Throughout this momentous night, which was to fix the future lot of the
Isabel, or Dun, and the Sorrel, neither family nor domestics enjoyed
much sleep: all lay in anxious expectation of the extraordinary things
that were likely to come to pass. Mewing of cats, screeching of owls,
barking of dogs, drove the dustman[14] away every time he came sneaking
in. The stable-boys heard the horses pant, snort, and kick; to the
bailiff it seemed as if sacks were being dragged about the granary; the
dairy-maid declared it was precisely like the noise of churning; and the
housekeeper heard, plainly enough, a sort of rummaging in the pantry.
Nor did sleep find its way into the gilded chamber. The lord of the
manor and the Junker lay silent, from time to time casting a look at the
little silver bell that hung between them; but it was mute, and so
continued to be. When the tower-clock struck one, the Junker began to
regard his wager as half-lost; but comforted himself with the
reflection, that a loss to one's wife is merely a transfer from one hand
to the other. In short, the night passed, and--as far as the
tower-chamber was concerned--as quietly as if there had never been ghost
or goblin in the world. With the first discernible peep of day-light,
both the half-undressed gentlemen rose, and hastened, with a morning
greeting, to the bold layer of spirits. They tapped at the door,--no
"Come in." "They must both still be asleep." Papa opened the door--they
entered--the lady's bed was deserted and the bed-clothes cast aside.
"Bravo," cried the Junker, "she has taken flight and the Dun is mine."
The old man did not utter a syllable, but proceeded to the servant's
bed, where no one was to be seen; but, on raising the clothes, she
appeared to view, with a face like crimson, and in a state of profuse
perspiration. To her master's first eager inquiry she returned no
answer, but stared at them both with a bewildered half-frantic look.
Having at length recovered the faculty of speech, she informed them, in
broken and unconnected sentences, that, soon after midnight, she had
seen a terrific spectre come through the wall. In her fright she had
buried herself under the bed-clothes, and had not afterwards ventured to
raise them; of what subsequently took place she knew nothing. This,
however, did not long continue a mystery, for the window was open, and
under it stood a ladder--Froeken Mette had been carried off, but by whom?
What an uproar was now in the mansion! what outcry, screaming, and
maledictions without object--questions without answer! "After them!" was
the first order, both of father and lover; but in what direction? The
mother, the most sagacious of them all, proposed a general muster of the
whole household, which the father undertook to carry into effect
personally. Having, therefore, summoned each living being by name, he
declared that no one was missing. The whole assembled corps were of the
same opinion, until Fru Kirsten exclaimed, "Where is the writing lad?"
"The writing lad! the writing lad!" now resounded from every mouth. They
looked around--looked at each other--no! no writing lad was there. The
bailiff, with two or three others, went over to the writing-room, and
the master cried to the stable-boys, "Saddle the horses and bring them
to the gate like thunder and lightning!" The bailiff soon returned, with
a rueful countenance, and almost breathless, with the intelligence, that
the missing sheep must actually have decamped, for the bed showed
plainly that no one had slept in it that night; nor were his spurs or
riding-whip to be found. At the same instant, one of the stable-boys
came running with the news, that the Dun was away. All now stood as
petrified, speechless and looking at each other, until Fru Kirsten broke
the silence. "Our Froeken daughter," said she, "cannot have been carried
off by a writing-boy; he only came sneaking here as a spy. If I greatly
err not, the robber is from the west; see, therefore, if you cannot
trace them on the road to Vium, and now away! It is even yet possible to
overtake them, for the Dun cannot have gone any great distance with
two." Her surmise was correct; on the road she mentioned, traces of a
quick-trotting horse were plainly to be seen; and, as a further proof,
not far from the mansion, a bow was found, and, a little further, a
glove, both belonging to Froeken Mette.
Armed with guns, pistols, and swords, master, Junker, bailiff, and
gamekeeper, with four other well equipped men, hastened away in chase of
the fugitives, while Fru Kirsten exclaimed, "After them! Bring them back
dead or alive!" We will now accompany the lord of Ansbjerg a little way
on his second expedition. As far as Vium, the traces were visible
enough; but here they would have been lost, if a peasant, of whom they
made inquiry, had not informed them, that about two hours before
daybreak he had heard the tramp of a horse leaving the town in a
westward direction. Profiting by this intelligence, they soon recovered
the track, which continued in the same direction by the inn at Hvam.
