cruelly hurt me, Sigismund; but thou canst not +truly mean there is a real danger of thy ever being called to execute this +duty? Should there be the chance of such a calamity, may not the influence +of my father avert it? He is not without weight in the councils of the +canton."</p> + +<p>"At present his friendship need not be taxed, for none but my parents, my +sister, and thou, Adelheid, are acquainted with the facts I have just +related. My poor sister is an artless, but an unhappy girl, for the +well-intentioned design of our mother has greatly disqualified her from +bearing the truth, as she might have done, had it been kept constantly +before her eyes. To the world, a young kinsman of my father appears +destined to succeed him, and there the matter must stand until fortune +shall decide differently. As respects my poor sister, there is some little +hope that the evil may be altogether averted. She is on the point of a +marriage here at Vévey, that may be the means of concealing her origin in +new ties. As for me, time must decide my fate."</p> + +<p>"Why should the truth be ever known!" exclaimed Adelheid, nearly gasping +for breath, in her eagerness to propose some expedient that should rescue +Sigismund for ever from so odious an office.</p> + +<p>"Thou sayest that there are ample means in thy family--relinquish all to +this youth, on condition that he assume thy place!"</p> + +<p>"I would gladly beggar myself to be quit of it--"</p> + +<p>"Nay, thou wilt not be a beggar while there is wealth among the de +Willadings. Let the final decision, in respect to other things, be what it +may, this can we at least promise!"</p> + +<p>"My sword will prevent me from being under the necessity of accepting the +boon thou wouldst offer. With this good sword I can always command an +honorable existence, should Providence save me from the disgrace of +exchanging it for that of the executioner. But there exists an obstacle of +which thou hast not yet heard. My sister, who has certainly no admiration +for the honors that have humiliated our race for so many generations--I +might say ages--have we not ancient honors, Adelheid, as well as thou?--my +sister is contracted to one who bargains for eternal secrecy on this +point, as the condition of his accepting the hand and ample dowry of one +of the gentlest of human beings! Thou seest that others are not as +generous as thyself, Adelheid! My father, anxious to dispose of his child, +has consented to the terms and as the youth who is next in succession to +the family-honors is little disposed to accept them, and has already some +suspicion of the deception as respects her, I may be compelled to appear +in order to protect the offspring of my unoffending sister from the +curse."</p> + +<p>This was assailing Adelheid in a point where she was the weakest. One of +her generous temperament and self-denying habits could scarce entertain +the wish of exacting that from another which she was not willing to +undergo herself, and the hope that had just been reviving in her heart was +nearly extinguished by the discovery. Still she was so much in the habit +of feeling under the guidance of her excellent sense, and it was so +natural to cling to her just wishes, while there was a reasonable chance +of their being accomplished, that she did not despair.</p> + +<p>"Thy sister and her future husband know her birth, and understand the +chances they run."</p> + +<p>"She knows all this, and such is her generosity, that she is not disposed +to betray me in order to serve herself. But this self-denial forms an +additional obligation on my part to declare myself the wretch I am. I +cannot say that my sister is accustomed to regard our long-endured +fortunes with all the horror I feel, for she has been longer acquainted +with the facts, and the domestic habits of her sex have left her less +exposed to the encounter of the world's hatred, and perhaps she is partly +ignorant of all the odium we sustain. My long absences in foreign services +delayed the confidence as respects myself, while the yearnings of a mother +towards an only daughter caused her to be received into the family, though +still in secret, several years before I was told the truth. She is also +much my junior; and all these causes, with some difference in our +education, have less disposed her to misery than I am; for while my +father, with a cruel kindness, had me well and even liberally instructed, +Christine was taught as better became the hopes and origin of both. Now +tell me, Adelheid, that thou hatest me for my parentage, and despisest me +for having so long dared to intrude on thy company, with the full +consciousness of what I am for ever present to my thoughts!"</p> + +<p>"I like not to hear thee make these bitter allusions to an accident of +this nature, Sigismund. Were I to tell thee that I do not feel this +circumstance with nearly, if not quite, as much poignancy as thyself," +added the ingenuous girl, with a noble frankness, "I should do injustice +to my gratitude and to my esteem for thy character. But there is more +elasticity in the heart of woman than in that of thy imperious and proud +sex. So far from thinking of thee as thou wouldst fain believe, I see +naught but what is natural and justifiable in thy reserve. Remember, thou +hast not tempted my ears by professions and prayers, as women are commonly +entreated, but that the interest I feel in thee has been modestly and +fairly won. I can neither say nor hear more at present for this unexpected +announcement has in some degree unsettled my mind. Leave me to reflect on +what I ought to do, and rest assured that thou canst not have a kinder or +more partial advocate of what truly belongs to thy honor and happiness +than my own heart."</p> + +<p>As the daughter of Melchior de Willading concluded, she extended her hand +with affection to the young man, who pressed it against his breast with +manly tenderness, when he slowly and reluctantly withdrew.</p> +</div> + + +<div class="chapter" id="ch12"> +<h2>Chapter XII.</h2> + + +<blockquote class="epi"><p> To know no more<br /> + Is woman's happiest knowledge, and her praise.</p> + +<p> Milton.</p></blockquote> + +<p> +Our heroine was a woman in the best meaning of that endearing, and, we +might add, comprehensive word. Sensitive, reserved, and at times even +timid, on points that did not call for the exercise of higher qualities, +she was firm in her principles, constant as she was fond in her +affections, and self-devoted when duty and inclination united to induce +the concession, to a degree that placed the idea of sacrifice out of the +question. On the other hand, the liability to receive lively impressions, +a distinctive feature of her sex, and the aptitude to attach importance to +the usages by which she was surrounded, and which is necessarily greatest +in those who lead secluded and inactive lives, rendered it additionally +difficult for her mind to escape from the trammels of opinion, and to +think with indifference of circumstances which all near her treated with +high respect, or to which they attached a stigma allied to disgust. Had +the case been reversed, had Sigismund been noble, and Adelheid a +headsman's child, it is probable the young man might have found the means +to indulge his passion without making too great a sacrifice of his pride. +By transporting his wife to his castle, conferring his own established +name, separating her from all that was unpleasant and degrading in the +connexion, and finding occupation for his own mind in the multiplied and +engrossing employments of his station, he would have diminished motives +for contemplating, and consequently for lamenting, the objectionable +features of the alliance he had made. These are the advantages which +nature and the laws of society give to man over the weaker but the truer +sex: and yet how few would have had sufficient generosity to make even the +sacrifice of feeling which such a course required! On the other hand, +Adelheid would be compelled to part with the ancient and distinguished +appellation of her family, to adopt one which was deemed infamous in the +canton, or, if some politic expedient were found to avert this first +disgrace, it would unavoidably be of a nature to attract, rather than to +avert, the attention of all who knew the facts, from the humiliating +character of his origin. She had no habitual relief against the constant +action of her thoughts, for the sphere of woman narrows the affections in +such a way as to render them most dependent on the little accidents of +domestic life; she could not close her doors against communication with +the kinsmen of her husband, should it be his pleasure to command or his +feeling to desire it; and it would become obligatory on her to listen to +the still but never-ceasing voice of duty, and to forget, at his request, +that she had ever been more fortunate, or that she was born for better +hopes.</p> + +<p>We do not say that all these calculations crossed the mind of the musing +maiden, though she certainly had a general and vague view of the +consequences that were likely to be drawn upon herself by a connexion with +Sigismund. She sat motionless, buried in deep thought, long after his +disappearance. The young man had passed by the postern around the base of +the castle, and was descending the mountain-side, across the sloping +meadows, with rapid steps, and probably for the first time since their +acquaintance her eye followed his manly figure vacantly and with +indifference.</p> + +<p>Her mind was too intently occupied for the usual observation of the +senses. The whole of that grand and lovely landscape was spread before her +without conveying impressions, as we gaze into the void of the firmament +with our looks on vacuum. Sigismund had disappeared among the walls of the +vineyards, when she arose, and drew such a sigh as is apt to escape us +after long and painful meditation. But the eyes of the high-minded girl +were bright and her cheek flushed, while the whole of her features wore an +expression of loftier beauty than ordinarily distinguished even her +loveliness. Her own resolution was formed. She had decided with the rare +and generous self-devotion of a female heart that loves, and which can +love in its freshness and purity but once. At that instant footsteps were +heard in the corridor, and the three old nobles whom we so lately left on +the castle-terrace, appeared together in the knights' hall.</p> + +<p>Melchior de Willading approached his daughter with a joyous face, for he +too had lately gained what he conceived to be a glorious conquest over his +prejudices, and the victory put him in excellent humor with himself.</p> + +<p>"The question is for ever decided," he said, kissing the burning forehead +of Adelheid with affection, and rubbing his hands, in the manner of one +who was glad to be free from a perplexing doubt "These good friends agree +with me, that, in a case like this, it becomes even our birth to forget +the origin of the youth. He who has saved the lives of the two last of the +Willadings at least deserves to have some share in what is left of them. +Here is my good Grimaldi, too, ready to beard me if I will not consent to +let him enrich the brave fellow--as if we were beggars, and had not the +means of supporting our kinsman in credit at borne. But we will not be +indebted even to so tried a friend for a tittle of our happiness. The work +shall be all our own, even to the letters of nobility, which I shall +command at an early day from Vienna; for it would be cruel to let the +noble fellow want so simple an advantage, which will at once raise him to +our own level, and make him as good--ay, by the beard of Luther! better +than the best man in Berne."</p> + +<p>"I have never known thee niggardly before, though I have known thee often +well intrenched behind Swiss frugality;" said the Signor Grimaldi, +laughing. "Thy life, my dear Melchior, may have excellent value in thine +own eyes, but I am little disposed to set so mean a price on my own, as +thou appearest to think it should command. Thou hast decided well, I will +say nobly, in the best meaning of the word, in consenting to receive this +brave Sigismund as a son; but thou art not to think, young lady, because +this body of mine is getting the worse for use, that I hold it altogether +worthless, and that it is to be dragged from yonder lake like so much foul +linen, and no questions are to be asked touching the manner in which the +service has been done. I claim to portion thy husband, that he may at +least make an appearance that becomes the son-in-law of Melchior de +Willading. Am I of no value, that ye treat me so unceremoniously as to say +I shall not pay for my own preservation?</p> + +<p>"Have it thine own way, good Gaetano--have it as thou wilt, so thou dost +but leave us the youth--"</p> + +<p>"Father--"</p> + +<p>"I will have no maidenly affectation, Adelheid I expect thee to receive +the husband we offer with as good a grace as if he wore a crown. It has +been agreed upon between us that Sigismund Steinbach is to be my son; and +from time immemorial, the daughters of our house have submitted, in these +affairs, to what has been advised by the wisdom of their seniors, as +became their sex and inexperience."</p> + +<p>The three old men had entered the hall full of good-humor, and it would +have been sufficiently apparent, by the manner of the Baron de Willading, +that he trifled with Adelheid, had it not been well known to the others +that her feelings were chiefly consulted in the choice that had just been +made.</p> + +<p>But, notwithstanding the high glee in which the father spoke, the pleasure +and buoyancy of his manner did not communicate itself to the child as +quickly as he could wish. There was far more than virgin embarrassment in +the mien of Adelheid. Her color went and came, and her look turned from +one to the other painfully, while she struggled to speak. The Signor +Grimaldi whispered to his companions, and Roger de Blonay discreetly +withdrew, under the pretence that his services were needed at Vévey, where +active preparations were making for the Abbaye des Vignerons. The Genoese +would then have followed his example, but the baron held his arm, while he +turned an inquiring eye towards his daughter, as if commanding her to deal +more frankly with him.</p> + +<p>"Father," said Adelheid, in a voice that shook in spite of the effort to +control her feelings, "I have something important to communicate, before +this acceptance of Herr Steinbach is a matter irrevocably determined."</p> + +<p>"Speak freely, my child; this is a tried friend, and one entitled to know +all that concerns us, especially in this affair. Throwing aside all +pleasantry, I trust, Adelheid, that we are to have no girlish trifling +with a youth like Sigismund; to whom we owe so much, even to our lives, +and in whose behalf we should be ready to sacrifice every feeling of +prejudice, or habit--all that we possess, ay, even to our pride."</p> + +<p>"All, father?"</p> + +<p>"I have said all. I will not take back a letter of the word, though it +should rob me of Willading, my rank in the canton, and an ancient name to +boot. Am I not right, Gaetano? I place the happiness of the boy above all +other considerations, that of Adelheid being understood to be so +intimately blended with his. I repeat it, therefore, all."</p> + +<p>"It would be well to hear what the young lady has to say, before we urge +this affair any farther;" said the Signor Grimaldi, who, having achieved +no conquest over himself, was not quite so exuberant in his exultation as +his friend; observing more calmly, and noting what he saw with the +clearness of a cooler-headed and more sagacious man. "I am much in error, +or thy daughter has that which is serious, to communicate."</p> + +<p>The paternal affection of Melchior now took the alarm, and he gave an +eager attention to his child. Adelheid returned his evident solicitude by +a smile of love, but its painful expression was so unequivocal as to +heighten the baron's fears.</p> + +<p>"Art not well, love? It cannot be that we have been deceived--that some +peasant's daughter is thought worthy to supplant thee? Ha!--Signor +Grimaldi, this matter begins, in sooth, to seem offensive;--but, old as I +am--Well, we shall never know the truth, unless thou speakest +frankly--this is a rare business, after all, Gaetano--that a daughter of +mine should be repulsed by a hind!"</p> + +<p>Adelheid made an imploring gesture for her father to forbear, while she +resumed her seat from farther inability to stand. The two anxious old men +followed her example, in wondering silence.</p> + +<p>"Thou dost both the honor and modesty of Sigismund great injustice, +father;" resumed the maiden, after a pause, and speaking with a calmness +of manner that surprised even herself. "If thou and this excellent and +tried friend will give me your attention for a few minutes, nothing shall +be concealed."</p> + +<p>Her companions listened in wonder, for they plainly saw that the matter +was more grave than either had at first imagined. Adelheid paused again, +to summon force for the ungrateful duty, and then she succinctly, but +clearly, related the substance of Sigismund's communication. Both the +listeners eagerly caught each syllable that fell from the quivering lips +of the maiden, for she trembled, notwithstanding a struggle to be calm +that was almost superhuman, and when her voice ceased they gazed at each +other like men suddenly astounded by some dire and totally unexpected +calamity. The baron, in truth, could scarcely believe that he had not been +deceived by a defective hearing, for age had begun a little to impair that +useful faculty, while his friend admitted the words as one receives +impressions of the most revolting and disheartening nature.</p> + +<p>"This is a damnable and fearful fact!" muttered the latter, when Adelheid +had altogether ceased to speak.</p> + +<p>"Did she say that Sigismund is the son of Balthazar, the public headsman +of the canton!" asked the father of his friend, in the way that one +reluctantly assures himself of some half-comprehended and unwelcome +truth,--"of Balthazar--of that family accursed!"</p> + +<p>"Such is the parentage it hath been the will of God to bestow on the +preserver of our lives," meekly answered Adelheid.</p> + +<p>"Hath the villain dared to steal into my family-circle, concealing this +disgusting and disgraceful fact!--Hath he endeavored to engraft the +impurity of his source on the untarnished stock of a noble and ancient +family! There is something exceeding mere duplicity in this, Signor +Grimaldi. There is a dark and meaning crime."</p> + +<p>"There is that which much exceeds our means of remedying, good Melchior. +But let us not rashly blame the boy, whose birth is rather to be imputed +to him as a misfortune than as a crime. If he were a thousand Balthazars, +he has saved all our lives!"</p> + +<p>"Thou sayest true--thou sayest no more than the truth. Thou wert always of +a more reasonable brain than I, though thy more southern origin would seem +to contradict it. Here, then, are all our fine fancies and liberal schemes +of generosity blown to the winds!"</p> + +<p>"That is not so evident," returned the Genoese, who had not failed the +while to study the countenance of Adelheid, as if he would fully ascertain +her secret wishes. "There has been much discourse, fair Adelheid, between +thee and the youth on this matter?"</p> + +<p>"Signore, there has. I was about to communicate the intentions of my +father; for the circumstances in which we were placed, the weight of our +many obligations, the usual distance which rank interposes between the +noble and the simply born, perhaps justified this boldness in a maiden," +she added, though the tell-tale blood revealed her shame. "I was making +Sigismund acquainted with my father's wishes, when he met my confidence by +the avowal which I have just related."</p> + +<p>"He deems his birth--?"</p> + +<p>"An insuperable barrier to the connexion. Sigismund Steinbach, though so +little favored in the accident of his origin, is not a beggar to sue for +that which his own generous feelings would condemn."</p> + +<p>"And thou?"</p> + +<p>Adelheid lowered her eyes, and seemed to reflect on the nature of her +answer.</p> + +<p>"Thou wilt pardon this curiosity, which may wear too much the aspect of +unwarrantable meddling, but my age and ancient friendship, the recent +occurrences, and a growing love for all that concerns thee, must plead my +excuses. Unless we know thy wishes, daughter, neither Melchior nor I can +act as we might wish?"</p> + +<p>Adelheid was long and thoughtfully silent. Though every sentiment of her +heart, and all that inclination which is the offspring of the warm and +poetical illusions of love, tempted her to declare a readiness to +sacrifice every other consideration to the engrossing and pure affections +of woman, opinion with its iron gripe still held her in suspense on the +propriety of braving the prejudices of the world. The timidity of that sex +which, however ready to make an offering of its most cherished privileges +on the shrine of connubial tenderness, shrinks with a keen sensitiveness +from the appearance of a forward devotion to the other, had its weight +also, nor could a child so pious altogether forget the effect her decision +might have on the future happiness of her sole surviving parent.</p> + +<p>The Genoese understood the struggle, though he foresaw its termination, +and he resumed the discourse himself, partly with the kind wish to give +the maiden time to reflect maturely before she answered, and partly +following a very natural train of his own thoughts.</p> + +<p>"There is naught sure in this fickle state of being;" he continued. +"Neither the throne, nor riches, nor health, nor even the sacred +affections are secure against change. Well may we pause then and weigh +every chance of happiness, ere we take the last and final step in any +great or novel measure. Thou knowest the hopes with which I entered life, +Melchior, and the chilling disappointments with which my career is likely +to close. No youth was born to fairer hopes, nor did Italy know one more +joyous than myself, the morning I received the hand of Angiolina; and yet +two short years saw all those hopes withered, this joyousness gone, and a +cloud thrown across my prospects which has never disappeared. A widowed +husband, a childless father, may not prove a bad counsellor, my friend, in +a moment when there is so much doubt besetting thee and thine."</p> + +<p>"Thy mind naturally returns to thine own unhappy child, poor Gaetano, when +there is so much question of the fortunes of mine."</p> + +<p>The Signor Grimaldi turned his look on his friend, but the gleam of +anguish, which was wont to pass athwart his countenance when his mind was +drawn powerfully towards that painful subject, betrayed that he was not +just then able to reply.</p> + +<p>"We see in all these events," continued the Genoese, as if too full of his +subject to restrain his words, "the unsearchable designs of Providence. +Here is a youth who is all that a father could desire; worthy in every +sense to be the depository of a beloved and only daughter's weal; manly, +brave, virtuous, and noble in all but the chances of blood, and yet so +accursed by the world's opinion that we might scarce venture to name him +as the associate of an idle hour, were the fact known that he is the man +he has declared himself to be!"</p> + +<p>"You put the matter in strong language Signor Grimaldi;" said Adelheid, +starting.</p> + +<p>"A youth of a form so commanding that a king might exult at the prospect +of his crown descending on such a head; of a perfection of strength and +masculine excellence that will almost justify the dangerous exultation of +health and vigor; of a reason that is riper than his years; of a virtue of +proof; of all qualities that we respect, and which come of study and not +of accident, and yet a youth condemned of men to live under the reproach +of their hatred and contempt, or to conceal for ever the name of the +mother that bore him! Compare this Sigismund with others that may be +named; with the high-born and pampered heir of some illustrious house, who +riots in men's respect while he shocks men's morals; who presumes on +privilege to trifle with the sacred and the just; who lives for self, and +that in base enjoyments; who is fitter to be the lunatic's companion than +any other's, though destined to rule in the council; who is the type of +the wicked, though called to preside over the virtuous; who cannot be +esteemed, though entitled to be honored; and let us ask why this is so, +what is the wisdom which hath drawn differences so arbitrary, and which, +while proclaiming the necessity of justice, so openly, so wantonly, and so +ingeniously sets its plainest dictates at defiance?"</p> + +<p>"Signore, it should not be thus--God never intended it should be so!"</p> + +<p>"While every principle would seem to say that each must stand or fall by +his own good or evil deeds, that men are to be honored as they merit, +every device of human institutions is exerted to achieve the opposite. +This is exalted, because his ancestry is noble; that condemned for no +better reason than that he is born vile. Melchior! Melchior! our reason is +unhinged by subtleties, and our boasted philosophy and right are no more +than unblushing mockeries, at which the very devils laugh!"</p> + +<p>"And yet the commandments of God tell us, Gaetano, that the sins of the +father shall be visited on the descendants from generation to generation. +You of Rome pay not this close attention, perhaps, to sacred writ, but I +have heard it said that we have not in Berne a law for which good warranty +cannot be found in the holy volume itself."</p> + +<p>"Ay, there are sophists to prove all that they wish. The crimes and +follies of the ancestor leave their physical, or even their moral taint, +on the child, beyond a question, good Melchior;--but is not this +sufficient? Are we blasphemously, even impiously, to pretend that God has +not sufficiently provided for the punishment of the breaches of his wise +ordinances, that we must come forward to second them by arbitrary and +heartless rules of our own? What crime is imputable to the family of this +youth beyond that of poverty, which probably drove the first of his race +to the execution of their revolting office. There is little in the mien or +morals of Sigismund to denote the visitations of Heaven's wise decrees, +but there is everything in his present situation to proclaim the injustice +of man."</p> + +<p>"And dost thou, Gaetano Grimaldi, the ally of so many ancient and +illustrious houses--thou, Gaetano Grimaldi, the honored of Genoa--dost +thou counsel me to give my only child, the heiress of my lands and name, +to the son of the public executioner, nay, to the very heritor of his +disgusting duties!"</p> + +<p>"There thou hast me on the hip, Melchior; the question is put strongly, +and needs reflection for an answer. Oh! why is this Balthazar so rich in +offspring, and I so poor? But we will not press the matter; it is an +affair of many sides, and should be judged by us as men, as well as +nobles. Daughter, thou hast just learned, by the words of thy father, that +I am against thee, by position and heritage, for, while I condemn the +principle of this wrong, I cannot overlook its effects, and never before +did a case of as tangled difficulty, one in which right was so palpably +opposed by opinion, present itself for my judgment. Leave us, that we may +command ourselves; the required decision exacts much care, and greater +mastery of ourselves than I can exercise, with that sweet pale face of +thine appealing so eloquently to my heart in behalf of the noble boy."</p> + +<p>Adelheid arose, and first offering her marble-like brow to the salutations +of both her parents, for the ancient friendship and strong sympathies of +the Genoese, gave him a claim to this appellation in her affections at +least, she silently withdrew.</p> + +<p>As to the conversation which ensued between the old nobles, we momentarily +drop the curtain, to proceed to other incidents of our narrative. It may, +however, be generally observed that the day passed quietly away, without +the occurrence of any event which it is necessary to relate, all in the +château, with the exception of the travellers, being principally occupied +by the approaching festivities. The Signor Grimaldi sought an occasion to +have a long and confidential communication with Sigismund, who, on his +part, carefully avoided being seen again by her who had so great an +influence on his feelings, until both had time to recover their +self-command.</p> +</div> + + +<div class="chapter" id="ch13"> +<h2>Chapter XIII.</h2> + + +<blockquote class="epi"><p> Hold, hurt him not, for God's sake;--he is mad.</p> + +<p> Comedy of Errors.</p></blockquote> + +<p> +The festivals of Bacchus are supposed to have been the models of those +long-continued festivities, which are still known in Switzerland by the +name of the Abbaye des Vignerons.</p> + +<p>This fête was originally of a simple and rustic character, being far from +possessing the labored ceremonies and classical allegories of a later day, +the severity of monkish discipline most probably prohibiting the +introduction of allusions to the Heathen mythology, as was afterwards +practised; for certain religious communities that were the proprietors of +large vineyards in that vicinity appear to have been the first known +patrons of the custom. So long as a severe simplicity reigned in the +festivities, they were annually observed; but, when heavier expenses and +greater preparations became necessary, longer intervals succeeded; the +Abbaye, at first, causing its festival to become triennial, and +subsequently extending the period of vacation to six years. As greater +time was obtained for the collection of means and inclination, the +festival gained in <i>éclat</i>, until it came at length to be a species of +jubilee, to which the idle, the curious, and the observant of all the +adjacent territories were accustomed to resort in crowds. The town of +Vévey profited by the circumstance, the usual motive of interest being +enlisted in behalf of the usage, and, down to the epoch of the great +European revolution, there would seem to have been an unbroken succession +of the fêtes. The occasion to which there has so often been allusion, was +one of the regular and long-expected festivals; and, as report had spoken +largely of the preparations, the attendance was even more numerous than +usual.</p> + +<p>Early on the morning of the second day after the arrival of our travellers +at the neighboring castle of Blonay, a body of men, dressed in the guise +of halberdiers, a species of troops then known in most of the courts of +Europe, marched into the great square of Vévey, taking possession of all +its centre, and posting its sentries in such a manner as to interdict the +usual passages of the place. This was the preliminary step in the coming +festivities; for this was the spot chosen for the scene of most of the +ceremonies of the day. The curious were not long behind the guards, and by +the time the sun had fairly arisen above the hills of Fribourg, some +thousands of spectators were pressing in and about the avenues of the +square, and boats from the opposite shores of Savoy were arriving at each +instant, crowded to the water's edge with peasants and their families.</p> + +<p>Near the upper end of the square, capacious scaffoldings had been erected +to contain those who were privileged by rank, or those who were able to +buy honors with the vulgar medium; while humbler preparations for the less +fortunate completed the three sides of a space that was in the form of a +parallelogram, and which was intended to receive the actors in the coming +scene. The side next the water was unoccupied, though a forest of latine +spars, and a platform of decks, more than supplied the deficiency of +scaffolding and room. Music was heard, from time to time, intermingled or +relieved by those wild Alpine cries which characterize the songs of the +mountaineers. The authorities of the town were early afoot, and, as is +customary with the important agents of small concerns, they were +exercising their municipal function with a bustle, which of itself +contained reasonable evidence that they were of no great moment, and a +gravity of mien with which the chiefs of a state might have believed it +possible to dispense.</p> + +<p>The estrade, or stage, erected for the superior class of spectators was +decorated with flags, and a portion near its centre had a fair display of +tapestry and silken hangings. The chateau-looking edifice near the bottom +of the square, and whose windows, according to a common Swiss and German +usage, showed the intermingled stripes that denoted it to be public +property, were also gay in colors, for the ensign of the Republic floated +over its pointed roofs, and rich silks waved against the walls. This was +the official residence of Peter Hofmeister, the functionary whom we have +already introduced to the reader.</p> + +<p>An hour later, a shot gave the signal for the various <i>troupes</i> to appear, +and soon after, parties of the different actors arrived in the square. As +the little processions approached to the sound of the trumpet or horn, +curiosity became more active and the populace was permitted to circulate +in those portions of the square that were not immediately required for +other purposes. About this time, a solitary individual appeared on the +stage. He seemed to enjoy peculiar privileges, not only from his +situation, but by the loud salutations and noisy welcomes with which he +was greeted from the crowd below. It was the good monk of St. Bernard, +who, with a bare head and a joyous contented face, answered to the several +calls of the peasants, most of whom had either bestowed hospitality on the +worthy Augustine, in his many journeyings among the charitable of the +lower world, or had received it at his hands in their frequent passages +of the mountain. These recognitions and greetings spoke well for humanity; +for in every instance they wore the air of cordial good-will, and a +readiness to do honor to the benevolent character of the religious +community that was represented in the person of its clavier or steward.</p> + +<p>"Good luck to thee, Father Xavier, and a rich <i>quête</i>" cried a burly +peasant; "thou hast of late unkindly forgotten Benoit Emery and his. When +did a clavier of St. Bernard ever knock at my door, and go away with an +empty hand? We look for thee, reverend monk, with thy vessel, to-morrow; +for the summer has been hot, the grapes are rich, and the wine is +beginning to run freely in our tubs. Thou shalt dip without any to look at +thee, and, take it of which color thou wilt, thou shalt take it with a +welcome."</p> + +<p>"Thanks, thanks, generous Benoit; St. Augustine will remember the favor, +and thy fruitful vines will be none the poorer for thy generosity. We ask +only that we may give, and on none do we bestow more willingly than on the +honest Vaudois whom may the saints keep in mind for their kindness and +good-will!"</p> + +<p>"Nay, I will have none of thy saints; thou knowest we are St. Calvin's men +in Vaud, if there must be any canonized. But what is it to us that thou +hearest mass, while we love the simple worship! Are we not equally men? +Does not the frost nip the members of Catholic and Protestant the same? or +does the avalanche respect one more than the other? I never knew thee, or +any of thy convent, question the frozen traveller of his faith, but all +are fed, and warmed, and, at need, administered to from the pharmacy, with +brotherly care, and as Christians merit. Whatever thou mayest think of the +state of our souls, thou on thy mountain there, no one will deny thy +tender services to our bodies. Say I well, neighbors, or is this only the +foolish gossip of old Benoit, who has crossed the Col so often, that he +has forgotten that out churches have quarrelled, and that the learned will +have us go to heaven by different roads?"</p> + +<p>A general movement among the people, and a tossing of hands, appeared in +support of the truth and popularity of the honest peasant's sentiments, +for in that age the hospice of St. Bernard, more exclusively a refuge for +the real and poor traveller than at present, enjoyed a merited reputation +in all the country round.</p> + +<p>"Thou shalt always be welcome on the pass, thou and thy friends, and all +others in the shape of men, without other interference in thy opinions +than secret prayers;" returned the good-humored and happy-looking clavier, +whose round contented face shone partly in habitual joy, partly in +gratification at this public testimonial in favor of the brotherhood, and +a little in satisfaction perhaps at the promise of an ample addition to +the convent's stores; for the community of St. Bernard, while so much was +going out, had a natural and justifiable desire to see some return for its +incessant and unwearied liberality. "Thou wilt not deny us the happiness +of praying for those we love, though it happen to be in a manner different +from that in which they ask blessings for themselves."</p> + +<p>"Have it thine own way, good canon; I am none of those who are ready to +refuse a favor because it savors of Rome. But what has become of our +friend Uberto? He rarely comes into the valleys, that we are not anxious +to see his glossy coat."</p> + +<p>The Augustine gave the customary call, and the mastiff mounted the stage +with a grave deliberate step, as if conscious of the dignity and +usefulness of the life he led, and like a dog accustomed to the friendly +notice of man. The appearance of this well-known and celebrated brute +caused another stir in the throng, many pressing upon the guards to get a +nearer view, and a few casting fragments of food from their wallets, as +tokens of gratitude and regard. In the midst of this little by-play of +good feeling, a dark shaggy animal leaped upon the scaffolding, and very +coolly commenced, with an activity that denoted the influence of the keen +mountain air on his appetite, picking up the different particles of meat +that had, as yet, escaped the eye of Uberto. The intruder was received +much in the manner that an unpopular or an offending actor is made to +undergo the hostilities of pit and galleries, to revenge some slight or +neglect for which he has forgotten or refused to atone. In other words, he +was incontinently and mercilessly pelted with such missiles as first +presented themselves. The unknown animal, which the reader, however, will +not be slow in recognizing to be the water-dog of Il Maledetto, received +these unusual visitations with some surprise, and rather awkwardly; for, +in his proper sphere, Nettuno had been quite as much accustomed to meet +with demonstrations of friendship from the race he so faithfully served, +as any of the far-famed and petted mastiffs of the convent. After dodging +sundry stones and clubs, as well as a pretty close attention to the +principal matter in hand would allow, and with a dexterity that did equal +credit to his coolness and muscle, a missile of formidable weight took the +unfortunate follower of Maso in the side, and sent him howling from the +stage. At the next instant, his master was at the throat of the offender, +throttling him till he was black in the face.</p> + +<p>The unlucky stone had come from Conrad. Forgetful of his assumed +character, he had joined in the hue and cry against a dog whose character +and service should have been sufficiently known to him, at least, to prove +his protection, and had given; the crudest blow of all. It has been +already seen that there was little friendship between Maso and the +pilgrim, for the former appeared to have an instinctive dislike of the +latter's calling, and this little occurrence was not of a character likely +to restore the peace between them.</p> + +<p>"Thou, too!" cried the Italian, whose blood had mounted at the first +attack on his faithful follower, and which fairly boiled when he witnessed +the cowardly and wanton conduct of this new assailant--"art not satisfied +with feigning prayers and godliness with the credulous, but thou must even +feign enmity to my dog, because it is the fashion to praise the cur of St. +Bernard at the expense of all other brutes! Reptile!--dost not dread the +arm of an honest man, when raised against thee in just anger?"</p> + +<p>"Friends--Vévaisans--honorable citizens!" gasped the pilgrim, as the gripe +of Maso permitted breath. "I am Conrad, a poor, miserable, repentant +pilgrim--Will ye see me murdered for a brute?"</p> + +<p>Such a contest could not continue long in such a place. At first the +pressure of the curious, and the great density of the crowd, rather +favored the attack of the mariner; but in the end they proved his enemies +by preventing the possibility of escaping from those who were especially +charged with the care of the public peace. Luckily for Conrad, for passion +had fairly blinded Maso to the consequences of his fury, the halberdiers +soon forced their way into the centre of the living mass, and they +succeeded in seasonably rescuing him from the deadly gripe of his +assailant. Il Maledetto trembled with the reaction of this hot sally, the +moment his gripe was forcibly released, and he would have disappeared as +soon as possible, had it been the pleasure of those into whose hands he +had fallen to permit so politic a step. But now commenced the war of +words, and the clamor of voices, which usually succeed, as well as +precede, all contests of a popular nature. The officer in charge of this +portion of the square questioned; twenty answered in a breath, not only +drowning each other's voices, but effectually contradicting all that was +said in the way of explanation. One maintained that Conrad had not been +content with attacking Maso's dog, but that he had followed up the blow by +offering a personal indignity to the master himself; this was the publican +in whose house the mariner had taken up his abode, and in which he had +been sufficiently liberal in his expenditure fairly to entitle him to the +hospitable support of its landlord. Another professed his readiness to +swear that the dog was the property of the pilgrim, being accustomed to +carry his wallet, and that Maso, owing to an ancient grudge against both +master and beast, had hurled the stone which sent the animal away howling, +and had resented a mild remonstrance of its owner in the extraordinary +manner that all had seen. This witness was the Neapolitan juggler, Pippo, +who had much attached himself to the person of Conrad since the adventure +of the bark, and who was both ready and willing to affirm anything in +behalf of a friend who had so evident need of his testimony, if it were +only on the score of boon-companionship. A third declared that the dog +belonged truly to the Italian, that the stone had been really hurled by +one who stood near the pilgrim, who had been wrongfully accused of the +offence by Maso; that the latter had made his attack under a false +impression, and richly merited punishment for the unceremonious manner in +which he had stopped Conrad's breath. This witness was perfectly honest, +but of a vulgar and credulous mind. He attributed the original offence to +one near that happened to have a bad name, and who was very liable to +father every sin that, by possibility, could be laid at his door, as well +as some that could not. On the other hand, he had also been duped that +morning by the pilgrim's superabundant professions of religious zeal a +circumstance that of itself would have prevented him from detecting +Conrad's arm in the air as it cast the stone, and which served greatly to +increase his certainty that the first offence came from the luckless wight +just alluded to; since they who discriminate under general convictions and +popular prejudices, usually heap all the odium they pertinaciously +withhold from the lucky and the favored, on those who seem fated by +general consent to be the common target of the world's darts.</p> + +<p>The officer, by the time he had deliberately heard the three principal +witnesses, together with the confounding explanations of those who +professed to be only half-informed in the matter, was utterly at a loss to +decide which had been right and which wrong. He came, therefore, to the +safe conclusion to send all the parties to the guard-house, including the +witnesses, being quite sure that he had hit on an effectual method of +visiting the true criminal with punishment, and of admonishing all those +who gave evidence in future to have a care of the manner in which they +contradicted each other. Just as this equitable decision was pronounced, +the sound of a trumpet proclaimed the approach of a division of the +principal mummers, if so irreverent a term can be applied to men engaged +in a festival as justly renowned as that of the vine-dressers. This +announcement greatly quickened the steps of Justice, for they who were +charged with the execution of her decrees felt the necessity of being +prompt, under the penalty of losing an interesting portion of the +spectacle. Actuated by this new impulse, which, if riot as respectable, +was quite as strong, as the desire to do right, the disturbers of the +peace, even to those who had shown a quarrelsome temper by telling stories +that gave each other the lie, were hurried away in a body, and the public +was left in the enjoyment of that tranquillity which, in these perilous +times of revolution and changes, is thought to to be so necessary to its +dignity, so especially favorable to commerce, and so grateful to those +whose duty it is to preserve the public peace with as little inconvenience +to themselves as possible.</p> + +<p>A blast of the trumpet was the signal for a more general movement, for it +announced the commencement of the ceremonies. As it will be presently +necessary to speak of the different personages who were represented on +this joyous occasion, we shall only say here, that group after group of +the actors came into the square, each party marching to the sound of music +from its particular point of rendezvous to the common centre. The stage +now began to fill with the privileged, among whom were many of the high +aristocracy of the ruling canton, most of its officials, who were too +dignified to be more than complacent spectators of revels like these, many +nobles of mark from Prance and Italy, a few travellers from England, for +in that age England was deemed a distant country and sent forth but a few +of her <i>élite</i> to represent her on such occasions, most of those from the +adjoining territories who could afford the time and cost, and who by rank +or character were entitled to the distinction, and the wives and families +of the local officers who happened to be engaged as actors in the +representation. By the time the different parts of the principal +procession were assembled in the square, all the seats of the estrade were +crowded, with the exception of those reserved for the bailiff and his +immediate friends.</p> +</div> + + +<div class="chapter" id="ch14"> +<h2>Chapter XIV.</h2> + + +<blockquote class="epi"><p> So once were ranged the sons of ancient Rome,<br /> + A noble show! While Roscius trod the stage.</p> + +<p> Cowper.</p></blockquote> + +<p> +The day was not yet far advanced, when all the component parts of the +grand procession had arrived in the square. Shortly after, a flourish of +clarions gave notice of the approach of the authorities. First came the +bailiff, filled with the dignity of station, and watching, with a vigilant +but covert eye, every indication of feeling that might prove of interest +to his employers, even while he most affected sympathy with the occasion +and self-abandonment to the follies of the hour; for Peter Hofmeister owed +his long-established favor with the bürgerschaft more to a +never-slumbering regard to its exclusive interests and its undivided +supremacy, than to any particular skill in the art of rendering men +comfortable and happy. Next to the worthy bailiff, for apart from an +indomitable resolution to maintain the authority of his masters, for good +or for evil, the Herr Hofmeister merited the appellation of a worthy man, +came Roger de Blonay and his guest the Baron de Willading, marching, <i>pari +passu</i>, at the side of the representative of Berne himself. There might +have been some question how far the bailiff was satisfied with this +arrangement of the difficult point of etiquette, for he issued from his +own gate with a sort of side-long movement that kept him nearly confronted +to the Signor Grimaldi, though it left him the means of choosing his path +and of observing the aspect of things in the crowd. At any rate, the +Genoese, though apparently occupying a secondary station, had no grounds +to complain of indifference to his presence. Most of the observances and +not a few of the sallies of honest Peter, who had some local reputation as +a joker and a <i>bel esprit</i>, as is apt to be the case with your municipal +magistrate, more especially when he holds his authority independently of +the community with whom he associates, and perhaps as little likely to be +the fact when he depends on popular favor for his rank, were addressed to +the Signor Grimaldi. Most of these good things were returned in kind, the +Genoese meeting the courtesies like a man accustomed to be the object of +peculiar attentions, and possibly like one who rather rioted in the +impunity from ceremonies and public observation, that he now happened to +enjoy. Adelheid, with a maiden of the house of Blonay, closed the little +train.</p> + +<p>As all commendable diligence was used by the officers of the peace to make +way for the bailiff, Herr Hofmeister and his companions were soon in their +allotted stations, which, it is scarcely necessary to repeat, were the +upper places on the estrade. Peter had seated himself, after returning +numerous salutations, for none in a situation to catch his eye neglected +so fair an opportunity to show their intimacy with the bailiff, when his +wandering glance fell upon the happy visage of Father Xavier. Rising +hastily, the bailiff went through a multitude of the formal ceremonies +that distinguished the courtesy of the place and period, such as frequent +wavings and liftings of the beaver, profound reverences, smiles that +seemed to flow from the heart, and a variety of other tokens of +extraordinary love and respect. When all were ended, he resumed his place +by the side of Melchior de Willading, with whom he commenced a +confidential dialogue.</p> + +<p>"We know not, noble Freiherr," (he spoke in the vernacular of their common +canton,) "whether we have most reason to esteem or to disrelish these +Augustines. While they do so many Christian acts to the travellers on +their mountain yonder, they are devils incarnate in the way of upholding +popery and its abominations among the people. Look you, the +commonalty--God bless them as they deserve!--have no great skill at +doctrinal discussions, and are much disposed to be led away by +appearances. Numberless are the miserable dolts who fancy the godliness +which is content to pass its time on the top of a frozen hill, doing good, +feeding the hungry, dressing the wounds of the fallen, and--but thou +knowest the manner in which these sayings run--the ignorant, as I was +about to add, are but too ready to believe that the religion which leads +men to do this, must have some savor of Heaven in it, after all!"</p> + +<p>"Are they so very wrong, friend Peter, that we were wise to disturb the +monks in the enjoyment of a favor that is so fairly earned?"</p> + +<p>The bailiff looked askance at his brother burgher, for such was the humble +appellation that aristocracy assumed in Berne, appearing desirous to probe +the depth of the other's political morals before he spoke more freely.</p> + +<p>"Though of a house so honored and trusted, I believe thou art not much +accustomed of late to mingle with the council?" he evasively observed.</p> + +<p>"Since this heavy losses in my family, of which thou may'st have heard, +the care of this sole surviving child has been my principal solace and +occupation, I know not whether the frequent and near sight of death among +those so tenderly loved may have softened my heart towards the Augustines, +but to me theirs seems a self-denying and a right worthy life."</p> + +<p>"'Tis doubtless as you say, noble Melchior, and we shall do well to let +our love for the holy canons be seen. Ho! Mr. Officer--do us the favor to +request the reverend monk of St. Bernard to draw nearer, that the people +may learn the esteem in which their patient charities and never-wearying +benevolence are held by the lookers-on. As you will have occasion to pass +a night beneath the convent's roof, Herr von Willading, in your journey to +Italy, a little honor shown to the honest and pains-taking clavier will +not be lost on the brotherhood, if these churchmen have even a decent +respect for the usages of their fellow-creatures."</p> + +<p>Father Xavier took the proffered place, which was nearer to the person of +the bailiff than the one he had just quitted, and insomuch the more +honorable, with the usual thanks, but with a simplicity which proved that +he understood the compliment to be due to the fraternity of which he was a +member, and not to himself. This little disposition made, as well as all +other preliminary matters properly observed, the bailiff seemed satisfied +with himself and his arrangements, for the moment.</p> + +<p>The reader must imagine the stir in the throng the importance of the minor +agents appointed to marshal the procession, and the mixture of weariness +and curiosity that possessed the spectators, while the several parts of so +complicated and numerous a train were getting arranged, each in its +prescribed order and station. But, as the ceremonies which followed were +of a peculiar character, and have an intimate connexion with the events of +the tale, we shall describe them with a little detail, although the task +we have allotted to ourselves is less that of sketching pictures of local +usages, and of setting before the reader's imagination scenes of real or +fancied antiquarian accuracy, than the exposition of a principle, and the +wholesome moral which we have always flattered ourselves might, in a +greater or less degree, follow from our labors.</p> + +<p>A short time previously to the commencement of the ceremonies, a guard of +honor, composed of shepherds, gardeners, mowers, reapers, vine-dressers, +escorted by halberdiers and headed by music, had left the square in quest +of the abbé, as the regular and permanent presiding officer of the abbaye, +or company, is termed. This escort, all the individuals of which were +dressed in character, was not long in making its appearance with the +officer in question, a warm, substantial citizen and proprietor of the +place, who, otherwise attired in the ordinary costume of his class in that +age, had decorated his beaver with a waving plume, and, in addition to a +staff or baton, wore a flowing scarf pendent from his shoulder. This +personage, on whom certain judicial functions had devolved, took a +convenient position in the front of the stage, and soon made a sign for +the officials to proceed with their duties.</p> + +<p>Twelve vine-dressers led by a chief, each having his person more or less +ornamented with garlands of vine-leaves, and bearing other emblems of his +calling, marched in a body, chanting a song of the fields. They escorted +two of their number who had been pronounced the most skilful and +successful in cultivating the vineyards of the adjacent côtes. When they +reached the front of the estrade, the abbé pronounced a short discourse +in honor of the cultivators of the earth in general, after which he +digressed into especial eulogiums on the successful candidates, two +pleased, abashed, and unpractised peasants, who received the simple prizes +with throbbing hearts. This little ceremony observed, amid the eager and +delightful gaze of friends, and the oblique and discontented regards of +the few whose feelings were too contracted to open to the joys of others, +even on this simple and grateful festival, the trumpets sounded again, and +the cry was raised to make room.</p> + +<p>A large group advanced from among the body of the actors to an open space, +of sufficient size and elevation, immediately in front of the stage. When +in full view of the multitude, those who composed it arranged themselves +in a prescribed and seemly order. They were the officials of Bacchus. The +high-priest, robed in a sacrificial dress, with flowing beard, and head +crowned with the vine, stood foremost, chanting in honor of the craft, of +the vine-dresser. His song also contained a few apposite allusions to the +smiling blushing candidates. The whole joined in the chorus, though the +leader of the band scarce needed the support of any other lungs than those +with which he had been very amply furnished by nature.</p> + +<p>The hymn ended, a general burst of instrumental music succeeded; and, the +followers of Bacchus regaining their allotted station, the general +procession began to move, sweeping around the whole area of the square in +a manner to pass in order before the bailiff.</p> + +<p>The first body in the march was composed of the council of the abbaye, +attended by the shepherds and gardeners. One in an antique costume, and +bearing a halberd, acted as marshal. He was succeeded by the two crowned +vine-dressers, after whom came the abbé with his counsellors, and large +groups of shepherds and shepherdesses, as well as a number of both sexes +who toiled in gardens, all attired in costumes suited to the traditions of +their respective pursuits. The marshal and the officers of the abbaye +moved slowly past, with the gravity and decorum that became their +stations, occasionally halting to give time for the evolutions of those +who followed; but the other actors now began in earnest to play their +several parts. A group of young shepherdesses, clad in closely fitting +vests of sky-blue with skirts of white, each holding her crook, came +forward dancing, and singing songs that imitated the bleatings of their +flocks and all the other sounds familiar to the elevated pasturages of +that region. These were soon joined by an equal number of young shepherds +also singing their pastorals, the whole exhibiting an active and merry +group of dancers, accustomed to exercise their art on the sward of the +Alps; for, in this festival, although we have spoken of the performers as +actors, it is not in the literal meaning of the term, since, with few +exceptions none appeared to represent any other calling than that which, +in truth, formed his or her daily occupation. We shall not detain the +narrative to say more of this party, than that they formed a less striking +exception to the conventional picture of the appearance of those engaged +in tending flocks, than the truth ordinarily betrays; and that their +buoyant gaiety, blooming faces, and unweaned action, formed a good +introductory preparation for the saltation that was to follow.</p> + +<p>The male gardeners appeared in their aprons, carrying spades, rakes, and +the other implements of their trade; the female supporting baskets on +their heads filled with rich flowers, vegetables, and fruits. When in +front of the bailiff, the young men formed a sort of fasces of their +several implements, with a readiness that denoted much study while the +girls arranged their baskets in a circle at its foot. Then, joining hands, +the whole whirled around, filling the air with a song peculiar to their +pursuits.</p> + +<p>During the whole of the preparations of the morning, Adelheid had looked +on with a vacant eye, as if her feelings had little connexion with that +which was passing before her face. It is scarcely necessary to say, that +her mind, in spite of herself, wandered to other scenes, and that her +truant thoughts were busy with interests very different from those which +were here presented to the senses. But, by the time the group of gardeners +had passed dancing away, her feelings began to enlist with those who were +so evidently pleased with themselves and all around them, and her father, +for the first time that morning, was rewarded for the deep attention with +which he watched the play of her features, by an affectionate and natural +smile.</p> + +<p>"This goes off right merrily, Herr Bailiff;" exclaimed the baron, animated +by that encouraging smile, as the blood is quickened by a genial ray of +the sun's heat when it has been long chilled and deadened by cold.--"This +goes off with a joyful will, and is likely to end with credit to thy town! +I only wonder that you have not more of this, and monthly. When joy can be +had so cheap, it is churlish to deny it to a people."</p> + +<p>"We complain not of the levities, noble Freiherr, for your light thinker +makes a sober and dutiful subject; but we shall have more of this, and of +a far better quality, or our time is wasted.--What is thought at Berne, +noble Melchior, of the prospects of the Emperor's obtaining a new +concession for the levy of troops in our cantons!"</p> + +<p>"I cry thy mercy, good Peterchen, but by thy leave, we will touch on +these matters more at our leisure. Boyish though it seem to thy eyes, so +long accustomed to look at matters of state, I do confess that these +follies begin to have their entertainment and may well claim an hour of +idleness from him that has nothing better in hand."</p> + +<p>Peter Hofmeister ejaculated a little expressively. He then examined the +countenance of the Signor Grimaldi, who had given himself to the merriment +with the perfect good-will and self-abandonment of a man of strong +intellect, and who felt his powers too sensibly to be jealous of +appearances. Shrugging his shoulders, like one that was disappointed, the +pragmatical bailiff turned his look towards the revellers, in order to +detect, if possible, some breach of the usages of the country, that might +require official reproof; for Peter was of that class of governors who +have an itching to see their fingers stirring even the air that is +breathed by the people, lest they should get it of a quality or in a +quantity that might prove dangerous to a monopoly which it is now the +fashion to call the conservative principle. In the mean time the revels +proceeded.</p> + +<p>No sooner had the gardeners quitted the arena, than a solemn and imposing +train appeared to occupy the sward. Four females marched to the front, +bearing an antique altar that was decorated with suitable devices. They +were clad in emblematical dresses, and wore garlands of flowers on their +heads. Boys carrying censers preceded an altar that was dedicated to +Flora, and her ministering official came after it, mitred and carrying +flowers. Like all the priestesses that followed, she was laboriously +attired in the robes that denoted her sacred duty. The goddess herself was +borne by four females on a throne canopied by flowers, and from whose +several parts sweeping festoons of every hue and die descended to the +earth. Haymakers of both sexes, gay and pastoral in their air and attire, +succeeded, and a car groaning with the sweet-scented grass of the Alps, +accompanied by females bearing rakes, brought up the rear.</p> + +<p>The altar and the throne being deposited on the sward, the priestess +offered sacrifice, hymning the praise of the goddess with mountain lungs. +Then followed the dance of the haymakers, as in the preceding exhibition, +and the train went off as before.</p> + +<p>"Excellent well, and truer than it could be done by your real pagan!" +cried the bailiff, who, in spite of his official longings, began to watch +the mummery with a pleased eye. "This beateth greatly our youthful follies +in the Genoese and Lombard carnivals, in which, to say truth, there are +sometimes seen rare niceties in the way of representing the old deities."</p> + +<p>"Is it the usage, friend Hofmeister," demanded the baron, "to enjoy these +admirable pleasantries often here in Vaud?"</p> + +<p>"We partake of them, from time to time, as the abbaye desires, and much as +thou seest. The honorable Signor Grimaldi--who will pardon me that he gets +no better treatment than he receives, and who will not fail to ascribe +what, to all who know him, might otherwise pass for inexcusable neglect, +to his own desire for privacy--he will tell us, should he be pleased to +honor us with his real opinion, that the subject is none the worse for +occasions to laugh and be gay. Now, there is Geneva, a town given to +subtleties as ingenious and complicated as the machinery of their own +watches; it can never have a merry-making without a leaven of disputation +and reason, two as damnable ingredients in the public humor as schism in +religion, or two minds in a <i>ménage</i>. There is not a knave in the city +who does not fancy himself a better man than Calvin, and some there are +who believe if they are not cardinals, it is merely because the reformed +church does not relish legs cased in red stockings. By the word of a +bailiff! I would not be the ruler, look ye, of such a community, for the +hope of becoming Avoyer of Berne itself. Here it is different. We play our +antics in the shape of gods and goddesses like sober people, and, when all +is over, we go train our vines, or count our herds, like faithful subjects +of the great canton. Do I state the matter fairly to our friends, Baron de +Blonay?"</p> + +<p>Roger de Blonay bit his lip, for he and his had been of Vaud a thousand +years, and he little relished the allusion to the quiet manner in which +his countrymen submitted to a compelled and foreign dictation. He bowed a +cold acquiescence to the bailiff's statement, however, as if no farther +answer were needed.</p> + +<p>"We have other ceremonies that invite our attention," said Melchior de +Willading, who had sufficient acquaintance with his friend's opinions to +understand his silence.</p> + +<p>The next group that approached was composed of those who lived by the +products of the dairy. Two cowherds led their beasts, the monotonous tones +of whose heavy bells formed a deep and rural accompaniment to the music +that regularly preceded each party, while a train of dairy-girls, and of +young mountaineers of the class that tend the herds in the summer +pasturages, succeeded, a car loaded with the implements of their calling +bringing up the rear. In this little procession, no detail of equipment +was wanting. The milking-stool was strapped to the body of the dairyman; +one had the peculiarly constructed pail in his hand, while another bore +at his back the deep wooden vessel in which milk is carried up and down +the precipices to the chalet. When they reached the sodded arena, the men +commenced milking the cows, the girls set in motion the different +processes of the dairy, and the whole united in singing the Ranz des +Vaches of the district. It is generally and erroneously believed that +there is a particular air which is known throughout Switzerland by this +name, whereas in truth nearly every canton has its own song of the +mountains, each varying from the others in the notes, as well as in the +words, and we might almost add in the language. The Ranz des Vaches of +Vaud is in the patois of the country, a dialect that is composed of words +of Greek and Latin origin, mingled on a foundation of Celtic. Like our own +familiar tune, which was first bestowed in derision, and which a glorious +history has enabled us to continue in pride, the words are far too +numerous to be repeated. We shall, however, give the reader a single verse +of a song which Swiss feeling has rendered so celebrated, and which is +said often to induce the mountaineer in foreign service to desert the +mercenary standard and the tame scenes of towns; to return to the +magnificent nature that haunts his waking imagination and embellishes his +dreams. It will at once be perceived that the power of this song is +chiefly to be found in the recollections to which it gives birth, by +recalling the simple charms of rural life, and by reviving the indelible +impressions that are made by nature wherever she has laid her hand on the +face of the earth with the same majesty as in Switzerland.</p> + +<div class="note"><p> [The cowherds of the Alps<br /> + Arise at an early hour.</p> + +<p> <span class="smallcaps">Chorus</span>. <br /> + Ha, ah! ha, ah! <br /> + Liauba! Liauba! in order to milk. <br /> + Come all of you, <br /> + Black and white, <br /> + Red and mottled, <br /> + Young and old; <br /> + Beneath this oak<br /> + I am about to milk you. <br /> + Beneath this poplar, <br /> + I am about to press, <br /> + Liauba! Liauba! in order to milk.]</p></div> + + +<blockquote><p> Lé zermailli dei Colombietté <br /> + Dé bon matin, sé san léha.--</p> + +<p> <span class="smallcaps">Refrain</span>.<br /> + Ha, ah! ha, ah! <br /> + Liauba! Liauba! por aria. <br /> + Venidé toté, <br /> + Bllantz' et naire, <br /> + Rodz et motaile, <br /> + Dzjouvan' et etro<br /> + Dezó ou tzehano, <br /> + Io vo z' ario<br /> + Dezo ou triembllo, <br /> + Io ië triudzo, <br /> + Liauba! Liauba! por aris.</p></blockquote> + +<p>The music of the mountains is peculiar and wild, having most probably +received its inspiration from the grandeur of the natural objects. Most of +the sounds partake of the character of echoes, being high-keyed but false +notes; such as the rocks send back to the valleys, when the voice is +raised above its natural key in order to reach the caverns and savage +recesses of inaccessible precipices. Strains like these readily recall the +glens and the magnificence amid which they were first heard, and hence, by +an irresistible impulse, the mind is led to indulge in the strongest of +all its sympathies, those which are mixed with the unalloyed and +unsophisticated delights of buoyant childhood.