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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/34999-8.txt b/34999-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4844039 --- /dev/null +++ b/34999-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5498 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Count of Nideck, by Ralph Browning Fiske + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Count of Nideck + adapted from the French of Erckmann-Chartrian + +Author: Ralph Browning Fiske + +Illustrator: Victor A. Searles + +Release Date: January 18, 2011 [EBook #34999] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE COUNT OF NIDECK *** + + + + +Produced by Annie McGuire. This book was produced from +scanned images of public domain material from the Google +Print archive. + + + + + + + + + +[Illustration: Book Cover] + + + + +THE COUNT OF NIDECK + + + + +[Illustration: "AND THE COUNT WAS STANDING UPRIGHT ON THE +WINDOW-SILL."] + + + + +THE COUNT OF NIDECK + +ADAPTED FROM THE FRENCH +OF +ERCKMANN: CHARTRIAN + +BY +RALPH BROWNING FISKE + + +ILLUSTRATED +BY +VICTOR A. SEARLES + + +BOSTON +L. C. PAGE & COMPANY +INCORPORATED +1897 + + + + +_Copyright, 1897_ +BY L. C. PAGE AND COMPANY + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + CHAPTER PAGE + I. THE SUMMONS TO THE CASTLE 9 + II. I MEET THE COUNTESS 37 + III. MY FIRST NIGHT IN HUGH'S TOWER 69 + IV. KNAPWURST ACQUAINTS ME WITH THE GENEALOGY OF THE NIDECKS 93 + V. I BREAKFAST WITH ODILE 120 + VI. THE COUNT UNSHEATHES HIS CLAWS 135 + VII. MARIE LAGOUTTE RELATES HER EXPERIENCE 160 + VIII. SEBALT TRACKS THE PLAGUE 180 + IX. THE PLAGUE IN MY CHAMBER.--THE MIDNIGHT SCENE ON THE + ALTENBERG 200 + X. I LOSE MY WAY AND PASS THE NIGHT IN THE DWARF'S LODGE 219 + XI. I AM SUMMONED TO THE COUNTESS'S CHAMBER, AND MAKE A + CONFESSION 244 + XII. WE CHASE THE PLAGUE.--HER DEATH 269 + XIII. THE BARON'S STORY.--HE DISAPPEARS 305 + XIV. THE BOAR HUNT 324 + XV. THE BANQUET.--THE DWARF EXPLAINS THE MYSTERY OF THE + NIDECK HOUSE 351 + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. + + + PAGE + "AND THE COUNT WAS STANDING UPRIGHT ON THE WINDOW-SILL" Frontispiece + "POINTING TO A DARK OBJECT CROUCHING IN THE SNOW" 25 + IN THE PORTRAIT GALLERY 115 + "'STAY!' HE HOWLED, 'I HAVE NOT CURSED YOU YET'" 145 + "'YONDER YOU SEE THE PEAK OF THE ALTENBERG'" 153 + "THEN HE WOULD RESUME HIS FRIGHTFUL CRIES" 195 + "I RAISED MYSELF ON MY ELBOW AND STARED FEARFULLY IN + THE DIRECTION" 203 + "I STEPPED FORWARD, AND FOUND MYSELF IN THE PRESENCE OF ODILE" 248 + "ODILE DROPPED HER EYES" 315 + "I FELL UPON MY KNEE BEFORE THE BRUTE" 345 + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +THE SUMMONS TO THE CASTLE. + + +Towards Christmas time, in the year 1780, as I lay soundly sleeping in +my room at the Swan Tavern, in Tübingen, old Gideon Sperver burst +suddenly into my room, crying, "Gaston, my boy, I have come to take you +back with me to the Castle! You know Nideck, twenty miles from +here,--the estate of my master, the Count of Nideck!" + +My failure to respond was perhaps due to the fact that I had not seen my +worthy foster-father for twenty years, that in this time he had grown a +full beard, and that now, in my half-aroused condition, he appeared +before me thus, with a huge fur cap pulled down over his ears, and +holding an ill-smelling lantern just under my nose. + +"In the first place," I replied, "let's take up things in their proper +order. Who are you?" + +"Who am I?" repeated the good fellow, with such genuine surprise and +distress in his tones that I felt a somewhat embarrassing sense of +ingratitude. "What! Don't you remember your foster-father, Gideon +Sperver, the General's old ranger who saved your life as a child, in the +swamp of the Losser?" And his voice became so husky that he stopped and +cleared his throat. + +"Ah, my dear Gideon, I know you now, indeed! Give me your hand!" We +gripped each other's hands, and Sperver, passing his sleeve across his +eyes, continued, "You know Nideck?" + +"Of course, by reputation. What are you doing there?" + +"I am the Count's steward." + +"And how did you happen to come hither?" + +"The young Countess Odile sent me to fetch you." + +"Very good. When are we to start?" + +"At once. It is an urgent matter; the old Count is very ill, and his +daughter begged me to lose no time. The horses are waiting for us +below." + +"But, my dear Gideon, just look at the weather; it has been snowing for +three days!" + +"Pshaw! We are not starting on a boar hunt. Put on your fur coat, fasten +on your spurs, and we are off! Meanwhile, I will order a bite for you to +eat." + +He disappeared, and, as I never could refuse the chosen companion of my +childhood anything from my youngest days, I hurriedly dressed myself, +and lost no time in following him into the dining-room. + +"Ah, I knew you would not let me go back alone!" he cried delightedly. +"Swallow down this slice of ham and drink a stirrup-cup, for the horses +are growing impatient. I have strapped your valise to the saddle." + +"What is that for?" + +"You will be needed for some days at Nideck; that is indispensable. I +will explain everything to you on the way." + +We went down into the inn yard. At that moment two horsemen arrived. +They seemed exhausted, and their horses were white with lather. + +Sperver, who was a great lover of horses, exclaimed in surprise, "What +beautiful animals! They are Wallachians; fine and swift as deer. Come, +make haste and throw a blanket over them, my lad," he continued, +addressing the hostler, "or they may take cold!" + +The travellers, enveloped in white astrakhan greatcoats, passed close to +us just as were putting foot in the stirrup. I could only distinguish +the long brown moustache of one, and his dark eyes that were singularly +bright. They entered the inn. The groom released our bridles and wished +us a safe journey. We set off at a gallop. + +Sperver rode a pure Mecklenberg, and I was mounted on a spirited horse +of Ardennes; we fairly flew over the snow. In ten minutes we had left +the outskirts of Tübingen behind us. It was beginning to clear up. All +trace of our road had become obliterated by the considerable fall of +snow. Our only companions were the ravens of the Black Forest, spreading +their great hollow wings above the drifts, lighting for an instant here +and there, and crying in discordant notes, "Misery! Misery! Misery!" +Gideon, buried in his coat of wild-cat skin and fur cap, galloped on +ahead. Suddenly he turned in the saddle and called, "Hey, Gaston! This +is what they call a fine winter's morning." + +"So it is; but a bit severe." + +"I like the clear cold weather; it makes you tingle. If old Parson Toby +had the courage to start out in such weather, he would never feel his +rheumatism again." + +I smiled as well as my stiff cheeks would let me. After an hour of this +furious pace Sperver slowed down and let me catch up with him. "Gaston," +he said in a serious tone, "you ought to know the circumstances of the +master's illness." + +"I was just thinking of that." + +"The more so, as a great number of doctors have already visited the +Count." + +"Indeed." + +"Yes; they have come from Paris, Berlin, and even Switzerland, and have +made a most careful study of their patient and employed all their +skill, but to no purpose." + +As no answer seemed called for, I remained silent, waiting for him to +continue. + +"The Count's disease is a terrible affliction somewhat akin to madness. +It returns every year on the same day and at the same hour; his eyes +grow red as fire, he shudders from head to foot, and he mutters +incoherently." + +"The man has undoubtedly become unbalanced through trouble and +adversity." + +"No! Not so! He possesses power and wealth and untold +honors,--everything, in short, that other people most desire; but the +most singular part of it is that he fancies if his daughter would only +consent to marry, it would effect his cure; and she as strangely +refuses even to entertain the idea, maintaining that she has consecrated +her life to God. The Count cannot bear to think that the ancient race of +Nideck must perish with her." + +"How did his illness first declare itself?" + +"Suddenly, twelve years ago." + +As he spoke my companion seemed to be trying to recall something. "One +evening," he began, after a moment, "I was alone with the Count in the +armory of the Castle. It was about Christmas time. We had been hunting +wild boar all day in the gorges of the Rhethal, and had returned at +nightfall bringing with us two poor hounds ripped open the length of +their bellies. It was just such weather as this, cold and snowy. The +Count was striding up and down the room, his head upon his breast and +his hands clasped behind his back, like a man who is deep in thought. +From time to time he paused, and looked at the high windows that were +fast becoming veiled in snow, while I sat in the chimney-corner warming +myself, thinking of my dogs, and silently cursing all the wild boar of +the Black Forest. For fully two hours everybody in the Castle had been +asleep, and there was no sound to break the silence, save the noise of +the Count's heavy spurred boots on the flagstones. I distinctly recall +how a raven, doubtless borne along by a gust of wind, came flapping +against the panes with a discordant cry, and how the sheets of snow fell +from the windows. The casements on that side of the house were suddenly +changed from white to black." + +"Have these details any bearing on your master's illness?" + +"Let me finish. You shall see for yourself. At the raven's cry, the +Count suddenly halted; his eyes became fixed, his cheeks ashy pale, and +he bent his head forward like a hunter who hears the game approaching. I +went on warming myself, thinking meanwhile, 'Won't he go to bed soon?' +For, to tell the truth, I was dropping with fatigue. I can see it all, +Gaston; I am sitting there now! Scarcely had the raven uttered its harsh +croak above the abyss, when the old clock struck eleven. At the same +moment the Count turned on his heel; he listened; his lips moved; I saw +him totter like a drunken man. He stretched out his hands, his teeth +tightly clenched, and his eyeballs shining like fire. 'My lord,' I +cried, 'what is the matter?' But he burst into mad laughter, stumbled, +and fell upon the floor, face downwards. I called for help immediately; +the servants hurried to the room. Sebalt and I raised the Count and +moved him to the bed near the window; but just as I was about to cut my +master's cravat with my hunting-knife,--for I believed it was a stroke +of apoplexy,--the Countess Odile entered, and threw herself upon the +body of her father, uttering such piteous cries that I tremble yet when +I think of it. From that hour, Gaston, a pall has hung over the Castle, +and Heaven only knows when it will be lifted. Every year, at the same +day and hour, the Count is seized with these strange convulsions. The +attacks last from a week to a fortnight, during which he howls and cries +in a most terrifying manner. Then he slowly recovers. He is pale and +weak, and moves about steadying himself on the chairs of his chamber, +and turning fearfully to look, at the slightest sound, seemingly afraid +of his own shadow. The young Countess, the sweetest creature in the +world, never leaves him; but he cannot bear the sight of her at these +times. 'Go! Go!' he cries, stretching out his arms before him. 'Leave +me! Haven't I suffering enough as it is, without your hated presence?' +It is abominable to hear him, and I, who am always at his side in the +chase, and would readily risk my life to serve him,--I could throttle +him at these moments, when I witness his monstrous treatment of his own +daughter!" + +Sperver, whose swarthy face had assumed a gloomy look, set spurs to his +horse, and we continued at a gallop. I had become thoughtful. The cure +of such a malady seemed to me exceedingly doubtful, if not indeed +impossible. It was evidently some moral disease. In order successfully +to combat it, it would be necessary to trace it back to its origin, and +this origin was doubtless lost in the vagueness of the past. These +reflections tended to increase my apprehension. The old steward's story, +far from inspiring me with confidence, had depressed me,--a doubtful +state of affairs to insure success. + +It was about three o'clock when we descried the ancient Castle of +Nideck on the furthest horizon. In spite of the vast intervening +distance, we could distinguish the high turrets suspended like baskets +from the angles of the edifice. It was as yet but a mere outline, hardly +distinguishable from the blue sky; almost imperceptibly the red granite +peaks of the Vosges appeared. At that moment Sperver slowed up and +cried, "Gaston, we must get there before night shuts in. Forward!" + +But it was in vain that he plunged his spurs into his horse. The animal +remained motionless, with his fore legs planted firmly before him, his +mane bristling up with fear, and emitting two streams of bluish vapor +from his nostrils. + +[Illustration: "POINTING TO A DARK OBJECT CROUCHING IN THE SNOW."] + +"What does this mean?" cried Gideon, astonished. "Do you see anything, +Gaston? Can there--" He did not finish his sentence; pointing to a dark +object crouching in the snow at a distance of some fifty paces on the +hillside, he exclaimed, in a tone of such distress that I was a good +deal startled, "The Black Plague!" Following with my glance the +direction of his extended arm, I was astonished to perceive an aged +woman, her legs bent up between her clasped arms, and so ragged that her +red elbows protruded from the sleeves of her dress, seated in the snow. +A few locks of gray hair fell in disorder about her thin, red, +vulture-like neck. Singularly enough, a bundle of some sort rested on +her knees, and her haggard eyes wandered over the snowy plain. Sperver +had gone far to the right and kept as far as possible out of the old +creature's way. I had some trouble in overtaking him. + +"What the deuce is the meaning of all this? Are you joking?" I cried. + +"Joking! God forbid that I should jest about such matters. I am not +superstitious, but this meeting with the old witch frightens me." Then, +turning his head and seeing that the old creature had not stirred, and +that her eyes were still fixed on the plain before her, he seemed +somewhat reassured. + +"Gaston," he said solemnly, "you are a man of learning, and are +acquainted with many subjects of which I know nothing, but believe me, a +man is wrong to laugh at things he cannot understand. It is not without +reason that I call this woman the Black Plague. Throughout the Black +Forest she is known by that name, but here at Nideck she has won a +special right to it." + +My companion rode on for a few minutes without speaking. "Come, Sperver, +explain yourself more clearly! I confess I don't understand you in the +least." + +"The hag that you saw down there is the cause of all our misfortunes. It +is she who is slowly killing the Count." + +"How is that possible? How can she exercise such an influence?" + +"I cannot tell you. But one thing is certain: on the first day of the +Count's attack, at the very moment even, you have only to climb up to +the signal-tower and you will see the Black Plague crouching like a dark +speck in the long stretch of snow between the Tübingen Forest and the +Castle of Nideck. Every day she comes a little nearer, and at her +approach, the Count's attacks grow worse; sometimes when the trembling +fits come upon him, he says to me, 'Gideon, she is coming.' I hold his +arms and try to quiet him, but he keeps muttering with staring eyes, +'She is coming! Oh, oh! She is coming!' Then I climb the tower and +survey the landscape. You know I have a keen eye, Gideon. At last, amid +the distant mists, between sky and earth, I distinguish a black speck. +The next morning the speck has grown larger; the Count starts up in his +bed with chattering teeth. On the second day we can see the old creature +distinctly, almost within rifle-shot on the plain; and then it is that +the Count's jaws become set like a vice, his eyes roll in his head, and +he utters terrible cries. Ah, the cursed witch! A score of times I have +brought my carbine to bear on her, but the poor Count has prevented me +from drawing the trigger, crying, 'No, Sperver; shed no blood!' Poor +man! He is sparing the creature who is killing him by inches; he is +nothing but skin and bones." + +My good friend Gideon was too much taken up with the vision of the hag +to be brought back to calm reason. Moreover, who can define the exact +limits of the possible? Do we not each day see the realm of reality +extend itself more widely? These hidden influences, these unseen bonds, +this world of magnetism that some proclaim with all the ardor of the +fanatic, and others deny with scorn and ridicule,--who can say that all +these forces will not some day revolutionize our universe? It is easy to +arrogate to yourself a claim to superior knowledge in the face of such +general ignorance. I confined myself, therefore, to begging Sperver to +moderate his anger, and beyond all things not to fire upon the Black +Plague, warning him that it would very probably bring grave misfortune +upon himself. + +"Bah! I will risk all that!" he exclaimed; "the worst they could do +would be to hang me." + +"But that would be a good deal for an honest man to suffer." + +"As well die one way as another. In this case, you are suffocated, +that's all. I would as lief die that way as to receive a blow on my +head, or a stroke of apoplexy, or give up smoking, drinking, and a good +digestion." + +"My dear Gideon, that sounds odd, coming from a graybeard." + +"Graybeard or not, that is the way I look at it. I always keep a bullet +in my rifle at the service of the witch; from time to time, I renew the +priming, and if ever the occasion offers--" He finished his sentence by +an expressive gesture. + +"You are wrong, Sperver! I am of the same opinion as the Count: 'no +bloodshed.' Reconsider, and discharge your piece against the first wild +boar you happen upon." + +These words seemed to have some effect upon the old huntsman; he dropped +his chin on his breast, and his face assumed a thoughtful expression. + +By this time, we were climbing the wooded slopes which separate the +squalid hamlet of Tiefenbach from the Castle of Nideck. Night had +overtaken us, and as it often happens after a clear, cold day in winter, +the snow was beginning to fall again, and large flakes fell and melted +on our horses' manes. The animals whinnied and increased their pace, +cheered doubtless by the prospect of a warm shelter. Every now and then, +Sperver turned and looked behind him with evident anxiety, and I was not +free from a certain indefinable apprehension as I reflected upon the +strange account of his master's malady which the steward had given me. +Besides, man's spirit harmonizes itself with its surroundings, and, for +my part, I know of nothing more melancholy than a forest covered with +snow and hoar frost, and stirred by a moaning wind; the trees have a +sombre, icy look that chills you to the heart. + +As we climbed the slope, the oak-trees became fewer, and the birches, +straight and white as marble columns, stretched one beyond another, far +out to the horizon line intersecting the dark arches of the larch-trees. +Suddenly, as we emerged from a thicket, the ancient fortress reared up +before us, its dark extent sprinkled with points of light. Sperver had +pulled up before a funnel-shaped gateway, cut deep in the rock between +two towers, and barred by an iron grating. + +"Here we are!" he cried, leaning over the horse's head and seizing the +deer's-foot bell-handle. The clear tinkle of a bell sounded in the +interior. + +After a few minutes of waiting, a lantern appeared at the end of the +archway, dispersing the gloom, and showing us within its circle of light +a little dwarf with a yellow beard and broad shoulders, enveloped in +furs from head to foot. He came slowly towards us and pressed his great +flat face against the grating, straining his eyes to make us out in the +darkness. + +"Is that you, Sperver?" he asked in a harsh voice. + +"Yes. Open the door, Knapwurst!" cried the huntsman. "Don't you know how +devilish cold it is?" + +"Ah, I know you now," replied the little fellow; "it is you indeed! You +always speak as though you would swallow people whole." + +The door opened, and the gnome, raising his lantern towards me with an +odd grimace, greeted me with, "Welcome, Monsieur Doctor," but in a tone +as much as to say, "Here is another one who will go the way of the +rest." Then he quietly closed the door, while we dismounted, and this +done, he came to take our horses by the bridle. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +I MEET THE COUNTESS. + + +Following Sperver, who climbed the staircase at a rapid pace, I was able +to convince myself that the Castle of Nideck merited its reputation. It +was a true stronghold, cut out of the rock; a relic of feudal times. Its +high, deep archways reëchoed the sound of our steps, and the wind +blowing through the loopholes caused the flame of the torches which were +fastened at intervals along the wall to flare and flicker and send our +giant shadows dancing along the corridor. Sperver knew every nook and +cranny of this vast place; he turned many times to right and left, and +I followed him, out of breath. At last he stopped on a large landing, +and said to me: + +"I will leave you with the people of the Castle for a moment, Gaston, +while I go to inform the young Countess Odile of your arrival." + +"Very good; do whatever you think suitable." + +"You will find among the domestics, our majordomo, Tobias Offenloch, an +old soldier of the regiment of Nideck. In former days he made a campaign +in Germany under the Count." + +"A good fellow, no doubt." + +"You will also see his wife, a Frenchwoman, named Marie Lagoutte, who +pretends to come of good family." + +"And why not?" + +"To be sure; only, between ourselves, she was nothing but a +canteen-woman of Soubise's army. One day she brought us in Tobias +Offenloch on her cart, minus one leg, and the poor fellow married her +out of gratitude; you understand." + +"Precisely; but open the door,--I am freezing!" I tried to push past +him, but Sperver, obstinate, like all good Germans, was bound to +enlighten me as to the people into whose presence I was about to enter, +and seizing me by the frogs of my greatcoat, he continued: + +"Then there is Sebalt Kraft, the master of the hounds, a sad sort of +chap, but without an equal in sounding the horn; Karl Trumpf, the +butler; Christian Becker, and all our people, if they haven't all gone +to bed." + +Thereupon Sperver pushed open the door, and I stood surprised on the +threshold of a high, dark hall, the former guardroom of Nideck. I took +in at a glance the three windows at the further end of the room, that +dominated the precipice; on the right a sort of sideboard of old oak, +browned by age, and on it a small cask, glasses, and bottles; on the +left a Gothic chimney with a broad mantel-shelf empurpled by the blazing +fire underneath, and ornamented in front and on the sides by carvings +representing the various scenes of a boar hunt in the Middle Ages; and +finally, in the centre of the room, a long table upon which stood a huge +lamp, its light reflected by a dozen mugs with pewter lids. + +All this I saw at a glance, but it was the people that interested me +most. I recognized at once the majordomo with his wooden leg; a small, +square, thick-set man, with a ruddy face, and prominent waistband, and a +nose of marvellous brilliancy. He wore an enormous hemp-colored wig, +with a long pigtail, a coat of apple-green plush with steel buttons as +large as a five-franc piece, velvet breeches, blue silk stockings, and +shoes with silver buckles. He was about to turn the spigot of the cask; +an air of inexpressible satisfaction beamed upon his rubicund face, and +his eyes, starting slightly from his head, glowed in profile like a pair +of watch glasses. His wife, the worthy Marie Lagoutte, dressed in a gown +of woolen stuff with a large flowered pattern, and her thin face the +color of a withered apple, was playing cards with two servants, all +three seated in straight-backed armchairs. Some small split pegs pinched +the olfactory organ of the old woman and that of another player, while +the third was winking slyly and seemed to enjoy seeing his opponents +subjugated beneath this new variety of Caudine Forks. + +"How many cards?" he was asking them. + +"Two," replied the old woman. + +"And you, Christian?" + +"Two." + +"Ah, ha! I've got you! Cut the king; now the ace. Ha, ha, ha! Another +peg, mother; this will teach you once more to boast to us of your French +games!" + +"Master Christian, you don't treat the fair sex with due respect." + +"When we play cards, we respect nobody." + +"But you see, I have no room for any more." + +"Pshaw! with a nose like yours, there's always room enough." + +At this moment Sperver cried, "Here I am, comrades!" + +"Ha, Gideon! back so soon?" + +Marie Lagoutte made haste to shake off her numerous pegs with a motion +of her head; the big majordomo emptied his glass, and everybody turned +to look at us. + +"Is the Count better?" + +"Hum!" exclaimed the majordomo, drawing down his under-lip. + +"Is his condition unchanged?" + +"Just about," answered Marie Lagoutte, who never took her eyes off me. +Sperver noticed this. + +"Let me present to you my foster-son, Monsieur de la Roche, from +Tübingen," he said proudly. "Things will change now in the Castle, +Master Tobie; now that Gaston has come, this cursed malady will be put +to flight. If we could only have found him out sooner! However, better +late than never." + +Marie Lagoutte was still watching me, and the examination seemed to +satisfy her, for, turning to the majordomo, "Come, come, Monsieur +Offenloch! Stir yourself," she said; "offer monsieur the doctor a chair! +You sit there with your mouth open like a great carp!" + +With these words, the good woman sprang up as though moved by a spring, +and came to help me off with my greatcoat. + +"Permit me, monsieur." + +"You are very good, my dear woman." + +"Hand it to me, monsieur. Such weather! Ah, monsieur, what a country +this is!" + +"So our master is neither better nor worse," continued Sperver, shaking +the snow from his cap. "We are here in time. Ho! Kasper! Kasper!" + +A little man with a drooping shoulder, indicating a partial paralysis of +his frame, and a face liberally sprinkled with freckles, came out of the +chimney-corner. + +"Here I am." + +"Good! You must prepare for the doctor the chamber at the end of the +long gallery,--Hugh's chamber. You know which one." + +"Yes, Sperver. I will see to it at once." + +"One moment! You will take the doctor's valise with you as you go. +Knapwurst will give it to you. As to supper--" + +"Never fear; I will take care of all that." + +"Very good." + +The little man went out, and Gideon, after throwing off his cape, left +us to go and inform the young Countess of my arrival. I was somewhat +embarrassed by the attentions of Marie Lagoutte. + +"Come, up with you, Sebalt!" she said to the master of the hounds; "you +ought to be sufficiently roasted by this time, sprawling there since +morning. Sit down by the fire, Monsieur Doctor; your feet must be cold. +Stretch out your legs; that's the way." Then, after a minute: "You have +come just in time; our master had his second attack yesterday, and it +was a terrible one; hey, Master Offenloch?" + +"Terrible is just the word," replied the majordomo gravely. + +"Nor is it to be wondered at, when a man takes no nourishment; and he +eats nothing, monsieur. Fancy, it is two days since he has taken so much +as a bowl of broth." + +"Or a glass of wine," added Tobie, crossing his fat hands on his +comfortable waistband. + +I felt it incumbent upon me to express some surprise, so I shook my +head; whereupon the majordomo came over and sat down on my right, +saying, "Take my advice, doctor, and prescribe a bottle of Marcobrunner +every day." + +"And a chicken wing at each meal," added Marie Lagoutte; "the poor man +is as thin as a ghost." + +"We have some Marcobrunner sixty years old, and Johannisberg of the year +'14; for Villars's fellows didn't drink it all, as Madame Offenloch +would have it. You might prescribe now and then a glass of Johannisberg; +there is nothing like it to set a man on his feet." + +"There was a time," said the master of the hounds in a melancholy tone, +"there was a time when our master went on the hunt twice a week, and he +was well; now that he has stopped, he is ill." + +"That is reasonable enough," observed Marie Lagoutte; "the fresh air +gave him an appetite. The doctor should order him three hunts a week to +make up for lost time." + +"Two would do," replied the master of the hounds dismally; "two would +do. The dogs must have some time to rest. They must be considered as +well as we." + +A few moments of silence succeeded, during which I could hear the wind +rattling the windows and whistling boisterously through the loopholes +and along the empty halls. Sebalt had crossed his legs, and with his +elbow on his knee supporting his chin, he gazed into the fire with +unspeakable gloominess. Marie Lagoutte refreshed herself with a pinch of +snuff, and I was reflecting on that strange infirmity that leads us to +press our advice on others, whether they desire it or not, when the +majordomo rose, and leaning over the back of my chair, said: + +"Will you have a glass of wine, doctor?" + +"Thank you, but I never drink before visiting a patient." + +"What, not even one small glass?" + +"Not even a tiny glass." + +He opened his eyes very wide, and looked with astonishment at his wife. + +"Monsieur the doctor is right," she said; "I am of his opinion; I prefer +to drink with my meals and take a glass of cognac afterwards. In my +country, the women drink cognac; it is more genteel than kirschwasser." + +Marie Lagoutte had hardly finished this explanation, when Sperver opened +the door part way, and motioned me to follow him. I nodded a farewell to +the worthy company, and as I stepped into the passage, I heard Tobie's +wife saying to him, "He is a nice-looking young man. He would have made +a fine soldier!" Sperver looked uneasy; he said nothing. I too was +thoughtful. + +A few steps beneath the shadowy arches of the Castle served completely +to efface from my mind the grotesque figures of Tobie and Marie +Lagoutte,--poor, inoffensive creatures, living like bats under the +vulture's powerful wing. Soon Gideon threw open the door of a sumptuous +apartment, hung with violet-colored velvet worked in gold. A bronze +lamp, resting on a corner of the mantelpiece, and covered with a globe +of ground crystal, vaguely lighted up the room. Thick rugs deadened the +sound of our footsteps. It seemed like a refuge consecrated to silence +and meditation. + +On entering, Sperver lifted the heavy draperies that concealed a turret +window. I saw him gaze earnestly into the plain beneath, and I divined +his thoughts; he was looking to see if the witch were still there, +crouching in the snow,--but he could see nothing, for the night was +dark. As I moved forward into the room, I made out, by the pale rays of +the lamp, a young woman of girlish figure seated in an armchair, her +forehead resting in her hand, and her whole attitude one of patient but +despairing sorrow. Her back was slightly turned towards us, and for this +reason I could not at first see her face. + +But at the rustle of our entrance she rose quickly, and exhibited to my +gaze the most beautiful presence I had ever beheld. The tall, stately +figure, the ideal formation of the features, the glory of golden hair +that fell about the fair, white neck, the deep, lustrous eyes that +bespoke a soul as pure and beautiful as the scenes among which it +flourished,--everything about the young mistress of the Castle +proclaimed her to be of that noble type which we meet with but once, if +at all, in a lifetime. Just what my feelings were at sight of this +beautiful young woman I know not, but certain it is that they were of a +nature hitherto unknown to me, and I felt a strange sense of harmony and +contentment within me as my glance continued to rest upon her. + +After a moment the Countess advanced, and said simply, "You are welcome, +monsieur;" then, motioning towards the alcove where the Count lay, she +added, "There is my father." + +I bowed low, and without reply,--such was my agitation,--I approached +the couch of the sick man. Sperver, standing at the head of the bed, +held the lamp in his raised hand, and the light, softened by the crystal +globe, fell palely upon the face of the Count. Odile remained near me, +waiting anxiously for my first word. + +At the first glance I was struck with the strange physiognomy of the +Lord of Nideck, and in contrast to the admiration that his daughter had +inspired within me, my first thought was, "He is an old wolf!" And in +truth, his head bristling with gray hair and swelling behind the ears; +his long, pointed face and receding forehead; his narrow eyes and shaggy +eyebrows that met in a point over the bridge of his nose, imperfectly +shading the dull, cold eye beneath; his short, stiff beard, spreading +unevenly over his bony jaws,--in short, everything about the man made me +shudder, and brought involuntarily to my mind the oft-alleged affinities +between man and the brute creation. + +I mastered my repugnance, and raised the arm of the sick man. It was +wasted and tremulous, the hand small and wiry. The pulse was rapid, +fluttering and feverish, indicating intense nervous excitement. What was +I to do? I considered. On one side stood the young Countess, anxiously +awaiting an expression of my opinion; on the other, Sperver, trying to +read my thoughts and following attentively my slightest movement. A +painful restraint was thus imposed upon me. + +However, I saw that no decided step could be undertaken as yet. I +dropped the arm, and listened to the breathing. From time to time, +something like a sob escaped the sick man's breast; then the respiration +became normal again; then faster, and finally, labored. Some sort of +nightmare oppressed him. But the cause!--this I must determine first, +and I must confess it seemed hopeless enough. I turned round, sorely +perplexed. + +"Is there any hope, monsieur?" asked the young woman. + +"Yesterday's crisis is drawing to a close, mademoiselle. We must seek to +ward off the next attack." + +"Is that a possible thing?" + +I was about to reply in some scientific generalities, not daring to +commit myself, when the distant sound of the Castle bell fell upon our +ears. + +"Strangers," said Sperver. + +There was a moment of silence. + +"Go and see who it is," said Odile, whose brow was shadowed with +anxiety. "How can we be hospitable at such times? It is impossible." + +Just then the door opened, and a yellow head and rosy cheeks appeared in +the shadow, whispering, "The Baron Zimmer, accompanied by his servant, +asks for shelter in the Castle. He has lost his way in the mountains." + +"Very well, Gretchen," replied the Countess quietly; "go and tell +Offenloch to attend to the wants of the strangers. Tell him to inform +the Baron Zimmer that the Count is very ill, and that this alone +prevents him from doing the honors of the house in person. Wake up our +people, and see that he is properly waited on and that everything is +suitably done." + +It would be difficult to describe the well-born simplicity with which +the young mistress of the Castle gave her orders, and I reflected that +if an air of nobility seems inherent in some families, it is certainly +because the discharge of hospitable and charitable duties tends to +elevate the character and ennoble the soul. + +All this passed through my mind while I was admiring the gentle glance, +the distinguished carriage, and the exquisitely cut features of Odile of +Nideck,--that purity of outline only to be met with in the realms of +aristocracy,--and I tried in vain to recall anything comparable to her +in my recollection. + +"Make haste, Gretchen! Don't keep the travellers waiting," said the +young Countess. + +"Yes, madame." + +The servant departed, and I stood for a few moments unable to dispel the +charm of my meditations. Odile turned and addressed me. + +"You see, monsieur," she said with a sad smile, "we are not allowed to +indulge our grief; we must ever divide ourselves between our feelings +and the claims that others have upon us." + +"That is too true, mademoiselle," I replied; "souls of the higher sort +seem purposed to serve as a guide and promise to us weaker ones: the +traveller who has lost his path, the sick man, and the starving +pauper,--each has a claim upon them, for God has created them like the +stars above us, for the happiness of all." + +Odile lowered her deep-fringed eyelids, while Sperver pressed my hand. + +After a moment, the Countess continued: + +"Ah, monsieur, if you could only save my father!" + +"As I have had the pleasure of telling you before, mademoiselle, +yesterday's crisis is past; we must now endeavor to prevent its +recurrence." + +"Do you believe that this can be done?" + +"With God's help, mademoiselle, it is not impossible. I must give the +matter the most careful thought." + +Odile, much agitated, moved with me to the door, and as I bowed myself +out of the chamber, I fancied that I detected in her lovely face an +expression of increased hope. Sperver and I crossed the antechamber, +where a few servants were standing awaiting the orders of their +mistress. We had just entered the corridor, when Gideon, who led the +way, turned abruptly round, and resting his hands on my shoulders, said: + +"Gaston, I am a man to be trusted; what is your opinion of the case?" + +"There is nothing to be feared to-night." + +"I know that; you said as much to the Countess. But to-morrow?" + +"To-morrow?" + +"Yes. Don't turn your head. I suppose you can't prevent a recurrence of +the attack, but, frankly, do you think he will die of it?" + +"He may, but I don't anticipate it." + +"Ah," cried the good fellow joyfully; "that means you are sure he +won't!" + +Thrusting his arm through mine, he pulled me into the gallery. We had +hardly set foot in it when the Baron Zimmer and his groom appeared, +preceded by Sebalt, who carried a flaming torch in his hand. They were +on their way to their chambers, and these two figures, with their cloaks +flung over their shoulders, their knee-boots of soft Hungarian leather, +their waists tightly buttoned in, their long green tunics ornamented +with frogs and twisted fringes of silk and gold, their bearskin caps +drawn down over their ears, and their long hunting-knives stuck in their +belts, looked strangely picturesque in the white light of the dripping +pine torch. + +"By Jove!" exclaimed Sperver, "if I am not greatly mistaken, those are +our Tübingen friends. They were close at our heels, you see." + +"You are right; they are the same people! I remember the younger one by +his slim figure; he has the profile of an eagle, and wears his mustache +like the astrologer-general Wallenstein." + +They disappeared beneath a side triforium. + +Gideon took a torch from the wall, and guided me through a labyrinth of +corridors, passageways, and high, low, turret-shaped, and winding +entries. I thought he would never have done. + +"Here is the hall of the Margraves," he said; "and this is the portrait +gallery. There is the chapel, where no mass has been said since Louis +the Bald became a Protestant. Next comes the armory." + +These facts possessed but little interest for me. After having reached +the end of the gallery, we had to descend a staircase that seemed +interminable; at last, thank Heaven! we halted before a low, massive +door. Sperver drew an enormous key from his pocket, and handing me the +torch, said, "Mind the light; be careful!" + +At the same time, he pushed open the door, and the cold outside air +rushed into the passageway. The flame leaped back and sent a shower of +sparks in all directions. I fancied myself standing on the edge of an +abyss, and I recoiled instinctively. + +"Ha, Ha!" laughed the steward, his mouth parted in a broad grin, "any +one would think you were afraid, Gaston. Come on! We are now in the +little court that leads from the Castle to the old tower." + +The good fellow moved on by way of example. The snow lay deep in this +courtyard, and the wind swept it with terrific gusts. Had any one seen +our flaring torch upon the plain, he would have asked himself, "What are +they doing up there in the clouds? Why are they prowling about at this +time of night?" + +"Perhaps the old witch is looking up at us," I thought, and the idea +made me shudder. I drew closer the folds of my cloak, and holding my hat +on with the other hand, I ran after Sperver, who held his light above +his head to show me the path, and moved along with rapid strides. + +We rushed into the tower, and then into Hugh's Chamber, where a bright +fire greeted us with cheerful cracklings. How grateful it was to be +sheltered by the thick walls! I had stopped while Sperver closed the +door, and contemplating this ancient abode, I cried, "Thank God, we +shall have a moment to rest now!" + +"And before an excellent table," added Gideon. "Just look at that,--the +leg of a kid, two roasted pheasants, a blue-backed pike, his mouth +stuffed with parsley; cold meats and hot wines is what I like. I have no +fault to find with Kasper; he has carried out my orders to the letter!" + +Gideon spoke truly,--"cold meats and hot wines;" for before the fire +stood a generous array of bottles, being submitted to the gentle +influence of the heat. The sight of this repast served to whet my +already considerable appetite; but Sperver, who understood the art of +being comfortable, said to me: + +"Don't be in too great a hurry, Gaston! Let's take things easily! We +have time enough; the pheasants won't fly away, and as for the pike, +I'll warrant he cares no more about swimming. In the first place, having +been eight hours in the saddle, your boots must hurt you, so off with +them. Sit down there and put your boot between my knees. I've got that +one; let's have the other. There you are. Now put your feet in these +slippers, take off your cloak, and throw this dressing-gown over you. +Now you'll do!" + +Having gone through a similar course of preparation, he cried in a +hearty tone: + +"Now, Gaston, fall to! You do your share and I'll do mine, and remember +well the German proverb: 'If Beelzebub created thirst, surely the Lord +made wine to quench it.'" + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +MY FIRST NIGHT IN HUGH'S TOWER. + + +We ate with the ravenous appetite which a ten hours' ride through the +snows of the Black Forest would be likely to impart. Sperver attacked, +in turn, the kid, the pheasants, and the pike, murmuring, with his mouth +full, "Thank God for the woods, the heather, and the ponds." Then, +leaning over the back of his chair and seizing the first bottle that +came under his hand, he added, "And for the hillsides, green in spring +and purple in autumn. Your health, Gaston!" + +"Yours, Gideon!" + +The fire crackled, the forks jingled, the bottles gurgled, and the +glasses clinked, while outside the wind of the winter night, the blast +from the snow-bound mountains, sang its unearthly hymn,--the hymn that +it sings when storm-driven, fantastic cloud-shapes rush across the sky +and obscure from moment to moment the pale face of the moon. + +We continued our grateful meal. Sperver filled the "wieder komm" with +old Brumberg wine, whose sparkling froth bordered its generous edges, +and, handing it to me, he cried, "Here's to the recovery of Hermann of +Nideck, my noble master! Drink to the last drop, Gaston, that your +prayer may be heard." + +This was done; then, refilling the bowl, he drained it in his turn. + +A sense of satisfaction took possession of us. We felt at peace with all +the world. I sprawled out in my chair with my head thrown back and my +arms hanging down, and began to study my apartment. It was a low, arched +chamber cut out of the live rock, shaped like an oval, and measuring in +the highest part not more than twelve feet. At the further end I +perceived a sort of alcove, and in it a bed resting on the floor, and +covered, as nearly as I could make out, with a bearskin robe. Still +further back was another and smaller niche, with a statue of the Virgin +cut out of the same piece of granite and crowned with a bunch of +withered grass. + +"You are studying your chamber," said Sperver; "it is not as large nor +as luxurious as the rooms of the Castle. We are now in Hugh's Tower, +and it is as old as the mountain itself. It dates back to the time of +Charlemagne. In those days the people didn't understand the art of +building lofty, spacious dwellings; they cut right into the solid rock." + +"That served the purpose as well; but it is an odd corner that you have +stuck me in, Gideon." + +"Don't be deceived on that point, Gaston; it is the place of honor. +Whenever the Count's particular friends come to visit him, they are put +in here. Hugh's Tower is the most honorable accommodation of all." + +"By the way, who was this Hugh?" + +"Why, Hugh the Wolf!" + +"What!" I exclaimed in astonishment. + +"Certainly; the founder of the family of Nideck; a rough customer, they +say. He came and settled down here with a score of horsemen and archers. +They scaled the highest rock on the mountain,--you will see it +to-morrow,--and built this tower. 'We are the masters,' they declared, +'and woe be to those who try to pass without paying toll. We will fall +on them like wolves, tear the clothes from their backs, and the hides, +too, if they are obstinate. From here we can command the landscape, the +passes of the Rhethal, the Steinbach, and the Roche Plate, and the +entire line of the Black Forest. Let the merchants beware.' And the bold +fellows carried out their threats under the leadership of Hugh the Wolf. +Knapwurst told me all about it when we were sitting up the other +night." + +"Knapwurst?" + +"You know; the little dwarf who opened the gate to us; a droll chap, +Gaston, who is always to be found in the library bent over a book." + +"So you have a scholar at Nideck." + +"Yes, the rascal! Instead of staying in his lodge, where he belongs, he +spends the whole blessed day shaking the dust from old family +parchments. He moves about among the shelves like a cat, and he knows +our history better than we do ourselves. He would like nothing better +than to tell you his stories; he calls them chronicles. Ha, ha, ha!" + +Hereupon, Sperver, exalted by the old wine, laughed for some moments, +without knowing exactly why. + +"So that is why you call this the Tower of Hugh the Wolf?" I resumed. + +"Didn't I just tell you so? What are you so surprised at?" + +"Oh, nothing." + +"Yes, you are. I see it in your face. What are you thinking of?" + +"It isn't so much the name of the tower that surprises me, as that you, +an old ranger, who from a baby had never known any home but the +fir-trees and crests of the Wald Horn and the gorges of the Rhethal, who +would never sleep with a roof over your head in spite of all my father's +urging, and who amused yourself roaming the paths of the Black Forest +and revelling in the fresh air, the sunlight, and the freedom of a +hunter's life, should be found here, after sixteen years, in this +red-granite hole. Come, Sperver, light your pipe and tell me how it +happened." + +The old ranger drew a short, black pipe from his leather jacket, filled +it leisurely, and snatching up a coal from the hearth, placed it on the +bowl of his pipe; then, with his head thrown back and his eyes wandering +over the ceiling, he replied thoughtfully: + +"After I left your father's service twenty years ago, it was long before +I could bring my mind to work for any other master, for I loved the +General, and you, and your pretty mother, as I could never come to love +others, not even the Count and my mistress Odile. So I took to poaching +for a term of years, and found a living by any means I could, until one +night the Count came upon me in the moonlight. + +"He did not despise Sperver, the old hawk, the true man of the woods; +and he said to me, 'Comrade, you have hunted long enough by yourself; +now come and hunt with me. You have a good beak and strong claws, and +you might as well hunt my game with my permission as without it.'" + +Sperver was silent for some minutes; then he continued: + +"I was getting old,--and the old falcons and hawks, having long swept +the plains, end by settling down in the cleft of a rock to die. So it +was with me. I loved the open air, and I love it yet; but now, instead +of lying on a high branch at night and being rocked to sleep by the +wind, I prefer to come back to my cover, quietly pick a woodcock, and +dry my plumage before the fire." + +Sperver was silent for some moments; then he continued: + +"I still hunt as before, and afterwards I drink a quiet glass of +Rudesheimer with my friends, or--" At this moment a shock made the door +tremble. + +"It is a gust of wind," I said. + +"No; it is something else. Don't you hear a claw scratching on the +panel? I think one of the dogs must have got loose. Open, Walden! open, +Lieverlé!" + +He got up, but he had not gone two steps when a formidable Danish hound +leaped into the room and raised his fore-paws on his master's shoulders, +licking his cheeks and beard with his long, red tongue, and whining with +joy. Sperver put his arm around the dog's neck, and turning to me: + +"Gaston," he said, "what man could love me as this dog does? Look at +this head, these eyes, and teeth!" + +He drew back the animal's lips and showed me a set of fangs that could +have torn a buffalo to pieces. Then pushing him off with difficulty, for +the dog redoubled his caresses, he cried, "Down with you, Lieverlé; I +know you love me! Who would, if you did not?" He went and closed the +door. + +I never had seen a dog of such formidable proportions before; he +measured nearly four feet in height, with a broad, low forehead and fine +coat, a bright eye, long paws, broad across the chest and shoulders and +tapering down to the haunches,--a mass of nerves and muscles +interwoven,--but he had no scent. If such animals possessed the scent +of the terrier, the game would soon be exterminated. + +Sperver had returned to his seat and was passing his hand proudly over +Lieverlé's head, while he enumerated the dog's fine points. Lieverlé +seemed to understand him. + +"Look, Gaston, that dog would strangle a wolf with a snap of his jaws. +He is what you might well call perfection in the matter of courage and +strength; not yet five, and in his prime. I need not tell you that he is +trained to hunt wild boar. Every time we meet them, I fear for Lieverlé; +he attacks them too boldly; he flies at them like an arrow. Beware of +the brutes' tusks, Lieverlé, you rascal! It makes me tremble. Down on +your back!" cried the huntsman; "down on your back!" + +The dog obeyed, presenting to us his flesh-colored thighs. + +"Do you see that long, white line, without any hair on it, which extends +from his thigh clear up to his chest? A boar did that. The noble chap +did not let go of the brute's ear, in spite of the wound, and we tracked +them by the blood. I came up with them first. Seeing my Lieverlé, I +cried out, jumped to the ground, and lifting him in my arms, I wrapped +him in my mantle and brought him home. I was beside myself with grief. +Luckily, the vital parts were not injured, and I sewed up the wound. +God! how he howled and suffered; but at the end of the third day he +began to lick the place, and a dog who licks a wound is already saved. +Ha, Lieverlé! you remember it! And now we love each other, don't we?" + +I was much moved by the affection of the man for the dog, and the animal +for his master. Lieverlé watched him and wagged his tail, while a tear +stood in Sperver's eye. Soon he began again: + +"What strength! Do you see, Gaston, he has broken his cord to come to +me,--a cord of six strands? He found my tracks, and that was enough. +Here, Lieverlé! Catch!" + +He threw him the remains of the kid's leg. The dog went over and +stretched himself in front of the fire with the bone between his +fore-paws, and he slowly tore it into shreds. Sperver watched him from +the corner of his eye with evident satisfaction. + +"Hey, Gaston," said the old steward, "if any one should order you to go +and take that bone away, what would you say?" + +"That it was a matter which required delicate manipulation." + +We laughed heartily, and Sperver, who was stretched out in his +red-leather armchair, with his left arm thrown over the back, one leg +resting on a stool, and the other on a log that was dripping with sap +and singing in the fierce flame, puffed blue rings of smoke to the +ceiling with an air of supreme contentment. As for me, I was lazily +watching the dog, when suddenly remembering our interrupted +conversation, I began: + +"Listen, Sperver! You haven't told me everything. Was it not because of +the death of your worthy wife, my old nurse Gertrude, that you left the +mountains to come here?" + +Gideon looked grave, and a tear dimmed his eye; he straightened up, and +knocking the ashes from his pipe upon his thumb nail, he replied: + +"Yes, my wife is dead, and that is what drove me from the woods. I could +not see the valley of the Roche Creuse without sorrow, and so I have +come hither. I hunt but little in the underbrush, and if the pack happen +to go in that direction, I leave them to themselves and turn back again, +trying to think of other things." + +Sperver had become melancholy. His head had fallen on his breast, and he +remained silent. I regretted having recalled these sad images to his +mind. Then, reflecting once more on the Black Plague crouching in the +snow, I shivered. How singular that a single word had thrown us into a +train of dismal recollections! A whole world of retrospection had been +invoked by the merest accident. + +I know not how long our silence had lasted, when a deep, terrible +growl, like the sound of distant thunder, made us tremble. We looked +at the dog. He still held his half-eaten bone between his fore-paws, +but with raised head, ears pricked up, and shining eyes, he was +listening,--listening in the dead silence, and a tremor of rage ran +along his back. + +Sperver and I looked at each other anxiously; not a sound, not a murmur, +for the wind outside had fallen, and we could have heard the least +noise; nothing, save the deep, continued growl, which seemed to come +from deep down in the dog's chest. Suddenly the animal sprang up and +leaped against the wall, with a short, harsh, ominous bark that made the +arches resound as if thunder were rolling away along the empty passages. +Lieverlé, with his head low down, seemed to see through the granite, and +his teeth, bared to their roots, glistened like snow. He still growled, +pausing now and then for a moment to sniff along the bottom of the wall; +then he sprang up again angrily, and seemed trying to tear away the +stone with his fore-paws. + +We were watching him, unable to understand the cause of his excitement, +when a second howl, more fearful than the first, brought us to our +feet. + +"Lieverlé," cried Sperver, springing towards him, "for heaven's sake, +what ails you? Are you going mad?" + +He seized a log, and began to sound the wall, which, however, gave forth +only a dull, dense sound. There was apparently no hollow in it, but +still the dog maintained the same posture. + +"Decidedly, Lieverlé," said the huntsman, "you have had a nightmare. +Come, lie down, and don't set our nerves on edge any more." + +At the same moment we heard a sound outside. The door opened, and the +big, fat face of honest Tobias Offenloch, with his round lantern in one +hand and his stick in the other, and his three-cornered hat on one side +of his head, appeared smiling and genial in the doorway. + +"Greeting, worthy company!" he exclaimed; "what the devil are you doing +here?" + +"It was this foolish Lieverlé who made all the racket," said Sperver; +"he sprang against the wall and wouldn't be quieted. Can you tell us the +reason of it?" + +"He probably heard the stumping of my wooden leg as I came up the tower +stairs," replied the good-natured fellow with a laugh. Then setting his +lantern on the table: "That will teach you, Master Gideon, to tie up +your dogs. You have a weakness for dogs,--an absurd weakness. They will +end by putting us all out of doors. Only a moment ago, as I was coming +along the gallery, I met your Blitz; he snapped at my leg,--see, there +are the marks of his teeth. A new leg, too, confound the cur!" + +"Tie up my dogs? What an idea!" replied Sperver. "Dogs that are tied up +are good for nothing; it makes them savage. Moreover, Lieverlé was +fastened, and he has what was left of the cord around his neck still." + +"It is not on my account that I am speaking, for whenever I see them +coming, I always raise my stick and put my wooden leg first. It is only +for discipline. The dogs ought to be in the kennels, the cats on the +gutters, and the people in the Castle, according to my way of thinking." + +Tobie sat down as he finished his sentence, and with his elbows resting +on the table and his eyes beaming with satisfaction, he said in a +confidential tone: + +"You should know, gentlemen, that I am a bachelor this evening." + +"How is that?" + +"Marie Anne is sitting up with Gertrude in the Count's antechamber." + +"Then you are in no hurry." + +"Not the least bit." + +"How unlucky you should have come so late," observed Sperver; "all the +bottles are empty." + +The discomfited expression of the good fellow made me feel positively +sorry. He would gladly have profited by his widowhood. In spite of my +efforts to repress it, however, my mouth parted in a wide yawn. + +"We will put it over till another day," he said, getting up; "what is +postponed is not lost." + +He took up his lantern. + +"Good night, gentlemen." + +"Wait a minute," said Gideon; "I see the doctor is sleepy; we will go +down together." + +"Gladly, Sperver! We will have a word with Trumpf as we pass. He is +down-stairs with the others, and Knapwurst is telling them stories." + +"Well, good night, Gaston." + +"Good night, Sperver. Don't forget to call me if the Count grows worse." + +"Never fear. Lieverlé, come here." + +They went out, and as they were crossing the platform, I could hear the +old Nideck clock striking eleven. + +I was completely exhausted with the day's experiences. Soon I threw +myself on the bed, and straightway fell into a deep slumber, where all +night long I was wandering beside a radiant creature with a halo of +golden hair about her face, amid flower-strewn paths, and the song of +birds, and above our heads the fairest of summer skies. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +KNAPWURST ACQUAINTS ME WITH THE GENEALOGY OF THE NIDECKS. + + +The dawn was beginning to turn gray the only window of the donjon-tower, +when I was awakened in my granite bed by the distant notes of a +hunting-horn. I know of no sound more sad and melancholy than the +vibrations of its tones, just at morning twilight, when all is still, +and no breath, no whisper comes to disturb the perfect quiet of +solitude; it is the final note, especially, that, spreading over the +immense plain and awaking the far-off echoes of the mountain, stirs us +to the heart with its pure, poetic quality. + +Leaning with my elbow on the bearskin, I listened to this plaintive cry, +that seemed to be invoking memories of the Feudal Ages. The aspect of my +chamber, with its low, ragged arch, and, further on, the little window +with its panes set in lead, midway between the alcove and the corridor, +the ceiling more wide than high, and deeply hollowed in the wall,--in +short, every detail of this ancient den of the Wolf of Nideck served to +realize my fancy. + +I rose quickly and threw the window wide open. There before me lay a +spectacle that no mere language can describe,--the scene that the Alpine +eagle surveys each morning, as the purple curtain of night lifts itself +from the horizon; range after range of mountains,--motionless billows +that stretch away and become lost in the distant mists of the Vosges and +the Jura,--immense forests, lakes, and towering peaks tracing their +sharp outlines upon the steel-blue of the snow-clad valleys; beyond +this, the infinite! What human skill could attain to the sublimity of +such a picture? I stood overwhelmed with wonder and delight. At each +glance some new detail was revealed to my eyes; hamlets, farms, +villages, seemed to rise from every fold of the landscape, and as I +gazed, these objects became more numerous. + +I had been standing thus for more than a quarter of an hour, when a hand +was laid lightly upon my shoulder; I turned and met the calm face and +quiet smile of my friend Gideon, who greeted me with: + +"Good morning, Gaston." + +Then he rested his elbows on the window-sill beside me, puffing clouds +of smoke from his short pipe. Extending his arm towards the distant +mountains, he said at length: + +"Look at that, Gaston; you should love it, for you are a son of the +Black Forest. Look down there, way down; that is the Roche Creuse. Do +you see it? You remember Gertrude? How far off those days seem!" + +He stopped and cleared his throat; I was at a loss what to reply. We +stood for a long time in a contemplative mood, mute before the grandeur +of the scene that rolled away beneath us. From time to time, the old +steward, seeing my eyes rest on some point of the horizon, would +explain: + +"That is the Wald Horn; this is the Tiefenthal. There you see the +cascade of the Steinbach; it has stopped running now, and hangs like an +ice cloak over the shoulder of the Harberg,--a cold garment for this +season of the year. Down there is the path that leads to Tübingen; a +fortnight more and we shall have difficulty in tracing it." + +An hour passed thus; I could not tear myself away from the scene. + +A few birds of prey, with gracefully hollowed wings, were sailing about +the tower; a flock of herons flew above them, escaping their claws by +reason of their loftier flight. Not a cloud was visible in the sky; all +the snow had fallen to earth. The hunting-horn saluted the mountain for +the last time. + +"That is my friend Sebalt mourning down there," said Sperver. "No one is +a better judge of horses and dogs than he, and when it comes to sounding +the horn, there is not his equal in all Germany. Just hear how mellow +those notes are, Gaston. Poor Sebalt! he is pining away since our master +became ill; he cannot hunt as he used to. His only consolation is to +climb the Altenberg every morning just at daybreak, and play the Count's +favorite airs. He thinks that may cure him." + +Sperver, with the tact of a man who himself loves beautiful things, had +not interrupted my contemplation; but when, dazzled by the growing +light, I turned back into the chamber, he said: + +"Gaston, things look more encouraging; the Count has had no return of +the convulsions." + +These words brought me back to a more practical world. + +"Ah, I am glad to hear it." + +"And it is your doing, too." + +"Mine? I haven't even prescribed anything yet." + +"What of that? You are here." + +"You're joking, Gideon; what could my mere presence accomplish?" + +"You bring him good luck." + +I looked at him closely; he was in earnest. + +"Yes," he repeated seriously; "you are a bringer of good luck. In past +years, our master has had a second attack the day after the first, and +then a third, and fourth; but you have prevented this and arrested the +course of the malady. That is clear enough." + +"Not to my mind, Sperver. On the contrary, I find it exceedingly +obscure." + +"We are never too old to learn," continued the worthy fellow. "There are +forerunners of good fortune and harbingers of ill. Take that rascal +Knapwurst, for example; he is a sure sign of bad luck. If ever I happen +to run across him as I am going out hunting, I am sure to meet with some +accident; my gun misses fire, I sprain my ankle, or a dog gets ripped +open. Knowing this, I always take care to set off just at daybreak, +before the scamp, who sleeps like a dormouse, has got his eyes open; or +else I steal through the postern gate." + +"A wise precaution; but your ideas seem odd to me, Gideon." + +"But you, on the other hand," he continued without noticing my +interruption, "are an open-hearted, honest lad. Heaven has bestowed many +blessings upon you; just one glance at your good-natured face, your +frank gaze, and your kindly smile, is enough to make any one happy. And +you bring good luck; that is certain. Do you want a proof of what I +say?" + +"Why, certainly. I am not sorry to discover that I possess so many +hitherto unknown virtues." + +"Well," said he, seizing my wrist, "look down there!" + +He pointed to a hillock a couple of gunshots distant from the Castle. + +"Do you see that rock half buried in the snow, with a bush to the left +of it?" + +"Distinctly." + +"And you see nothing near it?" + +"No." + +"Well, that is easily accounted for; you have driven the Black Plague +away. Every year, on the second day of the Count's illness, she was to +be seen there, with her arms clasped around her skinny knees. At night, +she lighted a fire, warmed herself, and cooked the roots of trees. She +was a curse to every living thing. The first thing I did this morning +was to climb up to the signal-tower and look around me. The old hag was +nowhere to be seen. In vain did I shade my eyes with my hand and gaze to +right and left, up and down, across the plain and over the +mountain,--not a sign of her anywhere. She has scented you, sure +enough!" + +Wringing my hand in his enthusiasm, the good fellow cried excitedly, +"Oh, Gaston, Gaston! How lucky it was that I brought you here! How angry +the old hag will be!" + +I must confess to a feeling of embarrassment at discovering so much +merit in myself, which had hitherto escaped my observation. + +"So the Count has passed a comfortable night, Sperver?" I continued. + +"Very comfortable," he replied. + +"That is welcome news. Let's go down-stairs." + +We once more crossed the little courtyard, and I was able to obtain a +better view of our means of egress, whose ramparts attained to a +prodigious height,--continuing along the edge of the rock to the very +bottom of the valley. It was a flight of precipices, so to speak, +shelving one below another into the dizzy depths beneath. On looking +down, I became giddy, and recoiling to the middle of the landing, I +hastened down the passageway which led to the Castle. + +Sperver and I had already traversed several broad corridors, when a +wide-open door blocked our passage. I glanced in and saw, at the top of +a double ladder, the little gnome Knapwurst, whose grotesque physiognomy +had struck me the night before. The hall itself attracted my attention +by its imposing aspect. It was a storehouse for the archives of Nideck, +a high, dark, dusty apartment, with long Gothic windows reaching from +the ceiling to within three feet of the floor. + +There were to be found, ranged along the broad shelves by the careful +abbots of olden times, not only all the documents, title-deeds, and +genealogical trees of the families of Nideck, establishing their rights, +alliances, and relations with the most illustrious nobles of Germany, +but also the chronicles of the Black Forest, the collected remnants of +the old Minnesingers, and the great folios from the presses of Gutenberg +and Faust, no less venerable on account of their origin and the enduring +solidity of their binding. The deep shadows of the alcoves, draping the +cold walls with their grayish gloom, reminded you of the ancient +cloisters of the Middle Ages; and in the midst of it all sat the dwarf +at the top of his ladder, with a huge, red-edged volume lying open on +his bony knees, his head buried to the ears in a fur cap; gray-eyed, +flat-nosed, the corners of his mouth drawn down by long years of +thought, with stooping shoulders and wasted limbs; a fitting +_famulus_--the rat, as Sperver called him--to this last refuge of the +learning of Nideck. + +That which gave to the place a unique interest, however, was the line of +family portraits that covered one whole side of the ancient library. +There they were, knights and ladies, from Hugh the Wolf down to Count +Hermann, the present owner; from the crude daubs of barbarous days to +the perfect work of the best painters of our own time. My attention was +naturally centred upon this part of the room. Hugh I., with a bald head, +seemed watching you from his frame as a wolf glares at the traveller +whom a sudden turn in the forest path discloses to view. His gray, +blood-shot eyes, bristling beard, and large, hairy ears, gave him an air +of singular ferocity. + +Next to him, like the lamb next the savage beast, was a young woman, +with a gentle, sad expression, her hands clasped on her breast, her +long, silken tresses of fair hair parted over the forehead and falling +in thick waves about her face, which they encircled with a golden +aureole. I was struck with her resemblance to Odile of Nideck. Nothing +could have been more delicate and charming than this old painting on +wood, a little stiff in its outline, but charmingly simple and +ingenuous. + +I had been studying this portrait for some minutes, when another, +hanging beside it, drew my attention in its turn. Here, too, was a +woman, but of the true Visigothic type, with a broad, low forehead, +yellow eyes, and prominent cheek-bones, red hair, and nose like an +eagle's beak. "That woman must have been to Hugh's liking," I said to +myself, and I began to study the costume, which was in perfect keeping +with the energy expressed in the face, for the right hand clasped a +sword, and the waist was encircled in a steel corselet. + +I know not how to describe the thoughts that succeeded one another in my +mind as I gazed upon these three faces. My eye roamed from one to +another with singular curiosity, and I found it impossible to terminate +my study. Sperver, standing on the threshold of the library, gave a +sharp whistle, seemingly to attract Knapwurst's attention, who looked +down at him from the top of his ladder without stirring. + +"Is it me you are whistling to like a dog?" said the dwarf. + +"Aye, you imp! None else." + +"Listen to me, Sperver," replied the gnome with supreme disdain; "you +cannot spit so high as my shoe; I defy you!" and he stuck out his foot. + +"And if I should come up there?" + +"I would squash you flat with this volume." + +Gideon laughed, and replied: + +"Come, come, Knapwurst! Don't get angry! I don't wish you any harm; on +the contrary I have the greatest respect for your learning; but what the +devil are you doing at this hour, seated over your lamp? Any one would +think you had spent the night here." + +"So I have, reading!" + +"Aren't the days long enough for you?" + +"No! I am looking up an important question, and I shan't sleep till I +have settled it." + +"Well, by Jove; what is this interesting question?" + +"It is to find out under what circumstances Ludwig of Nideck discovered +my ancestor, Otto the Dwarf, in the forests of Thuringia. You should +know, Sperver, that my ancestor Otto was only an arm's length high; +that is, about two feet and a half. He delighted the world with his +wisdom, and figured honorably in the coronation of the Emperor Rodolph. +Count Ludwig had him enclosed in a cold roast peacock, served up with +all its plumage. During the feast, Otto spread out the peacock's tail, +and all the nobles, courtiers, and great ladies were astonished at this +ingenious piece of mechanism. At last Otto emerged, sword in hand, and +cried in a thundering voice, 'Long live the Emperor, Rodolph of +Hapsburg!' which was repeated on all sides with shouts and rejoicings. +Bernard Hertzog mentions this circumstance, but fails to inform us as to +the family origin of the dwarf, whether he was of noble descent, or of +base extraction; the latter hypothesis being highly improbable, as the +common herd are rarely possessed of so much wit." + +I was amazed at the conceit of this little creature, my curiosity, +however, leading me to dissemble my feelings; for he alone could furnish +me with the facts concerning the two portraits that hung on the right of +Hugh the Wolf. + +"Monsieur Knapwurst," I said, in a tone of profound respect, "would you +have the kindness to enlighten me upon a certain subject?" + +Flattered by these words, the little fellow replied: + +"Speak, monsieur; if it is a question of family history, I shall be glad +to inform you. In other subjects I take but little interest." + +"It is precisely that. I should like to learn something about the noble +ladies whose pictures hang on the wall yonder." + +"Aha!" cried Knapwurst, his face lighting up; "you mean Elfreda and +Huldine, the two wives of Hugh, the founder of Nideck." + +Laying down his volume, he descended the ladder to talk more at his +ease. His eyes glistened, and an air of gratification at this +opportunity of displaying his learning shone out all over him. + +Having reached my side, he saluted me with a grave bow. Sperver stood +behind us, seemingly well satisfied to see me admiring the dwarf of +Nideck. In spite of the ill luck which he averred attached to the +presence of the pigmy, he admired and boasted of his great learning. + +[Illustration: "IN THE PORTRAIT GALLERY."] + +"Monsieur," said Knapwurst, pointing with his long, yellow hand towards +the portraits, "Hugh of Nideck, the founder of his race, married in 832 +Elfreda of Lutzelbourg, who brought to him as dowry the counties of +Giromani and Haut Barr, the Castles of Geroldsdeck and Teufelshorn, and +others. Hugh had no children by his first wife, who died young in the +year of our Lord 837. Thereupon, Hugh, now lord and master of the dowry, +refused to yield possession of it, and there followed terrible battles +between himself and his brothers-in-law. His second wife, Huldine, whom +you see in the steel breastplate, aided him by her wise counsels. She +was a woman of indomitable courage, but her origin remains a mystery. +One thing is certain, however: she rescued her husband, who had been +taken prisoner by Frantz of Lutzelbourg. He was to have been hanged that +very day, and the iron bar had already been stretched across the +battlements in preparation for the execution, when Huldine, at the head +of a band of the Count's vassals whom she had inspired by her brave +example, burst into the courtyard by a rear entrance, rescued Hugh, and +had Frantz hung in his place. Hugh the Wolf married his second wife in +842, and by her he had three children." + +"So," I resumed meditatively, "the first of these wives was called +Elfreda, and the descendants of Nideck are not related to her?" + +"No." + +"Are you sure of this?" + +"I can show you our genealogical tree. Elfreda had no children; Huldine, +the second wife, had three." + +"That is very surprising!" + +"Why so?" + +"I thought I noticed a resemblance." + +"Ha, ha! resemblances!" exclaimed the dwarf with a harsh laugh; "wait a +moment. Just look at this wooden snuff-box that lies beside the plaster +greyhound! It represents my ancestor, Hanswurst. He has a nose like an +extinguisher, and a sharp chin, while I have a flat nose and an +agreeable mouth; and yet this does not prevent my being his +great-great-grandson." + +"No, certainly not." + +"Well, it is the same with the Nidecks. They may have certain +characteristics in common with Elfreda, but Huldine is the head of the +line. Look at this genealogical tree, monsieur. Have I not informed you +correctly?" + +Then we separated,--Knapwurst and I,--the best of friends. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +I BREAKFAST WITH ODILE. + + +"Nevertheless," I said to myself, "the resemblance is there! Is it +chance? Nonsense! What is chance, anyway, save that for which we fail to +grasp the reason? No; there must be some other explanation of it!" + +Buried in these reflections, I followed my friend Sperver, who had +resumed his walk down the corridor. The portrait of Elfreda, that pure, +artless face, blended in my fancy with that of the young Countess. +Suddenly Gideon stopped. I looked up; we were standing before the +Count's room. + +"Go in, Gaston," he said; "I will see, meanwhile, if breakfast is ready, +and be with you again in a minute." + +I entered noiselessly, and made out, in the dim light, the broad figure +of Becker, the forester, sprawled out leisurely in his armchair beside +the bed and drowsing over his vigil. + +The Count was sleeping quietly, with every indication that this +desirable state of things would continue. Seeing no reason for remaining +longer, I directed Becker to let me know at once if the master should +wake, and I withdrew to the hall, where I met Sperver returning to get +me. + +"The Countess is waiting for you in the dining-room. She is overjoyed at +the news of her father. Poor woman! It has been a hard strain upon her, +for she insists on remaining close beside the Count, and her strength +is not equal to the task." + +"So it seemed to me," I replied; and I secretly regretted that I saw no +way in which I could properly suggest to the Countess that she should +share her watchfulness more with others. + +We reached the dining-room. Sperver announced me and departed. + +My eyes fell first upon Odile, seated at the head of the table in a +high-backed oaken chair. She was dressed in a gown of gray stuff, simply +fashioned, with a bodice of white velvet worked in gold. Her superb +figure was perfectly set off by the almost severe outlines of the dress. + +"It is she," I thought: "Hugh's first wife. There is the noble +forehead; there are the long lashes, the somewhat languid bearing, and +the indescribable smile." + +And as I gazed, the dream of last night recurred to me in all its +charming vividness, and I felt that, far from entering upon her world +but a few hours since, I had known her--aye, and loved her, too!--for +years. + +"Good morning, monsieur!" she said in answer to my salutation, as she +rose and rested one hand on the chair-back. "It seems that your presence +here has already worked a change for the better. Our good Sperver tells +me that my father's condition is improved." + +"I am delighted to be able to assure you that it is so, mademoiselle. We +must endeavor to confirm these bettered conditions." + +"I am so thankful!" she exclaimed. "Who knows but it was Providence that +brought you here?" and she indicated my seat at the end of the table +opposite her. + +Bowing to the housekeeper, who sat before the broad fireplace, with her +spectacles thrust back on her forehead, plying her busy needles, her lap +filled with knitting-work which momentarily grew as she rocked back and +forth in time to the ticking of the tall clock, I took the seat which +Odile designated, experiencing a sense of rare contentment as I +reflected upon my surroundings. Decidedly, my present employment +combined pleasure with the exactions of duty. + +No further mention of the Count's condition was made during the repast, +Odile preferring apparently to confine herself to other subjects. + +"Sperver," she said presently, "has often spoken of you to us with much +pride and affection. Your relationship with the old steward is a +romantic one, is it not?" + +"Rather," I replied. "It began some twenty years ago with his pulling me +out of a swamp into which I got myself, through my desire to imitate his +custom of roaming the forest." + +Then, as Odile smiled and seemed to be waiting for me to continue, I +resumed: + +"I distinctly remember how, one morning, I escaped the vigilance of my +old nurse, Gideon's wife Gertrude, and arming myself with my father's +old sabre, I sallied into the forest with a vague notion of performing +some similar exploits to those which Gideon was never tired of telling +me. I had not gone far when, finding the forest very dark and lonely, +and quite unlike what I had fancied it, I began to repent of my +resolution and to wish I was safely at home again. The sabre, too, had +grown very heavy, and everything about the undertaking having fallen far +short of my anticipation, I turned around and began to retrace my steps. +Having only such knowledge of direction as a boy of eight would be +likely to have, I soon lost my way, and in attempting to cross the swamp +of the Losser by picking my path along the tufts of grass above its +surface, I lost my footing and slipped into the mud. Fortunately Sperver +happened to be passing in the neighborhood. He heard my cries, and +promptly coming to my aid, he pulled me out and carried me to safer +ground. Meanwhile my absence from home had been discovered, and the men +servants had been sent in all directions to search for me. My father was +so delighted at seeing me again, unharmed, in Sperver's arms, that he +rewarded his ranger with a brand-new carbine and a brace of his favorite +hounds." + +I laughed as I recalled this incident, and the Countess joined me in it, +continuing after a little: + +"And your old home?" + +"It has passed into other hands. On the death of both my parents, which +occurred within a few years, I was left entirely without resources, save +such as I could create for myself, and it became necessary to dispose +of the estate in order to get the means which I required to pursue my +studies." + +It seemed the most natural thing in the world to be thus confiding to +Odile my intimate affairs, though ordinarily I guarded such matters with +jealous care; but I felt, I know not why, that her expression of +interest was more a wish to learn the real facts of my condition than +merely to evince a civil concern in my interests. Such feelings are +intangible; they cannot be explained. + +"You are living now in Tübingen?" + +"Yes; after six years' study in Germany and France, I have returned to +the scenes of earlier times to try what fortune may have in store for +me. I feel that I never should be contented anywhere else; and I am +better satisfied to remain here with a modest success than in the cities +with, maybe, a more considerable one." + +"How well I can understand that feeling," replied the Countess musingly. +"Long ago, when we used to visit the court each year, I remember that, +in spite of all its gaieties and pleasures, so well calculated to charm +young minds, I was always glad when the time came to return to the +Castle; and that for a girl of eighteen is unusual, I think." + +I was silently musing upon the fair face opposite me, and the charming +personality of my noble hostess, which piqued my curiosity and aroused +in me a singular desire to learn more of it. The young Countess +conducted the affairs of the table with captivating grace, and the +ready Offenloch was ever on the watch for her slightest nod or glance. +Truly, I felt myself under a spell no less potent than the companions of +Ulysses of old. + +Rousing myself at length from these agreeable reflections, I resumed: + +"You too, mademoiselle, are fond of the hunt, I suppose? for the Count's +devotion to it is proverbial." + +"Yes!" she replied, "when it is not a deer or fox that is being hunted. +Somehow the wild boar claims less of my sympathy, for it is often a +question which comes off the better, the man or the beast." + +The truth of this remark it was reserved for me to learn at a later +day. + +"As for me, I have never had any experience in the chase, as the years +which I might have spent so were passed in foreign cities, but some time +I hope to give it a thorough trial." + +A pause succeeded, during which Odile prepared the coffee. From time to +time I glanced at Marie, whose admiration for my person expressed the +evening before seemed in no way to have decreased, judging from the +senile simper which invariably appeared on her face when she caught my +eye. + +"This Castle has an indescribable charm for me," I continued after a +little; "it has such a delightfully ancient air, and its old stones seem +so full of romance;" and my eyes wandered to the two suits of armor at +the further end of the room, which from their shadowy corners nodded at +each other, gaunt and sightless, in the uncertain firelight. + +"I am fond of it," replied Odile; "indeed, I feel that I could never be +happy anywhere else; but at times it is lonely, nevertheless." + +Then I began to reflect upon the singular vow which this charming young +creature, so eminently lovable in every trait of character and person, +had taken, it seemed almost wantonly and in a spirit of perversity; and +yet I was satisfied that no such explanation could be sufficient, for I +felt instinctively that no small or trivial thought could gain +admittance to Odile's mind. + +"Perhaps," I thought, "some day the wanderer will come to implant the +magic kiss, and she, like others of her sisters, will be obliged to +obey the inexorable laws of the little god." + +So I thought. It seemed to me that one might be happy here, could he +continue forever, as I was then, in Odile's companionship, amid gay +companies and festivals, hunting-parties and the like, which I felt +would become immediately inaugurated, were the Count's recovery to +become an established fact. Then my thoughts reverted once more to my +patient, and, speculating for the fiftieth time on all that Sperver had +told me of his master, I was recalled to a less alluring train of +reflections, and I became grave as I realized the burden of duty which +rested upon me. + +An hour passed, the breakfast was finished. I rose and took leave of the +Countess, who inclined her head with a friendly smile. As I stepped +into the hallway, I descried Sperver in the distance. + +"The Count has waked, and he wishes to see you," he said, as he reached +me. + +"He is no worse?" I asked. + +"Apparently not; he seems quiet enough." + +Still engrossed with the experience of the last hour passed in the +dining-room, I moved along with Sperver down the corridor. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +THE COUNT UNSHEATHES HIS CLAWS. + + +I entered the Count's chamber. What was my surprise to perceive in the +half-light of the alcove, the master of Nideck raised upon his elbow and +studying me with profound attention. I had so little anticipated such a +reception, that I paused in surprise. + +"Come here, doctor," he said in a faint but steady voice, reaching out +his hand. "My good Sperver has often spoken to me of you, and I have +been anxious to make your acquaintance." + +"Let us hope, monsieur," I replied, "that it may be continued under +more auspicious circumstances; a little patience, and all will be +well!" + +"I fear not," he replied; "I feel that the end is drawing near." + +"You are mistaken, monsieur." + +"No! Nature grants us, as a last favor, a presentiment of our +approaching end." + +"How often have I seen such presentiments disproved!" I returned, +smiling. + +He gazed fixedly at me, as sick people are wont to do when they are in +doubt as to their true condition. It is a trying moment for the doctor; +upon his expression depends the moral strength of the sufferer; if the +sick man detect the suspicion of a doubt, all is lost; dissolution +begins, the soul prepares to quit the body, and the malady holds full +sway. I passed firmly through the ordeal; the Count seemed reassured; +he pressed my hand again, and released it, calmer and more confident. + +During the pause which followed, Odile and Marie Lagoutte entered the +room. They must have followed close behind us. They seated themselves in +the two chairs which occupied the embrasure of the window, and Marie +resumed her knitting, while Odile spread open a portfolio on her lap and +seemed to be studying it. + +Soon the Count's glance wandered from my face to that of his daughter, +whom he continued to regard fixedly for a long time in silence. + +This somewhat oppressive quiet continued, broken only by the jarring of +the casements, the monotone of the wind, and the sound of the snow as +it swirled and whispered against the panes. + +After a half hour of this, the Count suddenly began to speak: + +"If my beloved child Odile would but grant my request, if she would only +consent to let me hope that one day she would fulfil the desire of my +heart, I believe that alone would accomplish my recovery!" I glanced +quickly at Odile; she had closed her book, and her eyes were fastened on +the floor. I noticed that she had become deathly pale. + +"Yes," continued the sick man, "I should return to life and happiness! +The prospect of seeing myself surrounded by a new branch of our family, +of embracing my grandchildren, and of seeing the perpetuation of our +house ensured, would suffice to cure me." + +I felt moved at the mild and gentle pleading of the sufferer. The young +woman made no reply. After a minute or two, the Count, who looked +entreatingly at her, pursued: + +"Odile, you refuse to make your father happy. My God! I only ask for +hope; I fix no time! I do not seek to control your choice! We will go to +court, and choose from a hundred noble suitors. Who would not be proud +to win my daughter's hand? You shall be free to decide for yourself." + +He paused. Nothing is more painful to a stranger than these family +discussions. There are so many conflicting interests, deep emotions, +and sacred feelings involved, that our innate delicacy demands that we +hold aloof from such scenes. I was pained, and would gladly have +withdrawn, but the circumstances did not permit of it. + +"Father," said Odile, as if to evade further insistence on the sick +man's part, "you will recover. Heaven will not take you from us who love +you so dearly. If you only knew with what loving fervor I pray for you!" + +"That is not answering my question," said the Count drily. "What +objection have you to my proposal? Is it not just and natural? Must I be +deprived of the consolations accorded the most wretched? Have I made use +of force or trickery?" + +"No, father!" + +"Then why do you refuse me?" + +"My resolution is taken; I have consecrated myself to God." + +So much firmness in so frail a being astonished me. She stood there like +the sculptured Madonna in Hugh's Tower,--fragile, calm, impassive. + +The eyes of the Count glowed with feverish brightness. I endeavored to +prevail upon the Countess, as best I could by signs, to give him a grain +of hope, that his growing agitation might be calmed; but she did not +appear to see me. + +"So," he cried in a voice choked with emotion, "you will see your father +perish! A single word would save his life,--a word from your lips,--and +you will not pronounce it." + +"Life is not within the gift of man, but of God alone," she murmured; +"a word from me could be of no avail." + +"These are nothing but pious maxims," cried the Count bitterly, "to ease +your conscience in refusing to do your duty! Has not God commanded, +'Honor thy father and thy mother'?" + +"I do honor you, my father," she replied gently; "but it is my duty not +to marry." + +I could hear the Count grind his teeth. He lay for a few moments, +apparently calm, then he suddenly sprang up. + +"Out of my sight!" he screamed; "your presence is hideous to me!" + +Then turning to me: + +"Doctor," he cried with a savage smile, "have you a poison about you,--a +poison that slays with the quickness of a lightning flash? It is only +merciful to give it to me! Ah, God! If you knew how I suffer!" + +His features worked convulsively; he became livid. Odile had risen and +moved towards the door. + +[Illustration: "'STAY!' HE HOWLED, 'I HAVE NOT CURSED YOU YET.'"] + +"Stay!" he howled; "I have not cursed you yet!" + +Up to this point, I had restrained myself, not daring to interfere +between the father and his child; but I could endure it no longer. + +"Monsieur," I exclaimed; "in the name of your own health, in the name of +reason, calm yourself! Your life depends upon it!" + +"What matters my life? What matters the future? Oh, if I were only done +with it all!" + +His excitement increased with every moment. I feared lest, crazed with +passion, he might spring from the bed and destroy his own child. She, +still calm, but with cheeks as pale as his, fell on her knees before the +threshold. At this moment, I succeeded in getting the Count to swallow a +few drops of laudanum. He fell back with a long sigh, and soon his +irregular breathing gave way to deep and leaden slumber. + +Odile arose, and her old governess, who had remained silent throughout, +left the room with her. Sperver and I watched them as they slowly +withdrew. There was a calm grandeur in the step of the Countess that +bespoke a consciousness of duty fulfilled. + +When she had disappeared in the shadows of the corridor, Gideon turned +to me: "Well, Gaston," he said gravely; "what do you think of this?" +I bowed my head without replying. The unaccountable firmness of the +young woman dumbfounded me. + +"Come Gaston!" exclaimed Sperver indignantly, "let's get a breath of +fresh air! I'm strangling here!" and he pulled me out of the chamber. + +"That is the happiness of high-born people!" he exclaimed, as we stepped +into the hall. "What is the use of being master of Nideck, with its fine +Castle, forests, and game-preserves, and all else, if your own daughter +can blight your life,--even cause your death, perhaps, by a nod of her +head or a mincing refusal to obey your will? It would be a thousand +times better to come into the world the son of a humble woodcutter, and +live in the quiet accomplishment of your labor. Come down to my den, +and we will drink a glass and have a pipe. I know nothing better to put +care to flight than a good stiff glass." + +It was then about nine o'clock. The sky, so clear at daybreak, had +become overcast; the north wind was whirling the flakes against the +window-panes, and I could hardly distinguish the peaks of the +neighboring mountains. We were descending the staircase which led to the +main courtyard, when, at a turn of the corridor, we came face to face +with Tobias Offenloch. The worthy majordomo was puffing like a porpoise. + +"Hullo!" said Gideon; "where are you going in such a hurry?" + +"To tell the Countess that the Baron Zimmer begs the privilege of +paying his respects to her before quitting the Castle." + +"Baron Zimmer?" + +"Yes, the stranger who came in last night at midnight." + +"To be sure," replied Sperver; "I was forgetting." + +We went along. A moment later we reached our destination. My companion +pushed open the door and we went in. + +We sat down before the hearth. Gideon possessed himself of a corkscrew +and two bottles, and soon our glasses were filled and pipes aglow. We +were about to begin a discussion of the singular scene of a few moments +before, when Offenloch appeared, but not alone, for to our astonishment +we saw the Baron Zimmer and his valet following at his heels. We rose. +The young Baron approached to greet us with uncovered head, and I +studied with interest his handsome face, pale and haughty, with long, +black locks falling about it. He paused before Sperver. + +"Monsieur," he said, with that pure Saxon accent that no dialect can +imitate, "I come to ask you about the country hereabouts. Mademoiselle +the Countess of Nideck assures me that no one can inform me as well as +yourself in regard to the passes of the Wald Horn." + +"I believe that is true, monsieur," replied Sperver with a low bow; "and +I am entirely at your service." + +"Imperative reasons compel me to set out in the midst of this storm," +resumed the Baron, pointing to the eddying flakes outside; "I must +reach the Wald Horn, six leagues from here, before nightfall." + +"That will be a difficult matter, monsieur, for all the roads are +blocked with snow." + +"I know it, but it must be done." + +"A guide will be indispensable in that case. I will go with you if you +like, monsieur, or Sebalt Kraft, the master of the hounds; he knows +every inch of the mountain from Unterwalden to the Hunsdruck." + +"Thank you for your obliging offer; I appreciate it most fully, but I +cannot accept it; your instructions will be sufficient." + +Sperver bowed again, and going over to a window, threw it wide open. A +quick gust of wind whirled the snow clear across the room and closed the +door with a crash. I remained standing with one hand resting on the back +of my chair; Tobias took refuge from the cold draught in a corner of the +chamber. The Baron and his servant approached the window. + +[Illustration: "YONDER YOU SEE THE PEAK OF THE ALTENBERG.'"] + +"Messieurs," said Sperver, trying to make himself heard above the noise +of the storm, and pointing towards the horizon, "this is the lay of the +country. If the day were clear, I would take you up to the signal-tower, +where we could see the whole of the Black Forest, until it becomes lost +to view in the distance; but as it is, I will do my best from here. +Yonder you see the peak of the Altenberg, and further off, in the same +line, just back of that white ridge, the Wald Horn, swept by the +tempest. You must go straight towards the Wald Horn. There, if the snow +permits, you will see from the top of the mitre-shaped rock that is +called the Roche Fendue, three peaks: the Behrenkopf, the Geierstein, +and the Triefels. It is by the last one, the furthest to the right, that +you must make your way. A torrent divides the valley of the Rhethal, but +it must be frozen over now. However, if it is impossible to proceed +further, you will find on your left, as you climb the summit, a cavern +half-way to the top, known as the Roche Creuse. You can pass the night +there, and to-morrow, in all probability, when the wind has fallen, you +will see the Wald Horn." + +"Many thanks for your kindness." + +"If you are fortunate enough to meet with a charcoal burner," continued +Sperver, "he may be able to show you where the torrent can be forded, +but I doubt if there is any such place at this season. Have a special +care to keep around the base of the Behrenkopf, for if you get much to +either side of it, the descent is impossible; there are precipices +everywhere." + +During these observations, I was watching Sperver, whose clear, ready +speech accentuated each sentence with great precision, and I glanced +occasionally at the Baron, who was listening with singular attention. No +obstacle seemed to daunt him. His old servant appeared no less resolute +than he. + +Just as they were leaving the window, a ray of light broke through the +clouds as the tempest seized the masses of snow and whirled them for an +instant back upon each other like a floating drapery, and during this +instant the three peaks behind the Altenberg were disclosed to view, +serving to illustrate the details which Sperver had just given. Then the +blizzard once more closed in. + +"Good!" said the Baron; "I have seen my destination, and thanks to your +instructions, I hope to reach it." + +Sperver bowed without replying, and the young man and his servant, +together with Offenloch, having saluted us, silently withdrew. + +Gideon closed the window, and addressing himself to me: "The Old Nick +must possess a man," he said, laughing, "to set out in such weather! I +shouldn't have the heart to turn a wolf outdoors. I believe I have seen +the young man's face before, and the old one's, too, if I could only +think where. Let us drink! Your health, Gaston!" + +I had gone over to the window, and as the Baron Zimmer and his servant +climbed into their saddles in the middle of the courtyard, I saw, in +spite of the snow that filled the air, a curtain slightly raised in the +tower opposite, and the pale face of the Countess appear, glancing long +and furtively at the young man. + +"Ha, Gaston, what are you doing?" cried Sperver. + +"Nothing. I am only looking at the strangers' horses." + +"Oh, yes, the Wallachians! I saw them in the stable this morning. They +are fine creatures." + +The horsemen departed at full speed. The curtain in the tower window +dropped. