Tales from the German Volume I Part 33

said he to himself, while seeking the way which led up to the ruins. At length he had found a foot-path, when a rough voice cried out to him, 'Halt!' He looked up, and upon a high rock hardly ten steps before him stood a brigand, whose rifle was aimed at his head.

'What may be the matter?' cried Arwed, roughly, taking his gun from his shoulder.

'Lay aside your arms, or I will shoot you down!' commanded the robber.

'That is not my custom,' answered Arwed. 'Shoot, rascal! But be sure to hit, or you are lost.'

And presenting his gun with his left hand, as he would have presented a pistol, he rushed towards his adversary. The latter, daunted by his boldness, fired and missed; and instantly afterwards, with Arwed's bullet in his head, he fell upon the rock, whence, yet struggling with death, he tumbled down a neighboring and unfathomable abyss. Frightened by the firing, the whole flock of funereal birds arose croaking from the summit, with the rustling of a thousand wings, and fluttered like a dark rushing cloud in the air, for some minutes obscuring the light of the sun.

'Those villanous birds will alarm the garrison and bring the whole gang in an uproar upon me,' thought Arwed, as he reloaded his gun. 'I would willingly have ascended further, but now I must not venture it. Every thing depends upon my safely reaching Gyllensten with the knowledge I have acquired. I have obtained the necessary information concerning the enemy's position. It has indeed cost one man's life, but he is no great loss to the world.'

He hastened homeward. Soon the dangerous mountain lay far behind him; and, just as the stars began to twinkle in the firmament, he reached Gyllensten in safety.

CHAPTER XLV.

Under the direction of Megret and Arwed, the preparations for breaking up the nest of robbers were made with great ability and circ.u.mspection.

The ten dragoons stationed at Umea were privately summoned to Gyllensten, and the neighboring peasantry, who were collected together under the pretext of a grand wolf-hunt, were distributed among them and the governor's foresters and gamekeepers. The little force thus collected, numbering about eighty men, were divided into two commands under Megret and Arwed, and started the next night in many separate divisions, which, though connected by patroles, presented no one conspicuous ma.s.s which could excite the suspicions of the brigands.

Whilst Megret proceeded in this manner directly towards Ravensten, Arwed sought to reach the other side of the rocks by a circuitous route, so as to cut off any attempted retreat to the neighboring mountains. The movement was successfully accomplished. Just before sun-rise the two divisions almost simultaneously reached the foot of the Ravensten, and slowly and cautiously ascended the narrow rocky pa.s.ses. They arrived at the summit without meeting with any obstruction. There, one of the robber sentinels, being aroused, made a stand and shot down one of the dragoons by Arwed's side. The shot not only awakened the winged denizens of Ravensten, who rose affrighted and screaming into the air, but also occasioned a movement in the towers, and about twenty of the half naked brigands rushed out with such arms as they could first seize in the confusion of the moment, and fell upon the a.s.sailants. The strife was furious on both sides, but victory finally inclined in favor of the greater number of the a.s.sailing party;--want of experience was compensated by the circ.u.mspection and bravery of their leaders, and the brigands were yielding ground, when a small, fresh band, came forth to the battle and renewed the fight. At their head was a tall, well-formed man, with a dark-colored face, who first fired his pistols among the a.s.sailants, and then with great fury fell upon the peasants, sword in hand, 'That is Black Naddock!'

they cried, every where retreating before him. The dragoons and foresters, however, kept their ground, and the battle raged with increased fierceness.

'That is the man who saved my life on the road to Tornea!' cried Arwed to Megret.

'It is Mac Donalbain, artificially blackened!' exclaimed the latter with envenomed scorn, attempting to fight his way to his hated rival; but some of the brigands threw themselves before him, and kept him fully employed; whilst Arwed constantly pressed nearer and nearer to the blackamoor, and soon discovered the well-known features through his disguise.

'Yield, Mac Donalbain, the victory is ours!' cried Arwed, attacking him.

'It is better to die by the sword of a brave n.o.bleman than upon the scaffold!' exclaimed Mac Donalbain, suddenly exposing his uncovered breast to Arwed's blade.

'G.o.d forbid!' cried Arwed, checking the descending blow. 'I am no murderer!' But at that moment Megret, having disenc.u.mbered himself of his troublesome opponents, hurled the Scot to the earth.

'At last!' triumphantly exclaimed Megret, setting his foot upon the breast of his fallen foe and slowly raising his sword for the death-stroke with an infernal smile....

At that moment a woman in a peasant's dress and with a child in her arms, rushed forward with an agonizing shriek. Wildly floated the rich blond locks about her white forehead, which strangely contrasted with the bloom of the rosy faced infant. 'Christine!' cried the terrified Arwed.

'Mercy!' shrieked the unhappy woman. 'Mercy for my husband, for the father of this child!'

'You know not what you ask, madam Mac Donalbain!' said Megret, scornfully. 'Whoever is well disposed towards you and your house, cannot do a better thing than speedily to help you to a widow's veil.'

He aimed a blow,--but Arwed opportunely struck up his sword and forced him back.

'Mac Donalbain is a prisoner!' cried the youth with n.o.ble indignation.

'From this moment he stands under the protection of the law, to which he is amenable, and you have no right to take his life.'

'Ah, Arwed, you are indeed always yourself!' sobbed Christine, falling at his feet with her child.

'Such generous subtlety,' said Megret, putting up his sword, 'becomes loathsome to me when practically applied in the important affairs of life.'

'In this case, generosity is more cruel than malignity!' cried Mac Donalbain, closing his eyes from exhaustion by loss of blood.

