THE NEW FRIENDS AND NEW ENEMIES.
Theodore stood bewildered in the midst of the strange scene which now
surrounded him, his thoughts all hurried and confused from the fierce
strife and imminent peril into which he had been so suddenly hurried.
At first, when he had turned to follow the cry of the dogs, he had
forgotten--in the eagerness of the noble sport, the primeval pastime
of earth's giant sons--that his own attendants were now unaccompanied
by the hounds with which he had been accustomed to hunt in the forest
near Bleda's dwelling; and, from the moment he had first seen that
noble-looking boy, to that in which he rose from the prostrate carcass
of the ferocious beast that had so nearly destroyed him, there had
been no time for any other thoughts but those connected with the
fierce combat in which he was engaged.
Now, however, as he looked round, he divined the whole, well knowing
the custom of those barbarian chiefs to pursue the chase as eagerly
while marching along with hostile armies as when it served to solace
the vacant hours of peace. That he had fallen in with the hunt of
Attila he clearly perceived; but who the boy was that he had saved, he
could only gather from the fond embrace with which the dark monarch
held him in his powerful arms. Fond and tender, no one who saw it
could doubt what that embrace really was; and yet scarce any sign of
emotion could be discovered on the iron countenance which so often led
the slaughter in the fiercest fields of barbarian war.
The boy was talking eagerly and rapidly, and pointing to Theodore as
he rose; and the moment after, while the young Roman drew forth his
sword from the side of the mighty beast that lay cumbering the earth
like a huge gray mound, the king set his son down, and, after resting
his broad hand on his head for a moment, strode across the open space
and stood by the side of the boy's deliverer.
For an instant his eyes ran over the tremendous limbs of the urus, the
broad square head, the tangled mane, from amid the thick coarse hair
of which the dark blood was pouring out in streams, and upon the
sharp-pointed horns, one of which had burrowed in the earth as he had
rolled over in the agonies of death--and then he turned his look upon
his boy. The next instant he held out his hand to Theodore, saying,
"Thou hast saved my child! Well and truly did yon holy man declare
that the safety of myself and of my race depended upon him whom I
should first meet as I marched against the Romans; and that the first
act of forbearance and mercy which I showed should be followed by
benefits that I could never repay. Nor was that all. When you met me
on the mountain, young Roman, scarce a week since, that same old man,
gazing from the brink of the everlasting, and beholding the future
like a valley at his feet, traced out the after life of this my
youngest son. He should escape from mighty perils, the prophet said,
and be the last who should survive to carry on my race. Has he not now
escaped from mighty peril by thine aid? and though it was foredoomed,
deep and heartfelt is the gratitude which I owe thee for saving the
life of this my boy at the immediate hazard of thine own. Attila
thanks thee, and will keep the memory of this deed in his heart. I
have called thee my son, oh Theodore, and shalt thou not be unto me a
son indeed? Ay, and a well-beloved son too, only next in place to him
whom thou hast rescued from untimely death."
"I am still thy debtor, oh Attila," replied Theodore: "once hast thou
spared me when I intruded on thy territories; twice hast thou saved my
life, knowing me to be a Roman and an enemy; and I have only rescued
this fair boy, whom I would have saved as unhesitatingly if he had
been the son of the poorest warrior in the Hunnish ranks;" and, as he
spoke, he held out his hand towards the youth, who had advanced nearly
to his father's side, and who seized it eagerly, and clasped it with a
grateful gesture to his heart.
"Let mutual benefits bind us to each other, my son," said Attila. "I
loved thee from the moment my eyes lighted upon thee. Whether it was a
feeling sent by the gods to tell me that I should owe thee much, I
know not; but I loved thee then, and how much more do I love thee now?
Thou shalt find that though those, who unjustly oppose the will of
Attila, injure his friends, or insult his people, die by the death
they merit, yet those who risk their lives in the defence of him or
his are not forgotten in the time of gratitude--but come thou with me.