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +MARIE LAGOUTTE RELATES HER EXPERIENCE. + + +When I again saw Odile her expression was one of complete wretchedness; +her swollen eyes told me that she had been weeping long, and her extreme +pallor and weariness cut me to the heart. + +"My dear mademoiselle," I said to her, with forced cheerfulness, "we +must not be despondent. The turning-point of the malady must soon +arrive, and this crisis safely passed, we may expect to see the Count in +as good health as before." + +She looked at me with an expression of gratitude for my wish to console +her, but underlying it, I felt there was a quiet conviction to the +contrary, and I realized the weakness of my position when I reflected +that she might very probably be possessed of facts, unknown to me, which +entirely disproved my words. + +"At all events," she replied, after a pause of some moments, "it is +grateful to know that there is some one who shares our anxieties and has +the desire really at heart to mitigate them." + +"You speak truly, mademoiselle," I returned. "I desire nothing so much +as to see peace and contentment restored to this house, and I only wish +that I possessed a thousandfold more power to accomplish it than I do. +But whatever my skill is, it shall be devoted to this one end; and I +shall not despair of success until all my efforts have proved +unavailing." + +I was surprised at my own warmth a moment after; but Odile's glance +satisfied me that I had not transgressed the limits of that reserve with +which she surrounded herself. + +"And furthermore," I continued, encouraged by this fact to speak what I +had for some time meditated, "if I might add the advice of a friend to +that of the doctor, I should beg of you to spare yourself as much as +possible in the matter of night watches and too unremitting a care of +the Count, for a true woman's strength is exhausted long before her +will, and you owe it to your friends as well as to yourself to preserve +the life which God has entrusted to you." + +Odile lowered her eyes, then raised them; and as I approached and lifted +to my lips the hand which she gave me, I surprised there a look which +opened up to me a world of speculation. + +I returned to my chamber, where I found an hour none too long to calm in +a measure the exuberance of feeling to which my moments with Odile +invariably gave rise. + +Inclination made me quite as much concerned to spare Odile the suffering +which her father's revolting harshness in his moments of delirium caused +her, as to restore the Count to health, for after the morning's +experience I felt that my pity for the sick man had, in spite of +myself, largely given place to loathing; and I felt too, with Sperver, +that I could throttle him as he continued to heap injuries upon his +daughter's defenceless head. + +However, there was but one way to alter the present condition of things +and to establish a better one; namely, to effect the Count's cure, and I +resolved that the best effort of my life should be expended here. +Meanwhile I knew not where to begin. Medicines used otherwise than as +opiates seemed lacking in the smallest efficacy. I saw nothing for it +but to await developments. + +To remonstrate with Odile in the matter of the vow which she had taken +was clearly out of the question, though I was curious to see if any +yielding on her part would effect the change in her father's condition +which he averred it would. + +And the reason of her absolute refusal to entertain even the thought of +marriage? What could it be? She was not without feeling, a fact +sufficiently demonstrated by her unswerving devotion to the Count. Nor +did it seem to me that she could regard with disdain the fulfilment of +that position which is the noblest aim and achievement of womankind, and +which she was so eminently fitted by every circumstance of fortune to +occupy and adorn. It could not be that there was any lack of +understanding; for at times, when I surprised her glance resting upon +me, I read in it a depth of sensibility that seemed almost +unfathomable; and that its possessor was all kindness, in the strongest +and best sense of the term, I was convinced. Of the answer to this +riddle, it seemed then, I must forever remain in ignorance; but while +any chance remained to solve it, I was determined to do so at all costs. + +Meanwhile the Count's illness continued its course. All that Sperver had +told me verified itself. Sometimes the Count, starting up and leaning on +his elbow with outstretched neck and staring eyes, would mutter, "She is +coming! She is coming!" Then Gideon would shake his head and climb the +signal-tower; but in vain did he look to right and left: the Black +Plague was nowhere to be seen. + +After long reflection upon this strange malady, I had finally persuaded +myself that the Count was deranged. The singular influence which the old +creature exerted upon his mind, his alternate periods of delirium and +calm, all served to strengthen me in this opinion. "Unknown chains unite +his fate with that of the Black Plague," I said to myself. "That woman +may have been young and beautiful in the past; who knows?" and my +imagination, once launched in this direction, soon built up a romance; +but I was careful to mention nothing of my thoughts,--Sperver would +never have forgiven me for entertaining suspicions of a relationship +between his master and the hag. + +During these anxious days, the one bright thing in my life was Odile's +presence. Had it not been for this, I doubt if I should longer have +preserved any degree of hope. + +I know not if I myself quite realized the extent of my growing affection +for Odile, but certain it is that with each day her image became more +and more identified with all that I held dearest in the world, and as I +moved about the old Castle halls and chambers, the library, the +drawing-room, the chapel, her fair figure and light step accompanied me +in fancy, and I likened her to the delicate, fragrant rose, which in +summer blossomed and waved from the rough interstices of the Castle's +battlements. + +Things were in this pass when one morning, at about eight o'clock, I was +walking up and down in Hugh's Tower thinking of the Count's malady, the +outcome of which I could foresee no more clearly than before, and +cudgelling my wits to determine what was next to be done. Suddenly I was +roused from these cheerless reflections by three discreet taps on my +door. + +"Come in!" + +The door opened, and Marie Lagoutte entered, dropping a low courtesy. +The worthy woman's arrival annoyed me a good deal; I was on the point of +asking her to leave me for the present, when an expression of unusual +seriousness on her face aroused my curiosity. She had thrown a large +red-and-green shawl over her shoulders, and stood with her lips pursed +up and her eyes on the floor. It surprised me not a little to see her, +after a moment, approach the door and open it again, apparently to make +sure that no one had followed her. + +"What does she want of me?" I asked myself. "What do all these +precautions mean?" I was puzzled. + +"Monsieur," she said at length, drawing nearer me, "I beg your pardon +for disturbing you so early in the morning, but I have something +important to tell you." + +"Pray go on! What is it about?" + +"It is about the Count." + +"Ah!" + +"Yes, monsieur; you probably know that I sat up with him last night." + +"I know you did. Pray sit down!" + +She seated herself in a chair opposite me, a big, leather-covered +armchair, and I remarked with interest the energetic character of the +face which had seemed to me only grotesque on the evening of my arrival +at the Castle. + +"Monsieur," she went on after a brief pause, fixing her dark eyes on me, +"I must tell you first of all that I am not a timid woman. I have seen +many things in my life,--things so terrible that nothing astonishes me +any more. When any one has passed through Rossbach, Leuthen, and +Zorndorf, he has left fear behind him on the road." + +"You speak truly, madame!" + +"I don't tell you this from a desire to boast, but only to convince you +that I don't lose my wits at nothing, and that you may depend upon what +I say when I tell you I have seen something." + +"What the deuce can she have to tell me?" I said to myself. + +"Well!" she continued; "last night, between nine and ten, just as I was +starting up to bed, Offenloch came in and said to me: + +"'Marie, you must sit up with the Count to-night.' + +"I was surprised at this, and replied: + +"'What! sit up with the Count! Isn't madame going to sit up with him +herself?' + +"'No; our mistress is ill, and you must take her place.' + +"Ill, poor child! I was sure it would end that way, and I told her so a +hundred times; but what can you do, monsieur? Young people never have +any thought for the future,--and then, it was her own father, too. So I +took my knitting, said good night to Toby, and went to the master's +room. Sperver, who was waiting for me, went off to bed as soon as I +came in, and I was left all alone." + +Here the good woman paused, slowly breathed up a pinch of snuff, and +seemed to be brushing up her memory. I had become attentive. + +"At about half past ten," she continued, "I was knitting away beside the +bed, and every now and then I raised the curtain to see how the Count +was doing; he never stirred; he was sleeping like a child. All went well +up to eleven o'clock; then I began to feel tired; when you are old, +monsieur, do what you will, you fall asleep in spite of yourself; and +then, too, I didn't think anything was going to happen. I said to +myself, 'He will sleep like a top till morning!' + +"Towards midnight the wind died down, and the big windows that had been +rattling all the evening were quiet. I got up to see if anything was +going on outside. The night was as black as a bottle of ink, and I went +back to my armchair. I took another look at the sick man and I saw that +he hadn't stirred; then I went on knitting. After a few minutes, I fell +slowly, slowly to sleep. My chair was as soft as down and the room was +very warm; I couldn't keep awake. + +"I had been asleep about an hour, when a draught of cold air woke me. I +opened my eyes, and what did I see? The long, middle window was wide +open, the curtains were drawn, and the Count was standing upright on the +window-sill!" + +"The Count?" + +"Yes." + +"Impossible! He cannot move!" + +"I couldn't believe my eyes; but, nevertheless, I saw him as plainly as +I see you this minute. He held a torch in his hand, and the air was so +still that its flame never wavered." + +I stared at Marie Lagoutte, stupefied. + +"At first," she went on, "when I saw the master in this extraordinary +position, it made such an effect on me that I wanted to scream; but then +I thought, 'Perhaps he is walking in his sleep; if you cry out and wake +him he will fall and be dashed to pieces.' So I kept still and watched +him, as you can fancy. He raised his torch slowly, and then he lowered +it, and he did this three times, like a man making signals to some one; +then he threw it down on to the ramparts, closed the window, and drew +the curtains; he passed before me without appearing to see me, and got +into bed again muttering Heaven knows what." + +"Are you certain you saw all this, madame?" + +"Perfectly!" + +"It is strange!" + +"Yes, I know it, but it is true! Goodness, how astonished I was for a +moment! Then, when I saw him go back to bed again and cross his hands +over his breast as if nothing had happened, I said to myself, 'Marie +Anne, you have had a bad dream; that is the only explanation of it!' and +I went over to the window. But the torch was still burning; it had +fallen into a bush a little to the left of the third gate, and you +could see it glowing like a spark. There was no denying it!" + +Marie Lagoutte looked at me for some minutes without speaking. + +"You can imagine, monsieur, that there was no more sleep for me that +night. I was on tenter-hooks; every moment I thought I heard something +behind my chair. I wasn't afraid, but I was uneasy; it worried me. This +morning, at the first signs of day, I ran to wake up Offenloch, and I +sent him to the Count's bedside. As I went along the corridor I noticed +that the first torch on the right was missing from its ring. I went down +the stairs, and I found it in the little path that leads to the Black +Forest. See! here it is!" + +And she took from under her apron the end of a torch, which she laid on +the table. I was thunderstruck. How could this man, whom but the night +before I had seen so weak and exhausted, have risen from his bed, walked +to the window, and opened and closed the heavy sash? What did this +midnight signal mean? Wide awake as I was, it seemed to me as if I, too, +had witnessed the strange scene, and my thoughts reverted involuntarily +to the Black Plague. I roused myself at last from introspection, and I +saw Marie Lagoutte had risen and was about to depart. + +"Madame," I said, as I moved with her to the door, "you have acted +wisely in telling me this, and I thank you heartily for doing so. You +have told no one else of this adventure?" + +"No one, monsieur. Such things are only to be confided to the priest +and doctor." + +"Ah! I see you are a very sensible person." + +These words were exchanged on my threshold. At this moment, Sperver +appeared at the end of the gallery, followed by his friend Sebalt. + +"Ho, Gaston!" he cried, hurrying up; "I have news for you!" + +"Well, well!" I exclaimed; "more news. The Old Harry is most certainly +taking a hand in our affairs." + +Marie Lagoutte had disappeared. The steward and his comrade entered the +Tower. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +SEBALT TRACKS THE PLAGUE. + + +Sperver's face wore a look of supreme indignation; Sebalt's one of +bitter irony. The master of the hounds, whose melancholy appearance had +struck me during my first days at Nideck, was as thin as a rail; he wore +a leather jacket fastened at the waist by a belt, from which hung a +hunting-knife with a bone handle; long leather gaiters reached above his +knees, and his horn hung at his elbow from a shoulder belt that went +from right to left across his chest. On his head was a broad-brimmed hat +with a heron's plume in the band, and his profile, terminating in a +yellowish beard, suggested that of a goat. + +"Yes," continued Sperver; "I have some news for you!" + +He threw himself into a chair, burying his face in his hands, while +Sebalt quietly drew his trumpet over his head and laid it on the table. + +"Come, Sebalt," cried Gideon, "speak out!" + +"The witch is roaming about the Castle." + +This information would have failed to interest me had it not been for +the interview with Marie Lagoutte; but now it made a deep impression +upon me. There was some mysterious connection between the Lord of Nideck +and this horrid creature, the nature of which was an enigma to me. I +felt that I must solve it at all costs. + +"One moment, gentlemen! one moment!" I said to Sperver and his comrade; +"first of all, I want to know where this Black Plague comes from." + +Sperver stared at me in astonishment. + +"Heaven only knows!" he cried. + +"At precisely what time does she come within sight of Nideck?" + +"I told you before! Just a week before Christmas every year." + +"And she stays?" + +"From a fortnight to three weeks." + +"Is she ever seen except at that time, either going or coming?" + +"No." + +"Then we shall have to catch her!" I exclaimed. "This is not natural! +We must find out what she wants, who she is, and where she comes from." + +"Catch her!" said the master of the hounds, with an odd smile. "Catch +her, indeed!" and he shook his head meaningly. + +"My dear Gaston," began Sperver, "your suggestion is all well enough, +but it is easier said than done. If I could send a bullet after her, +that would be another matter, for I can always come within gunshot of +her, but this the Count forbids; and as to taking her otherwise, you +might as well try to catch a squirrel by the tail. Listen to Sebalt's +story, and you shall see for yourself." + +The person thus addressed, sitting on the end of the table with his legs +crossed, looked at me and began: + +"This morning, as I was coming down the Altenberg, I followed the hollow +Nideck road. The snow was on a level with its edges. I was going along, +thinking of nothing in particular, when a foot-track caught my eye; it +was deep, and went straight across the path; the creature had come down +one side of the bank and gone up on the other. It wasn't a hare's foot, +for that makes hardly any mark in the snow; nor the cloven hoof of the +wild boar, nor a wolf's paw either; it was a deep hole. I stopped and +brushed away the snow that was collecting round it. It was the Black +Plague's track!" + +"How do you know that?" + +"How do I know it? I know the old hag's footprint better than her +figure, for I always go along with my eyes on the ground. I can +recognize any one in the country around by his foot-tracks, and a child +couldn't have mistaken this one." + +"What was there about it so very different from any other?" + +"It is no larger than your hand; it is finely shaped, the heel a trifle +long, the outline clean, and the great toe lies close to the others, as +if they were pressed into a slipper. It is a beautiful foot. Twenty +years ago, monsieur, I should have fallen in love with such a foot! +Every time I come across one like it, it makes a great impression on me. +Heavens! how can such a foot belong to the Black Plague?" And the good +fellow fixed his eyes on the floor with a dismal air. + +"Well, Sebalt, go on!" said Sperver impatiently. + +"To be sure! Well, I recognized the track, and I set out to follow it. I +was in hopes of catching the witch in her den, but you shall hear what a +dance she led me. I climbed up the roadside, only two gunshots from +Nideck, and struck off into the bushes, keeping the trail always on my +right; it ran along the edge of the Rhethal. Suddenly it jumped over the +ditch into the woods. I kept on, but happening to glance a little to the +left of it, I discovered another track that had been following the Black +Plague's. I stopped; 'Could it be Sperver's? or Kasper Trumpf's? or any +of the other people's?' I asked myself. I stooped over and examined it +closely, and you can fancy my surprise when I saw that it belonged to +nobody in this part of the country. I know every footprint from here to +Tübingen, and it was none of these. The owner must have come from a +distance. The boot--for it was a kind of soft, well-made boot, with a +spur that left a little rowelled line in the snow behind it--instead of +being rounded at the end, was square; the sole, thin and without nails, +bent at every step. The pace was short and hurried, like that of a man +from twenty to twenty-five. I noticed the stitches in the leather at +this glance, and I have never seen finer." + +"Who could it have been?" + +Sperver shrugged his shoulders and remained silent. + +"Who can have any object in following the old woman?" I asked, turning +to Sperver. + +"The devil himself, perhaps," he replied. + +We sat for some minutes, each one busied with his own reflections. + +"I started on again," pursued Sebalt finally; "the tracks led up the +mountain side amongst the fir-trees, and then turned off around the base +of the Roche Fendue. When I saw this, I said to myself, 'Ah! you old +hag! If there was much game of your sort, the sport of hunting would go +to the dogs. It would be better to work as a galley slave!' We came--the +two tracks and I--to the top of the Schneeberg. The wind had swept here +and the snow was up to my waist, but I must get on! I reached the banks +of the Steinbach torrent and there the Black Plague's foot-prints +ceased. I stopped, and saw that after having tried up and down, the +gentleman's boots had taken the direction of the Tiefenbach. This was a +bad sign. I looked at the opposite bank, but there was no sign of a +track there. The witch had waded either up or down the stream, to break +the scent. Where should I go? To right or left? In my uncertainty, by +Jove, I came back to Nideck." + +"You have forgotten to tell the doctor about her breakfast." + +"To be sure, monsieur! At the foot of the Roche Fendue, I saw she had +lighted a fire; the snow was black around it; and I laid my hand on the +spot, thinking that if it were still warm the Plague could not be far +away, but it was as cold as ice. I noticed a snare in the bushes close +by." + +"A snare?" + +"Yes; it seems the old creature knows how to manage traps. A hare had +been caught in it; the impression of his body was still there where he +had lain stretched out. The witch had lighted the fire to cook him; she +knows a thing or two, you see!" + +"Just to think," cried Sperver angrily, "that this old wretch should +find meat to feed on, when so many honest people of our villages are +starving for the want of a bit of bread! It infuriates me! If I only had +her in my clutches--!" + +He had no time to finish his sentence. The next moment, we were staring +into each other's ashy faces, speechless and immovable. A howl--the howl +of a wolf on a bitter winter's night--a cry that you must have heard to +comprehend in the least, the agonized plaint of the savage beast,--was +echoing through the Castle, and seemed not far from us. It rose from +below, so fearfully distinct that we fancied the wild animal just +outside our door. + +We often hear quoted, as the most terrible of sounds, the roar of the +lion, as he rends the silence of approaching night in the immensity of +the desert. But if the parched and burning sands of Africa have their +voice, like the sound of the autumn tempest growling among the crags of +the forest, so, too, have the vast, snowy plains of the North their +characteristic cry, that accords so well with the dreary winter +landscape, where all is sleeping, and not even a dead leaf rustles to +disturb the perfect stillness; and this cry,--it is the howl of the +wolf! + +Rousing himself with difficulty, Sperver sprang from his chair, rushed +to the window, and stared down at the foot of the Tower. + +"Can a wolf have fallen into the moat?" he cried. + +But the howls came from within the Castle. Then turning to us: + +"Gaston! Sebalt!" he cried, "come on!" + +We flew down the stairs four steps at a time, and rushed into the +armory. Sperver drew his hunting-knife, and Sebalt followed his example; +they preceded me along the gallery. The cries were guiding us towards +the chamber of the sick man. Sperver spoke no more, and hurried his +steps. I felt a shudder pass over me; something forewarned us that an +abominable scene was about to transpire before our eyes. + +As we approached the Count's apartment, we found the whole household +afoot--hunters, kennel-keepers, and scullions, running this way and +that, and asking each other, "What is the matter? where are the cries +coming from?" Without waiting for anything, we dashed into the corridor +which led to the Count's chamber, and in the vestibule we encountered +the good Marie Lagoutte, who alone had had the courage to proceed there +before us. She was holding in her arms the young Countess, who had +fainted, and was hurrying her away as rapidly as she could. So agitated +was I at this pathetic sight that for the moment I forgot the Count, and +I sprang forward to Odile's aid; but Marie Lagoutte begged me to hurry +to the Count, as her mistress was only in a faint and would soon revive, +when she would be terribly distressed if I were not at her father's +bedside. Realizing that in spite of my preferences my first duty was to +my patient, I reluctantly quitted them, and hastened to overtake my +companions. + +We reached the Count's room. The howls were coming from within. + +[Illustration: "THEN HE WOULD RESUME HIS FRIGHTFUL CRIES."] + +We stared at one another, trying in vain to explain the presence of such +a guest. Our ideas were in utter confusion. Sperver threw open the door, +and with his hunting-knife tightly grasped, started to enter the room; +but he paused on the threshold, motionless as a stone. I glanced over +his shoulder, and the sight that presented itself to my gaze froze +the blood in my veins. The Count of Nideck, crouching on all-fours on +the bed, his head bent forward and his eyes glowing fiercely, was +uttering these terrible howls. He was the wolf! That low forehead, that +long, pointed face, that bristling beard, that long, thin body, and +those wasted limbs,--the expression, the cry, the attitude,--all bespoke +the savage beast beneath a human mask. At times he would stop for a +second to listen, and the tall curtains of the bed would tremble like +leaves. Then he would resume his frightful cries. + +Sperver, Sebalt, and I stood nailed to the floor; we held our breath. +Suddenly the Count stopped; like the hunted animal that sniffs the +breeze, he raised his head and listened. Far, far away beneath the +lofty arches of the snow-clad pines, a cry was heard; feeble at first, +it seemed to grow louder as it was prolonged, and soon it rose clear and +strong above the roaring of the storm. It was the she-wolf answering its +mate. + +Sperver, turning towards me with livid face, his arm pointing to the +mountain, cried: + +"Listen, it is the witch!" + +The Count, motionless, with raised head and extended neck, his mouth +wide open, and eyeballs glowing like coals, seemed to understand the +meaning of the distant voice, lost in the midst of the deserted gorges +of the Black Forest, and a certain savage joy gleamed in his face. At +this moment Sperver cried in a broken voice: + +"Count of Nideck! What are you doing?" + +The Count fell backwards as if thunderstruck. We rushed into the room to +his assistance. The third attack had begun, and it was terrible to +witness. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +THE PLAGUE IN MY CHAMBER.--THE MIDNIGHT SCENE ON THE ALTENBERG. + + +The Count of Nideck was in a dying condition. All that art might +accomplish I had tried without avail, and at that moment, when life and +death were struggling for the mastery, I was compelled to stand idly by +and watch the sands of Time's hour-glass run out. Towards midnight, the +Count seemed almost gone; his pulse beat feebly, and at times seemed to +stop. Sometimes I thought the end was but the question of a few moments. +At length, worn out with exhaustion and anxiety, I bid the weeping +Sperver remain with his master while I repaired to the Tower to snatch +a few moments' sleep. + +A bright fire was burning in my chamber. I threw myself on the bed +without removing my clothes, and soon fell into a heavy, troubled +slumber. I slept thus, with my face turned towards the fire, whose rays +danced upon the polished flagstones. After an hour, the fire suddenly +started up, and as it often happens, the flame, rising and falling +momentarily, beat upon the walls its great red wings and tired my +eyelids. Lost in a vague slumber, I half opened my eyes to see whence +came these alternate lights and shadows, when I was brought wide awake +by an appalling sight. + +[Illustration: "I RAISED MYSELF ON MY ELBOW AND STARED FEARFULLY IN THE +DIRECTION."] + +At the further end of the hearth, hardly revealed by the light of a few +glowing embers, a dark profile was dimly visible,--the profile of the +Black Plague. At first, I thought it an hallucination, the natural +offspring of my feverish thoughts. I raised myself on my elbow, and +stared fearfully in the direction, real or fancied, of the image. It was +she indeed! Calm and motionless she sat, her hands clasped about her +knees, just as I had seen her in the snow, with her long, thin neck, +sharp, hooked nose, and thin lips tightly closed,--and she was warming +herself before the fire. + +I was horrified. How could the creature have got into my room? How could +she have climbed the Tower, beneath which precipices yawned on every +side? Everything that Sperver had told me concerning her mysterious +power seemed no whit exaggerated. The vision of Lieverlé growling +against the wall passed before me like a flash. I huddled close in the +alcove, hardly daring to breathe, and watching this immovable silhouette +as a mouse watches a cat from the bottom of its hole. The old woman +stirred no more than the chimney-breast cut in the solid rock, and her +lips moved as she mumbled inarticulate words. + +My heart beat painfully fast, and my fear increased from moment to +moment, as I gazed on the motionless figure amid the perfect silence. +This lasted perhaps a quarter of an hour, when the fire catching a pine +splinter, the flame leaped up and a few rays penetrated to the end of +the room. This flash sufficed to show me the aged woman dressed in an +old gown of purple brocade that shimmered violet and red in different +lights, with a heavy bracelet on her left wrist and a gold arrow stuck +through her thick, gray hair, which was coiled up on the back of her +head. It was like an apparition of past ages. + +Still, the Plague could have no hostile designs upon me, or she would +have profited by my slumber to execute them. This thought was beginning +to reassure me, when she suddenly got up and moved slowly towards my +bed, holding in her hand a torch which she had just lighted at the fire. +I now observed that her eyes were fixed and haggard. I made an effort to +rise and cry out, but not a muscle of my body would obey my will, not a +sound passed my lips, and the old witch, bending over me between the +parted curtains, fixed her eyes on me with a strange smile. I tried to +spring upon her and cry for help, but her glance paralyzed me as the +snake's look charms the tiny bird. During this dumb contemplation, each +second seemed to me an eternity. What was she about to do? I was +prepared for anything. Suddenly she turned her head, listened, and then +crossing the room with a rapid step, she opened the door. At last I had +recovered a little courage; an effort of the will brought me to my feet, +as if acted upon by an invisible spring, and I followed on the heels of +the old woman, who with one hand was holding her torch above her head, +and with the other kept the hall-door wide open. + +I was about to seize her by the hair when, at the end of the long +gallery, beneath the oval archway that opened upon the ramparts, I +saw--the Count of Nideck! The Count of Nideck, whom I thought dying, +clad in a huge wolf-skin, with its upper jaw projecting like a visor +over his eyebrows, the claws resting on his shoulders, and the tail +dragging behind him over the flagstones. He wore heavy boots, a silver +clasp fastened the wolf-skin at his throat, and his expression, except +for the dull, icy look in his eyes, bespoke the strong man born to +command,--the master. + +In the presence of such a personage my ideas became vague and confused. +Flight was impossible. I had presence of mind enough left, however, to +throw myself into an embrasure of the window. + +The Count entered the chamber and fixed upon the old woman a rigid +stare. They held a whispered conversation, of which I was able to hear +nothing, but their gestures were full of meaning. The old hag pointed to +the bed. They moved to the fireplace on tiptoe, and there in the shadow +of the triforium the Black Plague unrolled a large bundle, grinning +hideously meanwhile. Hardly had the Count caught sight of the sack, +before he sprang to the bedside and disappeared between the curtains, +which stirred in a strange fashion. I could only see one leg still +resting on the floor, and the wolf's tail moving back and forth. They +seemed to be enacting a mock murder scene. + +Nothing could have been more horrible than this mute representation of +such an act. The old creature approached the bed in turn, and spread out +her sack on the floor beside it. The curtains still moved, and their +shadows danced upon the walls. Then a great movement succeeded. The old +creature and the Count together crowded the bed clothes into the sack, +stamping them down with the haste of a dog scratching a hole in the +earth, and the Lord of Nideck, throwing the shapeless bundle over his +shoulder, started for the door. A sheet dragged behind him, and the old +woman followed him with her torch. They crossed the court. + +My knees trembled and almost refused to support my weight; a prayer rose +involuntarily to my lips. Two minutes had not passed before I was on +their footsteps, dragged along by a subtle, irresistible curiosity. I +crossed the court at a run, and was about to enter the Gothic Tower, +when I perceived a deep, narrow pit at my feet, and into its depths +wound a staircase, down which I saw the hag's torch turning, turning +about the stone baluster like a firefly, until it became lost in the +distance. + +I descended in turn the first steps of the staircase, guiding my course +by the distant glimmer, when it suddenly disappeared. The old woman and +the Count had reached the bottom of the precipice. Soon the steps +ceased. I looked around me and discovered on my left hand a ray of +moonlight that found its way into the pit through a low door, across +the nettles and brambles laden with hoar-frost. I put aside these +bushes, clearing away the snow with my feet, and found myself at the +foot of Hugh's donjon-tower. Who would have supposed that such a hole +led up to the Castle? Who had shown it to the old woman? I did not stop +to answer these questions. The vast plain lay before me, flooded with a +light almost equal to that of day. To the right stretched the dark +extent of the Black Forest, with its perpendicular rocks, its gorges and +ravines. The night air was still and bitter cold; I felt exalted by the +keen atmosphere. My first glance was to discover the direction which the +old woman and the Count had taken. Their tall, dark forms were moving +slowly up the mountain side some two hundred paces in advance of me, +and stood out against the background of the heavens studded with +innumerable stars. I came close up to them at the bottom of the next +ravine. The Count moved slowly on, the winding-sheet still dragging +behind him. His attitude and movements, like those of his companion, +were automatic in their precision. + +On they went, some twenty paces before me, following the hollow road to +the Altenberg, now in the shadow, now in the full light, for the moon +was shining with surprising brilliancy. A few clouds followed her, and +seemed as if stretching out their great arms to seize her; but she +evaded them, and her rays, cold as a blade of steel, cut me to the +heart. + +I would gladly have turned back, but an invisible power impelled me to +follow this funeral procession. Even to this hour, I still see in fancy +the path that winds beneath the colonnades of the Black Forest. I hear +the snow crunching beneath my step, and the fallen leaves rustling in +the gently stirring north wind. I still see myself following those two +silent figures, and I try in vain to explain to myself the mysterious +impulse which caused me to dog their footsteps. + +At last we reached the forest and proceeded amongst the naked beeches, +the dark shadows of whose higher boughs intersected the lower branches +and traced their outlines on the snow-covered path. Sometimes I fancied +I heard some one behind me; I would turn quickly around, but could see +nothing. + +We gained at length the line of crags on the summit of the Altenberg, +behind which the torrent of the Schneeberg rushes earlier in the year, +but now there was only a mere thread of water slowly trickling beneath +its thick covering of ice. The vast solitude no longer had its murmurs, +its warblings, and its thunder; its oppressive stillness inspired fear. +The Count and the old woman found a gap in the rocks, up which they +mounted quickly and apparently without effort, while I was obliged to +scramble up, clinging to the bushes in order to follow them. + +Scarcely had I reached the top of the rock which forms a corner of the +precipice, when I found myself within three yards of them, and before +me I saw a bottomless abyss. On the left hung the falls of the +Schneeberg in sheets of ice. This resemblance to a wave leaping into the +precipice, and bearing with it the neighboring trees, sucking up the +underbrush and cleaving the ivys that follow on its crest without +becoming uprooted; this appearance of mighty movement in the +immovableness of death, and those two silent forms proceeding with their +sinister work, all inspired me with indescribable terror. Nature herself +seemed to share in my feelings. + +The Count had laid down his burden; the old woman and he swung it for a +moment above the precipice, then the long shroud floated over the edge, +and the actors in this awful drama bent over to watch it as it fell. +The long, white sheet, swelling upwards as it met the rising breath of +the chasm, and then falling slowly and disappearing from sight, still +floats before my eyes. I see it sinking like the swan shot far up in the +sky, her wings spread out and head thrown back, falling to earth in the +agony of death. + +At this moment a cloud which had long been approaching the moon slowly +veiled her in its bluish folds; complete darkness succeeded. After a +little the moon appeared again through a rift in the clouds, and I saw +the old woman seize the Count's hand and drag him along with dangerous +speed down the mountain side. Then it became dark again, and I dared not +risk a step lest I should fall headlong into an abyss. Once more the +clouds parted. I looked about me and found myself alone on the high +rock, knee-deep in snow. Seized with horror, I made my way cautiously +down the steep declivity, and once on the plain I started to run towards +the Castle, as much stunned as if I had shared in some dark crime. + +As for the Lord of Nideck and the old woman, I had lost sight of them. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +I LOSE MY WAY AND PASS THE NIGHT IN THE DWARF'S LODGE. + + +I wandered around the Castle, unable to find the opening through which I +had come out on to the plain. So much anxiety and emotion began to tell +upon my mind; I moved aimlessly along, asking myself with dread if +madness were not playing a part in my fancies, unable to believe what I +had seen, and yet alarmed at the clearness of my perceptions. The image +of the master of Nideck waving his torch in the darkness, howling like a +wolf, coolly accomplishing an imaginary crime, without omitting a +gesture, a circumstance, not even the smallest detail, then escaping and +committing to the abyss the secret of the murder, harassed my mind and +hung over me like a nightmare. I ran breathless and distracted through +the snow, not knowing in what direction to guide my steps. + +As day approached, the cold became more intense. At last, exhausted, my +legs feeling like lead, and my ears half frozen, I succeeded in +discovering the iron grating, and I rang the bell with all my might. It +was then about four o'clock in the morning. Knapwurst kept me waiting a +terribly long time. His little lodge, built against the rock, just +within the principal gate, remained quite silent; it seemed to me that +the dwarf would never finish dressing, for I had fancied him in bed and +soundly sleeping. + +I rang again, and this time his grotesque figure emerged abruptly from +his doorway, and he cried furiously: + +"Who's there?" + +"I! The Doctor!" + +"Ah! that is another matter! I'll see whether you are telling the +truth." + +He went back into his lodge to get a lantern, crossed the outer court +with the snow up to his middle, and staring at me through the grating: + +"I beg your pardon, monsieur the doctor," he said; "I thought you were +asleep up-stairs in Hugh's Tower. It was you ringing! Now I see why +Sperver came to me at midnight to ask if any one had gone out. I said +no, for I never saw you go out." + +"But for Heaven's sake, Knapwurst, open the door! You can tell me all +this later." + +"Be patient for a moment, monsieur." + +And the dwarf deliberately turned the lock and drew back the bolts, +while I stood with my teeth chattering, and shivering from head to foot. + +"You are cold, Doctor," observed the diminutive porter, "and you cannot +get into the Castle. Sperver has fastened the inside door, I don't know +why; he doesn't ordinarily; the grating is enough. Come into the lodge +and warm yourself. You won't find my room much to boast of; properly +speaking, it is nothing but a sty, but when you are cold you don't spend +much time in looking about." + +Without replying to his chatter I followed him as rapidly as possible, +burning with impatience to learn what things were passing in the Castle, +but seeing nothing for it but to wait till dawn. + +We entered the lodge, and in spite of my state of complete frigidity, I +could not help admiring the picturesque disorder of this species of +nest. The slate roof leaned against the rock on one side, and on the +other against a wall six to seven feet high, disclosing to view the +blackened beams propped up against each other. The lodge consisted of a +single room, furnished with a bed which the gnome did not take the +trouble to make up very often, and two small dusty windows with +hexagonal panes which the moon turned to mother-of-pearl with its pale +rays. A large, square table occupied the middle of the room. How this +massive oak table had ever been brought through the narrow doorway, it +would have been difficult to explain. Upon a few shelves were arranged +some old volumes and rolls of parchment, and on the table lay open an +enormous tome with illuminated initial letters, bound in vellum, with a +silver clasp and corners; it looked to me like a collection of old +chronicles. Lastly, two armchairs, one covered with red leather and the +other upholstered with a down cushion, and bearing the unmistakable +impression of the dwarf's body, completed the furniture of the place. + +I will not stop to describe the desk with its five or six pens, the +tobacco jar, the pipes scattered variously about, the little, low, iron +stove in one corner of the room, with its door standing open, red hot, +and sending a shower of sparks from time to time on to the stone floor, +and the spitting cat with her back arched and her paw lifted in defiance +of me. + +All these objects were veiled in that smoky amber light which rests the +eye, and of which the old Flemish masters alone possessed the secret. + +"So you went out last night, monsieur the doctor," Knapwurst said to me +when we were comfortably seated, he before his volume and I with my +hands stretched out before the fire. + +"Yes, rather early. A woodcutter of the Black Forest needed my services; +he had cut his left foot with an axe stroke." + +This explanation appeared to satisfy the dwarf; he lighted his black +pipe, which hung down over his chin. + +"You don't smoke, monsieur?" + +"Indeed I do!" + +"Well, help yourself to a pipe! I was just here," he said, stretching +his long, yellow hand over the page, "reading the chronicles of Hertzog +when you rang." + +I now understood why he had kept me standing so long in the cold. + +"You waited to finish your chapter," I said smiling. + +"Yes, monsieur," he admitted; and we laughed together. + +"However, if I had known it was you, I should have put it off till +another time," he added. + +A silence of some minutes followed, during which I studied the truly +remarkable physiognomy of the dwarf: those deep wrinkles at the corners +of his mouth, those little squinting eyes, the broad, unshapely nose +rounded at the end, and especially his swelling, double-storied +forehead. I noticed in his face something of the expression of Socrates, +and as I warmed myself before the crackling blaze, I reflected upon the +strange fortunes of certain of us. + +"Here is this dwarf," I said to myself, "this unsightly, stunted +creature, exiled into a corner of Nideck like the cricket that sings +beneath the hearthstone; this Knapwurst, who, in the midst of all these +excitements, hunting-parties and gay cavalcades going and coming, the +baying of hounds, stamping of horses, and winding of the hunters' horn, +lives quietly alone, buried in his books, and thinking only of times +long past, indifferent whether all is in songs or tears around him, +whether it is spring, summer, or autumn that comes to peep in at him +through his little dusty window panes, reanimating, warming or chilling +the breast of Nature outside. While others are living, blessed with the +hope and magic of love, striving to gratify ambition or avarice, +plotting, coveting, and longing, he hopes for nothing, covets nothing, +wishes nothing. He sits and smokes his pipe, and with his eyes fixed on +the old parchment before him, he dreams and revels in things that no +longer exist, perhaps never had any existence--what matters it to +him--'Hertzog says this,' 'such a one has it differently,'--and he is +happy. His parchment skin gets more and more wrinkled, his sharp elbows +dig holes in the table, while his long fingers bury themselves in his +cheeks, and his little gray eyes roam over Latin, Greek, and Etruscan +characters. He goes into ecstasies, he licks his lips like a cat who has +just lapped up a saucer of cream, and then he lies down on his cot, with +his knees drawn up under the coverlid, and thinks he has passed the best +possible kind of a day. O God of Heaven! Is it at the top or at the +bottom of the ladder that we find the true application of your laws, and +the accomplishment of the duties you have imposed?" + +Meanwhile the snow was melting from my legs, and the grateful warmth of +the stove restored my spirits. I felt reanimated in this atmosphere of +tobacco smoke and resinous pine. Knapwurst laid his pipe on the table, +and passing his hand once more across the folio: + +"Monsieur de la Roche," he said in a grave tone that seemed to come from +the bottom of his conscience, or if you prefer, from the depths of a +twenty-five gallon cask, "here is the law and the prophets." + +"How do you mean, Knapwurst?" + +"Parchment, old parchment, is what I love. These old yellow leaves, +eaten by worms, are all that is left us of times long gone by, from +Charlemagne to our own day. The ancient families have disappeared, but +the old parchments remain. Where would be the glory of the +Hohenstauferns, the Liningens, the Nidecks, and so many other noble +families, were it not for these? Where would be the fame of their +title-rights, their deeds of arms, their heroic actions, their distant +expeditions to the Holy Land, their ancient alliances and claims, and +their conquests, did they not stand in these chronicles? These lofty +barons, dukes, and princes would be as if they never existed--they and +everything relating to them far and near. + +"Their great castles, fortunes, and palaces crumble and fall, and their +ruins serve as vague reminders. Of all this a single memorial +remains,--the chronicles, the history, the songs of bards and +minnesingers,--parchment alone is left to us!" + +A brief silence followed, then Knapwurst resumed: + +"And in those distant times, when brave knights went forth to war, +disputing and fighting over a bit of forest, title, or a lesser matter +yet, with what contempt did they look upon this wretched little scribe, +this man of letters and mystery, clad in ratteen, his only weapon an ink +bottle dangling at his belt, and the handle of his pen for a plume. How +often they jeered him, crying, 'That fellow is an atom, a flea; he is +good for nothing; he cannot even collect our taxes or manage our +estates, while we fine chaps go out on our mounts with lance in hand, +ready for anything that comes in our way!' Thus they talked when they +saw the poor devil dragging along behind them, shivering in winter, +sweating in summer, and growing feeble in his old age. Ah, well! this +atom, this flea, has caused them to survive long after their castles +have turned to dust and their arms have rusted away, and for my part I +love these old parchments; I respect and revere them. Like ivy, they +clothe the ruins and prevent the old walls from crumbling away and +becoming entirely effaced." + +Having given such expression to his thoughts, Knapwurst seemed grave, +and reflecting upon these things his eyes filled with the tears of +affectionate remembrance. The dwarf loved those who had tolerated and +protected his ancestors. After all, he spoke the truth; there was +profound good sense in his words. His warmth surprised me. + +"Have you learned Latin, Knapwurst?" I asked him. + +"Yes, monsieur," he replied, "I taught myself Latin and Greek. Old +grammars were enough,--some of the Count's thrown into the ash-barrel; +they fell into my hands and I devoured them. Some time after, the Lord +of Nideck having chanced to hear me make some Latin quotation was +surprised. + +"'Who taught you Latin, Knapwurst?' he asked. + +"'I taught myself, monseigneur.' + +"He asked me some questions, which I answered pretty well. + +"'By Jove!' he cried, 'Knapwurst knows more than I do! He shall keep my +archives.' + +"And he gave me the key to the archive chamber. During the thirty years +since then, I have read every page. Sometimes the Count, seeing me on my +ladder, stops a minute and says to me: + +"'Ha! ha! What are you doing up there, Knapwurst?' + +"'I am reading the family records, monseigneur.' + +"'And you enjoy it?' + +"'Very much, monseigneur.' + +"'Well, well! I am glad to hear it; if it weren't for you, Knapwurst, +who would know of the glory of the Nidecks?' and he goes off laughing. I +do as I please here!" + +"He is a good master then?" + +"Oh, monsieur, what a heart, and what kindness!" exclaimed the dwarf, +clasping his hands. "He has but one fault." + +"And what is that?" + +"He has no ambition." + +"How so?" + +"Why, he could have attained to anything. A Nideck! One of the most +illustrious families of Germany! Think of that, monsieur! He had only to +choose; he might have been a minister or a field-marshal. But no! In his +youth he retired from political life. With the exception of a campaign +that he conducted in France, at the head of a regiment which he raised +by his own exertions--with this exception, he has always lived far from +noise and strife, simple and almost unknown, only interesting himself in +his hunting." + +These details were of the greatest interest to me. The conversation was +taking, of its own accord, the direction that I most wished, and I +resolved to profit by my opportunity. + +"The Count has never had any great passions in his life, then?" I asked. + +"None, monsieur; and that is the pity, for noble passions make the +renown of great families. It is a misfortune for the member of a noble +race to be devoid of ambition. He allows his family to degenerate. I +could cite many examples in proof of what I say. That which would be the +pride of the tradesman's family, would be the ruin of the illustrious." + +I was amazed; all my speculations regarding the Count's past life were +fast being disproved. + +"However, the Count has met with many reverses, has he not?" + +"Of what nature?" + +"He has lost his wife?" + +"Yes, you are right; his wife was an angel. He married her for love; she +was a daughter of one the oldest and noblest families of Alsace, but +ruined by the Revolution. The Countess Odette was her husband's sole +happiness. She died of a lingering illness that lasted over the space of +five years; every means was resorted to to save her life. They travelled +together in Italy, but she returned worse than she went, and succumbed +some three weeks after their return. The Count came near dying himself +of a broken heart. For two years he shut himself up and would see +nobody. His dogs and horses were neglected. Time at length calmed his +grief, but there has ever been something here." (The dwarf laid his +finger on his heart.) "You understand; it is a bleeding wound. Old +wounds pain us in change of weather, and old griefs, too, when the +flowers spring up above the tomb, and in autumn when the dead leaves +cover the ground. The Count has never wished to marry again; his +daughter is the sole object of his affection." + +"So this marriage was always a happy one?" + +"Happy? It was a blessing for everybody!" + +I was silent. Evidently the Count had not committed, could not have +committed, a crime. I was obliged to yield to the weight of evidence; +but then that nocturnal scene, these strange relations with the Black +Plague, that horrible pantomime and the remorse in a dream which forced +the couple to betray their past--what did it all mean? I became lost in +thought. + +Knapwurst relighted his pipe and reached me one, which I accepted. The +chill which had seized me had by this time passed away. I was +experiencing that delicious period of inaction which follows the fatigue +caused by unusual exertions, when, sprawled out in a big armchair in the +chimney-corner and enveloped in a cloud of smoke, you abandon yourself +to the pleasure of repose and listen to the blending of the cricket's +chant with the unearthly singing of the green log on the hearth. We sat +thus for a quarter of an hour. + +"The Count sometimes gets angry with his daughter," I ventured to +remark. Knapwurst started, and fixing on me a suspicious, almost +hostile look, replied: + +"I know, I know!" + +I watched him with a sidelong glance, thinking that I might learn +something new, but he added ironically: + +"The towers of Nideck are high, and slander flies too low to reach +them!" + +"Undoubtedly; but it is a fact, nevertheless, is it not?" + +"Yes; but this is a mere crotchet, an effect of his malady. Once the +crisis is passed, all his affection for the Countess Odile returns. It +is curious, monsieur, a lover of twenty years could not be more devoted, +more affectionate than he. This young woman is his one joy and pride. +Only fancy, no less than a dozen times I have seen him ride off to get +her a dress, or flowers, or some like trifle. He would not entrust this +commission to any one, not even to his faithful Sperver. The Countess +does not even dare to express a wish in his presence, lest he should +commit some new extravagance. In a word, monsieur, I assure you that the +Count of Nideck is the worthiest of men, the tenderest of fathers, and +the best of masters. As for the poachers who ravaged his forests, the +old Count Ludwig would have hanged them without mercy; but our Count +tolerates them; he even makes them his gamekeepers. Take Sperver, for +instance! If Count Ludwig was still alive, Sperver's bones would be +clicking together like castanets, at the end of a rope, while as it is, +he is the steward and man-of-affairs at the Castle." + +My theories were fast falling to the ground. I rested my head between my +hands and thought for a long time. Knapwurst, supposing that I was +asleep, had resumed his reading. The gray dawn appeared through the tiny +panes; the lamplight paled, and vague murmurs arose within the Castle. +Suddenly footsteps sounded outside, some one passed before the window, +the door opened abruptly, and Gideon appeared on the threshold. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +I AM SUMMONED TO THE COUNTESS' CHAMBER, AND MAKE A CONFESSION. + + +Sperver's pale face and rapid glance intimated that something unusual +was happening; nevertheless, he was calm and did not appear surprised at +my presence in Knapwurst's room. + +"Gaston," he said briefly, "I have come to get you!" + +I rose without replying and followed him. No sooner had we left the +lodge than he seized me by the arm and drew me hastily towards the +Castle. + +"The Countess Odile wants to speak to you," he whispered. + +"The Countess! Is she ill?" + +"No, she is quite recovered, but something unusual is going on. This +morning at about one o'clock, thinking that the Count was about to +breathe his last, I went to wake the Countess, but as I was on the point +of ringing, my heart failed me. 'Why should I fill her with despair?' I +asked myself. 'She will learn of her misfortune soon enough; and then to +wake her up in the middle of the night, when she is so frail and broken +by so much sorrow, might prove her own death-blow.' I stood some minutes +reflecting what course to pursue, and at last I decided to take the +responsibility upon myself, and I returned to the Count's room. I looked +about; no one was there. Impossible! the man was in his last agonies! I +ran along the corridor like a madman; no one was to be seen! I entered +the gallery; no one there! Then I lost my head and rushed again to the +Countess Odile's chamber. This time I rang. She appeared in tears. + +"'My father is dead?' + +"'No, madame!' + +"'He has disappeared?' + +"'Yes; I left the room for a moment, and when I returned--' + +"'And Monsieur de la Roche; where is he?' + +"'In Hugh's Tower.' + +"'In the Tower!' + +"She threw on a dressing-gown, seized a lamp and hurried out. I remained +behind. A quarter of an hour afterwards she returned, her feet covered +with snow, and very pale; it was pitiful to see. She set the lamp on +the mantelpiece, and looking steadily at me, she said: + +"'Was it you who put the doctor in the Tower?' + +"'Yes, madame.' + +"'Unhappy man! you will never know the harm that you have done!' + +"I wanted to reply, but she stopped me. + +"'That is enough! Go and fasten all the doors and lie down. I will sit +up myself. To-morrow morning you will go and find the doctor in +Knapwurst's lodge, and you will bring him to me. Breathe no word of this +to anybody! Remember you have seen nothing and know nothing!'" + +"Is that all, Sperver?" + +He nodded gravely. + +"And the Count?" + +"He has come back again; he seems better." + +We had reached the antechamber. Gideon knocked gently on the door, then +opened it, announcing, "Monsieur the doctor." + +[Illustration: "I STEPPED FORWARD AND FOUND MYSELF IN THE PRESENCE OF +ODILE."] + +I stepped forward and found myself in the presence of Odile. Sperver +withdrew, closing the door behind him. + +A strange impression was produced upon my mind by the appearance of the +young Countess, robed in a long gown of black velvet, and standing pale +and firm with her hand resting on the back of an armchair, her eyes +glistening with a feverish light. + +"Monsieur," she said, pointing to a chair; "pray be seated. I wish to +speak with you upon a very grave subject." + +I obeyed silently. She seated herself in turn, and seemed trying to +arrange her thoughts. + +"Chance, monsieur," she continued after a moment, fixing her large blue +eyes upon me--"chance or Providence, I know not which to call it--has +made you the witness of a mystery in which is involved the honor of our +family." + +She knew everything, then. I was astonished. + +"Let us call it Providence!" I cried. "Who knows but that through me the +spell that has so long overhung the Castle is destined to be broken?" + +"All this is frightful!" she continued; then in a despairing tone, "My +father is not guilty of this crime!" + +I sprang up, and stretching out my hands deprecatingly, I exclaimed: + +"I know it, mademoiselle; I know of the Count's past life, and it is one +of the purest that it would be possible to conceive!" + +Odile half rose from her chair as if to protest against any harsh +judgment of her father, but seeing me myself undertake his defence, she +sank back, and covering her face with her hands, burst into tears. + +"God bless you, monsieur," she murmured; "had you entertained a +suspicion of my father, it would have killed me!" + +"Why, mademoiselle! Who could mistake for realities the unreasoning +actions of the somnambulist?" + +"That is true, monsieur. I had reflected upon this myself--but +appearances--I feared--pardon me--but I should have remembered that you +are a man of honor." + +"Pray, dear Countess, calm yourself!" I exclaimed, feeling myself on the +verge of losing my composure, so deeply was I moved by the grief of my +beloved mistress. + +"No," she cried; "let me weep. These tears are a relief. I have suffered +so for the past ten years! This secret, so long locked in my breast, was +killing me, and I should have died at last like my dear mother! God has +taken pity on me, and he has sent you to share the burden with me. Let +me tell you all, monsieur, let me--" She could not continue; her voice +was stifled in sobs. Her proud and high-strung nature, after having +conquered grief so long, had succumbed to the fateful happening of the +night before; the seal once broken and her secret betrayed, her +vanquished nature, still struggling to shield its sacred trust, sought a +grateful relief in unrestrained tears. + +My one sentiment of love and sympathy, repressed until that moment, now +demanded expression with a power which I was unable to gainsay. I cast +all prudence to the winds, and dropping on one knee beside Odile, I +seized the delicate hands that covered her face and drew them gently +away until her sorrowing glance rested on my face. + +"Odile!" I said, as her name rose naturally to my lips, in a voice so +choked with emotion as to be hardly more than a whisper, "forgive my +rashness, but it no longer rests with me to speak or not as I choose! I +might never have said anything of this, at least not now, but your +suffering affects me so powerfully that to be silent longer is not +within my power. It must have been evident to you, had you cared to read +it, that I love you and have loved you, far, far dearer than life +itself, ever since my eyes first rested upon you in the Count's chamber, +that first night when I came to the Castle. I cannot ask pardon for it! +No! For I am convinced that no man could be near you for even this brief +time and experience the wonderful charm of your being, to say nothing of +witnessing your present sorrow, without feeling himself moved to the +depths of his own nature. Odile, I love you! I see no goal in life but +you, no future but one passed in your divine companionship; and though +you might well reproach me for choosing such a moment to tell you so, +believe me, it is through no wish to take advantage of your confidence. +Did I feel myself guilty of such baseness, I should despise myself more +than you could possibly do. Odile, my darling, I could not choose but +speak. I must tell you this, even though it should be at the cost of +your further favor!" + +As I spoke, Odile's eyes were fastened on my face with an expression of +surprise, indeed, but in it there was no trace of disfavor, and her +hands were not withdrawn from mine. A bright flush that, for the first +time since I knew her, had succeeded to her usual pallor, mounted to her +cheeks and served to increase her matchless beauty. + +She remained silent for some moments still, and I could perceive the +agitation which my words had caused her, by the slight tremor of her +frame and her quickened breathing. + +At length she began, with her clear, frank gaze fastened on my face: + +"I am deeply sensible of the honor you do me in expressing yourself as +you have done, and I am convinced that no woman can do otherwise than +feel a sense of the greatest satisfaction in knowing that she is so +regarded by an honorable man. I must confess," she continued after a +moment of hesitation, "that your words are far from being indifferent or +unwelcome to me! Oh, how strange are the circumstances of my life! I +know not how to reply to you! I know not--" + +And she paused, at a loss how to continue. + +I was happy. Odile had confessed enough to make me feel that I could +bide my time for the present without endangering my future hopes; +indeed, I felt that it might be wisdom to grant her time more fully to +determine her sentiments, before pursuing the victory already won. I was +now about to share in the secret of her life at her own request; and I +resolved, if the reason of her vow should be explained, as I felt it +must, to controvert it by any honorable means. + +"You have said enough to make me supremely happy!" I exclaimed. "You +have not denied me the happiness of hope, and I shall not despair! +Meanwhile, whatever I may win is fairly mine, is it not?" + +"Yes," murmured Odile, with just the slightest smile, in which I fancied +there was less sorrow than before. + +"And now, dear one, I fear I have been selfish in intruding my own +feelings where so much grief is present! Pray forgive me, and continue +your story." + +I pressed her hands once more, and as she gently disengaged them I +resumed my chair. + +Odile dried her tear-stained cheeks, and resting her face on her fair +hand she began: + +"When I go back into the past, and return to my earliest dreams, I see +again my mother. She was a stately woman, pale and silent, and still +young at the time of which I am now speaking. She was scarcely thirty +years, and you would have thought her at least fifty. White locks +veiled her thoughtful forehead; her thin cheeks and severe profile, and +her lips ever firmly closed with an expression of pain, gave to her +features a strange character, in which grief and pride were blended. +There was nothing that suggested youth in this old woman of thirty; +nothing but her upright, haughty bearing, her brilliant eyes, and her +voice, pure and sweet as the dreams of childhood. She often walked up +and down for hours together in this very chamber, with her head bowed +down, and I ran happily along by her side, little knowing that my mother +was deep in sorrow, too young to comprehend the grief that was preying +upon her heart. I knew nothing of the past; the present alone possessed +any reality for me; this was happiness, and the future was but +to-morrow's play." Odile smiled sadly, and resumed: + +"Sometimes it happened that in the midst of my dancing about her, I +would interrupt my mother's walk, and she would stop, and seeing me at +her feet, bend down and kiss me on the forehead with a far-off smile; +then she would resume her interrupted walk. Since then, when I have +wished to search my memory for remembrances of those early days, this +tall, pale woman has appeared before me like the image of melancholy +itself. There she is," she exclaimed, pointing to a picture on the wall; +"not such as illness made her, as my father believed, but that terrible +and fatal secret. Look!" + +I turned, and my glance falling suddenly upon the portrait which the +young girl indicated, I shuddered. It was a long, thin, pale face, +stamped with the cold rigidity of death, and with dark hollows under the +eyes, which looked at you with a fixed, burning gaze of terrible +intensity. There was a moment's silence. + +"How she must have suffered!" I exclaimed, with a sinking of the heart. + +"I know not how my mother made this frightful discovery," continued +Odile; "but she knew of the mysterious attraction of the Black Plague, +and of their meetings in Hugh's Tower,--all, in short,--but she never +suspected my father. No! only she slowly pined away, as I am doing now." + +I hid my face in my hands, and the tears started involuntarily. + +"One winter night," she went on, "when I was only ten years old, my +mother, whose energy alone sustained her,--for she was in the last +stages of a decline,--came to my room. I was sleeping, when suddenly a +cold, nervous hand seized my wrist. I opened my eyes, and opposite me +stood a woman; with one hand she held a torch, and with the other she +held my arm, which felt as if clasped in a chill vise. Her dress was +covered with snow, a convulsive trembling agitated her limbs, and her +eyes burned with a dark fire through the white, disordered locks that +hung about her face. It was my mother. + +"'Odile, my child, rise and come with me! You must know everything!' she +said. + +"I dressed myself tremblingly, and leading me along the lonely +corridors to Hugh's Tower, she showed me the staircase that led down to +the chasm. + +"'Your father will come out this way,' she said, pointing to the tower; +'he will come out with the she-wolf. Fear nothing! He cannot see you.' + +"Hardly had she finished speaking, when my father appeared with the old +woman, carrying his funereal burden. Taking me in her arms, my mother +followed them, and I witnessed the scene on the Altenberg. + +"'Look, child!' she cried; 'you must, for I am going to die, and you +shall keep the secret! You shall watch over your father alone--all +alone! The honor of our family depends upon it!' + +"We returned. A fortnight later my mother died, leaving to me the +accomplishment of her vow and the lesson of her example. I have +faithfully discharged my trust, but oh, at what a cost! You have seen +it! I have been obliged to disobey my father and make him wretched. My +marriage could have accomplished nothing, though he does not know it, +and to marry would have been to bring a stranger into our midst and +betray the family secret. I resisted. No one in the Castle knows the +nature of my father's malady, and had it not been for yesterday's +crisis, which broke down my strength and prevented me from watching by +my father, I should still have been the sole depositary of the secret. +God has willed otherwise; he has placed in your keeping the honor of our +family. + +"Such is my story, and in view of what you told me a few moments ago +(and she colored charmingly), I feel that I need hardly ask you if you +will share with me my burden, for my strength is unequal to it--I am +bending beneath its weight." + +She had risen as she finished speaking. For all answer, I sprang +forward, and throwing my arms about her I drew her close to me and +covered her upturned face and forehead with passionate kisses, and she +rested, a delicious burden in my arms. + +"Odile," I cried, "I will be all this and a thousand times more, if you +will only consent to let me. I am the petitioner, not you; and in +allowing me to share with you even the least of your trials, you make me +forever your debtor. You have told me the reason of your vow, and in +doing so you have removed the necessity for its further existence. Oh, +Odile, may I hope--may I hope, I say, that if I can raise the spell +which overhangs the Castle, and restore your father's health,--as the +price of it, I may have your love?" + +After a moment, she replied softly, as she gently disengaged herself +from my arms: + +"You may;" and she added, "until then my first duty is ever to my +father." + +I pressed the hand which she yielded to me to my lips, exclaiming with a +smile, "This seals the promise!" + +Then I continued: + +"And one thing more. We must seize this creature known as the Black +Plague, and find out what she is, whence she comes, and what she wants +here." + +"Oh," she exclaimed, with a motion of her beautiful head, "I fear that +is impossible!" + +"Who can say that?" I replied. "I want only your permission, and I will +undertake to seize the Plague at once." + +"Do as your judgment dictates. I consent to everything beforehand." + +I took a long and reluctant leave of Odile, and hurried jubilantly to +Sperver's room. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +WE CHASE THE PLAGUE.--HER DEATH. + + +An hour after my conversation with Odile, Sperver and I were galloping +hard over the plain from Nideck. The huntsman, bending over his horse's +neck, set spurs to her from time to time, and the tall Mecklenberg, with +flying mane and foaming lips, literally cleaved the air in her flight. +As for my mount, I believe he took the bit in his teeth, and ran away +with me. Lieverlé accompanied us, bounding along beside us like an +arrow. We seemed to be borne along on the wings of the wind. + +The towers of Nideck were far behind us, and Sperver was leading the +way, as usual, when I shouted to him: + +"Hallo, comrade! Pull up! Before we go any further, let us deliberate a +little." + +He wheeled about. + +"Only tell me, Gaston, is it to right or left?" + +"No, no! Come here. You must first know why I have started off this +morning. In a word, we are going to catch the hag!" + +An expression of supreme satisfaction lighted up the long, bronzed face +of the old steward; his eyes sparkled. + +"Ha, ha!" he exclaimed; "I knew it would come to that sooner or later." + +With a movement of his shoulder, he slipped his rifle into his hand. +This significant movement opened my eyes. + +"One moment, Sperver. We are not going to kill the Black Plague; we are +going to take her alive." + +"Alive!" + +"Precisely; and to spare you future regrets, I warn you that the destiny +of the old creature is identified with our master's. The ball that +strikes her down kills the Count." + +Sperver sat open-mouthed with amazement. + +"Is this really so?" + +"Positively." + +There was a long silence; our horses tossing their heads at each other +as if in salute, pawed the snow impatiently. Lieverlé yawned expectantly +and stretched out his long, snake-like body, and Sperver sat motionless, +with his hand resting on his rifle. + +"Well, then, we will try to take her living," he said at length; "we +will handle her with kid gloves, since it must needs be so; but it is +not such an easy matter as you think, Gaston." + +Pointing with his extended hand to the mountains which lay unrolled +about us in the form of a great amphitheatre, he added: + +"You see before us the Altenberg, the Birkenwald, the Schneeberg, the +Oxenhorn, the Rhethal, and the Behrenkopf, and if we were up a little +higher, we could see fifty other peaks, extending clear into the plain +of the Palatinate. Within this distance are rocks, ravines, defiles, +torrents, and endless forests, and the old woman wanders everywhere +through this wilderness. She has a sure foot and a good eye, and can +scent you a good league away; so you see we shall have a pretty chase +before us." + +"If it were an easy thing to do, I shouldn't have chosen you out of all +the people of the Castle." + +"That sounds all very well. Still, if we can once get on her trail, I +don't deny that with courage and patience--" + +"As for her trail, don't worry about that; I will put you on it myself." + +"You?" + +"Exactly." + +"You, able to follow up a trail?" + +"Why not?" + +"Ah, well, since you are so confident and know so much more about it +than I do, that's another thing; go ahead. I'll follow." + +It was easy to see that the old huntsman was vexed at my venturing to +encroach upon his particular field of operations. Therefore, laughing +inwardly, I waited for no second invitation and turned to the left, sure +of coming upon the traces of the old woman, who, after having left the +Count in the subterranean passage, must have recrossed the plain to gain +the mountain. + +Sperver followed on behind me whistling with assumed indifference, and I +could hear him muttering: + +"The idea of looking for the she-wolf's tracks in the middle of the +plain. Any one should know that she would follow along the edge of the +forest, as she always does; but it seems she walks about now with her +hands in her pockets, like a well-to-do citizen of Tübingen." + +I turned a deaf ear to all this, and kept on my way. Suddenly he gave an +exclamation of surprise, and looking at me sharply: + +"Gaston," he said, "you know more than you are willing to admit." + +"How do you mean, Gideon?" + +"The track that it would have taken me a week to find, you have got at +once. There is something behind this." + +"Where do you see it, then?" + +"Come, don't pretend to be looking at your feet," and pointing to a +scarcely perceptible white streak at some distance ahead of us, he said: + +"There it is." + +He started off at a gallop. I followed him, and a moment later we +leaped from our saddles. It was indeed the Black Plague's track. + +"I should like to know," said Sperver, folding his arms, "how the devil +that trace came to be here!" + +"Don't let that trouble you." + +"You're right, Gaston. Don't mind what I say. I talk nonsense sometimes. +The principal thing now is to find out where this track leads." + +The huntsman knelt on the snow. I was all ears, he all attention. + +"It is a fresh track," he said at the first glance; "last night's. As I +thought, Gaston, during the Count's last attack the hag was prowling +about the Castle." + +Then examining it more carefully: + +"She passed here at about four o'clock this morning." + +"How do you know that?" + +"The track is fresh, but there is sleet around it. Last night at twelve +o'clock I went out to lock the doors, and sleet was falling then; there +is none on this footprint, and therefore it must have been made since +then." + +"That is true, Sperver; but it may have been made later, at nine or ten +o'clock for instance." + +"No; look! It is covered with frost. There is no mist to freeze except +at daybreak; the old woman passed here after the sleet and before the +frost; that is to say, between three and four this morning." + +I was astonished at the accuracy of Sperver's reasoning. He got up, +slapping his hands together to shake off the snow, and looking at me +thoughtfully, he added, as if speaking to himself: + +"Let us call it, at the latest, five o'clock! It is now twelve, isn't +it?" + +"Quarter to twelve." + +"Very good; the hag has seven hours' start of us. We must follow her +step by step wherever she may lead us. On horseback we can come up with +her in from one hour to two, and if she is still moving, by seven or +eight this evening she ought to be in our clutches. Come on, Gaston; +there is no time to lose!" + +We started on again, following the traces which led us straight towards +the mountain. As we galloped along, Sperver called out: + +"If good luck would have it that this cursed Plague had gone into a hole +in the rocks somewhere to lie down for an hour or two, we might catch +her before nightfall." + +"Let's hope so, Gideon." + +"Don't fool yourself that way. The old she-wolf is always moving; she +never grows tired; she roams through all the hollow roads of the Black +Forest. We mustn't indulge vain hopes. If she should happen to have +stopped somewhere along the road, so much the better for us, and if she +is still going, we have no reason to be discouraged. Come! hurry along!" + +It was a strange occupation; that of a man engaged in hunting down one +of his own kind; for, after all, this unfortunate woman was a fellow +creature, endowed like us with an immortal soul, and feeling, thinking, +and reflecting like ourselves. It is true that perverted instincts had +brought her near the level of the wolf, and that some great mystery +overhung her destiny. Her prowling life had doubtless obliterated her +moral being, and even effaced her human character; but granted all this, +it is, nevertheless, an incontrovertible truth that nothing in God's +universe gave us the right to exercise over her the despotism of man +over the brute creation. + +Notwithstanding, a savage ardor hurried us on in pursuit; for my part, +my blood boiled, and I was determined to stop at nothing which would +enable me to get this strange being into my power. The wide waste of +snow flew past us, and the fragments of crust, thrown up by our horses' +hoofs, whizzed past our ears. + +Sperver, sometimes with his head thrown back, and his long mustache +blowing in the wind, and always with his gray eye on the trail, reminded +me of the famous horsemen of the steppes, whom I had seen passing +through Germany in my childhood; his tall, sinewy horse, with full mane +and body tapering like a greyhound's, completed the illusion. Lieverlé, +in his enthusiasm, bounded sometimes as high as our horses' backs, and I +could not help trembling at the thought that, should he come upon the +Black Plague, he might tear her to pieces before we could make a +movement to prevent him. + +The old woman led us a terrible chase; on every hill she had doubled, +and at every hillock we found a false scent. + +"It is easy enough along here," said Sperver, "for you can see a long +distance ahead, but when we get into the woods, it will be another +matter; we shall have to keep our eyes open there. Do you see how the +cursed beast has confused her tracks? There she has amused herself +sweeping the trail, and from that rising ground that is exposed to the +wind she has slipped down to the stream and crept through the cresses to +reach the thicket yonder. If it weren't for these two foot-prints, she +would have tricked us completely." + +We had just reached the border of a fir forest. In these forests, the +snow never penetrates between the branches of a tree. It was a difficult +way. Sperver dismounted to watch the tracks closer, and placed me on the +left, that my shadow might not come between him and the ground. There +were large open spots covered with dead leaves and pine-needles, which +take no imprint. Thus it was only in the unsheltered places, where the +snow lay on the ground, that Sperver could recover the trail. + +It took us an hour to get through this patch of woods. The old poacher +gnawed his mustache with vexation, and his long nose almost touched his +chin. When I tried to speak, he interrupted me shortly, crying: + +"Don't talk; it bothers me!" + +At last we descended into a valley to the left, and Gideon, pointing to +the she-wolf's steps, running parallel with the edge of the undergrowth, +remarked: + +"This is no false sortie; we can follow it confidently. + +"How do you know?" + +"Because the Black Plague has a habit, whenever she doubles on her +tracks, of going three steps to one side, then, retracing them, taking +four, five or six in the other direction, and finally jumping into a +clear space. But when she thinks she has covered the trail, she strikes +out without troubling herself about false scents. Look! what did I tell +you? She is burrowing now into the brushwood like a wild boar; it will +be easy enough to follow her here. So much for that; and now, let's keep +the tracks between us and light a pipe!" + +We halted, and the good fellow, whose face was beginning to brighten up, +looked at me with enthusiasm, crying: + +"Gaston, this promises to be one of the finest days in my life. If we +take the old creature, I will fasten her to the saddle behind me like a +bundle of old rags. Only one thing troubles me." + +"What's that?" + +"Having forgot my horn. I should like to have sounded the return as we +were approaching Nideck. Ha! Ha! Ha!" + +He lighted his stub of a pipe, and we started on again. The track of the +she-wolf now led up a wooded slope so steep that we were obliged many +times to dismount and lead our horses by the bridle. + +"There it goes to the right," said Sperver; "in this direction the +mountains go up like the side of a house. One of us may have to lead +both horses while the other scrambles along after the trail, and as the +devil will have it, it's getting so dark we can't see anything much +longer." + +The landscape was at this point assuming a grander aspect. Enormous +boulders, covered with icicles, raised one beyond another their angular +peaks, like breakers in a sea of snow. + +There is nothing that imparts a more melancholy sense to the beholder +than a winter scene among these mountains. The irregular line of crests, +the dark ravines, the denuded trees and bushes sparkling with a tracery +of hoar frost, all assume before your eyes a look of indescribable +desolation and still sadness; and the silence, so profound that you can +hear a dead leaf rustle on the snow-crust, or a pine-needle swirl from +its branch,--this silence oppresses you; it forces upon you the +realization of man's littleness in the scale of Nature's vast economy. + +Sometimes we felt a need of speaking, if only to break the stillness: + +"Ah, we are getting nearer the end of this business! How beastly cold it +is! Lieverlé, what have you got there?" or some like insignificant +phrase. + +Unfortunately, our horses were beginning to tire; they sank up to their +bellies in the snow, and no longer whinnied as they did on setting out. +The inextricable defiles of the Black Forest stretched out indefinitely. +The old woman loved these solitudes; here she had passed around a +deserted charcoal-burner's hut; further on she had torn up the tender +roots which overspread the surface of the rocks; and here again she had +sat down at the foot of a tree to rest, and that recently,--at most two +hours before, for the marks in the snow were fresh. At sight of this, +our hopes and enthusiasm were redoubled; but the daylight was fast +fading out. Strangely enough, ever since our departure from Nideck, we +had met neither woodcutters, charcoal-burners, nor log-haulers; the +solitude was as complete as in the Siberian steppes. At five o'clock the +night had so far closed in that Sperver halted and said to me: + +"Gaston, we have started a couple of hours too late. The Plague has got +too long a start of us. In ten minutes the woods will be as dark as an +oven. Our best plan will be to reach the Roche Creuse, twenty minutes +from here, light a good fire, and eat our provisions and empty our +goat-skins. When the moon comes up we will take up the trail again, and +if the old hag is not the devil himself, ten to one we shall come upon +her frozen stiff at the foot of some tree, for no human creature could +live through such a tramp in such weather as this. Sebalt himself, who +is the best walker in all the Black Forest, could not have stood it. +What do you say, my boy?" + +"I should be mad to think otherwise, and, moreover, I am perishing with +hunger!" + +"Well, let's be off!" + +He took the lead, and we pressed into a narrow gorge between two walls +of precipitous rock. The fir-trees formed an arch above our heads; +beneath our feet trickled what the frost had left of a mighty torrent, +and from time to time a wandering ray penetrated the obscurity, and +reflected the dull, lead-colored ice mantle. The darkness had become +such that I deemed it wise to let my bridle fall on the horse's neck. +The steps of our horses on the slippery pebbles reëchoed with an odd +noise like the laughing and chattering of monkeys through the narrow +glen. The rocks took up and repeated every sound, and in the distance a +blue point seemed to grow as we advanced. It was the outlet of the +gorge. + +"Gaston," said Sperver, "we are now in the bed of the Tunkelbach. It is +the wildest pass in all the Black Forest, and it terminates in a cave +called La Marmite du Grand Guelard. In the spring, when the snow is +melting, the Tunkelbach pours all its torrents into it to a depth of +two hundred feet. It makes a tremendous roar; the waters leap over the +edge, and their spray falls upon the neighboring mountains. Sometimes +they even flood the cavern of the Roche Creuse, but just now it must be +as dry as a powder-flask, and we can build a big fire there." + +As I listened to Sperver's observations, I was at the same time +considering this ominous defile, and reflecting that the instinct of the +savage beasts, which seek such retreats far from the light of day and +from all that gladdens the soul, must be akin to remorse. The creatures +that live in the sunshine,--the goat on the open crag, the horse running +free on the plain, the dog frisking about his master, the bird basking +in the sunshine,--all breathe in joy and happiness with their gambols +and their songs. The kid, browsing in the shade of the great trees on +the green hillside, is as poetic an object as the retreat that he +prefers; the wild boar, as fierce and savage as the trackless brakes +through which he roams; the eagle as proud and lofty as the towering +peaks where he rests in his sweeping flight; the lion as majestic as the +mighty arches of his den,--but the wolf, the fox, and the ferret seek +the darkness, with fear their only companion; aye, this instinct is +closely related to remorse. + +I was still reflecting upon these things and already felt the keen air +blowing against my face--for we were approaching the opening of the +gorge--when suddenly we perceived a reddish reflection dancing upon the +rock a hundred feet above us, turning to purple the dark green of the +firs, and making the frost wreaths on the tree trunks glitter. + +"Ha!" whispered Sperver hoarsely, "we've got the witch!" + +My heart leaped; we moved along pressed close against each other. The +dog growled warningly. + +"Can't she escape us?" + +"No; she is caught like a rat in a trap. La Marmite du Grand Guelard has +but one outlet, and we are barring it. Everywhere else the rocks rise +sheer two hundred feet. Ha! you Satan's hag, I've got you!" + +He sprang from his horse into the ice-cold water of the Tunkelbach, +handing me his bridle. I shivered. The click of his rifle as he cocked +it sounded with fearful distinctness, and the sound sent a nervous wave +clear to my finger-tips. + +"Sperver, what are you doing?" + +"Never fear; it is only to frighten her." + +"Very good; but no blood! Remember what I have already told you. The +ball that strikes the Plague kills the Count!" + +"Rest easy on that score!" + +He moved forward, without stopping further to listen to me. I could hear +the splash of his feet in the water; then I saw his tall figure appear +at the outlet of the glen, black against the bluish background. He stood +full five minutes motionless. Meanwhile, I was slowly approaching him, +and when he at last turned around, I was within three paces of him. + +"Sh!" he said mysteriously; "look there!" + +At the end of the open gorge, now revealed to us, which was dug out like +a quarry in the mountainside, I saw a bright fire unrolling its golden +spires before the mouth of a cave, and in front of the fire sat a man +with his hands clasped about his knees, whom I recognized by his +clothing as the Baron Zimmer. He sat motionless, with his eyes fixed on +the fire, and seemed lost in thought. Behind him a dark form lay +stretched upon the ground, and further in the distance, his horse, half +lost in the shadows, gazed upon us with fixed eyes, ears pricked up, and +distended nostrils. + +I stood stupefied. How came the Baron Zimmer to be in this dense, +terrifying wilderness at such an hour and such a time,--what was he +doing here? Had he lost his way? The most contradictory conjectures +succeeded each other in my brain, and I knew not where to pause, when +the Baron's horse began to neigh. At the sound, the master raised his +head: + +"Well, Rappel, what now?" + +Then, in his turn, he gazed in our direction, straining his eyes to make +us out in the darkness. That pale face, with its clear-cut features, +delicate lips, and heavy black eyebrows, gathered in a frown, would have +struck me with admiration under any other circumstances, but now an +indefinable feeling of apprehension took possession of me, and I was +filled with vague anxiety. Suddenly, the young man cried: + +"Who goes there?" + +"I, monsieur," replied Sperver quickly, at the same time advancing +towards him; "I, Sperver, steward of the Count of Nideck!" + +A strange expression passed across the Baron's features, but not a +muscle of his face quivered. He rose to his feet, gathering the folds of +his cloak more closely about him. I drew towards me the horses and the +hound, who suddenly began to howl as he had done on the night of my +arrival at the Castle. + +Who of us is not subject in some degree to superstitious fears? At the +sound of Lieverlé's menacing growls, I felt a dread of I know not what, +and I shuddered instinctively. Sperver and the Baron stood at a +distance of fifty yards from each other; the first immovable in the +middle of the gorge, with his rifle resting against his shoulder; the +other, standing erect before the entrance of the cave, holding his head +high, and surveying us with a haughty glance. + +"What do you want here?" he asked defiantly. + +"We are looking for a woman," replied the huntsman; "a woman who comes +each year prowling about the Castle of Nideck, and we have orders to +seize her." + +"Has she robbed?" + +"No." + +"Has she committed murder?" + +"No, monsieur." + +"Then what do you want of her? What right have you to pursue her?" + +Sperver straightened up, and fixing his gray eye on the Baron: + +"And you? What right have you over her?" he asked with a strange smile; +"for she is there. I can see her at the back of the cavern. By whose +authority do you meddle with our affairs? Do you not know that we are at +this moment within the domains of Nideck, and that we administer all +forms of justice at our pleasure?" + +The young man grew paler yet, and replied shortly: + +"I am not accountable to you for any act of mine." + +"Take care," replied Sperver; "I am acting in the name of my master, the +Count of Nideck, and am but doing my duty. You will have to answer for +any interference on your part." + +"Your duty!" exclaimed the young man, with a bitter smile; "if you speak +of your duty, you may force me to tell you mine." + +"Let us hear it," cried the old steward, whose face was becoming +discomposed with anger. + +"No," returned the Baron, "I will tell you nothing, nor shall you set +foot inside this cave." + +"We will see about that," said Sperver, advancing towards the cavern. + +The young man drew his hunting-knife. Seeing this, I tried to spring +between them, when the hound, which I was holding by a leash, shook +himself free, throwing me to the ground with the force of the shock. I +thought that the Baron was lost; but at the same moment a savage cry +rose from the back of the cavern, and as I rose to my feet, I saw the +old woman standing upright before the fire, her clothing in rags, her +head run forward, and her gray locks scattered about her shoulders, with +her long, skinny arms raised towards heaven, and uttering dismal howls, +like the cries of the wolf in the cold winter nights, when hunger is +gnawing at his entrails. + +Never in my life had I witnessed such a frightful spectacle. Sperver, +motionless, with his eyes fixed on the strange scene before him, seemed +turned to stone. The dog, surprised himself at this unexpected +apparition, stood still for a moment, then suddenly arching his +bristling back, he flew at the hag with a low growl of fury that made +me shudder. The entrance to the cavern was some eight or ten feet above +the spot where we stood, or he would have reached it with a single +bound. I can hear him still, as he crashes through the frost-laden +bushes, and see the Baron fling himself before the old woman with the +heart-rending cry: + +"My mother!" + +Then, as the dog takes his final spring, Sperver, quick as lightning, +raises his rifle, and brings down the noble animal dead at the young +man's feet. All this was the work of an instant. The gorge was +momentarily lighted by the rifle flash, and the echoes, taking up the +noise of the explosion, carried it roaring and tumbling to the infinite +depths of the neighboring crags. + +When the smoke cleared away, I saw Lieverlé lying stretched out at the +foot of the rock, and the old woman fainting in the arms of the young +man. Sperver eyed the Baron gloomily, as he dropped the butt of his +rifle to the ground, his features working with rage and grief. + +"Baron," he said, pointing to the cave, "I have killed my best friend to +save the woman whom you call your mother. You may thank God that her +destiny was bound up with that of my master. Take her away from here. +Take her far away, and let her never return; for, if she does, I cannot +answer for myself." + +Then, glancing at his dog: + +"My poor Lieverlé!" he cried; "was this to be the outcome of our long +years of friendship? Come, Gaston, let us hurry away from this accursed +spot. I might do something I should regret afterwards." + +Seizing his horse's mane, he started to throw himself into his saddle, +but suddenly his heart swelled to bursting, and dropping his head on his +horse's neck, he wept like a child. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +THE BARON'S STORY.--HE DISAPPEARS. + + +Sperver set out, carrying the body of Lieverlé in his cloak. I had +refused to follow him, for I felt that duty compelled me to remain near +this unhappy woman, and I could not have abandoned her without violating +my conscience. Moreover, I am obliged to confess I was curious to +examine more closely this mysterious being, and hardly had Sperver +disappeared in the darkness of the defile before I began climbing the +path to the cavern. A strange sight awaited me there. Upon a large fur +cloak with green facings lay the old woman in a long purple robe, with +a golden arrow stuck through her gray hair, her withered hands +clutching her breast. + +Time will never efface the image of this woman from my mind. Her +vulture-like face, distorted by the last agonies of death, her staring +eyes and half-opened mouth, were appalling to look upon. Such might have +been the last hour of the terrible Queen Frédégonde. The Baron, on his +knees beside her, tried to restore her to animation, but at the first +glance it was evident to me that the unfortunate creature was dying, and +it was not without a sentiment of profound pity that I kneeled to raise +her arm. + +"Leave her alone! How dare you touch her?" cried the young man +bitterly. + +"I am a doctor, monsieur." + +"Ah, pardon me!" + +He was deathly pale, and his lips trembled nervously. After a moment, he +asked: + +"What is your opinion, monsieur?" + +"It is over. She is dead." + +Without replying, he leaned back against the wall of the cavern, his +forehead resting in his hands, and staring straight before him, +motionless as marble. I sat near the fire, watching the flames as they +climbed to the arched top of the cave, casting their vivid reflections +upon the rigid features of the Black Plague. + +We had been sitting thus for a full hour without stirring, when suddenly +lifting his head, the Baron said to me: + +"Monsieur, all this confounds me. Here is my mother,--for twenty-six +years I thought I knew her, and now a whole world of mystery and horror +opens itself before my eyes. You are a doctor; tell me if you have ever +known anything like it before." + +"Monsieur," I replied, "the Count of Nideck is afflicted with a malady +that bears a striking resemblance to that of which your mother has been +the victim. If you have confidence enough in me to relate to me the +facts which you yourself must have witnessed, I will gladly tell you +what I know of the matter, for this exchange may be the means of saving +my patient." + +As I began to speak the Baron started, and exclaimed: + +"What? the Count of Nideck visited thus? This is more than a +coincidence." + +And without further parley he informed me that the Baroness Zimmer, +belonging to one of the noblest families in Saxony, and being a blood +relation of the Count of Nideck (to whom he should have made himself +known had not circumstances required that he should maintain the +strictest secrecy as to his identity), had been accustomed for many +years to make a journey into Italy towards Christmas, accompanied by an +old man servant, who alone possessed her entire confidence; that this +man, being at the point of death, had desired a private interview with +her son, and that at the last hour, tormented no doubt by remorse, he +had told the young man that his mother's journey into Italy was only a +pretext to furnish her a means of making an excursion into the Black +Forest, of the object of which he himself was in ignorance, but which +must have been of some fearful nature, since the Baroness invariably +returned haggard, in rags, and almost dead, and that it required weeks +of rest to repair the terrible fatigues of these few days. + +This is what the old servant had related to the young Baron, thinking +that in so doing he was only fulfilling his duty. The son, wishing to +learn the truth of his story, whatever the cost to himself, had this +very year verified the incomprehensible fact by following his mother +first to Baden, and then pursuing her step by step into the gorges of +the Black Forest. The tracks which Sebalt had discovered on the +Altenberg were his. + +When the Baron had finished his confidence, I thought that I ought no +longer to conceal from him the singular influence which the advent of +the old woman exercised upon the Count's health, nor indeed any of the +attendant circumstances, and accordingly, I imparted to him even the +slightest details. + +The Baron was amazed by the coincidence of these facts; the mysterious +attraction which these two beings exercised over one another without +knowing it, the ghastly drama which they had enacted without +consciousness, the acquaintance which the old woman had shown with the +Castle and its most secret passages, without ever having seen them +before; the costume which she had discovered in which to carry out the +murder in pantomime, and which could only have been discovered in some +mysterious retreat which magnetic clairvoyance had revealed to her. + +When I had ended the recital of my experiences, the Baron relapsed into +his former gloomy silence, nor did he again rouse from it while I +remained near him. I fancied I could read in his face and attitude the +one wish to distance himself forever from the scene of this bitter +revelation. + +While we were still sitting, each one buried in his own reflections, the +darkness of night began to fade. An owl, far off in the shadows, sounded +the retreat of darkness with its strange note, like the gurgling of +liquid from a bottle. Presently we heard a whinnying in the depths of +the defile, and then, in the first rays of dawn, we saw a sledge +approaching, driven by the Baron's servant. It was covered with straw, +and upon it rested a litter, on which we laid the body of the old woman. + +I mounted my horse, who did not seem sorry to stretch his legs again, +having stood half the night in the snow, and I accompanied the sledge as +far as the outlet of the glen. There, having gravely saluted one another +for the last time, they proceeded in the direction of Hirschland, and I +on my way towards the Castle of Nideck. + +At nine o'clock I was again in Odile's presence. + +"The Plague is dead!" I cried, "and the spell is raised forever from +the Castle. Henceforth we may look for the olden days at Nideck." + +[Illustration: "ODILE DROPPED HER EYES."] + +And I related the extraordinary experiences of the last twenty-four +hours, exulting in our victory over the hag. When I had finished, and +recalled to my now happy love her promise of the day before, Odile +dropped her eyes, flushed charmingly, and returned the pressure of my +hand with averted head. + +After some precious moments passed in the indulgence of our new-found +happiness, I proceeded to the Count's chamber. I found him in a very +satisfactory condition. He was naturally in a state of complete +exhaustion after the terrible crises that he had been through, but was +entirely himself, and the fever had disappeared the evening before. +Everything pointed towards a speedy recovery. + +"Monsieur," I said, as he greeted me with a warm grasp of my hand, "your +restored health is assured, and it is but the matter of a few days when +you will be able to indulge in your favorite pastime again." + +"I believe you, monsieur! I feel that myself as I have never done +before, and I am bound that you shall remain at Nideck and accompany me +on my first boar hunt." + +"Nothing would give me greater pleasure, monsieur," I replied. "Though +an entire novice in the art, I shall doubtless gain much by employing my +powers of observation." + +"And furthermore," continued the Count, "your reward for this greatest +of all services which you have performed for me shall be whatever you +may require that lies within my gift!" + +"Monsieur," I replied, bowing low, "your generosity overwhelms me. +However, we will discuss the matter of compensation at a future time, +when your strength will better admit of it. At present let me say that +the existing state of affairs is an ample reward for anything I may have +been able to accomplish in your behalf." And meanwhile I wondered if the +Count realized the significance of his promise as I reflected upon the +recompense I was presently to seek at his hands. + +As his malady left him, I found the master of Nideck a changed man. His +features, which had at first aroused only a sentiment of repugnance in +me, slowly resumed their natural expression, and became dignified and +even handsome. His generosity and kindness exceeded anything I had +before experienced, and everything that Knapwurst had declared in his +master's favor was realized to the utmost. From liking I grew to loving +him, as I felt indeed I must have done if only as the author of Odile's +being. + +The fortnight that followed was one of rejoicing throughout Nideck. The +Count gained with wonderful rapidity, and for a week past he had moved +about the Castle with a buoyancy and contentment of demeanor which only +Odile and the old steward could recall having seen in him long years +before, ere the dead witch had yet entwined him in the meshes of her +baneful spell. + +Even the grim, melancholy Sebalt had become grotesquely gay, and he +discontinued his matinal post on the Altenberg, feeling, no doubt, that +he had contributed not a little to his master's recovery. As for +Sperver, he was radiant, and he would come to my chamber late at night, +after I had left Odile, and as we sat over our bottles we would discuss +for the fiftieth time the circumstances of my stay within the Castle. + +During the earlier stages of the Count's convalescence I repaired each +morning to his chamber, where I invariably found Odile arrived before +me, and as the Count was fond of reading, which served to wear away the +period of his enforced inactivity, Odile and I would share for hours +together the reading of "Garin the Lorrainer," which was one of his +favorite romances. + +The extent of my contentment may be imagined. Whenever I glanced up from +my book as it became necessary to turn a page, I invariably met Odile's +eyes fastened upon my face, and speaking the whole language of love and +contentment, and when she in turn assumed the reading, I found myself +lost in a world of reverie and speculation as I continued to study her +beautiful face, which was always a revelation to me, no matter how long +it remained before my gaze. + +Oh, the delight of all this! How I pity you crabbed misanthropes who +know not the richness of a loving woman's endearments! + +I had determined, with Odile's sanction, to broach the subject of our +betrothal to the Count as soon as his health would permit it. + +Meanwhile, our hours at table were spent in laying plans for our future. +I was sanguine of success in my avowal, for added to the Count's desire +of seeing his line perpetuated,--which lay nearest his heart,--I knew +that he felt, though how deservedly I leave it to the reader to +determine, that I had been instrumental in restoring him to health. +These considerations, combined with his invariable desire to secure to +his daughter her slightest wish or whim, I believed would be sufficient +to ensure the consummation of my desire. Moreover, with my beloved +champion beside me, I felt strong enough to overcome the opposition of +the universe. + +But the future still held something in store, and as it often happens +when we fancy ourselves beyond the reach of an adverse Fate, we may in +reality be standing within the shadows of the Valley of Darkness. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +THE BOAR HUNT. + + +"You must be ready to start with the Count in an hour," exclaimed +Sperver, as he stood on my threshold before the sun had yet risen. +"Sebalt and Becker came in late last night, famished, and covered with +mud, and they have reported a wild boar's tracks near the Leidenthal. I +will lend you whatever clothes you need, but be quick, for there's only +breakfast between us and the start." + +I got up, and taking a hasty plunge in the icy water beside my bed, +which served to drive the vapors from my brain, I half dressed myself, +and followed Sperver to his room. + +"The beaters found game worthy of our powder," continued Gideon. "They +brought back a dried clump of bog-mud with an enormous hoof-print in the +middle of it. If the Count's carbine misses fire, we must stand in well +beside him this time, though he always grudges the fatal shot to any arm +but his own." + +I paid little heed to his words, busied as I was in accommodating myself +to my borrowed garments, and I presently emerged from the chamber +dressed in a leather hunting-jacket, cap, and long gaiters which reached +to my hips; a carbine and long hunting-knife completed my outfit. + +"If I only had you for a couple of weeks on the forest patrol, I would +make a first-class shot out of you," said Sperver with a grin. "As it +is, I suppose you know as much about a gun as a pike does of mountain +climbing." + +"Just about!" I laughed. "However, I'm fortunately in such good company +that it will make little difference whether I can tell the muzzle from +the stock, or not." + +"There's something in that," he returned; "and as there are to be ladies +in the party you may find other employment as agreeable as the killing +of animals," and he looked at me with a dry twitching of his mouth. + +I made no reply to this beyond rather a grim smile, and a moment later +we reached the dining-room. I found the Count dressed in +hunting-costume, seated at the table, on which Tobias was placing the +last dishes for the breakfast. He complimented me on my professional +appearance, and added that, judging from externals, a little practice +was all that was necessary to make me an accomplished huntsman. + +I looked in vain for Odile as I entered the room, but she presently +appeared in a close-fitting habit which became her marvellously well, +sparkling with health and freshness, and bearing in one hand her long +skirt, and in the other a pearl-handled crop. A pistol with a heavy +barrel was thrust beneath her belt, more for ornament, I fancied, than +for service. + +"Ha! Odile!" cried her father, as she greeted us and took her seat at +the table, "the mere sight of your rosy cheeks and lithe step puts new +life into me! It's a pleasure to look at you. Isn't it so, Monsieur +Gaston?" then, as Odile grew crimson with confusion, the Count perceived +his blunder, and began to busy himself with the dishes before him. The +next moment I caught Odile's eye, as she stole an amused glance at me, +and I nodded a quick affirmative, without violence to my conscience. + +The meal passed with narratives of hunting exploits by the Count, who +delighted in recalling his past experiences, often discontinuing his +meal to illustrate by attitudes and gestures his combats with the +different animals of the regions round about. Odile and I proved good +listeners, though, perhaps, as one sometimes hearkens to a strain of +music, the better to indulge his own reflections. + +Breakfast finished, we went down into the courtyard. A dozen horses +stood saddled just inside the principal gate. Sebalt, in his leather +dress, with his double-coiled horn strapped across his back, and a heavy +cowhide whip in his hand ready to strike, held a score of dogs in leash, +that were baying and tugging at their bonds in excited anticipation of +the part they were to play in the day's sport. Joy gleamed in every line +of his goat's face as his long deferred desire was now about to be +realized. Gideon, who held the Count's horse, looked more himself than I +had seen him since the death of poor Lieverlé; he seemed to have +recovered much of his wonted good spirits. + +I pushed aside the groom who stood beside Odile's horse, and she sprang +from my hand into the saddle. Then I, in turn, mounted my horse, and +moved abreast of Odile and the Count. + +When all was in readiness, Sebalt raised his horn and sounded the +departure as, according to Sperver, he alone could sound it. + +The neighboring hillsides took up the sound, and threw it back in tones +of purest silver, and all the echoes of the valleys were awakened and +fled away towards the rising sun. This warm February sun had done its +work, and the snow had disappeared to a level of but a few inches, +covered with a hard crust. We started off at a gallop. Sebalt and +Sperver rode first, with Odile, the Count, and myself close behind them. +Becker and the under-keepers came on in the rear. + +Sebalt led the pack along the base of the Gaisenberg, and skirting the +falls of the Lauterbach, he followed along the defile at its further +side, from which point the trail diverged in the direction of the +Leidenthal. The weather was superb, not a cloud in the heavens, and the +frosty air clear as crystal. The bare oaks creaked their gaunt branches, +and the singing pines waved their lofty tops in the fresh south wind. +The yelping of the pack could have been heard for a mile around, and +Gideon, turning from time to time, called to them: + +"Hold your noise, you rascals; you'll have reason enough to howl before +long, I'll warrant." + +There was little chance for conversation at the furious pace which we +were following, and I contented myself with frequent glances at Odile, +whose superb beauty was enhanced by the bright color in her cheeks, +which excitement, exercise and happiness called forth. As for the Count, +I could no longer recognize in him the dying patient of my first night +at Nideck. All trace of his terrible illness had vanished, and he rode +like a youth of twenty years, vigorous, calm, confident. + +At the end of an hour we emerged from the defile into the dazzling +sunlight beyond. The dogs came upon the trail of the boar, and their +long, full cries changed to exultant yappings; they glided along to +right and left among the rocks, their noses to the ground, and they ran +and leaped along the trail. Not one of them followed the other's lead, +until he had verified the scent for himself; like all true hunting dogs, +they relied only upon themselves. + +Meanwhile, the blast of the horn, the short, savage yelps of the pack, +and the noise of our horses' hoofs as they pierced the sparkling snow +crust, made music of an exciting, bewildering sort. I galloped on imbued +to the finger-tips with the contagious anticipation everywhere around +me. + +For some little time past the order of the hunt had been broken up. The +Count, seemingly lost in the one object of the chase and oblivious to +all else, had ridden far ahead, and had almost overtaken Sebalt and +Sperver, who were at such a distance from us that the sound of their +trumpets grew feebler and feebler, and at length were entirely lost, +save that at rare intervals they reached our ears like the sigh of the +passing breeze. The mounts of Becker and his comrades, though chosen for +endurance and strength, were not the equal of ours in speed; and thus it +was that Odile and I now found ourselves alone, as it were, midway in +the plain. + +On we went. Every now and then Odile would turn her head and smile at +me; then she would whisper to her horse, and we bounded along yet +faster. From the less frequent pauses of the pack, that glided, no +larger than rabbits now, up the distant slopes, and their straight-ahead +course, I fancied that the foremost of the party were approaching the +whereabouts of the game. + +It was now that a belt of dense woods became visible on the rising +ground before us. The Count had by this time gained so far upon us that +we presently saw him disappear, together with his followers, within its +borders. + +"We must be in at the death!" cried Odile breathlessly; "let's make +haste!" and she urged her horse still further, while I clapped spurs to +mine. Twenty minutes later we had covered the intervening distance, and +dashed into the shadows of the wood. + +We had not proceeded above a mile further, when we found that our road +forked, and running over an extensive ledge of rock, swept bare of snow +and pine-needles by the wind, we were at a loss which path to follow, +for there were no tracks of horses nor dogs, and the direction of both +paths being apparently the same, the noise of the pack growing +momentarily fainter, afforded us no clue to our proper course. + +We reined up, impatient at this vexatious occurrence. + +"Which way now?" I cried to Odile. + +She hesitated for a moment. + +"Let's go to the right!" she replied. "There's a new blaze on that +beech-tree yonder. Perhaps one of the men's guns bruised the bark as he +passed it!" and without waiting for me to reply, she started on again. + +It occurred to me a few moments later that we might now be left entirely +alone if, perchance, we had chosen the wrong path, and if our followers, +who would inevitably meet with the same question of direction on +reaching the fork in the road, should decide upon the one to the left. + +I felt little apprehension in being thus deserted, as it were, but let +it not be understood by this that fearlessness formed any part of my +character; it was to the more ignoble trait of ignorance that my present +equanimity was due. I did, however, feel that Odile should be reminded +of the fact, and I proceeded to communicate it to her; but whether it +was that her attention was so much engrossed by the business in hand +that she had no thought for anything else, or whether she considered my +apprehensions groundless, her only reply was a smile and a motion of her +head, as her horse carried her away from me, which I interpreted as +meant to reassure me, and I gave my horse his head. + +From time to time we heard, far over on the mountainside, the sound of +the woodcutter's axe, falling against the oak with measured +stroke,--that slow, heavy stroke that is taken up and exaggerated by the +echoes,--then the creaking of the falling tree, the shout of warning, +and the thud of the giant as it measured its length upon the earth, +crashing among the underbrush. Owing to the frequent windings of the +woodland path, and the uncertain character of the ground, we were +obliged to moderate our speed, and as we came upon the open land between +the hills, the barking of the dogs reached us, loud for a moment, then +faint again, as some intervening object came between us. + +"You hear the dogs!" cried Odile; "we are on the right path after all!" + +And as the sounds became more distinct with each moment, I was satisfied +that she was right. + +Here and there, as we entered a dark defile, we saw the fire of the +charcoal-burner beneath the shadowy boughs, spreading its purple ring +over the snow-crust and even to the tops of the swaying firs, then +drawing its uncertain rays the closer until it was no longer but a +spark, only to spread them out again yet wider than before. The outline +of the charcoal-burner, stooping over the flame, with his broad-brimmed +hat flattened on his shoulders, smoking his short, black pipe, and +turning potatoes in the embers, reminded me at a distance of the trolls +that are said to quarry gems of untold value in the centre of the +earth. + +The noise of the dogs, forming a discordant, frenzied concert, grew +nearer every moment. At length a sharp turn to the left, as we emerged +from the deep, narrow glen which we had been traversing for some minutes +past, brought us, it almost seemed, right upon the game, so startling +was the uproar that greeted us. + +I was now convinced that we had happened upon the right path, and I +expected momentarily to come upon the Count's party engaged in securing +the game. I glanced back to see if Becker and his comrades were near us, +but our frequent windings through the forest would have concealed them +completely from our view, even had they followed us. + +Up to this point I had been vaguely regretting my inexperience in the +hunt, though I still had little realization of the danger that might +threaten us. But now, as I heard the loud blare of Sebalt's horn not +above a quarter of a mile before us, I felt entirely reassured, and both +Odile and I were looking expectantly for the forms of the Count and his +huntsmen among the trees. + +A few rods further on we came upon a brake, half swamp, half stubble, +beyond which, as far as the eye could reach, the sun once more shone +brightly. We advanced at a walk, which the treacherous nature of the +ground made necessary. The din of the maddened dogs, and a strange, +ominous snarl, the like of which I had never before heard, told us that +the beast was run, or nearly run, to earth. + +"Whose hand will the slaying fall to to-day?" I exclaimed laughingly to +Odile. + +"To my father's, if his aim is true," replied Odile excitedly. + +She had hardly finished these words when a sudden parting of the bushes +before us brought us into a crescent-shaped clearing some fifty yards in +extent, and entered at its opposite side by the other forest path. +Directly in the centre of this clearing, surrounded by a score of dogs +that had seized him by the ears and neck, and were vainly endeavoring to +bear him down, regardless of those of their number who had succumbed to +his savage tusks,--was a huge wild boar! + +I confess to a sensation of horror at the sight. I glanced involuntarily +at Odile, whom I would have given anything in the gift of man to see +removed as far as possible from the spot. She, apparently undaunted +still, though with a shade less color in her fair cheeks, turned hastily +towards me and motioned me to hand her my rifle. I complied with +misgiving, silently cursing my ignorance of the weapon's use, and in +another moment Odile was gazing along its glistening barrel. + +There was a report, and though the aim was true it failed of its effect. +And now the raging brute, infuriated by the pain of the wound, charged +directly upon Odile, heedless of the sharp fangs which lacerated him, +unchecked by the combined strength of the pack. + +My dismay was complete when, the next moment, the frightened animal +which Odile rode, rearing up at the boar's furious onslaught, lost its +footing in the treacherous bog-land and fell on its side,--happily upon +its right side. + +[Illustration: "I FELL UPON MY KNEE BEFORE THE BRUTE."] + +Leaping to the ground, I had only time to seize my love about the waist +and swing her beyond the reach of the horse's flying hoofs, when the +boar was upon me. There was no time for reflection. I fell upon my knees +before the brute, my hunting-knife extended straight before me, and held +with all the strength of my arm. + +So quickly works the eye sometimes, in moments of danger, that in this +instant I saw the Count, or rather, perhaps, he came within my range of +vision, pale as death, and riding at the highest speed along the +opposite path, while close behind him followed Gideon and Kraft. + +The knife in my hand never swerved, for the love I bore Odile steadied +my arm as I fancy that alone could have done. The mad rush of the boar +was but the means of his surer destruction. He came straight upon the +knife, and the momentum of his ponderous body drove the steel deep +through his heart. I felt the gush of his life's blood pour over my arm +and chest; then I heard a cry from Odile's lips and a shout of wild +triumph from the Count and his huntsmen; then I fell backwards, my +consciousness half crushed out by the enormous weight of the brute's +body as it struck against me in its swaying fall to the earth. + +A moment later Odile, oblivious to all around her, had thrown herself +into my arms and burst into uncontrollable tears. The crisis of the +moment just passed had completely unnerved her and robbed her of her +usual calm control. + +We stood thus when the Count reined up before us. + +"Ha! is it so?" he exclaimed, endeavoring to hide his emotion beneath a +joking exterior. "And why not? Who deserves better of a woman than the +lad who has saved her life and her father's too!" And as Sebalt and +Gideon rode up, all three jumped from their saddles and wrung my hands, +while good old Sperver beamed with gratified pride, and pulled the brim +of his hat down over his eyes to screen them from the glare of the sun. + +These words of the Count had filled our cup of happiness to the brim. +Though I had dared to hope for little exception on his part when I +should determine to impart to him my wishes, yet this complete and +cordial acceptance of the relationship existing between Odile and myself +filled me with unwonted exultation. Nor was the Count's satisfaction any +less, I believe, as he realized that the fulfilment of that desire which +lay nearest his heart was now assured him. It seemed, moreover, that he +had guessed something of the truth during the hours which we had passed +together in his sick-room. + +"Aye," said he, in speaking of it afterwards, "did you think I had not +weighed my words, Gaston, when I promised you any reward you should +require of me? And was I wrong in believing that such a spirited lad as +you, and one after my own heart, might find his happiness in Odile; for +she is lovely, is she not, though she is my child?" + +For all answer, I drew Odile closer to me, and kissed the fair face that +rested on my shoulder. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +THE BANQUET.--THE DWARF EXPLAINS THE MYSTERY OF THE NIDECK HOUSE. + + +The body of the boar was strapped across the backs of the two horses +which the beaters, Wilhelm Mölz and Yeri Scharf, relinquished for the +purpose, themselves returning on foot to the Castle. + +I looked with strange fascination at the shaggy brute that had so nearly +put an end to all my cherished prospects. The bristling, wiry hair +running over head and shoulders and extending half-way to the haunches; +the broad yellow tusks that forced up the black, leathery upper lip; +the small, savage eyes now glazed and half-closed in death, all inspired +me with reluctant curiosity and loathing. + +We retraced our road to the Castle, walking our jaded mounts. The dogs +followed close behind us, their tongues lolling from their mouths, and +eyeing at intervals their fallen foe, as if not yet sure that he was +beyond renewing the combat. + +As we reached the eventful fork in the forest path, the Count drew up: + +"Here's where you went astray," he said; "you didn't see the bit of red +flannel, torn from the lining of Sebalt's jacket, that we pinned to the +tree, just here, within the left-hand path? By Jove, it's gone! This +stiff breeze must have drawn it against the knife's edge and cut it +through. Look! There it is, caught in the thicket." + +Sure enough, a long strip of red flannel was fluttering in the twigs of +the underbrush a few feet away. + +"I shudder when I think how we might be returning now!" exclaimed the +Count, and a look of gloom settled for a moment upon his face. + +Gideon rode up to the tree, and pulling out his hunting-knife, restored +it to his belt. We looked thoughtfully along the fateful path for +several minutes still. Then we resumed our homeward course. + +It was towards two o'clock when we trooped into the courtyard. We +presented a somewhat less spirited appearance than at our setting out +at daybreak, but we were victorious and happy, nevertheless. + +While the huntsmen and hostlers were busy in removing the boar and +caring for the dogs and horses, the Count continued to the lodge gate, +and Odile and I followed him leisurely, along the rugged path. + +As we passed the lodge room, wherein we could descry the dwarf and a +half-dozen other figures seated about the fireplace, Offenloch stepped +out, and bowing to the Count, he said: + +"Some musicians from the Forest, monsieur! They ask permission to play +in the Castle this evening in return for food and a night's lodging." + +"Good!" said the Count; "music is just what we want, and such as these +fellows play! For I was just sending for you, Offenloch, to bid you +prepare a feast to-night worthy of the triple event to be celebrated. +Tell all the people of the Castle to be present in the dining-room at +eight o'clock, and see that no one of them all is missing. These players +shall furnish us music. Let nothing be wanting to every one's pleasure." + +The delighted butler smiled expectantly, and withdrew to carry out his +master's instructions. + +We continued to the drawing-room, where we took leave of one another to +prepare for the evening's festivities. A few minutes later I found +myself in my chamber. I was pretty thoroughly used up with the unusual +experiences of the morning, and throwing off my borrowed clothes, I lay +down on my bed, where I presently fell into a leaden slumber. + +I woke some hours later, much refreshed, to find the sun set and my +tower chamber dark. After five minutes of yawning and stretching, I got +up, and striking a light, I set about to prepare myself for the feast. + +Meanwhile I reflected--in that state of complete happiness which life +cannot offer twice, and which it does not often fall to our lot that +first time to embrace--upon the circumstances of my present. It seemed +like the touch of the genie's hand that I should now find myself +installed for all time at Nideck, the accepted lover of its mistress, +and beloved by its master, the Count. + +I was still reflecting in this wise as I went down the stairs to the +dining-room. I found a gay company assembled there. Many of the faces +were new to me, as I had never penetrated to the remoter parts of the +Castle; but all were gay and laughing, and bespoke impatient expectation +of the amusement in store for them. The arrangements for the repast were +elaborate and complete, and worthy of their projector, Offenloch. + +Hardly had the members of the household finished greeting me, when Odile +appeared on the Count's arm, her exquisite beauty well set off by a rich +gown of black brocade that made her complexion dazzling by contrast, and +in her hair a single band of jewels. + +They proceeded to the head of the table, and the Count motioned me to +him. Then, with Odile on his right hand and I at his left, he addressed +the gathering: + +"My friends," said he, "you shall now know the purpose of your being +called hither to-night. It is to celebrate the greatest of all events in +the lives of three of us; namely, the saving of your mistress's life +this morning, as you have doubtless already heard, and the restoration +of your master's health, both the work of Monsieur de la Roche beside me +here" (I experienced much more embarrassment than gratification at this +unexpected eulogy), "and lastly, that which is fraught with like +significance for us all, the betrothal of your mistress and our +benefactor!" + +At this point the Count was interrupted by a chorus of cheers that were +prolonged for several moments. As the noise subsided he went on: + +"It is well known to you all how dear to me the thought has been of +feeling that the ancient line of Nideck, which has held an honorable +place in the history of Alsace for many centuries, should continue to +flourish long after I, Count Hermann, shall have passed away. That time +is not far distant, and when it comes it rejoices me to think that I +shall hand over to these young people beside me here the future of my +race. Your young master has endeared himself already to your hearts, and +he will continue to do so during the years which are to come. Your +devotion to me in the past has been complete, and the memory of it is +one of the proudest of my possessions; and now I ask you to extend this +devotion to those who shall succeed me when I in turn pass on the Castle +and its lands. And now but one more word. This night shall be devoted to +revelry, and there should be no downcast eye among us! He who rejoices +most shall best prove his loyalty to his house. Eat, drink, and be +merry! The Count of Nideck requires it of you!" + +He paused, and a chorus of shouts greeted his message of good-will. The +old housekeeper wiped her eyes with a corner of her apron, while some of +the younger maids were reduced even to whimpering; the men maintained a +sturdy silence, but it was evident that all, especially the old steward, +the dwarf, and the master of the hounds, were no less affected than the +women. + +Ere we resumed our seats, the ancient wassail-bowl of the Nidecks, +blackened by centuries past, was filled to overflowing with sparkling +wine from the Drachenfels, and went the round of the table, each one +draining all he could at a breath. The generous draught served to +increase the already growing hilarity. The happy eyes and faces sparkled +more brightly under its magic spell. Then, in response to a signal from +the Count, we seated ourselves about the board. + +The table fairly groaned beneath its burden of dishes ranged everywhere +with lavish profusion. Bottles of all shapes and sizes, cobwebbed and +redolent of the Castle's earthen vaults, were dotted all about, with +glasses of as various patterns beside them, and long-stemmed pipes lay +beside the plate of each smoker, while an army of small dishes, the +contents of which I could not even guess, were ranged the length of the +board. Directly in the centre of it all, in an enormous platter of +flowered china, rested the head of the ill-favored boar, swimming in a +lake of white wine sauce. + +The meal progressed; the merriment increased. To-night there was license +everywhere, and each one enjoyed himself after his own manner. Healths +were emptied with marvellous rapidity till I felt my head reeling with +the fumes of the wine and the intoxication of happiness. + +An hour passed. The Count, Odile, and I, were toasted at intervals of +every few minutes. I wondered how long this state of things could +continue successfully. I looked about me. + +There was Sperver, a little distance down the table, with his thin +forehead and bristling gray head, his eyes shining and his mustache wet +with wine; at his right sat Knapwurst and on his left Marie Lagoutte. +His cheeks were a good deal flushed, and on his breast sparkled the +badge of his office; it was a pleasure to see his honest, happy face. +Marie Lagoutte was even more loquacious than was her wont; her large, +cotton cap was pushed very much to one side, and she drank first with +one and then with another with the greatest impartiality. + +Knapwurst, squatting in his armchair, his head on a level with Sperver's +elbow, looked like an enormous cabbage. Then came Tobias Offenloch, so +red that he looked as though he had dipped his face in the wine before +him. His wig rested against the chair-back, and his wooden leg was stuck +straight out before him under the table. Further on, Sebalt's long, +melancholy face stood out in grotesque relief, smiling faintly into his +glass. + +There were, besides the musicians, the serving-men and women, domestics +and hangers-on,--all that little world, in short, which lives and +flourishes around great families as the moss, the ivy, and the +convolvulus cling about the forest oak. Their eyes were moist with +wine-begotten tears. The Vine of Bacchus wept freely everywhere. The +light of the great bronze lamp shed over all its beautiful amber tint +and left in the shadows the old gray walls where hung in wreaths the +trumpets, bugles, and horns of the former lords of the Castle. The scene +was like a glimpse from ages past. + +The roof rang with songs and shouts, and ballads long lain dormant in +the minds of the singers now came forth and woke the startled echoes of +the Castle. + +For my part, I did little else but listen and occupy myself with the +faces about me; for thanks to the exercise of the morning and my long +inhaling of the old wine, smelling of vervain and cypress, that mounted +to my brain, and clothed all things for me in vague, unreal beauty, I +was in that wholly receptive mood which disaffects even the semblance of +effort. + +So I listened with entire complacency to the singularly successful +efforts of the entertainers, who were elated to an unusual degree by +every circumstance of the occasion. + +The evening wore on. The boar's head had disappeared; the array of small +dishes was reduced to a mass of indistinguishable débris; one set of +bottles had been emptied and replaced by another, and our pipe-bowls +were aglow. + +At this point the Count suggested that we should have music. The +musicians, having enjoyed their fill of food and wine, and burned out a +generous pipe, hastened to comply. + +Taking up their instruments, they moved over before the hearth, where +seats had been arranged for them in the form of a semicircle. They +seated themselves, and began to put their instruments in tune. + +It was a picturesque sight, these sons of the Black Forest seated in the +dim light of the hall,--the old harper, bent with years, leaning over +his instrument; next him a short, thick-set fellow, whom his comrades +called Black Pierre, passively supporting his 'cello, and gazing about +him curiously at the unfamiliar objects in the room; at his side the +handsome, jovial-looking flute player, a picture of rugged health and +careless good humor; while next in line came a man of medium stature, +whose indistinctive features were rendered more so by the large creases +in his cheeks, made by supporting his violin, which he held firmly +beneath his square chin, while he tightened the horse-hair of his bow; +and finally, to complete the semicircle, the clarinet player, a slight, +sunburned boy, scarce turned eighteen, unmistakably a member of one of +those numerous Gypsy bands whose camps are always to be found in the +plateau of the Rothalps between Alsace and Lorraine. + +The music began, and in justice to the vagabond players it must be said +that it was of no ordinary degree of excellence. All the fire and pathos +of their lawless natures was blended in the melody; now low and sad and +tender as the reveries of old age itself; then rising and swelling into +a burst of passion and longing that bewildered and electrified you; then +in the midst of all this followed a lively measure, persuasive and +careless, that in turn gave way to a waltz, foolish, palpitating, +wanton. + +I sat enchanted, my eyes roving over the faces of those around me. +Odile, too, seemed to find the strains a fitting accompaniment to her +thoughts, for she nodded approvingly at me from time to time, and once I +thought I saw a tear hang on her eyelash. However, that may have been +mere imagination, as I invariably become sentimental with my third +bottle. + +After a little the music began again. This time it was Schiller's +"Brigands," and this more ambitious undertaking was rendered with a +spirit and understanding hardly to be looked for in those who rarely +aspired higher than the audiences of the inns, or the woodcutter's +gatherings in the shambles of the forest. + +I glanced once more about me. Everyone's eyes were fastened on the +flooring. Even the frowzy scullion, who winced as he became conscious of +my gaze, and passed the back of his hand across his nose apologetically, +seemed lifted for the moment from his pots and kettles to loftier +thoughts. Other pieces followed; there were those to suit every mood and +fancy. The Count was enthusiastic in his applause at the end of each +number, and demanded more, while the others expressed their satisfaction +with clapping and stamps on the stone floor. + +When at last the music came to an end, the players were rewarded with +generous gold pieces by the master, and returned well satisfied to the +table to wear away what little was left of the night, in wine and +conversation. + +The hour was late. The old clock ticked on in the chimney-corner, and +groaned in its casing as its heavy weights ran out their length. The +fire fell on the hearth; the great yule logs of the early evening had +given out their substance, and now were crumbling away into ruddy embers +and soft, flaky ashes. And still the merriment continued, still glasses +were filled and drained, and still the call for songs and stories went +on. + +At length, at that hour when fatigue begins to assert itself over +inclination, when vitality is low, and the shadows become deeper, +colder, and the night more mysterious, then it was that the Count +exclaimed: + +"Each one shall sing a final song except Knapwurst, for he has a voice +like a bull-frog, but he is first in story-telling in all Alsace! When +it comes his turn he shall tell us a story. Sperver, you shall begin +with the song of Black Hatto the Burgrave! + + "I am the king of these mountains of mine." + +And the steward, rising and standing like the figure of the wild +huntsman in the heather, thundered forth the song with wonderful effect. +The entire room joined in the chorus, and the old suits of mail fairly +creaked and trembled with the sound. + +"Bravo!" cried the Count. "Nobly done, Sperver! It is your turn now, +Becker! Sing what you like!" + +Becker, whose arm had stolen unperceived around Gretchen's waist, got +up hastily, in some embarrassment, and steadying himself against the +table, complied with a species of madrigal, proclaiming the virtues of +lasses of the present, and claiming in a loud refrain that they were +quite the equal of those of the olden times. And in truth they were, +judging from the fair faces at intervals about the board, sitting with +their eyes veiled by long, drooping lashes, as sleep and the wine were +now stealing over them. The kennel-keeper's tribute to their charms +served to arouse them, however, and they stole shy and gratified glances +at each other as he sang. + +After Becker, the Gypsy youth followed with a herdsman's jodel, and so +the round was gradually completed. + +The clock struck two from its niche in the corner. The last embers +flared up and fell. The lamp burned low. + +"A story from Knapwurst now!" exclaimed the Count; "and then the day is +done!" + +A complete silence succeeded; Knapwurst's quaint relations were +favorites, it seemed. + +The dwarf, half-tipsy as a result of his liberal potations, rested his +elbows on the table, and with his fists dug into his hollow cheeks, and +his eyes staring out of his head, he began in a harsh, monotonous voice: + +"Bernhard Hertzog relates that the Burgrave Hugh, surnamed the Wolf, the +founder of Nideck, having become old, used to cover his head with a sort +of hood that fell down about his shoulders, which he wore over his +steel helmet when engaged in combat; when he wished to breathe more +easily, he removed the helmet and covered his head with the hood alone, +the scallops of which hung down about his waist. Up to the age of +eighty-two, Hugh still wore his armor, though he could hardly breathe in +it. Then he sent for Otto of Burlach, his chaplain; Hugh, his eldest +son; Berthold, his second son; and his daughter, Bertha, of the red +hair, the wife of a Saxon chief named Zaan, and said to them, 'Your +mother, the she-wolf, has bequeathed to you her claws; her blood is +mixed with mine, and it will be born again among you from century to +century, and weep among the snows of the Black Forest. Some will say, +'It is the moaning of the wind!' Others, 'Hark! The owl hoots!' But it +is your blood, mine, and the blood of the she-wolf who made me to murder +Elfreda, my first wife before God and the Holy Church! Yes, she has +perished by my hand. Cursed be the she-wolf, for it is written, 'I will +visit the crime of the father upon the children, unto the third and +fourth generations;' aye, until justice be done.' And old Hugh died. +From that day the north wind has sobbed, and the owl has hooted, and the +lost traveller by night knows not that it is the blood of the she-wolf +bemoaning her crime. 'And she will bemoan it,' says Hertzog, 'from +century to century, until that day when Hugh's first wife, Elfreda, +shall reappear in the form of an angel at Nideck, to pardon and +console.'" + +The dwarf paused, and silence succeeded, which lasted for a full minute; +then he continued, with drunken gravity, pointing his long forefinger at +Odile: + +"There is she who was to return to pardon and console. She has returned. +At this moment she is sitting beside the Count, our master! Look, sirs! +Do you not recognize her? Is it not she? Henceforth the lords of Nideck +may rest in peace, for justice is done, and the good angel of this noble +house has returned." + +THE END. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Count of Nideck, by Ralph Browning Fiske + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE COUNT OF NIDECK *** + +***** This file should be named 34999-8.txt or 34999-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/4/9/9/34999/ + +Produced by Annie McGuire. This book was produced from +scanned images of public domain material from the Google +Print archive. + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Count of Nideck + adapted from the French of Erckmann-Chartrian + +Author: Ralph Browning Fiske + +Illustrator: Victor A. Searles + +Release Date: January 18, 2011 [EBook #34999] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE COUNT OF NIDECK *** + + + + +Produced by Annie McGuire. This book was produced from +scanned images of public domain material from the Google +Print archive. + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 384px;"> +<img src="images/ill_001.jpg" width="384" height="600" alt="Book Cover" title="" /> +</div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>THE COUNT OF NIDECK</h2> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 380px;"><a name="ILL_002" id="ILL_002"></a> +<img src="images/ill_002.jpg" width="380" height="600" alt=""AND THE COUNT WAS STANDING UPRIGHT ON THE WINDOW-SILL."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"AND THE COUNT WAS STANDING UPRIGHT ON THE WINDOW-SILL."</span> +</div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><span class="smcap">The Count of Nideck</span></h2> + +<h3><span class="smcap">Adapted FROM The French</span></h3> + +<h4>OF</h4> + +<h2><span class="smcap">Erckmann: Chartrian</span></h2> + +<h3>BY</h3> + +<h2><span class="smcap">Ralph Browning Fiske</span></h2> + +<h3>ILLUSTRATED</h3> + +<h3>BY</h3> + +<h2><span class="smcap">Victor A. Searles</span></h2> + +<h4>BOSTON</h4> + +<h4><span class="smcap">L. C. Page & Company</span></h4> + +<h4>INCORPORATED</h4> + +<h4>1897</h4> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p class="center"><i>Copyright, 1897</i></p> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">By L. C. Page and Company</span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CONTENTS.</h2> + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align='right'>I.</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_I"><b><span class="smcap">The summons to the Castle</span></b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>II.</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_II"><b><span class="smcap">I meet the countess</span></b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>III.</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_III"><b><span class="smcap">My first night in Hugh's Tower</span></b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>IV.</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_IV"><b><span class="smcap">Knapwurst acquaints me with the genealogy of the Nidecks</span></b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>V.</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_V"><b><span class="smcap">I breakfast with Odile</span></b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>VI.</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_VI"><b><span class="smcap">The Count unsheathes his claws</span></b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>VII.</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_VII"><b><span class="smcap">Marie Lagoutte relates her experience</span></b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>VIII.</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII"><b><span class="smcap">Sebalt tracks the Plague</span></b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>IX.</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_IX"><b><span class="smcap">The Plague in my chamber.—The midnight scene on the Altenberg</span></b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>X.</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_X"><b><span class="smcap">I lose my way and pass the night in the dwarf's lodge</span></b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XI.</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XI"><b><span class="smcap">I am summoned to the Countess's chamber, and make a confession</span></b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XII.</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XII"><b><span class="smcap">We chase the Plague.—Her death</span></b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XIII.</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII"><b><span class="smcap">The Baron's story.—He disappears</span></b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XIV.</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV"><b><span class="smcap">The boar hunt</span></b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XV.</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XV"><b><span class="smcap">The banquet.—The dwarf explains the mystery of the Nideck house</span></b></a></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.</h2> + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#ILL_002"><b>"<span class="smcap">And the Count was standing upright on the window-sill</span>"</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#ILL_003"><b>"<span class="smcap">Pointing to a dark object crouching in the snow</span>"</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#ILL_004"><b><span class="smcap">In the portrait gallery</span></b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#ILL_005"><b>"'<span class="smcap">Stay!' he howled, 'I have not cursed you yet</span>'"</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#ILL_006"><b>"'<span class="smcap">Yonder you see the peak of the Altenberg</span>'"</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#ILL_007"><b>"<span class="smcap">Then he would resume his frightful cries</span>"</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#ILL_008"><b>"<span class="smcap">I raised myself on my elbow and stared fearfully in the direction</span>"</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#ILL_009"><b>"<span class="smcap">I stepped forward, and found myself in the presence of Odile</span>"</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#ILL_010"><b>"<span class="smcap">Odile dropped her eyes</span>"</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#ILL_011"><b>"<span class="smcap">I fell upon my knee before the brute</span>"</b></a></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I.</h2> + +<h3>THE SUMMONS TO THE CASTLE.</h3> + +<p>Towards Christmas time, in the year 1780, as I lay soundly sleeping in +my room at the Swan Tavern, in Tübingen, old Gideon Sperver burst +suddenly into my room, crying, "Gaston, my boy, I have come to take you +back with me to the Castle! You know Nideck, twenty miles from +here,—the estate of my master, the Count of Nideck!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span></p> + +<p>My failure to respond was perhaps due to the fact that I had not seen my +worthy foster-father for twenty years, that in this time he had grown a +full beard, and that now, in my half-aroused condition, he appeared +before me thus, with a huge fur cap pulled down over his ears, and +holding an ill-smelling lantern just under my nose.</p> + +<p>"In the first place," I replied, "let's take up things in their proper +order. Who are you?"</p> + +<p>"Who am I?" repeated the good fellow, with such genuine surprise and +distress in his tones that I felt a somewhat embarrassing sense of +ingratitude. "What! Don't you remember your foster-father, Gideon +Sperver, the General's old ranger who saved your life as a child, in the +swamp of the Losser?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> And his voice became so husky that he stopped and +cleared his throat.</p> + +<p>"Ah, my dear Gideon, I know you now, indeed! Give me your hand!" We +gripped each other's hands, and Sperver, passing his sleeve across his +eyes, continued, "You know Nideck?"</p> + +<p>"Of course, by reputation. What are you doing there?"</p> + +<p>"I am the Count's steward."</p> + +<p>"And how did you happen to come hither?"</p> + +<p>"The young Countess Odile sent me to fetch you."</p> + +<p>"Very good. When are we to start?"</p> + +<p>"At once. It is an urgent matter; the old Count is very ill, and his +daughter begged me to lose no time. The horses are waiting for us +below."</p> + +<p>"But, my dear Gideon, just look at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> the weather; it has been snowing for +three days!"</p> + +<p>"Pshaw! We are not starting on a boar hunt. Put on your fur coat, fasten +on your spurs, and we are off! Meanwhile, I will order a bite for you to +eat."</p> + +<p>He disappeared, and, as I never could refuse the chosen companion of my +childhood anything from my youngest days, I hurriedly dressed myself, +and lost no time in following him into the dining-room.</p> + +<p>"Ah, I knew you would not let me go back alone!" he cried delightedly. +"Swallow down this slice of ham and drink a stirrup-cup, for the horses +are growing impatient. I have strapped your valise to the saddle."</p> + +<p>"What is that for?"</p> + +<p>"You will be needed for some days<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> at Nideck; that is indispensable. I +will explain everything to you on the way."</p> + +<p>We went down into the inn yard. At that moment two horsemen arrived. +They seemed exhausted, and their horses were white with lather.</p> + +<p>Sperver, who was a great lover of horses, exclaimed in surprise, "What +beautiful animals! They are Wallachians; fine and swift as deer. Come, +make haste and throw a blanket over them, my lad," he continued, +addressing the hostler, "or they may take cold!"</p> + +<p>The travellers, enveloped in white astrakhan greatcoats, passed close to +us just as were putting foot in the stirrup. I could only distinguish +the long brown moustache of one, and his dark eyes that were singularly +bright. They entered the inn. The groom released our bridles<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span> and wished +us a safe journey. We set off at a gallop.</p> + +<p>Sperver rode a pure Mecklenberg, and I was mounted on a spirited horse +of Ardennes; we fairly flew over the snow. In ten minutes we had left +the outskirts of Tübingen behind us. It was beginning to clear up. All +trace of our road had become obliterated by the considerable fall of +snow. Our only companions were the ravens of the Black Forest, spreading +their great hollow wings above the drifts, lighting for an instant here +and there, and crying in discordant notes, "Misery! Misery! Misery!" +Gideon, buried in his coat of wild-cat skin and fur cap, galloped on +ahead. Suddenly he turned in the saddle and called, "Hey, Gaston! This +is what they call a fine winter's morning."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span></p> + +<p>"So it is; but a bit severe."</p> + +<p>"I like the clear cold weather; it makes you tingle. If old Parson Toby +had the courage to start out in such weather, he would never feel his +rheumatism again."</p> + +<p>I smiled as well as my stiff cheeks would let me. After an hour of this +furious pace Sperver slowed down and let me catch up with him. "Gaston," +he said in a serious tone, "you ought to know the circumstances of the +master's illness."</p> + +<p>"I was just thinking of that."</p> + +<p>"The more so, as a great number of doctors have already visited the +Count."</p> + +<p>"Indeed."</p> + +<p>"Yes; they have come from Paris, Berlin, and even Switzerland, and have +made a most careful study of their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> patient and employed all their +skill, but to no purpose."</p> + +<p>As no answer seemed called for, I remained silent, waiting for him to +continue.</p> + +<p>"The Count's disease is a terrible affliction somewhat akin to madness. +It returns every year on the same day and at the same hour; his eyes +grow red as fire, he shudders from head to foot, and he mutters +incoherently."</p> + +<p>"The man has undoubtedly become unbalanced through trouble and +adversity."</p> + +<p>"No! Not so! He possesses power and wealth and untold +honors,—everything, in short, that other people most desire; but the +most singular part of it is that he fancies if his daughter would only +consent to marry, it would effect<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> his cure; and she as strangely +refuses even to entertain the idea, maintaining that she has consecrated +her life to God. The Count cannot bear to think that the ancient race of +Nideck must perish with her."</p> + +<p>"How did his illness first declare itself?"</p> + +<p>"Suddenly, twelve years ago."</p> + +<p>As he spoke my companion seemed to be trying to recall something. "One +evening," he began, after a moment, "I was alone with the Count in the +armory of the Castle. It was about Christmas time. We had been hunting +wild boar all day in the gorges of the Rhethal, and had returned at +nightfall bringing with us two poor hounds ripped open the length of +their bellies. It was just such weather as this, cold and snowy.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> The +Count was striding up and down the room, his head upon his breast and +his hands clasped behind his back, like a man who is deep in thought. +From time to time he paused, and looked at the high windows that were +fast becoming veiled in snow, while I sat in the chimney-corner warming +myself, thinking of my dogs, and silently cursing all the wild boar of +the Black Forest. For fully two hours everybody in the Castle had been +asleep, and there was no sound to break the silence, save the noise of +the Count's heavy spurred boots on the flagstones. I distinctly recall +how a raven, doubtless borne along by a gust of wind, came flapping +against the panes with a discordant cry, and how the sheets of snow fell +from the windows. The casements on that side of the house<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> were suddenly +changed from white to black."</p> + +<p>"Have these details any bearing on your master's illness?"</p> + +<p>"Let me finish. You shall see for yourself. At the raven's cry, the +Count suddenly halted; his eyes became fixed, his cheeks ashy pale, and +he bent his head forward like a hunter who hears the game approaching. I +went on warming myself, thinking meanwhile, 'Won't he go to bed soon?' +For, to tell the truth, I was dropping with fatigue. I can see it all, +Gaston; I am sitting there now! Scarcely had the raven uttered its harsh +croak above the abyss, when the old clock struck eleven. At the same +moment the Count turned on his heel; he listened; his lips moved; I saw +him totter like a drunken<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span> man. He stretched out his hands, his teeth +tightly clenched, and his eyeballs shining like fire. 'My lord,' I +cried, 'what is the matter?' But he burst into mad laughter, stumbled, +and fell upon the floor, face downwards. I called for help immediately; +the servants hurried to the room. Sebalt and I raised the Count and +moved him to the bed near the window; but just as I was about to cut my +master's cravat with my hunting-knife,—for I believed it was a stroke +of apoplexy,—the Countess Odile entered, and threw herself upon the +body of her father, uttering such piteous cries that I tremble yet when +I think of it. From that hour, Gaston, a pall has hung over the Castle, +and Heaven only knows when it will be lifted. Every year, at the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> same +day and hour, the Count is seized with these strange convulsions. The +attacks last from a week to a fortnight, during which he howls and cries +in a most terrifying manner. Then he slowly recovers. He is pale and +weak, and moves about steadying himself on the chairs of his chamber, +and turning fearfully to look, at the slightest sound, seemingly afraid +of his own shadow. The young Countess, the sweetest creature in the +world, never leaves him; but he cannot bear the sight of her at these +times. 'Go! Go!' he cries, stretching out his arms before him. 'Leave +me! Haven't I suffering enough as it is, without your hated presence?' +It is abominable to hear him, and I, who am always at his side in the +chase, and would readily risk my life to serve him,—I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span> could throttle +him at these moments, when I witness his monstrous treatment of his own +daughter!"</p> + +<p>Sperver, whose swarthy face had assumed a gloomy look, set spurs to his +horse, and we continued at a gallop. I had become thoughtful. The cure +of such a malady seemed to me exceedingly doubtful, if not indeed +impossible. It was evidently some moral disease. In order successfully +to combat it, it would be necessary to trace it back to its origin, and +this origin was doubtless lost in the vagueness of the past. These +reflections tended to increase my apprehension. The old steward's story, +far from inspiring me with confidence, had depressed me,—a doubtful +state of affairs to insure success.</p> + +<p>It was about three o'clock when<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> we descried the ancient Castle of +Nideck on the furthest horizon. In spite of the vast intervening +distance, we could distinguish the high turrets suspended like baskets +from the angles of the edifice. It was as yet but a mere outline, hardly +distinguishable from the blue sky; almost imperceptibly the red granite +peaks of the Vosges appeared. At that moment Sperver slowed up and +cried, "Gaston, we must get there before night shuts in. Forward!"</p> + +<p>But it was in vain that he plunged his spurs into his horse. The animal<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> +remained motionless, with his fore legs planted firmly before him, his +mane bristling up with fear, and emitting two streams of bluish vapor +from his nostrils.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"><a name="ILL_003" id="ILL_003"></a> +<img src="images/ill_003.jpg" width="500" height="322" alt=""POINTING TO A DARK OBJECT CROUCHING IN THE SNOW."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"POINTING TO A DARK OBJECT CROUCHING IN THE SNOW."</span> +</div> + +<p>"What does this mean?" cried Gideon, astonished. "Do you see anything,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span> +Gaston? Can there—" He did not finish his sentence; pointing to a dark +object crouching in the snow at a distance of some fifty paces on the +hillside, he exclaimed, in a tone of such distress that I was a good +deal startled, "The Black Plague!" Following with my glance the +direction of his extended arm, I was astonished to perceive an aged<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span> +woman, her legs bent up between her clasped arms, and so ragged that her +red elbows protruded from the sleeves of her dress, seated in the snow. +A few locks of gray hair fell in disorder about her thin, red, +vulture-like neck. Singularly enough, a bundle of some sort rested on +her knees, and her haggard eyes wandered over the snowy plain. Sperver +had gone far to the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span> right and kept as far as possible out of the old +creature's way. I had some trouble in overtaking him.</p> + +<p>"What the deuce is the meaning of all this? Are you joking?" I cried.</p> + +<p>"Joking! God forbid that I should jest about such matters. I am not +superstitious, but this meeting with the old witch frightens me." Then, +turning his head and seeing that the old creature had not stirred, and +that her eyes were still fixed on the plain before her, he seemed +somewhat reassured.</p> + +<p>"Gaston," he said solemnly, "you are a man of learning, and are +acquainted with many subjects of which I know nothing, but believe me, a +man is wrong to laugh at things he cannot understand. It is not without +reason that I call this woman the Black Plague. Throughout<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span> the Black +Forest she is known by that name, but here at Nideck she has won a +special right to it."</p> + +<p>My companion rode on for a few minutes without speaking. "Come, Sperver, +explain yourself more clearly! I confess I don't understand you in the +least."</p> + +<p>"The hag that you saw down there is the cause of all our misfortunes. It +is she who is slowly killing the Count."</p> + +<p>"How is that possible? How can she exercise such an influence?"</p> + +<p>"I cannot tell you. But one thing is certain: on the first day of the +Count's attack, at the very moment even, you have only to climb up to +the signal-tower and you will see the Black Plague crouching like a dark +speck in the long stretch of snow between the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span> Tübingen Forest and the +Castle of Nideck. Every day she comes a little nearer, and at her +approach, the Count's attacks grow worse; sometimes when the trembling +fits come upon him, he says to me, 'Gideon, she is coming.' I hold his +arms and try to quiet him, but he keeps muttering with staring eyes, +'She is coming! Oh, oh! She is coming!' Then I climb the tower and +survey the landscape. You know I have a keen eye, Gideon. At last, amid +the distant mists, between sky and earth, I distinguish a black speck. +The next morning the speck has grown larger; the Count starts up in his +bed with chattering teeth. On the second day we can see the old creature +distinctly, almost within rifle-shot on the plain; and then it is that +the Count's jaws<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> become set like a vice, his eyes roll in his head, and +he utters terrible cries. Ah, the cursed witch! A score of times I have +brought my carbine to bear on her, but the poor Count has prevented me +from drawing the trigger, crying, 'No, Sperver; shed no blood!' Poor +man! He is sparing the creature who is killing him by inches; he is +nothing but skin and bones."</p> + +<p>My good friend Gideon was too much taken up with the vision of the hag +to be brought back to calm reason. Moreover, who can define the exact +limits of the possible? Do we not each day see the realm of reality +extend itself more widely? These hidden influences, these unseen bonds, +this world of magnetism that some proclaim with all the ardor of the +fanatic,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> and others deny with scorn and ridicule,—who can say that all +these forces will not some day revolutionize our universe? It is easy to +arrogate to yourself a claim to superior knowledge in the face of such +general ignorance. I confined myself, therefore, to begging Sperver to +moderate his anger, and beyond all things not to fire upon the Black +Plague, warning him that it would very probably bring grave misfortune +upon himself.</p> + +<p>"Bah! I will risk all that!" he exclaimed; "the worst they could do +would be to hang me."</p> + +<p>"But that would be a good deal for an honest man to suffer."</p> + +<p>"As well die one way as another. In this case, you are suffocated, +that's all. I would as lief die that way as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span> to receive a blow on my +head, or a stroke of apoplexy, or give up smoking, drinking, and a good +digestion."</p> + +<p>"My dear Gideon, that sounds odd, coming from a graybeard."</p> + +<p>"Graybeard or not, that is the way I look at it. I always keep a bullet +in my rifle at the service of the witch; from time to time, I renew the +priming, and if ever the occasion offers—" He finished his sentence by +an expressive gesture.</p> + +<p>"You are wrong, Sperver! I am of the same opinion as the Count: 'no +bloodshed.' Reconsider, and discharge your piece against the first wild +boar you happen upon."</p> + +<p>These words seemed to have some effect upon the old huntsman; he dropped +his chin on his breast, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span> his face assumed a thoughtful expression.</p> + +<p>By this time, we were climbing the wooded slopes which separate the +squalid hamlet of Tiefenbach from the Castle of Nideck. Night had +overtaken us, and as it often happens after a clear, cold day in winter, +the snow was beginning to fall again, and large flakes fell and melted +on our horses' manes. The animals whinnied and increased their pace, +cheered doubtless by the prospect of a warm shelter. Every now and then, +Sperver turned and looked behind him with evident anxiety, and I was not +free from a certain indefinable apprehension as I reflected upon the +strange account of his master's malady which the steward had given me. +Besides, man's spirit<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span> harmonizes itself with its surroundings, and, for +my part, I know of nothing more melancholy than a forest covered with +snow and hoar frost, and stirred by a moaning wind; the trees have a +sombre, icy look that chills you to the heart.</p> + +<p>As we climbed the slope, the oak-trees became fewer, and the birches, +straight and white as marble columns, stretched one beyond another, far +out to the horizon line intersecting the dark arches of the larch-trees. +Suddenly, as we emerged from a thicket, the ancient fortress reared up +before us, its dark extent sprinkled with points of light. Sperver had +pulled up before a funnel-shaped gateway, cut deep in the rock between +two towers, and barred by an iron grating.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Here we are!" he cried, leaning over the horse's head and seizing the +deer's-foot bell-handle. The clear tinkle of a bell sounded in the +interior.</p> + +<p>After a few minutes of waiting, a lantern appeared at the end of the +archway, dispersing the gloom, and showing us within its circle of light +a little dwarf with a yellow beard and broad shoulders, enveloped in +furs from head to foot. He came slowly towards us and pressed his great +flat face against the grating, straining his eyes to make us out in the +darkness.</p> + +<p>"Is that you, Sperver?" he asked in a harsh voice.</p> + +<p>"Yes. Open the door, Knapwurst!" cried the huntsman. "Don't you know how +devilish cold it is?"</p> + +<p>"Ah, I know you now," replied the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span> little fellow; "it is you indeed! You +always speak as though you would swallow people whole."</p> + +<p>The door opened, and the gnome, raising his lantern towards me with an +odd grimace, greeted me with, "Welcome, Monsieur Doctor," but in a tone +as much as to say, "Here is another one who will go the way of the +rest." Then he quietly closed the door, while we dismounted, and this +done, he came to take our horses by the bridle.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II.</h2> + +<h3>I MEET THE COUNTESS.</h3> + +<p>Following Sperver, who climbed the staircase at a rapid pace, I was able +to convince myself that the Castle of Nideck merited its reputation. It +was a true stronghold, cut out of the rock; a relic of feudal times. Its +high, deep archways reëchoed the sound of our steps, and the wind +blowing through the loopholes caused the flame of the torches which were +fastened at intervals along the wall to flare and flicker and send our +giant shadows dancing along the corridor. Sperver knew every nook and +cranny of this vast place; he turned<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> many times to right and left, and +I followed him, out of breath. At last he stopped on a large landing, +and said to me:</p> + +<p>"I will leave you with the people of the Castle for a moment, Gaston, +while I go to inform the young Countess Odile of your arrival."</p> + +<p>"Very good; do whatever you think suitable."</p> + +<p>"You will find among the domestics, our majordomo, Tobias Offenloch, an +old soldier of the regiment of Nideck. In former days he made a campaign +in Germany under the Count."</p> + +<p>"A good fellow, no doubt."</p> + +<p>"You will also see his wife, a Frenchwoman, named Marie Lagoutte, who +pretends to come of good family."</p> + +<p>"And why not?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span></p> + +<p>"To be sure; only, between ourselves, she was nothing but a +canteen-woman of Soubise's army. One day she brought us in Tobias +Offenloch on her cart, minus one leg, and the poor fellow married her +out of gratitude; you understand."</p> + +<p>"Precisely; but open the door,—I am freezing!" I tried to push past +him, but Sperver, obstinate, like all good Germans, was bound to +enlighten me as to the people into whose presence I was about to enter, +and seizing me by the frogs of my greatcoat, he continued:</p> + +<p>"Then there is Sebalt Kraft, the master of the hounds, a sad sort of +chap, but without an equal in sounding the horn; Karl Trumpf, the +butler; Christian Becker, and all our people, if they haven't all gone +to bed."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span></p> + +<p>Thereupon Sperver pushed open the door, and I stood surprised on the +threshold of a high, dark hall, the former guardroom of Nideck. I took +in at a glance the three windows at the further end of the room, that +dominated the precipice; on the right a sort of sideboard of old oak, +browned by age, and on it a small cask, glasses, and bottles; on the +left a Gothic chimney with a broad mantel-shelf empurpled by the blazing +fire underneath, and ornamented in front and on the sides by carvings +representing the various scenes of a boar hunt in the Middle Ages; and +finally, in the centre of the room, a long table upon which stood a huge +lamp, its light reflected by a dozen mugs with pewter lids.</p> + +<p>All this I saw at a glance, but it was the people that interested me +most.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span> I recognized at once the majordomo with his wooden leg; a small, +square, thick-set man, with a ruddy face, and prominent waistband, and a +nose of marvellous brilliancy. He wore an enormous hemp-colored wig, +with a long pigtail, a coat of apple-green plush with steel buttons as +large as a five-franc piece, velvet breeches, blue silk stockings, and +shoes with silver buckles. He was about to turn the spigot of the cask; +an air of inexpressible satisfaction beamed upon his rubicund face, and +his eyes, starting slightly from his head, glowed in profile like a pair +of watch glasses. His wife, the worthy Marie Lagoutte, dressed in a gown +of woolen stuff with a large flowered pattern, and her thin face the +color of a withered apple, was playing cards with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span> two servants, all +three seated in straight-backed armchairs. Some small split pegs pinched +the olfactory organ of the old woman and that of another player, while +the third was winking slyly and seemed to enjoy seeing his opponents +subjugated beneath this new variety of Caudine Forks.</p> + +<p>"How many cards?" he was asking them.</p> + +<p>"Two," replied the old woman.</p> + +<p>"And you, Christian?"</p> + +<p>"Two."</p> + +<p>"Ah, ha! I've got you! Cut the king; now the ace. Ha, ha, ha! Another +peg, mother; this will teach you once more to boast to us of your French +games!"</p> + +<p>"Master Christian, you don't treat the fair sex with due respect."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span></p> + +<p>"When we play cards, we respect nobody."</p> + +<p>"But you see, I have no room for any more."</p> + +<p>"Pshaw! with a nose like yours, there's always room enough."</p> + +<p>At this moment Sperver cried, "Here I am, comrades!"</p> + +<p>"Ha, Gideon! back so soon?"</p> + +<p>Marie Lagoutte made haste to shake off her numerous pegs with a motion +of her head; the big majordomo emptied his glass, and everybody turned +to look at us.</p> + +<p>"Is the Count better?"</p> + +<p>"Hum!" exclaimed the majordomo, drawing down his under-lip.</p> + +<p>"Is his condition unchanged?"</p> + +<p>"Just about," answered Marie Lagoutte, who never took her eyes off me. +Sperver noticed this.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Let me present to you my foster-son, Monsieur de la Roche, from +Tübingen," he said proudly. "Things will change now in the Castle, +Master Tobie; now that Gaston has come, this cursed malady will be put +to flight. If we could only have found him out sooner! However, better +late than never."</p> + +<p>Marie Lagoutte was still watching me, and the examination seemed to +satisfy her, for, turning to the majordomo, "Come, come, Monsieur +Offenloch! Stir yourself," she said; "offer monsieur the doctor a chair! +You sit there with your mouth open like a great carp!"</p> + +<p>With these words, the good woman sprang up as though moved by a spring, +and came to help me off with my greatcoat.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Permit me, monsieur."</p> + +<p>"You are very good, my dear woman."</p> + +<p>"Hand it to me, monsieur. Such weather! Ah, monsieur, what a country +this is!"</p> + +<p>"So our master is neither better nor worse," continued Sperver, shaking +the snow from his cap. "We are here in time. Ho! Kasper! Kasper!"</p> + +<p>A little man with a drooping shoulder, indicating a partial paralysis of +his frame, and a face liberally sprinkled with freckles, came out of the +chimney-corner.</p> + +<p>"Here I am."</p> + +<p>"Good! You must prepare for the doctor the chamber at the end of the +long gallery,—Hugh's chamber. You know which one."</p> + +<p>"Yes, Sperver. I will see to it at once."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span></p> + +<p>"One moment! You will take the doctor's valise with you as you go. +Knapwurst will give it to you. As to supper—"</p> + +<p>"Never fear; I will take care of all that."</p> + +<p>"Very good."</p> + +<p>The little man went out, and Gideon, after throwing off his cape, left +us to go and inform the young Countess of my arrival. I was somewhat +embarrassed by the attentions of Marie Lagoutte.</p> + +<p>"Come, up with you, Sebalt!" she said to the master of the hounds; "you +ought to be sufficiently roasted by this time, sprawling there since +morning. Sit down by the fire, Monsieur Doctor; your feet must be cold. +Stretch out your legs; that's the way." Then, after a minute: "You have +come just in time;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> our master had his second attack yesterday, and it +was a terrible one; hey, Master Offenloch?"</p> + +<p>"Terrible is just the word," replied the majordomo gravely.</p> + +<p>"Nor is it to be wondered at, when a man takes no nourishment; and he +eats nothing, monsieur. Fancy, it is two days since he has taken so much +as a bowl of broth."</p> + +<p>"Or a glass of wine," added Tobie, crossing his fat hands on his +comfortable waistband.</p> + +<p>I felt it incumbent upon me to express some surprise, so I shook my +head; whereupon the majordomo came over and sat down on my right, +saying, "Take my advice, doctor, and prescribe a bottle of Marcobrunner +every day."</p> + +<p>"And a chicken wing at each meal,"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> added Marie Lagoutte; "the poor man +is as thin as a ghost."</p> + +<p>"We have some Marcobrunner sixty years old, and Johannisberg of the year +'14; for Villars's fellows didn't drink it all, as Madame Offenloch +would have it. You might prescribe now and then a glass of Johannisberg; +there is nothing like it to set a man on his feet."</p> + +<p>"There was a time," said the master of the hounds in a melancholy tone, +"there was a time when our master went on the hunt twice a week, and he +was well; now that he has stopped, he is ill."</p> + +<p>"That is reasonable enough," observed Marie Lagoutte; "the fresh air +gave him an appetite. The doctor should order him three hunts a week to +make up for lost time."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Two would do," replied the master of the hounds dismally; "two would +do. The dogs must have some time to rest. They must be considered as +well as we."</p> + +<p>A few moments of silence succeeded, during which I could hear the wind +rattling the windows and whistling boisterously through the loopholes +and along the empty halls. Sebalt had crossed his legs, and with his +elbow on his knee supporting his chin, he gazed into the fire with +unspeakable gloominess. Marie Lagoutte refreshed herself with a pinch of +snuff, and I was reflecting on that strange infirmity that leads us to +press our advice on others, whether they desire it or not, when the +majordomo rose, and leaning over the back of my chair, said:</p> + +<p>"Will you have a glass of wine, doctor?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Thank you, but I never drink before visiting a patient."</p> + +<p>"What, not even one small glass?"</p> + +<p>"Not even a tiny glass."</p> + +<p>He opened his eyes very wide, and looked with astonishment at his wife.</p> + +<p>"Monsieur the doctor is right," she said; "I am of his opinion; I prefer +to drink with my meals and take a glass of cognac afterwards. In my +country, the women drink cognac; it is more genteel than kirschwasser."</p> + +<p>Marie Lagoutte had hardly finished this explanation, when Sperver opened +the door part way, and motioned me to follow him. I nodded a farewell to +the worthy company, and as I stepped into the passage, I heard Tobie's +wife saying to him, "He is a nice-looking young man. He would have made +a fine soldier!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span> Sperver looked uneasy; he said nothing. I too was +thoughtful.</p> + +<p>A few steps beneath the shadowy arches of the Castle served completely +to efface from my mind the grotesque figures of Tobie and Marie +Lagoutte,—poor, inoffensive creatures, living like bats under the +vulture's powerful wing. Soon Gideon threw open the door of a sumptuous +apartment, hung with violet-colored velvet worked in gold. A bronze +lamp, resting on a corner of the mantelpiece, and covered with a globe +of ground crystal, vaguely lighted up the room. Thick rugs deadened the +sound of our footsteps. It seemed like a refuge consecrated to silence +and meditation.</p> + +<p>On entering, Sperver lifted the heavy draperies that concealed a turret +window.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> I saw him gaze earnestly into the plain beneath, and I divined +his thoughts; he was looking to see if the witch were still there, +crouching in the snow,—but he could see nothing, for the night was +dark. As I moved forward into the room, I made out, by the pale rays of +the lamp, a young woman of girlish figure seated in an armchair, her +forehead resting in her hand, and her whole attitude one of patient but +despairing sorrow. Her back was slightly turned towards us, and for this +reason I could not at first see her face.</p> + +<p>But at the rustle of our entrance she rose quickly, and exhibited to my +gaze the most beautiful presence I had ever beheld. The tall, stately +figure, the ideal formation of the features, the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span> glory of golden hair +that fell about the fair, white neck, the deep, lustrous eyes that +bespoke a soul as pure and beautiful as the scenes among which it +flourished,—everything about the young mistress of the Castle +proclaimed her to be of that noble type which we meet with but once, if +at all, in a lifetime. Just what my feelings were at sight of this +beautiful young woman I know not, but certain it is that they were of a +nature hitherto unknown to me, and I felt a strange sense of harmony and +contentment within me as my glance continued to rest upon her.</p> + +<p>After a moment the Countess advanced, and said simply, "You are welcome, +monsieur;" then, motioning towards the alcove where the Count lay, she +added, "There is my father."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span></p> + +<p>I bowed low, and without reply,—such was my agitation,—I approached +the couch of the sick man. Sperver, standing at the head of the bed, +held the lamp in his raised hand, and the light, softened by the crystal +globe, fell palely upon the face of the Count. Odile remained near me, +waiting anxiously for my first word.</p> + +<p>At the first glance I was struck with the strange physiognomy of the +Lord of Nideck, and in contrast to the admiration that his daughter had +inspired within me, my first thought was, "He is an old wolf!" And in +truth, his head bristling with gray hair and swelling behind the ears; +his long, pointed face and receding forehead; his narrow eyes and shaggy +eyebrows that met in a point over the bridge of his nose, imperfectly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> +shading the dull, cold eye beneath; his short, stiff beard, spreading +unevenly over his bony jaws,—in short, everything about the man made me +shudder, and brought involuntarily to my mind the oft-alleged affinities +between man and the brute creation.</p> + +<p>I mastered my repugnance, and raised the arm of the sick man. It was +wasted and tremulous, the hand small and wiry. The pulse was rapid, +fluttering and feverish, indicating intense nervous excitement. What was +I to do? I considered. On one side stood the young Countess, anxiously +awaiting an expression of my opinion; on the other, Sperver, trying to +read my thoughts and following attentively my slightest movement. A +painful restraint was thus imposed upon me.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span></p> + +<p>However, I saw that no decided step could be undertaken as yet. I +dropped the arm, and listened to the breathing. From time to time, +something like a sob escaped the sick man's breast; then the respiration +became normal again; then faster, and finally, labored. Some sort of +nightmare oppressed him. But the cause!—this I must determine first, +and I must confess it seemed hopeless enough. I turned round, sorely +perplexed.</p> + +<p>"Is there any hope, monsieur?" asked the young woman.</p> + +<p>"Yesterday's crisis is drawing to a close, mademoiselle. We must seek to +ward off the next attack."</p> + +<p>"Is that a possible thing?"</p> + +<p>I was about to reply in some scientific generalities, not daring to +commit myself,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> when the distant sound of the Castle bell fell upon our +ears.</p> + +<p>"Strangers," said Sperver.</p> + +<p>There was a moment of silence.</p> + +<p>"Go and see who it is," said Odile, whose brow was shadowed with +anxiety. "How can we be hospitable at such times? It is impossible."</p> + +<p>Just then the door opened, and a yellow head and rosy cheeks appeared in +the shadow, whispering, "The Baron Zimmer, accompanied by his servant, +asks for shelter in the Castle. He has lost his way in the mountains."</p> + +<p>"Very well, Gretchen," replied the Countess quietly; "go and tell +Offenloch to attend to the wants of the strangers. Tell him to inform +the Baron Zimmer that the Count is very ill, and that this alone +prevents him from doing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span> the honors of the house in person. Wake up our +people, and see that he is properly waited on and that everything is +suitably done."</p> + +<p>It would be difficult to describe the well-born simplicity with which +the young mistress of the Castle gave her orders, and I reflected that +if an air of nobility seems inherent in some families, it is certainly +because the discharge of hospitable and charitable duties tends to +elevate the character and ennoble the soul.</p> + +<p>All this passed through my mind while I was admiring the gentle glance, +the distinguished carriage, and the exquisitely cut features of Odile of +Nideck,—that purity of outline only to be met with in the realms of +aristocracy,—and I tried in vain to recall<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span> anything comparable to her +in my recollection.</p> + +<p>"Make haste, Gretchen! Don't keep the travellers waiting," said the +young Countess.</p> + +<p>"Yes, madame."</p> + +<p>The servant departed, and I stood for a few moments unable to dispel the +charm of my meditations. Odile turned and addressed me.</p> + +<p>"You see, monsieur," she said with a sad smile, "we are not allowed to +indulge our grief; we must ever divide ourselves between our feelings +and the claims that others have upon us."