Meantime the right had fully conquered. Fifteen of the robbers had fallen in the fight, and seven had madly thrown themselves from the summit and found the death they hoped to escape, upon the sharp cliffs of Ravensten. The remainder, twelve in number, struck with terror by the fall of their chief, threw down their arms and begged for mercy.

Whilst Megret caused the prisoners to be bound together in couples, Mac Donalbain was by Arwed's direction conveyed into the lower vault of the tower, and his wounds taken care of.

Arwed then turned to Christine, who had followed them to the tower.

'Wretched woman,' cried he, grasping her powerfully, 'where is thy father?'

Christine pointed speechlessly to a corner of the cave-like room, and then threw herself in silent wretchedness upon Mac Donalbain's couch of sorrow.

Arwed hastened to the designated spot, found and sprung a trap door there, which opened into the rocky cellar of the castle. A long, winding staircase conducted him to a subterranean but well lighted room, where, still paler and weaker than when he last saw him, his poor old uncle met his view.

'My son! my preserver!' cried the old man, with outspread arms.

'Thank G.o.d, my object is accomplished!' exclaimed Arwed, with heartfelt joy. 'Yet once more has my melancholy existence been rendered really useful in the world.'

'Alas, that it has been accomplished!' cried the uncle with deep despondency, 'Rather would I have found, here an unknown and unhonored grave, than meet the overwhelming shame which must henceforth rest upon my n.o.ble name in my native land!'

CHAPTER XLVI.

Under the directions of Megret the towers and walls of Ravensten were blown up, to render them forever after incapable of serving as a place of shelter for similar bands. The wounded Mac Donalbain and his companions were secured in the prisons of Umea, and Christine with her child conveyed to Gyllensten, where her aged father, his iron const.i.tution finally overpowered by his sorrows, lay dangerously ill.

The chief judge had summoned the a.s.sociate justices of his court to the sessions-chamber of the city hall of Umea, for the trial of the criminals. Arwed and Megret were present; the former at his uncle's request, and the latter, that he might witness the entire outpouring of the cup of vengeance; and, supported by his keeper and laden with chains, Mac Donalbain appeared before his judges. Hara.s.sed and tormented by his wounds, he staggered here and there, with difficulty holding himself upright; but his spirit remained unbroken, and his dark eyes flashed upon the a.s.sembly with all their former fierceness. Megret beheld the scene with a smile of internal satisfaction. Arwed gave a look of sympathy to the unhappy man, and then whispered a request to the judge. The latter nodded. The bailiffs took off Mac Donalbain's chains and placed a stool for him, upon which he seated himself with a look of grat.i.tude towards Arwed.

'Tell us your true name, your rank, and your native country,' commenced the judge with solemn earnestness.

'Gregor Mac Donalbain,' answered the prisoner; 'a n.o.bleman of the highlands of Scotland.'

'Do you still continue, with shameless effrontery, to make that a.s.sertion?' interposed Megret.

'Forget not, colonel,' cried Mac Donalbain with vehemence, 'that here you have no right to question me, and that I do not acknowledge any obligation to answer you.'

'Neither should you forget,' said Megret, with bitterness, 'that pride and insolence will make your bad cause still worse, and forever close the door of mercy which true repentance and humility may perhaps otherwise open for you.'

'You would indeed very willingly see me, overpowered by the fear of death, begging my life at your feet,' rejoined Mac Donalbain, disdainfully. 'But you may as well resign all hope of that pleasure. I reject and scorn all mercy for which I must be indebted to you.'

The judge commanded both of them to be silent. 'Admitting the correctness of your statement,' said he to Mac Donalbain, 'how is it possible that you could stain your n.o.bility by abandoning yourself to so horrible and reprobate a profession?'

'It was my fate!' answered Mac Donalbain doggedly, and casting his eyes upon the ground.

'So, but too often, does man name the consequences of his pa.s.sions and his crimes!' remarked the judge.

'So,' said Mac Donalbain, 'may this name be often applied to the injustice which an unfortunate man suffers from his brethren, when that injustice impels him to deeds which else would have been abhorrent to his soul. A cruel injury to my honor, which I suffered in the service of the British king, threw me into the arms of the English buccaneers.

My name became known and feared in both the eastern and western oceans.

The lords of the earth, however they may indulge in similar enterprizes on a great scale for the accomplishment of their projects, array themselves against little private exploits. Excluded from the ports of all civilized nations, we were at length compelled to seek an asylum in Africa. We found one in Madagascar. There we heard of the return of the hero of the north to his own country. We hoped that this prince, fond of war, and compelled as he was to engage in it, would receive us with open arms. Offering to him our services, we proposed to enter the port of Gottenburg with sixty sail of vessels. Two of his n.o.bility closed a treaty with us in his name. I was sent here before the arrival of the fleet to prepare every thing for its reception; but a fever seized me at Gottenburg; and before my recovery the king fell before Frederickshall. Storms, and Europe's _licensed_ pirates, annihilated our fleet upon its way hither, and when at length I arose from my bed of sickness I was a beggar. There was no longer any hope of the fulfilment of the royal promise. With Charles's seal and signature for the rank of colonel, I could not even obtain a company. Then again awoke in me the bitter hatred of mankind. My last hope to live and fall as an honorable soldier, was destroyed. The country which denied me my well acquired rights, threw me back to the state of nature, in which every man sustains and defends himself by his own natural powers. I then felt myself authorized to make war upon my enemies, and take what I needed with the strong hand. A band of unfortunates, who like me had nothing to lose, chose me for their leader, and the struggle between myself and the crown of Sweden began. I have been overcome and am therefore in the wrong;--for which reason I pray you quickly to break the staff of justice over my head. I am ready to die.'

'Dreadful man!' cried the judge. 'Have you also such sophisms in readiness to excuse the misery and shame you have brought upon a n.o.ble house within whose walls you were hospitably received?'