CHAPTER X
A MIDNIGHT ADVENTURE
The following year Maximilian found it necessary to take his troops toItaly. The cities of that fair land, instead of being friendly, as theyare to-day, were constantly quarreling with each other, and Pisa, thecity of the leaning tower, implored the aid of the Emperor of Austriaagainst the pretentions of Florence, the city of flowers.
Le Glorieux, who declared that he had not seen a good rousing fightsince the siege of Beauvais, begged to accompany the emperor, and to beallowed to do his full share of fighting, a permission which was grantedmost willingly.
Philibert de Bresse, who had industriously continued his studies, andwho had gained the serious attention of the emperor for the first timewhen he plucked the edelweiss, was now his Majesty's secretary, and alsowas to accompany him to Italy. But Antoine, at the bidding of theprincess, remained in Vienna, where the court was staying at the timeand where, under the tuition of a musical monk, he was accomplishingwonders in the realm of melody.
Philibert was now eighteen and had attained his full growth. He wishedthat he was to fight instead of to write, that he could be the soldierin armor and clanking spurs instead of the smooth-haired secretary, forhe was young and longed for exciting adventure. But it was worthsomething to be in the confidence of the emperor, and to travel in hispresent capacity was better than to remain quietly at court.
They were camped near Pistoja, an ancient city at the foot of theApennines, the headquarters of the emperor being a half-ruined marblepalace. Pistoja is to this day rich in ancient sculptures of thethirteenth and fourteenth centuries, and at that time there was anequestrian statue which stood outside the gates of the old palace, aboutwhich clung a strange superstition, which was that occasionally, andwhen it suited his fancy, the statue had a way of dismounting andwandering about, possibly to rest himself, for several centuries of thesame position must prove fatiguing. It was not an especially fine pieceof statuary and had not been done by a famous sculptor. In fact, theoriginal of the statue had had it made in order to perpetuate his ownmemory, but he had lived so long ago that nobody remembered just what hehad done, which perhaps were not such wonderful feats after all, for thegreatest people are the most modest. It represented a man on a big horsewith a long mantle spread well out over the tail of his steed, and itwent by the name of _Il Capitano_, the captain, no one knowing or caringjust what captain it was. And this captain had thrust himself upon thenotice of the emperor's soldiers camped in his neighborhood, as youshall presently see.
Coming into the grounds after having taken a message from the emperor toone of the officers, Philibert paused to speak with one of his Majesty'sguards. The subject of their conversation was the expected battles ofthe coming campaign, and the guard said, "I am not afraid of any livingman, but I am afraid of the one they call _Il Capitano_."
"You mean the statue on horseback over there?" asked Philibert.
"I do, sir."
"Why should you fear a marble man?" asked the secretary, smiling.
The guard lowered his voice. "Because, sir, he gets off his horse andwalks about at night."
Philibert laughed. "A soldier should not listen to such old wives'tales," said he.
"It is not an old wives' tale, sir," said the man stoutly; "Hans andOttocar and others who are as brave as the emperor himself, saw _IlCapitano_, and were frightened."
"I went past him a few moments ago and I was not frightened," laughedPhilibert.
"But they saw him walking about in the moonlight, sir."
"They were dreaming, or they had been drinking too much Italian wine,"said young De Bresse as he walked away.
That afternoon the emperor said to his secretary, "De Bresse, I am goingto send you to Venice with a message for the doge."
Philibert's heart beat high with exultation, for he knew that this was amission of trust, and that he possessed the emperor's confidence, elsehis Majesty would have selected another messenger. The Venetians hadpromised their aid to Maximilian and the Pisans, but so far they hadfailed to keep their word. The message was not to be written, lest incase of accident to the bearer it should fall into the wrong hands. Theemperor repeated it to his secretary word for word, and gave the latterhis seal ring to show that the message was authentic.
Repeating the words of his royal master over and over again in his mindand trying to remember his caution regarding the trip and the best routeto take, Philibert hastily prepared for the journey, and mounting one ofthe best horses available he rode away shortly before nightfall.
He was very happy; he was young, he had the confidence of the emperor,and he was starting out on a trip in which there was considerable risk,a fact which with him added greatly to the charm of the enterprise.