</p> + +<p>"That is too true, mademoiselle," I replied; "souls of the higher sort +seem purposed to serve as a guide and promise to us weaker ones: the +traveller who has lost his path, the sick man,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span> and the starving +pauper,—each has a claim upon them, for God has created them like the +stars above us, for the happiness of all."</p> + +<p>Odile lowered her deep-fringed eyelids, while Sperver pressed my hand.</p> + +<p>After a moment, the Countess continued:</p> + +<p>"Ah, monsieur, if you could only save my father!"</p> + +<p>"As I have had the pleasure of telling you before, mademoiselle, +yesterday's crisis is past; we must now endeavor to prevent its +recurrence."</p> + +<p>"Do you believe that this can be done?"</p> + +<p>"With God's help, mademoiselle, it is not impossible. I must give the +matter the most careful thought."</p> + +<p>Odile, much agitated, moved with me<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span> to the door, and as I bowed myself +out of the chamber, I fancied that I detected in her lovely face an +expression of increased hope. Sperver and I crossed the antechamber, +where a few servants were standing awaiting the orders of their +mistress. We had just entered the corridor, when Gideon, who led the +way, turned abruptly round, and resting his hands on my shoulders, said:</p> + +<p>"Gaston, I am a man to be trusted; what is your opinion of the case?"</p> + +<p>"There is nothing to be feared to-night."</p> + +<p>"I know that; you said as much to the Countess. But to-morrow?"</p> + +<p>"To-morrow?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. Don't turn your head. I suppose you can't prevent a recurrence of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> +the attack, but, frankly, do you think he will die of it?"</p> + +<p>"He may, but I don't anticipate it."</p> + +<p>"Ah," cried the good fellow joyfully; "that means you are sure he +won't!"</p> + +<p>Thrusting his arm through mine, he pulled me into the gallery. We had +hardly set foot in it when the Baron Zimmer and his groom appeared, +preceded by Sebalt, who carried a flaming torch in his hand. They were +on their way to their chambers, and these two figures, with their cloaks +flung over their shoulders, their knee-boots of soft Hungarian leather, +their waists tightly buttoned in, their long green tunics ornamented +with frogs and twisted fringes of silk and gold, their bearskin caps +drawn down over their ears, and their long hunting-knives stuck in their +belts,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span> looked strangely picturesque in the white light of the dripping +pine torch.</p> + +<p>"By Jove!" exclaimed Sperver, "if I am not greatly mistaken, those are +our Tübingen friends. They were close at our heels, you see."</p> + +<p>"You are right; they are the same people! I remember the younger one by +his slim figure; he has the profile of an eagle, and wears his mustache +like the astrologer-general Wallenstein."</p> + +<p>They disappeared beneath a side triforium.</p> + +<p>Gideon took a torch from the wall, and guided me through a labyrinth of +corridors, passageways, and high, low, turret-shaped, and winding +entries. I thought he would never have done.</p> + +<p>"Here is the hall of the Margraves," he said; "and this is the portrait +gallery.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span> There is the chapel, where no mass has been said since Louis +the Bald became a Protestant. Next comes the armory."</p> + +<p>These facts possessed but little interest for me. After having reached +the end of the gallery, we had to descend a staircase that seemed +interminable; at last, thank Heaven! we halted before a low, massive +door. Sperver drew an enormous key from his pocket, and handing me the +torch, said, "Mind the light; be careful!"</p> + +<p>At the same time, he pushed open the door, and the cold outside air +rushed into the passageway. The flame leaped back and sent a shower of +sparks in all directions. I fancied myself standing on the edge of an +abyss, and I recoiled instinctively.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Ha, Ha!" laughed the steward, his mouth parted in a broad grin, "any +one would think you were afraid, Gaston. Come on! We are now in the +little court that leads from the Castle to the old tower."</p> + +<p>The good fellow moved on by way of example. The snow lay deep in this +courtyard, and the wind swept it with terrific gusts. Had any one seen +our flaring torch upon the plain, he would have asked himself, "What are +they doing up there in the clouds? Why are they prowling about at this +time of night?"</p> + +<p>"Perhaps the old witch is looking up at us," I thought, and the idea +made me shudder. I drew closer the folds of my cloak, and holding my hat +on with the other hand, I ran after Sperver, who<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> held his light above +his head to show me the path, and moved along with rapid strides.</p> + +<p>We rushed into the tower, and then into Hugh's Chamber, where a bright +fire greeted us with cheerful cracklings. How grateful it was to be +sheltered by the thick walls! I had stopped while Sperver closed the +door, and contemplating this ancient abode, I cried, "Thank God, we +shall have a moment to rest now!"</p> + +<p>"And before an excellent table," added Gideon. "Just look at that,—the +leg of a kid, two roasted pheasants, a blue-backed pike, his mouth +stuffed with parsley; cold meats and hot wines is what I like. I have no +fault to find with Kasper; he has carried out my orders to the letter!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span></p> + +<p>Gideon spoke truly,—"cold meats and hot wines;" for before the fire +stood a generous array of bottles, being submitted to the gentle +influence of the heat. The sight of this repast served to whet my +already considerable appetite; but Sperver, who understood the art of +being comfortable, said to me:</p> + +<p>"Don't be in too great a hurry, Gaston! Let's take things easily! We +have time enough; the pheasants won't fly away, and as for the pike, +I'll warrant he cares no more about swimming. In the first place, having +been eight hours in the saddle, your boots must hurt you, so off with +them. Sit down there and put your boot between my knees. I've got that +one; let's have the other. There you are. Now put your feet in these +slippers, take off<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span> your cloak, and throw this dressing-gown over you. +Now you'll do!"</p> + +<p>Having gone through a similar course of preparation, he cried in a +hearty tone:</p> + +<p>"Now, Gaston, fall to! You do your share and I'll do mine, and remember +well the German proverb: 'If Beelzebub created thirst, surely the Lord +made wine to quench it.'"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III.</h2> + +<h3>MY FIRST NIGHT IN HUGH'S TOWER.</h3> + +<p>We ate with the ravenous appetite which a ten hours' ride through the +snows of the Black Forest would be likely to impart. Sperver attacked, +in turn, the kid, the pheasants, and the pike, murmuring, with his mouth +full, "Thank God for the woods, the heather, and the ponds." Then, +leaning over the back of his chair and seizing the first bottle that +came under his hand, he added, "And for the hillsides, green in spring +and purple in autumn. Your health, Gaston!"</p> + +<p>"Yours, Gideon!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span></p> + +<p>The fire crackled, the forks jingled, the bottles gurgled, and the +glasses clinked, while outside the wind of the winter night, the blast +from the snow-bound mountains, sang its unearthly hymn,—the hymn that +it sings when storm-driven, fantastic cloud-shapes rush across the sky +and obscure from moment to moment the pale face of the moon.</p> + +<p>We continued our grateful meal. Sperver filled the "wieder komm" with +old Brumberg wine, whose sparkling froth bordered its generous edges, +and, handing it to me, he cried, "Here's to the recovery of Hermann of +Nideck, my noble master! Drink to the last drop, Gaston, that your +prayer may be heard."</p> + +<p>This was done; then, refilling the bowl, he drained it in his turn.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span></p> + +<p>A sense of satisfaction took possession of us. We felt at peace with all +the world. I sprawled out in my chair with my head thrown back and my +arms hanging down, and began to study my apartment. It was a low, arched +chamber cut out of the live rock, shaped like an oval, and measuring in +the highest part not more than twelve feet. At the further end I +perceived a sort of alcove, and in it a bed resting on the floor, and +covered, as nearly as I could make out, with a bearskin robe. Still +further back was another and smaller niche, with a statue of the Virgin +cut out of the same piece of granite and crowned with a bunch of +withered grass.</p> + +<p>"You are studying your chamber," said Sperver; "it is not as large nor +as luxurious as the rooms of the Castle.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> We are now in Hugh's Tower, +and it is as old as the mountain itself. It dates back to the time of +Charlemagne. In those days the people didn't understand the art of +building lofty, spacious dwellings; they cut right into the solid rock."</p> + +<p>"That served the purpose as well; but it is an odd corner that you have +stuck me in, Gideon."</p> + +<p>"Don't be deceived on that point, Gaston; it is the place of honor. +Whenever the Count's particular friends come to visit him, they are put +in here. Hugh's Tower is the most honorable accommodation of all."</p> + +<p>"By the way, who was this Hugh?"</p> + +<p>"Why, Hugh the Wolf!"</p> + +<p>"What!" I exclaimed in astonishment.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Certainly; the founder of the family of Nideck; a rough customer, they +say. He came and settled down here with a score of horsemen and archers. +They scaled the highest rock on the mountain,—you will see it +to-morrow,—and built this tower. 'We are the masters,' they declared, +'and woe be to those who try to pass without paying toll. We will fall +on them like wolves, tear the clothes from their backs, and the hides, +too, if they are obstinate. From here we can command the landscape, the +passes of the Rhethal, the Steinbach, and the Roche Plate, and the +entire line of the Black Forest. Let the merchants beware.' And the bold +fellows carried out their threats under the leadership of Hugh the Wolf. +Knapwurst told me all about it when we were sitting up the other +night."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Knapwurst?"</p> + +<p>"You know; the little dwarf who opened the gate to us; a droll chap, +Gaston, who is always to be found in the library bent over a book."</p> + +<p>"So you have a scholar at Nideck."</p> + +<p>"Yes, the rascal! Instead of staying in his lodge, where he belongs, he +spends the whole blessed day shaking the dust from old family +parchments. He moves about among the shelves like a cat, and he knows +our history better than we do ourselves. He would like nothing better +than to tell you his stories; he calls them chronicles. Ha, ha, ha!"</p> + +<p>Hereupon, Sperver, exalted by the old wine, laughed for some moments, +without knowing exactly why.</p> + +<p>"So that is why you call this the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span> Tower of Hugh the Wolf?" I resumed.</p> + +<p>"Didn't I just tell you so? What are you so surprised at?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, nothing."</p> + +<p>"Yes, you are. I see it in your face. What are you thinking of?"</p> + +<p>"It isn't so much the name of the tower that surprises me, as that you, +an old ranger, who from a baby had never known any home but the +fir-trees and crests of the Wald Horn and the gorges of the Rhethal, who +would never sleep with a roof over your head in spite of all my father's +urging, and who amused yourself roaming the paths of the Black Forest +and revelling in the fresh air, the sunlight, and the freedom of a +hunter's life, should be found here, after sixteen years, in this +red-granite<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> hole. Come, Sperver, light your pipe and tell me how it +happened."</p> + +<p>The old ranger drew a short, black pipe from his leather jacket, filled +it leisurely, and snatching up a coal from the hearth, placed it on the +bowl of his pipe; then, with his head thrown back and his eyes wandering +over the ceiling, he replied thoughtfully:</p> + +<p>"After I left your father's service twenty years ago, it was long before +I could bring my mind to work for any other master, for I loved the +General, and you, and your pretty mother, as I could never come to love +others, not even the Count and my mistress Odile. So I took to poaching +for a term of years, and found a living by any means I could, until one +night the Count came upon me in the moonlight.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span></p> + +<p>"He did not despise Sperver, the old hawk, the true man of the woods; +and he said to me, 'Comrade, you have hunted long enough by yourself; +now come and hunt with me. You have a good beak and strong claws, and +you might as well hunt my game with my permission as without it.'"</p> + +<p>Sperver was silent for some minutes; then he continued:</p> + +<p>"I was getting old,—and the old falcons and hawks, having long swept +the plains, end by settling down in the cleft of a rock to die. So it +was with me. I loved the open air, and I love it yet; but now, instead +of lying on a high branch at night and being rocked to sleep by the +wind, I prefer to come back to my cover, quietly pick a woodcock, and +dry my plumage before the fire."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span></p> + +<p>Sperver was silent for some moments; then he continued:</p> + +<p>"I still hunt as before, and afterwards I drink a quiet glass of +Rudesheimer with my friends, or—" At this moment a shock made the door +tremble.</p> + +<p>"It is a gust of wind," I said.</p> + +<p>"No; it is something else. Don't you hear a claw scratching on the +panel? I think one of the dogs must have got loose. Open, Walden! open, +Lieverlé!"</p> + +<p>He got up, but he had not gone two steps when a formidable Danish hound +leaped into the room and raised his fore-paws on his master's shoulders, +licking his cheeks and beard with his long, red tongue, and whining with +joy. Sperver put his arm around the dog's neck, and turning to me:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Gaston," he said, "what man could love me as this dog does? Look at +this head, these eyes, and teeth!"</p> + +<p>He drew back the animal's lips and showed me a set of fangs that could +have torn a buffalo to pieces. Then pushing him off with difficulty, for +the dog redoubled his caresses, he cried, "Down with you, Lieverlé; I +know you love me! Who would, if you did not?" He went and closed the +door.</p> + +<p>I never had seen a dog of such formidable proportions before; he +measured nearly four feet in height, with a broad, low forehead and fine +coat, a bright eye, long paws, broad across the chest and shoulders and +tapering down to the haunches,—a mass of nerves and muscles +interwoven,—but he had no scent. If such animals possessed the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> scent +of the terrier, the game would soon be exterminated.</p> + +<p>Sperver had returned to his seat and was passing his hand proudly over +Lieverlé's head, while he enumerated the dog's fine points. Lieverlé +seemed to understand him.</p> + +<p>"Look, Gaston, that dog would strangle a wolf with a snap of his jaws. +He is what you might well call perfection in the matter of courage and +strength; not yet five, and in his prime. I need not tell you that he is +trained to hunt wild boar. Every time we meet them, I fear for Lieverlé; +he attacks them too boldly; he flies at them like an arrow. Beware of +the brutes' tusks, Lieverlé, you rascal! It makes me tremble. Down on +your back!" cried the huntsman; "down on your back!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span></p> + +<p>The dog obeyed, presenting to us his flesh-colored thighs.</p> + +<p>"Do you see that long, white line, without any hair on it, which extends +from his thigh clear up to his chest? A boar did that. The noble chap +did not let go of the brute's ear, in spite of the wound, and we tracked +them by the blood. I came up with them first. Seeing my Lieverlé, I +cried out, jumped to the ground, and lifting him in my arms, I wrapped +him in my mantle and brought him home. I was beside myself with grief. +Luckily, the vital parts were not injured, and I sewed up the wound. +God! how he howled and suffered; but at the end of the third day he +began to lick the place, and a dog who licks a wound is already saved. +Ha, Lieverlé! you remember<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> it! And now we love each other, don't we?"</p> + +<p>I was much moved by the affection of the man for the dog, and the animal +for his master. Lieverlé watched him and wagged his tail, while a tear +stood in Sperver's eye. Soon he began again:</p> + +<p>"What strength! Do you see, Gaston, he has broken his cord to come to +me,—a cord of six strands? He found my tracks, and that was enough. +Here, Lieverlé! Catch!"</p> + +<p>He threw him the remains of the kid's leg. The dog went over and +stretched himself in front of the fire with the bone between his +fore-paws, and he slowly tore it into shreds. Sperver watched him from +the corner of his eye with evident satisfaction.</p> + +<p>"Hey, Gaston," said the old steward,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span> "if any one should order you to go +and take that bone away, what would you say?"</p> + +<p>"That it was a matter which required delicate manipulation."</p> + +<p>We laughed heartily, and Sperver, who was stretched out in his +red-leather armchair, with his left arm thrown over the back, one leg +resting on a stool, and the other on a log that was dripping with sap +and singing in the fierce flame, puffed blue rings of smoke to the +ceiling with an air of supreme contentment. As for me, I was lazily +watching the dog, when suddenly remembering our interrupted +conversation, I began:</p> + +<p>"Listen, Sperver! You haven't told me everything. Was it not because of +the death of your worthy wife, my old<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span> nurse Gertrude, that you left the +mountains to come here?"</p> + +<p>Gideon looked grave, and a tear dimmed his eye; he straightened up, and +knocking the ashes from his pipe upon his thumb nail, he replied:</p> + +<p>"Yes, my wife is dead, and that is what drove me from the woods. I could +not see the valley of the Roche Creuse without sorrow, and so I have +come hither. I hunt but little in the underbrush, and if the pack happen +to go in that direction, I leave them to themselves and turn back again, +trying to think of other things."</p> + +<p>Sperver had become melancholy. His head had fallen on his breast, and he +remained silent. I regretted having recalled these sad images to his +mind. Then, reflecting once more on the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span> Black Plague crouching in the +snow, I shivered. How singular that a single word had thrown us into a +train of dismal recollections! A whole world of retrospection had been +invoked by the merest accident.</p> + +<p>I know not how long our silence had lasted, when a deep, terrible +growl, like the sound of distant thunder, made us tremble. We looked +at the dog. He still held his half-eaten bone between his fore-paws, +but with raised head, ears pricked up, and shining eyes, he was +listening,—listening in the dead silence, and a tremor of rage ran +along his back.</p> + +<p>Sperver and I looked at each other anxiously; not a sound, not a murmur, +for the wind outside had fallen, and we could have heard the least +noise; nothing,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span> save the deep, continued growl, which seemed to come +from deep down in the dog's chest. Suddenly the animal sprang up and +leaped against the wall, with a short, harsh, ominous bark that made the +arches resound as if thunder were rolling away along the empty passages. +Lieverlé, with his head low down, seemed to see through the granite, and +his teeth, bared to their roots, glistened like snow. He still growled, +pausing now and then for a moment to sniff along the bottom of the wall; +then he sprang up again angrily, and seemed trying to tear away the +stone with his fore-paws.</p> + +<p>We were watching him, unable to understand the cause of his excitement, +when a second howl, more fearful than the first, brought us to our +feet.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Lieverlé," cried Sperver, springing towards him, "for heaven's sake, +what ails you? Are you going mad?"</p> + +<p>He seized a log, and began to sound the wall, which, however, gave forth +only a dull, dense sound. There was apparently no hollow in it, but +still the dog maintained the same posture.</p> + +<p>"Decidedly, Lieverlé," said the huntsman, "you have had a nightmare. +Come, lie down, and don't set our nerves on edge any more."</p> + +<p>At the same moment we heard a sound outside. The door opened, and the +big, fat face of honest Tobias Offenloch, with his round lantern in one +hand and his stick in the other, and his three-cornered hat on one side +of his head, appeared smiling and genial in the doorway.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Greeting, worthy company!" he exclaimed; "what the devil are you doing +here?"</p> + +<p>"It was this foolish Lieverlé who made all the racket," said Sperver; +"he sprang against the wall and wouldn't be quieted. Can you tell us the +reason of it?"</p> + +<p>"He probably heard the stumping of my wooden leg as I came up the tower +stairs," replied the good-natured fellow with a laugh. Then setting his +lantern on the table: "That will teach you, Master Gideon, to tie up +your dogs. You have a weakness for dogs,—an absurd weakness. They will +end by putting us all out of doors. Only a moment ago, as I was coming +along the gallery, I met your Blitz; he snapped at my leg,—see, there +are the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span> marks of his teeth. A new leg, too, confound the cur!"</p> + +<p>"Tie up my dogs? What an idea!" replied Sperver. "Dogs that are tied up +are good for nothing; it makes them savage. Moreover, Lieverlé was +fastened, and he has what was left of the cord around his neck still."</p> + +<p>"It is not on my account that I am speaking, for whenever I see them +coming, I always raise my stick and put my wooden leg first. It is only +for discipline. The dogs ought to be in the kennels, the cats on the +gutters, and the people in the Castle, according to my way of thinking."</p> + +<p>Tobie sat down as he finished his sentence, and with his elbows resting +on the table and his eyes beaming with satisfaction, he said in a +confidential tone:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span></p> + +<p>"You should know, gentlemen, that I am a bachelor this evening."</p> + +<p>"How is that?"</p> + +<p>"Marie Anne is sitting up with Gertrude in the Count's antechamber."</p> + +<p>"Then you are in no hurry."</p> + +<p>"Not the least bit."</p> + +<p>"How unlucky you should have come so late," observed Sperver; "all the +bottles are empty."</p> + +<p>The discomfited expression of the good fellow made me feel positively +sorry. He would gladly have profited by his widowhood. In spite of my +efforts to repress it, however, my mouth parted in a wide yawn.</p> + +<p>"We will put it over till another day," he said, getting up; "what is +postponed is not lost."</p> + +<p>He took up his lantern.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Good night, gentlemen."</p> + +<p>"Wait a minute," said Gideon; "I see the doctor is sleepy; we will go +down together."</p> + +<p>"Gladly, Sperver! We will have a word with Trumpf as we pass. He is +down-stairs with the others, and Knapwurst is telling them stories."</p> + +<p>"Well, good night, Gaston."</p> + +<p>"Good night, Sperver. Don't forget to call me if the Count grows worse."</p> + +<p>"Never fear. Lieverlé, come here."</p> + +<p>They went out, and as they were crossing the platform, I could hear the +old Nideck clock striking eleven.</p> + +<p>I was completely exhausted with the day's experiences. Soon I threw +myself on the bed, and straightway fell into a deep slumber, where all +night long I was wandering beside a radiant<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span> creature with a halo of +golden hair about her face, amid flower-strewn paths, and the song of +birds, and above our heads the fairest of summer skies.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV.</h2> + +<h3>KNAPWURST ACQUAINTS ME WITH THE GENEALOGY OF THE NIDECKS.</h3> + +<p>The dawn was beginning to turn gray the only window of the donjon-tower, +when I was awakened in my granite bed by the distant notes of a +hunting-horn. I know of no sound more sad and melancholy than the +vibrations of its tones, just at morning twilight, when all is still, +and no breath, no whisper comes to disturb the perfect quiet of +solitude; it is the final note, especially, that, spreading over the +immense plain and awaking the far-off<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span> echoes of the mountain, stirs us +to the heart with its pure, poetic quality.</p> + +<p>Leaning with my elbow on the bearskin, I listened to this plaintive cry, +that seemed to be invoking memories of the Feudal Ages. The aspect of my +chamber, with its low, ragged arch, and, further on, the little window +with its panes set in lead, midway between the alcove and the corridor, +the ceiling more wide than high, and deeply hollowed in the wall,—in +short, every detail of this ancient den of the Wolf of Nideck served to +realize my fancy.</p> + +<p>I rose quickly and threw the window wide open. There before me lay a +spectacle that no mere language can describe,—the scene that the Alpine +eagle surveys each morning, as the purple curtain of night lifts itself<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span> +from the horizon; range after range of mountains,—motionless billows +that stretch away and become lost in the distant mists of the Vosges and +the Jura,—immense forests, lakes, and towering peaks tracing their +sharp outlines upon the steel-blue of the snow-clad valleys; beyond +this, the infinite! What human skill could attain to the sublimity of +such a picture? I stood overwhelmed with wonder and delight. At each +glance some new detail was revealed to my eyes; hamlets, farms, +villages, seemed to rise from every fold of the landscape, and as I +gazed, these objects became more numerous.</p> + +<p>I had been standing thus for more than a quarter of an hour, when a hand +was laid lightly upon my shoulder; I turned and met the calm face and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span> +quiet smile of my friend Gideon, who greeted me with:</p> + +<p>"Good morning, Gaston."</p> + +<p>Then he rested his elbows on the window-sill beside me, puffing clouds +of smoke from his short pipe. Extending his arm towards the distant +mountains, he said at length:</p> + +<p>"Look at that, Gaston; you should love it, for you are a son of the +Black Forest. Look down there, way down; that is the Roche Creuse. Do +you see it? You remember Gertrude? How far off those days seem!"</p> + +<p>He stopped and cleared his throat; I was at a loss what to reply. We +stood for a long time in a contemplative mood, mute before the grandeur +of the scene that rolled away beneath us. From time to time, the old +steward,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span> seeing my eyes rest on some point of the horizon, would +explain:</p> + +<p>"That is the Wald Horn; this is the Tiefenthal. There you see the +cascade of the Steinbach; it has stopped running now, and hangs like an +ice cloak over the shoulder of the Harberg,—a cold garment for this +season of the year. Down there is the path that leads to Tübingen; a +fortnight more and we shall have difficulty in tracing it."</p> + +<p>An hour passed thus; I could not tear myself away from the scene.</p> + +<p>A few birds of prey, with gracefully hollowed wings, were sailing about +the tower; a flock of herons flew above them, escaping their claws by +reason of their loftier flight. Not a cloud was visible in the sky; all +the snow had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span> fallen to earth. The hunting-horn saluted the mountain for +the last time.</p> + +<p>"That is my friend Sebalt mourning down there," said Sperver. "No one is +a better judge of horses and dogs than he, and when it comes to sounding +the horn, there is not his equal in all Germany. Just hear how mellow +those notes are, Gaston. Poor Sebalt! he is pining away since our master +became ill; he cannot hunt as he used to. His only consolation is to +climb the Altenberg every morning just at daybreak, and play the Count's +favorite airs. He thinks that may cure him."</p> + +<p>Sperver, with the tact of a man who himself loves beautiful things, had +not interrupted my contemplation; but when, dazzled by the growing +light, I turned back into the chamber, he said:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Gaston, things look more encouraging; the Count has had no return of +the convulsions."</p> + +<p>These words brought me back to a more practical world.</p> + +<p>"Ah, I am glad to hear it."</p> + +<p>"And it is your doing, too."</p> + +<p>"Mine? I haven't even prescribed anything yet."</p> + +<p>"What of that? You are here."</p> + +<p>"You're joking, Gideon; what could my mere presence accomplish?"</p> + +<p>"You bring him good luck."</p> + +<p>I looked at him closely; he was in earnest.</p> + +<p>"Yes," he repeated seriously; "you are a bringer of good luck. In past +years, our master has had a second attack the day after the first, and +then a third, and fourth; but you have prevented<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span> this and arrested the +course of the malady. That is clear enough."</p> + +<p>"Not to my mind, Sperver. On the contrary, I find it exceedingly +obscure."</p> + +<p>"We are never too old to learn," continued the worthy fellow. "There are +forerunners of good fortune and harbingers of ill. Take that rascal +Knapwurst, for example; he is a sure sign of bad luck. If ever I happen +to run across him as I am going out hunting, I am sure to meet with some +accident; my gun misses fire, I sprain my ankle, or a dog gets ripped +open. Knowing this, I always take care to set off just at daybreak, +before the scamp, who sleeps like a dormouse, has got his eyes open; or +else I steal through the postern gate."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span></p> + +<p>"A wise precaution; but your ideas seem odd to me, Gideon."</p> + +<p>"But you, on the other hand," he continued without noticing my +interruption, "are an open-hearted, honest lad. Heaven has bestowed many +blessings upon you; just one glance at your good-natured face, your +frank gaze, and your kindly smile, is enough to make any one happy. And +you bring good luck; that is certain. Do you want a proof of what I +say?"</p> + +<p>"Why, certainly. I am not sorry to discover that I possess so many +hitherto unknown virtues."</p> + +<p>"Well," said he, seizing my wrist, "look down there!"</p> + +<p>He pointed to a hillock a couple of gunshots distant from the Castle.</p> + +<p>"Do you see that rock half buried in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span> the snow, with a bush to the left +of it?"</p> + +<p>"Distinctly."</p> + +<p>"And you see nothing near it?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"Well, that is easily accounted for; you have driven the Black Plague +away. Every year, on the second day of the Count's illness, she was to +be seen there, with her arms clasped around her skinny knees. At night, +she lighted a fire, warmed herself, and cooked the roots of trees. She +was a curse to every living thing. The first thing I did this morning +was to climb up to the signal-tower and look around me. The old hag was +nowhere to be seen. In vain did I shade my eyes with my hand and gaze to +right and left, up and down, across the plain<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span> and over the +mountain,—not a sign of her anywhere. She has scented you, sure +enough!"</p> + +<p>Wringing my hand in his enthusiasm, the good fellow cried excitedly, +"Oh, Gaston, Gaston! How lucky it was that I brought you here! How angry +the old hag will be!"</p> + +<p>I must confess to a feeling of embarrassment at discovering so much +merit in myself, which had hitherto escaped my observation.</p> + +<p>"So the Count has passed a comfortable night, Sperver?" I continued.</p> + +<p>"Very comfortable," he replied.</p> + +<p>"That is welcome news. Let's go down-stairs."</p> + +<p>We once more crossed the little courtyard, and I was able to obtain a +better view of our means of egress,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span> whose ramparts attained to a +prodigious height,—continuing along the edge of the rock to the very +bottom of the valley. It was a flight of precipices, so to speak, +shelving one below another into the dizzy depths beneath. On looking +down, I became giddy, and recoiling to the middle of the landing, I +hastened down the passageway which led to the Castle.</p> + +<p>Sperver and I had already traversed several broad corridors, when a +wide-open door blocked our passage. I glanced in and saw, at the top of +a double ladder, the little gnome Knapwurst, whose grotesque physiognomy +had struck me the night before. The hall itself attracted my attention +by its imposing aspect. It was a storehouse for the archives of Nideck, +a high, dark,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> dusty apartment, with long Gothic windows reaching from +the ceiling to within three feet of the floor.</p> + +<p>There were to be found, ranged along the broad shelves by the careful +abbots of olden times, not only all the documents, title-deeds, and +genealogical trees of the families of Nideck, establishing their rights, +alliances, and relations with the most illustrious nobles of Germany, +but also the chronicles of the Black Forest, the collected remnants of +the old Minnesingers, and the great folios from the presses of Gutenberg +and Faust, no less venerable on account of their origin and the enduring +solidity of their binding. The deep shadows of the alcoves, draping the +cold walls with their grayish gloom, reminded you of the ancient +cloisters<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span> of the Middle Ages; and in the midst of it all sat the dwarf +at the top of his ladder, with a huge, red-edged volume lying open on +his bony knees, his head buried to the ears in a fur cap; gray-eyed, +flat-nosed, the corners of his mouth drawn down by long years of +thought, with stooping shoulders and wasted limbs; a fitting +<i>famulus</i>—the rat, as Sperver called him—to this last refuge of the +learning of Nideck.</p> + +<p>That which gave to the place a unique interest, however, was the line of +family portraits that covered one whole side of the ancient library. +There they were, knights and ladies, from Hugh the Wolf down to Count +Hermann, the present owner; from the crude daubs of barbarous days to +the perfect work of the best painters of our own time.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span> My attention was +naturally centred upon this part of the room. Hugh I., with a bald head, +seemed watching you from his frame as a wolf glares at the traveller +whom a sudden turn in the forest path discloses to view. His gray, +blood-shot eyes, bristling beard, and large, hairy ears, gave him an air +of singular ferocity.</p> + +<p>Next to him, like the lamb next the savage beast, was a young woman, +with a gentle, sad expression, her hands clasped on her breast, her +long, silken tresses of fair hair parted over the forehead and falling +in thick waves about her face, which they encircled with a golden +aureole. I was struck with her resemblance to Odile of Nideck. Nothing +could have been more delicate and charming than this old painting on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span> +wood, a little stiff in its outline, but charmingly simple and +ingenuous.</p> + +<p>I had been studying this portrait for some minutes, when another, +hanging beside it, drew my attention in its turn. Here, too, was a +woman, but of the true Visigothic type, with a broad, low forehead, +yellow eyes, and prominent cheek-bones, red hair, and nose like an +eagle's beak. "That woman must have been to Hugh's liking," I said to +myself, and I began to study the costume, which was in perfect keeping +with the energy expressed in the face, for the right hand clasped a +sword, and the waist was encircled in a steel corselet.</p> + +<p>I know not how to describe the thoughts that succeeded one another in my +mind as I gazed upon these three faces. My eye roamed from one<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span> to +another with singular curiosity, and I found it impossible to terminate +my study. Sperver, standing on the threshold of the library, gave a +sharp whistle, seemingly to attract Knapwurst's attention, who looked +down at him from the top of his ladder without stirring.</p> + +<p>"Is it me you are whistling to like a dog?" said the dwarf.</p> + +<p>"Aye, you imp! None else."</p> + +<p>"Listen to me, Sperver," replied the gnome with supreme disdain; "you +cannot spit so high as my shoe; I defy you!" and he stuck out his foot.</p> + +<p>"And if I should come up there?"</p> + +<p>"I would squash you flat with this volume."</p> + +<p>Gideon laughed, and replied:</p> + +<p>"Come, come, Knapwurst! Don't<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span> get angry! I don't wish you any harm; on +the contrary I have the greatest respect for your learning; but what the +devil are you doing at this hour, seated over your lamp? Any one would +think you had spent the night here."</p> + +<p>"So I have, reading!"</p> + +<p>"Aren't the days long enough for you?"</p> + +<p>"No! I am looking up an important question, and I shan't sleep till I +have settled it."</p> + +<p>"Well, by Jove; what is this interesting question?"</p> + +<p>"It is to find out under what circumstances Ludwig of Nideck discovered +my ancestor, Otto the Dwarf, in the forests of Thuringia. You should +know, Sperver, that my ancestor Otto<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span> was only an arm's length high; +that is, about two feet and a half. He delighted the world with his +wisdom, and figured honorably in the coronation of the Emperor Rodolph. +Count Ludwig had him enclosed in a cold roast peacock, served up with +all its plumage. During the feast, Otto spread out the peacock's tail, +and all the nobles, courtiers, and great ladies were astonished at this +ingenious piece of mechanism. At last Otto emerged, sword in hand, and +cried in a thundering voice, 'Long live the Emperor, Rodolph of +Hapsburg!' which was repeated on all sides with shouts and rejoicings. +Bernard Hertzog mentions this circumstance, but fails to inform us as to +the family origin of the dwarf, whether he was of noble descent, or of +base extraction; the latter<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> hypothesis being highly improbable, as the +common herd are rarely possessed of so much wit."</p> + +<p>I was amazed at the conceit of this little creature, my curiosity, +however, leading me to dissemble my feelings; for he alone could furnish +me with the facts concerning the two portraits that hung on the right of +Hugh the Wolf.</p> + +<p>"Monsieur Knapwurst," I said, in a tone of profound respect, "would you +have the kindness to enlighten me upon a certain subject?"</p> + +<p>Flattered by these words, the little fellow replied:</p> + +<p>"Speak, monsieur; if it is a question of family history, I shall be glad +to inform you. In other subjects I take but little interest."</p> + +<p>"It is precisely that. I should like<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span> to learn something about the noble +ladies whose pictures hang on the wall yonder."</p> + +<p>"Aha!" cried Knapwurst, his face lighting up; "you mean Elfreda and +Huldine, the two wives of Hugh, the founder of Nideck."</p> + +<p>Laying down his volume, he descended the ladder to talk more at his +ease. His eyes glistened, and an air of gratification at this +opportunity of displaying his learning shone out all over him.</p> + +<p>Having reached my side, he saluted me with a grave bow. Sperver stood +behind us, seemingly well satisfied to see me admiring the dwarf of +Nideck. In spite of the ill luck which he averred attached to the +presence of the pigmy, he admired and boasted of his great learning.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 314px;"><a name="ILL_004" id="ILL_004"></a> +<img src="images/ill_004.jpg" width="314" height="500" alt=""IN THE PORTRAIT GALLERY."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"IN THE PORTRAIT GALLERY."</span> +</div> + +<p>"Monsieur," said Knapwurst, pointing with his long, yellow hand towards +the portraits, "Hugh of Nideck, the founder of his race, married in 832<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span> +Elfreda of Lutzelbourg, who brought to him as dowry the counties of +Giromani and Haut Barr, the Castles of Geroldsdeck and Teufelshorn, and +others. Hugh had no children by his first wife, who died young in the +year of our Lord 837. Thereupon, Hugh, now lord and master of the dowry,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span> +refused to yield possession of it, and there followed terrible battles +between himself and his brothers-in-law. His second wife, Huldine, whom +you see in the steel breastplate, aided him by her wise counsels. She +was a woman of indomitable courage, but her origin remains a mystery. +One thing is certain, however: she rescued<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span> her husband, who had been +taken prisoner by Frantz of Lutzelbourg. He was to have been hanged that +very day, and the iron bar had already been stretched across the +battlements in preparation for the execution, when Huldine, at the head +of a band of the Count's vassals whom she had inspired by her brave +example, burst into the courtyard by a rear entrance, rescued Hugh, and +had Frantz hung in his place. Hugh the Wolf married his second wife in +842, and by her he had three children."</p> + +<p>"So," I resumed meditatively, "the first of these wives was called +Elfreda, and the descendants of Nideck are not related to her?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"Are you sure of this?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I can show you our genealogical tree. Elfreda had no children; Huldine, +the second wife, had three."</p> + +<p>"That is very surprising!"</p> + +<p>"Why so?"</p> + +<p>"I thought I noticed a resemblance."</p> + +<p>"Ha, ha! resemblances!" exclaimed the dwarf with a harsh laugh; "wait a +moment. Just look at this wooden snuff-box that lies beside the plaster +greyhound! It represents my ancestor, Hanswurst. He has a nose like an +extinguisher, and a sharp chin, while I have a flat nose and an +agreeable mouth; and yet this does not prevent my being his +great-great-grandson."</p> + +<p>"No, certainly not."</p> + +<p>"Well, it is the same with the Nidecks. They may have certain +characteristics in common with Elfreda, but<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span> Huldine is the head of the +line. Look at this genealogical tree, monsieur. Have I not informed you +correctly?"</p> + +<p>Then we separated,—Knapwurst and I,—the best of friends.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V.</h2> + +<h3>I BREAKFAST WITH ODILE.</h3> + +<p>"Nevertheless," I said to myself, "the resemblance is there! Is it +chance? Nonsense! What is chance, anyway, save that for which we fail to +grasp the reason? No; there must be some other explanation of it!"</p> + +<p>Buried in these reflections, I followed my friend Sperver, who had +resumed his walk down the corridor. The portrait of Elfreda, that pure, +artless face, blended in my fancy with that of the young Countess. +Suddenly Gideon stopped. I looked up; we were standing before the +Count's room.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Go in, Gaston," he said; "I will see, meanwhile, if breakfast is ready, +and be with you again in a minute."</p> + +<p>I entered noiselessly, and made out, in the dim light, the broad figure +of Becker, the forester, sprawled out leisurely in his armchair beside +the bed and drowsing over his vigil.</p> + +<p>The Count was sleeping quietly, with every indication that this +desirable state of things would continue. Seeing no reason for remaining +longer, I directed Becker to let me know at once if the master should +wake, and I withdrew to the hall, where I met Sperver returning to get +me.</p> + +<p>"The Countess is waiting for you in the dining-room. She is overjoyed at +the news of her father. Poor woman! It has been a hard strain upon her, +for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span> she insists on remaining close beside the Count, and her strength +is not equal to the task."</p> + +<p>"So it seemed to me," I replied; and I secretly regretted that I saw no +way in which I could properly suggest to the Countess that she should +share her watchfulness more with others.</p> + +<p>We reached the dining-room. Sperver announced me and departed.</p> + +<p>My eyes fell first upon Odile, seated at the head of the table in a +high-backed oaken chair. She was dressed in a gown of gray stuff, simply +fashioned, with a bodice of white velvet worked in gold. Her superb +figure was perfectly set off by the almost severe outlines of the dress.</p> + +<p>"It is she," I thought: "Hugh's first wife. There is the noble +forehead;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span> there are the long lashes, the somewhat languid bearing, and +the indescribable smile."</p> + +<p>And as I gazed, the dream of last night recurred to me in all its +charming vividness, and I felt that, far from entering upon her world +but a few hours since, I had known her—aye, and loved her, too!—for +years.</p> + +<p>"Good morning, monsieur!" she said in answer to my salutation, as she +rose and rested one hand on the chair-back. "It seems that your presence +here has already worked a change for the better. Our good Sperver tells +me that my father's condition is improved."</p> + +<p>"I am delighted to be able to assure you that it is so, mademoiselle. We +must endeavor to confirm these bettered conditions."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I am so thankful!" she exclaimed. "Who knows but it was Providence that +brought you here?" and she indicated my seat at the end of the table +opposite her.</p> + +<p>Bowing to the housekeeper, who sat before the broad fireplace, with her +spectacles thrust back on her forehead, plying her busy needles, her lap +filled with knitting-work which momentarily grew as she rocked back and +forth in time to the ticking of the tall clock, I took the seat which +Odile designated, experiencing a sense of rare contentment as I +reflected upon my surroundings. Decidedly, my present employment +combined pleasure with the exactions of duty.</p> + +<p>No further mention of the Count's condition was made during the repast,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span> +Odile preferring apparently to confine herself to other subjects.</p> + +<p>"Sperver," she said presently, "has often spoken of you to us with much +pride and affection. Your relationship with the old steward is a +romantic one, is it not?"</p> + +<p>"Rather," I replied. "It began some twenty years ago with his pulling me +out of a swamp into which I got myself, through my desire to imitate his +custom of roaming the forest."</p> + +<p>Then, as Odile smiled and seemed to be waiting for me to continue, I +resumed:</p> + +<p>"I distinctly remember how, one morning, I escaped the vigilance of my +old nurse, Gideon's wife Gertrude, and arming myself with my father's +old sabre, I sallied into the forest with a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span> vague notion of performing +some similar exploits to those which Gideon was never tired of telling +me. I had not gone far when, finding the forest very dark and lonely, +and quite unlike what I had fancied it, I began to repent of my +resolution and to wish I was safely at home again. The sabre, too, had +grown very heavy, and everything about the undertaking having fallen far +short of my anticipation, I turned around and began to retrace my steps. +Having only such knowledge of direction as a boy of eight would be +likely to have, I soon lost my way, and in attempting to cross the swamp +of the Losser by picking my path along the tufts of grass above its +surface, I lost my footing and slipped into the mud. Fortunately Sperver +happened to be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span> passing in the neighborhood. He heard my cries, and +promptly coming to my aid, he pulled me out and carried me to safer +ground. Meanwhile my absence from home had been discovered, and the men +servants had been sent in all directions to search for me. My father was +so delighted at seeing me again, unharmed, in Sperver's arms, that he +rewarded his ranger with a brand-new carbine and a brace of his favorite +hounds."</p> + +<p>I laughed as I recalled this incident, and the Countess joined me in it, +continuing after a little:</p> + +<p>"And your old home?"</p> + +<p>"It has passed into other hands. On the death of both my parents, which +occurred within a few years, I was left entirely without resources, save +such as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span> I could create for myself, and it became necessary to dispose +of the estate in order to get the means which I required to pursue my +studies."</p> + +<p>It seemed the most natural thing in the world to be thus confiding to +Odile my intimate affairs, though ordinarily I guarded such matters with +jealous care; but I felt, I know not why, that her expression of +interest was more a wish to learn the real facts of my condition than +merely to evince a civil concern in my interests. Such feelings are +intangible; they cannot be explained.</p> + +<p>"You are living now in Tübingen?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; after six years' study in Germany and France, I have returned to +the scenes of earlier times to try what fortune may have in store for +me<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span>. I feel that I never should be contented anywhere else; and I am +better satisfied to remain here with a modest success than in the cities +with, maybe, a more considerable one."</p> + +<p>"How well I can understand that feeling," replied the Countess musingly. +"Long ago, when we used to visit the court each year, I remember that, +in spite of all its gaieties and pleasures, so well calculated to charm +young minds, I was always glad when the time came to return to the +Castle; and that for a girl of eighteen is unusual, I think."</p> + +<p>I was silently musing upon the fair face opposite me, and the charming +personality of my noble hostess, which piqued my curiosity and aroused +in me a singular desire to learn more of it. The young Countess +conducted<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span> the affairs of the table with captivating grace, and the +ready Offenloch was ever on the watch for her slightest nod or glance. +Truly, I felt myself under a spell no less potent than the companions of +Ulysses of old.</p> + +<p>Rousing myself at length from these agreeable reflections, I resumed:</p> + +<p>"You too, mademoiselle, are fond of the hunt, I suppose? for the Count's +devotion to it is proverbial."</p> + +<p>"Yes!" she replied, "when it is not a deer or fox that is being hunted. +Somehow the wild boar claims less of my sympathy, for it is often a +question which comes off the better, the man or the beast."</p> + +<p>The truth of this remark it was reserved for me to learn at a later +day.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span></p> + +<p>"As for me, I have never had any experience in the chase, as the years +which I might have spent so were passed in foreign cities, but some time +I hope to give it a thorough trial."</p> + +<p>A pause succeeded, during which Odile prepared the coffee. From time to +time I glanced at Marie, whose admiration for my person expressed the +evening before seemed in no way to have decreased, judging from the +senile simper which invariably appeared on her face when she caught my +eye.</p> + +<p>"This Castle has an indescribable charm for me," I continued after a +little; "it has such a delightfully ancient air, and its old stones seem +so full of romance;" and my eyes wandered to the two suits of armor at +the further end of the room, which from their shadowy<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span> corners nodded at +each other, gaunt and sightless, in the uncertain firelight.</p> + +<p>"I am fond of it," replied Odile; "indeed, I feel that I could never be +happy anywhere else; but at times it is lonely, nevertheless."</p> + +<p>Then I began to reflect upon the singular vow which this charming young +creature, so eminently lovable in every trait of character and person, +had taken, it seemed almost wantonly and in a spirit of perversity; and +yet I was satisfied that no such explanation could be sufficient, for I +felt instinctively that no small or trivial thought could gain +admittance to Odile's mind.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps," I thought, "some day the wanderer will come to implant the +magic kiss, and she, like others of her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span> sisters, will be obliged to +obey the inexorable laws of the little god."</p> + +<p>So I thought. It seemed to me that one might be happy here, could he +continue forever, as I was then, in Odile's companionship, amid gay +companies and festivals, hunting-parties and the like, which I felt +would become immediately inaugurated, were the Count's recovery to +become an established fact. Then my thoughts reverted once more to my +patient, and, speculating for the fiftieth time on all that Sperver had +told me of his master, I was recalled to a less alluring train of +reflections, and I became grave as I realized the burden of duty which +rested upon me.</p> + +<p>An hour passed, the breakfast was finished. I rose and took leave of the +Countess, who inclined her head with a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span> friendly smile. As I stepped +into the hallway, I descried Sperver in the distance.</p> + +<p>"The Count has waked, and he wishes to see you," he said, as he reached +me.</p> + +<p>"He is no worse?" I asked.</p> + +<p>"Apparently not; he seems quiet enough."</p> + +<p>Still engrossed with the experience of the last hour passed in the +dining-room, I moved along with Sperver down the corridor.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI.</h2> + +<h3>THE COUNT UNSHEATHES HIS CLAWS.</h3> + +<p>I entered the Count's chamber. What was my surprise to perceive in the +half-light of the alcove, the master of Nideck raised upon his elbow and +studying me with profound attention. I had so little anticipated such a +reception, that I paused in surprise.</p> + +<p>"Come here, doctor," he said in a faint but steady voice, reaching out +his hand. "My good Sperver has often spoken to me of you, and I have +been anxious to make your acquaintance."</p> + +<p>"Let us hope, monsieur," I replied, "that it may be continued under +more<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span> auspicious circumstances; a little patience, and all will be +well!"</p> + +<p>"I fear not," he replied; "I feel that the end is drawing near."</p> + +<p>"You are mistaken, monsieur."</p> + +<p>"No! Nature grants us, as a last favor, a presentiment of our +approaching end."</p> + +<p>"How often have I seen such presentiments disproved!" I returned, +smiling.</p> + +<p>He gazed fixedly at me, as sick people are wont to do when they are in +doubt as to their true condition. It is a trying moment for the doctor; +upon his expression depends the moral strength of the sufferer; if the +sick man detect the suspicion of a doubt, all is lost; dissolution +begins, the soul prepares to quit the body, and the malady holds full +sway. I passed firmly through the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span> ordeal; the Count seemed reassured; +he pressed my hand again, and released it, calmer and more confident.</p> + +<p>During the pause which followed, Odile and Marie Lagoutte entered the +room. They must have followed close behind us. They seated themselves in +the two chairs which occupied the embrasure of the window, and Marie +resumed her knitting, while Odile spread open a portfolio on her lap and +seemed to be studying it.</p> + +<p>Soon the Count's glance wandered from my face to that of his daughter, +whom he continued to regard fixedly for a long time in silence.</p> + +<p>This somewhat oppressive quiet continued, broken only by the jarring of +the casements, the monotone of the wind, and the sound of the snow as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span> +it swirled and whispered against the panes.</p> + +<p>After a half hour of this, the Count suddenly began to speak:</p> + +<p>"If my beloved child Odile would but grant my request, if she would only +consent to let me hope that one day she would fulfil the desire of my +heart, I believe that alone would accomplish my recovery!" I glanced +quickly at Odile; she had closed her book, and her eyes were fastened on +the floor. I noticed that she had become deathly pale.</p> + +<p>"Yes," continued the sick man, "I should return to life and happiness! +The prospect of seeing myself surrounded by a new branch of our family, +of embracing my grandchildren, and of seeing the perpetuation of our<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span> +house ensured, would suffice to cure me."</p> + +<p>I felt moved at the mild and gentle pleading of the sufferer. The young +woman made no reply. After a minute or two, the Count, who looked +entreatingly at her, pursued:</p> + +<p>"Odile, you refuse to make your father happy. My God! I only ask for +hope; I fix no time! I do not seek to control your choice! We will go to +court, and choose from a hundred noble suitors. Who would not be proud +to win my daughter's hand? You shall be free to decide for yourself."</p> + +<p>He paused. Nothing is more painful to a stranger than these family +discussions. There are so many conflicting interests, deep emotions, +and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span> sacred feelings involved, that our innate delicacy demands that we +hold aloof from such scenes. I was pained, and would gladly have +withdrawn, but the circumstances did not permit of it.</p> + +<p>"Father," said Odile, as if to evade further insistence on the sick +man's part, "you will recover. Heaven will not take you from us who love +you so dearly. If you only knew with what loving fervor I pray for you!"</p> + +<p>"That is not answering my question," said the Count drily. "What +objection have you to my proposal? Is it not just and natural? Must I be +deprived of the consolations accorded the most wretched? Have I made use +of force or trickery?"</p> + +<p>"No, father!"</p> + +<p>"Then why do you refuse me?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span></p> + +<p>"My resolution is taken; I have consecrated myself to God."</p> + +<p>So much firmness in so frail a being astonished me. She stood there like +the sculptured Madonna in Hugh's Tower,—fragile, calm, impassive.</p> + +<p>The eyes of the Count glowed with feverish brightness. I endeavored to +prevail upon the Countess, as best I could by signs, to give him a grain +of hope, that his growing agitation might be calmed; but she did not +appear to see me.</p> + +<p>"So," he cried in a voice choked with emotion, "you will see your father +perish! A single word would save his life,—a word from your lips,—and +you will not pronounce it."</p> + +<p>"Life is not within the gift of man, but of God alone," she murmured;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span> +"a word from me could be of no avail."</p> + +<p>"These are nothing but pious maxims," cried the Count bitterly, "to ease +your conscience in refusing to do your duty! Has not God commanded, +'Honor thy father and thy mother'?"</p> + +<p>"I do honor you, my father," she replied gently; "but it is my duty not +to marry."</p> + +<p>I could hear the Count grind his teeth. He lay for a few moments, +apparently calm, then he suddenly sprang up.</p> + +<p>"Out of my sight!" he screamed; "your presence is hideous to me!"</p> + +<p>Then turning to me:</p> + +<p>"Doctor," he cried with a savage smile, "have you a poison about you,—a +poison that slays with the quickness<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span> of a lightning flash? It is only +merciful to give it to me! Ah, God! If you knew how I suffer!"</p> + +<p>His features worked convulsively; he became livid. Odile had risen and +moved towards the door.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"><a name="ILL_005" id="ILL_005"></a> +<img src="images/ill_005.jpg" width="500" height="323" alt=""'STAY!' HE HOWLED, 'I HAVE NOT CURSED YOU YET.'"" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"'STAY!' HE HOWLED, 'I HAVE NOT CURSED YOU YET.'"</span> +</div> + +<p>"Stay!" he howled; "I have not cursed you yet!"</p> + +<p>Up to this point, I had restrained myself, not daring to interfere +between the father and his child; but I could endure it no longer.</p> + +<p>"Monsieur," I exclaimed; "in the name of your own health, in the name of +reason, calm yourself! Your life depends upon it!"</p> + +<p>"What matters my life? What matters the future? Oh, if I were only done +with it all!"</p> + +<p>His excitement increased with every<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span> moment. I feared lest, crazed with +passion, he might spring from the bed and destroy his own child. She, +still calm, but with cheeks as pale as his, fell on her knees before the +threshold. At this moment, I succeeded in getting the Count to swallow a +few drops of laudanum. He fell back with a long sigh, and soon his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span> +irregular breathing gave way to deep and leaden slumber.</p> + +<p>Odile arose, and her old governess, who had remained silent throughout, +left the room with her. Sperver and I watched them as they slowly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span> +withdrew. There was a calm grandeur in the step of the Countess that +bespoke a consciousness of duty fulfilled.</p> + +<p>When she had disappeared in the shadows of the corridor, Gideon turned +to me: "Well, Gaston," he said gravely;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span> "what do you think of this?" +I bowed my head without replying. The unaccountable firmness of the +young woman dumbfounded me.</p> + +<p>"Come Gaston!" exclaimed Sperver indignantly, "let's get a breath of +fresh air! I'm strangling here!" and he pulled me out of the chamber.</p> + +<p>"That is the happiness of high-born people!" he exclaimed, as we stepped +into the hall. "What is the use of being master of Nideck, with its fine +Castle, forests, and game-preserves, and all else, if your own daughter +can blight your life,—even cause your death, perhaps, by a nod of her +head or a mincing refusal to obey your will? It would be a thousand +times better to come into the world the son of a humble woodcutter, and +live in the quiet accomplishment<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span> of your labor. Come down to my den, +and we will drink a glass and have a pipe. I know nothing better to put +care to flight than a good stiff glass."</p> + +<p>It was then about nine o'clock. The sky, so clear at daybreak, had +become overcast; the north wind was whirling the flakes against the +window-panes, and I could hardly distinguish the peaks of the +neighboring mountains. We were descending the staircase which led to the +main courtyard, when, at a turn of the corridor, we came face to face +with Tobias Offenloch. The worthy majordomo was puffing like a porpoise.</p> + +<p>"Hullo!" said Gideon; "where are you going in such a hurry?"</p> + +<p>"To tell the Countess that the Baron Zimmer begs the privilege of +paying<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span> his respects to her before quitting the Castle."</p> + +<p>"Baron Zimmer?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, the stranger who came in last night at midnight."</p> + +<p>"To be sure," replied Sperver; "I was forgetting."</p> + +<p>We went along. A moment later we reached our destination. My companion +pushed open the door and we went in.</p> + +<p>We sat down before the hearth. Gideon possessed himself of a corkscrew +and two bottles, and soon our glasses were filled and pipes aglow. We +were about to begin a discussion of the singular scene of a few moments +before, when Offenloch appeared, but not alone, for to our astonishment +we saw the Baron Zimmer and his valet<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span> following at his heels. We rose. +The young Baron approached to greet us with uncovered head, and I +studied with interest his handsome face, pale and haughty, with long, +black locks falling about it. He paused before Sperver.</p> + +<p>"Monsieur," he said, with that pure Saxon accent that no dialect can +imitate, "I come to ask you about the country hereabouts. Mademoiselle +the Countess of Nideck assures me that no one can inform me as well as +yourself in regard to the passes of the Wald Horn."</p> + +<p>"I believe that is true, monsieur," replied Sperver with a low bow; "and +I am entirely at your service."</p> + +<p>"Imperative reasons compel me to set out in the midst of this storm," +resumed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span> the Baron, pointing to the eddying flakes outside; "I must +reach the Wald Horn, six leagues from here, before nightfall."</p> + +<p>"That will be a difficult matter, monsieur, for all the roads are +blocked with snow."</p> + +<p>"I know it, but it must be done."</p> + +<p>"A guide will be indispensable in that case. I will go with you if you +like, monsieur, or Sebalt Kraft, the master of the hounds; he knows +every inch of the mountain from Unterwalden to the Hunsdruck."</p> + +<p>"Thank you for your obliging offer; I appreciate it most fully, but I +cannot accept it; your instructions will be sufficient."</p> + +<p>Sperver bowed again, and going over to a window, threw it wide open. A<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span> +quick gust of wind whirled the snow clear across the room and closed the +door with a crash. I remained standing with one hand resting on the back +of my chair; Tobias took refuge from the cold draught in a corner of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span> +chamber. The Baron and his servant approached the window.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 317px;"><a name="ILL_006" id="ILL_006"></a> +<img src="images/ill_006.jpg" width="317" height="500" alt=""YONDER YOU SEE THE PEAK OF THE ALTENBERG.'"" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"YONDER YOU SEE THE PEAK OF THE ALTENBERG.'"</span> +</div> + +<p>"Messieurs," said Sperver, trying to make himself heard above the noise +of the storm, and pointing towards the horizon, "this is the lay of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span> +country. If the day were clear, I would take you up to the signal-tower, +where we could see the whole of the Black Forest, until it becomes lost +to view in the distance; but as it is, I will do my best from here. +Yonder you see the peak of the Altenberg, and further off, in the same +line, just back of that white ridge, the Wald<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span> Horn, swept by the +tempest. You must go straight towards the Wald Horn. There, if the snow +permits, you will see from the top of the mitre-shaped rock that is +called the Roche Fendue, three peaks: the Behrenkopf, the Geierstein, +and the Triefels. It is by the last one, the furthest to the right, that +you must make your way. A torrent divides the valley of the Rhethal, but +it must be frozen over now. However, if it is impossible to proceed +further, you will find on your left, as you climb the summit, a cavern +half-way to the top, known as the Roche Creuse. You can pass the night +there, and to-morrow, in all probability, when the wind has fallen, you +will see the Wald Horn."</p> + +<p>"Many thanks for your kindness."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span></p> + +<p>"If you are fortunate enough to meet with a charcoal burner," continued +Sperver, "he may be able to show you where the torrent can be forded, +but I doubt if there is any such place at this season. Have a special +care to keep around the base of the Behrenkopf, for if you get much to +either side of it, the descent is impossible; there are precipices +everywhere."</p> + +<p>During these observations, I was watching Sperver, whose clear, ready +speech accentuated each sentence with great precision, and I glanced +occasionally at the Baron, who was listening with singular attention. No +obstacle seemed to daunt him. His old servant appeared no less resolute +than he.</p> + +<p>Just as they were leaving the window, a ray of light broke through the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span> +clouds as the tempest seized the masses of snow and whirled them for an +instant back upon each other like a floating drapery, and during this +instant the three peaks behind the Altenberg were disclosed to view, +serving to illustrate the details which Sperver had just given. Then the +blizzard once more closed in.</p> + +<p>"Good!" said the Baron; "I have seen my destination, and thanks to your +instructions, I hope to reach it."</p> + +<p>Sperver bowed without replying, and the young man and his servant, +together with Offenloch, having saluted us, silently withdrew.</p> + +<p>Gideon closed the window, and addressing himself to me: "The Old Nick +must possess a man," he said, laughing, "to set out in such weather!<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span> I +shouldn't have the heart to turn a wolf outdoors. I believe I have seen +the young man's face before, and the old one's, too, if I could only +think where. Let us drink! Your health, Gaston!"</p> + +<p>I had gone over to the window, and as the Baron Zimmer and his servant +climbed into their saddles in the middle of the courtyard, I saw, in +spite of the snow that filled the air, a curtain slightly raised in the +tower opposite, and the pale face of the Countess appear, glancing long +and furtively at the young man.</p> + +<p>"Ha, Gaston, what are you doing?" cried Sperver.</p> + +<p>"Nothing. I am only looking at the strangers' horses."</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, the Wallachians! I saw<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span> them in the stable this morning. They +are fine creatures."</p> + +<p>The horsemen departed at full speed. The curtain in the tower window +dropped.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII.</h2> + +<h3>MARIE LAGOUTTE RELATES HER EXPERIENCE.</h3> + +<p>When I again saw Odile her expression was one of complete wretchedness; +her swollen eyes told me that she had been weeping long, and her extreme +pallor and weariness cut me to the heart.</p> + +<p>"My dear mademoiselle," I said to her, with forced cheerfulness, "we +must not be despondent. The turning-point of the malady must soon +arrive, and this crisis safely passed, we may expect to see the Count in +as good health as before."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span></p> + +<p>She looked at me with an expression of gratitude for my wish to console +her, but underlying it, I felt there was a quiet conviction to the +contrary, and I realized the weakness of my position when I reflected +that she might very probably be possessed of facts, unknown to me, which +entirely disproved my words.</p> + +<p>"At all events," she replied, after a pause of some moments, "it is +grateful to know that there is some one who shares our anxieties and has +the desire really at heart to mitigate them."</p> + +<p>"You speak truly, mademoiselle," I returned. "I desire nothing so much +as to see peace and contentment restored to this house, and I only wish +that I possessed a thousandfold more power to accomplish it than I do. +But<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span> whatever my skill is, it shall be devoted to this one end; and I +shall not despair of success until all my efforts have proved +unavailing."</p> + +<p>I was surprised at my own warmth a moment after; but Odile's glance +satisfied me that I had not transgressed the limits of that reserve with +which she surrounded herself.</p> + +<p>"And furthermore," I continued, encouraged by this fact to speak what I +had for some time meditated, "if I might add the advice of a friend to +that of the doctor, I should beg of you to spare yourself as much as +possible in the matter of night watches and too unremitting a care of +the Count, for a true woman's strength is exhausted long before her +will, and you owe it to your friends as well as to yourself<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span> to preserve +the life which God has entrusted to you."</p> + +<p>Odile lowered her eyes, then raised them; and as I approached and lifted +to my lips the hand which she gave me, I surprised there a look which +opened up to me a world of speculation.</p> + +<p>I returned to my chamber, where I found an hour none too long to calm in +a measure the exuberance of feeling to which my moments with Odile +invariably gave rise.</p> + +<p>Inclination made me quite as much concerned to spare Odile the suffering +which her father's revolting harshness in his moments of delirium caused +her, as to restore the Count to health, for after the morning's +experience I felt that my pity for the sick man had, in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span> spite of +myself, largely given place to loathing; and I felt too, with Sperver, +that I could throttle him as he continued to heap injuries upon his +daughter's defenceless head.</p> + +<p>However, there was but one way to alter the present condition of things +and to establish a better one; namely, to effect the Count's cure, and I +resolved that the best effort of my life should be expended here. +Meanwhile I knew not where to begin. Medicines used otherwise than as +opiates seemed lacking in the smallest efficacy. I saw nothing for it +but to await developments.</p> + +<p>To remonstrate with Odile in the matter of the vow which she had taken +was clearly out of the question, though I was curious to see if any +yielding on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span> her part would effect the change in her father's condition +which he averred it would.</p> + +<p>And the reason of her absolute refusal to entertain even the thought of +marriage? What could it be? She was not without feeling, a fact +sufficiently demonstrated by her unswerving devotion to the Count. Nor +did it seem to me that she could regard with disdain the fulfilment of +that position which is the noblest aim and achievement of womankind, and +which she was so eminently fitted by every circumstance of fortune to +occupy and adorn. It could not be that there was any lack of +understanding; for at times, when I surprised her glance resting upon +me, I read in it a depth of sensibility that seemed almost +unfathomable;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span> and that its possessor was all kindness, in the strongest +and best sense of the term, I was convinced. Of the answer to this +riddle, it seemed then, I must forever remain in ignorance; but while +any chance remained to solve it, I was determined to do so at all costs.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile the Count's illness continued its course. All that Sperver had +told me verified itself. Sometimes the Count, starting up and leaning on +his elbow with outstretched neck and staring eyes, would mutter, "She is +coming! She is coming!" Then Gideon would shake his head and climb the +signal-tower; but in vain did he look to right and left: the Black +Plague was nowhere to be seen.</p> + +<p>After long reflection upon this strange<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span> malady, I had finally persuaded +myself that the Count was deranged. The singular influence which the old +creature exerted upon his mind, his alternate periods of delirium and +calm, all served to strengthen me in this opinion. "Unknown chains unite +his fate with that of the Black Plague," I said to myself. "That woman +may have been young and beautiful in the past; who knows?" and my +imagination, once launched in this direction, soon built up a romance; +but I was careful to mention nothing of my thoughts,—Sperver would +never have forgiven me for entertaining suspicions of a relationship +between his master and the hag.</p> + +<p>During these anxious days, the one bright thing in my life was Odile's +presence. Had it not been for this, I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span> doubt if I should longer have +preserved any degree of hope.</p> + +<p>I know not if I myself quite realized the extent of my growing affection +for Odile, but certain it is that with each day her image became more +and more identified with all that I held dearest in the world, and as I +moved about the old Castle halls and chambers, the library, the +drawing-room, the chapel, her fair figure and light step accompanied me +in fancy, and I likened her to the delicate, fragrant rose, which in +summer blossomed and waved from the rough interstices of the Castle's +battlements.</p> + +<p>Things were in this pass when one morning, at about eight o'clock, I was +walking up and down in Hugh's Tower thinking of the Count's malady, the +outcome of which I could foresee<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span> no more clearly than before, and +cudgelling my wits to determine what was next to be done. Suddenly I was +roused from these cheerless reflections by three discreet taps on my +door.</p> + +<p>"Come in!"</p> + +<p>The door opened, and Marie Lagoutte entered, dropping a low courtesy. +The worthy woman's arrival annoyed me a good deal; I was on the point of +asking her to leave me for the present, when an expression of unusual +seriousness on her face aroused my curiosity. She had thrown a large +red-and-green shawl over her shoulders, and stood with her lips pursed +up and her eyes on the floor. It surprised me not a little to see her, +after a moment, approach the door and open it again, apparently to make +sure that no one had followed her.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span></p> + +<p>"What does she want of me?" I asked myself. "What do all these +precautions mean?" I was puzzled.</p> + +<p>"Monsieur," she said at length, drawing nearer me, "I beg your pardon +for disturbing you so early in the morning, but I have something +important to tell you."</p> + +<p>"Pray go on! What is it about?"</p> + +<p>"It is about the Count."</p> + +<p>"Ah!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, monsieur; you probably know that I sat up with him last night."</p> + +<p>"I know you did. Pray sit down!"</p> + +<p>She seated herself in a chair opposite me, a big, leather-covered +armchair, and I remarked with interest the energetic character of the +face which had seemed to me only grotesque on the evening of my arrival +at the Castle.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Monsieur," she went on after a brief pause, fixing her dark eyes on me, +"I must tell you first of all that I am not a timid woman. I have seen +many things in my life,—things so terrible that nothing astonishes me +any more. When any one has passed through Rossbach, Leuthen, and +Zorndorf, he has left fear behind him on the road."</p> + +<p>"You speak truly, madame!"</p> + +<p>"I don't tell you this from a desire to boast, but only to convince you +that I don't lose my wits at nothing, and that you may depend upon what +I say when I tell you I have seen something."</p> + +<p>"What the deuce can she have to tell me?" I said to myself.</p> + +<p>"Well!" she continued; "last night, between nine and ten, just as I was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span> +starting up to bed, Offenloch came in and said to me:</p> + +<p>"'Marie, you must sit up with the Count to-night.'</p> + +<p>"I was surprised at this, and replied:</p> + +<p>"'What! sit up with the Count! Isn't madame going to sit up with him +herself?'</p> + +<p>"'No; our mistress is ill, and you must take her place.'</p> + +<p>"Ill, poor child! I was sure it would end that way, and I told her so a +hundred times; but what can you do, monsieur? Young people never have +any thought for the future,—and then, it was her own father, too. So I +took my knitting, said good night to Toby, and went to the master's +room. Sperver, who was waiting for me, went<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span> off to bed as soon as I +came in, and I was left all alone."</p> + +<p>Here the good woman paused, slowly breathed up a pinch of snuff, and +seemed to be brushing up her memory. I had become attentive.</p> + +<p>"At about half past ten," she continued, "I was knitting away beside the +bed, and every now and then I raised the curtain to see how the Count +was doing; he never stirred; he was sleeping like a child. All went well +up to eleven o'clock; then I began to feel tired; when you are old, +monsieur, do what you will, you fall asleep in spite of yourself; and +then, too, I didn't think anything was going to happen. I said to +myself, 'He will sleep like a top till morning!'</p> + +<p>"Towards midnight the wind died<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span> down, and the big windows that had been +rattling all the evening were quiet. I got up to see if anything was +going on outside. The night was as black as a bottle of ink, and I went +back to my armchair. I took another look at the sick man and I saw that +he hadn't stirred; then I went on knitting. After a few minutes, I fell +slowly, slowly to sleep. My chair was as soft as down and the room was +very warm; I couldn't keep awake.</p> + +<p>"I had been asleep about an hour, when a draught of cold air woke me. I +opened my eyes, and what did I see? The long, middle window was wide +open, the curtains were drawn, and the Count was standing upright on the +window-sill!"</p> + +<p>"The Count?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Impossible! He cannot move!"</p> + +<p>"I couldn't believe my eyes; but, nevertheless, I saw him as plainly as +I see you this minute. He held a torch in his hand, and the air was so +still that its flame never wavered."</p> + +<p>I stared at Marie Lagoutte, stupefied.</p> + +<p>"At first," she went on, "when I saw the master in this extraordinary +position, it made such an effect on me that I wanted to scream; but then +I thought, 'Perhaps he is walking in his sleep; if you cry out and wake +him he will fall and be dashed to pieces.' So I kept still and watched +him, as you can fancy. He raised his torch slowly, and then he lowered +it, and he did this three times, like a man making signals to some one; +then he threw it down on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span> to the ramparts, closed the window, and drew +the curtains; he passed before me without appearing to see me, and got +into bed again muttering Heaven knows what."</p> + +<p>"Are you certain you saw all this, madame?"</p> + +<p>"Perfectly!"</p> + +<p>"It is strange!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I know it, but it is true! Goodness, how astonished I was for a +moment! Then, when I saw him go back to bed again and cross his hands +over his breast as if nothing had happened, I said to myself, 'Marie +Anne, you have had a bad dream; that is the only explanation of it!' and +I went over to the window. But the torch was still burning; it had +fallen into a bush a little to the left of the third gate, and you +could<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span> see it glowing like a spark. There was no denying it!"</p> + +<p>Marie Lagoutte looked at me for some minutes without speaking.</p> + +<p>"You can imagine, monsieur, that there was no more sleep for me that +night. I was on tenter-hooks; every moment I thought I heard something +behind my chair. I wasn't afraid, but I was uneasy; it worried me. This +morning, at the first signs of day, I ran to wake up Offenloch, and I +sent him to the Count's bedside. As I went along the corridor I noticed +that the first torch on the right was missing from its ring. I went down +the stairs, and I found it in the little path that leads to the Black +Forest. See! here it is!"</p> + +<p>And she took from under her apron the end of a torch, which she laid<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span> on +the table. I was thunderstruck. How could this man, whom but the night +before I had seen so weak and exhausted, have risen from his bed, walked +to the window, and opened and closed the heavy sash? What did this +midnight signal mean? Wide awake as I was, it seemed to me as if I, too, +had witnessed the strange scene, and my thoughts reverted involuntarily +to the Black Plague. I roused myself at last from introspection, and I +saw Marie Lagoutte had risen and was about to depart.</p> + +<p>"Madame," I said, as I moved with her to the door, "you have acted +wisely in telling me this, and I thank you heartily for doing so. You +have told no one else of this adventure?"</p> + +<p>"No one, monsieur. Such things<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span> are only to be confided to the priest +and doctor."</p> + +<p>"Ah! I see you are a very sensible person."</p> + +<p>These words were exchanged on my threshold. At this moment, Sperver +appeared at the end of the gallery, followed by his friend Sebalt.</p> + +<p>"Ho, Gaston!" he cried, hurrying up; "I have news for you!"</p> + +<p>"Well, well!" I exclaimed; "more news. The Old Harry is most certainly +taking a hand in our affairs."</p> + +<p>Marie Lagoutte had disappeared. The steward and his comrade entered the +Tower.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII.</h2> + +<h3>SEBALT TRACKS THE PLAGUE.</h3> + +<p>Sperver's face wore a look of supreme indignation; Sebalt's one of +bitter irony. The master of the hounds, whose melancholy appearance had +struck me during my first days at Nideck, was as thin as a rail; he wore +a leather jacket fastened at the waist by a belt, from which hung a +hunting-knife with a bone handle; long leather gaiters reached above his +knees, and his horn hung at his elbow from a shoulder belt that went +from right to left across his chest. On his head was a broad-brimmed hat +with a heron's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span> plume in the band, and his profile, terminating in a +yellowish beard, suggested that of a goat.</p> + +<p>"Yes," continued Sperver; "I have some news for you!"</p> + +<p>He threw himself into a chair, burying his face in his hands, while +Sebalt quietly drew his trumpet over his head and laid it on the table.</p> + +<p>"Come, Sebalt," cried Gideon, "speak out!"</p> + +<p>"The witch is roaming about the Castle."</p> + +<p>This information would have failed to interest me had it not been for +the interview with Marie Lagoutte; but now it made a deep impression +upon me. There was some mysterious connection between the Lord of Nideck +and this horrid creature, the nature of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span> which was an enigma to me. I +felt that I must solve it at all costs.</p> + +<p>"One moment, gentlemen! one moment!" I said to Sperver and his comrade; +"first of all, I want to know where this Black Plague comes from."</p> + +<p>Sperver stared at me in astonishment.</p> + +<p>"Heaven only knows!" he cried.</p> + +<p>"At precisely what time does she come within sight of Nideck?"</p> + +<p>"I told you before! Just a week before Christmas every year."</p> + +<p>"And she stays?"</p> + +<p>"From a fortnight to three weeks."</p> + +<p>"Is she ever seen except at that time, either going or coming?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"Then we shall have to catch her!" I exclaimed. "This is not natural! +We<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span> must find out what she wants, who she is, and where she comes from."</p> + +<p>"Catch her!" said the master of the hounds, with an odd smile. "Catch +her, indeed!" and he shook his head meaningly.</p> + +<p>"My dear Gaston," began Sperver, "your suggestion is all well enough, +but it is easier said than done. If I could send a bullet after her, +that would be another matter, for I can always come within gunshot of +her, but this the Count forbids; and as to taking her otherwise, you +might as well try to catch a squirrel by the tail. Listen to Sebalt's +story, and you shall see for yourself."</p> + +<p>The person thus addressed, sitting on the end of the table with his legs +crossed, looked at me and began:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span></p> + +<p>"This morning, as I was coming down the Altenberg, I followed the hollow +Nideck road. The snow was on a level with its edges. I was going along, +thinking of nothing in particular, when a foot-track caught my eye; it +was deep, and went straight across the path; the creature had come down +one side of the bank and gone up on the other. It wasn't a hare's foot, +for that makes hardly any mark in the snow; nor the cloven hoof of the +wild boar, nor a wolf's paw either; it was a deep hole. I stopped and +brushed away the snow that was collecting round it. It was the Black +Plague's track!"</p> + +<p>"How do you know that?"</p> + +<p>"How do I know it? I know the old hag's footprint better than her +figure, for I always go along with my eyes<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span> on the ground. I can +recognize any one in the country around by his foot-tracks, and a child +couldn't have mistaken this one."</p> + +<p>"What was there about it so very different from any other?"</p> + +<p>"It is no larger than your hand; it is finely shaped, the heel a trifle +long, the outline clean, and the great toe lies close to the others, as +if they were pressed into a slipper. It is a beautiful foot. Twenty +years ago, monsieur, I should have fallen in love with such a foot! +Every time I come across one like it, it makes a great impression on me. +Heavens! how can such a foot belong to the Black Plague?" And the good +fellow fixed his eyes on the floor with a dismal air.</p> + +<p>"Well, Sebalt, go on!" said Sperver impatiently.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span></p> + +<p>"To be sure! Well, I recognized the track, and I set out to follow it. I +was in hopes of catching the witch in her den, but you shall hear what a +dance she led me. I climbed up the roadside, only two gunshots from +Nideck, and struck off into the bushes, keeping the trail always on my +right; it ran along the edge of the Rhethal. Suddenly it jumped over the +ditch into the woods. I kept on, but happening to glance a little to the +left of it, I discovered another track that had been following the Black +Plague's. I stopped; 'Could it be Sperver's? or Kasper Trumpf's? or any +of the other people's?' I asked myself. I stooped over and examined it +closely, and you can fancy my surprise when I saw that it belonged to +nobody in this part of the country. I know<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span> every footprint from here to +Tübingen, and it was none of these. The owner must have come from a +distance. The boot—for it was a kind of soft, well-made boot, with a +spur that left a little rowelled line in the snow behind it—instead of +being rounded at the end, was square; the sole, thin and without nails, +bent at every step. The pace was short and hurried, like that of a man +from twenty to twenty-five. I noticed the stitches in the leather at +this glance, and I have never seen finer."</p> + +<p>"Who could it have been?"</p> + +<p>Sperver shrugged his shoulders and remained silent.</p> + +<p>"Who can have any object in following the old woman?" I asked, turning +to Sperver.</p> + +<p>"The devil himself, perhaps," he replied.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span></p> + +<p>We sat for some minutes, each one busied with his own reflections.</p> + +<p>"I started on again," pursued Sebalt finally; "the tracks led up the +mountain side amongst the fir-trees, and then turned off around the base +of the Roche Fendue. When I saw this, I said to myself, 'Ah! you old +hag! If there was much game of your sort, the sport of hunting would go +to the dogs. It would be better to work as a galley slave!' We came—the +two tracks and I—to the top of the Schneeberg. The wind had swept here +and the snow was up to my waist, but I must get on! I reached the banks +of the Steinbach torrent and there the Black Plague's foot-prints +ceased. I stopped, and saw that after having tried up and down, the +gentleman's boots had taken the direction<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span> of the Tiefenbach. This was a +bad sign. I looked at the opposite bank, but there was no sign of a +track there. The witch had waded either up or down the stream, to break +the scent. Where should I go? To right or left? In my uncertainty, by +Jove, I came back to Nideck."</p> + +<p>"You have forgotten to tell the doctor about her breakfast."</p> + +<p>"To be sure, monsieur! At the foot of the Roche Fendue, I saw she had +lighted a fire; the snow was black around it; and I laid my hand on the +spot, thinking that if it were still warm the Plague could not be far +away, but it was as cold as ice. I noticed a snare in the bushes close +by."</p> + +<p>"A snare?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; it seems the old creature<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span> knows how to manage traps. A hare had +been caught in it; the impression of his body was still there where he +had lain stretched out. The witch had lighted the fire to cook him; she +knows a thing or two, you see!"</p> + +<p>"Just to think," cried Sperver angrily, "that this old wretch should +find meat to feed on, when so many honest people of our villages are +starving for the want of a bit of bread! It infuriates me! If I only had +her in my clutches—!"</p> + +<p>He had no time to finish his sentence. The next moment, we were staring +into each other's ashy faces, speechless and immovable. A howl—the howl +of a wolf on a bitter winter's night—a cry that you must have heard to +comprehend in the least, the agonized<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span> plaint of the savage beast,—was +echoing through the Castle, and seemed not far from us. It rose from +below, so fearfully distinct that we fancied the wild animal just +outside our door.