CHAPTER II.
PERSIDA.
"_Crimen falsi_," dictated the chair to the notary.
"But"--the prince made haste to add--"But, _immediatum_, not_spontaneum_. The accused was led to the indirect committal of the actby the instructions of Father Agapitus; the real criminal is a Jew--itis he who deserves the stake. Therefore, the prisoner's transgressionmay be remitted."
"If this continues," grumblingly commented the chair, "the prisonerwill surely talk himself out of every one of his crimes.Well"--addressing himself to the accused--"I don't know what to callyou, but for the time being Zdenko Kochanovszki, continue."
Under that name, your honor, resumed Hugo, I lived the most memorabledays of my life. I was treated by the duke as a good comrade andfamiliar friend. We hunted together for days in the ducal forestsslaying the wild bulls and bears by the hundreds; and when we returnedto the palace the merry-making began. There would be feasting anddrinking; the most enchanting music by a band of Bohemian players; thecourt-fools would amuse us with all sorts of buffoonery; and when anyof the jovial company succumbed to the beaker and tumbled under thetable the attendants carried them to bed. Not infrequently it happenedthat his grace and myself would be the only two left at the table--webeing able to stand more than the others.
At times, too, I would entertain the company by relating the mostwonderful tales of my pilgrimage, which were listened to with closeattention.
In all this time I had not seen a single woman about the palace.
The grand-duchess was absent on a pilgrimage to Berdiczov, infulfillment of a vow. I learned from one of the guests that the duke'smarriage had not been blessed with an heir, and this was why theduchess had undertaken the devout journey. As she knew she should beabsent several weeks, she took with her all the women servants, aswell as her ladies-in-waiting--from which I guessed the fair Persidato be a shrewd, as well as a beautiful woman.
I waited her grace's return with no little apprehension, for, with theexception of the grand duke himself, every one about the palace knewthat Zdenko Kochanovszki had been a devoted admirer of the lady beforeher marriage. Indeed, it was said that her marriage to the rich oldduke had sent the youthful Zdenko on his pilgrimage.
That all this was unknown to his grace was certain, else the receptionaccorded to me, whom he believed to be his former boon companion,would not have been so cordial.
There would be some sport when the lady returned home.
Would she, too, see in me her quondam admirer? What would happen to meif the eyes of a loving woman should prove more keen than those ofher husband? What would be the result if she saw through mymasquerade? If she should say: "Away with this rogue--he is adeceiver! I know what dwells in the eyes of the true Zdenko, for Ihave looked into them. These are not Zdenko's eyes."
And again: what would happen if she should believe me to be herone-time lover? and question me as her husband had done: "Do youremember the promise we gave to each other?" And, suppose I should beas lucky in guessing the reply as before!
* * * * *
The duke spoke boastfully of his dragoon's victory over the haidemakenbefore the walls of Berdiczov monastery. The robbers had been moweddown like grain; only the leader and a few of his men had escaped bythe skin of their teeth; their field-gun had been captured and thegunner hanged on one of the tallest trees--your honors may guess thatI took good care not to deny this statement!
I praised the duke's heroism, and listened attentively to his talesabout the terrible haidemaken, as if I had never heard of them before.
At last, one fine day, the pilgrims returned from Berdiczov; and thejoyous sound of women's voices was heard in the palace. Master and manhastened to welcome the fair ones. I alone had no one to greet.
I was very curious to see what manner of woman the beautiful Persidamight be--she for whose sake the owner of my name had gone out intothe wide world.
The duke hastened to assist her from the carriage on the arrival ofthe caravan. She was very graceful--tall, with a pale face, large,dark languishing eyes, full red lips, and coal black hair.
When her spouse pressed his moist moustache to her lips, she made agrimace. He was overjoyed at her return. The duke's guests andattendants welcomed the returned duchess, each in their own fashion;the former pressed their lips to her hand; the latter kissed the hemof her robe. I did not want my first meeting with her grace to takeplace in the presence of the entire household; but the duke called mefrom the hall, where I had withdrawn, and said:
"See here, my love, who is this? Look at him, and tell me if yourecognize the lad?"
I was afraid to meet the glance which scrutinized my features--I feltthat I should be compelled to blurt out:
"I am Baran, gunner of the haidemaken."
