VI
"And what did thee do after thee got out of Russia?" asked Mrs. Crowder,the next evening.
Her husband shook his head. "No, no, my dear; we can't go on with myautobiography in that fashion. If I should take up my life step by step,there would not be time enough--" There he stopped, but I am sure we bothunderstood his meaning. There would be plenty of time for him!
"Often and often," said Mr. Crowder, after a few minutes' silence, "haveI determined to adopt some particular profession, and continue itspractice wherever I might find myself; but in this I did not succeed verywell. Frequently I was a teacher, but not for many consecutive years.Something or other was sure to happen to turn my energies into otherchannels."
"Such as falling in love with thy scholars," said his wife.
"You have a good memory," he replied. "That sometimes happened; but therewere other reasons which turned me away from the paths of the pedagogue.With my widely extended opportunities, I naturally came to know a gooddeal of medicine and surgery. Frequently I had been a doctor in spite ofmyself, and as far back as the days of the patriarchs I was called uponto render aid to sick and ailing people.
"In the days when I lived in a cave and gained a reputation as a wise andholy hermit, more people came to me to get relief from bodily ailmentsthan to ask for spiritual counsel. You will remember that I told you thatI was visited at that time by Moses and Joshua. Moses came, I trulybelieve, on account of his desire to become acquainted with the prophet ElKhoudr, of whom he had heard so much; but Joshua wanted to see me for anentirely different reason. The two remained with me for about an hour, andalthough Moses had no belief in me as a prophet, he asked me a great manyquestions, and I am sure that I proved to him that I was a man of a greatdeal of information. He had a keen mind, with a quick perception of themotives of others, and in every way was well adapted to be a leader ofmen.
"When Moses had gone away to a tent about a mile distant, where heintended to spend the night, Joshua remained, and as soon as his uncle wasout of sight, he told me why he wished to see me."
"His uncle!" exclaimed Mrs. Crowder.
"Certainly," said her husband; "Joshua was the son of Nun and of Miriam,and Miriam was the sister of Moses and Aaron. What he now wanted from mewas medical advice. For some time he had been afflicted with rheumatism inhis left leg, which came upon him after exposure to the damp and cold.
"Now, this was a very important thing to Joshua. He was a great favoritewith Moses, who intended him, as we all know, to be his successor asleader of the people and of the army. Joshua was essentially a soldier;he was quiet, brave, and a good disciplinarian; in fact, he had all thequalities needed for the position he expected to fill: but he was notyoung, and if he should become subject to frequent attacks of rheumatism,it is not likely that Moses, who had very rigid ideas of his duties to hispeople, would be willing to place at their head a man who might at anytime be incapacitated from taking his proper place on the field of battle.So Joshua had never mentioned his ailment to his uncle, hoping that hemight be relieved of it, and having heard that I was skilled in suchmatters, now wished my advice.
"I soon found that his ailment was a very ordinary one, which might easilybe kept under control, if not cured, and I proceeded at once to applyremedies. I will just mention that in those days remedies were generallyheroic, and I think you will agree with me when I tell you how I treatedJoshua. I first rubbed his aching muscles with fine sand, keeping up afriction until his skin was in a beautiful glow. Then I brought out fromthe back part of my cave, where I kept my medicines, a jar containing aliniment which I had made for such purposes. It was composed of oil, inwhich had been steeped the bruised fruit or pods of a plant very muchresembling the Tabasco pepper-plant."
"Whoop!" I exclaimed involuntarily.
"Yes," said Mr. Crowder, "and Joshua 'whooped' too. But it was a grandliniment, especially when applied upon skin already excited by rubbingwith sand. He jumped at first, but he was a soldier, and he bore theapplication bravely.
"I saw him again the next day, and he assured me with genuine pleasurethat every trace of the rheumatism had disappeared. I gave him some of myliniment, and also showed him some of the little pepper pods, so that hemight procure them at any time in the future when he should need them.
