THE SWORD OF LA TOURNOIRE
The light softened and faded into that of evening. Another set of men
took the places of those outside my door. No food nor drink was brought
me, and I supposed the Captain hoped by this neglect to reduce me the
sooner to a yielding state. But I was even glad to have to undergo some
of the discomforts which the Countess must needs be enduring. I gave up
hope of her life or my own, and, leaning forward so as to get some
relief of position, I fell into a kind of drowsy lassitude.
Suddenly, through my window, which overlooked the court-yard, I heard a
low call at the gate, which was answered. Presently I heard the gate
close, and assumed it had been opened to let in the man who had uttered
the call. About a minute after that, there was a considerable noise in
the yard, as of men hastily assembling. Then came the voice of the
Captain, apparently addressing the whole company. When he finished,
there was a general movement of feet, as of men dispersing about the
yard, and this was followed by complete silence.
The men in the passage were now joined by a comrade, who spoke to them
rapidly in a low tone. They whispered to one another in some excitement,
but did not leave their places nor take their eyes from me.
The next sound I heard was of the tread of horses approaching. My
curiosity now aroused, I strained my ears. The hoof-beats came to the
gate, and then I heard a loud knock, followed by no other sound than of
the pawing and snorting of the horses as they stood. There must have
been at least a score of them.
Presently the unheeded knock was repeated, and then a quick, virile
voice called out:
"Hola, within there! Open the gate, in the name of the King!"
My heart leaped. The voice was that of the royal guardsman who had saved
the Countess from the robbers the previous evening. But his party was
now evidently much larger than before.
No answer was given to his demand. The red Captain's intent apparently
was to make these newcomers believe the place deserted. I had an impulse
to shout the truth, but I saw my guards watching me, their hands on
their weapons, and knew that my first word would be the signal for my
death. So I kept silence.
"If you do not open the gate at once," the guardsman cried, "we will
open it for ourselves, in our own way."
I now heard footsteps shuffling across the yard, and then one of the
robbers spoke, in the quavering tones of an old man:
"Pardon, Monsieur. Pardon, I pray, but it is impossible for me to open.
I am all alone here in charge of this place, which is empty and
deserted, and I'm forbidden to open the gate to anybody but the master.
He would kill me if I disobeyed, and besides that, I have taken a vow.
There is nothing here that you can want, Monsieur."
"There is shelter for the night to be had here, and that we mean to
have. We are on the business of the King, and I command you to open."
"I dare not, Monsieur. I should imperil my life and my soul. There is a
lodge in the forest a mile to the east, and the keeper will see to all
your wants: there is plenty of shelter, food for yourselves, hay for
your horses, everything you can need. Here all is dismantled and empty."
"Old man, you are lying. Unbar the gate in a moment, or your life will
indeed be in danger."
To this the "old man" gave no answer, except to come away from the gate
with the same simulated walk of an aged person.
I heard the horsemen discussing in low tones. Then, to my dismay, came
the sound of hoofs again, this time moving away. Now I was more than
ever minded to cry out, but my guards were ready to spring upon me with
their daggers. I might have sought this speedy death, but for the sudden
thought that the withdrawal of the royal guardsmen might be only
temporary.
I know not how many minutes passed. The sound of the horses had died out
for some time. I became sensible of the tramp of men's feet. Were the
guardsmen returning without their horses? Suddenly the red Captain's
voice arose in the court-yard:
"To the walls, you with firearms! Shoot them down as they try to batter
in the gate! All the rest, stand with me to kill them if they enter!"
The tramp of the guardsmen came swiftly near. I heard the reports of
muskets and pistols. There was a loud thud, as of some sort of ram--a
fallen branch or trunk from the forest--being borne powerfully against
the gate. This was answered by defiant, profane shouts and more loud
detonations. My guards in the passage groaned, exclaimed, and clenched
their weapons, mad to be in the fray. I could only listen and wait.
There was a second thud against the gate, amidst more cries and shots.
And soon came a third, the sound being this time prolonged into a crash
of timber. A shout of triumph from the invaders, a yell of execration
from the red Captain and his men, and the clash of steel, told that the
gate had given way.