"You don't recognize him, do you?" again said the duke. "I knew youwouldn't. 'Tis our long absent comrade Zdenko Kochanovszki."
For one single instant I saw into that woman's soul. At mention of myname, a sudden light leapt into her eyes--a world of passion flamedfor one brief instant.
Her husband had not seen it, only I. Then the beautiful eyes becamecold again, and indifferent, and the queenly head was gravely bent inrecognition of an old acquaintance, the slender fingers were extendedfor the formal kiss of greeting.
She did not vouchsafe another glance toward me, but turned toward theduke, laid her hand on his arm, and said with sudden friendliness:
"_Comment vous portez-vous, mon petit drole?_"
Although her grace took no further notice of me, I saw my way clearfor the future.
With the return of the duchess the household regulations underwent acomplete change. The noisy tipplers received their _conge_; thenightly carousals came to an end. Quite a different mode of life hadbeen prescribed by the prior of the monastery for the ducal pair, ifthey wished his blessing to have the desired effect. All fast dayswere to be strictly observed; they might eat only sparingly of theplainest food--only of those dishes which conduce to strength: snails,frogs, and those vegetables which grow under ground.
This sort of diet, as you may guess, was not suited to the palates ofthe duke's guests. One after another took his departure, until noneremained but myself; and I had become indispensable to his grace,because of my ability to amuse him with adventurous tales.
Every evening the duchess would send for me to read aloud in areligious book, about saints, until the duke would become sleepy. Hergrace continued to treat me with extreme reserve; she never lifted hereyes to mine when she spoke to me, but always kept them lowered, as ifshe were addressing her remarks to my boots.
She appeared to be extraordinarily pious; she would repeat a longprayer before and at the end of every meal. She never called me byname--always "Sir." Indeed, the only time she unbent from her frigidreserve, was, when she patted her husband's fat, bearded cheek, orpulled his moustache, to restore him to a good humor; but theseoccasions were rare.
Before the duke retired for the night, the duchess prepared with herown fair hands his slumber draught, the recipe for which she hadreceived from the prior of Berdiczov monastery. It was composed of allsorts of costly spices--an enumeration of which I may repeat later,should I take up the trade of concocting various potations, theefficacy of which may not be doubted.
The chief ingredient of the duke's sleeping potion was hot, red wine;and he was wont to smack his lips and exclaim after he had emptied theglass:
"Ah!--my love, that has quite rejuvenated me." He would spring lightlyas a youth from his arm-chair, take his wife's hand, and gallantlyconduct her to their private chambers, leaving me to the solitaryperusal of the pious volume--to learn what had happened to St.Genevieve, when Attila's Huns besieged Paris.
One evening we were engaged as usual with our instructive reading. Theduke and his wife were seated in front of the fire-place; I, asalways, occupied a chair at the table on which rested the ponderous"History of the Saints and Martyrs." I had been reading for an hourand more,
how St. Genevieve had relieved Paris a second time fromfamine, when the duke suddenly interrupted to say he was so thirsty hemust beg that his nightly potion be given to him at once. His wifeprepared it for him; but, instead of rising to retire to his own roomsas usual, after he had emptied the glass, he settled himself back inhis chair, clasped his hands over his paunch, and in a few minutes hispowerful snoring again interrupted the reading.
The duchess looked at him for several moments with an indescribableexpression on her lovely face--a mixture of loathing, rage, andcontempt; then, she sprang to her feet, came swiftly toward the tablewhere I was sitting, and gave it so vigorous a thrust with her footthat it toppled over and fell, together with the Saints and Martyrs,to the floor with a loud noise. His grace did not stir; his snorescontinued with unabated vigor.
Before I had recovered from my astonishment at her grace's behavior,she seated herself on my knee and flung her arms around my neck:
"So you have come back to me, Zdenko? Tell me, do you still love me?"she asked in a passionate whisper, at the same time making itimpossible for me to reply--
"Stop!" here interrupted the chair: "I don't quite understand how thatcould be?"
"I do," promptly, and succinctly interposed the prince. "Continue,prisoner, what happened next?"
