When we two meet, we meet like rushing torrents;
Like warring winds, like flames from various points,
That mate each other's fury--there is naught
Of elemental strife, were fiends to guide it,
Can match the wrath of man.
FRENAUD.
The elder of our two travellers, though a strong man and familiar with
fatigue, slept sounder and longer than usual on the morning which was
now beginning to dawn, but his son Arthur had that upon his mind which
early interrupted his repose.
The encounter with the bold Switzer, a chosen man of a renowned race
of warriors, was an engagement which, in the opinion of the period in
which he lived, was not to be delayed or broken. He left his father's
side, avoiding as much as possible the risk of disturbing him, though
even in that case the circumstance would not have excited any
attention, as he was in the habit of rising early, in order to make
preparations for the day's journey, to see that the guide was on his
duty, and that the mule had his provender, and to discharge similar
offices which might otherwise have given trouble to his father. The
old man, however, fatigued with the exertions of the preceding day,
slept, as we have said, more soundly than his wont, and Arthur, arming
himself with his good sword, sallied out to the lawn in front of the
Landamman's dwelling, amid the magic dawn of a beautiful harvest
morning in the Swiss mountains.
The sun was just about to kiss the top of the most gigantic of that
race of Titans, though the long shadows still lay on the rough grass,
which crisped under the young man's feet with a strong intimation of
frost. But Arthur looked not round on the landscape, however lovely,
which lay waiting one flash from the orb of day to start into
brilliant existence. He drew the belt of his trusty sword which he was
in the act of fastening when he left the house, and ere he had secured
the buckle he was many paces on his way towards the place where he was
to use it.
It was still the custom of that military period to regard a summons to
combat as a sacred engagement, preferable to all others which could be
formed; and stifling whatever inward feelings of reluctance Nature
might oppose to the dictates of fashion, the step of a gallant to the
place of encounter was required to be as free and ready as if he had
been going to a bridal. I do not know whether this alacrity was
altogether real on the part of Arthur Philipson; but, if it were
otherwise, neither his look nor pace betrayed the secret.
Having hastily traversed the fields and groves which separated the
Landamman's residence from the old castle of Geierstein, he entered
the courtyard from the side where the castle overlooked the land; and
nearly in the same instant his almost gigantic antagonist, who looked
yet more tall and burly by the pale morning light than he had seemed
the preceding evening, appeared ascending from the precarious bridge
beside the torrent, having reached Geierstein by a different route
from that pursued by the Englishman.
The young champion of Berne had hanging along his back one of those
huge two-handed swords, the blade of which measured five feet, and
which were wielded with both hands. These were almost universally used
by the Swiss; for, besides the impression which such weapons were
calculated to make upon the array of the German men-at-arms, whose
armour was impenetrable to lighter swords, they were also well
calculated to defend mountain passes, where the great bodily strength
and agility of those who bore them enabled the combatants, in spite of
their weight and length, to use them with much address and effect. One
of these gigantic swords hung round Rudolph Donnerhugel's neck, the
point rattling against his heel, and the handle extending itself over
his left shoulder, considerably above his head. He carried another in
his hand.
"Thou art punctual," he called out to Arthur Philipson, in a voice
which was distinctly heard above the roar of the waterfall, which it
seemed to rival in sullen force. "But I judged thou wouldst come
without a two-handed sword. There is my kinsman Ernest's," he said,
throwing on the ground the weapon which he carried, with the hilt
towards the young Englishman. "Look, stranger, that thou disgrace it
not, for my kinsman will never forgive me if thou dost. Or thou mayst
have mine if thou likest it better."
The Englishman looked at the weapon with some surprise, to the use of
which he was totally unaccustomed.
"The challenger," he said, "in all countries where honour is known,
accepts the arms of the challenged."
"He who fights on a Swiss mountain, fights with a Swiss brand,"
answered Rudolph. "Think you our hands are made to handle penknives?"
"Nor are ours made to wield scythes," said Arthur; and muttered
betwixt his teeth, as he looked at the sword, which the Swiss
continued to offer him--"_Usum non habeo_ [_e_], I have not proved the
weapon."
"Do you repent the bargain you have made?" said the Swiss; "if so, cry
craven, and return in safety. Speak plainly, instead of prattling
Latin like a clerk or a shaven monk."
