Wagner, the Wehr-Wolf Part 52

"Then who art thou?" exclaimed the lady, a cold shudder pa.s.sing over her entire frame, although she retreated not nor withdrew the glances which she, through her wondrous strength of mind, was enabled to retain fixed upon the demon's countenance.

"Seek not to learn as yet who I am," said the fiend. "Let it suffice for thee to know that I am something more than a mere mortal--a being gifted with powers which, in the hands of such a one as thou, would throw the entire world into convulsions; for there is much in thee after my own heart, beauteous Nisida of Riverola."

"Ah! thou art even acquainted with my name," cried Nisida, again shuddering violently in spite of her powerful efforts to appear calm and fearless.

"I am acquainted with thy name, and with all that concerns thee and thine, Nisida," replied the fiend; "ay," he added, with a malignant chuckle, "even to the mystery of the closet in thy late father's chamber, and the contents of the terrible ma.n.u.script which taught thee such dreadful secrets! I know, too, all that thou hast done to serve thine aims--thy simulated deafness and dumbness--the a.s.sa.s.sination of Agnes--the imprisonment of Flora in the convent----"

"Then art thou indeed some superhuman power," interrupted Nisida, in a tone of inexpressible alarm; "and I dare hold no further converse with thee."

"One moment--and thou wilt think differently!" exclaimed the demon. "But I will give thee an evidence of my power. Here, take this instrument--'tis called a telescope--and use it for a single minute.

Glance across the waters, and thou shalt behold a scene which will interest thee somewhat, I trow."

The fiend handed her a telescope and directed her to apply it to her eyes. She obeyed him, though reluctantly; but intense curiosity overcame her scruples, and, moreover, her extraordinary strength of mind aided her in supporting the presence of one whom she knew to be invested with superhuman powers--but of what nature she feared to guess. Nisida turned toward the sea, and used the magic telescope as directed, while the demon stood behind her, his countenance expressing a diabolical triumph, mingled with blighting scorn.

But ah! what does Nisida behold? The moment she applies the telescope to her eye, she is transported as it were to her own native city. She is in Florence--yes, in the fair capital of Tuscany. Every familiar scene is presented to her again; and she once more views the busy crowds and the bustling haunts of men. She sweeps them all with a hurried glance; and then her look settled upon a young couple walking together in a secluded place on the banks of the Arno. But oh! how terribly flashed her eyes--how changed with wrath and concentrated rage suddenly becomes her countenance! For in that fond pair, wandering so lovingly together on the Arno's margin she recognized her brother Francisco and the maiden Flora Francatelli!

"Thou hast seen enough!" cried the demon, s.n.a.t.c.hing the telescope from her hands. "And now, more than ever," he added with a malignant smile of triumph, "dost thou long to revisit thy native land. It was to confirm that longing that I showed thee the scene thou hast just witnessed."

"And canst thou give me the means to return thither?" demanded Nisida, almost maddened by the spectacle that had met her eyes.

"Listen!" exclaimed the fiend, "and hear me patiently. I charge thee not to breathe to thy Fernand one word descriptive of this interview which thou hast had with me. Thou couldst simulate dumbness for ten long years or more, with a success which rendered thee great and glorious in my eyes--for I love the hypocrite and the deceiver," he added with one of his diabolical smiles; "although I myself deceive them! Be dumb, then, in all that relates to my visit to thee here. But thou mayst so beset thy Fernand with earnest entreaties to give thee the means of departure from this island--for he can do so, if he have the will--that he shall be unable to resist thy prayer--thy fears--thy anguish, real or feigned, whichever that anguish may be. And should he not yield to thy intercessions, then a.s.sail him on another point. Tell him that thou wilt never rest until thou shalt have discovered the cause of those periodical visits which he makes to the other side of the mountains--threaten to accompany him the next time he goes thither. But I need not teach you how to be energetic nor eloquent. For thou art a woman of iron mind and of persuasive tongue; and thy perseverance, as is thy will, is indomitable. Follow my counsel, then--and, though the future to a great extent be concealed from my view, yet I dare prophesy success for thee! And now farewell, Nisida--farewell!"

And the demon retreated rapidly toward the forests, as if to seek the abode of those terrible serpents whose cunning was akin to his own.

Nisida was too much astonished by the nature of the counsel which his deep sonorous voice had wafted to her ear, to be able to utter a word until his receding form was no longer visible, and then she exclaimed wildly; "I have a.s.suredly seen Satan face to face!"