I hardly know how to tell it, your highness. It was like a dream ofparadise! I knew that every kiss I received and returned was deceit,robbery, sacrilege; I knew I was cheating the house which shelteredme; the master of the house who fed me; the unknown man whose name Ibore--the woman--God--the devil--all--all. And yet, were you to ask mewhat I should do were I to be placed in the same situation again, Ishould reply: "Just what I did then--and if it cost me my life!"
"Hardened reprobate!" exclaimed the chair in a tone of reprimand. Thenhe dictated to the notary: "_Adulterium cum stellionatum_--"
"But," hastily interposed the prince, "he did not begin it. In thiscase, as in that of Father Adam: the woman was to blame. The prisonerwill continue."
I know it was a great crime--I know it very well, and it oppresses mysoul to this day, although I have received absolution for it. In thatmoment of oblivion to all things earthly, the lovely Persida whisperedin my ear:
"Zdenko, if you could journey to the Holy Land for love of me youcould also endure a season of purgatory for my sake, could you not?"
Without stopping to consider, I answered:
"Certainly I could!"
"Very well, then, do not confess this sin which is half mine. Do notconfide it to priest, or saint, for no matter to whom you mightconfess, misfortune would come to me as well as to you."
I promised not to confess the sin; but I went about with it weightingmy soul, much as a wounded stag roams the forest with a dart in hisvitals.
The old duke at last became so devout that he compelled every memberof his household to repair to the confessional in his private chapel,every fast day. There was nothing to be seen of the priest whoreceived the penitents, but his hand, in which he held a long ivorywand with which he would touch the penitent as a sign that absolutionhad been granted.
The duke confessed first; after him the duchess; then I, thehouse-friend, and major-domo of the ducal household. When my turncame, I took my place before the lattice and said to the confessor:"Father, will you give me your word of honor that you will never tellwhat I confess to you?"
"Don't ask such silly questions, my son," he replied. "Don't you knowthat the secrets of the confessional are inviolably sacred?"
"But, suppose you should tell them sometime?" I persisted.
"Then I should be burned at the stake."
"Has it never happened that a priest betrayed the secrets confided tohim in the confessional?" I asked again.
"Such a case is not on record, my son. Not even the confession of amurderer may be revealed, though the priest knows that an innocent manwill be hanged for the crime. He dare not speak to prevent the lawfrom committing another murder. On the other hand, many a priest hassuffered martyrdom rather than betray the secrets confided to him. Anillustrious example is Saint Nepomuck, of whom I dare say you haveheard?"
"Yes, I have read about John Nepomucene; but are you a saint of thatorder?"
"The vows I have taken, my son, are the same he took."
"That is not enough, father; you must swear to me that you will neverreveal what I tell you."
And his reverence had to yield to my importunate request before Iwould make my confession to him. After he had solemnly sworn never toreveal what I should tell him, I made a clean breast ofeverything--and a rare list it was I can tell you!
At the last transgression, however, I made a pause. I remembered whatPersida had said to me. And yet, the sin I shared with her was thevery one that most oppressed my soul.
The father noticed my hesitation, and said:
"My son, you are keeping back something. You have not told meeverything. It is not likely that a stately young gentleman likeyourself lives only on caraway-soup! There are many handsome women inthis city; every one of them confesses her foibles--you, surely, arenot the only saint about here! Remember, if you withhold but a singletransgression, your tortures in purgatory will be the same as fornine-hundred and ninety-nine."
The reverend father continued to threaten me with purgatorial fires,until at last I confided in him the secret which was only half mine. Ihad no sooner done so than I regretted it; I would have given anythingcould I have recalled my words--nay, I would willingly have journeyedstraightway to purgatory, as I had told Persida I would, rather thanbetray the secret we shared together. But the secrets of a sinful lovehave wings--they will escape somehow.
When I bent forward to receive the reverend father's benediction, hegave me such a thump on the head with his wand that the spot remainedsore to the touch for several days.
"He absolves one with a will, and no mistake!" I said to myself as Irose to go my way. It occurred to me for an instant, that it would beexceedingly comical if, instead of a priest, it had been the duke whoreceived my confession. I turned to look toward his grace's arm-chair,and was relieved to see that his burly form occupied it, and that hewas wrapped in devout slumber.
