THE EXECUTIONER OF SALAMANCA
But, indeed, the problem before Rollo was one difficult enough to cause
him to postpone indefinitely all less immediate and pressing evils. As
they lay hid among the reeds, and while Rollo endeavoured more
completely to gain the good-will of the little Queen, they heard the
bell of the Hermitage of San Ildefonso strike the hour sonorously.
Rollo could hardly believe his ears as the number lengthened itself out
till he had counted twelve. He had supposed that it must be three or
four in the morning at the least. But the night had worn slowly. Many
things which take long to tell had happened in brief space, and, what to
Rollo appeared worst of all, it would be yet some five hours till
daylight.
As they crouched among the canes, the effect of his sudden discomfiture
of the captors of the child Isabel became apparent. The whole palace was
ringed with a sudden leaping fire of musketry. The angry fusillade was
promptly answered from the balconies, and Rollo had the satisfaction of
knowing, from the shouts and yells of pain and fury beneath, that not
only were his folk on the alert, but that he had reason to be satisfied
with the excellence of their marksmanship.
More than one rambling party of gipsies passed their hiding-place. But
these for the most part searched in a perfunctory manner, their heads
over their shoulders to listen to the progress of their comrades who
were attacking the palace, and perhaps also no little afraid lest death
should again leap out upon them from the darkness of the cane-brake.
Rollo, immediately upon his return to the thicket, had recovered and
recharged his pistols by touch, and presently, having made all ready, he
caught up the little girl in his arms, urging her to be silent whatever
happened, and to trust everything to him.
Isabel, who was of an affectionate and easy disposition, though ever
quick to anger, put her arm readily about the young man's neck. He had a
winsome and gracious manner with all children, which perhaps was the
same quality that won him his way with women.
Rollo had an idea which had come to him with the chime of the Hermitage
bell as it tolled the hour of midnight. There, if anywhere, he would
find good men, interested in the welfare of the Princess, and with
hearts large enough to remain calmly at the post of duty even in a
deserted and plague-ruined town. For one of the chief glories of the
Roman Church is this, that her clergy do not desert their people in the
hour of any danger, however terrible. Nothing else, indeed, is thought
of. As a military man would say, "It is the tradition of the service!"
Now if Rollo had been in his own Scottish land during the visitation of
this first cholera, he would have had good grounds for _hoping_ that he
would find the ministers of his faith in the thick of the fight with
death, undismayed, never weary. There were many, very many such--many,
but very far from all. The difference was that here in ignorant Spain
Rollo knew without deduction that of a certainty the monks and parish
priests of the ancient creed would be faithful.
It might indeed in some cases be otherwise with some selfish and
pampered Jesuits or the benefice-seeking rabble of clerics who hang
about the purlieus of a court. A father-confessor or two might flee
over-seas, an abbot go on timely pilgrimage to Rome, but here in San
Ildefonso, Rollo knew that he would either find the priests and holy
brothers of the Church manfully doing their noble work, or dead and in
their sainted graves--in any case, again in military phrase, "all
present or all accounted for!"
To the Hermitage of San Ildefonso, therefore, recently enlarged and
erected into a monastery, Rollo directed his steps. It was no easy task
at such a time. There was the great railing to negotiate, and a passage
to force through a town by this time alive with enemies. In spite of the
darkness the gipsies at any point might stop his way, and he was
burdened with a child whom he must protect at all hazards.
But this young man loved to be driven into a corner. Danger excited him,
as drinking might another man. Indeed, so quick were his parts, so ready
his invention, that before he had left the reed-bed he had turned over
and rejected half a dozen plans of escape. Yet another suggested itself,
to which for the moment he could see no objection.
He spoke to the little Isabel, who now nestled closely and confidently
to him.
"Did they not tell me," he said, "that there was somewhere about the
palace a dairy of cows?"
"Yes--it is true," answered the little Queen; "at least, there is a
place where they are brought in to be milked. It belongs to my mother.
She loves them all, and often used to take me there to enjoy the sight
and to drink the milk warm with the froth upon it because it is good for
the breathing!"
"Can you show me the way, little Princess Isabel?" said Rollo.
"Yes, that can I, indeed," she made answer; "but you must not take away
my mother's milk-pails, nor let the wicked gipsies know of them. Old
Piebald Pedro drives the cows in and out every day, riding upon his
donkey. They live at my mother's farm in the valley that is called in
French '_Sans Souci_!' Is it not a pretty name?"
"His donkey?" said Rollo, quickly, catching at the idea; "where does he
keep it?"
"In a little shed not far from the dairy," she answered, "the stable is
covered all over with yellow canes, and it stands near a pool where the
green frogs croak!"