We march by slow journeys, that the host may diminish as we cross the
land; to-morrow, however, I shall sit once more in mine own seat.
Come, then, with me, and spend this night in our camp; to-morrow we
will find another place of repose."
Thus saying, the monarch dismounted; a fresh horse was soon found for
the boy Ernac; and Theodore followed by the side of the youth, who,
talking to him eagerly in the Hunnish tongue, thanked him over and
over again with simple sincerity for the service which had been
rendered to him. There was something noble and frank in the manners of
the boy; and, as they went, he told his deliverer how the whole of
that day's adventure had come about; how he had gone forth from the
palace four or five days before to meet his father on his march
homeward; and how, in that day's hunting, he had been stationed near
the river's brink to watch for the smaller game as it was driven down
to the water; and then, when the urus appeared, how he had fancied he
would please Attila by killing such a gigantic beast as that. He
dwelt, too, on all he felt when he found his horse slain and himself
at the mercy of the enraged monster, and Theodore experienced a double
pride and pleasure in having saved so promising a child.
From time to time, as they rode on, the young Roman cast his eyes
around, and listened somewhat anxiously for the coming of his own
attendants, fearing that they might seek for him long in those dark
woods. Cremera, however, he had seen among those who stood around when
he rose from his contest with the wild bull; and he doubted not that
the others would soon gain some knowledge of the path he had taken
from those who had been left to bring away the body of his huge
antagonist, as a trophy of the sylvan war.
He mentioned that he had missed his attendants, however, to his young
companion Ernac, who laughed with boyish glee at his apprehensions,
adding, "Oh, they will find you ere an hour be over. We Huns have ways
of tracing our way through the thickest forests that you Romans do not
understand;" and the proud emphasis which a mere boy laid upon "We
Huns," showed Theodore how strong had become the national pride of the
people under the victorious reign of Attila, though he could not but
feel painfully, at the same time, the deep contempt which had fallen
upon the once tremendous name of Rome. Ernac's anticipations, however,
in regard to the attendants, did not prove false; for as the hunting
train of the dark monarch rode through on the wilds, every now and
then Theodore perceived the person of one of his own followers
appearing between the trees, and taking their place among the rest.
Attila proceeded slowly, and, as he rode on, spoke to no one, except
when he turned, and with an unwonted smile of fond, paternal love,
addressed a few words to his rescued boy.
At length, towards evening, they emerged from the forest; and entering
one of the plains which here and there diversified the country, they
approached once more the wild and extraordinary scene presented by a
Hunnish camp. At a considerable distance Theodore could see it as it
lay upon the slope of one of the uplands, with the dusky millions
moving about in their various occupations, with a bustling, whirling
activity, like ants in one of the large ant-hills of that very land.
As they approached nearer the different masses seemed to separate; and
the camp assumed the same appearance--with its fires and circles of
wagons--that it had presented when Theodore before beheld it in the
Roman territory.
Approaching the central circle which formed the abode of Attila, the
monarch turned towards the young Roman, saying, "You follow me!" and
passing on, he led the way within the boundary.
The space enclosed for the monarch's own dwelling was large, and
filled with a number of Huns, busy in various preparations. A change,
however, seemed to have come over the tastes of Attila since his
successful invasion of the Roman territory, for many more of the
external marks of dignity of station surrounded his abode. In the
midst of the circle, too, stood a magnificent tent, which had
evidently once belonged to one of the luxurious generals of the
Eastern empire, but which was now surmounted by the same black eagle
that ornamented the standards of the Huns. Thither Attila himself
proceeded, while all made way for his footsteps with looks of awe and
respect, not servile, not timid, but seeming only the expression of
heartfelt reverence for the daring courage, the powerful genius, the
mighty mind, which nature had implanted in the breast of him whom the
accident of birth had made a king.
Theodore paused, and looked to the boy Ernac, who seemed to understand
his doubts at once, and replied to them by saying, "Yes, stay you
here, and make your people get you provisions! I will go in to my
father, and see what is his will with regard to you; but I must wait
till he speaks to me, for I dare not address him first."