THE IRON NECKLACE.
Freed from the burden of my transgressions, I proceeded to do what isusually done by the prodigal sons who have been relieved of their olddebts--I set about at once to make new ones.
I looked forward with impatience for evening to arrive, for the hourof instructive reading in the book of Saints and Martyrs.
On this particular evening the duke was even more friendly toward methan usual; he jested with me, and frequently compelled me to exchangeglasses with him as a sign of his cordial friendship.
When the hour arrived for the duchess to prepare the "rejuvenatingsleeping potion," his grace became actually boisterous; his fat facegrew crimson, his rotund paunch shook like jelly, with his incessantlaughter.
"See here, comrade," he exclaimed, taking from his wife's hand thegoblet in which the hot, spiced wine was steaming, "this is a drinkof paradise! When I have emptied it into my stomach, I fly direct toparadise--not the one described by our holy men, where all the men areold, and all the women pious; where there is neither eating nordrinking and where there are no amusements save harp-playing and psalmsinging--no, I fly straightway to the improved paradise of theMohammedans, where there is wine to drink and women to admire. Therean enchanting Greek _Hetaere_ offers you the wine of Cyprus; the Romanbacchante offers Falernian wine; the Spanish donna serves Maderia; theLesbian siren gives you nectar; the Persian bayadere brings Shiraz;the Wallachian fairy, Tokay; and the negress Abelera dips up sparklingBordeaux in the hollow of her dusky palm and holds it to yourlips--each more beautiful than the other, until at last you cannotdecide which of the wines is the most delicious. That is _I_ cannot,for you have not yet made the journey. But you shall; for are not wegood comrades--you and I? Is it not meet that I should let my heart'sbrother enjoy paradisal delights with me? To be sure it is! Very good!
You shall go in my stead this very evening to Mohammed's paradise--butonly this once, mind you! Here, take the glass, empty it to thedregs!" I was exceedingly embarrassed; I looked questioningly towardthe duchess, who was seated on the arm of her husband's chair. Hecould not see her nod her head as if to say, "Do as you are bid."
I took the goblet and emptied it to the dregs. Almost immediately Iwas overcome by a languor that seemed to transform my material bodyto vapor. I rose from the earth to the clouds which assumed the mostfantastic shapes; on and on the breeze wafted me; over enchantingregions, amid talking trees and singing fruits; across a sea ofradiant light swept by waves of harmony--amid music, and color, andperfumes, the quintessence of sweetness, amid gorgeous flames whichbecame forms of transcendent loveliness: Delilah; Bathsheba; Salome;Lais; Aspasia; Cleopatra; Semiramis; Circe; and the dusky Atalanta.The seductive forms gathered around me; they pressed toward me,smiling alluringly. They thrust on to every one of my fingers ringsthat glittered with diamonds, rubies, sapphires, until my hands becameso heavy I could not lift them. Their embraces strangled me; theirkisses burned on my face and neck like fire; the dusky Atalanta'scoral lips drew the blood from my veins--
"Are you never going to waken from your satanic dream?" impatientlyinterrupted the chair.
"Let him dream--it is rather pleasant," interposed the prince; butHugo said:
"I am awake. The place in which I found myself, when I opened my eyes,was not Mohammed's paradise, but an underground dungeon, the walls ofwhich were dripping with moisture. The flickering light of a smalllamp faintly illumined the narrow cell; and the rings which weightedmy hands were heavy iron chains that creaked and clinked everymovement I made. The kisses which burned on my face and neck were notfrom the lips of Delilah, Circe, and the rest; but from thosehorrible hundred-legged creatures, scolopendra, which covered my body;and the dusky Atalanta, who drew the blood from my neck, was nothingless than a hideous vampyre. The embraces which strangled me were notfrom the white arms of enchantresses, but from an iron band two inchesthick and three fingers wide, fastened about my neck, and secured to aring in the wall by a chain, that was only long enough to allow me toreach and convey to my mouth the mouldy bread and jug of water placedby my side--"
"Served you right, you godless miscreant!" interpolated the chair in asevere tone. "You got your just deserts at last!"