It had been Rollo's intention to drive some of the royal cows out before
him as a booty, passing himself off as one of the gipsy gang. But upon
this information he decided that Pedro the cowherd's ass would suit his
purpose much better, if he should be fortunate enough to find it. He was
sure that among so many gipsies and ill-conditioned folk who had joined
the tribes of Egypt for the sake of adventure and booty, there must be
many who were personally unknown to each other. And though he could not
speak deep Romany like La Giralda and the Sergeant, Rollo was yet more
expert at the "crabbed Gitano" than nine out of ten of the northern
gipsies, who, indeed, for the most part use a mere thieves' slang, or as
it is called, _Tramper's Dutch_.
The little girl directed him as well as she could, nevertheless it was
some time before he could find the place he was in quest of. For Isabel
had never been out at night before, and naturally the forms of all
things appeared strangely altered to an imaginative child. Indeed, it
may be admitted that Rollo stumbled upon the place more by good luck
than because he was guided thither by the advice of Isabel. For the
utmost the child could tell him was only that Piebald Pedro's hut was
near the dairy, and that the dairy was near Pedro's hut.
The donkey itself, however, perhaps excited by the proximity of so many
of its kind (though no one of the thieves' beasts had made the least
actual noise), presently gave vent to a series of brays which guided
them easily to the spot.
Rollo set the Princess on the ground, bidding her watch by the door and
tell him if any one came in sight. But the little girl, not yet
recovered from her fright, clung to his coat and pled so piteously to be
allowed to stay with him, that he could not insist. First of all he
groped all around the light cane-wattled walls of Pedro's hut for any
garment which might serve to disguise him. For though Rollo's garments
were by no means gay, they were at least of somewhat more fashionable
cut than was usual among the gipsies and their congeners.
After a little Rollo found the old cowherd's milking-blouse stuffed in
an empty corn-chest among scraps of harness, bits of rope, nails, broken
gardening-tools, and other collections made by the Piebald One in the
honest exercise of his vocation. He pulled the crumpled old garment out
and donned it without scruple. His own _sombrero_, much the worse for
wear and weather, served well enough, with the brim turned down, to give
the young man the appearance of a peasant turned brigand for the nonce.
His next business was to conceal the little girl in order that they
might have a chance of passing the gipsy picket at the gates, and of
escaping chance questionings by the way.
Rollo therefore continued to search in the darkness till he had
collected two large bundles, one of chopped straw, and the other of hay,
which he stuffed into the panniers, in the larger of which he meant to
find room also for the Princess. Once settled, a sheet was thrown over
her shoulders, and the hay lightly scattered over all. Then she was
ordered to lie down and to keep especially still if she should hear any
one speak to her companion. And so naturally did the little girl take to
secrecy and adventure that after having assured herself of Rollo's
kindness, not a murmur passed her lips.
On the contrary, she promised all careful obedience, and it was no great
while before they set out, making so bold as to pass once more by her
own private kitchen. For Rollo had resolved to take possession of some
of the silver utensils, that he might have somewhat wherewith to satisfy
plunderers if they should chance to be stopped, and the ass's burdens in
danger of being too closely examined.
They found the silver vessels and pans lying where they had been piled
outside the door. Apparently no one had been near them. One of the
gipsies, however, who had been wounded, still lay groaning without,
cursing the cravens who had left him and fled at a couple of pistol
shots. But the other, he who had first been dealt with by Rollo's
bullet out of the cane-brake, gave no sign. He lay still, shot through
the heart, the torture-cord still in his hand.
Without taking the least notice of the wounded man, Rollo coolly loaded
the silver dishes upon his own shoulders, placing one or two of the
largest copper pans upon the donkey in such a manner as to shelter the
Princess from observation should any one turn a lantern upon them on
their way to the Hermitage of San Ildefonso.
They kept wide of the palace itself, however, for though the fire had
slackened, and the besieged only replied when one of their assailants
incautiously showed himself, yet the place was evidently still
completely beset, and the loaded trains of mules and donkeys departing
from the storehouses had released many of the younger and more
adventurous gipsies, who had brought no beast with them on which to
carry off their plunder.
At about the same time, a red glow began to wax and wane uncertainly
above the granaries most distant from Rollo and his charge. A ruddy
volume of smoke slowly disengaged itself from the roofs. Windows winked
red, glowed, and then spouted flame. It was evident that the gipsies had
fired the plundered storehouses.
In their own interests the act was one of the worst policy. For their
movements, which had hitherto been masked in darkness, now became clear
as day, while the advantages of the besieged within the palace were
greatly increased.
But (what principally concerns us) the matter happened ill enough for
Rollo and the little Queen. They had to pass under the full glare of the
fire, through groups of gipsies assembled about the great gate,
chaffering and disputing. But there appeared to Rollo at least a chance
of getting past unobserved, for all seemed to be thoroughly occupied
with their own business. Rollo accordingly settled the little Queen
deeper in the great pannier, and readjusted the hay over her. He then
hung an additional pair of copper vessels across the crupper, chirruped
to the beast, and went forward to face his fate with as good a heart as
might be within his breast.