"No, proud man," replied the Englishman, "I ask thee no forbearance. I
thought but of a combat between a shepherd and a giant, in which God
gave the victory to him who had worse odds of weapons than falls to my
lot to-day. I will fight as I stand; my own good sword shall serve my
need now, as it has done before."
"Content!--But blame not me who offered thee equality of weapons,"
said the mountaineer. "And now hear me. This is a fight for life or
death--yon waterfall sounds the alarum for our conflict.--Yes, old
bellower," he continued, looking back, "it is long since thou hast
heard the noise of battle;--and look at it ere we begin, stranger, for
if you fall, I will commit your body to its waters."
"And if thou fall'st, proud Swiss," answered Arthur, "as well I trust
thy presumption leads to destruction, I will have thee buried in the
church at Einsiedlen, where the priests shall sing masses for thy
soul--thy two-handed sword shall be displayed above thy grave, and a
scroll shall tell the passenger, Here lies a bear's cub of Berne,
slain by Arthur the Englishman."
"The stone is not in Switzerland, rocky as it is," said Rudolph,
scornfully, "that shall bear that inscription. Prepare thyself for
battle."
The Englishman cast a calm and deliberate glance around the scene of
action--a courtyard, partly open, partly encumbered with ruins, in
less and larger masses.
"Methinks," said he to himself, "a master of his weapon, with the
instructions of Bottaferma of Florence in his remembrance, a light
heart, a good blade, a firm hand, and a just cause, might make up a
worse odds than two feet of steel."
Thinking thus, and imprinting on his mind, as much as the time would
permit, every circumstance of the locality around him which promised
advantage in the combat, and taking his station in the middle of the
courtyard where the ground was entirely clear, he flung his cloak from
him, and drew his sword.
Rudolph had at first believed that his foreign antagonist was an
effeminate youth, who would be swept from before him at the first
flourish of his tremendous weapon. But the firm and watchful attitude
assumed by the young man reminded the Swiss of the deficiencies of his
own unwieldy implement, and made him determine to avoid any
precipitation which might give advantage to an enemy who seemed both
daring and vigilant. He unsheathed his huge sword, by drawing it over
the left shoulder, an operation which required some little time, and
might have offered formidable advantage to his antagonist, had
Arthur's sense of honour permitted him to begin the attack ere it was
completed. The Englishman remained firm, however, until the Swiss,
displaying his bright brand to the morning sun, made three or four
flourishes as if to prove its weight, and the facility with which he
wielded it--then stood firm within sword-stroke of his adversary,
grasping his weapon with both hands, and advancing it a little before
his body, with the blade pointed straight upwards. The Englishman, on
the contrary, carried his sword in one hand, holding it across his
face in a horizontal position, so as to be at once ready to strike,
thrust, or parry.
"Strike, Englishman!" said the Switzer, after they had confronted each
other in this manner for about a minute.
"The longest sword should strike first," said Arthur; and the words
had not left his mouth when the Swiss sword rose, and descended with a
rapidity which, the weight and size of the weapon considered, appeared
portentous. No parry, however dexterously interposed, could have
baffled the ruinous descent of that dreadful weapon, by which the
champion of Berne had hoped at once to begin the battle and end it.
But young Philipson had not over-estimated the justice of his own eye,
or the activity of his limbs. Ere the blade descended, a sudden spring
to one side carried him from beneath its heavy sway, and before the
Swiss could again raise his sword aloft he received a wound, though a
slight one, upon the left arm. Irritated at the failure and at the
wound, the Switzer heaved up his sword once more, and availing himself
of a strength corresponding to his size, he discharged towards his
adversary a succession of blows, downright, athwart, horizontal, and
from left to right, with such surprising strength and velocity, that
it required all the address of the young Englishman, by parrying,
shifting, eluding, or retreating, to evade a storm of which every
individual blow seemed sufficient to cleave a solid rock. The
Englishman was compelled to give ground, now backwards, now swerving
to the one side or the other, now availing himself of the fragments of
the ruins, but watching all the while, with the utmost composure, the
moment when the strength of his enraged enemy might become somewhat
exhausted, or when by some improvident or furious blow he might again
lay himself open to a close attack. The latter of these advantages had
nearly occurred, for in the middle of his headlong charge the Switzer
stumbled over a large stone concealed among the long grass, and ere he
could recover himself received a severe blow across the head from his
antagonist. It lighted upon his bonnet, the lining of which enclosed a
small steel cap, so that he escaped unwounded, and springing up,
renewed the battle with unabated fury, though it seemed to the young
Englishman with breath somewhat short, and blows dealt with more
caution.
