Bissula. English

  CHAPTER XXXIX.

  "You have planned all this alone?" asked the young noble.

  "Ha, more, far more than this! Like the wolf of hell, this Rome opensher jaws to swallow all Mittelgard. What? They are not willing to grantus land enough on the northern shore of the lake to feed our growingpopulation? Well, let us see whether, in punishment to the insatiablerobbers for new and old crimes, the gods will not deprive them even ofthe districts they have hitherto held by force,--the northern shore!"

  Adalo's astonishment was increasing.

  "Their proud giant ships will float against us from Arbor to-morrow;those which escape the midnight conflagration will not, I hope, bereceived again, when they fly homeward, in the eyrie whence these birdsof prey went forth."

  "What! Arbor?"

  "I have long tried to persuade our eastern districts also to makecommon cause with us; they did not refuse reinforcements to the league,as people here suppose because they did not see the men of the easternprovinces. Besides,"--he smiled craftily,--"most of the easterndistricts have kings. It was not necessary to have all these kingshere, when Ebarbold's fate was to be decided. Meanwhile, they will helpwhere I sent them: on the southern shore. But not they alone.

  "We wished to free the brothers of our race still enslaved by Rome. Fora long time the Alemanni and the other colonists--more slaves than freemen--have borne, grinding their teeth, the yoke which every yearpressed heavier. But they were held in check by the fortresses on theother side, from the Linden Island behind Brigantium, beyond Arbor andConstantia. They had long been ready to fight, but the lake fortressesseemed to be too strongly garrisoned. They dread these fortificationsfrom long experience. They required to have aid from us.

  "Well: least of all now, with the Emperor so near and a Roman army onthe northern shore, least of all now, do the tyrants fear an attackupon their fortresses in the south. To-morrow nearly all the soldierswho usually guard Arbor will come across on the ships to share the gayexpedition for booty; only a small guard will be left behind. But assoon as the camp on the Idisenhang is burning,--a magnificent torch,kindled by Zio himself,--the infuriated colonists will attack Arborfrom the land side. Thousands of free Alemanni from the easterndistricts will aid; they have stolen in small parties through themountain passes from far, far beyond Brigantium, and remained hidden inthe forests and farm-houses of the colonists for the last two days. Atthe same time our men from the eastern marshes (Suomar commands them)in thirty boats, under cover of the darkness (this is why I could notmove while the moon-goddess was in the sky), will go to Arbor, burstthe chains of the harbor, and unless the Christian God should descendfrom the clouds to save the fortress, the morning sun will see the freeand the enslaved Alemanni on the walls of Arbor.

  "Many times already we have won it, plundered it, half burned it, andthen left it, so that the Romans could establish themselves thereagain: we will be so foolish no longer. If we conquer this time, wewill remain there forever! Then one link of the iron chain will bebroken, and we shall find it easier to subdue the other fortresses atthe left and the right, from Brigantium to Constantia.

  "I shall not live to see the day, but you will, young warrior, the daywhen the southern shore of the lake and the country far, far into thelofty mountains whose peaks are crowned with eternal snows, will be thepossession of the free Alemanni: then think of this hour and oldHariowald."

  He started up, intensely moved, his white hair and silver beard wavingproudly in the breeze.

  "My Duke," cried Adalo enthusiastically, "this is magnificent! Speak,when to-morrow we have won this great victory according to your plans,will you not then, instead of Count, bear the name of _King_ of theLinzgau and the Ebergau, if Ebarbold fall?"

  "No," replied the old man quietly, "that would not be wise. I havereflected upon it a long time. Odin's will, I think, is different forour people. Ebarbold has no descendants: after his death I will proposethat they shall not elect another king.

  "That will be well; for the time is close at hand, though, it is true,not yet fully here, when one king, a single one, will gather all thedistricts of the Alemanni under his rule. The path will be more open,easier for this universal king to traverse, the fewer kings and themore counts rule the districts. We two will smooth, not block, the pathfor the future king of the people. No, no! And, besides, the men of theEbergau must not say: 'Ebarbold was forced to fall because Hariowaldwished to be called King.'

  "That king of the people is coming! Then, it is true, the nation willscarcely remember me or you. Only perhaps some harper, in the hall ofthe One King, will sing how Hariowald, the old chief and Adalo, theyoung one, defeated the Romans three times in a single night. But we,Adalo, shall then look down upon the free land of the Alemanni,stretching from the Alps to the Vosges. We shall look down from Odin'stable. And I may probably expect that, when I cross the threshold ofValhalla, the Lofty One will rise from his throne and come to meet me,with the drinking-horn in his hand. For many men--far more through mycounsel, which always advised war, than by my spear--have I sent up tohim by the red death in the last fifty years, to fill his hall andincrease his army. Yes, my Adalo, we shall then look down upon theglory of our people and say, laughing joyously: 'We two also helped tobuild it that night on the Idisenhang.'

  "So, Adalo, so I praise you: your cheek is glowing, your eye isflashing! That is the right spirit, Odin's spirit, which is now takingpossession of you. And that alone, that ardor for battle, will alsogive you the most ardent desire of your heart; not the dull despair ofthe last few days, in which, unhappy youth, you sent that secretmessage to the two Roman Generals!

  "Hush! Of course I knew it. It was not difficult to guess the contentsof the letter you forwarded after they had disdained everything elseyou had to give. But I also knew positively that they would refuse youtoo. That is the sole reason I allowed your messenger to pass throughthe barricades, as you thought, undetected. I too would gladly see herat liberty, the wild red rosebud of the hillside by the lake, the redflower in our people's garland of oak-leaves. But your Bissula isyonder, with victory, in the Roman camp. If you want her, hew her outat the same hour with conquest and the salvation of your people.

  "No, do not thank me; do not talk! Go now! I must be alone."