It seems sometimes as if our memory takes a malicious delight in playingtricks with us. It will go to sleep at the very time that it ought to bebusiest and then it will wake and mock us. What do you suppose thatPhilibert's memory said to him, when, after a two hours' ride, hestopped at a stream to allow his horse to refresh itself with a drink ofwater? It was this, "_You have forgotten the emperor's ring! You left iton the foot of your couch when you were dressing!_"
This was the ghastly truth. In his excitement, delight, and haste, thesecretary had placed the ring on his couch, intending to tie it to acord and hang it around his neck inside of his clothes for the sake ofsafety, and it was still there! To accomplish the purpose for which hewas sent, the ring was absolutely necessary, or his royal master wouldnot have given it to him. There was nothing to be done but to return andfind it. It would be very difficult to go to his room without the factof his presence being reported to his Majesty, who, also, had sharp earsand knew all that was going on around him. And what should he say if hewere discovered? Simply that he had forgotten the ring and had come backfor it. Yes, that was simple enough, but to the proud and sensitiveyouth the consequences would be terrible, for he knew that the emperorupon learning the truth would lose all confidence in his sagacity andwould send another messenger. "And small wonder, too, since his firstone appears to be such a blundering idiot," he thought, with burningcheeks.
Well, he would go back for the ring and if he should be discovered bythe emperor there would be nothing to do but to return to his owncountry in disgrace. So Philibert turned his horse's head in thedirection of Pistoja.
It was the hour of midnight when Philibert approached the camp fromwhich he had set forth so joyously that afternoon, a week ago it seemedto him now. For the last few miles he had been tormented by a fear thathe could not overcome, a surmise that seemed to be more and moreprobable as he drew nearer and nearer to his destination. Le Glorieuxhad a habit of entering the secretary's room, as was the custom ofjesters, at whatever hour it pleased him, and if he went there afterPhilibert left, he would certainly discover the ring, for his sharp eyessaw everything. And he would take the jewel straight to his master; theyouth seemed to hear him saying, "Cousin Max, here is your ring that thecareless boy left on his bed." Perhaps even now Maximilian had a storeof wrath laid up for him!
A tall form was walking before him]
And now how best to pass the sentinels was a serious problem. Of courseknowing his identity, they would let him pass without a question, buthow to bribe them to keep his return a secret? He had secured his horsein a clump of trees and was about to approach the first sentinel when hesaw an object which for the moment almost stopped the beating of hisheart. Plainly distinguishable in the bright moonlight a tall form waswalking before him draped in a long mantle. It was the statue, _IlCapitano_, which so frightened him, and Philibert was by no means acoward. Even to the bravest, the sight of a marble statue walking aboutwhen it ought to be sitting quietly astride its horse would cause moreor less trepidation, for the sight is an unusual one, to say the least.
But glancing backward with the expectation of seeing the horse standingriderless, Philibert discovered that the same old _Capitano_ was stillin his saddle, holding his sword stiffly before h
im, with his longmantle still floating over the tail of his steed, as it had done fornobody knew exactly how many centuries.
Then this _Capitano_ was a fraud, a base imitation! Drawing his swordPhilibert strode forward and with a quick turn confronted the boldmasquerader.
"Another step," said the secretary, "and I shall run you through. If youthink to deceive me by this foolery, you are very much mistaken. You areone of the soldiers dressed up for the purpose of stealing from yourcomrades."
The man sank to his knees and began to plead for mercy. "Oh, sir, pleasedo not betray me. I never have done such a thing before, indeed."
"Do not tell me that; you have been walking about in this guise nightafter night."
"I mean, sir, that I never have done anything like this until since wehave been camped in this place."
"We will not discuss that matter now; I have no time to hear yourexcuses. I need your disguise for purposes of my own. Give those rags tome; promise to cease your evil practices and to keep my secret, and Iwill keep yours."
The rascal made the necessary promises, very thankful to get off soeasily, and to extricate himself from what at first promised to be aposition of great danger. Hastily doffing the long mantle and the whitelinen which bound his head in imitation of marble hair, he helped toarray the young secretary in the disguise; then holding his sword beforehim in imitation of _Il Capitano_, Philibert marched boldly toward theemperor's quarters.
The sentinel at the gate made no opposition to his entrance, butremained as if frozen to the spot; another crossed himself and fled, andhis way being now clear, so far as they were concerned, Philibertcautiously mounted the steps leading to the upper hall, ever inmomentary fear of meeting one of the emperor's suite or perhaps even hisMajesty himself, as he was obliged to pass his bedchamber in trying toreach his own. Luck favored him, however, and he reached his own room,where he proceeded to search for the object which had caused him so muchanxiety.