"It was more than twenty years after this that I again met Joshua. He wasthen an elderly man, but still a vigorous soldier. He assured me that hehad used my remedy whenever he had felt the least twinges of rheumatism,and that the disease had never interfered with the performance of hismilitary duties.
"He was much surprised to see that I looked no older than when he had metme before. He was greatly impressed by this, and talked a good deal aboutit. He told me he considered himself under the greatest obligations to mefor what I had done for him, and as he spoke I could see that a hope wasgrowing within him that perhaps I might do something more. He presentlyspoke out boldly, and said to me that as my knowledge of medicine hadenabled me to keep myself from growing old, perhaps I could do the samething for him. Few men had greater need of protecting themselves againstthe advance of old age. His work was not done, and years of bodilystrength were necessary to enable him to finish it.
"But I could do nothing for Joshua in this respect. I assured him that myapparent exemption from the effects of passing years was perfectlynatural, and was not due to drugs or medicaments.
"Joshua lived many years after that day, and did a good deal of excellentmilitary work; but his life was not long enough to satisfy him. He fellsick, was obliged to give up his command to his relative Caleb, andfinally died, in his one hundred and twenty-eighth year."
"Which ought to satisfy him, I should say," said Mrs. Crowder.
"I have never yet met a thoroughbred worker," said Mr. Crowder, "who wassatisfied to stop his work before he had finished it, no matter how old hemight happen to be. But my last meeting with Joshua taught me a lessonwhich in those days had not been sufficiently impressed upon my mind.I became convinced that I must not allow people to think that I could livealong for twenty years or more without growing older, and after thatI gave this matter a great deal more attention than I had yet bestowedupon it."
"It is a pity," said Mrs. Crowder, "that thy life should have been marredby such constant anxiety."
"Yes," said he; "but this is a suspicious world, and it is dangerous for aman to set himself apart from his fellow-beings, especially if he does itin some unusual fashion which people cannot understand."
"But I hope now," said his wife, "that those days of suspicion are entirelypast."
Now the conversation was getting awkward; it could not be pleasant for anyone of us to talk about what the world of the future might think of Mr.Crowder when it came to know all about him, and, appreciating this, myhost quickly changed the subject.
"There is a little story I have been wanting to tell you," said he,addressing his wife, "which I think would interest you. It is a love-storyin which I was concerned."
"Oh!" said Mrs. Crowder, looking up quickly, "a scholar?"
"No," he answered; "not this time. Early in the fourteenth century I wasliving at Avignon, in the south of France. At that time I was making myliving by copying law papers. You see, I was down in the world again."
Mrs. Crowder sighed, but said nothing.
"One Sunday morning I was in the Church of St. Claire, and, kneeling alittle in front of me, I noticed a lady who did not seem to be paying theproper attention to her devotions. She fidgeted uneasily, and every nowand then she would turn her head a little to the right, and then bring itback quickly and turn it so much in my direction that I could see theprofile of her face. She was a good-looking woman, not very young, andevidently nervous and disturbed.
"Following the direction of her quick gaze when she again turned to theright, I saw a young man, apparently not twenty-five years of age, anddressed in sober black. He was also kneeling, but his eyes weresteadfastly fixed upon the lady in front of me, and I knew, of course,t
hat it was this continuous gaze which was disturbing her. I felt verymuch disposed to call the attention of a priest to this young man who wasmaking one of the congregation unpleasantly conspicuous by staring at her;but the situation was brought to an end by the lady herself, who suddenlyrose and went out of the church. She had no sooner passed the heavyleathern curtain of the door than the young man got up and went out afterher. Interested in this affair, I also left the church, and in the streetI saw the lady walking rapidly away, with the young man at a respectfuldistance behind her.
PETRARCH AND LAURA.]
"I followed on the other side of the street, determined to interfere ifthe youth, so evidently a stranger to the lady, should accost her or annoyher. She walked steadily on, not looking behind her, and doubtless hopingthat she was not followed. As soon as she reached another church sheturned and entered it. Without hesitation the young man went in after her,and then I followed.