"Follow close, gentlemen! Trust me to clear a path!" cried a hearty
voice, cheerful to the point of mirth, which thrilled my soul.
"Ay, follow him close!" cried the leader of the guardsmen; "follow the
sword of La Tournoire!"
I could have shouted for joy, but that it was now worth while postponing
death by minutes.
The noise of clashing swords increased and came nearer, as if the
guardsmen were pouring in through the gateway and driving the defenders
back toward the house. Now and then came the sound of a pike or reversed
musket meeting steel armour, and all the time fierce exclamations rose
from both parties. There was no more firing; doubtless the melee was too
close and general for anybody to reload.
The men in the passage, as the tumult grew and approached, became as
restless as dogs in leash that whine and jump to be in the fray. At last
one of them ran into my room and looked out of the window.
"Death of the devil, how they are at it!" he cried, for the information
of his comrades outside my door. "I think we shall be wanted in a minute
or two. These cursed intruders have forced the gateway. Our fellows are
twice as many as they, but their heads and bodies are in steel,--all but
one, a middle-aged man with gray in his beard. He has no armour on, but
he leads the others. Body of Satan! you should see him clear the ground
about him. He thrusts in all directions at once: his sword is as long as
a man, and it darts as quickly as the tongue of a snake. Ha! it has just
cut down old Cricharde.--And now it has stung Galparoux.--Holy
Beelzebub, what a man! He fights like a fiend, and all the time with a
gay face as if he were at his sport.--Ah! there he has let daylight into
poor Boirac.--But now--good!--at last our Captain has planted himself in
front of this devil: it was high time: he will find his match now. By
God, it will be worth looking at, the fight between the red Captain and
this stranger,--there aren't two such men in France. They are taking
each other's measure now,--each one sees what sort of stuff he has run
against. Ah!"
What the last exclamation meant, I could not know. The man's attention
had become too close for further speech. But I supposed that a pass had
been made between my father and the red Captain, and that it had been
nothing decisive, for the watcher's interest continued at the extreme
tension: he kept his face against the iron bars of the window, and made
no sound beyond frequent short ejaculations. The men in the passage
called to him for further news, but he did not heed them. To my ears the
fighting continued as general as before, with the shouts of many throats
and the clash of many weapons, so that I could not at all distinguish
the single combat between my father and the red Captain from the rest of
the fray.
Presently the man gave a howl of rage. "Our Captain is being forced
back!" he cried. "We are getting the worst of the fight everywhere. It's
too much!--we are needed down there! To the devil with orders!--the
Captain will be glad enough if we turn the tide. And we'd better try our
luck down there than be taken here, for short time they'll give us for
prayers, my children." While speaking he had moved from the window to my
door.
"Certainly this prisoner is safe enough," answered one of the men,
whereupon he and the others in the passage ran down the stairs.
But the man who had been at the window turned to me. "Safe enough,--yes,
so it looks," said he. "Young man, the Captain must think you a
magician, to take so much pains against your escaping. If it came to the
worst, I was to kill you, and the time seems to have arrived: so, if
you'll pardon me--"
"You will be a great fool," said I, as he approached with his sword
drawn; "for if you are taken alive my intervention will save your neck."
"How do you know it will?"
"By the fact that the gentleman down there whose fighting you so admire
is my father."
"Indeed? You are a gentleman: do you give your word of honour for that?"
"Yes; and to speak for you if I am alive when your side is finally
defeated."
"Very good, Monsieur. I will hold you to that." Upon this he left me and
followed his comrades down the stairs.