The one window of the room was so thickly shaded with vines as toexclude the moonlight, and even if there had been any artificial lightavailable, its use would have been a risk, so Philibert began to runhis hand over the couch, very slowly and carefully lest he should knockthe ring to the floor, where it would be almost impossible to find it.
He uttered a sigh of relief when his fingers touched a hard object,which turned out to be what he sought, and slipping it on his finger,where it proved to be a snug fit, he was about to depart, when he heardthe emperor's voice in the corridor. His disguise would not protect himfrom Maximilian, who, even if he should believe this strange figure tobe _Il Capitano_ himself, would lose no time in running it through withhis sword, and the young secretary was not ready to die.
He waited; would the emperor never go? His voice was raised in angerabout something. Perhaps he had heard of the appearance of the supposedstatue and was seeking it. Concealing himself behind the half-open door,Philibert listened. No, whatever it was it was not a question of _IlCapitano_, and the listener realized that his successor was getting asound scolding from Maximilian, who had a temper of his own uponoccasion.
A paper was missing, the disappearance of which seemed greatly to haveirritated the emperor. His voice grew louder and louder as he describedit. Then he said, "Here, Le Glorieux, go and look for it in thebedchamber of De Bresse. You will know it by its color; it is a longblue paper, folded lengthwise, with writing across the end of it."
The listener knew quite well of what paper they were speaking; oh, ifhe could only have put it into the emperor's mind to look for it in acertain drawer in his own room, where, neatly labeled, the secretary hadplaced it with a number of other documents! But here was the fool comingstraight toward his room with a torch. With a sudden plunge, Philibertsprang toward the bed and crawled under it, dragging with him thehangings, which were old and frail, as he did so.
"What a mess this room is in," grumbled the jester, as he stumbled overthe fallen hangings, coughing violently as the dust from them tickledhis throat. "Was he so crazy with joy over his trip that he must pullhis couch to pieces before he started?"
Then, as if suspecting that some one might be in the room who had noright there, the jester searched carefully about, finally kneeling tolook under the bed. The emperor and his humiliated scribe had now closedtheir door, and the amazed exclamation of the jester was not heard, ashe discovered a booted and spurred foot beneath Philibert's bed.
"And so, Mr. Thief, or Mr. Spy, whichever you are, I have caught you,have I?" asked Le Glorieux coolly.
"Hush!" whispered Philibert.
"I do not in the least doubt that you want me to hush," returned thefool, taking possession of the secretary's sword, which the latter heldunsheathed in his hand. "There are some positions in life in whichpeople like to have a great noise made over them, and there are othersin which they like to be quiet and retired. This appears to be one ofthe latter. You evidently do not know how to use this toy since you giveit up so easily," went on Le Glorieux scornfully.
"Hush!" whispered his prisoner again. "Do not bawl so loud. It is I,Philibert de Bresse."
"In the name of all the saints in the calendar!" exclaimed the fool asyoung De Bresse crawled from his hiding-place. "Is this the way youexecute your commission? I was proud of you, boy; I had faith in you,and now see what has come of it! Max gave you an opportunity to win hisconfidence for life, and you wrap yourself up in that dirty old mantleand sneak under the bed! I never so thoroughly realized that I am a foolas I do at this moment, when I find how greatly I was mistaken inPhilibert de Bresse!"
"Do you suppose I am doing this of my own accord?" snapped the youngsecretary, engaged in securing the band of white linen which was readyto fall from his head.
"I do not see anybody forcing you to do it at the point of the sword,"returned the jester dryly. "The De Bresses are a wild lot and have donemany strange things, according to their history, but I never heard ofone that was a coward."
Le Glorieux had no sooner finished the sentence than Philibert seizedhim by the shoulders and gave him a shaking which, the fool afterwarddeclared, changed the relative position of some of his teeth. "Listen,you idiot," hissed the young man, "I intend to go to Venice if seventhousand demons stand in the road! I was well on my way when I foundthat I had forgotten the emperor's ring, and I have returned for it inthe disguise of _Il Capitano_. Do you not see that I was obliged to comein secret? Now let me go. The paper you will find in the drawer of hisMajesty's writing case. Leave me!"
The jester returned to his master, saying as he opened the door, "CousinMax, you are a sensible man about some things even if you are anemperor, and I want to ask you where a valuable paper should be but inyour own writing case?"