"As before, the lady knelt on the pavement of the church, and the youngman, placing himself not very far from her, immediately began to stare ather. I looked around, but there was no priest near, and then I advancedand knelt not very far from the lady, and between her and her persistentadmirer. It was plain enough that he did not like this, and he movedforward so that he might still get a view of her. Then I also moved so asto obstruct his view. He now fixed his eyes upon me, and I returned hisgaze in such a way as to make him understand that while I was present hewould not be allowed to annoy a lady who evidently wished to have nothingto do with him. Presently he rose and went out. It was evident that he sawthat it was no use for him to continue his reprehensible conduct whileI was present.
"I do not know how the lady discovered that her unauthorized admirer hadgone away, but she did discover it, and she turned toward me for aninstant and gave me what I supposed was a look of gratitude.
"I soon left the church, and I had scarcely reached the street whenI found that the lady had followed me. She looked at me as if she wouldlike to speak, and I politely saluted her. 'I thank you, kind sir,' shesaid, 'for relieving me of the importunities of that young man. For morethan a week he has followed me whenever I go to church, and although hehas never spoken to me, his steady gaze throws me into such an agitationthat I cannot think of my prayers. Do you know who he is, sir?'
"I assured her that I had never seen the youth before that morning, butthat doubtless I could find out all about him. I told her that I wasacquainted with several officers of the law, and that there would be nodifficulty in preventing him from giving her any further annoyance. 'Oh,don't do that!' she said quickly. 'I would not wish to attract attentionto myself in that way. You seem to be a kind and fatherly gentleman. Canyou not speak to the young man himself and tell him who I am, and impressupon his mind how much he is troubling me by his inconsiderate action?'
"As I did not wish to keep her standing in the street, we now walked ontogether, and she briefly gave me the facts of the case.
"Her name was Mme. de Sade: she had been happily married for two years,and never before had she been annoyed by impertinent attentions from anyone; but in some manner unaccountable to her this young student had beenattracted by her, and had made her the object of his attention whenever hehad had the opportunity. Not only had he annoyed her at church, but twicehe had followed her when she had left her house on business, thus showingthat he had been loitering about in the vicinity. She had not yet spokento her husband in the matter, because she was afraid that some quarrelmight arise. But now that the good angels had caused her to meet with sucha kind-hearted old gentleman as myself, she hoped that I might be able torid her of the young man without making any trouble. Surely this student,who seemed to be a respectable person, would not think of such a thing asfighting me."
"Thee must have had a very long white beard at that time," interpolatedMrs. Crowder.
"Yes," said her husband; "I was in one of my periods of venerable age.
"I left Mme. de Sade, promising to do what I could for her, and as shethanked me I could not help wondering why the handsome young student hadmade her the object of his attention. She was a well-shaped, fairlygood-looking woman, with fair skin and large eyes; but she was of a graveand sober cast of countenance, and there was nothing about her whichindicated the least of that piquancy which would be likely to attract theeyes of a youth. She seemed to me to be exactly what she said she was--thequiet and respectable lady of a quiet and respectable household.
"In the course of the afternoon I discovered the name and residence of theyoung man, with whom I had determined to have an interview. His name wasFrancesco Petrarca, an Italian by birth, and now engaged in pursuing hisstudies in this place. I called upon him at his lodgings, and,fortunately, found him at home. As I had expected, he recognized me atonce as the elderly person who had interfered with him at the church; but,as I did not expect, he greeted me politely, without the least show ofresentment.
"I took the seat he offered me, and proceeded to deliver a lecture. I laidbefore him the facts of the case, which I supposed he might not know, andurged him, for his own sake, as well as for that of the lady, to cease hisannoying and, I did not hesitate to state, ungentlemanly pursuit of her.
