Anne of Geierstein; Or, The Maiden of the Mist. Volume 1 (of 2) Read online

  CHAPTER IX.

  _Francisco._ Give you good-night.

  _Marcellus._ O, farewell, honest soldier. Who hath relieved you?

  _Francisco._ Give you good-night; Bernardo hath my place. _Hamlet._

  The first occupation of our travellers was to find the means ofcrossing the moat, and they were not long of discovering the _tete depont_ on which the drawbridge, when lowered, had formerly rested. Thebridge itself had been long decayed, but a temporary passage offir-trees and planks had been constructed, apparently very lately,which admitted them to the chief entrance of the castle. On enteringit, they found a wicket opening under the archway, which, glimmeringwith light, served to guide them to a hall prepared evidently fortheir accommodation as well as circumstances had admitted of.

  A large fire of well-seasoned wood burned blithely in the chimney, andhad been maintained so long there, that the air of the hall,notwithstanding its great size and somewhat ruinous aspect, felt mildand genial. There was also at the end of the apartment a stack ofwood, large enough to maintain the fire had they been to remain therea week. Two or three long tables in the hall stood covered and readyfor their reception; and, on looking more closely, several largehampers were found in a corner, containing cold provisions of everykind, prepared with great care, for their immediate use. The eyes ofthe good Burgess of Soleure twinkled when he beheld the young men inthe act of transferring the supper from the hampers and arranging iton the table.

  "Well," said he, "these poor men of Bale have saved their character;since, if they have fallen short in welcome, they have abounded ingood cheer."

  "Ah, friend!" said Arnold Biederman, "the absence of the landlord is agreat deduction from the entertainment. Better half an apple from thehand of your host, than a bridal feast without his company."

  "We owe them the less for their banquet," said the Banneret. "But,from the doubtful language they held, I should judge it meet to keep astrong guard to-night, and even that some of our young men should,from time to time, patrol around the old ruins. The place is strongand defensible, and so far our thanks are due to those who have actedas our quarter-masters. We will, however, with your permission, myhonoured brethren, examine the house within, and then arrange regularguards and patrols.--To your duty then, young men, and search theseruins carefully,--they may perchance contain more than ourselves; forwe are now near one who, like a pilfering fox, moves more willingly bynight than by day, and seeks his prey amidst ruins and wildernessesrather than in the open field."

  All agreed to this proposal. The young men took torches, of which agood provision had been left for their use, and made a strict searchthrough the ruins.

  The greater part of the castle was much more wasted and ruinous thanthe portion which the citizens of Bale seemed to have destined for theaccommodation of the embassy. Some parts were roofless, and the wholedesolate. The glare of light--the gleam of arms--the sound of thehuman voice, and echoes of mortal tread, startled from their darkrecesses bats, owls, and other birds of ill omen, the usualinhabitants of such time-worn edifices, whose flight through thedesolate chambers repeatedly occasioned alarm amongst those who heardthe noise without seeing the cause, and shouts of laughter when itbecame known. They discovered that the deep moat surrounded theirplace of retreat on all sides, and of course that they were in safetyagainst any attack which could be made from without, except it wasattempted by the main entrance, which it was easy to barricade, andguard with sentinels. They also ascertained by strict search, thatthough it was possible an individual might be concealed amid such awaste of ruins, yet it was altogether impossible that any number whichmight be formidable to so large a party as their own could haveremained there without a certainty of discovery. These particularswere reported to the Banneret, who directed Donnerhugel to take chargeof a body of six of the young men, such as he should himself choose,to patrol on the outside of the building till the first cock-crowing,and at that hour to return to the castle, when the same number were totake the duty till morning dawned, and then be relieved in their turn.Rudolph declared his own intention to remain on guard the whole night;and as he was equally remarkable for vigilance as for strength andcourage, the external watch was considered as safely provided for, itbeing settled that, in case of any sudden reencounter, the deep andhoarse sound of the Swiss bugle should be the signal for sendingsupport to the patrolling party.

  Within side the castle the precautions were taken with equalvigilance. A sentinel, to be relieved every two hours, was appointedto take post at the principal gate, and other two kept watch on theother side of the castle, although the moat appeared to insure safetyin that quarter.

  These precautions being taken, the remainder of the party sat down torefresh themselves, the deputies occupying the upper part of the hall,while those of their escort modestly arranged themselves in the lowerend of the same large apartment. Quantities of hay and straw, whichwere left piled in the wide castle, were put to the purpose for whichundoubtedly they had been destined by the citizens of Bale, and, withthe aid of cloaks and mantles, were judged excellent good bedding by ahardy race, who, in war or the chase, were often well satisfied with amuch worse night's lair.