"Whither goest thou, brother?" cried a voice from behind him, just when
Rollo was full between the portals of the great gate.
"Brother, I go into the town to complete my plunder," answered Rollo in
Romany, "and to help my kinsfolk of the Gitano!"
"Strangely enough thou speakest, brother," was the reply; "thy tongue is
not such as we wanderers of the Castiles speak one to the other!"
Rollo laughed heartily at this, his hand all the while gripping the
pistol on his thigh.
"Indeed," said he, "it were great marvel an it were. For I am of Lorca,
which is near to Granada; and what is more, I am known there as a very
pretty fellow with my hands!"
"I doubt it not," said the Castilian gipsy, turning away; "and not to
speak of the pistol, that is a pretty enough plaything of a tooth-pick
which hangs at thy girdle, brother!"
As he turned carelessly away he pointed to the long knife the Sergeant
had given Rollo, and which, owing to some mysterious marks upon its
handle, proved on more than one occasion of service to him.
Presently, as he was urging his donkey to the left out of the silent
town, he came upon a knot of gipsies who stood with heads all bent
together as if in consultation. They were deep within the shadow of an
archway a little raised above the level of the street, and Rollo could
not see them before he was, as it were, under their noses. One of them,
a great brawny hulk of a man, sun-blackened to the hue of an Arab of the
Rif, struck his knuckles with a clang on the brazen vessel which
sheltered the little Queen.
Rollo caught his breath, for it seemed certain that the child must cry
out with fear.
But the little maid abode silent, her Spanish heart taking naturally to
concealments and subterfuges--then, as in after years.
"Ha, brother," said this great hulk in deep tones, and in better Romany
than the former had used, "thou art strangely modest in thy plundering.
Hay and straw, brass kettles and tin skillets, my friend, are like that
neatherd's cloak of thine, they cover a multitude of things better worth
having. What hast thou there under thy pots and pans?"
The young man's often tried fate stood again on tiptoe. He knew well
that he was within a pin-prick of getting his throat cut from ear to
ear. But nevertheless the cool head and fiery heart which were the
birthright of Rollo Blair once more brought him through. He instantly
laid his hand upon his knife-handle and half drew it from its leathern
sheath.
"I would have you know, sir," he cried in an incensed tone, "that I am
Ruiz Elicroca of Lorca, own sister's son to Jose Maria of Ronda, who
gave me this knife, as you may see by the handle. I am not to be imposed
upon by cut-purses and bullies--no, not though they were as big as a
church, and as black-angry as the devil on a saint's day!"
The huge fellow fell back a step, with a sort of mockery of alarm,
before Rollo's vehemence. For he had advanced into the middle of the
highway, so as to bar the path by the mere bulk of his body. He appeared
better satisfied, however, though by no means intimidated.
"Well," he growled, "you are a cockerel off a good dung-hill, if things
be as you say. At all events you crow not unhandsomely. But whither go
you in that direction? You are well laden as to your shoulders, my young
friend. That plate looks as if it might be silver. I warrant it would
melt down into a hundred good _duros_ with the double pillar upon each
of them. You need not want for more. But turn and go another way. The
Hermitage is yet to be tapped, and I warrant that monk's roost hath good
store of such-like--gold and silver both. That we claim as ours,
remember!"
"And, sir, what do you expect one man to do?" cried Rollo. "Can I take
and rob the armed and defended retreat of the friars? I warrant they
have either buried their plate in a safe place or have kept a sufficient
guard there to protect it--even as they have up yonder. Hark to them!"
The sound of a brisk interchange of shots came to their ears from the
direction of the palace.
"These be young fools who run their heads against stone walls," said the
huge gipsy; "we are wiser men. They seek gold, and are in danger of
getting lead. Like you, we will be content with silver. Altar furniture
is by no means to be despised. It fits the melting-pot as egg-meat fits
egg-shell! But whither do you fare?"
"I am passing in this direction solely that I may reach a place known to
my uncle and myself, where the pair of us have a rendezvous," answered
Rollo; "mine uncle Don Jose hath no wish to meddle in other men's
matters, as indeed he told some of you yesterday morning. But as for me,
seeing that I was young of my years and desired to make my mark, he
permitted me to come. But I would rather give up all my booty, though
honestly taken with the strong hand, than keep Jose Maria waiting!"
The Moorish gipsy now laughed in his turn.
"Nay, that I doubt not," he said, "but here we are all good fellows,
right Roms, true to each other, and would rob no honest comrade of that
for which he hath risked his life. Pass on, brother, and give to Jose
Maria of Ronda the respects of Ezquerra, the executioner, who on the
Plaza Mayor of Salamanca removed the spike from the iron cravat that so
deftly marked him for life!"