"He listened to me with respectful attention, and when I had finished heassured me that he knew even more about Mme. de Sade than I did. He wasperfectly aware that she was a religious and highly estimable lady, and hedid not desire to do anything which would give her a moment's sorrow.'Then stop following her,' said I, 'and give up that habit of staring ather in such a way as to make her the object of attention to everybodyaround her.' 'That is asking too much,' answered Master Petrarca. 'Thatlady has made an impression upon my soul which cannot be removed. My willwould have no power to efface her image from my constant thought. If shedoes not wish me to do so, I shall never speak a word to her; but I mustlook upon her. Even when I sleep her face is present in my dreams. She hasaroused within me the spirit of poetry; my soul will sing in praise of herloveliness, and I cannot prevent it. Let me read to you some lines,' hesaid, picking up a piece of manuscript which was lying on the table. 'Itis in Italian, but I will translate it for you.' 'No,' said I; 'read it asit is written; I understand Italian.' Then he read the opening lines of asonnet which was written to Laura in the shadow. He read about six linesand then stopped.
"'It is not finished,' he said, 'and what I have written does notaltogether satisfy me; but you can judge from what you have heard how itis that I think of that lady, and how impossible it is that I can in anyway banish her from my mind, or willingly from my vision.'
"'How did you come to know that her name is Laura?' I asked. 'I found itout from the records of her marriage,' he answered.
"I talked for some time to this young man, but failed to impress him withthe conviction that his conduct was improper and unworthy of him. I foundmeans to inform Mme. de Sade of the result of my conversation withPetrarch,--as we call his name in English,--and she appeared to besatisfied that the young student would soon cease his attentions, althoughI myself saw no reason for such belief.
"I visited the love-lorn young man several times, for I had becomeinterested in him, and endeavored to make him see how foolish it was--evenif he looked upon it in no other light--to direct his ardent affectionsupon a lady who would never care anything about him, and who, even ifunmarried, was not the sort of woman who was adapted to satisfy the lofty affection which his words and his verses showed him to possess.
"'There are so many beautiful women,' said I, 'any one of whom you mightlove, of whom you might sing, and to whom you could indite your verses.She would return your love; she would appreciate your poetry; you wouldmarry her and be happy all your life.'
"He shook his head. 'No, no, no,' he said. 'You don't understand mynature.
"'Marriage would mean the cares of a house--food, fuel, the mending ofclothes, a family--all the hard material conditions of life. No, sir! Mylove soars far above all that. If it were possible that Laura should everbe mine I could not love
her as I do. She is apart from me; she is aboveme. I worship her, and for her I pour out my soul in song. Listen tothis,' and he read me some lines of an unfinished sonnet to Laura in thesunlight. 'She was just coming from a shaded street into an open placeI saw her, and this poem came into my heart.'
"About a week after this I was very much surprised to see Petrarch walkingwith his Laura, who was accompanied by her husband. The three were veryamicably conversing. I joined the party, and was made acquainted withM. de Sade, and after that, from time to time, I met them together,sometimes taking a meal with them in the evening.
"I discovered that Laura's husband looked upon Petrarch very much as anyordinary husband would look upon an artist who wished to paint portraitsof his wife.
"I lived for more than a year in Avignon with these good people, and I amnot ashamed to say that I never ceased my endeavors to persuade Petrarchto give up his strange and abnormal attentions to a woman who would neverbe anything to him but a vision in the distance, and who would prevent himfrom living a true and natural life with one who would be all his own. Butit was of no use; he went on in his own way, and everybody knows theresults.
"Now, just think of it," continued Mr. Crowder. "Suppose I had succeededin my honest efforts to do good; think of what the world would have lost.Suppose I had induced Petrarch not to come back to Avignon after histravels; suppose he had not settled down at Vaucluse, and had not spentthree long years writing sonnets to Laura while she was occupied with thecare of her large family of children; suppose, in a word, that I had beensuccessful in my good work, and that Petrarch had shut his eyes and hisheart to Laura; suppose--"
"I don't choose to suppose anything of the kind," said Mrs. Crowder. "Theetried to do right, but I am glad thee did not deprive the world of any ofPetrarch's poetry. But now I want thee to tell us something about ancientEgypt, and those wonderfully cultivated people who built pyramids andcarved hieroglyphics. Perhaps thee saw them building the Temple of the Sunat Heliopolis."
