CHAPTER VII.
"Very good then, Mr. Raby," pursued the Jew. (He no longer thought ofhim as "young Mr. Matyi.") "But before I leave this place, nay, beforeyou send me packing, I must needs have three words with you."
"All right, out with them!"
"Now the first is this: since I first weathered winter's snow andsummer's dust on this good Mother Earth of ours, I never before met aman who was frightened at money. I see him for the first time to-day.You were positively averse to keeping my gold. Nay, I believe that youwanted to break my head on account of it. And now I find you have nosweetheart, you neither drink nor gamble; you fraternise with no one.That again is something quite unheard-of. And finally, a man will notdot the 'i' of another person's writing, that also is something out ofthe common, let me tell you."
"Well for one word I think that is long enough--what else?"
"The second concerns myself. As truly as that I yesterday was'Rothesel,' and to-day am 'Rotheisel,' so surely is it that Rotheiselwon't neglect a treasure which Rothesel has discovered. I know of atreasure, in fine, for the carrying off of which, as in the fairy tales,only clean hands can avail."
"I don't understand what you are talking about."
"Well, I do. There is a treasure lying buried in a certain place, asolid heap of more than a hundred thousand ducats, on the track of whichI would set a champion."
"I still do not understand. To whom does this goodly hoard belong?"
"This money has been wrung from the sweat and blood of the poor and theoppressed, nay, squeezed out of ragged and hunger-bitten wretches,moistened by the tears of widows and orphans, purloined, and concealedfrom the Crown. It is the people of your native town, good sir, whosemisery has augmented this treasure, and who starve and complain for thelack of it, while beggars swarm throughout the country. If this sort ofthing goes on, the whole State must go to the dogs. I know what I amtalking about, and will gladly lead you to the hoard. When you are in aposition to rescue it from the dragon's clutches, two-thirds of it willgo back to the poor wretched folk it was wrung from, and a third toenrich the man who restores it."
"But if you know all this, why not do it yourself?" questioned hislistener.
"Tut, tut, my most respected sir, have you then studied to such littlepurpose as not to know the laws of your native land? Does it not standwritten that the plaintiff must be a Christian? The Jew can do nothing.And, moreover, were I as good a Christian as the zealous old sacristanwho opens the church every morning single-handed and shuts it atnightfall, I should not be the man for this business. For it is justsuch a man as you is wanted, my respected sir, a man who, once he hasset his hand to the work, will not allow himself to be beaten out of thefield. For as long as the seven-headed dragon that guards the treasuresees that no one attempts to raise it, he'll wag his seven heads moreboldly than ever. As soon as the delegates who are told off to takecharge of it, notice that by chance ten or twenty heaps of ducats havebeen left perhaps on the table, they go back and verify that all is ingood order. They will resent the adventurous knight's interference, andwill give him his _quietus_ if he is not wary. He must press on againstall foes, even if help fail him. How should a poor insignificant mortallike myself be fitted for such an undertaking? For such a quest, apowerful chivalrous man is needed, who has the _entree_ at Court, who islikewise a noble himself, and can wield the pen as well as the sword, infine, one who has a heart open to the cry of the poor and oppressed, andthe faculty of sympathising with the people. They are not my people--Iam only a foreigner here, but it goes to my heart when I see how theharrow tears and the clods are broken, how for others is the sowing thatthese may reap. Then I thank God that He has not given me a portion inthis land, but that I am a stranger here. Believe me, Mr. Raby, thenobles always know how to oppress the vassals. The Turkish pacha atmost, has shorn his subjects: the Magyar landlord has fairly pluckedhis, but the Szent-Endre council flay their victims of hide and hairalike. So that's my third word!"
"All right, just give me more precise details over all this, and comeand look me up at my lodgings; there we can talk it over; I shall be athome the whole evening."
So at the appointed time, Abraham went to discuss matters with Raby, anddid not get home till morning. He literally talked the whole night long.
Yet when he at last took leave, he bound his friend on his honour:
"That you never betray how you knew all these things. The SpanishInquisition was mere child's play compared to what those good peoplewould do to me, if they knew that it was I who had made it so hot forthem."