</p> + +<p>The herdsmen and dairymaids no sooner uttered the first notes of this +magic song, than a deep and breathing stillness pervaded the crowd. As the +peculiar strains of the chorus rose on the ear, murmuring echoes issued +from among the spectators, and ere the wild intonations could be repeated +which accompanied the words "Liauba! Liauba!" a thousand voices were +lifted simultaneously, as it were, to greet the surrounding mountains with +the salutations of their children. From that moment the remainder of the +Ranz des Vaches was a common burst of enthusiasm, the offspring of that +national fervor, which forms so strong a link in the social chain, and +which is capable of recalling to the bosom that, in other respects, has +been hardened by vice and crime, a feeling of some of the purest +sentiments of our nature.</p> + +<p>The last strain died amid this general exhibition of healthful feeling. +The cowherds and the dairy-girls collected their different implements, and +resumed their march to the melancholy music of the bells, which formed a +deep contrast to the wild notes that had just filled the square.</p> + +<p>To these succeeded the followers of Ceres, with the altar, the priestess, +and the enthroned goddess, as has been already described in the approach +of Flora. Cornucopiæ ornamented the chair of the deity, and the canopy was +adorned with the gifts of autumn. The whole was surmounted by a sheaf of +wheat. She held the sickle as her sceptre, and a tiara composed of the +bearded grain covered her brow. Reapers followed, bearing emblems of the +season of abundance, and gleaners closed the train. There was the halt, +the chant, the chorus, and the song in praise of the beneficent goddess of +autumn, as had been done by the votaries of the deity of flowers. A dance +of the reapers and gleaners followed, the threshers flourished their +flails, and the whole went their way.</p> + +<p>After these came the grand standard of the abbaye and the vine-dressers +the real objects of the festival, succeeded. The laborers of the spring +led the advance, the men carrying their picks and spades, and the women +vessels to contain the cuttings of the vines. Then came a train bearing +baskets loaded with the fruit, in its different degrees of perfection and +of every shade of color. Youths holding staves topped with miniature +representations of the various utensils known in the culture of the grape, +such as the laborer with the tub on his back, the butt, and the vessel +that first receives the flowing juice, followed. A great number of men, +who brought forward the forge that is used to prepare the tools, closed +this part of the exhibition. The song and the dance again succeeded, when +the whole disappeared at a signal given by the approaching music of +Bacchus. As we now touch upon the most elaborate part of the +representation, we seize the interval that is necessary to bring it +forward, in order to take breath ourselves.</p> +</div> + + +<div class="chapter" id="ch15"> +<h2>Chapter XV.</h2> + + +<blockquote class="epi"><p> And thou, O wall, O sweet, O lovely wall,<br /> + That stand'st between her father's ground and mine<br /> + Thou wall, O wall, O sweet and lovely wall,<br /> + Show me thy chink, to blink through with mine eyne.</p> + +<p> <i>Midsummer Night's Dream.</i></p></blockquote> + +<p> +"'Odds my life, but this goes off with a grace, brother Peter!" exclaimed +the Baron de Willading, as he followed the vine-dressers in their retreat, +with an amused eye--"If we have much more like it, I shall forget the +dignity of the bürgerschaft, and turn mummer with the rest, though my good +for wisdom were the forfeit of the folly."</p> + +<p>"That is better said between ourselves than performed before the vulgar +eye, honorable Melchior It would sound ill, of a truth, were these Vaudois +to boast that a noble of thy estimation in Berne were thus to forget +himself!"</p> + +<p>"None of this!--are we not here to be merry and to laugh, and to be +pleased with any folly that offers? A truce, then, to thy official +distrusts and superabundant dignity, honest Peterchen," for such was the +good-natured name by which the worthy bailiff was most commonly addressed +by his friend; "let the tongue freely answer to the heart, as if we were +boys rioting together, as was once the case, long ere thou wert thought of +for this office, or I knew a sorrowful hour."</p> + +<p>"The Signor Grimaldi shall judge between us: I maintain that restraint is +necessary to those in high trusts."</p> + +<p>"I will decide when the actors have all played their parts," returned the +Genoese, smiling; "at present, here cometh one to whom all old soldiers +pay homage. We will not fail of respect in so great a presence, on account +of a little difference in taste."</p> + +<p>Peter Hofmeister was not a small drinker, and as the approach of the god +of the cup was announced by a flourish from some twenty instruments made +to speak on a key suited to the vault of heaven, he was obliged to reserve +his opinions for another time. After the passage of the musicians, and a +train of the abbaye's servants, for especial honors were paid to the ruby +deity, there came three officials of the sacrifice, one leading a goat +with gilded horns, while the two others bore the knife and the hatchet. To +these succeeded the altar adorned with vines, the incense-bearers, and the +high-priest of Bacchus, who led the way for the appearance of the youthful +god himself. The deity was seated astride on a cask, his head encircled +with a garland of generous grapes, bearing a cup in one hand, and a vine +entwined and fruit-crowned sceptre in the other. Four Nubians carried him +on their shoulders, while others shaded his form with an appropriate +canopy; fauns wearing tiger-skins, and playing their characteristic +antics, danced in his train, while twenty laughing and light-footed +Bacchantes flourished their instruments, moving in measure in the rear.</p> + +<p>A general shout in the multitude preceded the appearance of Silenus, who +was sustained in his place on an ass by two blackamoors. The half-empty +skin at his side, the vacant laugh, the foolish eye, the lolling tongue, +the bloated lip, and the idiotic countenance, gave reason to suspect that +there was a better motive for their support than any which belonged to the +truth of the representation. Two youths then advanced, bearing on a pole a +cluster of grapes that nearly descended to the ground, and which was +intended to represent the fruit brought from Canaan by the messengers of +Joshua--a symbol much affected by the artists and mummers of the other +hemisphere, on occasions suited to its display. A huge vehicle, ycleped +the ark of Noah, closed the procession. It held a wine-press, having its +workmen embowered among the vines, and it contained the family of the +second father of the human race. As it rolled past, traces of the rich +liquor were left in the tracks of its wheels.</p> + +<p>Then came the sacrifice, the chant, and the dance, as in most of the +preceding exhibitions, each of which, like this of Bacchus, had contained +allusions to the peculiar habits and attributes of the different deities. +The bacchanal that closed the scene was performed in character; the +trumpets flourished, and the procession departed in the order in which it +had arrived.</p> + +<p>Peter relented a little from his usual political reserve, as he witnessed +these games in honor of a deity to whom he so habitually did practical +homage, for it was seldom that this elaborate functionary, who might be +termed quite a doctrinaire in his way, composed his senses in sleep, +without having pretty effectually steeped them in the liquor of the +neighboring hills; a habit that was of far more general use among men of +his class in that age than in this of ours, which seems so eminently to be +the season of sobriety.</p> + +<p>"This is not amiss, of a verity;" observed the contented bailiff, as the +Fauns and Bacchantes moved off the sward, capering and cutting their +classical antics with far more agility and zeal than grace. "This looks +like the inspiration of good wine, Signior Genoese, and were the truth +known, it would be found that the rogue who plays the part of the fat +person on the ass--how dost call the knave, noble Melchior?"</p> + +<p>"Body o' me! if I am wiser than thyself, worthy bailiff; it is clearly a +rogue who can never have done his mummery so expertly, without some aid +from the flask."</p> + +<p>"Twill be well to know the fellow's character, for there may be the +occasion to commend him to the gentlemen of the abbaye, when all is over. +Your skilful ruler has two great instruments that he need use with +discretion, Baron de Willading, and these are, fear and flattery; and +Berne hath no servant more ready to apply both, or either, as there may be +necessity, than one of her poor bailiffs that hath not received all his +dues from the general opinion, if truth were spoken. But it is well to be +prepared to speak these good people of the abbaye fairly, touching their +exploits. Harkee master halberdier; thou art of Vévey, I think, and a +warm citizen in thy every-day character, or my eyes do us both +injustice."</p> + +<p>"I am, as you have said, Monsieur le Bailli, a Vévaisan, and one that is +well known among our artisans."</p> + +<p>"True, that was visible, spite of thy halberd. Thou art, no doubt, rarely +gifted, and taught to the letter in these games. Wilt name the character +that has just ridden past on the ass--he that hath so well enacted the +drunkard, I mean? His name hath gone out of our minds for the moment, +though his acting never can, for a better performance of one overcome by +liquor is seldom seen."</p> + +<p>"Lord keep you! worshipful bailiff, that is Antoine Giraud, the fat +butcher of La Tour de Peil, and a better at the cup there is not in all +the country of Vaud! No wonder that he hath done his part so readily; for, +while the others have been reading in books, or drilling like so many +awkward recruits under the school-master, Antoine hath had little more to +perform than to dip into the skin at his elbow. When the officers of the +abbaye complain, lest he should disturb the ceremonies, he bids them not +to make fools of themselves, for every swallow he gives is just so much +done in honor of the representation; and he swears, by the creed of +Calvin! that there shall be more truth in his acting than in that of any +other of the whole party."</p> + +<p>"'Odds my life! the fellow hath humor as well as good acting in him--this +Antoine Giraud! Will you look into the written order they have given as, +fair Adelheid, that we may make sure this artisan-halberdier hath not +deceived us? We in authority must not trust a Vévaisan too lightly."</p> + +<p>"It will be vain, I fear, Herr Bailiff, since the characters, and not the +names of the actors, appear in the lists. The man in question represents +Silenus I should think, judging from his appearance and all the other +circumstances."</p> + +<p>"Well, let it be as thou wilt. Silenus himself could not play his own part +better than it hath been done by this Antoine Giraud. The fellow would +gain gold like water at the court of the emperor as a mime, were he only +advised to resort thither. I warrant you, now, he would do Pluto or +Minerva, or any other god, just as well as he hath done this rogue +Silenus!"</p> + +<p>The honest admiration of Peter, who, sooth to say, had not much of the +learning of the age, as the phrase is, raised a smile on the lip of the +beauteous daughter of the baron, and she glanced a look to catch the eye +of Sigismund, towards whom all her secret sympathies, whether of sorrow or +of joy, so naturally and so strongly tended. But the averted head, the +fixed attention, and the nearly immovable and statue-like attitude in +which he stood, showed that a more powerful interest drew his gaze to the +next group. Though ignorant of the cause of his intense regard, Adelheid +instantly forgot the bailiff, his dogmatism, and his want of erudition, in +the wish to examine those who approached.</p> + +<p>The more classical portion of the ceremonies was now duly observed. The +council of the abbaye intended to close with an exhibition that was more +intelligible to the mass of the spectators than anything which had +preceded it, since it was addressed to the sympathies and habits of every +people, and in all conditions of society. This was the spectacle that so +engrossingly attracted the attention of Sigismund. It was termed the +procession of the nuptials, and it was now slowly advancing to occupy the +space left vacant by the retreat of Antoine Giraud and his companions.</p> + +<p>There came in front the customary band, playing a lively air which use +has long appropriated to the festivities of Hymen. The lord of the manor, +or, as he was termed, the baron, and his lady-partner led the train, both +apparelled in the rich and quaint attire of the period. Six ancient +couples, the representatives of happy married lives, followed by a long +succession of offspring of every age, including equally the infant at the +breast and the husband and wife in the flower of their days, walked next +to the noble pair. Then appeared the section of a dwelling, which was made +to portray the interior of domestic economy, having its kitchen, its +utensils, and most of the useful and necessary objects that may be said to +compose the material elements of an humble <i>ménage</i>. Within this moiety of +a house, one female plied the wheel, and another was occupied in baking. +The notary, bearing the register beneath an arm, with hat in hand, and +dressed in an exaggerated costume of his profession, strutted in the rear +of the two industrious housemaids. His appearance was greeted with a +general laugh, for the spectators relished the humor of the caricature +with infinite goût. But this sudden and general burst of merriment was as +quickly forgotten in the desire to behold the bride and bridegroom, whose +station was next to that of the officer of the law. It was understood that +these parties were not actors, but that the abbaye had sought out a +couple, of corresponding rank and means, who had consented to join their +fortunes in reality on the occasion of this great jubilee, thereby lending +to it a greater appearance of that genuine joy and festivity which it was +the desire of the heads of the association to represent. Such a search had +not been made without exciting deep interest in the simple communities +which surrounded Vévey. Many requisites had been proclaimed to be +necessary in the candidates--such as beauty, modesty, merit, and the +submission of her sex, in the bride; and in her partner those qualities +which might fairly entitle him to be the repository of the happiness of a +maiden so endowed.</p> + +<p>Many had been the speculations of the Vévaisans touching the individuals +who had been selected to perform these grave and important characters +which, for fidelity of representation, were to outdo that of Silenus +himself; but so much care had been taken by the agents of the abbaye to +conceal the names of those they had selected, that, until this moment, +when disguise was no longer possible, the public was completely in the +dark on the interesting point. It was so usual to make matches of this +kind on occasions of public rejoicing, and marriages of convenience, as +they are not unaptly termed, enter so completely into the habits of all +European communities--perhaps we might say of all old communities--that +common opinion would not have been violently outraged had it been known +that the chosen pair saw each other for the second or third time in the +procession, and that they had now presented themselves to take the nuptial +vow, as it were, at the sound of the trumpet or the beat of drum. Still, +it was more usual to consult the inclinations of the parties, since it +gave greater zest to the ceremony, and these selections of couples on +public occasions were generally supposed to have more than the common +interest of marriages, since they were believed to be the means of +uniting, through the agency of the rich and powerful, those whom poverty +or other adverse circumstances had hitherto kept asunder. Rumor spoke of +many an inexorable father who had listened to reason from the mouths of +the great, rather than balk the public humor; and thousands of pining +hearts, among the obscure and simple, are even now gladdened at the +approach of some joyous ceremony, which is expected to throw open the +gates of the prison to the debtor and the criminal, or that of Hymen to +those who are richer in constancy and affection than in any other stores.</p> + +<p>A general murmur and a common movement betrayed the lively interest of the +spectators, as the principal and real actors in this portion of the +ceremonies drew near. Adelheid felt a warm glow on her cheek, and a +gentler flow of kindness at her heart, when her eye first caught a view of +the bride and bridegroom, whom she was fain to believe a faithful pair +that a cruel fortune had hitherto kept separate, and who were now willing +to brave such strictures as all must encounter who court public attention, +in order to receive the reward of their enduring love and self-denial. +This sympathy, which was at first rather of an abstract and vague nature, +finding its support chiefly in her own peculiar situation and the +qualities of her gentle nature, became intensely heightened, however, when +she got a better view of the bride. The modest mien, abashed eye, and +difficult breathing of the girl, whose personal charms were of an order +much superior to those which usually distinguish rustic beauty in those +countries in which females are not exempted from the labors of the field, +were so natural and winning as to awaken all her interest; and, with +instinctive quickness, the lady of Willading bent her look on the +bridegroom, in order to see if one whose appearance was so eloquent in her +favor was likely to be happy in her choice. In age, personal appearance, +and apparently in condition of life, there was no very evident unfitness, +though Adelheid fancied that the mien of the maiden announced a better +breeding than that of her companion--a difference which she was willing to +ascribe, however, to a greater aptitude in her own sex to receive the +first impress of the moral seal, than that which belongs to man.</p> + +<p>"She is fair," whispered Adelheid, slightly bending her head towards +Sigismund, who stood at her side, "and must deserve her happiness."</p> + +<p>"She is good, and merits a better fate!" muttered the youth, breathing so +hard as to render his respiration audible.</p> + +<p>The startled Adelheid raised her eyes, and strong but suppressed agitation +was quivering in every lineament of her companion's countenance. The +attention of those near was so closely drawn towards the procession, as to +allow an instant of unobserved communication.</p> + +<p>"Sigismund, this is thy sister!"</p> + +<p>"God so cursed her."</p> + +<p>"Why has an occasion, public as this, been chosen to wed a maiden of her +modesty and manner?"</p> + +<p>"Can the daughter of Balthazar be squeamish? Gold, the interest of the +abbaye, and the foolish <i>éclat</i> of this silly scene, have enabled my +father to dispose of his child to yonder mercenary, who has bargained like +a Jew in the affair, and who, among other conditions, has required that +the true name of his bride shall never be revealed. Are we not honored by +a connexion which repudiates us even before it is formed!"</p> + +<p>The hollow stifled laugh of the young man thrilled on the nerves of his +listener, and she ceased the stolen dialogue to return to the subject at a +more favorable moment. In the mean time the procession had reached the +station in front of the stage, where the mummers had already commenced +their rites.</p> + +<p>A dozen groomsmen and as many female attendants accompanied the pair who +were about to take the nuptial vow. Behind these came the <i>trousseau</i> and +the <i>corbeille</i>; the first being that portion of the dowry of the bride +which applies to her personal wants, and the last is an offering of the +husband, and is figuratively supposed to be a pledge of the strength of +his passion. In the present instance the trousseau was so ample, and +betokened so much liberality, as well as means, on the part of the friends +of a maiden who would consent to become a wife in a ceremony so public, as +to create general surprise; while, on the other hand, a solitary chain of +gold, of rustic fashion, and far more in consonance with the occasion, was +the sole tribute of the swain. This difference between the liberality of +the friends of the bride, and that of the individual, who, judging from +appearances, had much the most reason to show his satisfaction, did not +fail to give rise to many comments. They ended as most comments do, by +deductions drawn against the weaker and least defended of the parties. The +general conclusion was so uncharitable as to infer that a girl thus +bestowed must be under peculiar disadvantages, else would there have been +a greater equality between the gifts; an inference that was sufficiently +true, though cruelly unjust to its modest but unconscious subject.</p> + +<p>While speculations of this nature were rife among the spectators, the +actors in the ceremony began their dances, which were distinguished by the +quaint formality that belonged to the politeness of the age The songs that +succeeded were in honor of Hymen and his votaries, and a few couplets that +extolled the virtues and beauty of the bride were chanted in chorus. A +sweep appeared at the chimney-top, raising his cry, in allusion to the +business of the ménage, and then all moved away, as had been done by those +who had preceded them. A guard of halberdiers closed the procession.</p> + +<p>That part of the mummeries which was to be enacted in front of the +estrade was now ended for the moment, and the different groups proceeded +to various other stations in the town, where the ceremonies were to be +repeated for the benefit of those who, by reason of the throng, had not +been able to get a near view of what had passed in the square. Most of the +privileged profited by the pause to leave their seats, and to seek such +relaxation as the confinement rendered agreeable. Among those who entirely +quitted the square were the bailiff and his friends, who strolled towards +the promenade on the lake-shore, holding discourse, in which there was +blended much facetious merriment concerning what they had just seen.</p> + +<p>The bailiff soon drew his companions around him, in a deep discussion of +the nature of the games, during which the Signor Grimaldi betrayed a +malicious pleasure in leading on the dogmatic Peter to expose the +confusion that existed in his head touching the characters of sacred and +profane history. Even Adelheid was compelled to laugh at the commencement +of this ludicrous exhibition, but her thoughts were not long in recurring +to a subject in which she felt a nearer and a more tender interest. +Sigismund walked thoughtfully at her side, and she profited by the +attention of all around them being drawn to the laughable dialogue just +mentioned, to renew the subject that had been so lightly touched on +before.</p> + +<p>"I hope thy fair and modest sister will never have reason to repent her +choice," she said, lessening her speed, in a manner to widen the distance +between herself and those she did not wish to overhear the words, while it +brought her nearer to Sigismund; "It is a frightful violence to all maiden +feeling to be thus dragged before the eyes of the curious and vulgar, in +a scene; trying and solemn as that in which she plights her marriage +vows!"</p> + +<p>"Poor Christine! her fate from infancy has been pitiable. A purer or +milder spirit than hers, one that more sensitively shrinks from rude +collision, does not exist, and yet, on whichever side she turns her eyes, +she meets with appalling prejudices or opinions to drive a gentle nature +like hers to madness It may be a misfortune, Adelheid, to want +instruction, and to be fated to pass a life in the depths of ignorance, +and in the indulgence of brutal passions, but it is scarcely a blessing to +have the mind elevated above the tasks which a cruel and selfish world so +frequently imposes."</p> + +<p>"Thou wast speaking of thy mild and excellent sister?--"</p> + +<p>"Well hast thou described her! Christine is mild, and more than +modest--she is meek. But what can meekness itself do to palliate such a +calamity? Desirous of averting the stigma of his family from all he could +with prudence, my father caused my sister, like myself, to be early taken +from the parental home. She was given in charge to strangers, under such +circumstances of secrecy, as left her long, perhaps too long, in ignorance +of the stock from which she sprang. When maternal pride led my mother to +seek her daughter's society, the mind of Christine was in some measure +formed, and she had to endure the humiliation of learning that she was one +of a family proscribed. Her gentle spirit, however, soon became reconciled +to the truth, at least so far as human observation could penetrate, and, +from the moment of the first terrible agony, no one has heard her murmur +at the stern decree of Providence. The resignation of that mild girl has +ever been a reproach to my own rebellious temper, for, Adelheid, I cannot +conceal the truth from thee--I have cursed all that I dared include in my +wicked imprecations, in very madness at this blight on my hopes! Nay, I +have even accused my father of injustice, that he did not train me at the +side of the block, that I might take a savage pride in that which is now +the bane of my existence. Not so with Christine; she has always warmly +returned the affection of our parents, as a daughter should love the +authors of her being, while I fear I have been repining when I should have +loved. Our origin is a curse entailed by the ruthless laws of the land, +and it is not to be attributed to any, at least to none of these later +days, as a fault; and such has ever been the language of my poor sister +when she has seen a merit in their wishes to benefit us at the expense of +their own natural affection. I would I could imitate her reason and +resignation!"</p> + +<p>"The view taken by thy sister is that of a female, Sigismund, whose heart +is stronger than her pride; and, what is more, it is just."</p> + +<p>"I deny it not; 'tis just. But the ill-judged mercy has for ever +disqualified me to sympathize as I could wish with those to whom I belong. +'Tis an error to draw these broad distinctions between our habits and our +affections. Creatures stern as soldiers cannot bend their fancies like +pliant twigs, or with the facility of female--"</p> + +<p>"Duty," said Adelheid gravely, observing that he hesitated.</p> + +<p>"If thou wilt, duty. The word has great weight with thy sex, and I do not +question that it should have with mine."</p> + +<p>"Thou canst not be wanting in affection for thy father, Sigismund. The +manner in which thou interposedst to save his life, when we were in that +fearful jeopardy of the tempest, disproves thy words."</p> + +<p>"Heaven forbid that I should be wanting in natural feeling of this sort, +and yet, Adelheid, it is horrible not to be able to respect, to love +profoundly, those to whom we owe our existence! Christine in this is far +happier than I, an advantage that I doubt not she owes to her simple life, +and to the closer intimacies which unite females. I am the son of a +headsman; that bitter fact is never absent from my thoughts when they turn +to home and those scenes in which I could so gladly take pleasure. +Balthazar may have meant a kindness when he caused me to be trained in +habits so different from his own, but, to complete the good work, the veil +should never have been removed."</p> + +<p>Adelheid was silent. Though she understood the feelings which controlled +one educated so very differently from those to whom he owed his birth, her +habits of thought were opposed to the indulgence of any reflections that +could unsettle the reverence of the child for its parent.</p> + +<p>"One of a heart like thine, Sigismund, cannot hate his mother!" she said, +after a pause.</p> + +<p>"In this thou dost me no more than justice; my words have ill represented +my thoughts, if they have left such an impression. In cooler moments, I +have never considered my birth as more than a misfortune, and my education +I deem a reason for additional respect and gratitude to my parents, though +it may have disqualified me in some measure to enter deeply into their +feelings. Christine herself is not more true, nor of more devoted love, +than my poor mother. It is necessary, Adelheid, to see and know that +excellent woman in order to understand all the wrongs that the world +inflicts by its ruthless usages."</p> + +<p>"We will now speak only of thy sister. Has she been here bestowed without +regard to her own wishes, Sigismund?"</p> + +<p>"I hope not. Christine is meek;, but, while neither word nor look betrays +the weakness, still she feels the load that crushes us both. She has long +accustomed herself to look at all her own merits through the medium of +this debasement, and has set too low a value on her own excellent +qualities. Much, very much depends, in this life, on our own habits of +self-estimation, Adelheid; for he who is prepared to admit unworthiness--I +speak not of demerit towards God but towards men--will soon become +accustomed to familiarity with a standard below his just pretensions, and +will end perhaps in being the thing he dreaded. Such has been the +consequence of Christine's knowledge of her birth, for, to her meek +spirit, there is an appearance of generosity in overlooking this grand +defect, and it has too well prepared her mind to endow the youth with a +hundred more of the qualities that are absolutely necessary to her esteem, +but which I fear exist only in her own warm fancy."</p> + +<p>"This is touching on the most difficult branch of human knowledge," +returned Adelheid, smiling sweetly on the agitated brother; "a just +appreciation of ourselves. If there is danger of setting too low a value +on our merits, there is also some danger of setting too high; though I +perfectly comprehend the difference you would make between vulgar vanity, +and that self-respect which is certainly in some degree necessary to +success. But one, like her thou hast described, would scarce yield her +affections without good reason to think them well bestowed."</p> + +<p>"Adelheid, thou, who hast never felt the world's contempt, cannot +understand how winning respect and esteem can be made to those who pine +beneath its weight! My sister hath so long accustomed herself to think +meanly of her hopes, that the appearance of liberality and justice in this +youth would have been sufficient of itself to soften her feelings in his +favor. I cannot say I think--for Christine will soon be his wife--but I +will say, I fear that the simple fact of his choosing one that the world +persecutes has given him a value in her eyes he might not otherwise have +possessed."</p> + +<p>"Thou dost not appear to approve of thy sister's choice?"</p> + +<p>"I know the details of the disgusting bargain better than poor Christine," +answered the young man, speaking between his teeth, like one who repressed +bitter emotion. "I was privy to the greedy exactions on the one side, and +to the humiliating concessions on the other. Even money could not buy this +boon for Balthazar's child, without a condition that the ineffaceable +stigma of her birth should be for ever concealed."</p> + +<p>Adelheid saw, by the cold perspiration that stood on the brow of +Sigismund, how intensely he suffered, and she sought an immediate occasion +to lead his thoughts to a less disturbing subject. With the readiness of +her sex, and with the sensitiveness and delicacy of a woman that sincerely +loved, she found means to effect the charitable purpose, without again +alarming his pride. She succeeded so far in calming his feelings, that, +when they rejoined their companions, the manner of the young man had +entirely regained the quiet and proud composure in which he appeared to +take refuge against the consciousness of the blot that darkened his hopes, +frequently rendering life itself a burthen nearly too heavy to be borne.</p> +</div> + + +<div class="chapter" id="ch16"> +<h2>Chapter XVI.</h2> + + +<blockquote class="epi"><p> --Come apace, good Audrey, I will fetch<br /> + Up your goats, Audrey: and how, Audrey? am<br /> + I the man yet? Doth my simple features content<br /> + You.</p> + +<p> <i>As You Like It.</i></p></blockquote> + +<p> +While the mummeries related were exhibiting in the great square, Maso, +Pippo, Conrad, and the others concerned in the little disturbance +connected with the affair of the dog, were eating their discontent within +the walls of the guard-house. Vévey has several squares, and the various +ceremonies of the gods and demigods were now to be repeated in the smaller +areas. On one of the latter stands the town-house and prison. The +offenders in question had been summarily transferred to the gaol, in +obedience to the command of the officer charged with preserving the peace. +By an act of grace, however, that properly belonged to the day, as well as +to the character of the offence, the prisoners were permitted to occupy a +part of the edifice that commanded a view of the square, and consequently +were not precluded from all participation in the joyousness of the +festivities. This indulgence had been accorded on the condition that the +parties should cease their wrangling, and otherwise conduct themselves in +a way not to bring scandal on the exhibition in which the pride of every +Vévaisan was so deeply enlisted. All the captives, the innocent as well as +the guilty, gladly subscribed to the terms; for they found themselves in +a temporary duresse which did not admit of any fair argument of the merits +of the case, and there is no leveller so effectual as a common misfortune.</p> + +<p>The anger of Maso, though sudden and violent, the effect of a hot +temperament, had quickly subsided in a calm which more probably belonged +to his education and opinions, in all of which he was much superior to his +profligate antagonist. Contempt, therefore, soon took the place of +resentment; and though too much accustomed to rude contact with men of the +pilgrim's class to be ashamed of what had occurred, the manner strove to +forget the occurrence. It was one of those moral disturbances to which he +was scarcely less used than he was accustomed to encounter physical +contests of the elements like that in which he had lately rendered so +essential service on the Leman.</p> + +<p>"Give me thy hand, Conrad;" he said, with the frank forgiveness which is +apt to distinguish the reconciliation of men who pass their lives amid the +violent, but sometimes ennobling, scenes of adventure and lawlessness. +"Thou hast thy humors and habits, and I have mine. If thou findest this +traffic in penances and prayers to thy fancy, follow the trade, of +Heaven's sake, and leave me and my dog to live by other means!"</p> + +<p>"Thou ought'st to have bethought thee how much reason we pilgrims have to +prize the mastiffs of the mountain," answered Conrad, "and how likely it +was to stir my blood to see another cur devouring that which was intended +for old Uberto. Thou hast never toiled up the sides of St. Bernard, friend +Maso, loaded with the sins of a whole parish, to say nothing of thine own, +and therefore canst not know the value of these brutes, who so often +stand between us pilgrims and a grave of snow."</p> + +<p>Il Maledetto smiled grimly, and muttered a sentence between his teeth; +for, in perfect consonance with the frank lawlessness of his own life, +there was a reckless honesty in his nature, which caused him to despise +hypocrisy as unworthy of the bold attributes of manhood.</p> + +<p>"Have it as thou wilt, pious Conrad," he said sneeringly, "so there be +peace between us. I am, as thou knowest, an Italian, and though we of the +south seek revenge occasionally of those who wrong us, it is not often +that we do violence after giving a willing palm--I trust ye of Germany are +no less honest?"</p> + +<p>"May the Virgin be deaf to every ave I have sworn to repeat, and the good +fathers of Loretto refuse absolution, if I think more of it! 'Twas but the +gripe of a throat, and I am not so tender in that part of the body as to +fear it is to be the forerunner of a closer squeeze. Didst ever hear of a +churchman that suffered in this way?"</p> + +<p>"Men often escape with less than their deserts;" Maso drily answered. +"Well, fortune, or the saints, or Calvin, or whatever power most suits +your tastes, good friends, has at length put a roof over our heads,--an +honor that rarely arrives to most of us, if I may judge by appearances and +some little knowledge of the different trades we follow. Thou wilt have a +fair occasion to suffer Policinello to rest from his uneasy antics, Pippo, +while his master breathes the air through a window for the first time in +many a day, as I will answer."</p> + +<p>The Neapolitan had no difficulty in laughing at this sally; for his was a +nature that took all things pleasantly, though it took nothing under the +corrective of principle or a respect for the rights of others.</p> + +<p>"Were this Napoli, with her gentle sky and hot volcano," he said, smiling +at the allusion, "no one would have less relish for a roof than myself."</p> + +<p>"Thou wast born beneath the arch of some Duca's gateway," returned Maso, +with a sort of reckless sarcasm, that as often cut his friends as his +enemies; "thou wilt probably die in the hospital of the poor, and wilt +surely be shot from the death-cart into one of the daily holes of thy +Campo Santo, among a goodly company of Christians, in which legs and arms +will be thrown at random like jack-straws, and in which the wisest among +ye all will be puzzled to tell his own limbs from those of his neighbors, +at the sound of the last trumpet."</p> + +<p>"Am I a dog, to meet this end!" demanded Pippo, fiercely--"or that I +should not know my own bones from those of some infidel rascal, who may +happen to be my neighbor!"</p> + +<p>"We have had one disturbance about brutes, let us not have another;" +sarcastically rejoined Il Maledetto. "Princes and nobles," he added, with +affected gravity, "we are here bound by the heels, during the good +pleasure of those who rule in Vévey; the wisest course will be to pass the +time in good-humor with each other, and as pleasantly as our condition +will allow. The reverend Conrad shall have all the honors of a cardinal, +Pippo shall have the led horse at his funeral, and, as for these worthy +Vaudois, who, no doubt, are men of substance in their way, they shall be +bailiffs sent by Berne to rule between the four walls of our palace! Life +is but a graver sort of mummery, gentlemen, and the second of its barest +secrets is to make others fancy us what we wish to appear--the first +being, without question, the faculty of deceiving ourselves. Now each one +has only to imagine that he is the high personage I have just named, and +the most difficult part of the work is achieved to his hands."</p> + +<p>"Thou hast forgotten to name thine own quality," cried Pippo, who was too +much used to buffoonery not to relish the whim of Maso, and who, with +Neapolitan fickleness, forgot his anger the instant he had given it vent.</p> + +<p>"I will represent the sapient public, and, being well disposed to be +duped, the whole job is complete. Practise away, worthies, and ye shall +see with what open eyes and wide gullet I am ready to admire and swallow +all your philosophy."</p> + +<p>This sally produced a hearty laugh, which rarely fails to establish +momentary good fellowship. The Vaudois, who had the thirsty propensities +of mountaineers, ordered wine, and, as their guardians looked upon their +confinement more as a measure of temporary policy than of serious moment, +the command was obeyed. In a short time, this little group of worldlings +were making the best of circumstances, by calling in the aid of physical +stimulants to cheer their solitude. As they washed their throats with the +liquor, which was both good and cheap and by consequence doubly agreeable, +the true characters of the different individuals began to show themselves +in stronger colors.</p> + +<p>The peasants of Vaud, of whom there were three and all of the lowest +class, became confused and dull in their faculties though louder and more +vehement in speech, each man appearing to balance the increasing +infirmities of his reason by stronger physical demonstrations of folly.</p> + +<p>Conrad, the pilgrim, threw aside the mask entirely, if, indeed, so thin a +veil as that he ordinarily wore when not in the presence of his employers +deserved such a name, and appeared the miscreant he truly was,--a strange +admixture of cowardly superstition, (for few meddle with superstition +without getting more or less entangled in its meshes,) of low cunning, and +of the most abject and gross sensuality and vice. The invention and wit of +Pippo, at all times ready and ingenious, gained increased powers, but the +torrent of animal spirits that were let loose by his potations swept +before it all reserve, and he scarce opened his mouth but to betray the +thoughts of a man long practised in frauds and all other evil designs on +the rights of his fellow-creatures. On Maso the wine produced an effect +that might almost be termed characteristic, and which it is in some sort +germane to the moral of the tale to describe.</p> + +<p>Il Maledetto had indulged freely and with apparent recklessness in the +frequent draughts. He was long familiarized to the habits of this wild and +uncouth fellowship, and a singular sentiment, that men of his class choose +to call honor, and which perhaps deserves the name as much as half of the +principles that are described by the same appellation, prevented him from +refusing to incur an equal risk in the common assault on their faculties, +inducing him to swallow his full share of the intoxicating fluid as the +cup passed from one reeking mouth to another. He liked the wine, too, and +tasted its perfume, and cherished its glowing influence, with the perfect +good-will of a man who knew how to profit by the accident which placed +such generous liquor at his command. He had also his designs in wishing to +unmask his companions, and he thought the moment favorable to such an +intention. In addition to these motives, Maso had his especial reasons for +being uneasy at finding himself in the hands of the authorities, and he +was not sorry to bring about a state of things that might lead to his +being confounded with the others in a group of vulgar devotees of Bacchus.</p> + +<p>But Maso yielded to the common disposition in a manner peculiar to +himself. His eyes became even more lustrous than usual, his face reddened, +and his voice even grew thick, while his senses retained their powers. His +reason, instead of giving way, like those of the men around him, rather +brightened under the excitement, as if it foresaw the danger it incurred, +and the greater necessity there existed for vigilance. Though born in a +southern clime, he was saturnine and cold when unexcited, and such +temperaments rather gain their tone than lose their powers by stimulants +under which men of feebler organizations sink. He had passed his life amid +wild adventure and in scenes of peril which suited such a disposition, and +it most probably required either some strong motive of danger, like that +of the tempest on the Leman, or a stimulant of another quality, to draw +out the latent properties of his mind, which so well fitted him to lead +when others were the most disposed to follow. He was, therefore, without +fear for himself while he aroused his companions; and he was free of his +purse, which did not, however, appear to be sufficiently stored to answer +very heavy demands, by ordering cup after cup to supply the place of those +which were so quickly drained to the dregs. In this manner an hour or two +passed swiftly, they who were charged with the care of the jolly party in +the town-house being much more occupied in noting the festivities without, +than those within, the prison.</p> + +<p>"Thou hast a merry life of it, honest Pippo," cried Conrad with swimming +eyes, answering a remark of the buffoon. "Thou art but a laugh at the +best, and wilt go through the world grinning and making others grin. Thy +Policinello is a rare fellow, and I never meet one of thy set that weary +legs and sore feet are not forgotten in his fooleries!"</p> + +<p>"Corpo di Bacco!--I wish this were so; but thou hast much the best of the +matter, even in the way of amusement, reverend pilgrim, though to the +looker-on it would seem otherwise. The difference between us, pious +Conrad, is just this--that thou laughest in thy sleeve without seeming to +be merry, whereas I yawn ready to split my jaws while I seem to be dying +with fun. Your often-told joke is a bad companion, and gets at last to be +as gloomy as a dirge. Wine can be swallowed but once, and laughter will +not come for ever for the same folly. Cospetto! I would give the earnings +of a year for a set of new jokes, such as might come fresh from the wit of +one who never saw a mountebank, and are not worn threadbare with being +rubbed against the brains of all the jokers in Europe."</p> + +<p>"There was a wise man of old, of whom it is not probable that any of you +have ever heard," observed Maso, "who has said there was nothing new under +the sun."</p> + +<p>"He who said that never tasted of this liquor, which is as raw as if it +were still running from the press," rejoined the pilgrim. "Knave, dost +think that we are unknowing in these matters, that thou darest bring a pot +of such lees to men of our quality? Go to, and see that thou doest us +better justice in the next!"</p> + +<p>"The wine is the same as that which first pleased you, but it is the +nature of drunkenness to change the palate; and therein Solomon was right +as in all other points," coolly remarked Il Maledetto. "Nay, friend, thou +wilt scarce bring thy liquors again to those who do not know how to do +them proper honor."</p> + +<p>Maso thrust the lad who served them from the room, and he slipped a small +coin in his hand, ordering him not to return. Inebriety had made +sufficient ravages for his ends, and he was now desirous of stopping +farther excesses.</p> + +<p>"Here come the mummers--gods and goddesses, shepherds and their lasses and +all the other pleasantries, to keep us in humor! To do these Vévaisans +justice, they treat us rarely; for ye see they send their players to amuse +our retirement!"</p> + +<p>"Wine! liquor! raw or ripe, bring us liquor!" roared Conrad, Pippo, and +their pot-companions, who were much too drunk to detect the agency of Maso +in defeating their wishes, though they were just drunk enough to fancy +that what he said of the attention of the authorities was not only true +but merited.</p> + +<p>"How now, Pippo! art ashamed to be outdone in thine own craft, that thou +bellowest for wine at the moment when the actors have come into the square +to exhibit their skill?" cried the mariner. "Truly, we shall have a mean +opinion of thy merit, if thou art afraid to meet a few Vaudois peasants in +thy trade,--and thou a buffoon of Napoli!"</p> + +<p>Pippo swore with pot-oaths that he defied the cleverest of Switzerland; +for that he had not only acted on every mall and mole of Italy, but that +he had exhibited in private before princes and cardinals, and that he had +no superior on either side of the Alps. Maso profited by his advantage, +and, by applying fresh goads to his vanity, soon succeeded in causing him +to forget the wine, and in drawing him, with all the others, to the +windows.</p> + +<p>The processions, in making the circuit of the city, had now reached the +square of the town-house, where the acting and exhibition were repeated, +as has been already related in general terms to the reader. There were +the officers of the abbaye, the vine-dressers, the shepherds and the +shepherdesses, Flora, Ceres, Pales, and Bacchus, with all the others, +attended by their several trains and borne in state as became their high +attributes. Silenus rolled from his ass, to the great joy of a thousand +shouting blackguards, and to the infinite scandal of the prisoners at the +windows, the latter affirming to a man that there was no acting in the +case, but that the demigod was shamefully under the influence of too many +potations that had been swallowed in his own honor.</p> + +<p>We shall not go over the details of these scenes, which all who have ever +witnessed a public celebration will readily imagine, nor is it necessary +to record the different sallies of wit that, under the inspiration of the +warm wines of Vévey and the excitement of the revels, issued from the +group that clustered around the windows of the prison. All who have ever +listened to low humor, that is rather deadened than quickened by liquor, +will understand their character, and they who have not will scarcely be +losers by the omission.</p> + +<p>At length the different allegories drawn from the heathen mythology ended, +and the procession of the nuptials came into the square. The meek and +gentle Christine had appeared nowhere that day without awakening strong +sympathy in her youth, beauty, and apparent innocence. Murmurs of +approbation accompanied her steps, and the maiden, more accustomed to her +situation, began to feel, probably for the first time since she had known +the secret of her origin, something like that security which is an +indispensable accompaniment of happiness. Long used to think of herself as +one proscribed of opinion, and educated in the retirement suited to the +views of her parents, the praises that reached her ear could not but be +grateful, and they went warm and cheeringly to her heart, in spite of the +sense of apprehension and uneasiness that had so long harbored there. +Throughout the whole of the day, until now, she had scarce dared to turn +her eyes to her future husband,--him who, in her simple and single-minded +judgment, had braved prejudice to do justice to her worth; but, as the +applause, which had been hitherto suppressed, broke out in loud +acclamations in the square of the town-house, the color mantled brightly +on her cheek, and she looked with modest pride at her companion, as if she +would say in the silent appeal, that his generous choice would not go +entirely without its reward. The crowd responded to the sentiment, and +never did votaries of Hymen approach the altar seemingly under happier +auspices.</p> + +<p>The influence of innocence and beauty is universal. Even the unprincipled +and half-intoxicated prisoners were loud in praise of the gentle +Christine. One praised her modesty, another extolled her personal +appearance, and all united with the multitude in shouting to her honor. +The blood of the bridegroom began to quicken, and, by the time the train +had halted in the open space near the building, immediately beneath the +windows occupied by Maso and his fellows, he was looking about him in the +exultation of a vulgar mind, which finds its delight in, as it is apt to +form its judgments from, the suffrages of others.</p> + +<p>"Here is a grand and beautiful festa!" said the hiccoughing Pippo, "and a +most willing bride San Gennaro bless thee, bella sposina, and the worthy +man who is the stem of so fair a rose! Send us wine, generous groom and +happy bride, that we may drink to the health of thee and thine!"</p> + +<p>Christine changed color, and looked furtively around, for they who lie +under the weight of the world's displeasure, though innocent, are +sensitively jealous of allusions to the sore points in their histories. +The feeling communicated itself to her companion, who threw distrustful +glances at the crowd, in order to ascertain if the secret of his bride's +birth were not discovered.</p> + +<p>"A braver festa never honored an Italian corso," continued the Neapolitan, +whose head was running on his own fancies, without troubling itself about +the apprehensions and wishes of others. "A gallant array and a fair bride! +Send us wine, felicissimi sposi, that we may drink to your eternal fame +and happiness! Happy the father that calls thee daughter, bella sposa, and +most honored the mother that bare so excellent a child! Scellerati, ye of +the crowd, why do ye not bear the worthy parents in your arms, that all +may see and do homage to the honorable roots of so rich a branch! Send us +wine, buona gente, send us cups of merry wine!"</p> + +<p>The cries and figurative language of Pippo attracted the attention of the +multitude, who were additionally amused by the mixture of dialects in +which he uttered his appeals. The least important trifles, by giving a new +direction to popular sympathies, frequently become the parents of grave +events. The crowd, which followed the train of Hymen, had begun to weary +with the repetition of the same ceremonies, and it now gladly lent itself +to the episode of the felicitations and entreaties of the half-intoxicated +Neapolitan.</p> + +<p>"Come forth, and act the father of the happy bride, thyself, reverend and +grave stranger;" cried one in derision, from the throng. "So excellent an +example will descend to thy children's children, in blessings on thy +line!"</p> + +<p>A shout of laughter rewarded this retort. It put the quick-witted +Neapolitan on his mettle, to produce a prompt and suitable reply.</p> + +<p>"My blessing on the blushing rose!" he answered in an instant. "There are +worse parents than Pippo, for he who lives by making others laugh deserves +well of men, whereas there is your medico, who eats the bread of colics, +and rheumatisms, and other foul diseases, of which he pretends to be the +enemy, though, San Gennaro to aid!--who is there so silly, as not to see +that the knavish doctor and the knavish distemper play into each others +hands, as readily as Policinello and the monkey."</p> + +<p>"Hast thou another worse than thyself that can be named," cried he of the +crowd.</p> + +<p>"A score, and thou shalt be of the number. My blessing on the fair bride! +thrice happy is she that hath a right to receive the benediction from one +of so honest life as the merry Pippo. Speak not I the truth, figligiola?"</p> + +<p>Christine perceived that the hand of her companion was coldly releasing +her own, and she felt the creeping sensation of the blood which is the +common attendant of extreme and humiliating shame. Still she bore up +against the weakness, with that deep reliance on the justice of others +which is usually the most strongly seated in those who are the most +innocent; and she followed the procession, in its circuit, with a step +whose trembling was mistaken for no more than the embarrassment natural to +her situation.</p> + +<p>At this moment, as the mummers were wheeling past the town-house, and the +air was filled with music, while a general movement stirred the multitude, +a cry of alarm arose in the building. It was immediately succeeded by such +a rush of bodies towards the spot, as indicates, in a throng, a sudden +and general interest in some new and extraordinary event.</p> + +<p>The crowd was beaten back and dispersed, the procession had disappeared, +and there was an unusual appearance of activity and mystery among the +officials of the place, before the cause of this disturbance began to be +whispered among the few who remained in the square. The rumor ran that one +of the prisoners, an athletic Italian mariner had profited by the +attention of all the other guardians of the place being occupied by the +ceremonies, to knock down the solitary sentinel, and to effect his escape, +followed by all the drunkards who were able to run.</p> + +<p>The evasion of a few lawless blackguards from their prison was not an +event likely long to divert the attention of the curious from the +amusements of the day, especially as it was understood that their +confinement would have terminated of itself with the setting sun. But when +the fact was communicated to Peter Hofmeister, the sturdy bailiff swore +fifty harsh oaths at the impudence of the knaves, at the carelessness of +their keepers, and in honor of the good cause of justice in general. After +which he incontinently commanded that the runaways should be apprehended. +This material part of the process achieved, he moreover, ordered that they +should be brought forthwith into his presence, even should he be engaged +in the most serious of the ceremonies of the day. The voice of Peter +speaking in anger was not likely to be unheard, and the stern mandate had +scarcely issued from his lips, when a dozen of the common thief-takers of +Vaud set about the affair in good earnest, and with the best possible +intentions to effect their object. In the mean time the sports continued, +and, as the day drew on, and the hour for the banquet approached, the good +people began to collect once more in the great square to witness the +closing scenes, and to be present at the nuptial benediction, which was to +be pronounced over Jacques Colis and Christine by a real servitor of the +altar, as the last and most important of the ceremonies of that eventful +day.</p> +</div> + + +<div class="chapter" id="ch17"> +<h2>Chapter XVII.</h2> + + +<blockquote class="epi"><p> Ay, marry; now unmuzzle your wisdom.</p> + +<p> Rosalind.</p></blockquote> + +<p> +The hour of noon was past, when the stage was a second time filled with +the privileged. The multitude was again disposed around the area of the +square, and the bailiff and his friends once more occupied the seats of +honor in the centre of the long estrade. Procession after procession now +began to reappear, for all had made the circuit of the city, and each had +repeated its mummeries so often that the actors grew weary of their +sports. Still, as the several groups came again into the high presence of +the bailiff and the élite not only of their own country but of so many +others, pride overcame fatigue, and the songs and dances were renewed with +the necessary appearance of good will and zeal. Peter Hofmeister and +divers others of the magnates of the canton, were particularly loud in +their plaudits on this repetition of the games, for, by a process that +will be easily understood, they, who had been revelling and taking their +potations in the marquees and booths while the mummers were absent, were +more than qualified to supply the deficiencies of the actors by the +warmth and exuberance of their own warmed imaginations. The bailiff, in +particular, as became, his high office and determined character, was +unusually talkative and decided, both as respects the criticisms and +encomiums he uttered on the various performances, making as light of his +own peculiar qualifications to deal with the subject, as if he were a +common hack-reviewer of our own times, who is known to keep in view the +quantity rather than the quality of his remarks, and the stipulated price +he is to receive per line. Indeed the parallel would hold good in more +respects than that of knowledge, for his language was unusually captious +and supercilious, his tone authoritative, and his motive the desire to +exhibit his own endowments, rather than the wish he affected to manifest +of setting forth the excellences of others. His speeches were more +frequently than ever directed to the Signor Grimaldi, for whom there had +suddenly arisen in his mind a still stronger gusto than that he had so +liberally manifested, and which had already drawn so much attention to the +deportment of this pleasing but modest stranger. Still he never failed to +compel all, within reach of a reasonable exercise of his voice, to listen +to his oracles.</p> + +<p>"Those that have passed, brother Melchior," said the bailiff, addressing +the Baron de Willading in the fraternal style of the bürgerschaft, while +his eye was directed to the Genoese, in whom in reality he wished to +excite admiration for his readiness in Heathen lore, "are no more than +shepherds and shepherdesses of our mountains, and none of your gods and +demigods, the former of which are to be known in this ceremony from all +others by the fact that they are carried on men's shoulders, and the +latter that they ride on asses, or have other conveniences natural to +their wants. Ah! here we have the higher orders of the mummers in person +--this comely creature is, in reality, Mariette Marron of this country, +as strapping a wench as there is in Vaud, and as impudent--but no matter! +She is now the Priestess of Flora, and I'll warrant you there is not a +horn in all our valleys that will bring a louder echo out of the rocks +than this very priestess will raise with her single throat! That yonder on +the throne is Flora herself, represented by a comely young woman, the +daughter of a warm citizen here in Vévey, and one able to give her all the +equipments she bears, without taxing the abbaye a doit. I warrant you that +every flower about her was culled from their own garden!"</p> + +<p>"Thou treatest the poetry of the ceremonies with so little respect, good +Peterchen, that the goddess and her train dwindle into little more than +vine-dressers and milk-maids beneath thy tongue."</p> + +<p>"Of Heaven's sake, friend Melchior," interrupted the amused Genoese, "do +not rob us of the advantage of the worthy bailiff's graphic remarks. Your +Heathen may be well enough in his way, but surely he is none the worse for +a few notes and illustrations, that would do credit to a Doctor of Padova. +I entreat you to continue, learned Peter, that we strangers may lose none +of the niceties of the exhibition."</p> + +<p>"Thou seest, baron," returned the well-warmed bailiff, with a look of +triumph, "a little explanation can never injure a good thing, though it +were even the law itself. Ah! yon is Ceres and her company, and a goodly +train they appear! These are the harvest-men and harvest-women, who +represent the abundance of our country of Vaud, Signor Grimaldi, which, +truth to say, is a fat land, and worthy of the allegory. These knaves, +with the stools strapped to their nether parts, and carrying tubs, are +cowherds, and all the others are more or less concerned with the dairy. +Ceres was a personage of importance among the ancients, beyond dispute, +as may be seen by the manner in which, she is backed by the landed +interest. There is no solid respectability, Herr von Willading, that is +not fairly bottomed on broad lands. Ye perceive that the goddess sits on a +throne whose ornaments are all taken from the earth; a sheaf of wheat tops +the canopy; rich ears of generous grain are her jewels, and her sceptre is +the sickle. These are but allegories, Signor Grimaldi, but they are +allusions that give birth to wholesome thoughts in the prudent. There is +no science that may not catch a hint from our games; politics, religion, +or law--'tis all the same for the well-disposed and cunning."</p> + +<p>"An ingenious scholar might even find an argument for the bürgerschaft in +an allegory that is less clear;" returned the amused Genoese. "But you +have overlooked, Signor Bailiff, the instrument that Ceres carries in the +other hand, and which is full to overflowing with the fruits of the +earth;--that which so much resembles a bullock's horn, I mean."</p> + +<p>"That is, out of question, some of the utensils of the ancients; perhaps a +milking vessel in use among the gods and goddesses, for your deities of +old were no bad housewives, and made a merit of their economy; and Ceres +here, as is seen, is not ashamed of a useful occupation. By my faith, but +this affair has been gotten up with a very creditable attention to the +moral! But our dairy-people are about to give us some of their airs."</p> + +<p>Peterchen now put a stop to his classic lore, while the followers of Ceres +arranged themselves in order, and began to sing. The contagious and wild +melody of the Ranz des Vaches rose in the square, and soon drew the +absorbed and delighted attention of all within hearing which, to say the +truth, was little less than all who were within the limits of the town, +for, the crowd chiming in with the more regular artists, a, sort of +musical enthusiasm seized upon all present who came of Vaud and her +valleys. The dogmatical, but well-meaning bailiff; though usually jealous +of his Bernese origin, and alive on system to the necessity of preserving +the superiority of the great canton by all the common observances of +dignity and reserve, yielded to the general movement, and shouted with the +rest, under favor of a pair of lungs that nature had admirably fitted to +sustain the chorus of a mountain song. This condescension in the deputy of +Berne was often spoken of afterwards with admiration, the simple-minded +and credulous ascribing the exaltation of Peterchen to a generous warmth +in their happiness and interests, while the more wary and observant were +apt to impute the musical excess to a previous excess of another +character, in which the wines of the neighboring côtes were fairly +entitled to come in for a full share of the merit. Those who were, nearest +the bailiff were secretly much diverted-with his awkward attempts at +graciousness, which one fair and witty Vaudoise likened to the antics of +one of the celebrated animals that are still fostered in the city which +ruled so much of Switzerland, and from whom, indeed, the town and canton +are both vulgarly supposed to have derived their common name; for, while +the authority of Berne weighed so imperiously and heavily on its +subsidiary countries, as is usual in such cases, the people of the latter +were much addicted to taking an impotent revenge, by whispering the +pleasantest sarcasms they could invent against their masters. +Notwithstanding this and many more criticisms on his performance, the +bailiff enacted his part in the representation to his own entire +satisfaction; and he resumed his seat with a consciousness of having at +least merited the applause of the people, for having entered with so much +spirit into their games, and with the hope that this act of grace might be +the means of causing them to forget some fifty, or a hundred, of his other +acts, which certainly had not possessed the same melodious and +companionable features.</p> + +<p>After this achievement the bailiff was reasonably quiet, until Bacchus and +his train again entered the square. At the appearance of the laughing +urchin who bestrode the cask, he resumed his dissertations with a +confidence that all are apt to feel who are about to treat on a subject +with which they have had occasion to be familiar.</p> + +<p>"This is the god of good liquor," said Peterchen, always speaking to any +who would listen although, by an instinct of respect, he chiefly preferred +favoring the Signor Grimaldi with his remarks, "as may plainly be seen by +his seat; and these are dancing attendants to show that wine gladdens the +heart;--yonder is the press at work, extracting the juices, and that huge +cluster is to represent the grapes which the messengers of Joshua brought +back from Canaan when sent to spy out the land, a history which I make no +doubt you Signore, in Italy, have at your fingers' ends."</p> + +<p>Gaetano Grimaldi looked embarrassed, for, although well skilled in the +lore of the heathen mythology, his learning as a male papist and a laic +was not particularly rich in the story of the Christian faith. At first he +supposed that the bailiff had merely blundered in his account of the +mythology, but, by taxing his memory a little, he recovered some faint +glimpses of the truth, a redemption of his character as a book-man for +which he was materially indebted to having seen some celebrated pictures +on this very subject, a species of instruction in holy writ that is +sufficiently common those who inhabit the Catholic countries of the other +hemisphere.</p> + +<p>"Thou surely hast not overlooked the history of the gigantic cluster of +grapes, Signore" exclaimed Peterchen, astonished at the apparent +hesitation of the Italian. "'Tis the most beautiful of all the legends of +the holy book. Ha! as I live, there is the ass without his rider;--what +has become of the blackguard Antoine Giraud? The rogue has alighted to +swallow a fresh draught from some booth, after draining his own skin to +the bottom. This comes of neglect; a sober man, or at least one of a +harder head, should have been put to the part;--for, look you,'tis a +character that need stand at least a gallon, since the rehearsals alone +are enough to take a common drinker off his centre."</p> + +<p>The tongue of the bailiff ran on in accompaniment, during the time that +the followers of Bacchus were going through with their songs and pageants, +and when they disappeared, it gained a louder key, like the "rolling river +that murmuring flows and flows for ever," rising again on the ear, after +the din of any adventitious noise has ceased.</p> + +<p>"Now we may expect the pretty bride and her maids," continued Peterchen, +winking at his companions, as the ancient gallant is wont to make a parade +of his admiration of the fair; "the solemn ceremony is to be pronounced +here, before the authorities, as a suitable termination to this happy day. +Ah! my good old friend Melchior, neither of us is the man he was, or these +skipping hoydens would not go through their pirouettes without some aid +from our arms! Now, dispose of yourselves, friends; for this is to be no +acting, but a downright marriage, and it is meet that we keep a graver +air. How! what means the movement among the officers?"</p> + +<p>Peterchen had interrupted himself, for just at that moment the +thief-takers entered the square in a body, inclosing in their centre a +group, who had the mien of captives too evidently to be mistaken for +honest men. The bailiff was peculiarly an executive officer; one of that +class who believe that the enactment of a law is a point of far less +interest than its due fulfilment. Indeed, so far did he push his favorite +principle, that he did not hesitate sometimes to suppose shades of meaning +in the different ordinances of the great council that existed only in his +own brain, but which were, to do him justice, sufficiently convenient to +himself in carrying out the constructions which he saw fit to put on his +own duties. The appearance of an affair of justice was unfortunate for the +progress of the ceremonies, Peterchen having some such relish for the +punishment of rogues, and more especially for such as seemed to be an +eternal reproach to the action of the Bernese system by their incorrigible +misery and poverty, as an old coachman is proverbially said to retain for +the crack of the whip. All his judicial sympathies were not fully +awakened, on the present occasion, however: the criminals, though far from +belonging to the more lucky of their fellow-creatures, not being quite +miserable enough in appearance to awaken all those powers of magisterial +reproach and severity that lay dormant in the bailiff's moral temperament, +ready, at any time, to vindicate the right of the strong against the +innovations of the feeble and unhappy. The reader will at once have +anticipated that the prisoners were Maso and his companions, who had been +more successful in escaping from their keepers, than fortunate in evading +the attempts to secure their persons a second time.