CHAPTER XXIX.
Motion is the life of the sea: the surge dashes along in its course,while the watery particles that gave it bulk and form, remain in theirplace to renew and continue the coming billows, heaving to eachsuccessive oscillation, but not departing with it. Thus the mind,--anocean more vast and unfathomable than that which washes ourplanet,--fluctuates under the impulses of its stormy nature, and passesnot away, until the last agitation, like that which shall swallow up thesea, or convert its elements into a new matter, lifts it from itscontinent, and introduces it to a new existence. Emotion is its life,each surge of which seems to bear it leagues from its resting-place; andyet it remains passively to abide and figure forth the influence of newcommotions.--Thus passed the billow through the spirit of Calavar; andwhen it had vanished, the spirit ceased from its tumult, subsided, andlay in tranquillity to await other shocks,--for others werecoming.--When he awoke from his lethargy, his head was supported on theknee of a human being, who chafed his temple and hands, and bowed hisbody as well as his feeble strength allowed, to recall the knight tolife. Don Gabriel raised his eyes to this benignant and ministeringcreature; and in the disturbed visage, that hung over his own,thought,--for his mind was yet wandering,--he beheld the pallid featuresof the vision.
"I know thee, and I am ready!" cried Don Gabriel. "Pity me and forgiveme;--for I die at thy feet, as thou didst at mine!"
"Senor mio! I am Jacinto," exclaimed the page, (for it was he,)frightened at the distraction of the knight;--"thy page, thy poor page,Jacinto."
"Is it so indeed?" said Calavar, surveying him wildly.--"And the spectrethat did but now smite me to the earth!--hath she left me?"
"Dear master, there is no spectre with us," said the Moorish boy. "Weare alone among the ruins."
"God be thanked!" said the knight, vehemently, "for if I should look onit more, I should die.--Yet would that I could!--would that I could! forin death there is peace,--in the grave there is forgetfulness!--Thistime, was it no delusion either of the senses or the brain: mineeye-sight was clear, my head sane, and I saw it, as I see mine owndespair!--Pray for me, boy!" he continued, falling on his knees, anddragging the page down beside him; "pray for me!" he cried, gazingpiteously at the youth; "pray for me! God will listen to _thy_ prayers,for thou art innocent, and I am miserable. Pray that God may forgive me,and suffer me to die;--for this is the day of my sin!"
"Dear master," said the page, trembling, "let us return to our friends."
"Thou wilt not pray? thou wilt not beseech God for me?" said Calavar,mournfully. "Thou wilt be merciful, when thou knowest my misery! Heavensends thee for mine intercessor. I confess to thee, as to heaven, forthou art without sin. Manhood brings guile and impurity, evil deeds andmalign thoughts; but a child is pure in the eyes of God; and the prayersof his lips will be as incense, when wrath turns from the beseeching ofmen. Hear thou my sin; and then, if heaven bid thee not to curse, thenpray for me, boy!--then pray for me!"
In great perturbation, for he knew not how to check the knight'sdistraction, and feared its increasing violence, Jacinto knelt, staringat him, his hands fettered in the grasp of his master; who, returninghis gaze with such looks of wo and contrition, as a penitent may give toheaven, said wildly, yet not incoherently,--
"Deeply dyed with sin am I, and sharply scourged with retribution! Agecomes upon me before its time, but brings me nothing but memory--nothingbut memory!--Gray hairs and wrinkles, disease and feebleness, are theportions of my manhood: for my youth was sinful, and guilt has made meold! Oh that I might see the days, when I was like to thee!--when I waslike to thee, Jacinto!--when I knew innocence, and offended not God. Butthe virtues of childhood weigh not in the balance against the crimes ofafter years: as the child dieth, heaven opens to him; as the mansinneth, so doth he perish.--Miserere mei, Deus! and forgive me my dayin the Alpujarras!"
As Don Gabriel pronounced the name of those mountains, wherein, Jacintoknew, his father had drawn the first breath of life, and around whichwas shed, for every Moor, such interest as belongs to those places whereour fathers have fought and bled, the page began to listen withcuriosity, although his alarm had not altogether subsided.
