Anne of Geierstein; Or, The Maiden of the Mist. Volume 1 (of 2)

by Walter Scott

  CHAPTER XII.

  Believe me, sir, It carries a rare form.--But 'tis a spirit. _The Tempest._

  There was a short silence after the Bernese had concluded his singulartale. Arthur Philipson's attention had been gradually and intenselyattracted by a story which was too much in unison with the receivedideas of the age to be encountered by the unhesitating incredulitywith which it must have been heard in later and more enlightenedtimes.

  He was also considerably struck by the manner in which it had beentold by the narrator, whom he had hitherto only regarded in the lightof a rude huntsman or soldier; whereas he now allowed Donnerhugelcredit for a more extensive acquaintance with the general manners ofthe world than he had previously anticipated. The Swiss rose in hisopinion as a man of talent, but without making the slightest progressin his affections. "The swashbuckler," he said to himself, "hasbrains, as well as brawn and bones, and is fitter for the office ofcommanding others than I formerly thought him." Then, turning to hiscompanion, he thanked him for the tale, which had shortened the way inso interesting a manner.

  "And it is from this singular marriage," he continued, "that Anne ofGeierstein derives her origin?"

  "Her mother," answered the Swiss, "was Sybilla of Arnheim, the infantat whose christening the mother died--disappeared--or whatever you maylist to call it. The barony of Arnheim, being a male fief, reverted tothe Emperor. The castle has never been inhabited since the death ofthe last lord, and has, as I have heard, become in some sort ruinous.The occupations of its ancient proprietors, and, above all, thecatastrophe of its last inhabitant, have been thought to render it noeligible place of residence."

  "Did there appear anything preternatural," said the Englishman, "aboutthe young Baroness, who married the brother of the Landamman?"

  "So far as I have heard," replied Rudolph, "there were strangestories. It was said that the nurses, at the dead of night, have seenHermione, the last Baroness of Arnheim, stand weeping by the side ofthe child's cradle, and other things to the same purpose. But here Ispeak from less correct information than that from which I drew myformer narrative."

  "And since the credibility of a story, not very probable in itself,must needs be granted, or withheld, according to the evidence on whichit is given, may I ask you," said Arthur, "to tell me what is theauthority on which you have so much reliance?"

  "Willingly," answered the Swiss. "Know that Theodore Donnerhugel, thefavourite page of the last Baron of Arnheim, was my father's brother.Upon his master's death he retired to his native town of Berne, andmost of his time was employed in training me up to arms and martialexercises, as well according to the fashion of Germany as ofSwitzerland, for he was master of all. He witnessed with his owneyes, and heard with his own ears, great part of the melancholy andmysterious events which I have detailed to you. Should you ever visitBerne, you may see the good old man."

  "You think, then," said Arthur, "that the appearance which I have thisnight seen is connected with the mysterious marriage of Anne ofGeierstein's grandfather?"

  "Nay," replied Rudolph, "think not that I can lay down any positiveexplanation of a thing so strange. I can only say, that unless I didyou the injustice to disbelieve your testimony respecting theapparition of this evening, I know no way to account for it, except byremembering that there is a portion of the young lady's blood which isthought not to be derived from the race of Adam, but more or lessdirectly from one of those elementary spirits which have been talkedof both in ancient and modern times. But I may be mistaken. We willsee how she bears herself in the morning, and whether she carries inher looks the weariness and paleness of a midnight watcher. If shedoth not, we may be authorised in thinking, either that your eyes havestrangely deceived you, or that they have been cheated by somespectral appearance, which is not of this world."

  To this the young Englishman attempted no reply. Nor was there timefor any, for they were immediately afterwards challenged by thesentinel from the drawbridge.

  The question, "Who goes there?" was twice satisfactorily answered,before Sigismund would admit the patrol to cross the drawbridge.

  "Ass and mule that thou art," said Rudolph, "what was the meaning ofthy delay?"

  "Ass and mule thyself, Hauptman!" said the Swiss, in answer to thisobjurgation. "I have been surprised by a goblin on my post onceto-night already, and I have got so much experience upon that matterthat I will not easily be caught a second time."

  "What goblin, thou fool," said Donnerhugel, "would be idle enough toplay his gambols at the expense of so very poor an animal as thouart?"

  "Thou art as cross as my father, Hauptman," replied Sigismund, "whocries fool and blockhead at every word I speak; and yet I have lips,teeth, and tongue to speak with, just like other folk."

  "We will not contest the matter, Sigismund," said Rudolph. "It isclear, that if thou dost differ from other people, it is in aparticular which thou canst hardly be expected to find out oracknowledge. But what, in the name of simplicity, is it which hathalarmed thee on thy post?"