They were still contending with equal fortune, when a stern voice,
rising over the clash of swords, as well as the roar of waters, called
out in a commanding tone, "On your lives, forbear!"
The two combatants sank the points of their swords, not very sorry
perhaps for the interruption of a strife which must otherwise have had
a deadly termination. They looked round, and the Landamman stood
before them, with anger frowning on his broad and expressive forehead.
"How now, boys?" he said. "Are you guests of Arnold Biederman, and do
you dishonour his house by acts of violence more becoming the wolves
of the mountains, than beings to whom the great Creator has given a
form after His own likeness, and an immortal soul to be saved by
penance and repentance?"
"Arthur," said the elder Philipson, who had come up at the same time
with their host, "what frenzy is this? Are your duties of so light and
heedless a nature, as to give time and place for quarrels and combats
with every idle boor who chances to be boastful at once and
bull-headed?"
The young men, whose strife had ceased at the entrance of these
unexpected spectators, stood looking at each other, and resting on
their swords.
"Rudolph Donnerhugel," said the Landamman, "give thy sword to me--to
me, the owner of this ground, the master of this family, and
magistrate of the canton."
"And which is more," answered Rudolph, submissively, "to you who are
Arnold Biederman, at whose command every native of these mountains
draws his sword or sheathes it."
He gave his two-handed sword to the Landamman.
"Now, by my honest word," said Biederman, "it is the same with which
thy father Stephen fought so gloriously at Sempach, abreast with the
famous De Winkelried! Shame it is, that it should be drawn on a
helpless stranger.--And you, young sir," continued the Swiss,
addressing Arthur, while his father said at the same time, "Young man,
yield up your sword to the Landamman."
"It shall not need, sir," replied the young Englishman, "since, for my
part, I hold our strife at an end. This gallant gentleman called me
hither, on a trial, as I conceive, of courage: I can give my
unqualified testimony to his gallantry and swordmanship; and as I
trust he will say nothing to the shame of my manhood, I think our
strife has lasted long enough for the purpose which gave rise to it."
"Too long for me," said Rudolph, frankly; "the green sleeve of my
doublet, which I wore of that colour out of my love to the Forest
Cantons, is now stained into as dirty a crimson as could have been
done by any dyer in Ypres or Ghent. But I heartily forgive the brave
stranger who has spoiled my jerkin, and given its master a lesson he
will not soon forget. Had all Englishmen been like your guest, worthy
kinsman, methinks the mound at Buttisholz had hardly risen so high."
"Cousin Rudolph," said the Landamman, smoothing his brow as his
kinsman spoke, "I have ever thought thee as generous as thou art
harebrained and quarrelsome; and you, my young guest, may rely, that
when a Swiss says the quarrel is over, there is no chance of its being
renewed. We are not like the men of the valleys to the eastward, who
nurse revenge as if it were a favourite child. And now, join hands, my
children, and let us forget this foolish feud."
"Here is my hand, brave stranger," said Donnerhugel; "thou hast taught
me a trick of fence, and when we have broken our fast we will, by your
leave, to the forest, where I will teach you a trick of woodcraft in
return. When your foot hath half the experience of your hand, and your
eye hath gained a portion of the steadiness of your heart, you will
not find many hunters to match you."
Arthur, with all the ready confidence of youth, readily embraced a
proposition so frankly made, and before they reached the house various
subjects of sport were eagerly discussed between them, with as much
cordiality as if no disturbance of their concord had taken place.
"Now this," said the Landamman, "is as it should be. I am ever ready
to forgive the headlong impetuosity of our youth, if they will be but
manly and open in their reconciliation, and bear their heart on their
tongue, as a true Swiss should."
"These two youths had made but wild work of it, however," said
Philipson, "had not your care, my worthy host, learned of their
rendezvous, and called me to assist in breaking their purpose. May I
ask how it came to your knowledge so opportunely?"
