Tales from the German Volume I Part 26

'Fainting! such a heroine fainting upon so slight an occasion!'

sneeringly remarked Megret. 'There must be some especial and secret cause for it! Whether that cause rides here upon the highway, or skulks there in the woods?--that is the question.'

Arwed, who had listened in silent wonder to Megret's observations, which were wholly unintelligible to him, had in the meantime ridden to the other side of Christine, and there a.s.sisted Knut in supporting the poor girl in her saddle while they slowly returned to the carriage, from which the governor had taken the horses in order to send the coachman to the belligerents, as a reinforcement.

'Thank heaven, it is not necessary!' cried he, glancing at Arwed, and, extending his hand, he affectionately exclaimed, 'my brave son!'

'We bring you a patient,' said Arwed, lifting Christine from her horse, with Knut's a.s.sistance, and placing her in the carriage by her father's side.

'Yes, no dissuasion could prevent it,' answered the governor. She would go. She has had her way, and I am glad the unmanageable girl has for once been compelled to yield to the weakness of her s.e.x.'

At this moment Christine opened her eyes. Her glance at first fell upon Arwed with inexpressible tenderness. She then shrunk and trembled as though her soul was subdued by some horrible fear. Terror and dismay were depicted in her features, and she hid her face in the bosom of her astonished father.

CHAPTER x.x.xIV.

The sun of the longest summer day shone brightly in the horizon, as the governor and his companions approached Tornea, the end of their journey, and the meanest among the (so called) cities of West Bothnia.

It lies near the boundary of East Bothnia, upon the delta of the united rivers Tornea and Muonio, whose waters here again divide into two branches before falling into the gulf of Bothnia. The little place, with its towers, its handsome shops, and green shaded walks, nevertheless presented itself under a very pleasant aspect in the clear sunshine. In the city itself, however, the whole population of West Bothnia and its Lapponian districts appeared to have been concentrated, and in the streets and public square swarmed and pressed the joyous mult.i.tude, who were pouring in to obtain a redress of their grievances, to be relieved from their taxes, to buy and sell, and to enjoy themselves in so numerous a company. The thick-set and bold Finlanders, with flat yellow faces and dull gray eyes, their thin beards and dusky yellow hair, in their short coats, dome-shaped caps, and fur-trimmed half boots--the timid, short Laplanders, with their broad brown faces, large mouths, blear eyes, and dark brown hair, with their leather coats reaching to their knees, their small caps, and pointed, fur-trimmed sandals,--all were here,--bringing with them fat cattle, venison, sheepskins, bearskins, fish, reindeer cheeses, utensils carved from wood, reindeer's horns, and pine bark meal, in great quant.i.ties, for sale. Here came the wife of one of the poor fishermen of Lapland, in her high conical cap, turning out of the way for the reindeer upon which the wives of some of the rich mountain Laplanders proudly flaunted by, in their curved conical head-dresses. There, a Laplandish burgher-maiden ostentatiously displayed herself in her fine cloth dress, decorated with silver b.u.t.tons from the girdle to the feet, as was the black bodice, and also rendered stiff and unbending with buckles and spangles. High over these rather diminutive figures towered here and there the majestic forms of the blond natives of Sweden, who were moving about like giants among a race of pigmies.

The travelers alighted before the door of the sheriff's residence, and the governor immediately entered upon business, which crowded upon him like the unceasing rush of the storm-lashed waves. Megret, with a few internally muttered oaths, was seeking Christine, who had disappeared from his view soon after their arrival, and Arwed remained standing at the house door, amusing himself with watching the confused crowd in the public square. While he was thus employed, a sudden movement occurred among the living ma.s.ses, as if an island of human heads was forming in one particular spot. Arms, with and without clubs, were ever and anon raised above the thickly crowded heads, and a confused cry arose, in which Arwed soon plainly distinguished the words, 'stop him! stop him!'

The next moment a man in a green hunting dress rushed from the square towards the door of the sheriff's house, ran by Arwed with such impetuosity that he came near throwing him down, and hastily entered the room where the governor was holding his official sitting. While the astonished Arwed was looking after the fugitive, a Lapland village constable (or magistrate) came puffing and blowing from the same direction in the square. A dozen other Laplanders followed in his wake, armed with hunting spears, oars and cudgels. With the timidity to which the oppressed are early accustomed by their oppressors, the little constable looked up to the tall Swedish warrior, took off his cap, and with cringing humility asked him if he knew what had become of the green-coat who had just before fled into the house.

'Impossible!' cried he, as Arwed pointed towards the session room; 'how could such a thievish fox seek refuge in the tent of the huntsman? Not that I in the least doubt the truth of your intimation, n.o.ble sir,'

added he, courteously, 'but Enontekis must have mistaken the man, and he cannot be the one whom we seek.'

'He is the same,' a.s.severated one of the Laplanders; 'I have marked the features of his face but too well, and should know him among a thousand.'

'So then we must pluck up fresh courage,' said the constable in a very dispirited tone, 'and request an audience of the gentlemen within. Come with me, Enontekis, to enter your complaint; and you others, guard the door, that this beast of prey may not escape.'

The two Laplanders entered the session room. Arwed followed them with highly excited curiosity. The first object that met his eye was the huntsman, whom he now for the first time recognised as Mac Donalbain, in close and friendly conversation with the governor. While he was vainly endeavoring to find the key to these singular occurrences, the constable and his companion, afraid to speak aloud in the presence of their superiors, were disputing in vehement pantomime, the former denying and the latter affirming, although with constantly increasing uncertainty and anxiety. Finally, the constable approached the bar and slightly touched the arm of the sheriff.

