Noémi
Page 13
CHAPTER XIII.
THE END OF L'EGLISE GUILLEM.
THE exultation of the peasants at having taken "the Church of Guillem"would have resulted in a sack and insubordination but for two causes:one, that the spoil of the robbers had not been recovered; and theother, the great firmness of Jean del' Peyra and his father.
The pillaged goods must be found. None had much hesitation in sayingwhere they were. Everything worth preserving had been stowed away in therock-hewn chamber above the castle, in the face of the cliff, and thiswas now very difficult of access.
The roof of the castle from which it was reached was broken in, portionshad been consumed, other portions were so charred as to be dangerous.
The peasants had begun to throw down the walls, to demolish everyportion of the structure that was artificial, but Jean stayed them.
"If you do this," said he, "how shall we reach the treasury above?"
The day had broken but the sun had not yet risen. The slope below theChurch and the Church itself presented a strange spectacle.
The incline was strewn with smouldering fragments of wood, of faggots,the bind of which had been burst by the flames, and had released sticksthat had not been ignited, of rafters from the castle blackened by thefire, of long streams of pitch that had fallen and run and had ceased toflame. In the midst of the road by the river-brim stood a cask on itsbottom, emitting volumes of black smoke. Amid the wreckage lay thecorpses of the men who had been made to leap to their death. Whendaylight came, it was perceived that one alone had not died instantly.He had been seen to stir an arm and raise his head, and a peasant hadrun down and dispatched him.
The face of the cliff, wherever reached by the flames, had becomedecomposed. Chalk will not endure the touch of fire, and the white,scaly surface had flaked off and exposed yellow patches like sandstone.Scales, moreover, were continually falling from the blistered scar.
A portion of the floor of the main chamber of the castle that projectedbeyond the face of the cliff remained unconsumed, and sustained thebeams of the wall that formed the screen in front. Many of the stonesthat had been inserted between the rafters had fallen out; nevertheless,sufficient remained to make it possible for an agile man to reach thecharred and ruinous roof.
"Let some go to the cliff-edge overhead," said Jean, "and tie the end ofa rope to a tree, and let it down in front of the chamber in the rock.Then I can, I believe, climb to it, and see! I will thrust this piece oftorn red silk through the roof at the end of a pike, as a token where tolower the cord."
An hour elapsed before the rope end with a heavy stone attached to itcame down through the shattered roof. This was now left hanging, andJean del' Peyra began to climb. He bade the men undo the stone as soonas he was aloft, and in its place attach a large basket to the cord,which he would draw up and fill with whatever he found in the chamber.Knowing, however, how little the peasants could be trusted, he requiredhis father to keep guard, and take possession of what he lowered, thewhole to be retained undisturbed till each could claim his own goods,and of those unclaimed a distribution would be made later among such ashad assisted in taking the stronghold.
Nimbly as a cat Jean ascended among the beams. He had to use extremecaution, as some of them were smoking, and he had to beware of puttinghis hand on fire that was unobservable by daylight, and of resting hisfoot on cross pieces that had been reduced to charcoal. The stonesshaken by him as he mounted, and loosely compacted among half-burntbeams, and themselves split and powdered with heat, came down involleys; but as this portion of the castle overhung the precipice fromseven to ten feet, they did not jeopardise those who were in thecavernous part of the chamber.
Jean rapidly swung himself to the rafters of the roof, and, aftertesting which would bear his weight, crept along one till he touched thecord. Then, by this aid, he was able to creep up the face of the rock,that, however, came down on him in dust where crumbled by the heat; andin a couple of minutes he was in the cave.
A rapid glance round assured him that it was untenanted, and that itcontained all the booty that had been accumulated by the _routiers_ inmany excursions.
In lockers cut in the native rock, and furnished with wooden shelves,were gold chalices and reliquaries of Limoges enamel, silver-tippeddrinking-horns, and a richly bound volume of poetry, the interminablemetrical romance of Guerin de Montglane. In chests were silks andvelvets; in boxes the jewellery of ladies. Besides these costly articleswere many of inferior value, garments, boots, gloves, caps, of everysort and quality. Of money there was not much, save one bag thatcontained a hundred livres--it was the ransom of the seven men, theplunder of the Jew Levi.
As soon as Jean had passed everything down to the men below by means ofhis basket, that travelled frequently up and down, he took hold of therope and easily swung himself to the rafters, and let himself down intothe chamber of the castle. Here his father had disposed of the booty inparcels, and had arranged that all was to be carried down the hill anddeposited in the Church of Ste. Soure, where division would be made inthree days' time. Then every claimant should be satisfied. Those sacredvessels which had come from churches would be restored to the churches,and notice would be issued to all sufferers in the country round to comeand retake whatsoever they could show was legitimately their own.
"And now, father," said Jean, "it seems to me that we are but at thebeginning of our troubles. We have taken this outpost and destroyed ahandful of our oppressors. But behind this stands Domme, and in it is agarrison. The Captain has slipped through our fingers. He will neverconsent to abide without an attempt to recover what is lost and torevenge his humiliation. It is my advice that we utterly destroy thiscastle, so that it can never be occupied again. Then, that we shouldsend out spies to observe the movements of the enemy, and report if hebe on his way to make reprisals. Lastly, that we hold ourselves inreadiness to encounter him when he sets forth. Let us choose our ownground, and that is half-way to success."
"You are right, Jean," said the old man. "We will take council at noonand prepare. Now, lads! down with the walls, rip up the floors, downwith everything! Remember this--a first advantage is a sure prelude to afinal disaster unless followed up. Do you know why we have taken anddestroyed this 'Church'? Because the ruffians had surprised us and madeeasy spoil at Ste. Soure. They sat down here to eat and drink and laydown to sleep in full confidence that we were overawed. Now we havesurprised them. Take care lest what chanced to them chance also to us.At noon meet in the Ste. Soure church. Now to work. Down with the restof the twigs of this vultures' nest!"
With a cheer the men set to work to demolish the castle that had so longmenaced the country. There were many willing hands employed, and thework was already half done; it needed little more than some shaking tothrow the entire structure to pieces. Only here and there was theresolid wall; that here and there was where there was solid shelf on whichto build. Elsewhere all was wooden framework filled with stones.
Thus was L'Eglise Guillem destroyed. At the same time some great thingwas won. The people, spasmodically, had exerted its power, and hadacquired consciousness of its strength; it held up for a moment the headthat had been for so many centuries bowed under the feet of its tyrants.It had looked military power in the face, and had not winced.