Mr. Crowder shook his head. "That was before my time," said he.
This was like an electric shock to both of us. If we had been moreconversant with ancient chronology we might have understood, but we werenot so conversant.
"Abraham! Isaac! Moses!" ejaculated Mrs. Crowder. "Thee knew them all, andyet Egypt was civilized before thy time! Does thee mean that?"
"Oh, yes," said Mr. Crowder. "I am of the time of Abraham, and when he wasborn the glories of Egypt were at their height."
"It is difficult to get these things straight in one's mind," said Mrs.Crowder. "As thee has lived so long, it seems a pity that thee was notborn sooner."
"I have often thought that," said her husband; "but we should all try tobe content with what we have. And now let us skip out of those regions ofthe dusky past. I feel in the humor of telling a love-story, and one hasjust come into my mind."
"Thee is so fond of that sort of thing," said his wife, with a smile,"that we will not interfere with thee."
"In the summer of the year 950," said Mr. Crowder, "I was traveling, andhad just come over from France into the province of Piedmont, in northernItaly. I was then in fairly easy circumstances, and was engaged in makingsome botanical researches for a little book which I had planned to writeon a medical subject. I will explain to you later how I came to do a greatdeal of that sort of thing.
"Late upon a warm afternoon I was entering the town of Ivrea, and passinga large stone building, I stopped to examine some leaves on a bush whichgrew by the roadside. While I was doing this, and comparing the shape andsize of the leaves with some drawings I had in a book which I took from mypocket, I heard a voice behind me and apparently above me. Some one wasspeaking to me, and speaking in Latin. I looked around and up, but couldsee no one; but above me, about ten or twelve feet from the ground, therewas a long, narrow slit of a window such as is seen in prisons. AgainI heard the voice, and it said to me distinctly in Latin, 'Are you free togo where you choose?' It was the voice of a woman.
"As I wished to understand the situation better before I answered, I wentover to the other side of the road, where I could get a better view of thewindow. There I saw behind this narrow opening a part of the face of awoman. This stone edifice was evidently a prison. I approached the window,and standing under it, first looking from side to side to see that no onewas coming along the road, I said in Latin, 'I am free to go whereI choose.'
"Then the voice above said, 'Wait!' but it spoke in Italian this time. Youmay be sure I waited, and in a few minutes a little package dropped fromthe window and fell almost at my feet. I stooped and picked it up. It wasa piece of paper, in which was wrapped a bit of mortar to give it weight.
"I opened the paper and read, written in a clear and scholarly hand, thesewords: 'I am a most unfortunate prisoner. I believe you are an honest andtrue man, because I saw you studying plants and reading from a book whichyou carry. If you wish to do more good than you ever did before, come tothis prison again after dark.'
"I looked up and said quickly, in Italian, 'I shall be here.' I was aboutto speak again and ask for some more definite directions, but I heard thesound of voices around a turn in the road, and I thought it better tocontinue my walk into the town.
"That night, as soon as it was really dark, I was again at the prison.I easily found the window, for I had noted that it was so many paces froma corner of the building; but there was no light in the narrow slit, andalthough I waited some time, I heard no voice. I did not dare to call, forthe prisoner might not be alone, and I might do great mischief.
"My eyes were accustomed to the darkness, and it was starlight. I walkedalong the side of the building, examining it carefully, and I soon found alittle door in the wall. As I stood for a few moments before this door, itsuddenly opened, and in front of me stood a big soldier. He wore a wide hatand a little sword, and evidently was not surprised to see me. I thought itwell, however, to speak, and I said: 'Could you give a mouthful of supperto a--'
"He did not allow me to finish my sentence, but putting his hand upon myshoulder, said gruffly: 'Come in. Don't you waste your breath talkingabout supper.' I entered, and the door was closed behind me. I followedthis man through a stone passageway, and he took me to a little stone room.''Wait here!' he said, and he shut me in. I was in pitch-darkness, and hadno idea what was going to happen next. After a little time I saw a streakof light coming through a keyhole; then an inner door opened, and a youngwoman with a lamp came into the room."