"It was e'en through means of my domestic fairy," answered Arnold
Biederman, "who seems born for the good luck of my family,--I mean my
niece, Anne, who had observed a glove exchanged betwixt the two young
braggadocios, and heard them mention Geierstein and break of day. Oh,
sir, it is much to see a woman's sharpness of wit! It would have been
long enough ere any of my thick-headed sons had shown themselves so
apprehensive."
"I think I see our propitious protectress peeping at us from yonder
high ground," said Philipson; "but it seems as if she would willingly
observe us without being seen in return."
"Ay," said the Landamman, "she has been looking out to see that there
has been no hurt done; and now, I warrant me, the foolish girl is
ashamed of having shown such a laudable degree of interest in a matter
of the kind."
"Methinks," said the Englishman, "I would willingly return my thanks,
in your presence, to the fair maiden to whom I have been so highly
indebted."
"There can be no better time than the present," said the Landamman;
and he sent through the groves the maiden's name, in one of those
shrilly accented tones which we have already noticed.
Anne of Geierstein, as Philipson had before observed, was stationed
upon a knoll at some distance, and concealed, as she thought, from
notice, by a screen of brushwood. She started at her uncle's summons,
therefore, but presently obeyed it; and avoiding the young men, who
passed on foremost, she joined the Landamman and Philipson, by a
circuitous path through the woods.
"My worthy friend and guest would speak with you, Anne," said the
Landamman, so soon as the morning greeting had been exchanged. The
Swiss maiden coloured over brow as well as cheek, when Philipson, with
a grace which seemed beyond his calling, addressed her in these
words:--
"It happens sometimes to us merchants, my fair young friend, that we
are unlucky enough not to possess means for the instant defraying of
our debts; but he is justly held amongst us as the meanest of mankind
who does not acknowledge them. Accept, therefore, the thanks of a
father, whose son your courage, only yesterday, saved from
destruction, and whom your prudence has, this very morning, rescued
from a great danger. And grieve me not, by refusing to wear these
earrings," he added, producing a small jewel-case, which he opened as
he spoke: "they are, it is true, only of pearls, but they have not
been thought unworthy the ears of a countess"----
"And must, therefore," said the old Landamman, "show misplaced on the
person of a Swiss maiden of Unterwalden; for such and no more is my
niece Anne while she resides in my solitude. Methinks, good Master
Philipson, you display less than your usual judgment in matching the
quality of your gifts with the rank of her on whom they are
bestowed--as a merchant, too, you should remember that large guerdons
will lighten your gains."
"Let me crave your pardon, my good host," answered the Englishman,
"while I reply, that at least I have consulted my own sense of the
obligation under which I labour, and have chosen, out of what I have
at my free disposal, that which I thought might best express it. I
trust the host whom I have found hitherto so kind will not prevent
this young maiden from accepting what is at least not unbecoming the
rank she is born to; and you will judge me unjustly if you think me
capable of doing either myself or you the wrong, of offering any token
of a value beyond what I can well spare."
The Landamman took the jewel-case into his own hand.
"I have ever set my countenance," he said, "against gaudy gems, which
are leading us daily further astray from the simplicity of our fathers
and mothers.--And yet," he added, with a good-humoured smile, and
holding one of the earrings close to his relation's face, "the
ornaments do set off the wench rarely, and they say girls have more
pleasure in wearing such toys than grey-haired men can comprehend.
Wherefore, dear Anne, as thou hast deserved a dearer trust in a
greater matter, I refer thee entirely to thine own wisdom, to accept
of our good friend's costly present, and wear it or not as thou
thinkest fit."
"Since such is your pleasure, my best friend and kinsman," said the
young maiden, blushing as she spoke, "I will not give pain to our
valued guest, by refusing what he desires so earnestly that I should
accept; but, by his leave, good uncle, and yours, I will bestow these
splendid earrings on the shrine of Our Lady of Einsiedlen, to express
our general gratitude to her protecting favour, which has been around
us in the terrors of yesterday's storm, and the alarms of this
morning's discord."
"By Our Lady, the wench speaks sensibly!" said the Landamman; "and her
wisdom has applied the bounty well, my good guest, to bespeak prayers
for thy family and mine, and for the general peace of Unterwalden.--Go
to, Anne, thou shalt have a necklace of jet at next shearing-feast, if
our fleeces bear any price in the market."