CHAPTER II.
THE INTENDANT RICARIK.
One of the persons who entered Father Bonaik's workshop was Ricarik, theintendant of the abbey, a Frank of a low and vulgar appearance; theother was Septimine, the slave of the abbey of St. Saturnine, whosefreedom, together with her father's and mother's, Berthoald had a fewdays previous sued for and obtained at the hands of Charles Martel.Since her departure from the abbey of St. Saturnine, the poor child hadbecome hardly recognizable. Her charming face had thinned and waspale--so much had she suffered and wept. She followed the intendantsilent and confused.
"Our holy dame, Abbess Meroflede, sends you this slave," said Ricarik tothe old goldsmith, pointing at Septimine, who, ashamed at findingherself among the young apprentices, did not dare to raise her eyes."Meroflede bought her yesterday from the Jew Mordecai.... You are toteach her to polish jewelry; our holy abbess wishes to keep her near herfor that work. Within a month at the latest, she must be versed in herwork; if not, both she and you shall be punished."
At these words Septimine trembled and took courage to raise her eyes tothe old man, who stepped forward and said to her kindly: "Do not beafraid, my child; with a little good will on your part, we shall be ableto teach you how to polish jewelry and meet the wishes of our holyabbess. You shall work there, near me."
For the first time in several days did the features of the young girlexpress sentiments other than those of fear and sadness. She timidlyraised her eyes to Bonaik, and, struck by the kindness of his face,answered him in an accent of profound gratitude: "Oh! Thank you, goodfather! Thank you for being kind to me!"
While the apprentices were exchanging in a low voice their views on thelooks of their new shopmate, Ricarik, who carried a little casket underhis arm, said to the old man: "I bring you here the gold and silver withwhich to fashion the belt that you know of, and also the Greek vase. Ourdame Meroflede is anxious to have the two articles."
"Ricarik, I told you before that the stuff that you brought me in bitsand in gold and silver sous is not enough. It is all in that iron trunkwhose key you hold. Moreover, in order to make one of those beautifulbelts, similar to those that I saw manufactured in the workshops thatthe illustrious Eloi established, about twenty pearls and as many otherprecious stones will be needed."
"I have in this purse and this casket all the gold, silver and preciousstones that you will need," saying which, Ricarik emptied out thecontents of a purse upon the old goldsmith's work-bench, and took out ofthe casket a sufficient number of gold sous, several twisted lumps alsoof gold, that looked as if they had been forcibly wrenched from somearticle that they had served as ornament to, and finally a goldreliquary studded with precious stones. "Have you now enough gold andstones?"
"I think so; these stones are superb; the reliquary is ornamented withmatchless rubies."
"This reliquary was presented to our holy abbess; it contains a thumb ofSt. Loup, of the great St. Loup, and two teeth from his jaw."
"Ricarik, after I shall have detached the rubies and melted the gold ofthe reliquary, what am I then to do with the thumb and teeth?"
"The thumb and teeth?"
"The bones of the blessed St. Loup that are inside."
"Do with them what you like ... keep them as relics to prolong your oldage."
"I would then live at least two hundred years."
"What are you examining with so much attention?"
"I am examining the silver sous that you have just brought in. Some ofthem do not seem sound."
"Some colonist must have cheated me.... This is the day they pay theirrents and imposts. When these people pay in money you would think theywere having their teeth extracted. It is unfortunately too late now todiscover the cheats who paid with false sous. But you shall come alongwith me so that you may examine the pieces that are now to be paid in.Woe to the thief who should then try to pass false coin upon me! Hisskin will boil for it!"
"I shall do as you order.... We shall lock these precious metals andstones in the iron chest, if you please, until I have time to start towork on them."
While the Frank was examining the contents of the chest, the oldgoldsmith approached his young apprentices and said to them in a lowvoice: "Now, lads, so far I have always taken your side against ourmasters, palliating or hiding your faults, to spare you the punishmentsthat you sometimes did deserve."
"That is so, Father Bonaik."
"In return, I demand of you that you treat that poor girl that standstrembling there, as if she were your own sister. I am to go out with theintendant, and shall be away, perhaps, for an hour. Promise me that youwill be decorous and reserved in your talk before her."
"Fear not, Father Bonaik; we shall say nothing that a nun may not hear."
"That is not enough; certain nuns can hear everything; promise me youwill say nothing that you would not say before your own mothers."
"We promise you, Father Bonaik."
This whispered conversation took place at the other end of the workshop,while Ricarik was taking an inventory of the contents of the iron chest.The old man then returned to Septimine and said to her also in a lowvoice: "My child, I shall leave you for a little while; but I haverecommended those lads to treat you as a sister. Be at ease. You willhear nothing to hurt your ears."
Septimine had hardly thanked the old jeweler with a look of gratitude,when the intendant closed the chest and said: "Have you heard any newsof that runaway Eleuthere?"
The old goldsmith made a sign to the young slaves, all of whom hadraised their heads at the name of Eleuthere; but catching FatherBonaik's eyes, all resumed work without answering a word to theintendant's question, and without even seeming to hear him.
"His disappearance must be a matter of surprise to you, is it not?"asked Ricarik, letting his penetrating eye wander over the apprentices.
"He must have found a way to escape," said the lad who believed he hadrecognized Eleuthere in the cloister. "He long went with the idea ofescaping from the monastery."
"Yes, yes," answered two other apprentices; "Eleuthere told us he wouldrun away from the monastery."
"And why did you not post me, you dogs?" cried the intendant. "You arehis accomplices."
The lads remained quiet with their eyes down. The Frank proceeded:
"Oh! You kept the secret! Your backs will ring for it under the whip!"
"Ricarik," replied the old goldsmith, "these lads chatter like jays, andhave no more brains than fledgling birds. Eleuthere often said as somany others have: 'Oh, how I would like to roam over the fields, insteadof being bound to the workshop from morning till evening!' That is whatthese lads call secrets. Pardon them. Then, you should remember that ourholy dame Meroflede is impatient for her belt and vase. But if you havemy apprentices whipped, they will spend more time rubbing their soresthan plying the hammer and the file, and our work will make but slowprogress. It would cause a great delay."
"Very well, then; they shall be punished later. All of you will have towork hard, not by day only, but also by night. By day you will work upongold and silver. By night you shall furbish iron. There is a double taskfor you."
"What do you mean?"
"There will be a stack of arms brought here this evening--axes, swords,and lances that I have bought at Nantes."
"Arms!" cried the old man in astonishment. "Arms! Do the Arabs stillthreaten the heart of Gaul?"
"Old man, the arms will be brought to you this evening. See to it thatthe lances have good points, that the swords are well sharpened, theaxes trenchant. Never you mind the rest. But this is the hour when thecolonists must bring their money taxes. Follow me, in order to ascertainwhether the thieves try to pass false coin upon me. Come, FatherBonaik!"