"Long years have passed; many days of peril and disaster have come andgone; and yet I have not forgotten the Alpujarras!" cried Calavar,shivering as he uttered the word; "for there did joy smile, and hopesicken, and fury give me to clouds and darkness forever. Those hillswere the haunts of thy forefathers, Jacinto; and there, after the royalcity had fallen, and Granada was ruled by the monarchs of Spain, theyfled for refuge, all those noble Moriscos, who were resolute to die intheir own mistaken faith, as well,--in after years,--as many others, whohad truly embraced the religion of Christ, but were suspected by thebigoted of our people, and persecuted with rigour. How many wars weredeclared against those unhappy fugitives,--now to break down the laststrong hold of the infidel, and now to punish the suspectedChristian,--thou must know, if thy sire be a true Moor of Granada. Inmine early youth, and in one of the later crusades, that were proclaimedagainst those misguided mountaineers, went I, to win the name and thelaurels of a cavalier. Would that I had never won them, or that they hadcome to me dead on the battle-field! Know, then, Jacinto, that mynineteenth summer had not yet fled from me, when I first drew my swordin conflict with men; but if I won me reputation, at that green age, itwas because heaven was minded to show me, that shame and sorrow couldcome as early. In those days, the royal and noble blood of Granada hadnot been drawn from every vein; many of the princely descendants of theAbencerrages, the Aliatars, the Ganzuls, and the Zegris, still dweltamong the mountains; and, forgetting their hereditary feuds, unitedtogether in common resistance against the Spaniards. With such men forenemies, respected alike for their birth and their valour, the war wasnot always a history of rapine and barbarity; and sometimes therehappened such passages of courtesy and magnanimity between the Christianand Moorish cavaliers, as recalled the memory of the days of chivalryand honour. Among others, who made experience of the heroic greatness ofmind of the infidel princes, was I myself; for, in a battle, wherein theMoors prevailed against us, I was left wounded and unhorsed, on thefield, to perish, or to remain a prisoner in their hands. In thatmelancholy condition, while I commended my soul to God, as not thinkingI could escape from death, a Moorish warrior of majestic appearance anda soul still more lofty, approached, and had pity on my helplessness,instead of slaying me outright, as I truly expected. 'Thou art noble,'said he, 'for I have seen thy deeds; and though, this day, thou hastshed the blood of a Zegri, thou shalt not perish like a dog. Mount myhorse and fly, lest the approaching squadrons destroy thee; and inmemory of this deed, be thou sometimes merciful to the people ofAlharef.' Then knew I, that this was Alharef ben-Ismail, the most nobleof the Zegris,--a youth famous, even among the Spaniards, for hiscourage and humanity; and in gratitude and love, for he was a Christianproselyte, I pledged him my faith, and swore with him the vows of a truefriendship. How I have kept mine oath, Alharef!" he cried, lifting hiseyes to the spangled heaven, "thou knowest;--for sometimes _thou_ artwith my punisher!"
The knight paused an instant, in sorrowful emotion, while Jacinto, borneby curiosity beyond the bounds of fear, bent his head to listen; thenmaking the sign of the cross, and repeating his brief prayer, thecavalier resumed his narrative.
"As my ingratitude was greater than that of other men, so is my sin; foranother act of benevolence shall weigh against me for ever!--Why did Inot die with my people, when the smiles of perfidy conducted us to thehills, and the sword was drawn upon us sleeping? That night, there wasbut one escaped the cruel and bloody stratagem; and I, again, owed mylife to the virtues of a Moor. Pity me, heaven! for thou didst send mean angel, and I repaid thy mercy with the thankfulness of afiend!--Know, then, Jacinto, that, in the village wherein was devisedand accomplished the murder of my unsuspecting companions, dwelt onethat now liveth in heaven. Miserere mei! miserere mei! for she was nobleand fair, and wept at the baseness of her kindred!--She covered th
ebleeding cavalier with her mantle, concealed him from the fury that wasunrelenting; and when she had healed his wounds, guided him, in secret,from the den of devils, and dismissed him in safety near to the camp ofhis countrymen. Know thou now, boy, that this maiden was Zayda, theflower of all those hills, and the star that made them dearer to me thanthe heaven that was above them; and more thought I of those green peaksand shady valleys that encompassed my love, than the castle of my sire,or the church wherein rested the bones of my mother. Miserere mei!miserere mei! for the faith that was pledged was broken! my lady sleptin the arms of Alharef, and my heart was turned to blackness!--Now thoushalt hear me, and pray for me," continued Don Gabriel, with a look ofthe wildest and intensest despair, "for my sin is greater than I canbear! Now shalt thou hear how I cursed those whom I had sworn to love;how I sharpened my sword, and with vengeance and fury, went against thevillage of my betrayers. Oh God! how thou didst harden our hearts, whenwe gave their houses to the flames, and their old men and children toswords and spears! when we looked not at misery, and listened not tosupplication, but slew! slew! slew! as though we struck at beasts, andnot at human creatures! 'Thou sworest an oath!' cried Alharef. Ilaughed; for I knew I should drink his blood! 'Be merciful to mypeople!' he cried,--and I struck him with my sabre. Oho!" continued theknight, springing to his feet, wringing the page's hands, and glaring athim with the countenance of a demon, "when he fled from me bleeding, myheart was full of joy, and I followed him with yells oftransport!--_This_ is the day, I tell thee! this is the day, and thehour! for night could not hide him!--And Zayda! ay, Zayda! Zayda!--whenshe shielded him with her bosom, when she threw herself beforehim--Miserere mei, Deus! miserere mei, Deus!"
