The Knight of Malta Part 24

"G.o.d grant it!" said the recorder, exchanging another glance with the consul. "G.o.d grant it, my friends; because, if he despises our customs enough to act otherwise, we must think that he put his house in a state of such formidable defence only to brave the laws."

"We repeat that what you are saying, recorder, is impossible. Raimond V. cannot deny the authority of the overseers, nor can he deny the authority of the king," said an auditor.

"But, first, he denies the authority of the king," cried Master Isnard, triumphantly; "and, since I must tell you, I believe, even after what your worthy consul has told me, that he will deny, not only the royal power, but the rights of the community also; in a word, that he will positively refuse to appear before the overseers, and that he wishes to keep his seines and nets where they are, to the detriment of the general fishery."

A hollow murmur of astonishment and indignation welcomed this news.

"Speak, speak, consul; is it true?"

"Raimond V. is too brave a n.o.bleman for that."

"If it is true, yet--"

"They are our rights, after all, and--"

Such were the various remarks which rapidly crossed each other through the restless crowd.

The consul and recorder saw themselves surrounded and pressed by a mult.i.tude which was becoming angrily impatient.

Talebard-Talebardon, in collusion with the recorder, had prepared this scene with diabolical cunning.

The consul replied, hoping to increase the dissatisfaction of the populace:

"Without being absolutely certain of the refusal of Raimond V., I have every reason to fear it; but the recorder's clerk, who carried the summons to Maison-Forte yesterday, and who has been obliged to go to Curjol on business, will arrive in a moment, and confirm the news. Our Lady grant that it may not be what I apprehend. Alas! what would become of our communities, if our only right, the only privilege accorded to us poor people, should be s.n.a.t.c.hed away from us?"

"s.n.a.t.c.hed away!" repeated the recorder; "it is impossible. The n.o.bility and the clergy have their rights. How dare they rob the people of the last, the only resource they have against the oppression of the powerful!"

Nothing is more easily moved than the mind of the populace, and especially of the populace on Mediterranean sh.o.r.es. This crowd, but a moment before controlled by their grat.i.tude to the baron, now forgot almost entirely the important services rendered to them by the family of Anbiez, at the bare suspicion that Raimond V. wished to attack one of the privileges of the community.

These rumours, circulated among different groups, singularly irritated the minds of the fishermen. The recorder and the consul, thinking the moment had arrived in which they could strike a final blow, ordered one of their attendants to go in quest of the recorder's clerk, who ought, they said, to have returned from his journey, although, in fact, he had not left La Ciotat.

At this moment, the five overseers of the port and their syndic, having met after ma.s.s under the porch of the church, pa.s.sed through the crowd to enter the town hall, where they were to hold their solemn audience.

The new circ.u.mstances gave additional interest to their appearance; they were saluted on all sides with numerous bravos, accompanied with the cries:

"Long live the overseers of the port!"

"Long live the Provencal communities!"

"Down with those who attack them!"

The crowd, now greatly excited, pressed hard upon the steps of the overseers, so as to be present at the session.

Then the clerk arrived. Although he said much in protest of the interpretation given to his words by the recorder and the consul, those men continued to exclaim with hypocritical lamentations.

"Ah, well, ah, well, consul," cried one of the crowd, "is Raimond V. coming? Will he appear before the tribunal?"

"Alas! my friends," replied the consul, "do not question me. The worthy recorder has predicted only too well. The tyrannical, imperious, irascible character of the baron has been again made manifest."

"How? How?"

"The clerk was charged yesterday to notify Raimond V. to appear before the tribunal of overseers; he has returned and--"

"There he is! Ah,--well, come to the point!"

"Ah!"

"Ah, well!"

"Ah, well, he has been overwhelmed with the cruel treatment of Raimond V."

"But," whispered the clerk, "on the contrary, the baron made me drink so much wine that I--"

Master Isnard seized the clerk so violently by his smock-frock, and threw such a furious glance on him, that the poor man did not dare utter a word.

"After having overwhelmed him with cruel treatment," continued the consul, "Raimond formally declared to him that he would make straw of our privileges, that he intended to keep his seines, and that he was strong enough to overcome us, if we dared act contrary to his will, and that--"

An explosion of fury interrupted the consul.

The tumult was at its height; the most violent threats burst out against Raimond V.

"To the fishing-nets! the fishing-nets!" cried some.

"To Maison-Forte!" cried others.

"Do not leave one stone upon another!"

"To arms! to arms!"

"Let us make a petard to blow up the gate of the moat on the land side!"

"Death, death to Raimond V.!"

Seeing the fury of the populace, the recorder and the consul began to fear that they had gone too far, and that they would find it impossible to control the pa.s.sions they had so imprudently unchained.

"My friends,--my children!" cried Talebard-Tale-bardon, addressing the most excited of the speakers, "be moderate. Run to the fishing-nets,--that you may do, but make no attack upon Maison-Forte, or upon the life of the baron!"

"No pity!--no pity! You yourself have told us, consul, that Raimond was going to fire on the city and the port and do worse than the Duke d'Epernon and his Gascons."

"Yes, yes. Let us destroy the old wolfs den and nail him to his door!"

"To Maison-Forte!"

"To Maison-Forte!"

Such were the furious cries which met the tardy words of moderation, which the consul now tried to make the excited people heed.

The more peaceable inhabitants pressed around the town hall, so as to enter the room of the tribunal where the overseers were already seated. Others, divided into two bands, were preparing, in spite of the entreaties of the consul, to destroy the fishing-nets and attack Maison-Forte des Anbiez, when an extraordinary incident struck the crowd with amazement, and rendered it silent and motionless.