CHAPTER XXX
A SOUND AFAR
About midway in the curve of one of the numerous bays, marking thecoast-line, and several hours distant from the Mount, stands a stonecross erected by an English marauder to indicate the place of hislanding. The symbol is visible on all sides from afar, for before itare the sands and the sea, and behind stretches the land barren ofwood--low, level, covered only with marsh grass. Toward this monumentof man's conquest--most prominent object in a prospect, dreary andmonotonous--rode, late one afternoon, a band of horsemen. At theirhead galloped my lord, the Marquis; in the center could be seen a manwith bound arms whose horse was led by one of the others. Thisperson--a prisoner, thin, haggard, yet still muscular of frame--fromtime to time gazed about; a look of inquiry or calculation in the blackundaunted eyes.
"What prison are you taking me to now?" once he asked the trooper whoheld the reins of his horse. "And why do you go in this direction? Isit you dare not ride along main highways on account of the people?"
"Never you mind!" came the gruff answer. "And as for the people,they'd better look out!"
"Bah!" laughed the prisoner. "You can put some of them in cells, butnot all!"
"There may be something worse than a cell waiting for you!" was themalicious retort.
"No doubt!" said the other stoically.
But as his eyes again swept the horizon, from the opposite directionappeared another band of riders. At first the prisoner, regardingthem, looked puzzled; then as the new-comers rode straight and rapidlyon toward the cross, his countenance expressed a faint understanding.A fresh relay of men, he concluded; one his present guard would consignhim to, and then themselves return to the Mount. Still was themeeting-place an odd one, and the demeanor of the two bodies of men notentirely consistent with his conclusions; for, as they drew nearer,both parties slackened their pace, suspiciously to scrutinize eachother.
"Twenty--the number agreed upon!" muttered the Marquis, and spurring onfast, led his troops nearer the cross.
Not many paces distant the word was given to halt, and, as they obeyed,on the other side of the monument the strange men likewise drew rein.At the same moment, there flashed on the captive's mind a discovery.These faces, looking so grimly out over the marshy field at them, werenot the wooden visages of paid soldiers, but of men he knew--his men!Across the space separating the two parties he could read their quicklooks-their satisfaction--their complacency! He watched them with eyesin which pride and tenderness mingled. And then, for the first time,did he observe they had brought some one with them--a woman, or agirl--the Governor's daughter!
The bold black eyes of the prisoner regarded her fixedly. What did itmean? said his keen gaze. Colorless as marble, my lady held herselfvery erect on her horse; then while his glance yet probed her, theproud face slowly changed; on the cold cheek youth's bright bannerflared high. The young man turned; following the direction of hergaze, looked at the Marquis; my lord's features radiated felicitations;his eyes shone with welcome. And a fuller understanding came over theprisoner; in some mysterious manner had the Lady Elise been madecaptive, and now had the nobleman come to escort his betrothed back tothe palace.
My lady held herself very erect on her horse]
Even as the Black Seigneur reached this conclusion, he become cognizanthis bonds had been loosened; the reins placed in his hands. "You arefree," said a voice and mechanically he rode toward his comrades.
Thus, near the crumbling and time-worn cross, was the exchange ofprisoners effected; the girl whirled away by my lord, who seemedfearful of treachery, and the Black Seigneur left to the greetings ofhis men.
"Now, by the tuneful Nine,"--the poet, Gabriel Gabarie, pushing hisburly form to the front, was the first to extend a hand--"but, fromyour looks, the Governor looks ill to the welfare of his lodgers!"
"And had we not captured my lady," spoke up another, gazing after theparty of the Marquis, "he would have looked yet worse to the welfare ofone of them, no doubt!"
"Drink this, Seigneur!" cried a third; "you must drink this--a specialbottle we brought for the occasion!"
"Sent by old Pierre when he heard we were coming for you!" added thepoet. "Your drinking-cups, lads! Unfasten the skin for yourselves!To _mon capitaine_!"--
Once, twice, deeply they drank--toast and vintage alike to their taste;then straightening, looked at the Black Seigneur whose eyes yet burnedin the direction my lady had gone. With a start he seemed to recallhimself to the demands of the moment; his first questions theyexpected; the ship--where did she lie? Snug and trim in a neighboringcove, ready to slip out, if occasion required and danger pressed--whichcontingency they did not just then expect, since at the moment was hisExcellency more concerned with affairs on the land than matterspertaining to the sea. What these paramount interests were, the youngman, on whose thin cheek now burned a little color, did not at onceask; only gazed inquiringly over the group, where one, whom he mighthave expected, was absent.
"Sanchez--he is not with you?"
A look of constraint appeared for an instant on the poet's face.
"No, he's with the people, I expect. You see," he went on, "thingshave been happening since you elected to enact the mountebank. Thebees have been busy, and this little hive they call France is now fullof bother and bustle. The bees that work have been buzzing about thosethat don't; they made a great noise at Versailles, but the King Droneonly listened; did not try to stop it, fearing their sting. Theyhummed at the door of the Bastille, until the parasite bees, not likingthe music, opened the doors, let them all in--"
"The Bastille has fallen?" The listener's voice rang out; his eyes,searching sharply the features of the bard, seemed to demand only thetruth, plain, unadorned.
