A Captive of the Roman Eagles Part 24

"Speak, speak! What may I do?" cried the fisherman, with sparkling eyes. "All! All! Gladly will I die by the spear. Only not the rope of shame!"

"You shall be the first, in advance of all the others, to leap on the proudest Roman galley and--you understand how to kindle flames so well--set fire to its sails."

"Yes, yes! That he shall! Hail to the Duke!" shouted thousands of voices.

Fiskulf sprang forward to the judge's chair, lifted both hands to him, and cried: "I thank thee, Duke! Ay, thou knowest the will of Odin! The proudest Roman galley--the General's vessel in Arbor, is it not? Well: I do not yet know how I am to reach the ship on the other side of the lake; but I will die, or accomplish it."

"I will provide for that," said the Duke. "You need not go to the ship: Odin will bring the galley to you! Then do as I have told you."

"Gladly! Gladly! Oh, give me back my weapons!"

At a sign from the judge the heralds restored to him the spear and shield marked _F_, which lay on the stone steps, and he returned to the circle of his comrades, many of whom clasped his hand.

CHAPTER x.x.xV.

"A joyful duty now awaits you," the Duke began again: "a boy of n.o.ble family asks the bestowal of the sword, the first weapon granted. Many of us know him, and all who do, wish him well. True, the young hero is not very large; but I take my oath that I saw him yesterday pierce with his spear, at fifteen paces, a moderately thick linden-wood shield. And great was his courage, bold his daring when, dauntlessly risking his life and liberty, he scaled the wall of the Roman camp, brought back most important information and placed it in the Duke's hand."

"Who is it? Who is it?" asked many voices.

Adalo stepped forward, leading his brother by the hand: "Sippilo, my brave little brother."

Then the Duke spoke:

"I ask the a.s.sembly: Shall he receive the weapons? Is the young falcon fledged?" A pleasant smile illumined the face which could look so wrathful and threatening.

"Hail to him! Hail to the Adeling! Hail to the boy! Give him the weapons."

Sippilo flushed like a young girl, but the blush was very becoming.

"Will you grant him the favor of bestowing the weapons yourself, O Duke?" pleaded Adalo. "Then, when he grasps sword or spear, he must always remember the hero to whom he first owed them, and prove himself worthy of the giver."

"I will," said the judge, rising and beckoning to the boy.

Sippilo ascended the first of the steps leading to the Duke's chair.

Hariowald took the little round shield lying before him and gave it to the lad, who seized it eagerly, pa.s.sing his left arm under the upper bar of the shield and clasping the lower one with his hand. "I, Hariowald, son of Hariomar, Count of Linzgau, chosen by all the Alemanni Duke for this summer's Roman war, say to you, Sippilo, son of Adalger, of age to use weapons and worthy to receive them:

"With the shield I give, protect, Better than thine own breast, Dearer than thine own body and life, The n.o.ble Alemanni Land and nation.

Shield runes, and runes of defence, Deep burned thy brother Its solid framework within; They will hold and keep The shield's shelter for thee So long as thou thyself Dost hold and stand Fast by thy people."

Then he handed him the spear, saying:

"Runes of victory I, sure of triumph, Carved for thee myself On the sharp spear's handle.

To mortal man never Lower it vanquished, Nor let its shaft be shattered.

Some day, full lightly, From thy faithful hand When, white-bearded, thou dost win On thy shield the battle death 'Mid blissful victory-- Then, from thy faithful hand, Lightly will take it On swan-wings downward to thee floating, Shining in beauty, Valhalla's fairest Valkyria, And bear thee, loyal one, Upward to Odin."

Lastly, he put on the belt from which the sword hung in its sheath, saying:

"As the belt now girdles thee, So, as its own doth hold thee The Alemanni army.

As the belt is for thee Ornament and defence, So art thou, as one link, Ornament and defence To us, the Alemanni."

Then Sippilo drew the short sword from its sheath, held the hilt toward the shining sun, and said:

"This bright sword will I wield For my free nation, For its rights, its renown, And for Sippilo's kinsmen!

Should I e'er do aught else, May the keen, shining edge, The sharp blade, the wise blade-- For this oath it knoweth-- Deal my faithless heart a death-blow!

Sun, thou dost see it; The Lofty One heard it, And Zio is witness, With the Alemanni's High-crested army."

The boy now leaped joyously down the steps and, proud of his new weapons, took his place beside his brother amid loud shouts of applause from the mult.i.tude, especially his kinsmen and those who had the stag's antlers inscribed on their shields.