  "Marry, thus it was, Hauptman," returned Sigismund Biederman. "I wassomething tired, you see, with looking up at the broad moon, andthinking what in the universe it could be made of, and how we came tosee it just as well here as at home, this place being so many milesfrom Geierstein. I was tired, I say, of this and other perplexingthoughts, so I drew my fur cap down over my ears, for I promise youthe wind blew shrill; and then I planted myself firm on my feet, withone of my legs a little advanced, and both my hands resting on mypartisan, which I placed upright before me to rest upon; and so I shutmine eyes."

  "Shut thine eyes, Sigismund, and thou upon thy watch!" exclaimedDonnerhugel.

  "Care not thou for that," answered Sigismund; "I kept my ears open.And yet it was to little purpose, for something came upon the bridgewith a step as stealthy as that of a mouse. I looked up with a startat the moment it was opposite to me, and when I looked up--whom thinkyou I saw?"

  "Some fool like thyself," said Rudolph, at the same time pressingPhilipson's foot to make him attend to the answer; a hint which waslittle necessary, since he waited for it in the utmost agitation. Outit came at last.

  "By St. Mark, it was our own Anne of Geierstein!"

  "It is impossible!" replied the Bernese.

  "I should have said so too," quoth Sigismund, "for I had peeped intoher bedroom before she went thither, and it was so bedizened that aqueen or a princess might have slept in it; and why should the wenchget out of her good quarters, with all her friends about her to guardher, and go out to wander in the forest?"

  "May be," said Rudolph, "she only looked from the bridge to see howthe night waned."

  "No," said Sigismund; "she was returning from the forest. I saw herwhen she reached the end of the bridge, and thought of striking ather, conceiving it to be the devil in her likeness. But I rememberedmy halberd is no birch switch to chastise boys and girls with; and hadI done Anne any harm, you would all have been angry with me, and, tospeak truth, I should have been ill pleased with myself; for althoughshe doth make a jest of me now and then, yet it were a dull house ourswere we to lose Anne."

  "Ass," answered the Bernese, "didst thou speak to this form, or goblinas you call it?"

  "Indeed I did not, Captain Wiseacre. My father is ever angry with mewhen I speak without thinking, and I could not at that particularmoment think on anything to the purpose. Neither was there time tothink, for she passed me like a snow-flake upon a whirlwind. I marchedinto the castle after her, however, calling on her by name; so thesleepers were awakened, and men flew to their arms, and there was asmuch confusion as if Archibald of Hagenbach had been among us withsword and pike. And who should come out of her little bedroom, as muchstartled and as much in a bustle as any of us, but Mrs. Anne herself!And as she protested she had never left her room that night, why I,Sigismund Biederman, was made to stand the whole blame, as if I couldprevent people's ghosts from walking. But I told her my mind when Isaw t
hem all so set against me. 'And, Mistress Anne,' quoth I, 'it'swell known the kindred you come of; and, after this fair notice, ifyou send any of your double-gangers[6] [_g_] to me, let them put ironskull-caps on their heads, for I will give them the length and weightof a Swiss halberd, come in what shape they list.' However, they allcried 'Shame on me!' and my father drove me out again, with as littleremorse as if I had been the old house-dog, which had stolen in fromhis watch to the fireside."

  The Bernese replied, with an air of coldness approaching to contempt,"You have slept on your watch, Sigismund--a high military offence,and you have dreamed while you slept. You were in good luck that theLandamman did not suspect your negligence, or, instead of being sentback to your duty like a lazy watch-dog, you might have been scourgedback like a faithless one to your kennel at Geierstein, as chanced topoor Ernest for a less matter."

  "Ernest has not yet gone back, though," said Sigismund, "and I thinkhe may pass as far into Burgundy as we shall do in this journey. Ipray you, however, Hauptman, to treat me not dog-like, but as a man,and send some one to relieve me, instead of prating here in the coldnight air. If there be anything to do to-morrow, as I well guess theremay, a mouthful of food, and a minute of sleep, will be but a fittingpreparative, and I have stood watch here these two mortal hours."

  With that the young giant yawned portentously, as if to enforce thereasons of his appeal.

  "A mouthful and a minute?" said Rudolph,--"a roasted ox, and alethargy like that of the Seven Sleepers, would scarce restore you tothe use of your refreshed and waking senses. But I am your friend,Sigismund, and you are secure in my favourable report; you shall beinstantly relieved, that you may sleep, if it be possible, withoutdisturbances from dreams.--Pass on, young men" (addressing the others,who by this time had come up), "and go to your rest. Arthur of Englandand I will report to the Landamman and the Banneret the account of ourpatrol."

  The patrol accordingly entered the castle, and were soon heard joiningtheir slumbering companions. Rudolph Donnerhugel seized Arthur's arm,and, while they went towards the hall, whispered in his ear,--

  "These are strange passages!--How think you we should report them tothe deputation?"

