CHAPTER II.

It may well be believed that we counted the minutes as the evening of

the second day went by. Every one there present felt that there was a

book to be opened before them that night, on the pages of which the

future destiny of all was more or less distinctly written. The two

boys felt it much, but they felt it with some sort of eagerness, and

some anticipations of pleasure. Old Monsieur la Tour looked grave and

thoughtful, as well he might; for he was the only one there present

who was fully aware of the character and previous history of the

person about to be added to the domestic circle at Blancford. I had

heard something, indeed, but not all; but, to counterbalance any

painful reflections, I had the prospect before me of entering upon a

new and more active course of being, and fulfilling the destinies to

which the spirit within my bosom called me.

The person who felt the most on the occasion was Louise de Blancford;

and nobody could doubt that--though a portion of the happiness of

every one there present was in some way to be affected--it was her

whole fate, peace, comfort, and tranquillity which then trembled in

the balance. The boys would soon naturally seek the tented field, or

plunge into the occupations of the city or the court; but she was to

remain alone, with the happiness of every moment in the hands and at

the disposal of another.

She was at that time as beautiful as a young rose, with a countenance

upon which all the emotions of her pure heart traced themselves in an

instant as they arose in her bosom; and I could see her eye turn

towards me from time to time with an anxious and inquiring glance,

which showed me at once the feelings that were going on within, and

told me all she would have asked, although no words were spoken. I did

my best to comfort her, and to raise up hope of bright and happy

things. Perhaps I did so hypocritically; but surely it was pardonable,

when I found that cheerful moments were passing away, perhaps for

ever, to give her as many as I could till the power of so doing was

absolutely taken from me.

It was a bright and beautiful summer's evening; and going out upon the

sloping hill which was crowned by the castle, we looked in the

direction where we expected to see the cavalcade appear, and watched

anxiously for the first spear-head rising above the distant trees.

We waited long, however; the sun descended to the horizon in

splendour; the whole sky was rosy with his light; the very air itself

seemed to be filled with purple rays; and the woods, and villages, and

towers around were all steeped in the same rich and glowing hue. It

seemed to speak of hope and bright days to come; and yet, though we

were all young, and under the soft guardianship of kind inexperience,

our hearts refused to receive the colouring of the bright scene

without, and the sweetness of the evening seemed rather to make us

more melancholy than to raise our expectations.

The sun went down slowly; the distant lines of the country assumed the

most intense blue; the last rays of the setting orb poured through

hollow way in the deep masses of the forest, and caught upon a large

piece of water at the foot of the hill, rendering one part like a sea

of liquid gold, while the other remained shadowed by a wood as black

as night. The moon, too, was coming up in the western sky, together

with a single star, so pure, so soft, so full of pale light, that it

seemed like a drop fallen from the eyes of the departing sun.

Louise's hand rested sisterly upon my arm; we gazed upon the glowing

west and the deep blue lines beyond; we gazed upon the pale pure east,

with the moon and the stars; and we gazed upon the golden water, and

the shadowy wood, and the higher towers of the castle, partly lighted

up, as if on fire, with beams that we could no longer behold, and

partly buried in profound shadow. We then turned our eyes upon each

other; and oh! how I wished at that moment that it had been in my

power to command the fate of that sweet girl, and by my will alone to

ensure that she should be happy.

At that moment we heard the distant sound of a trumpet; but it was

far, far off, borne upon the wings of the soft westerly wind. Neither

banner, nor spear, nor cavalcade could be seen as far as the eye could

reach; and, after gazing for a few minutes longer, we re-entered the

castle, and waited there till we heard the sound of horses coming up

the hill.

All ran down at once from the room where we had been sitting; Louise

and the old clergyman to the great hall, I and my two young cousins to

welcome the baron at the drawbridge. He came, accompanied by a long

train of retainers, with a carriage and a horse litter containing his

new wife and her manifold attendants. The torches and lanterns showed

us a countenance much changed since we had last seen him, older in

appearance than in reality, thinner, and more harsh than ever. There

was a heavy frown, too, upon his brow, and it was evident that

something had gone wrong on the road.

To me he spoke but one word in answer to my inquiries after his

health, and the boys, who were pressing round him with the eagerness

of natural affection, he pushed roughly away, telling them that they

encumbered him. He then approached the side of the carriage and handed

out the lady, who, being of course masked for the journey, did not

suffer her face to appear. He led her at once into the hall, where

Louise and the old clergyman had remained; and his daughter, who was

the only person that seemed to shrink back from himself and his new

wife, was the only one to whom he spoke kindly and tenderly.