"Now does the love-story begin?" asked his wife.
"Not yet," said Mr. Crowder. "The young woman looked at me, and I lookedat her. She was a pretty girl with black eyes. I did not express myopinion of her, but she was not so reticent. 'You look like a good oldman,' she said. 'I think you may be trusted. Come!' Her speech wasprovincial, and she was plainly a servant. I followed her. 'Now for themistress,' said I to myself."
"Thee may have looked like an old man," remarked Mrs. Crowder, "but theedid not think like one."
Her husband laughed. "I mounted some stone steps, and was soon shown intoa room where stood a lady waiting for me. As the light of the lamp carriedby the maid fell upon her face, I thought I had never seen a morebeautiful woman. Her dress, her carriage, and her speech showed her to bea lady of rank. She was very young, scarcely twenty, I thought.
"This lady immediately began to ask me questions. She had perceived thatI was a stranger, and she wanted to know where I came from, what was mybusiness, and as much as I could tell her of myself. 'I knew you were ascholar,' she said, 'because of your book, and I believe in scholars.'Then briefly she told me her story and what she wanted of me.
"She was the young Queen Adelheid, the widow of King Lothar, who hadrecently died, and she was then suffering a series of harsh persecutionsfrom the present king, Berengar II, who in this way was endeavoring toforce her to marry his son Adalbert. She hated this young man, andpositively refused to have anything to do with him.
"This charming and royal young widow was brigh
t, intelligent, and had amind of her own; it was easy to see that. She had formed a scheme for herdeliverance, and she had been waiting to find some one to help her carryit out. Now, she thought I was the man she had been looking for. I waselderly, apparently respectable, and she had to trust somebody.
"This was her scheme. She was well aware that unless some powerful friendinterfered in her behalf she would be obliged to marry Adalbert, or remainin prison for the rest of her life, which would probably be undulyshortened. Therefore she had made up her mind to appeal to the court ofthe Emperor Otto I of Germany, and she wanted me to carry a letter to him.
"I stood silent, earnestly considering this proposition, and as I did soshe gazed at me as if her whole happiness in this world depended upon mydecision. I was not long in making up my mind on the subject. I told herthat I was willing to help her, and would undertake to carry a letter tothe emperor, and I did not doubt, from what I had heard of this nobleprince, that he would come to her deliverance. But I furthermore assuredher that the moment it became known that the emperor was about tointerfere in her behalf, she would be in a position of great danger, andwould probably disappear from human sight before relief could reach her.In that prison she was utterly helpless, and to appeal for help would beto bring down vengeance upon herself. The first thing to do, therefore,was to escape from this prison, and get to some place where, for a time atleast, she could defend herself against Berengar, while waiting for Ottoto take her under his protection.
"She saw the force of my remarks, and we discussed the matter for half anhour, and when I left--being warned by the soldier on guard, who was inlove with the queen's black-eyed maid, that it was time for me todepart--it was arranged that I should return the next night and conferwith the fair Adelheid.
"There were several conferences, and the unfaithful sentinel grumbled agood deal. I cannot speak of all the plans and projects which wediscussed, but at last one of them was carried out. One dark, rainy nightAdelheid changed clothes with her maid, actually deceived the guard--notthe fellow who had admitted me--with a story that she had been sent ingreat haste to get some medicine for her royal mistress, and joined meoutside the prison.
"There we mounted horses I had in readiness, and rode away from Ivrea. Wewere bound for the castle of Canossa, a strong-hold of considerableimportance, where my royal companion believed she could find refuge, atleast for a time. I cannot tell you of all the adventures we had upon thatdifficult journey. We were pursued; we were almost captured; we met withobstacles of various kinds, which sometimes seemed insurmountable; but atlast we saw the walls of Canossa rising before us, and we were safe.