The young Roman was by this time sufficiently accustomed to the Huns
to make himself at home among them without uneasiness or restraint;
and proceeding nearly to the verge of the circle, he lay down upon the
ground, while the Huns who accompanied him, and who had by this time
separated themselves from the followers of the monarch, lighted a
fire, and sought for provisions in the camp.
He gave himself up to a fit of musing, regarding the events of the day
and the difference of his own feelings now, compared with what they
had been but a few months before. At that time, when he at first met
Attila--though he had experienced on beholding him, even before
he was aware of his name and station, sensations which he could not
define--he had regarded the monarch of the Huns but as the talented
chief of numerous barbarian hordes. Now he felt hourly creeping over
him more and more of that same kind of awe with which the various
nations under his command seemed uniformly to regard their chief; and
Theodore tried to investigate in what consisted that peculiar power
which was producing such an impression, gaining such an ascendency
over a mind not unconscious of vigour, activity, and brightness. He
revolved the words, the conduct of Attila in every respect, and he
could attribute this effect to nothing, were it not to the combination
of many great and powerful qualities, seldom united in one man, but,
as it were, all cemented together in the mind of Attila by a certain
calm, deliberate sternness, which never left him except in the
fiercest fury of the sanguinary strife. His every thought seemed
stern; and the unshaken and extraordinary calmness which he displayed
on all occasions appeared to give him instant and perfect command over
all the powerful talents which he inherited. There could be no such
thing as doubt or hesitation in his nature; and to that godlike
certainty of purpose Theodore attributed the power over the minds of
others which he so singularly possessed.
While he thus lay musing, forgetful of the scene around him, a sudden
step woke him from his revery; and the next moment his former
antagonist, Ardaric, king of the Gepid[ae], cast his huge bulk down
upon the ground beside him. "Well, my friend," he said, looking upon
the countenance of Theodore, and running his eye over the limbs of the
youth, manly and strong as they were, but still infinitely inferior in
muscular strength to his own, "well, my friend, when last we met it
was in deadly strife; and now, in calm friendship, after our contest
is over. I love the brave, whether they be enemies or not: and when
the boy Ernac, who is not unlike thee in face and manners, told me
thou wert here, I resolved to come and see thee, that I might
discover, if I could, how one who seemed to me but a stripling could
give me more trouble in the combat than a whole cohort of his
countrymen. I cannot understand it even now, for thou art very young,
and certainly not yet in strength mine equal. Thou art more active,
perhaps; but that will not do everything. However, let us not talk of
strife! I come to eat and drink with thee, that the bond of hospitable
union may be strong between us."
"Gladly will I make it so, noble Ardaric," replied Theodore. "The
generous and noble soon become friends whenever they cease to be
enemies. You spared my life when you might have taken it, and I will
love you not a bit the less because you vanquished me."
"I spared you not, good youth, for your own sake," replied Ardaric,
frankly; "I spared you for the sake of Attila, my friend. I would have
slain you at the next blow had it not been for him; for at that moment
my blood was heated. You had, with your own hand, killed three of my
people, and I had not time nor coolness to think, just then, that you
were a brave youth, and a noble spirit, and that it were a pity to cut
you off so soon. I may have thought so since; and from my heart I
forgive you for thinning our ranks of two or three of those startled
foxes, who fled before you when you burst among them as if they
thought you must be some evil demon, to dare, with but two comrades,
to attack a whole tribe."
"You held as prisoners, noble Ardaric," replied Theodore, "those whom
I valued far more than life itself; and my only calculation was how
long I could bar the way against your warriors, while those I sought
to save effected their escape."
"I thought so," rejoined the King of the Gepid[ae], "I thought so: and
now I hear that your mother and that fair girl--who is not your
sister--are among your kinsmen of the Alani. Why go you not to see
them?"
"Because," replied Theodore, "I have promised to stay with Attila for
full seven years."