"And Zayda?" cried the page, meeting his gaze with looks scarcely lessexpressive of wildness.
"Curse me, or pray for me," said the knight,--"for I slew her!"
The boy recoiled: Don Gabriel fell on his knees, and, with a voice huskyand feeble as a child's, cried,
"I know, now, that thou cursest me, for thou lookest on me with horror!The innocent will not pray for the guilty! the pure and holy have nopity for devils. Curse me then, for her kindred vanished from the earth,and she with them!--curse me, for I left not a drop of her blood flowingin human veins, and none in her's!--curse me, for I am her murderer, andI have not forgot it!--curse me, for God has forsaken me, and nightlyher pale face glitters on me with reproach!--curse me, for I ammiserable!"
While Don Gabriel still grovelled on the earth, and while the page stoodyet regarding him with terror, suddenly there came to the ears of both,the shouts of soldiers, mingled with the roar of firelocks: and, asthree or four cross-bow shafts rattled against the sides of the pyramid,there were visible in the moonlight as many figures of men running amongthe ruins, new leaping over, now darting around the fragments, as ifflying for their lives from a party of armed men, who were seen rushingafter them on the square. The knight rose, bewildered, and, as if in theinstinct of protection, again grasped the hand of the page. But now theemotions which had agitated the master, seemed transferred to hisfollower; and Jacinto, trembling and struggling, cried,--
"Senor mio, let me loose! For the sake of heaven, for the sake of theZayda whom you slew, let me go!--for they are murdering my father!"
But Don Gabriel, in the confusion of his mind, still retained his grasp,and very providentially, as it appeared; for at that very moment, avoice was heard exclaiming,--
"Hold! shoot not _there_: 'tis the Penitent Knight!--Aim at the fliers.Follow and shoot!--follow and shoot!"
Immediately the party of pursuers rushed up to the pair, one of whompaused, while the others, in obedience to his command, continued thechase, ever and anon sending a bolt after the fugitives.
"On, and spare not, ye knaves!" cried Sandoval, for it was this cavalierwho now stood at the side of the knight of Rhodes. "On, and shoot! onand shoot! and see that ye bring me the head of the Moor! Oho, my merrylittle page!" he cried, regarding Jacinto; "you have been playing Sir_Quimichin_, Sir Rat and Sir Spy? A cunning little brat, faith; butwe'll catch thy villain father, notwithstanding!"
The page bowed his head and sobbed, but was silent; and Don Gabriel,rallying his confused spirits a little, said,--
"I know not what you mean, senor. We are no spies, but very miserablepenitents."
"Oh, sir knight, I crave your pardon," said Sandoval, without noticingthe eccentric portion of his confession, "I meant not to intrude uponyour secrecy, but to catch Abdalla, the deserter; of whom, and of whoserogueries, not doubting that this boy has full knowledge, I must begyour permission to conduct him to the general."
"Surely," said Calavar mildly, "if Jacinto have offended, I will notstrive to screen him from examination, but only from punishment. Iconsent you shall lead him to Cortes; and I will myself accompany you."
"It is enough, noble knight, if thou wilt thyself condescend to conducthim," said the cavalier; "whereby I shall be left in freedom to follow amore urgent duty. God save you, sir knight;--I leave the boy in yourcharge."--So saying, Sandoval pursued hastily after his companions; andCalavar leading the page, now no longer unwilling, (for the Almogavar,with his companions, was long since out of sight,) pursued hismelancholy way to the quarters.