  The attention of the Balese had even gone so far as to provide forAnne of Geierstein separate accommodation, more suitable to her usethan that assigned to the men of the party. An apartment, which hadprobably been the buttery of the castle, entered from the hall, andhad also a doorway leading out into a passage connected with theruins; but this last had hastily, yet carefully, been built up withlarge hewn stones taken from the ruins; without mortar, indeed, or anyother cement, but so well secured by their own weight, that anattempt to displace them must have alarmed not only any one who mightbe in the apartment itself, but also those who were in the halladjacent, or indeed in any part of the castle. In the small room thuscarefully arranged and secured there were two pallet-beds and a largefire, which blazed on the hearth, and gave warmth and comfort to theapartment. Even the means of devotion were not forgotten, a smallcrucifix of bronze being hung over a table, on which lay a breviary.

  Those who first discovered this little place of retreat came back loudin praise of the delicacy of the citizens of Bale, who, whilepreparing for the general accommodation of the strangers, had notfailed to provide separately and peculiarly for that of their femalecompanion.

  Arnold Biederman felt the kindness of this conduct. "We should pityour friends of Bale, and not nourish resentment against them," hesaid. "They have stretched their kindness towards us as far as theirpersonal apprehensions permitted; and that is saying no small matterfor them, my masters, for no passion is so unutterably selfish as thatof fear.--Anne, my love, thou art fatigued. Go to the retreat providedfor you, and Lizette shall bring you from this abundant mass ofprovisions what will be fittest for your evening meal."

  So saying, he led his niece into the little bedroom, and, lookinground with an air of complacency, wished her good repose; but therewas something on the maiden's brow which seemed to augur that heruncle's wishes would not be fulfilled. From the moment she had leftSwitzerland, her looks had become clouded; her intercourse with thosewho approached her had grown more brief and rare; her whole appearancewas marked with secret anxiety or secret sorrow. This did not escapeher uncle, who naturally imputed it to the pain of parting from him,which was probably soon to take place, and to her regret at leavingthe tranquil spot in which so many years of her youth had been spent.

  But Anne of Geierstein had no sooner entered the apartment than herwhole frame trembled violently, and the colour leaving her cheeksentirely, she sank down on one of the pallets, where, resting herelbows on her knees, and pressing her hands on her forehead, sherather resembled a person borne down by mental distress, or oppressedby some severe illness, than one who, tired with a journey, was inhaste to betake herself to needful rest. Arnold was not quicksightedas to the many sources of female passion. He saw that his niecesuffered;
but imputing it only to the causes already mentioned,augmented by the hysterical effects often produced by fatigue, hegently blamed her for having departed from her character of a Swissmaiden ere she was yet out of reach of a Swiss breeze of wind.

  "Thou must not let the dames of Germany or Flanders think that ourdaughters have degenerated from their mothers; else must we fight thebattles of Sempach and Laupen over again, to convince the Emperor, andthis haughty Duke of Burgundy, that our men are of the same mettlewith their forefathers. And as for our parting, I do not fear it. Mybrother is a Count of the Empire, indeed, and therefore he must needssatisfy himself that everything over which he possesses any titleshall be at his command, and sends for thee to prove his right ofdoing so. But I know him well: He will no sooner be satisfied that hemay command thy attendance at pleasure, than he will concern himselfabout thee no more. Thee? Alas! poor thing, in what couldst thou aidhis courtly intrigues and ambitious plans? No, no--thou art not forthe noble Count's purpose, and must be content to trudge back to rulethe dairy at Geierstein, and be the darling of thine old peasantlikeuncle."

  "Would to God we were there even now!" said the maiden, in a tone ofwretchedness which she strove in vain to conceal or suppress.

  "That may hardly be till we have executed the purpose which brought ushither," said the literal Landamman. "But lay thee on thy pallet,Anne--take a morsel of food, and three drops of wine, and thou wiltwake to-morrow as gay as on a Swiss holiday, when the pipe sounds thereveille."

  Anne was now able to plead a severe headache, and declining allrefreshment, which she declared herself incapable of tasting, she badeher uncle good-night. She then desired Lizette to get some food forherself, cautioning her, as she returned, to make as little noise aspossible, and not to break her repose if she should have the goodfortune to fall asleep. Arnold Biederman then kissed his niece, andreturned to the hall, where his colleagues in office were impatient tocommence an attack on the provisions which were in readiness; to whichthe escort of young men, diminished by the patrols and sentinels, wereno less disposed than their seniors.