Here they learned that, about two hours before, the dogs had made a
great disturbance. The speed of the fugitives, therefore, it was now
evident, had began to slacken, as might also be seen by the traces. The
pursuers had reached Sjoerup, where a man, standing before the mansion,
had heard a horse pass by, and thought he could discern two persons on
it. Now the track was at an end; here were many roads, all with deep
narrow wheel-ruts; which was the one to follow? The fugitives had
followed none of them, probably from fear that the horse might fall, but
had ridden among the heath. The pursuers now halted to hold a
consultation. Of three high roads, one followed a north-west, one a
south-west direction, the third lay between them. While these, one after
another, were under consideration, the conversation turned on the great
event of the night, and particularly on the suspicious writing-lad. One
of the men remarked, that it occurred to him that he had seen the youth
before, though he could not just then recollect where. Another had seen
a stranger a few days previously speaking with him privately in the
wood, and he thought the stranger addressed him twice by the title of
Cornet. Now a sudden light burst in upon the old gentleman. "Ha!"
exclaimed he, "then let us take the middle road leading to Vestervig. I
dare swear that the writing-lad is no other than the Major's third son,
who is a Cornet in the cuirassiers. I remember that Fru Kirsten once
cautioned me against him, and said that he came prowling after Froeken
Mette. And you," cried he to the bailiff, "yourself saw the handwriting
of the bailiff at Vestervig. Either he has made fools of us all, or the
letter was forged. And all the while he was so still, orderly, and
diligent, so courteous, and so humble, that I could never have imagined
he was of noble race." Then putting his horse into a trot, "He who first
gets sight of the runaways," said he, "shall have three crowns." The
troop had about six miles to ride before they could reach the ford
through the rivulet at Karup; in the meanwhile, therefore, with our
reader's leave, I will hasten forward to our fugitives, who have just
reached the opposite side. The poor Dun, exhausted under her double
burden, and with the first four or five miles' hurried flight, walked
slowly and tottering up the heath-covered bank. The Cornet--for it
really was he--from time to time cast an anxious look backwards, and at
each time gained a kiss from his dear Mette, who sat behind him, holding
him fast round the waist. "Do you yet see nothing?" she asked, in a tone
of anxiety, for she herself did not dare to look round. "Nothing yet,"
answered he; "but I fear--the sun is already a little above the
horizon--they must be on the road in pursuit of us. If the mare could
but hold out." "But where is your brother's carriage?" asked she, after
a pause.
"It ought to have met us by the rivulet at day-break; nor can I imagine
what detains it, for my brother promised to send his young Hungarian
servant with it, whose life I saved five years ago in the war with the
Turks, when I received this sabre cut in the face. That he is not here
is perfectly inexplicable. We have still eight miles before we get out
of the heath."
While he was thus speaking, they had reached the top of the bank, and
the great west heath lay spread out before them like a vast sea; but no
carriage, no living being was to be seen. The Cornet stopped to let the
mare take breath, at the same time making a half turn, the more easily
to survey that part of the heath that lay behind them. This was also
naked and desolate; nothing was there to be seen save a few scattered
turf stacks, nothing to be heard but the cry of the heathcock, the
rushing of the rivulet, the panting of the mare, and their own sighs.
Awhile they thus remained, until the Froeken broke silence with the
question, "Is there not something moving yonder?" She uttered this in a
suppressed voice, as if she feared it would be heard on the other side
of the waste.
"There is no time for staying longer," answered he; "I am fearful it is
your father who is coming yonder." With these words, he turned again
towards the west.
"Oh! my father," exclaimed Mette sighing, and at the same time clasping
her lover still more closely.
He again looked round. "They seem to draw nearer," said he; "if I urge
on the mare, I fear she will fall." They rode onwards a short distance,
he with an oppressed, she with an anxiously throbbing heart.
"I must walk," cried he, and dismounted, "that will so far help; do not
look back, dearest girl."
"Ah heaven! can it be our pursuers?"
"There are seven or eight of them, as far as I can discern."
"How far off may they be?" asked Mette again.
"Scarcely more than two miles," he replied, and notwithstanding his
admonition she again looked back.
"I see no one," said she.
"Nor do I at this moment," he answered, "they are most probably down in
a valley: one is just now making his appearance, and now another. Come,
come, poor Bel," cried he, drawing the mare after him, "you are
accustomed at other times to carry an arched neck, and to lift your
feet high enough; now you drag them along the ground, and stretch out
your neck like a fish when it is being hauled out of the water."