</p> + +<p>"Who are these that dare affront the ruling powers on this day of general +good-will and rejoicing?" sternly demanded the bailiff, when the minions +of the law and their captives stood fairly before him. "Do ye not know, +knaves, that this is a solemn, almost a religious ceremony at Vévey--for +so it would be considered by the ancients at least--and that a crime is +doubly a crime when committed either in an honorable presence, on a solemn +and dignified occasion, like this, or against the authorities;--this last +being always the gravest and greatest of all?"</p> + +<p>"We are but indifferent scholars, worshipful bailiff, as you may easily +perceive by our outward appearance, and are to be judged leniently," +answered Maso. "Our whole offence was a hot but short quarrel touching a +dog, in which hands were made to play the part of reason, and which would +have done little harm to any but ourselves, had it been the pleasure of +the town authorities to have left us to decide the dispute in our own way. +As you well say, this is a joyous occasion, and we esteem it hard that we +of all Vévey should be shut up on account of so light an affair, and cut +off from the merriment of the rest."</p> + +<p>"There is reason in this fellow, after all," said Peterchen, in a low +voice. "What is a dog more or less to Berne, and a public rejoicing to +produce its end should go deep into the community. Let the men go, of +God's name! and look to it, that all the dogs be beaten out of the square, +that we have no more folly."</p> + +<p>"Please you, these are the men that have escaped from the authorities, +after knocking down their keeper;" the officer humbly observed.</p> + +<p>"How is this! Didst thou not say, fellow, that it was all about a dog?"</p> + +<p>"I spoke of the reason of our being shut up. It is true that, wearied with +breathing pent air, and a little heated with wine, we left the prison +without permission; but we hope this little sally of spirit will be +overlooked on account of the extraordinary occasion."</p> + +<p>"Rogue, thy plea augments the offence. A crime committed on an +extraordinary occasion becomes an extraordinary crime, and requires an +extraordinary punishment, which I intend to see inflicted, forthwith. You +have insulted the authorities, and that is the unpardonable sin in all +communities. Draw nearer, friends, for I love to let my reasons be felt +and understood by those who are to be affected by my decisions, and this +is a happy moment, to give a short lesson to the Vévaisans--let the bride +and bridegroom wait--draw nearer all, that ye may better hear what I have +to say."</p> + +<p>The crowd pressed more closely around the foot of the stage, and +Peterchen, assuming a didactic air, resumed his discourse.</p> + +<p>"The object of all authority is to find the means of its own support," +continued the bailiff; "for unless it can exist, it must fall to the +ground; and you all are sufficiently schooled to know that when a thing +becomes of indifferent value, it loses most of its consideration. Thus +government is established in order that it may protect itself; since +without this power it could not remain a government, and there is not a +man existing who is not ready to admit that even a bad government is +better than none. But ours is particularly a good government, its greatest +care on all occasions being to make itself respected, and he who respects +himself is certain to have esteem in the eyes of others. Without this +security we should become like the unbridled steed, or the victims of +anarchy and confusion, ay, and damnable heresies in religion. Thus you see +my friends, your choice lies between the government of Berne, or no +government at all; for when only two things exist, by taking one away the +number is reduced half, and as the great canton will keep its own share of +the institutions, by taking half away, Vaud is left as naked as my hand. +Ask yourselves if you have any government but this? You know you have not. +Were you quit of Berne, therefore, you clearly would have none at all. +Officer, you have a sword at your side, which is a good type of our +authority; draw it and hold it up, that all may see it. You perceive, my +friends, that the officer hath a sword; but that he hath only one sword. +Lay it at thy feet, officer. You perceive, friends, that having but one +sword, and laying that sword aside, he no longer hath a sword at all! That +weapon represents our authority, which laid aside becomes no authority, +leaving us with an unarmed hand."</p> + +<p>This happy comparison drew a murmur of applause; the proposition of +Peterchen having most of the properties of a popular theory, being +deficient in neither a bold assertion, a brief exposition, nor a practical +illustration. The latter in particular was long afterwards spoken of in +Vaud, as an exposition little short of the well-known judgment of Solomon, +who had resorted to the same keen-edged weapon in order to solve a point +almost as knotty as this settled by the bailiff. When the approbation had +a little subsided, the warmed Peterchen continued his discourse, which +possessed the random and generalized logic of most of the dissertations +that are uttered in the interests of things as they are, without paying +any particular deference to things as they should be.</p> + +<p>"What is the use of teaching the multitude to read and write?" he asked. +"Had not Franz Kauffman known how to write, could he have imitated his +master's hand, and would he have lost his head for mistaking another man's +name for his own? a little reflection shows us he would not. Now, as for +the other art, could the people read bad books had they never learned the +alphabet? If there is a man present who can say to the contrary, I absolve +him from his respect, and invite him to speak boldly, for there is no +Inquisition in Vaud, but we invite argument. This is a free government, +and a fatherly government, and a mild government, as ye all know; but it +is not a government that likes reading and writing; reading that leads to +the perusal of bad books, and writing that causes false signatures. +Fellow-citizens, for we are all equal, with the exception of certain +differences that need not now be named, it is a government for your good, +and therefore it is a government that likes itself, and whose first duty +it is to protect itself and its officers at all hazards, even though it +might by accident commit some seeming injustice. Fellow, canst thou read?"</p> + +<p>"Indifferently, worshipful bailiff," returned Maso. "There are those who +get through a book with less trouble than myself."</p> + +<p>"I warrant you, now, he means a good book but, as for a bad one, I'll +engage the varlet goes through it like a wild boar! This comes of +education among the ignorant! There is no more certain method to corrupt a +community, and to rivet it in beastly practices, than to educate the +ignorant. The enlightened can bear knowledge, for rich food does not harm +the stomach that is used to it, but it is hellebore to the ill-fed. +Education is an arm, for knowledge is power, and the ignorant man is but +an infant, and to give him knowledge is like putting a loaded blunderbuss +into the hands of a child. What can an ignorant man do with knowledge? He +is as likely to use it wrong end uppermost as in any other manner. +Learning is a ticklish thing; it was said by Festus to have maddened even +the wise and experienced Paul and what may we not expect it to do with +your downright ignoramus? What is thy name prisoner?"</p> + +<p>"Tommaso Santi; sometimes known among my friends as San Tommaso; called by +my enemies, Il Maledetto, and by my familiars, Maso."</p> + +<p>"Thou hast a formidable number of aliases, the certain sign of a rogue. +Thou hast confessed that thou canst read----"</p> + +<p>"Nay, Signor Bailiff, I would not be taken to have said----"</p> + +<p>"By the faith of Calvin, thou didst confess it, before all this goodly +company! Wilt thou deny thine own words, knave, in the very face of +justice? Thou canst read--thou hast it in thy countenance, and I would go +nigh to swear, too, that thou hast some inkling of the quill, were the +truth honestly said. Signor Grimaldi, I know not how you find this affair +on the other side of the Alps, but with us, our greatest troubles come +from these well-taught knaves, who, picking up knowledge fraudulently, use +it with felonious intent, without thought of the wants and rights of the +public."</p> + +<p>"We have our difficulties, as is the fact wherever man is found with his +selfishness and passions Signor Bailiff; but are we not doing an ungallant +act towards yonder fair bride, by giving the precedency to men of this +cast? Would it not be better to dismiss the modest Christine, happy in +Hymen's chains, before we enter more deeply into the question of the +manacles of these prisoners?"</p> + +<p>To the amazement of all who knew the bailiff's natural obstinacy, which +was wont to increase instead of becoming more manageable in his cups, +Peterchen assented to this proposition with a complaisance and apparent +good-will, that he rarely manifested towards any opinion of which he did +not think himself legitimately the father; though, like many others who +bear that honorable title, he was sometimes made to yield the privileges +of paternity to other men's children. He had shown an unusual deference to +the Italian, however, throughout the whole of their short intercourse, and +on no occasion was it less equivocal, than in the promptness with which he +received the present hint. The prisoners and officers were commanded to +stand aside, but so near as to remain beneath his eye, while some of the +officials of the abbaye were ordered to give notice to the train, which +awaited these arrangements in silent wonder, that it might now approach.</p> +</div> + + +<div class="chapter" id="ch18"> +<h2>Chapter XVIII.</h2> + + +<blockquote class="epi"><p> Go, wiser thou! and in thy scale of sense<br /> + Weigh thy opinion against Providence;<br /> + Call imperfection what thou fanciest such;<br /> + Say, here he gives too little, there too much;<br /> + Destroy all creatures for thy sport or gust,<br /> + And say, if man's unhappy, God's unjust.</p> + +<p> Pope.</p></blockquote> + +<p> +It is unnecessary to repeat the list of characters that acted the +different parts in the train of the village nuptials. All were there at +the close of the ceremonies, as they had appeared earlier in the day, and +as the last of the legal forms of the marriage was actually to take place +in presence of the bailiff, preparatory to the more solemn rites of the +church, the throng yielded to its curiosity, breaking through the line of +those who were stationed to restrain its inroads, and pressing about the +foot of the estrade in the stronger interest which reality is known to +possess over fiction. During the day, a thousand new inquiries had been +made concerning the bride, whose beauty and mien were altogether so +superior to what might have been expected in one who could consent to act +the part she did on so public an occasion, and whose modest bearing was in +such singular contradiction to her present situation. None knew, however, +or, if it were known, no one chose to reveal, her history; and, as +curiosity had been so keenly whetted by mystery, the rush of the multitude +was merely a proof of the power which expectation, aided by the thousand +surmises of rumor, can gain over the minds of the idle.</p> + +<p>Whatever might have been the character of the conjectures made at the +expense of poor Christine--and they were wanting in neither variety nor +malice--most were compelled to agree in commending the diffidence of her +air, and the gentle sweetness of her mild and peculiar beauty. Some, +indeed, affected to see artifice in the former, which was pronounced to be +far too excellent, or too much overdone, for nature. The usual amount of +common-place remarks were made, too, on the lucky diversity that was to be +found in tastes, and on the happy necessity there existed of all being +able to find the means to please themselves. But these were no more than +the moral blotches that usually disfigure human commendation. The +sentiment and the sympathies of the mass were powerfully and irresistibly +enlisted in favor of the unknown maiden--feelings that were very +unequivocally manifested as she drew nearer the estrade, walking timidly +through a dense lane of bodies, all of which were pressing eagerly +forward to get a better view of her person.</p> + +<p>The bailiff, under ordinary circumstances, would have taken in dudgeon +this violation of the rules prescribed for the government of the +multitude; for he was perfectly sincere in his opinions, absurd as so many +of them were, and, like many other honest men who defeat the effects they +would produce by forced constructions of their principles, he was a little +apt to run into excesses of discipline. But in the present instance, he +was rather pleased than otherwise to see the throng within the reach of +his voice. The occasion was, at best, but semi-official, and he was so far +under the influence of the warm liquors of the côtes as to burn with the +desire of putting forth still more liberally his flowers of eloquence and +his stores of wisdom. He received the inroad, therefore, with an air of +perfect good-humor, a manifestation of assent that encouraged still +greater innovations on the limits until the space occupied by the +principal actors in this closing scene was reduced to the smallest +possible size that was at all compatible with their movements and +comforts. In this situation of things the ceremonies proceeded.</p> + +<p>The gentle flow of hope and happiness which was slowly increasing in the +mild bosom of the bride, from the first moment of her appearance in this +unusual scene to that in which it was checked by the cries of Pippo, had +been gradually lessening under a sense of distrust, and she now entered +the square with a secret and mysterious dread at the heart, which her +inexperience and great ignorance of life served fearfully to increase. Her +imagination magnified the causes of alarm into some prepared and designed +insult. Christine, fully aware of the obloquy that pressed upon her race, +had only consented to adopt this unusual mode of changing her condition, +under a sensitive, apprehension that any other would have necessarily led +to the exposure of her origin. This fear, though exaggerated, and indeed +causeless, was the result of too much brooding of late over her own +situation, and of that morbid sensibility in which the most pure and +innocent are, unhappily, the most likely to indulge. The concealment, as +has already been explained, was that of her intended husband, who, with +the subterfuge of an interested spirit, had hoped to mislead the little +circle of his own acquaintances and gratify his cupidity at the cheapest +possible rate to himself. But there is a point of self-abasement beyond +which the perfect consciousness of right rarely permits even the most +timid to proceed. As the bride moved up the lane of human bodies, her eye +grew less disturbed and her step firmer,--for the pride of rectitude +overcame the ordinary girlish sensibilities of her sex, and made her the +steadiest at the very instant that the greater portion of females would +have been the most likely to betray their weakness. She had just attained +this forced but respectable tranquillity, as the bailiff, signing to the +crowd to hush its murmurs and to remain motionless, arose, with a manner +that he intended to be dignified, and which passed with the multitude for +a very successful experiment in its way, to open the business in hand by a +short address. The reader is not to be surprised at the volubility of +honest Peterchen, for it was getting to be late in the day, and his +frequent libations throughout the ceremonies would have wrought him up to +even a much higher flight of eloquence, had the occasion and the company +at all suited such a display of his powers.</p> + +<p>"We have had a joyous day, my friends" he said; "one whose excellent +ceremonies ought to recall to every one of us our dependence on +Providence, our frail and sinful dispositions, and particularly our +duties to the councils. By the types of plenty and abundance, we see the +bounty of nature, which is a gift from Heaven; by the different little +failures that have been, perhaps, unavoidably made in some of the nicer +parts of the exhibition--and I would here particularly mention the +besotted drunkenness of Antoine Giraud, the man who has impudently +undertaken to play the part of Silenus, as a fit subject of your +attention, for it is full of profit to all hard-drinking knaves--we may +see our own awful imperfections; while, in the order of the whole, and the +perfect obedience of the subordinates, do we find a parallel to the beauty +of a vigilant and exact police and a well-regulated community. Thus you +see, that though the ceremony hath a Heathen exterior, it hath a Christian +moral; God grant that we all forget the former, and remember the latter, +as best becomes our several characters and our common country. And now, +having done with the divinities and their legends--with the exception of +that varlet Silenus, whose misconduct, I promise you, is not to be so +easily overlooked--we will give some attention to mortal affairs. Marriage +is honorable before God and man, and although I have never had leisure to +enter into this holy state myself, owing to a variety of reasons, but +chiefly from my being wedded, as it were, to the State, to which we all +owe quite as much, or even greater duty, than the most faithful wife owes +to her husband, I would not have you suppose that I have not a high +veneration for matrimony. So far from this, I have looked on no part of +this day's ceremonies with more satisfaction than these of the nuptials, +which we are now called upon to complete in a manner suitable to the +importance of the occasion. Let the bridegroom and the bride stand forth, +that all may the better see the happy pair."</p> + +<p>At the bidding of the bailiff, Jacques Colis led Christine upon the little +stage prepared for their reception, where both were more completely in +view of the spectators than they had yet been. The movement, and the +agitation consequent on so public an exposure, deepened the bloom on the +soft cheeks of the bride, and another and a still less equivocal murmur of +applause arose in the multitude. The spectacle of youth, innocence, and +feminine loveliness, strongly stirred the sympathies of even the most +churlish and rude; and most present began to feel for her fears, and to +participate in her hopes.</p> + +<p>"This is excellent!" continued the well-pleased Peterchen, who was never +half so happy as when he was officially providing for the happiness of +others; "it promises a happy <i>ménage</i>. A loyal, frugal, industrious, and +active groom, with a fair and willing bride, can drive discontent up any +man's chimney. That which is to be done next, being legal and binding, +must be done with proper gravity and respect. Let the notary advance--not +him who hath so aptly played this character, but the commendable and +upright officer who is rightly charged with these respectable +functions--and we will listen to the contract. I recommend a decent +silence, my friends, for the true laws and real matrimony are at the +bottom--a grave affair at the best, and one never to be treated with +levity; since a few words pronounced now in haste may be repented of for a +whole life hereafter."</p> + +<p>Every thing was conducted according to the wishes of the bailiff, and with +great decency of form. A true and authorized notary read aloud the +marriage-contract, the instrument which contained the civic relations and +rights of the parties, and which only waited for the signatures to be +complete. This document required, of course, that the real names of the +contracting parties, their ages, births, parentage, and all those facts +which are necessary to establish their identity, and to secure the rights +of succession, should be clearly set forth in a way to render the +instrument valid at the most remote period, should there ever arrive a +necessity to recur to it in the way of testimony. The most eager attention +pervaded the crowd as they listened to these little particulars, and +Adelheid trembled in this delicate part of the proceedings, as the +suppressed but still audible breathing of Sigismund reached her ear, lest +something might occur to give a rude shock to his feelings. But it would +seem the notary had his cue. The details touching Christine were so +artfully arranged, that while they were perfectly binding in law, they +were so dexterously concealed from the observation of the unsuspecting, +that no attention was drawn to the point most apprehended by their +exposure. Sigismund breathed freer when the notary drew near the end of +his task, and Adelheid heard the heavy breath he drew at the close, with +the joy one feels at the certainty of having passed an imminent danger. +Christine herself seemed relieved, though hor inexperience in a great +degree prevented her from foreseeing all that the greater practice of +Sigismund had led him to anticipate.</p> + +<p>"This is quite in rule, and naught now remains but to receive the +signatures of the respective parties and their friends," resumed the +bailiff. "A happy ménage is like a well-ordered state, a foretaste of the +joys and peace of Heaven; while a discontented household and a turbulent +community may be likened at once to the penalties and the pains of hell! +Let the friends of the parties step forth, in readiness to sign when the +principals themselves shall have discharged this duty."</p> + +<p>A few of the relatives and associates of Jacques Colis moved out of the +crowd and placed themselves at the side of the bridegroom, who immediately +wrote his own name, like a man impatient to be happy. A pause succeeded, +for all were curious to see who claimed affinity to the trembling girl on +this the most solemn and important event of her life. An interval of +several minutes elapsed, and no one appeared. The respiration of Sigismund +became more difficult; he seemed about to choke, and then yielding to a +generous impulse, he arose.</p> + +<p>"For the love of God!--for thine own sake!--for mine! be not too hasty!" +whispered the terrified Adelheid; for she saw the hot glow that almost +blazed on his brow.</p> + +<p>"I cannot desert poor Christine to the scorn of the world, in a moment +like this! If I die of shame, I must go forward and own myself."</p> + +<p>The hand of Mademoiselle de Willading was laid upon his arm, and he +yielded to this silent but impressive entreaty, for just then he saw that +his sister was about to be relieved from her distressing solitude. The +throng yielded, and a decent pair, attired in the guise of small but +comfortable proprietors, moved doubtingly towards the bride. The eyes of +Christine filled with tears, for terror and the apprehension of disgrace +yielded suddenly to joy. Those who advanced to support her in that moment +of intense trial were her father and mother. The respectable-looking pair +moved slowly to the side of their daughter, and, having placed themselves +one on each side of her, they first ventured to cast furtive and subdued +glances at the multitude.</p> + +<p>"It is doubtless painful to the parents to part with so fair and so +dutiful a child," resumed the obtuse Peterchen, who rarely saw in any +emotion more than its most common-place and vulgar character; "Nature +pulls them one way, while the terms of the contract and the progress of +our ceremonies pull another. I have often weaknesses of this sort myself, +the most sensitive hearts being the most liable to these attacks. But my +children are the public, and do riot admit of too much of what I may call +the detail of sentiment, else, by the soul of Calvin! were I but an +indifferent bailiff for Berne!--Thou art the father of this fair and +blushing maiden, and thou her mother?"</p> + +<p>"We are these," returned Balthazar mildly.</p> + +<p>"Thou art not of Vévey, or its neighborhood, by thy speech?"</p> + +<p>"Of the great canton, mein Herr;" for the answer was in German, these +contracted districts possessing nearly as many dialects as there are +territorial divisions. "We are strangers in Vaud."</p> + +<p>"Thou hast not done the worse for marrying thy daughter with a Vévaisan, +and, more especially, under the favor of our renowned and liberal Abbaye. +I warrant me thy child will be none the poorer for this compliance with +the wishes of those who lead our ceremonies!"</p> + +<p>"She will not go portionless to the house of her husband," returned the +father, coloring with secret pride; for to one to whom the chances of life +left so few sources of satisfaction, those that were possessed became +doubly dear.</p> + +<p>"This is well! A right worthy couple! And I doubt not, a meet companion +will your offspring prove. Monsieur le Notaire, call off the names of +those good people aloud, that they may sign, at least, with a decent +parade."</p> + +<p>"It is settled otherwise." hastily answered the functionary of the quill, +who was necessarily in the secret of Christine's origin, and who had been +well bribed to observe discretion. "It would altogether derange the order +and regularity of the proceedings."</p> + +<p>"As thou wilt; for I would have nothing illegal, and least of all, nothing +disorderly. But o' Heaven's sake! let us get through with our penmanship, +for I hear there are symptoms that the meats are likely to be overbaked. +Canst thou write, good man?"</p> + +<p>"Indifferently, mein Herr: but in a way to make what I will binding before +the law."</p> + +<p>"Give the quill to the bride, Mr. Notary, and let us protract the happy +event no longer."</p> + +<p>The bailiff here bent his head aside and whispered to an attendant to +hurry towards the kitchens and to look to the affairs of the banquet. +Christine took the pen with a trembling hand and pallid cheek, and was +about to apply it to the paper, when a sudden cry from the throng diverted +the attention of all present to a new matter of interest.</p> + +<p>"Who dares thus indecently interrupt this grave scene, and that, too, in +so great a presence?" sternly demanded the bailiff.</p> + +<p>Pippo, who with the other prisoners had unavoidably been inclosed in the +space near the estrade by the pressure of the multitude, staggered more +into view, and removing his cap with a well-managed respect, presented +himself humbly to the sight of Peterchen.</p> + +<p>"It is I, illustrious and excellent governor," returned the wily +Neapolitan, who retained just enough of the liquor he had swallowed to +render him audacious, without weakening his means of observation. "It is +I, Pippo; an artist of humble pretensions, but, I hope, a very honest man +and, as I know, a great reverencer of the laws and a true friend to +order."</p> + +<p>"Let the good man speak up boldly. A man of these principles has a right +to be heard. We live in a time of damnable innovations, and of most +atrocious attempts to overturn the altar, the state, and the public +trusts, and the sentiments of such a man are like dew to the parched +grass."</p> + +<p>The reader is not to imagine, from the language of the bailiff, that Vaud +stood on the eve of any great political commotion, but, as the Government +was in itself an usurpation, and founded on the false principle of +exclusion, it was quite as usual then, as now, to cry out against the +moral throes of violated right, since the same eagerness to possess, the +same selfishness in grasping, however unjustly obtained, and the same +audacity of assertion with a view to mystify, pervaded the Christian world +a century since as exist to-day. The cunning Pippo saw that the bait had +taken, and, assuming a still more respectful and loyal mien, he +continued:--</p> + +<p>"Although a stranger, illustrious governor, I have had great delight in +these joyous and excellent ceremonies. Their fame will be spread far and +near, and men will talk of little less for the coming year but of Vévey +and its festival. But a great scandal hangs over your honorable heads +which it is in my power to turn aside, and San Gennaro forbid! that I, a +stranger, that hath been well entertained in your town, should hesitate +about raising his voice on account of any scruples of modesty. No doubt, +great governor, your eccellenza believes that this worthy Vévaisan is +about to wive a creditable maiden, whose name could be honorably mentioned +with those of the ceremonies and your town, before the proudest company in +Europe?"</p> + +<p>"What of this, fellow? the girl is fair, and modest enough, at least to +the eye, and if thou knowest aught else, whisper thy secret to her husband +or her friends, but do not come in this rude manner to disturb our harmony +with thy raven throat, just as we are ready to sing an epithalamium in +honor of the happy pair. Your excessive particularity is the curse of +wedlock, my friends, and I have a great mind to send this knave, in spite +of all this profession of order, which is like enough to produce disorder, +for a month or two into our Vévey dungeon for his pains."</p> + +<p>Pippo was staggered, for, just drunk enough to be audacious, he had not +all his faculties at his perfect command, and his usual acumen was a +little at fault. Still, accustomed to brave public opinion, and to carry +himself through the failures of his exhibitions by heavier drafts on the +patience and credulity of his audience, he determined to persevere as the +most likely way of extricating himself from the menaced consequences of +his indiscretion.</p> + +<p>"A thousand pardons, great bailiff;" he answered. "Naught, but a burning +desire to do justice to your high honor, and to the reputation of the +abbaye's festival, could have led me so far, but--"</p> + +<p>"Speak thy mind at once, rogue, and have done with circumlocution."</p> + +<p>"I have little to say, Signore, except that the father of this illustrious +bride, who is about to honor Vévey by making her nuptials an occasion for +all in the city to witness and to favor, is the common headsman of +Berne--a wretch who lately came near to prove the destruction of more +Christians than the law has condemned, and who is sufficiently out of +favor with Heaven to bring the fate of Gomorrah upon your town!"</p> + +<p>Pippo tottered to his station among the prisoners with the manner of one +who had delivered himself of an important trust, and was instantly lost to +view. So rapid and unlooked for had been the interruption, and so vehement +the utterance of the Italian while delivering his facts, that, though +several present saw their tendency when it was too late, none had +sufficient presence of mind to prevent the exposure. A murmur arose in the +crowd, which stirred like a vast sheet of fluid on which a passing gust +had alighted, and then became fixed and calm. Of all present, the bailiff +manifested the least surprise or concern, for to him the last minister of +the law was an object, if not precisely of respect, of politic good-will +rather than of dishonor.</p> + +<p>"What of this!" he answered, in the way of one who had expected a far more +important revelation. "What of this, should it be true! Harkee, +friend,--art thou, in sooth, the noted Balthazar, he to whose family the +canton is indebted for so much fair justice?"</p> + +<p>Balthazar saw that his secret was betrayed, and that it were wiser simply +to admit the facts, than to have recourse to subterfuge or denial. Nature, +moreover, had made him a man with strong and pure propensities for the +truth, and he was never without the innate consciousness of the injustice +of which he had been made the victim by the unfeeling ordinance of +society. Raising his head, he looked around him with firmness, for he too, +unhappily, had been accustomed to act in the face of multitudes, and he +answered the question of the bailiff, in his usual mild tone of voice, but +with composure.</p> + +<p>"Herr Bailiff, I am by inheritance the last avenger of the law."</p> + +<p>"By my office! I like the title; it is a good one! The last avenger of +the law! If rogues will offend, or dissatisfied spirits plot, there must +be a hand to put the finishing blow to their evil works, and why not thou +as well as another! Harkee, officers, shut me up yonder Italian knave for +a week on bread and water, for daring to trifle with the time and +good-nature of the public in this impudent manner. And this worthy dame is +thy wife, honest Balthazar; and that fair maiden thy child--Hast thou more +of so goodly a race?"</p> + +<p>"God has blessed me in my offspring, mein Herr."</p> + +<p>"Ay; God hath blessed thee!--and a great blessing it should be, as I know +by bitter experience--that is, being a bachelor, I understand the misery +of being childless--I would say no more. Sign the contract, honest +Balthazar, with thy wife and daughter, that we may have an end of this."</p> + +<p>The family of the proscribed were about to obey this mandate, when Jacques +Colis abruptly threw down the emblems of a bridegroom, tore the contract +in fragments, and publicly announced that he had changed his intention, +and that he would not wive a headsman's child. The public mind is usually +caught by any loud declaration in favor of the ruling prejudice, and, +after the first brief pause of surprise was past, the determination of the +groom was received with a shout of applause that was immediately followed +by general, coarse, and deriding laughter. The throng pressed upon the +keepers of the limits in a still denser mass, opposing an impenetrable +wall of human bodies to the passage of any in either direction, and a dead +stillness succeeded, as if all present breathlessly awaited the result of +the singular scene.</p> + +<p>So unexpected and sudden was the purpose of the groom, that they who were +most affected by it, did not, at first, fully comprehend the extent of +the disgrace that was so publicly heaped upon them The innocent and +unpractised Christine stood resembling the cold statue of a vestal, with +the pen raised ready to affix her as yet untarnished name to the contract, +in an attitude of suspense, while her wondering look followed the +agitation of the multitude, as the startled bird, before it takes wing, +regards a movement among the leaves of the bush. But there was no escape +from the truth. Conviction of its humiliating nature came too soon, and, +by the time the calm of intense curiosity had succeeded to the momentary +excitement of the spectators, she was standing an exquisite but painful +picture of wounded feminine feeling and of maiden shame. Her parents, too, +were stupified by the suddenness of the unexpected shock, and it was +longer before their faculties recovered the tone proper to meet an insult +so unprovoked and gross.</p> + +<p>"This is unusual;" drily remarked the bailiff, who was the first to break +the long and painful silence.</p> + +<p>"It is brutal!" warmly interposed the Signor Grimaldi. "Unless there has +been deception practised on the bridegroom, it is utterly without excuse."</p> + +<p>"Your experience, Signore, has readily suggested the true points in a very +knotty case, and I shall proceed without delay to look into its merits."</p> + +<p>Sigismund resumed his seat, his hand releasing the sword-hilt that it had +spontaneously grasped when he heard this declaration of the bailiff's +intentions.</p> + +<p>"For the sake of thy poor sister, forbear!" whispered the terrified +Adelheid. "All will ye be well--all must be well--it is impossible that +one so sweet and innocent should long remain with her honor unavenged!"</p> + +<p>The young man smiled frightfully, at least so it seemed to his companion: +but he maintained the appearance of composure. In the mean time Peterchen, +having secretly dispatched another messenger to the cooks, turned his +serious attention to the difficulty that had just arisen.</p> + +<p>"I have long been intrusted by the council with honorable duties," he +said, "but never, before to-day, have I been required to decide upon a +domestic misunderstanding, before the parties were actually wedded. This +is a grave interruption of the ceremonies of the abbaye, as well as a +slight upon the notary and the spectators, and needs be well looked to. +Dost thou really persist in putting this unusual termination to a +marriage-ceremony, Herr Bridegroom?"</p> + +<p>Jacques Colis had lost a little of the violent impulse which led him to +the precipitate and inconsiderate act of destroying an instrument he had +legally executed; but his outbreaking of feeling was followed by a sullen +and fixed resolution to persevere in the refusal at every hazard to +himself.</p> + +<p>"I will not wive the daughter of a man hunted of society, and avoided by +all;" he doggedly answered.</p> + +<p>"No doubt the respectability of the parent is the next thing to a good +dowry, in the choice of a wife," returned the bailiff, "but one of thy +years has not come hither, without having first inquired into the +parentage of her thou wert about to wed?"</p> + +<p>"It was sworn to me that the secret should be kept. The girl is well +endowed, and a promise was solemnly made that her parentage should never +be known. The family of Colis is esteemed in Vaud, and I would not have it +said that the blood of the headsman of the canton hath mixed in a stream +as fair as ours."</p> + +<p>"And yet thou wert not unwilling, so long as the circumstance was +unknown? Thy objection is less to the fact, than to its public exposure."</p> + +<p>"Without the aid of parchments and tongues, Monsieur le Bailli, we should +all be equal in birth. Ask the noble Baron de Willading, who is seated +there at your side, why he is better than another. He will tell you that +he is come of an ancient and honorable line; but had he been taken from +his castle in infancy, and concealed under a feigned name, and kept from +men's knowledge as being that he is, who would think of him for the deeds +of his ancestors? As the Sire de Willading would, in such a case, have +lost in the world's esteem, so did Christine gain; but as opinion would +return to the baron, when the truth should be published, so does it desert +Balthazar's daughter, when she is known to be a headsman's child. I would +have married the maiden as she was, but, your pardon, Monsieur le Bailli, +if I say, I will not wive her as she is."</p> + +<p>A murmur of approbation followed this plausible and ready apology, for, +when antipathies are active and bitter, men are easily satisfied with a +doubtful morality and a weak argument.</p> + +<p>"This honest youth hath some reason in him," observed the puzzled bailiff, +shaking his head. "I would he had been less expert in disputation, or that +the secret had been better kept! It is apparent as the sun in the heavens, +friend Melchior, that hadst thou not been known as thy father's child, +thou wouldst not have succeeded to thy castle and lands--nay, by St Luke! +not even to the rights of the bürgerschaft."</p> + +<p>"In Genoa we are used to hear both parties," gravely rejoined the Signor +Grimaldi, "that we may first make sure that we touch the true merits of +the case. Were another to claim the Signor de Willading's honors and name, +thou wouldst scarce grant his suit, without questioning our friend here, +touching his own rights to the same."</p> + +<p>"Better and better! This is justice, while that which fell from the +bridegroom was only argument. Harkee, Balthazar, and thou good woman, his +wife--and thou too, pretty Christine--what have ye all to answer to the +reasonable plea of Jacques Colis?"</p> + +<p>Balthazar, who, by the nature of his office, and by his general masculine +duties, had been so much accustomed to meet with harsh instances of the +public hatred, soon recovered his usual calm exterior, even though he felt +a father's pang and a father's just resentment at witnessing this open +injury to one so gentle and deserving as his child. But the blow had been +far heavier on Marguerite, the faithful and long-continued sharer of his +fortunes. The wife of Balthazar was past the prime of her days, but she +still retained the presence, and some of the personal beauty, which had +rendered her, in youth, a woman of extraordinary mien and carriage. When +the words which announced the slight to her daughter first fell on her +ears, she paled to the hue of the dead. For several minutes she stood +looking more like one that had taken a final departure from the interests +and emotions of life, than one that, in truth, was a prey to one of the +strongest passions the human breast can ever entertain, that of wounded +maternal affection. Then the blood stole slowly to her temples, and, by +the time the bailiff put his question, her entire face was glowing under a +tumult of feeling that threatened to defeat its own wishes, by depriving +her of the power of speech.</p> + +<p>"Thou canst answer him, Balthazar," she said huskily, motioning for her +husband to arouse his faculties; "thou art used to these multitudes and +to their scorn. Thou art a man, and canst do us justice."</p> + +<p>"Herr Bailiff," said the headsman, who seldom lost the mild deportment +that characterized his manner, "there is much truth in what Jacques hath +urged, but all present may have seen that the fault did not come of us, +but of yonder heartless vagabond. The wretch sought my life on the lake, +in our late unfortunate passage hither; and, not content with wishing to +rob my children of their father, he comes now to injure me still more +cruelly. I was born to the office I hold, as you well know, Herr +Hofmeister, or it would never have been sought by me; but what the law +wills, men insist upon as right. This girl can never be called upon to +strike a head from its shoulders, and, knowing from childhood up the scorn +that awaits all who come of my race, I sought the means of releasing her, +at least, from some part of the curse that hath descended on us."</p> + +<p>"I know not if this were legal!" interrupted the bailiff, quickly. "What +is your opinion, Her von Willading? Can any in Berne escape their +heritable duties, any more than hereditary privileges can be assumed? This +is a grave question; innovation leads to innovation, and our venerable +laws and our sacred usages must be preserved, if we would avert the curse +of change!"</p> + +<p>"Balthazar hath well observed that a female cannot exercise the +executioner's office."</p> + +<p>"True, but a female may bring forth them that can. This is a cunning +question for the doctors-in-law, and it must be examined; of all damnable +offences, Heaven keep me from that of a wish for change. If change is ever +to follow, why establish? Change is the unpardonable sin in politics, +Signor Grimaldi; since that which is often changed becomes valueless in +time, even if it be coin.</p> + +<p>"The mother hath something she would utter, said the Genoese, whose quick +but observant eye had been watching the workings of the countenances of +the repudiated family, while the bailiff was digressing in his usual +prolix manner on things in general, and who detected the throes of feeling +which heaved the bosom of the respectable Marguerite, in a way to announce +a speedy birth to her thoughts.</p> + +<p>"Hast thou aught to urge, good woman?" demanded Peterchen, who was well +enough disposed to hear both sides in all cases of controversy, unless +they happened to touch the supremacy of the great canton. "To speak the +truth, the reasons of Jacques Colis are plausible and witty, and are +likely to weigh heavy against thee."</p> + +<p>The color slowly disappeared from the brow of the mother, and she turned +such a look of fondness and protection on her child, as spoke a complete +condensation of all her feelings in the engrossing, sentiment of a +mother's love.</p> + +<p>"Have I aught to urge!" slowly repeated Marguerite, looking steadily about +her at the curious and unfeeling crowd which, bent on the indulgence of +its appetite for novelty, and excited by its prejudices, still pressed +upon the halberds of the officers--"Has a mother aught to say in defence +of her injured and insulted child! Why hast thou not also asked, Herr +Hofmeister, if I am human? We come of proscribed races, I know, Balthazar +and I, but like thee, proud bailiff, and the privileged at thy side, we +come too of God! The judgment and power of men have crushed us from the +beginning, and we are used to the world's scorn and to the world's +injustice!"</p> + +<p>"Say not so, good woman, for no more is required than the law sanctions. +Thou art now talking against thine own interests, and I interrupt thee in +pure mercy. 'Twould be scandalous in me to sit here and listen to one that +hath bespattered the law with an evil tongue."</p> + +<p>"I know naught of the subtleties of thy laws, but well do I know their +cruelty and wrongs, as respects me and mine! All others come into the +world with hope, but we have been crushed from the beginning. That surely +cannot be just which destroys hope. Even the sinner need not despair, +through the mercy of the Son of God! but we, that have come into the world +under thy laws, have little before us in life but shame and the scorn of +men!"</p> + +<p>"Nay, thou quite mistakest the matter, dame; these privileges were first +bestowed on thy families in reward for good services, I make no doubt, and +it was long accounted profitable to be of this office."</p> + +<p>"I do not say that in a darker age, when oppression stalked over the land, +and the best were barbarous as the worst to-day, some of those of whom we +are born may not have been fierce and cruel enough to take upon themselves +this office with good will; but I deny that any short of Him who holds the +universe in his hand, and who controls an endless future to compensate for +the evils of the present time, has the power to say to the son, that he +shall be the heritor of the father's wrongs!"</p> + +<p>"How! dost question the doctrine of descents? We shall next hear thee +dispute the rights of the bürgerschaft!"</p> + +<p>"I know nothing, Herr Bailiff, of the nice distinctions of your rights in +the city, and wish to utter naught for or against. But an entire life of +contumely and bitterness is apt to become a life of thoughtfulness and +care; and I see sufficient difference between the preservation of +privileges fairly earned, though even these may and do bring with them +abuses hard to be borne, and the unmerited oppression of the offspring for +the ancestors' faults. There is little of that justice which savors of +Heaven in this, and the time will come when a fearful return will be made +for wrongs so sore!"</p> + +<p>"Concern for thy pretty daughter, good Marguerite, causes thee to speak +strongly."</p> + +<p>"Is not the daughter of a headsman and a headsman's wife their offspring, +as much as the fair maiden who sits near thee is the child of the noble at +her side? Am I to love her less, that she is despised by a cruel world? +Had I not the same suffering at the birth, the same joy in the infant +smile, the same hope in the childish promise, and the same trembling for +her fate when I consented to trust her happiness to another, as she that +bore that more fortunate but not fairer maiden hath had in her? Hath God +created two natures--two yearnings for the mother--two longings for our +children's weal--those of the rich and honored, and those of the crushed +and despised?"</p> + +<p>"Go to, good Marguerite; thou puttest the matter altogether in a manner +that is unusual. Are our reverenced usages nothing--our solemn edicts +--our city's rule--and our resolution to govern and that fairly and with +effect?"</p> + +<p>"I fear that these are stronger than the right, and likely to endure when +the tears of the oppressed are exhausted, when they and their fates shall +be forgotten!"</p> + +<p>"Thy child is fair and modest," observed the Signor Grimaldi, "and will +yet find a youth who will more than atone for this injury. He that has +rejected her was not worthy of her faith."</p> + +<p>Marguerite turned her look, which had been glowing with awakened feeling, +on her pale and still motionless daughter. The expression of her softened, +and she folded her child to her bosom, as the dove shelters its young. +All her aroused feelings appeared to dissolve in the sentiment of love.</p> + +<p>"My child is fair, Herr Peter;" she continued, without adverting to the +interruption; "but better than fair, she is good! Christine is gentle and +dutiful, and not for a world would she bruise the spirit of another as +hers has been this day bruised. Humbled as we are, and despised of men, +bailiff, we have our thoughts, and our wishes, and our hopes, and memory, +and all the other feelings of those that are more fortunate; and when I +have racked my brain to reason on the justice of a fate which has +condemned all of my race to have little other communion with their kind +but that of blood, and when bitterness has swollen at my heart, ay, near +to bursting, and I have been ready to curse Providence and die, this mild, +affectionate girl hath been near to quench the fire that consumed me, and +to tighten the cords of life, until her love and innocence have left me +willing to live even under a heavier load than this I bear. Thou art of an +honored race, bailiff, and canst little understand most of our suffering; +but thou art a man, and shouldst know what it is to be wounded through +another, and that one who is dearer to thee than thine own flesh."</p> + +<p>"Thy words are strong, good Marguerite," again interrupted the bailiff, +who felt an uneasiness, of which he would very gladly be rid. "Himmel! Who +can like any thing better than his own flesh? Besides, thou shouldst +remember that I am a bachelor, and bachelors are apt, naturally, to feel +more for their own flesh than for that of others. Stand aside, and let the +procession pass, that we may go to the banquet, which waits. If Jacques +Colis will none of thy girl, I hove not the power to make him. Double the +dowry, good woman, and thou shalt have a choice of husbands, in spite of +the axe and the sword that are in thy escutcheon. Let the halberdiers make +way for those honest people there who, at least, are functionaries of the +law, and are to be protected as well as ourselves."</p> + +<p>The crowd obeyed, yielding readily to the advance of the officers, and, in +a few minutes, the useless attendants of the village nuptials, and the +train of Hymen, slunk away, sensible of the ridicule that, in a double +degree, attaches itself to folly when it fails of effecting even its own +absurdities.</p> +</div> + + +<div class="chapter" id="ch19"> +<h2>Chapter XIX.</h2> + + +<blockquote class="epi"><p> The weeping blood in woman's breast<br /> + Was never known to thee;<br /> + Nor the balm that drops on wounds of woe<br /> + From woman's pitying e'e.</p> + +<p> Burns.</p></blockquote> + +<p> +A large portion of the curious followed the disconcerted mummers from the +square, while others hastened to break their fasts at the several places +selected for this important feature in the business of the day. Most of +those who had been on the estrade now left it, and, in a few minutes, the +living carpet of heads around the little area in front of the bailiff was +reduced to a few hundreds of those whose better feelings were stronger +than their self indulgence. Perhaps this distribution of the multitude is +about in the proportion that is usually found in those cases in which +selfishness draws in one direction, while feeling or sympathy with the +wronged pulls in another, among all masses of human beings that are +congregated as spectators of some general and indifferent exhibition of +interests in which they have no near personal concern.</p> + +<p>The bailiff and his immediate friends, the prisoners, and the family of +the headsman, with a sufficient number of the guards, were among those who +remained. The bustling Peterchen had lost some of his desire to take his +place at the banquet, in the difficulties of the question which had +arisen, and in the certainty that nothing material, in the way of +gastronomy, would be attempted until he appeared. We should do injustice +to his heart, did we not add, also, that he had troublesome qualms of +conscience, which intuitively admonished him that the world had dealt +hardly with the family of Balthazar. There remained the party of Maso, +too, to dispose of, and his character of an upright as well as of a firm +magistrate to maintain. As the crowd diminished, however, he and those +near him descended from their high places, and mixed with the few who +occupied the still guarded area in front of the stage.</p> + +<p>Balthazar had not stirred from his riveted posture near the table of the +notary, for he shrunk from encountering, in the company of his wife and +daughter, the insults to which he should be exposed now his character was +known, by mingling with the crowd, and he waited for a favorable moment to +withdraw unseen. Marguerite still stood folding Christine to her bosom, as +if jealous of farther injury to her beloved. The recreant bridegroom had +taken the earliest opportunity to disappear, and was seen no more in Vevev +during the remainder of the revels.</p> + +<p>Peterchen cast a hurried glance at this group, as his foot reached the +ground, and then turning towards the thief-takers he made a sign for them +to advance with their prisoners.</p> + +<p>"Thy evil tongue has balked one of the most engaging rites of this day's +festival, knave;" observed the bailiff, addressing Pippo with a certain +magisterial reproof in his voice. "I should do well to send thee to Berne, +to serve a month among those who sweep the city streets, as a punishment +for thy raven throat. What, in the name of all thy Roman saints and idols, +hadst thou against the happiness of these honest people, that thou must +come, in this unseemly manner, to destroy it?"</p> + +<p>"Naught but the love of truth, eccellenza, and a just horror of the man of +blood."</p> + +<p>"That thou and all like thee should have a horror of the ministers of the +law, I can understand; and it is more than probable that thy dislike will +extend to me, for I am about to pronounce a just judgment on thee and thy +fellows for disturbing the harmony of the day, and especially for having +been guilty of the enormous crime of an outrage on our agents."</p> + +<p>"Couldst thou grant me a moment's leave?" asked the Genoese in his ear.</p> + +<p>"An hour, noble Gaetano, if thou wilt."</p> + +<p>The two then conversed apart, for a minute or more. During the brief +dialogue, the Signor Grimaldi occasionally looked at the quiet and +apparently contrite Maso, and stretched his arm towards the Leman, in a +way to give the observers an inkling of his subject. The countenance of +the Herr Hofmeister changed from official sternness to an expression of +decent concern as he listened, and ere long it took a decidedly forgiving +laxity of muscle. When the other had done speaking, he bowed a ready +assent to what he had just heard, and returned to the prisoners.</p> + +<p>"As I have just observed," he resumed, "it is my duty now to pronounce +finally on these men and their conduct. Firstly they are strangers, and as +such are not only ignorant of our laws, but entitled to our hospitality; +next, they have been punished sufficiently for the original offence, by +being abridged of the day's sports; and as to the crime committed against +ourselves, in the person of our agents, it is freely forgiven, for +forgiveness is a generous quality, and becomes a paternal form of rule. +Depart therefore, of God's name! all of ye to a man, and remember +henceforth to be discreet. Signore, and you, Herr Baron, shall we to the +banquet?"</p> + +<p>The two old friends had already moved onward, in close and earnest +discourse, and the bailiff was obliged to seek out another companion. None +offered, at the moment, but Sigismund, who had stood, since quitting the +stage, in an attitude of complete indecision and helplessness, +notwithstanding his great physical energy and his usual moral readiness to +act. Taking the arm of the young soldier, with the disregard of ceremony +that denotes a sense of condescension, the bailiff drew him away from the +spot, heedless himself of the other's reluctance, and without observing +that, in consequence of the general desertion, for few were disposed to +indulge their compassion unless it were in company with the honored and +noble, Adelheid was left absolutely alone with the family of Balthazar.</p> + +<p>"This office of a headsman, Herr Sigismund," commenced the unobservant +Peterchen, too full of his own opinions, and much too sensible of his +right to be delivered of them in the presence of his junior and inferior, +to note the youth's trouble, "is at the best but a disgusting affair; +though we, of station and authority, are obliged prudently to appear to +deem it otherwise before the people, in our own interest. Thou hast had +occasion to remark often, in the discipline of thy military followers, +that a false coloring must be put upon things, lest they who are very +necessary to the state should not think the state quite so necessary to +them. What is thy opinion, Captain Sigismund, as a man who has yet his +hopes and his views on the softer sex, of this act of Jacques Colis?--Is +it conduct to be approved of, or to be condemned?"</p> + +<p>"I deem him a heartless, mercenary, miscreant!"</p> + +<p>The suppressed energy with which these unexpected words were uttered +caused the bailiff to stop and to look up in his companion's face, as if +to ask its reason. But there all was already calm, for the young man had +too long been accustomed to drill its expression, when the sensitive sore +of his origin was probed, as so frequently happened, to permit the +momentary weakness long to maintain its ascendency.</p> + +<p>"Ay, this is the opinion of thy years;" resumed Peterchen. "Thou art at a +time of life when we esteem a pretty face and a mellow eye of more account +even than gold. But we put on our interested spectacles after thirty, and +seldom see any thing very admirable, that is not at the same time very +lucrative. Here is Melchior de Willading's daughter, now, a woman to set a +city in a blaze, for she hath wit, and lands, and beauty, besides good +blood;--what, for instance, is thy opinion of her merit?"</p> + +<p>"That she is deserving of all the happiness that every human excellence +ought to confer!"</p> + +<p>"Hum--thou art nearer to thirty than I had thought thee, Herr Sigismund! +But touching this Balthazar, thou art not to believe, on account of the +few words of grace which fell from me, that my aversion for the wretch is +less than thine, or than that of any other honest man; but it would be +unseemly and unwise in a bailiff to desert the last minister of the law's +decrees in the face of the public. There are feelings and sentiments that +are natural to us all, and among them are to be classed respect and honor +for the well and nobly born," (the discourse was in German,) "and hatred +and contempt for those who are condemned of men. These are feelings which +belong to human nature itself, and God forbid that I, a man already past +the age of romance, should really entertain any sentiments that are not +strictly human."</p> + +<p>"Do they not rather belong to abuses--to our prejudices?"</p> + +<p>"The difference is not material, in a practical view, young man. That +which is fairly bred into the mind, by discipline and habit, gets to be +stronger than instinct, or even than one of the senses. Let there be an +unseemly sight, or a foul smell near thee, and thou hast only to turn thy +eyes, or hold thy nose, to be rid of it; but I could never find the means +to lessen a prejudice that was once fairly seated in the mind. Thou mayest +look whither thou wilt, and shut out the unsavory odors of the imagination +by all the means thou canst invent, but if a man is, in truth, condemned +of opinion, he might as well make his appeal to God at once for justice, +as to any mercy he is likely to receive from men. This much have I learned +in my experience as a public functionary."</p> + +<p>"I should hope that these are not the legal dogmas of our ancient canton," +returned the youth, conquering his feelings, though it cost him a severe +effort.</p> + +<p>"As far from it as Basle is from Coire. We hold no such discreditable +doctrines. I challenge the world to show a state that possesses a fairer +set of maxims than ourselves, and we even endeavor to make our practice +chime in with our opinions, whenever it can be done in safety. No in these +particulars, Berne is a paragon of a community, and as rarely says one +thing and does another, as any government you shall see. What I now tell +thee, young man, is said to thee in the familiarity of a fête, as thou +know'st, in which there have been some fooleries, to open confidence and +to loosen the tongue. We openly and loudly profess great truth and +equality before the law saving the city's rights, and take holy, heavenly, +upright justice for our guide in all matters of theory. Himmel! If thou +would'st have thy affair decided on principle, go before the councils, or +the magistracy of the canton, and thou shalt hear such wisdom, and witness +such keen-sightedness into chicanery, as would have honored Solomon +himself!"</p> + +<p>"And notwithstanding this, prejudice is a general master."</p> + +<p>"How canst thou have it otherwise? Is not a man a man? Will he not lean as +he has been weighed upon?--does not the tree grow in the way the twig is +bent? No, while I adore justice, Herr Sigismund, as becomes a bailiff, I +confess to both prejudice and partiality, mentally considered. Now, yonder +maiden, the pretty Christine, lost some of her grace in my eyes, as no +doubt she did in thine, when the truth came to be known that she was +Balthazar's child. The girl is fair and modest and winning in her way; but +there is something--I cannot tell thee what--but a certain damnable +something--a taint--a color--a hue--a--a--a--that showed her origin the +instant I heard who was her parent--was it not so with thee?"</p> + +<p>"When her origin was proved, but not previously."</p> + +<p>"Ay, of a certainty; I mean not otherwise. But a thing is not seen any the +worse because it is seen thoroughly, although it may be seen falsely when +there are false covers to conceal its ugliness. Particularity is necessary +to philosophy. Ignorance is a mask to conceal the little details that are +necessary to knowledge. Your Moor might pass for a Christian in a mask, +but strip him of his covering and the true shade of the skin is seen. +Didst thou not observe, for instance, in all that touches feminine grace +and perfection, the manifest difference between the daughter of Melchior +de Willading and the daughter of this Balthazar?"</p> + +<p>"There was the difference between a maiden of most honored and happy +extraction and a maiden most miserably condemned!"</p> + +<p>"Nay, the Demoiselle de Willading is the fairer."</p> + +<p>"Nature has certainly been most bountiful to the heiress of Willading, +Herr Bailiff, who is scarcely less attractive for her female grace and +goodness, than she is fortunate in the accidents of birth and condition."</p> + +<p>"I knew thou couldst not, in secret, be of a different mind from the rest +of men!" exclaimed Peterchen in triumph, for he, took the warmth of his +companion's manner to be a reluctant and half-concealed assent to his own +proposition. Here the discourse ended: for, the earnest conference between +Melchior and the Signor Grimaldi having terminated, the bailiff hastened +to join his more important guests, and Sigismund was released from an +examination that had harrowed every feeling of his soul, while he even +despised the besotted loquacity of the man who had been the instrument of +his torture.</p> + +<p>The separation of Adelheid from her father was anticipated and previously +provided for; since the men were expected to resort to the banquet at this +hour. She had continued near Christine and her mother, therefore, without +attracting any unusual attention to her movements, even in those who were +the objects of her sympathy, a feeling that was so natural in one of her +years and sex. A male attendant, in the livery of her father's house +remained near her person, a protector who certain to insure not only her +safety in the thronged streets of the town, but to exact from those whose +faculties were beginning to yield to the excesses of the occasion the +testimonials of respect that were due to her station. It was under these +circumstances, then, that the more honored, and, to the eyes of the +uninstructed, the happier of these maidens, approached the other, when +curiosity was so far appeased as to have left the family of Balthazar +nearly alone in the centre of the square.</p> + +<p>"Is there no friendly roof near, to which thou canst withdraw?" asked the +heiress of Willading of the mother of the pallid and scarcely conscious +Christine; "thou wouldst do better to seek some shelter and privacy for +thy unoffending and much injured child. If any that belong to me can be of +service, I pray that thou wilt command as freely as if they were followers +of thine own."</p> + +<p>Marguerite had never before spoken with a female of a rank superior to the +ordinary classes. The ample means of both her father's and her husband's +family had furnished all that was necessary to the improvement of the mind +of one in her station, and perhaps she had been the gainer, in mere +deportment, by having been greatly excluded, by their prejudices, from +association with females of her own condition. As is often seen among +those who have the thoughts without the conventional usages of a better +caste in life, she was slightly tinctured with an exhibition of what might +be termed an exaggerated manner, while at the same time it was perfectly +free from vulgarity or coarseness. The gentle accents of Adelheid fell on +her ear soothingly, and she gazed long and earnestly at the beautiful +speaker without a reply.</p> + +<p>"Who and what art thou that canst think a headman's child may receive an +insult that is unmerited, and who offerest the service of thy menials, as +if the very vassal would not refuse his master's bidding in our behalf!"</p> + +<p>"I am Adelheid de Willading, the daughter of the baron of that name, and +one much disposed to temper this cruel blow to the feelings of poor +Christine. Suffer that my people seek the means to convey thy child to +some other place!"</p> + +<p>Marguerite folded her daughter still closer to her bosom, passing a hand +across her brow, as if to recall some half-obscured idea.</p> + +<p>"I have heard of thee, lady.--'Tis said that thou art kind to the wronged, +and of excellent dispositions towards the unhappy--that thy father's +castle is an honored and hospitable abode, which those who enter rarely +love to quit. But hast thou well weighed the consequences of this +liberality towards a race, that is and has been proscribed of men, from +generation to generation--from him who first lent himself to his bloody +office, with a cruel heart and a greedy desire for gold, to him whose +courage is scarcely equal to the disgusting duty? Hast thou bethought thee +of this, or hast thou yielded, heedlessly, to a sudden and youthful +impulse?"</p> + +<p>"Of all this have I thought," said Adelheid, eagerly; "whatever may be the +injustice of others, thou hast none to fear from me."</p> + +<p>Marguerite yielded the form of her child to the support of her father's +arm, and drew nearer, with a gaze of earnest and pleased interest, to the +blushing but still composed Adelheid. She took the hand of the latter, +and, with a look of recognition and intelligence, said slowly, as if +communing with herself, rather than speaking to another----</p> + +<p>"This is getting to be intelligible!" she murmured; "there is still +gratitude and creditable feeling in the world. I can understand why we +are not revolting to this fair being: she has a sense of justice that is +stronger than her prejudices. We have done her service, and she is not +ashamed of the source whence it has come!"</p> + +<p>The heart of Adelheid throbbed quick and violently; and, for a moment, she +doubted her ability to command her feelings. But the pleasing conviction +that Sigismund had been honorable and delicate, even in his most sacred +and confidential communications with his own mother, came to relieve her, +and to make her momentarily happy; since nothing is so painful to the pure +mind, as to think those they love have acted unworthily; or nothing so +grateful, as the assurance that they merit the esteem we have been induced +liberally and confidingly to bestow.</p> + +<p>"You do me no more than justice," returned the pleased listener of this +flattering and seemingly involuntary opinion--"we are indeed--indeed we +are truly grateful; but had we not reason for the sacred obligations of +gratitude, I think we could still be just. Will you not now consent that +my people should aid you?"</p> + +<p>"This is not necessary, lady. Send away thy followers, for their presence +will draw unpleasant observations on our movements. The town is now +occupied with feasts, and, as we have not blindly overlooked the necessity +of a retreat for the hunted and persecuted, we will take the opportunity +to withdraw unseen. As for thyself--"</p> + +<p>"I would be near this innocent at a moment so trying,"--added Adelheid +earnestly, and with that visible sympathy which rarely fails to meet an +echo.