  The signal of assault was given by the Deputy from Schwitz, the eldestof the party, pronouncing in patriarchal form a benediction over themeal. The travellers then commenced their operations with a vivacitywhich showed that the uncertainty whether they should get any food,and the delays which had occurred in arranging themselves in theirquarters, had infinitely increased their appetites. Even theLandamman, whose moderation sometimes approached to abstinence, seemedthat night in a more genial humour than ordinary. His friend ofSchwitz, after his example, ate, drank, and spoke more than usual;while the rest of the deputies pushed their meal to the verge of acarousal. The elder Philipson marked the scene with an attentive andanxious eye, confining his applications to the wine-cup to suchpledges as the politeness of the times called upon him to reply to.His son had left the hall just as the banquet began, in the mannerwhich we are now to relate.

  Arthur had proposed to himself to join the youths who were to performthe duty of sentinels within, or patrols on the outside of their placeof repose, and had indeed made some arrangement for that purpose withSigismund, the third of the Landamman's sons. But while about to steala parting glance at Anne of Geierstein, before offering his service ashe proposed, there appeared on her brow such a deep and solemnexpression, as diverted his thoughts from every other subject,excepting the anxious doubts as to what could possibly have given riseto such a change. The placid openness of brow; the eye which expressedconscious and fearless innocence; the lips which, seconded by a lookas frank as her words, seemed ever ready to speak, in kindness and inconfidence, that which the heart dictated, were for the momententirely changed in character and expression, and in a degree andmanner for which no ordinary cause could satisfactorily account.Fatigue might have banished the rose from the maiden's beautifulcomplexion, and sickness or pain might have dimmed her eye and cloudedher brow. But the look of deep dejection with which she fixed her eyesat times on the ground, and the startled and terrified glance whichshe cast around her at other intervals, must have had their rise insome different source. Neither could illness or weariness explain themanner in which her lips were contracted or compressed together, likeone who makes up her mind to act or behold something that is fearful,or account for the tremor which seemed at times to steal over herinsensibly, though by a strong effort she was able at intervals tothrow it off. For this change of expression there must be in the heartsome deeply melancholy and afflicting cause. What could that cause be?

  It is dangerous for youth to behold beauty in the pomp of all hercharms, with every look bent upon conquest--more dangerous to see herin the hour of unaffected and unapprehensive ease and simplicity,yielding herself to the graceful whim of the moment, and as willing tobe pleased as desirous of pleasing. There are minds which may be stillmore affected by gazing on beauty in sorrow, and feeling that pity,that desire of comforting the lovely mourner, which the poet hasdescribed as so nearly akin to love. But to a spirit of that romanticand adventurous cast which the Middle Ages frequently produced, thesight of a young and amiable person evidently in a state of terrorand suffering, which had no visible cause, was perhaps still moreimpressive than beauty, in her pride, her tenderness, or her sorrow.Such sentiments, it must be remembered, were not confined to thehighest ranks only, but might then be found in all classes of societywhich were raised above the mere peasant or artisan. Young Philipsongazed on Anne of Geierstein with such intense curiosity, mingled withpity and tenderness, that the bustling scene around him seemed tovanish from his eyes, and leave no one in the noisy hall save himselfand the object of his interest.

  What could it be that so evidently oppressed and almost quailed aspirit so well balanced, and a courage so well tempered, when, beingguarded by the swords of the bravest men perhaps to be found inEurope, and lodged in a place of strength, even the most timid of hersex might have found confidence? Surely if an attack were to be madeupon them, the clamour of a conflict in such circumstances couldscarce be more terrific than the roar of those cataracts which he hadseen her despise? At least, he thought, she ought to be aware thatthere is one, who is bound by friendship and gratitude to fight to thedeath in her defence. Would to Heaven, he continued in the samereverie, it were possible to convey to her, without sign or speech,the assurance of my unalterable resolution to protect her in the worstof perils!--As such thoughts streamed through his mind, Anne raisedher eyes in one of those fits of deep feeling which seemed tooverwhelm her; and, while she cast them round the hall, with a look ofapprehension, as if she expected to see amid the well-knowncompanions of her journey some strange and unwelcome apparition, theyencountered the fixed and anxious gaze of young Philipson. They wereinstantly bent on the ground, while a deep blush showed how much shewas conscious of having attracted his attention by her previousdeportment.