And her blood ran cold in her veins. But a few moments were sufficient to enable that woman of wondrous energy to recover her presence of mind and collect her scattered thoughts; and she sat down on the sand to ponder upon the strange incidents which had so terribly varied the monotony of her existence. She thought, too, of the scene which she had beholden on the banks of the Arno--her worst fears were confirmed; Flora had escaped from the ruin of the Carmelite convent--was alive, was at liberty--and was with Francisco! Oh! how she now longed for the return of Fernand Wagner; but many hours must elapse--a night must pa.s.s--and the orb of day which had by this time gone down, must gain the meridian once more ere he would come back. And in the meantime, although she suspected it not, he must fulfill the awful doom of a Wehr-Wolf, as the reader will find by the perusal of the next chapter.

CHAPTER LV.

It was within a few minutes of sunset, as Fernand Wagner, having crossed the mountains, hastened down that bituminous declivity const.i.tuting the scene of desolation which separated the range of volcano hills from the delightful plains and verdant groves stretching to the sea-sh.o.r.e.

A shudder pa.s.sed over his frame as he beheld the solitary tree in which he had seen the monstrous snake playing and gamboling, on the morning when he was thrown upon this Mediterranean isle.

"Oh!" he exclaimed aloud, as he sped onward, "what happiness and also what misery have I known in this clime. But, doomed and fated being that I am, such is my destiny; and so must I be, here or elsewhere, in whichever land I may visit, in whatever part of the earth I may abide.

Oh! merciful Heaven, can no prayer, no self-mortification, remove the ban--the curse--from my devoted head?

"Oh! just Heaven," he exclaimed, stretching forth his arms toward the sky, and with ineffable anguish depicted on his upturned countenance; "spare me! Have I not been punished enough! Oh! take away from me this appalling doom--let me become old, wrinkled, forlorn, and poor once more,--let me return to my humble cot in the Black Forest, or let me die. Almighty power! if thou wilt--but spare me--spare me now!

Wretch--wretch that I was to be dazzled by the specious promises, O Faust! But I am justly punished--thy vengeance, O Heaven, is well deserved--sinner, sinner that I am!"

Those were the last human sounds he uttered for several hours; for, scarcely had they escaped his lips, when the horrible change began, and in a few moments a wild yell rent the air, and a monstrous wolf sprung from the spot where Wagner had fallen down in such agonizing writhings.

Away--away went the ferocious animal heading toward the sea--careering, thundering on, as if intent on plunging into the silent depths, and there ending its course in a watery grave.

But no: death yawns not for the Wehr-Wolf! Scarcely have its feet touched the verge of the water, when the monster wheels round and continues its whirlwind way without for an instant relaxing one t.i.ttle of its speed. Away--away, through the fruit-bearing groves, clearing for itself a path of ruin and havoc,--scattering the gems of the trees, and breaking down the richly-laden vines; away--away flies the monster, hideous howls bursting from its foaming mouth. The birds scream and whistle wildly, as startled from their usual tranquil retreats, they spread their gay and gaudy plumage, and go with gushing sound through the evening air. He reaches the bank of a stream, and bounds along its pleasant margin, trampling to death n.o.ble swans which vainly seek to evade the fury of the rushing monster.

Away--away toward the forest hurries the Wehr-Wolf--impelled, lashed on by an invincible scourge, and filling the woods with its appalling yells--while its mouth scatters foam like thick flakes of snow. Hark, there is an ominous rustling in one of the trees of the forest; and the monster seems to instinctively know the danger which menaces it. But still its course is not changed;--it seems not to exercise its own will in shaping its course. Down the tremendous snake flings itself from the tree--and in an instant its hideous coils are wound round the foaming, steaming, palpitating body of the wolf. The air is rent with the yell of agony that bursts from the throat of the horrified monster as it tumbles over and over, as if it had run to the length of a tether--for the snake clings with its tail to the bough from which it has darted down. But the yielding of the wolf is only momentary; up--up it springs again--and away,--away it careers, more madly, more desperately, more ferociously, if possible, than before.

And the snake? Oh! poor, weak and powerless was even that dread reptile of forty feet in length, when combated with a monster lashed on and also protected by invisible fiends. For, as the wolf sped on again, the boa was dragged as if by a thousand horses from its coiling hold upon the bough--and shaken, lacerated, and affrighted, the hideous reptile unwound itself from the ferocious animal, and fell powerless on the gra.s.s, where the vermin of the forest attacked it with their greedy maws ere its pestilential breath had ceased.

Away--away toward the mountains rushes the Wehr-Wolf,--those mountains which const.i.tute the barrier of safety to protect Nisida from the fangs of the animal that would mangle her fair form were she to cross its path. But, ah! he rushes up the acclivity--he clears rugged rock and jutting crag with wondrous bounds;--just Heaven! will he pa.s.s those heights--will he cross the range of volcanic hills?