'With your leave, respected sir,' asked he, as the latter turned toward him, 'does the stranger huntsman there enjoy the acquaintance of the lord governor?'

'So it would seem,' answered the sheriff, 'as the governor has just now invited him to dinner.'

At that moment the governor shook the Scot kindly by the hand, and the Laplander started back in affright.

'Do you not now perceive that you must have been blind?' whispered he to the good Enontekis. 'My G.o.d! what trouble might I not have prepared for myself through my zeal for the discharge of my official duty! To follow a friend and guest of our most n.o.ble governor as a criminal! But happily the gentlemen have not perceived us, and we cannot do better than to make a speedy retreat.'

With anxious haste he drew his somewhat reluctant companion out of the room. Meanwhile Mac Donalbain had taken his leave of the governor, and now quickly, but with a courteous greeting, dashed past Arwed, who followed him to the door of the room. There he saw him cast a wild glance toward the crowd a.s.sembled before the front door, and then turn off to the right toward the back door, which opened into the garden.

The constable was standing there, engaged in a warm dispute with poor Enontekis, who was still unsatisfied that he could have been mistaken.

Their armed followers, whose thirst for battle did not appear to be very strong, were standing solemnly around them. Mac Donalbain stood for a moment regarding the group as if considering what course to take, and then marched boldly up to his pursuers.

'Out of the way, Laplanders!' thundered he, hurling them to the right and left; and in this manner he pa.s.sed through the a.s.semblage and disappeared.

'That was very uncourteous, sir Swede!' cried the terrified constable after him when he had got out of hearing. 'We call ourselves Samolazes, and not Laplanders. Our enemies only call us so, when they wish to insult us; but we poor people are treated justly nowhere upon earth, and must be patient under all our injuries until we appear before the final judgment seat!'

The tone of the little man grew constantly weaker and weaker during this speech. Weeping, he went forth; weeping, Enontekis followed him; and sobbing and wiping their eyes, the twelve warriors followed them.

'What can all this mean?' Arwed asked himself, as he returned to the session room.

'Mac Donalbain,' observed he to the governor, 'appeared to seek you with great haste; had he any very important favor to ask?'

'Not that I know of,' answered the governor. 'He came here only for a moment, to fulfill his promise that he would greet me at Tornea. He was obliged to decline my invitation to dinner because of an engagement with a hunting party.'

'Has Mac Donalbain been here?' asked Megret, hastily entering the room.

'But a moment since,' answered Arwed, 'and he cannot now be far off.

What do you wish of him?'

'A crowd of Laplanders,' said Megret, 'are seeking, with spears and poles, in all the streets of Tornea for a huntsman, who, according to their description, can be no other than Mac Donalbain; and I should be very happy to place the n.o.ble gentleman before the good people, so that I might learn precisely what they want of him.'

'We shall probably find him in the garden,' answered Arwed, and they hastened there together. But the garden was empty. 'Incomprehensible!'

exclaimed the sheriff, who had followed them. 'The garden gate leading to the street is closed, and I have the key with me.'

'Not so incomprehensible as you may suppose,' rejoined Megret, pointing to a hedge-row by the garden wall whose freshly broken and trampled branches plainly showed that some one had recently clambered over them.

'Your pardon, sir officer,' stammered the sheriff, examining the damaged hedge, 'that is still more incomprehensible,--for what could have induced the gentleman to climb over the wall, and thus do me so great an injury?'

'That, master sheriff,' answered Megret, 'is to me most comprehensible, if I am right in my suspicions.'

'What do you mean by that?' asked Arwed; but Megret, who was busily examining the marks of injury upon the hedge, did not hear him. 'So the weasel has escaped me,' said he, grating his teeth; 'but, by my honor, he is lost if he again venture into my snare.'

CHAPTER x.x.xV.

'The royal taxes were raised, the constantly recurring lawsuits of the Finns and Laplanders about pasturage, the chase and the fishery, were settled in some way, by power and with mildness, the sun was approaching the horizon, and the hum of the crowd in the market place grew fainter and fainter.

'My business is finished,' said the governor to Arwed, 'and it will soon be time to view the spectacle for which you have given yourself the trouble to come here. Seek Christine. We shall set out immediately.'

Arwed searched the house, garden, and the whole of the little town, without being able to find her. As he was returning in the ill humor naturally consequent upon his want of success, he was met by the sheriff's little daughter.

'Perhaps you can tell me, my child,' he asked, 'where I can find the governor's daughter?'

The little thing gave him an arch look and placed her finger on her nose. 'That indeed can I,' answered she; 'but I know not whether I may venture to do so.'

'I will answer for it that you may,' Arwed jestingly a.s.sured her. 'I am a messenger from her father--'

'And possibly for that reason I may not. Fathers must not be allowed to know every thing. The countess told me that, should a handsome slender man in a green hunting dress ask for her, I might direct him where she was. Now you are indeed handsome and slender, but the green dress is wanting.'

'Who knows if she will be able to see the green coat to-day,' answered Arwed significantly. 'Lead me to her. Perhaps she will be willing to receive, for once, a blue coat instead of the green.'

'Well, at your own risk!' cried the child, leading him by some deserted pa.s.sages through the house and garden into the open fields, where the waters of a meandering stream glistened among the trees in the evening sun.

'She is there behind that thicket of alder bushes upon the border of the stream!' whispered the child. 'Good success to you, sir officer!'