"Now the next act of justice. One who is absent wishes to free his bondman in the a.s.sembly. Suomar, son of Suobert, who is on guard in the eastern marshes, liberates his slave Zercho. I have bought his freedom for the sake of good service rendered to the army; his master, to whom a messenger was sent, is willing to set him free; and Adalo, the Adeling, by his wish, will speak and act for him. Bring the bondman."

Then Zercho, who had been waiting outside the body of freemen, was led before the stone seat by two heralds. His eyes were sparkling with joy.

Adalo, holding in his hand a bow and arrow, stepped forward, saying: "As the representative of Suomar, your master, I announce in the open a.s.sembly that he has received from Hariowald, Count of the Linzgau, a faultless stallion four years old, two cows of Roman breed, twenty sheep, a bronze armlet seven times twisted, and a silver solidus; in exchange for which he frees you, Zercho, the Jazyge whom he bought as a prisoner of war from a dealer in Vindonissa. By my hand and word he liberates you: take the last blow which you have to bear as a slave."

He gave him a light stroke on the cheek. "And see, look, all ye freemen: as I shoot this arrow, so free and far, unrestrained and unfettered, Suomar, who hitherto has been your master, leaves you. You may go forth as free as this arrow flies--free and restrained by no one!"

As he spoke he sent the arrow, winged with heron feathers, high into the air. The missile whirred from the long bow, whose string struck echoing against the beautifully polished wood. Zercho watched the arrow. High, high up it flew, till it vanished in the blue sky. But he did not see clearly; his eyes were swimming in tears; it was hard to force back a loud sob. From long years of custom, he was about to throw himself prostrate on the ground and, clasping the Adeling's feet, kiss his hands in token of grat.i.tude. But the latter quickly stopped him, and the Duke said:

"You are free now, Zercho! Rejoice, freeman! For, though your master's hand was gentle, bondage is pitiable and withers strength and courage.

Only the life of the free is life: the slave breathes, but he does not live."

Adalo handed him the bow, saying: "Here is this weapon, which proves your freedom before the whole people. Let it be the first one you carry in the army and for the people of the Alemanni, which has now become your nation too."

With radiant eyes and head erect the freedman now entered the ranks of the free.

CHAPTER x.x.xVI.

A frown darkened the Duke's brow. "Now for the last judgment of the a.s.sembly! Other G.o.ds are drawing near, unlike those which have just viewlessly hovered above the boy's fair locks--terrible G.o.ds! Complaint is made against one of the district kings of the Alemanni."

"Ebarbold! Traitor! Rebel! Destroyer of the army! Oath-breaker!" So threatening voices rose from the throng.

"Peace! Silence in the a.s.sembly!" the judge commanded. "Where is the accuser?"

The King's weapon-bearer stepped forward, drew his sword, and said:

"I, Ebarvin, son of Erlafrid. For, like all the men of our league of peoples, I have sworn a terrible oath by all the G.o.ds and by the terrors of Hel to resist, denounce, and avenge rebellion and treachery against the league and the Duke of the Alemanni, wherever, however, and whenever I can. Well! For twenty winters I bore the shield of King Ebarbold's father, and for as many more the shield of this Ebarbold himself. Every word I utter against him falls heavily upon my heart; but still more heavily weighs the oath I swore to the Duke for the league of the Alemanni. Well then, I accuse King Ebarbold of oath-breaking, rebellion, and treason. Thrice have I warned him, thrice have I openly threatened to reveal his conduct to the Duke and to the whole people. He laughed at the threat; he would not believe it. He said: 'The skin lies nearer to your heart than the cloak; the Ebergau is dearer to you than the nation; your own lord is more to you than the Duke.' He was mistaken. So it was in former days, so it was for a long, long time; but this wrought woe to us all.

"We have learned the lesson at last: the Romans taught us with iron rods. We have learned it in b.l.o.o.d.y straits: the people, the league of the people, is the highest thing, for it alone protects all: the hand is more precious than the finger. But he wanted to persuade me and all his followers, nay, all the fighting men in our district; and when we refused, he tried to command us by virtue of his authority as King. He said that, if the popular a.s.sembly decided to wage war and the Duke set out on the march, we must not obey, but withdraw from the Holy Mountain, force our way if necessary, and induce the Romans to spare our district by giving hostages and submission."

A terrible roar rose from the ranks; weapons clashed; the wrath of the people burst forth furiously; several young men, brandishing their swords threateningly, sprang toward the accused, who stood, silent but defiant, directly before the judge's seat.

"Hold," cried the Duke, "down with your arms! Whoever wields them again in the place of the a.s.sembly, the place of the army, shall be punished at once."

He had started up, and now, from the upper step, he held his long dark mantle protectingly over the head of the threatened man. The tumult instantly subsided: the most hot-headed retreated into the circle in confusion.