Oh! Nisida, who art on the other side of that range, little dreamest thou of the peril that menaces thee. Joy! joy!--the danger has pa.s.sed; the wolf turns aside from a loftier impediment of crag than had yet appeared in its course: and down--down again toward the groves and valleys--over the bituminous waste made by the volcano--on, on goes the monster. Away, away, through the verdant scenes once more, fresh havoc--fresh desolation--fresh ruin marking his maddening course,--away, away the Wehr-Wolf speeds.

The moon rises to give a stronger and purer light to the dreadful spectacle, a light stronger and purer than that of night itself, which is never completely dark in the tropics. Away, away, and still on, on--outstripping time--running a race with the fleeting moments, till hours and hours of unrelaxing speed are numbered--thus goes the wolf.

And now he snuffs the morning air: the fresh breeze from the east raises the foam of the Mediterranean waves, and allays the heat on the body of the careening, bounding, and almost flying monster.

His howling grows less ferocious--his yells become less terrible; and now his pace is a trifle more measured,--that relaxation of a whirlwind speed gradually increasing.

'Tis done; the course is o'er--the race is run;--and the Wehr-Wolf falls in writhing agonies upon the fresh gra.s.s, whence in a few moments rises Fernand Wagner--a man once more! But as he throws a glance of horror around on the scene of his night's dread employment, he starts back with mingled aversion and alarm; for there--with folded arms, eyes terrible to look upon, and a countenance expressing infernal triumph and bitter scorn, stood the demon.

"Fiend, what would'st thou with me?" demanded Wagner. "Are not the sufferings which I have just endured, enough to satisfy thy hatred of all human beings? are not the horrors of the past night sufficient to glut even thine insatiate heart?"

"Mortal," said the demon, speaking in his profound and awe-inspiring tones, "didst thou take all thy miseries which at this moment afflict thy race, combine all the bitter woes, and crushing sorrows that madden the brains of men, mix up all the tears and collect all the sobs and sighs that tell of human agony, then multiply the aggregate by ten million, million times its sum, and go on multiplying by millions and millions, till thou wast tired of counting, thou would'st not form even an idea of that huge amount of human misery which could alone appease me. For on man do I visit the hate wherewith my own fall has animated me; powerless on high, where once I was so powerful, I make my kingdom of earth and h.e.l.l--and in both my influence is great and is terrible!"

"Yes--yes; too great--too terrible!" exclaimed Wagner. "But why dost thou persecute me with thy presence? I did not call thee--I did not invoke thine aid."

"No, but thou requirest it!" said the demon, with a satirical smile.

"Thinkest thou to be enabled to dream away thine existence in this island, with the warm, impa.s.sioned Nisida? No, mortal--no! Already doth she pine for her own native Italian clime; and she will end by loathing thee and this land, if she continue to dwell here, and with only thee as her companion. But it is in thy power to make Nisida forget Italy--Francisco--Flora--and all the grave interests and dreadful mysteries which seem to demand her presence in the busy world;--it is in thy power to render her happy and contented in this island--to attach her to thee for the remainder of thine existence--to provide her with the means of preserving her youth and her beauty unimpaired, even as thine own--to crush forever all those pinings and longings which now carry her glances wistfully across the sea,--in a word, to bend her mind to all thy wishes--her soul to all thy purposes! Yes;--it is in thy power to do all this--and the same decision which shall place that amount of ineffable happiness within thy reach, will also redeem thee from the horrible destiny of a Wehr-Wolf--leaving thee thy youth and thy beauty, and investing thee with a power equal to that enjoyed by thy late master, Faust."

"And doubtless on the same conditions?" said Wagner, half-ironically, and half in horror at the mere thought of surrendering his soul to Satan.

"Art thou blind to the means of promoting thy earthly happiness?"

demanded the demon, fixing on Fernand a glance intended to appal and intimidate, but at which he on whom it was bent quailed not. "Hast thou not received sufficient experience of the terrific sufferings which twelve times a year thou art doomed to endure? Knowest thou not on each occasion thou destroyest human life, where mortal beings are in thy path--or that thou ravagest the fair scenes which He whose name I dare not mention has created? and art thou ignorant of the tremendous horror and loathsome obloquy which attach themselves to the name of a Wehr-Wolf? See--thou art already wearied of traveling through the various climes of the earth; thou no longer delightest in cultivating thine intellect, so marvelously adapted to receive knowledge of all kinds; and thy power to create whole mines of wealth is exercised no more. But thou would'st fix thine abode in this island forever, were Nisida to remain thy companion! Well--and if thou losest her? for a.s.suredly a vessel will some day touch on these sh.o.r.es--what would'st thou do then? All lonely, desolate, forlorn, thou would'st curse the day that gave thee regenerated life--thou would'st seek death--and to thee death may not come yet for many, many years! Fernand, thou art worse than mad not to embrace my offers. Consent to become mine--mine eternally, when thy mortal breath shall leave thy body, and in the meantime I promise thee power illimitable--happiness such as no human being ever yet enjoyed----"