His footfalls had scarcely ceased upon the stairway, when other sounds
began to come from the same direction,--those of conflict in the
entrance hall below. Somebody had drawn his antagonist, or been forced
by him, into the house. There was the quick, irregular stamp of booted
feet on the stone floor, the keen music of sword striking sword. If the
fight spread generally into the house, and the defenders fled to the
upper rooms, my position must become more critical. So I listened rather
to this noise in the hallway than to the tumult in the court-yard. By
the sound of the steel coming nearer, and that of the footfalls changing
somewhat, I presently knew that one of the fighters had sought the
vantage--or disadvantage--of the staircase. But the other evidently
pushed him hard, for soon both combatants had reached the landing at the
turn of the stairs, as was manifest from a sudden increase of their
noise in my ears. I could now hear their short ejaculations as well as
the other sounds. They continued to approach: I listened for a stumble
on the stairs, to be followed by a death-cry: but these men were
apparently heedful as to their steps, and finally they were both upon
the level footing of the passage outside my room. I wondered if this
fight would be over before it could be opposite my doorway. In a few
moments I was answered. Into my narrow view came the large figure of the
red Captain, without a doublet, his muscular arms bare, his shirt open
and soaked with perspiration, his upper body heaving rapidly as he
breathed, his face streaming, his eyes fixed upon the enemy whose swift
rapier he parried with wonderful skill. The light of evening was dim in
the passage, and perhaps for that reason the Captain backed into my
room. His adversary followed instantly.
"Father!" I cried, as the Sieur de la Tournoire appeared in the doorway:
in my emotion I thought not how I endangered him by distracting his
attention.
But he was not to be thrown off his guard. He moved his head a little to
the side, so as to catch a glimpse of me behind the Captain, but this
did not prevent his adroitly turning a quick thrust which his enemy made
on the instant of my cry.
"Hola, Henri!" said my father, with perfect calmness except for his
quickness of breath. "What the devil are you doing here?"
"Sitting chained to the floor," I replied.
At this the Captain suddenly leaped back almost to where I was, and I
suppose his intention was to place himself eventually where he would
have me between him and my father and could kill me without ceasing to
face the latter. But he may have considered an attempt to pass over me
as unsafe for his subsequent footing, and so his next movement was
sidewise: my father, following close, gave him work every moment. The
Captain again stepping backward, I was now at his right and a little in
front, so that, if he could gain but a spare second, he could send a
finishing thrust my way. With my head turned so as to keep my eyes upon
him, I could see by his look that he was determined not to risk my
outliving him.
My father, too busy in meeting the Captain's lunges, and in trying what
thrust might elude his defence, thought best to expend no more breath in
talk with me, and so the fighting went on without words. Suppose,
thought I, my father kills the Captain but the Captain first kills me?
Had I not better now tell my father to seek the Tower of Morlon and
release a person confined there? But if I did that, the Captain would
hear, and suppose he killed my father as well as me! I held my tongue.
The Captain now maintained his position, neither giving ground nor
pressing forward. The two combatants were between me and the window,
through which still came sounds of struggle from the yard below. But
these sounds were fewer, except those of cheers, which grew more
frequent.
"Good! Our friends are gaining the day!" said my father to me.
"But you, Messieurs, shall not crow over it!" cried the Captain, and
made a long thrust, as swift as lightning. My father caught it on the
guard of his hilt, within short distance of his breast, at the same
instant stepping back. The Captain did not follow, but darted his sword
at me, with the cry, "Not for you the Countess!" I contracted my body
and thought myself done for. My father's impulsive forward movement,
however, disconcerted the Captain's arm in the very moment of his lunge,
and his point but feebly stung my side and flew back again, his guard
recovered none too soon to save himself. My father's thrusts became now
so quick and continuous that the Captain fell back to gain breath. My
father drove him to the wall. Shouting a curse, the Captain thrust for
my father's midriff. My father, with a swift movement, received the
sword between his arm and body, and at the same instant ran his own
rapier into the Captain's unguarded front, pushed it through his lung,
and pinned him to the wall.
[Illustration: "MY FATHER'S THRUSTS BECAME NOW SO QUICK AND
CONTINUOUS."]
The Captain's arms dropped, his head hung forward, and as soon as the
sword was drawn out, he tumbled lifeless to the floor.
My father leaned against the wall till he regained a little breath and
energy; then he wiped his brow and sword, and came over to me.
"How have they got you trussed up?" he asked. "And how came you into
their hands?--I should be amazed to find you here, if I hadn't seen
stranger things before now."