</p> + +<p>"Heaven bless thee! Heaven bless thee, sweet girl! And Heaven will bless +thee, for few wrongs go unrequited in this life, and little good without +its reward. Send thy followers away, or if thy habits require their +watchfulness, let them be near unseen, whilst thou wateriest our +movements; and when the eyes of all are turned on their own pleasures, +thou canst follow. Heaven bless thee--ay, and Heaven will!"</p> + +<p>Marguerite then led her daughter towards one of the least frequented +streets. She was accompanied by the silent Balthazar, and closely watched +by one of the menials of Adelheid. When fairly housed, the domestic +returned to show the spot to his mistress, who had appeared to occupy +herself with the hundred silly devices that were invented to amuse the +multitude. Dismissing her attendants, with an order to remain at hand, +however, the heiress of Willading soon found means to enter the humble +abode in which the proscribed family had taken refuge, and, as she was +expected, she was soon introduced into the chamber where Christine and her +mother had taken refuge.</p> + +<p>The sympathy of the young and tender Adelheid was precious to one of the +character of Christine. They wept together, for the weakness of her sex +prevailed over the pride of the former, when she found herself +unrestrained by the observation of the world, and she gave way to the +torrent of feeling that broke through its bounds, in spite of her +endeavors to control it. Marguerite was the only spectator of this silent +but intelligible communion between these two young and pure spirits, and +her soul was shaken by the unlooked-for commiseration of one so honored, +and who was usually esteemed so happy.</p> + +<p>"Thou hast the consciousness of our wrongs," she said, when the first +burst of emotion had a little subsided. "Thou canst then believe that a +headsman's child is like the offspring of another and is not to be hunted +of men like the young of a wolf."</p> + +<p>"Mother, this is the Baron de Willading's heiress," said Christine: "would +she come here, did she not pity us?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, she can pity us--and yet I find it hard even to be pitied! Sigismund +has told us of her goodness, and she may, in truth, feel for the +wretched!"</p> + +<p>The allusion to her son caused the temples of Adelheid to burn like fire, +while there was a chill, resembling that of death, at her heart. The first +arose from the quick and uncontrollable alarm of female sensitiveness; the +last was owing to the shock inseparable from being presented with this +vivid, palpable picture of Sigismund's close affinity with the family of +an executioner. She could have better borne it, had Marguerite spoken of +her son less familiarly, or with more of that feigned ignorance of each +other, which, without stopping to scan its fitness, she had been led to +think existed between the young man and his family.</p> + +<p>"Mother!" exclaimed Christine reproachfully, and in surprise, as if a +great indiscretion had been thoughtlessly committed.</p> + +<p>"It matters not, child; it matters not. I saw by the kindling eye of +Sigismund to-day, that our secret will not much longer be kept. The noble +boy must show more energy than those who have gone before him; he must +quit for ever a country in which he was condemned, even before he was +born."</p> + +<p>"I shall not deny that your connexion with Monsieur Sigismund is known to +me," said Adelheid, summoning all her resolution to make an avowal which +put her at once into the confidence of Balthazar's family. "You are +acquainted with the heavy debt of gratitude we owe your son, and it will +explain the nature of the interest I now feel in your wrongs."</p> + +<p>The keen eye of Marguerite studied the crimsoned features of Adelheid till +forgetfulness got the better of discretion. The search was anxious, rather +than triumphant, the feeling most dreaded by its subject; and, when her +eyes were withdrawn, the mother of the youth became thoughtful and +pensive. This expressive communion produced a deep and embarrassing +silence, which each would gladly have broken, had they not both been +irresistibly tongue-tied by the rapidity and intensity of their thoughts.</p> + +<p>"We know that Sigismund hath been of service to thee," observed +Marguerite, who always addressed her gay companion with the familiarity +that belonged to her greater age, rather than with the respect which +Adelheid had been accustomed to receive from those who were of a rank +inferior to her own. "The brave boy hath spoken of it, though he hath +spoken of it modestly."</p> + +<p>"He had every right to do himself justice in his communications with those +of his own family. Without his aid, my father would have been childless; +and without his brave support, the child fatherless. Twice has he stood +between us and death."</p> + +<p>"I have heard of this," returned Marguerite, again fastening her +penetrating eye on the tell-tale features of Adelheid, which never failed +to brighten and glow, whenever there was allusion to the courage and +self-devotion of him she secretly loved, "As to what thou say'st of the +intimacy of our poor boy with those of his blood, cruel circumstances +stand between us and our wishes. If Sigismund has told thee of whom he +comes he has also most probably told thee of the manner in which he +passes, in the world, for that which he is not."</p> + +<p>"I believe he has not withheld any thing that he knew, and which it was +proper to communicate to me;" answered Adelheid, dropping her eyes before +the attentive, expectant look of Marguerite. "He has spoken freely, and--"</p> + +<p>"Thou wouldst have said--"</p> + +<p>"Honorably, and as became a soldier;" continued Adelheid, firmly.</p> + +<p>"He has done well! This lightens my heart of one burthen at least. No; God +has destined us to this fate, and it would have grieved me that a son of +mine should have failed of principle in an affair, of all others, in which +it is most wanted. You look amazed, lady!"</p> + +<p>"These sentiments, in one so situated, surprise as much as they delight +me! If any thing could excuse some looseness in the manner of regarding +the usual ties of life, it would surely be to find oneself so placed, by +no misconduct of our own, as to be a but to the world's dislike and +injustice; and yet here, where there was reason to expect some resentment +against fortune, I meet with sentiments that would honor a throne!"</p> + +<p>"Thou thinkest as one more accustomed to consider thy fellow-creatures +through the means of what men fancy, than through things as they are. This +is the picture of youth, and inexperience, and innocence; but it is not +the picture of life. 'Tis misfortune, and not prosperity that chasteneth, +by proving our insufficiency for true happiness, and by leading the soul +to depend on a power greater than any that is to be found on earth. We +fall before the temptation of happiness, when we rise in adversity. If +thou thinkest, innocent one, that noble and just sentiments belong to the +fortunate, thou trustest to a false guide. There are evils which flesh +cannot endure, it is true; but, removed from these overwhelming wants, we +are strongest in the right, when least tempted by vanity and ambition. +More starving beggars abstain from stealing the crust they crave, than +pampered gluttons deny themselves the luxury that kills them. They that +live under the rod, see and dread the hand that holds it; they who riot in +earth's glories, come at last to think they deserve the short-lived +distinctions they enjoy. When thou goest down into the depths of misery, +thou hast naught to fear except the anger of God! It is when raised above +others, that thou shouldst tremble most for thine own safety."</p> + +<p>"This is not the manner in which the world is used to reason."</p> + +<p>"Because the world is governed by those whose interest it is to pervert +truth to their own objects, and not by those whose duties run hand-in-hand +with the right. But we will say no more of this, lady; here is one that +feels too acutely just now to admit truth to be too freely spoken."</p> + +<p>"Dost, feel thyself better, and more able to listen to thy friends, dear +Christine?" asked Adelheid, taking the hand of the repudiated and deserted +girl with the tenderness of an affectionate sister.</p> + +<p>Until now the sufferer had only spoken the few words related, in mild +reproof of her mother's indiscretion. That little had been uttered with +parched lips and a choked voice, while the hue of her features was deadly +pale, and her whole countenance betrayed intense mental anguish. But this +display of interest in one of her own years and sex, of whose excellencies +she had been accustomed to hear such fervid descriptions from the +warm-hearted Sigismund, and of whose sincerity she was assured by the +subtle and quick instinct that unites the innocent and young, caused a +quick and extreme change in her sensibilities. The grief which had been +struggling and condensed, now flowed more freely from her eyes, and she +threw herself, sobbing and weeping, in a paroxysm of gentle, but +overwhelming, feeling, on the bosom of this new found friend. The +experienced Marguerite smiled at this manifestation of kindness on the +part of Adelheid, though even this expression of satisfaction was austere +and regulated in one who had so long stood at bay with the world. And, +after a short pause, she left the room, under the belief that such a +communion with a spirit, pure and inexperienced as her own, a communion so +unusual to her daughter, would be more likely to produce a happy effect, +if left to themselves, than when restrained by her presence.</p> + +<p>The two girls wept in common, for a long time after Marguerite had +disappeared. This intercourse, chastened as it was by sorrow, and rendered +endearing on the one side by a confiding ingenuousness, and on the other +by generous pity, caused both to live in that short period, as it were, +months together in a near and dear intimacy. Confidence is not always the +growth of time. There are minds that meet each other with a species of +affinity that resembles the cohesive property of matter, and with a +promptitude and faith that only belongs to the purer essence of which they +are composed. But when this attraction of the ethereal part of the being +is aided by the feelings that have been warmed by an interest so tender as +that which the hearts of both the maidens felt in a common object, its +power is not only stronger, but quicker, in making itself felt. So much +was already known by each of the other's character, fortunes, and hopes +(always with the exception of Adelheid's most sacred secret, which +Sigismund cherished as a deposit by far too sacred to be shared even with +his sister) that the meeting under no circumstances could have been that +of strangers, and their mutual knowledge came as an assistant to break +down the barriers of those forms which were so irksome to their longings +for a freer interchange of feeling and thought. Adelheid possessed too +much intellectual tact to have recourse to the every-day language of +consolation. When she did speak, which, as became her superior rank and +less embarrassed situation, she was the first to do, it in general but +friendly allusions.</p> + +<p>"Thou wilt go with us to Italy, in the morning," she said, drying her +eyes; "my father quits Blonay, in company with the Signor Grimaldi, with +to-morrow's sun, and thou wilt be of our company?"</p> + +<p>"Where thou wilt--anywhere with thee--anywhere to hide my shame!"</p> + +<p>The blood mounted to the temples of Adelheid; her air even appeared +imposing to the eyes of the artless and unpractised Christine, as she +answered--</p> + +<p>"Shame is a word that applies to the mean and mercenary, to the vile and +unfaithful," she said, with womanly and virtuous indignation; "but not to +thee, love."</p> + +<p>"O! do not, do not condemn him;" whispered Christine, covering her face +with her hands. "He has found himself unequal to bearing the burthen of +our degradation, and he should be spoken of in pity rather than with +hatred."</p> + +<p>Adelheid was silent; but she regarded the poor trembling girl, whose head +now nestled in her bosom, with melancholy concern.</p> + +<p>"Didst thou know him well?" she asked in a low tone, following rather the +chain of her own thoughts, than reflecting on the nature of the question +she put. "I had hoped that this refusal would bring no other pain than the +unavoidable mortification which I fear belongs to the weakness of our sex +and our habits."</p> + +<p>"Thou knowest not how dear preference is to the despised!--how cherished +the thought of being loved becomes to those, who, out of their own narrow +limits of natural friends, have been accustomed to meet only with contempt +and aversion! Thou hast always been known, and courted, and happy! Thou +canst not know how dear it is to the despised to seem even to be +preferred!"</p> + +<p>"Nay, say not this, I pray thee!" answered Adelheid, hurriedly, and with a +throb of anguish at her heart; "there is little in this life that speaks +fairly for itself. We are not always what we seem; and if we were, and far +more miserable than anything but vice can make us, there is another state +of being, in which justice--pure, unalloyed justice--will be done."</p> + +<p>"I will go with thee to Italy," answered Christine, looking calm and +resolved, while a glow of holy hope bloomed on each cheek; "when all is +over, we will go together to a happier world!"</p> + +<p>Adelheid folded the stricken and sensitive plant to her bosom. Again they +wept together, but it was with a milder and sweeter sorrow than before.</p> +</div> + + +<div class="chapter" id="ch20"> +<h2>Chapter XX.</h2> + + +<blockquote class="epi"><p> I'll show thee the best springs; I'll pluck thee berries.</p> + +<p> <i>Tempest.</i></p></blockquote> + +<p> +The day dawned clear and cloudless on the Leman, the morning that +succeeded the Abbaye des Vignerons. Hundreds among the frugal and +time-saving Swiss had left the town before the appearance of the light, +and many strangers were crowding into the barks, as the sun came bright +and cheerfully over the rounded and smiling summits of the neighboring +côtes. At this early hour, all in and around the rock-seated castle of +Blonay were astir, and in motion. Menials were running, with hurried air, +from room to room, from court to terrace and from lawn to tower. The +peasants in the adjoining fields rested on their utensils of husbandry, in +gaping, admiring attention to the preparations of their superiors. For +though we are not writing of a strictly feudal age, the events it is our +business to record took place long before the occurrence of those great +political events, which have since so materially changed the social state +of Europe. Switzerland was then a sealed country to most of those who +dwelt even in the adjoining nations, and the present advanced condition of +roads and inns was quite unknown, not only to these mountaineers, but +throughout the rest of what was then much more properly called the +exclusively civilized portion of the globe, than it is to-day. Even horses +were not often used in the passage of the Alps, but recourse was had to +the surer-footed mule by the traveller, and, not unfrequently, by the more +practised carrier and smuggler of those rude paths. Roads existed, it is +true, as in other parts of Europe, in the countries of the plain, if any +portion of the great undulating surface of that region deserve the name; +but once within the mountains, with the exception of very inartificial +wheel-tracks in the straitened and glen-like valleys, the hoof alone was +to be trusted or indeed used.</p> + +<p>The long train of travellers, then, that left the gates of Blonay just as +the fog began to stir on the wide alluvial meadows of the Rhone, were all +in the saddle. A courier, accompanied by a sumpter-mule, had departed +over-night to prepare the way for those who were to follow, and active +young mountaineers had succeeded, from time to time, charged with +different orders, issued in behalf of their comforts.</p> + +<p>As the cavalcade passed beneath the arch of the great gate, the lively, +spirit-stirring horn sounded a fare well air, to which custom had attached +the signification of good wishes. It took the way towards the level of the +Leman by means of a winding and picturesque bridle-path that led, among +alpine meadows, groves, rocks, and hamlets, fairly to the water-side. +Roger de Blonay and his two principal guests rode in front, the former +seated on a war-horse that he had ridden years before as a soldier, and +the two latter well mounted on beasts prepared for, and accustomed to, the +mountains. Adelheid and Christine came next, riding by themselves, in the +modest reserve of their maiden condition. Their discourse was low, +confidential, and renewed at intervals. A few menials followed, and then +came Sigismund at the side of the Signor Grimald's friend, and one of the +family of Blonay, the latter of whom was destined to return with the +baron, after doing honor to their guests by seeing them as far as +Villeneuve The rear was brought up by muleteers, domestics, and those who +led the beasts that bore the baggage. All of the former who intended to +cross the Alps carried the fire-arms of the period at their saddle-bows, +and each had his rapier, his <i>couteau de chasse</i>, or his weapon of more +military fashion, so disposed about his person as to denote it was +considered an arm for whose use some occasion might possibly occur.</p> + +<p>As the departure from Blonay was unaccompanied by any of those +leave-takings which usually impress a touch of melancholy on the +traveller, most of the cavalcade, as they issued into the pure and +exhilarating air of the morning, were sufficiently disposed to enjoy the +loveliness of the landscape, and to indulge in the cheerfulness and +delight that a scene so glorious is apt to awaken, in all who are alive to +the beauties of nature.</p> + +<p>Adelheid gladly pointed out to her companion the various objects of the +view, as a means of recalling the thoughts of Christine from her own +particular griefs, which were heightened by regret for the loss of her +mother, from whom she was now seriously separated for the first time in +her life, since their communications, though secret, had been constant +during the years she had dwelt under another roof. The latter gratefully +lent herself to the kind intentions of her new friend, and endeavored to +be pleased with all she beheld, though it was such pleasure as the sad +and mourning admit with a jealous reservation of their own secret causes +of woe.</p> + +<p>"Yonder tower, towards which we advance, is Châtelard," said the heiress +of Willading to the daughter of Balthazar, in the pursuit of her kind +intention; "a hold, nearly as ancient and honorable as this we have just +quitted, though not so constantly the dwelling of the same family; for +these of Blonay have been a thousand years dwellers on the same rock, +always favorably known for their faith and courage."</p> + +<p>"Surely, if there is anything in life that can compensate for its +every-day evils," observed Christine, in a manner of mild regret and +perhaps with the perversity of grief, "it must be to have come from those +who have always been known and honored among the great and happy! Even +virtue and goodness, and great deeds, scarce give a respect like that we +feel for the Sire de Blonay, whose family has been seated, as thou hast +just said, a thousand years on that rock above us!"</p> + +<p>Adelheid was mute. She appreciated the feeling which had so naturally led +her companion to a reflection like this, and she felt the difficulty of +applying balm to a wound as deep as that which had been inflicted on her +companion.</p> + +<p>"We are not always to suppose those the most happy that the world most +honors," she at length answered; "the respect to which we are accustomed +comes in time to be necessary, without being a source of pleasure; and the +hazard of incurring its loss is more than equal to the satisfaction of its +possession."</p> + +<p>"Thou wilt at least admit that to be despised and shunned is a curse to +which nothing can reconcile us."</p> + +<p>"We will speak now of other things, dear. It may be long ere either of us +again sees this grand display of rock and water, of brown mountain and +shining glacier; we will not prove ourselves ungrateful for the happiness +we have, by repining for that which is impossible."</p> + +<p>Christine quietly yielded to the kind intention of her new friend, and +they rode on in silence, picking their way along the winding path, until +the whole party, after a long but pleasant descent, reached the road, +which is nearly washed by the waters of the lake. There has already been +allusion, in the earlier pages of our work, to the extraordinary beauties +of the route near this extremity of the Leman. After climbing to the heigh +of the mild and healthful Montreux, the cavalcade again descended, under a +canopy of nut-trees, to the gate of Chillon, and, sweeping around the +margin of the sheet, it reached Villeneuve by the hour that had been named +for an early morning repast. Here all dismounted, and refreshed themselves +awhile, when Roger de Blonay and his attendants, after many exchanges of +warm and sincere good wishes, took their final leave.</p> + +<p>The sun was scarcely yet visible in the deep glens, when those who were +destined for St. Bernard were again in the saddle. The road now +necessarily left the lake, traversing those broad alluvial bottoms which +have been deposited during thirty centuries by the washings of the Rhone, +aided, if faith is to be given to geological symptoms and to ancient +traditions, by certain violent convulsions of nature. For several hours +our travellers rode amid such a deep fertility, and such a luxuriance of +vegetation, that their path bore more analogy to an excursion on the wide +plains of Lombardy, than to one amid the usual Swiss scenery; although, +unlike the boundless expanse of the Italian garden, the view was limited +on each side by perpendicular barriers of rock, that were piled for +thousands of feet into the heavens, and which were merely separated from +each other by a league or two, a distance that dwindled to miles in its +effect on the eye, a consequence of the grandeur of the scale on which +nature has reared these vast piles.</p> + +<p>It was high-noon when Melchior de Willading and his venerable friend led +the way across the foaming Rhone, at the celebrated bridge of St Maurice. +Here the country of the Valais, then like Geneva, an ally, and not a +confederate of the Swiss cantons, was entered, and all objects, both +animate and inanimate, began to assume that mixture of the grand, the +sterile, the luxuriant, and the revolting, for which this region is so +generally known. Adelheid gave an involuntary shudder, her imagination +having been prepared by rumor for even more than the truth would have +given reason to expect, when the gate of St. Maurice swung back upon its +hinges, literally inclosing the party in this wild, desolate, and yet +romantic region. As they proceeded along the Rhone, however, she and +those of her companions to whom the scene was new, were constantly +wondering at some unlooked-for discrepancy, that drove them from +admiration to disgust--from the exclamations of delight to the chill of +disappointment. The mountains on every side were dreary, and without the +rich relief of the pastured eminences, but most of the valley was rich and +generous. In one spot a sac d'eau, one of those reservoirs of water which +form among the glaciers on the summits of the rocks, had broken, and, +descending like a water-spout, it had swept before it every vestige of +cultivation, covering wide breadths of the meadows with a débris that +resembled chaos. A frightful barrenness, and the most smiling fertility, +were in absolute contact: patches of green, that had been accidentally +favored by some lucky formation of the ground, sometimes appearing like +oases of the desert, in the very centre of a sterility that would put the +labor and the art of man at defiance for a century. In the midst of this +terrific picture of want sat a crétin, with his semi-human attributes, the +lolling tongue, the blunted faculties, and the degraded appetites, to +complete the desolation. Issuing from this belt of annihilated vegetation, +the scene became again as pleasant as the fancy could desire, or the eye +crave. Fountains leaped from rock to rock in the sun's rays; the valley +was green and gentle; the mountains began to show varied and pleasing +forms; and happy smiling faces appeared, whose freshness and regularity +were perhaps of a cast superior to that of most of the Swiss. In short, +the Valais was then; as now, a country of opposite extremes, but in which, +perhaps, there is a predominance of the repulsive and inhospitable.</p> + +<p>It was fairly nightfall, notwithstanding the trifling distance they had +journeyed, when the travellers reached Martigny, where dispositions had +previously been made for their reception during the hours of sleep. Here +preparations were made to seek their rest at an early hour, in order to be +in readiness for the fatiguing toil of the following day.</p> + +<p>Martigny is situated at the point where the great valley of the Rhone +changes its direction from a north and south to an east and west course, +and it is the spot whence three of the celebrated mountain paths diverge, +to make as many passages of the upper Alps. Here are the two routes of the +great and little St. Bernard, both of which lead into Italy, and that of +the Col-de-Balme, which crosses a spur of the Alps into Savoy toward the +celebrated valley of Chamouni. It was the intention of the Baron de +Willading and his friend to journey by the former of these roads, as has +so often been mentioned in these pages, their destination being the +capital of Piedmont. The passage of the great St. Bernard, though so long +known by its ancient and hospitable convent, the most elevated habitation +in Europe, and in these later times so famous for the passage of a +conquering army is but a secondary alpine pass, considered in reference to +the grandeur of its scenery. The ascent, so inartificial even to this +hour, is loner and comparatively without danger, and in general it is +sufficiently direct, there being no very precipitous rise like those of +the Gemmi, the Grimsel, and various other passes in Switzerland and Italy, +except at the very neck, or col, of the mountain, where the rock is to be +literally climbed on the rude and broad steps that so frequently occur +among the paths of the Alps and the Apennines. The fatigue of this passage +comes, therefore, rather from its length, and the necessity of unremitted +diligence, than from any excessive labor demanded by the ascent; and the +reputation acquired by the great captain of our age, in leading an army +across its summit, has been obtained more by the military combinations of +which it formed the principal feature, the boldness of the conception, and +the secrecy and promptitude with which so extensive an operation was +effected, than by the physical difficulties that were overcome. In the +latter particular, the passage of St. Bernard, as this celebrated +coup-de-main is usually called, has frequently been outdone in our own +wilds; for armies have often traversed regions of broad streams, broken +mountains, and uninterrupted forests, for weeks at a time, in which the +mere bodily labor of any given number of days would be found to be greater +than that endured on this occasion by the followers of Napoleon. The +estimate we attach to every exploit is so dependent on the magnitude of +its results, that men rarely come to a perfectly impartial judgment on its +merits; the victory or defeat, however simple or bloodless, that shall +shake or assure the interests of civilized society, being always esteemed +by the world an event of greater importance, than the happiest +combinations of thought and valor that affect only the welfare of some +remote and unknown people. By the just consideration of this truth, we +come to understand the value of a nation's possessing confidence in +itself, extensive power, and a unity commensurate to its means; since +small and divided states waste their strength in acts too insignificant +for general interest, frittering away their mental riches, no less than +their treasure and blood, in supporting interests that fail to enlist the +sympathies of any beyond the pale of their own borders. The nation which, +by the adverse circumstances of numerical inferiority, poverty of means, +failure of enterprise, or want of opinion, cannot sustain its own citizens +in the acquisition of a just renown, is deficient in one of the first and +most indispensable elements of greatness; glory, like riches, feeding +itself, and being most apt to be found where its fruits have already +accumulated. We see, in this fact, among other conclusions, the importance +of an acquisition of such habits of manliness of thought, as will enable +us to decide on the merits and demerits of what is done among ourselves, +and of shaking off that dependence on others which it is too much the +custom of some among us to dignify with the pretending title of deference +to knowledge and taste, but which, in truth, possesses some such share of +true modesty and diffidence, as the footman is apt to exhibit when +exulting in the renown of his master.</p> + +<p>This little digression has induced us momentarily to overlook the +incidents of the tale. Few who possess the means, venture into the stormy +regions of the upper Alps, at the late season in which the present party +reached the hamlet of Martigny, without seeking the care of one or more +suitable guides. The services of these men are useful in a variety of +ways, but in none more than in offering the advice which long familiarity +with the signs of the heavens, the temperature of the air, and the +direction of the winds, enables them to give. The Baron de Willading, and +his friend, immediately dispatched a messenger for a mountaineer, of the +name of Pierre Dumont, who enjoyed a fair name for fidelity, and who was +believed to be better acquainted with all the difficulties of the ascent +and descent, than any other who journeyed among the glens of that part of +the Alps. At the present day, when hundreds ascend to the convent from +curiosity alone, every peasant of sufficient strength and intelligence +becomes a guide, and the little community of the lower Valais finds the +transit of the idle and rich such a fruitful source of revenue, that it +has been induced to regulate the whole by very useful and just ordinances; +but at the period of the tale, this Pierre was the only individual, who, +by fortunate concurrences, had obtained a name among affluent foreigners, +and who was at all in demand with that class of travellers. He was not +long in presenting himself in the public room of the inn--a hale, florid, +muscular man of sixty, with every appearance of permanent health and +vigor, but with a slight and nearly imperceptible difficulty of breathing.</p> + +<p>"Thou art Pierre Dumont?" observed the baron, studying the open +physiognomy and well-set frame of the Valaisan, with satisfaction. "Thou +hast been mentioned by more than one traveller in his book."</p> + +<p>The stout mountaineer raised himself in pride, and endeavored to +acknowledge the compliment in the manner of his well-meant but rude +courtesy; for refinement did not then extend its finesse and its deceit +among the glens of Switzerland.</p> + +<p>"They have done me honor, Monsieur," he said: "it has been my good fortune +to cross the Col with many brave gentlemen and fair ladies--and in two +instances with princes." (Though a sturdy republican, Pierre was not +insensible to worldly rank.) "The pious monks know me well; and they who +enter the convent are not the worse received for being my companions. I +shall be glad to lead so fair a party from our cold valley into the sunny +glens of Italy, for, if the truth must be spoken, nature has placed us on +the wrong side of the mountain for our comfort, though we have our +advantage over those who live even in Turin and Milan, in matters of +greater importance."</p> + +<p>"What can be the superiority of a Valaisan over the Lombard, or the +Piedmontese?" demanded the Signor Grimaldi quickly, like a man who was +curious to hear the reply. "A traveller should seek all kind of knowledge, +and I take this to be a newly-discovered fact."</p> + +<p>"Liberty, Signore! We are our own masters; we have been so since the day +when our fathers sacked the castles of the barons, and compelled their +tyrants to become their equals. I think of this each time I reach the warm +plains of Italy, and return to my cottage a more contented man, for the +reflection."</p> + +<p>"Spoken like a Swiss, though it is uttered by an ally of the cantons!" +cried Melchior de Willading, heartily. "This is the spirit, Gaetano, which +sustains our mountaineers, and renders them more happy amid their frosts +and rocks, than thy Genoese on his warm and glowing bay."</p> + +<p>"The word liberty, Melchior, is more used than understood, and as much +abused as used;" returned the Signor Grimaldi gravely. "A country on which +God hath laid his finger in displeasure as on this, needs have some such +consolation as the phantom with which the honest Pierre appears to be so +well satisfied.--But, Signor guide, have many travellers tried the passage +of late, and what dost thou think of our prospects in making the attempt? +We hear gloomy tales, sometimes, of thy alpine paths in that Italy thou +hold'st so cheap."</p> + +<p>"Your pardon, noble Signore, if the frankness of a mountaineer has carried +me too far. I do not undervalue your Piedmont, because I love our Valais +more. A country may be excellent, even though another should be better. As +for the travellers, none of note have gone up the Col of late, though +there have been the usual number of vagabonds and adventurers. The savor +of the convent kitchen will reach the noses of these knaves here in the +valley, though we have a long twelve leagues to journey in getting from +one to the other."</p> + +<p>The Signor Grimaldi waited until Adelheid and Christine, who were +preparing to retire for the night, were out of hearing, and he resumed his +questions.</p> + +<p>"Thou hast not spoken of the weather?"</p> + +<p>"We are in one of the most uncertain and treacherous months of the good +season, Messieurs. The winter is gathering among the upper Alps, and in a +month in which the frosts are flying about like uneasy birds that do not +know where to alight, one can hardly say whether he hath need of his cloak +or not."</p> + +<p>"San Francesco! Dost think I am dallying with thee, friend, about a +thickness more or less of cloth! I am hinting at avalanches and falling +rocks--at whirlwinds and tempests?"</p> + +<p>Pierre laughed and shook his head, though he answered vaguely as became +his business.</p> + +<p>"These are Italian opinions of our hills, Signore," he said; "they savor +of the imagination. Our pass is not as often troubled with the avalanche +as some that are known, even in the melting snows. Had you looked at the +peaks from the lake, you would have seen that, the hoary glaciers +excepted, they are still all brown and naked. The snow must fall from the +heavens before it can fall in the avalanche, and we are yet, I think, a +few days from the true winter."</p> + +<p>"Thy calculations are made with nicety, friend," returned the Genoese, not +sorry, however, to hear the guide speak with so much apparent confidence +of the weather, "and we are obliged to thee in proportion. What of the +travellers thou hast named? Are there brigands on our path?"</p> + +<p>"Such rogues have been known to infest the place, but, in general, there +is too little to be gained for the risk. Your rich traveller is not an +every-day sight among our rocks; and you well know Signore, that there may +be too few, as well as too many, on a path, for your freebooter."</p> + +<p>The Italian was distrustful by habit on all such subjects, and he threw a +quick suspicious glance at the guide. But the frank open countenance of +Pierre removed all doubt of his honesty, to say nothing of the effect of a +well-established reputation.</p> + +<p>"But thou hast spoken of certain vagabonds who have preceded us?"</p> + +<p>"In that particular, matters might be better;" answered the plain-minded +mountaineer, dropping his head in an attitude of meditation so naturally +expressed as to give additional weight to his words. "Many of bad +appearance have certainly gone up to-day; such as a Neapolitan named +Pippo, who is anything but a saint--a certain pilgrim, who will be nearer +heaven at the convent than he will be at the death--St. Pierre pray for me +if I do the man injustice!--and one or two more of the same brood. There +is another that hath gone up also, post haste, and with good reason as +they say, for he hath made himself the but of all the jokers in Vévey on +account of some foolery in the games of the Abbaye--a certain Jacques +Colis."</p> + +<p>The name was repeated by several near the speaker.</p> + +<p>"The same, Messieurs. It would seem that the Sieur Colis would fain take a +maiden to wife in the public sports, and, when her birth came to be be +known, that his bride was no other than the child of Balthazar, the common +headsman of Berne!"</p> + +<p>A general silence betrayed the embarrassment of most of the listeners.</p> + +<p>"And that tale hath already reached this glen," said Sigismund, in a tone +so deep and firm as to cause Pierre to start, while the two old nobles +looked in another direction, feigning not to observe what was passing.</p> + +<p>"Rumor hath a nimbler foot than a mule, young officer;" answered the +honest guide. "The tale, as you call it, will have travelled across the +mountains sooner than they who bore it--though I never knew how such a +miracle could pass--but so it is; report goes faster than the tongue that +spreads it, and if there be a little untruth to help it along, the wind +itself is scarcely swifter. Honest Jacques Colis has bethought him to get +the start of his story, but, my life on it, though he is active enough in +getting away from his mockers, that he finds it, with all the additions, +safely housed at the inn at Turin when he reaches that city himself."</p> + +<p>"These, then, are all?" interrupted the Signor Grimaldi, who saw, by the +heaving bosom of Sigismund, that it was time in mercy to interpose.</p> + +<p>"Not so, Signore--there is still another and one I like less than any. A +countryman of your own, who, impudently enough, calls himself Il +Maledetto."</p> + +<p>"Maso!"</p> + +<p>"The very same."</p> + +<p>"Honest, courageous Maso, and his noble dog!"</p> + +<p>"Signore, you describe the man so well in some things, that I wonder you +know so little of him in others. Maso hath not his equal on the road for +activity and courage, and the beast is second only to our mastiffs of the +convent for the same qualities; but when you speak of the master's +honesty, you speak of that for which the world gives him little credit, +and do great disparagement to the brute, which is much the best of the +two, in this respect."</p> + +<p>"This may be true enough," rejoined the Signore Grimaldi, turning +anxiously towards his companions:--"man is a strange compound of good and +evil; his acts when left to natural impulses are so different from what +they become on calculation that one can scarcely answer for a man of +Maso's temperament. We know him to be a most efficient friend, and such a +man would be apt to make a very dangerous enemy! His qualities were not +given to him by halves. And yet we have a strong circumstance in our +favor; for he who hath once done the least service to a fellow-creature +feels a sort of paternity in him he hath saved, and would be little likely +to rob himself of the pleasure of knowing, that there are some of his kind +who owe him a grateful recollection."</p> + +<p>This remark was answered by Melchior de Willading in the same spirit, and +the guide, perceiving he was no longer wanted, withdrew.</p> + +<p>Soon after, the travellers retired to rest.</p> +</div> + + +<div class="chapter" id="ch21"> +<h2>Chapter XXI.</h2> + + +<blockquote class="epi"><p> As yet the trembling year is unconfirmed,<br /> + And winter oft, at eve, resumes the breeze,<br /> + Chills the pale morn, and bids his driving sleets<br /> + Deform the day delightful:----</p> + +<p> Thomson.</p></blockquote> + +<p> +The horn of Pierre Dumont was blowing beneath the windows of the inn of +Martigny, with the peep of dawn. Then followed the appearance of drowsy +domestics, the saddling of unwilling mules, and the loading of baggage. A +few minutes later the little caravan was assembled, for the cavalcade +almost deserved this name, and the whole were in motion for the summits of +the Alps.</p> + +<p>The travellers now left the valley of the Rhone to bury themselves amid +those piles of misty and confused mountains, which formed the back-ground +of the picture they had studied from the castle of Blonay and the sheet of +the Leman. They soon plunged into a glen, and, following the windings of a +brawling torrent, were led gradually, and by many turnings, into a country +of bleak upland pasturage, where the inhabitants gained a scanty +livelihood, principally by means of their dairies.</p> + +<p>A few leagues above Martigny, the paths again separated, one inclining to +the left towards the elevated valley that has since become so celebrated +in the legends of this wild region, by the formation of a little lake in +its glacier, which, becoming too heavy for its foundation, broke through +its barrier of ice, and descended in a mountain of water to the Rhone, a +distance of many leagues, sweeping before it every vestige of civilization +that crossed its course, and even changing, in many places, the face of +nature itself. Here the glittering peak of Vélan became visible, and, +though so much nearer to the eye than when viewed from Vévey, it was still +a distant shining pile, grand in its solitude and mystery, on which the +sight loved to dwell, as it studies the pure and spotless edges of some +sleepy cloud.</p> + +<p>It has already been said, that the ascent of the great St. Bernard, with +the exception of occasional hills and hollows, is nowhere very precipitous +but at the point at which the last rampart of rock is to be overcome. On +the contrary, the path, for leagues at a time, passes along tolerably even +valleys, though of necessity the general direction is upward, and for most +of the distance through a country that admits of cultivation, though the +meagreness of the soil, and the shortness of the seasons, render but an +indifferent return to the toil of the husbandman. In this respect it +differs from most of the other Alpine passes; but if it wants the variety, +wildness, and sublimity of the Splugen. the St. Gothard, the Gemmi, and +the Simplon, it is still an ascent on a magnificent scale, and he who +journeys on its path is raised, as it were, by insensible degrees, to an +elevation that gradually changes all his customary associations with the +things of the lower world.</p> + +<p>From the moment of quitting the inn to that of the first halt, Melchior de +Willading and the Signor Grimaldi rode in company, as on the previous day. +These old friends had much to communicate in confidential discourse which +the presence of Roger de Blonay, and the importunities of the bailiff, had +hitherto prevented them from freely saying. Both had thought maturely, +too, on the situation of Adelheid, of her hopes, and of her future +fortunes, and both had reasoned much as two old nobles of that day, who +were not without strong sympathies for their kind, while they were too +practised to overlook the world and its ties, would be likely to reason on +an affair of this delicate nature.</p> + +<p>"There came a feeling of regret, perhaps I might fairly call it by its +proper name, of envy," observed the Genoese, in the pursuance of the +subject which engrossed most of their time and thoughts, as they rode +slowly along, the bridles dangling from the necks of their mules,--"there +came a feeling of regret, when I first saw the fair creature that calls +thee father, Melchior. God has dealt mercifully by me, in respect to many +things that make men happy; but he rendered my marriage accursed, not only +in its bud, but in its fruit. Thy child is dutiful and loving, all that a +father can wish; and yet here is this unusual attachment come to +embarrass, if not to defeat, thy fair and just hopes for her welfare! This +is no common affair, that a few threats of bolts and a change of scene +will cure, but a rooted affection that is but too firmly based on +esteem.--By San Francesco, but I think, at times, thou wouldst do well to +permit the ceremony!"</p> + +<p>"Should it be our fortune to meet with the absconding Jacques Colis at +Turin, he might give us different counsel," answered the old baron drily.</p> + +<p>"That is a dreadful barrier to our wishes! Were the boy anything but a +headsman's child! I do not think thou couldst object, Melchior, had he +merely come of a hind, or of some common follower of thy family?"</p> + +<p>"It were far better that he should have come of one like ourselves, +Gaetano. I reason but little on the dogmas of this or that sect in +politics; but I feel and think, in this affair, as the parent of an only +child. All those usages and opinions in which we are trained, my friend, +are so many ingredients in our happiness, let them be silly or wise, just +or oppressive; and though I would fain do that which is right to the rest +of mankind, I could wish to begin to practise innovation with any other +than my own daughter. Let them who like philosophy and justice, and +natural rights, so well, commence by setting us the example."</p> + +<p>"Thou hast hit the stumbling-block that causes a thousand well-digested +plans for the improvement of the world to fail, honest Melchior. Could we +toil with others' limbs, sacrifice with others' groans, and pay with +others' means, there would be no end to our industry, our +disinterestedness, or our liberality--and yet it were a thousand pities +that so sweet a girl and so noble a youth should not yoke!"</p> + +<p>"'Twould be a yoke indeed, for a daughter of the house of Willading;" +returned the graver father, with emphasis. "I have looked at this matter +in every face that becomes me, Gaetano, and though I would not rudely +repulse one that hath saved my life, by driving him from my company, at a +moment when even strangers consort for mutual aid and protection, at Turin +we must part for ever!"</p> + +<p>"I know not how to approve, nor yet how to blame thee, poor Melchior! +'Twas a sad scene, that of the refusal to wed Balthazar's daughter, in the +presence of so many thousands!"</p> + +<p>"I take it as a happy and kind warning of the precipice to which a foolish +tenderness was leading us both, my friend."</p> + +<p>"Thou may'st have reason; and yet I wish thou wert more in error than ever +Christian was! These are rugged mountains, Melchior, and, fairly passed, +it might be so arranged that the boy should forget Switzerland for ever. +He might become a Genoese, in which event, dost thou not see the means of +overcoming some of the present difficulty?"</p> + +<p>"Is the heiress of my house a vagrant, Signor Grimaldi, to forget her +country and birth?"</p> + +<p>"I am childless, in effect, if not in fact; and where there are the will +and the means, the end should not be wanting. We will speak of this under +the warmer sun of Italy, which they say is apt to render hearts tender."</p> + +<p>"The hearts of the young and amorous, good Gaetano, but, unless much +changed of late, it is as apt to harden those of the old, as any sun I +know of;" returned the baron, shaking his head, though it much exceeded +his power to smile at his own pleasantry when speaking on this painful +subject. "Thou knowest that in this matter I act only for the welfare of +Adelheid, without thought of myself; and it would little comport with the +honor of a baron of an ancient house, to be the grandfather of children +who come of a race of executioners."</p> + +<p>The Signor Grimaldi succeeded better than his friend in raising a smile, +for, more accustomed to dive into the depths of human feeling, he was not +slow in detecting the mixture of motives that were silently exercising +their long-established influence over the heart of his really +well-intentioned companion.</p> + +<p>"So long as thou speakest of the wisdom of respecting men's opinions, and +the danger of wrecking thy daughter's happiness by running counter to +their current, I agree with thee to the letter; but, to me, it seems +possible so to place the affair, that the world shall imagine all is in +rule, and, by consequence, all proper. If we can overcome ourselves, +Melchior, I apprehend no great difficulty in blinding others." + +The head of the Bernois dropped upon his breast, and he rode a long +distance in that attitude, reflecting on the course it most became him to +pursue, and struggling with the conflicting sentiments which troubled his +upright but prejudiced mind. As his friend understood the nature of this +inward strife, he ceased to speak, and a long silence succeeded the +discourse.</p> + +<p>It was different with those who followed. Though long accustomed to gaze +at their native mountains from a distance, this was the first occasion on +which Adelheid and her companion had ever actually penetrated into their +glens, or journeyed on their broken and changing faces. The path of St. +Bernard, therefore, had all the charm of novelty, and their youthful and +ardent minds were soon won from meditating on their own causes of +unhappiness, to admiration of the sublime works of nature. The cultivated +taste of Adelheid, in particular, was quick in detecting those beauties of +a more subtle kind which the less instructed are apt to overlook, and she +found additional pleasure in pointing them out to the ingenuous and +wondering Christine, who received these, her first, lessons in that grand +communion with nature which is pregnant with so much unalloyed delight, +with gratitude and a readiness of comprehension, that amply repaid her +instructress. Sigismund was an attentive and pleased listener to what was +passing, though one who had so often passed the mountains, and who had +seen them familiarly on their warmer and more sunny side, had little to +learn, himself, even from so skilful and alluring a teacher.</p> + +<p>As they ascended, the air became purer and less impregnated with the +humidity of its lower currents; changing, by a process as fine as that +wrought by a chemical application, the hues and aspect of every object in +the view. A vast hill-side lay basking in the sun, which illuminated on +its rounded swells a hundred long stripes of grain in every stage of +verdure, resembling so much delicate velvet that was thrown in a variety +of accidental faces to the light, while the shadows ran away, to speak +technically, from this <i>foyer de lumière</i> of the picture, in gradations of +dusky russet and brown, until the <i>colonne de vigueur</i> was obtained in the +deep black cast from the overhanging branches of a wood of larch in the +depths of some ravine, into which the sight with difficulty penetrated. +These were the beauties on which Adelheid most loved to dwell, for they +are always the charms that soonest strike the true admirer of nature, when +he finds himself raised above the lower and less purified strata of the +atmosphere, into the regions of more radiant light and brightness. It is +thus that the physical, no less than the moral, vision becomes elevated +above the impurities that cling to this nether world, attaining a portion +of that spotless and sublime perception as we ascend, by which we are +nearly assimilated to the truths of creation; a poetical type of the +greater and purer enjoyment we feel, as morally receding from earth we +draw nearer to heaven.</p> + +<p>The party rested for several hours, as usual, at the little mountain +hamlet of Liddes. At the present time, it is not uncommon for the +traveller, favored by a wheel-track along this portion of the route, to +ascend the mountain and to return to Martigny in the same day. The descent +in particular, after reaching the village just named, is soon made; but at +the period of our tale, such an exploit, if ever made, was of very rare +occurrence. The fatigue of being in the saddle so many hours compelled our +party to remain at the inn much longer than is now practised, and their +utmost hope was to be able to reach the convent before the last rays of +the sun had ceased to light the glittering peak of Vélan.</p> + +<p>There occurred here, too, some unexpected detention on the part of +Christine, who had retired with Sigismund soon after reaching the inn, and +who did not rejoin the party until the impatience of the guide had more +than once manifested itself in such complaints as one in his situation is +apt to hazard. Adelheid saw with pain, when her friend did at length +rejoin them, that she had been weeping bitterly; but, too delicate to +press her for an explanation on a subject in which it was evident the +brother and sister did not desire to bestow their confidence, she +communicated her readiness to depart to the domestics, without the +slightest allusion to the change in Christine's appearance, or to the +unexpected delay of which she had been the cause.</p> + +<p>Pierre muttered an ave in thankfulness that the long halt was ended. He +then crossed himself with one hand, while with the other he flourished his +whip, among a crowd of gaping urchins and slavering crétins, to clear the +way for those he guided. His followers were, in the main of a different +mood. If the traveller too often reaches the inn hungry and disposed to +find fault, he usually quits it good-humored and happy. The restoration, +as it is well called in France, effected by means of the larder and the +resting of wearied limbs, is usually communicated to the spirits; and it +must be a crusty humor indeed, or singularly bad fare, that prevents a +return to a placid state of mind. The party, under the direction of +Pierre, formed no exception to the general rule. The two old nobles had so +far forgotten the subject of their morning dialogue, as to be facetious; +and, ere long, even their gentle companions were disposed to laugh at some +of their sallies, in spite of the load of care that weighed so constantly +and so heavily on both. In short, such is the waywardness of our feelings, +and so difficult is it to be always sorrowful as well as always happy, +that the well-satisfied landlady, who had, in truth, received the full +value of a very indifferent fare, was ready to affirm, as she curtsied her +thanks on the dirty threshold, that a merrier party had never left her +door.</p> + +<p>"We shall take our revenge out of the casks of the good Augustines +to-night for the sour liquor of this inn; is it not so, honest Pierre?" +demanded the Signor Grimaldi, adjusting himself in the saddle, as they got +clear of the stones, sinuosities, projecting roofs, and filth of the +village, into the more agreeable windings of the ordinary path, again. +"Our friend, the clavier, is apprized of the visit, and as we have already +gone through fair and foul in company, I look to his fellowship for some +compensation for the frugal meal of which we have just partaken."</p> + +<p>"Father Xavier is a hospitable and a happy-minded priest, Signore; and +that the saints will long leave him keeper of the convent-keys, is the +prayer of every muleteer, guide, or pilgrim, who crosses the col. I wish +we were going up the rough steps, by which we are to climb the last rock +of the mountain, at this very moment, Messieurs, and that all the rest of +the way were as fairly done as this we have so happily passed."</p> + +<p>"Dost thou anticipate difficulty, friend?" demanded the Italian, leaning +forward on his saddle-bow, for his quick observation had caught the +examining glance that the guide threw around at the heavens.</p> + +<p>"Difficulty is a meaning not easily admitted by a mountaineer, Signore; +and I am one of the last to think of it, or to feel its dread. Still, we +are near the end of the season, and these hills are high and bleak, and +those that follow are delicate flowers for a stormy heath. Toil is always +sweeter in the remembrance than in the expectation.--I mean no more, if I +mean that."</p> + +<p>Pierre stopped his march as he ceased speaking. He stood on a little +eminence of the path, whence, by looking back, he commanded a view of the +opening among the mountains which indicates the site of the valley of the +Rhone. The look was long and understanding; but, when it was ended, he +turned and resumed his march with the business-like air of one more +disposed to act than to speculate on the future. But for the few words +which had just escaped him, this natural movement would have attracted no +attention; and, as it was, it was observed by none but the Signor +Grimaldi, who would himself have attached little importance to the whole, +had the guide maintained Ins usual pace.</p> + +<p>As is common in the Alps, the conductor of the travellers went on foot, +leading the whole party at such a gait as he thought most expedient for +man and beast. Hitherto, Pierre had proceeded with sufficient leisure, +rendering it necessary for those who followed to observe the same +moderation; but he now walked sensibly faster, and frequently so fast as +to make it necessary for the mules to break into easy trots, in order to +maintain their proper stations. All this, however, was ascribed by most of +the party to the formation of the ground, for, after leaving Liddes, there +is a long reach of what, among the upper valleys of the Alps, may by +comparison be called a level road. This industry, too, was thought to be +doubly necessary, in order to repair the time lost at the inn, for the sun +was already dipping towards the western boundary of their narrow view of +the heavens, and the temperature announced, if not a sudden change in the +weather, at least the near approach of the periodical turn of the day.</p> + +<p>"We travel by a very ancient path;" observed the Signore Grimaldi, when +his thoughts had reverted from their reflections on the movements of the +guide to the circumstance of their present situation. "A very reverend +path, it might be termed in compliment to the worthy monks who do so much +to lessen its dangers, and to its great antiquity. History speaks often of +its use by different leaders of armies, for it has long been a +thoroughfare for those who journey between the north and the south, +whether it be in strife, or in amity. In the time of Augustus it was the +route commonly used by the Roman legions in their passages to and from +Helvetia and Gaul; the followers of Cæcinna went by these gorges to their +attack upon Otho; and the Lombards made the same use of it, five hundred +years later. It was often trod by armed bands, in the wars of Charles of +Burgundy, those of Milan, and in the conquests of Charlemagne. I remember +a tale, in which it is said that a horde of infidel Corsairs from the +Mediterranean penetrated by this road, and seized upon the bridge of St. +Maurice with a view to plunder. As we are not the first so it is probable +that we are not to be the last, who have trusted themselves in these +regions of the upper air, bent on our objects, whether of love or of +strife."</p> + +<p>"Signore," observed Pierre respectfully, when the Genoese ceased speaking, +"if your eccellenza would make your discourse less learned, and more in +those familiar words which can be said under a brisk movement, it might +better suit the time and the great necessity there is to be diligent."</p> + +<p>"Dost thou apprehend danger? Are we behind our time?--Speak; for I dislike +concealment."</p> + +<p>"Danger has a strong meaning in the mouth of a mountaineer, Signore; for +what is security on this path, might be thought alarming lower down in the +valleys; I say it not. But the sun is touching the rocks, as you see, and +we are drawing near to places where a miss-step of a mule in the dark +might cost us dear. I would that all diligently improve the daylight, +while they can."</p> + +<p>The Genoese did not answer, but he urged his mule again to a gait that was +more in accordance with the wishes of Pierre. The movement was followed, +as a matter of course, by the rest; and the whole party was once more in a +gentle trot, which was scarcely sufficient, however, to keep even pace +with the long, impatient, and rapid strides of Pierre, who, +notwithstanding his years, appeared to get over the ground with a facility +that cost him no effort. Hitherto, the heat had not been small, and, in +that pure atmosphere, all its powers were felt during the time the sun's +rays fell into the valley; but, the instant they were intercepted by a +brown and envious peak of the mountains, their genial influence was +succeeded by a chill that sufficiently proved how necessary was the +presence of the luminary to the comfort of those who dwelt at that great +elevation. The females sought their mantles the moment the bright light +was followed by the usual shadow; nor was it long before even the more +aged of the gentlemen were seen unstrapping their cloaks, and taking the +customary precautions against the effects of the evening air.</p> + +<p>The reader is not to suppose, however, that all these little incidents of +the way occurred in a time as brief as that which has been consumed in the +narration. A long line of path was travelled over before the Signor +Grimaldi and his friend were cloaked, and divers hamlets and cabins were +successively passed. The alteration from the warmth of day to the chill of +evening also was accompanied by a corresponding change in the appearance +of the objects they passed. St. Pierre, a cluster of stone-roofed +cottages, which bore all the characteristics of the inhospitable region +for which they had been constructed, was the last village; though there +was a hamlet, at the bridge of Hudri, composed of a few dreary abodes, +which, by their aspect, seemed the connecting link between the dwellings +of man and the caverns of beasts. Vegetation had long been growing more +and more meagre, and it was now fast melting away into still deeper and +irretrievable traces of sterility, like the shadows of a picture passing +through their several transitions of color to the depth of the +back-ground. The larches and cedars diminished gradually in size and +numbers, until the straggling and stinted tree became a bush, and the +latter finally disappeared in the shape of a tuft of pale green, that +adhered to some crevice in the rocks like so much moss. Even the mountain +grasses, for which Switzerland is so justly celebrated, grew thin and +wiry; and by the time the travellers reached the circular basin at the +foot of the peak of Vélan, which is called La Plaine de Prou, there only +remained, in the most genial season of the year, and that in isolated +spots between the rocks, a sufficiency of nourishment for the support of a +small flock of adventurous, nibbling, and hungry goats.</p> + +<p>The basin just alluded to is an opening among high pinnacles, and is +nearly surrounded by naked and ragged rocks. The path led through its +centre, always ascending on an inclined plane, and disappeared through a +narrow gorge around the brow of a beetling cliff. Pierre pointed out the +latter as the pass by far the most dangerous on this side the Col, in the +season of the melting snows, avalanches frequently rolling from its crags. +There was no cause for apprehending this well-known Alpine danger, +however, in the present moment; for, with the exception of Mont-Vélan, all +above and around them lay in the same dreary dress of sterility. Indeed, +it would not be easy for the imagination to conceive a more eloquent +picture of desolation than that which met the eyes of the travellers, as, +following the course of the run of water that trickled through the middle +of the inhospitable valley, the certain indication of the general +direction of their course, they reached its centre.</p> + +<p>The time was getting to be that of early twilight, but the sombre color of +the rocks, streaked and venerable by the ferruginous hue with which time +had coated their sides, and the depth of the basin, gave to their +situation a melancholy gloom passing the duskiness of the hour. On the +other hand, the light rested bright and gloriously on the snowy peak of +Vélan, still many thousand feet above them, though in plain, and +apparently, in near view; while rich touches of the setting sun were +gleaming on several of the brown, natural battlements of the Alps, which, +worn with eternal exposure to the storms, still lay in sublime confusion +at a most painful elevation in their front. The azure vault that canopied +all, had that look of distant glory and of grand repose, which so often +meets the eye, and so forcibly strikes the mind, of him who travels in the +deep valleys and embedded lakes of Switzerland. The glacier of Valsorey +descended from the upper region nearly to the edge of the valley, bright +and shining, its lower margin streaked and dirty with the <i>débris</i> of the +overhanging rocks, as if doomed to the fate of all that came upon the +earth, that of sharing its impurities.</p> + +<p>There no longer existed any human habitation between the point which the +travellers had now attained and the convent, though more modern +speculation, in this age of curiosity and restlessness, has been induced +to rear a substitute for an inn in the spot just described, with the hope +of gleaning a scanty tribute from those who fail of arriving in season to +share the hospitality of the monks. The chilliness of the air increased +faster even than the natural change of the hour would seem to justify, and +there were moments when the dull sound of the wind descended to their +ears, though not a breath was stirring a withered and nearly solitary +blade of grass at their feet. Once or twice, large black clouds drove +across the opening above them, resembling heavy-winged vultures sailing in +the void, preparatory to a swoop upon their prey.</p> +</div> + + +<div class="chapter" id="ch22"> +<h2>Chapter XXII.</h2> + + +<blockquote class="epi"><p> Through this gap<br /> + On and say nothing, lest a word, a breath,<br /> + Bring down a winter's snow, enough to whelm<br /> + The armed files that, night and day, were seen<br /> + Winding from cliff to cliff in loose array,<br /> + To conquer at Marengo.</p> + +<p> <i>Italy.</i></p></blockquote> + +<p> +Pierre Dumont halted in the middle of the sterile little plain, while he +signed for those he conducted to continue their ascent. As each mule +passed, it received a blow or a kick from the impatient guide, who did not +seem to think it necessary to be very ceremonious with the poor beasts, +and had taken this simple method to give a general and a brisker impulsion +to the party. The expedient was so natural, and so much in accordance with +the practice of the muleteers and others of their class, that it excited +no suspicion in most of the travellers, who pursued their way, either +meditating on and enjoying the novel and profound emotions that their +present situation so naturally awakened, or discoursing lightly, in the +manner of the thoughtless and unconcerned. The Signor Grimaldi alone, +whose watchfulness had already been quickened by previous distrust, took +heed of the movement. When all had passed, the Genoese turned in his +saddle, and cast an apparently careless look behind. But the glance in +truth was anxious and keen. Pierre stood looking steadily at the heavens, +one hand holding his hat, and the other extended with an open palm. A +glittering particle descended to the latter, when the guide instantly +resumed his place in advance. As he passed the Italian, however, meeting +an inquiring look, he permitted the other to see a snow-drop so +thoroughly congealed, as to have not yet melted with the natural heat of +his skin. The eye of Pierre appeared to impose discretion on his +confidant, and the silent communion escaped the observation of the rest of +the travellers. Just at this moment, too, the attention of the others was +luckily called to a different object, by a cry from one of the muleteers, +of whom there were three as assistants to the guide. He pointed out a +party which, like themselves, was holding the direction of the Col. There +was a solitary individual mounted on a mule, and a single pedestrian, +without any guide, or other traveller, in their company. Their movements +were swift, and they had not been more than a minute in view, before they +disappeared behind an angle of the crags which nearly closed the valley on +the side of the convent, and which was the precise spot already mentioned +as being so dangerous in the season of the melting snows.</p> + +<p>"Dost thou know the quality and object of the travellers before us?" +demanded the Baron de Willading of Pierre.</p> + +<p>The latter mused. It was evident he did not expect to meet with strangers +in that particular part of the passage.</p> + +<p>"We can know little of those who come from the convent, though few would +be apt to leave so safe a roof at this late hour," he answered; "but, +until I saw yonder travellers with my own eyes, I could have sworn there +were none on this side of the Col going the same way as ourselves? It is +time that all the others were already arrived."</p> + +<p>"They are villagers of St. Pierre, going up with supplies;" observed one +of the muleteers. "None bound to Italy have passed Liddes since the party +of Pippo, and they by this tine should be well housed at the hospice. +Didst not see a dog among them?--'twas one of the Augustines' mastiffs."</p> + +<p>"'Twas the dog I noted, and it was on account of his appearance that I +spoke;" returned the baron. "The animal had the air of an old +acquaintance, Gaetano, for to me it seemed to resemble our tried friend +Nettuno; and he at whose heels it kept so close wore much the air of our +acquaintance of the Leman, the bold and ready Maso."