Waiting until all was quiet outside, Philibert ventured forth once more,and assuming the dignified stride of _Il Capitano_, he marched past thesentinels, threw off his disguise, and mounting his horse, was once moreriding toward Venice, regretting the lost time, and censuring his ownthoughtlessness which had rendered his return necessary. It was longafter sunrise before he felt justified in taking a rest, stopping at awayside inn more for the sake of his horse than for his own comfort."Poor fellow," said he, stroking the tired steed, "you are unfortunatein being obliged to suffer for the folly of your rider."
And now he slipped the ring from his finger and secured it on theinside of the lining of his cap, believing that after all it would beless likely to be found in that place of concealment than tied about hisneck.
He met a party of Florentine soldiers]
As soon as possible he resumed his journey, which he pursued withoutincident of note until late that afternoon, when he met a party ofFlorentine soldiers, who stopped him.
"An Austrian spy," said one of them.
"Do I look like an Austrian?" asked Philibert scornfully.
"Who are you, then?"
"A Savoyard student."
"What is a Savoyard student doing here?"
"A student may travel where he pleases, may
he not? I can not see that Iam accountable to you for my acts."
"Where are you going?"
"To Padua."
"For what purpose?"
"My good sir," drawled Philibert, "for what purpose does a student go toPadua save to attend its famous university, which has sheltered thelearned heads of Dante and Petrarch?"
"He looks like a student and he talks like one," said another man. "Lethim go."
Philibert was feeling greatly relieved when he caught the eye of a manin the rear of the company. This was a soldier, who, in a slightskirmish a short time before, had been taken prisoner by theAustrians, and who had succeeded in effecting his escape. The youngsecretary had seen him but once and that only for a few moments, but henever forgot a face and recognized this one immediately. He hoped thatthe memory of the soldier was less faithful than his own, but this didnot appear to be the case.
"Stay," said the man; "I think I can tell you something about thisyouth. The Emperor of Austria has a secretary, a young Savoyard, of whomI caught a glimpse when I was their prisoner, and if I am not very muchmistaken this is he."
The youth laughed contemptuously. "For a faithful secretary, I seem tobe quite a distance from my master," said he. "Look at me well, my goodman," he continued boldly, "and tell me on your honor if we ever havemet before."
The man began to waver. "Of course I had only a glimpse," he stammered."The secretary was walking with the emperor and I only saw them amoment."
"Would you recognize the emperor if you should see him again?"
"Aye, that would I."
"Then it must have been he at whom you were staring instead of mycountryman, the secretary, and of whom you seem to have received a veryfaint impression."
As if realizing the force of this argument, the man made no reply, andanother said, "It will do no harm to search him at any rate, for if itshould be the emperor's secretary, he may be bearing importantdespatches."
Still putting a bold front on the affair, Philibert leaped to theground. "Search me, if you like," said he, "and get it over as soon aspossible, for I must be on my way." The soldiers searched thoroughly,but of course found no papers, and the youth appreciated the wisdom ofthe emperor in sending a verbal message to the doge. His cap they merelyglanced into and restored to him, so the precious ring was safe. Heremounted his horse, even before he received permission to do so, andthe soldier who had first spoken to him said sneeringly, "Go, gentleyouth, you are too girlish to do any harm."
Considering the danger he was in, the secretary should have ridden awaywithout another word, but this contemptuous remark kindled hisindignation to such a heat that he forgot all prudence, and crying, "Howdo you like this from a 'girlish' hand?" he struck the speaker fullacross the face with the flat of his sword, leaving a mark that would benoticeable for some time to come, and putting spurs to his horse, hedashed past the other men and galloped away. Some of the men roared withlaughter, but he who had been struck rushed for his horse, mounted itand endeavored to give chase, but Philibert had the advantage of anearlier start and a swifter horse, and though a shot came flying afterhim, it cut the limb of a tree above his head and he escaped unharmed.
The journey to Venice at this time involved days of wearisome riding,but he met with no further adventure and in due course of time arrivedthere in safety. The Queen of the Adriatic seemed like a fairy city whenthe young Savoyard first beheld it. Its palaces of beauteous tints, itswaters like molten gold in the rays of the setting sun, its gondolaswith their picturesque rowers, its fair women leaning against theirsilken cushions as they glided on the Grand Canal, and with it all thetinkling of lutes and voices of sweetest melody floating on the softbreeze, invested the scene with a charm which was like that of abeautiful dream from which he feared to awaken.