While he cut the cords that bound my ankles and wrists, I told him how I
had been waylaid. "I was going with food and wine to a friend who lies
locked in a deserted tower called Morlon. She is ill to death, and may
now be dead for lack of food and air to keep up her strength. I must go
to her--"
"A woman, then?"
"Yes, a lady: I will tell you all, but there is no time to lose now. The
tower is in this forest. I must find my way there at once."
"Patience, a moment," said my father. "Your chain is locked, I see:--but
no matter,--I can loosen it so that you can wriggle through." By having
cut the cords, around which the chain had been passed, he had relieved
the tautness, and was now able to do what he promised. He then took off
my boots, and, grasping me under the arms, drew me backward out of the
loosened coils as I moved them downward with my hands. At last I stood a
free man. I put on my boots, took the Captain's sword, and accompanied
my father down into the court-yard.
The fight was now over there. Of the royal guardsmen, all in steel caps
and corselets, like the small party of them I had seen the previous
evening, some were wiping their faces and swords, and others were caring
for the hurts of comrades. Some of the robbers lay dead, several were
wounded, and the rest, having yielded their weapons, were looking after
their own disabled, under the direction of guardsmen. I recognized a
number of the rascals as men I had seen at the Chateau de Lavardin. The
commander of the troop of guards, he whom I had met before and whose
vigorous voice I had recognized, greeted my father with a look of
congratulation, and showed surprise at seeing me.
"Tis a day of events," said my father. "I have killed the Count's
accomplice, and found my son.--Nay, there was no hope of that Captain's
surrendering."
"My faith!--then your two quests are accomplished at the same moment,"
said the leader of the guardsmen. "And, for another wonder, your son
turns out to be a person I have already met. But your friend, Monsieur?"
This inquiry was to me, and made with sudden solicitude.
"Locked in the tower of Morlon, waiting for me to come with
food,--perhaps dying or dead.--Monsieur, I was brought here blindfold:
but I must find the way back to the tower of Morlon without delay,--it
is somewhere in this forest."
"No doubt some of these gentry know the way," said the guardsman,
indicating the robbers. "We'll make it a condition of his life for one
of them to guide us."
"You make me your life-long debtor, Monsieur," I cried. "And one of them
has the key: I think it is he lying yonder. As for food and wine--"
"We are not without those," said the guardsman. "Our horses and supplies
are near at hand."
I went among the dead and wounded to find the man who had taken
possession of my keys. Him I found, but the keys were not upon him.
Supposing he had given them to his master, I ran upstairs and examined
the pockets of the Captain, but in vain. Where to look next I knew not,
so I returned to the court-yard and made known my unsuccess.
"Tut!" said my father; "a door is but a door, and we can break down that
of your tower as we broke down this gate. This gentleman"--meaning the
leader of the guardsmen--"has most courteously offered to accompany us,
with part of his noble troop, and he has chosen a guide from among the
prisoners."
"Ay, they all know the tower," said the guardsman, "but this fellow
appears the most sensible.--Now, my man, how long will it take us, your
comrades bearing the pine trunk with which we rammed this gate, to reach
the tower of Morlon?"
"Two hours, Monsieur, I should say," replied the robber.
"It is too much," said the guardsman. "You will lead us thither in an
hour at the utmost, or at the end of the hour you shall hang to the tree
I then happen to be under." He thereupon gave orders to the guardsmen,
and to the prisoners. As night would overtake us in the forest, he had a
brief search made of the outhouses, and a number of dry pine sticks were
found, to serve as torches. Our party was to go mounted, except the
robbers impressed to carry the battering ram: so I went to the stalls at
one side of the yard, and found my own horse, chewing hay in fraternal
companionship with the animals which had doubtless brought Captain
Ferragant and his men from Lavardin.
As I led out my horse, I suddenly bethought me of the man for whose life
I had promised to speak. During the final preparations for our start, I
looked again among the robbers, wondering why this man had not forced
himself upon my attention. But I soon found the reason: he lay on his
side, and when I turned him over I saw he was pierced between two ribs
and had no life left to plead for.