The Poniard's Hilt; Or, Karadeucq and Ronan. A Tale of Bagauders and Vagres

  CHAPTER VI.

  THE BEAR OF MONT-DORE.

  The sun is sinking behind the western mountain range. Night isapproaching. A man, grey of hair and beard and of about fifty-eight tosixty years of age, but still as alert and vigorous as at the springtideof life, clad in a Gallic blouse, a wallet over his shoulder, a fur capon his head, and travel-stained shoes, issues from the forest. He is onthe road that leads to the burg of Count Neroweg. The appearance of thegrey-bearded man suggests a mountebank, one of the class that travelsfrom city to city and village to village exhibiting trained animals. Onhis back he carries a cage with a monkey and, held to a long iron chain,he leads a large-sized bear, that, however, seems to be a peacefultraveling companion. He follows his master with as much docility as adog. The mountebank stops for a moment at an elevated part of themountainous road from where the plain and the hill on which the burg isbuilt can be seen. Two slaves with shaven heads, and bending under theweight of a heavy load which they carry suspended from an oar the endsof which rest on their shoulders, appear in view. They are proceedingalong a path, which, a few paces ahead of him, runs into the road onwhich the mountebank is walking. He hastens his steps in order to fallin with the slaves, but these, frightened at the sight of the bearwabbling behind his master, suddenly stop short.

  "Friends, you need not fear; my bear is not wicked; he is quite tame."

  He thereupon called to his bear as he pulled in the animal's chain, andsaid:

  "Come to me, Mont-Dore!"

  The bear promptly obeyed the call, drew near and modestly sat down onhis haunches; he then raised his head submissively up to his master,who, as he stood before the animal, half hid him from the slaves.Feeling reassured, the latter resumed their way and, out of prudence,walked a few paces ahead of the mountebank at what they considered asafe distance from the bear.

  "Friends, what large residence is that which I see yonder, girt by afosse?"

  "It is the burg of our master, Count Neroweg."

  "Is he at the burg to-day?"

  "He is in royal company."

  "In royal company?"

  "Chram, the son of the King of the Franks, arrived there this morningwith his bodyguard; we come from the pond where we caught this mess offish for to-night's supper."

  "As true as my beard is grey that is a good windfall for a poor man likeme. I shall be able to amuse the noble seigneurs exhibiting my bear andmonkey to them. Do you believe, my children, that I shall be allowedadmission to the burg?"

  "Oh, we do not know. Strangers are not usually allowed to cross thefosse of the burg, without special permission from the seigneur count.The draw-bridge is guarded by day, and raised at night.

  "Nevertheless, last winter, I know, another exhibitor of trained animalsvisited the burg, and the seigneur count was greatly entertained withtheir performances. He may not refuse to tender a similar entertainmentto his royal guest."

  "Perhaps not. If he does, then the evening's entertainment will help towhile away the time of the seigneurs until to-morrow morning'sspectacle."

  "What spectacle is that to be, my friends?"

  "The four people who were sentenced to-day will be executed--Ronan theVagre, the hermit-laborer, a renegade monk who joined the Vagrery; alittle female slave, their accomplice; and the bishopess, an accursedwitch; they say she once was the wife of our blessed bishop Cautin."

  "Oh, have they been capturing Vagres in this region, my friends? And sothey were all sentenced to-day?"

  "The _mahl_ assembled at noon. The King's son and our holy bishop werepresent. Ronan the Vagre and the hermit-laborer were first put to thetorture."

  "Then they must have denied that they had run the Vagrery, did they?"

  "No. Ronan, the accursed bandit, on the contrary, boasted that he was aVagre."

  "Why, then, the torture?"

  "That is just what the son of the King said. He thought that the torturehad no purpose with Ronan. He opposed it strongly."

  "But our holy bishop," explained the other slave, "declared that a truthextracted by torture was doubly certain, it being in the nature of ajudgment of God. Thereupon no one raised any further objection, andmatters took their course."

  "At the bishop's orders," resumed the first slave, "the feet of theVagre and of the hermit-laborer were dipped into boiling oil--theyconfessed a second time."

  "And thereupon they were both carried back to the _ergastula_, becausethey could not walk."

  "And to-morrow they will be taken out for execution. It is said that themanner of their death will be frightful--but it never could be frightfulenough to atone for the crimes that Ronan the Vagre--"

  "And what crimes did he commit, my friends?"

  "Did not the sacrilegious wretch, at the head of his band, pillage andburn down the episcopal villa of our holy bishop?"

  "How, my friends, do you mean to say that Ronan the Vagre, the impiouswretch, dared to commit such a crime? And what about the women, werethey also put to the torture?"

  "The little slave is still near death's door of a wound that sheinflicted upon herself in an attempt to commit suicide. She made theattempt in a fit of despair when she saw that the Vagres were cut topieces."