With a burst of gratitude quick and sincere, Rollo seized the huge hand
and wrung it heartily.
"You saved Jose Maria's life," he cried, "then mine is at your service!"
"Pass on, boy," smiled Ezquerra, grimly; "it is not the first time,
since I became usher to the Nether World, that I have been able to do a
friend and brave comrade a good turn. Only warn him that now they have a
new operator at Salamanca in whose veins circulates no drop of the right
black blood of Egypt. He must not try the collar twice!"
Rollo passed on with his donkey, and he was into the second street
before he dared to lift the covering of hay which hid the child. He
expected to find her in a swoon with fright or half dead with fear and
anxiety. Isabel the Second was neither.
"Take off that platter of metal," she whispered; "what funny talk you
speak. It sounded like cats spitting. You must teach it to me afterwards
when Dona Susana is out of the way. For she is very strict with me and
will only let me learn French and Castilian, saying that all other
languages are only barbarian and useless, which indeed may well be!"
"Hush," said Rollo; "we are not yet in safety. Here is the way to the
Hermitage!"
"But will you teach me the cat language?"
"Yes, yes, that I will and gladly," quoth Rollo to the little Queen,
anxious to buy her silence on any terms, "as soon, that is, as there is
time!"
After passing the gate and the group collected there, Rollo had turned
rapidly to the right, and soon the ancient walls of the Ermita of San
Ildefonso rose before him, gleaming dimly through the dense greenery of
the trees. If any of the fathers, who made their home at that sacred
place, still remained, the outside of the building gave no sign of their
presence.
But it was not a time for Rollo to stand on any ceremony. With a rough
tug at the rein he compelled the donkey to follow a narrow winding path
which, entering at an angle, made its way finally to the main door of
the Hermitage. The young man thundered at the knocker, but, receiving no
answer, he selected a flattish stone of a size suitable for passing
between the iron _grille_ of the window-bars, and threw it up at them
with all his force. The jingling of glass followed, upon which presently
a white face was seen behind the bars, and a mild voice inquired his
business.
"The brethren are either asleep or gone about the affairs of their order
in the town," the monk said; "there is no general hospitality here in
time of plague!"
"I have not come to claim any," said Rollo; "I am here to warn you that
San Ildefonso is in the hands of wicked and cruel men--gipsies of the
mountains! Call your Superior and admit me at once!"
"Alas," answered the man, "our Prior is dead! I am only almoner here,
and there are but three of us left. All the others are dead among the
sick folk of the town. They laboured till they died. I have laboured
also to provide them food when they could crawl back for it--setting it
in the guest-chamber and going out again upon their arrival--God knows,
not from any fear of the infection, but because if I chanced to be taken
our work would be at an end. For none of the others can so much as cook
an omelette or dish up a spoonful of _gazpacho_ fit for any son of man
to eat."
"Well," said Rollo, "at any rate let me in. I carry no infection and the
time is short. I will help you to hold your Hermitage against the
malefactors!"
"But how," answered the monk, shrewdly, "can I be certain that you are
not of the gang, and that if I open the door a hundred of you will not
rush in and slay me and us all out of hand?"
Rollo put his hand into the pannier of his ass and raised the Princess
upon his arm.
"Turn a light upon this little lady," he said, "and see whether she will
not convince you of my good intent!"
It was a moment or two before the man returned with a lantern, and
directed the stream of light downwards.
"The young Queen!" he cried aghast; "what is she doing here at this hour
of the night?"
"Let me in, and I will tell you," cried the lady herself, "quick--do you
hear? I will complain to Father Ignacio, my mother's confessor, if you
do not, and you will be deprived of your office. You will be put on
bread and water, and very like have your head cut off as well!"
In a minute more they heard the noise of the pulling of bolts and bars,
and were presently admitted into the little whitewashed hall of the
Ermita de San Ildefonso. There they found themselves face to face with
four monks in white habits, their faces pale and grave in the
candle-light. They gave Rollo no sign of welcome, but each of them bowed
his head low to the little Queen and then glanced inquiringly at her
protector.
"Let the _burro_ enter also," commanded Rollo. "Thrice I have been
stopped on the way, and if our enemies find the ass without they will be
the readier to believe that I have hidden my treasure with you!"
Then in the little whitewashed refectory, before the simple table on
which the fathers, now sadly reduced in numbers, took their repasts,
Rollo told his story. And, sinking on her knees devoutly before the
great crucifix that hung over the mantelpiece, the little Queen repeated
her childish prayers as placidly as if she had been at her nurse's knees
in the royal palace at Madrid, with the sentries posted duly, and the
tramp of the guard continually passing without.