  Arthur, on his part, with equal consciousness, blushed as deeply asthe maiden herself, and drew himself back from her observation. Butwhen Anne rose up, and was escorted by her uncle to her bedchamber, inthe manner we have already mentioned, it seemed to Philipson as if shehad carried with her from the apartment the lights with which it wasilluminated, and left it in the twilight melancholy of some funeralhall. His deep musings were pursuing the subject which occupied themthus anxiously, when the manly voice of Donnerhugel spoke close in hisear--

  "What, comrade, has our journey to-day fatigued you so much that yougo to sleep upon your feet?"

  "Now Heaven forbid, Hauptman," said the Englishman, starting from hisreverie, and addressing Rudolph by this name (signifying Captain, orliterally Head-man), which the youth of the expedition had byunanimous consent bestowed on him,--"Heaven forbid I should sleep, ifthere be aught like action in the wind."

  "Where dost thou propose to be at cock-crow?" said the Swiss.

  "Where duty shall call me, or your experience, noble Hauptman, shallappoint," replied Arthur. "But, with your leave, I purposed to takeSigismund's guard on the bridge till midni
ght or morning dawn. Hestill feels the sprain which he received in his spring after yonderchamois, and I persuaded him to take some uninterrupted rest, as thebest mode of restoring his strength."

  "He will do well to keep his counsel, then," again whisperedDonnerhugel; "the old Landamman is not a man to make allowances formishaps, when they interfere with duty. Those who are under his ordersshould have as few brains as a bull, as strong limbs as a bear, and beas impassible as lead or iron to all the casualties of life, and allthe weaknesses of humanity."

  Arthur replied in the same tone: "I have been the Landamman's guestfor some time, and have seen no specimens of any such rigiddiscipline."

  "You are a stranger," said the Swiss, "and the old man has too muchhospitality to lay you under the least restraint. You are a volunteer,too, in whatever share you choose to take in our sports or ourmilitary duty; and therefore, when I ask you to walk abroad with me atthe first cock-crowing, it is only in the event that such exerciseshall entirely consist with your own pleasure."

  "I consider myself as under your command for the time," saidPhilipson; "but, not to bandy courtesy, at cock-crow I shall berelieved from my watch on the drawbridge, and will be by that timeglad to exchange the post for a more extended walk."

  "Do you not choose more of this fatiguing, and probably unnecessaryduty, than may befit your strength?" said Rudolph.

  "I take no more than you do," said Arthur, "as you propose not to takerest till morning."

  "True," answered Donnerhugel, "but I am a Swiss."

  "And I," answered Philipson quickly, "am an Englishman."

  "I did not mean what I said in the sense you take it," said Rudolph,laughing; "I only meant, that I am more interested in this matter thanyou can be, who are a stranger to the cause in which we are personallyengaged."

  "I am a stranger, no doubt," replied Arthur; "but a stranger who hasenjoyed your hospitality, and who, therefore, claims a right, whilewith you, to a share in your labours and dangers."

  "Be it so," said Rudolph Donnerhugel. "I shall have finished my firstrounds at the hour when the sentinels at the castle are relieved, andshall be ready to recommence them in your good company."

  "Content," said the Englishman. "And now I will to my post, for Isuspect Sigismund is blaming me already, as oblivious of my promise."

  They hastened together to the gate, where Sigismund willingly yieldedup his weapon and his guard to young Philipson, confirming the ideasometimes entertained of him, that he was the most indolent and leastspirited of the family of Geierstein. Rudolph could not suppress hisdispleasure.

  "What would the Landamman say," he demanded, "if he saw thee thusquietly yield up post and partisan to a stranger?"

  "He would say I did well," answered the young man, nothing daunted;"for he is for ever reminding us to let the stranger have his own wayin everything; and English Arthur stands on this bridge by his ownwish, and no asking of mine.--Therefore, kind Arthur, since thou wiltbarter warm straw and a sound sleep for frosty air and a clearmoonlight, I make thee welcome with all my heart. Hear your duty. Youare to stop all who enter, or attempt to enter, or till they give thepassword. If they are strangers, you must give alarm. But you willsuffer such of our friends as are known to you to pass outwards,without challenge or alarm, because the deputation may find occasionto send messengers abroad."

  "A murrain on thee, thou lazy losel!" said Rudolph--"Thou art the onlysluggard of thy kin."

  "Then am I the only wise man of them all," said the youth.--"Hark ye,brave Hauptman, ye have supped this evening,--have ye not?"

  "It is a point of wisdom, ye owl," answered the Bernese, "not to gointo the forest fasting."

  "If it is wisdom to eat when we are hungry," answered Sigismund,"there can be no folly in sleeping when we are weary." So saying, andafter a desperate yawn or two, the relieved sentinel halted off,giving full effect to the sprain of which he complained.