At first--continued the prisoner--I consoled myself with the foolishthought that I was still under the influence of the sleeping potion. Iremembered that those persons who eat the flesh of sharks are said tohave such dreams: delightful visions at first, followed by thetortures of martyrdom.
But the iron neck-band was too painful a reality for me to remain longin doubt as to whether I was awake, or dreaming. The cold, hard, heavyring betrothed me to death!
How long a time I passed in thinking over what had happened I can'tsay; there was no night, no day, in that dungeon; nor was I told bysleep and hunger when it was midnight or noon.
The lamp in my cell was a perpetual one, for the oil did not growless; it was there, doubtless, to reveal to me all the horrors of mysurroundings. Reptiles, all manner of creeping and crawling creaturesmoved over the stone floor and walls; vampyres hung in rows from theceiling, watching me with their garnet eyes, ready to flash down on methe moment I lost consciousness in sleep.
At last a sound roused me from the stupor into which I had fallen; akey turned in the lock, the iron door opened, and a tall man, whoseface was hidden by a capuchin, entered, with a jug of water and a loafof bread.
"Well, my lad," he exclaimed, on seeing that I had not touched thebread or the water by my side. "Do you propose to starve yourself?"
His voice sounded strangely familiar; I did not have to trouble mybrain guessing where I had heard it before; he pushed back hiscapuchin, and I recognized the haidemaken priest who had performed theceremony of confirmation over me in the cavern.
"You are the haidemaken pater?" I whispered hoarsely, not trustingmyself to speak aloud.
"Then you recognize me, do you?" he returned, laughing. "I had an ideayou would deny all knowledge of our former comradeship."
"Are you the gaoler here?" I asked.
"The gaoler?" he repeated, laughing again. "Not by a good deal! I amthe court-confessor!" He sat down on the stone seat to which I waschained, and continued: "I dare say you are curious to learn how Icome to be here? Well, when the duke's dragoons attacked thehaidemaken at Berdiczov, I hastily donned my chasuble and capuchin,trusting to the vestments to save my life, which they did; but I wastaken prisoner and brought to the duke. I could not deny that I was ahaidemak, but his grace evidently had use for a person like myself,for he said to me: "You deserve to be hanged, reverend father, but Iwill spare your life on condition that you accept a proposition Ishall offer you: I want you to act the part of court-confessor for aseason, to receive the confessions of those persons I shall send toyou. I suspect my wife of infidelity, but cannot find out who is thepartner of her guilt. They both confess to the court-chaplain I haveno doubt, but he is an honest old saint who would let himself be tornto pieces rather than betray the secrets confided to him in theconfessional. Now, you are of a different pattern; it will not matterto you if the fires of purgatory are heated a few degrees hotter foryour purification. If you don't accept my conditions you will have theopportunity at once of testing the temperature of purgatory; if youaccept you shall have a respite. What do you say? Will you become mycourt-confessor?"
"You may believe, lad, that I would have acceded to a much moredifficult proposition in order to save my neck from the gallows; so Ibecame confessor to the ducal household. When I saw you coming towardthe confessional I recognized you at once, and guessed that you wouldhave some pretty sins to get rid of. I was not surprised when you toldme of your sinful dalliance with the beautiful young duchess; andquite envied your good fortune. I said to myself, 'I will not betraythe lad; but make him do penance for the sin,' so I ordered you to putseven dried peas in each shoe and journey on foot to the shrine ofthe Holy Virgin at Berdiczov. Had you been content to do as I badeyou, you would not be here now; but you began to haggle with me aboutthe peas--you urged me to let you boil them before you put them intoyour shoes; and, to win my indulgence, you told me of the good turnyou had done the monks of Berdiczov by betraying the haidemaken intothe hands of the duke's dragoons. Ha! but didn't I want to fly at yourthroat when I heard that! I wanted to strangle you, I was so enragedto hear that it was you who had betrayed us and frustrated our fineplans to secure the monks' treasure. However, I contented myself withgiving you a sound rap on the head and straightway communicated to hisgrace what you had confessed. You have got for your reward the entireducal property, for you are chained to it so securely you cannot getaway from it."
The next query I put to the cursed haidemaken priest was: "What hasbeen done with the duchess?"