</p> + +<p>"Who has gone unrequited for his eminent services!" answered the Genoese, +thoughtfully "The extraordinary refusal of that man to receive our money +is quite as wonderful as any other part of his unusual and inexplicable +conduct. I would he had been less obstinate or less proud, for the +unrequited obligation rests like a load upon my spirits."</p> + +<p>"Thou art wrong. I employed our young friend Sigismund secretly on this +duty, while we were receiving the greetings of Roger de Blonay and the +good bailiff, but thy countryman treated the escape lightly, as the +mariner is apt to consider past danger, and he would listen to no offer of +protection or gold. I was, therefore more displeased than surprised by +what thou hast well enough termed obstinacy."</p> + +<p>"Tell your employers, he said," added Sigismund, "that they may thank the +saints, Our Lady, or brother Luther, as best suits their habits, but that +they had better forget that such a man as Maso lives. His acquaintance can +bring them neither honor nor advantage. Tell this especially to the Signor +Grimaldi, when you are on your journey to Italy, and we have parted for +ever, as on my suggestion. This was said to me, in the interview I held +with the I rave fellow after his liberation from prison."</p> + +<p>"The answer was remarkable for a man of his condition, and the especial +message to myself of singular exception. I observed that his eye was +often on me, with peculiar meaning, during the passage of the lake, and +to this hour I have not been able to explain the motive!"</p> + +<p>"Is the Signore of Genoa?"--asked the guide: "or is he, by chance, in any +way connected with her authorities?"</p> + +<p>"Of that republic and city, and certainly of some little interest with the +authorities;" answered the Italian, a slight smile curling his lip, as he +glanced a look at his friend.</p> + +<p>"It is not necessary to look farther for Maso's acquaintance with your +features," returned Pierre, laughing; "for of all who live in Italy, there +is not a man who has more frequent occasions to know the +authorities; but we linger, in this gossip. Urge the beasts upwards, +Etienne--presto!--presto!"</p> + +<p>The muleteers answered this appeal by one of their long cries, which has a +resemblance to the rattling that is the well-known signal of the venomous +serpent of this country when he would admonish the traveller to move +quickly, and which certainly produces the same startling effect on the +nerves of the mule as the signal of the snake is very apt to excite in +man. This interruption caused the dialogue to be dropped, all riding +onward, musing in their several fashions on what had just passed. In a few +minutes the party turned the crag in question, and, quitting the valley, +or sterile basin, in which they had been journeying for the last half +hour, they entered by a narrow gorge into a scene that resembled a crude +collection of the materials of which the foundations of the world had been +originally formed. There was no longer any vegetation at all, or, if here +and there a blade of grass had put forth under the shelter of some stone, +it was so meagre, and of so rare occurrence, as to be unnoticed in that +sublime scene of chaotic confusion. Ferruginous, streaked, naked, and +cheerless rocks arose around them, and even that snowy beacon, the glowing +summit of Vélan, which had so long lain bright and cheering on their path, +was now hid entirely from view. Pierre Dumont soon after pointed out a +place on the visible summit of the mountain, where a gorge between the +neigh boring peaks admitted a view of the heavens beyond. This he informed +those he guided was the Col, through whose opening the pile of the Alps +was to be finally surmounted. The light that still tranquilly reigned in +this part of the heavens was in sublime contrast to the gathering gloom of +the passes below, and all hailed this first glimpse of the end of their +day's toil as a harbinger of rest, and we might add of security; for, +although none but the Signor Grimaldi had detected the secret uneasiness +of Pierre, it was not possible to be, at that late hour, amid so wild and +dreary a display of desolation, and, as it were, cut off from communion +with their kind, without experiencing an humbling sense of the dependence +of man upon the grand and ceaseless Providence of God.</p> + +<p>The mules were again urged to increase their pace, and images of the +refreshment and repose that were expected from the convent's hospitality, +became general and grateful among the travellers. The day was fast +disappearing from the glens and ravines through which they rode, and all +discourse ceased in the desire to get on. The exceeding purity of the +atmosphere, which, at that great elevation, resembled a medium of thought +rather than of matter, rendered objects defined, just, and near; and none +but the mountaineers and Sigismund, who were used to the deception, (for +in effect truth obtains this character with those who have been accustomed +to the false) and who understood the grandeur of the scale on which nature +has displayed her power among the Alps, knew how to calculate the +distance which still separated them from their goal. More than a league of +painful and stony ascent was to be surmounted, and yet Adelheid and +Christine had both permitted slight exclamations of pleasure to escape +them, when Pierre pointed to the speck of blue sky between the hoary +pinnacles above, and first gave them to understand that it denoted the +position of the convent. Here and there, too, small patches of the last +year's snow were discovered, lying under the shadows of overhanging rocks, +and which were likely to resist the powers of the sun till winter came +again; another certain sign that they had reached a height greatly +exceeding that of the usual habitations of men. The keenness of the air +was another proof of their situation, for all the travellers had heard +that the Augustines dwelt among eternal frosts, a report which is nearly +literally true.</p> + +<p>At no time during the day had the industry of the party been as great as +it now became. In this respect, the ordinary traveller is apt to resemble +him who journeys on the great highway of life, and who finds himself +obliged, by a tardy and ill-requited diligence in age, to repair those +omissions and negligences of youth which would have rendered the end of +his toil easy and profitable. Improved as their speed had become, it +continued to increase rather than to diminish, for Pierre Dumont kept his +eye riveted on the heavens, and each moment of time seemed to bring new +incentives to exertion. The wearied beasts manifested less zeal than the +guide, and they who rode them were beginning to murmur at the +unreasonableness of the rate at which they were compelled to proceed on +the narrow, uneven, stony path, where footing for the animals was not +always obtained with the necessary quickness, when a gloom deeper that +cast by the shadows of the rocks fell upon their track, and the air filled +with snow, as suddenly as if all its particles had been formed and +condensed by the application of some prompt chemical process.</p> + +<p>The change was so unexpected, and yet so complete, that the whole party +checked their mules, and sat looking up at the millions of flakes that +were descending on their heads, with more wonder and admiration than fear. +A shout from Pierre first aroused them from this trance, and recalled them +to a sense of the real state of things. He was standing on a knoll, +already separated from the party by some fifty yards, white with snow, and +gesticulating violently for the travellers to come on.</p> + +<p>"For the sake of the Blessed Maria! quicken the beasts," he cried; for +Pierre, like most who dwell in Valais, was a Catholic, and one accustomed +to bethink him most of his heavenly mediator when most oppressed with +present dangers; "quicken their speed, if ye value your lives! This is no +moment to gaze at the mountains, which are well enough in their way, and +no doubt both the finest and largest known," (no Swiss ever seriously +vituperates or loses his profound veneration for his beloved nature,) "but +which had better be the humblest plain on earth for our occasions than +what they truly are. Quicken the mules then, for the love of the Blessed +Virgin!"</p> + +<p>"Thou betrayest unnecessary, and, for one that had needs be cool, +indiscreet alarm, at the appearance of a little snow, friend Pierre," +observed the Signer Grimaldi, as the mules drew near the guide, and +speaking with a little of the irony of a soldier who had steeled his +nerves by familiarity with danger. "Even we Italians, though less used to +the frosts than you of the mountains, are not so much disturbed by the +change, as thou, a trained guide of St. Bernard!"</p> + +<p>"Reproach me as you will, Signore," said Pierre turning and pursuing his +way with increased diligence, though he did not entirely succeed in +concealing his resentment at an accusation which he knew to be unmerited, +"but quicken your pace; until you are better acquainted with the country +in which you journey, your words pass for empty breath in my ears. This is +no trifle of a cloak doubled about the person, or of balls rolled into +piles by the sport of children; but an affair of life or death. You are a +half league in the air, Signor Genoese, in the region of storms, where the +winds work their will, at times, as if infernal devils wore rioting to +cool themselves, and where the stoutest limbs and the firmest hearts are +brought but too often to see and confess their feebleness!"</p> + +<p>The old man had uncovered his blanched locks in respect to the Italian, as +he uttered this energetic remonstrance, and when he ended, he walked on +with professional pride, as if disdaining to protect a brow that had +already weathered so many tempests among the mountains.</p> + +<p>"Cover thyself, good Pierre, I pray thee:" urged the Genoese in a tone of +repentance. "I have shown the intemperance of a boy, and intemperance of a +quality that little becomes my years. Thou art the best judge of the +circumstances in which we are placed, and thou alone shalt lead us."</p> + +<p>Pierre accepted the apology with a manly but respectful reverence, +continuing always to ascend with unremitted industry.</p> + +<p>Ten gloomy and anxious minutes succeeded. During this time, the falling +snows came faster and in finer flakes, while, occasionally, there were +fearful intimations that the winds were about to rise. At the elevation +in which the travellers now found themselves, phenomena, that would +ordinarily be of little account, become the arbiters of fate. The escape +of the caloric from the human system, at the height of six or seven +thousand feet above the sea, and in the latitude of forty-six, is, under +the most favorable circumstances, frequently of itself the source of +inconvenience; but here were grave additional reasons to heighten the +danger. The absence of the sun's rays alone left a sense of chilling cold, +and a few hours of night were certain to bring frost, even at midsummer. +Thus it is that storms of trifling import in themselves gain power over +the human frame, by its reduced means of resistance, and when to this fact +is added the knowledge that the elements are far fiercer in their workings +in the upper than in the nether regions of the earth, the motives of +Pierre's concern will be better understood by the reader than they +probably wese by himself, though the honest guide had a long and severe +experience to supply the place of theory.</p> + +<p>Men are rarely loquacious in danger. The timid recoil into themselves, +yielding most of their faculties to a tormenting imagination, that +augments the causes of alarm and diminishes the means of security, while +the firm of mind rally and condense their powers to the point necessary to +exertion. Such were the effects in the present instance, on those who +followed Pierre. A general and deep silence pervaded the party, each one +seeing their situation in the colors most suited to his particular habits +and character. The men, without an exception, were grave and earnest in +their efforts to force the mules forward; Adelheid became pale, but she +preserved her calmness by the sheer force of character; Christine was +trembling and dependent, though cheered by the presence of, and her +confidence in, Sigismund; while the attendants of the heiress of Willading +covered their heads, and followed their mistress with the blind faith in +their superiors that is apt to sustain people of their class in serious +emergencies.</p> + +<p>Ten minutes sufficed entirely to change the aspect of the view. The frozen +element could not adhere to the iron-like and perpendicular faces of the +mountains, but the glens, and ravines, and valleys became as white as the +peak of Vélan. Still Pierre continued his silent and upward march, in a +way to keep alive a species of trembling hope among those who depended so +helplessly upon his intelligence and faith. They wished to believe that +the snow was merely one of those common occurrences that were to be +expected on the summits of the Alps at this late season of the year, and +which were no more than so many symptoms of the known rigor of the +approaching winter. The guide himself was evidently disposed to lose no +time in explanation, and as the secret excitement stole over all his +followers, he no longer had cause to complain of the tardiness of their +movements. Sigismund kept near his sister and Adelheid, having a care that +their mules did not lag; while the other males performed the same +necessary office for the beasts ridden by the female domestics. In this +manner passed the few sombre minutes which immediately preceded the +disappearance of day. The heavens were no longer visible. In that +direction the eye saw only an endless succession of falling flakes, and it +was getting to be difficult to distinguish even the ramparts of rock that +bounded the irregular ravine in which they rode. They were known to be, +however, at no great distance from the path, which indeed occasionally +brushed their sides. At other moments they crossed rude, stony, mountain +heaths, if such a word can be applied to spots without the symbol or hope +of vegetation. The traces of the beasts that had preceded them, became +less and less apparent, though the trickling stream that came down from +the glaciers, and along which they had now journeyed-for hours, was +occasionally seen, as it was crossed in pursuing their winding way. +Pierre, though still confident that he held the true direction, alone knew +that this guide was not longer to be relied on; for, as they drew nearer +to the top of the mountains, the torrent gradually lessened both in its +force and in the volume of its water, separating into twenty small rills, +which came rippling from the vast bodies of snow that lay among the +different peaks above.</p> + +<p>As yet, there had been no wind. The guide, as minute after minute passed +without bringing any change in this respect, ventured at last to advert to +the fact, cheering his companions by giving them reasons to hope that they +should yet reach the convent without any serious calamity. As if in +mockery of this opinion, the flakes of snow began to whirl in the air, +while the words were on his lips, and a blast came through the ravine, +that set the protection of cloaks and mantles at defiance. Notwithstanding +his resolution and experience, the stout-hearted Pierre suffered an +exclamation of despair to escape him, and he instantly stopped, in the +manner of a man who could no longer conceal the dread that had been +collecting in his bosom for the last interminable and weary hour. +Sigismund, as well as most of the men of the party, had dismounted a +little previously, with a view to excite warmth by exercise. The youth had +often traversed the mountains, and the cry no sooner reached his ear, than +he was at the side of him who uttered it.</p> + +<p>"At what distance, are we still from the convent?" he demanded eagerly.</p> + +<p>"There is more than a league of steep and stone path to mount, Monsieur le +Capitaine;" returned the disconsolate Pierre, in a tone that perhaps said +more than his words.</p> + +<p>"This is not a moment for indecision. Remember that thou art not the +leader of a party of carriers with their beasts of burthen, but that there +are those with us, who are unused to exposure, and are feeble of body. +What is the distance from the last hamlet we passed?"</p> + +<p>"Double that to the convent!"</p> + +<p>Sigismund turned, and with the eye he made a silent appeal to the two old +nobles, as if to ask for advice or orders.</p> + +<p>"It might indeed be better to return," observed the Signore Grimaldi, in +the way one utters a half-formed resolution. "This wind is getting to be +piercingly cutting, and the night is hard upon us. What thinkest thou, +Melchior; for, with Monsieur Sigismund, I am of opinion that there is +little time to lose."</p> + +<p>"Signore, your pardon," hastily interrupted the guide. "I would not +undertake to cross the plain of the Vélan an hour later, for all the +treasures of Einsideln and Loretto! The wind will have an infernal sweep +in that basin, which will soon be boiling like a pot, while here we shall +get, from time to time, the shelter of the rocks. The slightest mishap on +the open ground might lead us astray a league or more, and it would need +an hour to regain the course. The beasts too mount faster than they +descend, and with far more surety in the dark; and even when at the +village there is nothing fit for nobles, while the brave monks have all +that a king can need."</p> + +<p>"Those who escape from these wild rocks need not be critical about their +fare, honest Pierre, when fairly housed. Wilt thou answer for our arrival +at the convent unharmed, and in reasonable time?"</p> + +<p>"Signore, we are in the hands of God. The pious Augustines, I make no +doubt, are praying for all who are on the mountain at this moment; but +there is not a minute to lose. I ask no more than that none lose sight of +their companions, and that each exert his force to the utmost. We are not +far from the House of Refuge, and should the storm increase to a tempest, +as, to conceal the danger no longer, well may happen in this late month, +we will seek its shelter for a few hours."</p> + +<p>This intelligence was happily communicated, for the certainty that there +was a place of safety within an attainable distance, had some such +cheering effect on the travellers as is produced on the mariner who finds +that the hazards of the gale are lessened by the accidental position of a +secure harbor under his lee. Repeating his admonitions for the party to +keep as close together as possible, and advising all who felt the sinister +effects of the cold on their limbs to dismount, and to endeavor to restore +the circulation by exercise, Pierre resumed his route.</p> + +<p>But even the time consumed in this short conference had sensibly altered +the condition of things for the worse. The wind, which had no fixed +direction, being a furious current of the upper air diverted from its true +course by encountering the ragged peaks and ravines of the Alps, was now +whirling around them in eddies, now aiding their ascent by seeming to push +against their backs, and then returning in their faces with a violence +that actually rendered advance impossible. The temperature fell rapidly +several degrees, and the most vigorous of the party began to perceive the +benumbing influence of the chilling currents, at their lower extremities +especially, in a manner to excite serious alarm. Every precaution was used +to protect the females that tenderness could suggest; but though Adelheid, +who alone retained sufficient self-command to give an account of her +feelings, diminished the danger of their situation with the wish not to +alarm their companions uselessly, she could not conceal from herself the +horrible truth that the vital heat was escaping from her own body, with a +rapidity that rendered it impossible for her much longer to retain the use +of her faculties. Conscious of her own mental superiority over that of all +her female companions, a superiority which in such moments is even of more +account than bodily force, after a few minutes of silent endurance, she +checked her mule, and called upon Sigismund to examine the condition of +his sister and her maids, neither of whom had now spoken for some time.</p> + +<p>This startling request was made at a moment when the storm appeared to +gather new force, and when it had become absolutely impossible to +distinguish even the whitened earth at twenty paces from the spot where +the party stood collected in a shivering group. The young soldier threw +open the cloaks and mantles in which Christine was enveloped, and the +half-unconscious girl sank on his shoulder, like a drowsy infant that was +willing to seek its slumbers in the arms of one it loved.</p> + +<p>"Christine!--my sister!--my poor, my much-abused, angelic sister!" +murmured Sigismund, happily for his secret in a voice that only reached +the ears of Adelheid. "Awake! Christine; for the love of our excellent and +affectionate mother, exert thyself. Awake! Christine, in the name of God, +awake!"</p> + +<p>"Awake, dearest Christine!" exclaimed Adelheid, throwing herself from the +saddle, and folding the smiling but benumbed girl to her bosom. "God +protect me from the pang of feeling that thy loss should be owing to my +wish to lead thee amid these cruel and inhospitable rocks! Christine, if +thou hast love or pity for me, awake!"</p> + +<p>"Look to the maids!" hurriedly said Pierre, who found that he was fast +touching on one of those mountain catastrophes, of which, in the course of +his life, he had been the witness of a few of fearful consequences. "Look +to all the females, for he who now sleeps, dies!"</p> + +<p>The muleteers soon stripped the two domestics of their outer coverings, +and it was immediately proclaimed that both were in imminent danger, one +having already lost all consciousness. A timely application of the flask +of Pierre, and the efforts of the muleteers, succeeded so far in restoring +life as to remove the grounds of immediate apprehension; though it was +apparent to the least instructed of them all, that half an hour more of +exposure would probably complete the fatal work that had so actively and +vigorously commenced. To add to the horror of this conviction, each member +of the party, not excepting the muleteers, was painfully conscious of the +escape of that vital warmth whose total flight was death.</p> + +<p>In this strait all dismounted. They felt that the occasion was one of +extreme jeopardy, that nothing could save them but resolution, and that +every minute of time was getting to be of the last importance. Each +female, Adelheid included, was placed between two of the other sex, and, +supported in this manner, Pierre called loudly and in a manful voice for +the whole to proceed. The beasts were driven after them by one of the +muleteers.</p> + +<p>The progress of travellers, feeble as Adelheid and her companions, on a +stony path of very uneven surface, and of a steep ascent, the snow +covering the feet, and the tempest cutting their faces, was necessarily +slow, and to the last degree toilsome. Still, the exertion increased the +quickness of the blood, and, for a short time, there was an appearance of +recalling those who most suffered to life. Pierre, who still kept his post +with the hardihood of a mountaineer, and the fidelity of a Swiss, cheered +them on with his voice, continuing to raise the hope that the place of +refuge was at hand.</p> + +<p>At this instant, when exertion was most needed, and when, apparently, all +were sensible of its importance and most disposed to make it, the muleteer +charged with the duty of urging on the line of beasts deserted his trust, +preferring to take his chance of regaining the village by descending the +mountain, to struggle uselessly, and at a pace so slow, to reach the +convent. The man was a stranger in the country, who had been +adventitiously employed for this expedition, and was unconnected with +Pierre by any of those ties which are the best pledges of unconquerable +faith, when the interests of self press hard upon our weaknesses. The +wearied beasts, no longer driven, and indisposed to toil, first stopped, +then turned aside to avoid the cutting air and the ascent, and were soon +wandering from the path it was so vitally necessary to keep.</p> + +<p>As soon as Pierre was informed of the circumstance, he eagerly issued an +order to collect the stragglers without delay, and at every hazard. +Benumbed, bewildered, and unable to see beyond a few yards, this +embarrassing duty was not easily performed. One after another of the party +joined in the pursuit, for all the effects of the travellers were on the +beasts; and after some ten minutes of delay, blended with an excitement +which helped to quicken the blood and to awaken the faculties of even the +females, the mules were all happily regained. They were secured to each +other head and tail, in the manner so usual in the droves of these +animals, and Pierre turned to resume the order of the march. But on +seeking the path, it was not to be found! Search was made on every side, +and yet none could meet with the smallest of its traces. Broken, rough +fragments of rock, were all that rewarded the most anxious investigation; +and after a few precious minutes uselessly wasted, they all assembled +around the guide, as if by common consent, to seek his counsel. The truth +was no longer to be concealed--the party was lost!</p> +</div> + + +<div class="chapter" id="ch23"> +<h2>Chapter XXIII.</h2> + + +<blockquote class="epi"><p> Let no presuming railer tax<br /> + Creative wisdom, as if aught was form'd<br /> + In vain, or not for admirable ends.</p> + +<p> Thomson.</p></blockquote> + +<p> +So long as we possess the power to struggle, hope is the last feeling to +desert the human mind. Men are endowed with every gradation of courage, +from the calm energy of reflection, which is rendered still more effective +by physical firmness, to the headlong precipitation of reckless spirit: +from the resolution that grows more imposing and more respectable as there +is greater occasion for its exercise, to the fearful and ill-directed +energies of despair. But no description with the pen can give the reader a +just idea of the chill that comes over the heart when accidental causes +rob us, suddenly and without notice, of those resources on which we have +been habitually accustomed to rely. The mariner without his course or +compass loses his audacity and coolness, though the momentary danger be +the same; the soldier will fly, if you deprive him of his arms; and the +hunter of our own forests who has lost his landmarks, is transformed from +the bold and determined foe of its tenants, into an anxious and dependent +fugitive, timidly seeking the means of retreat. In short, the customary +associations of the mind being rudely and suddenly destroyed, we are made +to feel that reason, while it elevates us so far above the brutes as to +make man their lord and governor, becomes a quality less valuable than +instinct, when the connecting link in its train of causes and effects is +severed.</p> + +<p>It was no more than a natural consequence of his greater experience, that +Pierre Dumont understood the horrors of their present situation far better +than any with him. It is true, there yet remained enough light to enable +him to pick his way over the rocks and stones, but he had sufficient +experience to understand that there was less risk in remaining stationary +than in moving; for, while there was only one direction that led towards +the Refuge, all the rest would conduct them to a greater distance from the +shelter, which was now the only hope. On the other hand, a very few +minutes of the intense cold, and of the searching wind to which they were +exposed, would most probably freeze the currents of life in the feebler of +those intrusted to his care.</p> + +<p>"Hast thou aught to advise?" asked Melchior de Willading, folding Adelheid +to his bosom, beneath his ample cloak, and communicating, with a father's +love, a small portion of the meagre warmth that still remained in his own +aged frame to that of his drooping daughter--"canst thou bethink thee of +nothing, that may be done, in this awful strait?"</p> + +<p>"If the good monks have been active--" returned the wavering Pierre. "I +fear me that the dogs have not yet been exercised, on the paths, this +season!"</p> + +<p>"Has it then come to this! Are our lives indeed dependent on the uncertain +sagacity of brutes!"</p> + +<p>"Mein Herr, I would bless the Virgin, and her holy Son, if it were so! But +I fear this storm has been so sudden and unexpected, that we may not even +hope for their succor."</p> + +<p>Melchior groaned. He folded his child still nearer to his heart, while the +athletic Sigismund shielded his drooping sister, as the fowl shelters its +young beneath the wing.</p> + +<p>"Delay is death," rejoined the Signor Grimaldi. "I have heard of muleteers +that have been driven to kill their beasts, that shelter and warmth might +be found in their entrails."</p> + +<p>"The alternative is horrible!" interrupted Sigismund. "Is return +impossible? By always descending, we must, in time reach the village +below."</p> + +<p>"That time would be fatal," answered Pierre. "I know of only one resource +that remains. If the party will keep together, and answer my shouts I will +make another effort to find the path."</p> + +<p>This proposal was gladly accepted, for energy and hope go hand-in-hand, +and the guide was about to quit the group, when he felt the strong grasp +of Sigismund on his arm.</p> + +<p>"I will be thy companion," said the soldier firmly.</p> + +<p>"Thou hast not done me justice, young man," answered Pierre, with severe +reproach in his manner. "Had I been base enough to desert my trust, these +limbs and this strength are yet sufficient to carry me safely down the +mountain; but though a guide of the Alps may freeze like another man, the +last throb of his heart will be in behalf of those he serves!"</p> + +<p>"A thousand pardons brave old man--a thousand pardons; still, will I be +thy companion; the search that is conducted by two will be more likely to +succeed, than that on which thou goes alone."</p> + +<p>The offended Pierre, who liked the spirit of the youth as much as he +disliked his previous suspicions, met the apology frankly. He extended his +hand and forgot the feelings, that, even amid the tempests of those wild +mountains, were excited by a distrust of his honesty. After this short +concession to the ever-burning, though smothered volcano, of human +passion, they left the group together, in order to make a last search for +their course.</p> + +<p>The snow by this time was many inches deep, and as the road was at best +but a faint bridle-path that could scarcely be distinguished by day-light +from the débris which strewed the ravines, the undertaking would have been +utterly hopeless, had not Pierre known that there was the chance of still +meeting with some signs of the many mules that daily went up and down the +mountain. The guide called to the muleteers, who answered his cries every +minute, for so long as they kept within the sound of each other's voices, +there was no danger of their becoming entirely separated. But, amid the +hollow roaring of the wind, and the incessant pelting of the storm, it was +neither safe nor practicable to venture far asunder. Several little stony +knolls were ascended and descended, and a rippling rill was found, but +without bringing with it any traces of the path. The heart of Pierre began +to chill with the decreasing; warmth of his body, and the firm old man, +overwhelmed with his responsibility while his truant thoughts would +unbidden recur to those whom he had left in his cottage at the foot of the +mountain, gave way at last to his emotions in a paroxysm of grief, +wringing his hands, weeping and calling loudly on God for succor. This +fearful evidence of their extremity worked upon the feelings of Sigismund +until they were wrought up nearly to frenzy. His great physical force +still sustained him, and in an access of energy that was fearfully allied +to madness, he rushed forward into the vortex of snow and hail, as if +determined to leave all to the Providence of God, disappearing from the +eyes of his companion. This incident recalled the guide to his senses. He +called earnestly on the thoughtless youth to return. No answer was given, +and Pierre hastened back to the motionless and shivering party, in order +to unite all their voices in a last effort to be heard. Cry upon cry was +raised, but each shout was answered merely by the hoarse rushing of the +winds.</p> + +<p>"Sigismund! Sigismund!" called one after another, in hurried and alarmed +succession.</p> + +<p>"The noble boy will be irretrievably lost!" exclaimed the Signor Grimaldi, +in despair, the services already rendered by the youth, together with his +manly qualities, having insensibly and closely wound themselves around his +heart. "He will die a miserable death, and without the consolation of +meeting his fate in communion with his fellow-sufferers!"</p> + +<p>A shout from Sigismund came whirling past, as if the sound were embodied +in the gale.</p> + +<p>"Blessed ruler of the earth, this is alone the mercy!" exclaimed Melchior +de Willading,--"he has found the path!"</p> + +<p>"And honor to thee, Maria--thou mother of God!" murmured the Italian.</p> + +<p>At that moment, a dog came leaping and barking through the snow. It +immediately was scenting and whining among the frozen travellers. The +exclamations of joy and surprise were scarcely uttered before Sigismund, +accompanied by another, joined the party.</p> + +<p>"Honor and thanks to the good Augustines!" cried the delighted guide; +"this is the third good office of the kind, for which I am their debtor!"</p> + +<p>"I would it were true, honest Pierre," answered the stranger. "But Maso +and Nettuno are poor substitutes, in a tempest like this, for the servants +and beasts of St. Bernard. I am a wanderer, and lost like yourselves, and +my presence brings little other relief than that which is known to be the +fruit of companionship in misery. The saints have brought me a second time +into your company when matters were hanging between life and death!"</p> + +<p>Maso made this last remark when, by drawing nearer the group, he had been +able to ascertain, by the remains of the light, of whom the party was +composed.</p> + +<p>"If it is to be as useful now as thou hast already been," answered the +Genoese, "it will be happier for us all, thyself included: bethink thee +quickly of thy expedients, and I will make thee an equal sharer of all +that a generous Providence hath bestowed."</p> + +<p>Il Maledetto rarely listened to the voice of the Signor Grimaldi, without +a manner of interest and curiosity which, as already mentioned, had more +than once struck the latter himself, but which he quite naturally +attributed to the circumstance of his person being known to one who had +declared himself to be a native of Genoa. Even at this terrible moment, +the same manner was evident and the noble, thinking it a favorable +symptom, renewed the already neglected offer of fortune, with a view to +quicken a zeal which he reasonably enough supposed would be most likely to +be awakened by the hopes of a substantial reward.</p> + +<p>"Were there question here, illustrious Signore," answered Maso, "of +steering a barge, of shortenning sail, or of handling a craft of any rig +or construction, in gale, squall, hurricane, or a calm among breakers, my +skill and experience might be turned to good account; but setting aside +the difference in our strength and hardihood, even that lily which is in +so much danger of being nipped by the frosts, is not more helpless than I +am myself at this moment. I am no better than yourselves, Signori, and, +though a better mountaineer perhaps, I rely on the favor of the saints to +be succored, or my time must finish among the snows instead of in the surf +of a sea-shore, as, until now, I had always believed would be my fate."</p> + +<p>"But the dog--thy admirable dog!"</p> + +<p>"Ah, eccellenza, Nettuno is but a useless beast, here! God has given him a +thicker mantle, and a warmer dress than to us Christians, but even this +advantage will soon prove a curse to my poor friend. The long hair he +carries will quickly be covered with icicles, and, as the snow deepens, it +will retard his movements. The dogs of St. Bernard are smoother, have +longer limbs, a truer scent and possess the advantage of being trained to +the paths."</p> + +<p>A tremendous shout of Sigismund's interrupted Maso,--the youth, on finding +that the accidental meeting with the mariner was not likely to lead to any +immediate advantages, having instantly, accompanied by Pierre and one of +his assistants, renewed the search. The cry was echoed from the guide and +the muleteer, and then all three were seen flying through the snow, +preceded by a powerful mastiff. Nettuno, who had been crouching with his +bushy tail between his legs, barked, seemed to arouse with renewed +courage, and then leaped with evident joy and good-will upon the back of +his old antagonist Uberto.</p> + +<p>The dog of St. Bernard was alone. But his air and all his actions were +those of an animal whose consciousness was wrought up to the highest pitch +permitted by the limits nature had set to the intelligence of a brute. He +ran from one to another, rubbed his glossy and solid side against the +limbs of all, wagged his tail, and betrayed the usual signs that creatures +of his species manifest, when their instinct is most alive. Luckily he had +a good interpreter of his meaning in the guide, who, knowing the habits, +and, if it may be so expressed, the intentions of the mastiff, feeling +there was not a moment to lose if they would still preserve the feebler +members of their party, begged the others to hasten the necessary +dispositions to profit by this happy meeting. The females were supported +as before, the mules fastened together, and Pierre, placing himself in +front, called cheerfully to the dog, encouraging him to lead the way.</p> + +<p>"Is it quite prudent to confide so implicitly to the guidance of this +brute?" asked the Signor Grimaldi a little doubtingly, when he saw the +arrangement on which, by the increasing gloom and the growing intensity of +the cold, it was but too apparent, even to one as little accustomed to the +mountains as himself, that the lives of the whole party depended.</p> + +<p>"Fear not to trust to old Uberto, Signore," answered Pierre, moving onward +as he spoke, for to think of further delay was out of the question; "fear +nothing for the faith or the knowledge of the dog. These animals are +trained by the servants of the convent to know and keep the paths, even +when the snows lie on them fathoms deep. God has given them stout hearts, +long limbs, and short hair expressly, as it has often seemed to me, for +this end; and nobly do they use the gifts! I am acquainted with all their +ways, for we guides commonly learn the ravines of St. Bernard by first +serving the claviers of the convent, and many a day have I gone up and +down these rocks with a couple of these animals in training for this very +purpose. The father and mother of Uberto were my favorite companions, and +their son will hardly play an old friend of the family false."</p> + +<p>The travellers followed their leader with more confidence, though blindly. +Uberto appeared to perform his duty with the sobriety and steadiness that +became his years, and which, indeed, were very necessary for the +circumstances in which they were placed. Instead of bounding ahead and +becoming lost to view, as most probably would have happened with a younger +animal, the noble and half-reasoning brute maintained a pace that was +suited to the slow march of those who supported the females, occasionally +stopping to look back, as if to make sure that none were left.</p> + +<p>The dogs of St. Bernard are, or it might perhaps be better to say +were,--for it is affirmed that the ancient race is lost,--chosen for their +size, their limbs, and the shortness of their coats, as has just been +stated by Pierre; the former being necessary to convey the succor with +which they were often charged, as well as to overcome the difficulties of +the mountains, and the two latter that they might the better wade through, +and resist the influence of, the snows. Their training consisted in +rendering them familiar with, and attached to, the human race; in teaching +them to know and to keep the paths on all occasions, except such as called +for a higher exercise of their instinct, and to discover the position of +those who had been overwhelmed by the avalanches; and; to assist in +disinterring their bodies. In all these duties Uberto had been so long +exercised, that he was universally know to be the most sagacious and the +most trusty animal on the mountain. Pierre followed his steps with so much +greater-reliance on his intelligence, from being perfectly acquainted with +the character of the dog. When, therefore, he saw the mastiff turn at +right angles to the course he had just been taking, the guide, on reaching +the spot, imitated his example, and, first removing the snow to make sure +of the fact, he joyfully proclaimed to those who came after him that the +lost path was found. This intelligence sounded like a reprieve from death, +though the mountaineers well knew that more than an hour of painful and +increasing toil was still necessary to reach the hospice. The chilled +blood of the tender beings who were fast dropping into the terrible sleep +which is the forerunner of death, was quickened in their veins, however, +when they heard the shout of delight that spontaneously broke from all +their male companions, on learning the glad tidings.</p> + +<p>The movement was now faster, though embarrassed and difficult on account +of the incessant pelting of the storm and the influence of the biting +cold, which were difficult to be withstood by even the strongest of the +party. Sigismund groaned inwardly, as he thought of Adelheid and his +sister's being exposed to a tempest which shook the stoutest frame and the +most manly heart among them. He encircled the latter with an arm, rather +carrying than leading her along, for the young soldier had sufficient +knowledge of the localities of the mountain to understand that they were +still at a fearful distance from the Col, and that the strength of +Christine was absolutely unequal to the task of reaching it unsupported.</p> + +<p>Occasionally Pierre spoke to the dogs, Nettuno keeping close to the side +of Uberto in order to prevent separation, since the path was no longer +discernible without constant examination, the darkness having so far +increased as to reduce the sight to very narrow limits. Each time the name +of the latter was pronounced, the animal would stop, wag his tail, or give +some other sign of recognition, as if to reassure his followers of his +intelligence and fidelity. After one of these short halts, old Uberto and +his companion unexpectedly refused to proceed. The guide, the two old +nobles, and at length the whole party, were around them, and no cry or +encouragement of the mountaineers could induce the dogs to quit their +tracks.</p> + +<p>"Are we again lost?" asked the Baron de Willading, pressing Adelheid +closer to his beating heart, nearly ready to submit to their common fate +in despair. "Has God at length forsaken us?--my daughter--my beloved +child!"</p> + +<p>This touching appeal was answered by a howl from Uberto, who leaped madly +away and disappeared. Nettuno followed, barking wildly and with a deep +throat. Pierre did not hesitate about following, and Sigismund, believing +that the movement of the guide was to arrest the flight of the dogs, was +quickly on his heels. Maso moved with greater deliberation.</p> + +<p>"Nettuno is not apt to raise that bark with nothing but hail, and snow, +and wind in his nostrils," said the calculating Italian. "We are either +near another party of travellers, for such are on the mountains as I know"</p> + +<p>"God forbid! Art sure of this?" demanded the Signor Grimaldi, observing +that the other had suddenly checked himself.</p> + +<p>"Sure that others <i>were</i>, Signore," returned the mariner deliberately, as +if he measured well the meaning of each word. "Ah, here comes the trusty +beast, and Pierre, and the Captain, with their tidings, be they good or be +they evil."</p> + +<p>The two just named rejoined their friends a Maso ceased speaking. They +hurriedly informed the shivering travellers that the much desired Refuge +was near, and that nothing but the darkness and the driving snow prevented +it from being seen.</p> + +<p>"It was a blessed thought, and one that came from St. Augustine himself, +which led the holy monks to raise this shelter!" exclaimed the delighted +Pierre, no longer considering it necessary to conceal the extent of the +danger they had run. "I would not answer even for my own power to reach +the hospice in a time like this. You are of mother church, Signore, being +of Italy?"</p> + +<p>"I am one of her unworthy children," returned the Genoese.</p> + +<p>"This unmerited favor must have come from the prayers of St. Augustine, +and a vow I made to send a fair offering to our Lady of Einsiedeln; for +never before have I known a dog of St. Bernard lead the traveller to the +Refuge! Their business is to find the frozen, and to guide the traveller +along the paths to the hospice. Even Uberto had his doubts, as you saw, +but the vow prevailed; or, I know not--it might, indeed, have been the +prayer."</p> + +<p>The Signor Grimaldi was too eager to get Adelheid under cover, and, in +good sooth, to be there himself, to waste the time in discussing the +knotty point of which of two means that were equally orthodox, had been +the most efficacious in bringing about their rescue. In common with the +others, he followed the pious and confiding Pierre in silence, making the +best of his way after the credit lous guide. The latter had not yet seen +the Refuge himself, for so these places are well termed on the Alpine +passes, but the information of the ground had satisfied him of its +proximity. Once reassured as to his precise position, all the surrounding +localities presented themselves to his mind with the familiarity the +seaman manifests with every cord in the intricate maze of his rigging, in +the darkest night, or, to produce a parallel of more common use, with the +readiness which all manifest in the intricacies of their own habitations. +The broken chain of association being repaired and joined, every thing +became clear, again to his apprehension, and, in diverging from the path +on this occasion, the old man held his way as directly toward the spot he +sought, as if he were journeying under a bright sun. There was a rough but +short descent, a similar rise, and the long-desired goal was reached.</p> + +<p>We shall not stop to dwell upon the emotions with which the travellers +first touched this place of comparative security. Humility, and dependence +on the providence of God, were the pre-dominant sensations even with the +rude muleteers, while the pearly exhausted females were just able to +express in murmurs their fervent gratitude to the omnipotent power that +had permitted its agents so unexpectedly to interpose between them and +death. The Refuge was not seen until Pierre laid his hand on the roof, now +white with snow, and proclaimed its character with a loud, warm, and +devout thanksgiving.</p> + +<p>"Enter and thank God!" he said. "Another hopeless half-hour would have +brought down from his pride the stoutest among us--enter, and thank God!"</p> + +<p>As is the fact with all the edifices of that region the building was +entirely of stone, even to the roof having the form of those vaulted +cellars which in this country are use for the preservation of vegetables. +It was quite free from humidity, however, the clearness of the atmosphere +and the entire absence of soil preventing the accumulation of moisture, +and it offered no more than the naked protection of its walls to those who +sought its cover. But shelter on such a night was everything, and this it +effectually afforded. The place had only one outlet, being simply formed +of four walls and the roof; but it was sufficiently large to shelter a +party twice as numerous as that which had now reached it.</p> + +<p>The transition from the biting cold and piercing winds of the mountain to +the shelter of this inartificial building, was so great as to produce +something like a general sensation of warmth. The advantage gained in this +change of feeling was judiciously improved by the application of friction +and of restoratives under the direction of Pierre. Uberto carried a small +supply of the latter attached to his collar, and before half an hour had +passed Adelheid and Christine were sleeping sweetly, side by side, muffled +in plenty of the spare garments, and pillowed on the saddles and housings +of the mules. The brutes were brought within the Refuge and as no party +mounted the St Bernard without carrying the provender necessary for its +beasts of burthen, that sterile region affording none of its own, the very +fuel being transported leagues on the backs of mules, the patient and +hardy animals, too, found their solace, after the fatigues and exposure of +the day. The presence of so many living bodies in lodgings so confined +aided in producing warmth, and, after all had eaten of the scanty fare +furnished by the foresight of the guide, drowsiness came over the whole +party.</p> +</div> + + +<div class="chapter" id="ch24"> +<h2>Chapter XXIV.</h2> + + +<blockquote class="epi"><p> Side by side,<br /> + Within they lie, a mournful company.</p> + +<p> Rogers.</p></blockquote> + +<p> +The sleep of the weary is sweet. In after-life, Adelheid, when dwelling in +a palace, reposing on down, and canopied by the rich stuffs of a more +generous climate, was often heard to say that she had never taken rest +grateful as that she found in the Refuge of St. Bernard. So easy, natural, +and refreshing, had been her slumbers, unalloyed even by those dreams of +precipices and avalanches which, long afterwards, haunted her slumbers, +that she was the first to open her eyes on the following morning, awaking +like an infant that had enjoyed a quiet and healthful repose. Her +movements aroused Christine. They threw aside the cloaks and coats that +covered them, and sat gazing about the place in the confusion that the +novelty of their situation would be likely to produce. All the rest of the +travellers still slumbered; and, arising without noise, they passed the +silent and insensible sleepers, the quiet mules which had stretched +themselves near the entrance of the place, and quitted the hut.</p> + +<p>Without, the scene was wintry: but, as is usual in the Alps let what may +be the season, its features of grand and imposing sublimity were prominent +The day was among the peaks above them, while the shades of night still +lay upon the valleys, forming a landscape like that exquisite and poetical +picture of the lower world, which Guido has given in the celebrated +al-fresco painting of Aurora. The ravines and glens were covered with +snow, but the sides of the rugged rocks were bare in their eternal hue of +ferruginous brown. The little knoll on which the Refuge stood was also +nearly naked, the wind having driven the light particles of the snow into +the ravine of the path. The air of the morning is keen at that great +height even in midsummer, and the shivering girls drew their mantles about +them, though they breathed the clear, elastic, inspiring element with +pleasure. The storm was entirely past, and the pure sapphire-colored sky +was in lovely contrast with the shadows beneath, raising their thoughts +naturally to that heaven which shone in a peace and glory so much in +harmony with the ordinary images we shadow forth of the abode of the +blessed. Adelheid pressed the hand of Christine, and they knelt together, +bowing their heads to a rock. As fervent, pure, and sincere orisons +ascended to God, from these pious and innocent spirits, as it belongs to +poor mortality to offer.</p> + +<p>This general, and in their peculiar situation especial, duty performed, +the gentle girls felt more assured. Relieved of a heavy and imperative +obligation, they ventured to look about them with greater confidence. +Another building, similar in form and material to that in which their +companions were still sleeping, stood on the same swell of rock, and their +first inquiries naturally took that direction. The entrance, or outlet to +this hut, was an orifice that resembled a window rather than a door. They +moved cautiously to the spot, looking into the gloomy, cavern-like room, +as timidly as the hare throws his regards about him before he ventures +from his cover. Four human forms were reposing deep in the vault, with +their backs sustained against the walls. They slept profoundly too, for +the curious but startled girls gazed at them long, and retired without +causing them to awake.</p> + +<p>"We have not been alone on the mountain in this terrible night," whispered +Adelheid, gently urging the trembling Christine away from the spot; "thou +seest that other travellers have been taking their rest near us; most +probably after perils and fatigues like our own."</p> + +<p>Christine drew closer to the side of her more experienced friend, like the +young of the dove hovering near the mother-bird when first venturing from +the nest, and they returned to the refuge they had quitted, for the cold +was still so intense as to render its protection grateful. At the door +they were met by Pierre, the vigilant old man having awakened as soon as +the light crossed his eyes.</p> + +<p>"We are not alone here;" said Adelheid, pointing to the other +stone-covered roof--"there are travellers sleeping in yonder building, +too."</p> + +<p>"Their sleep will be long, lady;" answered the guide, shaking his head +solemnly. "With two of them it has already lasted a twelvemonth and the +third has slept where you saw him since the fall of the avalanche in the +last days of April."</p> + +<p>Adelheid recoiled a step, for his meaning was too plain to be +misunderstood. After looking at her gentle companion, she demanded if +those they had seen were in truth the bodies of travellers who had +perished on the mountain.</p> + +<p>"Of no other, lady," returned Pierre, "This hut is for the living--that +for the dead. So near are the two to each other, when men journey on these +wild rocks in winter. I have known him who passed a short and troubled +night here, begin a sleep in the other before the turn of the day that is +not only deep enough, but which will last for ever. One of the three that +thou hast just seen was a guide like myself: he was buried in the falling +snow at the spot where the path leaves the plain of Vélan below us. +Another is a pilgrim that perished in as clear a night as ever shone on +St. Bernard, and merely for having taking a cup too much to cheer his way. +The third is a poor vine-dresser that was coming from Piedmont into our +Swiss valleys to follow his calling, when death overtook him in an +ill-advised slumber, in which he was so unwise as to indulge at nightfall. +I found his body myself on that naked rock, the day after we had drunk +together in friendship at Aoste, and with my own hands was he placed among +the others."</p> + +<p>"And such is the burial a Christian gets in this inhospitable country!"</p> + +<p>"What would you, lady!--'tis the chance of the poor and the unknown. Those +that have friends are sought and found; but those that die without leaving +traces of their origin fare as you see. The spade is useless among these +rocks; and then it is better that the body should remain where it may be +seen and claimed, than it should be put out of sight. The good fathers, +and all of note, are taken down into the valleys, where there is earth and +are decently buried; while the poor and the stranger are housed in this +vault, which is a better cover than many of them knew while living. Ay, +there are three Christians there, who were all lately walking the earth in +the flesh, gay and active as any."</p> + +<p>"The bodies are four in number!"</p> + +<p>Pierre looked surprised; he mused a little, and continued his employment.</p> + +<p>"Then another has perished. The time may come when my own blood shall +freeze. This is a fate the guide must ever keep in mind, for he is +exposed to it at an hour and a season that he knows not!"</p> + +<p>Adelheid pursued the subject no farther. She remembered to have heard that +the pure atmosphere of the mountain prevented that offensive decay which +is usually associated with the idea of death, and the usage lost some of +its horror in the recollection.</p> + +<p>In the mean time the remainder of the party awoke, and were collecting +before the refuge. The mules were led forth and saddled, the baggage was +loaded, and Pierre was calling upon the travellers to mount, when Uberto +and Nettuno came leaping down the path in company, running side by side in +excellent fellowship. The movements of the dogs were of a nature to +attract the attention of Pierre and the muleteers, who predicted that they +should soon see some of the servants of the hospice. The result showed the +familiarity of the guide with his duty, for he had scarce ventured this +opinion, when a party from the gorge on the summit of the mountain was +seen wading through the snow, along the path that led towards the Refuge, +with Father Xavier at its head.</p> + +<p>The explanations were brief and natural. After conducting the travellers +to the shelter, and passing most of the night in their company, at the +approach of dawn Uberto had returned to the convent, always attended by +his friend Nettuno. Here he communicated to the monks, by signs which they +who were accustomed to the habits of the animal were not slow in +interpreting, that travellers were on the mountain. The good clavier knew +that the party of the Baron de Willading was about to cross the Col, for +he had hurried home to be in readiness to receive them; and foreseeing the +probability that they hod been overtaken by the storm of the previous +night, he was foremost in joining the servants who went forth to their +succor. The little flask of cordial, too, had been removed from the collar +of Uberto, leaving no doubt of its contents having been used; and, as +nothing was more probable than that the travellers should seek a cover, +their steps were directed to wards the Refuge as a matter of course.</p> + +<p>The worthy clavier made this explanation with eyes that glistened with +moisture, occasionally interrupting himself to murmur a prayer of +thanksgiving. He passed from one of the party to the other, not even +neglecting the muleteers, examining their limbs, and more especially their +ears, to see that they had quite escaped the influence of the frost, and +was only happy when assured by his own observation that the terrible +danger they had run was not likely to be attended by any injurious +consequences.</p> + +<p>"We are accustomed to see many accidents of this nature," he said, +smilingly, when the examination was satisfactorily ended, "and practice +has made us quick of sight in these matters. The blessed Maria be praised, +and adoration to her holy Son, that you have all got through the night so +well! There is a warm breakfast in readiness in the convent kitchen, and, +one solemn duty performed, we will go up the rocks to enjoy it. The little +building near us is the last earthly abode of those who perish on this +side the mountain, and whose remains are unclaimed. None of our canons +pass the spot without offering a prayer in behalf of their souls. Kneel +with me, then, you that have so much reason to be grateful to God, and +join in the petition."</p> + +<p>Father Xavier knelt on the rocks, and all the Catholics of the party +united with him in the prayer for the dead. The Baron de Willading, his +daughter and their attendants stood uncovered the while for though their +Protestant opinions rejected such a mediation as useless, they deeply felt +the solemnity and holy character of the sacrifice. The clavier arose with +a countenance that was beaming and bright as the morning sun which, just +at that moment, appeared above the summits of the Alps, casting its genial +and bland warmth on the group, the brown huts, and the mountain side.</p> + +<p>"Thou art a heretic," he said affectionately to Adelheid, in whom he felt +the interest, to which her youth and beauty, and the great danger they had +so lately run in company, very naturally gave birth. "Thou art an +impenitent heretic, but we will hot cast thee off; notwithstanding thy +obstinacy and crimes, thou seest that the saints can interest themselves +in the behalf of obstinate sinners, or thou and all with thee would have +surely been lost."</p> + +<p>This was said in a way to draw a smile from Adelheid, who received his +accusations as so many friendly and playful reproaches. As a token of +peace between them, she offered her hand to the monk, with a request that +he would aid her in getting into the saddle.</p> + +<p>"Dost thou remark the brutes!" said the Signor Grimaldi, pointing to the +animals, who were gravely seated before the window of the bone-house, with +relaxed jaws, keeping their eyes riveted on its entrance, or window. "Thy +St. Bernard dogs, father, seem trained to serve a Christian in all ways, +whether living or dead."</p> + +<p>"Their quiet attitude and decent attention might indeed justify such a +remark! Didst thou ever note such conduct in Uberto before?" returned the +Augustine, addressing the servants of the convent, for the actions of the +animals were a study and a subject of great interest to all of St. +Bernard.</p> + +<p>"They tell me that another fresh body has been put into the house, since I +last came down the mountain" remarked Pierre, who was quietly disposing +of a mule in a manner more favorable for Adelheid to mount: "the mastiff +scents the dead. It was this that brought him to the Refuge last night, +Heaven be praised for the mercy!"</p> + +<p>This was said with the indifference that habit is apt to create, for the +usage of leaving bodies uninterred had no influence on the feelings of the +guide, but it did not the less strike those who had descended from the +convent.</p> + +<p>"Thou art the last that came down thyself," said one of the servants; "nor +have any come up, but those who are now safe in the convent, taking their +rest after last night's tempest."</p> + +<p>"How canst utter this idle nonsense, Henri, when a fresh body is in the +house! This lady counted them but now, and there are four; three was the +number that I showed the Piedmontese noble whom I led from Aoste, the day +thou meanest!"</p> + +<p>"Look to this;" said the clavier, turning abruptly away from Adelheid, +whom he was on the point of helping into the saddle.</p> + +<p>The men entered the gloomy vault, whence they soon returned bearing a +body, which they placed with its back against the wall of the building, in +the open air. A cloak was over the head and face, as if the garment had +been thus arranged to exclude the cold.</p> + +<p>"He hath perished the past night, mistaking the bone-house for the +Refuge!" exclaimed the clavier: "Maria and her Son intercede for his +soul!"</p> + +<p>"Is the unfortunate man truly dead?" asked the Genoese with more of +worldly care, and with greater practice in the investigation of facts. +"The frozen sleep long before the currents of life cease entirely to run."</p> + +<p>The Augustine commanded his followers to remove the cloak, though with +little hope that the suggestion of the other would prove true. When the +cloth was raised, the collapsed and pallid features of one in whom life +was unequivocally extinct were exposed to view. Unlike most of those that +perish of cold, who usually sink into the long sleep of eternity by a +gradual numbness and a slowly increasing unconsciousness, there was an +expression of pain in the countenance of the stranger which seemed to +announce that his parting struggles had been severe, and that he had +resigned his hold of that mysterious principle which connects the soul to +the body, with anguish. A shriek from Christine interrupted the awful gaze +of the travellers, and drew their looks in another direction. She was +clinging to the neck of Adelheid, her arms appearing to writhe with the +effort to incorporate heir two bodies into one.</p> + +<p>"It is he! It is he!" muttered the frightened and half frantic girl, +burying her pale face in the bosom of her friend. "Oh! God!--it is he!"</p> + +<p>"Of whom art thou speaking, dear?" demanded the wondering, but not the +less awe-struck, Adelheid, believing that the weakened nerves of the poor +girl were unstrung by the horror of the spectacle--"it is a traveller like +ourselves, that has unhappily perished in the very storm from which, by +the kindness of Providence, we have been permitted to escape. Thou +shouldst not tremble thus; for, fearful as it is, he is in a condition to +which we all must come."</p> + +<p>"So soon! so soon! so suddenly--oh! it is he!" Adelheid, alarmed at the +violence of Christine's feelings, was quite at a loss to account for them, +when the relapsed grasp and the dying voice showed that her friend had +fainted. Sigismund was one of the first to come to the assistance of his +sister, who was soon restored to consciousness by the ordinary +applications. In order to effect the cure she was borne to a rock at some +little distance from the rest of the party, where none of the other sex +presumed to come, with the exception of her brother. The latter staid but +a moment, for a stir in the little party at the bone-house induced him to +go thither. His return was slow, thoughtful, and sad.</p> + +<p>"The feelings of our poor Christine have been unhinged, and she is too +easily excited to undergo the vicissitudes of a journey" observed +Adelheid, after having announced the restoration of the sufferer to her +senses; "have you seen her thus before?"</p> + +<p>"No angel could be more tranquil and happy than my cruelly treated sister +was until this last disgrace;--you appear ignorant yourself of the +melancholy truth?"</p> + +<p>Adelheid looked her surprise.</p> + +<p>"The dead man is he who was so lately intended to be the master of my +sister's happiness, and the wounds on his body leave little doubt that he +has been murdered."</p> + +<p>The emotion of Christine needed no further explanation.</p> + +<p>"Murdered!" repeated Adelheid, in a whisper.</p> + +<p>"Of that frightful truth there can be no question. Your father and our +friends are now employed in making the examinations which may hereafter be +useful in discovering the authors of the deed."</p> + +<p>"Sigismund?"</p> + +<p>"What wouldst thou, Adelheid?"</p> + +<p>"Thou hast felt resentment against this unfortunate man?"</p> + +<p>"I deny it not: could a brother feel otherwise?"</p> + +<p>"But now--now that God hath so fearfully visited him?"</p> + +<p>"From my soul I forgive him. Had we met in Italy, whither I knew he was +going--but this is foolish."</p> + +<p>"Worse than that, Sigismund."</p> + +<p>"From my inmost soul I pardon him. I never thought him worthy of her whose +simple affection, were won by the first signs of his pretended into rest; +but I could not wish him so cruel and sudden an end. May God have mercy on +him, as he is pardoned by me!"</p> + +<p>Adelheid received the silent pressure of the hand which followed with +pious satisfaction. They then separated, he to join the group that was +collected around the body, and she to take her station again near +Christine. The former, however, was met by the Signor Grimaldi, who urged +his immediate departure with the females for the convent, promising that +the rest of the travellers should follow as soon as the present melancholy +duty was ended. As Sigismund had no wish to be a party in what was going +on, and there was reason to think his sister would be spared much pain by +quitting the spot, he gladly acquiesced in the proposal. Immediate steps +were taken for its accomplishment.</p> + +<p>Christine mounted her mule, in obedience to her brother's desire, quietly, +and without remonstrance; but her death-like countenance and fixed eye +betrayed the violence of the shock she had received. During the whole of +the ride to the convent she spoke not, and, as those around her felt for, +and understood, her distress, the little cavalcade could not have been +more melancholy and silent had it borne with it the body of the slain. In +an hour they reached the long sought for and so anxiously desired place of +rest.</p> + +<p>While this disposition of the feebler portion of the party was making, a +different scene had taken place near what have been already so well called +the houses of the living and the dead. As there existed no human +habitation within several leagues of the abode of the Augustines on either +side of the mountain, and as the paths were much frequented in the summer, +the monks exercised a species of civil jurisdiction in such cases as +required a prompt exercise of justice, or a necessary respect for those +forms that might be important in its ad ministration hereafter before the +more regular authorities. It was no sooner known, therefore, that there +was reason to suspect an act of violence had been committed, than the good +clavier set seriously about taking the necessary steps to authenticate all +those circumstances that could be accurately ascertained.