"It has," answered the other gravely. "And the tune sung in and aroundParis has kept on spreading until now it is everywhere! You may hearit in the woods; along the marshes; out over the strand! The veryMount, immovable, seems to listen. When will the storm break? To-day?To-morrow? It needs but a word from Paris, and then--"
The poet broke off, and silently the Black Seigneur seemed to beweighing the purport of the news; for some moments stood as a man deepin thought; then, arousing himself, spoke a few words, and gave a brieforder. Swiftly the riders swept away in the direction from which theyhad come, and only when they had gone some distance did the young manonce more turn to the poet with a question. Whereupon the latter,spurring his horse nearer his chief, launched into eloquent explanation.
"And then," ended the bard, "the Governor's daughter walked into ourambush as unsuspectingly as a mouse into a trap!"
"The Governor's daughter cozened by Nanette!"
"That she was! A clever wench and a brave one, Nanette! Although,"the poet's jovial eyes studied the dark face, "unless I am mistaken,she found the task to her liking!"
"You treated her, the Governor's daughter, well?" said the otherabruptly.
"Gave her your cabin, _mon capitaine_, where," chuckling, "she ruledlike a despot. Not once did she whimper, or beg favor--for herself!For the Marquis, it is true, she did plead--that day we took them!"
"He's her betrothed!" said the young man shortly.
"A marionette!" gibed the poet. "Some of the men were for making shortshrift of him, and they might have--only for her!"
"They will soon be safe enough together now!" remarked the BlackSeigneur.
Again a peculiar, half-questioning expression shaded the poet's eyes,while furtively he regarded the young man. "Yes, they ought to be!"
"The terms of exchange--what were they?"
"You for her! That was our demand. After the place had been agreedupon, his Excellency asked to name the hour, and further interjected acondition, binding both parties to secrecy in the matter, that thepeople might not know. They acted badly when the soldiers returned tothe Mount without his daughter; they might behave worse, no doubt hethinks, when they come back with her."
"So will she be safely returned in t
he darkness! A wise provision!"
"That," murmured the poet, studying the horizon, "was evidently histhought. But," as the Black Seigneur, relaxing his pace, drew rein ata fork in the pathway, "yonder lies our cove, _mon capitaine_, and--"
"Do you and the men go there!" commanded the other, and gave a fewfurther instructions.
"See that the ship is kept in readiness!" he ended. "As for me--" Hemade a vague gesture.
That evening found the Black Seigneur in the Desaurac forest; where, asa boy, he had fled for shelter, now some instinct, or desire he did notstrive to analyze, drew him. As slowly he made his way through thewood, on every hand familiar outlines and details, seen vaguely in thelast light of day, invited him to pause; but without stopping he movedon to the castle, and up to the chamber, where Sanchez, returning fromAmerica, had found him, a vagabond lad. Through the window the sameunobstructed view of the Mount dimly unfolded itself in the dusk, andfor some moments he regarded it--august, majestic; glossing its heart'sblack secrets with specious and well-composed bearing! As he looked,there suddenly came to him the remembrance of another impression; thesame picture, seen through the eyes of a boy--standing where he wasnow! Then had the Mount seemed a marvelous series of structures,air-drawn, magical--home of a small and fairy-like creature, with hairof shining gold. Dusk turned to night; in the distance the Mountvanished, and through the break in the forest only the stars twinkled.
Then lighting his fire, the young man sat down at the side; withfaculties alert, listened to the wind; looked at the flames.Demon-like they leaped before his eyes, as when he had waited andwatched for the emissaries of his Excellency; and mechanically heplaced his weapons on the same spot he had been wont to lay them inthose days. There was little likelihood they would seek him now,however; the Governor was fully occupied elsewhere, looking tointerests more important to himself and to--
Her ladyship! the fire leaped wildly, as laughing at fate's foolishprank. Her life for his! What irony! If she had betrayed him? "If?"His laugh crushed possibility for supposition; but almost at onceitself died away! Indissolubly associated with the thought, a scene ina dungeon must needs recur; her denials; the touch of a hand; theappeal of light fingers thrust through the bars! Why? The questionshe had asked then, were reiterated now; the hand that had gripped hersopened, closed; once more he seemed to see the steadfast, unswervingeyes; once more seemed to read in their depths, "Believe!"
The pine branches continued to crackle as with merriment; but his gazewas somber. How glad she must have been to see the end of hercaptivity! The sudden leaping of yonder flame was like the quick,bright flush that had mantled her cheek at sight of her liege lord tobe! They should have arrived at the Mount ere now; about this timewere entering the gates! He could see her, the Marquis at her side--
A sudden sharp detonation afar dissipated the picture. Otherexplosions followed, like volley of muskets; and, springing to thewindow, the Black Seigneur looked toward the Mount; from it, flashes oflight gleamed and glimmered. Then the loud report of a cannonreverberated in the distance.