  "That I must refer to yourself," said Arthur; "you are the captain ofour watch. I have done my duty in telling you what I saw--or thought Isaw--it is for you to judge how far it is fitting to communicate it tothe Landamman; only, as it concerns the honour of his family, to hisear alone I think it should be confided."

  "I see no occasion for that," said the Bernese, hastily; "it cannotaffect or interest our general safety. But I may take occasionhereafter to speak with Anne on this subject."

  This latter hint gave as much pain to Arthur as the general proposalof silence on an affair so delicate had afforded him satisfaction. Buthis uneasiness was of a kind which he felt it necessary to suppress,and he therefore replied with as much composure as he could assume:--

  "You will act, Sir Hauptman, as your sense of duty and delicacy shalldictate. For me, I shall be silent on what you call the strangepassages of the night, rendered doubly wonderful by the report ofSigismund Biederman."

  "And also on what you have seen and heard concerning our auxiliariesof Berne?" said Rudolph.

  "On that I shall certainly be silent," said Arthur; "unless thus far,that I mean to communicate to my father the risk of his baggage beingliable to examination and seizure at La Ferette."

  "It is needless," said Rudolph; "I will answer with head and hand forthe safety of everything belonging to him."

  "I thank you in his name," said Arthur; "but we are peacefultravellers, to whom it must be much more desirable to avoid a broilthan to give occasion for one, even when secure of coming out of ittriumphantly."

  "These are the sentiments of a merchant, but not of a soldier," saidRudolph, in a cold and displeased tone; "but the matter is your own,and you must act in it as you think best. Only remember, if you go toLa Ferette without our assistance, you hazard both goods and life."

  They entered, as he spoke, the apartment of their fellow-travellers.The companions of their patrol had already laid themselves downamongst their sleeping comrades at the lower end of the room. TheLandamman and the Bannerman of Berne heard Donnerhugel make a report,that his patrol, both before and after midnight, had been made insafety, and without any encounter which expressed either danger orsuspicion. The Bernese then wrapped him in his cloak, and, lying downon the straw, with that happy indifference to accommodation, andpromptitude to seize the moment of repose, which is acquired by a lifeof vigilance and hardship, was in a few minutes fast asleep.

  Arthur remained on foot but a little longer, to dart an earnest lookon the door of Anne of Geierstein's apartment, and to reflect on thewonderful occurrences of the evening. But they formed a chaoticmystery, for which he could see no clue, and the necessity of holdinginstant communication with his father compelled him forcibly to turnhis thoughts in that direction. He was obliged to observe caution andsecrecy in accomplishing his purpose. For this he laid himself downbeside his parent, whose couch, with the hospitality which he hadexperienced from the beginning of his intercourse with thekind-hearted Swiss, had been arranged in what was thought the mostconvenient place of the apartment, and somewhat apart from all others.He slept sound, but awoke at the touch of his son, who whispered tohim in English, for the greater precaution, that he had importanttidings for his private ear.

  "An attack on our post?" said the elder Philipson. "Must we take toour weapons?"

  "Not now," said Arthur; "and I pray of you not to rise or makealarm--this matter concerns us alone."

  "Tell it instantly, my son," replied his father; "you speak to one toomuch used to danger to be startled at it."

  "It is a case for your wisdom to consider," said Arthur. "I hadinformation, while upon the patrol, that the Governor of La Ferettewill unquestionably seize upon your baggage and merchandise, underpretext of levying dues claimed by the Duke of Burgundy. I have alsobeen informed that our escort of Swiss youth are determined to resistthis exaction, and conceive themselves possessed of the numbers andmeans sufficient to do so successfully."

  "By St. George, that must not be!" said the elder Philipson. "It wouldbe an evil requital to the true-hearted Landamman, to give the fieryDuke a pretext for that war which the excellent old man is soanxiously desirous to avoid, if it be possible. Any exactions, howeverunreasonable, I will gladly pay. But to have my papers seized on wereutter ruin. I partly feared this, and it made me unwilling to joinmyself to the Landamman's party. We must now break off from it. Thisrapacious governor will not surely lay hands on the deputation, whichseeks his master's court under protection of the law of nations; but Ican easily see how he might make our presence with them a pretext forquarrel, which will equally suit his own avaricious spirit and thehumour of these fiery young men, who are seeking for matter ofoffence. This shall not be taken for our sake. We will separateourselves from the deputies, and remain behind till they are passedon. If this De Hagenbach be not the most unreasonable of men, I willfind a way to content him so far as we are individually concerned.Meanwhile, I will instantly wake the Landamman," he said, "andacquaint him with our purpose."

  This was immediately done, for Philipson was not slow in the executionof his resolutions. In a minute he was standing by the side of ArnoldBiederman, who, raised on his elbow, was listening to hiscommunication, while, over the shoulder of the Landamman, rose thehead and long beard of the deputy from Schwitz, his large clear blueeyes gleaming from beneath a fur cap, bent on the Englishman's face,but stealing a glance aside now and then to mark the impression whichwhat was said made upon his colleague.