</p> + +<p>The identity of the body as that of Jacques Colis, a small but substantial +proprietor of the country of Vaud, was quickly established. To this fact +not only several of the travellers could testify, but he was also known to +one of the muleteers, of whom he had engaged a beast to be left at Aoste +and, it will also be remembered, he had been seen by Pierre at Martigny, +while making his arrangements to puss the mountain. Of the mule there were +no other traces than a few natural signs around the building, but which +might equally be attributed to the beasts that still awaited the leisure +of the travellers. The manner in which the unhappy man had come by his +death admitted of no dispute. There were several wounds in the body, and a +knife, of the sort then much used by travellers of an ordinary class, was +left sticking in his back in a position to render it impossible to +attribute the end of the sufferer to suicide. The clothes, too, exhibited +proofs of a struggle, for they were torn and soiled, but nothing had been +taken away. A little gold was found in the pockets, and though in no great +plenty still enough to weaken the first impression that there had also +been a robbery.</p> + +<p>"This is wonderful!" observed the good clavier as he noted the last +circumstance; "the dross which leads so many souls to damnation has been +neglected while Christian blood has been shed! This seems an act of +vengeance rather than of cupidity. Let us now examine if any proofs are to +be found of the scene of this tragedy."</p> + +<p>The search was unsuccessful. The whole of the surrounding region being +composed of ferruginous rocks and their <i>débris</i>, it would not, indeed, +have been an easy matter to trace the march of an army by their footsteps. +The stain of blood, however, was nowhere discoverable, except on the spot +where the body had been found. The house itself furnished no particular +evidence of the bloody scene of which it had been a witness. The bones of +those who had died long before were lying on the stones, it is true, +broken and scattered; but, as the curious were wont to stop, and sometimes +to enter among and handle these remains of mortality, there was nothing +new or peculiar in their present condition.</p> + +<p>The interior of the dead-house was obscure, and suited, in this particular +at least, to its solemn office. While making the latter part of their +examination, the monk and the two nobles, who began to feel a lively +interest in the late event, stood before the window, gazing in at the +gloomy but instructive scene. One body was so placed as to receive a few +of the direct rays of the morning light, and it was consequently much more +conspicuous than the rest, though even this was a dark and withered mummy +that presented scarcely a vestige; of the being it had been. Like all the +others whose parts still clung together, it had been placed against the +wall, in the attitude of one that is seated, with the head fallen forward. +The latter circumstance had brought the blackened and shrivelled face into +the line of light. It had the ghastly grin of death, the features being +distorted by the process of evaporation, and was altogether a revolting +but salutary monitor of the common lot.</p> + +<p>"'Tis the body of the poor vine-dresser;" remarked the monk, more +accustomed to the spectacle than his companions, who had shrunk from the +sight; "he unwisely slept on yonder naked rock, and it proved to him the +sleep of death. There have been many masses for his soul, but what is left +of his material remains still lie unclaimed. But--how is this! Pierre, +thou hast lately passed this place; what was the number of the bodies, at +thy last visit?"</p> + +<p>"Three, reverend clavier; and yet the ladies spoke of four. I looked for +the fourth when in the building, but there appeared none fresh, except +this of poor Jacques Colis."</p> + +<p>"Come hither, and say if there do not appear to be two in the far +corner--here, where the body of thy old comrade the guide was placed, from +respect for his calling; surely, there at least is a change in its +position!"</p> + +<p>Pierre approached, and taking off his cap in reverence, he leaned forward +in the building, so as to exclude the external light from his eyes.</p> + +<p>"Father!" he said, drawing back in surprise, "there is truly another; +though I overlooked it when we entered the place."</p> + +<p>"This must be examined into! The crime may be greater than we had +believed!"</p> + +<p>The servants of the convent and Pierre, whose long services rendered him a +familiar of the brotherhood, now re-entered the building, while those +without impatiently awaited the result. A cry from the interior prepared +the latter for some fresh subject of horror, when Pierre and his companion +quickly reappeared, dragging a living man into the open air. When the +light permitted, those who knew him recognized the mild demeanor, the +subdued look, and the uneasy, distrustful glance of Balthazar.</p> + +<p>The first sensation of the spectators was that of open amazement; but dark +suspicion followed. The baron, the two Genoese, and the monk, had all been +witnesses of the scene in the great square of Vévey. The person of the +headsman had become so well known to them by the passage on the lake and +the event just alluded to, that there was not a moment of doubt touching +his identity, and, coupled with the circumstances of that morning, there +remained little more that the clue was now found to the cause of the +murder.</p> + +<p>We shall not stop to relate the particulars of the examination. It was +short, reserved, and had the character of an investigation instituted more +for the sake of form, than from any incertitude there could exist on the +subject of the facts. When the necessary-inquiries were ended, the two +nobles mounted. Father Xavier led the way, and the whole party proceeded +towards the summit of the pass, leading Balthazar a prisoner, and leaving +the body of Jacques Colis to its final rest, in that place where so many +human forms had evaporated into air before him, unless those who had felt +an interest in him in life should see fit to claim his remains.</p> + +<p>The ascent between the Refuge and the summit of St. Bernard is much more +severe than on any other part of the road. The end of the convent, +overhanging the northern brow of the gorge, and looking like a mass of +that ferruginous and melancholy rock which gave the whole region so wild +and so unearthly an aspect, soon became visible, carved and moulded into +the shape of a rude human habitation. The last pitch was so steep as to +be formed into a sort of stair-way, up which the groaning mules toiled +with difficulty. This labor overcome, the party stood on the highest point +of the pass. Another minute brought them to the door of the convent.</p> +</div> + + +<div class="chapter" id="ch25"> +<h2>Chapter XXV.</h2> + + +<blockquote class="epi"><p> ------Hadst thou not been by,<br /> + A fellow by the hand of nature mark'd,<br /> + Noted, and sign'd to do a deed of shame,<br /> + This murder had not come into my mind.</p> + +<p> Shakspeare.</p></blockquote> + +<p> +The arrival of Sigismund's party at the hospice preceded that of the other +travellers more than an hour. They were received with the hospitality with +which all were then welcomed at this celebrated convent; the visits of the +curious and the vulgar not having blunted the benevolence of the monks, +who, mostly accustomed to entertain the low-born and ignorant, were always +happy to relieve the monotony of their solitude by intercourse with guests +of a superior class. The good clavier had prepared the way for their +reception; for even on the wild ridge of St. Bernard, we do not fare the +worse for carrying with us a prestige of that rank and consideration that +are enjoyed in the world below. Although a mild Christian-like good-will +were manifested to all, the heiress of Willading, a name that was +generally known and honored between the Alps and the Jura, met with those +proofs of <i>empressement</i> and deference which betray the secret thought, in +despite of conventional forms and which told her, plainer than the words +of welcome, that the retired Augustines were not sorry to see so fair and +so noble a specimen of their species within their dreary walls.</p> + +<p>All this, however, was lost on Sigismund. He was too much occupied with +the events of the morning to note other things; and, first committing +Adelheid and his sister to the care of their women, he went into the open +air in order to await the arrival of the rest.</p> + +<p>As it has been mentioned, the existence of the venerable convent of St. +Bernard dates from a very remote period of Christianity. It stands on the +very brow of the precipice which forms the last steep ascent in mounting +to the Col. The building is a high, narrow, but vast, barrack-looking +edifice, built of the ferruginous stone of the region, having its gable +placed toward the Valais, and its front stretching in the direction of the +gorge in which it stands. Immediately before its principal door, the rock +rises in an ill-shapen hillock, across which runs the path to Italy. This +is literally the highest point of the pass, as the building itself is the +most elevated habitable abode in Europe. At this spot, the distance from +rock to rock, spanning the gorge, may be a hundred yards, the wild and +reddish piles rising on each side for more than a thousand feet. These are +merely dwarfs, however, among their sister piles, several of which, in +plain view of the convent, reach to the height of eternal snow. This point +in the road attained, the path began immediately to descend, and the +drippings of a snow-bank before the convent door, which had resisted the +greatest heat of the past summer, ran partly into the valley of the Rhone, +and partly into Piedmont; the waters, after a long and devious course +through the plains of France and Italy, meeting again in the common basin +of the Mediterranean. The path, on quitting the convent, runs between the +base of the rocks on its right and a little limpid lake on its left, the +latter occupying nearly the entire cavity of the valley of the gorge. It +then disappears between natural palisades of rock, at the other extremity +of the Col. This is the point where the superfluous waters of the lake +find their outlet, descending swiftly, in a brawling little brook, on the +sunny side of the Alps. The frontier of Italy is met on the margin of the +lake, a long musket-shot from the abode of the Augustines, and near the +site of a temple that the Romans had raised in honor of Jupiter, in his +attribute of director of storms.</p> + +<p>Such was the outline of the view which presented itself to Sigismund, when +he left the building to while away the time that must necessarily elapse +before the arrival of the rest of the party. The hour was still early, +though the great altitude of the site of the convent had brought it +beneath the influence of the sun's rays an hour before. He had learned +from a servant of the Augustines, that a number of ordinary travellers, of +whom in the fine season hundreds at a time frequently passed the night in +their dormitories, were now breaking their fasts in the refectory of the +peasants, and he was willing to avoid the questions that their curiosity +might prompt when they came to hear what had occurred lower down on the +mountain. One of the brotherhood was caressing four or five enormous +mastiffs, that were leaping about and barking with deep throats in front +of the convent, while old Uberto moved among them with a gravity and +respect that better suited his years. Perceiving his guest, the Augustine +quitted the dogs, and, lifting his eastern-looking cap, he gave him the +salutation of the morning. Sigismund met the frank smile of the canon, who +like himself was young with a fit return. The occasion was such as +Sigismund desired, and a friendly discourse succeeded while they paced +along the margin of the lake, holding the path that leads across the Col.</p> + +<p>"You are young in your charitable office, brother," remarked the soldier, +when familiarity was a little established. "This will be among the first +of the winters you will have passed at your benevolent post?"</p> + +<p>"It will make the eighth, as novice and as canon. We are early trained to +this kind of life, though no practice will enable any of us to withstand +the effect which the thin air and intense cold produce on the lungs many +winters in succession. We go down to Martigny when there is occasion, and +breathe an atmosphere better suited to man. Thou hadst an angry storm +below, the past night?"</p> + +<p>"So angry, that we thank God it is over, and that we are left to share +your hospitality. Were there many on the mountain besides ourselves, or +did any come up from Italy?"</p> + +<p>"There were none but those who are now in the common refectory, and none +came from Aoste. The season for the traveller is over. This is a month in +which we see only those who are much pressed, and who have their reasons +for trusting the weather. In the summer we sometimes lodge a thousand +guests." + +"They whom ye receive have reason to be thankful, reverend Augustine; for, +in sooth, this does not seem a region that abounds in its fruits."</p> + +<p>Sigismund and the monk looked around at the vast piles of ragged naked +rocks, and they smiled as their eyes met.</p> + +<p>"Nature gives literally nothing," answered the Augustine: "even the fuel +that warms us is transported leagues on the backs of mules, and thou wilt +readily conceive that of all others this is a necessary we cannot forego. +Happily, we have some of our ancient, and what were once rich, endowments; +and--"</p> + +<p>The young canon hesitated to proceed.</p> + +<p>"You were about to say, father, that they who have the means to show +gratitude are not always unmindful of the wants of those, who share the +same hospitality without possessing the same ability to manifest their +respect for the institution."</p> + +<p>The Augustine bowed, and he turned the discourse by pointing out the +frontiers of Italy, and the site of the ancient temple; both of which they +had this time reached. An animal moved among the rocks, and attracted +their attention.</p> + +<p>"Can it be a chamois!" exclaimed Sigismund, whose blood began to quicken +with a hunter's eagerness: "I would I had arms!"</p> + +<p>"It is a dog, though not of our mountain breed! The mastiffs of the +convent have failed in hospitality, and the poor beast has been driven to +take refuge in this retired spot, in waiting for his master, who probably +makes one of the party in the refectory. See, they come; their approaching +footsteps have brought the cautious animal from his cover."</p> + +<p>Sigismund saw, in truth, that a party of three pedestrians was quitting +the convent, taking the path for Italy. A sudden and painful suspicion +flashed upon his mind. The dog was Nettuno, most probably driven by the +mastiffs, as the monk had suggested, to seek a shelter in this retreat; +and one of those who approached, by his gait and stature was no other than +his master.</p> + +<p>"Thou knowest, father," he said, with a clammy tongue, for he was +strangely agitated between reluctance to accuse Maso of such a crime, and +horror at the fate of Jacques Colis, "that there has been a murder on the +mountain?"</p> + +<p>The monk quietly assented. One who lived on that road, and in that age, +was not easily excited by an event of so frequent occurrence. Sigismund +hastily recounted to his companion all the circumstances that were then +known to himself, and related the manner in which he had first met the +Italian on the lake, and his general impressions concerning his character.</p> + +<p>"All come and go unquestioned here;" returned the Augustine, when the +other had ended. "Our convent has been founded in charity, and we pray for +the sinner without inquiring into the amount of his crime. Still we have +authority, and it is especially our duty, to keep the road clear that our +own purposes may not be defeated. I leave thee to do what thou judgest +most prudent and proper in a matter so delicate."</p> + +<p>Sigismund was silent; but as the pedestrians were drawing near, his +resolution was soon and sternly formed. The obligations that he owed to +Maso made him more prompt, for it excited a jealous distrust of his own +powers to discharge what he conceived to be a duty. Even those late events +in which his sister was so wronged had their share, too, on the decision +of a mind so resolute to be upright. Placing himself in the middle of the +path, he awaited the arrival of the party, while the monk stood quietly at +his side. When the travellers were within speaking distance, the young man +first discovered that the companions of Il Maledetto were Pippo and +Conrad. Their several rencontres had made him sufficiently acquainted with +the persons of the two latter, to enable him to recognize them at a +glance; and Sigismund began to think the undertaking in which he had +embarked more grave than he had at first imagined. Should there be a +disposition to resist, he was but one against three.</p> + +<p>"Buon giorno, Signor Capitano," cried Maso, saluting with his cap, when +sufficiently near to those who occupied the path; "we meet often, and in +all weathers; by day and by night; on the land and on the water; in the +valley and on the mountain; in the city and on this naked rock, as +Providence wills. As many chances try men's characters, we shall come to +know each other in time!"</p> + +<p>"Thou hast well observed, Maso; though I fear thou art a man oftener met +than easily understood."</p> + +<p>"Signore, I am amphibious, like Nettuno here, being part of the earth and +part of the sea. As the learned say, I am not yet classed. We are repaid +for an evil night by a fine day; and the descent into Italy will be +pleasanter than we found the coming up. Shall I order honest Giacomo of +Aoste to prepare the supper, and to air the beds for the noble company +that is to follow? You will scarce do more than reach his holstery before +the young and the beautiful will begin to think of their pillows."</p> + +<p>"Maso, I had thought thee among our party, when I left the Refuge this +morning?"</p> + +<p>"By San Thomaso! Signore, but I had the same opinion touching yourself!"</p> + +<p>"Thou wert early afoot it would seem, or thou couldst not have so much +preceded me?"</p> + +<p>"Look you, brave Signor Sigismondo, for brave I know you to be, and in the +water a swimmer little less determined than gallant Nettuno there--I am a +traveller, and have much need of my time which is the larger portion of my +property. We sea-animals are sometimes rich and sometimes poor, as the +wind happens to blow, and of late I have been driven to struggle with foul +gales and troubled waves. To such a man, an hour of industry in the +mornings often gives a heartier meal and sweeter rest at night. I left +you all in the Refuge sleeping soundly, even to the mules,"--Maso laughed +at his own fancies, as he included the brutes in the party,--"and I +reached the convent just as the first touch of the sun tipped yonder white +peak with its purple light."</p> + +<p>"As thou left'st us so early, thou mayest not have heard, then, that the +body of a murdered man was found in the bone-house--the building near that +in which we slept--and that it is the body of one known?"</p> + +<p>Sigismund spoke firmly and deliberately, as if he would come by degrees to +his purpose, while, at the same time, he made the other sensible of his +being in earnest. Maso started. He made a movement so unequivocally like +one which would have manifested an intention to proceed, that the young +man raised his hand to repulse him. But violence was unnecessary, for the +mariner instantly became composed, and seemingly more disposed to listen.</p> + +<p>"Where there has been a crime, Maso, there must have been a criminal!"</p> + +<p>"The Bishop of Sion could not have made truth clearer to the sinner than +yourself, Signor Sigismondo! Your manner leads me to ask what I have to do +with this?"</p> + +<p>"There has been a murder, Maso, and the murderer is sought. The dead was +found near the spot where thou passed the night; I shall not conceal the +unhappy suspicions that are so natural."</p> + +<p>"Diamine! where did you pass the night yourself, brave Capitano, if I may +be so bold as to question my superior? Where did the noble Baron de +Willading take his rest, and his fair daughter and one nobler and more +illustrious than he, and Pierre the guide, and--ay, and our friends, the +mules again?"</p> + +<p>Maso laughed recklessly once more, as he made this second allusion to the +patient brutes. Sigismund disliked his levity, which he thought forced and +unnatural.</p> + +<p>"This reasoning may satisfy thee, unfortunate man, but it will not satisfy +others. Thou wert alone, but we travelled in company; judging from thy +exterior, thou art but little favored by fortune, Whereas we are more +happy in this particular; and thou hast been, and art still, in haste to +depart, while the discovery of the foul deed is owing to us alone. Thou +must return to the convent, that this grave matter may, at least, be +examined."</p> + +<p>Il Maledetto seemed troubled. Once or twice he glanced his eye at the +quiet athletic frame of the young man, and then turned them on the path in +reflection. Although Sigismund narrowly watched the workings of his +countenance, giving a little of his attention also, from time to time, to +the movements of Pippo and the pilgrim, he preserved himself a perfectly +calm exterior. Firm in his purpose, accustomed to make extraordinary +exertions in his manly exercises, and conscious of his great physical +force, he was not a man to be easily daunted. It is true that the +companions of Maso conducted themselves in a way to excite no additional +apprehensions on their account; for, on the announcement of the murder, +they moved away from his person a little, as by a natural horror of the +hand that could have done the deed. They now consulted together, and +profiting by their situation behind the back of the Italian, they made +signs to Sigismund of their readiness to assist should it be necessary. He +received the signal writh satisfaction; for, though he knew them to be +knaves, he sufficiently understood the difference between audacious crime +and mere roguery to believe they might, in this instance at least, prove +true.</p> + +<p>"Thou wilt return to the convent, Maso," resumed the young soldier, who +would gladly avoid a struggle with a man who had done him and those he +loved so much service, though resolved to discharge what he conceived to +be an imperious duty: "this pilgrim and his friend will be of our party, +in order that, when we quit the mountain, all may leave it blameless and +unsuspected."</p> + +<p>"Signor Sigismondo, the proposal is fair; it has a touch of reason, I +allow; but unluckily it does not suit my interests. I am engaged in a +delicate mission, and too much time has been already lost by the way to +waste more without good cause. I have great pity for poor Jacques Colis--"</p> + +<p>"Ha! thou knowest the sufferer's name, then; thy unlucky tongue hath +betrayed thee, Maso"</p> + +<p>Il Maledetto was again troubled. His features betrayed it, for he frowned +like a man who had committed a grave fault in a matter touching an +important interest. His olive complexion changed, and his interrogator +thought that his eye quailed before his own fixed look. But the emotion +was transient, and shuddering, as if to shake off a weakness, his +appearance became once more natural and composed.</p> + +<p>"Thou makest no reply?"</p> + +<p>"Signore, you have my answer; affairs press, and my visit to the convent +of San Bernardo has been made. I am bound to Aoste, and should be happy to +do your bidding with the worthy Giacomo. I have but a step to make to find +myself in the dominions of the house of Savoy; and, with your leave, +gallant Capitano, I will now take it."</p> + +<p>Maso moved a little aside with the intention to pass Sigismund, when Pippo +and Conrad threw themselves on him from behind, pinning his arms to his +sides by main force. The face of the Italian grew livid, and he smiled +with the contempt and hatred of an inveterately angered man. Assembling +all his force, he suddenly exerted it with the energy and courage of a +lion, shouting--</p> + +<p>"Nettuno!"</p> + +<p>The struggle was short but fierce. When it terminated, Pippo lay bleeding +among the rocks with a broken head, and the pilgrim was gasping near him +under the tremendous gripe of the animal. Maso himself stood firm, though +pale and frowning like one who had collected all his energies, both +physical and moral, to meet this emergency.</p> + +<p>"Am I a brute, to be set upon by the scum of the earth?" he cried: "if +thou wouldst aught with me, Signor Sigismondo, raise thine own arm, but +strike not with the hands of these base reptiles; thou wilt find me a man, +in strength and courage, at least not unworthy of thyself."</p> + +<p>"The attack on thy person, Maso, was not made by my order, nor by my +desire," returned Sigismund, reddening. "I believe myself sufficient to +arrest thee; and, if not, here come assistants that thou wilt scarce deem +it prudent to resist."</p> + +<p>The Augustine had stepped on a rock the moment the struggle commenced, +whence he made a signal which brought all the mastiffs from the convent. +These powerful animals now arrived in a group, apprized by their instinct +that strife was afoot. Nettuno immediately released the pilgrim and stood +at bay; too faithful to desert his master in his need, and yet too +conscious of the force opposed to him to court a contest so unequal. +Luckily for the noble dog, the friendship of old Uberto proved his +protection. When the younger animals saw their patriarch disposed to +amity, they forbore their attack, waiting at least for another signal to +be given. In the mean while, Maso had time to look about him, and to form +his decision less under the influence of surprise and feeling than had +been previously the case.</p> + +<p>"Signore," he answered, "since it is your pleasure, I will return among +the Augustines. But I ask, as simple justice, that, if I am to be hunted +by dogs as a beast of prey, all who were in the same circumstances as +myself may become subject to the same rule. This pilgrim and the +Neapolitan came up the mountain yesterday, as well as myself, and I demand +their arrest until they too can give an account of themselves. It will not +be the first time that we have been inhabitants of the same prison."</p> + +<p>Conrad crossed himself in submission, neither he nor Pippo raising any +objection to the step. On the contrary, each frankly admitted it was no +more than equitable on its face.</p> + +<p>"We are poor travellers on whom many accidents have already alighted, and +we may well be pressed to reach the end of our journey," said the pilgrim; +"but, that justice may be done, we shall submit without a murmur. I am +loaded with the sins of many besides my own, however, and St. Peter he +knows that the last are not light. This holy canon will see that masses +are said in the convent chapel in behalf of those for whom I travel; this +duty done, I am an infant in your hands."</p> + +<p>The good Augustine professed the perfect readiness of the fraternity to +pray for all who were in necessity, with the single proviso that they +should be Christians. With this amicable understanding then, the peace was +made between them, and the parties immediately took the path that led back +to the convent. On reaching the building, Maso, with the two travellers +who had been found in his company, were; laced in safe keeping in one of +the of the solid edifice, until the return of the clavier should enable +them to vindicate their innocence.</p> + +<p>Satisfied with himself for the part he had acted in the late affair, +Sigismund strolled into the chapel, where, at that early hour, some of the +brother hood were always occupied in saying masses in behalf of the souls +of the living or of the dead He was here when he received a note from the +Signor Grimaldi, apprizing him of the arrest of his father, and of the +dark suspicions that were so naturally connected with the transaction. It +is unnecessary to dwell on the nature of the shock he received from this +intelligence. After a few moments of bitter anguish, he perceived the +urgency of making his sister acquainted with the truth as speedily as +possible. The arrival of the party from the Refuge was expected every +moment, and by delay he increased the risk of Christine's hearing the +appalling fact from some other quarter. He sought an audience, therefore, +with Adelheid, the instant he had summoned sufficient self-command to +undertake the duty.</p> + +<p>Mademoiselle de Willading was struck with the pale brow and agitated air +of the young soldier, at the first glance of her eye.</p> + +<p>"Thou hast permitted this unexpected blow to affect thee unusually, +Sigismund," she said, smiling, and offering her hand; for she felt that +the circumstances were those in which cold and heartless forms should give +place to feeling and sincerity. "Thy sister is tranquil, if not happy."</p> + +<p>"She does not know the worst--she has yet to learn the most cruel part of +the truth. Adelheid; they have found one concealed among the dead of the +bone-house, and are now leading him here as the murderer of poor Jacques +Colis!"</p> + +<p>"Another!" said Adelheid, turning pale in alarm "we appear to be +surrounded by assassins!"</p> + +<p>"No, it cannot be true! I know my poor father's mildness of disposition +too well; his habitual tenderness to all around him; his horror at the +sight of blood, even for his odious task!"</p> + +<p>"Sigismund, thy father!"</p> + +<p>The young man groaned. Concealing his face with his hands, he sank into a +seat. The fearful truth, with all its causes and consequences, began to +dawn upon Adelheid. Sinking upon a chair herself, she sat long looking at +the convulsed and working frame of Sigismund in silent horror. It appeared +to her, that Providence, for some great but secret purpose, was disposed +to visit them all with more than a double amount of its anger, and that a +family which had been accursed for so many generations, was about to fill +the measure of its woes. Still her own true heart did not change. On the +contrary, its long-cherished and secret purpose rather grew stronger under +this sudden appeal to its generous and noble properties, and never was the +resolution to devote herself, her life, and all her envied hopes, to the +solace of his unmerited wrongs, so strong and riveted as at that trying +moment.</p> + +<p>In a little time Sigismund regained enough self-command to be able to +commence the narrative of what had passed. They then concerted together +the best means to make Christine acquainted with that which it was +absolutely necessary she should now know.</p> + +<p>"Tell her the simple truth," added Sigismund, 'it cannot long be +concealed, and it were better that she knew it; but tell her, also, my +firm dependence on our father's innocence. God, for one of those +inscrutable purposes which set human intelligence at defiance, has made +him a common executioner, but the curse has not extended to his nature. +Trust me, dearest Adelheid, a more gentle dove-like nature does not exist +in man than that of the poor Balthazar--the despised and persecuted +Balthazar. I have heard my mother dwell upon the nights of anguish and +suffering that have preceded the day on which the duties of his office +were to be discharged; and often have I heard that admirable woman, whose +spirit is far more equal to support our unmerited fortunes, declare she +has often prayed that he and all that are hers might die, so that they +died innocently, rather than one of a temper so gentle and harmless should +again be brought to endure the agony she had witnessed!"</p> + +<p>"It is unhappy that he should be here at so luckless a moment! What +unhappy motive can have led thy father to this spot, at a time so extra +ordinary?"</p> + +<p>"Christine will tell thee that she expected to see him at the convent. We +are a race proscribed, Mademoiselle de Willading, but we are human."</p> + +<p>"Dearest Sigismund--"</p> + +<p>"I feel my injustice, and can only pray to be forgiven. But there are +moments of feeling so intense, that I am ready to believe and treat all of +my species as common enemies. Christine is an only daughter, and thou +thyself, beloved Adelheid, kind, dutiful, and good as I know thee to be, +art not more dear to the Baron de Willading than my poor sister is among +us. Her parents have yielded her to thy generous kindness, for they +believe it for her good; but their hearts have been wrung by the +separation. Thou didst not know it, but Christine took her last embrace of +her mother here on the mountain, at Liddes, and it was then agreed that +her father should watch her in safety over the Col, and bestow the final +blessing at Aoste. Mademoiselle de Willading, you move in pride, +surrounded by many protectors, who are honored in doing you service; but +the abased and the hunted must indulge even their best affections +stealthily, and without obtrusion! The love and tenderness of Balthazar +would pass for mockery with the vulgar! Such is man in his habits and +opinions, when wrong usurps the place of right."</p> + +<p>Adelheid saw that the moment was not favorable for urging consolation and +she abstained from a reply. She rejoiced, however, to hear the presence of +the headsman so satisfactorily accounted for, though she could not quiet +herself from an apprehension that the universal weakness of human nature, +which so suddenly permits the perversion of the best of our passions to +the worst, and the dreadful probability that Balthazar, suffering +intensely by this compelled separation from his daughter, on accidentally +encountering the man who was its cause, might have listened to some +violent impulse of resentment and revenge. She saw also that Sigismund, in +despite of his general confidence in the principles of his father, had +fearful glimmerings of some such event, and that he fearfully anticipated +the worst, even while he most professed confidence in the innocence of the +accused. The interview was soon ended, and they separated; each +endeavoring to invent plausible reasons for what had happened.</p> + +<p>The arrival of the party from the refuge took place soon afterwards. It +was followed by the necessary explanations, and a more detailed narrative +of all that had passed. A consultation was held between the chiefs of the +brotherhood and the two old nobles, and the course it was most expedient +to pursue was calmly and prudently discussed.</p> + +<p>The result was not known for some hours later. It was then generally +proclaimed in the convent that a grave and legal investigation of all the +facts was to take place with the least possible delay.</p> + +<p>The Col of St. Bernard, as has been stated already, lies within the +limits of the present canton but what then the allied state of the Valais. +The crime had consequently been committed within the jurisdiction of that +country; but as the Valais was thus leagued with Switzerland, there +existed such an intimate understanding between the two, that it was rare +any grave proceedings were had against a citizen of either in the dominion +of the other, without paying great deference to the feelings and the +rights of the country of the accused. Messengers were therefore dispatched +to Vévey, to inform the authorities of that place of a transaction which +involved the safety of an officer of the great canton, (for such was +Balthazar,) and which had cost a citizen of Vaud his life. On the other +hand, a similar communication was sent to Sion, the two places being about +equidistant from the convent, with such pressing invitations to the +authorities to be prompt, as were deemed necessary to bring on an +immediate investigation. Melchior de Willading, in a letter to his friend +the bailiff, set forth the inconvenience of his return with Adelheid at +that late season, and the importance of the functionary's testimony, with +such other statements as were likely to effect his wishes; while the +superior of the brotherhood charged himself with making representations, +with a similar intent, to the heads of his own republic. Justice in that +age was not administered as frankly and openly as in this later period, +its agents in the old world exercising even now a discretion that we are +not accustomed to see confided to them. Her proceedings were enveloped in +darkness, the blind deity being far more known in her decrees than in her +principles, and mystery was then deemed an important auxiliary of power.</p> + +<p>With this brief explanation we shall shift the time to the third day from +that on which the travellers reached the convent, referring the reader to +the succeeding chapter for an account of what it brought forth.</p> +</div> + + +<div class="chapter" id="ch26"> +<h2>Chapter XXVI.</h2> + + +<blockquote class="epi"><p> Anon a figure enters, quaintly neat,<br /> + All pride and business, bustle and conceit;<br /> + With looks unalter'd by these scenes of woe,<br /> + With speed that, ent'ring, speaks his haste to go.<br /> + He bids the gazing throng around him fly,<br /> + And carries fate and physic in his eye.</p> + +<p> Crabbe.</p></blockquote> + +<p>There is another receptacle for those who die on the Great St. Bernard, +hard by the convent itself. At the close of the time mentioned in the +last, chapter, and near the approach of night, Sigismund was pacing the +rocks on which this little chapel stands, buried in reflections to which +his own history and the recent events had given birth. The snow that fell +during the late storm had entirely disappeared, and the frozen element was +now visible only on those airy pinnacles that form the higher peaks of the +Alps. Twilight had already settled into the lower valleys, but the whole +of the superior region was glowing with the fairy-like lustre of the last +rays of the sun. The air was chill, for at that hour and season, whatever +might be the state of the weather, the evening invariably brought with it +a positive sensation of cold in the gorge of St. Bernard, where frosts +prevailed at night, even in midsummer. Still the wind, though strong, was +balmy and soft, blowing athwart the heated plains of Lombardy, and +reaching the mountains charged with the moisture of the Adriatic and the +Mediterranean. As the young man turned in his walk, and faced this +breeze, it came over his spirit with a feeling of hope and home The +greater part of his life had been past in the sunny country whence it +blew, and there were moments when he was lulled into forgetfulness, by the +grateful recollections imparted by its fragrance. But when compelled to +turn northward again, and his eye fell on the misty hoary piles that +distinguished his native land, rude and ragged faces of rock, frozen +glaciers, and deep ravine-like valleys and glens, seemed to him to be +types of his own stormy, unprofitable, and fruitless life, and to foretell +a career which, though it might have touches of grandeur, was doomed to be +barren of all that is genial and consolatory.</p> + +<p>All in and about the convent was still. The mountain had an imposing air +of deep solitude amid the wildest natural magnificence. Few travellers had +passed since the storm, and, luckily for those who, under the peculiar +circumstances in which they were placed, so much desired privacy, all of +these had diligently gone their several ways. None were left, therefore, +on the Col, but those who had an interest in the serious investigations +which were about to take place. An officer of justice from Sion, wearing +the livery of the Valais, appeared at a window, a sign that the regular +authorities of the country had taken cognizance of the murder; but +disappearing, the young man, to all external appearance, was left in the +solitary possession of the pass. Even the dogs had been kennelled, and the +pious monks were healthfully occupied in the religious offices of the +vespers.</p> + +<p>Sigismund turned his eye upward to the apartment in which Adelheid and his +sister dwelt, but as the solemn moment in which so much was to be decided +drew nearer, they also had withdrawn into themselves, ceasing to hold +communion, even by means of the eyes, with aught that might divert their +holy and pure thoughts from ceaseless and intense devotional reflections. +Until now he had been occasionally favored with an answering and kind look +from one or the other of these single hearted and affectionate girls, both +of whom he so warmly loved, though with sentiments so different. It seemed +that they too had at last left him to his isolated and hopeless existence. +Sensible that this passing thought was weak and unmanly, the young man +renewed his walk, and instead of turning as before, he moved slowly on, +stopping only when he had reached the opening of the little chapel of the +dead.</p> + +<p>Unlike the building lower down the path, the bone-house at the convent is +divided into two apartments; the exterior, and one that may be called the +interior, though both are open to the weather. The former contained piles +of disjointed human bones, bleached by the storms that beat in at the +windows, while the latter is consecrated to the covering of those that +still preserve, in their outward appearance at least, some of the more +familiar traces of humanity. The first had its usual complement of +dissevered and confounded fragments, in which the remains of young and +old, of the two sexes, the fierce and the meek, the penitent and the +sinner, lay in indiscriminate confusion--an eloquent reproach to the pride +of man; while the walls of the last supported some twenty blackened and +shrivelled effigies of the race, to show to what a pass of disgusting and +frightful deformity the human form can be reduced, when deprived of that +noble principle which likens it to its Divine Creator. On a table, in the +centre of a group of black and grinning companions in misfortune, sat all +that was left of Jacques Colis, who had been removed from the bone-house +below to this at the convent for purposes connected with the coming +investigation. The body was accidentally placed in such an attitude that +the face was brought within the line of the parting light, while it had no +other covering than the clothes worn by the murdered man in life. +Sigismund gazed long at the pallid lineaments. They were still distorted +with the agony produced by separating the soul from the body. All feeling +of resentment for his sister's wrongs was lost in pity for the fate that +had so suddenly overtaken one, in whom the passions, the interests, and +the complicated machinery of this state of being, were so actively at +work. Then came the bitter apprehension that his own father, in a moment +of ungovernable anger, excited by the accumulated wrongs that bore so hard +on him and his, might really have been the instrument of effecting the +fearful and sudden change. Sickening with the thought, the young man +turned and walked away towards the brow of the declivity. Voices, +ascending to his ear, recalled him to the actual situation of things.</p> + +<p>A train of mules were climbing the last acclivity where the path takes the +broken precipitous appearance of a flight of steps. The light was still +sufficient to distinguish the forms and general appearance of the +travellers. Sigismund immediately recognized them to be the bailiff of +Vévey and his attendants, for whose arrival the formal proceedings of the +examination had alone been stayed.</p> + +<p>"A fair evening, Herr Sigismund, and a happy meeting," cried Peterchen, so +soon as his weary mule, which frequently halted under its unwieldy +burthen, had brought him within hearing. "Little did I think to see thee +again so quickly, and less still to lay eyes on this holy convent; for +though the traveller might have returned in thy person nothing short of a +miracle--" Here the bailiff winked, for he was one of those Protestants +whose faith was most manifested in these side-hits at the opinions and +practices of Rome,--"Nothing but a miracle, I say, and that too a miracle +of some saint whose bones have been drying these ten thousand years, until +every morsel of our weak flesh has fairly disappeared, could bring down +old St. Bernard's abode upon the shores of the Leman. I have known many +who have left Vaud to cross the Alps come back and winter in Vévey; but +never did I know the stone that was placed upon another, in a workman-like +manner, quits its bed without help from the hand of man. They say stones +are particularly hard-hearted, and yet your saint and miracle-monger hath +a way to move them!"</p> + +<p>Peterchen chuckled at his own pleasantry, as men in authority are apt to +enjoy that which comes exclusively of their own cleverness, and he winked +round among his followers, as if he would invite them to bear witness to +the rap he had given the Papists, even on their own exclusive ground. When +the platform of the Col was attained, he checked the mule and continued +his address, for want of wind had nipped his wit, as it might be, in the +bud.</p> + +<p>"A bad business this, Herr Sigismund; a thoroughly bad affair. It has +drawn me far from home, at a ticklish season, and it has unexpectedly +stopped the Herr von Willading (he spoke in German) in his journey over +the mountains, and that, too, at a moment when all had need be diligent +among the Alps. How does the keen air of the Col agree with the fair +Adelheid?"</p> + +<p>"God be thanked, Herr Bailiff, in bodily health that excellent young lady +was never better."</p> + +<p>"God be thanked, right truly! She is a tender flower, and one that might +be suddenly cut off by the frosts of St Bernard. And the noble Genoese, +who travels with so much modest simplicity, in a way to reprove the vain +and idle--I hope he does not miss the sun among our rocks?"</p> + +<p>"He is an Italian, and must think of us and our climate according to his +habits; though in the way of health he seems at his ease."</p> + +<p>"Well, this is consolatory! Herr Sigismund, were the truth known," +rejoined Peterchen, bending as far forward on his mule as a certain +protuberance of his body would permit, and then suddenly drawing himself +up again in reserve--"but a state secret is a state secret, and least of +all should it escape one who is truly and legitimately a child of the +state. My love and friendship for Melchior von Willading are great, and of +right excellent quality; but I should not have visited this pass, were it +not to do honor to our guest the Genoese. I would not that the noble +stranger went down from our hills with an unsavory opinion of our +hospitality. Hath the honorable Châtelain from Sion reached the hill?"</p> + +<p>"He has been among us since the turn of the day, mein Herr, and is now in +conference with those you have just named, on matters connected with the +object of your common visit."</p> + +<p>"He is an honest magistrate! and like ourselves, Master Sigismund, he +comes of the pure German root, which is a foundation to support merit, +though it might better be said by another. Had he a comfortable ride?"</p> + +<p>"I have heard no complaint of his ascent."</p> + +<p>"'Tis well. When the magistrate goes forth to do justice, he hath a right +to look for a fair time. All are then comfortable;--the noble Genoese, the +honorable Melchior, and the worthy Châtelain.--And Jacques Colis?"</p> + +<p>"You know his unhappy fate, Herr Bailiff," returned Sigismund briefly; +for he was a little vexed with the other's phlegm in a matter that so +nearly touched his own feelings.</p> + +<p>"If I did not know it, Herr Steinbach, dost think I should now be here, +instead of preparing for a warm bed near the great square of Vévey? Poor +Jacques Colis! Well, he did the ceremonies of the abbaye an ill turn in +refusing to buckle with the headsman's daughter, but I do not know that he +at all deserved the fate with which he has met."</p> + +<p>"God forbid that any who were hurt, and that perhaps not without reason, +by his want of faith, should think his weakness merited a punishment so +heavy!"</p> + +<p>"Thou speakest like a sensible youth, a very Sensible youth--ay, and like +a Christian, Herr Sigismund," answered Peterchen, "and I approve of thy +words. To refuse to wive a maiden and to be murdered are very different +offences, and should not be confounded. Dost think these Augustines keep +kirschwasser among their stores? It is strong work to climb up to their +abode, and strong toil needs strong drink. Well, should they not be so +provided, we must make the best of their other liquors. Herr Sigismund, do +me the favor to lend me thy arm."</p> + +<p>The bailiff now alighted with stiffened limbs, and, taking the arm of the +other, he moved slowly toward the building.</p> + +<p>"It is damnable to bear malice, and doubly damnable to bear malice against +the dead! Therefore I beg you to take notice that I have quite forgotten +the recent conduct of the deceased in the matter of our public games, as +it becomes an impartial and upright judge to do. Poor Jacques Colis! Ah, +death is awful at any time, but it is tenfold terrible to die in this +sudden manner, posthaste as it were, and that, too, on a path where we +put one foot before the other with so much bodily pain. This is the ninth +visit I have made the Augustines, and I cannot flatter the holy monks on +the subject of their roads, much as I wish them well. Is the reverend +clavier back at his post again?"</p> + +<p>"He is, and has been active in taking the usual examinations."</p> + +<p>"Activity is his strong property, and he needs be that, Herr Steinbach, +who passeth the life of a mountaineer. The noble Genoese, and my ancient +friend Melchior, and his fair daughter the beautiful Adelheid, and the +equitable Châtelain, thou sayest, are all fairly reposed and comfortable?"</p> + +<p>"Herr Bailiff, they have reason to thank God that the late storm and their +mental troubles have done them no harm."</p> + +<p>"So--I would these Augustines kept kirschwasser among their liquors!"</p> + +<p>Peterchen entered the convent, where his presence alone was wanting to +proceed to business. The mules were housed, the guides received as usual +in the building, and then the preparations for the long-delayed +examinations were seriously commenced.</p> + +<p>It has already been mentioned that the fraternity of St. Bernard was of +very ancient origin. It was founded in the year 962, by Bernard de +Menthon, an Augustine canon of Aoste in Piedmont, for the double purposes +of bodily succor and spiritual consolation. The idea of establishing a +religious community in the midst of savage rocks, and at the highest point +trod by the foot of a man, was worthy of Christian self-denial and a +benevolent philanthropy. The experiment appears to have succeeded in a +degree that is commensurate with its noble intention; for centuries have +gone by, civilization has undergone a thousand changes, empires have been +formed and upturned, thrones destroyed, and one-half the world has been +rescued from barbarism, while this piously-founded edifice still remains +in its simple and respectable usefulness where it was first erected, the +refuge of the traveller and a shelter for the poor.</p> + +<p>The convent buildings are necessarily vast, but, as all its other +materials had to be transported to the place it occupies on the backs of +mules, they are constructed chiefly of the ferruginous, hoary-looking +stones that were quarried from the native rock. The cells of the monks, +the long corridors, refectories for the different classes of travellers, +and suited to the numbers of the guests, as well as those for the canons +and their servants, and lodging rooms of different degrees of magnitude +and convenience, with a chapel of some antiquity and of proper size, +composed then, as now, the internal arrangements. There is no luxury, some +comfort in behalf of those in whom indulgence has become a habit, and much +of the frugal hospitality that is addressed to the personal wants and the +decencies of life. Beyond this, the building, the entertainment, and the +brotherhood, are marked by a severe monastic self-denial, which appears to +have received a character of barren and stern simplicity from the +unvarying nakedness of all that meets the eye in that region of frost and +sterility.</p> + +<p>We shall not stop to say much of the little courtesies and the ceremonious +asseverations of mutual good-will and respect that passed between the +Bailiff of Vévey and the Prior of St. Bernard, on the occasion of their +present meeting. Peterchen was known to the brotherhood, and, though a +Protestant, and one too that did not forbear to deliver his jest or his +witticism against Rome and its flock at will, he was sufficiently well +esteemed. In all the quêtes, or collections of the convent, the +well-meaning Bernois had really shown himself a man of bowels, and one +that was disposed to favor humanity, even while it helped the cause of his +arch enemy, the Pope. The clavier was always well received, not only in +his bailiwick but in his château, and in spite of numberless little +skirmishes on doctrine and practice, they always met with a welcome and +generally parted in peace. This feeling of amity and good-will extended to +the superior and to all the others of the holy community, for in addition +to a certain heartiness of character in the bailiff, there was mutual +interest to maintain it. At the period of which we write, the vast +possessions with which the monks of St. Bernard had formerly been endowed +were already much reduced by sequestrations in different countries, that +of Savoy in particular, and they were reduced then, as now, to seek +supplies to meet the constant demands of travellers in the liberality of +the well-disposed and charitable; and the liberality of Peterchen was +thought to be cheaply purchased by his jokes, while, on the other hand, he +had so many occasions, either in his own person or those of his friends, +to visit the convent, that he always forbore to push contention to a +quarrel.</p> + +<p>"Welcome again, Herr Bailiff, and for the ninth time welcome!" continued +the Prior, as he took the hand of Peterchen, leading the way to his own +private parlor; "thou art always a welcome guest on the mountain, for we +know that we entertain at least a friend."</p> + +<p>"And a heretic," added Peterchen, laughing with all his might, though he +uttered a joke which he now repeated for the ninth time. "We have met +often, Herr Prior, and I hope we shall meet finally, after all our +clambering of mountains, as well as our clambering after worldly benefits, +is ended, and that where honest men come together, in spite of Pope or +Luther, books, sermons, aves, or devils! This thought cheers me whenever I +offer thee my hand," shaking that of the other with a hearty good-will; +"for I should not like to think, Father Michael, that, when we set out on +the last long journey, we are to travel for ever in different ways. Thou +may'st tarry awhile, if thou seest fit, in thy purgatory, which is a +lodging of thine own invention, and should therefore suit thee, but I +trust to continue on, until fairly housed in heaven, miserable and unhappy +sinner, that I am!"</p> + +<p>Peterchen spoke in the confident voice of one accustomed to utter his +sentiments to inferiors, who either dared not, or did not deem it wise, to +dispute his oracles; and he ended with another deep-mouthed laugh, that +filled the vaulted apartment of the smiling prior to the ceiling. Father +Michael took all in good part, answering, as was his wont in mildness and +good-tempered charity; for he was a priest of much learning, deep +reflection, and rebuked opinions. The community over which he presided was +so far worldly in its object as to keep the canons in constant communion +with men, and he would not now have met for the first time one of those +self-satisfied, authoritative, boisterous, well-meaning beings, of whose +class Peterchen formed so conspicuous a member, had this been the first of +the bailiff's visits to the Col. As it was, however, the Prior not only +understood the species, but he well knew the individual specimen, and he +was well enough disposed to humor the noisy pleasantry of his companion. +Disburthened of his superfluous clothing, delivered of his introductory +jokes, and having achieved his salutations to the several canons, with +suitable words of recognition to the three or four novices who were +usually found on the mountain, Peterchen declared his readiness to enter +on the duty of what the French call restoration. This want had been +foreseen, and the Prior led the way to a private refectory, where +preparations had been made for a sufficient supper, the bailiff being very +generally known to be a huge feeder.</p> + +<p>"Thou wilt not fare as well as in thy warm and cheerful town of Vévey, +which outdoes most of Italy in its pleasantness and fruits; but thou +shalt, at least, drink of thine own warm wines," observed the superior, as +they went along the corridor; "and a right goodly company awaits thee, to +share hot only thy repast but thy good companionship."</p> + +<p>"Hast ever a drop of kirschwasser, brother Michael, in thy convent?"</p> + +<p>"We have not only that, but we have the Baron de Willading, and a noble +Genoese who is in his company; they are ready to set to, the moment they +can see thy face."</p> + +<p>"A noble Genoese!"</p> + +<p>"An Italian gentleman, of a certainty; I think they call him a Genoese."</p> + +<p>Peterchen stopped, laid a finger on his nose, and looked mysterious; but +he forbore to speak, for, by the open simple countenance of the monk, he +saw that the other had no suspicion of his meaning.</p> + +<p>"I will hazard my office of bailiff against that of thy worthy clavier, +that he is just what he seemeth,--that is to say, a Genoese!"</p> + +<p>"The risk will not be great, for so he has already announced himself. We +ask no questions here and be he who or what he may, he is welcome to come, +and welcome to depart, in peace."</p> + +<p>"Ay, this is well enough for an Augustine on the top of the Alps,--he +hath attendants?"</p> + +<p>"A menial and a friend; the latter, however, left the convent for Italy, +when the noble Genoese determined to remain until this inquiry was over +There was something said of heavy affairs which required that some +explanations of the delay should be sent to others."</p> + +<p>Peterchen again looked steadily at the Prior, smiling, as in pity, of his +ignorance.</p> + +<p>"Look thou, good Prior, much as I love thee and thy convent, and Melchior +von Willading and his daughter, I would have spared myself this journey, +but for that same Genoese. Let there be no questions, however, between us: +the proper time to speak will come, and God forbid that I should be +precipitate! Thou shalt then see in what manner a bailiff of the great +canton can acquit himself! At present we will trust to thy prudence. The +friend hath gone to Italy in haste, that the delay may not create +surprise! Well, each one to his humor on the highway: it is mine to +journey in honor and security, though others may have a different taste. +Let there be little said, good Michael: not so much as an imprudent look +of the eye;--and now, o' Heaven's sake, thy glass of kirschwasser!"</p> + +<p>They were at the door of the refectory, and the conversation ceased. On +entering, Peterchen found his friend the baron, the Signor Grimaldi, and +the châtelain of Sion, a grave ponderous dignitary of justice, of German +extraction like himself and the Prior, but whose race, from a long +residence on the confines of Italy, had imbibed some peculiarities of the +southern character. Sigismund and all the rest of the travellers were +precluded from joining the repast, to which it was the intention of the +prudent canons to give a semi-official character. + +The meeting between Peterchen and those who had so lately quitted Vévey +was not distinguished by any extraordinary movements of courtesy; but +that between the bailiff and the châtelain, who represented the +authorities of friendly and adjoining states, was marked by a profusion of +politic and diplomatic civilities. Various personal and public inquiries +were exchanged, each appearing to strive to outdo the other in manifesting +interest in the smallest details on those points in which it was proper +for a stranger to feel an interest. Though the distance between the two +capitals was fully fifteen leagues, every foot of the ground was travelled +over by one or the other of the parties, either in commendation of its +beauties, or in questions that touched its interests.</p> + +<p>"We come equally of Teutonic fathers, Herr Châtelain," concluded the +bailiff, as the whole party placed themselves at table, after the +reverences and homages were thoroughly exhausted, "though Providence has +cast our fortunes in different countries. I swear to thee, that the sound +of thy German is music to my ears! Thou hast wonderfully escaped +corruptions, though compelled to consort so much with the bastards of +Romans, Celts, and Burgundians, of whom thou hast so many in this portion +of thy states. It is curious to observe,"--for Peterchen had a little of +an antiquarian flavor among the other crude elements of his +character--"that whenever a much-trodden path traverses a country, its +people catch the blood as well as the opinions of those who travel it, +after the manner that tares are scattered and sown by the passing winds. +Here has the St. Bernard been a thoroughfare since the time of the Romans, +and thou wilt find as many races among those who dwell on the way-side as +there are villages between the convent and Vévey. It is not so with you of +the Upper Valais, Herr Châtelain; there the pure race exists as it came +from the other side of the Rhine, and honored and preserved may it +continue for another thousand years!"</p> + +<p>There are few people so debased in their own opinion as, not to be proud +of their peculiar origin and character. The habit of always viewing +ourselves, our motives, and even our conduct, on the favorable side, is +the parent of self-esteem; and this weakness, carried into communities, +commonly gets to be the cause of a somewhat fallacious gauge of merit +among the population of entire countries. The châtelain, Melchior de +Willading, and the Prior, all of whom came from the same Teutonic root, +received the remark complacently; for each felt it an honor to be +descended from, such ancestors; while the more polished and artificial +Italian succeeded in concealing the smile that, on such an occasion, would +be apt to play about the mouth of a man whose parentage ran, through a +long line of sophisticated and politic nobles, into the consuls and +patricians of Rome, and most probably, through these again into the wily +and ingenious Greek, a root distinguished for civilization when these +patriarchs of the north lay buried in the depths of barbarism.</p> + +<p>This little display of national vanity ended, the discourse took a more +general turn. Nothing occurred during the entertainment, however, to +denote that any of the company bethought him of the business on which they +had met. But, just as twilight foiled, and the repast was ended, the Prior +invited his guests to lend their attention to the matter in hand, +recalling them from their friendly attacks, their time-worn jokes, and +their attenuated logic, in all of which Peterchen, Melchior, and the +châtelain had indulged with some freedom, to a question involving the life +or death of at least one of their fellow-creatures.</p> + +<p>The subordinates of the convent were occupied during the supper with the +arrangements that had been previously commanded; and when Father Michael +arose and intimated to his companions that their presence was now expected +elsewhere, he led them to a place that had been completely prepared for +their reception.</p> +</div> + + +<div class="chapter" id="ch27"> +<h2>Chapter XXVII.</h2> + + +<blockquote class="epi"><p> Was ever tale<br /> + With such a gallant modesty rehearsed?</p> + +<p> Home.</p></blockquote> + +<p> +Purposes of convenience, as well as others that were naturally connected +with the religious opinions, not to say the superstitions, of most of the +prisoners, had induced the monks to select the chapel of the convent for +the judgment-hall. This consecrated part of the edifice was of sufficient +size to contain all who were accustomed to assemble within its walls. It +was decorated in the manner that is usual to churches of the Romish +persuasion, having its master-altar, and two of smaller size that were +dedicated to esteemed saints. A large lamp illuminated the place, though +the great altar lay in doubtful light, leaving play for the imagination to +people and adorn that part of the chapel. Within the railing of the choir +there stood a table: it held some object that was concealed from view by a +sweeping pall. Immediately beneath the lamp was placed another, which +served the purposes of the clavier, who acted as a clerk on this occasion. +They who were to fill the offices of judges took their stations near. A +knot of females were clustered within the shadows of one of the +side-altars, hovering around each other in the way that their sensitive +sex is known to interpose between the exhibition of its peculiar +weaknesses and the rude observations of the world. Stifled sobs and +convulsive movements occasionally escaped this little group of acutely +feeling and warm-hearted beings, betraying the strength of the emotions +they would fain conceal. The canons and novices were ranged on one side, +the guides and muleteers formed a back-ground to the whole, while the fine +form of Sigismund stood, stern and motionless as a statue, on the steps of +the altar which was opposite to the females. He watched the minutest +proceeding of the investigation with a steadiness that was the result of +severe practice in self-command, and a jealous determination to suffer no +new wrong to be accumulated on the head of his father.</p> + +<p>When the little confusion produced by the entrance of the party from the +refectory had subsided, the Prior made a signal to one of the officers of +justice. The man disappeared, and shortly returned with one of the +prisoners, the investigation being intended to embrace the cases of all +who had been detained by the prudence of the monks. Balthazar (for it was +he) approached the table in his usual meek manner. His limbs were unbound, +and his exterior calm, though the quick unquiet movements of his eye, and +the workings of his pale features, whenever a suppressed sob from among +the females reached his ear, betrayed the inward struggle he had to +maintain, in order to preserve appearances. When he was confronted with +his examiners, Father Michael bowed to the châtelain; for, though the +others were admitted by courtesy to participate in the investigations, the +right to proceed in an affair of this nature within the limits of the +Valais, belonged to this functionary alone.</p> + +<p>"Thou art called Balthazar?" abruptly commenced the judge, glancing at his +notes.</p> + +<p>The answer was a simple inclination of the body.</p> + +<p>"And thou art the headsman of the canton of Berne?"</p> + +<p>A similar silent reply was given.</p> + +<p>"The office is hereditary in thy family; it has been so for ages?"</p> + +<p>Balthazar erected his frame, breathing heavily, like one oppressed at the +heart, but who would bear down his feelings before he answered.</p> + +<p>"Herr Châtelain," he said with energy, "by the judgment of God it has been +so."</p> + +<p>"Honest Balthazar, thou throwest too much emphasis into thy words," +interposed the bailiff. "All that belongs to authority is honorable, and +is not to be treated as an evil. Hereditary claims, when venerable by time +and use, have a double estimation with the world, since it brings the +merit of the ancestor to sustain that of the descendant. We have our +rights of the bürgerschaft, and thou thy rights of execution. The time has +been when thy fathers were well content with their privilege."</p> + +<p>Balthazar bowed in submission; but he seemed to think any other reply +unnecessary. The fingers of Sigismund writhed on the hilt of his sword, +and a groan, which the young man well knew had been wrested from the bosom +of his mother, came from the women.</p> + +<p>"The remark of the worthy and honorable bailiff is just," resumed the +Valaisan; "all that is of the state is for the good of the state, and all +that is for the comfort and security of man is honorable. Be not ashamed, +therefore, of thy office, Balthazar, which, being necessary, is not to be +idly condemned; but answer faithfully and with truth to the questions I am +about to put.--Thou hast a daughter?"</p> + +<p>"In that much, at least, have I been blessed!"</p> + +<p>The energy with which he spoke caused a sudden movement in the judges. +They looked at each other in surprise, for it was apparent they did not +expect these touches of human feeling in a man who lived, as it were, in +constant warfare with his fellow-creatures.</p> + +<p>"Thou hast reason," returned the châtelain, recovering his gravity; "for +she is said to be both dutiful and comely. Thou wert about to marry this +daughter?"</p> + +<p>Balthazar acknowledged the truth of this by another inclination.</p> + +<p>"Didst thou ever know a Vévaisan of the name of Jacques Colis?"</p> + +<p>"Mein Herr, I did. He was to have become my son."</p> + +<p>The châtelain was again surprised; for the steadiness of the reply denoted +innocence, and he studied the countenance of the prisoner intently. He +found apparent frankness where he had expected to meet with subterfuge, +and, like all who have great acquaintance with crime, his distrust +increased. The simplicity of one who really had nothing to conceal, unlike +that appearance of firmness, which is assumed to affect innocence, set his +shrewdness at fault, though familiar with most of he expedients of the +guilty.</p> + +<p>"This Jacques Colis was to have wived thy daughter?" continued the +châtelain, growing more wary as he thought he detected greater evidence of +art in the accused.</p> + +<p>"It was so understood between us."</p> + +<p>"Did he love thy child?"</p> + +<p>The muscles of Balthazar's mouth played convulsively, the twitching of +the lip seeming to threaten a loss of self-command.</p> + +<p>"Mein Herr, I believed it."</p> + +<p>"Yet he refused to fulfil the engagement?"</p> + +<p>"He did."