"Oh, he will give you leave to go," replied Ardaric. "Use him but
nobly, and Attila is ever kind and generous. He will give you leave to
go. When first he speaks to you, lead you the conversation to your
wishes; and besides," added the chief, with a grave and warning look,
"I think it may be better for you to be absent from this land for a
brief space. Bleda, the brother of the monarch, loves you not. He is
ambitious; and men scruple not to say, among the leaders of nations
who obey and accompany the great king, that his hatred towards you
proceeds from some idle prophecy which combines the safety of Attila
with thine. I say not that he would slay his brother; but he would
little scruple, men affirm, to take away the life of one whose
existence was important to the monarch's safety. I believe not in such
prophecies," added Ardaric, after a pause of thought--"I believe not
in such prophecies, but Attila, and Bleda, and many others do. They
think that a man's destiny is fixed and known long before his birth;
that every little act which he performs is but one part of a great
necessity; and that, such being the case, the gods give intimation of
what they have already determined to certain men peculiarly chosen for
that purpose. I believe, on the contrary, that everything takes place
by accident; and that, if the gods interfere at all with what we do,
it is but to drive us on again upon our way, as a herd does to a stray
bull that wanders from the drove. I put no faith in such prophecies;
and I see that even those who do strive as much to have their own way
against destiny as those who think that there is no such thing. Now
Bleda would take your head to-morrow, in order to put his brother's
fate out of joint; and Ellac, they say, has no great love for you,
though he be Attila's son. But his hatred proceeds merely from
overbearing pride. He loves his father, and would not injure him; but
he likes not that Attila should favour or promote any one but
himself."
"I will take care to give him no offence," replied Theodore. "I seek
no promotion at Attila's hands, because, as a Roman, I can receive
none. His love, I believe, I already possess; but Ellac will not envy
me that, when he finds that it is followed by no benefits demanded or
conferred."
"It is therefore, I say," answered Ardaric, "that it would be well for
you to be absent from this land for a short space. Bleda's ambition
will not let him rest, though Attila thinks that he has sated him with
honours and with spoil. But the grave, and ambition, and avarice are
insatiable. Bleda's ambition will not let him rest, I say; and these
things will come to an end ere many months be over! But here come
thine attendants and mine, loaded with food far more than we need, yet
let us partake."
There was something so frank and noble in the bearing of Ardaric, that
Theodore was not unwilling to possess his friendship; but scarcely had
they tasted the meal placed before them, when a messenger from Attila
called the young Roman to his presence. Without delay, he followed the
Hun to the tent of the monarch, whom he found with Ernac, his youngest
son, alone.
Attila was seated on a rude bench, and clothed in the simplest
garments of his race; but yet there was still that indescribable calm
dignity, which, perhaps, had greater and more extraordinary effect
from the harshness of his features and the want of accurate proportion
in his limbs. He greeted Theodore kindly, and made him sit down beside
him; and once more touching upon the events of the morning, he spoke
of the skill and dexterity, as well as strength and courage, which
were required in hunting the wild bull, saying that few but the most
powerful and the most daring of their own practised hunters were at
all competent to meet that ferocious beast when brought to bay. He
asked where Theodore had learned his skill in the chase; and the
youth's answer, informing him how long he had remained with the family
of his brother Bleda, threw the monarch into a fit of musing.
"Then thou hast never quitted the territory of the Huns since thou
didst first enter it?" demanded Attila.
"Never, oh king," replied the young Roman. "I plighted my word to thee
that I would not."
"Not in a direct manner," answered Attila; "and I thought that strong
temptation might have led thee to the land of the Alani. I would not
inquire: it sufficed me that thou hadst returned."
"My word, oh king," answered Theodore, "whether directly or indirectly
given, is never violated. That which I have knowingly implied, that
will I execute, as willingly and punctually as if I had sworn to
perform it. Many a time did I inquire for tidings from the land of the
Alani; but though I gained none, I never dreamed of going. I would not
even write, though I thought once of doing so, and sending it by one
of those who followed me."