  "Yet there is strength in those loitering limbs, and valour in thatindolent and sluggish spirit," said Rudolph to the Englishman. "But itis time that I, who censure others, should betake me to my owntask.--Hither, comrades of the watch, hither."

  The Bernese accompanied these words with a whistle, which brought fromwithin six young men, whom he had previously chosen for the duty, andwho, after a hurried supper, now waited his summons. One or two ofthem had large bloodhounds or lyme-dogs, which, though usuallyemployed in the pursuit of animals of chase, were also excellent fordiscovering ambuscades, in which duty their services were now to beemployed. One of these animals was held in a leash, by the person who,forming the advance of the party, went about twenty yards in front ofthem; a second was the property of Donnerhugel himself, who had thecreature singularly under command. Three of his companions attendedhim closely, and the two others followed, one of whom bore a horn ofthe Bernese wild bull, by way of bugle. This little party crossed themoat by the temporary bridge, and moved on to the verge of the forest,which lay adjacent to the castle, and the skirts of which were mostlikely to conceal any ambuscade that could be apprehended. The moonwas now up, and near the full, so that Arthur, from the elevation onwhich the castle stood, could trace their slow, cautious march, amidthe broad silver light, until they were lost in the depths of theforest.

  When this object had ceased to occupy his eyes, the thoughts of hislonely watch again returned to Anne of Geierstein, and to the singularexpression of distress and apprehension which had that evening cloudedher beautiful features. Then the blush which had chased, for themoment, paleness and terror from her countenance, at the instant hiseyes encountered hers--was it anger--was it modesty--was it somesofter feeling, more gentle than the one, more tender than the other?Young Philipson, who, like Chaucer's Squire, was "as modest as amaid," almost trembled to give to that look the favourableinterpretation which a more self-satisfied gallant would have appliedto it without scruple. No hue of rising or setting day was ever solovely in the eyes of the young man as that blush was in hisrecollection; nor did ever enthusiastic visionary or poetical dreamerfind out so many fanciful forms in the clouds, as Arthur divinedvarious interpretations from the indications of interest which hadpassed over the beautiful countenance of the Swiss maiden.

  In the meantime, the thought suddenly burst on his reverie, that itcould little concern him what was the cause of the perturbation shehad exhibited. They had met at no distant period for the firsttime--they must soon part for ever. She could be nothing more to himthan the remembrance of a beautiful vision, and he could have no otherpart in her memory save as a stranger from a foreign land, who hadbeen a sojourner for a season in her uncle's house, but whom she couldnever expect to see again. When this idea intruded on the train ofromantic visions which agitated him, it was like the sharp stroke ofthe harpoon, which awakens the whale from slumbering torpidity intoviolent action. The gateway in which the young soldier kept his watchseemed suddenly too narrow for him. He rushed across the temporarybridge, and hastily traversed a short space of ground in front of the_tete de pont_, or defensive work, on which its outer extremityrested.

  Here for a time he paced the narrow extent to which he was confined byhis duty as a sentinel, with long and rapid strides, as if he had beenengaged by vow to take the greatest possible quantity of exercise uponthat limited space of ground. His exertion, however, produced theeffect of in some degree composing his mind, recalling him to himself,and reminding him of the numerous reasons which prohibited his fixinghis attention, much more his affections, upon this young person,however fascinating she was.

  I have surely, he thought, as he slackened his pace, and shoulderedhis heavy partisan, sense enough left to recollect my condition and myduties--to think of my father, to whom I am all in all--and to thinkalso on the dishonour which must accrue to me, were I capable ofwinning the affections of a frank-hearted and confiding girl, to whomI could never do justice by dedicating my life to return them. "No,"he said to himself, "she will soon forget me, and I will study toremember her no otherwise than I would a pl
easing dream, which hathfor a moment crossed a night of perils and dangers, such as my lifeseems doomed to be."

  As he spoke, he stopped short in his walk, and as he rested on hisweapon a tear rose unbidden to his eye, and stole down his cheekwithout being wiped away. But he combated this gentler mood of passionas he had formerly battled with that which was of a wilder and moredesperate character. Shaking off the dejection and sinking of spiritwhich he felt creeping upon him, he resumed, at the same time, the airand attitude of an attentive sentinel, and recalled his mind to theduties of his watch, which, in the tumult of his feelings, he hadalmost forgotten. But what was his astonishment, when, as he lookedout on the clear landscape, there passed from the bridge towards theforest, crossing him in the broad moonlight, the living and movinglikeness of Anne of Geierstein!