  "Good friend and host," said the elder Philipson, "we have heard for acertainty that our poor merchandise will be subjected to taxation orseizure on our passage through La Ferette, and I would gladly avoidall cause of quarrel, for your sake as well as our own."

  "You do not doubt that we can and will protect you?" replied theLandamman. "I tell you, Englis
hman, that the guest of a Swiss is assafe by his side as an eaglet under the wing of its dam; and to leaveus because danger approaches is but a poor compliment to our courageor constancy. I am desirous of peace; but not the Duke of Burgundyhimself should wrong a guest of mine, so far as my power might preventit."

  At this the deputy from Schwitz clenched a fist like a bull'sknuckles, and showed it above the shoulders of his friend.

  "It is even to avoid this, my worthy host," replied Philipson, "that Iintend to separate from your friendly company sooner than I desire orpurposed. Bethink you, my brave and worthy host, you are an ambassadorseeking a national peace, I a trader seeking private gain. War, orquarrels which may cause war, are alike ruinous to your purpose andmine. I confess to you frankly, that I am willing and able to pay alarge ransom, and when you are departed I will negotiate for theamount. I will abide in the town of Bale till I have made fair termswith Archibald de Hagenbach; and even if he is the avariciousextortioner you describe him, he will be somewhat moderate with merather than run the risk of losing his booty entirely, by my turningback or taking another route."

  "You speak wisely, Sir Englishman," said the Landamman; "and I thankyou for recalling my duty to my remembrance. But you must not,nevertheless, be exposed to danger. So soon as we move forward, thecountry will be again open to the devastations of the BurgundianRiders and Lanz-knechts, who will sweep the roads in every direction.The people of Bale are unhappily too timorous to protect you; theywould yield you up upon the Governor's first hint; and for justice orlenity, you might as well expect it in hell as from Hagenbach."

  "There are conjurations, it is said, that can make hell itselftremble," said Philipson; "and I have means to propitiate even this DeHagenbach, providing I can get to private speech with him. But I own Ican expect nothing from his wild riders, but to be put to death forthe value of my cloak."

  "If that be the case," said the Landamman, "and if you must needsseparate from us, for which I deny not that you have alleged wise andworthy reasons, wherefore should you not leave Graffs-lust two hoursbefore us? The roads will be safe, as our escort is expected; and youwill probably, if you travel early, find De Hagenbach sober, and ascapable as he ever is of hearing reason--that is, of perceiving hisown interest. But after his breakfast is washed down with Rhine-wine,which he drinks every morning before he hears mass, his fury blindseven his avarice."

  "All I want, in order to execute this scheme," said Philipson, "is theloan of a mule to carry my valise, which is packed up with yourbaggage."

  "Take the she-mule," said the Landamman; "she belongs to my brotherhere from Schwitz; he will gladly bestow her on thee."

  "If she were worth twenty crowns, and my comrade Arnold desired me todo so," said the old whitebeard.

  "I will accept her as a loan with gratitude," said the Englishman."But how can you dispense with the use of the creature? You have onlyone left."

  "We can easily supply our want from Bale," said the Landamman. "Nay,we can make this little delay serve your purpose, Sir Englishman. Inamed for our time of departure the first hour after daybreak; we willpostpone it to the second hour, which will give us enough of time toget a horse or mule, and you, Sir Philipson, space to reach LaFerette, where I trust you will have achieved your business with DeHagenbach to your contentment, and will join company again with us aswe travel through Burgundy."

  "If our mutual objects will permit our travelling together, worthyLandamman," answered the merchant, "I shall esteem myself most happyin becoming the partner of your journey.--And now resume the reposewhich I have interrupted."

  "God bless you, wise and true-hearted man," said the Landamman, risingand embracing the Englishman. "Should we never meet again, I willstill remember the merchant who neglected thoughts of gain, that hemight keep the path of wisdom and rectitude. I know not another whowould not have risked the shedding a lake of blood to save five ouncesof gold.--Farewell thou too, gallant young man. Thou hast learnedamong us to keep thy foot firm while on the edge of a Helvetian crag,but none can teach thee so well as thy father to keep an upright pathamong the morasses and precipices of human life."

  He then embraced and took a kind farewell of his friends, in which, asusual, he was imitated by his friend of Schwitz, who swept with hislong beard the right and left cheeks of both the Englishmen, andagain made them heartily welcome to the use of his mule. All then oncemore composed themselves to rest, for the space which remained beforethe appearance of the autumnal dawn.

  FOOTNOTE:

  [6] Double-walkers, a name in Germany for those aerial duplicates ofhumanity who represent the features and appearance of other livingpersons.