"Adelheid was very grateful for what I had done, and as she had nowlearned to place full reliance upon me, she insisted that I should bethe bearer of a letter from her to the Emperor Otto. I should not travelalone, but be accompanied by a sufficient retinue of soldiers andattendants, and should go as her ambassador.
"The journey was a long and a slow one, but I was rather glad of it, forit gave me an opportunity to ponder over the most ambitious scheme I haveever formed in the whole course of my life."
"Greater than to be autocrat of all the Russias?" exclaimed Mrs. Crowder.
"Yes," he replied. "That opportunity came to me suddenly, and I acceptedit; I did not plan it out and work for it. Besides, it could be only atransitory thing. But what now occupied me was a grand idea, the goodeffects of which, if it should be carried out, might endure for centuries.It was simply this:
"I had become greatly attached to the young queen widow whose cause I hadespoused. I had spent more than a month with her in the castle at Canossa,and there I learned to know her well and to love her. She was, indeed, amost admirable woman and charming in every way. She appeared to place themost implicit trust in me; told me of all her affairs, and asked myopinion about almost everything she proposed to do. In a word, I was inlove with her and wanted to marry her."
"Thee certainly had lofty notions; but don't think I object," said Mrs.Crowder. "It is Chinese and Tartars I don't like."
"It might seem at first sight," he continued, "that I was aiming above me,but the more I reflected the more firmly I believed that it would be verygood for the lady, as well as for me. In the first place, she had noreason to expect a matrimonial union worthy of her. Adalbert she had everyreason to despise, and there was no one else belonging to the riotousaristocratic factions of Italy who could make her happy or give her asuitable position. In all her native land there was not a prince to whomshe would not have to stoop in order to marry him.
"But to me she need not stoop. No man on earth possessed a more noblelineage. I was of the house of Shem, a royal priest after the order ofMelchizedek, and King of Salem! No line of imperial ancestry could claimprecedence of that."
Mrs. Crowder looked with almost reverent awe into the face of her husband."And that is the blood," she said, "which flows in the veins of ourchild?"
"Yes," said he; "that is the blood."
After a slight pause Mr. Crowder continued: "I will now go on with my taleof ambition. A grand career would open before me. I would lay all my plansand hopes before the Emperor Otto, who would naturally be inclined toassist the unfortunate widow; but he would be still more willingto do so when I told him of the future which might await her if my plansshould be carried out. As he was then engaged in working with a nobleambition for the benefit of his own dominions, he would doubtless bewilling to do something for the good of lands beyond his boundaries. Itought not to be difficult to convince him that there could be no wiser, nonobler way of championing the cause of Adelheid than by enabling me toperform the work I had planned.
"All that would be necessary for him to do would be to furnish me with amoderate military force. With this I would march to Canossa; there I wouldespouse Adelheid; then I would proceed to Ivrea, would dethrone the wickedBerengar, would proclaim Adelheid queen in his place, with myself as kingconsort; then, with the assistance and backing of the imperial German,I would no doubt soon be able to maintain my royal pretensions. Onceself-supporting, and relying upon our Italian subjects for our army andfinances, I would boldly re-establish the great kingdom of Lombardy, towhich Charlemagne had put an end nearly two hundred years before. Thenwould begin a grand system of reforms and national progress.
"Pavia should be my capital, but the beneficent influence of my ruleshould move southward. I would make an alliance with the Pope; I wouldcrush and destroy the factions which were shaking the foundations ofchurch and state; I would still further extend my power--I would becomethe imperial ruler of Italy, with Adelheid as my queen!
"Over and over again I worked out and arranged this grand scheme, and whenI reached the court of the Emperor Otto it was all as plain in my mind asif it had been copied on parchment.