</p> + +<p>We often hear quoted, as the most terrible of sounds, the roar of the +lion, as he rends the silence of approaching night in the immensity of +the desert. But if the parched and burning sands of Africa have their +voice, like the sound of the autumn tempest growling among the crags of +the forest, so, too, have the vast, snowy plains of the North their +characteristic cry, that accords so well with the dreary winter +landscape, where all is sleeping, and not even a dead leaf rustles to +disturb the perfect stillness; and this cry,—it is the howl of the +wolf!<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span></p> + +<p>Rousing himself with difficulty, Sperver sprang from his chair, rushed +to the window, and stared down at the foot of the Tower.</p> + +<p>"Can a wolf have fallen into the moat?" he cried.</p> + +<p>But the howls came from within the Castle. Then turning to us:</p> + +<p>"Gaston! Sebalt!" he cried, "come on!"</p> + +<p>We flew down the stairs four steps at a time, and rushed into the +armory. Sperver drew his hunting-knife, and Sebalt followed his example; +they preceded me along the gallery. The cries were guiding us towards +the chamber of the sick man. Sperver spoke no more, and hurried his +steps. I felt a shudder pass over me; something forewarned us that an +abominable scene<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span> was about to transpire before our eyes.</p> + +<p>As we approached the Count's apartment, we found the whole household +afoot—hunters, kennel-keepers, and scullions, running this way and +that, and asking each other, "What is the matter? where are the cries +coming from?" Without waiting for anything, we dashed into the corridor +which led to the Count's chamber, and in the vestibule we encountered +the good Marie Lagoutte, who alone had had the courage to proceed there +before us. She was holding in her arms the young Countess, who had +fainted, and was hurrying her away as rapidly as she could. So agitated +was I at this pathetic sight that for the moment I forgot the Count, and +I sprang forward to Odile's aid;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span> but Marie Lagoutte begged me to hurry +to the Count, as her mistress was only in a faint and would soon revive, +when she would be terribly distressed if I were not at her father's +bedside. Realizing that in spite of my preferences my first duty was to +my patient, I reluctantly quitted them, and hastened to overtake my +companions.</p> + +<p>We reached the Count's room. The howls were coming from within.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 322px;"><a name="ILL_007" id="ILL_007"></a> +<img src="images/ill_007.jpg" width="322" height="500" alt=""THEN HE WOULD RESUME HIS FRIGHTFUL CRIES."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"THEN HE WOULD RESUME HIS FRIGHTFUL CRIES."</span> +</div> + +<p>We stared at one another, trying in vain to explain the presence of such<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span> +a guest. Our ideas were in utter confusion. Sperver threw open the door, +and with his hunting-knife tightly grasped, started to enter the room; +but he paused on the threshold, motionless as a stone. I glanced over +his shoulder, and the sight that presented<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span> itself to my gaze froze +the blood in my veins. The Count of Nideck, crouching on all-fours on +the bed, his head bent forward and his eyes glowing fiercely, was +uttering these terrible howls. He was the wolf! That low forehead, that +long, pointed face, that bristling beard, that long, thin body, and +those wasted limbs,—the expression, the cry, the attitude,—all bespoke +the savage beast beneath a human mask. At times he would stop for a +second to listen, and the tall curtains of the bed would tremble like +leaves. Then he would resume his frightful cries.</p> + +<p>Sperver, Sebalt, and I stood nailed to the floor; we held our breath. +Suddenly the Count stopped; like the hunted animal that sniffs the +breeze, he raised his head and listened. Far,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span> far away beneath the +lofty arches of the snow-clad pines, a cry was heard; feeble at first, +it seemed to grow louder as it was prolonged, and soon it rose clear and +strong above the roaring of the storm. It was the she-wolf answering its +mate.</p> + +<p>Sperver, turning towards me with livid face, his arm pointing to the +mountain, cried:</p> + +<p>"Listen, it is the witch!"</p> + +<p>The Count, motionless, with raised head and extended neck, his mouth +wide open, and eyeballs glowing like coals, seemed to understand the +meaning of the distant voice, lost in the midst of the deserted gorges +of the Black Forest, and a certain savage joy gleamed in his face. At +this moment Sperver cried in a broken voice:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Count of Nideck! What are you doing?"</p> + +<p>The Count fell backwards as if thunderstruck. We rushed into the room to +his assistance. The third attack had begun, and it was terrible to +witness.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX.</h2> + +<h3>THE PLAGUE IN MY CHAMBER.—THE MIDNIGHT SCENE ON THE ALTENBERG.</h3> + +<p>The Count of Nideck was in a dying condition. All that art might +accomplish I had tried without avail, and at that moment, when life and +death were struggling for the mastery, I was compelled to stand idly by +and watch the sands of Time's hour-glass run out. Towards midnight, the +Count seemed almost gone; his pulse beat feebly, and at times seemed to +stop. Sometimes I thought the end was but the question of a few moments. +At length, worn out with exhaustion and anxiety, I bid the weeping +Sperver remain<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span> with his master while I repaired to the Tower to snatch +a few moments' sleep.</p> + +<p>A bright fire was burning in my chamber. I threw myself on the bed +without removing my clothes, and soon fell into a heavy, troubled +slumber. I slept thus, with my face turned towards the fire, whose rays +danced upon the polished flagstones. After an hour, the fire suddenly +started up, and as it often happens, the flame, rising and falling +momentarily, beat upon the walls its great red wings and tired my +eyelids. Lost in a vague slumber, I half opened my eyes to see whence +came these alternate lights and shadows, when I was brought wide awake +by an appalling sight.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 322px;"><a name="ILL_008" id="ILL_008"></a> +<img src="images/ill_008.jpg" width="322" height="500" alt=""I RAISED MYSELF ON MY ELBOW AND STARED FEARFULLY IN THE DIRECTION."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"I RAISED MYSELF ON MY ELBOW AND STARED FEARFULLY IN THE DIRECTION."</span> +</div> + +<p>At the further end of the hearth,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span> hardly revealed by the light of a few +glowing embers, a dark profile was dimly visible,—the profile of the +Black Plague. At first, I thought it an hallucination, the natural +offspring of my feverish thoughts. I raised myself on my elbow, and +stared fearfully in the direction, real or fancied, of the image. It was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span> +she indeed! Calm and motionless she sat, her hands clasped about her +knees, just as I had seen her in the snow, with her long, thin neck, +sharp, hooked nose, and thin lips tightly closed,—and she was warming<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span> +herself before the fire.</p> + +<p>I was horrified. How could the creature have got into my room? How could +she have climbed the Tower, beneath which precipices yawned on every +side? Everything that Sperver had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span> told me concerning her mysterious +power seemed no whit exaggerated. The vision of Lieverlé growling +against the wall passed before me like a flash. I huddled close in the +alcove, hardly daring to breathe, and watching this immovable silhouette +as a mouse watches a cat from the bottom of its hole. The old woman +stirred no more than the chimney-breast cut in the solid rock, and her +lips moved as she mumbled inarticulate words.</p> + +<p>My heart beat painfully fast, and my fear increased from moment to +moment, as I gazed on the motionless figure amid the perfect silence. +This lasted perhaps a quarter of an hour, when the fire catching a pine +splinter, the flame leaped up and a few rays penetrated to the end of +the room. This flash sufficed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span> to show me the aged woman dressed in an +old gown of purple brocade that shimmered violet and red in different +lights, with a heavy bracelet on her left wrist and a gold arrow stuck +through her thick, gray hair, which was coiled up on the back of her +head. It was like an apparition of past ages.</p> + +<p>Still, the Plague could have no hostile designs upon me, or she would +have profited by my slumber to execute them. This thought was beginning +to reassure me, when she suddenly got up and moved slowly towards my +bed, holding in her hand a torch which she had just lighted at the fire. +I now observed that her eyes were fixed and haggard. I made an effort to +rise and cry out, but not a muscle of my body would obey my will, not a +sound passed my lips,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span> and the old witch, bending over me between the +parted curtains, fixed her eyes on me with a strange smile. I tried to +spring upon her and cry for help, but her glance paralyzed me as the +snake's look charms the tiny bird. During this dumb contemplation, each +second seemed to me an eternity. What was she about to do? I was +prepared for anything. Suddenly she turned her head, listened, and then +crossing the room with a rapid step, she opened the door. At last I had +recovered a little courage; an effort of the will brought me to my feet, +as if acted upon by an invisible spring, and I followed on the heels of +the old woman, who with one hand was holding her torch above her head, +and with the other kept the hall-door wide open.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span></p> + +<p>I was about to seize her by the hair when, at the end of the long +gallery, beneath the oval archway that opened upon the ramparts, I +saw—the Count of Nideck! The Count of Nideck, whom I thought dying, +clad in a huge wolf-skin, with its upper jaw projecting like a visor +over his eyebrows, the claws resting on his shoulders, and the tail +dragging behind him over the flagstones. He wore heavy boots, a silver +clasp fastened the wolf-skin at his throat, and his expression, except +for the dull, icy look in his eyes, bespoke the strong man born to +command,—the master.</p> + +<p>In the presence of such a personage my ideas became vague and confused. +Flight was impossible. I had presence of mind enough left, however,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span> to +throw myself into an embrasure of the window.</p> + +<p>The Count entered the chamber and fixed upon the old woman a rigid +stare. They held a whispered conversation, of which I was able to hear +nothing, but their gestures were full of meaning. The old hag pointed to +the bed. They moved to the fireplace on tiptoe, and there in the shadow +of the triforium the Black Plague unrolled a large bundle, grinning +hideously meanwhile. Hardly had the Count caught sight of the sack, +before he sprang to the bedside and disappeared between the curtains, +which stirred in a strange fashion. I could only see one leg still +resting on the floor, and the wolf's tail moving back and forth. They +seemed to be enacting a mock murder scene.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span></p> + +<p>Nothing could have been more horrible than this mute representation of +such an act. The old creature approached the bed in turn, and spread out +her sack on the floor beside it. The curtains still moved, and their +shadows danced upon the walls. Then a great movement succeeded. The old +creature and the Count together crowded the bed clothes into the sack, +stamping them down with the haste of a dog scratching a hole in the +earth, and the Lord of Nideck, throwing the shapeless bundle over his +shoulder, started for the door. A sheet dragged behind him, and the old +woman followed him with her torch. They crossed the court.</p> + +<p>My knees trembled and almost refused to support my weight; a prayer rose +involuntarily to my lips. Two<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span> minutes had not passed before I was on +their footsteps, dragged along by a subtle, irresistible curiosity. I +crossed the court at a run, and was about to enter the Gothic Tower, +when I perceived a deep, narrow pit at my feet, and into its depths +wound a staircase, down which I saw the hag's torch turning, turning +about the stone baluster like a firefly, until it became lost in the +distance.</p> + +<p>I descended in turn the first steps of the staircase, guiding my course +by the distant glimmer, when it suddenly disappeared. The old woman and +the Count had reached the bottom of the precipice. Soon the steps +ceased. I looked around me and discovered on my left hand a ray of +moonlight that found its way into the pit through a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span> low door, across +the nettles and brambles laden with hoar-frost. I put aside these +bushes, clearing away the snow with my feet, and found myself at the +foot of Hugh's donjon-tower. Who would have supposed that such a hole +led up to the Castle? Who had shown it to the old woman? I did not stop +to answer these questions. The vast plain lay before me, flooded with a +light almost equal to that of day. To the right stretched the dark +extent of the Black Forest, with its perpendicular rocks, its gorges and +ravines. The night air was still and bitter cold; I felt exalted by the +keen atmosphere. My first glance was to discover the direction which the +old woman and the Count had taken. Their tall, dark forms were moving +slowly up the mountain<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span> side some two hundred paces in advance of me, +and stood out against the background of the heavens studded with +innumerable stars. I came close up to them at the bottom of the next +ravine. The Count moved slowly on, the winding-sheet still dragging +behind him. His attitude and movements, like those of his companion, +were automatic in their precision.</p> + +<p>On they went, some twenty paces before me, following the hollow road to +the Altenberg, now in the shadow, now in the full light, for the moon +was shining with surprising brilliancy. A few clouds followed her, and +seemed as if stretching out their great arms to seize her; but she +evaded them, and her rays, cold as a blade of steel, cut me to the +heart.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span></p> + +<p>I would gladly have turned back, but an invisible power impelled me to +follow this funeral procession. Even to this hour, I still see in fancy +the path that winds beneath the colonnades of the Black Forest. I hear +the snow crunching beneath my step, and the fallen leaves rustling in +the gently stirring north wind. I still see myself following those two +silent figures, and I try in vain to explain to myself the mysterious +impulse which caused me to dog their footsteps.</p> + +<p>At last we reached the forest and proceeded amongst the naked beeches, +the dark shadows of whose higher boughs intersected the lower branches +and traced their outlines on the snow-covered path. Sometimes I fancied +I heard some one behind me; I would<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span> turn quickly around, but could see +nothing.</p> + +<p>We gained at length the line of crags on the summit of the Altenberg, +behind which the torrent of the Schneeberg rushes earlier in the year, +but now there was only a mere thread of water slowly trickling beneath +its thick covering of ice. The vast solitude no longer had its murmurs, +its warblings, and its thunder; its oppressive stillness inspired fear. +The Count and the old woman found a gap in the rocks, up which they +mounted quickly and apparently without effort, while I was obliged to +scramble up, clinging to the bushes in order to follow them.</p> + +<p>Scarcely had I reached the top of the rock which forms a corner of the +precipice, when I found myself within three<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span> yards of them, and before +me I saw a bottomless abyss. On the left hung the falls of the +Schneeberg in sheets of ice. This resemblance to a wave leaping into the +precipice, and bearing with it the neighboring trees, sucking up the +underbrush and cleaving the ivys that follow on its crest without +becoming uprooted; this appearance of mighty movement in the +immovableness of death, and those two silent forms proceeding with their +sinister work, all inspired me with indescribable terror. Nature herself +seemed to share in my feelings.</p> + +<p>The Count had laid down his burden; the old woman and he swung it for a +moment above the precipice, then the long shroud floated over the edge, +and the actors in this awful drama bent over<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span> to watch it as it fell. +The long, white sheet, swelling upwards as it met the rising breath of +the chasm, and then falling slowly and disappearing from sight, still +floats before my eyes. I see it sinking like the swan shot far up in the +sky, her wings spread out and head thrown back, falling to earth in the +agony of death.</p> + +<p>At this moment a cloud which had long been approaching the moon slowly +veiled her in its bluish folds; complete darkness succeeded. After a +little the moon appeared again through a rift in the clouds, and I saw +the old woman seize the Count's hand and drag him along with dangerous +speed down the mountain side. Then it became dark again, and I dared not +risk a step lest I should fall headlong into an abyss.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span> Once more the +clouds parted. I looked about me and found myself alone on the high +rock, knee-deep in snow. Seized with horror, I made my way cautiously +down the steep declivity, and once on the plain I started to run towards +the Castle, as much stunned as if I had shared in some dark crime.</p> + +<p>As for the Lord of Nideck and the old woman, I had lost sight of them.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X.</h2> + +<h3>I LOSE MY WAY AND PASS THE NIGHT IN THE DWARF'S LODGE.</h3> + +<p>I wandered around the Castle, unable to find the opening through which I +had come out on to the plain. So much anxiety and emotion began to tell +upon my mind; I moved aimlessly along, asking myself with dread if +madness were not playing a part in my fancies, unable to believe what I +had seen, and yet alarmed at the clearness of my perceptions. The image +of the master of Nideck waving his torch in the darkness, howling like a +wolf, coolly accomplishing an imaginary crime, without<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span> omitting a +gesture, a circumstance, not even the smallest detail, then escaping and +committing to the abyss the secret of the murder, harassed my mind and +hung over me like a nightmare. I ran breathless and distracted through +the snow, not knowing in what direction to guide my steps.</p> + +<p>As day approached, the cold became more intense. At last, exhausted, my +legs feeling like lead, and my ears half frozen, I succeeded in +discovering the iron grating, and I rang the bell with all my might. It +was then about four o'clock in the morning. Knapwurst kept me waiting a +terribly long time. His little lodge, built against the rock, just +within the principal gate, remained quite silent; it seemed to me that +the dwarf would never finish dressing, for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span> I had fancied him in bed and +soundly sleeping.</p> + +<p>I rang again, and this time his grotesque figure emerged abruptly from +his doorway, and he cried furiously:</p> + +<p>"Who's there?"</p> + +<p>"I! The Doctor!"</p> + +<p>"Ah! that is another matter! I'll see whether you are telling the +truth."</p> + +<p>He went back into his lodge to get a lantern, crossed the outer court +with the snow up to his middle, and staring at me through the grating:</p> + +<p>"I beg your pardon, monsieur the doctor," he said; "I thought you were +asleep up-stairs in Hugh's Tower. It was you ringing! Now I see why +Sperver came to me at midnight to ask if any one had gone out. I said +no, for I never saw you go out."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span></p> + +<p>"But for Heaven's sake, Knapwurst, open the door! You can tell me all +this later."</p> + +<p>"Be patient for a moment, monsieur."</p> + +<p>And the dwarf deliberately turned the lock and drew back the bolts, +while I stood with my teeth chattering, and shivering from head to foot.</p> + +<p>"You are cold, Doctor," observed the diminutive porter, "and you cannot +get into the Castle. Sperver has fastened the inside door, I don't know +why; he doesn't ordinarily; the grating is enough. Come into the lodge +and warm yourself. You won't find my room much to boast of; properly +speaking, it is nothing but a sty, but when you are cold you don't spend +much time in looking about."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span></p> + +<p>Without replying to his chatter I followed him as rapidly as possible, +burning with impatience to learn what things were passing in the Castle, +but seeing nothing for it but to wait till dawn.</p> + +<p>We entered the lodge, and in spite of my state of complete frigidity, I +could not help admiring the picturesque disorder of this species of +nest. The slate roof leaned against the rock on one side, and on the +other against a wall six to seven feet high, disclosing to view the +blackened beams propped up against each other. The lodge consisted of a +single room, furnished with a bed which the gnome did not take the +trouble to make up very often, and two small dusty windows with +hexagonal panes which the moon turned to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span> mother-of-pearl with its pale +rays. A large, square table occupied the middle of the room. How this +massive oak table had ever been brought through the narrow doorway, it +would have been difficult to explain. Upon a few shelves were arranged +some old volumes and rolls of parchment, and on the table lay open an +enormous tome with illuminated initial letters, bound in vellum, with a +silver clasp and corners; it looked to me like a collection of old +chronicles. Lastly, two armchairs, one covered with red leather and the +other upholstered with a down cushion, and bearing the unmistakable +impression of the dwarf's body, completed the furniture of the place.</p> + +<p>I will not stop to describe the desk with its five or six pens, the +tobacco<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span> jar, the pipes scattered variously about, the little, low, iron +stove in one corner of the room, with its door standing open, red hot, +and sending a shower of sparks from time to time on to the stone floor, +and the spitting cat with her back arched and her paw lifted in defiance +of me.</p> + +<p>All these objects were veiled in that smoky amber light which rests the +eye, and of which the old Flemish masters alone possessed the secret.</p> + +<p>"So you went out last night, monsieur the doctor," Knapwurst said to me +when we were comfortably seated, he before his volume and I with my +hands stretched out before the fire.</p> + +<p>"Yes, rather early. A woodcutter of the Black Forest needed my services; +he had cut his left foot with an axe stroke."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span></p> + +<p>This explanation appeared to satisfy the dwarf; he lighted his black +pipe, which hung down over his chin.</p> + +<p>"You don't smoke, monsieur?"</p> + +<p>"Indeed I do!"</p> + +<p>"Well, help yourself to a pipe! I was just here," he said, stretching +his long, yellow hand over the page, "reading the chronicles of Hertzog +when you rang."</p> + +<p>I now understood why he had kept me standing so long in the cold.</p> + +<p>"You waited to finish your chapter," I said smiling.</p> + +<p>"Yes, monsieur," he admitted; and we laughed together.</p> + +<p>"However, if I had known it was you, I should have put it off till +another time," he added.</p> + +<p>A silence of some minutes followed,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span> during which I studied the truly +remarkable physiognomy of the dwarf: those deep wrinkles at the corners +of his mouth, those little squinting eyes, the broad, unshapely nose +rounded at the end, and especially his swelling, double-storied +forehead. I noticed in his face something of the expression of Socrates, +and as I warmed myself before the crackling blaze, I reflected upon the +strange fortunes of certain of us.</p> + +<p>"Here is this dwarf," I said to myself, "this unsightly, stunted +creature, exiled into a corner of Nideck like the cricket that sings +beneath the hearthstone; this Knapwurst, who, in the midst of all these +excitements, hunting-parties and gay cavalcades going and coming, the +baying of hounds, stamping<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span> of horses, and winding of the hunters' horn, +lives quietly alone, buried in his books, and thinking only of times +long past, indifferent whether all is in songs or tears around him, +whether it is spring, summer, or autumn that comes to peep in at him +through his little dusty window panes, reanimating, warming or chilling +the breast of Nature outside. While others are living, blessed with the +hope and magic of love, striving to gratify ambition or avarice, +plotting, coveting, and longing, he hopes for nothing, covets nothing, +wishes nothing. He sits and smokes his pipe, and with his eyes fixed on +the old parchment before him, he dreams and revels in things that no +longer exist, perhaps never had any existence—what matters it to +him—'Hertzog says this,'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span> 'such a one has it differently,'—and he is +happy. His parchment skin gets more and more wrinkled, his sharp elbows +dig holes in the table, while his long fingers bury themselves in his +cheeks, and his little gray eyes roam over Latin, Greek, and Etruscan +characters. He goes into ecstasies, he licks his lips like a cat who has +just lapped up a saucer of cream, and then he lies down on his cot, with +his knees drawn up under the coverlid, and thinks he has passed the best +possible kind of a day. O God of Heaven! Is it at the top or at the +bottom of the ladder that we find the true application of your laws, and +the accomplishment of the duties you have imposed?"</p> + +<p>Meanwhile the snow was melting from my legs, and the grateful warmth<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span> of +the stove restored my spirits. I felt reanimated in this atmosphere of +tobacco smoke and resinous pine. Knapwurst laid his pipe on the table, +and passing his hand once more across the folio:</p> + +<p>"Monsieur de la Roche," he said in a grave tone that seemed to come from +the bottom of his conscience, or if you prefer, from the depths of a +twenty-five gallon cask, "here is the law and the prophets."</p> + +<p>"How do you mean, Knapwurst?"</p> + +<p>"Parchment, old parchment, is what I love. These old yellow leaves, +eaten by worms, are all that is left us of times long gone by, from +Charlemagne to our own day. The ancient families have disappeared, but +the old parchments remain. Where would be the glory of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span> the +Hohenstauferns, the Liningens, the Nidecks, and so many other noble +families, were it not for these? Where would be the fame of their +title-rights, their deeds of arms, their heroic actions, their distant +expeditions to the Holy Land, their ancient alliances and claims, and +their conquests, did they not stand in these chronicles? These lofty +barons, dukes, and princes would be as if they never existed—they and +everything relating to them far and near.</p> + +<p>"Their great castles, fortunes, and palaces crumble and fall, and their +ruins serve as vague reminders. Of all this a single memorial +remains,—the chronicles, the history, the songs of bards and +minnesingers,—parchment alone is left to us!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span></p> + +<p>A brief silence followed, then Knapwurst resumed:</p> + +<p>"And in those distant times, when brave knights went forth to war, +disputing and fighting over a bit of forest, title, or a lesser matter +yet, with what contempt did they look upon this wretched little scribe, +this man of letters and mystery, clad in ratteen, his only weapon an ink +bottle dangling at his belt, and the handle of his pen for a plume. How +often they jeered him, crying, 'That fellow is an atom, a flea; he is +good for nothing; he cannot even collect our taxes or manage our +estates, while we fine chaps go out on our mounts with lance in hand, +ready for anything that comes in our way!' Thus they talked when they +saw the poor devil dragging along behind them,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span> shivering in winter, +sweating in summer, and growing feeble in his old age. Ah, well! this +atom, this flea, has caused them to survive long after their castles +have turned to dust and their arms have rusted away, and for my part I +love these old parchments; I respect and revere them. Like ivy, they +clothe the ruins and prevent the old walls from crumbling away and +becoming entirely effaced."</p> + +<p>Having given such expression to his thoughts, Knapwurst seemed grave, +and reflecting upon these things his eyes filled with the tears of +affectionate remembrance. The dwarf loved those who had tolerated and +protected his ancestors. After all, he spoke the truth; there was +profound good sense in his words. His warmth surprised me.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Have you learned Latin, Knapwurst?" I asked him.</p> + +<p>"Yes, monsieur," he replied, "I taught myself Latin and Greek. Old +grammars were enough,—some of the Count's thrown into the ash-barrel; +they fell into my hands and I devoured them. Some time after, the Lord +of Nideck having chanced to hear me make some Latin quotation was +surprised.</p> + +<p>"'Who taught you Latin, Knapwurst?' he asked.</p> + +<p>"'I taught myself, monseigneur.'</p> + +<p>"He asked me some questions, which I answered pretty well.</p> + +<p>"'By Jove!' he cried, 'Knapwurst knows more than I do! He shall keep my +archives.'</p> + +<p>"And he gave me the key to the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span> archive chamber. During the thirty years +since then, I have read every page. Sometimes the Count, seeing me on my +ladder, stops a minute and says to me:</p> + +<p>"'Ha! ha! What are you doing up there, Knapwurst?'</p> + +<p>"'I am reading the family records, monseigneur.'</p> + +<p>"'And you enjoy it?'</p> + +<p>"'Very much, monseigneur.'</p> + +<p>"'Well, well! I am glad to hear it; if it weren't for you, Knapwurst, +who would know of the glory of the Nidecks?' and he goes off laughing. I +do as I please here!"</p> + +<p>"He is a good master then?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, monsieur, what a heart, and what kindness!" exclaimed the dwarf, +clasping his hands. "He has but one fault."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span></p> + +<p>"And what is that?"</p> + +<p>"He has no ambition."</p> + +<p>"How so?"</p> + +<p>"Why, he could have attained to anything. A Nideck! One of the most +illustrious families of Germany! Think of that, monsieur! He had only to +choose; he might have been a minister or a field-marshal. But no! In his +youth he retired from political life. With the exception of a campaign +that he conducted in France, at the head of a regiment which he raised +by his own exertions—with this exception, he has always lived far from +noise and strife, simple and almost unknown, only interesting himself in +his hunting."</p> + +<p>These details were of the greatest interest to me. The conversation was +taking, of its own accord, the direction<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span> that I most wished, and I +resolved to profit by my opportunity.</p> + +<p>"The Count has never had any great passions in his life, then?" I asked.</p> + +<p>"None, monsieur; and that is the pity, for noble passions make the +renown of great families. It is a misfortune for the member of a noble +race to be devoid of ambition. He allows his family to degenerate. I +could cite many examples in proof of what I say. That which would be the +pride of the tradesman's family, would be the ruin of the illustrious."</p> + +<p>I was amazed; all my speculations regarding the Count's past life were +fast being disproved.</p> + +<p>"However, the Count has met with many reverses, has he not?"</p> + +<p>"Of what nature?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span></p> + +<p>"He has lost his wife?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, you are right; his wife was an angel. He married her for love; she +was a daughter of one the oldest and noblest families of Alsace, but +ruined by the Revolution. The Countess Odette was her husband's sole +happiness. She died of a lingering illness that lasted over the space of +five years; every means was resorted to to save her life. They travelled +together in Italy, but she returned worse than she went, and succumbed +some three weeks after their return. The Count came near dying himself +of a broken heart. For two years he shut himself up and would see +nobody. His dogs and horses were neglected. Time at length calmed his +grief, but there has ever been something here." (The dwarf laid his +finger<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span> on his heart.) "You understand; it is a bleeding wound. Old +wounds pain us in change of weather, and old griefs, too, when the +flowers spring up above the tomb, and in autumn when the dead leaves +cover the ground. The Count has never wished to marry again; his +daughter is the sole object of his affection."</p> + +<p>"So this marriage was always a happy one?"</p> + +<p>"Happy? It was a blessing for everybody!"</p> + +<p>I was silent. Evidently the Count had not committed, could not have +committed, a crime. I was obliged to yield to the weight of evidence; +but then that nocturnal scene, these strange relations with the Black +Plague, that horrible pantomime and the remorse in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span> a dream which forced +the couple to betray their past—what did it all mean? I became lost in +thought.</p> + +<p>Knapwurst relighted his pipe and reached me one, which I accepted. The +chill which had seized me had by this time passed away. I was +experiencing that delicious period of inaction which follows the fatigue +caused by unusual exertions, when, sprawled out in a big armchair in the +chimney-corner and enveloped in a cloud of smoke, you abandon yourself +to the pleasure of repose and listen to the blending of the cricket's +chant with the unearthly singing of the green log on the hearth. We sat +thus for a quarter of an hour.</p> + +<p>"The Count sometimes gets angry with his daughter," I ventured to +remark. Knapwurst started, and fixing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span> on me a suspicious, almost +hostile look, replied:</p> + +<p>"I know, I know!"</p> + +<p>I watched him with a sidelong glance, thinking that I might learn +something new, but he added ironically:</p> + +<p>"The towers of Nideck are high, and slander flies too low to reach +them!"</p> + +<p>"Undoubtedly; but it is a fact, nevertheless, is it not?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; but this is a mere crotchet, an effect of his malady. Once the +crisis is passed, all his affection for the Countess Odile returns. It +is curious, monsieur, a lover of twenty years could not be more devoted, +more affectionate than he. This young woman is his one joy and pride. +Only fancy, no less than a dozen times I have seen him ride off to get +her a dress, or flowers, or some like<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span> trifle. He would not entrust this +commission to any one, not even to his faithful Sperver. The Countess +does not even dare to express a wish in his presence, lest he should +commit some new extravagance. In a word, monsieur, I assure you that the +Count of Nideck is the worthiest of men, the tenderest of fathers, and +the best of masters. As for the poachers who ravaged his forests, the +old Count Ludwig would have hanged them without mercy; but our Count +tolerates them; he even makes them his gamekeepers. Take Sperver, for +instance! If Count Ludwig was still alive, Sperver's bones would be +clicking together like castanets, at the end of a rope, while as it is, +he is the steward and man-of-affairs at the Castle."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span></p> + +<p>My theories were fast falling to the ground. I rested my head between my +hands and thought for a long time. Knapwurst, supposing that I was +asleep, had resumed his reading. The gray dawn appeared through the tiny +panes; the lamplight paled, and vague murmurs arose within the Castle. +Suddenly footsteps sounded outside, some one passed before the window, +the door opened abruptly, and Gideon appeared on the threshold.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI.</h2> + +<h3>I AM SUMMONED TO THE COUNTESS' CHAMBER, AND MAKE A CONFESSION.</h3> + +<p>Sperver's pale face and rapid glance intimated that something unusual +was happening; nevertheless, he was calm and did not appear surprised at +my presence in Knapwurst's room.</p> + +<p>"Gaston," he said briefly, "I have come to get you!"</p> + +<p>I rose without replying and followed him. No sooner had we left the +lodge than he seized me by the arm and drew me hastily towards the +Castle.</p> + +<p>"The Countess Odile wants to speak to you," he whispered.</p> + +<p>"The Countess! Is she ill?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span></p> + +<p>"No, she is quite recovered, but something unusual is going on. This +morning at about one o'clock, thinking that the Count was about to +breathe his last, I went to wake the Countess, but as I was on the point +of ringing, my heart failed me. 'Why should I fill her with despair?' I +asked myself. 'She will learn of her misfortune soon enough; and then to +wake her up in the middle of the night, when she is so frail and broken +by so much sorrow, might prove her own death-blow.' I stood some minutes +reflecting what course to pursue, and at last I decided to take the +responsibility upon myself, and I returned to the Count's room. I looked +about; no one was there. Impossible! the man was in his last agonies! I +ran along the corridor like a madman; no<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span> one was to be seen! I entered +the gallery; no one there! Then I lost my head and rushed again to the +Countess Odile's chamber. This time I rang. She appeared in tears.</p> + +<p>"'My father is dead?'</p> + +<p>"'No, madame!'</p> + +<p>"'He has disappeared?'</p> + +<p>"'Yes; I left the room for a moment, and when I returned—'</p> + +<p>"'And Monsieur de la Roche; where is he?'</p> + +<p>"'In Hugh's Tower.'</p> + +<p>"'In the Tower!'</p> + +<p>"She threw on a dressing-gown, seized a lamp and hurried out. I remained +behind. A quarter of an hour afterwards she returned, her feet covered +with snow, and very pale; it was pitiful to see. She set the lamp<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span> on +the mantelpiece, and looking steadily at me, she said:</p> + +<p>"'Was it you who put the doctor in the Tower?'</p> + +<p>"'Yes, madame.'</p> + +<p>"'Unhappy man! you will never know the harm that you have done!'</p> + +<p>"I wanted to reply, but she stopped me.</p> + +<p>"'That is enough! Go and fasten all the doors and lie down. I will sit +up myself. To-morrow morning you will go and find the doctor in +Knapwurst's lodge, and you will bring him to me. Breathe no word of this +to anybody! Remember you have seen nothing and know nothing!'"</p> + +<p>"Is that all, Sperver?"</p> + +<p>He nodded gravely.</p> + +<p>"And the Count?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span></p> + +<p>"He has come back again; he seems better."</p> + +<p>We had reached the antechamber. Gideon knocked gently on the door, then<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span> +opened it, announcing, "Monsieur the doctor."</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 317px;"><a name="ILL_009" id="ILL_009"></a> +<img src="images/ill_009.jpg" width="317" height="500" alt=""I STEPPED FORWARD AND FOUND MYSELF IN THE PRESENCE OF ODILE."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"I STEPPED FORWARD AND FOUND MYSELF IN THE PRESENCE OF ODILE."</span> +</div> + +<p>I stepped forward and found myself in the presence of Odile. Sperver +withdrew, closing the door behind him.</p> + +<p>A strange impression was produced upon my mind by the appearance of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span> +young Countess, robed in a long gown of black velvet, and standing pale +and firm with her hand resting on the back of an armchair, her eyes +glistening with a feverish light.</p> + +<p>"Monsieur," she said, pointing to a chair; "pray be seated. I wish to +speak with you upon a very grave subject."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span></p> + +<p>I obeyed silently. She seated herself in turn, and seemed trying to +arrange her thoughts.</p> + +<p>"Chance, monsieur," she continued after a moment, fixing her large blue +eyes upon me—"chance or Providence, I know not which to call it—has +made you the witness of a mystery in which is involved the honor of our +family."</p> + +<p>She knew everything, then. I was astonished.</p> + +<p>"Let us call it Providence!" I cried. "Who knows but that through me the +spell that has so long overhung the Castle is destined to be broken?"</p> + +<p>"All this is frightful!" she continued; then in a despairing tone, "My +father is not guilty of this crime!"</p> + +<p>I sprang up, and stretching out my hands deprecatingly, I exclaimed:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I know it, mademoiselle; I know of the Count's past life, and it is one +of the purest that it would be possible to conceive!"</p> + +<p>Odile half rose from her chair as if to protest against any harsh +judgment of her father, but seeing me myself undertake his defence, she +sank back, and covering her face with her hands, burst into tears.</p> + +<p>"God bless you, monsieur," she murmured; "had you entertained a +suspicion of my father, it would have killed me!"</p> + +<p>"Why, mademoiselle! Who could mistake for realities the unreasoning +actions of the somnambulist?"</p> + +<p>"That is true, monsieur. I had reflected upon this myself—but +appearances—I feared—pardon me—but I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span> should have remembered that you +are a man of honor."</p> + +<p>"Pray, dear Countess, calm yourself!" I exclaimed, feeling myself on the +verge of losing my composure, so deeply was I moved by the grief of my +beloved mistress.</p> + +<p>"No," she cried; "let me weep. These tears are a relief. I have suffered +so for the past ten years! This secret, so long locked in my breast, was +killing me, and I should have died at last like my dear mother! God has +taken pity on me, and he has sent you to share the burden with me. Let +me tell you all, monsieur, let me—" She could not continue; her voice +was stifled in sobs. Her proud and high-strung nature, after having +conquered grief so long, had succumbed to the fateful happening of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span> the +night before; the seal once broken and her secret betrayed, her +vanquished nature, still struggling to shield its sacred trust, sought a +grateful relief in unrestrained tears.</p> + +<p>My one sentiment of love and sympathy, repressed until that moment, now +demanded expression with a power which I was unable to gainsay. I cast +all prudence to the winds, and dropping on one knee beside Odile, I +seized the delicate hands that covered her face and drew them gently +away until her sorrowing glance rested on my face.</p> + +<p>"Odile!" I said, as her name rose naturally to my lips, in a voice so +choked with emotion as to be hardly more than a whisper, "forgive my +rashness, but it no longer rests with me to speak or not as I choose! I +might never<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span> have said anything of this, at least not now, but your +suffering affects me so powerfully that to be silent longer is not +within my power. It must have been evident to you, had you cared to read +it, that I love you and have loved you, far, far dearer than life +itself, ever since my eyes first rested upon you in the Count's chamber, +that first night when I came to the Castle. I cannot ask pardon for it! +No! For I am convinced that no man could be near you for even this brief +time and experience the wonderful charm of your being, to say nothing of +witnessing your present sorrow, without feeling himself moved to the +depths of his own nature. Odile, I love you! I see no goal in life but +you, no future but one passed in your divine companionship; and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span> though +you might well reproach me for choosing such a moment to tell you so, +believe me, it is through no wish to take advantage of your confidence. +Did I feel myself guilty of such baseness, I should despise myself more +than you could possibly do. Odile, my darling, I could not choose but +speak. I must tell you this, even though it should be at the cost of +your further favor!"</p> + +<p>As I spoke, Odile's eyes were fastened on my face with an expression of +surprise, indeed, but in it there was no trace of disfavor, and her +hands were not withdrawn from mine. A bright flush that, for the first +time since I knew her, had succeeded to her usual pallor, mounted to her +cheeks and served to increase her matchless beauty.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span></p> + +<p>She remained silent for some moments still, and I could perceive the +agitation which my words had caused her, by the slight tremor of her +frame and her quickened breathing.</p> + +<p>At length she began, with her clear, frank gaze fastened on my face:</p> + +<p>"I am deeply sensible of the honor you do me in expressing yourself as +you have done, and I am convinced that no woman can do otherwise than +feel a sense of the greatest satisfaction in knowing that she is so +regarded by an honorable man. I must confess," she continued after a +moment of hesitation, "that your words are far from being indifferent or +unwelcome to me! Oh, how strange are the circumstances of my life! I +know not how to reply to you! I know not—"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span></p> + +<p>And she paused, at a loss how to continue.</p> + +<p>I was happy. Odile had confessed enough to make me feel that I could +bide my time for the present without endangering my future hopes; +indeed, I felt that it might be wisdom to grant her time more fully to +determine her sentiments, before pursuing the victory already won. I was +now about to share in the secret of her life at her own request; and I +resolved, if the reason of her vow should be explained, as I felt it +must, to controvert it by any honorable means.</p> + +<p>"You have said enough to make me supremely happy!" I exclaimed. "You +have not denied me the happiness of hope, and I shall not despair! +Meanwhile, whatever I may win is fairly mine, is it not?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Yes," murmured Odile, with just the slightest smile, in which I fancied +there was less sorrow than before.</p> + +<p>"And now, dear one, I fear I have been selfish in intruding my own +feelings where so much grief is present! Pray forgive me, and continue +your story."</p> + +<p>I pressed her hands once more, and as she gently disengaged them I +resumed my chair.</p> + +<p>Odile dried her tear-stained cheeks, and resting her face on her fair +hand she began:</p> + +<p>"When I go back into the past, and return to my earliest dreams, I see +again my mother. She was a stately woman, pale and silent, and still +young at the time of which I am now speaking. She was scarcely thirty +years, and you would<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span> have thought her at least fifty. White locks +veiled her thoughtful forehead; her thin cheeks and severe profile, and +her lips ever firmly closed with an expression of pain, gave to her +features a strange character, in which grief and pride were blended. +There was nothing that suggested youth in this old woman of thirty; +nothing but her upright, haughty bearing, her brilliant eyes, and her +voice, pure and sweet as the dreams of childhood. She often walked up +and down for hours together in this very chamber, with her head bowed +down, and I ran happily along by her side, little knowing that my mother +was deep in sorrow, too young to comprehend the grief that was preying +upon her heart. I knew nothing of the past; the present alone possessed +any reality for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span> me; this was happiness, and the future was but +to-morrow's play." Odile smiled sadly, and resumed:</p> + +<p>"Sometimes it happened that in the midst of my dancing about her, I +would interrupt my mother's walk, and she would stop, and seeing me at +her feet, bend down and kiss me on the forehead with a far-off smile; +then she would resume her interrupted walk. Since then, when I have +wished to search my memory for remembrances of those early days, this +tall, pale woman has appeared before me like the image of melancholy +itself. There she is," she exclaimed, pointing to a picture on the wall; +"not such as illness made her, as my father believed, but that terrible +and fatal secret. Look!"</p> + +<p>I turned, and my glance falling suddenly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span> upon the portrait which the +young girl indicated, I shuddered. It was a long, thin, pale face, +stamped with the cold rigidity of death, and with dark hollows under the +eyes, which looked at you with a fixed, burning gaze of terrible +intensity. There was a moment's silence.</p> + +<p>"How she must have suffered!" I exclaimed, with a sinking of the heart.</p> + +<p>"I know not how my mother made this frightful discovery," continued +Odile; "but she knew of the mysterious attraction of the Black Plague, +and of their meetings in Hugh's Tower,—all, in short,—but she never +suspected my father. No! only she slowly pined away, as I am doing now."</p> + +<p>I hid my face in my hands, and the tears started involuntarily.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span></p> + +<p>"One winter night," she went on, "when I was only ten years old, my +mother, whose energy alone sustained her,—for she was in the last +stages of a decline,—came to my room. I was sleeping, when suddenly a +cold, nervous hand seized my wrist. I opened my eyes, and opposite me +stood a woman; with one hand she held a torch, and with the other she +held my arm, which felt as if clasped in a chill vise. Her dress was +covered with snow, a convulsive trembling agitated her limbs, and her +eyes burned with a dark fire through the white, disordered locks that +hung about her face. It was my mother.</p> + +<p>"'Odile, my child, rise and come with me! You must know everything!' she +said.</p> + +<p>"I dressed myself tremblingly, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span> leading me along the lonely +corridors to Hugh's Tower, she showed me the staircase that led down to +the chasm.</p> + +<p>"'Your father will come out this way,' she said, pointing to the tower; +'he will come out with the she-wolf. Fear nothing! He cannot see you.'</p> + +<p>"Hardly had she finished speaking, when my father appeared with the old +woman, carrying his funereal burden. Taking me in her arms, my mother +followed them, and I witnessed the scene on the Altenberg.</p> + +<p>"'Look, child!' she cried; 'you must, for I am going to die, and you +shall keep the secret! You shall watch over your father alone—all +alone! The honor of our family depends upon it!'</p> + +<p>"We returned. A fortnight later my mother died, leaving to me the +accomplishment<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span> of her vow and the lesson of her example. I have +faithfully discharged my trust, but oh, at what a cost! You have seen +it! I have been obliged to disobey my father and make him wretched. My +marriage could have accomplished nothing, though he does not know it, +and to marry would have been to bring a stranger into our midst and +betray the family secret. I resisted. No one in the Castle knows the +nature of my father's malady, and had it not been for yesterday's +crisis, which broke down my strength and prevented me from watching by +my father, I should still have been the sole depositary of the secret. +God has willed otherwise; he has placed in your keeping the honor of our +family.</p> + +<p>"Such is my story, and in view of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span> what you told me a few moments ago +(and she colored charmingly), I feel that I need hardly ask you if you +will share with me my burden, for my strength is unequal to it—I am +bending beneath its weight."</p> + +<p>She had risen as she finished speaking. For all answer, I sprang +forward, and throwing my arms about her I drew her close to me and +covered her upturned face and forehead with passionate kisses, and she +rested, a delicious burden in my arms.</p> + +<p>"Odile," I cried, "I will be all this and a thousand times more, if you +will only consent to let me. I am the petitioner, not you; and in +allowing me to share with you even the least of your trials, you make me +forever your debtor. You have told me the reason of your<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span> vow, and in +doing so you have removed the necessity for its further existence. Oh, +Odile, may I hope—may I hope, I say, that if I can raise the spell +which overhangs the Castle, and restore your father's health,—as the +price of it, I may have your love?"</p> + +<p>After a moment, she replied softly, as she gently disengaged herself +from my arms:</p> + +<p>"You may;" and she added, "until then my first duty is ever to my +father."</p> + +<p>I pressed the hand which she yielded to me to my lips, exclaiming with a +smile, "This seals the promise!"</p> + +<p>Then I continued:</p> + +<p>"And one thing more. We must seize this creature known as the Black +Plague, and find out what she is, whence she comes, and what she wants +here."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Oh," she exclaimed, with a motion of her beautiful head, "I fear that +is impossible!"</p> + +<p>"Who can say that?" I replied. "I want only your permission, and I will +undertake to seize the Plague at once."</p> + +<p>"Do as your judgment dictates. I consent to everything beforehand."</p> + +<p>I took a long and reluctant leave of Odile, and hurried jubilantly to +Sperver's room.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII.</h2> + +<h3>WE CHASE THE PLAGUE.—HER DEATH.</h3> + +<p>An hour after my conversation with Odile, Sperver and I were galloping +hard over the plain from Nideck. The huntsman, bending over his horse's +neck, set spurs to her from time to time, and the tall Mecklenberg, with +flying mane and foaming lips, literally cleaved the air in her flight. +As for my mount, I believe he took the bit in his teeth, and ran away +with me. Lieverlé accompanied us, bounding along beside us like an +arrow. We seemed to be borne along on the wings of the wind.</p> + +<p>The towers of Nideck were far behind<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span> us, and Sperver was leading the +way, as usual, when I shouted to him:</p> + +<p>"Hallo, comrade! Pull up! Before we go any further, let us deliberate a +little."</p> + +<p>He wheeled about.</p> + +<p>"Only tell me, Gaston, is it to right or left?"</p> + +<p>"No, no! Come here. You must first know why I have started off this +morning. In a word, we are going to catch the hag!"</p> + +<p>An expression of supreme satisfaction lighted up the long, bronzed face +of the old steward; his eyes sparkled.</p> + +<p>"Ha, ha!" he exclaimed; "I knew it would come to that sooner or later."</p> + +<p>With a movement of his shoulder, he slipped his rifle into his hand. +This significant movement opened my eyes.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span></p> + +<p>"One moment, Sperver. We are not going to kill the Black Plague; we are +going to take her alive."</p> + +<p>"Alive!"</p> + +<p>"Precisely; and to spare you future regrets, I warn you that the destiny +of the old creature is identified with our master's. The ball that +strikes her down kills the Count."</p> + +<p>Sperver sat open-mouthed with amazement.</p> + +<p>"Is this really so?"</p> + +<p>"Positively."</p> + +<p>There was a long silence; our horses tossing their heads at each other +as if in salute, pawed the snow impatiently. Lieverlé yawned expectantly +and stretched out his long, snake-like body, and Sperver sat motionless, +with his hand resting on his rifle.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Well, then, we will try to take her living," he said at length; "we +will handle her with kid gloves, since it must needs be so; but it is +not such an easy matter as you think, Gaston."</p> + +<p>Pointing with his extended hand to the mountains which lay unrolled +about us in the form of a great amphitheatre, he added:</p> + +<p>"You see before us the Altenberg, the Birkenwald, the Schneeberg, the +Oxenhorn, the Rhethal, and the Behrenkopf, and if we were up a little +higher, we could see fifty other peaks, extending clear into the plain +of the Palatinate. Within this distance are rocks, ravines, defiles, +torrents, and endless forests, and the old woman wanders everywhere +through this wilderness. She has a sure foot and a good eye, and can<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span> +scent you a good league away; so you see we shall have a pretty chase +before us."</p> + +<p>"If it were an easy thing to do, I shouldn't have chosen you out of all +the people of the Castle."</p> + +<p>"That sounds all very well. Still, if we can once get on her trail, I +don't deny that with courage and patience—"</p> + +<p>"As for her trail, don't worry about that; I will put you on it myself."</p> + +<p>"You?"</p> + +<p>"Exactly."</p> + +<p>"You, able to follow up a trail?"</p> + +<p>"Why not?"</p> + +<p>"Ah, well, since you are so confident and know so much more about it +than I do, that's another thing; go ahead. I'll follow."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span></p> + +<p>It was easy to see that the old huntsman was vexed at my venturing to +encroach upon his particular field of operations. Therefore, laughing +inwardly, I waited for no second invitation and turned to the left, sure +of coming upon the traces of the old woman, who, after having left the +Count in the subterranean passage, must have recrossed the plain to gain +the mountain.</p> + +<p>Sperver followed on behind me whistling with assumed indifference, and I +could hear him muttering:</p> + +<p>"The idea of looking for the she-wolf's tracks in the middle of the +plain. Any one should know that she would follow along the edge of the +forest, as she always does; but it seems she walks about now with her +hands in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span> her pockets, like a well-to-do citizen of Tübingen."</p> + +<p>I turned a deaf ear to all this, and kept on my way. Suddenly he gave an +exclamation of surprise, and looking at me sharply:</p> + +<p>"Gaston," he said, "you know more than you are willing to admit."</p> + +<p>"How do you mean, Gideon?"</p> + +<p>"The track that it would have taken me a week to find, you have got at +once. There is something behind this."</p> + +<p>"Where do you see it, then?"</p> + +<p>"Come, don't pretend to be looking at your feet," and pointing to a +scarcely perceptible white streak at some distance ahead of us, he said:</p> + +<p>"There it is."</p> + +<p>He started off at a gallop. I followed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span> him, and a moment later we +leaped from our saddles. It was indeed the Black Plague's track.</p> + +<p>"I should like to know," said Sperver, folding his arms, "how the devil +that trace came to be here!"</p> + +<p>"Don't let that trouble you."</p> + +<p>"You're right, Gaston. Don't mind what I say. I talk nonsense sometimes. +The principal thing now is to find out where this track leads."</p> + +<p>The huntsman knelt on the snow. I was all ears, he all attention.</p> + +<p>"It is a fresh track," he said at the first glance; "last night's. As I +thought, Gaston, during the Count's last attack the hag was prowling +about the Castle."</p> + +<p>Then examining it more carefully:</p> + +<p>"She passed here at about four o'clock this morning."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span></p> + +<p>"How do you know that?"</p> + +<p>"The track is fresh, but there is sleet around it. Last night at twelve +o'clock I went out to lock the doors, and sleet was falling then; there +is none on this footprint, and therefore it must have been made since +then."</p> + +<p>"That is true, Sperver; but it may have been made later, at nine or ten +o'clock for instance."</p> + +<p>"No; look! It is covered with frost. There is no mist to freeze except +at daybreak; the old woman passed here after the sleet and before the +frost; that is to say, between three and four this morning."</p> + +<p>I was astonished at the accuracy of Sperver's reasoning. He got up, +slapping his hands together to shake off the snow, and looking at me +thoughtfully,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span> he added, as if speaking to himself:</p> + +<p>"Let us call it, at the latest, five o'clock! It is now twelve, isn't +it?"</p> + +<p>"Quarter to twelve."</p> + +<p>"Very good; the hag has seven hours' start of us. We must follow her +step by step wherever she may lead us. On horseback we can come up with +her in from one hour to two, and if she is still moving, by seven or +eight this evening she ought to be in our clutches. Come on, Gaston; +there is no time to lose!"</p> + +<p>We started on again, following the traces which led us straight towards +the mountain. As we galloped along, Sperver called out:</p> + +<p>"If good luck would have it that this cursed Plague had gone into a hole +in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span> the rocks somewhere to lie down for an hour or two, we might catch +her before nightfall."</p> + +<p>"Let's hope so, Gideon."</p> + +<p>"Don't fool yourself that way. The old she-wolf is always moving; she +never grows tired; she roams through all the hollow roads of the Black +Forest. We mustn't indulge vain hopes. If she should happen to have +stopped somewhere along the road, so much the better for us, and if she +is still going, we have no reason to be discouraged. Come! hurry along!"</p> + +<p>It was a strange occupation; that of a man engaged in hunting down one +of his own kind; for, after all, this unfortunate woman was a fellow +creature, endowed like us with an immortal soul, and feeling, thinking, +and reflecting like<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span> ourselves. It is true that perverted instincts had +brought her near the level of the wolf, and that some great mystery +overhung her destiny. Her prowling life had doubtless obliterated her +moral being, and even effaced her human character; but granted all this, +it is, nevertheless, an incontrovertible truth that nothing in God's +universe gave us the right to exercise over her the despotism of man +over the brute creation.</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding, a savage ardor hurried us on in pursuit; for my part, +my blood boiled, and I was determined to stop at nothing which would +enable me to get this strange being into my power. The wide waste of +snow flew past us, and the fragments of crust, thrown up by our horses' +hoofs, whizzed past our ears.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span></p> + +<p>Sperver, sometimes with his head thrown back, and his long mustache +blowing in the wind, and always with his gray eye on the trail, reminded +me of the famous horsemen of the steppes, whom I had seen passing +through Germany in my childhood; his tall, sinewy horse, with full mane +and body tapering like a greyhound's, completed the illusion. Lieverlé, +in his enthusiasm, bounded sometimes as high as our horses' backs, and I +could not help trembling at the thought that, should he come upon the +Black Plague, he might tear her to pieces before we could make a +movement to prevent him.</p> + +<p>The old woman led us a terrible chase; on every hill she had doubled, +and at every hillock we found a false scent.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</a></span></p> + +<p>"It is easy enough along here," said Sperver, "for you can see a long +distance ahead, but when we get into the woods, it will be another +matter; we shall have to keep our eyes open there. Do you see how the +cursed beast has confused her tracks? There she has amused herself +sweeping the trail, and from that rising ground that is exposed to the +wind she has slipped down to the stream and crept through the cresses to +reach the thicket yonder. If it weren't for these two foot-prints, she +would have tricked us completely."</p> + +<p>We had just reached the border of a fir forest. In these forests, the +snow never penetrates between the branches of a tree. It was a difficult +way. Sperver dismounted to watch the tracks closer, and placed me on the +left, that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</a></span> my shadow might not come between him and the ground. There +were large open spots covered with dead leaves and pine-needles, which +take no imprint. Thus it was only in the unsheltered places, where the +snow lay on the ground, that Sperver could recover the trail.</p> + +<p>It took us an hour to get through this patch of woods. The old poacher +gnawed his mustache with vexation, and his long nose almost touched his +chin. When I tried to speak, he interrupted me shortly, crying:</p> + +<p>"Don't talk; it bothers me!"</p> + +<p>At last we descended into a valley to the left, and Gideon, pointing to +the she-wolf's steps, running parallel with the edge of the undergrowth, +remarked:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</a></span></p> + +<p>"This is no false sortie; we can follow it confidently.</p> + +<p>"How do you know?"</p> + +<p>"Because the Black Plague has a habit, whenever she doubles on her +tracks, of going three steps to one side, then, retracing them, taking +four, five or six in the other direction, and finally jumping into a +clear space. But when she thinks she has covered the trail, she strikes +out without troubling herself about false scents. Look! what did I tell +you? She is burrowing now into the brushwood like a wild boar; it will +be easy enough to follow her here. So much for that; and now, let's keep +the tracks between us and light a pipe!"</p> + +<p>We halted, and the good fellow, whose face was beginning to brighten up, +looked at me with enthusiasm, crying:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Gaston, this promises to be one of the finest days in my life. If we +take the old creature, I will fasten her to the saddle behind me like a +bundle of old rags. Only one thing troubles me."</p> + +<p>"What's that?"</p> + +<p>"Having forgot my horn. I should like to have sounded the return as we +were approaching Nideck. Ha! Ha! Ha!"</p> + +<p>He lighted his stub of a pipe, and we started on again. The track of the +she-wolf now led up a wooded slope so steep that we were obliged many +times to dismount and lead our horses by the bridle.</p> + +<p>"There it goes to the right," said Sperver; "in this direction the +mountains go up like the side of a house. One of us may have to lead +both<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</a></span> horses while the other scrambles along after the trail, and as the +devil will have it, it's getting so dark we can't see anything much +longer."</p> + +<p>The landscape was at this point assuming a grander aspect. Enormous +boulders, covered with icicles, raised one beyond another their angular +peaks, like breakers in a sea of snow.</p> + +<p>There is nothing that imparts a more melancholy sense to the beholder +than a winter scene among these mountains. The irregular line of crests, +the dark ravines, the denuded trees and bushes sparkling with a tracery +of hoar frost, all assume before your eyes a look of indescribable +desolation and still sadness; and the silence, so profound that you can +hear a dead leaf rustle on the snow-crust, or a pine-needle swirl from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</a></span> +its branch,—this silence oppresses you; it forces upon you the +realization of man's littleness in the scale of Nature's vast economy.</p> + +<p>Sometimes we felt a need of speaking, if only to break the stillness:</p> + +<p>"Ah, we are getting nearer the end of this business! How beastly cold it +is! Lieverlé, what have you got there?" or some like insignificant +phrase.</p> + +<p>Unfortunately, our horses were beginning to tire; they sank up to their +bellies in the snow, and no longer whinnied as they did on setting out. +The inextricable defiles of the Black Forest stretched out indefinitely. +The old woman loved these solitudes; here she had passed around a +deserted charcoal-burner's hut; further on she had torn up the tender +roots which overspread<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</a></span> the surface of the rocks; and here again she had +sat down at the foot of a tree to rest, and that recently,—at most two +hours before, for the marks in the snow were fresh. At sight of this, +our hopes and enthusiasm were redoubled; but the daylight was fast +fading out. Strangely enough, ever since our departure from Nideck, we +had met neither woodcutters, charcoal-burners, nor log-haulers; the +solitude was as complete as in the Siberian steppes. At five o'clock the +night had so far closed in that Sperver halted and said to me:</p> + +<p>"Gaston, we have started a couple of hours too late. The Plague has got +too long a start of us. In ten minutes the woods will be as dark as an +oven. Our best plan will be to reach the Roche Creuse, twenty minutes +from here, light<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</a></span> a good fire, and eat our provisions and empty our +goat-skins. When the moon comes up we will take up the trail again, and +if the old hag is not the devil himself, ten to one we shall come upon +her frozen stiff at the foot of some tree, for no human creature could +live through such a tramp in such weather as this. Sebalt himself, who +is the best walker in all the Black Forest, could not have stood it. +What do you say, my boy?"</p> + +<p>"I should be mad to think otherwise, and, moreover, I am perishing with +hunger!"</p> + +<p>"Well, let's be off!"</p> + +<p>He took the lead, and we pressed into a narrow gorge between two walls +of precipitous rock. The fir-trees formed an arch above our heads; +beneath our feet trickled what the frost had left of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</a></span> a mighty torrent, +and from time to time a wandering ray penetrated the obscurity, and +reflected the dull, lead-colored ice mantle. The darkness had become +such that I deemed it wise to let my bridle fall on the horse's neck. +The steps of our horses on the slippery pebbles reëchoed with an odd +noise like the laughing and chattering of monkeys through the narrow +glen. The rocks took up and repeated every sound, and in the distance a +blue point seemed to grow as we advanced. It was the outlet of the +gorge.</p> + +<p>"Gaston," said Sperver, "we are now in the bed of the Tunkelbach. It is +the wildest pass in all the Black Forest, and it terminates in a cave +called La Marmite du Grand Guelard. In the spring, when the snow is +melting, the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</a></span> Tunkelbach pours all its torrents into it to a depth of +two hundred feet. It makes a tremendous roar; the waters leap over the +edge, and their spray falls upon the neighboring mountains. Sometimes +they even flood the cavern of the Roche Creuse, but just now it must be +as dry as a powder-flask, and we can build a big fire there."</p> + +<p>As I listened to Sperver's observations, I was at the same time +considering this ominous defile, and reflecting that the instinct of the +savage beasts, which seek such retreats far from the light of day and +from all that gladdens the soul, must be akin to remorse. The creatures +that live in the sunshine,—the goat on the open crag, the horse running +free on the plain, the dog frisking about his master, the bird basking +in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[Pg 292]</a></span> the sunshine,—all breathe in joy and happiness with their gambols +and their songs. The kid, browsing in the shade of the great trees on +the green hillside, is as poetic an object as the retreat that he +prefers; the wild boar, as fierce and savage as the trackless brakes +through which he roams; the eagle as proud and lofty as the towering +peaks where he rests in his sweeping flight; the lion as majestic as the +mighty arches of his den,—but the wolf, the fox, and the ferret seek +the darkness, with fear their only companion; aye, this instinct is +closely related to remorse.</p> + +<p>I was still reflecting upon these things and already felt the keen air +blowing against my face—for we were approaching the opening of the +gorge—when<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[Pg 293]</a></span> suddenly we perceived a reddish reflection dancing upon the +rock a hundred feet above us, turning to purple the dark green of the +firs, and making the frost wreaths on the tree trunks glitter.</p> + +<p>"Ha!" whispered Sperver hoarsely, "we've got the witch!"</p> + +<p>My heart leaped; we moved along pressed close against each other. The +dog growled warningly.</p> + +<p>"Can't she escape us?"</p> + +<p>"No; she is caught like a rat in a trap. La Marmite du Grand Guelard has +but one outlet, and we are barring it. Everywhere else the rocks rise +sheer two hundred feet. Ha! you Satan's hag, I've got you!"</p> + +<p>He sprang from his horse into the ice-cold water of the Tunkelbach, +handing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[Pg 294]</a></span> me his bridle. I shivered. The click of his rifle as he cocked +it sounded with fearful distinctness, and the sound sent a nervous wave +clear to my finger-tips.</p> + +<p>"Sperver, what are you doing?"</p> + +<p>"Never fear; it is only to frighten her."</p> + +<p>"Very good; but no blood! Remember what I have already told you. The +ball that strikes the Plague kills the Count!"</p> + +<p>"Rest easy on that score!"</p> + +<p>He moved forward, without stopping further to listen to me. I could hear +the splash of his feet in the water; then I saw his tall figure appear +at the outlet of the glen, black against the bluish background. He stood +full five minutes motionless. Meanwhile, I was slowly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[Pg 295]</a></span> approaching him, +and when he at last turned around, I was within three paces of him.</p> + +<p>"Sh!" he said mysteriously; "look there!"</p> + +<p>At the end of the open gorge, now revealed to us, which was dug out like +a quarry in the mountainside, I saw a bright fire unrolling its golden +spires before the mouth of a cave, and in front of the fire sat a man +with his hands clasped about his knees, whom I recognized by his +clothing as the Baron Zimmer. He sat motionless, with his eyes fixed on +the fire, and seemed lost in thought. Behind him a dark form lay +stretched upon the ground, and further in the distance, his horse, half +lost in the shadows, gazed upon us with fixed eyes, ears pricked up, and +distended nostrils.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[Pg 296]</a></span></p> + +<p>I stood stupefied. How came the Baron Zimmer to be in this dense, +terrifying wilderness at such an hour and such a time,—what was he +doing here? Had he lost his way? The most contradictory conjectures +succeeded each other in my brain, and I knew not where to pause, when +the Baron's horse began to neigh. At the sound, the master raised his +head:</p> + +<p>"Well, Rappel, what now?"</p> + +<p>Then, in his turn, he gazed in our direction, straining his eyes to make +us out in the darkness. That pale face, with its clear-cut features, +delicate lips, and heavy black eyebrows, gathered in a frown, would have +struck me with admiration under any other circumstances, but now an +indefinable feeling of apprehension took possession of me,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[Pg 297]</a></span> and I was +filled with vague anxiety. Suddenly, the young man cried:</p> + +<p>"Who goes there?"</p> + +<p>"I, monsieur," replied Sperver quickly, at the same time advancing +towards him; "I, Sperver, steward of the Count of Nideck!"</p> + +<p>A strange expression passed across the Baron's features, but not a +muscle of his face quivered. He rose to his feet, gathering the folds of +his cloak more closely about him. I drew towards me the horses and the +hound, who suddenly began to howl as he had done on the night of my +arrival at the Castle.</p> + +<p>Who of us is not subject in some degree to superstitious fears? At the +sound of Lieverlé's menacing growls, I felt a dread of I know not what, +and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[Pg 298]</a></span> I shuddered instinctively. Sperver and the Baron stood at a +distance of fifty yards from each other; the first immovable in the +middle of the gorge, with his rifle resting against his shoulder; the +other, standing erect before the entrance of the cave, holding his head +high, and surveying us with a haughty glance.</p> + +<p>"What do you want here?" he asked defiantly.</p> + +<p>"We are looking for a woman," replied the huntsman; "a woman who comes +each year prowling about the Castle of Nideck, and we have orders to +seize her."</p> + +<p>"Has she robbed?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"Has she committed murder?"</p> + +<p>"No, monsieur."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[Pg 299]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Then what do you want of her? What right have you to pursue her?"</p> + +<p>Sperver straightened up, and fixing his gray eye on the Baron:</p> + +<p>"And you? What right have you over her?" he asked with a strange smile; +"for she is there. I can see her at the back of the cavern. By whose +authority do you meddle with our affairs? Do you not know that we are at +this moment within the domains of Nideck, and that we administer all +forms of justice at our pleasure?"</p> + +<p>The young man grew paler yet, and replied shortly:</p> + +<p>"I am not accountable to you for any act of mine."</p> + +<p>"Take care," replied Sperver; "I am acting in the name of my master, the +Count of Nideck, and am but doing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[Pg 300]</a></span> my duty. You will have to answer for +any interference on your part."</p> + +<p>"Your duty!" exclaimed the young man, with a bitter smile; "if you speak +of your duty, you may force me to tell you mine."</p> + +<p>"Let us hear it," cried the old steward, whose face was becoming +discomposed with anger.</p> + +<p>"No," returned the Baron, "I will tell you nothing, nor shall you set +foot inside this cave."</p> + +<p>"We will see about that," said Sperver, advancing towards the cavern.</p> + +<p>The young man drew his hunting-knife. Seeing this, I tried to spring +between them, when the hound, which I was holding by a leash, shook +himself free, throwing me to the ground with the force of the shock. I +thought that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[Pg 301]</a></span> the Baron was lost; but at the same moment a savage cry +rose from the back of the cavern, and as I rose to my feet, I saw the +old woman standing upright before the fire, her clothing in rags, her +head run forward, and her gray locks scattered about her shoulders, with +her long, skinny arms raised towards heaven, and uttering dismal howls, +like the cries of the wolf in the cold winter nights, when hunger is +gnawing at his entrails.</p> + +<p>Never in my life had I witnessed such a frightful spectacle. Sperver, +motionless, with his eyes fixed on the strange scene before him, seemed +turned to stone. The dog, surprised himself at this unexpected +apparition, stood still for a moment, then suddenly arching his +bristling back, he flew at the hag<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[Pg 302]</a></span> with a low growl of fury that made +me shudder. The entrance to the cavern was some eight or ten feet above +the spot where we stood, or he would have reached it with a single +bound. I can hear him still, as he crashes through the frost-laden +bushes, and see the Baron fling himself before the old woman with the +heart-rending cry:</p> + +<p>"My mother!"</p> + +<p>Then, as the dog takes his final spring, Sperver, quick as lightning, +raises his rifle, and brings down the noble animal dead at the young +man's feet. All this was the work of an instant. The gorge was +momentarily lighted by the rifle flash, and the echoes, taking up the +noise of the explosion, carried it roaring and tumbling to the infinite +depths of the neighboring crags.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[Pg 303]</a></span></p> + +<p>When the smoke cleared away, I saw Lieverlé lying stretched out at the +foot of the rock, and the old woman fainting in the arms of the young +man. Sperver eyed the Baron gloomily, as he dropped the butt of his +rifle to the ground, his features working with rage and grief.</p> + +<p>"Baron," he said, pointing to the cave, "I have killed my best friend to +save the woman whom you call your mother. You may thank God that her +destiny was bound up with that of my master. Take her away from here. +Take her far away, and let her never return; for, if she does, I cannot +answer for myself."</p> + +<p>Then, glancing at his dog:</p> + +<p>"My poor Lieverlé!" he cried; "was this to be the outcome of our long +years<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[Pg 304]</a></span> of friendship? Come, Gaston, let us hurry away from this accursed +spot. I might do something I should regret afterwards."</p> + +<p>Seizing his horse's mane, he started to throw himself into his saddle, +but suddenly his heart swelled to bursting, and dropping his head on his +horse's neck, he wept like a child.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[Pg 305]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII.</h2> + +<h3>THE BARON'S STORY.—HE DISAPPEARS.</h3> + +<p>Sperver set out, carrying the body of Lieverlé in his cloak. I had +refused to follow him, for I felt that duty compelled me to remain near +this unhappy woman, and I could not have abandoned her without violating +my conscience. Moreover, I am obliged to confess I was curious to +examine more closely this mysterious being, and hardly had Sperver +disappeared in the darkness of the defile before I began climbing the +path to the cavern. A strange sight awaited me there. Upon a large fur +cloak with green facings lay the old woman in a long purple robe, with +a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[Pg 306]</a></span> golden arrow stuck through her gray hair, her withered hands +clutching her breast.</p> + +<p>Time will never efface the image of this woman from my mind. Her +vulture-like face, distorted by the last agonies of death, her staring +eyes and half-opened mouth, were appalling to look upon. Such might have +been the last hour of the terrible Queen Frédégonde. The Baron, on his +knees beside her, tried to restore her to animation, but at the first +glance it was evident to me that the unfortunate creature was dying, and +it was not without a sentiment of profound pity that I kneeled to raise +her arm.</p> + +<p>"Leave her alone! How dare you touch her?" cried the young man +bitterly.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[Pg 307]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I am a doctor, monsieur."</p> + +<p>"Ah, pardon me!"</p> + +<p>He was deathly pale, and his lips trembled nervously. After a moment, he +asked:</p> + +<p>"What is your opinion, monsieur?"</p> + +<p>"It is over. She is dead."</p> + +<p>Without replying, he leaned back against the wall of the cavern, his +forehead resting in his hands, and staring straight before him, +motionless as marble. I sat near the fire, watching the flames as they +climbed to the arched top of the cave, casting their vivid reflections +upon the rigid features of the Black Plague.</p> + +<p>We had been sitting thus for a full hour without stirring, when suddenly +lifting his head, the Baron said to me:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[Pg 308]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Monsieur, all this confounds me. Here is my mother,—for twenty-six +years I thought I knew her, and now a whole world of mystery and horror +opens itself before my eyes. You are a doctor; tell me if you have ever +known anything like it before."</p> + +<p>"Monsieur," I replied, "the Count of Nideck is afflicted with a malady +that bears a striking resemblance to that of which your mother has been +the victim. If you have confidence enough in me to relate to me the +facts which you yourself must have witnessed, I will gladly tell you +what I know of the matter, for this exchange may be the means of saving +my patient."</p> + +<p>As I began to speak the Baron started, and exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"What? the Count of Nideck visited<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[Pg 309]</a></span> thus? This is more than a +coincidence."</p> + +<p>And without further parley he informed me that the Baroness Zimmer, +belonging to one of the noblest families in Saxony, and being a blood +relation of the Count of Nideck (to whom he should have made himself +known had not circumstances required that he should maintain the +strictest secrecy as to his identity), had been accustomed for many +years to make a journey into Italy towards Christmas, accompanied by an +old man servant, who alone possessed her entire confidence; that this +man, being at the point of death, had desired a private interview with +her son, and that at the last hour, tormented no doubt by remorse, he +had told the young man that his mother's journey<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[Pg 310]</a></span> into Italy was only a +pretext to furnish her a means of making an excursion into the Black +Forest, of the object of which he himself was in ignorance, but which +must have been of some fearful nature, since the Baroness invariably +returned haggard, in rags, and almost dead, and that it required weeks +of rest to repair the terrible fatigues of these few days.</p> + +<p>This is what the old servant had related to the young Baron, thinking +that in so doing he was only fulfilling his duty. The son, wishing to +learn the truth of his story, whatever the cost to himself, had this +very year verified the incomprehensible fact by following his mother +first to Baden, and then pursuing her step by step into the gorges of +the Black Forest. The tracks which<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[Pg 311]</a></span> Sebalt had discovered on the +Altenberg were his.</p> + +<p>When the Baron had finished his confidence, I thought that I ought no +longer to conceal from him the singular influence which the advent of +the old woman exercised upon the Count's health, nor indeed any of the +attendant circumstances, and accordingly, I imparted to him even the +slightest details.</p> + +<p>The Baron was amazed by the coincidence of these facts; the mysterious +attraction which these two beings exercised over one another without +knowing it, the ghastly drama which they had enacted without +consciousness, the acquaintance which the old woman had shown with the +Castle and its most secret passages, without ever having seen them +before; the costume which<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[Pg 312]</a></span> she had discovered in which to carry out the +murder in pantomime, and which could only have been discovered in some +mysterious retreat which magnetic clairvoyance had revealed to her.</p> + +<p>When I had ended the recital of my experiences, the Baron relapsed into +his former gloomy silence, nor did he again rouse from it while I +remained near him. I fancied I could read in his face and attitude the +one wish to distance himself forever from the scene of this bitter +revelation.</p> + +<p>While we were still sitting, each one buried in his own reflections, the +darkness of night began to fade. An owl, far off in the shadows, sounded +the retreat of darkness with its strange note, like the gurgling of +liquid from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[Pg 313]</a></span> a bottle. Presently we heard a whinnying in the depths of +the defile, and then, in the first rays of dawn, we saw a sledge +approaching, driven by the Baron's servant. It was covered with straw, +and upon it rested a litter, on which we laid the body of the old woman.</p> + +<p>I mounted my horse, who did not seem sorry to stretch his legs again, +having stood half the night in the snow, and I accompanied the sledge as +far as the outlet of the glen. There, having gravely saluted one another +for the last time, they proceeded in the direction of Hirschland, and I +on my way towards the Castle of Nideck.</p> + +<p>At nine o'clock I was again in Odile's presence.</p> + +<p>"The Plague is dead!" I cried, "and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[Pg 314]</a></span> the spell is raised forever from +the Castle. Henceforth we may look for the olden days at Nideck."</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 318px;"><a name="ILL_010" id="ILL_010"></a> +<img src="images/ill_010.jpg" width="318" height="500" alt=""ODILE DROPPED HER EYES."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"ODILE DROPPED HER EYES."</span> +</div> + +<p>And I related the extraordinary experiences of the last twenty-four<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[Pg 315]</a></span> +hours, exulting in our victory over the hag. When I had finished, and +recalled to my now happy love her promise of the day before, Odile +dropped her eyes, flushed charmingly, and returned the pressure of my +hand with averted head.</p> + +<p>After some precious moments passed in the indulgence of our new-found<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[Pg 316]</a></span> +happiness, I proceeded to the Count's chamber. I found him in a very +satisfactory condition. He was naturally in a state of complete +exhaustion after the terrible crises that he had been through, but was +entirely himself, and the fever had disappeared the evening before.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[Pg 317]</a></span> +Everything pointed towards a speedy recovery.</p> + +<p>"Monsieur," I said, as he greeted me with a warm grasp of my hand, "your +restored health is assured, and it is but the matter of a few days when +you will be able to indulge in your favorite pastime again."</p> + +<p>"I believe you, monsieur! I feel that myself as I have never done +before, and I am bound that you shall remain at Nideck and accompany me +on my first boar hunt."</p> + +<p>"Nothing would give me greater pleasure, monsieur," I replied. "Though +an entire novice in the art, I shall doubtless gain much by employing my +powers of observation."</p> + +<p>"And furthermore," continued the Count, "your reward for this greatest<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[Pg 318]</a></span> +of all services which you have performed for me shall be whatever you +may require that lies within my gift!"</p> + +<p>"Monsieur," I replied, bowing low, "your generosity overwhelms me. +However, we will discuss the matter of compensation at a future time, +when your strength will better admit of it. At present let me say that +the existing state of affairs is an ample reward for anything I may have +been able to accomplish in your behalf." And meanwhile I wondered if the +Count realized the significance of his promise as I reflected upon the +recompense I was presently to seek at his hands.</p> + +<p>As his malady left him, I found the master of Nideck a changed man. His +features, which had at first aroused only a sentiment of repugnance in +me, slowly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">[Pg 319]</a></span> resumed their natural expression, and became dignified and +even handsome. His generosity and kindness exceeded anything I had +before experienced, and everything that Knapwurst had declared in his +master's favor was realized to the utmost. From liking I grew to loving +him, as I felt indeed I must have done if only as the author of Odile's +being.</p> + +<p>The fortnight that followed was one of rejoicing throughout Nideck. The +Count gained with wonderful rapidity, and for a week past he had moved +about the Castle with a buoyancy and contentment of demeanor which only +Odile and the old steward could recall having seen in him long years +before, ere the dead witch had yet entwined him in the meshes of her +baneful spell.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">[Pg 320]</a></span></p> + +<p>Even the grim, melancholy Sebalt had become grotesquely gay, and he +discontinued his matinal post on the Altenberg, feeling, no doubt, that +he had contributed not a little to his master's recovery. As for +Sperver, he was radiant, and he would come to my chamber late at night, +after I had left Odile, and as we sat over our bottles we would discuss +for the fiftieth time the circumstances of my stay within the Castle.</p> + +<p>During the earlier stages of the Count's convalescence I repaired each +morning to his chamber, where I invariably found Odile arrived before +me, and as the Count was fond of reading, which served to wear away the +period of his enforced inactivity, Odile and I would share for hours +together the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">[Pg 321]</a></span> reading of "Garin the Lorrainer," which was one of his +favorite romances.</p> + +<p>The extent of my contentment may be imagined. Whenever I glanced up from +my book as it became necessary to turn a page, I invariably met Odile's +eyes fastened upon my face, and speaking the whole language of love and +contentment, and when she in turn assumed the reading, I found myself +lost in a world of reverie and speculation as I continued to study her +beautiful face, which was always a revelation to me, no matter how long +it remained before my gaze.</p> + +<p>Oh, the delight of all this! How I pity you crabbed misanthropes who +know not the richness of a loving woman's endearments!</p> + +<p>I had determined, with Odile's sanction,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">[Pg 322]</a></span> to broach the subject of our +betrothal to the Count as soon as his health would permit it.