"And why not write?" demanded Attila.
"Because," replied Theodore, "coming as I did, a stranger to thy
land, and seeing, as I did see, that it was left without defence, that
there were few but old men, or women, or children remaining in the
country--for I had not yet come on hither. Seeing all this, I would
not, even by sending a messenger from thy territories to a nation
which has daily communication with the Gauls, give thee just cause to
say that thou hadst trusted me, and I had betrayed thy undefended
country to [AE]tius and his legions."
"Thou art wise and honest," rejoined Attila; "and thine honesty shall
win full reliance. Hast thou never longed to see those once more whom
thou didst part from so sadly between the Margus and the Danube?"
"Have I longed?" exclaimed Theodore. "Oh king! many and many has been
the night that, after the hardest day's hunting, I have passed without
the soft finger of sleep touching mine eyelids, thinking deeply of
those dear friends of mine early youth, and thirsting to behold them
again, as the weary traveller in the desert thirsts for a draught of
water from the well-remembered fountain in his own domestic hall. It
has been my dream by night, when slumber has shut out the world's
realities. It has been my dream by day, when thought has wandered on
from objects present to a world of her own, with hope and imagination
for her guides. Oh, how I have longed to see them once again!" and,
clasping his hands together, the youth fixed his eyes upon the ground,
and seemed to plunge into the visions of happiness which his words
called up.
"Thou shalt go," said Attila, "and taste the joy for which thou hast
pined. Yet rest with me two days, in order that my brother Bleda may
betake himself to his own abode, and leave the path open to thee
without danger. Not that I think he would hurt thee now: he is sated
with plunder and with conquest. Nevertheless, it were as well for thee
to wait; for though he left the camp this morning to bend his steps
homeward, yet he goes but slowly, and his followers are not safe.
Still thou shalt go after two days are at an end. Go, Ernac, my son,
and learn from Onegisus if any of the followers of thine uncle Bleda
are still in the camp."
The boy departed without a word, and Theodore remained with Attila,
who proceeded to fix the time within which he bound Theodore to limit
his absence. "The full moon will see thy departure," he said, "and she
shall once fill up her crescent during thine absence; but ere the
second time of her fulness thou shalt return, or thou art false to
Attila. Wert thou to stay longer, the snows would impede thy return;
and in the long evenings of the winter I would have thee here, for I
might seek to hold discourse with thee upon the state and changes of
thy native land. Thou art one who, having guarded his honesty in
dishonest times and amid dishonest people, deserve that thy words
should find attention."
Almost as he spoke, his son Ernac returned, saying, "Bleda is gone, my
father, and all his followers, except his household slaves, who follow
by daybreak in the morning, with Zercon his black jester. I saw the
foul slave myself; and he said his master had gone away so quickly,
because, having taken so much plunder from those who were weaker than
himself, he feared to be left with those who were stronger, lest they
should begin the game again."
"Thou saidst nothing of this youth's journey, I trust," said Attila.
"Nothing," replied the boy. "But when Zercon asked me if the Roman
youth were still here, I answered yes, but that he would not be here
long."
"Unwisely answered, my son," said Attila; "but it matters not; I will
send those with him who can protect him. Thou shalt lead back a troop
of the Alani to their own land," he continued, turning to Theodore;
"and in the meanwhile keep near my person. Take thy place beside
Edicon as we march to-morrow, and now sleep you well. Ernac, where is
thine eldest brother? Has he left the camp already, after having so
lately joined it?"
Theodore was departing as the monarch spoke; but, ere he had left the
tent, he had heard the boy's reply. "No, my father," answered Ernac;
"he has gone a short way on the road with my uncle Bleda."
A slight shade came over Attila's brow; but Theodore was not sorry to
hear that two men, who were certainly his enemies, were absent for a
time from the camp; and rejoining his own followers, he lay down to
sleep in peace, followed by the happy hope of soon seeing again those
whom he loved best on earth.