Noémi

by S. Baring-Gould

  CHAPTER XXIII.

  IN THE HAIL.

  LE GROS GUILLEM was jubilant. He kept his secret. Not to one of hismen--not even to his lieutenant did he confide his purpose of surprisingthe castle and town of La Roque Gageac, for he well knew that no secretis safe when once it has slipped over the lips.

  He was in excellent spirits, in buoyant, boisterous humour. He laughedand joked with his men, and Guillem was too grim a man to be often givento jest. He bade his men look to their arms, and he detailed those whowere to follow him on an expedition. Whither he was going he did notsay--but with him that was usual--he let no breath of rumour escape asto his destination whenever he made a raid, and on this account he wasalmost always successful; he came down like a bolt out of the sky onsome spot, totally unprepared to resist him, and none could betray hisscheme, and prepare those fallen upon, for none knew his destinationtill he started.

  "Heliot!" called Guillem, suddenly arresting himself as he was drawing along sword from the scabbard to examine if it were free of rust. "Didyou observe that old man who was here last evening?"

  "I saw him come in, Captain."

  "But--there is something in his face familiar to me--I fancy I have seenhim before--and yet--I am not sure."

  "He said that he came from Gageac and had relatives in this town."

  "That may be it. To be sure--he told me, a married daughter--I have seenhim here at some fair, may be. It will not out of my head, I have seenhim--and cannot say where. He looks like a broken priest."

  "As he walked he was bowed, and I could not see his face, Captain,"answered Heliot.

  "It matters not. Is there any moon to-night, Heliot?"

  "There is a new moon, Captain; you can see her in the sky, she does notset till early morning, just before daybreak. But we shall see little ofher tonight; there are thick clouds coming up against the wind--piled upas though full of thunder."

  "So much the better. Heliot, I will tell you now what is to be done--wemust cross the Dordogne." More than that he would not say.

  The city of Sarlat lies at a distance of several miles from the river,and is accessible by two valleys, one of which opens on to the Dordogneunder the rock of Vitrac, a sheer limestone cliff, the top of which isoccupied by a village and castle, the foot bathed by the river, and thedefile up which the road runs commanded not only by the castle ofVitrac, but by another, a tower on the further side, and these two weredesigned to completely bar the way to the town. The other way is moretortuous, and was also defended both by the great castle and rock ofBeynac and also by a low hill in the midst of the open valley that waslikewise fortified. The situation may be best understood if we imagine agreat triangular plateau with Sarlat at the apex and the Dordogneflowing at the base; midway on that base stands La Roque.

  With the river thus watched and every road guarded jealously, it wasimportant for Le Gros Guillem to cross in the dark, unperceived, lest awarning should be sent to La Roque, and the garrison be set on the alertso that the castellan would be unable to fulfil his engagement.

  As the evening closed in the clouds that had been noticed by Heliotcovered the whole heavens. There was no wind below; at the same time onemust have been blowing aloft, for the vapours parted and disclosed themoon and then drifted over its face again, and through them it peereddimly, like an eye with cataract over it, or else became totallyobscured.

  The men detailed for the expedition were assembled in the courtyard ofthe castle. They were not mounted--horses were unnecessary andinconvenient. The tramp might be heard and cause alarm. The _routiers_remained in their ranks motionless till the word was given, and thensilently they defiled out of the castle, through the street of Domme,and the town portcullis was raised to allow them to pass forth.

  Le Gros Guillem had boats on the river at his command. And the passageof the Dordogne was effected in the darkness successfully withoutattention being attracted on the opposite bank. The companions issuedfrom the boats and drew up on the bank till the Captain gave the commandto march, when they proceeded down the right bank of the river withoutspeaking and without making any noise. Owing to the rainfall the way wasmuddy and the mud prevented their tramp from being audible. Shortlybefore the hour named by the castellan the entire party was near theSarlat gate, concealed behind vineyard walls and bushes.

  The town that was menaced seemed to be buried in slumber and security.The only light discernible was the faint glow through the church windowof S. Donat, where the sanctuary lamp burned. There was not even a lightin the castle--which in the general darkness was indiscernible--only themighty cliff into which it was built stood high overhead like a giganticwave ready to fall and bury everything beneath it. The Captain pickedout the men he had fixed on to accompany him and gave his instructionsto the others in a whisper. As soon as the alarm-bell sounded in thecastle they were to draw rapidly to the gate. Their comrades withinwould open, "and," said Guillem, "the town is yours--to do as you pleasetherein." Then he advanced cautiously with his five men to the posternat the side and not to the main gate. This postern was small, it wouldadmit but one man at a time.

  On reaching it Guillem scratched with the point of his sword, and thesignal was answered at once--cautiously the door was unbarred andunlocked and the castellan appeared in it. The clouds had momentarilyparted and the new moon gleamed forth and was reflected by the river.Guillem could perceive that this was the same man who had visited him atDomme.

  "The word?"

  "Le Peuch."

  "It is well, Le Peuch. How many?" he asked under his breath.

  "Myself and five," answered Guillem.

  "It is well--let two men remain here. The others follow me." He led theway up a steep stair of stone steps, past houses built into the rock,past the little church, one wall of which was the rock itself, and theroadway lay almost level with the eave. There was a clock in the tower,it throbbed like the pulse of a living being--the pulse of the wholetown, but it beat evenly, as if the town was without fear.

  The road lay beneath some houses; for, in order to penetrate from oneportion of the town to another, to reach from one ledge of rock with thebuildings occupying it where every foot of ground was precious, the pathwas conducted beneath chambers, in which, overhead, the citizens werepeacefully sleeping, unsuspicious of what was proceeding below.