The doge's palace, with its white and red marble walls, its cloistersand great balconied windows, was reached at last, and Philibert'srequest, accompanied by the ring, to see the doge himself, admitted himto the presence of that haughty individual, who carefully listened tothe message, not one word of which the secretary had forgotten, andgravely replied that the answer would be given later, as the matter wasone that required serious reflection and consultation with his advisers,who never decided in haste.
So Philibert had an opportunity of becoming acquainted with thisattractive city, and he stepped into his gondola once more, anxious tobecome one of the merry throng and to make the most of his spare time.
Many glances of curiosity and interest were cast by the Venetian ladiesat the handsome young stranger, who, in his own mind, was comparingthem, to their great disadvantage, to a certain princess far off in theimperial palace of Vienna.
When the reply of the doge was handed to him on the following morning,Philibert lost no time, but departed at once, as became a trustedmessenger, though it was with regret that he turned his back upon Veniceand its many attractions. Nothing of moment occurred on the returnjourney, and although the emperor was not pleased with the answer hereceived, for the Venetians flatly refused their aid, still the replyprevented a certain move he had planned, and was most timely.
Maximilian complimented his young secretary upon the fidelity and carewith which he had accomplished his errand. Praise from such a source wasmost gratifying to its recipient, although he felt that it was notaltogether deserved. He had been careless at the outset, and in his codeof honor it was almost as bad to act as to tell a lie. He had regrettedthe falsehoods he had been obliged to tell the Florentine soldiers, butin that case not only his own life, but a matter of vital importance toa nation was at stake. Now, however, he resolved not to accept insilence compliments that were not his due.
"I was not altogether faithful, your Majesty," said he. "I was carelessat first; I went away and forgot the ring and lost at least five hours'time in returning for it."
"How did it happen that I knew nothing of your return?" asked theemperor, frowning.
"None knew of it, your Majesty, excepting Le Glorieux, who would notbetray me even to you, and one poor soldier who was not sufficientlyfamiliar with my face to recognize me."
"I seem to be blessed with capable sentinels," observed Maximiliansarcastically.
"Your sentinels are not afraid of flesh and blood, your Majesty; theyfear only the supernatural." Then the secretary told the whole story ofhis masquerade as _Il Capitano_, not without many misgivings as to theresult of the revelation.
The emperor scowled at first, then he began to laugh, and the more hethought about it the louder he laughed, for after all the messenger haddone what he was sent to do, and that better than most could have donein his place, so why not enjoy the humorous side of it, now that it wasall over and done with? And as hearty laughter and punishment never gohand in hand, Philibert felt that he was forgiven.
"But I find it hard to forgive you," he afterward said to Le Glorieux,"for taking it for granted that I was a coward before giving me anopportunity to explain."
"When a man who has been sent on a dangerous journey is found some timeafter he is supposed to have started, snugly hidden under his own bed,it looks, to say the least, somewhat suspicious," replied the fool. "Howwas I to know that you had dressed up and were capering about in amasquerade?"
The young man smiled. "Perhaps you had reason to believe as you did, forappearances were against me," said he. Then after a thoughtful pause hesaid, "My good Le Glorieux, that was not the first time you had seen memasquerading. Do you remember Saint Monica and the accusation ofCimburga?"
"Do I remember it? Does a man ever forget a thing like that?" asked thejester.
"Le Glorieux, did it never occur to you that _I_ was Saint Monica onthat occasion?"
"You! Are you out of your mind, my lad?"
"My friend," said Philibert, "I did not think that the saint would move,and I was anxious to have the girl's innocence proven."
"Why should you have been anxious about the girl?" asked the fool.
"Because I had heard a prayer that I wanted answere
d. I saw the LadyMarguerite kneeling in the chapel before the altar, and in her clear,sweet voice she was praying for Cimburga, who she believed was innocent.I, too, believed in her innocence, for I had learned something about mycousin's nervous ways, and had made up my mind that she had lost thejewel in some other manner. I slipped some gray, colorless drapery fromthe housekeeper's room, and removing the statue from the pedestal, whichwas not difficult to do, I arrayed myself and played the part. Therewas, I imagine, a good deal of difference between my appearance and thatof the saint, but every one was too agitated to notice it. And as thegirl was really clear of all blame in the matter, who knows but that thesaint helped her in another way, and, knowing that her wooden imagecould not move, put it into my head to do as I did?"
"And I called you a carp!" exclaimed the jester.