"You need not trouble yourself about her highness, my son; the duke istoo shrewd a man of the world to make public the disgrace of hishouse. The beautiful Persida does not know that she has been betrayed.The causes assigned for your incarceration are forgery; the usurpationof the name of a noble knight; and for being a member of a robberband--for all of which you deserve death. That you have been condemnedto suffer a hundred deaths for your dalliance with the lovely Persida,instead of only one for the transgressions assigned, no one will everknow. As for the duchess: one of these fine days she will, aftereating a peach or a pear, get a severe colic that will result in herdeath. The funeral ceremonies in the Vieznovieczky palace will be mostimposing--and that will be the end of her grace. It might come topass, however, that the obsequies of his grace might precede those ofthe duchess. It depends on which of the ducal pair gets the better ofthe other! But, you have only yourself to think of, my son. I am hereto offer you one of two alternatives: Ask to be tried before a courtwhich will sentence you to immediate death on the wheel--unless theduke out of compassion for a good comrade orders your head to be cutoff. The other alternat
ive is: Elect to remain in this hole, chainedto the wall, battling with vermin while you live, and becoming foodfor them when the breath leaves your body. _Tertium non datur._"
To this I made answer that I preferred to be executed without delay,even were I to be broiled on a gridiron over a slow fire. I was quiteready to die.
"Very well, my son, then I will proceed at once to administer to youthe last sacraments--"
"Go to the devil!" I cried furiously, when he approached me with thewafer he had taken from his pocket. "I won't have any more of yourcursed mummery. You are no better than I am--you too are sure to go tohell!"
"That is more than likely, my son," responded the accursed priestcomposedly. "The only difference between us is in the manner of ourjourneying thither. You will travel on foot--I on wheels. So, don'tyou think it would be well to let me give you a lift on the way? Withthe heavy pack of sins on your back you might hang on to thetail-board of my wagon!"
I could not help but laugh at the rascal, so I said: "Very well, ifyour blessing will help me over the road more quickly, go ahead andlet's have it!--and may the devil fly away with you!"
He thrust the wafer down my throat and I had hardly got it comfortablyswallowed when I fell into a deep sleep. The wafer contained apowerful narcotic.
THE WHITE DOVE.
In my death-like sleep I still saw the dungeon walls, still felt theiron fetters on neck, hands and feet. Instead of the tiny lamp flame,however, which had only dimly lighted the musty cell, a radiant lightnow filled it--a light that came from overhead. When, with greatdifficulty, I lifted my face toward the ceiling, I beheld an etherealform bending above me; her white garments gleamed like snow underbrilliant sunshine; her blue mantle was like the starry sky ofevening. The coronet above her brow was like the crescent moon. Theface was so radiant I could not look at it--my eyes were dazzled aswhen I gazed into the noon-day sun. The radiant vision held on herright arm an infant; the forefinger of its right hand was pressedagainst its lips. I believed the Holy Virgin had descended to me; butwhen the vision came nearer to me, kissed me, and called me by name,then I knew that it was my Madus--my poor deserted, forgotten Madus!
I was so ashamed of the fetters which bound me. If she should ask whyI wore them, how could I reply? "I wear them because of the beautifulwoman who caused me to forget you."
But she did not ask any questions; she smiled tenderly, and said inher gentle tones:
"My poor Baran! How unhappy you seem! Cheer up--we are come to helpyou--to release you. My home is now in paradise--I will tell you how Icame to dwell there. On Christmas eve, I was kneeling in front of theholy image you brought to me from Berdiczov, expecting every minutethe arrival of the little guest for my Bethlehem crib, when I heard afamiliar step outside the cottage. It was my father. I hurriedlysnatched the blessed image from the table to hide it, for I knew thesight of it would anger him; but I was seized with such a terriblepain in my heart I had to press the image against it with both hands.I hardly recognized my father. His face was fearfully cut, andmutilated; one eye was gone. "Your precious Baran betrayed us," hegasped, glaring at me with the remaining eye. I opened my lips tospeak for you, but before I could utter a word he said again: "You arehis accomplice, you miserable creature! What are you hiding in yourbreast?" I could not lie, so I told him it was the image of theBlessed Virgin. "A gift from the Berdiczov monks I'll warrant!" heshrieked, seizing my hair and flinging me on the floor. I heard thekeen blade of his cimeter hiss through the air--then, it seemed as ifthe sky fell over me. The next instant I found myself in paradise,with every pain changed to bliss. I may not reveal to you the secretsof that blessed realm, my Baran. I may only tell you that our littlechild is with me--he was born in heaven. This is he--he is come tosave his father from death."
