CHAPTER I.
ON BOARD MYNHEER'S SHIP.
A convincing proof of my honest and pious intentions is, thatnotwithstanding I was in great need of money--I hadn't a penny to myname!--it never occurred to me to help myself from the alms-box at thedoor of the chapel, which, at such seasons like Passion Week, wasalways well filled.
I had no "motive" to carry the box with me--it had not been defiled bysacrilegious hands.
I still wore the dress in which I had masqueraded as a lictor: theRoman balten, the leathern caliga, the chalizeh sandals with straps,and the ancient Hebrew pallium. Anywhere else in the civilized world aman garbed as I was would have been arrested as a vagabond lunatic;but I was not molested in Stettin.
That city, under Swedish domination, was a free port; the mouth of theOder was crowded with vessels of all sorts, from all countries. Thequay swarmed with negroes, Spaniards, Turks, Chinese--allnationalities, all the costumes of the globe were represented.Consequently no one, however striking may have been his garb, wouldhave attracted special attention. Nor did I, as I passed through thecrowd in search of a vessel that was lifting her anchor, preparatoryto sailing at once.
Chance led me to a Dutch ship.
The owner of the craft, Mynheer Ruissen, paid no attention to me untilafter we were out of the harbor, and were scudding before a favorablewind. Then, as he was passing along the deck, his eyes fell on me,where I was sitting near the rail, with my bag by my side.
He stopped in front of me, thrust his hands into the pockets of hiscoat, and, after a moment's close scrutiny, addressed me in a languageI had never heard before. He tried several different tongues--orientalby their sound--with the same result. I could only indicate by shakingmy head that I did not understand him. At last he became impatient,and exclaimed in Flemish:
"Potztausend-wetter! What language does this fellow speak, I wonder?"
I understood him then, and told him I could speak Dutch, and that Iwas not a heathen from the Orient, but a native of Europe, and aChristian like himself.
"And where are you going, may I ask?"
"Wherever your ship will take me," I answered.
"Have you the money to pay for your passage?"
"Not a solitary batz."
"Have you anything of value?"
"I have a beautiful golden flask set with precious gems, which I willgive you as a pledge, or in payment--as you prefer."
"Did you come by it honestly?"
"I will take my oath that I did not steal it. A beautiful woman gaveit to me as a souvenir. May I sink with this ship to the bottom of thesea, if every word I tell you is not true!"
"Na, Na,! you needn't mind swearing in that way," hastily interposedMynheer. "I don't want my ship to go to the bottom of the sea! Is theflask worth enough to pay for your passage to Hamburg?"
"It would fetch more than your whole ship!"
He paused a moment, then asked again:
"What have you got in that bag?"
"Gold and silver vessels, and jewels."
"Are they souvenirs too? There, there, you needn't mind swearingagain! I won't arrest you--it's no concern of mine how you came bythem."
I told him then that if he would take me to his private cabin, I wouldtell him how I came to have the valuables in my possession.
He led me to his cabin, where he bade me place the leather bag in thecorner. Then he ordered one mug of beer to be brought; filled aporcelain pipe--about the size of a thimble--with tobacco, thrust thestem between his lips, but did not light it--I dare say, because hefeared it might burn out before he had emptied the beer mug, fromwhich he took an occasional sip while I was telling him my story.
When I had told him of the scandalous scenes in the castle, and of myescape with the denied vessels, which I had decided to take to thearchbishop, Mynheer removed the pipe from his lips, deliberatelyknocked the tobacco into the palm of his hand and emptied it into thetobacco-pouch. Then he drained the last sip of beer from the mug,thrust his hands into his pockets and said:
"Well, my son, you have acted cleverly, and stupidly at the same time.To fetch the things away with you, was clever--very! But, to decidethat you--by yourself--a poor unknown devil, would be believed by thearchbishop, when you accused so powerful an order as the_Dornenritter_ of blasphemy and sacrilege, was stupid in the extreme.Nobody will believe your story; you will be ridiculed, and told thatyou dreamed all these things."
"But," I interposed, "how could I have dreamed things, no living beingever saw with his eyes, or heard with his ears? How could I havedreamed the Baphomet worship? How could I have dreamed names likeJaldabaoth and Ophiomorpho, and that disquisition around thesarcophagus?"
"Why, you stupid lad! Don't you see they will say you have beenreading the secret pamphlet which was published by the opponents ofthe Ancient Order of Templars? But, what was permitted to King Philipwill not be tolerated in you; you will not be allowed to tell storiesabout Baphomet idolatry, and serpent worship. And, suppose you areallowed to tell what you 'saw with your eyes and heard with yourears'--you have no witness to prove that what you say is true."
"Oh, haven't I?" I cried, triumphantly producing from the leather bagthe pyx with its contents. "Here is my witness: this sacred wafer,defiled by the idol-worshippers. See! here in the center of it, is theprint of Ashtoreth's slipper heel, where she trod it under foot. Yousee, it is directly over the banner of the _Agnus Dei_?"
Mynheer deliberately adjusted his large spectacles on the bridge ofhis nose, and scrutinized the wafer.
"_Donnerwetter_!" he growled, "you are right, lad, this is the symbolof Baphomet: a half-moon, a double-headed serpent curved to form thefigure 8. Hm, hm--you have acted in a praiseworthy manner after all!By bringing this wafer with you, you have saved the souls of manydevout Christians from eternal damnation, in that you have hinderedthem from kneeling in adoration today at mass before this symbol ofBaphomet! Indeed, half Stettin will owe thanks to you if, instead ofdamnation, it wins salvation! Your brave and valiant deed will savefrom the flames of hell at least twelve thousand souls! Therein liesthe wisdom of your action; the unwisdom will come to the fore when youask yourself: 'What shall I do with these desecrated vessels?'
"You thought to arraign an entire order--nay, two, for those wantonfemales must belong to an order of some sort. To accuse a religiousbody is always extremely dangerous--specially so, if the order becomposed of women. I am afraid it will result in your ruin; you willmost likely be arrested for stealing church property--the punishmentfor which is death at the stake. What will your word be worth againstthe denials of the knights? Do you imagine that any trace of theirscandalous revelry will be found? Not by a good deal! You will bepronounced a wicked calumniator; unless you want them to cut off yourtongue, you will keep it silent between your teeth!"
"Then what shall I do with these things?" I asked in perplexity,giving the bag a thrust with my foot. "Shall I take them back to thecastle?--"
"That"--interrupted Mynheer--"would be the stupidest thing you coulddo. The sir knights would, beyond a doubt, have you walled into somecorner of the castle, where you might await the resurrection with whatpatience you could summon!"
"Then, what would you advise me to do?" I asked again.
"Well, my son, _I_ say, that what you have in your possession belongsto you; accept it as the gift of heaven--though you acquired it fromSatan. When we get to Hamburg I will direct you where to find anhonest man whose business it is to relieve pious folk of any treasurethey may have taken from Satan--or, found where it was not lost. I amacquainted with a Christian of that sort; you need not be afraid totrust him--he is honest as a Quaker, and would not cheat anyone--onSunday! I think I may trust you to dispose of your treasure ascleverly as you--appropriated it, which, after all, is the chiefsecret of trade!"