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

  CHAPTER IX.

  THE RESCUE.

  The prisoners in the _ergastula_ had drawn as close as possible to theiron railing. Little Odille, who had fallen asleep on the knees of thebishopess, awoke with a start, saying:

  "Ronan, are they coming to take us to the place of execution? I am readyfor everything."

  "No, little Odille! it is barely midnight; I know not what may behappening at the burg; all the Franks who were watching us left theirposts before our prison and followed one of their men who came afterthem; all ran towards the burg brandishing their arms."

  "Ronan, my brother, listen in the direction of the seigniorialmansion--it seems to me I hear an odd noise proceeding from thatdirection."

  "I hear tumultuous cries--the clash of arms."

  "Ronan, the Vagres must have come to our deliverance, the burg is onfire!"

  "The fire spreads--look--look--it is as clear as day in front of theprison."

  "A man is running this way--why, it is Karadeucq, our father!"

  "Loysik! Ronan! Oh! my sons."

  "You here, father?"

  "Ronan, Loysik, all of you within, join me to break down the ironrailing."

  "Alas! we cannot budge--our feet are all sore--we have been put to thetorture!"

  "To see my two sons and yet not to be able to save them--malediction!This way, Master of the Hounds! my brave fellow, this way--let us freemy sons!"

  "My beautiful bishopess, are you there? Come, give me a kiss across therailing!--Your lips have pressed mine. I now feel stronger. We two,Karadeucq, will have to tear down this railing. I have set fire to thefour corners of the burg--stables, barns, lofts, all is aflame. Thecount's main building that is now full of Franks, who are mutuallyslaying one another, and which is built of frame, has also taken fire;it is beginning to burn like a faggot stuck into a furnace."

  "Woe is us! it is impossible to break down the railing!"

  "Free us, father!"

  "Oh, my sons, I shall die of rage before I fall under the axe of theFranks, if I cannot set you free."

  "Come, old Karadeucq, one more effort; the Franks who guarded the_ergastula_ are now thinking of nothing else but to extinguish the fire;let us dig a hole under the railing with our poniards, with our nails."

  "The Franks! There they are--they are coming back to the _ergastula_;they are running this way."

  "I can see their weapons glistening by the light of the conflagration."

  "Father, there is no hope left! You are lost! Blood and death, lost! Andhere we are, sore and incapable to defend you!"

  About a score of men at arms and several leudes ran with their arms inthe direction of the _ergastula_; one of them was heard to say: "A partof these dogs of slaves are profiting by the fire in order to revolt; Iheard them say that they were going to set the chief of the Vagres andthe rest of the prisoners free. Quick, quick, let us put them all todeath--we shall afterwards see to the slaves. Who has the key to therailing?"

  At the very moment when Sigefrid was handing the key to the Frankishwarrior his eyes fell upon Karadeucq.

  "What are you doing there, old vagabond?"

  "Noble youth, frightened by the fire, my bear has escaped; I am runningafter him--he has crouched down yonder not far from the railing. Alas,what a misfortune this fire is!"

  "Sigefrid, I have unlocked the railing," said one of the Franks; "shallwe begin with the men or the women?"

  "I shall begin with the men!" cried Karadeucq, planting his dagger inthe breast of Sigefrid.

  "I also!" cried the Master of the Hounds, stabbing another one of theFranks.

  "Vagrery! Vagrery! To us, all brave slaves! Death to the Franks! Warupon the seigneurs! Liberty to the slaves! Long live all Gaul!"

  "The Vagres!" cried the thunder-struck Franks, dumbfounded at the deathof the two leudes. "The Vagres! These demons seem to rise fromunderground and from the depth of hell!"

  "This way!" cried Ronan in a thundering voice. "This way, my Vagres!Kill the Franks!"

  The cry was addressed to the Vagres, whom Ronan saw pouring in.Attracted by the light of the conflagration, the signal that was agreedupon, the good, brave Vagres had crossed the fosse; but how? Was notthat fosse filled with such deep slime that a man would be swallowed upin it if he attempted to cross it? Certainly, but Ronan's Vagres had,since nightfall, been prowling like wolves around a sheep fold, andcarefully sounded the fosse; after which the clever lads hewed down withtheir axes two large ash trees that stood straight as arrows nearby,stripped off the flexible branches and with them bound the trunksclosely together. The long and light improvised bridge was thrown acrossthe fosse, and nimble as cats they crept one after another over the twotrunks and reached the opposite side. During the aerial perilouspassage two of the Vagres fell off and immediately disappeared in thebottom of the fosse; they were Wolve's-Tooth and Symphorien, therhetorician--may their names live and be blessed in Vagrery! Theircompanions had no sooner arrived on the other side of the fosse, thanthey met, running towards the _ergastula_ to liberate the prisoners,about thirty revolted slaves armed with clubs, scythes and forks. Afterthe warriors of Chram and those of Neroweg had long fought in the darkin the banquet hall, they suddenly dropped their quarrel, and leavingthe dead and wounded on the field of battle, gave no thought but to thefire--the men of the count to extinguish it, the men of Chram to savethe horses and baggage of their master and take them out of the burningstable. The Franks who had hastened to the _ergastula_ in order to putthe prisoners to death were only a score at the most; they weresurrounded and cut to pieces by Ronan's Vagres and by the slaves, afteroffering a desperate resistance. Not one of these Franks escaped; no,not one! Two of the slaves took Ronan upon their shoulders, two othersraised Loysik on theirs, and at the request of his bishopess the Masterof the Hounds took up little Odille in his vigorous arms as one mightraise a child from its cradle, the young girl being too weak to walk.Old Karadeucq followed his two sons.