</p> + +<p>Even Marguerite was alarmed at the deep emphasis with which this answer +was given, and, for the first time in her life, she trembled lest the +accumulating load of obloquy had indeed been too strong for her husband's +principles.</p> + +<p>"Thou felt anger at his conduct, and at the public manner in which he +disgraced thee and thine?"</p> + +<p>"Herr Châtelain, I am human. When Jacques Colis repudiated my daughter, he +bruised a tender plant in the girl, and he caused bitterness in a father's +heart."</p> + +<p>"Thou hast received instruction superior to thy condition, Balthazar!"</p> + +<p>"We are a race of executioners, but we are not the unnurtured herd that +people fancy. 'Tis the will of Berne that made me what I am, and no desire +nor wants of my own."</p> + +<p>"The charge is honorable, as are all that come of the state," repeated the +other, with the formal readiness in which set phrases are uttered; "the +charge is honorable for one of thy birth. God assigns to each his station +on earth, and he has fixed thy duties. When Jacques Colis refused thy +daughter he left his country to escape thy revenge?"</p> + +<p>"Were Jacques Colis living, he would not utter so foul a lie!"</p> + +<p>"I knew his honest and upright nature!" exclaimed Marguerite with energy! +"God pardon me that I ever doubted it!"</p> + +<p>The judges turned inquisitive glances towards indistinct cluster of +females, but the examination did not the less proceed.</p> + +<p>"Thou knowest, then, that Jacques Colis is dead?"</p> + +<p>"How can I doubt it, mein Herr, when I saw his bleeding body?"</p> + +<p>"Balthazar, thou seemest disposed to aid the examination, though with what +views is better known to Him who sees the inmost heart, than to me. I will +come at once, therefore, to the most essential facts. Thou art a native +and a resident of Berne; the headsman of the canton--a creditable office +in itself, though the ignorance and prejudices of man are not apt so to +consider it. Thou wouldst have married thy daughter with a substantial +peasant of Vaud. The intended bridegroom repudiated thy child, in face of +the thousands who came to Vévey to witness the festivities of the Abbaye; +he departed on a journey to avoid thee, or his own feelings, or rumor, or +what thou wilt; he met his death by murder on this mountain; his body was +discovered with the knife in the recent wound, and thou, who shouldst have +been on thy path homeward, wert found passing the night near the murdered +man. Thine own reason will show thee the connexion which we are led to +form between these several events, and thou art now required to explain +that which to us seems so suspicious, but which to thyself may be clear. +Speak freely, but speak truth, as thou reverest God, and in thine own +interest."</p> + +<p>Balthazar hesitated and appeared to collect his thoughts. His head was +lowered in a thoughtful attitude, and then, looking his examiner steadily +in the face, he replied. His manner was calm, and the tone in which he +spoke, if not that of one innocent in fact, was that of one who well knew +how to assume the exterior of that character.</p> + +<p>"Herr Châtelain," he said, "I have foreseen the suspicions that would be +apt to fasten on me in these unhappy circumstances, but, used to trust in +Providence, I shall speak the truth without fear. Of the intention of +Jacques Colis to depart I knew nothing. He went his way privately, and if +you will do me the justice to reflect a little, it will be seen that I was +the last man to whom he would have been likely to let his intention be +known. I came up the St. Bernard, drawn by a chain that your own heart +will own is difficult to break if you are a father. My daughter was on the +road to Italy with kind and true friends, who were not ashamed to feel for +a headsman's child, and who took her in order to heal the wound that had +been so unfeelingly inflicted."</p> + +<p>"This is true!" exclaimed the Baron de Willading; "Balthazar surely says +naught but truth here!"</p> + +<p>"This is known and allowed; crime is not always the result of cool +determination, but it comes of terror, of sudden thought, the angry mood, +the dire temptation, and a fair occasion. Though thou left'st Vévey +ignorant of Jacques Colis' departure, didst thou hear nothing of his +movements by the way?"</p> + +<p>Balthazar changed color. There was evidently a struggle in his bosom, as +if he shrunk from making an acknowledgment that might militate against his +interests; but, glancing an eye at the guides, he recovered his proper +tone of mind, and answered firmly:</p> + +<p>"I did. Pierre Dumont had heard the tale of my child's disgrace, and, +ignorant that I was the injured parent, he told me of the manner in which +the unhappy man had retreated from the mockery of his companions. I knew, +therefore, that we were on the same path."</p> + +<p>"And yet thou perseveredst?"</p> + +<p>"In what, Herr Châtelain? Was I to desert my daughter, because one who had +already proved false to her stood in my way?"</p> + +<p>"Thou hast well answered, Balthazar," interrupted Marguerite. "Thou hast +answered as became thee! We are few, and we are all to each other. Thou +wert not to forget our child because it pleased others to despise her."</p> + +<p>The Signor Grimaldi bent towards the Valaisan, and whispered near his ear.</p> + +<p>"This hath the air of nature." he observed; "and does it not account for +the appearance of the father on the road taken by the murdered man?"</p> + +<p>"We do not question the probability or justness of such a motive, Signore; +but revenge may have suddenly mounted to the height of ferocity in some +wrangle: one accustomed to blood yields easily to his passions and his +habits."</p> + +<p>The truth of these suggestions was plausible, and the noble Genoese drew +back in cold disappointment. The châtelain consulted with those about him, +and then desired the wife to come forth in order to be confronted with her +husband. Marguerite obeyed. Her movement was slow, and her whole manner +that of one who yielded to a stern necessity.</p> + +<p>"Thou art the headsman's wife?"</p> + +<p>"And a headsman's daughter."</p> + +<p>"Marguerite is a well-disposed and a sensible woman," put in Peterchen; +"she understands that an office under the state can never bring disgrace +in the eyes of reason, and wishes no part of her history or origin to be +concealed."</p> + +<p>The glance that flashed from the eye of Balthazar's wife was withering; +but the dogmatic bailiff was by far too well satisfied with his own +wisdom to be conscious of its effects.</p> + +<p>"And a headsman's daughter," continued the examining judge; "why art thou +here?"</p> + +<p>"Because I am a wife and a mother. As the latter I came upon the mountain, +and as a wife I have mounted to the convent to be present at this +examination. They will have it that there is blood upon the hands of +Balthazar, and I am here to repel the lie."</p> + +<p>"And yet thou hast not been slow to confess thy connexion with a race of +executioners!--They who are accustomed to see their fellows die might have +less warmth in meeting a plain inquiry of justice!"</p> + +<p>"Herr Châtelain, thy meaning is understood. We have been weighed upon +heavily by Providence, but, until now, they whom we have been made to +serve have had the policy to treat us with fair words! Thou hast spoken of +blood; that which has been shed by Balthazar, by his, and by mine, lies on +the consciences of those who commanded it to be spilt. The unwilling +instruments of thy justice are innocent before God."</p> + +<p>"This is strange language for people of thy employment! Dost thou, too, +Balthazar, speak and think with thy consort in this matter?"</p> + +<p>"Nature has given us men sterner feelings, mein Herr. I was born to the +office I hold, taught to believe it right, if not honorable, and I have +struggled hard to do its duties without murmuring. The case is different +with poor Marguerite. She is a mother, and lives in her children; she has +seen one that is near her heart publicly scorned, and she feels like a +mother."</p> + +<p>"And thou, who art a father, what has been thy manner of thinking under +this insult?"</p> + +<p>Balthazar was meek by nature, and, as he had just said, he had been +trained to the exercise of his functions; but he was capable of profound +affections. The question touched him in a sensitive spot, and he writhed +under his feelings; but, accustomed to command himself before the public +eye, and alive to the pride of manhood, his mighty effort to suppress the +agony that loaded his heart was rewarded with success.</p> + +<p>"Sorrow for my unoffending child; sorrow for him who had forgotten his +faith; and sorrow for them who have been at the root of this bitter +wrong," was the answer.</p> + +<p>"This man has been accustomed to hear forgiveness preached to the +criminal, and he turns his schooling to good account," whispered the wary +judge to those near him. "We must try his guilt by other means. He may be +readier in reply than steady in his nerves."</p> + +<p>Signing to the assistants, the Valaisan now quietly awaited the effect of +a new experiment. The pall was removed, and the body of Jacques Colis +exposed. He was seated as in life, on the table in front of the grand +altar.</p> + +<p>"The innocent have no dread of those whose spirits have deserted the +flesh," continued the châtelain, "but God often sorely pricks the +consciences of the guilty, when they are made to see the works of their +own cruel hands. Approach and look upon the dead, Balthazar; thou and thy +wife, that we may judge of the manner in which ye face the murdered and +wronged man."</p> + +<p>A more fruitless experiment could not well have been attempted with one of +the headsman's office; for long familiarity with such sights had taken off +that edge of horror which the less accustomed would be apt to feel. +Whether it were owing to this circumstance, or to his innocence, Balthazar +walked to the side of the body unshaken, and stood long regarding the +bloodless features with unmoved tranquillity. His habits were quiet and +meek, and little given to display. The feelings which crowded his mind, +therefore, did not escape him in words, though a gleam of something like +regret crossed his face. Not so with his companion. Marguerite took the +hand of the dead man, and hot tears began to follow each other down her +cheeks, as she gazed at his shrunken and altered lineaments.</p> + +<p>"Poor Jacques Colis!" she said in a manner to be heard by all present; +"thou hadst thy faults, like all born of woman; but thou didst not merit +this! Little did the mother that bore thee, and who lived in thy infant +smile--she who fondled thee on her knee, and cherished thee in her bosom, +foresee thy fearful and sudden end! It was happy for her that she never +knew the fruit of all her love, and pains, and care, else bitterly would +she have mourned over what was then her joy, and in sorrow would she have +witnessed thy pleasantest smile. We live in a fearful world, Balthazar; a +world in which the wicked triumph! Thy hand, that would not willingly harm +the meanest creature which has been fashioned by the will of God, is made +to take life, and thy heart--thy excellent heart--is slowly hardening in +the execution of this accursed office! The judgment seat hath fallen to +the lot of the corrupt and designing; mercy hath become the laughing-stock +of the ruthless, and death is inflicted by the hand of him who would live +in peace with his kind. This cometh of thwarting God's intentions with the +selfishness and designs of men! We would be wiser than he who made the +universe, and we betray the weakness of fools! Go to--go to, ye proud and +great of the earth--if we have taken life, it hath been at your bidding; +but we have naught of this on our consciences. The deed hath been the +work of the rapacious and violent--it is no deed of revenge."</p> + +<p>"In what manner are we to know that what thou sayest is true?" asked the +châtelain, who had advanced near the altar, in order to watch the effects +of the trial to which he had put Balthazar and his wife.</p> + +<p>"I am not surprised at thy question, Herr Châtelain, for nothing comes +quicker to the minds of the honored and happy than the thought of +resenting an evil turn. It is not so with the despised. Revenge would be +an idle remedy for us. Would it raise us in men's esteem? should we forget +our own degraded condition? should we be a whit nearer respect after the +deed was done than we were before?"</p> + +<p>"This may be true, but the angered do not reason. Thou art not suspected, +Marguerite, except as having heard the truth from thy husband since the +deed has been committed, but thine own discernment will show that naught +is more probable than that a hot contention about the past may have led +Balthazar, who is accustomed to see blood, into the commission of this +act?"</p> + +<p>"Here is thy boasted justice! Thine own laws are brought in support of +thine own oppression. Didst thou know how much pains his father had in +teaching Balthazar to strike, how many long and anxious visits were paid +between his parent and mine in order to bring up the youth in the way of +his dreadful calling, thou wouldst not think him so apt! God unfitted him +for his office, as he has unfitted many of higher and different +pretensions for duties that have been cast upon them in virtue of their +birthrights. Had it been I, châtelain, thy suspicions would have a better +show of reason. I am formed with strong and quick feelings, and reason has +often proved too weak for passion, though the rebuke that has been daily +received throughout a life hath long since tamed all of pride that ever +dwelt in me."</p> + +<p>"Thou hast a daughter present?"</p> + +<p>Marguerite pointed to the group which held her child.</p> + +<p>"The trial is severe," said the judge, who began to feel compunctions that +were rare to one of his habits, "but it is as necessary to your own future +peace, as it is to justice itself, that the truth should be known. I am +compelled to order thy daughter to advance to the body."</p> + +<p>Marguerite received this unexpected command with cold womanly reserve. Too +much wounded to complain, but trembling for the conduct of her child, she +went to the cluster of females, pressed Christine to her heart, and led +her silently forward. She presented her to the châtelain, with a dignity +so calm and quiet, that the latter found it oppressive!</p> + +<p>"This is Balthazar's child," she said. Then folding her arms, she retired +herself a step, an attentive observer of what passed.</p> + +<p>The judge regarded the sweet pallid face of the trembling girl with an +interest he had seldom felt for any who had come before him in the +discharge of his unbending duties. He spoke to her kindly, and even +encouragingly, placing himself intentionally between her and the dead, +momentarily hiding the appalling spectacle from her view, that she might +have time to summon her courage. Marguerite blessed him in her heart for +this small grace, and was better satisfied.</p> + +<p>"Thou wert betrothed to Jacques Colis?" demanded the châtelain, using a +gentleness of voice that was singularly in contrast with his former stern +interrogatories.</p> + +<p>The utmost that Christine could reply was to bow her head.</p> + +<p>"Thy nuptials were to take place at the late meeting of the Abbaye des +Vignerons--it is our unpleasant duty to wound where we could wish to +heal--but thy betrothed refused to redeem his pledge?"</p> + +<p>"The heart is weak, and sometimes shrinks from its own good purposes," +murmured Christine. "He was but human, and he could not withstand the +sneers of all about him."</p> + +<p>The châtelain was so entranced by her gentle and sweet manner that he +leaned forward to listen, lest a syllable of what she whispered might +escape his ears.</p> + +<p>"Thou acquittest, then, Jacques Colis of any false intention?"</p> + +<p>"He was less strong than he believed himself, mein Herr; he was not equal +to sharing our disgrace, which was put rudely and too strongly before +him."</p> + +<p>"Thou hadst consented freely to the marriage thyself, and wert well +disposed to become his wife?"</p> + +<p>The imploring look and heaving respiration of Christine were lost on the +blunted sensibilities of a criminal judge.</p> + +<p>"Was the youth dear to thee?" he repeated, without perceiving the wound he +was inflicting on female reserve.</p> + +<p>Christine shuddered. She was not accustomed to have affections which she +considered the most sacred of her short and innocent existence so rudely +probed; but, believing that the safety of her father depended on her +frankness and sincerity, by an effort that was nearly superhuman, she was +enabled to reply. The bright glow that suffused her face, however, +proclaimed the power of that sentiment which becomes instinctive to her +sex, arraying her features in the lustre of maiden shame.</p> + +<p>"I was little used to hear words of praise, Herr Châtelain,--and they are +so soothing to the ears of the despised! I felt as a girl acknowledges the +preference of a youth who is not disagreeable to her. I thought he loved +me--and--what would you more, mein Herr?"</p> + +<p>"None could hate thee, innocent and abused child!" murmured the Signor +Grimaldi.</p> + +<p>"You forget that I am Balthazar's daughter, mein Herr; none of our race +are viewed with favor."</p> + +<p>"Thou, at least, must be an exception!"</p> + +<p>"Leaving this aside," continued the châtelain, "I would know if thy +parents showed resentment at the misconduct of thy betrothed; whether +aught was said in thy presence, that can throw light on this unhappy +affair?"</p> + +<p>The officer of the Valais turned his head aside; for he met the surprised +and displeased glance of the Genoese, whose eye expressed a gentleman's +opinion at hearing a child thus questioned in a matter that so nearly +touched her father's life. But the look and the improper character of the +examination escaped the notice of Christine. She relied with filial +confidence on the innocence of the author of her being, and, so far from +being shocked, she rejoiced with the simplicity and confidence of the +undesigning at being permitted to say anything that might vindicate him in +the eyes of his judges.</p> + +<p>"Herr Châtelain," she answered eagerly, the blood that had mounted to her +cheeks from female weakness, deepening to, and warming, her very temples +with a holier sentiment: "Herr Châtelain, we wept together when alone; we +prayed for our enemies as for ourselves, but naught was said to the +prejudice of poor Jacques--no, not a whisper."</p> + +<p>"Wept and prayed!" repeated the judge, looking from the child to the +father, in the manner of a man that fancied he did not hear aright.</p> + +<p>"I said both, mein Herr; if the former was a weakness, the latter was a +duty."</p> + +<p>"This is strange language in the mouth of a Leadsman's child!"</p> + +<p>Christine appeared at a loss, for a moment, to comprehend his meaning; +but, passing a hand across her fair brow she continued:</p> + +<p>"I think I understand what you would say, mein Herr," she said; "the world +believes us to be without feeling and without hope. We are what we seem in +the eyes of others because the law makes it so, but we are in our hearts +like all around us, Herr Châtelain--with this difference, that, feeling +our abasement among men, we lean more closely and more affectionately on +God. You may condemn us to do your offices and to bear your dislike, but +you cannot rob us of our trust in the justice of heaven. In that, at +least, we are the equals of the proudest baron in the cantons!"</p> + +<p>"The examination had better rest here," said the prior, advancing with +glistening eyes to interpose between the maiden and her interrogator. +"Thou knowest, Herr Bourrit, that we have, other prisoners."</p> + +<p>The châtelain, who felt his own practised obduracy of feeling strangely +giving way before the innocent and guileless faith of Christine, was not +unwilling himself to change the direction of the inquiries. The family of +Balthazar was directed to retire, and the attendants were commanded to +bring forward Pippo and Conrad.</p> +</div> + + +<div class="chapter" id="ch28"> +<h2>Chapter XXVIII.</h2> + + +<blockquote class="epi"><p> And when thou thus<br /> + Shalt stand impleaded at the high tribunal<br /> + Of hoodwink'd Justice, who shall tell thy audit!</p> + +<p> Cotton.</p></blockquote> + +<p>The buffoon and the pilgrim, though of a general appearance likely to +excite distrust, presented themselves with the confidence and composure of +innocence. Their examination was short, for the account they gave of their +movements was clear and connected. Circumstances that were known to the +monks, too, greatly aided in producing a conviction that they could have +had no agency in the murder. They had left the valley below some hours +before the arrival of Jacques Colis, and they reached the convent, weary +and foot-sore, as was usual with all who ascended that long and toilsome +path, shortly after the commencement of the storm. Measures had been taken +by the local authorities, during the time lost in waiting the arrival of +the bailiff and the châtelain, to ascertain all the minute facts which it +was supposed would be useful in ferreting out the truth; and the results +of these inquiries had also been favorable to these itinerants, whose +habits of vagabondism might otherwise very justly have brought them within +the pale of suspicion.</p> + +<p>The flippant Pippo was the principal speaker in the short investigation, +and his answers were given with a ready frankness, that, under the +circumstances, did him and his companion infinite service. The buffoon, +though accustomed to deception and frauds, had sufficient mother-wit to +comprehend the critical position in which he was now placed, and that it +was wiser to be sincere, than to attempt effecting his ends by any of the +usual means of prevarication. He answered the judge, therefore, with a +simplicity which his ordinary pursuits would not have given reason to +expect, and apparently with some touches of feeling that did credit to his +heart.</p> + +<p>"This frankness is thy friend," added the châtelain, after he had nearly +exhausted his questions, the answers having convinced him that there was +no ground of suspicion, beyond the adventitious circumstance of their +having been travellers on the same road as the deceased; "it has done much +towards convincing me of thy innocence, and it is in general the best +shield for those who have committed no crime. I only marvel that one of +thy habits should have had the sense to discover it!"</p> + +<p>"Suffer me to tell you, Signor Castellano, or Podestà, whichever may be +your eccellenza's proper title, that you have not given Pippo credit for +the wit he really hath. It is true I live by throwing dust into men's +eyes, and by making others think the wrong is the right: but mother Nature +has given us all an insight into our own interests, and mine is quite +clear enough to let me know when the true is better than the false."</p> + +<p>"Happy would it be if all had the same faculty and the same disposition to +put it in use."</p> + +<p>"I shall not presume to teach one as wise and as experienced as yourself, +eccellenza, but if an humble man might speak freely in this honorable +presence, he would say that it is not common to meet with a fact without +finding it a very near neighbor to a lie. They pass for the wisest and the +most virtuous who best know how to mix the two so artfully together, that, +like the sweets we put upon healing bitters, the palatable may make the +useful go down. Such at least is the opinion of a poor street buffoon, +who has no better claim to merit than having learned his art on the Mole +and in the Toledo of Bellissima Napoli, which, as everybody knows, is a +bit of heaven fallen upon earth!"</p> + +<p>The fervor with which Pippo uttered the customary eulogium on the site of +the ancient Parthenope was so natural and characteristic as to excite a +smile in the judge, in spite of the solemn duty in which he was engaged, +and it was believed to be an additional proof of the speaker's innocence. +The châtelain then slowly recapitulated the history of the buffoon and the +pilgrim to his companions, the purport of which was as follows.</p> + +<p>Pippo naively admitted the debauch at Vévey, implicating the festivities +of the day and the known frailty of the flesh as the two influencing +causes. Conrad, however, stood upon the purity of his life and the sacred +character of his calling, justifying the company he kept on the +respectable plea of necessity, and on that of the mortifications to which +a pilgrimage should, of right, subject him who undertakes it. They had +quitted Vaud together as early as the evening of the day of the abbaye's +ceremonies, and, from that time to the moment of their arrival at the +convent, had made a diligent use of their legs, in order to cross the Col +before the snows should set in and render the passage dangerous. They had +been seen at Martigny, at Liddes, and St. Pierre, alone and at proper +hours, making the best of their way towards the hospice; and, though of +necessity their progress and actions, for several hours after quitting the +latter place, were not brought within the observation of any but of that +all-seeing eye which commands a view of the recesses of the Alps equally +with those of more frequented spots, their arrival at the abode of the +monks was sufficiently seasonable to give reason to believe that no +portion of the intervening time had been wasted by the way. Thus far their +account of themselves and their movements was distinct, while, on the +other hand, there was not a single fact to implicate either, beyond the +suspicion that was more or less common to all who happened to be on the +mountain at the moment the crime was committed.</p> + +<p>"The innocence of these two men would seem so clear, and their readiness +to appear and answer to our questions is so much in their favor," observed +the experienced châtelain, "that I do not deem it just to detain them +longer. The pilgrim, in particular, has a heavy trust; I understand he +performs his penance as much for others as for himself, and it is scarce +decent in us, who are believers and servants of the church, to place +obstacles in his path. I will suggest the expediency, therefore, of giving +him at least permission to depart."</p> + +<p>"As we are near the end of the inquiries," interrupted the Signor +Grimaldi, gravely, "I would suggest, with due deference to a better +opinion and more experience, the propriety that all should remain, +ourselves included, until we have come to a better understanding of the +truth."</p> + +<p>Both Pippo and the pilgrim met this suggestion with ready declarations of +their willingness to continue at the convent until the following morning. +This little concession, however, had no great merit, for the lateness of +the hour rendered it imprudent to depart immediately; and the; affair was +finally settled by ordering them to retire, it being understood that, +unless previously called for, they might depart with the reappearance of +the dawn. Maso was the next and the last to be examined.</p> + +<p>Il Maledetto presented himself with perfect steadiness of nerve. He was +accompanied by Nettuno, the mastiffs of the convent having been kennelled +for the night. It had been the habit of the dog of late to stray among +the rocks by day, and to return to the convent in the evening in quest of +food, the sterile St. Bernard possessing nothing whatever for the support +of man or beast except that which came from the liberality of the monks, +every animal but the chamois and the lämmergeyer refusing to ascend so +near the region of eternal snows. In his master, however, Nettuno found a +steady friend, never failing to receive all that was necessary to his +wants from the portion of Maso himself; for the faithful beast was +admitted at his periodical visits to the temporary prison in which the +latter was confined.</p> + +<p>The châtelain waited; a moment for the little stir occasioned by the +entrance of the prisoner to subside, when he pursued the inquiry.</p> + +<p>"Thou art a Genoese of the name of Thomaso Santi?" he asked, consulting +his notes.</p> + +<p>"By this name, Signore, am I generally known."</p> + +<p>"Thou art a mariner, and it is said one of courage and skill. Why hast +thou given thyself the ungracious appellation of Il Maledetto?"</p> + +<p>"Men call me thus. It is a misfortune, but not a crime, to be accursed."</p> + +<p>"He that is so ready to abuse his own fortunes should not be surprised if +others are led to think he merits his fate. We have some accounts of thee +in Valais; 'tis said thou art a free-trader?"</p> + +<p>"The fact can little concern Valais or her government, since all come and +go unquestioned in this free land."</p> + +<p>"It is true, we do not imitate our neighbors in all their policy; neither +do we like to see so often those who set at naught the laws of friendly +states. Why art thou journeying on this road?"</p> + +<p>"Signore, if I am what you say, the reason of my being here is +sufficiently plain. It is probably because the Lombard and Piedmontese +are more exacting of the stranger than you of the mountains."</p> + +<p>"Your effects have been examined, and they offer nothing to support the +suspicion. By all appearances, Maso, thou hast not much of the goods of +life to boast of; but, in spite of this, thy reputation clings to thee."</p> + +<p>"Ay, Signore, this is much after the world's humor. Let it fancy any +quality in a man, and he is sure to get more than his share of the same, +whether it be for or against his interest. The rich man's florin is +quickly coined into a sequin by vulgar tongues, while the poor man is +lucky if he can get the change of a silver mark for an ounce of the better +metal. Even poor Nettuno finds it difficult to get a living here at the +convent, because some difference in coat and instinct has given him a bad +name among the dogs of St. Bernard!"</p> + +<p>"Thy answer agrees with thy character; thou art said to have more wit than +honesty, Maso, and thou art described as one that can form a desperate +resolution and act up to its decision at need?"</p> + +<p>"I am as Heaven willed at the birth, Signor Castellano, and as the chances +of a pretty busy life have served to give the work its finish. That I am +not wanting in manly qualities on occasion, perhaps these noble travellers +will be willing to testify, in consideration of some activity that I may +have shown on the Leman, during their late passage of that treacherous +water."</p> + +<p>Though this was said carelessly, the appeal to the recollection and +gratitude of those he had served was too direct to be overlooked. Melchior +de Willading, the pious clavier, and the Signor Grimaldi all testified in +behalf of the prisoner, freely admitting that, without his coolness and +skill, the Winkelried and all she held would irretrievably have been lost. +Sigismund was not content with so cold a demonstration of his feelings. He +owed not only the lives of his father and him self to the courage of Maso, +but that of one dearer than all; one whose preservation, to his youthful +imagination, seemed a service that might nearly atone for any crime, and +his gratitude was in proportion.</p> + +<p>"I will testify more strongly to thy merit, Maso, in face of this or any +tribunal;" he said, grasping the hand of the Italian. "One who showed so +much bravery and so strong love for his fellows, would be little likely to +take life clandestinely and like a coward. Thou mayest count on my +testimony in this strait--if thou art guilty of this crime, who can hope +to be innocent?"</p> + +<p>Maso returned the friendly grasp till their fingers seemed to grow into +each other. His eye, too, showed he was not without wholesome native +sympathies, though education and his habits might have warped them from +their true direction. A tear, in spite of his effort to suppress the +weakness started from its fountain, rolling down his sunburnt cheek like a +solitary rivulet trickling through a barren and rugged waste.</p> + +<p>"This is frank, and as becomes a soldier, Signore," he said, "and I +receive it as it is given, in kindness and love. But we will not lay more +stress upon the affair of the lake than it deserves. This keen-sighted +châtelain need not be told that I could not be of use in saving your +lives, without saving my own; and, unless I much mistake the meaning of +his eye, he is about to say that we are fashioned like this wild country +in which chance has brought us together, with our spots of generous +fertility mingled with much unfruitful rock, and that he who does a good +act to-day may forget himself by doing an evil turn to-morrow."</p> + +<p>"Thou givest reason to all who hear thee to mourn that thy career has not +been more profitable to thyself and the public," answered the judge; "one +who can reason so-well, and who hath this clear insight into his own +disposition, must err less from ignorance than wantonness!"</p> + +<p>"There you do me injustice, Signor Castellano, and the laws more credit +than they deserve. I shall not deny that justice--or what is called +justice--and I have some acquaintance. I have been the tenant of many +prisons before this which has been furnished by the holy canons, and I +have seen every stage of the rogue's progress, from him who is still +startled by his first crime, dreaming heavy dreams, and fancying each +stone of his cell has an eye to reproach him, to him who no sooner does a +wrong than it is forgotten in the wish to find the means of committing +another; and I call Heaven as a witness, that more is done to help along +the scholar in his study of vice, by those who are styled the ministers of +justice, than by his own natural frailties, the wants of his habits, or +the strength of his passions. Let the judge feel a father's mildness, the +laws possess that pure justice which is of things that are not perverted, +and society become what it claims to be, a community of mutual support, +and, my life on it, châtelain, thy functions will be lessened of most of +their weight and of all their oppression."</p> + +<p>"This language is bold, and without an object. Explain the manner of thy +quitting Vévey, Maso, the road thou hast travelled, the hours of thy +passages by the different villages, and the reason why thou wert +discovered near the Refuge, alone, and why thou quittedst the companions +with whom thou hadst passed the night so early and so clandestinely?"</p> + +<p>The Italian listened attentively to these several interrogatories; when +they were all put, he gravely and calmly set about furnishing his answers. +The history of his departure from Vévey, his appearance at St. Maurice, +Martigny, Liddes, and St. Pierre, was distinctly given, and it was in +perfect accordance with the private information that had been gleaned by +the authorities. He had passed the last habitation on the mountain, on +foot and alone, about an hour before the solitary horseman, who was now +known to be Jacques Colis, was seen to proceed in the same direction; and +he admitted that he was overtaken by the latter, just as he reached the +upper extremity of the plain beneath Vélan, where they were seen in +company, though at a considerable distance, and by a doubtful light, by +the travellers who were conducted by Pierre.</p> + +<p>Thus far the account given of himself by Maso was in perfect conformity +with what was already known to the châtelain; but, after turning the rock +already mentioned in a previous chapter, all was buried in mystery, with +the exception of the incidents that have been regularly related in the +narrative. The Italian, in his further explanations, added that he soon +parted with his companion, who, impatient of delay, and desirous of +reaching the convent before night, had urged his beast to greater speed, +while he himself had turned a little aside from the path to rest himself, +and to make a few preparations that he had deemed necessary before going +directly to the convent.</p> + +<p>The whole of this short history was delivered with a composure as great as +that which had just been displayed by Pippo and the pilgrim; and it was +impossible for any present to detect the slightest improbability or +contradiction in the tale. The meeting with the other travellers in the +storm Maso ascribed to the fact of their having passed him while he was +stationary, and to his greater speed when in motion; two circumstances +that were quite as likely to be true as all the rest of the account. He +had left the Refuge at the first glimpse of dawn, because he was behind +his time, and it had been his intention to descend to Aoste that night, an +exertion that was necessary in order to repair the loss.</p> + +<p>"This may be true," resumed the judge; "but how dost thou account for thy +poverty? In searching thy effects, thou art found to be in a condition +little better than that of a mendicant. Even thy purse is empty, though +known to be a successful and desperate trifler with the revenue, in all +those states where the entrance duty is enforced."</p> + +<p>"He that plays deepest, Signore, is most likely to be stripped of his +means. What is there new or unlooked for in the fact that a dealer in the +contraband should lose his venture?"</p> + +<p>"This is more plausible than convincing. Thou art signalled as being +accustomed to transport articles of the jewellers from Geneva into the +adjoining states, and thou art known to come from the head-quarters of +these artisans. Thy losses must have been unusual, to have left thee so +naked. I much fear that a bootless speculation in thy usual trade has +driven thee to repair the loss by the murder of this unhappy man, who left +his home well supplied with gold, and, as it would seem, with a valuable +store of jewelry, too. The particulars are especially mentioned in this +written account of his effects, which the honorable bailiff bringeth from +his friends."</p> + +<p>Maso mused silently, and in deep abstraction. He then desired that the +chapel might be cleared of all but the travellers of condition, the +monks, and his judges. The request was granted, for it was expected that +he was about to make an important confession, as indeed, in a certain +degree, proved to be the fact.</p> + +<p>"Should I clear myself of the charge of poverty, Signor Castellano," he +demanded, when all the inferiors had left the place, "shall I stand +acquitted in your eyes of the charge of murder?"</p> + +<p>"Surely not: still thou wilt have removed one of the principal grounds of +temptation, and in that thou wilt be greatly the gainer, for we know that +Jacques Colis hath been robbed as well as slain."</p> + +<p>Maso appeared to deliberate again, as a man is apt to pause before he +takes a step that may materially affect his interests. But suddenly +deciding, like a man of prompt opinions, he called to Nettuno, and, +seating himself on the steps of one of the side-altars, he proceeded to +make his revelation with great method and coolness. Removing some of the +long shaggy hair of the dog, Il Maledetto showed the attentive and curious +spectators that a belt of leather had been ingeniously placed about the +body of the animal, next its skin. It was so concealed as to be quite hid +from the view of those who did not make particular search, a process that +Nettuno, judging by the scowling looks he threw at most present, and the +manner in which he showed his teeth, would not be likely to permit to a +stranger. The belt was opened, and Maso laid a glittering necklace of +precious stones, in which rubies and emeralds vied with other gems of +price, with some of a dealer's coquetry, under the strong light of the +lamp.</p> + +<p>"There you see the fruits of a life of hazards and hardships, Signor +Châtelain," he said; "if my purse is empty, it is because the Jewish +Calvinists of Geneva have taken the last liard in payment of the jewels."</p> + +<p>"This is an ornament of rare beauty and exceeding value, to be seen in the +possession of one of thy appearance and habits, Maso!" exclaimed the +frugal Valaisan.</p> + +<p>"Signore, its cost was a hundred doppie of pure gold and full weight, and +it is contracted for with a young noble of Milano, who hopes to win his +mistress by the present, for a profit of fifty. Affairs were getting low +with me in consequence of sundry seizures and a total wreck, and I took +the adventure with the hope of sudden and great gain. As there is nothing +against the laws of Valais in the matter, I trust to stand acquitted, +châtelain, for my frankness. One who was master of this would be little +likely to shed blood for the trifle that would be found on the person of +Jacques Colis."</p> + +<p>"Thou hast more," observed the judge, signing with his hand as he spoke; +"let us see all thou hast."</p> + +<p>"Not a brooch, or so much as a worthless garnet."</p> + +<p>"Nay, I see the belt which contains them among the hairs of the dog."</p> + +<p>Maso either felt or feigned a well-acted surprise. Nettuno had been placed +in a convenient attitude for his master to unloosen the belt, and, as it +was the intention of the latter to replace it, the animal still lay +quietly in the same position, a circumstance which displaced his shaggy +coat, and allowed the châtelain to detect the object to which he had just +alluded.</p> + +<p>"Signore," said the smuggler, changing color but endeavoring to speak +lightly of a discovery which all the others present evidently considered +to be grave, "it would seem that the dog, accustomed to do these little +offices in behalf of his master, has been tempted by success to undertake +a speculation on his own account. By my patron saint and the Virgin! I +know nothing of this second adventure."</p> + +<p>"Trifle not, but undo the belt, lest I have the beast muzzled that it may +be performed by others." sternly commanded the châtelain.</p> + +<p>The Italian complied, though with an ill grace that was much too apparent +for his own interest. Having loosened the fastenings, he reluctantly gave +the envelope to the Valaisan. The latter cut the cloth, and laid some ten +or fifteen different pieces of jewelry on the table. The spectators +crowded about the spot in curiosity, while the judge eagerly referred to +the written description of the effects of the murdered man.</p> + +<p>"A ring of brilliants, with an emerald of price, the setting chased and +heavy," read the Valaisan.</p> + +<p>"Thank God, it is not here!" exclaimed the Signor Grimaldi. "One could +wish to find so true a mariner innocent of this bloody deed!"</p> + +<p>The châtelain believed he was on the scent of a secret that had begun to +perplex him, and as few are so inherently humane as to prefer the +advantage of another to their own success, he heard both the announcement +and the declaration of the noble Genoese with a frown.</p> + +<p>"A cross of turquoise of the length of two inches, with pearls of no great +value intermixed," continued the judge.</p> + +<p>Sigismund groaned and turned away from the table.</p> + +<p>"Unhappily, here is that which too well answers to the description!" +slowly and with evident reluctance, escaped from the Signor Grimaldi.</p> + +<p>"Let it be measured," demanded the prisoner.</p> + +<p>The experiment was made, and the agreement was found to be perfect</p> + +<p>"Bracelets of rubies, the stones set in foil, and six in number," +continued the methodical châtelain, whose eye now lighted with the triumph +of victory.</p> + +<p>"These are wanting!" cried Melchior de Willading, who, in common with all +whom he had served, took a lively interest in the fate of Maso. "There are +no jewels of this description here!"</p> + +<p>"Come to the next, Herr Châtelain," put in Peterchen, leaning to the side +of the law's triumph; "let us have the next, o' God's name!"</p> + +<p>"A brooch of amethyst, the stone of our own mountains, set in foil, and +the size of one-eighth of an inch; form oval."</p> + +<p>It was lying on the table, beyond all possibility of dispute. All the +remaining articles, which were chiefly rings of the less prized stones, +such as jasper, granite, topaz, and turquoise, were also identified, +answering perfectly to the description furnished by the jeweller, who had +sold them to Jacques Colis the night of the fête, when, with Swiss thrift, +he had laid in this small stock in trade, with a view to diminish the cost +of his intended journey.</p> + +<p>"It is a principle of law, unfortunate man," remarked the châtelain, +removing the spectacles he had mounted in order to read the list, "that +effects wrongly taken from one robbed criminate him in whose possession +they are found, unless he can render a clear account of the transfer. What +hast thou to say on this head?"</p> + +<p>"Not a syllable, Signore; I must refer you and all others to the dog, who +alone can furnish the history of these baubles. It is clear that I am +little known in the Valais, for Maso never deals in trifles insignificant +as these."</p> + +<p>"The pretext will not serve thee, Maso; thou triflest in an affair of +life and death. Wilt thou confess thy crime, ere we proceed to +extremities?"</p> + +<p>"That I have been long at open variance with the law, Signor Castellano, +is true, if you will have it so; but I am as innocent of this man's death +as the noble Baron de Willading here. That the Genoese authorities were +looking for me, on account of some secret understanding that the republic +has with its old enemies, the Savoyards, I frankly allow too; but it was a +matter of gain, and not of blood. I have taken life in my time, Signore, +but it has been in fair combat, whether the cause was just or not."</p> + +<p>"Enough has been proved against thee already to justify the use of the +torture in order to have the rest."</p> + +<p>"Nay; I do not see the necessity of this appeal," remarked the bailiff. +"There lies the dead, here is his property, and yonder stands the +criminal. It is an affair that only wants the forms, methinks, to be +committed presently to the axe."</p> + +<p>"Of all the foul offences against God and man," resumed the Valaisan, in +the manner of one that is about to sentence, "that which hastens a living +soul, unshrived, unconfessed, unprepared, and with all its sins upon it, +into another state of being and into the dread presence of his Almighty +Judge, is the heaviest, and the last to be overlooked by the law. There is +less excuse for thee, Thomaso Santi, for thy education has been far +superior to thy fortunes, and thou hast passed a life of vice and violence +in opposition to thy reason and what was taught thee in youth. Thou hast, +therefore, little ground for hope, since the state I serve loves justice +in its purity above all other qualities."</p> + +<p>"Nobly spoken! Herr Châtelain," cried the bailiff, "and in a manner to +send repentance like a dagger into the criminal's soul. What is thought +and said in Valais we echo in Vaud, and I would not that any I love stood +in thy shoes, Maso, for the honors of the emperor!"</p> + +<p>"Signori, you have both spoken, and it is as men whom fortune hath favored +since childhood. It is easy for those who are in prosperity to be upright +in all that touches money, though by the light of the blessed Maria's +countenance I do think there is more coveted by those who have much than +by the hardy and industrious poor. I am no stranger, to that which men +call justice, and know how to honor and respect its decrees as they +deserve. Justice, Signori, is the weak man's scourge and the strong man's +sword: it is a breast-plate and back-plate to the one and a weapon to be +parried by the other. In short, it is a word of fair import, on the +tongue, but of most unequal application in the deed."</p> + +<p>"We overlook thy language in consideration of the pass to which thy crimes +have reduced thee, unhappy man, though it is an aggravation of thy +offences, since it proves thou hast sinned equally against thyself and us. +This affair need go no farther; the headsman and the other travellers may +be dismissed: we commit the Italian to the irons."</p> + +<p>Maso heard the order without alarm, though he appeared to be maintaining a +violent struggle with himself. He paced the chapel rapidly, and muttered +much between his teeth. His words were not intelligible, though they were +evidently of strong, if not violent, import. At length he stopped short, +in the manner of one who had decided.</p> + +<p>"This-matter grows serious," he said: "it will admit of no farther +hesitation. Signor Grimaldi, command all to leave the chapel in whose +discretion you have not the most perfect confidence."</p> + +<p>"I see none to be distrusted," answered the surprised Genoese.</p> + +<p>"Then will I speak."</p> +</div> + + +<div class="chapter" id="ch29"> +<h2>Chapter XXIX.</h2> + + +<blockquote class="epi"><p> Thy voice to us is wind among still woods.</p> + +<p> Shelley.</p></blockquote> + +<p> +Notwithstanding the gravity of the facts which were accumulating against +him, Maso had maintained throughout the foregoing scene much of that +steady self-possession and discernment which were the fruits of adventure +in scenes of danger, long exposure, and multiplied hazards. To these +causes of coolness, might be added the iron-like nerves inherited from +nature. The latter were not easily disturbed, however critical the state +to which he was reduced. Still he had changed color, and his manner had +that thoughtful and unsettled air which denote the consciousness of being +in circumstances that require uncommon wariness and judgment. But his +final opinion appeared to be formed when he made the appeal mentioned in +the close of the last chapter, and he now only waited for the two or three +officials who were present to retire, before he pursued his purpose. When +the door was closed, leaving none but his examiners, Sigismund Balthazar, +and the group of females in the side-chapel, he turned, with singular +respect of manner, and addressed himself exclusively to the Signor +Grimaldi, as if the judgment which was to decide his fate depended solely +on his will.</p> + +<p>"Signore," he said, "there has been much secret allusion between us, and +I suppose that it is unnecessary for me to say, that you are known to me.'</p> + +<p>"I have already recognized thee for a country man," coldly returned the +Genoese; "it is vain however, to imagine the circumstance can avail a +murderer. If any consideration could induce me to forget the claims of +justice, the recollection of thy good service on the Leman would prove thy +best friend. As it is, I fear thou hast naught to expect from me."</p> + +<p>Maso was silent. He looked the other steadily in the face, as if he would +study his character, though he guardedly prevented his manner from losing +its appearance of profound respect.</p> + +<p>"Signore, the chances of life were greatly with you at the birth. You were +born the heir of a powerful house, in which gold is more plenty than woes +in a poor man's cabin, and you have not been made to learn by experience +how hard it is to keep down the longings for those pleasures which the +base metal will purchase, when we see others rolling in its luxuries."</p> + +<p>"This plea will not avail thee, unfortunate man; else were there an end of +human institutions. The difference of which thou speakest is a simple +consequence of the rights of property; and even the barbarian admits the +sacred duty of respecting that which is another's."</p> + +<p>"A word from one like you, illustrious Signore, would open for me the road +to Piedmont," continued Maso, unmoved: "once across the frontiers, it +shall be my care never to molest the rocks of Valais again. I ask only +what I have been the means of saving, eccellenza,--life."</p> + +<p>The Signor Grimaldi shook his head, though it was very evident that he +declined the required intercession with much reluctance. He and old +Melchior de Willading exchanged glances; and all who noted this silent +intercourse understood it to say, that each considered duty to God a +higher obligation than gratitude for a service rendered to themselves.</p> + +<p>"Ask gold, or what thou wilt else, but do not ask me to aid in defeating +justice. Gladly would I have given for the asking, twenty times the value +of those miserable baubles for whose possession, Maso, thou hast rashly +taken life; but I cannot become a sharer of thy crime, by refusing +atonement to his friends. It is too late: I cannot befriend thee now, if I +would."</p> + +<p>"Thou nearest the answer of this noble gentleman," interposed the +châtelain; "it is wise and seemly, and thou greatly overratest his +influence or that of any present, if thou fanciest the laws can be set +aside at pleasure. Wert thou a noble thyself, or the son of a prince, +judgment would have its way in the Valais!"</p> + +<p>Maso smiled wildly; and yet the expression of his glittering eye was so +ironical as to cause uneasiness in his judge. The Signor Grimaldi, too, +observed the audacious confidence of his air with distrust, for his spirit +had taken secret alarm on a subject that was rarely long absent from his +thoughts.</p> + +<p>"If thou meanest more than has been said," exclaimed the latter, "for the +sake of the blessed Maria be explicit!"</p> + +<p>"Signor Melchior," continued Maso, turning to the baron, "I did you and +your daughter fair service on the lake!"</p> + +<p>"That thou didst, Maso, we are both willing to admit, and were it in +Berne,--but the laws are made equally for all, the great and the humble +they who have friends, and they who have none,"</p> + +<p>"I have heard of this act on the lake," put in Peterchen; "and unless fame +lieth--which. Heaven knows, fame is apt enough to do, except in giving +their just dues to those who are in high trusts,--thou didst conduct +thyself in that affair, Maso, like a loyal and well-taught mariner: but +the honorable châtelain has well remarked, that holy justice must have way +before all other things. Justice is represented as blind, in order that it +may be seen she is no respecter of persons: and wert thou an Avoyer, the +decree must come. Reflect maturely, therefore, on all the facts, and thou +wilt come, in time, to see the impossibility of thine own innocence. +First, thou left the path, being ahead of Jacques Colis, to enter it at a +moment suited to thy purposes: then thou took'st his life for gold--"</p> + +<p>"But this is believing that to be true, Signor Bailiff, which is only yet +supposed," interrupted Il Maledetto; "I left the path to give Nettuno his +charge apart from curious eyes; and, as for the gold of which you speak, +would the owner of a necklace of that price be apt to barter his soul +against a booty like this which comes of Jacques Colis!"</p> + +<p>Maso spoke with a contempt which did not serve his cause; for it left the +impression among the auditors, that he weighed the morality and immorality +of his acts simply by their result.</p> + +<p>"It is time to bring this to an end," said the Signor Grimaldi, who had +been thoughtful and melancholy while the others spoke: "thou hast +something to address particularly to me, Maso; but if thy claim is no +better than that of our common country, I grieve to say, it cannot be +admitted."</p> + +<p>"Signore, the voice of a Doge of Genoa is not often raised in vain, when +he would use it in behalf of another!"</p> + +<p>At this sudden announcement of the traveller's rank, the monks and the +châtelain started in surprise, and a low murmur of wonder was heard in +the chapel. The smile of Peterchen, and the composure of the Baron de +Willading, however, showed that they, at least, learned nothing new. The +bailiff whispered the prior significantly, and from that moment his +deportment towards the Genoese took still more of the character of formal +and official respect. On the other hand, the Signor Grimaldi remained +composed, like one accustomed to receive deference, though his manner lost +the slight degree of restraint that had been imposed by the observance of +the temporary character he had assumed.</p> + +<p>"The voice of a Doge of Genoa should not be used in intercession, unless +in behalf of the innocent," he replied, keeping his severe eye fastened on +the countenance of the accused.</p> + +<p>Again Il Maledetto seemed laboring with some secret that struggled on his +tongue.</p> + +<p>"Speak," continued the Prince of Genoa; for it was, in truth, that high +functionary, who had journeyed incognito, in the hope of meeting his +ancient friend at the sports of Vévey, "Speak, Maso, if thou hast aught +serious to urge in favor of thyself; time presses, and the sight of one to +whom I owe so much in this great jeopardy, without the power to aid him, +grows painful."</p> + +<p>"Signor Doge, though deaf to pity, you cannot be deaf to nature."</p> + +<p>The countenance of the Doge became livid; his lips trembled even to the +appearance of convulsions.</p> + +<p>"Deal no longer in mystery, man of blood!" he said with energy. "What is +thy meaning?"</p> + +<p>"I entreat your eccellenza to be calm. Necessity forces me to speak; for, +as you see, I stand between this revelation and the block--I am Bartolo +Contini!"</p> + +<p>The groan that escaped the compressed lips of, the Doge, the manner in +which he sank into a seat, and the hue of death that settled over his aged +countenance, until it was more ghastly even than that of the unhappy +victim of violence, drew all present, in wonder and alarm, around his +chair. Signing for those who pressed upon him to give way, the Prince sat +gazing at Maso, with eyes that appeared ready to burst from their sockets.</p> + +<p>"Thou Bartolomeo!" he uttered huskily, as if horror had frozen his voice.</p> + +<p>"I am Bartolo, Signore, and no other. He who goes through many scenes hath +occasion for many names. Even your Highness travels at times under a +cloud."</p> + +<p>The Doge continued to stare on the speaker with the fixedness of regard +that one might be supposed to fasten on a creature of unearthly existence.</p> + +<p>"Melchior," he said slowly, turning his eyes from one to the other of the +forms that filled them, for Sigismund had advanced to the side of Maso, in +kind concern for the old man's condition,--"Melchior, we are but feeble +and miserable creatures in the hand of one who looks upon the proudest and +happiest of us, as we look upon the worm that crawls the earth! What are +hope, and honor, and our fondest love, in the great train of events that +time heaves from its womb, bringing forth to our confusion? Are we proud? +fortune revenges itself for our want of humility by its scorn. Are we +happy? it is but the calm that precedes the storm. Are we great? it is but +to lead us into abuses that will justify our fall. Are we honored stains +tarnish our good names, in spite of all our care!"</p> + +<p>"He who puts his trust in the Son of Maria need never despair!" whispered +the worthy clavier touched nearly to tears by the sudden distress of one +whom he had learned to respect. "Let the fortunes of the world pass away, +or change as they will, his chastening love outliveth time!"</p> + +<p>The Signor Grimaldi, for, though the elected of Genoa, such was in truth +the family name of the Doge, turned his vacant gaze for an instant on the +Augustine, but it soon reverted to the forms and faces of Maso and +Sigismund, who still stood before him, filling his thoughts even more than +his sight.</p> + +<p>"Yes, there is a power--" he resumed, "a great and beneficent Being to +equalize our fortunes here, and when we pass into another state of being, +loaded with the wrongs of this, we shall have justice! Tell me, Melchior, +thou who knew my youth, who read my heart when it was open as day, what +was there in it to deserve this punishment? Here is Balthazar, come of a +race of executioners--a man condemned of opinion--that prejudice besets +with a hedge of hatred--that men point at with their fingers, and whom the +dogs are ready to bay--this Balthazar is the father of that gallant youth, +whose form is so perfect, whose spirit is so noble, and whose life so +pure; while I, the last of a line that is lost in the obscurity of time, +the wealthiest of my land, and the chosen of my peers, am accursed with an +outcast, a common brigand, a murderer, for the sole prop of my decaying +house--with this Il Maledetto--this man accursed--for a son!"</p> + +<p>A movement of astonishment escaped the listeners, even the Baron de +Willading not suspecting the real cause of his friend's distress. Maso +alone was unmoved; for while the aged father betrayed the keenness of his +anguish, the son discovered none of that sympathy of which even a life +like his might be supposed to have left some remains in the heart of a +child. He was cold, collected, observant, and master of his smallest +action.</p> + +<p>"I will not believe this," exclaimed the Doge, whose very soul revolted at +this unfeeling apathy, even more than at the disgrace of being the father +of such a child; "thou art not he thou pretendest to be; this foul lie is +uttered that my natural feelings may interpose between thee and the block! +Prove thy truth, or I abandon thee to thy fate."</p> + +<p>"Signore, I would have saved this unhappy exhibition, but you would not. +That I am Bartolo this signet, your own gift sent to be my protection in a +strait like this, will show. It is, moreover, easy for me to prove what I +say, by a hundred witnesses who are living in Genoa."</p> + +<p>The Signor Grimaldi stretched forth a hand that trembled like an aspen to +receive the ring, a jewel of little price, but a signet that he had, in +truth, sent to be an instrument of recognition between him and his child, +in the event of any sudden calamity befalling the latter. He groaned as he +gazed at its well-remembered emblems, for its identity was only too plain.</p> + +<p>"Maso--Bartolo--Gaetano--for such, miserable boy, is thy real +appellation--thou canst not know how bitter is the pang that an unworthy +child brings to the parent, else would thy life have been different. Oh! +Gaetano! Gaetano! what a foundation art thou for a father's hopes! What a +subject for a father's love! I saw thee last a smiling innocent cherub, in +thy nurse's arms, and I find thee with a blighted sod, the pure fountain +of thy mind corrupted, a form sealed with the stamp of vice, and with +hands dyed in blood; prematurely old in body, and with a spirit that hath +already the hellish taint of the damned!</p> + +<p>"Signore, you find me as the chances of a wild life have willed. The world +and I have been at loggerheads this many a year, and in trifling with its +laws, I take my revenge of its abuse--" warmly returned Il Maledetto, for +his spirit began to be aroused. "Thou bear'st hard upon me, +Doge--father--or what thou wilt--and I should be little worthy of my +lineage, did I not meet thy charges as they are made. Compare thine own +career with mine, and let it be proclaimed by sound of trumpet if thou +wilt, which hath most reason to be proud, and which to exult. Thou wert +reared in the hopes and honors of our name; thou passed thy youth in the +pursuit of arms according to thy fancy, and when tired of change, and +willing to narrow thy pleasures, thou looked about thee for a maiden to +become the mother of thy successor; thou turned a wishing eye on one +young, fair, and noble, but whose affections, as her faith, were solemnly, +irretrievably plighted to another."</p> + +<p>The Doge shuddered and veiled his eye; but he eagerly interrupted Maso.</p> + +<p>"Her kinsman was unworthy of her love," he cried; "he was an outcast, and +little better than thyself, unhappy boy, except in the chances of +condition."</p> + +<p>"It matters not, Signore; God had not made you the arbiter of her fate. In +tempting her family by your greater riches, you crushed two hearts, and +destroyed the hopes of your fellow-creatures. In her was sacrificed an +angel, mild and pure as this fair creature who is now listening so +breathlessly to my words; in him a fierce untamed spirit, that had only +the greater need of management, since it was as likely to go wrong as +right. Before your son was born, this unhappy rival, poor in hopes as in +wealth, had become desperate; and the mother of your child sank a victim +to her ceaseless regrets, at her own want of faith as much as for his +follies."</p> + +<p>"Thy mother was deluded, Gaetano; she never knew the real qualities of +her cousin, or a soul like hers would have lothed the wretch."</p> + +<p>"Signore, it matters not," continued Il Maledetto, with a ruthless +perseverance of intention, and a coolness of manner that would seem to +merit the description which had just been given his spirit, that of +possessing a hellish taint; "she loved him with a woman's heart; and with +a woman's ingenuity and confidence, she ascribed his fall to despair for +her loss."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Melchior! Melchior! this is fearfully true!" groaned the Doge.</p> + +<p>"It is so true, Signore, that it should be written on my mother's tomb. We +are children of a fiery climate; the passions burn in our Italy like the +hot sun that glows there. When despair drove the disappointed lover to +acts that rendered him an outlaw, the passage to revenge was short. Your +child was stolen, hid from your view, and cast upon the world under +circumstances that left little doubt of his living in bitterness, and +dying under the contempt, if not the curses, of his fellows. All this, +Signor Grimaldi, is the fruit of your own errors. Had you respected the +affections of an innocent girl, the sad consequences to yourself and me +might have been avoided."</p> + +<p>"Is this man's history to be believed, Gaetano?" demanded the baron, who +had more than once betrayed a wish to check the rude tongue of the +speaker.</p> + +<p>"I do not--I cannot deny it; I never saw my own conduct in this criminal +light before, and yet now it all seems frightfully true!"</p> + +<p>Il Maledetto laughed. Those around him thought his untimely merriment +resembled the mockery of a devil.</p> + +<p>"This is the manner in which men continue to sin, while they lay claim to +the merit of innocence!" he added. "Let the great of the earth give but +half the care to prevent, that they show to punish, offences against +themselves, and what is now called justice will no longer be a +stalking-horse to enable a few to live at the cost of the rest. As for me, +I am proof of what noble blood and illustrious ancestry can do for +themselves! Stolen when a child, Nature has had fair play in my +temperament, which I own is more disposed to wild adventure and manly +risks than to the pleasures of marble halls. Noble father of mine, were +this spirit dressed up in the guise of a senator, or a doge, it might fare +badly with Genoa!"</p> + +<p>"Unfortunate man," exclaimed the indignant prior, "is this language for a +child to use to his father? Dost thou forget that the blood of Jacques +Colis is on thy soul?"</p> + +<p>"Holy Augustine, the candor with which my general frailties are allowed, +should gain me credit when I speak of particular accusations. By the hopes +and piety of the reverend canon of Aoste, thy patron saint and founder! I +am guiltless of this crime. Question Nettuno as you will, or turn the +affair in every way that usage warrants, and let appearances take what +shape they may, I swear to you my innocence. If ye think that fear of +punishment tempts me to utter a lie, under these holy appeals, (he crossed +himself with reverence,) ye do injustice both to my courage and to my love +of the saints. The only son of the reigning Doge of Genoa hath little to +fear from the headsman's blow!"</p> + +<p>Again Maso laughed. It was the confidence of one who knew the world and +who was too audacious even to consult appearances unless it suited his +humor, breaking out in very wantonness. A man who had led his life, was +not to learn at this late day, that the want of eyes in Justice oftener +means blindness to the faults of the privileged, than the impartiality +that is assumed by the pretending emblem. The châtelain, the prior, the +bailiff, the clavier, and the Baron de Willading, looked at each other +like men bewildered. The mental agony of the Doge formed a contrast so +frightful with the heartless and cruel insensibility of the son, that the +sight chilled their blood. The sentiment was only the more common, from +the silent but general conviction, that the unfeeling criminal must be +permitted to escape. There was, indeed, no precedent for leading the child +of a prince to the block, unless it were for an offence which touched the +preservation of the father's interests. Much was said in maxims and +apophthegms of the purity and necessity of rigid impartiality in +administering the affairs of life, but neither had attained his years and +experience without obtaining glimpses of practical things, that taught +them to foresee the impunity of Maso. Too much violence would be done to a +factitous and tottering edifice, were it known that a prince's son was no +better than one of the vilest, and the lingering feelings of paternity +were certain at last to cast a shield before the offender.</p> + +<p>The embarrassment and doubt attending such a state of things was happily, +but quite unexpectedly, relieved by the interference of Balthazar. The +headsman, until this moment, had been a silent and attentive listener to +all that passed; but now he pressed himself into the circle, and looking, +in his quiet manner, from one to the other, he spoke with the assurance +that the certainty of having important intelligence to impart, is apt to +give even to the meekest, in the presence of those whom they habitually +respect.</p> + +<p>"This broken tale of Maso," he said, "is removing a cloud that has lain, +for near thirty years before my eyes. Is it true, illustrious Doge, for +such it appears is your princely state, that a son of your noble stock +was stolen and kept in from your love, through the vindictive enmity of a +rival?"</p> + +<p>"True!--alas, too true! Would it had pleased the blessed Maria, who so +cherished his mother, to call his spirit to Heaven, ere the curse befell +him and me!"</p> + +<p>"Your pardon, great Prince, if I press you with questions at a moment so +painful. But it is in your own interest. Suffer that I ask in what year +this calamity befell your family?"