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, our hours at table were spent in laying plans for our future. +I was sanguine of success in my avowal, for added to the Count's desire +of seeing his line perpetuated,—which lay nearest his heart,—I knew +that he felt, though how deservedly I leave it to the reader to +determine, that I had been instrumental in restoring him to health. +These considerations, combined with his invariable desire to secure to +his daughter her slightest wish or whim, I believed would be sufficient +to ensure the consummation of my desire. Moreover, with my beloved +champion beside me, I felt strong enough to overcome the opposition of +the universe.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">[Pg 323]</a></span></p> + +<p>But the future still held something in store, and as it often happens +when we fancy ourselves beyond the reach of an adverse Fate, we may in +reality be standing within the shadows of the Valley of Darkness.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">[Pg 324]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV.</h2> + +<h3>THE BOAR HUNT.</h3> + +<p>"You must be ready to start with the Count in an hour," exclaimed +Sperver, as he stood on my threshold before the sun had yet risen. +"Sebalt and Becker came in late last night, famished, and covered with +mud, and they have reported a wild boar's tracks near the Leidenthal. I +will lend you whatever clothes you need, but be quick, for there's only +breakfast between us and the start."</p> + +<p>I got up, and taking a hasty plunge in the icy water beside my bed, +which served to drive the vapors from my<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">[Pg 325]</a></span> brain, I half dressed myself, +and followed Sperver to his room.</p> + +<p>"The beaters found game worthy of our powder," continued Gideon. "They +brought back a dried clump of bog-mud with an enormous hoof-print in the +middle of it. If the Count's carbine misses fire, we must stand in well +beside him this time, though he always grudges the fatal shot to any arm +but his own."</p> + +<p>I paid little heed to his words, busied as I was in accommodating myself +to my borrowed garments, and I presently emerged from the chamber +dressed in a leather hunting-jacket, cap, and long gaiters which reached +to my hips; a carbine and long hunting-knife completed my outfit.</p> + +<p>"If I only had you for a couple of weeks on the forest patrol, I would<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">[Pg 326]</a></span> +make a first-class shot out of you," said Sperver with a grin. "As it +is, I suppose you know as much about a gun as a pike does of mountain +climbing."</p> + +<p>"Just about!" I laughed. "However, I'm fortunately in such good company +that it will make little difference whether I can tell the muzzle from +the stock, or not."</p> + +<p>"There's something in that," he returned; "and as there are to be ladies +in the party you may find other employment as agreeable as the killing +of animals," and he looked at me with a dry twitching of his mouth.</p> + +<p>I made no reply to this beyond rather a grim smile, and a moment later +we reached the dining-room. I found the Count dressed in +hunting-costume, seated at the table, on which Tobias<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">[Pg 327]</a></span> was placing the +last dishes for the breakfast. He complimented me on my professional +appearance, and added that, judging from externals, a little practice +was all that was necessary to make me an accomplished huntsman.</p> + +<p>I looked in vain for Odile as I entered the room, but she presently +appeared in a close-fitting habit which became her marvellously well, +sparkling with health and freshness, and bearing in one hand her long +skirt, and in the other a pearl-handled crop. A pistol with a heavy +barrel was thrust beneath her belt, more for ornament, I fancied, than +for service.</p> + +<p>"Ha! Odile!" cried her father, as she greeted us and took her seat at +the table, "the mere sight of your rosy cheeks and lithe step puts new +life into me! It's a pleasure to look at you.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">[Pg 328]</a></span> Isn't it so, Monsieur +Gaston?" then, as Odile grew crimson with confusion, the Count perceived +his blunder, and began to busy himself with the dishes before him. The +next moment I caught Odile's eye, as she stole an amused glance at me, +and I nodded a quick affirmative, without violence to my conscience.</p> + +<p>The meal passed with narratives of hunting exploits by the Count, who +delighted in recalling his past experiences, often discontinuing his +meal to illustrate by attitudes and gestures his combats with the +different animals of the regions round about. Odile and I proved good +listeners, though, perhaps, as one sometimes hearkens to a strain of +music, the better to indulge his own reflections.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">[Pg 329]</a></span></p> + +<p>Breakfast finished, we went down into the courtyard. A dozen horses +stood saddled just inside the principal gate. Sebalt, in his leather +dress, with his double-coiled horn strapped across his back, and a heavy +cowhide whip in his hand ready to strike, held a score of dogs in leash, +that were baying and tugging at their bonds in excited anticipation of +the part they were to play in the day's sport. Joy gleamed in every line +of his goat's face as his long deferred desire was now about to be +realized. Gideon, who held the Count's horse, looked more himself than I +had seen him since the death of poor Lieverlé; he seemed to have +recovered much of his wonted good spirits.</p> + +<p>I pushed aside the groom who stood beside Odile's horse, and she sprang<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">[Pg 330]</a></span> +from my hand into the saddle. Then I, in turn, mounted my horse, and +moved abreast of Odile and the Count.</p> + +<p>When all was in readiness, Sebalt raised his horn and sounded the +departure as, according to Sperver, he alone could sound it.</p> + +<p>The neighboring hillsides took up the sound, and threw it back in tones +of purest silver, and all the echoes of the valleys were awakened and +fled away towards the rising sun. This warm February sun had done its +work, and the snow had disappeared to a level of but a few inches, +covered with a hard crust. We started off at a gallop. Sebalt and +Sperver rode first, with Odile, the Count, and myself close behind them. +Becker and the under-keepers came on in the rear.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331">[Pg 331]</a></span></p> + +<p>Sebalt led the pack along the base of the Gaisenberg, and skirting the +falls of the Lauterbach, he followed along the defile at its further +side, from which point the trail diverged in the direction of the +Leidenthal. The weather was superb, not a cloud in the heavens, and the +frosty air clear as crystal. The bare oaks creaked their gaunt branches, +and the singing pines waved their lofty tops in the fresh south wind. +The yelping of the pack could have been heard for a mile around, and +Gideon, turning from time to time, called to them:</p> + +<p>"Hold your noise, you rascals; you'll have reason enough to howl before +long, I'll warrant."</p> + +<p>There was little chance for conversation at the furious pace which we<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332">[Pg 332]</a></span> +were following, and I contented myself with frequent glances at Odile, +whose superb beauty was enhanced by the bright color in her cheeks, +which excitement, exercise and happiness called forth. As for the Count, +I could no longer recognize in him the dying patient of my first night +at Nideck. All trace of his terrible illness had vanished, and he rode +like a youth of twenty years, vigorous, calm, confident.</p> + +<p>At the end of an hour we emerged from the defile into the dazzling +sunlight beyond. The dogs came upon the trail of the boar, and their +long, full cries changed to exultant yappings; they glided along to +right and left among the rocks, their noses to the ground, and they ran +and leaped along the trail. Not one of them followed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333">[Pg 333]</a></span> the other's lead, +until he had verified the scent for himself; like all true hunting dogs, +they relied only upon themselves.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, the blast of the horn, the short, savage yelps of the pack, +and the noise of our horses' hoofs as they pierced the sparkling snow +crust, made music of an exciting, bewildering sort. I galloped on imbued +to the finger-tips with the contagious anticipation everywhere around +me.</p> + +<p>For some little time past the order of the hunt had been broken up. The +Count, seemingly lost in the one object of the chase and oblivious to +all else, had ridden far ahead, and had almost overtaken Sebalt and +Sperver, who were at such a distance from us that the sound of their +trumpets grew feebler<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_334" id="Page_334">[Pg 334]</a></span> and feebler, and at length were entirely lost, +save that at rare intervals they reached our ears like the sigh of the +passing breeze. The mounts of Becker and his comrades, though chosen for +endurance and strength, were not the equal of ours in speed; and thus it +was that Odile and I now found ourselves alone, as it were, midway in +the plain.</p> + +<p>On we went. Every now and then Odile would turn her head and smile at +me; then she would whisper to her horse, and we bounded along yet +faster. From the less frequent pauses of the pack, that glided, no +larger than rabbits now, up the distant slopes, and their straight-ahead +course, I fancied that the foremost of the party were approaching the +whereabouts of the game.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_335" id="Page_335">[Pg 335]</a></span></p> + +<p>It was now that a belt of dense woods became visible on the rising +ground before us. The Count had by this time gained so far upon us that +we presently saw him disappear, together with his followers, within its +borders.</p> + +<p>"We must be in at the death!" cried Odile breathlessly; "let's make +haste!" and she urged her horse still further, while I clapped spurs to +mine. Twenty minutes later we had covered the intervening distance, and +dashed into the shadows of the wood.</p> + +<p>We had not proceeded above a mile further, when we found that our road +forked, and running over an extensive ledge of rock, swept bare of snow +and pine-needles by the wind, we were at a loss which path to follow, +for there were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_336" id="Page_336">[Pg 336]</a></span> no tracks of horses nor dogs, and the direction of both +paths being apparently the same, the noise of the pack growing +momentarily fainter, afforded us no clue to our proper course.</p> + +<p>We reined up, impatient at this vexatious occurrence.</p> + +<p>"Which way now?" I cried to Odile.</p> + +<p>She hesitated for a moment.</p> + +<p>"Let's go to the right!" she replied. "There's a new blaze on that +beech-tree yonder. Perhaps one of the men's guns bruised the bark as he +passed it!" and without waiting for me to reply, she started on again.</p> + +<p>It occurred to me a few moments later that we might now be left entirely +alone if, perchance, we had chosen the wrong path, and if our followers, +who would inevitably meet with the same<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_337" id="Page_337">[Pg 337]</a></span> question of direction on +reaching the fork in the road, should decide upon the one to the left.</p> + +<p>I felt little apprehension in being thus deserted, as it were, but let +it not be understood by this that fearlessness formed any part of my +character; it was to the more ignoble trait of ignorance that my present +equanimity was due. I did, however, feel that Odile should be reminded +of the fact, and I proceeded to communicate it to her; but whether it +was that her attention was so much engrossed by the business in hand +that she had no thought for anything else, or whether she considered my +apprehensions groundless, her only reply was a smile and a motion of her +head, as her horse carried her away from me, which I interpreted as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_338" id="Page_338">[Pg 338]</a></span> +meant to reassure me, and I gave my horse his head.</p> + +<p>From time to time we heard, far over on the mountainside, the sound of +the woodcutter's axe, falling against the oak with measured +stroke,—that slow, heavy stroke that is taken up and exaggerated by the +echoes,—then the creaking of the falling tree, the shout of warning, +and the thud of the giant as it measured its length upon the earth, +crashing among the underbrush. Owing to the frequent windings of the +woodland path, and the uncertain character of the ground, we were +obliged to moderate our speed, and as we came upon the open land between +the hills, the barking of the dogs reached us, loud for a moment, then +faint again, as some intervening object came between us.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_339" id="Page_339">[Pg 339]</a></span></p> + +<p>"You hear the dogs!" cried Odile; "we are on the right path after all!"</p> + +<p>And as the sounds became more distinct with each moment, I was satisfied +that she was right.</p> + +<p>Here and there, as we entered a dark defile, we saw the fire of the +charcoal-burner beneath the shadowy boughs, spreading its purple ring +over the snow-crust and even to the tops of the swaying firs, then +drawing its uncertain rays the closer until it was no longer but a +spark, only to spread them out again yet wider than before. The outline +of the charcoal-burner, stooping over the flame, with his broad-brimmed +hat flattened on his shoulders, smoking his short, black pipe, and +turning potatoes in the embers, reminded me at a distance of the trolls +that are said to quarry<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_340" id="Page_340">[Pg 340]</a></span> gems of untold value in the centre of the +earth.</p> + +<p>The noise of the dogs, forming a discordant, frenzied concert, grew +nearer every moment. At length a sharp turn to the left, as we emerged +from the deep, narrow glen which we had been traversing for some minutes +past, brought us, it almost seemed, right upon the game, so startling +was the uproar that greeted us.</p> + +<p>I was now convinced that we had happened upon the right path, and I +expected momentarily to come upon the Count's party engaged in securing +the game. I glanced back to see if Becker and his comrades were near us, +but our frequent windings through the forest would have concealed them +completely from our view, even had they followed us.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_341" id="Page_341">[Pg 341]</a></span></p> + +<p>Up to this point I had been vaguely regretting my inexperience in the +hunt, though I still had little realization of the danger that might +threaten us. But now, as I heard the loud blare of Sebalt's horn not +above a quarter of a mile before us, I felt entirely reassured, and both +Odile and I were looking expectantly for the forms of the Count and his +huntsmen among the trees.</p> + +<p>A few rods further on we came upon a brake, half swamp, half stubble, +beyond which, as far as the eye could reach, the sun once more shone +brightly. We advanced at a walk, which the treacherous nature of the +ground made necessary. The din of the maddened dogs, and a strange, +ominous snarl, the like of which I had never before heard, told us that +the beast was run, or nearly run, to earth.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_342" id="Page_342">[Pg 342]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Whose hand will the slaying fall to to-day?" I exclaimed laughingly to +Odile.</p> + +<p>"To my father's, if his aim is true," replied Odile excitedly.</p> + +<p>She had hardly finished these words when a sudden parting of the bushes +before us brought us into a crescent-shaped clearing some fifty yards in +extent, and entered at its opposite side by the other forest path. +Directly in the centre of this clearing, surrounded by a score of dogs +that had seized him by the ears and neck, and were vainly endeavoring to +bear him down, regardless of those of their number who had succumbed to +his savage tusks,—was a huge wild boar!</p> + +<p>I confess to a sensation of horror at the sight. I glanced involuntarily +at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_343" id="Page_343">[Pg 343]</a></span> Odile, whom I would have given anything in the gift of man to see +removed as far as possible from the spot. She, apparently undaunted +still, though with a shade less color in her fair cheeks, turned hastily +towards me and motioned me to hand her my rifle. I complied with +misgiving, silently cursing my ignorance of the weapon's use, and in +another moment Odile was gazing along its glistening barrel.</p> + +<p>There was a report, and though the aim was true it failed of its effect. +And now the raging brute, infuriated by the pain of the wound, charged +directly upon Odile, heedless of the sharp fangs which lacerated him, +unchecked by the combined strength of the pack.</p> + +<p>My dismay was complete when, the next moment, the frightened animal<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_344" id="Page_344">[Pg 344]</a></span> +which Odile rode, rearing up at the boar's furious onslaught, lost its +footing in the treacherous bog-land and fell on its side,—happily upon +its right side.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"><a name="ILL_011" id="ILL_011"></a> +<img src="images/ill_011.jpg" width="500" height="325" alt=""I FELL UPON MY KNEE BEFORE THE BRUTE."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"I FELL UPON MY KNEE BEFORE THE BRUTE."</span> +</div> + +<p>Leaping to the ground, I had only time to seize my love about the waist +and swing her beyond the reach of the horse's flying hoofs, when the +boar was upon me. There was no time for reflection. I fell upon my knees +before the brute, my hunting-knife extended straight before me, and held<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_345" id="Page_345">[Pg 345]</a></span> +with all the strength of my arm.</p> + +<p>So quickly works the eye sometimes, in moments of danger, that in this +instant I saw the Count, or rather, perhaps, he came within my range of +vision, pale as death, and riding at the highest speed along the +opposite path, while<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_346" id="Page_346">[Pg 346]</a></span> close behind him followed Gideon and Kraft.</p> + +<p>The knife in my hand never swerved, for the love I bore Odile steadied +my arm as I fancy that alone could have done. The mad rush of the boar +was but the means of his surer destruction. He came straight upon the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_347" id="Page_347">[Pg 347]</a></span> +knife, and the momentum of his ponderous body drove the steel deep +through his heart. I felt the gush of his life's blood pour over my arm +and chest; then I heard a cry from Odile's lips and a shout of wild +triumph from the Count and his huntsmen; then I fell backwards, my +consciousness half crushed out by the enormous weight of the brute's +body as it struck against me in its swaying fall to the earth.</p> + +<p>A moment later Odile, oblivious to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_348" id="Page_348">[Pg 348]</a></span> all around her, had thrown herself +into my arms and burst into uncontrollable tears. The crisis of the +moment just passed had completely unnerved her and robbed her of her +usual calm control.</p> + +<p>We stood thus when the Count reined up before us.</p> + +<p>"Ha! is it so?" he exclaimed, endeavoring to hide his emotion beneath a +joking exterior. "And why not? Who deserves better of a woman than the +lad who has saved her life and her father's too!" And as Sebalt and +Gideon rode up, all three jumped from their saddles and wrung my hands, +while good old Sperver beamed with gratified pride, and pulled the brim +of his hat down over his eyes to screen them from the glare of the sun.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_349" id="Page_349">[Pg 349]</a></span></p> + +<p>These words of the Count had filled our cup of happiness to the brim. +Though I had dared to hope for little exception on his part when I +should determine to impart to him my wishes, yet this complete and +cordial acceptance of the relationship existing between Odile and myself +filled me with unwonted exultation. Nor was the Count's satisfaction any +less, I believe, as he realized that the fulfilment of that desire which +lay nearest his heart was now assured him. It seemed, moreover, that he +had guessed something of the truth during the hours which we had passed +together in his sick-room.</p> + +<p>"Aye," said he, in speaking of it afterwards, "did you think I had not +weighed my words, Gaston, when I promised you any reward you should<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_350" id="Page_350">[Pg 350]</a></span> +require of me? And was I wrong in believing that such a spirited lad as +you, and one after my own heart, might find his happiness in Odile; for +she is lovely, is she not, though she is my child?"</p> + +<p>For all answer, I drew Odile closer to me, and kissed the fair face that +rested on my shoulder.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_351" id="Page_351">[Pg 351]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV"></a>CHAPTER XV.</h2> + +<h3>THE BANQUET.—THE DWARF EXPLAINS THE MYSTERY OF THE NIDECK HOUSE.</h3> + +<p>The body of the boar was strapped across the backs of the two horses +which the beaters, Wilhelm Mölz and Yeri Scharf, relinquished for the +purpose, themselves returning on foot to the Castle.</p> + +<p>I looked with strange fascination at the shaggy brute that had so nearly +put an end to all my cherished prospects. The bristling, wiry hair +running over head and shoulders and extending half-way to the haunches; +the broad<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_352" id="Page_352">[Pg 352]</a></span> yellow tusks that forced up the black, leathery upper lip; +the small, savage eyes now glazed and half-closed in death, all inspired +me with reluctant curiosity and loathing.</p> + +<p>We retraced our road to the Castle, walking our jaded mounts. The dogs +followed close behind us, their tongues lolling from their mouths, and +eyeing at intervals their fallen foe, as if not yet sure that he was +beyond renewing the combat.</p> + +<p>As we reached the eventful fork in the forest path, the Count drew up:</p> + +<p>"Here's where you went astray," he said; "you didn't see the bit of red +flannel, torn from the lining of Sebalt's jacket, that we pinned to the +tree, just here, within the left-hand path? By<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_353" id="Page_353">[Pg 353]</a></span> Jove, it's gone! This +stiff breeze must have drawn it against the knife's edge and cut it +through. Look! There it is, caught in the thicket."</p> + +<p>Sure enough, a long strip of red flannel was fluttering in the twigs of +the underbrush a few feet away.</p> + +<p>"I shudder when I think how we might be returning now!" exclaimed the +Count, and a look of gloom settled for a moment upon his face.</p> + +<p>Gideon rode up to the tree, and pulling out his hunting-knife, restored +it to his belt. We looked thoughtfully along the fateful path for +several minutes still. Then we resumed our homeward course.</p> + +<p>It was towards two o'clock when we trooped into the courtyard. We +presented a somewhat less spirited appearance<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_354" id="Page_354">[Pg 354]</a></span> than at our setting out +at daybreak, but we were victorious and happy, nevertheless.</p> + +<p>While the huntsmen and hostlers were busy in removing the boar and +caring for the dogs and horses, the Count continued to the lodge gate, +and Odile and I followed him leisurely, along the rugged path.</p> + +<p>As we passed the lodge room, wherein we could descry the dwarf and a +half-dozen other figures seated about the fireplace, Offenloch stepped +out, and bowing to the Count, he said:</p> + +<p>"Some musicians from the Forest, monsieur! They ask permission to play +in the Castle this evening in return for food and a night's lodging."</p> + +<p>"Good!" said the Count; "music is just what we want, and such as these<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_355" id="Page_355">[Pg 355]</a></span> +fellows play! For I was just sending for you, Offenloch, to bid you +prepare a feast to-night worthy of the triple event to be celebrated. +Tell all the people of the Castle to be present in the dining-room at +eight o'clock, and see that no one of them all is missing. These players +shall furnish us music. Let nothing be wanting to every one's pleasure."</p> + +<p>The delighted butler smiled expectantly, and withdrew to carry out his +master's instructions.</p> + +<p>We continued to the drawing-room, where we took leave of one another to +prepare for the evening's festivities. A few minutes later I found +myself in my chamber. I was pretty thoroughly used up with the unusual +experiences of the morning, and throwing off my borrowed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_356" id="Page_356">[Pg 356]</a></span> clothes, I lay +down on my bed, where I presently fell into a leaden slumber.</p> + +<p>I woke some hours later, much refreshed, to find the sun set and my +tower chamber dark. After five minutes of yawning and stretching, I got +up, and striking a light, I set about to prepare myself for the feast.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile I reflected—in that state of complete happiness which life +cannot offer twice, and which it does not often fall to our lot that +first time to embrace—upon the circumstances of my present. It seemed +like the touch of the genie's hand that I should now find myself +installed for all time at Nideck, the accepted lover of its mistress, +and beloved by its master, the Count.</p> + +<p>I was still reflecting in this wise as I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_357" id="Page_357">[Pg 357]</a></span> went down the stairs to the +dining-room. I found a gay company assembled there. Many of the faces +were new to me, as I had never penetrated to the remoter parts of the +Castle; but all were gay and laughing, and bespoke impatient expectation +of the amusement in store for them. The arrangements for the repast were +elaborate and complete, and worthy of their projector, Offenloch.</p> + +<p>Hardly had the members of the household finished greeting me, when Odile +appeared on the Count's arm, her exquisite beauty well set off by a rich +gown of black brocade that made her complexion dazzling by contrast, and +in her hair a single band of jewels.</p> + +<p>They proceeded to the head of the table, and the Count motioned me to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_358" id="Page_358">[Pg 358]</a></span> +him. Then, with Odile on his right hand and I at his left, he addressed +the gathering:</p> + +<p>"My friends," said he, "you shall now know the purpose of your being +called hither to-night. It is to celebrate the greatest of all events in +the lives of three of us; namely, the saving of your mistress's life +this morning, as you have doubtless already heard, and the restoration +of your master's health, both the work of Monsieur de la Roche beside me +here" (I experienced much more embarrassment than gratification at this +unexpected eulogy), "and lastly, that which is fraught with like +significance for us all, the betrothal of your mistress and our +benefactor!"</p> + +<p>At this point the Count was interrupted by a chorus of cheers that were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_359" id="Page_359">[Pg 359]</a></span> +prolonged for several moments. As the noise subsided he went on:</p> + +<p>"It is well known to you all how dear to me the thought has been of +feeling that the ancient line of Nideck, which has held an honorable +place in the history of Alsace for many centuries, should continue to +flourish long after I, Count Hermann, shall have passed away. That time +is not far distant, and when it comes it rejoices me to think that I +shall hand over to these young people beside me here the future of my +race. Your young master has endeared himself already to your hearts, and +he will continue to do so during the years which are to come. Your +devotion to me in the past has been complete, and the memory of it is +one of the proudest of my possessions; and now I ask you to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_360" id="Page_360">[Pg 360]</a></span> extend this +devotion to those who shall succeed me when I in turn pass on the Castle +and its lands. And now but one more word. This night shall be devoted to +revelry, and there should be no downcast eye among us! He who rejoices +most shall best prove his loyalty to his house. Eat, drink, and be +merry! The Count of Nideck requires it of you!"</p> + +<p>He paused, and a chorus of shouts greeted his message of good-will. The +old housekeeper wiped her eyes with a corner of her apron, while some of +the younger maids were reduced even to whimpering; the men maintained a +sturdy silence, but it was evident that all, especially the old steward, +the dwarf, and the master of the hounds, were no less affected than the +women.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_361" id="Page_361">[Pg 361]</a></span></p> + +<p>Ere we resumed our seats, the ancient wassail-bowl of the Nidecks, +blackened by centuries past, was filled to overflowing with sparkling +wine from the Drachenfels, and went the round of the table, each one +draining all he could at a breath. The generous draught served to +increase the already growing hilarity. The happy eyes and faces sparkled +more brightly under its magic spell. Then, in response to a signal from +the Count, we seated ourselves about the board.</p> + +<p>The table fairly groaned beneath its burden of dishes ranged everywhere +with lavish profusion. Bottles of all shapes and sizes, cobwebbed and +redolent of the Castle's earthen vaults, were dotted all about, with +glasses of as various patterns beside them, and long-stemmed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_362" id="Page_362">[Pg 362]</a></span> pipes lay +beside the plate of each smoker, while an army of small dishes, the +contents of which I could not even guess, were ranged the length of the +board. Directly in the centre of it all, in an enormous platter of +flowered china, rested the head of the ill-favored boar, swimming in a +lake of white wine sauce.</p> + +<p>The meal progressed; the merriment increased. To-night there was license +everywhere, and each one enjoyed himself after his own manner. Healths +were emptied with marvellous rapidity till I felt my head reeling with +the fumes of the wine and the intoxication of happiness.</p> + +<p>An hour passed. The Count, Odile, and I, were toasted at intervals of +every few minutes. I wondered how long this<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_363" id="Page_363">[Pg 363]</a></span> state of things could +continue successfully. I looked about me.</p> + +<p>There was Sperver, a little distance down the table, with his thin +forehead and bristling gray head, his eyes shining and his mustache wet +with wine; at his right sat Knapwurst and on his left Marie Lagoutte. +His cheeks were a good deal flushed, and on his breast sparkled the +badge of his office; it was a pleasure to see his honest, happy face. +Marie Lagoutte was even more loquacious than was her wont; her large, +cotton cap was pushed very much to one side, and she drank first with +one and then with another with the greatest impartiality.</p> + +<p>Knapwurst, squatting in his armchair, his head on a level with Sperver's +elbow, looked like an enormous cabbage. Then<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_364" id="Page_364">[Pg 364]</a></span> came Tobias Offenloch, so +red that he looked as though he had dipped his face in the wine before +him. His wig rested against the chair-back, and his wooden leg was stuck +straight out before him under the table. Further on, Sebalt's long, +melancholy face stood out in grotesque relief, smiling faintly into his +glass.</p> + +<p>There were, besides the musicians, the serving-men and women, domestics +and hangers-on,—all that little world, in short, which lives and +flourishes around great families as the moss, the ivy, and the +convolvulus cling about the forest oak. Their eyes were moist with +wine-begotten tears. The Vine of Bacchus wept freely everywhere. The +light of the great bronze lamp shed over all its beautiful amber tint +and left in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_365" id="Page_365">[Pg 365]</a></span> shadows the old gray walls where hung in wreaths the +trumpets, bugles, and horns of the former lords of the Castle. The scene +was like a glimpse from ages past.</p> + +<p>The roof rang with songs and shouts, and ballads long lain dormant in +the minds of the singers now came forth and woke the startled echoes of +the Castle.</p> + +<p>For my part, I did little else but listen and occupy myself with the +faces about me; for thanks to the exercise of the morning and my long +inhaling of the old wine, smelling of vervain and cypress, that mounted +to my brain, and clothed all things for me in vague, unreal beauty, I +was in that wholly receptive mood which disaffects even the semblance of +effort.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_366" id="Page_366">[Pg 366]</a></span></p> + +<p>So I listened with entire complacency to the singularly successful +efforts of the entertainers, who were elated to an unusual degree by +every circumstance of the occasion.</p> + +<p>The evening wore on. The boar's head had disappeared; the array of small +dishes was reduced to a mass of indistinguishable débris; one set of +bottles had been emptied and replaced by another, and our pipe-bowls +were aglow.</p> + +<p>At this point the Count suggested that we should have music. The +musicians, having enjoyed their fill of food and wine, and burned out a +generous pipe, hastened to comply.</p> + +<p>Taking up their instruments, they moved over before the hearth, where +seats had been arranged for them in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_367" id="Page_367">[Pg 367]</a></span> the form of a semicircle. They +seated themselves, and began to put their instruments in tune.</p> + +<p>It was a picturesque sight, these sons of the Black Forest seated in the +dim light of the hall,—the old harper, bent with years, leaning over +his instrument; next him a short, thick-set fellow, whom his comrades +called Black Pierre, passively supporting his 'cello, and gazing about +him curiously at the unfamiliar objects in the room; at his side the +handsome, jovial-looking flute player, a picture of rugged health and +careless good humor; while next in line came a man of medium stature, +whose indistinctive features were rendered more so by the large creases +in his cheeks, made by supporting his violin, which he held firmly +beneath his square chin,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_368" id="Page_368">[Pg 368]</a></span> while he tightened the horse-hair of his bow; +and finally, to complete the semicircle, the clarinet player, a slight, +sunburned boy, scarce turned eighteen, unmistakably a member of one of +those numerous Gypsy bands whose camps are always to be found in the +plateau of the Rothalps between Alsace and Lorraine.</p> + +<p>The music began, and in justice to the vagabond players it must be said +that it was of no ordinary degree of excellence. All the fire and pathos +of their lawless natures was blended in the melody; now low and sad and +tender as the reveries of old age itself; then rising and swelling into +a burst of passion and longing that bewildered and electrified you; then +in the midst of all this followed a lively measure,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_369" id="Page_369">[Pg 369]</a></span> persuasive and +careless, that in turn gave way to a waltz, foolish, palpitating, +wanton.</p> + +<p>I sat enchanted, my eyes roving over the faces of those around me. +Odile, too, seemed to find the strains a fitting accompaniment to her +thoughts, for she nodded approvingly at me from time to time, and once I +thought I saw a tear hang on her eyelash. However, that may have been +mere imagination, as I invariably become sentimental with my third +bottle.</p> + +<p>After a little the music began again. This time it was Schiller's +"Brigands," and this more ambitious undertaking was rendered with a +spirit and understanding hardly to be looked for in those who rarely +aspired higher than the audiences of the inns, or the woodcutter's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_370" id="Page_370">[Pg 370]</a></span> +gatherings in the shambles of the forest.</p> + +<p>I glanced once more about me. Everyone's eyes were fastened on the +flooring. Even the frowzy scullion, who winced as he became conscious of +my gaze, and passed the back of his hand across his nose apologetically, +seemed lifted for the moment from his pots and kettles to loftier +thoughts. Other pieces followed; there were those to suit every mood and +fancy. The Count was enthusiastic in his applause at the end of each +number, and demanded more, while the others expressed their satisfaction +with clapping and stamps on the stone floor.</p> + +<p>When at last the music came to an end, the players were rewarded with +generous gold pieces by the master, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_371" id="Page_371">[Pg 371]</a></span> returned well satisfied to the +table to wear away what little was left of the night, in wine and +conversation.</p> + +<p>The hour was late. The old clock ticked on in the chimney-corner, and +groaned in its casing as its heavy weights ran out their length. The +fire fell on the hearth; the great yule logs of the early evening had +given out their substance, and now were crumbling away into ruddy embers +and soft, flaky ashes. And still the merriment continued, still glasses +were filled and drained, and still the call for songs and stories went +on.</p> + +<p>At length, at that hour when fatigue begins to assert itself over +inclination, when vitality is low, and the shadows become deeper, +colder, and the night more mysterious, then it was that the Count +exclaimed:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_372" id="Page_372">[Pg 372]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Each one shall sing a final song except Knapwurst, for he has a voice +like a bull-frog, but he is first in story-telling in all Alsace! When +it comes his turn he shall tell us a story. Sperver, you shall begin +with the song of Black Hatto the Burgrave!</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;">"I am the king of these mountains of mine."</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>And the steward, rising and standing like the figure of the wild +huntsman in the heather, thundered forth the song with wonderful effect. +The entire room joined in the chorus, and the old suits of mail fairly +creaked and trembled with the sound.</p> + +<p>"Bravo!" cried the Count. "Nobly done, Sperver! It is your turn now, +Becker! Sing what you like!"</p> + +<p>Becker, whose arm had stolen unperceived<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_373" id="Page_373">[Pg 373]</a></span> around Gretchen's waist, got +up hastily, in some embarrassment, and steadying himself against the +table, complied with a species of madrigal, proclaiming the virtues of +lasses of the present, and claiming in a loud refrain that they were +quite the equal of those of the olden times. And in truth they were, +judging from the fair faces at intervals about the board, sitting with +their eyes veiled by long, drooping lashes, as sleep and the wine were +now stealing over them. The kennel-keeper's tribute to their charms +served to arouse them, however, and they stole shy and gratified glances +at each other as he sang.</p> + +<p>After Becker, the Gypsy youth followed with a herdsman's jodel, and so +the round was gradually completed.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_374" id="Page_374">[Pg 374]</a></span></p> + +<p>The clock struck two from its niche in the corner. The last embers +flared up and fell. The lamp burned low.</p> + +<p>"A story from Knapwurst now!" exclaimed the Count; "and then the day is +done!"</p> + +<p>A complete silence succeeded; Knapwurst's quaint relations were +favorites, it seemed.</p> + +<p>The dwarf, half-tipsy as a result of his liberal potations, rested his +elbows on the table, and with his fists dug into his hollow cheeks, and +his eyes staring out of his head, he began in a harsh, monotonous voice:</p> + +<p>"Bernhard Hertzog relates that the Burgrave Hugh, surnamed the Wolf, the +founder of Nideck, having become old, used to cover his head with a sort +of hood that fell down about his shoulders,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_375" id="Page_375">[Pg 375]</a></span> which he wore over his +steel helmet when engaged in combat; when he wished to breathe more +easily, he removed the helmet and covered his head with the hood alone, +the scallops of which hung down about his waist. Up to the age of +eighty-two, Hugh still wore his armor, though he could hardly breathe in +it. Then he sent for Otto of Burlach, his chaplain; Hugh, his eldest +son; Berthold, his second son; and his daughter, Bertha, of the red +hair, the wife of a Saxon chief named Zaan, and said to them, 'Your +mother, the she-wolf, has bequeathed to you her claws; her blood is +mixed with mine, and it will be born again among you from century to +century, and weep among the snows of the Black Forest. Some will say, +'It is the moaning<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_376" id="Page_376">[Pg 376]</a></span> of the wind!' Others, 'Hark! The owl hoots!' But it +is your blood, mine, and the blood of the she-wolf who made me to murder +Elfreda, my first wife before God and the Holy Church! Yes, she has +perished by my hand. Cursed be the she-wolf, for it is written, 'I will +visit the crime of the father upon the children, unto the third and +fourth generations;' aye, until justice be done.' And old Hugh died. +From that day the north wind has sobbed, and the owl has hooted, and the +lost traveller by night knows not that it is the blood of the she-wolf +bemoaning her crime. 'And she will bemoan it,' says Hertzog, 'from +century to century, until that day when Hugh's first wife, Elfreda, +shall reappear in the form of an angel at Nideck, to pardon and +console.'"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_377" id="Page_377">[Pg 377]</a></span></p> + +<p>The dwarf paused, and silence succeeded, which lasted for a full minute; +then he continued, with drunken gravity, pointing his long forefinger at +Odile:</p> + +<p>"There is she who was to return to pardon and console. She has returned. +At this moment she is sitting beside the Count, our master! Look, sirs! +Do you not recognize her? Is it not she? Henceforth the lords of Nideck +may rest in peace, for justice is done, and the good angel of this noble +house has returned."</p> + +<h4>THE END.</h4> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Count of Nideck, by Ralph Browning Fiske + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE COUNT OF NIDECK *** + +***** This file should be named 34999-h.htm or 34999-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/4/9/9/34999/ + +Produced by Annie McGuire. This book was produced from +scanned images of public domain material from the Google +Print archive. + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Count of Nideck + adapted from the French of Erckmann-Chartrian + +Author: Ralph Browning Fiske + +Illustrator: Victor A. Searles + +Release Date: January 18, 2011 [EBook #34999] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE COUNT OF NIDECK *** + + + + +Produced by Annie McGuire. This book was produced from +scanned images of public domain material from the Google +Print archive. + + + + + + + + + +[Illustration: Book Cover] + + + + +THE COUNT OF NIDECK + + + + +[Illustration: "AND THE COUNT WAS STANDING UPRIGHT ON THE +WINDOW-SILL."] + + + + +THE COUNT OF NIDECK + +ADAPTED FROM THE FRENCH +OF +ERCKMANN: CHARTRIAN + +BY +RALPH BROWNING FISKE + + +ILLUSTRATED +BY +VICTOR A. SEARLES + + +BOSTON +L. C. PAGE & COMPANY +INCORPORATED +1897 + + + + +_Copyright, 1897_ +BY L. C. PAGE AND COMPANY + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + CHAPTER PAGE + I. THE SUMMONS TO THE CASTLE 9 + II. I MEET THE COUNTESS 37 + III. MY FIRST NIGHT IN HUGH'S TOWER 69 + IV. KNAPWURST ACQUAINTS ME WITH THE GENEALOGY OF THE NIDECKS 93 + V. I BREAKFAST WITH ODILE 120 + VI. THE COUNT UNSHEATHES HIS CLAWS 135 + VII. MARIE LAGOUTTE RELATES HER EXPERIENCE 160 + VIII. SEBALT TRACKS THE PLAGUE 180 + IX. THE PLAGUE IN MY CHAMBER.--THE MIDNIGHT SCENE ON THE + ALTENBERG 200 + X. I LOSE MY WAY AND PASS THE NIGHT IN THE DWARF'S LODGE 219 + XI. I AM SUMMONED TO THE COUNTESS'S CHAMBER, AND MAKE A + CONFESSION 244 + XII. WE CHASE THE PLAGUE.--HER DEATH 269 + XIII. THE BARON'S STORY.--HE DISAPPEARS 305 + XIV. THE BOAR HUNT 324 + XV. THE BANQUET.--THE DWARF EXPLAINS THE MYSTERY OF THE + NIDECK HOUSE 351 + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. + + + PAGE + "AND THE COUNT WAS STANDING UPRIGHT ON THE WINDOW-SILL" Frontispiece + "POINTING TO A DARK OBJECT CROUCHING IN THE SNOW" 25 + IN THE PORTRAIT GALLERY 115 + "'STAY!' HE HOWLED, 'I HAVE NOT CURSED YOU YET'" 145 + "'YONDER YOU SEE THE PEAK OF THE ALTENBERG'" 153 + "THEN HE WOULD RESUME HIS FRIGHTFUL CRIES" 195 + "I RAISED MYSELF ON MY ELBOW AND STARED FEARFULLY IN + THE DIRECTION" 203 + "I STEPPED FORWARD, AND FOUND MYSELF IN THE PRESENCE OF ODILE" 248 + "ODILE DROPPED HER EYES" 315 + "I FELL UPON MY KNEE BEFORE THE BRUTE" 345 + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +THE SUMMONS TO THE CASTLE. + + +Towards Christmas time, in the year 1780, as I lay soundly sleeping in +my room at the Swan Tavern, in Tuebingen, old Gideon Sperver burst +suddenly into my room, crying, "Gaston, my boy, I have come to take you +back with me to the Castle! You know Nideck, twenty miles from +here,--the estate of my master, the Count of Nideck!" + +My failure to respond was perhaps due to the fact that I had not seen my +worthy foster-father for twenty years, that in this time he had grown a +full beard, and that now, in my half-aroused condition, he appeared +before me thus, with a huge fur cap pulled down over his ears, and +holding an ill-smelling lantern just under my nose. + +"In the first place," I replied, "let's take up things in their proper +order. Who are you?" + +"Who am I?" repeated the good fellow, with such genuine surprise and +distress in his tones that I felt a somewhat embarrassing sense of +ingratitude. "What! Don't you remember your foster-father, Gideon +Sperver, the General's old ranger who saved your life as a child, in the +swamp of the Losser?" And his voice became so husky that he stopped and +cleared his throat. + +"Ah, my dear Gideon, I know you now, indeed! Give me your hand!" We +gripped each other's hands, and Sperver, passing his sleeve across his +eyes, continued, "You know Nideck?" + +"Of course, by reputation. What are you doing there?" + +"I am the Count's steward." + +"And how did you happen to come hither?" + +"The young Countess Odile sent me to fetch you." + +"Very good. When are we to start?" + +"At once. It is an urgent matter; the old Count is very ill, and his +daughter begged me to lose no time. The horses are waiting for us +below." + +"But, my dear Gideon, just look at the weather; it has been snowing for +three days!" + +"Pshaw! We are not starting on a boar hunt. Put on your fur coat, fasten +on your spurs, and we are off! Meanwhile, I will order a bite for you to +eat." + +He disappeared, and, as I never could refuse the chosen companion of my +childhood anything from my youngest days, I hurriedly dressed myself, +and lost no time in following him into the dining-room. + +"Ah, I knew you would not let me go back alone!" he cried delightedly. +"Swallow down this slice of ham and drink a stirrup-cup, for the horses +are growing impatient. I have strapped your valise to the saddle." + +"What is that for?" + +"You will be needed for some days at Nideck; that is indispensable. I +will explain everything to you on the way." + +We went down into the inn yard. At that moment two horsemen arrived. +They seemed exhausted, and their horses were white with lather. + +Sperver, who was a great lover of horses, exclaimed in surprise, "What +beautiful animals! They are Wallachians; fine and swift as deer. Come, +make haste and throw a blanket over them, my lad," he continued, +addressing the hostler, "or they may take cold!" + +The travellers, enveloped in white astrakhan greatcoats, passed close to +us just as were putting foot in the stirrup. I could only distinguish +the long brown moustache of one, and his dark eyes that were singularly +bright. They entered the inn. The groom released our bridles and wished +us a safe journey. We set off at a gallop. + +Sperver rode a pure Mecklenberg, and I was mounted on a spirited horse +of Ardennes; we fairly flew over the snow. In ten minutes we had left +the outskirts of Tuebingen behind us. It was beginning to clear up. All +trace of our road had become obliterated by the considerable fall of +snow. Our only companions were the ravens of the Black Forest, spreading +their great hollow wings above the drifts, lighting for an instant here +and there, and crying in discordant notes, "Misery! Misery! Misery!" +Gideon, buried in his coat of wild-cat skin and fur cap, galloped on +ahead. Suddenly he turned in the saddle and called, "Hey, Gaston! This +is what they call a fine winter's morning." + +"So it is; but a bit severe." + +"I like the clear cold weather; it makes you tingle. If old Parson Toby +had the courage to start out in such weather, he would never feel his +rheumatism again." + +I smiled as well as my stiff cheeks would let me. After an hour of this +furious pace Sperver slowed down and let me catch up with him. "Gaston," +he said in a serious tone, "you ought to know the circumstances of the +master's illness." + +"I was just thinking of that." + +"The more so, as a great number of doctors have already visited the +Count." + +"Indeed." + +"Yes; they have come from Paris, Berlin, and even Switzerland, and have +made a most careful study of their patient and employed all their +skill, but to no purpose." + +As no answer seemed called for, I remained silent, waiting for him to +continue. + +"The Count's disease is a terrible affliction somewhat akin to madness. +It returns every year on the same day and at the same hour; his eyes +grow red as fire, he shudders from head to foot, and he mutters +incoherently." + +"The man has undoubtedly become unbalanced through trouble and +adversity." + +"No! Not so! He possesses power and wealth and untold +honors,--everything, in short, that other people most desire; but the +most singular part of it is that he fancies if his daughter would only +consent to marry, it would effect his cure; and she as strangely +refuses even to entertain the idea, maintaining that she has consecrated +her life to God. The Count cannot bear to think that the ancient race of +Nideck must perish with her." + +"How did his illness first declare itself?" + +"Suddenly, twelve years ago." + +As he spoke my companion seemed to be trying to recall something. "One +evening," he began, after a moment, "I was alone with the Count in the +armory of the Castle. It was about Christmas time. We had been hunting +wild boar all day in the gorges of the Rhethal, and had returned at +nightfall bringing with us two poor hounds ripped open the length of +their bellies. It was just such weather as this, cold and snowy. The +Count was striding up and down the room, his head upon his breast and +his hands clasped behind his back, like a man who is deep in thought. +From time to time he paused, and looked at the high windows that were +fast becoming veiled in snow, while I sat in the chimney-corner warming +myself, thinking of my dogs, and silently cursing all the wild boar of +the Black Forest. For fully two hours everybody in the Castle had been +asleep, and there was no sound to break the silence, save the noise of +the Count's heavy spurred boots on the flagstones. I distinctly recall +how a raven, doubtless borne along by a gust of wind, came flapping +against the panes with a discordant cry, and how the sheets of snow fell +from the windows. The casements on that side of the house were suddenly +changed from white to black." + +"Have these details any bearing on your master's illness?" + +"Let me finish. You shall see for yourself. At the raven's cry, the +Count suddenly halted; his eyes became fixed, his cheeks ashy pale, and +he bent his head forward like a hunter who hears the game approaching. I +went on warming myself, thinking meanwhile, 'Won't he go to bed soon?' +For, to tell the truth, I was dropping with fatigue. I can see it all, +Gaston; I am sitting there now! Scarcely had the raven uttered its harsh +croak above the abyss, when the old clock struck eleven. At the same +moment the Count turned on his heel; he listened; his lips moved; I saw +him totter like a drunken man. He stretched out his hands, his teeth +tightly clenched, and his eyeballs shining like fire. 'My lord,' I +cried, 'what is the matter?' But he burst into mad laughter, stumbled, +and fell upon the floor, face downwards. I called for help immediately; +the servants hurried to the room. Sebalt and I raised the Count and +moved him to the bed near the window; but just as I was about to cut my +master's cravat with my hunting-knife,--for I believed it was a stroke +of apoplexy,--the Countess Odile entered, and threw herself upon the +body of her father, uttering such piteous cries that I tremble yet when +I think of it. From that hour, Gaston, a pall has hung over the Castle, +and Heaven only knows when it will be lifted. Every year, at the same +day and hour, the Count is seized with these strange convulsions. The +attacks last from a week to a fortnight, during which he howls and cries +in a most terrifying manner. Then he slowly recovers. He is pale and +weak, and moves about steadying himself on the chairs of his chamber, +and turning fearfully to look, at the slightest sound, seemingly afraid +of his own shadow. The young Countess, the sweetest creature in the +world, never leaves him; but he cannot bear the sight of her at these +times. 'Go! Go!' he cries, stretching out his arms before him. 'Leave +me! Haven't I suffering enough as it is, without your hated presence?' +It is abominable to hear him, and I, who am always at his side in the +chase, and would readily risk my life to serve him,--I could throttle +him at these moments, when I witness his monstrous treatment of his own +daughter!" + +Sperver, whose swarthy face had assumed a gloomy look, set spurs to his +horse, and we continued at a gallop. I had become thoughtful. The cure +of such a malady seemed to me exceedingly doubtful, if not indeed +impossible. It was evidently some moral disease. In order successfully +to combat it, it would be necessary to trace it back to its origin, and +this origin was doubtless lost in the vagueness of the past. These +reflections tended to increase my apprehension. The old steward's story, +far from inspiring me with confidence, had depressed me,--a doubtful +state of affairs to insure success. + +It was about three o'clock when we descried the ancient Castle of +Nideck on the furthest horizon. In spite of the vast intervening +distance, we could distinguish the high turrets suspended like baskets +from the angles of the edifice. It was as yet but a mere outline, hardly +distinguishable from the blue sky; almost imperceptibly the red granite +peaks of the Vosges appeared. At that moment Sperver slowed up and +cried, "Gaston, we must get there before night shuts in. Forward!" + +But it was in vain that he plunged his spurs into his horse. The animal +remained motionless, with his fore legs planted firmly before him, his +mane bristling up with fear, and emitting two streams of bluish vapor +from his nostrils. + +[Illustration: "POINTING TO A DARK OBJECT CROUCHING IN THE SNOW."] + +"What does this mean?" cried Gideon, astonished. "Do you see anything, +Gaston? Can there--" He did not finish his sentence; pointing to a dark +object crouching in the snow at a distance of some fifty paces on the +hillside, he exclaimed, in a tone of such distress that I was a good +deal startled, "The Black Plague!" Following with my glance the +direction of his extended arm, I was astonished to perceive an aged +woman, her legs bent up between her clasped arms, and so ragged that her +red elbows protruded from the sleeves of her dress, seated in the snow. +A few locks of gray hair fell in disorder about her thin, red, +vulture-like neck. Singularly enough, a bundle of some sort rested on +her knees, and her haggard eyes wandered over the snowy plain. Sperver +had gone far to the right and kept as far as possible out of the old +creature's way. I had some trouble in overtaking him. + +"What the deuce is the meaning of all this? Are you joking?" I cried. + +"Joking! God forbid that I should jest about such matters. I am not +superstitious, but this meeting with the old witch frightens me." Then, +turning his head and seeing that the old creature had not stirred, and +that her eyes were still fixed on the plain before her, he seemed +somewhat reassured. + +"Gaston," he said solemnly, "you are a man of learning, and are +acquainted with many subjects of which I know nothing, but believe me, a +man is wrong to laugh at things he cannot understand. It is not without +reason that I call this woman the Black Plague. Throughout the Black +Forest she is known by that name, but here at Nideck she has won a +special right to it." + +My companion rode on for a few minutes without speaking. "Come, Sperver, +explain yourself more clearly! I confess I don't understand you in the +least." + +"The hag that you saw down there is the cause of all our misfortunes. It +is she who is slowly killing the Count." + +"How is that possible? How can she exercise such an influence?" + +"I cannot tell you. But one thing is certain: on the first day of the +Count's attack, at the very moment even, you have only to climb up to +the signal-tower and you will see the Black Plague crouching like a dark +speck in the long stretch of snow between the Tuebingen Forest and the +Castle of Nideck. Every day she comes a little nearer, and at her +approach, the Count's attacks grow worse; sometimes when the trembling +fits come upon him, he says to me, 'Gideon, she is coming.' I hold his +arms and try to quiet him, but he keeps muttering with staring eyes, +'She is coming! Oh, oh! She is coming!' Then I climb the tower and +survey the landscape. You know I have a keen eye, Gideon. At last, amid +the distant mists, between sky and earth, I distinguish a black speck. +The next morning the speck has grown larger; the Count starts up in his +bed with chattering teeth. On the second day we can see the old creature +distinctly, almost within rifle-shot on the plain; and then it is that +the Count's jaws become set like a vice, his eyes roll in his head, and +he utters terrible cries. Ah, the cursed witch! A score of times I have +brought my carbine to bear on her, but the poor Count has prevented me +from drawing the trigger, crying, 'No, Sperver; shed no blood!' Poor +man! He is sparing the creature who is killing him by inches; he is +nothing but skin and bones." + +My good friend Gideon was too much taken up with the vision of the hag +to be brought back to calm reason. Moreover, who can define the exact +limits of the possible? Do we not each day see the realm of reality +extend itself more widely? These hidden influences, these unseen bonds, +this world of magnetism that some proclaim with all the ardor of the +fanatic, and others deny with scorn and ridicule,--who can say that all +these forces will not some day revolutionize our universe? It is easy to +arrogate to yourself a claim to superior knowledge in the face of such +general ignorance. I confined myself, therefore, to begging Sperver to +moderate his anger, and beyond all things not to fire upon the Black +Plague, warning him that it would very probably bring grave misfortune +upon himself. + +"Bah! I will risk all that!" he exclaimed; "the worst they could do +would be to hang me." + +"But that would be a good deal for an honest man to suffer." + +"As well die one way as another. In this case, you are suffocated, +that's all. I would as lief die that way as to receive a blow on my +head, or a stroke of apoplexy, or give up smoking, drinking, and a good +digestion." + +"My dear Gideon, that sounds odd, coming from a graybeard." + +"Graybeard or not, that is the way I look at it. I always keep a bullet +in my rifle at the service of the witch; from time to time, I renew the +priming, and if ever the occasion offers--" He finished his sentence by +an expressive gesture. + +"You are wrong, Sperver! I am of the same opinion as the Count: 'no +bloodshed.' Reconsider, and discharge your piece against the first wild +boar you happen upon." + +These words seemed to have some effect upon the old huntsman; he dropped +his chin on his breast, and his face assumed a thoughtful expression. + +By this time, we were climbing the wooded slopes which separate the +squalid hamlet of Tiefenbach from the Castle of Nideck. Night had +overtaken us, and as it often happens after a clear, cold day in winter, +the snow was beginning to fall again, and large flakes fell and melted +on our horses' manes. The animals whinnied and increased their pace, +cheered doubtless by the prospect of a warm shelter. Every now and then, +Sperver turned and looked behind him with evident anxiety, and I was not +free from a certain indefinable apprehension as I reflected upon the +strange account of his master's malady which the steward had given me. +Besides, man's spirit harmonizes itself with its surroundings, and, for +my part, I know of nothing more melancholy than a forest covered with +snow and hoar frost, and stirred by a moaning wind; the trees have a +sombre, icy look that chills you to the heart. + +As we climbed the slope, the oak-trees became fewer, and the birches, +straight and white as marble columns, stretched one beyond another, far +out to the horizon line intersecting the dark arches of the larch-trees. +Suddenly, as we emerged from a thicket, the ancient fortress reared up +before us, its dark extent sprinkled with points of light. Sperver had +pulled up before a funnel-shaped gateway, cut deep in the rock between +two towers, and barred by an iron grating. + +"Here we are!" he cried, leaning over the horse's head and seizing the +deer's-foot bell-handle. The clear tinkle of a bell sounded in the +interior. + +After a few minutes of waiting, a lantern appeared at the end of the +archway, dispersing the gloom, and showing us within its circle of light +a little dwarf with a yellow beard and broad shoulders, enveloped in +furs from head to foot. He came slowly towards us and pressed his great +flat face against the grating, straining his eyes to make us out in the +darkness. + +"Is that you, Sperver?" he asked in a harsh voice. + +"Yes. Open the door, Knapwurst!" cried the huntsman. "Don't you know how +devilish cold it is?" + +"Ah, I know you now," replied the little fellow; "it is you indeed! You +always speak as though you would swallow people whole." + +The door opened, and the gnome, raising his lantern towards me with an +odd grimace, greeted me with, "Welcome, Monsieur Doctor," but in a tone +as much as to say, "Here is another one who will go the way of the +rest." Then he quietly closed the door, while we dismounted, and this +done, he came to take our horses by the bridle. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +I MEET THE COUNTESS. + + +Following Sperver, who climbed the staircase at a rapid pace, I was able +to convince myself that the Castle of Nideck merited its reputation. It +was a true stronghold, cut out of the rock; a relic of feudal times. Its +high, deep archways reechoed the sound of our steps, and the wind +blowing through the loopholes caused the flame of the torches which were +fastened at intervals along the wall to flare and flicker and send our +giant shadows dancing along the corridor. Sperver knew every nook and +cranny of this vast place; he turned many times to right and left, and +I followed him, out of breath. At last he stopped on a large landing, +and said to me: + +"I will leave you with the people of the Castle for a moment, Gaston, +while I go to inform the young Countess Odile of your arrival." + +"Very good; do whatever you think suitable." + +"You will find among the domestics, our majordomo, Tobias Offenloch, an +old soldier of the regiment of Nideck. In former days he made a campaign +in Germany under the Count." + +"A good fellow, no doubt." + +"You will also see his wife, a Frenchwoman, named Marie Lagoutte, who +pretends to come of good family." + +"And why not?" + +"To be sure; only, between ourselves, she was nothing but a +canteen-woman of Soubise's army. One day she brought us in Tobias +Offenloch on her cart, minus one leg, and the poor fellow married her +out of gratitude; you understand." + +"Precisely; but open the door,--I am freezing!" I tried to push past +him, but Sperver, obstinate, like all good Germans, was bound to +enlighten me as to the people into whose presence I was about to enter, +and seizing me by the frogs of my greatcoat, he continued: + +"Then there is Sebalt Kraft, the master of the hounds, a sad sort of +chap, but without an equal in sounding the horn; Karl Trumpf, the +butler; Christian Becker, and all our people, if they haven't all gone +to bed." + +Thereupon Sperver pushed open the door, and I stood surprised on the +threshold of a high, dark hall, the former guardroom of Nideck. I took +in at a glance the three windows at the further end of the room, that +dominated the precipice; on the right a sort of sideboard of old oak, +browned by age, and on it a small cask, glasses, and bottles; on the +left a Gothic chimney with a broad mantel-shelf empurpled by the blazing +fire underneath, and ornamented in front and on the sides by carvings +representing the various scenes of a boar hunt in the Middle Ages; and +finally, in the centre of the room, a long table upon which stood a huge +lamp, its light reflected by a dozen mugs with pewter lids. + +All this I saw at a glance, but it was the people that interested me +most. I recognized at once the majordomo with his wooden leg; a small, +square, thick-set man, with a ruddy face, and prominent waistband, and a +nose of marvellous brilliancy. He wore an enormous hemp-colored wig, +with a long pigtail, a coat of apple-green plush with steel buttons as +large as a five-franc piece, velvet breeches, blue silk stockings, and +shoes with silver buckles. He was about to turn the spigot of the cask; +an air of inexpressible satisfaction beamed upon his rubicund face, and +his eyes, starting slightly from his head, glowed in profile like a pair +of watch glasses. His wife, the worthy Marie Lagoutte, dressed in a gown +of woolen stuff with a large flowered pattern, and her thin face the +color of a withered apple, was playing cards with two servants, all +three seated in straight-backed armchairs. Some small split pegs pinched +the olfactory organ of the old woman and that of another player, while +the third was winking slyly and seemed to enjoy seeing his opponents +subjugated beneath this new variety of Caudine Forks. + +"How many cards?" he was asking them. + +"Two," replied the old woman. + +"And you, Christian?" + +"Two." + +"Ah, ha! I've got you! Cut the king; now the ace. Ha, ha, ha! Another +peg, mother; this will teach you once more to boast to us of your French +games!" + +"Master Christian, you don't treat the fair sex with due respect." + +"When we play cards, we respect nobody." + +"But you see, I have no room for any more." + +"Pshaw! with a nose like yours, there's always room enough." + +At this moment Sperver cried, "Here I am, comrades!" + +"Ha, Gideon! back so soon?" + +Marie Lagoutte made haste to shake off her numerous pegs with a motion +of her head; the big majordomo emptied his glass, and everybody turned +to look at us. + +"Is the Count better?" + +"Hum!" exclaimed the majordomo, drawing down his under-lip. + +"Is his condition unchanged?" + +"Just about," answered Marie Lagoutte, who never took her eyes off me. +Sperver noticed this. + +"Let me present to you my foster-son, Monsieur de la Roche, from +Tuebingen," he said proudly. "Things will change now in the Castle, +Master Tobie; now that Gaston has come, this cursed malady will be put +to flight. If we could only have found him out sooner! However, better +late than never." + +Marie Lagoutte was still watching me, and the examination seemed to +satisfy her, for, turning to the majordomo, "Come, come, Monsieur +Offenloch! Stir yourself," she said; "offer monsieur the doctor a chair! +You sit there with your mouth open like a great carp!" + +With these words, the good woman sprang up as though moved by a spring, +and came to help me off with my greatcoat. + +"Permit me, monsieur." + +"You are very good, my dear woman." + +"Hand it to me, monsieur. Such weather! Ah, monsieur, what a country +this is!" + +"So our master is neither better nor worse," continued Sperver, shaking +the snow from his cap. "We are here in time. Ho! Kasper! Kasper!" + +A little man with a drooping shoulder, indicating a partial paralysis of +his frame, and a face liberally sprinkled with freckles, came out of the +chimney-corner. + +"Here I am." + +"Good! You must prepare for the doctor the chamber at the end of the +long gallery,--Hugh's chamber. You know which one." + +"Yes, Sperver. I will see to it at once." + +"One moment! You will take the doctor's valise with you as you go. +Knapwurst will give it to you. As to supper--" + +"Never fear; I will take care of all that." + +"Very good." + +The little man went out, and Gideon, after throwing off his cape, left +us to go and inform the young Countess of my arrival. I was somewhat +embarrassed by the attentions of Marie Lagoutte. + +"Come, up with you, Sebalt!" she said to the master of the hounds; "you +ought to be sufficiently roasted by this time, sprawling there since +morning. Sit down by the fire, Monsieur Doctor; your feet must be cold. +Stretch out your legs; that's the way." Then, after a minute: "You have +come just in time; our master had his second attack yesterday, and it +was a terrible one; hey, Master Offenloch?" + +"Terrible is just the word," replied the majordomo gravely. + +"Nor is it to be wondered at, when a man takes no nourishment; and he +eats nothing, monsieur. Fancy, it is two days since he has taken so much +as a bowl of broth." + +"Or a glass of wine," added Tobie, crossing his fat hands on his +comfortable waistband. + +I felt it incumbent upon me to express some surprise, so I shook my +head; whereupon the majordomo came over and sat down on my right, +saying, "Take my advice, doctor, and prescribe a bottle of Marcobrunner +every day." + +"And a chicken wing at each meal," added Marie Lagoutte; "the poor man +is as thin as a ghost." + +"We have some Marcobrunner sixty years old, and Johannisberg of the year +'14; for Villars's fellows didn't drink it all, as Madame Offenloch +would have it. You might prescribe now and then a glass of Johannisberg; +there is nothing like it to set a man on his feet." + +"There was a time," said the master of the hounds in a melancholy tone, +"there was a time when our master went on the hunt twice a week, and he +was well; now that he has stopped, he is ill." + +"That is reasonable enough," observed Marie Lagoutte; "the fresh air +gave him an appetite. The doctor should order him three hunts a week to +make up for lost time." + +"Two would do," replied the master of the hounds dismally; "two would +do. The dogs must have some time to rest. They must be considered as +well as we." + +A few moments of silence succeeded, during which I could hear the wind +rattling the windows and whistling boisterously through the loopholes +and along the empty halls. Sebalt had crossed his legs, and with his +elbow on his knee supporting his chin, he gazed into the fire with +unspeakable gloominess. Marie Lagoutte refreshed herself with a pinch of +snuff, and I was reflecting on that strange infirmity that leads us to +press our advice on others, whether they desire it or not, when the +majordomo rose, and leaning over the back of my chair, said: + +"Will you have a glass of wine, doctor?" + +"Thank you, but I never drink before visiting a patient." + +"What, not even one small glass?" + +"Not even a tiny glass." + +He opened his eyes very wide, and looked with astonishment at his wife. + +"Monsieur the doctor is right," she said; "I am of his opinion; I prefer +to drink with my meals and take a glass of cognac afterwards. In my +country, the women drink cognac; it is more genteel than kirschwasser." + +Marie Lagoutte had hardly finished this explanation, when Sperver opened +the door part way, and motioned me to follow him. I nodded a farewell to +the worthy company, and as I stepped into the passage, I heard Tobie's +wife saying to him, "He is a nice-looking young man. He would have made +a fine soldier!" Sperver looked uneasy; he said nothing. I too was +thoughtful. + +A few steps beneath the shadowy arches of the Castle served completely +to efface from my mind the grotesque figures of Tobie and Marie +Lagoutte,--poor, inoffensive creatures, living like bats under the +vulture's powerful wing. Soon Gideon threw open the door of a sumptuous +apartment, hung with violet-colored velvet worked in gold. A bronze +lamp, resting on a corner of the mantelpiece, and covered with a globe +of ground crystal, vaguely lighted up the room. Thick rugs deadened the +sound of our footsteps. It seemed like a refuge consecrated to silence +and meditation. + +On entering, Sperver lifted the heavy draperies that concealed a turret +window. I saw him gaze earnestly into the plain beneath, and I divined +his thoughts; he was looking to see if the witch were still there, +crouching in the snow,--but he could see nothing, for the night was +dark. As I moved forward into the room, I made out, by the pale rays of +the lamp, a young woman of girlish figure seated in an armchair, her +forehead resting in her hand, and her whole attitude one of patient but +despairing sorrow. Her back was slightly turned towards us, and for this +reason I could not at first see her face. + +But at the rustle of our entrance she rose quickly, and exhibited to my +gaze the most beautiful presence I had ever beheld. The tall, stately +figure, the ideal formation of the features, the glory of golden hair +that fell about the fair, white neck, the deep, lustrous eyes that +bespoke a soul as pure and beautiful as the scenes among which it +flourished,--everything about the young mistress of the Castle +proclaimed her to be of that noble type which we meet with but once, if +at all, in a lifetime. Just what my feelings were at sight of this +beautiful young woman I know not, but certain it is that they were of a +nature hitherto unknown to me, and I felt a strange sense of harmony and +contentment within me as my glance continued to rest upon her. + +After a moment the Countess advanced, and said simply, "You are welcome, +monsieur;" then, motioning towards the alcove where the Count lay, she +added, "There is my father." + +I bowed low, and without reply,--such was my agitation,--I approached +the couch of the sick man. Sperver, standing at the head of the bed, +held the lamp in his raised hand, and the light, softened by the crystal +globe, fell palely upon the face of the Count. Odile remained near me, +waiting anxiously for my first word. + +At the first glance I was struck with the strange physiognomy of the +Lord of Nideck, and in contrast to the admiration that his daughter had +inspired within me, my first thought was, "He is an old wolf!" And in +truth, his head bristling with gray hair and swelling behind the ears; +his long, pointed face and receding forehead; his narrow eyes and shaggy +eyebrows that met in a point over the bridge of his nose, imperfectly +shading the dull, cold eye beneath; his short, stiff beard, spreading +unevenly over his bony jaws,--in short, everything about the man made me +shudder, and brought involuntarily to my mind the oft-alleged affinities +between man and the brute creation. + +I mastered my repugnance, and raised the arm of the sick man. It was +wasted and tremulous, the hand small and wiry. The pulse was rapid, +fluttering and feverish, indicating intense nervous excitement. What was +I to do? I considered. On one side stood the young Countess, anxiously +awaiting an expression of my opinion; on the other, Sperver, trying to +read my thoughts and following attentively my slightest movement. A +painful restraint was thus imposed upon me. + +However, I saw that no decided step could be undertaken as yet. I +dropped the arm, and listened to the breathing. From time to time, +something like a sob escaped the sick man's breast; then the respiration +became normal again; then faster, and finally, labored. Some sort of +nightmare oppressed him. But the cause!--this I must determine first, +and I must confess it seemed hopeless enough. I turned round, sorely +perplexed. + +"Is there any hope, monsieur?" asked the young woman. + +"Yesterday's crisis is drawing to a close, mademoiselle. We must seek to +ward off the next attack." + +"Is that a possible thing?" + +I was about to reply in some scientific generalities, not daring to +commit myself, when the distant sound of the Castle bell fell upon our +ears. + +"Strangers," said Sperver. + +There was a moment of silence. + +"Go and see who it is," said Odile, whose brow was shadowed with +anxiety. "How can we be hospitable at such times? It is impossible." + +Just then the door opened, and a yellow head and rosy cheeks appeared in +the shadow, whispering, "The Baron Zimmer, accompanied by his servant, +asks for shelter in the Castle. He has lost his way in the mountains." + +"Very well, Gretchen," replied the Countess quietly; "go and tell +Offenloch to attend to the wants of the strangers. Tell him to inform +the Baron Zimmer that the Count is very ill, and that this alone +prevents him from doing the honors of the house in person. Wake up our +people, and see that he is properly waited on and that everything is +suitably done." + +It would be difficult to describe the well-born simplicity with which +the young mistress of the Castle gave her orders, and I reflected that +if an air of nobility seems inherent in some families, it is certainly +because the discharge of hospitable and charitable duties tends to +elevate the character and ennoble the soul. + +All this passed through my mind while I was admiring the gentle glance, +the distinguished carriage, and the exquisitely cut features of Odile of +Nideck,--that purity of outline only to be met with in the realms of +aristocracy,--and I tried in vain to recall anything comparable to her +in my recollection. + +"Make haste, Gretchen! Don't keep the travellers waiting," said the +young Countess. + +"Yes, madame." + +The servant departed, and I stood for a few moments unable to dispel the +charm of my meditations. Odile turned and addressed me. + +"You see, monsieur," she said with a sad smile, "we are not allowed to +indulge our grief; we must ever divide ourselves between our feelings +and the claims that others have upon us." + +"That is too true, mademoiselle," I replied; "souls of the higher sort +seem purposed to serve as a guide and promise to us weaker ones: the +traveller who has lost his path, the sick man, and the starving +pauper,--each has a claim upon them, for God has created them like the +stars above us, for the happiness of all." + +Odile lowered her deep-fringed eyelids, while Sperver pressed my hand. + +After a moment, the Countess continued: + +"Ah, monsieur, if you could only save my father!" + +"As I have had the pleasure of telling you before, mademoiselle, +yesterday's crisis is past; we must now endeavor to prevent its +recurrence." + +"Do you believe that this can be done?" + +"With God's help, mademoiselle, it is not impossible. I must give the +matter the most careful thought." + +Odile, much agitated, moved with me to the door, and as I bowed myself +out of the chamber, I fancied that I detected in her lovely face an +expression of increased hope. Sperver and I crossed the antechamber, +where a few servants were standing awaiting the orders of their +mistress. We had just entered the corridor, when Gideon, who led the +way, turned abruptly round, and resting his hands on my shoulders, said: + +"Gaston, I am a man to be trusted; what is your opinion of the case?" + +"There is nothing to be feared to-night." + +"I know that; you said as much to the Countess. But to-morrow?" + +"To-morrow?" + +"Yes. Don't turn your head. I suppose you can't prevent a recurrence of +the attack, but, frankly, do you think he will die of it?" + +"He may, but I don't anticipate it." + +"Ah," cried the good fellow joyfully; "that means you are sure he +won't!" + +Thrusting his arm through mine, he pulled me into the gallery. We had +hardly set foot in it when the Baron Zimmer and his groom appeared, +preceded by Sebalt, who carried a flaming torch in his hand. They were +on their way to their chambers, and these two figures, with their cloaks +flung over their shoulders, their knee-boots of soft Hungarian leather, +their waists tightly buttoned in, their long green tunics ornamented +with frogs and twisted fringes of silk and gold, their bearskin caps +drawn down over their ears, and their long hunting-knives stuck in their +belts, looked strangely picturesque in the white light of the dripping +pine torch. + +"By Jove!" exclaimed Sperver, "if I am not greatly mistaken, those are +our Tuebingen friends. They were close at our heels, you see." + +"You are right; they are the same people! I remember the younger one by +his slim figure; he has the profile of an eagle, and wears his mustache +like the astrologer-general Wallenstein." + +They disappeared beneath a side triforium. + +Gideon took a torch from the wall, and guided me through a labyrinth of +corridors, passageways, and high, low, turret-shaped, and winding +entries. I thought he would never have done. + +"Here is the hall of the Margraves," he said; "and this is the portrait +gallery. There is the chapel, where no mass has been said since Louis +the Bald became a Protestant. Next comes the armory." + +These facts possessed but little interest for me. After having reached +the end of the gallery, we had to descend a staircase that seemed +interminable; at last, thank Heaven! we halted before a low, massive +door. Sperver drew an enormous key from his pocket, and handing me the +torch, said, "Mind the light; be careful!" + +At the same time, he pushed open the door, and the cold outside air +rushed into the passageway. The flame leaped back and sent a shower of +sparks in all directions. I fancied myself standing on the edge of an +abyss, and I recoiled instinctively. + +"Ha, Ha!" laughed the steward, his mouth parted in a broad grin, "any +one would think you were afraid, Gaston. Come on! We are now in the +little court that leads from the Castle to the old tower." + +The good fellow moved on by way of example. The snow lay deep in this +courtyard, and the wind swept it with terrific gusts. Had any one seen +our flaring torch upon the plain, he would have asked himself, "What are +they doing up there in the clouds? Why are they prowling about at this +time of night?" + +"Perhaps the old witch is looking up at us," I thought, and the idea +made me shudder. I drew closer the folds of my cloak, and holding my hat +on with the other hand, I ran after Sperver, who held his light above +his head to show me the path, and moved along with rapid strides. + +We rushed into the tower, and then into Hugh's Chamber, where a bright +fire greeted us with cheerful cracklings. How grateful it was to be +sheltered by the thick walls! I had stopped while Sperver closed the +door, and contemplating this ancient abode, I cried, "Thank God, we +shall have a moment to rest now!" + +"And before an excellent table," added Gideon. "Just look at that,--the +leg of a kid, two roasted pheasants, a blue-backed pike, his mouth +stuffed with parsley; cold meats and hot wines is what I like. I have no +fault to find with Kasper; he has carried out my orders to the letter!" + +Gideon spoke truly,--"cold meats and hot wines;" for before the fire +stood a generous array of bottles, being submitted to the gentle +influence of the heat. The sight of this repast served to whet my +already considerable appetite; but Sperver, who understood the art of +being comfortable, said to me: + +"Don't be in too great a hurry, Gaston! Let's take things easily! We +have time enough; the pheasants won't fly away, and as for the pike, +I'll warrant he cares no more about swimming. In the first place, having +been eight hours in the saddle, your boots must hurt you, so off with +them. Sit down there and put your boot between my knees. I've got that +one; let's have the other. There you are. Now put your feet in these +slippers, take off your cloak, and throw this dressing-gown over you. +Now you'll do!" + +Having gone through a similar course of preparation, he cried in a +hearty tone: + +"Now, Gaston, fall to! You do your share and I'll do mine, and remember +well the German proverb: 'If Beelzebub created thirst, surely the Lord +made wine to quench it.'" + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +MY FIRST NIGHT IN HUGH'S TOWER. + + +We ate with the ravenous appetite which a ten hours' ride through the +snows of the Black Forest would be likely to impart. Sperver attacked, +in turn, the kid, the pheasants, and the pike, murmuring, with his mouth +full, "Thank God for the woods, the heather, and the ponds." Then, +leaning over the back of his chair and seizing the first bottle that +came under his hand, he added, "And for the hillsides, green in spring +and purple in autumn. Your health, Gaston!" + +"Yours, Gideon!" + +The fire crackled, the forks jingled, the bottles gurgled, and the +glasses clinked, while outside the wind of the winter night, the blast +from the snow-bound mountains, sang its unearthly hymn,--the hymn that +it sings when storm-driven, fantastic cloud-shapes rush across the sky +and obscure from moment to moment the pale face of the moon. + +We continued our grateful meal. Sperver filled the "wieder komm" with +old Brumberg wine, whose sparkling froth bordered its generous edges, +and, handing it to me, he cried, "Here's to the recovery of Hermann of +Nideck, my noble master! Drink to the last drop, Gaston, that your +prayer may be heard." + +This was done; then, refilling the bowl, he drained it in his turn. + +A sense of satisfaction took possession of us. We felt at peace with all +the world. I sprawled out in my chair with my head thrown back and my +arms hanging down, and began to study my apartment. It was a low, arched +chamber cut out of the live rock, shaped like an oval, and measuring in +the highest part not more than twelve feet. At the further end I +perceived a sort of alcove, and in it a bed resting on the floor, and +covered, as nearly as I could make out, with a bearskin robe. Still +further back was another and smaller niche, with a statue of the Virgin +cut out of the same piece of granite and crowned with a bunch of +withered grass. + +"You are studying your chamber," said Sperver; "it is not as large nor +as luxurious as the rooms of the Castle. We are now in Hugh's Tower, +and it is as old as the mountain itself. It dates back to the time of +Charlemagne. In those days the people didn't understand the art of +building lofty, spacious dwellings; they cut right into the solid rock." + +"That served the purpose as well; but it is an odd corner that you have +stuck me in, Gideon." + +"Don't be deceived on that point, Gaston; it is the place of honor. +Whenever the Count's particular friends come to visit him, they are put +in here. Hugh's Tower is the most honorable accommodation of all." + +"By the way, who was this Hugh?" + +"Why, Hugh the Wolf!" + +"What!" I exclaimed in astonishment. + +"Certainly; the founder of the family of Nideck; a rough customer, they +say. He came and settled down here with a score of horsemen and archers. +They scaled the highest rock on the mountain,--you will see it +to-morrow,--and built this tower. 