  "As to the witch of a bishopess, they were preparing to apply thetorture to her, when our holy bishop interposed, saying: 'We must becareful not to weaken the witch; she may succumb to the pain; it isbetter that she remain as strong as possible, in order that she escapenot one of the torments of to-morrow's execution.'"

  "Your bishop is wise, my friends. And where do the bandits await death?"

  "In the underground prison of the burg."

  "I hope that there is no chance of the accursed people escaping!"

  "As to Ronan the Vagre and the hermit-laborer, even if they were free,they could not walk a step, their feet are all blistered."

  "Oh, I forgot that, my friends."

  "Besides, the _ergastula_ is made of bricks and Roman cement. The wallsare as hard as rocks. Then, the cave is closed with a row of iron bars,each as thick as my arm, and it is always guarded by armed sentries."

  "Thank God, it is not possible, my friends, for the accursed criminalsto escape execution--they deserve all that they will get! I see that youare not of the wicked slaves, unfortunately but too numerous, whosympathize with the Vagres."

  "The Vagres are demons. We would like to see them executed to the lastone. They are implacable enemies of the Franks and the holy bishops!"

  "I see from your speech that you have a kind master."

  "He is all the better master, his clerk told us, for making us suffer agood deal. Sufferings here on earth insure to us paradise after death.So we are resigned!"

  "You can not escape salvation, my good friends, being animated with suchsentiments. I hope that all your companions at the burg are like you,good Christians, resigned to their lot."

  "There are impious and unbelieving people everywhere. Many of the slavesat the burg would gladly run the Vagrery if the opportunity were topresent itself. Some of them do not even respect our holy bishops, sneerat the priests, hate our seigneurs, the Franks, and object to beingslaves. But we always denounce them to the clerk of our count."

  "You are truly good Christian companions! But are there many such wickedslaves at the burg?"

  "Oh, no! There may be fifteen or twenty of them among the hundred thatwe are in the domestic service, and I suppose there may be two or threehundred of them among the four thousand and more colonists and fieldslaves whom the count owns on his domains."

  "My good friends, do you know it seems to me that it will bring me goodluck to spend a few hours in a house peopled with such good slaves asyou are? I wish you would announce me to the count's steward. If thenoble seigneur is willing to amuse himself with the capers of my bear,he will issue orders to admit me."

  "We shall announce you. The steward will decide.":

  And the two slaves, who, streaming with sweat, had laid down for amoment the net in which they carried a mess of large
fish, freshly takenfrom the pond, and some of which were still seen wriggling, through themeshes, again lifted up their heavy burden and resumed their way to theburg.

  As soon as the two slaves disappeared from sight, the bear raisedhimself on his legs, pulled off his head, dashed it on the road, andcried:

  "Blood and massacre! They are to burn my beautiful bishopess to-morrow!And Ronan, our brave Ronan, he also is to be executed! Shall we allowthat, Karadeucq?"

  "I shall avenge my sons--or shall die beside them! O Loysik! O, Ronan!Tortured! Tortured! And executed to-morrow!"

  "As true as the remembrance of the bishopess sets my heart aflame, thetorture of to-day, the executions of to-morrow, the arrival of thatChram with his armed men--all these events upset our plans. Instead ofbeing taken to Clermont for trial, Ronan and the bishopess are to beexecuted at the burg to-morrow morning--instead of being healed of theirwounds and able to use their legs, Ronan and his brother are renderedhelpless. The leudes of Chram, together with those of the count and thefoot soldiers, constitute a garrison of more than three hundred armedmen; they occupy the burg--and who is there to set free Ronan andLoysik, neither of whom can walk, the little dying slave, and mybeautiful bishopess. Only you and I! Karadeucq, if I can see how we areto come out of this fix, I shall be willing to become a bear intruth--not a trick bear, as now I am, but a real bear! Oh, if anyone hadsaid to me, when, disguised like so many others in some animal form, Icelebrated the saturnalia of January nights--if anyone had said to me:'My gay lad, you will celebrate the calends of winter in midsummer,' Iwould have answered: 'Go to, good man, it will be warm, then!' And Iwould have spoken the truth. I would be cooler in an oven than in thishide! Rage and heat make one swelter. You are silent, my old Vagre--whatare you thinking about?"

  "About my children. What is to be done--what is to be done?"