</p> + +<p>The Signor Grimaldi signed for his friend to assume the office of +answering these extraordinary interrogatories, while he buried his own +venerable face in his cloak, to conceal his anguish from curious eyes. +Melchior de Willading regarded the headsman in surprise, and for an +instant he was disposed to repel questions that seemed importunate; but +the earnest countenance and mild, decent demeanor of Balthazar, overcame +his repugnance to pursue the subject.</p> + +<p>"The child was seized in the autumn of the year 1693," he answered, his +previous conferences with his friend having put him in possession of all +the leading facts of the history.</p> + +<p>"And his age?"</p> + +<p>"Was near a twelvemonth."</p> + +<p>"Can you inform me what became of the profligate noble who committed this +for robbery?"</p> + +<p>"The fate of the Signore Pantaleone Serrani has never been truly known; +though there is a dark rumor that he died in a brawl in our own +Switzerland. That he is dead, there is no cause to doubt."</p> + +<p>"And his person, noble Freiherr--a description of his person is now only +wanting to throw the light of a noon-day sun, on what has so long been +night!"</p> + +<p>"I knew the unlucky Signore Pantaleone in early youth. At the time +mentioned his years might have been thirty, his form was seemly and of +middle height, his features bore the Italian outline, with the dark eye, +swarthy skin and glossy hair of the climate. More than this, with the +exception of a finger lost in one of our affairs in Lombardy, I cannot +say."</p> + +<p>"This is enough," returned the attentive Balthazar. "Dismiss your grief, +princely Doge, and prepare your heart for a new-found joy. Instead of +being the parent of this reckless freebooter, God at length pities and +returns your real son in Sigismund, a child that might gladden the heart +of any parent, though he were an emperor!"</p> + +<p>This extraordinary declaration was made to stunned and confounded +listeners. A cry of alarm bust from the lips of Marguerite, who approached +the group in the centre of the chapel, trembling and anxious as if the +grave were about to rob her of a treasure.</p> + +<p>"What is this I hear!" exclaimed the mother, whose sensitiveness was the +first to take alarm. "Are my half-formed suspicions then too true, +Balthazar? Am I, indeed, without a son? I know thou wouldst not trifle +with a mother, or mislead this stricken noble in a thing like this! Speak, +again, that I may know the truth--Sigismund!--"</p> + +<p>"Is not our child," answered the headsman, with an impress of truth in his +manner that went far to bring conviction; "our own boy died in the blessed +state of infancy, and, to save thy feelings, this youth was substituted in +his place by me without thy knowledge."</p> + +<p>Marguerite moved nearer to the young man. She gazed wistfully at his +flushed, excited features, in which pain at being so unexpectedly torn +from the bosom of a family he had always deemed his own, was fearfully +struggling with a wild and indefinite delight at finding himself suddenly +relieved from a load he had long found so grievous to be borne. +Interpreting the latter expression with jealous affection, she bent her +face to her bosom, and retreated in silence among her companions lo weep.</p> + +<p>In the mean time a sudden and tumultuous surprise took possession of the +different listeners, which was modified and exhibited according to their +respective characters, or to the amount of interest that each had in the +truth or falsehood of what had just been announced. The Doge clung to the +hope, improbable as it seemed, with a tenacity proportioned to his recent +anguish, while Sigismund stood like one beside himself. His eye wandered +from the simple and benevolent, but degraded, man, whom he had believed to +be his father, to the venerable and imposing-looking noble who was now so +unexpectedly presented in that sacred character. The sobs of Marguerite +reached his ears, and first recalled him to recollection. They came +blended with the fresh grief of Christine, who felt as if ruthless death +had now robbed her of a brother. There was also the struggling emotion of +one whose interest in him had a still more tender and engrossing claim.</p> + +<p>"This is so wonderful!" said the trembling Doge, who dreaded lest the next +syllable that was uttered might destroy the blessed illusion, "so wildly +improbable, that, though my soul yearns to believe it, my reason refuses +credence. It is not enough to utter this sudden intelligence, Balthazar; +it must be proved. Furnish but a moiety of the evidence that is necessary +to establish a legal fact, and I will render thee the richest of thy class +in Christendom! And thou, Sigismund, come close to my heart, noble boy," +he added, with outstretched arms, "that I may bless thee, while there is +hope--that I may feel one beat of a father's pulses--one instant of a +father's joy!"</p> + +<p>Sigismund knelt at the venerable Prince's feet, and receiving his head on +his shoulder, their tears mingled. But even at that previous moment both +felt a sense of insecurity, as if the exquisite pleasure of so pure a +happiness were too intense to last. Maso looked upon this scene with cold +displeasure. His averted face denoting a stronger feeling than +disappointment, though the power of natural sympathy was so strong as to +draw evidences of its force from the eyes of all the others present.</p> + +<p>"Bless thee, bless thee, my child, my dearly beloved son!" murmured the +Doge, lending himself to the improbable tale of Balthazar for a delicious +instant, and kissing the cheeks of Sigismund as one would embrace a +smiling infant; "may the God of heaven and earth, his only Son, and the +holy Virgin undefiled, unite to bless thee, here and hereafter, be thou +whom thou mayest! I owe thee one precious instant of happiness, such as I +have never tasted before. To find a child would not be enough to give it +birth; but to believe thee to be that son touches on the joys of +paradise!"</p> + +<p>Sigismund fervently kissed the hand that had rested affectionately on his +head during this diction; then, feeling the necessity of having some +guarantee for the existence of emotions so sweet, he arose and made a warm +and strong appeal to him who had so long passed for his father to be more +explicit, and to justify his new-born hopes by some evidence better than; +his simple asseveration; for solemnly as the latter had been made, and +profound as he knew to be the reverence for truth which the despised +headsman not only entertained himself but inculcated in all in whom he had +any interest, the revelation he had just made seemed too improbable to +resist the doubts of one who knew his happiness to be the fruit or the +forfeiture of its veracity.</p> +</div> + + +<div class="chapter" id="ch30"> +<h2>Chapter XXX.</h2> + + +<blockquote class="epi"><p> We rest--a dream has power to poison sleep;<br /> + We rise--one wandering thought pollutes the day;<br /> + We feel, conceive or reason, laugh or weep;<br /> + Embrace fond woe, or cast our cares away.</p> + +<p> Shelley.</p></blockquote> + +<p>The tale of Balthazar was simple but eloquent His union with Marguerite, +in spite of the world's obloquy and injustice, had been blest by the wise +and merciful Being who knew how to temper the wind to the shorn lamb.</p> + +<p>"We knew we were all to each other," he continued, after briefly alluding +to the early history of their births and love; "and we felt the necessity +of living for ourselves. Ye that are born to honors, who meet with smiles +and respectful looks in all ye meet, can know little of the feeling which +binds together the unhappy. When God gave us our first-born, as he lay a +smiling babe in her lap, looking up into her eye with the innocence that +most likens man to angels, Marguerite shed bitter tears at the thought of +such a creature's being condemned by the laws to shed the blood of men. +The reflection that he was to live for ever an outcast from his kind was +bitter to a mother's heart. We had made many offers to the canton to be +released ourselves, from this charge; we had prayed them--Herr Melchior, +you should know how earnestly we have prayed the council, to be suffered +to live like others, and without this accursed doom--but they would not. +They said the usage was ancient, that change was dangerous, and that what +God willed must come to pass. We could not bear that the burthen we found +so hard to endure ourselves should go down for ever as a curse upon our +descendants, Herr Doge," he continued, raising his meek face in the pride +of honesty; "it is well for those who are the possessors of honors to be +proud of their privileges; but when the inheritance is one of wrongs and +scorn, when the evil eyes of our fellows are upon us, the heart sickens. +Such was our feeling when we looked upon our first-born. The wish to save +him from our own disgrace was uppermost, and we bethought us of the +means."</p> + +<p>"Ay!" sternly interrupted Marguerite, "I parted with my child, and +silenced a mother's longings, proud nobles, that he might not become the +tool of your ruthless policy; I gave up a mother's joy in nourishing and +in cherishing her young, that the little innocent might live among his +fellows, as God had created him, their equal and not their victim!"</p> + +<p>Balthazar paused, as was usual with him when ever his energetic wife +manifested any of her strong and masculine qualities, and then, when deep +silence had followed her remark, he proceeded.</p> + +<p>"We wanted not for wealth; all we asked was to be like others in the +world's respect. With our money it was very easy to find those in another +canton, who were willing to take the little Sigismund into their keeping. +After which, a feigned death, and a private burial, did the rest. The +deceit was easily practised, for as few cared for the griefs as for the +happiness of the headsman's family The child had drawn near the end of its +first year, when I was called upon to execute my office on a stranger. The +criminal had taken life in a drunken brawl in one of the towns of the +canton, and he was said to be a man that had trifled with the precious +gifts of birth, it being suspected that he was noble. I went with a heavy +heart, for never did I strike a blow without praying God it might be the +last; but it was heavier when I reached the place where the culprit +awaited his fate. The tidings of my poor son's death reached me as I put +foot on the threshold of the desolate prison, and I turned aside to weep +for my own woes, before I entered to see my victim. The condemned man had +great unwillingness to die; he had sent for me many hours before the fatal +moment, to make acquaintance, as he said, with the hand that was to +dispatch him to the presence of his last and eternal judge."</p> + +<p>Balthazar paused; he appeared to meditate on a scene that had probably +left indelible impressions on his mind. Shuddering involuntarily, he +raised his eyes from the pavement of the chapel, and continued the +recital, always in the same subdued and tranquil manner.</p> + +<p>"I have been the unwilling instrument of many a violent death--I have seen +the most reckless sinners in the agonies of sudden and compelled +repentance, but never have I witnessed so wild and fearful a struggle +between earth and heaven--the world and the grave--passion and the rebuke +of Providence--as attended the last hours of that unhappy man! There were +moments in which the mild spirit of Christ won upon his evil mood 'tis +true; but the picture was, in general, that of revenge so fierce, that the +powers of hell alone could give it birth in a human heart. He had with him +an infant of an age just, fitted to be taken from the breast. This child +appeared to awaken the fiercest conflicting feelings; he both yearned over +it and detested its sight, though hatred seemed most to prevail."</p> + +<p>"This was horrible!" murmured the Doge.</p> + +<p>"It was the more horrible, Herr Doge, that it should come from one who was +justly condemned to the axe. He rejected the priests; he would have naught +of any but me. My soul lothed the wretch--yet so few ever showed an +interest in us--and it would have been cruel to desert a dying man! At the +end, he placed the child in my care, furnishing more gold than was +sufficient to rear it frugally to the age of manhood, and leaving other +valuables which I have kept as proofs that might some day be useful. All I +could learn of the infant's origin was simply this. It came from Italy, +and of Italian parents; its mother died soon after its birth,"--a groan +escaped the Doge--"its father still lived, and was the object of the +criminal's implacable hatred, as its mother had been of his ardent love; +its birth was noble, and it had been baptized in the bosom of the church +by the name of Gaetano."</p> + +<p>"It must be he!--it is--it must be my beloved son!--" exclaimed the Doge, +unable to control himself any longer. He spread wide his arms, and +Sigismund threw himself upon his bosom, though there still remained +fearful apprehensions that all he heard was a dream. "Go on--go +on--excellent Balthazar," added the Signor Grimaldi, drying his eyes, and +struggling to command himself. "I shall have no peace until all is +revealed to the last syllable of thy wonderful, thy glorious tale!"</p> + +<p>"There remains but little more to say, Herr Doge. The fatal hour arrived, +and the criminal was transported to the place where he was to give up his +life. While seated in the chair in which he received the fatal blow, his +spirit underwent infernal torments. I have reason to think that there were +moments when he would gladly have made his peace with God. But the demons +prevailed; he died in his sins! From the hour when he committed the little +Gaetano to my keeping, I did not cease to entreat to be put in possession +of the secret of the child's birth, but the sole answer I received was an +order to appropriate the gold to my own uses, and to adopt the boy as my +own. The sword was in my hand, and the signal to strike was given, when, +for the last time, I asked the name of the infant's family and country, as +a duty I could not neglect. 'He is thine--he is thine--' was the answer; +'tell me, Balthazar, is thy office hereditary, as is wont in these +regions?' I was compelled, as ye know, to say it was. 'Then adopt the +urchin; rear him to fatten on the blood of his fellows!' It was mockery to +trifle with such a spirit. When his head fell, if still bad on its fierce +features traces of the infernal triumph with which his spirit departed!"</p> + +<p>"The monster was a just sacrifice to the laws of the canton!" exclaimed +the single-minded bailiff. "Thou seest, Herr Melchior, that we do well in +arming the hand of the executioner, in spite of all the sentiment of the +weak-minded. Such a wretch was surely unworthy to live."</p> + +<p>This burst of official felicitation from Peterchen, who rarely neglected +an occasion to draw a conclusion favorable to the existing order of +things, like most of those who reap their exclusive advantage, and to the +prejudice of innovation, produced little attention; all present were too +much absorbed in the facts related by Balthazar, to turn aside; to speak, +or think, of other matters.</p> + +<p>"What became of the boy?" demanded the worthy clavier, who had taken as +deep an interest as the rest, in the progress of the narrative.</p> + +<p>"I could not desert him, father; nor did I wish to. He came into my +guardianship at a moment when God, to reprove our repinings at a lot that +he had chosen to impose, had taken our own little Sigismund to heaven. I +filled the place of the dead infant with my living charge; I gave to him +the name of my own son, and I can say confidently, that I transferred to +him the love I had borne my own issue; though time, and use, and a +knowledge of the child's character, were perhaps necessary to complete the +last. Marguerite never knew the deception, though a mother's instinct and +tenderness took the alarm and raised suspicions. We have never spoken +freely on this together, and like you, she now heareth the truth for the +first time."</p> + +<p>"'Twas a fearful mystery between God and my own heart!" murmured the +woman; "I forbore to trouble it--Sigismund, or Gaetano, or whatever you +will have his name, filled my affections, and I strove to be satisfied. +The boy is dear to me, and ever will be, though you seat him on a throne; +but Christine--the poor stricken Christine--is truly the child of my +bosom!"</p> + +<p>Sigismund went and knelt at the feet of her whom he had ever believed his +mother, and earnestly begged her blessing and continued affection. The +tears streamed from Marguerite's eyes, as she willingly bestowed the +first, and promised never to withhold the last.</p> + +<p>"Hast thou any of the trinkets or garments that were given thee with the +child, or canst render an account of the place where they are still to be +found?" demanded the Doge, whose whole mind was too deeply set on +appeasing his doubts to listen to aught else.</p> + +<p>"They are all here in the convent. The gold has been fairly committed to +Sigismund, to form his equipment as a soldier. The child was kept apart, +receiving such education as a learned priest could give till of an age to +serve, and then I sent him to bear arms in Italy, which I knew to be the +country of his birth, though I never knew to what Prince his allegiance +was due. The time had now come when I thought it due to the youth to let +him know the real nature of the tie between us; but I shrank from paining +Marguerite and myself, and I even did his heart the credit to believe that +he would rather belong to us, humble and despised though we be, than find +himself a nameless outcast, without home, country, or parentage. It was +necessary, however, to speak, and it was my purpose to reveal the truth, +here at the convent, in the presence of Christine. For this reason, and to +enable Sigismund to make inquiries for his family, the effects received +from the unhappy criminal with the child were placed among his baggage +secretly. They are, at this moment, on the mountain."</p> + +<p>The venerable old prince trembled violently; for, with the intense feeling +of one who dreaded that his dearest hopes might yet be disappointed, he +feared, while he most wished, to consult these mute but veracious +witnesses.</p> + +<p>"Let them be produced!--let them be instantly produced and examined!" he +whispered eagerly to those around him. Then turning slowly to the +immovable Maso, he demanded--"And thou, man of falsehood and of blood! +what dost thou reply to this clear and probable tale?"</p> + +<p>Il Maledetto smiled, as if superior to a weakness that had blinded the +others. The expression of his countenance was filled with that look of +calm superiority which certainty gives to the well-informed over the +doubting and deceived."</p> + +<p>"I have to reply, Signore, and honored father," he coolly answered, "that +Balthazar hath right cleverly related a tale that hath been ingeniously +devised. That I am Bartolo, I repeat to thee, can be proved by a hundred +living tongues in Italy.--Thou best knowest who Bartolo Contini is, Doge +of Genoa.'</p> + +<p>"He speaks the truth," returned the prince, dropping his head in +disappointment. "Oh! Melchior, I have had but too sure proofs of what he +intimates! I have long been certain that this wretched Bartolo is my son, +though never before have I been cursed with his presence. Bad as I was +taught to think him, my worst fears had not painted him as I now find the +truth would warrant."</p> + +<p>"Has there not been some fraud--art thou not the dupe of some conspiracy +of which money has been the object?"</p> + +<p>The Doge shook his head, in a way to prove that he could not possibly +flatter himself with such a hope.</p> + +<p>"Never: my offers of money have always been rejected."</p> + +<p>"Why should I take the gold of my father?" added Il Maledetto; "my own +skill and courage more than suffice for my wants."</p> + +<p>The nature of the answer, and the composed demeanor of Maso, produced an +embarrassing pause.</p> + +<p>"Let the two stand forth and be confronted," said the puzzled clavier at +length; "nature often reveals the truth when the uttermost powers of man +are at fault--if either is the true child of the prince, we should find +some resemblance to the father to support his claim."</p> + +<p>The test, though of doubtful virtue, was eagerly adopted, for the truth +had now become so involved, as to excite a keen interest in all present. +The desire to explain the mystery was general, and the slightest means of +attaining such an end became of a value proportionate to the difficulty +of effecting the object. Sigismund and Maso were placed beneath the lamp, +where its light was strongest, and every eye turned eagerly to their +countenances, in order to discover, or to fancy it discovered, some of +those secret signs by which the mysterious affinities of nature are to be +traced. A more puzzling examination could not well have been essayed. +There was proof to give the victory to each of the pretenders, if such a +term may be used with propriety as it concerns the passive Sigismund, and +much to defeat the claims of the latter. In the olive-colored tint, the +dark, rich, rolling eye, and in stature, the advantage was altogether with +Maso, whose outline of countenance and penetrating expression had also a +resemblance to those of the Doge, so marked as to render it quite apparent +to any who wished to find it. The habits of the mariner had probably +diminished the likeness, but it was too obviously there to escape +detection. That hardened and rude appearance, the consequence of exposure, +which rendered it difficult to pronounce within ten years of his real age, +contributed a little to conceal what might be termed the latent character +of his countenance, but the features themselves were undeniably a rude +copy of the more polished lineaments of the Prince.</p> + +<p>The case was less clear as respects Sigismund. The advantage of ruddy and +vigorous youth rendered him such a resemblance of the Doge--in the points +where it existed--as we find between the aged and those portraits which +have been painted in their younger and happier days. The bold outline was +not unlike that of the noble features of the venerable Prince, but neither +the eye, the hair, nor the complexion, had the hues of Italy.</p> + +<p>"Thou seest," said Maso, tauntingly, when the disappointed clavier +admitted the differences in the latter particulars, "This is an +imposition that will not pass. I swear to you, as there is faith in man, +and hope for the dying Christian, that so far as any know their parentage, +I am the child of Gaetano Grimaldi, the present Doge of Genoa, and of no +other man! May the saints desert me!--the blessed Mother of God be deaf to +my prayers!--and all men hunt me with their curses, if I say aught in this +but holy truth!"</p> + +<p>The fearful energy with which Maso uttered this solemn appeal, and a +certain sincerity that marked his manner, and perhaps we might even say +his character, in spite of the dissolute recklessness of his principles, +served greatly to weaken the growing opinion in favor of his competitor.</p> + +<p>"And this noble youth?" asked the sorrowing Doge--"this generous and +elevated boy, whom I have already held next to my heart, with so much of a +father's joy--who and what is he?"</p> + +<p>"Eccellenza, I wish to say nothing against the Signor Sigismondo. He is a +gallant swimmer, and a staunch support in time of need. Be he Swiss, or +Genoese, either country may be proud of him, but self-love teaches us all +to take care of our own interests before those of another. It Would be far +pleasanter to dwell in the Palazzo Grimaldi, on our warm and sunny gulf, +honored and esteemed as the heir of a noble name, than to be cutting heads +in Berne; and honest Balthazar does but follow his instinct, in seeking +preferment for his son!"</p> + +<p>Each eye now turned on the headsman, who quailed not under the scrutiny, +but maintained the firm front of one conscious that he had done no wrong.</p> + +<p>"I have not said that Sigismund is the child of any," he answered in his +meek manner, but with a steadiness that won him credit with the listeners. +"I have only said that he belongs not to me. No father need wish a +worthier son, and heaven knows that I yield my own claims with a sorrow +that it would be grievous to bear, did I not hope a better fortune for him +than any which can come from a connexion with a race accursed. The +likeness which is seen in Maso, and which Sigismund is thought to want, +proves little, noble gentlemen and reverend monks; for all who have looked +closely into these matters know that resemblances are as often found +between the distant branches of the same family, as between those who are +more nearly united. Sigismund is not of us, and none can see any trace of +either my own or of Marguerite's family in his person or features."</p> + +<p>Balthazar paused that there might be an examination of this fact, and, in +truth, the most ingenious fancy could not have detected the least affinity +in looks, between either of those whom he had so long thought his parents +and the young soldier.</p> + +<p>"Let the Doge of Genoa question his memory, and look farther than himself. +Can he find no sleeping smile, no color of the hair, nor any other common +point of appearance, between the youth and some of those whom he once knew +and loved?"</p> + +<p>The anxious prince turned eagerly towards Sigismund, and a gleam of joy +lighted his face again, as he studied the young man's features.</p> + +<p>"By San Francesco! Melchior, the honest Balthazar is right. My grandmother +was a Venetian, and she had the fair hair of the boy--the eye too, is +hers--and--oh!" bending his head aside and veiling his eyes with his hand, +"I see the anxious gaze that was so constant in the sainted and injured +Angiolina, after my greater wealth and power had tempted her kinsmen to +force her to yield an unwilling hand!--Wretch! thou art not Bartolo; thy +tale is a wicked deception, invented to shield thee from the punishment +due to thy crime!"</p> + +<p>"Admitting that I am not Bartolo, eccellenza, does the Signer Sigismondo +claim to be he? Have you not assured yourself that a certain Bartolo +Contini, a man whose life is passed in open hostility to the laws, is your +child? Did you not employ your confidant and secretary to learn the facts? +Did he not hear from the dying lips of a holy priest, who knew all the +circumstances, that 'Bartolo Contini is the son of Gaetano Grimaldi'? Did +not the confederate of your implacable enemy, Cristofero Serrani, swear +the same to you? Have you not seen papers that were taken with your child +to confirm it all, and did you not send this signet as a gage that Bartolo +should not want your aid, in any strait that might occur in his wild +manner of living, when you learned that he resolutely preferred remaining +what he was, to becoming an image of sickly repentance and newly-assumed +nobility, in your gorgeous palace on the Strada Balbi?"</p> + +<p>The Doge again bowed his head in dismay, for all this he knew to be true +beyond a shadow of hope.</p> + +<p>"Here is some sad mistake," he said with bitter regret. "Thou hast +received the child of some other bereaved parent, Balthazar; but, though I +cannot hope to prove myself the natural father of Sigismund, he shall at +least find me one in affection and good offices. If his life be not due to +me, I owe him mine; the debt shall form a tie between us little short of +that to which nature herself could give birth."</p> + +<p>"Herr Doge," returned the earnest headsman, "let us not be too hasty. If +there are strong facts in favor of the claims of Maso, there are many +circumstances, also, in favor of those of Sigismund. To me, the history +of the last is probably more clear than it can be to any other. The time; +the country, the age of the child, the name, and the fearful revelations +of the criminal, are all strong proofs in Sigismund's behalf, Here are the +effects that were given me with the child; it is possible that they, too, +may throw weight into his scale."</p> + +<p>Balthazar had taken means to procure the package in question from among +the luggage of Sigismund, and he now proceeded to expose its contents, +while a breathless silence betrayed the interest with which the result was +expected. He first laid upon the pavement of the chapel a collection of +child's clothing. The articles were rich, and according to the fashions of +the times; but they contained no positive proofs that could go to +substantiate the origin of the wearer, except as they raised the +probability of his having come of an elevated rank in life. As the +different objects were placed upon the stones, Adelheid and Christine +kneeled beside them, each too intently absorbed with the progress of the +inquiry to bethink themselves of those forms which, in common, throw a +restraint upon the manners of their sex. The latter appeared to forget her +own sorrows, for a moment, in a new-born interest in her brother's +fortunes while the ears of the former drank in each syllable that fell +from the lips of the different speakers, with an avidity that her strong +sympathy with the youth could alone give.</p> + +<p>"Here is a case containing trinkets of value," added Balthazar. "The +condemned man said they were taken through ignorance, and he was +accustomed to suffer the child to amuse himself with them in the prison."</p> + +<p>"These were my first offerings to my wife, in return for the gift she had +made me of the precious babe," said the Doge, in such a smothered voice +as we are apt to use when examining objects that recall the presence of +the dead--"Blessed Angiolina! these jewels are so many tokens of thy pale +but happy countenance; thou felt a mother's joy at that sacred moment, and +could even smile on me!"</p> + +<p>"And here is a talisman in sapphire, with many Eastern characters; I was +told it had been an heirloom in the family of the child, and was put about +his neck at the birth, by the hands of his own father."</p> + +<p>"I ask no more--I ask no more! God be praised for this, the last and best +of all his mercies!" cried the Prince, clasping his hands with devotion. +"This jewel was worn by myself in infancy, and I placed it around the neck +of the babe with my own hands, as thou sayest--I ask no more."</p> + +<p>"And Bartolo Contini!" uttered Il Maledetto.</p> + +<p>"Maso!" exclaimed a voice, which until then had been mute in the chapel. +It was Adelheid who had spoken. Her hair had fallen in wild profusion over +her shoulders, as she still knelt over the articles on the pavement, and +her hands were clasped entreatingly, as if she deprecated the rude +interruptions which had so often dashed the cup from their lips, as they +were about to yield to the delight of believing Sigismund to be the child +of the Prince of Genoa.</p> + +<p>"Thou art another of a fond and weak sex, to swell the list of confiding +spirits that have been betrayed by the selfishness and falsehood of men," +answered the mocking mariner. "Go to, girl!--make thyself a nun; thy +Sigismund is an impostor."</p> + +<p>Adelheid, by a quick but decided interposition of her hand, prevented an +impetuous movement of the young soldier, who would have struck his +audacious rival to his feet. Without changing her kneeling attitude, she +then spoke, modestly but with a firmness which generous sentiments enable +women to assume even more readily than the stronger sex, when +extraordinary occasions call for the sacrifice of that reserve in which +her feebleness is ordinarily intrenched.</p> + +<p>"I know not, Maso, in what manner thou hast learned the tie which connects +me with Sigismund," she said; "but I have no longer any wish to conceal +it. Be he the son of Balthazar, or be he the son of a prince, he has +received my troth with the consent of my honored father, and our fortunes +will shortly be one. There might be forwardness in a maiden thus openly +avowing her preference for a youth; but here, with none to own him, +oppressed with his long-endured wrongs, and assailed in his most sacred +affections, Sigismund has a right to my voice. Let him belong to whom else +he may, I speak by my venerable father's authority, when I say he belongs +to us."</p> + +<p>"Melchior, is this true?" cried the Doge.</p> + +<p>"The girl's words are but an echo of what my heart feels," answered the +baron, looking about him proudly, as if he would browbeat any who should +presume to think that he had consented to corrupt the blood of Willading +by the measure.</p> + +<p>"I have watched thine eye, Maso, as one nearly interested in the truth," +continued Adelheid, "and I now appeal to thee, as thou lovest thine own +soul, to disburthen thyself! While thou may'st have told some truth, the +jealous affection of a woman has revealed to me that thou hast kept back +part. Speak, then, and relieve the soul of this venerable prince from +torture,"</p> + +<p>"And deliver my own body to the wheel! This may be well to the warm +imagination of a love-sick girl, but we of the contraband have too much +practice in men uselessly to throw away an advantage."</p> + +<p>"Thou mayest have confidence in our faith. I have seen much of thee +within the last few days, Maso, and I wish not to think thee capable of +the bloody deed that hath been committed on the mountain, though I fear +thy life is only too ungoverned; still I will not believe that the hero of +the Leman can be the assassin of St. Bernard."</p> + +<p>"When thy young dreams are over, fair one, and thou seest the world under +its true colors, thou wilt know that the hearts of men come partly of +Heaven and partly of Hell."</p> + +<p>Maso laughed in his most reckless manner as he delivered this opinion.</p> + +<p>"'Tis useless to deny that thou hast sympathies," continued the maiden +steadily; "thou hast in secret more pleasure in serving than in injuring +thy race. Thou canst not have been in such straits in company with the +Signor Sigismondo, without imbibing some touch of his noble generosity. +You have struggled together for our common good, you come of the same God, +have the same manly courage, are equally stout of heart, strong of hand, +and willing to do for others. Such a heart must have enough of noble and +human impulses to cause you to love justice. Speak, then, and I pledge our +sacred word, that thou shalt fare better for thy candor than by taking +refuge in thy present fraud. Bethink thee, Maso, that the happiness of +this aged man, of Sigismund himself, if thou wilt, for I blush not to say +it--of a weak and affectionate girl, is in thy keeping. Give us truth +holy; sacred truth, and we pardon the past."</p> + +<p>Il Maledetto was moved by the beautiful earnestness of the speaker. Her +ingenuous interest in the result, with the solemnity of her appeal shook +his purpose.</p> + +<p>"Thou know'st not what thou say'st, lady; thou ask'st my life," he +answered, after pondering in a way to give a new impulse to the dying +hopes of the Doge.</p> + +<p>"Though there is no quality more sacred than justice," interposed the +châtelain, who alone could speak with authority in the Valais; "it is +fairly within the province of her servants to permit her to go unexpiated, +in order that greater good may come of the sacrifice. If thou wilt prove +aught that is of grave importance to the interests of the Prince of Genoa, +Valais owes it to the love it bears his republic to requite the service."</p> + +<p>Maso listened, at first, with a cold ear. He felt the distrust of one who +had sufficient knowledge of the world to be acquainted with the thousand +expedients that were resorted to by men, in order to justify their daily +want of faith. He questioned the châtelain closely as to his meaning, nor +was it until a late hour, and after long and weary explanations on both +sides, that the parties came to an understanding.</p> + +<p>On the part of those who, on this occasion, were the representatives of +that high attribute of the Deity which among men is termed justice, it was +sufficiently apparent that they understood its exercise with certain +reservations that might be made at pleasure in favor of their own views; +and, on the part of Maso, there was no attempt to conceal the suspicions +he entertained to the last, that he might be a sufferer by lessening in +any degree the strength of the defences by which he was at present +shielded, as the son, real or fancied, of a person so powerful as the +Prince of Genoa.</p> + +<p>As usually happens when there is a mutual wish to avoid extremities, and +when conflicting interests are managed with equal address, the +negotiation terminated in a compromise. As the result will be shown in +the regular course of the narrative, the reader is referred to the closing +chapter for the explanation.</p> +</div> + + +<div class="chapter" id="ch31"> +<h2>Chapter XXXI.</h2> + + +<blockquote class="epi"><p> "Speak, oh, speak!<br /> + And take me from the rack."</p> + +<p> Young.</p></blockquote> + +<p> +It will be remembered that three days were passed in the convent in that +interval which occurred between the arrival of the travellers and those of +the châtelain and the bailiff. The determination of admitting the claims +of Sigismund, so frankly announced by Adelheid in the preceding chapter, +was taken during this time. Separated from the world, and amid that +magnificent solitude where the passions and the vulgar interests of life +sank into corresponding insignificance as the majesty of God became hourly +more visible, the baron had been gradually won upon to consent. Love for +his child, aided by the fine moral and personal qualities of the young man +himself, which here stood out in strong relief, like one of the stern +piles of those Alps that now appeared to his eyes so much superior, in +their eternal beds, to all the vine-clad hills and teeming valleys of the +lower world, had been the immediate and efficient agents in producing this +decision. It is not pretended that the Bernese made an easy conquest over +his prejudices, which was in truth no other than a conquest over himself, +he being, morally considered, little other than a collection of the narrow +opinions and exclusive doctrines which it was then the fashion to believe +necessary to high civilization. On the contrary, the struggle had been +severe; nor is it probable that the gentle blandishments of Adelheid, the +eloquent but silent appeals to his reason that were constantly made by +Sigismund in his deportment, or the arguments of his old comrade, the +Signor Grimaldi, who, with a philosophy that is more often made apparent +in our friendships than in our own practice, dilated copiously on the +wisdom of sacrificing a few worthless and antiquated opinions to the +happiness of an only child, would have prevailed, had the Baron been in a +situation less abstracted from the ordinary circumstances of his rank and +habits, than that in which he had been so accidentally thrown. The pious +clavier, too, who had obtained some claims to the confidence of the guests +of the convent by his services, and by the risks he had run in their +company, came to swell the number of Sigismund's friends. Of humble origin +himself, and attached to the young man not only by his general merits, but +by his conduct on the lake, he neglected no good occasion to work upon +Melchior's mind, after he himself had become acquainted with the nature of +the young man's hopes. As they paced the brown and naked rocks together, +in the vicinity of the convent, the Augustine discoursed on the perishable +nature of human hopes, and on the frailty of human opinions. He dwelt with +pious fervor on the usefulness of recalling the thoughts from the turmoil +of daily and contracted interests, to a wider view of the truths of +existence. Pointing to the wild scene around them, he likened the confused +masses of the mountains, their sterility, and their ruthless tempests, to +the world with its want of happy fruits, its disorders, and its violence. +Then directing the attention of his companion to the azure vault above +them, which, seen at that elevation and in that pure atmosphere, +resembled a benign canopy of the softest tints and colors, he made glowing +appeals to the eternal and holy tranquillity of the state of being to +which they were both fast hastening, and which had its type in the +mysterious and imposing calm of that tranquil and inimitable void. He drew +his moral in favor of a measured enjoyment of our advantages here, as well +as of rendering love and justice to all who merited our esteem, and to the +disadvantage of those iron prejudices which confine the best sentiments in +the fetters of opinions founded in the ordinances and provisions of the +violent and selfish.</p> + +<p>It was after one of these interesting dialogues that Melchior de +Willading, his heart softened and his soul touched with the hopes of +heaven, listened with a more indulgent ear to the firm declaration of +Adelheid, that unless she became the wife of Sigismund, her self-respect, +no less than her affections, must compel her to pass her life unmarried. +We shall not say that the maiden herself philosophized on premises as +sublime as those of the good monk, for with her the warm impulses of the +heart lay at the bottom of her resolution; but even she had the +respectable support of reason to sustain her cause. The baron had that +innate desire to perpetuate his own existence in that of his descendants, +which appears to be a property of nature. Alarmed at a declaration which +threatened annihilation to his line, while at the same time he was more +than usually under the influence of his better feelings, he promised that +if the charge of murder could be removed from Balthazar, he would no +longer oppose the union. We should be giving the reader an opinion a +little too favorable of the Herr von Willading, were we, to say that he +did not repent having made this promise soon after it was uttered. He was +in a state of mind that resembled the vanes of his own towers, which +changed their direction with every fresh current of air, but he was by +far, too honorable to think seriously of violating a faith that he had +once fairly plighted. He had moments of unpleasant misgivings as to the +wisdom and propriety of his promise, but they were of that species of +regret, which is known to attend an unavoidable evil. If he had any +expectations of being released from his pledge, they were bottomed on +certain vague impressions that Balthazar would be found guilty; though the +constant and earnest asseverations of Sigismund in favor of his father had +greatly succeeded in shaking his faith on this point. Adelheid had +stronger hopes than either; the fears of the young man himself preventing +him from fully participating in her confidence, while her father shared +her expectations on that tormenting principle, which causes us to dread +the worst. When, therefore, the jewelry of Jacques Colis was found in the +possession of Maso, and Balthazar was unanimously acquitted, not only from +this circumstance, which went so conclusively to criminate another, but +from the want of any other evidence against him than the fact of his being +found in the bone-house instead of the Refuge, an accident that might well +have happened to any other traveller in the storm, the baron resolutely +prepared himself to redeem his pledge. It is scarcely necessary to add how +much this honorable sentiment was strengthened by the unexpected +declaration of the headsman concerning the birth of Sigismund. +Notwithstanding the asseveration of Maso that the whole was an invention +conceived to fervor the son of Balthazar, it was supported by proofs so +substantial and palpable, to say nothing of the natural and veracious +manner in which the tale was related, as to create a strong probability +in the minds of the witnesses, that it might be true. Although it remained +to be discovered who were the real parents of Sigismund, few now believed +that he owed his existence to the headsman.</p> + +<p>A short summary of the facts may aid the reader in better understanding, +the circumstances on which so much dénouement depends.</p> + +<p>It has been revealed in the course of the narrative that the Signor +Grimaldi had wedded a lady younger than himself, whose affections were +already in the possession of one that, in moral qualities, was unworthy of +her love, but who in other respects was perhaps better suited to become +her husband, than the powerful noble to whom her family had given her +hand. The birth of their son was soon followed by the death of the mother, +and the abduction of the child. Years had passed, when the Signor Grimaldi +was first apprized of the existence of the latter. He had received this +important information at a moment when the authorities of Genoa were most +active in pursuing those who had long and desperately trifled with the +laws, and the avowed motive for the revelation was an appeal to his +natural affection in behalf of a son, who was likely to become the victim +of his practices. The recovery of a child under such circumstances was a +blow severer than his loss, and it will readily be supposed that the truth +of the pretension of Maso, who then went by the name of Bartolomeo +Contini, was admitted with the greatest caution. Reference had been made +by the friends of the smuggler to a dying monk, whose character was above +suspicion, and who corroborated, with his latest breath, the statement of +Maso, by affirming before God and the saints that he knew him, so far as +man could know a fact like this, to be the son of the Signer Grimaldi; +This grave testimony, given under circumstances of such solemnity, and +supported by the production of important papers that had been stolen with +the child, removed the suspicions of the Doge. He secretly interposed his +interest to save the criminal, though, after a fruitless attempt to effect +a reformation of his habits by means of confidential agents, he had never +consented to see him.</p> + +<p>Such then was the nature of the conflicting statements. While hope and the +pure delight of finding himself the father of a son like Sigismund, caused +the aged prince to cling to the claims of the young soldier with fond +pertinacity, his cooler and more deliberate judgment had already been +formed in favor of another. In the long private examination which +succeeded the scene in the chapel, Maso had gradually drawn more into +himself, becoming vague and mysterious, until he succeeded in exciting a +most painful state of doubt and expectation in all who witnessed his +deportment. Profiting by this advantage, he suddenly changed his tactics. +He promised revelations of importance, on the condition that he should +first be placed in security within the frontiers of Piedmont. The prudent +châtelain soon saw that the case was getting to be one in which Justice +was expected to be blind in the more politic signification of the term. +He, therefore, drew off his loquacious coadjutor, the bailiff, in a way to +leave the settlement of the affair to the feelings and wishes of the Doge. +The latter, by the aid of Melchior and Sigismund, soon effected an +understanding, in which the conditions of the mariner were admitted; when +the party separated for the night. Il Maledetto, on whom weighed the +entire load of Jacques Colis' murder, was again committed to his temporary +prison, while Balthazar, Pippo, and Conrad, were permitted to go at large, +as having successfully passed the ordeal of examination.</p> + +<p>Day dawned upon the Col long ere the shades of night had deserted the +valley of the Rhone. All in the convent were in motion before the +appearance of the sun, it being generally understood that the event which +had so much disturbed the order of its peaceful inmates' lives, was to be +brought finally to a close, and that their duties were about to return +into the customary channels. Orisons are constantly ascending to heaven +from the pass of St. Bernard, but, on the present occasion, the stir in +and about the chapel, the manner in which the good canons hurried to and +fro through the long corridors, and the general air of excitement, +proclaimed that the offices of the matins possessed more than the usual +interest of the regular daily devotion.</p> + +<p>The hour was still early when all on the pass assembled in the place of +worship. The body of Jacques Colis had been removed to a side chapel, +where, covered with a pall, it awaited the mass for the dead. Two large +church candles stood lighted on the steps of the great altar, and the +spectators, including Pierre and the muleteers, the servants of the +convent, and others of every rank and age, were drawn up in double files +in its front. Among the silent spectators appeared Balthazar and his wife, +Maso, in truth a prisoner, but with the air of a liberated man, the +pilgrim, and Pippo. The good prior was present in his robes, with all of +his community. During the moments of suspense which preceded the rites, he +discoursed civilly with the châtelain and the bailiff, both of whom +returned his courtesies with interest, and in the manner in which it +becomes the dignified and honored to respect appearances in the presence +of their inferiors. Still the demeanor of most was feverish and excited, +as if the occasion were one of compelled gaiety, into which unwelcome and +extraordinary circumstances of alloy had thrust themselves unbidden.</p> + +<p>On the opening of the door a little procession entered, headed by the +clavier. Melchior de Willading led his daughter, Sigismund came next, +followed by Marguerite and Christine, and the venerable Doge brought up +the rear. Simple as was this wedding train, it was imposing from the +dignity of the principal actors, and from the evidences of deep feeling +with which all in it advanced to the altar. Sigismund was firm and +self-possessed. Still his carriage was lofty and proud, as if he felt that +a cloud still hung over that portion of his history to which the world +attached so much importance, and he had fallen back on his character and +principles for support. Adelheid had lately been so much the subject of +strong emotions, that she presented herself before the priest with less +trepidation than was usual for a maiden; but the fixed regard, the +colorless cheek, and an air of profound reverence, announced the depth and +solemn character of the feelings with which she was prepared to take the +vows.</p> + +<p>The marriage rites were celebrated by the good clavier, who, not content +with persuading the baron to make this sacrifice of his prejudices, had +asked permission to finish the work he had so happily commenced, by +pronouncing the nuptial benediction. Melchior de Willading listened to the +short ceremony with silent self-approval. He felt disposed at that instant +to believe he had wisely sacrificed the interests of the world to the +right, a sentiment that was a little quickened by the uncertainty which +still hung over the origin of his new son, who might yet prove to be all +that he could hope, as well as by the momentary satisfaction he found in +manifesting his independence by bestowing the hand of his daughter upon +one whose merit was so much better ascertained than his birth. In this +manner do the best deceive themselves, yielding frequently to motives that +would not support investigation when they believe themselves the strongest +in the right. The good-natured clavier had observed the wavering and +uncertain character of the baron's decision, and he had been induced to +urge his particular request to be the officiating priest by a secret +apprehension that, descended again into the scenes of the world, the +relenting father might become, like most other parents of these nether +regions, more disposed to consult the temporal advancement than the true +happiness of his child.</p> + +<p>As one of the parties was a Protestant, no mass was said, an omission, +however, that in no degree impaired the legal character of the engagement. +Adelheid plighted her unvarying love and fidelity with maiden modesty, but +with the steadiness of a woman whose affections and principles were +superior to the little weaknesses which, on such occasions, are most apt +to unsettle those who have the least of either of these great distinctive +essentials of the sex. The vows to cherish and protect were uttered by +Sigismund in deep manly sincerity, for, at that moment, he felt as if a +life of devotion to her happiness would scarcely requite her +single-minded, feminine, and unvarying truth.</p> + +<p>"May God bless thee, dearest," murmured old Melchior, as, bending over his +kneeling child, he struggled to keep down a heart which appeared disposed +to mount into his throat, in spite of its master's inclinations; "bless +thee--bless thee, love, now and for ever. Providence has dealt sternly +with thy brothers and sisters, but in leaving thee it has still left me +rich in offspring. Here is our good friend, Gaetano, too--his fortune has +been still harder--but we will hope--we will hope. And thou, Sigismund, +now that Balthazar hath disowned thee, thou must accept such a father as +Heaven sends. All accidents of early life are forgotten, and Willading, +like my old heart, hath gotten a new owner and a new lord!"</p> + +<p>The young man exchanged embraces with the baron, whose character he knew +to be kind in the main, and for whom he felt the regard which was natural +to his present situation. He then turned, with a hesitating eye, to the +Signor Grimaldi. The Doge succeeded his friend in paying the compliments +of affection to the bride, and had just released Adelheid with a warm +paternal kiss.</p> + +<p>"I pray Maria and her holy Son in thy behalf!" said the venerable Prince +with dignity. "Thou enterest on new and serious duties, child, but the +spirit and purity of an angel, a meekness that does not depress, and a +character whose force rather relieves than injures the softness of thy +sex, can temper the ills of this fickle world, and thou may'st justly hope +to see a fair portion of that felicity which thy young imagination +pictures in such golden colors. And thou," he added, turning to meet the +embrace of Sigismund, "whoever thou art by the first disposition of +Providence, thou art now rightfully dear to me. The husband of Melchior de +Willading's daughter would ever have a claim upon his most ancient and +dearest friend, but we are united by a tie that has the interest of a +singular and solemn mystery. My reason tells me that I am punished for +much early and wanton pride and wilfulness, in being the parent of a child +that few men in any condition of life could wish to claim, while my heart +would fain flatter me with being the father of a son of whom an emperor +alight be proud! Thou art, and thou art not, of my blood. Without these +proofs of Maso's, and the testimony of the dying monk, I should proclaim +thee to be the latter without hesitation; but be thou what thou may'st by +birth, thou art entirely and without alloy of my love. Be tender of this +fragile flower that Providence hath put under thy protection, Sigismund; +cherish it as thou valuest thine own soul; the generous and confiding love +of a virtuous woman is always a support, frequently a triumphant stay, to +the tottering principles of man. Oh! had it pleased God earlier to have +given me Angiolina, how different might have been our lives! This dark +uncertainty would not now hang over the most precious of human affections, +and my closing hour would be blessed. Heaven and its saints preserve ye +both, my children, and preserve ye long in your present innocence and +affection!"</p> + +<p>The venerable Doge ceased. The effort which had enabled him to speak gave +way, and he turned aside that he might weep in the decent reserve that +became his station and years.</p> + +<p>Until now Marguerite had been silent, watching the countenances, and +drinking in with avidity the words, of the different speakers. It was now +her turn. Sigismund knelt at her feet, pressing her hands to his lips in a +manner to show that her high, though stern character, had left deep traces +in his recollection. Releasing herself from his convulsed grasp, for just +then the young man felt intensely the violence of severing those early +ties which, in his case, had perhaps something of wild romance from their +secret nature, she parted the curls on his ample brow, and stood gazing +long at his face, studying each lineament to its minutest shade.</p> + +<p>"No," she said mournfully shaking her head, "truly thou art not of us, and +God hath dealt mercifully in taking away the innocent little creature +whose place thou hast so long innocently usurped. Thou wert dear to me, +Sigismund--very dear--for I thought thee under the curse of my race; do +not hate me, if I say my heart is now in the grave of--"</p> + +<p>"Mother!" exclaimed the young man reproachfully.</p> + +<p>"Well I am still thy mother," answered Marguerite, smiling, though +painfully; "thou art a noble boy, and no change of fortune can ever alter +thy soul. 'Tis a cruel parting, Balthazar and I know not, after all, that +thou didst well to deceive me; for I have had as much grief as joy in the +youth--grief, bitter grief, that one like him should be condemned to live +under the curse of our race--but it is ended now--he is not of us--no, he +is no longer of us!"</p> + +<p>This was uttered so plaintively that Sigismund bent his face to his hands +and sobbed aloud. + +"Now that the happy and proud weep, 'tis time that the wretched dried +their tears," added the wife of Balthazar, looking about her with a sad +mixture of agony and pride struggling in her countenance: for, in spite of +her professions, it was plain that she yielded her claim on the noble +youth with deep yearnings and an intense agony of spirit. "We have one +consolation, at least, Christine--all that are not of our blood will not +despise us now! Am I right, Sigismund--thou too wilt not torn upon us with +the world, and hate those whom thou once loved?"</p> + +<p>"Mother, mother, for the sake of the Holy Virgin, do not harrow my soul!"</p> + +<p>"I will not distrust thee, dear; thou didst not drink at my breast, but +thou hast taken in too many lessons of the truth from my lips to despise +us--and yet thou art not of us; thou mayest possibly prove a Prince's +son, and the world so hardens the heart--and they who have been sorely +pressed upon become suspicious--"</p> + +<p>"For the love of God, cease, mother, or thou wilt break my heart!"</p> + +<p>"Come hither, Christine. Sigismund, this maiden goes with thy wife: we +have the greatest confidence in the truth and principles of her thou hast +wedded, for she has been tried and not found wanting. Be tender to the +child; she was once thy sister, and then thou used to love her."</p> + +<p>"Mother--thou wilt make me curse the hour I was born!"</p> + +<p>Marguerite, while she could not overcome the cold distrust which habit had +interwoven with all her opinions, felt that she was cruel, and she said no +more. Stooping, she kissed the cold forehead of the young man, gave a warm +embrace to her daughter, over whom she prayed fervently for a minute, and +then placed the insensible girl into the open arms of Adelheid. The awful +workings of nature were subdued by a superhuman will, and she turned +slowly towards the silent, respectful crowd, who had scarcely breathed +during this exhibition of her noble character.</p> + +<p>"Doth any here," she sternly asked, "suspect the innocence of Balthazar?"</p> + +<p>"None, good woman, none!" returned the bailiff, wiping his eyes; "go in +peace to thy home, o' Heaven's sake, and God be with thee!"</p> + +<p>"He stands acquitted before God and man!" added the more dignified +châtelain.</p> + +<p>Marguerite motioned for Balthazar to precede her, and she prepared to quit +the chapel. On the threshold she turned and cast a lingering look at +Sigismund and Christine. The two latter were weeping in each other's arms, +and the soul of Marguerite yearned to mingle her tears with those she +loved so well. But, stern in her resolutions, she stayed the torrent of +feeling which would have been so terrible in its violence had it broken +loose, and followed her husband, with a dry and glowing eye. They +descended the mountain with a vacuum in their hearts which taught even +this persecuted pair, that there are griefs in nature that surpass all the +artificial woes of life.</p> + +<p>The scene just related did not fail to disturb the spectators. Maso dashed +his hand across his eyes, and seemed touched with a stronger working of +sympathy than it accorded with his present policy to show, while both +Conrad and Pippo did credit to their humanity, by fairly shedding tears. +The latter, indeed, showed manifestations of a sensibility that is not +altogether incompatible with ordinary recklessness and looseness of +principle. He even begged leave to kiss the hand of the bride, wishing her +joy with fervor, as one who had gone through great danger in her company. +The whole party then separated with an exchange of cordial good feeling +which proves that, however much men may be disposed to jostle and +discompose their fellows in the great highway of life, nature has infused +into their composition some great redeeming qualities to make us regret +the abuses by which they have been so much perverted.</p> + +<p>On quitting the chapel, the whole of the travellers made their +dispositions to depart. The bailiff and the châtelain went down towards +the Rhone, as well satisfied with themselves as if they had discharged +their trust with fidelity by committing Maso to prison, and discoursing as +they rode along on the singular chances which had brought a son of the +Doge of Genoa before them, in a condition so questionable. The good +Augustines helped the travellers who were destined for the other descent +into their saddles, and acquitted themselves of the last act of +hospitality by following the footsteps of the mules, with wishes for their +safe arrival at Aoste.</p> + +<p>The path across the Col has been already described. It winds along the +margin of the little lake, passing the site of the ancient temple of +Jupiter at the distance of a few hundred yards from the convent. Sweeping +past the northern extremity of the little basin, where it crosses the +frontiers of Piedmont, it cuts the ragged wall of rock, and, after winding +<i>en corniche</i> for a short distance by the edge of a fearful ravine, it +plunges at once towards the plains of Italy.</p> + +<p>As there was a desire to have no unnecessary witnesses of Maso's promised +revelations, Conrad and Pippo had been advised to quit the mountain before +the rest of the party, and the muleteers were requested to keep a little +in the rear. At the point where the path leaves the lake, the whole +dismounted, Pierre going ahead with the beasts, with a view to make the +first precipitous pitch from the Col on foot. Maso now took the lead. When +he reached the spot where the convent is last in view, he stopped and +turned to gaze at the venerable and storm-beaten pile.</p> + +<p>"Thou hesitated," observed the Baron de Willading, who suspected an +intention to escape.</p> + +<p>"Signore; the look at even a stone is a melancholy office, when it is +known to be the last. I have often climbed to the Col, but I shall never +dare do it again; for, though the honorable and worthy châtelain, and the +most worthy bailiff, are willing to pay their homage to a Doge of Genoa in +his own person, they may be less tender of his honor when he is absent. +Addio, caro San Bernardo! Like me, thou art solitary and weather-beaten, +and like me, though rude of aspect, thou hast thy uses. We are both +beacons--thou to tell the traveller where to seek safety, and I to warn +him where danger is to be avoided."</p> + +<p>There is a dignity in manly suffering, that commands our sympathies. All +who heard this apostrophe to the abode of the Augustines were struck with +its simplicity and its moral. They followed the speaker in silence, +however, to the point where the path makes its first sudden descent. The +spot was favorable to the purpose of Il Maledetto. Though still on the +level of the lake, the convent, the Col, and all it contained, with the +exception of a short line of its stony path, were shut from their view, by +the barrier of intervening rock. The ravine lay beneath, ragged, +ferruginous, and riven into a hundred faces by the eternal action of the +seasons. All above, beneath, and around, was naked, and chaotic as the +elements of the globe before they received the order-giving touch of the +Creator. The imagination could scarce picture a scene of greater solitude +and desolation.</p> + +<p>"Signore," said Maso, respectfully raising his cap, and speaking with +calmness, "this confusion of nature resembles my own character. Here +everything is torn, sterile, and wild; but patience, charity, and generous +love, have been able to change even this rocky height into an abode for +those who live for the good of others. There is none so worthless that use +may not be made of him. We are types of the earth our mother; useless, and +savage, or repaying the labor, that we receive, as we are treated like +men, or hunted like beasts. If the great, and the powerful, and the +honored, would become the friends and monitors of the weak and ignorant, +instead of remaining so many watch-dogs to snarl at and bite all that they +fear may encroach on their privileges, raising the cry of the wolf each +time that they hear the wail of the timid and bleating lamb, the fairest +works of God would not be so often defaced. I have lived, and it is +probable that I shall die an outlaw; but the severest pangs I ever know +come from the the mockery which accuses my nature of abuses that are the +fruits of your own injustice. That stone," kicking a bit of rock from the +path into the ravine beneath, "is as much master of its direction after my +foot has set its mass in motion, as the poor untaught being who is thrown +upon the world, despised, unaided, suspected, and condemned even before he +has sinned, has the command of his own course. My mother was fain and +good. She wanted only the power to withstand the arts of one, who, honored +in the opinions of all around her, undermined her virtue. He was great, +noble, and powerful; while she hath little beside her beauty and her +weakness. Signori,--the odds against her were too much. I was the +punishment of her fault. I came into a world then, in which every man +despised me before I had done any act to deserve its scorn,"</p> + +<p>"Nay, this is pushing opinions to extremes!" interrupted the Signor +Grimaldi, who had scarce breathed, in his eagerness to catch the syllables +as they came from the other's tongue.</p> + +<p>"We began, Signori, as we have ended; distrustful, and struggling to see +which could do the other the most harm. A reverend and holy monk, who knew +my history, would have filled a soul with heaven that the wrongs of the +world had already driven to, the verge of hell. The experiment failed. +Homily and precept," Maso smiled bitterly as he continued, "are but +indifferent weapons to fight with against hourly wrongs; instead of +becoming a cardinal and the counsellor of the head of the church, I am the +man ye see. Signor Grimaldi, the monk who gave me his care was Father +Girolamo. He told the truth to thy secretary, for I am the son of poor +Annunziata Altieri, who was once thought worthy to attract thy passing +notice. The deception of calling myself another of thy children was +practised for my own security. The means were offered by an accidental +confederacy with one of the instruments of thy formidable enemy and +cousin, who furnished the papers that had been taken with the little +Gaetano. The truth of what I say shall be delivered to you at Genoa. As +for the Signor Sigismondo, it is time we ceased to be rivals. We are +brothers, with this difference in our fortunes, that he comes of wedlock, +and I of an unexpiated, and almost an unrepented, crime!"</p> + +<p>A common cry, in which regret, joy, and surprise were wildly mingled, +interrupted the speaker. Adelheid threw herself into her husband's arms, +and the pale and conscience-stricken Doge stood with extended arms, an +image of contrition, delight, and shame. His friends pressed around him +with consolation on their tongues, and the blandishments of affection in +their manner, for the regrets of the great rarely pass away unheeded, like +the moans of the low.</p> + +<p>"Let me have air!" exclaimed the prince; "give me air or I suffocate! +Where is the child of Annunziata?--I will at least atone to him for the +wrong done his mother!"</p> + +<p>It was too late. The victim of another's fault had cast himself over the +edge of the precipice with reckless hardihood, and he was already beyond +the reach of the voice, in his swift descent, by a shorter but dangerous +path, toward Aoste. Nettuno was at his heels. It was evident that he +endeavored to outstrip Pippo and Conrad, who were trudging ahead by the +more beaten road. In a few minutes he turned the brow of a beetling rock, +and was lost to view.</p> + +<p>This was the last that was known of Il Maledetto. At Genoa, the Doge +secretly received the confirmation of all that he had heard, and Sigismund +was legally placed in possession of his birth-right. The latter made many +generous but useless efforts to discover and to reclaim his brother. With +a delicacy that could hardly be expected, the outlaw had withdrawn from a +scene which he now felt to be unsuited to his habits, and he never +permitted the veil to be withdrawn from the place of his retreat.</p> + +<p>The only consolation that his relatives ever obtained, arose from an event +which brought Pippo under the condemnation of the law. Before his +execution, the buffoon confessed that Jacques Colis fell by the hands of +Conrad and himself, and that, ignorant of Maso's expedient on his own +account, they had made use of Nettuno to convey the plundered jewelry +undetected across the frontiers of Piedmont.</p> + + + +<p style="text-align: center;font-variant: small-caps">The End.</p> +</div> + +<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10938 ***</div> +</body> +</html> |