'We are the masters,' they declared, +'and woe be to those who try to pass without paying toll. We will fall +on them like wolves, tear the clothes from their backs, and the hides, +too, if they are obstinate. From here we can command the landscape, the +passes of the Rhethal, the Steinbach, and the Roche Plate, and the +entire line of the Black Forest. Let the merchants beware.' And the bold +fellows carried out their threats under the leadership of Hugh the Wolf. +Knapwurst told me all about it when we were sitting up the other +night." + +"Knapwurst?" + +"You know; the little dwarf who opened the gate to us; a droll chap, +Gaston, who is always to be found in the library bent over a book." + +"So you have a scholar at Nideck." + +"Yes, the rascal! Instead of staying in his lodge, where he belongs, he +spends the whole blessed day shaking the dust from old family +parchments. He moves about among the shelves like a cat, and he knows +our history better than we do ourselves. He would like nothing better +than to tell you his stories; he calls them chronicles. Ha, ha, ha!" + +Hereupon, Sperver, exalted by the old wine, laughed for some moments, +without knowing exactly why. + +"So that is why you call this the Tower of Hugh the Wolf?" I resumed. + +"Didn't I just tell you so? What are you so surprised at?" + +"Oh, nothing." + +"Yes, you are. I see it in your face. What are you thinking of?" + +"It isn't so much the name of the tower that surprises me, as that you, +an old ranger, who from a baby had never known any home but the +fir-trees and crests of the Wald Horn and the gorges of the Rhethal, who +would never sleep with a roof over your head in spite of all my father's +urging, and who amused yourself roaming the paths of the Black Forest +and revelling in the fresh air, the sunlight, and the freedom of a +hunter's life, should be found here, after sixteen years, in this +red-granite hole. Come, Sperver, light your pipe and tell me how it +happened." + +The old ranger drew a short, black pipe from his leather jacket, filled +it leisurely, and snatching up a coal from the hearth, placed it on the +bowl of his pipe; then, with his head thrown back and his eyes wandering +over the ceiling, he replied thoughtfully: + +"After I left your father's service twenty years ago, it was long before +I could bring my mind to work for any other master, for I loved the +General, and you, and your pretty mother, as I could never come to love +others, not even the Count and my mistress Odile. So I took to poaching +for a term of years, and found a living by any means I could, until one +night the Count came upon me in the moonlight. + +"He did not despise Sperver, the old hawk, the true man of the woods; +and he said to me, 'Comrade, you have hunted long enough by yourself; +now come and hunt with me. You have a good beak and strong claws, and +you might as well hunt my game with my permission as without it.'" + +Sperver was silent for some minutes; then he continued: + +"I was getting old,--and the old falcons and hawks, having long swept +the plains, end by settling down in the cleft of a rock to die. So it +was with me. I loved the open air, and I love it yet; but now, instead +of lying on a high branch at night and being rocked to sleep by the +wind, I prefer to come back to my cover, quietly pick a woodcock, and +dry my plumage before the fire." + +Sperver was silent for some moments; then he continued: + +"I still hunt as before, and afterwards I drink a quiet glass of +Rudesheimer with my friends, or--" At this moment a shock made the door +tremble. + +"It is a gust of wind," I said. + +"No; it is something else. Don't you hear a claw scratching on the +panel? I think one of the dogs must have got loose. Open, Walden! open, +Lieverle!" + +He got up, but he had not gone two steps when a formidable Danish hound +leaped into the room and raised his fore-paws on his master's shoulders, +licking his cheeks and beard with his long, red tongue, and whining with +joy. Sperver put his arm around the dog's neck, and turning to me: + +"Gaston," he said, "what man could love me as this dog does? Look at +this head, these eyes, and teeth!" + +He drew back the animal's lips and showed me a set of fangs that could +have torn a buffalo to pieces. Then pushing him off with difficulty, for +the dog redoubled his caresses, he cried, "Down with you, Lieverle; I +know you love me! Who would, if you did not?" He went and closed the +door. + +I never had seen a dog of such formidable proportions before; he +measured nearly four feet in height, with a broad, low forehead and fine +coat, a bright eye, long paws, broad across the chest and shoulders and +tapering down to the haunches,--a mass of nerves and muscles +interwoven,--but he had no scent. If such animals possessed the scent +of the terrier, the game would soon be exterminated. + +Sperver had returned to his seat and was passing his hand proudly over +Lieverle's head, while he enumerated the dog's fine points. Lieverle +seemed to understand him. + +"Look, Gaston, that dog would strangle a wolf with a snap of his jaws. +He is what you might well call perfection in the matter of courage and +strength; not yet five, and in his prime. I need not tell you that he is +trained to hunt wild boar. Every time we meet them, I fear for Lieverle; +he attacks them too boldly; he flies at them like an arrow. Beware of +the brutes' tusks, Lieverle, you rascal! It makes me tremble. Down on +your back!" cried the huntsman; "down on your back!" + +The dog obeyed, presenting to us his flesh-colored thighs. + +"Do you see that long, white line, without any hair on it, which extends +from his thigh clear up to his chest? A boar did that. The noble chap +did not let go of the brute's ear, in spite of the wound, and we tracked +them by the blood. I came up with them first. Seeing my Lieverle, I +cried out, jumped to the ground, and lifting him in my arms, I wrapped +him in my mantle and brought him home. I was beside myself with grief. +Luckily, the vital parts were not injured, and I sewed up the wound. +God! how he howled and suffered; but at the end of the third day he +began to lick the place, and a dog who licks a wound is already saved. +Ha, Lieverle! you remember it! And now we love each other, don't we?" + +I was much moved by the affection of the man for the dog, and the animal +for his master. Lieverle watched him and wagged his tail, while a tear +stood in Sperver's eye. Soon he began again: + +"What strength! Do you see, Gaston, he has broken his cord to come to +me,--a cord of six strands? He found my tracks, and that was enough. +Here, Lieverle! Catch!" + +He threw him the remains of the kid's leg. The dog went over and +stretched himself in front of the fire with the bone between his +fore-paws, and he slowly tore it into shreds. Sperver watched him from +the corner of his eye with evident satisfaction. + +"Hey, Gaston," said the old steward, "if any one should order you to go +and take that bone away, what would you say?" + +"That it was a matter which required delicate manipulation." + +We laughed heartily, and Sperver, who was stretched out in his +red-leather armchair, with his left arm thrown over the back, one leg +resting on a stool, and the other on a log that was dripping with sap +and singing in the fierce flame, puffed blue rings of smoke to the +ceiling with an air of supreme contentment. As for me, I was lazily +watching the dog, when suddenly remembering our interrupted +conversation, I began: + +"Listen, Sperver! You haven't told me everything. Was it not because of +the death of your worthy wife, my old nurse Gertrude, that you left the +mountains to come here?" + +Gideon looked grave, and a tear dimmed his eye; he straightened up, and +knocking the ashes from his pipe upon his thumb nail, he replied: + +"Yes, my wife is dead, and that is what drove me from the woods. I could +not see the valley of the Roche Creuse without sorrow, and so I have +come hither. I hunt but little in the underbrush, and if the pack happen +to go in that direction, I leave them to themselves and turn back again, +trying to think of other things." + +Sperver had become melancholy. His head had fallen on his breast, and he +remained silent. I regretted having recalled these sad images to his +mind. Then, reflecting once more on the Black Plague crouching in the +snow, I shivered. How singular that a single word had thrown us into a +train of dismal recollections! A whole world of retrospection had been +invoked by the merest accident. + +I know not how long our silence had lasted, when a deep, terrible +growl, like the sound of distant thunder, made us tremble. We looked +at the dog. He still held his half-eaten bone between his fore-paws, +but with raised head, ears pricked up, and shining eyes, he was +listening,--listening in the dead silence, and a tremor of rage ran +along his back. + +Sperver and I looked at each other anxiously; not a sound, not a murmur, +for the wind outside had fallen, and we could have heard the least +noise; nothing, save the deep, continued growl, which seemed to come +from deep down in the dog's chest. Suddenly the animal sprang up and +leaped against the wall, with a short, harsh, ominous bark that made the +arches resound as if thunder were rolling away along the empty passages. +Lieverle, with his head low down, seemed to see through the granite, and +his teeth, bared to their roots, glistened like snow. He still growled, +pausing now and then for a moment to sniff along the bottom of the wall; +then he sprang up again angrily, and seemed trying to tear away the +stone with his fore-paws. + +We were watching him, unable to understand the cause of his excitement, +when a second howl, more fearful than the first, brought us to our +feet. + +"Lieverle," cried Sperver, springing towards him, "for heaven's sake, +what ails you? Are you going mad?" + +He seized a log, and began to sound the wall, which, however, gave forth +only a dull, dense sound. There was apparently no hollow in it, but +still the dog maintained the same posture. + +"Decidedly, Lieverle," said the huntsman, "you have had a nightmare. +Come, lie down, and don't set our nerves on edge any more." + +At the same moment we heard a sound outside. The door opened, and the +big, fat face of honest Tobias Offenloch, with his round lantern in one +hand and his stick in the other, and his three-cornered hat on one side +of his head, appeared smiling and genial in the doorway. + +"Greeting, worthy company!" he exclaimed; "what the devil are you doing +here?" + +"It was this foolish Lieverle who made all the racket," said Sperver; +"he sprang against the wall and wouldn't be quieted. Can you tell us the +reason of it?" + +"He probably heard the stumping of my wooden leg as I came up the tower +stairs," replied the good-natured fellow with a laugh. Then setting his +lantern on the table: "That will teach you, Master Gideon, to tie up +your dogs. You have a weakness for dogs,--an absurd weakness. They will +end by putting us all out of doors. Only a moment ago, as I was coming +along the gallery, I met your Blitz; he snapped at my leg,--see, there +are the marks of his teeth. A new leg, too, confound the cur!" + +"Tie up my dogs? What an idea!" replied Sperver. "Dogs that are tied up +are good for nothing; it makes them savage. Moreover, Lieverle was +fastened, and he has what was left of the cord around his neck still." + +"It is not on my account that I am speaking, for whenever I see them +coming, I always raise my stick and put my wooden leg first. It is only +for discipline. The dogs ought to be in the kennels, the cats on the +gutters, and the people in the Castle, according to my way of thinking." + +Tobie sat down as he finished his sentence, and with his elbows resting +on the table and his eyes beaming with satisfaction, he said in a +confidential tone: + +"You should know, gentlemen, that I am a bachelor this evening." + +"How is that?" + +"Marie Anne is sitting up with Gertrude in the Count's antechamber." + +"Then you are in no hurry." + +"Not the least bit." + +"How unlucky you should have come so late," observed Sperver; "all the +bottles are empty." + +The discomfited expression of the good fellow made me feel positively +sorry. He would gladly have profited by his widowhood. In spite of my +efforts to repress it, however, my mouth parted in a wide yawn. + +"We will put it over till another day," he said, getting up; "what is +postponed is not lost." + +He took up his lantern. + +"Good night, gentlemen." + +"Wait a minute," said Gideon; "I see the doctor is sleepy; we will go +down together." + +"Gladly, Sperver! We will have a word with Trumpf as we pass. He is +down-stairs with the others, and Knapwurst is telling them stories." + +"Well, good night, Gaston." + +"Good night, Sperver. Don't forget to call me if the Count grows worse." + +"Never fear. Lieverle, come here." + +They went out, and as they were crossing the platform, I could hear the +old Nideck clock striking eleven. + +I was completely exhausted with the day's experiences. Soon I threw +myself on the bed, and straightway fell into a deep slumber, where all +night long I was wandering beside a radiant creature with a halo of +golden hair about her face, amid flower-strewn paths, and the song of +birds, and above our heads the fairest of summer skies. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +KNAPWURST ACQUAINTS ME WITH THE GENEALOGY OF THE NIDECKS. + + +The dawn was beginning to turn gray the only window of the donjon-tower, +when I was awakened in my granite bed by the distant notes of a +hunting-horn. I know of no sound more sad and melancholy than the +vibrations of its tones, just at morning twilight, when all is still, +and no breath, no whisper comes to disturb the perfect quiet of +solitude; it is the final note, especially, that, spreading over the +immense plain and awaking the far-off echoes of the mountain, stirs us +to the heart with its pure, poetic quality. + +Leaning with my elbow on the bearskin, I listened to this plaintive cry, +that seemed to be invoking memories of the Feudal Ages. The aspect of my +chamber, with its low, ragged arch, and, further on, the little window +with its panes set in lead, midway between the alcove and the corridor, +the ceiling more wide than high, and deeply hollowed in the wall,--in +short, every detail of this ancient den of the Wolf of Nideck served to +realize my fancy. + +I rose quickly and threw the window wide open. There before me lay a +spectacle that no mere language can describe,--the scene that the Alpine +eagle surveys each morning, as the purple curtain of night lifts itself +from the horizon; range after range of mountains,--motionless billows +that stretch away and become lost in the distant mists of the Vosges and +the Jura,--immense forests, lakes, and towering peaks tracing their +sharp outlines upon the steel-blue of the snow-clad valleys; beyond +this, the infinite! What human skill could attain to the sublimity of +such a picture? I stood overwhelmed with wonder and delight. At each +glance some new detail was revealed to my eyes; hamlets, farms, +villages, seemed to rise from every fold of the landscape, and as I +gazed, these objects became more numerous. + +I had been standing thus for more than a quarter of an hour, when a hand +was laid lightly upon my shoulder; I turned and met the calm face and +quiet smile of my friend Gideon, who greeted me with: + +"Good morning, Gaston." + +Then he rested his elbows on the window-sill beside me, puffing clouds +of smoke from his short pipe. Extending his arm towards the distant +mountains, he said at length: + +"Look at that, Gaston; you should love it, for you are a son of the +Black Forest. Look down there, way down; that is the Roche Creuse. Do +you see it? You remember Gertrude? How far off those days seem!" + +He stopped and cleared his throat; I was at a loss what to reply. We +stood for a long time in a contemplative mood, mute before the grandeur +of the scene that rolled away beneath us. From time to time, the old +steward, seeing my eyes rest on some point of the horizon, would +explain: + +"That is the Wald Horn; this is the Tiefenthal. There you see the +cascade of the Steinbach; it has stopped running now, and hangs like an +ice cloak over the shoulder of the Harberg,--a cold garment for this +season of the year. Down there is the path that leads to Tuebingen; a +fortnight more and we shall have difficulty in tracing it." + +An hour passed thus; I could not tear myself away from the scene. + +A few birds of prey, with gracefully hollowed wings, were sailing about +the tower; a flock of herons flew above them, escaping their claws by +reason of their loftier flight. Not a cloud was visible in the sky; all +the snow had fallen to earth. The hunting-horn saluted the mountain for +the last time. + +"That is my friend Sebalt mourning down there," said Sperver. "No one is +a better judge of horses and dogs than he, and when it comes to sounding +the horn, there is not his equal in all Germany. Just hear how mellow +those notes are, Gaston. Poor Sebalt! he is pining away since our master +became ill; he cannot hunt as he used to. His only consolation is to +climb the Altenberg every morning just at daybreak, and play the Count's +favorite airs. He thinks that may cure him." + +Sperver, with the tact of a man who himself loves beautiful things, had +not interrupted my contemplation; but when, dazzled by the growing +light, I turned back into the chamber, he said: + +"Gaston, things look more encouraging; the Count has had no return of +the convulsions." + +These words brought me back to a more practical world. + +"Ah, I am glad to hear it." + +"And it is your doing, too." + +"Mine? I haven't even prescribed anything yet." + +"What of that? You are here." + +"You're joking, Gideon; what could my mere presence accomplish?" + +"You bring him good luck." + +I looked at him closely; he was in earnest. + +"Yes," he repeated seriously; "you are a bringer of good luck. In past +years, our master has had a second attack the day after the first, and +then a third, and fourth; but you have prevented this and arrested the +course of the malady. That is clear enough." + +"Not to my mind, Sperver. On the contrary, I find it exceedingly +obscure." + +"We are never too old to learn," continued the worthy fellow. "There are +forerunners of good fortune and harbingers of ill. Take that rascal +Knapwurst, for example; he is a sure sign of bad luck. If ever I happen +to run across him as I am going out hunting, I am sure to meet with some +accident; my gun misses fire, I sprain my ankle, or a dog gets ripped +open. Knowing this, I always take care to set off just at daybreak, +before the scamp, who sleeps like a dormouse, has got his eyes open; or +else I steal through the postern gate." + +"A wise precaution; but your ideas seem odd to me, Gideon." + +"But you, on the other hand," he continued without noticing my +interruption, "are an open-hearted, honest lad. Heaven has bestowed many +blessings upon you; just one glance at your good-natured face, your +frank gaze, and your kindly smile, is enough to make any one happy. And +you bring good luck; that is certain. Do you want a proof of what I +say?" + +"Why, certainly. I am not sorry to discover that I possess so many +hitherto unknown virtues." + +"Well," said he, seizing my wrist, "look down there!" + +He pointed to a hillock a couple of gunshots distant from the Castle. + +"Do you see that rock half buried in the snow, with a bush to the left +of it?" + +"Distinctly." + +"And you see nothing near it?" + +"No." + +"Well, that is easily accounted for; you have driven the Black Plague +away. Every year, on the second day of the Count's illness, she was to +be seen there, with her arms clasped around her skinny knees. At night, +she lighted a fire, warmed herself, and cooked the roots of trees. She +was a curse to every living thing. The first thing I did this morning +was to climb up to the signal-tower and look around me. The old hag was +nowhere to be seen. In vain did I shade my eyes with my hand and gaze to +right and left, up and down, across the plain and over the +mountain,--not a sign of her anywhere. She has scented you, sure +enough!" + +Wringing my hand in his enthusiasm, the good fellow cried excitedly, +"Oh, Gaston, Gaston! How lucky it was that I brought you here! How angry +the old hag will be!" + +I must confess to a feeling of embarrassment at discovering so much +merit in myself, which had hitherto escaped my observation. + +"So the Count has passed a comfortable night, Sperver?" I continued. + +"Very comfortable," he replied. + +"That is welcome news. Let's go down-stairs." + +We once more crossed the little courtyard, and I was able to obtain a +better view of our means of egress, whose ramparts attained to a +prodigious height,--continuing along the edge of the rock to the very +bottom of the valley. It was a flight of precipices, so to speak, +shelving one below another into the dizzy depths beneath. On looking +down, I became giddy, and recoiling to the middle of the landing, I +hastened down the passageway which led to the Castle. + +Sperver and I had already traversed several broad corridors, when a +wide-open door blocked our passage. I glanced in and saw, at the top of +a double ladder, the little gnome Knapwurst, whose grotesque physiognomy +had struck me the night before. The hall itself attracted my attention +by its imposing aspect. It was a storehouse for the archives of Nideck, +a high, dark, dusty apartment, with long Gothic windows reaching from +the ceiling to within three feet of the floor. + +There were to be found, ranged along the broad shelves by the careful +abbots of olden times, not only all the documents, title-deeds, and +genealogical trees of the families of Nideck, establishing their rights, +alliances, and relations with the most illustrious nobles of Germany, +but also the chronicles of the Black Forest, the collected remnants of +the old Minnesingers, and the great folios from the presses of Gutenberg +and Faust, no less venerable on account of their origin and the enduring +solidity of their binding. The deep shadows of the alcoves, draping the +cold walls with their grayish gloom, reminded you of the ancient +cloisters of the Middle Ages; and in the midst of it all sat the dwarf +at the top of his ladder, with a huge, red-edged volume lying open on +his bony knees, his head buried to the ears in a fur cap; gray-eyed, +flat-nosed, the corners of his mouth drawn down by long years of +thought, with stooping shoulders and wasted limbs; a fitting +_famulus_--the rat, as Sperver called him--to this last refuge of the +learning of Nideck. + +That which gave to the place a unique interest, however, was the line of +family portraits that covered one whole side of the ancient library. +There they were, knights and ladies, from Hugh the Wolf down to Count +Hermann, the present owner; from the crude daubs of barbarous days to +the perfect work of the best painters of our own time. My attention was +naturally centred upon this part of the room. Hugh I., with a bald head, +seemed watching you from his frame as a wolf glares at the traveller +whom a sudden turn in the forest path discloses to view. His gray, +blood-shot eyes, bristling beard, and large, hairy ears, gave him an air +of singular ferocity. + +Next to him, like the lamb next the savage beast, was a young woman, +with a gentle, sad expression, her hands clasped on her breast, her +long, silken tresses of fair hair parted over the forehead and falling +in thick waves about her face, which they encircled with a golden +aureole. I was struck with her resemblance to Odile of Nideck. Nothing +could have been more delicate and charming than this old painting on +wood, a little stiff in its outline, but charmingly simple and +ingenuous. + +I had been studying this portrait for some minutes, when another, +hanging beside it, drew my attention in its turn. Here, too, was a +woman, but of the true Visigothic type, with a broad, low forehead, +yellow eyes, and prominent cheek-bones, red hair, and nose like an +eagle's beak. "That woman must have been to Hugh's liking," I said to +myself, and I began to study the costume, which was in perfect keeping +with the energy expressed in the face, for the right hand clasped a +sword, and the waist was encircled in a steel corselet. + +I know not how to describe the thoughts that succeeded one another in my +mind as I gazed upon these three faces. My eye roamed from one to +another with singular curiosity, and I found it impossible to terminate +my study. Sperver, standing on the threshold of the library, gave a +sharp whistle, seemingly to attract Knapwurst's attention, who looked +down at him from the top of his ladder without stirring. + +"Is it me you are whistling to like a dog?" said the dwarf. + +"Aye, you imp! None else." + +"Listen to me, Sperver," replied the gnome with supreme disdain; "you +cannot spit so high as my shoe; I defy you!" and he stuck out his foot. + +"And if I should come up there?" + +"I would squash you flat with this volume." + +Gideon laughed, and replied: + +"Come, come, Knapwurst! Don't get angry! I don't wish you any harm; on +the contrary I have the greatest respect for your learning; but what the +devil are you doing at this hour, seated over your lamp? Any one would +think you had spent the night here." + +"So I have, reading!" + +"Aren't the days long enough for you?" + +"No! I am looking up an important question, and I shan't sleep till I +have settled it." + +"Well, by Jove; what is this interesting question?" + +"It is to find out under what circumstances Ludwig of Nideck discovered +my ancestor, Otto the Dwarf, in the forests of Thuringia. You should +know, Sperver, that my ancestor Otto was only an arm's length high; +that is, about two feet and a half. He delighted the world with his +wisdom, and figured honorably in the coronation of the Emperor Rodolph. +Count Ludwig had him enclosed in a cold roast peacock, served up with +all its plumage. During the feast, Otto spread out the peacock's tail, +and all the nobles, courtiers, and great ladies were astonished at this +ingenious piece of mechanism. At last Otto emerged, sword in hand, and +cried in a thundering voice, 'Long live the Emperor, Rodolph of +Hapsburg!' which was repeated on all sides with shouts and rejoicings. +Bernard Hertzog mentions this circumstance, but fails to inform us as to +the family origin of the dwarf, whether he was of noble descent, or of +base extraction; the latter hypothesis being highly improbable, as the +common herd are rarely possessed of so much wit." + +I was amazed at the conceit of this little creature, my curiosity, +however, leading me to dissemble my feelings; for he alone could furnish +me with the facts concerning the two portraits that hung on the right of +Hugh the Wolf. + +"Monsieur Knapwurst," I said, in a tone of profound respect, "would you +have the kindness to enlighten me upon a certain subject?" + +Flattered by these words, the little fellow replied: + +"Speak, monsieur; if it is a question of family history, I shall be glad +to inform you. In other subjects I take but little interest." + +"It is precisely that. I should like to learn something about the noble +ladies whose pictures hang on the wall yonder." + +"Aha!" cried Knapwurst, his face lighting up; "you mean Elfreda and +Huldine, the two wives of Hugh, the founder of Nideck." + +Laying down his volume, he descended the ladder to talk more at his +ease. His eyes glistened, and an air of gratification at this +opportunity of displaying his learning shone out all over him. + +Having reached my side, he saluted me with a grave bow. Sperver stood +behind us, seemingly well satisfied to see me admiring the dwarf of +Nideck. In spite of the ill luck which he averred attached to the +presence of the pigmy, he admired and boasted of his great learning. + +[Illustration: "IN THE PORTRAIT GALLERY."] + +"Monsieur," said Knapwurst, pointing with his long, yellow hand towards +the portraits, "Hugh of Nideck, the founder of his race, married in 832 +Elfreda of Lutzelbourg, who brought to him as dowry the counties of +Giromani and Haut Barr, the Castles of Geroldsdeck and Teufelshorn, and +others. Hugh had no children by his first wife, who died young in the +year of our Lord 837. Thereupon, Hugh, now lord and master of the dowry, +refused to yield possession of it, and there followed terrible battles +between himself and his brothers-in-law. His second wife, Huldine, whom +you see in the steel breastplate, aided him by her wise counsels. She +was a woman of indomitable courage, but her origin remains a mystery. +One thing is certain, however: she rescued her husband, who had been +taken prisoner by Frantz of Lutzelbourg. He was to have been hanged that +very day, and the iron bar had already been stretched across the +battlements in preparation for the execution, when Huldine, at the head +of a band of the Count's vassals whom she had inspired by her brave +example, burst into the courtyard by a rear entrance, rescued Hugh, and +had Frantz hung in his place. Hugh the Wolf married his second wife in +842, and by her he had three children." + +"So," I resumed meditatively, "the first of these wives was called +Elfreda, and the descendants of Nideck are not related to her?" + +"No." + +"Are you sure of this?" + +"I can show you our genealogical tree. Elfreda had no children; Huldine, +the second wife, had three." + +"That is very surprising!" + +"Why so?" + +"I thought I noticed a resemblance." + +"Ha, ha! resemblances!" exclaimed the dwarf with a harsh laugh; "wait a +moment. Just look at this wooden snuff-box that lies beside the plaster +greyhound! It represents my ancestor, Hanswurst. He has a nose like an +extinguisher, and a sharp chin, while I have a flat nose and an +agreeable mouth; and yet this does not prevent my being his +great-great-grandson." + +"No, certainly not." + +"Well, it is the same with the Nidecks. They may have certain +characteristics in common with Elfreda, but Huldine is the head of the +line. Look at this genealogical tree, monsieur. Have I not informed you +correctly?" + +Then we separated,--Knapwurst and I,--the best of friends. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +I BREAKFAST WITH ODILE. + + +"Nevertheless," I said to myself, "the resemblance is there! Is it +chance? Nonsense! What is chance, anyway, save that for which we fail to +grasp the reason? No; there must be some other explanation of it!" + +Buried in these reflections, I followed my friend Sperver, who had +resumed his walk down the corridor. The portrait of Elfreda, that pure, +artless face, blended in my fancy with that of the young Countess. +Suddenly Gideon stopped. I looked up; we were standing before the +Count's room. + +"Go in, Gaston," he said; "I will see, meanwhile, if breakfast is ready, +and be with you again in a minute." + +I entered noiselessly, and made out, in the dim light, the broad figure +of Becker, the forester, sprawled out leisurely in his armchair beside +the bed and drowsing over his vigil. + +The Count was sleeping quietly, with every indication that this +desirable state of things would continue. Seeing no reason for remaining +longer, I directed Becker to let me know at once if the master should +wake, and I withdrew to the hall, where I met Sperver returning to get +me. + +"The Countess is waiting for you in the dining-room. She is overjoyed at +the news of her father. Poor woman! It has been a hard strain upon her, +for she insists on remaining close beside the Count, and her strength +is not equal to the task." + +"So it seemed to me," I replied; and I secretly regretted that I saw no +way in which I could properly suggest to the Countess that she should +share her watchfulness more with others. + +We reached the dining-room. Sperver announced me and departed. + +My eyes fell first upon Odile, seated at the head of the table in a +high-backed oaken chair. She was dressed in a gown of gray stuff, simply +fashioned, with a bodice of white velvet worked in gold. Her superb +figure was perfectly set off by the almost severe outlines of the dress. + +"It is she," I thought: "Hugh's first wife. There is the noble +forehead; there are the long lashes, the somewhat languid bearing, and +the indescribable smile." + +And as I gazed, the dream of last night recurred to me in all its +charming vividness, and I felt that, far from entering upon her world +but a few hours since, I had known her--aye, and loved her, too!--for +years. + +"Good morning, monsieur!" she said in answer to my salutation, as she +rose and rested one hand on the chair-back. "It seems that your presence +here has already worked a change for the better. Our good Sperver tells +me that my father's condition is improved." + +"I am delighted to be able to assure you that it is so, mademoiselle. We +must endeavor to confirm these bettered conditions." + +"I am so thankful!" she exclaimed. "Who knows but it was Providence that +brought you here?" and she indicated my seat at the end of the table +opposite her. + +Bowing to the housekeeper, who sat before the broad fireplace, with her +spectacles thrust back on her forehead, plying her busy needles, her lap +filled with knitting-work which momentarily grew as she rocked back and +forth in time to the ticking of the tall clock, I took the seat which +Odile designated, experiencing a sense of rare contentment as I +reflected upon my surroundings. Decidedly, my present employment +combined pleasure with the exactions of duty. + +No further mention of the Count's condition was made during the repast, +Odile preferring apparently to confine herself to other subjects. + +"Sperver," she said presently, "has often spoken of you to us with much +pride and affection. Your relationship with the old steward is a +romantic one, is it not?" + +"Rather," I replied. "It began some twenty years ago with his pulling me +out of a swamp into which I got myself, through my desire to imitate his +custom of roaming the forest." + +Then, as Odile smiled and seemed to be waiting for me to continue, I +resumed: + +"I distinctly remember how, one morning, I escaped the vigilance of my +old nurse, Gideon's wife Gertrude, and arming myself with my father's +old sabre, I sallied into the forest with a vague notion of performing +some similar exploits to those which Gideon was never tired of telling +me. I had not gone far when, finding the forest very dark and lonely, +and quite unlike what I had fancied it, I began to repent of my +resolution and to wish I was safely at home again. The sabre, too, had +grown very heavy, and everything about the undertaking having fallen far +short of my anticipation, I turned around and began to retrace my steps. +Having only such knowledge of direction as a boy of eight would be +likely to have, I soon lost my way, and in attempting to cross the swamp +of the Losser by picking my path along the tufts of grass above its +surface, I lost my footing and slipped into the mud. Fortunately Sperver +happened to be passing in the neighborhood. He heard my cries, and +promptly coming to my aid, he pulled me out and carried me to safer +ground. Meanwhile my absence from home had been discovered, and the men +servants had been sent in all directions to search for me. My father was +so delighted at seeing me again, unharmed, in Sperver's arms, that he +rewarded his ranger with a brand-new carbine and a brace of his favorite +hounds." + +I laughed as I recalled this incident, and the Countess joined me in it, +continuing after a little: + +"And your old home?" + +"It has passed into other hands. On the death of both my parents, which +occurred within a few years, I was left entirely without resources, save +such as I could create for myself, and it became necessary to dispose +of the estate in order to get the means which I required to pursue my +studies." + +It seemed the most natural thing in the world to be thus confiding to +Odile my intimate affairs, though ordinarily I guarded such matters with +jealous care; but I felt, I know not why, that her expression of +interest was more a wish to learn the real facts of my condition than +merely to evince a civil concern in my interests. Such feelings are +intangible; they cannot be explained. + +"You are living now in Tuebingen?" + +"Yes; after six years' study in Germany and France, I have returned to +the scenes of earlier times to try what fortune may have in store for +me. I feel that I never should be contented anywhere else; and I am +better satisfied to remain here with a modest success than in the cities +with, maybe, a more considerable one." + +"How well I can understand that feeling," replied the Countess musingly. +"Long ago, when we used to visit the court each year, I remember that, +in spite of all its gaieties and pleasures, so well calculated to charm +young minds, I was always glad when the time came to return to the +Castle; and that for a girl of eighteen is unusual, I think." + +I was silently musing upon the fair face opposite me, and the charming +personality of my noble hostess, which piqued my curiosity and aroused +in me a singular desire to learn more of it. The young Countess +conducted the affairs of the table with captivating grace, and the +ready Offenloch was ever on the watch for her slightest nod or glance. +Truly, I felt myself under a spell no less potent than the companions of +Ulysses of old. + +Rousing myself at length from these agreeable reflections, I resumed: + +"You too, mademoiselle, are fond of the hunt, I suppose? for the Count's +devotion to it is proverbial." + +"Yes!" she replied, "when it is not a deer or fox that is being hunted. +Somehow the wild boar claims less of my sympathy, for it is often a +question which comes off the better, the man or the beast." + +The truth of this remark it was reserved for me to learn at a later +day. + +"As for me, I have never had any experience in the chase, as the years +which I might have spent so were passed in foreign cities, but some time +I hope to give it a thorough trial." + +A pause succeeded, during which Odile prepared the coffee. From time to +time I glanced at Marie, whose admiration for my person expressed the +evening before seemed in no way to have decreased, judging from the +senile simper which invariably appeared on her face when she caught my +eye. + +"This Castle has an indescribable charm for me," I continued after a +little; "it has such a delightfully ancient air, and its old stones seem +so full of romance;" and my eyes wandered to the two suits of armor at +the further end of the room, which from their shadowy corners nodded at +each other, gaunt and sightless, in the uncertain firelight. + +"I am fond of it," replied Odile; "indeed, I feel that I could never be +happy anywhere else; but at times it is lonely, nevertheless." + +Then I began to reflect upon the singular vow which this charming young +creature, so eminently lovable in every trait of character and person, +had taken, it seemed almost wantonly and in a spirit of perversity; and +yet I was satisfied that no such explanation could be sufficient, for I +felt instinctively that no small or trivial thought could gain +admittance to Odile's mind. + +"Perhaps," I thought, "some day the wanderer will come to implant the +magic kiss, and she, like others of her sisters, will be obliged to +obey the inexorable laws of the little god." + +So I thought. It seemed to me that one might be happy here, could he +continue forever, as I was then, in Odile's companionship, amid gay +companies and festivals, hunting-parties and the like, which I felt +would become immediately inaugurated, were the Count's recovery to +become an established fact. Then my thoughts reverted once more to my +patient, and, speculating for the fiftieth time on all that Sperver had +told me of his master, I was recalled to a less alluring train of +reflections, and I became grave as I realized the burden of duty which +rested upon me. + +An hour passed, the breakfast was finished. I rose and took leave of the +Countess, who inclined her head with a friendly smile. As I stepped +into the hallway, I descried Sperver in the distance. + +"The Count has waked, and he wishes to see you," he said, as he reached +me. + +"He is no worse?" I asked. + +"Apparently not; he seems quiet enough." + +Still engrossed with the experience of the last hour passed in the +dining-room, I moved along with Sperver down the corridor. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +THE COUNT UNSHEATHES HIS CLAWS. + + +I entered the Count's chamber. What was my surprise to perceive in the +half-light of the alcove, the master of Nideck raised upon his elbow and +studying me with profound attention. I had so little anticipated such a +reception, that I paused in surprise. + +"Come here, doctor," he said in a faint but steady voice, reaching out +his hand. "My good Sperver has often spoken to me of you, and I have +been anxious to make your acquaintance." + +"Let us hope, monsieur," I replied, "that it may be continued under +more auspicious circumstances; a little patience, and all will be +well!" + +"I fear not," he replied; "I feel that the end is drawing near." + +"You are mistaken, monsieur." + +"No! Nature grants us, as a last favor, a presentiment of our +approaching end." + +"How often have I seen such presentiments disproved!" I returned, +smiling. + +He gazed fixedly at me, as sick people are wont to do when they are in +doubt as to their true condition. It is a trying moment for the doctor; +upon his expression depends the moral strength of the sufferer; if the +sick man detect the suspicion of a doubt, all is lost; dissolution +begins, the soul prepares to quit the body, and the malady holds full +sway. I passed firmly through the ordeal; the Count seemed reassured; +he pressed my hand again, and released it, calmer and more confident. + +During the pause which followed, Odile and Marie Lagoutte entered the +room. They must have followed close behind us. They seated themselves in +the two chairs which occupied the embrasure of the window, and Marie +resumed her knitting, while Odile spread open a portfolio on her lap and +seemed to be studying it. + +Soon the Count's glance wandered from my face to that of his daughter, +whom he continued to regard fixedly for a long time in silence. + +This somewhat oppressive quiet continued, broken only by the jarring of +the casements, the monotone of the wind, and the sound of the snow as +it swirled and whispered against the panes. + +After a half hour of this, the Count suddenly began to speak: + +"If my beloved child Odile would but grant my request, if she would only +consent to let me hope that one day she would fulfil the desire of my +heart, I believe that alone would accomplish my recovery!" I glanced +quickly at Odile; she had closed her book, and her eyes were fastened on +the floor. I noticed that she had become deathly pale. + +"Yes," continued the sick man, "I should return to life and happiness! +The prospect of seeing myself surrounded by a new branch of our family, +of embracing my grandchildren, and of seeing the perpetuation of our +house ensured, would suffice to cure me." + +I felt moved at the mild and gentle pleading of the sufferer. The young +woman made no reply. After a minute or two, the Count, who looked +entreatingly at her, pursued: + +"Odile, you refuse to make your father happy. My God! I only ask for +hope; I fix no time! I do not seek to control your choice! We will go to +court, and choose from a hundred noble suitors. Who would not be proud +to win my daughter's hand? You shall be free to decide for yourself." + +He paused. Nothing is more painful to a stranger than these family +discussions. There are so many conflicting interests, deep emotions, +and sacred feelings involved, that our innate delicacy demands that we +hold aloof from such scenes. I was pained, and would gladly have +withdrawn, but the circumstances did not permit of it. + +"Father," said Odile, as if to evade further insistence on the sick +man's part, "you will recover. Heaven will not take you from us who love +you so dearly. If you only knew with what loving fervor I pray for you!" + +"That is not answering my question," said the Count drily. "What +objection have you to my proposal? Is it not just and natural? Must I be +deprived of the consolations accorded the most wretched? Have I made use +of force or trickery?" + +"No, father!" + +"Then why do you refuse me?" + +"My resolution is taken; I have consecrated myself to God." + +So much firmness in so frail a being astonished me. She stood there like +the sculptured Madonna in Hugh's Tower,--fragile, calm, impassive. + +The eyes of the Count glowed with feverish brightness. I endeavored to +prevail upon the Countess, as best I could by signs, to give him a grain +of hope, that his growing agitation might be calmed; but she did not +appear to see me. + +"So," he cried in a voice choked with emotion, "you will see your father +perish! A single word would save his life,--a word from your lips,--and +you will not pronounce it." + +"Life is not within the gift of man, but of God alone," she murmured; +"a word from me could be of no avail." + +"These are nothing but pious maxims," cried the Count bitterly, "to ease +your conscience in refusing to do your duty! Has not God commanded, +'Honor thy father and thy mother'?" + +"I do honor you, my father," she replied gently; "but it is my duty not +to marry." + +I could hear the Count grind his teeth. He lay for a few moments, +apparently calm, then he suddenly sprang up. + +"Out of my sight!" he screamed; "your presence is hideous to me!" + +Then turning to me: + +"Doctor," he cried with a savage smile, "have you a poison about you,--a +poison that slays with the quickness of a lightning flash? It is only +merciful to give it to me! Ah, God! If you knew how I suffer!" + +His features worked convulsively; he became livid. Odile had risen and +moved towards the door. + +[Illustration: "'STAY!' HE HOWLED, 'I HAVE NOT CURSED YOU YET.'"] + +"Stay!" he howled; "I have not cursed you yet!" + +Up to this point, I had restrained myself, not daring to interfere +between the father and his child; but I could endure it no longer. + +"Monsieur," I exclaimed; "in the name of your own health, in the name of +reason, calm yourself! Your life depends upon it!" + +"What matters my life? What matters the future? Oh, if I were only done +with it all!" + +His excitement increased with every moment. I feared lest, crazed with +passion, he might spring from the bed and destroy his own child. She, +still calm, but with cheeks as pale as his, fell on her knees before the +threshold. At this moment, I succeeded in getting the Count to swallow a +few drops of laudanum. He fell back with a long sigh, and soon his +irregular breathing gave way to deep and leaden slumber. + +Odile arose, and her old governess, who had remained silent throughout, +left the room with her. Sperver and I watched them as they slowly +withdrew. There was a calm grandeur in the step of the Countess that +bespoke a consciousness of duty fulfilled. + +When she had disappeared in the shadows of the corridor, Gideon turned +to me: "Well, Gaston," he said gravely; "what do you think of this?" +I bowed my head without replying. The unaccountable firmness of the +young woman dumbfounded me. + +"Come Gaston!" exclaimed Sperver indignantly, "let's get a breath of +fresh air! I'm strangling here!" and he pulled me out of the chamber. + +"That is the happiness of high-born people!" he exclaimed, as we stepped +into the hall. "What is the use of being master of Nideck, with its fine +Castle, forests, and game-preserves, and all else, if your own daughter +can blight your life,--even cause your death, perhaps, by a nod of her +head or a mincing refusal to obey your will? It would be a thousand +times better to come into the world the son of a humble woodcutter, and +live in the quiet accomplishment of your labor. Come down to my den, +and we will drink a glass and have a pipe. I know nothing better to put +care to flight than a good stiff glass." + +It was then about nine o'clock. The sky, so clear at daybreak, had +become overcast; the north wind was whirling the flakes against the +window-panes, and I could hardly distinguish the peaks of the +neighboring mountains. We were descending the staircase which led to the +main courtyard, when, at a turn of the corridor, we came face to face +with Tobias Offenloch. The worthy majordomo was puffing like a porpoise. + +"Hullo!" said Gideon; "where are you going in such a hurry?" + +"To tell the Countess that the Baron Zimmer begs the privilege of +paying his respects to her before quitting the Castle." + +"Baron Zimmer?" + +"Yes, the stranger who came in last night at midnight." + +"To be sure," replied Sperver; "I was forgetting." + +We went along. A moment later we reached our destination. My companion +pushed open the door and we went in. + +We sat down before the hearth. Gideon possessed himself of a corkscrew +and two bottles, and soon our glasses were filled and pipes aglow. We +were about to begin a discussion of the singular scene of a few moments +before, when Offenloch appeared, but not alone, for to our astonishment +we saw the Baron Zimmer and his valet following at his heels. We rose. +The young Baron approached to greet us with uncovered head, and I +studied with interest his handsome face, pale and haughty, with long, +black locks falling about it. He paused before Sperver. + +"Monsieur," he said, with that pure Saxon accent that no dialect can +imitate, "I come to ask you about the country hereabouts. Mademoiselle +the Countess of Nideck assures me that no one can inform me as well as +yourself in regard to the passes of the Wald Horn." + +"I believe that is true, monsieur," replied Sperver with a low bow; "and +I am entirely at your service." + +"Imperative reasons compel me to set out in the midst of this storm," +resumed the Baron, pointing to the eddying flakes outside; "I must +reach the Wald Horn, six leagues from here, before nightfall." + +"That will be a difficult matter, monsieur, for all the roads are +blocked with snow." + +"I know it, but it must be done." + +"A guide will be indispensable in that case. I will go with you if you +like, monsieur, or Sebalt Kraft, the master of the hounds; he knows +every inch of the mountain from Unterwalden to the Hunsdruck." + +"Thank you for your obliging offer; I appreciate it most fully, but I +cannot accept it; your instructions will be sufficient." + +Sperver bowed again, and going over to a window, threw it wide open. A +quick gust of wind whirled the snow clear across the room and closed the +door with a crash. I remained standing with one hand resting on the back +of my chair; Tobias took refuge from the cold draught in a corner of the +chamber. The Baron and his servant approached the window. + +[Illustration: "YONDER YOU SEE THE PEAK OF THE ALTENBERG.'"] + +"Messieurs," said Sperver, trying to make himself heard above the noise +of the storm, and pointing towards the horizon, "this is the lay of the +country. If the day were clear, I would take you up to the signal-tower, +where we could see the whole of the Black Forest, until it becomes lost +to view in the distance; but as it is, I will do my best from here. +Yonder you see the peak of the Altenberg, and further off, in the same +line, just back of that white ridge, the Wald Horn, swept by the +tempest. You must go straight towards the Wald Horn. There, if the snow +permits, you will see from the top of the mitre-shaped rock that is +called the Roche Fendue, three peaks: the Behrenkopf, the Geierstein, +and the Triefels. It is by the last one, the furthest to the right, that +you must make your way. A torrent divides the valley of the Rhethal, but +it must be frozen over now. However, if it is impossible to proceed +further, you will find on your left, as you climb the summit, a cavern +half-way to the top, known as the Roche Creuse. You can pass the night +there, and to-morrow, in all probability, when the wind has fallen, you +will see the Wald Horn." + +"Many thanks for your kindness." + +"If you are fortunate enough to meet with a charcoal burner," continued +Sperver, "he may be able to show you where the torrent can be forded, +but I doubt if there is any such place at this season. Have a special +care to keep around the base of the Behrenkopf, for if you get much to +either side of it, the descent is impossible; there are precipices +everywhere." + +During these observations, I was watching Sperver, whose clear, ready +speech accentuated each sentence with great precision, and I glanced +occasionally at the Baron, who was listening with singular attention. No +obstacle seemed to daunt him. His old servant appeared no less resolute +than he. + +Just as they were leaving the window, a ray of light broke through the +clouds as the tempest seized the masses of snow and whirled them for an +instant back upon each other like a floating drapery, and during this +instant the three peaks behind the Altenberg were disclosed to view, +serving to illustrate the details which Sperver had just given. Then the +blizzard once more closed in. + +"Good!" said the Baron; "I have seen my destination, and thanks to your +instructions, I hope to reach it." + +Sperver bowed without replying, and the young man and his servant, +together with Offenloch, having saluted us, silently withdrew. + +Gideon closed the window, and addressing himself to me: "The Old Nick +must possess a man," he said, laughing, "to set out in such weather! I +shouldn't have the heart to turn a wolf outdoors. I believe I have seen +the young man's face before, and the old one's, too, if I could only +think where. Let us drink! Your health, Gaston!" + +I had gone over to the window, and as the Baron Zimmer and his servant +climbed into their saddles in the middle of the courtyard, I saw, in +spite of the snow that filled the air, a curtain slightly raised in the +tower opposite, and the pale face of the Countess appear, glancing long +and furtively at the young man. + +"Ha, Gaston, what are you doing?" cried Sperver. + +"Nothing. I am only looking at the strangers' horses." + +"Oh, yes, the Wallachians! I saw them in the stable this morning. They +are fine creatures." + +The horsemen departed at full speed. The curtain in the tower window +dropped. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +MARIE LAGOUTTE RELATES HER EXPERIENCE. + + +When I again saw Odile her expression was one of complete wretchedness; +her swollen eyes told me that she had been weeping long, and her extreme +pallor and weariness cut me to the heart. + +"My dear mademoiselle," I said to her, with forced cheerfulness, "we +must not be despondent. The turning-point of the malady must soon +arrive, and this crisis safely passed, we may expect to see the Count in +as good health as before." + +She looked at me with an expression of gratitude for my wish to console +her, but underlying it, I felt there was a quiet conviction to the +contrary, and I realized the weakness of my position when I reflected +that she might very probably be possessed of facts, unknown to me, which +entirely disproved my words. + +"At all events," she replied, after a pause of some moments, "it is +grateful to know that there is some one who shares our anxieties and has +the desire really at heart to mitigate them." + +"You speak truly, mademoiselle," I returned. "I desire nothing so much +as to see peace and contentment restored to this house, and I only wish +that I possessed a thousandfold more power to accomplish it than I do. +But whatever my skill is, it shall be devoted to this one end; and I +shall not despair of success until all my efforts have proved +unavailing." + +I was surprised at my own warmth a moment after; but Odile's glance +satisfied me that I had not transgressed the limits of that reserve with +which she surrounded herself. + +"And furthermore," I continued, encouraged by this fact to speak what I +had for some time meditated, "if I might add the advice of a friend to +that of the doctor, I should beg of you to spare yourself as much as +possible in the matter of night watches and too unremitting a care of +the Count, for a true woman's strength is exhausted long before her +will, and you owe it to your friends as well as to yourself to preserve +the life which God has entrusted to you." + +Odile lowered her eyes, then raised them; and as I approached and lifted +to my lips the hand which she gave me, I surprised there a look which +opened up to me a world of speculation. + +I returned to my chamber, where I found an hour none too long to calm in +a measure the exuberance of feeling to which my moments with Odile +invariably gave rise. + +Inclination made me quite as much concerned to spare Odile the suffering +which her father's revolting harshness in his moments of delirium caused +her, as to restore the Count to health, for after the morning's +experience I felt that my pity for the sick man had, in spite of +myself, largely given place to loathing; and I felt too, with Sperver, +that I could throttle him as he continued to heap injuries upon his +daughter's defenceless head. + +However, there was but one way to alter the present condition of things +and to establish a better one; namely, to effect the Count's cure, and I +resolved that the best effort of my life should be expended here. +Meanwhile I knew not where to begin. Medicines used otherwise than as +opiates seemed lacking in the smallest efficacy. I saw nothing for it +but to await developments. + +To remonstrate with Odile in the matter of the vow which she had taken +was clearly out of the question, though I was curious to see if any +yielding on her part would effect the change in her father's condition +which he averred it would. + +And the reason of her absolute refusal to entertain even the thought of +marriage? What could it be? She was not without feeling, a fact +sufficiently demonstrated by her unswerving devotion to the Count. Nor +did it seem to me that she could regard with disdain the fulfilment of +that position which is the noblest aim and achievement of womankind, and +which she was so eminently fitted by every circumstance of fortune to +occupy and adorn. It could not be that there was any lack of +understanding; for at times, when I surprised her glance resting upon +me, I read in it a depth of sensibility that seemed almost +unfathomable; and that its possessor was all kindness, in the strongest +and best sense of the term, I was convinced. Of the answer to this +riddle, it seemed then, I must forever remain in ignorance; but while +any chance remained to solve it, I was determined to do so at all costs. + +Meanwhile the Count's illness continued its course. All that Sperver had +told me verified itself. Sometimes the Count, starting up and leaning on +his elbow with outstretched neck and staring eyes, would mutter, "She is +coming! She is coming!" Then Gideon would shake his head and climb the +signal-tower; but in vain did he look to right and left: the Black +Plague was nowhere to be seen. + +After long reflection upon this strange malady, I had finally persuaded +myself that the Count was deranged. The singular influence which the old +creature exerted upon his mind, his alternate periods of delirium and +calm, all served to strengthen me in this opinion. "Unknown chains unite +his fate with that of the Black Plague," I said to myself. "That woman +may have been young and beautiful in the past; who knows?" and my +imagination, once launched in this direction, soon built up a romance; +but I was careful to mention nothing of my thoughts,--Sperver would +never have forgiven me for entertaining suspicions of a relationship +between his master and the hag. + +During these anxious days, the one bright thing in my life was Odile's +presence. Had it not been for this, I doubt if I should longer have +preserved any degree of hope. + +I know not if I myself quite realized the extent of my growing affection +for Odile, but certain it is that with each day her image became more +and more identified with all that I held dearest in the world, and as I +moved about the old Castle halls and chambers, the library, the +drawing-room, the chapel, her fair figure and light step accompanied me +in fancy, and I likened her to the delicate, fragrant rose, which in +summer blossomed and waved from the rough interstices of the Castle's +battlements. + +Things were in this pass when one morning, at about eight o'clock, I was +walking up and down in Hugh's Tower thinking of the Count's malady, the +outcome of which I could foresee no more clearly than before, and +cudgelling my wits to determine what was next to be done. Suddenly I was +roused from these cheerless reflections by three discreet taps on my +door. + +"Come in!" + +The door opened, and Marie Lagoutte entered, dropping a low courtesy. +The worthy woman's arrival annoyed me a good deal; I was on the point of +asking her to leave me for the present, when an expression of unusual +seriousness on her face aroused my curiosity. She had thrown a large +red-and-green shawl over her shoulders, and stood with her lips pursed +up and her eyes on the floor. It surprised me not a little to see her, +after a moment, approach the door and open it again, apparently to make +sure that no one had followed her. + +"What does she want of me?" I asked myself. "What do all these +precautions mean?" I was puzzled. + +"Monsieur," she said at length, drawing nearer me, "I beg your pardon +for disturbing you so early in the morning, but I have something +important to tell you." + +"Pray go on! What is it about?" + +"It is about the Count." + +"Ah!" + +"Yes, monsieur; you probably know that I sat up with him last night." + +"I know you did. Pray sit down!" + +She seated herself in a chair opposite me, a big, leather-covered +armchair, and I remarked with interest the energetic character of the +face which had seemed to me only grotesque on the evening of my arrival +at the Castle. + +"Monsieur," she went on after a brief pause, fixing her dark eyes on me, +"I must tell you first of all that I am not a timid woman. I have seen +many things in my life,--things so terrible that nothing astonishes me +any more. When any one has passed through Rossbach, Leuthen, and +Zorndorf, he has left fear behind him on the road." + +"You speak truly, madame!" + +"I don't tell you this from a desire to boast, but only to convince you +that I don't lose my wits at nothing, and that you may depend upon what +I say when I tell you I have seen something." + +"What the deuce can she have to tell me?" I said to myself. + +"Well!" she continued; "last night, between nine and ten, just as I was +starting up to bed, Offenloch came in and said to me: + +"'Marie, you must sit up with the Count to-night.' + +"I was surprised at this, and replied: + +"'What! sit up with the Count! Isn't madame going to sit up with him +herself?' + +"'No; our mistress is ill, and you must take her place.' + +"Ill, poor child! I was sure it would end that way, and I told her so a +hundred times; but what can you do, monsieur? Young people never have +any thought for the future,--and then, it was her own father, too. So I +took my knitting, said good night to Toby, and went to the master's +room. Sperver, who was waiting for me, went off to bed as soon as I +came in, and I was left all alone." + +Here the good woman paused, slowly breathed up a pinch of snuff, and +seemed to be brushing up her memory. I had become attentive. + +"At about half past ten," she continued, "I was knitting away beside the +bed, and every now and then I raised the curtain to see how the Count +was doing; he never stirred; he was sleeping like a child. All went well +up to eleven o'clock; then I began to feel tired; when you are old, +monsieur, do what you will, you fall asleep in spite of yourself; and +then, too, I didn't think anything was going to happen. I said to +myself, 'He will sleep like a top till morning!' + +"Towards midnight the wind died down, and the big windows that had been +rattling all the evening were quiet. I got up to see if anything was +going on outside. The night was as black as a bottle of ink, and I went +back to my armchair. I took another look at the sick man and I saw that +he hadn't stirred; then I went on knitting. After a few minutes, I fell +slowly, slowly to sleep. My chair was as soft as down and the room was +very warm; I couldn't keep awake. + +"I had been asleep about an hour, when a draught of cold air woke me. I +opened my eyes, and what did I see? The long, middle window was wide +open, the curtains were drawn, and the Count was standing upright on the +window-sill!" + +"The Count?" + +"Yes." + +"Impossible! He cannot move!" + +"I couldn't believe my eyes; but, nevertheless, I saw him as plainly as +I see you this minute. He held a torch in his hand, and the air was so +still that its flame never wavered." + +I stared at Marie Lagoutte, stupefied. + +"At first," she went on, "when I saw the master in this extraordinary +position, it made such an effect on me that I wanted to scream; but then +I thought, 'Perhaps he is walking in his sleep; if you cry out and wake +him he will fall and be dashed to pieces.' So I kept still and watched +him, as you can fancy. He raised his torch slowly, and then he lowered +it, and he did this three times, like a man making signals to some one; +then he threw it down on to the ramparts, closed the window, and drew +the curtains; he passed before me without appearing to see me, and got +into bed again muttering Heaven knows what." + +"Are you certain you saw all this, madame?" + +"Perfectly!" + +"It is strange!" + +"Yes, I know it, but it is true! Goodness, how astonished I was for a +moment! Then, when I saw him go back to bed again and cross his hands +over his breast as if nothing had happened, I said to myself, 'Marie +Anne, you have had a bad dream; that is the only explanation of it!' and +I went over to the window. But the torch was still burning; it had +fallen into a bush a little to the left of the third gate, and you +could see it glowing like a spark. There was no denying it!" + +Marie Lagoutte looked at me for some minutes without speaking. + +"You can imagine, monsieur, that there was no more sleep for me that +night. I was on tenter-hooks; every moment I thought I heard something +behind my chair. I wasn't afraid, but I was uneasy; it worried me. This +morning, at the first signs of day, I ran to wake up Offenloch, and I +sent him to the Count's bedside. As I went along the corridor I noticed +that the first torch on the right was missing from its ring. I went down +the stairs, and I found it in the little path that leads to the Black +Forest. See! here it is!" + +And she took from under her apron the end of a torch, which she laid on +the table. I was thunderstruck. How could this man, whom but the night +before I had seen so weak and exhausted, have risen from his bed, walked +to the window, and opened and closed the heavy sash? What did this +midnight signal mean? Wide awake as I was, it seemed to me as if I, too, +had witnessed the strange scene, and my thoughts reverted involuntarily +to the Black Plague. I roused myself at last from introspection, and I +saw Marie Lagoutte had risen and was about to depart. + +"Madame," I said, as I moved with her to the door, "you have acted +wisely in telling me this, and I thank you heartily for doing so. You +have told no one else of this adventure?" + +"No one, monsieur. Such things are only to be confided to the priest +and doctor." + +"Ah! I see you are a very sensible person." + +These words were exchanged on my threshold. At this moment, Sperver +appeared at the end of the gallery, followed by his friend Sebalt. + +"Ho, Gaston!" he cried, hurrying up; "I have news for you!" + +"Well, well!" I exclaimed; "more news. The Old Harry is most certainly +taking a hand in our affairs." + +Marie Lagoutte had disappeared. The steward and his comrade entered the +Tower. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +SEBALT TRACKS THE PLAGUE. + + +Sperver's face wore a look of supreme indignation; Sebalt's one of +bitter irony. The master of the hounds, whose melancholy appearance had +struck me during my first days at Nideck, was as thin as a rail; he wore +a leather jacket fastened at the waist by a belt, from which hung a +hunting-knife with a bone handle; long leather gaiters reached above his +knees, and his horn hung at his elbow from a shoulder belt that went +from right to left across his chest. On his head was a broad-brimmed hat +with a heron's plume in the band, and his profile, terminating in a +yellowish beard, suggested that of a goat. + +"Yes," continued Sperver; "I have some news for you!" + +He threw himself into a chair, burying his face in his hands, while +Sebalt quietly drew his trumpet over his head and laid it on the table. + +"Come, Sebalt," cried Gideon, "speak out!" + +"The witch is roaming about the Castle." + +This information would have failed to interest me had it not been for +the interview with Marie Lagoutte; but now it made a deep impression +upon me. There was some mysterious connection between the Lord of Nideck +and this horrid creature, the nature of which was an enigma to me. I +felt that I must solve it at all costs. + +"One moment, gentlemen! one moment!" I said to Sperver and his comrade; +"first of all, I want to know where this Black Plague comes from." + +Sperver stared at me in astonishment. + +"Heaven only knows!" he cried. + +"At precisely what time does she come within sight of Nideck?" + +"I told you before! Just a week before Christmas every year." + +"And she stays?" + +"From a fortnight to three weeks." + +"Is she ever seen except at that time, either going or coming?" + +"No." + +"Then we shall have to catch her!" I exclaimed. "This is not natural! +We must find out what she wants, who she is, and where she comes from." + +"Catch her!" said the master of the hounds, with an odd smile. "Catch +her, indeed!" and he shook his head meaningly. + +"My dear Gaston," began Sperver, "your suggestion is all well enough, +but it is easier said than done. If I could send a bullet after her, +that would be another matter, for I can always come within gunshot of +her, but this the Count forbids; and as to taking her otherwise, you +might as well try to catch a squirrel by the tail. Listen to Sebalt's +story, and you shall see for yourself." + +The person thus addressed, sitting on the end of the table with his legs +crossed, looked at me and began: + +"This morning, as I was coming down the Altenberg, I followed the hollow +Nideck road. The snow was on a level with its edges. I was going along, +thinking of nothing in particular, when a foot-track caught my eye; it +was deep, and went straight across the path; the creature had come down +one side of the bank and gone up on the other. It wasn't a hare's foot, +for that makes hardly any mark in the snow; nor the cloven hoof of the +wild boar, nor a wolf's paw either; it was a deep hole. I stopped and +brushed away the snow that was collecting round it. It was the Black +Plague's track!" + +"How do you know that?" + +"How do I know it? I know the old hag's footprint better than her +figure, for I always go along with my eyes on the ground. I can +recognize any one in the country around by his foot-tracks, and a child +couldn't have mistaken this one." + +"What was there about it so very different from any other?" + +"It is no larger than your hand; it is finely shaped, the heel a trifle +long, the outline clean, and the great toe lies close to the others, as +if they were pressed into a slipper. It is a beautiful foot. Twenty +years ago, monsieur, I should have fallen in love with such a foot! +Every time I come across one like it, it makes a great impression on me. +Heavens! how can such a foot belong to the Black Plague?" And the good +fellow fixed his eyes on the floor with a dismal air. + +"Well, Sebalt, go on!" said Sperver impatiently. + +"To be sure! Well, I recognized the track, and I set out to follow it. I +was in hopes of catching the witch in her den, but you shall hear what a +dance she led me. I climbed up the roadside, only two gunshots from +Nideck, and struck off into the bushes, keeping the trail always on my +right; it ran along the edge of the Rhethal. Suddenly it jumped over the +ditch into the woods. I kept on, but happening to glance a little to the +left of it, I discovered another track that had been following the Black +Plague's. I stopped; 'Could it be Sperver's? or Kasper Trumpf's? or any +of the other people's?' I asked myself. I stooped over and examined it +closely, and you can fancy my surprise when I saw that it belonged to +nobody in this part of the country. I know every footprint from here to +Tuebingen, and it was none of these. The owner must have come from a +distance. The boot--for it was a kind of soft, well-made boot, with a +spur that left a little rowelled line in the snow behind it--instead of +being rounded at the end, was square; the sole, thin and without nails, +bent at every step. The pace was short and hurried, like that of a man +from twenty to twenty-five. I noticed the stitches in the leather at +this glance, and I have never seen finer." + +"Who could it have been?" + +Sperver shrugged his shoulders and remained silent. + +"Who can have any object in following the old woman?" I asked, turning +to Sperver. + +"The devil himself, perhaps," he replied. + +We sat for some minutes, each one busied with his own reflections. + +"I started on again," pursued Sebalt finally; "the tracks led up the +mountain side amongst the fir-trees, and then turned off around the base +of the Roche Fendue. When I saw this, I said to myself, 'Ah! you old +hag! If there was much game of your sort, the sport of hunting would go +to the dogs. It would be better to work as a galley slave!' We came--the +two tracks and I--to the top of the Schneeberg. The wind had swept here +and the snow was up to my waist, but I must get on! I reached the banks +of the Steinbach torrent and there the Black Plague's foot-prints +ceased. I stopped, and saw that after having tried up and down, the +gentleman's boots had taken the direction of the Tiefenbach. This was a +bad sign. I looked at the opposite bank, but there was no sign of a +track there. The witch had waded either up or down the stream, to break +the scent. Where should I go? To right or left? In my uncertainty, by +Jove, I came back to Nideck." + +"You have forgotten to tell the doctor about her breakfast." + +"To be sure, monsieur! At the foot of the Roche Fendue, I saw she had +lighted a fire; the snow was black around it; and I laid my hand on the +spot, thinking that if it were still warm the Plague could not be far +away, but it was as cold as ice. I noticed a snare in the bushes close +by." + +"A snare?" + +"Yes; it seems the old creature knows how to manage traps. A hare had +been caught in it; the impression of his body was still there where he +had lain stretched out. The witch had lighted the fire to cook him; she +knows a thing or two, you see!" + +"Just to think," cried Sperver angrily, "that this old wretch should +find meat to feed on, when so many honest people of our villages are +starving for the want of a bit of bread! It infuriates me! If I only had +her in my clutches--!" + +He had no time to finish his sentence. The next moment, we were staring +into each other's ashy faces, speechless and immovable. A howl--the howl +of a wolf on a bitter winter's night--a cry that you must have heard to +comprehend in the least, the agonized plaint of the savage beast,--was +echoing through the Castle, and seemed not far from us. It rose from +below, so fearfully distinct that we fancied the wild animal just +outside our door. + +We often hear quoted, as the most terrible of sounds, the roar of the +lion, as he rends the silence of approaching night in the immensity of +the desert. But if the parched and burning sands of Africa have their +voice, like the sound of the autumn tempest growling among the crags of +the forest, so, too, have the vast, snowy plains of the North their +characteristic cry, that accords so well with the dreary winter +landscape, where all is sleeping, and not even a dead leaf rustles to +disturb the perfect stillness; and this cry,--it is the howl of the +wolf! + +Rousing himself with difficulty, Sperver sprang from his chair, rushed +to the window, and stared down at the foot of the Tower. + +"Can a wolf have fallen into the moat?" he cried. + +But the howls came from within the Castle. Then turning to us: + +"Gaston! Sebalt!" he cried, "come on!" + +We flew down the stairs four steps at a time, and rushed into the +armory. Sperver drew his hunting-knife, and Sebalt followed his example; +they preceded me along the gallery. The cries were guiding us towards +the chamber of the sick man. Sperver spoke no more, and hurried his +steps. I felt a shudder pass over me; something forewarned us that an +abominable scene was about to transpire before our eyes. + +As we approached the Count's apartment, we found the whole household +afoot--hunters, kennel-keepers, and scullions, running this way and +that, and asking each other, "What is the matter? where are the cries +coming from?" Without waiting for anything, we dashed into the corridor +which led to the Count's chamber, and in the vestibule we encountered +the good Marie Lagoutte, who alone had had the courage to proceed there +before us. She was holding in her arms the young Countess, who had +fainted, and was hurrying her away as rapidly as she could. So agitated +was I at this pathetic sight that for the moment I forgot the Count, and +I sprang forward to Odile's aid; but Marie Lagoutte begged me to hurry +to the Count, as her mistress was only in a faint and would soon revive, +when she would be terribly distressed if I were not at her father's +bedside. Realizing that in spite of my preferences my first duty was to +my patient, I reluctantly quitted them, and hastened to overtake my +companions. + +We reached the Count's room. The howls were coming from within. + +[Illustration: "THEN HE WOULD RESUME HIS FRIGHTFUL CRIES."] + +We stared at one another, trying in vain to explain the presence of such +a guest. Our ideas were in utter confusion. Sperver threw open the door, +and with his hunting-knife tightly grasped, started to enter the room; +but he paused on the threshold, motionless as a stone. I glanced over +his shoulder, and the sight that presented itself to my gaze froze +the blood in my veins. The Count of Nideck, crouching on all-fours on +the bed, his head bent forward and his eyes glowing fiercely, was +uttering these terrible howls. He was the wolf! That low forehead, that +long, pointed face, that bristling beard, that long, thin body, and +those wasted limbs,--the expression, the cry, the attitude,--all bespoke +the savage beast beneath a human mask. At times he would stop for a +second to listen, and the tall curtains of the bed would tremble like +leaves. Then he would resume his frightful cries. + +Sperver, Sebalt, and I stood nailed to the floor; we held our breath. +Suddenly the Count stopped; like the hunted animal that sniffs the +breeze, he raised his head and listened. Far, far away beneath the +lofty arches of the snow-clad pines, a cry was heard; feeble at first, +it seemed to grow louder as it was prolonged, and soon it rose clear and +strong above the roaring of the storm. It was the she-wolf answering its +mate. + +Sperver, turning towards me with livid face, his arm pointing to the +mountain, cried: + +"Listen, it is the witch!" + +The Count, motionless, with raised head and extended neck, his mouth +wide open, and eyeballs glowing like coals, seemed to understand the +meaning of the distant voice, lost in the midst of the deserted gorges +of the Black Forest, and a certain savage joy gleamed in his face. At +this moment Sperver cried in a broken voice: + +"Count of Nideck! What are you doing?" + +The Count fell backwards as if thunderstruck. We rushed into the room to +his assistance. The third attack had begun, and it was terrible to +witness. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +THE PLAGUE IN MY CHAMBER.--THE MIDNIGHT SCENE ON THE ALTENBERG. + + +The Count of Nideck was in a dying condition. All that art might +accomplish I had tried without avail, and at that moment, when life and +death were struggling for the mastery, I was compelled to stand idly by +and watch the sands of Time's hour-glass run out. Towards midnight, the +Count seemed almost gone; his pulse beat feebly, and at times seemed to +stop. Sometimes I thought the end was but the question of a few moments. +At length, worn out with exhaustion and anxiety, I bid the weeping +Sperver remain with his master while I repaired to the Tower to snatch +a few moments' sleep. + +A bright fire was burning in my chamber. I threw myself on the bed +without removing my clothes, and soon fell into a heavy, troubled +slumber. I slept thus, with my face turned towards the fire, whose rays +danced upon the polished flagstones. After an hour, the fire suddenly +started up, and as it often happens, the flame, rising and falling +momentarily, beat upon the walls its great red wings and tired my +eyelids. Lost in a vague slumber, I half opened my eyes to see whence +came these alternate lights and shadows, when I was brought wide awake +by an appalling sight. + +[Illustration: "I RAISED MYSELF ON MY ELBOW AND STARED FEARFULLY IN THE +DIRECTION."] + +At the further end of the hearth, hardly revealed by the light of a few +glowing embers, a dark profile was dimly visible,--the profile of the +Black Plague. At first, I thought it an hallucination, the natural +offspring of my feverish thoughts. I raised myself on my elbow, and +stared fearfully in the direction, real or fancied, of the image. It was +she indeed! Calm and motionless she sat, her hands clasped about her +knees, just as I had seen her in the snow, with her long, thin neck, +sharp, hooked nose, and thin lips tightly closed,--and she was warming +herself before the fire. + +I was horrified. How could the creature have got into my room? How could +she have climbed the Tower, beneath which precipices yawned on every +side? Everything that Sperver had told me concerning her mysterious +power seemed no whit exaggerated. The vision of Lieverle growling +against the wall passed before me like a flash. I huddled close in the +alcove, hardly daring to breathe, and watching this immovable silhouette +as a mouse watches a cat from the bottom of its hole. The old woman +stirred no more than the chimney-breast cut in the solid rock, and her +lips moved as she mumbled inarticulate words. + +My heart beat painfully fast, and my fear increased from moment to +moment, as I gazed on the motionless figure amid the perfect silence. +This lasted perhaps a quarter of an hour, when the fire catching a pine +splinter, the flame leaped up and a few rays penetrated to the end of +the room. This flash sufficed to show me the aged woman dressed in an +old gown of purple brocade that shimmered violet and red in different +lights, with a heavy bracelet on her left wrist and a gold arrow stuck +through her thick, gray hair, which was coiled up on the back of her +head. It was like an apparition of past ages. + +Still, the Plague could have no hostile designs upon me, or she would +have profited by my slumber to execute them. This thought was beginning +to reassure me, when she suddenly got up and moved slowly towards my +bed, holding in her hand a torch which she had just lighted at the fire. +I now observed that her eyes were fixed and haggard. I made an effort to +rise and cry out, but not a muscle of my body would obey my will, not a +sound passed my lips, and the old witch, bending over me between the +parted curtains, fixed her eyes on me with a strange smile. I tried to +spring upon her and cry for help, but her glance paralyzed me as the +snake's look charms the tiny bird. During this dumb contemplation, each +second seemed to me an eternity. What was she about to do? I was +prepared for anything. Suddenly she turned her head, listened, and then +crossing the room with a rapid step, she opened the door. At last I had +recovered a little courage; an effort of the will brought me to my feet, +as if acted upon by an invisible spring, and I followed on the heels of +the old woman, who with one hand was holding her torch above her head, +and with the other kept the hall-door wide open. + +I was about to seize her by the hair when, at the end of the long +gallery, beneath the oval archway that opened upon the ramparts, I +saw--the Count of Nideck! The Count of Nideck, whom I thought dying, +clad in a huge wolf-skin, with its upper jaw projecting like a visor +over his eyebrows, the claws resting on his shoulders, and the tail +dragging behind him over the flagstones. He wore heavy boots, a silver +clasp fastened the wolf-skin at his throat, and his expression, except +for the dull, icy look in his eyes, bespoke the strong man born to +command,--the master. + +In the presence of such a personage my ideas became vague and confused. +Flight was impossible. I had presence of mind enough left, however, to +throw myself into an embrasure of the window. + +The Count entered the chamber and fixed upon the old woman a rigid +stare. They held a whispered conversation, of which I was able to hear +nothing, but their gestures were full of meaning. The old hag pointed to +the bed. They moved to the fireplace on tiptoe, and there in the shadow +of the triforium the Black Plague unrolled a large bundle, grinning +hideously meanwhile. Hardly had the Count caught sight of the sack, +before he sprang to the bedside and disappeared between the curtains, +which stirred in a strange fashion. I could only see one leg still +resting on the floor, and the wolf's tail moving back and forth. They +seemed to be enacting a mock murder scene. + +Nothing could have been more horrible than this mute representation of +such an act. The old creature approached the bed in turn, and spread out +her sack on the floor beside it. The curtains still moved, and their +shadows danced upon the walls. Then a great movement succeeded. The old +creature and the Count together crowded the bed clothes into the sack, +stamping them down with the haste of a dog scratching a hole in the +earth, and the Lord of Nideck, throwing the shapeless bundle over his +shoulder, started for the door. A sheet dragged behind him, and the old +woman followed him with her torch. They crossed the court. + +My knees trembled and almost refused to support my weight; a prayer rose +involuntarily to my lips. Two minutes had not passed before I was on +their footsteps, dragged along by a subtle, irresistible curiosity. I +crossed the court at a run, and was about to enter the Gothic Tower, +when I perceived a deep, narrow pit at my feet, and into its depths +wound a staircase, down which I saw the hag's torch turning, turning +about the stone baluster like a firefly, until it became lost in the +distance. + +I descended in turn the first steps of the staircase, guiding my course +by the distant glimmer, when it suddenly disappeared. The old woman and +the Count had reached the bottom of the precipice. Soon the steps +ceased. I looked around me and discovered on my left hand a ray of +moonlight that found its way into the pit through a low door, across +the nettles and brambles laden with hoar-frost. I put aside these +bushes, clearing away the snow with my feet, and found myself at the +foot of Hugh's donjon-tower. Who would have supposed that such a hole +led up to the Castle? Who had shown it to the old woman? I did not stop +to answer these questions. The vast plain lay before me, flooded with a +light almost equal to that of day. To the right stretched the dark +extent of the Black Forest, with its perpendicular rocks, its gorges and +ravines. The night air was still and bitter cold; I felt exalted by the +keen atmosphere. My first glance was to discover the direction which the +old woman and the Count had taken. Their tall, dark forms were moving +slowly up the mountain side some two hundred paces in advance of me, +and stood out against the background of the heavens studded with +innumerable stars. I came close up to them at the bottom of the next +ravine. The Count moved slowly on, the winding-sheet still dragging +behind him. His attitude and movements, like those of his companion, +were automatic in their precision. + +On they went, some twenty paces before me, following the hollow road to +the Altenberg, now in the shadow, now in the full light, for the moon +was shining with surprising brilliancy. A few clouds followed her, and +seemed as if stretching out their great arms to seize her; but she +evaded them, and her rays, cold as a blade of steel, cut me to the +heart. + +I would gladly have turned back, but an invisible power impelled me to +follow this funeral procession. Even to this hour, I still see in fancy +the path that winds beneath the colonnades of the Black Forest. I hear +the snow crunching beneath my step, and the fallen leaves rustling in +the gently stirring north wind. I still see myself following those two +silent figures, and I try in vain to explain to myself the mysterious +impulse which caused me to dog their footsteps. + +At last we reached the forest and proceeded amongst the naked beeches, +the dark shadows of whose higher boughs intersected the lower branches +and traced their outlines on the snow-covered path. Sometimes I fancied +I heard some one behind me; I would turn quickly around, but could see +nothing. + +We gained at length the line of crags on the summit of the Altenberg, +behind which the torrent of the Schneeberg rushes earlier in the year, +but now there was only a mere thread of water slowly trickling beneath +its thick covering of ice. The vast solitude no longer had its murmurs, +its warblings, and its thunder; its oppressive stillness inspired fear. +The Count and the old woman found a gap in the rocks, up which they +mounted quickly and apparently without effort, while I was obliged to +scramble up, clinging to the bushes in order to follow them. + +Scarcely had I reached the top of the rock which forms a corner of the +precipice, when I found myself within three yards of them, and before +me I saw a bottomless abyss. On the left hung the falls of the +Schneeberg in sheets of ice. This resemblance to a wave leaping into the +precipice, and bearing with it the neighboring trees, sucking up the +underbrush and cleaving the ivys that follow on its crest without +becoming uprooted; this appearance of mighty movement in the +immovableness of death, and those two silent forms proceeding with their +sinister work, all inspired me with indescribable terror. Nature herself +seemed to share in my feelings. + +The Count had laid down his burden; the old woman and he swung it for a +moment above the precipice, then the long shroud floated over the edge, +and the actors in this awful drama bent over to watch it as it fell. +The long, white sheet, swelling upwards as it met the rising breath of +the chasm, and then falling slowly and disappearing from sight, still +floats before my eyes. I see it sinking like the swan shot far up in the +sky, her wings spread out and head thrown back, falling to earth in the +agony of death. + +At this moment a cloud which had long been approaching the moon slowly +veiled her in its bluish folds; complete darkness succeeded. After a +little the moon appeared again through a rift in the clouds, and I saw +the old woman seize the Count's hand and drag him along with dangerous +speed down the mountain side. Then it became dark again, and I dared not +risk a step lest I should fall headlong into an abyss. Once more the +clouds parted. I looked about me and found myself alone on the high +rock, knee-deep in snow. Seized with horror, I made my way cautiously +down the steep declivity, and once on the plain I started to run towards +the Castle, as much stunned as if I had shared in some dark crime. + +As for the Lord of Nideck and the old woman, I had lost sight of them. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +I LOSE MY WAY AND PASS THE NIGHT IN THE DWARF'S LODGE. + + +I wandered around the Castle, unable to find the opening through which I +had come out on to the plain. So much anxiety and emotion began to tell +upon my mind; I moved aimlessly along, asking myself with dread if +madness were not playing a part in my fancies, unable to believe what I +had seen, and yet alarmed at the clearness of my perceptions. The image +of the master of Nideck waving his torch in the darkness, howling like a +wolf, coolly accomplishing an imaginary crime, without omitting a +gesture, a circumstance, not even the smallest detail, then escaping and +committing to the abyss the secret of the murder, harassed my mind and +hung over me like a nightmare. I ran breathless and distracted through +the snow, not knowing in what direction to guide my steps. + +As day approached, the cold became more intense. At last, exhausted, my +legs feeling like lead, and my ears half frozen, I succeeded in +discovering the iron grating, and I rang the bell with all my might. It +was then about four o'clock in the morning. Knapwurst kept me waiting a +terribly long time. His little lodge, built against the rock, just +within the principal gate, remained quite silent; it seemed to me that +the dwarf would never finish dressing, for I had fancied him in bed and +soundly sleeping. + +I rang again, and this time his grotesque figure emerged abruptly from +his doorway, and he cried furiously: + +"Who's there?" + +"I! The Doctor!" + +"Ah! that is another matter! I'll see whether you are telling the +truth." + +He went back into his lodge to get a lantern, crossed the outer court +with the snow up to his middle, and staring at me through the grating: + +"I beg your pardon, monsieur the doctor," he said; "I thought you were +asleep up-stairs in Hugh's Tower. It was you ringing! Now I see why +Sperver came to me at midnight to ask if any one had gone out. I said +no, for I never saw you go out." + +"But for Heaven's sake, Knapwurst, open the door! You can tell me all +this later." + +"Be patient for a moment, monsieur." + +And the dwarf deliberately turned the lock and drew back the bolts, +while I stood with my teeth chattering, and shivering from head to foot. + +"You are cold, Doctor," observed the diminutive porter, "and you cannot +get into the Castle. Sperver has fastened the inside door, I don't know +why; he doesn't ordinarily; the grating is enough. Come into the lodge +and warm yourself. You won't find my room much to boast of; properly +speaking, it is nothing but a sty, but when you are cold you don't spend +much time in looking about." + +Without replying to his chatter I followed him as rapidly as possible, +burning with impatience to learn what things were passing in the Castle, +but seeing nothing for it but to wait till dawn. + +We entered the lodge, and in spite of my state of complete frigidity, I +could not help admiring the picturesque disorder of this species of +nest. The slate roof leaned against the rock on one side, and on the +other against a wall six to seven feet high, disclosing to view the +blackened beams propped up against each other. The lodge consisted of a +single room, furnished with a bed which the gnome did not take the +trouble to make up very often, and two small dusty windows with +hexagonal panes which the moon turned to mother-of-pearl with its pale +rays. A large, square table occupied the middle of the room. How this +massive oak table had ever been brought through the narrow doorway, it +would have been difficult to explain. Upon a few shelves were arranged +some old volumes and rolls of parchment, and on the table lay open an +enormous tome with illuminated initial letters, bound in vellum, with a +silver clasp and corners; it looked to me like a collection of old +chronicles. Lastly, two armchairs, one covered with red leather and the +other upholstered with a down cushion, and bearing the unmistakable +impression of the dwarf's body, completed the furniture of the place. + +I will not stop to describe the desk with its five or six pens, the +tobacco jar, the pipes scattered variously about, the little, low, iron +stove in one corner of the room, with its door standing open, red hot, +and sending a shower of sparks from time to time on to the stone floor, +and the spitting cat with her back arched and her paw lifted in defiance +of me. + +All these objects were veiled in that smoky amber light which rests the +eye, and of which the old Flemish masters alone possessed the secret. + +"So you went out last night, monsieur the doctor," Knapwurst said to me +when we were comfortably seated, he before his volume and I with my +hands stretched out before the fire. + +"Yes, rather early. A woodcutter of the Black Forest needed my services; +he had cut his left foot with an axe stroke." + +This explanation appeared to satisfy the dwarf; he lighted his black +pipe, which hung down over his chin. + +"You don't smoke, monsieur?" + +"Indeed I do!" + +"Well, help yourself to a pipe! I was just here," he said, stretching +his long, yellow hand over the page, "reading the chronicles of Hertzog +when you rang." + +I now understood why he had kept me standing so long in the cold. + +"You waited to finish your chapter," I said smiling. + +"Yes, monsieur," he admitted; and we laughed together. + +"However, if I had known it was you, I should have put it off till +another time," he added. + +A silence of some minutes followed, during which I studied the truly +remarkable physiognomy of the dwarf: those deep wrinkles at the corners +of his mouth, those little squinting eyes, the broad, unshapely nose +rounded at the end, and especially his swelling, double-storied +forehead. I noticed in his face something of the expression of Socrates, +and as I warmed myself before the crackling blaze, I reflected upon the +strange fortunes of certain of us. + +"Here is this dwarf," I said to myself, "this unsightly, stunted +creature, exiled into a corner of Nideck like the cricket that sings +beneath the hearthstone; this Knapwurst, who, in the midst of all these +excitements, hunting-parties and gay cavalcades going and coming, the +baying of hounds, stamping of horses, and winding of the hunters' horn, +lives quietly alone, buried in his books, and thinking only of times +long past, indifferent whether all is in songs or tears around him, +whether it is spring, summer, or autumn that comes to peep in at him +through his little dusty window panes, reanimating, warming or chilling +the breast of Nature outside. While others are living, blessed with the +hope and magic of love, striving to gratify ambition or avarice, +plotting, coveting, and longing, he hopes for nothing, covets nothing, +wishes nothing. He sits and smokes his pipe, and with his eyes fixed on +the old parchment before him, he dreams and revels in things that no +longer exist, perhaps never had any existence--what matters it to +him--'Hertzog says this,' 'such a one has it differently,'--and he is +happy. His parchment skin gets more and more wrinkled, his sharp elbows +dig holes in the table, while his long fingers bury themselves in his +cheeks, and his little gray eyes roam over Latin, Greek, and Etruscan +characters. He goes into ecstasies, he licks his lips like a cat who has +just lapped up a saucer of cream, and then he lies down on his cot, with +his knees drawn up under the coverlid, and thinks he has passed the best +possible kind of a day. O God of Heaven! Is it at the top or at the +bottom of the ladder that we find the true application of your laws, and +the accomplishment of the duties you have imposed?" + +Meanwhile the snow was melting from my legs, and the grateful warmth of +the stove restored my spirits. I felt reanimated in this atmosphere of +tobacco smoke and resinous pine. Knapwurst laid his pipe on the table, +and passing his hand once more across the folio: + +"Monsieur de la Roche," he said in a grave tone that seemed to come from +the bottom of his conscience, or if you prefer, from the depths of a +twenty-five gallon cask, "here is the law and the prophets." + +"How do you mean, Knapwurst?" + +"Parchment, old parchment, is what I love. These old yellow leaves, +eaten by worms, are all that is left us of times long gone by, from +Charlemagne to our own day. The ancient families have disappeared, but +the old parchments remain. Where would be the glory of the +Hohenstauferns, the Liningens, the Nidecks, and so many other noble +families, were it not for these? Where would be the fame of their +title-rights, their deeds of arms, their heroic actions, their distant +expeditions to the Holy Land, their ancient alliances and claims, and +their conquests, did they not stand in these chronicles? These lofty +barons, dukes, and princes would be as if they never existed--they and +everything relating to them far and near. + +"Their great castles, fortunes, and palaces crumble and fall, and their +ruins serve as vague reminders. Of all this a single memorial +remains,--the chronicles, the history, the songs of bards and +minnesingers,--parchment alone is left to us!" + +A brief silence followed, then Knapwurst resumed: + +"And in those distant times, when brave knights went forth to war, +disputing and fighting over a bit of forest, title, or a lesser matter +yet, with what contempt did they look upon this wretched little scribe, +this man of letters and mystery, clad in ratteen, his only weapon an ink +bottle dangling at his belt, and the handle of his pen for a plume. How +often they jeered him, crying, 'That fellow is an atom, a flea; he is +good for nothing; he cannot even collect our taxes or manage our +estates, while we fine chaps go out on our mounts with lance in hand, +ready for anything that comes in our way!' Thus they talked when they +saw the poor devil dragging along behind them, shivering in winter, +sweating in summer, and growing feeble in his old age. Ah, well! this +atom, this flea, has caused them to survive long after their castles +have turned to dust and their arms have rusted away, and for my part I +love these old parchments; I respect and revere them. Like ivy, they +clothe the ruins and prevent the old walls from crumbling away and +becoming entirely effaced." + +Having given such expression to his thoughts, Knapwurst seemed grave, +and reflecting upon these things his eyes filled with the tears of +affectionate remembrance. The dwarf loved those who had tolerated and +protected his ancestors. After all, he spoke the truth; there was +profound good sense in his words. His warmth surprised me. + +"Have you learned Latin, Knapwurst?" I asked him. + +"Yes, monsieur," he replied, "I taught myself Latin and Greek. Old +grammars were enough,--some of the Count's thrown into the ash-barrel; +they fell into my hands and I devoured them. Some time after, the Lord +of Nideck having chanced to hear me make some Latin quotation was +surprised. + +"'Who taught you Latin, Knapwurst?' he asked. + +"'I taught myself, monseigneur.' + +"He asked me some questions, which I answered pretty well. + +"'By Jove!' he cried, 'Knapwurst knows more than I do! He shall keep my +archives.' + +"And he gave me the key to the archive chamber. During the thirty years +since then, I have read every page. Sometimes the Count, seeing me on my +ladder, stops a minute and says to me: + +"'Ha! ha! What are you doing up there, Knapwurst?' + +"'I am reading the family records, monseigneur.' + +"'And you enjoy it?' + +"'Very much, monseigneur.' + +"'Well, well! I am glad to hear it; if it weren't for you, Knapwurst, +who would know of the glory of the Nidecks?' and he goes off laughing. I +do as I please here!" + +"He is a good master then?" + +"Oh, monsieur, what a heart, and what kindness!" exclaimed the dwarf, +clasping his hands. "He has but one fault." + +"And what is that?" + +"He has no ambition." + +"How so?" + +"Why, he could have attained to anything. A Nideck! One of the most +illustrious families of Germany! Think of that, monsieur! He had only to +choose; he might have been a minister or a field-marshal. But no! In his +youth he retired from political life. With the exception of a campaign +that he conducted in France, at the head of a regiment which he raised +by his own exertions--with this exception, he has always lived far from +noise and strife, simple and almost unknown, only interesting himself in +his hunting." + +These details were of the greatest interest to me. The conversation was +taking, of its own accord, the direction that I most wished, and I +resolved to profit by my opportunity. + +"The Count has never had any great passions in his life, then?" I asked. + +"None, monsieur; and that is the pity, for noble passions make the +renown of great families. It is a misfortune for the member of a noble +race to be devoid of ambition. He allows his family to degenerate. I +could cite many examples in proof of what I say. That which would be the +pride of the tradesman's family, would be the ruin of the illustrious." + +I was amazed; all my speculations regarding the Count's past life were +fast being disproved. + +"However, the Count has met with many reverses, has he not?" + +"Of what nature?" + +"He has lost his wife?" + +"Yes, you are right; his wife was an angel. He married her for love; she +was a daughter of one the oldest and noblest families of Alsace, but +ruined by the Revolution. The Countess Odette was her husband's sole +happiness. She died of a lingering illness that lasted over the space of +five years; every means was resorted to to save her life. They travelled +together in Italy, but she returned worse than she went, and succumbed +some three weeks after their return. The Count came near dying himself +of a broken heart. For two years he shut himself up and would see +nobody. His dogs and horses were neglected. Time at length calmed his +grief, but there has ever been something here." (The dwarf laid his +finger on his heart.) "You understand; it is a bleeding wound. Old +wounds pain us in change of weather, and old griefs, too, when the +flowers spring up above the tomb, and in autumn when the dead leaves +cover the ground. The Count has never wished to marry again; his +daughter is the sole object of his affection." + +"So this marriage was always a happy one?" + +"Happy? It was a blessing for everybody!" + +I was silent. Evidently the Count had not committed, could not have +committed, a crime. I was obliged to yield to the weight of evidence; +but then that nocturnal scene, these strange relations with the Black +Plague, that horrible pantomime and the remorse in a dream which forced +the couple to betray their past--what did it all mean? I became lost in +thought. + +Knapwurst relighted his pipe and reached me one, which I accepted. The +chill which had seized me had by this time passed away. I was +experiencing that delicious period of inaction which follows the fatigue +caused by unusual exertions, when, sprawled out in a big armchair in the +chimney-corner and enveloped in a cloud of smoke, you abandon yourself +to the pleasure of repose and listen to the blending of the cricket's +chant with the unearthly singing of the green log on the hearth. We sat +thus for a quarter of an hour. + +"The Count sometimes gets angry with his daughter," I ventured to +remark. Knapwurst started, and fixing on me a suspicious, almost +hostile look, replied: + +"I know, I know!" + +I watched him with a sidelong glance, thinking that I might learn +something new, but he added ironically: + +"The towers of Nideck are high, and slander flies too low to reach +them!" + +"Undoubtedly; but it is a fact, nevertheless, is it not?" + +"Yes; but this is a mere crotchet, an effect of his malady. Once the +crisis is passed, all his affection for the Countess Odile returns. It +is curious, monsieur, a lover of twenty years could not be more devoted, +more affectionate than he. This young woman is his one joy and pride. +Only fancy, no less than a dozen times I have seen him ride off to get +her a dress, or flowers, or some like trifle. He would not entrust this +commission to any one, not even to his faithful Sperver. The Countess +does not even dare to express a wish in his presence, lest he should +commit some new extravagance. In a word, monsieur, I assure you that the +Count of Nideck is the worthiest of men, the tenderest of fathers, and +the best of masters. As for the poachers who ravaged his forests, the +old Count Ludwig would have hanged them without mercy; but our Count +tolerates them; he even makes them his gamekeepers. Take Sperver, for +instance! If Count Ludwig was still alive, Sperver's bones would be +clicking together like castanets, at the end of a rope, while as it is, +he is the steward and man-of-affairs at the Castle." + +My theories were fast falling to the ground. I rested my head between my +hands and thought for a long time. Knapwurst, supposing that I was +asleep, had resumed his reading. The gray dawn appeared through the tiny +panes; the lamplight paled, and vague murmurs arose within the Castle. +Suddenly footsteps sounded outside, some one passed before the window, +the door opened abruptly, and Gideon appeared on the threshold. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +I AM SUMMONED TO THE COUNTESS' CHAMBER, AND MAKE A CONFESSION. + + +Sperver's pale face and rapid glance intimated that something unusual +was happening; nevertheless, he was calm and did not appear surprised at +my presence in Knapwurst's room. + +"Gaston," he said briefly, "I have come to get you!" + +I rose without replying and followed him. No sooner had we left the +lodge than he seized me by the arm and drew me hastily towards the +Castle. + +"The Countess Odile wants to speak to you," he whispered. + +"The Countess! Is she ill?" + +"No, she is quite recovered, but something unusual is going on. This +morning at about one o'clock, thinking that the Count was about to +breathe his last, I went to wake the Countess, but as I was on the point +of ringing, my heart failed me. 'Why should I fill her with despair?' I +asked myself. 'She will learn of her misfortune soon enough; and then to +wake her up in the middle of the night, when she is so frail and broken +by so much sorrow, might prove her own death-blow.' I stood some minutes +reflecting what course to pursue, and at last I decided to take the +responsibility upon myself, and I returned to the Count's room. I looked +about; no one was there. Impossible! the man was in his last agonies! I +ran along the corridor like a madman; no one was to be seen! I entered +the gallery; no one there! Then I lost my head and rushed again to the +Countess Odile's chamber. This time I rang. She appeared in tears. + +"'My father is dead?' + +"'No, madame!' + +"'He has disappeared?' + +"'Yes; I left the room for a moment, and when I returned--' + +"'And Monsieur de la Roche; where is he?' + +"'In Hugh's Tower.' + +"'In the Tower!' + +"She threw on a dressing-gown, seized a lamp and hurried out. I remained +behind. A quarter of an hour afterwards she returned, her feet covered +with snow, and very pale; it was pitiful to see. She set the lamp on +the mantelpiece, and looking steadily at me, she said: + +"'Was it you who put the doctor in the Tower?' + +"'Yes, madame.' + +"'Unhappy man! you will never know the harm that you have done!' + +"I wanted to reply, but she stopped me. + +"'That is enough! Go and fasten all the doors and lie down. I will sit +up myself. To-morrow morning you will go and find the doctor in +Knapwurst's lodge, and you will bring him to me. Breathe no word of this +to anybody! Remember you have seen nothing and know nothing!'" + +"Is that all, Sperver?" + +He nodded gravely. + +"And the Count?" + +"He has come back again; he seems better." + +We had reached the antechamber. Gideon knocked gently on the door, then +opened it, announcing, "Monsieur the doctor." + +[Illustration: "I STEPPED FORWARD AND FOUND MYSELF IN THE PRESENCE OF +ODILE."] + +I stepped forward and found myself in the presence of Odile. Sperver +withdrew, closing the door behind him. + +A strange impression was produced upon my mind by the appearance of the +young Countess, robed in a long gown of black velvet, and standing pale +and firm with her hand resting on the back of an armchair, her eyes +glistening with a feverish light. + +"Monsieur," she said, pointing to a chair; "pray be seated. I wish to +speak with you upon a very grave subject." + +I obeyed silently. She seated herself in turn, and seemed trying to +arrange her thoughts. + +"Chance, monsieur," she continued after a moment, fixing her large blue +eyes upon me--"chance or Providence, I know not which to call it--has +made you the witness of a mystery in which is involved the honor of our +family." + +She knew everything, then. I was astonished. + +"Let us call it Providence!" I cried. "Who knows but that through me the +spell that has so long overhung the Castle is destined to be broken?" + +"All this is frightful!" she continued; then in a despairing tone, "My +father is not guilty of this crime!" + +I sprang up, and stretching out my hands deprecatingly, I exclaimed: + +"I know it, mademoiselle; I know of the Count's past life, and it is one +of the purest that it would be possible to conceive!" + +Odile half rose from her chair as if to protest against any harsh +judgment of her father, but seeing me myself undertake his defence, she +sank back, and covering her face with her hands, burst into tears. + +"God bless you, monsieur," she murmured; "had you entertained a +suspicion of my father, it would have killed me!" + +"Why, mademoiselle! Who could mistake for realities the unreasoning +actions of the somnambulist?" + +"That is true, monsieur. I had reflected upon this myself--but +appearances--I feared--pardon me--but I should have remembered that you +are a man of honor." + +"Pray, dear Countess, calm yourself!" I exclaimed, feeling myself on the +verge of losing my composure, so deeply was I moved by the grief of my +beloved mistress. + +"No," she cried; "let me weep. These tears are a relief. I have suffered +so for the past ten years! This secret, so long locked in my breast, was +killing me, and I should have died at last like my dear mother! God has +taken pity on me, and he has sent you to share the burden with me. Let +me tell you all, monsieur, let me--" She could not continue; her voice +was stifled in sobs. Her proud and high-strung nature, after having +conquered grief so long, had succumbed to the fateful happening of the +night before; the seal once broken and her secret betrayed, her +vanquished nature, still struggling to shield its sacred trust, sought a +grateful relief in unrestrained tears. + +My one sentiment of love and sympathy, repressed until that moment, now +demanded expression with a power which I was unable to gainsay. I cast +all prudence to the winds, and dropping on one knee beside Odile, I +seized the delicate hands that covered her face and drew them gently +away until her sorrowing glance rested on my face. + +"Odile!" I said, as her name rose naturally to my lips, in a voice so +choked with emotion as to be hardly more than a whisper, "forgive my +rashness, but it no longer rests with me to speak or not as I choose! I +might never have said anything of this, at least not now, but your +suffering affects me so powerfully that to be silent longer is not +within my power. It must have been evident to you, had you cared to read +it, that I love you and have loved you, far, far dearer than life +itself, ever since my eyes first rested upon you in the Count's chamber, +that first night when I came to the Castle. I cannot ask pardon for it! +No! For I am convinced that no man could be near you for even this brief +time and experience the wonderful charm of your being, to say nothing of +witnessing your present sorrow, without feeling himself moved to the +depths of his own nature. Odile, I love you! I see no goal in life but +you, no future but one passed in your divine companionship; and though +you might well reproach me for choosing such a moment to tell you so, +believe me, it is through no wish to take advantage of your confidence. +Did I feel myself guilty of such baseness, I should despise myself more +than you could possibly do. Odile, my darling, I could not choose but +speak. I must tell you this, even though it should be at the cost of +your further favor!" + +As I spoke, Odile's eyes were fastened on my face with an expression of +surprise, indeed, but in it there was no trace of disfavor, and her +hands were not withdrawn from mine. A bright flush that, for the first +time since I knew her, had succeeded to her usual pallor, mounted to her +cheeks and served to increase her matchless beauty. + +She remained silent for some moments still, and I could perceive the +agitation which my words had caused her, by the slight tremor of her +frame and her quickened breathing. + +At length she began, with her clear, frank gaze fastened on my face: + +"I am deeply sensible of the honor you do me in expressing yourself as +you have done, and I am convinced that no woman can do otherwise than +feel a sense of the greatest satisfaction in knowing that she is so +regarded by an honorable man. I must confess," she continued after a +moment of hesitation, "that your words are far from being indifferent or +unwelcome to me! Oh, how strange are the circumstances of my life! I +know not how to reply to you! I know not--" + +And she paused, at a loss how to continue. + +I was happy. Odile had confessed enough to make me feel that I could +bide my time for the present without endangering my future hopes; +indeed, I felt that it might be wisdom to grant her time more fully to +determine her sentiments, before pursuing the victory already won. I was +now about to share in the secret of her life at her own request; and I +resolved, if the reason of her vow should be explained, as I felt it +must, to controvert it by any honorable means. + +"You have said enough to make me supremely happy!" I exclaimed. "You +have not denied me the happiness of hope, and I shall not despair! +Meanwhile, whatever I may win is fairly mine, is it not?" + +"Yes," murmured Odile, with just the slightest smile, in which I fancied +there was less sorrow than before. + +"And now, dear one, I fear I have been selfish in intruding my own +feelings where so much grief is present! Pray forgive me, and continue +your story." + +I pressed her hands once more, and as she gently disengaged them I +resumed my chair. + +Odile dried her tear-stained cheeks, and resting her face on her fair +hand she began: + +"When I go back into the past, and return to my earliest dreams, I see +again my mother. She was a stately woman, pale and silent, and still +young at the time of which I am now speaking. She was scarcely thirty +years, and you would have thought her at least fifty. White locks +veiled her thoughtful forehead; her thin cheeks and severe profile, and +her lips ever firmly closed with an expression of pain, gave to her +features a strange character, in which grief and pride were blended. +There was nothing that suggested youth in this old woman of thirty; +nothing but her upright, haughty bearing, her brilliant eyes, and her +voice, pure and sweet as the dreams of childhood. She often walked up +and down for hours together in this very chamber, with her head bowed +down, and I ran happily along by her side, little knowing that my mother +was deep in sorrow, too young to comprehend the grief that was preying +upon her heart. I knew nothing of the past; the present alone possessed +any reality for me; this was happiness, and the future was but +to-morrow's play." Odile smiled sadly, and resumed: + +"Sometimes it happened that in the midst of my dancing about her, I +would interrupt my mother's walk, and she would stop, and seeing me at +her feet, bend down and kiss me on the forehead with a far-off smile; +then she would resume her interrupted walk. Since then, when I have +wished to search my memory for remembrances of those early days, this +tall, pale woman has appeared before me like the image of melancholy +itself. There she is," she exclaimed, pointing to a picture on the wall; +"not such as illness made her, as my father believed, but that terrible +and fatal secret. Look!" + +I turned, and my glance falling suddenly upon the portrait which the +young girl indicated, I shuddered. It was a long, thin, pale face, +stamped with the cold rigidity of death, and with dark hollows under the +eyes, which looked at you with a fixed, burning gaze of terrible +intensity. There was a moment's silence. + +"How she must have suffered!" I exclaimed, with a sinking of the heart. + +"I know not how my mother made this frightful discovery," continued +Odile; "but she knew of the mysterious attraction of the Black Plague, +and of their meetings in Hugh's Tower,--all, in short,--but she never +suspected my father. No! only she slowly pined away, as I am doing now." + +I hid my face in my hands, and the tears started involuntarily. + +"One winter night," she went on, "when I was only ten years old, my +mother, whose energy alone sustained her,--for she was in the last +stages of a decline,--came to my room. I was sleeping, when suddenly a +cold, nervous hand seized my wrist. I opened my eyes, and opposite me +stood a woman; with one hand she held a torch, and with the other she +held my arm, which felt as if clasped in a chill vise. Her dress was +covered with snow, a convulsive trembling agitated her limbs, and her +eyes burned with a dark fire through the white, disordered locks that +hung about her face. It was my mother. + +"'Odile, my child, rise and come with me! You must know everything!' she +said. + +"I dressed myself tremblingly, and leading me along the lonely +corridors to Hugh's Tower, she showed me the staircase that led down to +the chasm. + +"'Your father will come out this way,' she said, pointing to the tower; +'he will come out with the she-wolf. Fear nothing! He cannot see you.' + +"Hardly had she finished speaking, when my father appeared with the old +woman, carrying his funereal burden. Taking me in her arms, my mother +followed them, and I witnessed the scene on the Altenberg. + +"'Look, child!' she cried; 'you must, for I am going to die, and you +shall keep the secret! You shall watch over your father alone--all +alone! The honor of our family depends upon it!' + +"We returned. A fortnight later my mother died, leaving to me the +accomplishment of her vow and the lesson of her example. I have +faithfully discharged my trust, but oh, at what a cost! You have seen +it! I have been obliged to disobey my father and make him wretched. My +marriage could have accomplished nothing, though he does not know it, +and to marry would have been to bring a stranger into our midst and +betray the family secret. I resisted. No one in the Castle knows the +nature of my father's malady, and had it not been for yesterday's +crisis, which broke down my strength and prevented me from watching by +my father, I should still have been the sole depositary of the secret. +God has willed otherwise; he has placed in your keeping the honor of our +family. + +"Such is my story, and in view of what you told me a few moments ago +(and she colored charmingly), I feel that I need hardly ask you if you +will share with me my burden, for my strength is unequal to it--I am +bending beneath its weight." + +She had risen as she finished speaking. For all answer, I sprang +forward, and throwing my arms about her I drew her close to me and +covered her upturned face and forehead with passionate kisses, and she +rested, a delicious burden in my arms. + +"Odile," I cried, "I will be all this and a thousand times more, if you +will only consent to let me. I am the petitioner, not you; and in +allowing me to share with you even the least of your trials, you make me +forever your debtor. You have told me the reason of your vow, and in +doing so you have removed the necessity for its further existence. Oh, +Odile, may I hope--may I hope, I say, that if I can raise the spell +which overhangs the Castle, and restore your father's health,--as the +price of it, I may have your love?" + +After a moment, she replied softly, as she gently disengaged herself +from my arms: + +"You may;" and she added, "until then my first duty is ever to my +father." + +I pressed the hand which she yielded to me to my lips, exclaiming with a +smile, "This seals the promise!" + +Then I continued: + +"And one thing more. We must seize this creature known as the Black +Plague, and find out what she is, whence she comes, and what she wants +here." + +"Oh," she exclaimed, with a motion of her beautiful head, "I fear that +is impossible!" + +"Who can say that?" I replied. "I want only your permission, and I will +undertake to seize the Plague at once." + +"Do as your judgment dictates. I consent to everything beforehand." + +I took a long and reluctant leave of Odile, and hurried jubilantly to +Sperver's room. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +WE CHASE THE PLAGUE.--HER DEATH. + + +An hour after my conversation with Odile, Sperver and I were galloping +hard over the plain from Nideck. The huntsman, bending over his horse's +neck, set spurs to her from time to time, and the tall Mecklenberg, with +flying mane and foaming lips, literally cleaved the air in her flight. +As for my mount, I believe he took the bit in his teeth, and ran away +with me. Lieverle accompanied us, bounding along beside us like an +arrow. We seemed to be borne along on the wings of the wind. + +The towers of Nideck were far behind us, and Sperver was leading the +way, as usual, when I shouted to him: + +"Hallo, comrade! Pull up! Before we go any further, let us deliberate a +little." + +He wheeled about. + +"Only tell me, Gaston, is it to right or left?" + +"No, no! Come here. You must first know why I have started off this +morning. In a word, we are going to catch the hag!" + +An expression of supreme satisfaction lighted up the long, bronzed face +of the old steward; his eyes sparkled. + +"Ha, ha!" he exclaimed; "I knew it would come to that sooner or later." + +With a movement of his shoulder, he slipped his rifle into his hand. +This significant movement opened my eyes. + +"One moment, Sperver. We are not going to kill the Black Plague; we are +going to take her alive." + +"Alive!" + +"Precisely; and to spare you future regrets, I warn you that the destiny +of the old creature is identified with our master's. The ball that +strikes her down kills the Count." + +Sperver sat open-mouthed with amazement. + +"Is this really so?" + +"Positively." + +There was a long silence; our horses tossing their heads at each other +as if in salute, pawed the snow impatiently. Lieverle yawned expectantly +and stretched out his long, snake-like body, and Sperver sat motionless, +with his hand resting on his rifle. + +"Well, then, we will try to take her living," he said at length; "we +will handle her with kid gloves, since it must needs be so; but it is +not such an easy matter as you think, Gaston." + +Pointing with his extended hand to the mountains which lay unrolled +about us in the form of a great amphitheatre, he added: + +"You see before us the Altenberg, the Birkenwald, the Schneeberg, the +Oxenhorn, the Rhethal, and the Behrenkopf, and if we were up a little +higher, we could see fifty other peaks, extending clear into the plain +of the Palatinate. Within this distance are rocks, ravines, defiles, +torrents, and endless forests, and the old woman wanders everywhere +through this wilderness. She has a sure foot and a good eye, and can +scent you a good league away; so you see we shall have a pretty chase +before us." + +"If it were an easy thing to do, I shouldn't have chosen you out of all +the people of the Castle." + +"That sounds all very well. Still, if we can once get on her trail, I +don't deny that with courage and patience--" + +"As for her trail, don't worry about that; I will put you on it myself." + +"You?" + +"Exactly." + +"You, able to follow up a trail?" + +"Why not?" + +"Ah, well, since you are so confident and know so much more about it +than I do, that's another thing; go ahead. I'll follow." + +It was easy to see that the old huntsman was vexed at my venturing to +encroach upon his particular field of operations. Therefore, laughing +inwardly, I waited for no second invitation and turned to the left, sure +of coming upon the traces of the old woman, who, after having left the +Count in the subterranean passage, must have recrossed the plain to gain +the mountain. + +Sperver followed on behind me whistling with assumed indifference, and I +could hear him muttering: + +"The idea of looking for the she-wolf's tracks in the middle of the +plain. Any one should know that she would follow along the edge of the +forest, as she always does; but it seems she walks about now with her +hands in her pockets, like a well-to-do citizen of Tuebingen." + +I turned a deaf ear to all this, and kept on my way. Suddenly he gave an +exclamation of surprise, and looking at me sharply: + +"Gaston," he said, "you know more than you are willing to admit." + +"How do you mean, Gideon?" + +"The track that it would have taken me a week to find, you have got at +once. There is something behind this." + +"Where do you see it, then?" + +"Come, don't pretend to be looking at your feet," and pointing to a +scarcely perceptible white streak at some distance ahead of us, he said: + +"There it is." + +He started off at a gallop. I followed him, and a moment later we +leaped from our saddles. It was indeed the Black Plague's track. + +"I should like to know," said Sperver, folding his arms, "how the devil +that trace came to be here!" + +"Don't let that trouble you." + +"You're right, Gaston. Don't mind what I say. I talk nonsense sometimes. +The principal thing now is to find out where this track leads." + +The huntsman knelt on the snow. I was all ears, he all attention. + +"It is a fresh track," he said at the first glance; "last night's. As I +thought, Gaston, during the Count's last attack the hag was prowling +about the Castle." + +Then examining it more carefully: + +"She passed here at about four o'clock this morning." + +"How do you know that?" + +"The track is fresh, but there is sleet around it. Last night at twelve +o'clock I went out to lock the doors, and sleet was falling then; there +is none on this footprint, and therefore it must have been made since +then." + +"That is true, Sperver; but it may have been made later, at nine or ten +o'clock for instance." + +"No; look! It is covered with frost. There is no mist to freeze except +at daybreak; the old woman passed here after the sleet and before the +frost; that is to say, between three and four this morning." + +I was astonished at the accuracy of Sperver's reasoning. He got up, +slapping his hands together to shake off the snow, and looking at me +thoughtfully, he added, as if speaking to himself: + +"Let us call it, at the latest, five o'clock! It is now twelve, isn't +it?" + +"Quarter to twelve." + +"Very good; the hag has seven hours' start of us. We must follow her +step by step wherever she may lead us. On horseback we can come up with +her in from one hour to two, and if she is still moving, by seven or +eight this evening she ought to be in our clutches. Come on, Gaston; +there is no time to lose!" + +We started on again, following the traces which led us straight towards +the mountain. As we galloped along, Sperver called out: + +"If good luck would have it that this cursed Plague had gone into a hole +in the rocks somewhere to lie down for an hour or two, we might catch +her before nightfall." + +"Let's hope so, Gideon." + +"Don't fool yourself that way. The old she-wolf is always moving; she +never grows tired; she roams through all the hollow roads of the Black +Forest. We mustn't indulge vain hopes. If she should happen to have +stopped somewhere along the road, so much the better for us, and if she +is still going, we have no reason to be discouraged. Come! hurry along!" + +It was a strange occupation; that of a man engaged in hunting down one +of his own kind; for, after all, this unfortunate woman was a fellow +creature, endowed like us with an immortal soul, and feeling, thinking, +and reflecting like ourselves. It is true that perverted instincts had +brought her near the level of the wolf, and that some great mystery +overhung her destiny. Her prowling life had doubtless obliterated her +moral being, and even effaced her human character; but granted all this, +it is, nevertheless, an incontrovertible truth that nothing in God's +universe gave us the right to exercise over her the despotism of man +over the brute creation. + +Notwithstanding, a savage ardor hurried us on in pursuit; for my part, +my blood boiled, and I was determined to stop at nothing which would +enable me to get this strange being into my power. The wide waste of +snow flew past us, and the fragments of crust, thrown up by our horses' +hoofs, whizzed past our ears. + +Sperver, sometimes with his head thrown back, and his long mustache +blowing in the wind, and always with his gray eye on the trail, reminded +me of the famous horsemen of the steppes, whom I had seen passing +through Germany in my childhood; his tall, sinewy horse, with full mane +and body tapering like a greyhound's, completed the illusion. Lieverle, +in his enthusiasm, bounded sometimes as high as our horses' backs, and I +could not help trembling at the thought that, should he come upon the +Black Plague, he might tear her to pieces before we could make a +movement to prevent him. + +The old woman led us a terrible chase; on every hill she had doubled, +and at every hillock we found a false scent. + +"It is easy enough along here," said Sperver, "for you can see a long +distance ahead, but when we get into the woods, it will be another +matter; we shall have to keep our eyes open there. Do you see how the +cursed beast has confused her tracks? There she has amused herself +sweeping the trail, and from that rising ground that is exposed to the +wind she has slipped down to the stream and crept through the cresses to +reach the thicket yonder. If it weren't for these two foot-prints, she +would have tricked us completely." + +We had just reached the border of a fir forest. In these forests, the +snow never penetrates between the branches of a tree. It was a difficult +way. Sperver dismounted to watch the tracks closer, and placed me on the +left, that my shadow might not come between him and the ground. There +were large open spots covered with dead leaves and pine-needles, which +take no imprint. Thus it was only in the unsheltered places, where the +snow lay on the ground, that Sperver could recover the trail. + +It took us an hour to get through this patch of woods. The old poacher +gnawed his mustache with vexation, and his long nose almost touched his +chin. When I tried to speak, he interrupted me shortly, crying: + +"Don't talk; it bothers me!" + +At last we descended into a valley to the left, and Gideon, pointing to +the she-wolf's steps, running parallel with the edge of the undergrowth, +remarked: + +"This is no false sortie; we can follow it confidently. + +"How do you know?" + +"Because the Black Plague has a habit, whenever she doubles on her +tracks, of going three steps to one side, then, retracing them, taking +four, five or six in the other direction, and finally jumping into a +clear space. But when she thinks she has covered the trail, she strikes +out without troubling herself about false scents. Look! what did I tell +you? She is burrowing now into the brushwood like a wild boar; it will +be easy enough to follow her here. So much for that; and now, let's keep +the tracks between us and light a pipe!" + +We halted, and the good fellow, whose face was beginning to brighten up, +looked at me with enthusiasm, crying: + +"Gaston, this promises to be one of the finest days in my life. If we +take the old creature, I will fasten her to the saddle behind me like a +bundle of old rags. Only one thing troubles me." + +"What's that?" + +"Having forgot my horn. I should like to have sounded the return as we +were approaching Nideck. Ha! Ha! Ha!" + +He lighted his stub of a pipe, and we started on again. The track of the +she-wolf now led up a wooded slope so steep that we were obliged many +times to dismount and lead our horses by the bridle. + +"There it goes to the right," said Sperver; "in this direction the +mountains go up like the side of a house. One of us may have to lead +both horses while the other scrambles along after the trail, and as the +devil will have it, it's getting so dark we can't see anything much +longer." + +The landscape was at this point assuming a grander aspect. Enormous +boulders, covered with icicles, raised one beyond another their angular +peaks, like breakers in a sea of snow. + +There is nothing that imparts a more melancholy sense to the beholder +than a winter scene among these mountains. The irregular line of crests, +the dark ravines, the denuded trees and bushes sparkling with a tracery +of hoar frost, all assume before your eyes a look of indescribable +desolation and still sadness; and the silence, so profound that you can +hear a dead leaf rustle on the snow-crust, or a pine-needle swirl from +its branch,--this silence oppresses you; it forces upon you the +realization of man's littleness in the scale of Nature's vast economy. + +Sometimes we felt a need of speaking, if only to break the stillness: + +"Ah, we are getting nearer the end of this business! How beastly cold it +is! Lieverle, what have you got there?" or some like insignificant +phrase. + +Unfortunately, our horses were beginning to tire; they sank up to their +bellies in the snow, and no longer whinnied as they did on setting out. +The inextricable defiles of the Black Forest stretched out indefinitely. +The old woman loved these solitudes; here she had passed around a +deserted charcoal-burner's hut; further on she had torn up the tender +roots which overspread the surface of the rocks; and here again she had +sat down at the foot of a tree to rest, and that recently,--at most two +hours before, for the marks in the snow were fresh. At sight of this, +our hopes and enthusiasm were redoubled; but the daylight was fast +fading out. Strangely enough, ever since our departure from Nideck, we +had met neither woodcutters, charcoal-burners, nor log-haulers; the +solitude was as complete as in the Siberian steppes. At five o'clock the +night had so far closed in that Sperver halted and said to me: + +"Gaston, we have started a couple of hours too late. The Plague has got +too long a start of us. In ten minutes the woods will be as dark as an +oven. Our best plan will be to reach the Roche Creuse, twenty minutes +from here, light a good fire, and eat our provisions and empty our +goat-skins. When the moon comes up we will take up the trail again, and +if the old hag is not the devil himself, ten to one we shall come upon +her frozen stiff at the foot of some tree, for no human creature could +live through such a tramp in such weather as this. Sebalt himself, who +is the best walker in all the Black Forest, could not have stood it. +What do you say, my boy?" + +"I should be mad to think otherwise, and, moreover, I am perishing with +hunger!" + +"Well, let's be off!" + +He took the lead, and we pressed into a narrow gorge between two walls +of precipitous rock. The fir-trees formed an arch above our heads; +beneath our feet trickled what the frost had left of a mighty torrent, +and from time to time a wandering ray penetrated the obscurity, and +reflected the dull, lead-colored ice mantle. The darkness had become +such that I deemed it wise to let my bridle fall on the horse's neck. +The steps of our horses on the slippery pebbles reechoed with an odd +noise like the laughing and chattering of monkeys through the narrow +glen. The rocks took up and repeated every sound, and in the distance a +blue point seemed to grow as we advanced. It was the outlet of the +gorge. + +"Gaston," said Sperver, "we are now in the bed of the Tunkelbach. It is +the wildest pass in all the Black Forest, and it terminates in a cave +called La Marmite du Grand Guelard. In the spring, when the snow is +melting, the Tunkelbach pours all its torrents into it to a depth of +two hundred feet. It makes a tremendous roar; the waters leap over the +edge, and their spray falls upon the neighboring mountains. Sometimes +they even flood the cavern of the Roche Creuse, but just now it must be +as dry as a powder-flask, and we can build a big fire there." + +As I listened to Sperver's observations, I was at the same time +considering this ominous defile, and reflecting that the instinct of the +savage beasts, which seek such retreats far from the light of day and +from all that gladdens the soul, must be akin to remorse. The creatures +that live in the sunshine,--the goat on the open crag, the horse running +free on the plain, the dog frisking about his master, the bird basking +in the sunshine,--all breathe in joy and happiness with their gambols +and their songs. The kid, browsing in the shade of the great trees on +the green hillside, is as poetic an object as the retreat that he +prefers; the wild boar, as fierce and savage as the trackless brakes +through which he roams; the eagle as proud and lofty as the towering +peaks where he rests in his sweeping flight; the lion as majestic as the +mighty arches of his den,--but the wolf, the fox, and the ferret seek +the darkness, with fear their only companion; aye, this instinct is +closely related to remorse. + +I was still reflecting upon these things and already felt the keen air +blowing against my face--for we were approaching the opening of the +gorge--when suddenly we perceived a reddish reflection dancing upon the +rock a hundred feet above us, turning to purple the dark green of the +firs, and making the frost wreaths on the tree trunks glitter. + +"Ha!" whispered Sperver hoarsely, "we've got the witch!" + +My heart leaped; we moved along pressed close against each other. The +dog growled warningly. + +"Can't she escape us?" + +"No; she is caught like a rat in a trap. La Marmite du Grand Guelard has +but one outlet, and we are barring it. Everywhere else the rocks rise +sheer two hundred feet. Ha! you Satan's hag, I've got you!" + +He sprang from his horse into the ice-cold water of the Tunkelbach, +handing me his bridle. I shivered. The click of his rifle as he cocked +it sounded with fearful distinctness, and the sound sent a nervous wave +clear to my finger-tips. + +"Sperver, what are you doing?" + +"Never fear; it is only to frighten her." + +"Very good; but no blood! Remember what I have already told you. The +ball that strikes the Plague kills the Count!" + +"Rest easy on that score!" + +He moved forward, without stopping further to listen to me. I could hear +the splash of his feet in the water; then I saw his tall figure appear +at the outlet of the glen, black against the bluish background. He stood +full five minutes motionless. Meanwhile, I was slowly approaching him, +and when he at last turned around, I was within three paces of him. + +"Sh!" he said mysteriously; "look there!" + +At the end of the open gorge, now revealed to us, which was dug out like +a quarry in the mountainside, I saw a bright fire unrolling its golden +spires before the mouth of a cave, and in front of the fire sat a man +with his hands clasped about his knees, whom I recognized by his +clothing as the Baron Zimmer. He sat motionless, with his eyes fixed on +the fire, and seemed lost in thought. Behind him a dark form lay +stretched upon the ground, and further in the distance, his horse, half +lost in the shadows, gazed upon us with fixed eyes, ears pricked up, and +distended nostrils. + +I stood stupefied. How came the Baron Zimmer to be in this dense, +terrifying wilderness at such an hour and such a time,--what was he +doing here? Had he lost his way? The most contradictory conjectures +succeeded each other in my brain, and I knew not where to pause, when +the Baron's horse began to neigh. At the sound, the master raised his +head: + +"Well, Rappel, what now?" + +Then, in his turn, he gazed in our direction, straining his eyes to make +us out in the darkness. That pale face, with its clear-cut features, +delicate lips, and heavy black eyebrows, gathered in a frown, would have +struck me with admiration under any other circumstances, but now an +indefinable feeling of apprehension took possession of me, and I was +filled with vague anxiety. Suddenly, the young man cried: + +"Who goes there?" + +"I, monsieur," replied Sperver quickly, at the same time advancing +towards him; "I, Sperver, steward of the Count of Nideck!" + +A strange expression passed across the Baron's features, but not a +muscle of his face quivered. He rose to his feet, gathering the folds of +his cloak more closely about him. I drew towards me the horses and the +hound, who suddenly began to howl as he had done on the night of my +arrival at the Castle. + +Who of us is not subject in some degree to superstitious fears? At the +sound of Lieverle's menacing growls, I felt a dread of I know not what, +and I shuddered instinctively. Sperver and the Baron stood at a +distance of fifty yards from each other; the first immovable in the +middle of the gorge, with his rifle resting against his shoulder; the +other, standing erect before the entrance of the cave, holding his head +high, and surveying us with a haughty glance. + +"What do you want here?" he asked defiantly. + +"We are looking for a woman," replied the huntsman; "a woman who comes +each year prowling about the Castle of Nideck, and we have orders to +seize her." + +"Has she robbed?" + +"No." + +"Has she committed murder?" + +"No, monsieur." + +"Then what do you want of her? What right have you to pursue her?" + +Sperver straightened up, and fixing his gray eye on the Baron: + +"And you? What right have you over her?" he asked with a strange smile; +"for she is there. I can see her at the back of the cavern. By whose +authority do you meddle with our affairs? Do you not know that we are at +this moment within the domains of Nideck, and that we administer all +forms of justice at our pleasure?" + +The young man grew paler yet, and replied shortly: + +"I am not accountable to you for any act of mine." + +"Take care," replied Sperver; "I am acting in the name of my master, the +Count of Nideck, and am but doing my duty. You will have to answer for +any interference on your part." + +"Your duty!" exclaimed the young man, with a bitter smile; "if you speak +of your duty, you may force me to tell you mine." + +"Let us hear it," cried the old steward, whose face was becoming +discomposed with anger. + +"No," returned the Baron, "I will tell you nothing, nor shall you set +foot inside this cave." + +"We will see about that," said Sperver, advancing towards the cavern. + +The young man drew his hunting-knife. Seeing this, I tried to spring +between them, when the hound, which I was holding by a leash, shook +himself free, throwing me to the ground with the force of the shock. I +thought that the Baron was lost; but at the same moment a savage cry +rose from the back of the cavern, and as I rose to my feet, I saw the +old woman standing upright before the fire, her clothing in rags, her +head run forward, and her gray locks scattered about her shoulders, with +her long, skinny arms raised towards heaven, and uttering dismal howls, +like the cries of the wolf in the cold winter nights, when hunger is +gnawing at his entrails. + +Never in my life had I witnessed such a frightful spectacle. Sperver, +motionless, with his eyes fixed on the strange scene before him, seemed +turned to stone. The dog, surprised himself at this unexpected +apparition, stood still for a moment, then suddenly arching his +bristling back, he flew at the hag with a low growl of fury that made +me shudder. The entrance to the cavern was some eight or ten feet above +the spot where we stood, or he would have reached it with a single +bound. I can hear him still, as he crashes through the frost-laden +bushes, and see the Baron fling himself before the old woman with the +heart-rending cry: + +"My mother!" + +Then, as the dog takes his final spring, Sperver, quick as lightning, +raises his rifle, and brings down the noble animal dead at the young +man's feet. All this was the work of an instant. The gorge was +momentarily lighted by the rifle flash, and the echoes, taking up the +noise of the explosion, carried it roaring and tumbling to the infinite +depths of the neighboring crags. + +When the smoke cleared away, I saw Lieverle lying stretched out at the +foot of the rock, and the old woman fainting in the arms of the young +man. Sperver eyed the Baron gloomily, as he dropped the butt of his +rifle to the ground, his features working with rage and grief. + +"Baron," he said, pointing to the cave, "I have killed my best friend to +save the woman whom you call your mother. You may thank God that her +destiny was bound up with that of my master. Take her away from here. +Take her far away, and let her never return; for, if she does, I cannot +answer for myself." + +Then, glancing at his dog: + +"My poor Lieverle!" he cried; "was this to be the outcome of our long +years of friendship? Come, Gaston, let us hurry away from this accursed +spot. I might do something I should regret afterwards." + +Seizing his horse's mane, he started to throw himself into his saddle, +but suddenly his heart swelled to bursting, and dropping his head on his +horse's neck, he wept like a child. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +THE BARON'S STORY.--HE DISAPPEARS. + + +Sperver set out, carrying the body of Lieverle in his cloak. I had +refused to follow him, for I felt that duty compelled me to remain near +this unhappy woman, and I could not have abandoned her without violating +my conscience. Moreover, I am obliged to confess I was curious to +examine more closely this mysterious being, and hardly had Sperver +disappeared in the darkness of the defile before I began climbing the +path to the cavern. A strange sight awaited me there. Upon a large fur +cloak with green facings lay the old woman in a long purple robe, with +a golden arrow stuck through her gray hair, her withered hands +clutching her breast. + +Time will never efface the image of this woman from my mind. Her +vulture-like face, distorted by the last agonies of death, her staring +eyes and half-opened mouth, were appalling to look upon. Such might have +been the last hour of the terrible Queen Fredegonde. The Baron, on his +knees beside her, tried to restore her to animation, but at the first +glance it was evident to me that the unfortunate creature was dying, and +it was not without a sentiment of profound pity that I kneeled to raise +her arm. + +"Leave her alone! How dare you touch her?" cried the young man +bitterly. + +"I am a doctor, monsieur." + +"Ah, pardon me!" + +He was deathly pale, and his lips trembled nervously. After a moment, he +asked: + +"What is your opinion, monsieur?" + +"It is over. She is dead." + +Without replying, he leaned back against the wall of the cavern, his +forehead resting in his hands, and staring straight before him, +motionless as marble. I sat near the fire, watching the flames as they +climbed to the arched top of the cave, casting their vivid reflections +upon the rigid features of the Black Plague. + +We had been sitting thus for a full hour without stirring, when suddenly +lifting his head, the Baron said to me: + +"Monsieur, all this confounds me. Here is my mother,--for twenty-six +years I thought I knew her, and now a whole world of mystery and horror +opens itself before my eyes. You are a doctor; tell me if you have ever +known anything like it before." + +"Monsieur," I replied, "the Count of Nideck is afflicted with a malady +that bears a striking resemblance to that of which your mother has been +the victim. If you have confidence enough in me to relate to me the +facts which you yourself must have witnessed, I will gladly tell you +what I know of the matter, for this exchange may be the means of saving +my patient." + +As I began to speak the Baron started, and exclaimed: + +"What? the Count of Nideck visited thus? This is more than a +coincidence." + +And without further parley he informed me that the Baroness Zimmer, +belonging to one of the noblest families in Saxony, and being a blood +relation of the Count of Nideck (to whom he should have made himself +known had not circumstances required that he should maintain the +strictest secrecy as to his identity), had been accustomed for many +years to make a journey into Italy towards Christmas, accompanied by an +old man servant, who alone possessed her entire confidence; that this +man, being at the point of death, had desired a private interview with +her son, and that at the last hour, tormented no doubt by remorse, he +had told the young man that his mother's journey into Italy was only a +pretext to furnish her a means of making an excursion into the Black +Forest, of the object of which he himself was in ignorance, but which +must have been of some fearful nature, since the Baroness invariably +returned haggard, in rags, and almost dead, and that it required weeks +of rest to repair the terrible fatigues of these few days. + +This is what the old servant had related to the young Baron, thinking +that in so doing he was only fulfilling his duty. The son, wishing to +learn the truth of his story, whatever the cost to himself, had this +very year verified the incomprehensible fact by following his mother +first to Baden, and then pursuing her step by step into the gorges of +the Black Forest. The tracks which Sebalt had discovered on the +Altenberg were his. + +When the Baron had finished his confidence, I thought that I ought no +longer to conceal from him the singular influence which the advent of +the old woman exercised upon the Count's health, nor indeed any of the +attendant circumstances, and accordingly, I imparted to him even the +slightest details. + +The Baron was amazed by the coincidence of these facts; the mysterious +attraction which these two beings exercised over one another without +knowing it, the ghastly drama which they had enacted without +consciousness, the acquaintance which the old woman had shown with the +Castle and its most secret passages, without ever having seen them +before; the costume which she had discovered in which to carry out the +murder in pantomime, and which could only have been discovered in some +mysterious retreat which magnetic clairvoyance had revealed to her. + +When I had ended the recital of my experiences, the Baron relapsed into +his former gloomy silence, nor did he again rouse from it while I +remained near him. I fancied I could read in his face and attitude the +one wish to distance himself forever from the scene of this bitter +revelation. + +While we were still sitting, each one buried in his own reflections, the +darkness of night began to fade. An owl, far off in the shadows, sounded +the retreat of darkness with its strange note, like the gurgling of +liquid from a bottle. Presently we heard a whinnying in the depths of +the defile, and then, in the first rays of dawn, we saw a sledge +approaching, driven by the Baron's servant. It was covered with straw, +and upon it rested a litter, on which we laid the body of the old woman. + +I mounted my horse, who did not seem sorry to stretch his legs again, +having stood half the night in the snow, and I accompanied the sledge as +far as the outlet of the glen. There, having gravely saluted one another +for the last time, they proceeded in the direction of Hirschland, and I +on my way towards the Castle of Nideck. + +At nine o'clock I was again in Odile's presence. + +"The Plague is dead!" I cried, "and the spell is raised forever from +the Castle. Henceforth we may look for the olden days at Nideck." + +[Illustration: "ODILE DROPPED HER EYES."] + +And I related the extraordinary experiences of the last twenty-four +hours, exulting in our victory over the hag. When I had finished, and +recalled to my now happy love her promise of the day before, Odile +dropped her eyes, flushed charmingly, and returned the pressure of my +hand with averted head. + +After some precious moments passed in the indulgence of our new-found +happiness, I proceeded to the Count's chamber. I found him in a very +satisfactory condition. He was naturally in a state of complete +exhaustion after the terrible crises that he had been through, but was +entirely himself, and the fever had disappeared the evening before. +Everything pointed towards a speedy recovery. + +"Monsieur," I said, as he greeted me with a warm grasp of my hand, "your +restored health is assured, and it is but the matter of a few days when +you will be able to indulge in your favorite pastime again." + +"I believe you, monsieur! I feel that myself as I have never done +before, and I am bound that you shall remain at Nideck and accompany me +on my first boar hunt." + +"Nothing would give me greater pleasure, monsieur," I replied. "Though +an entire novice in the art, I shall doubtless gain much by employing my +powers of observation." + +"And furthermore," continued the Count, "your reward for this greatest +of all services which you have performed for me shall be whatever you +may require that lies within my gift!" + +"Monsieur," I replied, bowing low, "your generosity overwhelms me. +However, we will discuss the matter of compensation at a future time, +when your strength will better admit of it. At present let me say that +the existing state of affairs is an ample reward for anything I may have +been able to accomplish in your behalf." And meanwhile I wondered if the +Count realized the significance of his promise as I reflected upon the +recompense I was presently to seek at his hands. + +As his malady left him, I found the master of Nideck a changed man. His +features, which had at first aroused only a sentiment of repugnance in +me, slowly resumed their natural expression, and became dignified and +even handsome. His generosity and kindness exceeded anything I had +before experienced, and everything that Knapwurst had declared in his +master's favor was realized to the utmost. From liking I grew to loving +him, as I felt indeed I must have done if only as the author of Odile's +being. + +The fortnight that followed was one of rejoicing throughout Nideck. The +Count gained with wonderful rapidity, and for a week past he had moved +about the Castle with a buoyancy and contentment of demeanor which only +Odile and the old steward could recall having seen in him long years +before, ere the dead witch had yet entwined him in the meshes of her +baneful spell. + +Even the grim, melancholy Sebalt had become grotesquely gay, and he +discontinued his matinal post on the Altenberg, feeling, no doubt, that +he had contributed not a little to his master's recovery. As for +Sperver, he was radiant, and he would come to my chamber late at night, +after I had left Odile, and as we sat over our bottles we would discuss +for the fiftieth time the circumstances of my stay within the Castle. + +During the earlier stages of the Count's convalescence I repaired each +morning to his chamber, where I invariably found Odile arrived before +me, and as the Count was fond of reading, which served to wear away the +period of his enforced inactivity, Odile and I would share for hours +together the reading of "Garin the Lorrainer," which was one of his +favorite romances. + +The extent of my contentment may be imagined. Whenever I glanced up from +my book as it became necessary to turn a page, I invariably met Odile's +eyes fastened upon my face, and speaking the whole language of love and +contentment, and when she in turn assumed the reading, I found myself +lost in a world of reverie and speculation as I continued to study her +beautiful face, which was always a revelation to me, no matter how long +it remained before my gaze. + +Oh, the delight of all this! How I pity you crabbed misanthropes who +know not the richness of a loving woman's endearments! + +I had determined, with Odile's sanction, to broach the subject of our +betrothal to the Count as soon as his health would permit it. + +Meanwhile, our hours at table were spent in laying plans for our future. +I was sanguine of success in my avowal, for added to the Count's desire +of seeing his line perpetuated,--which lay nearest his heart,--I knew +that he felt, though how deservedly I leave it to the reader to +determine, that I had been instrumental in restoring him to health. +These considerations, combined with his invariable desire to secure to +his daughter her slightest wish or whim, I believed would be sufficient +to ensure the consummation of my desire. Moreover, with my beloved +champion beside me, I felt strong enough to overcome the opposition of +the universe. + +But the future still held something in store, and as it often happens +when we fancy ourselves beyond the reach of an adverse Fate, we may in +reality be standing within the shadows of the Valley of Darkness. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +THE BOAR HUNT. + + +"You must be ready to start with the Count in an hour," exclaimed +Sperver, as he stood on my threshold before the sun had yet risen. +"Sebalt and Becker came in late last night, famished, and covered with +mud, and they have reported a wild boar's tracks near the Leidenthal. I +will lend you whatever clothes you need, but be quick, for there's only +breakfast between us and the start." + +I got up, and taking a hasty plunge in the icy water beside my bed, +which served to drive the vapors from my brain, I half dressed myself, +and followed Sperver to his room. + +"The beaters found game worthy of our powder," continued Gideon. "They +brought back a dried clump of bog-mud with an enormous hoof-print in the +middle of it. If the Count's carbine misses fire, we must stand in well +beside him this time, though he always grudges the fatal shot to any arm +but his own." + +I paid little heed to his words, busied as I was in accommodating myself +to my borrowed garments, and I presently emerged from the chamber +dressed in a leather hunting-jacket, cap, and long gaiters which reached +to my hips; a carbine and long hunting-knife completed my outfit. + +"If I only had you for a couple of weeks on the forest patrol, I would +make a first-class shot out of you," said Sperver with a grin. "As it +is, I suppose you know as much about a gun as a pike does of mountain +climbing." + +"Just about!" I laughed. "However, I'm fortunately in such good company +that it will make little difference whether I can tell the muzzle from +the stock, or not." + +"There's something in that," he returned; "and as there are to be ladies +in the party you may find other employment as agreeable as the killing +of animals," and he looked at me with a dry twitching of his mouth. + +I made no reply to this beyond rather a grim smile, and a moment later +we reached the dining-room. I found the Count dressed in +hunting-costume, seated at the table, on which Tobias was placing the +last dishes for the breakfast. He complimented me on my professional +appearance, and added that, judging from externals, a little practice +was all that was necessary to make me an accomplished huntsman. + +I looked in vain for Odile as I entered the room, but she presently +appeared in a close-fitting habit which became her marvellously well, +sparkling with health and freshness, and bearing in one hand her long +skirt, and in the other a pearl-handled crop. A pistol with a heavy +barrel was thrust beneath her belt, more for ornament, I fancied, than +for service. + +"Ha! Odile!" cried her father, as she greeted us and took her seat at +the table, "the mere sight of your rosy cheeks and lithe step puts new +life into me! It's a pleasure to look at you. Isn't it so, Monsieur +Gaston?" then, as Odile grew crimson with confusion, the Count perceived +his blunder, and began to busy himself with the dishes before him. The +next moment I caught Odile's eye, as she stole an amused glance at me, +and I nodded a quick affirmative, without violence to my conscience. + +The meal passed with narratives of hunting exploits by the Count, who +delighted in recalling his past experiences, often discontinuing his +meal to illustrate by attitudes and gestures his combats with the +different animals of the regions round about. Odile and I proved good +listeners, though, perhaps, as one sometimes hearkens to a strain of +music, the better to indulge his own reflections. + +Breakfast finished, we went down into the courtyard. A dozen horses +stood saddled just inside the principal gate. Sebalt, in his leather +dress, with his double-coiled horn strapped across his back, and a heavy +cowhide whip in his hand ready to strike, held a score of dogs in leash, +that were baying and tugging at their bonds in excited anticipation of +the part they were to play in the day's sport. Joy gleamed in every line +of his goat's face as his long deferred desire was now about to be +realized. Gideon, who held the Count's horse, looked more himself than I +had seen him since the death of poor Lieverle; he seemed to have +recovered much of his wonted good spirits. + +I pushed aside the groom who stood beside Odile's horse, and she sprang +from my hand into the saddle. Then I, in turn, mounted my horse, and +moved abreast of Odile and the Count. + +When all was in readiness, Sebalt raised his horn and sounded the +departure as, according to Sperver, he alone could sound it. + +The neighboring hillsides took up the sound, and threw it back in tones +of purest silver, and all the echoes of the valleys were awakened and +fled away towards the rising sun. This warm February sun had done its +work, and the snow had disappeared to a level of but a few inches, +covered with a hard crust. We started off at a gallop. Sebalt and +Sperver rode first, with Odile, the Count, and myself close behind them. +Becker and the under-keepers came on in the rear. + +Sebalt led the pack along the base of the Gaisenberg, and skirting the +falls of the Lauterbach, he followed along the defile at its further +side, from which point the trail diverged in the direction of the +Leidenthal. The weather was superb, not a cloud in the heavens, and the +frosty air clear as crystal. The bare oaks creaked their gaunt branches, +and the singing pines waved their lofty tops in the fresh south wind. +The yelping of the pack could have been heard for a mile around, and +Gideon, turning from time to time, called to them: + +"Hold your noise, you rascals; you'll have reason enough to howl before +long, I'll warrant." + +There was little chance for conversation at the furious pace which we +were following, and I contented myself with frequent glances at Odile, +whose superb beauty was enhanced by the bright color in her cheeks, +which excitement, exercise and happiness called forth. As for the Count, +I could no longer recognize in him the dying patient of my first night +at Nideck. All trace of his terrible illness had vanished, and he rode +like a youth of twenty years, vigorous, calm, confident. + +At the end of an hour we emerged from the defile into the dazzling +sunlight beyond. The dogs came upon the trail of the boar, and their +long, full cries changed to exultant yappings; they glided along to +right and left among the rocks, their noses to the ground, and they ran +and leaped along the trail. Not one of them followed the other's lead, +until he had verified the scent for himself; like all true hunting dogs, +they relied only upon themselves. + +Meanwhile, the blast of the horn, the short, savage yelps of the pack, +and the noise of our horses' hoofs as they pierced the sparkling snow +crust, made music of an exciting, bewildering sort. I galloped on imbued +to the finger-tips with the contagious anticipation everywhere around +me. + +For some little time past the order of the hunt had been broken up. The +Count, seemingly lost in the one object of the chase and oblivious to +all else, had ridden far ahead, and had almost overtaken Sebalt and +Sperver, who were at such a distance from us that the sound of their +trumpets grew feebler and feebler, and at length were entirely lost, +save that at rare intervals they reached our ears like the sigh of the +passing breeze. The mounts of Becker and his comrades, though chosen for +endurance and strength, were not the equal of ours in speed; and thus it +was that Odile and I now found ourselves alone, as it were, midway in +the plain. + +On we went. Every now and then Odile would turn her head and smile at +me; then she would whisper to her horse, and we bounded along yet +faster. From the less frequent pauses of the pack, that glided, no +larger than rabbits now, up the distant slopes, and their straight-ahead +course, I fancied that the foremost of the party were approaching the +whereabouts of the game. + +It was now that a belt of dense woods became visible on the rising +ground before us. The Count had by this time gained so far upon us that +we presently saw him disappear, together with his followers, within its +borders. + +"We must be in at the death!" cried Odile breathlessly; "let's make +haste!" and she urged her horse still further, while I clapped spurs to +mine. Twenty minutes later we had covered the intervening distance, and +dashed into the shadows of the wood. + +We had not proceeded above a mile further, when we found that our road +forked, and running over an extensive ledge of rock, swept bare of snow +and pine-needles by the wind, we were at a loss which path to follow, +for there were no tracks of horses nor dogs, and the direction of both +paths being apparently the same, the noise of the pack growing +momentarily fainter, afforded us no clue to our proper course. + +We reined up, impatient at this vexatious occurrence. + +"Which way now?" I cried to Odile. + +She hesitated for a moment. + +"Let's go to the right!" she replied. "There's a new blaze on that +beech-tree yonder. Perhaps one of the men's guns bruised the bark as he +passed it!" and without waiting for me to reply, she started on again. + +It occurred to me a few moments later that we might now be left entirely +alone if, perchance, we had chosen the wrong path, and if our followers, +who would inevitably meet with the same question of direction on +reaching the fork in the road, should decide upon the one to the left. + +I felt little apprehension in being thus deserted, as it were, but let +it not be understood by this that fearlessness formed any part of my +character; it was to the more ignoble trait of ignorance that my present +equanimity was due. I did, however, feel that Odile should be reminded +of the fact, and I proceeded to communicate it to her; but whether it +was that her attention was so much engrossed by the business in hand +that she had no thought for anything else, or whether she considered my +apprehensions groundless, her only reply was a smile and a motion of her +head, as her horse carried her away from me, which I interpreted as +meant to reassure me, and I gave my horse his head. + +From time to time we heard, far over on the mountainside, the sound of +the woodcutter's axe, falling against the oak with measured +stroke,--that slow, heavy stroke that is taken up and exaggerated by the +echoes,--then the creaking of the falling tree, the shout of warning, +and the thud of the giant as it measured its length upon the earth, +crashing among the underbrush. Owing to the frequent windings of the +woodland path, and the uncertain character of the ground, we were +obliged to moderate our speed, and as we came upon the open land between +the hills, the barking of the dogs reached us, loud for a moment, then +faint again, as some intervening object came between us. + +"You hear the dogs!" cried Odile; "we are on the right path after all!" + +And as the sounds became more distinct with each moment, I was satisfied +that she was right. + +Here and there, as we entered a dark defile, we saw the fire of the +charcoal-burner beneath the shadowy boughs, spreading its purple ring +over the snow-crust and even to the tops of the swaying firs, then +drawing its uncertain rays the closer until it was no longer but a +spark, only to spread them out again yet wider than before. The outline +of the charcoal-burner, stooping over the flame, with his broad-brimmed +hat flattened on his shoulders, smoking his short, black pipe, and +turning potatoes in the embers, reminded me at a distance of the trolls +that are said to quarry gems of untold value in the centre of the +earth. + +The noise of the dogs, forming a discordant, frenzied concert, grew +nearer every moment. At length a sharp turn to the left, as we emerged +from the deep, narrow glen which we had been traversing for some minutes +past, brought us, it almost seemed, right upon the game, so startling +was the uproar that greeted us. + +I was now convinced that we had happened upon the right path, and I +expected momentarily to come upon the Count's party engaged in securing +the game. I glanced back to see if Becker and his comrades were near us, +but our frequent windings through the forest would have concealed them +completely from our view, even had they followed us. + +Up to this point I had been vaguely regretting my inexperience in the +hunt, though I still had little realization of the danger that might +threaten us. But now, as I heard the loud blare of Sebalt's horn not +above a quarter of a mile before us, I felt entirely reassured, and both +Odile and I were looking expectantly for the forms of the Count and his +huntsmen among the trees. + +A few rods further on we came upon a brake, half swamp, half stubble, +beyond which, as far as the eye could reach, the sun once more shone +brightly. We advanced at a walk, which the treacherous nature of the +ground made necessary. The din of the maddened dogs, and a strange, +ominous snarl, the like of which I had never before heard, told us that +the beast was run, or nearly run, to earth. + +"Whose hand will the slaying fall to to-day?" I exclaimed laughingly to +Odile. + +"To my father's, if his aim is true," replied Odile excitedly. + +She had hardly finished these words when a sudden parting of the bushes +before us brought us into a crescent-shaped clearing some fifty yards in +extent, and entered at its opposite side by the other forest path. +Directly in the centre of this clearing, surrounded by a score of dogs +that had seized him by the ears and neck, and were vainly endeavoring to +bear him down, regardless of those of their number who had succumbed to +his savage tusks,--was a huge wild boar! + +I confess to a sensation of horror at the sight. I glanced involuntarily +at Odile, whom I would have given anything in the gift of man to see +removed as far as possible from the spot. She, apparently undaunted +still, though with a shade less color in her fair cheeks, turned hastily +towards me and motioned me to hand her my rifle. I complied with +misgiving, silently cursing my ignorance of the weapon's use, and in +another moment Odile was gazing along its glistening barrel. + +There was a report, and though the aim was true it failed of its effect. +And now the raging brute, infuriated by the pain of the wound, charged +directly upon Odile, heedless of the sharp fangs which lacerated him, +unchecked by the combined strength of the pack. + +My dismay was complete when, the next moment, the frightened animal +which Odile rode, rearing up at the boar's furious onslaught, lost its +footing in the treacherous bog-land and fell on its side,--happily upon +its right side. + +[Illustration: "I FELL UPON MY KNEE BEFORE THE BRUTE."] + +Leaping to the ground, I had only time to seize my love about the waist +and swing her beyond the reach of the horse's flying hoofs, when the +boar was upon me. There was no time for reflection. I fell upon my knees +before the brute, my hunting-knife extended straight before me, and held +with all the strength of my arm. + +So quickly works the eye sometimes, in moments of danger, that in this +instant I saw the Count, or rather, perhaps, he came within my range of +vision, pale as death, and riding at the highest speed along the +opposite path, while close behind him followed Gideon and Kraft. + +The knife in my hand never swerved, for the love I bore Odile steadied +my arm as I fancy that alone could have done. The mad rush of the boar +was but the means of his surer destruction. He came straight upon the +knife, and the momentum of his ponderous body drove the steel deep +through his heart. I felt the gush of his life's blood pour over my arm +and chest; then I heard a cry from Odile's lips and a shout of wild +triumph from the Count and his huntsmen; then I fell backwards, my +consciousness half crushed out by the enormous weight of the brute's +body as it struck against me in its swaying fall to the earth. + +A moment later Odile, oblivious to all around her, had thrown herself +into my arms and burst into uncontrollable tears. The crisis of the +moment just passed had completely unnerved her and robbed her of her +usual calm control. + +We stood thus when the Count reined up before us. + +"Ha! is it so?" he exclaimed, endeavoring to hide his emotion beneath a +joking exterior. "And why not? Who deserves better of a woman than the +lad who has saved her life and her father's too!" And as Sebalt and +Gideon rode up, all three jumped from their saddles and wrung my hands, +while good old Sperver beamed with gratified pride, and pulled the brim +of his hat down over his eyes to screen them from the glare of the sun. + +These words of the Count had filled our cup of happiness to the brim. +Though I had dared to hope for little exception on his part when I +should determine to impart to him my wishes, yet this complete and +cordial acceptance of the relationship existing between Odile and myself +filled me with unwonted exultation. Nor was the Count's satisfaction any +less, I believe, as he realized that the fulfilment of that desire which +lay nearest his heart was now assured him. It seemed, moreover, that he +had guessed something of the truth during the hours which we had passed +together in his sick-room. + +"Aye," said he, in speaking of it afterwards, "did you think I had not +weighed my words, Gaston, when I promised you any reward you should +require of me? And was I wrong in believing that such a spirited lad as +you, and one after my own heart, might find his happiness in Odile; for +she is lovely, is she not, though she is my child?" + +For all answer, I drew Odile closer to me, and kissed the fair face that +rested on my shoulder. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +THE BANQUET.--THE DWARF EXPLAINS THE MYSTERY OF THE NIDECK HOUSE. + + +The body of the boar was strapped across the backs of the two horses +which the beaters, Wilhelm Moelz and Yeri Scharf, relinquished for the +purpose, themselves returning on foot to the Castle. + +I looked with strange fascination at the shaggy brute that had so nearly +put an end to all my cherished prospects. The bristling, wiry hair +running over head and shoulders and extending half-way to the haunches; +the broad yellow tusks that forced up the black, leathery upper lip; +the small, savage eyes now glazed and half-closed in death, all inspired +me with reluctant curiosity and loathing. + +We retraced our road to the Castle, walking our jaded mounts. The dogs +followed close behind us, their tongues lolling from their mouths, and +eyeing at intervals their fallen foe, as if not yet sure that he was +beyond renewing the combat. + +As we reached the eventful fork in the forest path, the Count drew up: + +"Here's where you went astray," he said; "you didn't see the bit of red +flannel, torn from the lining of Sebalt's jacket, that we pinned to the +tree, just here, within the left-hand path? By Jove, it's gone! This +stiff breeze must have drawn it against the knife's edge and cut it +through. Look! There it is, caught in the thicket." + +Sure enough, a long strip of red flannel was fluttering in the twigs of +the underbrush a few feet away. + +"I shudder when I think how we might be returning now!" exclaimed the +Count, and a look of gloom settled for a moment upon his face. + +Gideon rode up to the tree, and pulling out his hunting-knife, restored +it to his belt. We looked thoughtfully along the fateful path for +several minutes still. Then we resumed our homeward course. + +It was towards two o'clock when we trooped into the courtyard. We +presented a somewhat less spirited appearance than at our setting out +at daybreak, but we were victorious and happy, nevertheless. + +While the huntsmen and hostlers were busy in removing the boar and +caring for the dogs and horses, the Count continued to the lodge gate, +and Odile and I followed him leisurely, along the rugged path. + +As we passed the lodge room, wherein we could descry the dwarf and a +half-dozen other figures seated about the fireplace, Offenloch stepped +out, and bowing to the Count, he said: + +"Some musicians from the Forest, monsieur! They ask permission to play +in the Castle this evening in return for food and a night's lodging." + +"Good!" said the Count; "music is just what we want, and such as these +fellows play! For I was just sending for you, Offenloch, to bid you +prepare a feast to-night worthy of the triple event to be celebrated. +Tell all the people of the Castle to be present in the dining-room at +eight o'clock, and see that no one of them all is missing. These players +shall furnish us music. Let nothing be wanting to every one's pleasure." + +The delighted butler smiled expectantly, and withdrew to carry out his +master's instructions. + +We continued to the drawing-room, where we took leave of one another to +prepare for the evening's festivities. A few minutes later I found +myself in my chamber. I was pretty thoroughly used up with the unusual +experiences of the morning, and throwing off my borrowed clothes, I lay +down on my bed, where I presently fell into a leaden slumber. + +I woke some hours later, much refreshed, to find the sun set and my +tower chamber dark. After five minutes of yawning and stretching, I got +up, and striking a light, I set about to prepare myself for the feast. + +Meanwhile I reflected--in that state of complete happiness which life +cannot offer twice, and which it does not often fall to our lot that +first time to embrace--upon the circumstances of my present. It seemed +like the touch of the genie's hand that I should now find myself +installed for all time at Nideck, the accepted lover of its mistress, +and beloved by its master, the Count. + +I was still reflecting in this wise as I went down the stairs to the +dining-room. I found a gay company assembled there. Many of the faces +were new to me, as I had never penetrated to the remoter parts of the +Castle; but all were gay and laughing, and bespoke impatient expectation +of the amusement in store for them. The arrangements for the repast were +elaborate and complete, and worthy of their projector, Offenloch. + +Hardly had the members of the household finished greeting me, when Odile +appeared on the Count's arm, her exquisite beauty well set off by a rich +gown of black brocade that made her complexion dazzling by contrast, and +in her hair a single band of jewels. + +They proceeded to the head of the table, and the Count motioned me to +him. Then, with Odile on his right hand and I at his left, he addressed +the gathering: + +"My friends," said he, "you shall now know the purpose of your being +called hither to-night. It is to celebrate the greatest of all events in +the lives of three of us; namely, the saving of your mistress's life +this morning, as you have doubtless already heard, and the restoration +of your master's health, both the work of Monsieur de la Roche beside me +here" (I experienced much more embarrassment than gratification at this +unexpected eulogy), "and lastly, that which is fraught with like +significance for us all, the betrothal of your mistress and our +benefactor!" + +At this point the Count was interrupted by a chorus of cheers that were +prolonged for several moments. As the noise subsided he went on: + +"It is well known to you all how dear to me the thought has been of +feeling that the ancient line of Nideck, which has held an honorable +place in the history of Alsace for many centuries, should continue to +flourish long after I, Count Hermann, shall have passed away. That time +is not far distant, and when it comes it rejoices me to think that I +shall hand over to these young people beside me here the future of my +race. Your young master has endeared himself already to your hearts, and +he will continue to do so during the years which are to come. Your +devotion to me in the past has been complete, and the memory of it is +one of the proudest of my possessions; and now I ask you to extend this +devotion to those who shall succeed me when I in turn pass on the Castle +and its lands. And now but one more word. This night shall be devoted to +revelry, and there should be no downcast eye among us! He who rejoices +most shall best prove his loyalty to his house. Eat, drink, and be +merry! The Count of Nideck requires it of you!" + +He paused, and a chorus of shouts greeted his message of good-will. The +old housekeeper wiped her eyes with a corner of her apron, while some of +the younger maids were reduced even to whimpering; the men maintained a +sturdy silence, but it was evident that all, especially the old steward, +the dwarf, and the master of the hounds, were no less affected than the +women. + +Ere we resumed our seats, the ancient wassail-bowl of the Nidecks, +blackened by centuries past, was filled to overflowing with sparkling +wine from the Drachenfels, and went the round of the table, each one +draining all he could at a breath. The generous draught served to +increase the already growing hilarity. The happy eyes and faces sparkled +more brightly under its magic spell. Then, in response to a signal from +the Count, we seated ourselves about the board. + +The table fairly groaned beneath its burden of dishes ranged everywhere +with lavish profusion. Bottles of all shapes and sizes, cobwebbed and +redolent of the Castle's earthen vaults, were dotted all about, with +glasses of as various patterns beside them, and long-stemmed pipes lay +beside the plate of each smoker, while an army of small dishes, the +contents of which I could not even guess, were ranged the length of the +board. Directly in the centre of it all, in an enormous platter of +flowered china, rested the head of the ill-favored boar, swimming in a +lake of white wine sauce. + +The meal progressed; the merriment increased. To-night there was license +everywhere, and each one enjoyed himself after his own manner. Healths +were emptied with marvellous rapidity till I felt my head reeling with +the fumes of the wine and the intoxication of happiness. + +An hour passed. The Count, Odile, and I, were toasted at intervals of +every few minutes. I wondered how long this state of things could +continue successfully. I looked about me. + +There was Sperver, a little distance down the table, with his thin +forehead and bristling gray head, his eyes shining and his mustache wet +with wine; at his right sat Knapwurst and on his left Marie Lagoutte. +His cheeks were a good deal flushed, and on his breast sparkled the +badge of his office; it was a pleasure to see his honest, happy face. +Marie Lagoutte was even more loquacious than was her wont; her large, +cotton cap was pushed very much to one side, and she drank first with +one and then with another with the greatest impartiality. + +Knapwurst, squatting in his armchair, his head on a level with Sperver's +elbow, looked like an enormous cabbage. Then came Tobias Offenloch, so +red that he looked as though he had dipped his face in the wine before +him. His wig rested against the chair-back, and his wooden leg was stuck +straight out before him under the table. Further on, Sebalt's long, +melancholy face stood out in grotesque relief, smiling faintly into his +glass. + +There were, besides the musicians, the serving-men and women, domestics +and hangers-on,--all that little world, in short, which lives and +flourishes around great families as the moss, the ivy, and the +convolvulus cling about the forest oak. Their eyes were moist with +wine-begotten tears. The Vine of Bacchus wept freely everywhere. The +light of the great bronze lamp shed over all its beautiful amber tint +and left in the shadows the old gray walls where hung in wreaths the +trumpets, bugles, and horns of the former lords of the Castle. The scene +was like a glimpse from ages past. + +The roof rang with songs and shouts, and ballads long lain dormant in +the minds of the singers now came forth and woke the startled echoes of +the Castle. + +For my part, I did little else but listen and occupy myself with the +faces about me; for thanks to the exercise of the morning and my long +inhaling of the old wine, smelling of vervain and cypress, that mounted +to my brain, and clothed all things for me in vague, unreal beauty, I +was in that wholly receptive mood which disaffects even the semblance of +effort. + +So I listened with entire complacency to the singularly successful +efforts of the entertainers, who were elated to an unusual degree by +every circumstance of the occasion. + +The evening wore on. The boar's head had disappeared; the array of small +dishes was reduced to a mass of indistinguishable debris; one set of +bottles had been emptied and replaced by another, and our pipe-bowls +were aglow. + +At this point the Count suggested that we should have music. The +musicians, having enjoyed their fill of food and wine, and burned out a +generous pipe, hastened to comply. + +Taking up their instruments, they moved over before the hearth, where +seats had been arranged for them in the form of a semicircle. They +seated themselves, and began to put their instruments in tune. + +It was a picturesque sight, these sons of the Black Forest seated in the +dim light of the hall,--the old harper, bent with years, leaning over +his instrument; next him a short, thick-set fellow, whom his comrades +called Black Pierre, passively supporting his 'cello, and gazing about +him curiously at the unfamiliar objects in the room; at his side the +handsome, jovial-looking flute player, a picture of rugged health and +careless good humor; while next in line came a man of medium stature, +whose indistinctive features were rendered more so by the large creases +in his cheeks, made by supporting his violin, which he held firmly +beneath his square chin, while he tightened the horse-hair of his bow; +and finally, to complete the semicircle, the clarinet player, a slight, +sunburned boy, scarce turned eighteen, unmistakably a member of one of +those numerous Gypsy bands whose camps are always to be found in the +plateau of the Rothalps between Alsace and Lorraine. + +The music began, and in justice to the vagabond players it must be said +that it was of no ordinary degree of excellence. All the fire and pathos +of their lawless natures was blended in the melody; now low and sad and +tender as the reveries of old age itself; then rising and swelling into +a burst of passion and longing that bewildered and electrified you; then +in the midst of all this followed a lively measure, persuasive and +careless, that in turn gave way to a waltz, foolish, palpitating, +wanton. + +I sat enchanted, my eyes roving over the faces of those around me. +Odile, too, seemed to find the strains a fitting accompaniment to her +thoughts, for she nodded approvingly at me from time to time, and once I +thought I saw a tear hang on her eyelash. However, that may have been +mere imagination, as I invariably become sentimental with my third +bottle. + +After a little the music began again. This time it was Schiller's +"Brigands," and this more ambitious undertaking was rendered with a +spirit and understanding hardly to be looked for in those who rarely +aspired higher than the audiences of the inns, or the woodcutter's +gatherings in the shambles of the forest. + +I glanced once more about me. Everyone's eyes were fastened on the +flooring. Even the frowzy scullion, who winced as he became conscious of +my gaze, and passed the back of his hand across his nose apologetically, +seemed lifted for the moment from his pots and kettles to loftier +thoughts. Other pieces followed; there were those to suit every mood and +fancy. The Count was enthusiastic in his applause at the end of each +number, and demanded more, while the others expressed their satisfaction +with clapping and stamps on the stone floor. + +When at last the music came to an end, the players were rewarded with +generous gold pieces by the master, and returned well satisfied to the +table to wear away what little was left of the night, in wine and +conversation. + +The hour was late. The old clock ticked on in the chimney-corner, and +groaned in its casing as its heavy weights ran out their length. The +fire fell on the hearth; the great yule logs of the early evening had +given out their substance, and now were crumbling away into ruddy embers +and soft, flaky ashes. And still the merriment continued, still glasses +were filled and drained, and still the call for songs and stories went +on. + +At length, at that hour when fatigue begins to assert itself over +inclination, when vitality is low, and the shadows become deeper, +colder, and the night more mysterious, then it was that the Count +exclaimed: + +"Each one shall sing a final song except Knapwurst, for he has a voice +like a bull-frog, but he is first in story-telling in all Alsace! When +it comes his turn he shall tell us a story. Sperver, you shall begin +with the song of Black Hatto the Burgrave! + + "I am the king of these mountains of mine." + +And the steward, rising and standing like the figure of the wild +huntsman in the heather, thundered forth the song with wonderful effect. +The entire room joined in the chorus, and the old suits of mail fairly +creaked and trembled with the sound. + +"Bravo!" cried the Count. "Nobly done, Sperver! It is your turn now, +Becker! Sing what you like!" + +Becker, whose arm had stolen unperceived around Gretchen's waist, got +up hastily, in some embarrassment, and steadying himself against the +table, complied with a species of madrigal, proclaiming the virtues of +lasses of the present, and claiming in a loud refrain that they were +quite the equal of those of the olden times. And in truth they were, +judging from the fair faces at intervals about the board, sitting with +their eyes veiled by long, drooping lashes, as sleep and the wine were +now stealing over them. The kennel-keeper's tribute to their charms +served to arouse them, however, and they stole shy and gratified glances +at each other as he sang. + +After Becker, the Gypsy youth followed with a herdsman's jodel, and so +the round was gradually completed. + +The clock struck two from its niche in the corner. The last embers +flared up and fell. The lamp burned low. + +"A story from Knapwurst now!" exclaimed the Count; "and then the day is +done!" + +A complete silence succeeded; Knapwurst's quaint relations were +favorites, it seemed. + +The dwarf, half-tipsy as a result of his liberal potations, rested his +elbows on the table, and with his fists dug into his hollow cheeks, and +his eyes staring out of his head, he began in a harsh, monotonous voice: + +"Bernhard Hertzog relates that the Burgrave Hugh, surnamed the Wolf, the +founder of Nideck, having become old, used to cover his head with a sort +of hood that fell down about his shoulders, which he wore over his +steel helmet when engaged in combat; when he wished to breathe more +easily, he removed the helmet and covered his head with the hood alone, +the scallops of which hung down about his waist. Up to the age of +eighty-two, Hugh still wore his armor, though he could hardly breathe in +it. Then he sent for Otto of Burlach, his chaplain; Hugh, his eldest +son; Berthold, his second son; and his daughter, Bertha, of the red +hair, the wife of a Saxon chief named Zaan, and said to them, 'Your +mother, the she-wolf, has bequeathed to you her claws; her blood is +mixed with mine, and it will be born again among you from century to +century, and weep among the snows of the Black Forest. Some will say, +'It is the moaning of the wind!' Others, 'Hark! The owl hoots!' But it +is your blood, mine, and the blood of the she-wolf who made me to murder +Elfreda, my first wife before God and the Holy Church! Yes, she has +perished by my hand. Cursed be the she-wolf, for it is written, 'I will +visit the crime of the father upon the children, unto the third and +fourth generations;' aye, until justice be done.' And old Hugh died. +From that day the north wind has sobbed, and the owl has hooted, and the +lost traveller by night knows not that it is the blood of the she-wolf +bemoaning her crime. 'And she will bemoan it,' says Hertzog, 'from +century to century, until that day when Hugh's first wife, Elfreda, +shall reappear in the form of an angel at Nideck, to pardon and +console.'" + +The dwarf paused, and silence succeeded, which lasted for a full minute; +then he continued, with drunken gravity, pointing his long forefinger at +Odile: + +"There is she who was to return to pardon and console. She has returned. +At this moment she is sitting beside the Count, our master! Look, sirs! +Do you not recognize her? Is it not she? Henceforth the lords of Nideck +may rest in peace, for justice is done, and the good angel of this noble +house has returned." + +THE END. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Count of Nideck, by Ralph Browning Fiske + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE COUNT OF NIDECK *** + +***** This file should be named 34999.txt or 34999.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/4/9/9/34999/ + +Produced by Annie McGuire. This book was produced from +scanned images of public domain material from the Google +Print archive. + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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