"I was very well received by the emperor, and he read with great interestand concern the letter I had brought him. He gave me several privateaudiences, and asked me many questions about the fair young widow who hadmet with so many persecutions and misfortunes. This interest greatlypleased me, but I did not immediately submit to him my plan for the reliefof Adelheid and the great good of the Italian nation. I would wait alittle; I must make him better acquainted with myself. But the imperialOtto did not wait. On the third day after my arrival I was called into hiscabinet and informed that he intended to set out himself at the head of anarmy; that he should relieve the unfortunate lady from her persecutionsand establish her in her rights, whatever they might prove to be. Hisenthusiastic manner in speaking of his intentions assured me that I neednot trouble myself to say one word about my plans.
"Now,--would you believe it?--that intermeddling monarch took out of myhands the whole grand, ambitious scheme I had so carefully devised. Hewent to Canossa; he married Adelheid; he marched upon Berengar; hesubjugated him and made him his vassal; he formed an alliance with PopeJohn XII; he was proclaimed King of the Lombards; he was crowned with hisqueen in St. Peter's; he eventually acquired the southern portion ofItaly.
All this was exactly what I had intended to do."
Mrs. Crowder laughed. "In one way thee was served quite right, for theemade all thy plans without ever asking the beautiful young ex-queenwhether she would have thee or not."
In the tones of this fair lady's voice there were evident indications ofmental relief. "And what did thee do then?" she asked. "I hope thee gotsome reward for all thy faithful exertions."
"I received nothing at the time," Mr. Crowder replied; "and as I did notcare to accompany the emperor into Italy, for probably I would berecognized as the man who had assisted Adelheid to escape from the prisonat Ivrea, and as I was not at all sure that the emperor would rememberthat I needed protection, I thought it well to protect myself, and soI journeyed back into France as well as I could.
"This was not very well; for in purchasing the necessary fine clotheswhich I deemed it proper to wear in the presence of the royal lady whoseinterests I had in charge, in buying horses, and in many incidentalexpenses, I had spent my money. I was too proud to ask Otto to reimburseme, for that would have been nothing but charity on his part; and ofcourse I could not expect the fair Adelheid to think of my possiblefinancial needs. So, away I went, a poor wanderer on foot, and theimperial Otto rode forward to love, honor, and success."
"A dreadful shame!" exclaimed Mrs. Crowder. "It seems as if thee alwayscarried a horn about with thee so that thee might creep out of the littleend of it."
"But my adventures with Adelheid did not end here," he said. "About fiftyyears after this she was queen regent in Italy, during the infancy of hergrandchild Otto III. Being in Rome, and very poor, I determined to go toher, not to seek for charity, but to recall myself to her notice, and toboldly ask to be reimbursed for my expenses when assisting her to escapefrom Ivrea, and in afterward going as her ambassador to Otto I. In otherwords, I wanted to present my bill for enabling her to take her seat uponthe throne of the 'Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation.'
"As a proof that I was the man I assumed to be, I took with me a ring ofno great value, but set with her royal seal, which she had given me whenshe sent me to Otto.
"Well, I will not spend much time on this part of the story. By means ofthe ring I was accorded an interview with the regent. She was then an oldwoman over seventy years of age. When I introduced myself to her and toldher my errand, she became very angry. 'I remember very well,' she said,'the person you speak of, and he is long since dead. He was an old manwhen I took him into my service. You may be his son or some one else whohas heard how he was employed by me. At any rate, you are an impostor.How did you come into possession of this ring? The man to whom I gave ithad no right to keep it. He should have returned it to me when he hadperformed his duties.'
"I tried to convince her that there was no reason to suppose that the manwho had assisted her could not be living at this day. He need only beabout one hundred years old, and that age was not uncommon. I affirmedmost earnestly that the ring had never been out of my possession, and thatI should not have come to her if I had not believed that she wouldremember my services, and be at least willing to make good theconsiderable sums I had expended in her behalf.
"Now she arose in royal wrath. 'How dare you speak to me in that way!' shesaid. 'You are a younger man at this moment than that old stranger yourepresent yourself to be.' Then she called her guards and had me sent toprison as a cheat and an impostor. I remained in prison for some time, butas no definite charge was made against me, I was not brought to trial, andafter a time was released to make room for somebody else. I got away assoon as I could, and thus ended my most ambitious dream."