"No--no!" exclaimed Wagner. "Rather the destiny of a Wehr-Wolf--rather the solitude of this island for the remainder of my days--than resign all chance of salvation! And that mine immortal soul is yet safe, the very temptations thou offerest with such eloquent persuasion fully proves! Oh! Heaven, of its infinite mercy, will receive the dreadful sufferings 'tis mine to endure each month, as an atonement for that hour of weakness, madness, folly, when dazzled by the words of Faust, and overwhelmed by a weight of miseries, I accepted a regenerated existence.

Yes, Heaven will forgive me yet: and therefore avaunt, fiend! avaunt!"

And as he uttered these words he made the sign of the cross, and the demon fled away howling. Wagner turned aside in dismay, and sank upon the ground as if blasted by the lightning. A deep sleep fell on Fernand's eyes, and in his dreams he thought he heard a solemn but rejoicing strain of music filling the air. That divine melody seemed to speak a language eloquent and intelligible, and to give him hope and promise of a deliverance from the dreadful destiny which his weakness and folly had entailed upon him. The music grew fainter and fainter, and at the moment when it died away altogether a heavenly and radiant being rose in the midst of a cloud, an angel, clad in white and shining garments, and with snowy wings closed, and drooping from its shoulders.

Looking benignly upon the sleeping Wagner the angel said in a soft and liquid tone, "Thrice hast thou resisted the temptations of the enemy of mankind: once in thy dungeon at Florence, a second time amidst the defiles of yon mountains, and now on this spot. He will appear to thee no more, unless thou thyself summon him. Much hast thou already done in atonement for the crime that endangered thy soul when, withdrawing thy faith from Heaven, thou didst accept new life on the conditions proposed to thee by the agent of Satan; but much more must thou yet do, ere that atonement will be complete!" The form ceased to speak, and gradually became fainter and fainter, until it disappeared with its glorious halo altogether.

Then Fernand awoke, and his dream was vividly impressed upon his memory.

a.s.suming a kneeling posture, he clasped his hands fervently together, and said aloud, "Merciful Heaven! be the vision one divinely sent, or be it but the sport of an imagination fevered by a long night of suffering, I receive it as an emblem and as a sign of hope and promise!"

He arose. The sun was now high in the heaven, and he hastened to the sh.o.r.e to perform his ablutions. Refreshed in body with the bath which he took in the Mediterranean, and in mind with the influence of the vision, he retraced his way toward the mountains. The range was pa.s.sed in safety, and he once more set foot on that section of the island where Nisida was so anxiously awaiting his presence.

The hour at which Fernand Wagner was accustomed to return after his periodical excursions beyond the mountains, had long pa.s.sed; for it will be remembered that he had fallen asleep and slumbered some time, after his restoration to human shape and his encounter with the demon. Nisida was already a prey to the wildest alarms, which were not altogether untainted with selfishness; for the enemy of mankind had led her to believe that Wagner had within his reach certain means of enabling her to quit the island, and she trembled lest death might have intervened to s.n.a.t.c.h him away, and thus annihilate the hopes which had been so insidiously infused into her soul. She was also distressed at his prolonged absence on grounds more creditable to her heart, for she shuddered at the idea that her handsome Fernand might at that very moment be writhing in the coils of a horrible snake. Then, arousing herself, Nisida resolved to attempt the pa.s.sage of the mountains, and seek for her lover and rescue him if possible, and if not, to die with him. But as she drew near the craggy mountains she suddenly beheld the object of her anxiety approaching her, and in a few minutes they were locked in each other's arms.

"My Fernand," said Nisida at length, "I feared that some danger had befallen you, and I was hastening to join you on the other side of these heights, either to aid you in escaping from the peril, or to share its consequences with you."

"Beloved Nisida!" exclaimed Wagner, "how welcome to me is this proof of thy regard, this earnest of thy love."

"I can never cease to love you, dear Fernand," answered Nisida, turning her fine large eyes upon his handsome face. "Oh, that I should seek to quit thee! The thought smites me to the inmost recesses of my heart. And yet it is to some extent thy fault, for wherefore wilt thou not accompany me?"