  "I am better in action than in council, especially at this moment, whenrage is making me crazy. Poor, brave woman! Burned to-morrow! Oh, howcame I to be separated from her at the fastness of Allange during thecombat engaged in by our archers from the branches of the oak treesagainst the soldiers of the count! Poor, poor woman! I thought she waskilled! Our rout was complete, it was impossible for me to assure myselfconcerning the fate of my sweetheart! Too happy to be able to escape themassacre with a few others of our band, and to dive into the thickest ofthe woods, after giving ourselves one of our haunts, the rocks on thepeak of Mont-Dore, for _rendezvous_--I fled. Finally, after the lapse ofa few days, about a dozen of our band met at the appointed place; it wasthere that we met you also in the company of two runaway slaves--you,our old Vagre, whom we had given up for lost over two years ago. It wasfrom you that we learned of the fate of your two sons, the little slaveand the bishopess. Strange, what sentiments I experience for that bravewoman! The memory of her never leaves me. My heart breaks with grief atthe knowledge that she is in the hands of the count and the bishop. Inall Vagrery there is no Vagre more Vagre than myself for a life ofadventures; nevertheless, were some unforeseen accident to cast thebishopess and myself in some solitary corner of the earth, I believe Iwould live there quietly with her ten, twenty, a hundred years! Yousurely take me for a fool, old Karadeucq, or better yet for a ninny,seeing that I weep and act stupidly! But, the devil take grief! The hourcalls for action!"

  "O, my sons! my sons!"

  "If my skin would save them and the bishopess--I do not mean thisbear-skin, but my own!--by the faith of a Vagre, I would sacrifice it!You know that when you laid your plan before us, and that a ready fellowwas needed to impersonate a bear, I promptly offered myself. I told youthen how, at Beziers, I was an all the more inveterate disguiser at thecalends because the priests forbade them; and that at those saturnalia Iespecially impersonated bears, and so well as to be taken for one. I wasthereupon unanimously chosen bear in Vagrery, and--But I suppose youthink that I am talking too much. It is my only refuge! It diverts me!If I remain silent and think, then my heart breaks and I am useless."

  "Loysik! Ronan! executed to-morrow! No--no--heaven and earth!"

  "Whatever may have to be done in order to save your sons, the bishopessand little Odille, I shall follow you to the end. When it was decidedthat you were to be the mountebank and I the bear, we had to find agood-sized bear, and kind enough to let us have his head, jacket andhose. I took my axe and my knife, and climbed up Mont Dore. Good hunter,good hunt. I almost immediately ran across a friend of my size. Probablytaking me for his comrade, he ran at me, ready to hug me to his heart,with his arms--and also his jaws, wide open. Anxious not to injure hiscoat with too many blows of my axe, I stabbed him adroitly in the heart,after which I carefully undressed my accommodating friend. His jacketand hose seemed, by the faith of a Vagre! cut on purpose for me. Ijoined you at our haunt, and down we came to the plain, determined to doanything in order to save your two sons, the little slave and mybishopess. Let us resume, I am growing more collected--what shall we do?Our plan was to enter the city of Clermont on the night before theexecution; we were certain that we could cause a portion of the slavesto revolt; the people would join and the Vagres were to be ready. Thatproject must now be given up, also the idea of lying in ambush on theroad and attacking the escort that was to take the prisoners toClermont. Our purpose in entering the burg in our disguise was only togather information concerning the time of their departure and theprobable route that they would take, while ten of our companions were towait hidden in the skirts of the forest. Our ten friends are ready,either to proceed with us to Clermont, or to join us on the road, oreven to approach the fosse of the burg to-night. Shall we give our goodVagres the signal that we agreed upon? To-day's events, to-morrow'sexecutions and the large number of troops gathered in the burg, thwartall our plans. What is to be done? You have been thinking long, oldVagre--have you decided upon a plan?"

  "Yes--come, my brave Master of the Hounds!"

  "To the burg? But it is still daylight."

  "It will be dark before we arrive."

  "What is your plan?"

  "I shall tell you on the way. Time presses. Come, come, be quick!"

  "Forward, march! Oh, I forgot--the jacket!"

  "What jacket?"

  "The one that I must put on for buffoonery--besides it is a prudentmeasure; the turned-down hood will conceal whatever defect there may beat the jointure of the fur between my neck and my head. The hood willalso partially cover my bear face--mayhap the Franks have sharper eyesthan those two blockheads of slaves. Let us first complete thedisguise."

  While the lover of the bishopess spoke, Karadeucq pulled a rolled-upjacket out of his wallet; the false bear put it on; it reached back anddown to his hind legs, and being pulled well over his head, left onlyhis nozzle exposed to view, while the wide sleeves almost reached downto his clawy paws. The black fur of the belly and thighs remained whollyuncovered. Nothing could be imagined more grotesque than the bear in hiscostume. By the faith of a Vagre! the animal could not choose butfurnish subject for laughter to the guests of Neroweg, especially afterthe copious libations of their supper.

  "Now, Karadeucq, I shall conceal my poniard in one of the folds of thejacket--by the way, it is the very Saxon knife that I picked up as Ifled from the defile of Allange. I picked it up on the field of battle.You can see on the hilt of the arm the two Gallic words--'_Friendship_,''_Community_'--graven in the iron. 'Friendship'--that is a good omen.Friendship, as well as Love, leads me to the burg. Blood and massacre!I shall free at one blow both my friend and my sweetheart!"

  "Come, come! O, Ronan! O, Loysik! I shall save you both--or we shall dietogether! Come, forward, my brave companion."