  In another moment the platform had been reached below the sheer cliffthat rose without so much as a shelf on which a shrub could root itself,even of a cranny in which a pink or harebell might cling.

  All was now so dark that Guillem could not see his guide or his men.

  Not a sound had been heard in the town--and here there was nothingaudible save a cat that was mewing. It had been shut out of a house andfeared that a storm was coming on. The time was winter, the littlecreature was cold, and it craved for the warmth and the dryness of thekitchen hearth. The foolish cat came up to Le Gros Guillem and rubbedherself against his legs and pleaded for attention. Irritated at herpersistence and cries, the Captain dealt her a kick which sent herflying and squealing. Then he regretted that he had done this, lest hershrill cry should reach the mistress and induce her to open the door andshow a light.

  But no token followed and showed that the cat had been heard. Again thecreature came near, mewing. The darkness was so dense that nothing couldbe seen, not even the rock in front, only the buildings round loomedblack against the sky that was but a shade lighter than the rock.

  Then hail rushed down, hissing, leaping, and with the hail a flash oflightning revealing the blank wall of rock in front and the floor overwhich the hailstones ran and spun.

  "Where is the stair?" asked Le Gros Guillem of the castellan, who keptat his side.

  "Stair--what stair?"

  "The way by which we are to mount into the castle?"

  The old man chuckled.

  "Wait a while," said he in a whisper. "When next the lightning flasheslook ahead of you--a little to the right, and you will s
ee a cobweb pathup the face of the rock."

  "Lead us to the path--cobweb or not we will mount it. We are accustomedto that, and this is tedious--tarrying here. Curse that cat! Here she isagain!"

  "Ah, Messire--you do not comprehend. Have you never been in La Roque?"

  "I? Never! Do you suppose they would suffer me within the walls?"

  "Then, Messire, you cannot understand how it is that of the garrisonnone are awake, how it comes that there is no need for watchfulness.Wait a while, the lightning--there--did you see?"

  The old man pointed in the direction of the stair. The construction ofthis path of ascent has been already described. It consisted of a ladderof pegs driven into the rock, each peg sustained by a wedge underneathit. Nothing was easier than by a blow to loosen the wedge and to throwthe steps down, and when down no passage could be effected to or fromthe castle along the face of the rock.

  "Did you observe?" asked the old man.

  "I observed nothing save a stair."

  "Look at the base of the stair. Ah! the hail! how it whitens the ground,how it lights up the landscape. One can see a little now, and presently,if you will have patience, Messire, I will explain it all."

  "I want no explanation, I want to mount the stair and enter the castle."

  "You cannot mount the stair. It is not possible. There--anotherflash--now do you see? All the lower portion is removed, so that, tillput together again in the morning, no one can ascend. Moreover, therealoft is a landing place, and between that landing place and the gatethere is a gap--and over that a draw-plank is lowered. Now, at night,all the lowest rungs of the stair are taken away and above the plank islifted. There is no possibility of anyone mounting by that means."

  "Then, in the devil's name, why have you brought us here? I tell you,old man, I will drive my poignard down your throat if you have dared todeceive me."

  "I deceive you! Oh, Messire! There is a second way of entering thecastle."

  "And that is----?"

  "See!"

  Again the lightning flickered, and now the clouds parting allowed themoon to flash over the whitened earth and show the great wall of chalkrock in front mounting into the sky and white as the ghostly cloudstouched by moonlight that moved above it. The freebooter saw somethinghanging down the face of the cliff. It was a rope, and at the end was abar of wood some two feet long which it held in a horizontal position bya knot in the middle.

  "My good friend, whom you will have to reward, is above at the windlass.You can mount, Messire. I have but to shake the cord and put my fingersinto my mouth and hoot as an owl and he will begin to wind up. It is bythis means that provisions are carried up, and by this one can go up ordown when the passage of the stair is cut off. Will you please to mountfirst--or shall I, most honoured Captain?" The castellan took off hishat and bowed.

  Le Gros Guillem looked up a sheer height of a hundred feet; in theuncertain light it appeared as though this cord was let down out of thesky. He was a man who rarely knew fear--in the heat of conflict he neverknew it at all. He was dauntless in every daring feat; but this was aventure sufficient to make even him hesitate. He knew not who was theman at the capstan above. He was not sure that the rope would endure hisweight.

  "Oh," said the castellan, "if you are afraid to trust yourself to thiscord, you must e'en return by the way you came. I thought other of LeGros Guillem, of the famous Captain. I did not think he would quail as agirl from such a trifle as this. I will ascend first, and then you maypluck up heart to follow an old man."

  The castellan went to the rope and shook it twice, then imitated thescream of an owl, and instantly planted himself on the pole and held thecord with both hands. He began at once to ascend.

  The sky cleared of thunder-cloud and the wan new moon illumined thescene. The rock was white, and against it mounted a dark figure with adarker shadow. The windlass moved noiselessly; Le Gros Guillem and hismen below heard no sound. The dark figure slid up the rock and becamesmaller, ever smaller, and then disappeared. In the uncertain light, atthe great elevation they could not see, but supposed the castellan hadpassed through a window into the castle.

  Then rapidly down came rope and pole, and the latter hung swaying at acouple of feet above the hail-strewn platform.

  "In the devil's name, I will try it!" said Guillem, and committedhimself to the bar. He grasped the rope and hooted. At the same momentthe cat leaped and lighted on his shoulder. He would have thrust it off,but could not. The rope had tightened, was straining, and he was carriedupwards off his feet.