As she spake these words the child bent toward me and took hold of thechains which bound my feet and hands. They fell asunder at his touch.But the iron band around my neck was too wide for his tiny fingers toclasp; it was impossible for him to break it. But he did whattwenty-four horses could not have done: with one pull he drew from thewall the iron ring to which the neck-band was secured by a chain.
"My blessed child!" I exclaimed, kissing the little hands. "If yourstrength is so great, then seize hold of my hair, and bear me with youto your home above the clouds."
The little one laid his finger against his lips as a sign that hecould not, or dared not speak; but the mother answered for him:
"No, my good Baran, you cannot come to us. Before that will bepossible you will have to endure many more trials in this world ofshadows. You will have to abide here until you shall have performed agood deed for which some one will say to you: 'God reward you.' Onesingle good deed, my Baran, will do more toward winning paradise thana hundred pilgrimages, or a thousand prayers."
How sinful I am, your honors, is proved by the fact that I am stillalive; and as it is not likely that I shall have an opportunity toperform the deed, which will call down on me a blessing from heaven, Ishall never again behold my little angel son, and his mother, mysainted Madus.
After the vision had spoken she beckoned me to follow her. The childtouched the wall of the dungeon with his fingers, the stones parted,and we passed through the opening. The radiant form of my Madusilluminated the passage amid the rocks, the long flights of stairs weascended. We seemed to thread our way through the catacombs. At lastwe emerged from the subterranean region into a dense forest. I saw howthe shining garments of my conductress swept over the moss, giving toit, to the flowers, the grass, the trees, the same soft radiance thatemanated from her form. Gradually the distance between me and thelovely vision widened; my feet became leaden; I could hardly move mylimbs. Then the radiant appearance lost its human shape, until at lastit seemed to me that I was looking down a long avenue between thetrees at a faint glimmering light at the further end. The cold airblew across my face, and I awoke.
I was in the forest of my dream, around me were mammoth trees betweenwhich, a long way off, I could see the glimmering light of the open.The same beggar raiment I had worn to journey to Lemberg clothed me;my crutch, emptied of its gold, lay by my side. I made my way towardthe light at the edge of the forest. I could see no signs of humanhabitation anywhere. How far I was from the scene of my magnificenceand disgrace I cannot say. When I looked at my beggar's rags, I couldeasily have believed my Lemberg experience an evil dream, had not theiron band about my neck been too convincing a proof of its reality.
"Well," here observed the prince, drawing a long breath, "that is amost remarkable story!--a miraculous rescue of a transgressor throughthe aid of the Almighty Father!"
To this the chair added: "I am inclined to believe that the prisoner'sescape from the dungeon was effected through earthly, rather thanheavenly assistance. It is more likely that the haidemaken priest,bribed by the duchess, conveyed the prisoner to the forest, and cladhim in the rags which had been procured from the Jew Malchus."
"_I_ believe the story just as the accused told it," asseverated hishighness. "There are a number of similar cases on record--of notoriousbandits having been released from imprisonment by the hands of anunborn babe."
"And I assure your highness"--Hugo ventured to insist--"thateverything happened just as I related it. From the moment of my wakingin the forest, a white dove nestled on my left shoulder, andaccompanied me wherever I went. If I turned to look at it, when itwould coo into my ear, it would fly to my right shoulder; but itseemed to prefer sitting on my left."
"Is the white dove sitting on either of your shoulders now?" queriedthe chair.
"No, your honor," sadly replied the prisoner; "it is not there now. Iwill tell you later how I came to lose it."
The prince announced his decision as follows:
"As the prisoner's release from the dungeon was accomplished through amiracle from heaven, it would not be seemly for a human judge tooppose divine favor. This transgression, therefore, may also be erasedfrom the register."
PART IV.
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bsp; WITH THE TEMPLARS.