  The struggle that took place in front of the _ergastula_ and which wascrowned with triumph for the Vagres consumed less time than it takes todescribe it; but there was still much to be done in order to leave thefortified enclosure of the burg. It was necessary to reach the bridge,the only practicable issue, by reason of Ronan, Loysik and Odille, allof whom were unable to walk. It was necessary in order to reach thebridge to follow the inside wall of the embankment under the trees thatlined one side of the parade ground; and the parade ground itself,wholly exposed and in plain view of the burning buildings had then to becrossed. Wise and prudent in counsel, old Karadeucq made the troop haltwhere it was screened by the trees from the eyes of the enemy, and saidto them:

  "To attempt to leave the burg in a body would be to invite being slainto the last man. The moment we are seen, some of the Franks in theirfury will stop trying to extinguish the fire and will fall upon us.There is only one chance of escape. The moment we reach the open ground,which you must traverse, let us separate and mix up boldly among thefrightened Franks, who are seeking to save all they can from the flames.Let us throw ourselves in among the frightened crowd and seem to beengaged in some work of salvage, going, coming, running hither andthither. We shall thus be able to clear the dangerous passage and shallseparately reach the bridge--our general _rendezvous_."

  "But, father, carried as we are by these good slaves, how could Loysikand I avoid being detected?"

  "That matters not; the slaves will be thought to be transporting somewounded men taken from the ruins; conceal your faces somehow and moan asloud as you can. As to the Master of the Hounds, who has prudentlystripped himself of his bear skin, he can boldly run through the crowdcarrying the little slave in his arms as if he had saved some young girlfrom the flames in the women's apartment. The bishopess can wrap herselfup in the coat of the Master of the Hounds; she will have no difficultyin safely crossing the crowd in the midst of the general tumult."

  The wise advice of the father of Loysik and Ronan was carried outsuccessfully from point to point.

/>   By the faith of a Vagre, beautiful was the spectacle of the vastFrankish burg enveloped in and consumed by the flames! At every turnwere heard roofs tumbling in with a crash and throwing upward toward thestarry vault of heaven large jets of flame and sparks of fire. Thenorthern wind, blowing fresh and strong, drove towards the south largesheets of flame that surged, like the waves of an angry sea, over thecrumbling buildings below. At the moment when, carried on the shouldersof the two slaves, Ronan passed before the seigniorial mansion, whichwas entirely built of frame and shingled with oaken laths, he saw theflaming roof, which had for some little time been supported by largecharred beams, fall in with the rattle of thunder and dash itselfagainst the foundation of volcanic rocks. Nothing remained standing ofthe count's once proud residence but a few huge beams, whose blackenedand smoking sides were brought out into strong relief by the curtain offire before which they seemed to tremble. The casques and the cuirassesof the leudes of Chram were seen glistening in the light of theconflagration; they were running hither and thither in a joint effortwith the men of Neroweg to save the horses and mules from the burningstables.

  What an infernal tumult, and how sweet to the ear of a Gaul! By thebones of our fathers the music and the sight were magnificent! Theneighing of horses, the bellowing of cattle, the imprecations of theFranks, the cries of the wounded leudes whom the flaming ruins burned,or rolled down upon and crushed! And what a beautiful illuminationlighted the tableau--a ruddy flamboyant light!

  The two sons of old Karadeucq whom the slaves were carrying on theirbacks, as well as little Odille, in the arms of the Master of theHounds, finally crossed the bridge over the fosse, closely preceded andfollowed by all the Vagres and the revolted slaves who joined them. Theyhad all successfully threaded their way through the crowds of scurryingFranks around the burning buildings. After the troop of Karadeucq wassafely on the other side a vigorous shove threw the keeper off thebridge down into the fosse, in the bottom of which he disappeared.

  "Are we all outside of the enclosure of the burg?" asked old Karadeucq.

  "Yes, all--all!"

  "Now let us cut down the bridge; I have broken down the chains that holdit on the other side; if the Franks take it into their heads to pursueus we shall have a long lead over them. Once we reach the forest, then,good bye Franks! Long live the Vagrery and old Gaul! Oh, my sons, youare now free from danger! Ronan, Loysik, one more embrace, my sons!"

  "By the sacred joy of this father and his two sons, beautiful bishopess,you are my wife. I shall not leave you unto death!"

  "Loysik, you said to me this very night in the prison, 'Fulvia, if youwere free to-day and met the Master of the Hounds, also free, what wouldyou answer if he asked you to be his wife?' Being now free," added thebishopess turning towards the Vagre, "I shall be your devoted wife and atrue mother if God should grant us children."

  "And you, little Odille, you have neither father nor mother left, willyou have Ronan for husband, if you survive your wounds?"

  "Ronan, even if I were dead, the hope of being your wife would raise mefrom my grave!"