There, sheltered from the wind, and with plenty of light around, the

lady took of her velvet mask; and oh, how every idea which I had

previously formed of what her person was likely to present, vanished

in a single instant! As she lifted that mask from her face, the

imagination of memory conjured up in a moment the beautiful form of

the first wife, and set it beside the new one. Certainly I had

expected to find transcendent beauty in the being who had lured the

heart of the husband away from such a lovely and amiable being; and

who, after having made her miserable through life, had taken her place

when dead.

The figure of the new baroness was fine, it is true; tall, commanding,

and well-proportioned; but it wanted that soft and easy grace, that

flowing symmetry of every line which had distinguished her

predecessor; and if there was a difference and an inferiority in

figure, what was there not in countenance? She was no longer young;

the features were large and strongly marked, the eyes bright, indeed,

and full of fire, but that was the fire of a harsh and domineering

temper; and they were only softened, if at all, by a look of wanton

meaning which sometimes came across them. The lips were thin, and

generally closely shut, though the teeth were fine which they

concealed; the chin was rounded, but somewhat projecting; the cheek

bones were high, and the skin, though not brown, was coarse. There was

a good deal of colour in the face; so much, indeed, that I should have

supposed it not altogether natural, had it not been roughly scattered

over the cheek with a sort of mottled appearance, which convinced me

that art had no share in placing it there. The hair was fine and

luxuriant, although she had passed her prime, and her hand was large

and somewhat coarse, though much pains had been taken to keep it soft

and white.

She gazed at Louise from head to foot, with a look of scrutiny and

apparently some surprise.

"You told me that she was a girl, a mere child," the lady said,

addressing the baron as he introduced his daughter to her. "Why this

is a woman!"

"She was a child when I left her, madam," replied the baron, "and you

may see that she is a child in heart still by the blushes which your

words call up."

"She looks all the prettier for them," replied the baroness; "but I

must teach her not to be such a spendthrift, and to reserve them for

occasions when they will have some effect. And, pray, who is this

young gentleman!" she proceeded, turning towards me while that meaning

look came up in her eyes. "Not your eldest son, I suppose, my lord,

for he was only twelve years old when last I heard of him, and he has

not probably made such a rapid jump as the young lady. If he have, he

has gotten him goodly limbs in a short time." And she ran over me with

the same unblushing effrontery with which she had gazed upon Louise.

"This, madam," replied the baron, bitterly, "is a cousin of mine,

Henry de Cerons, son of another cousin, Henry de Cerons, who has done

me the honour of living in my house for the last twenty years."

The blood came up into my cheeks as I heard him speak. "I have been,

madam," I said, taking up the words immediately, "a poor pensioner

upon my cousin's bounty since the period that he speaks of. It was

then that the death of my noble father left me dependant, with nothing

but a sword, which he had rendered glorious, for my future fortune."

"It proved but a poor fortune to him," replied my cousin, frowning at

me; "and you have suffered it somewhat to rust in the scabbard,

methinks, Master Henry."

"At your own request for the last two years, my lord," I replied, "and

it shall do so no longer."

I was going to add more, though I saw that the baron's mood was

becoming every moment more and more fierce. But the eyes of both at

that moment fell upon Louise, and we beheld the tears running through

her long eyelashes and down her cheeks.

"Come, come, no more, no more," he said; "let us drop such subjects,

and not make the evening bitter. Madam, I will show you your

apartments. Supper, I hope, will soon be ready."

"And the baron in a better humour," said the lady, giving a sarcastic

look round as she swept up the hall after him.

We left her lord and the attendants to show her the way; and the five

who had tenanted the castle before her coming remained behind in the

hall, gazing upon each other, while memory again drew a comparison

between the present and the past, the most painful, the most bitter

that it is possible to conceive. No one spoke; the sensations in the

heart of every one were too dark and sad for us to give them

utterance; and, before a word was uttered, the baron had returned.

How the cheerful meal of supper passed over that night in the chateau

of Blancford may be easily conceived, for the same spirit which had

marked the return of the lord of that castle to his dwelling pervaded

the whole conversation. Why or how he had been induced to wed the

woman whom he had brought thither might be difficult to say; but it

was very evident that where there could never have been any esteem

there now remained no affection. We were all silent but the lord and

lady of the house, except when, from time to time, good Monsieur la

Tour endeavoured to break the restraint by a word upon some ordinary

subject, or when I replied to him, which act seemed not a little to

create the baron's surprise that I should presume to converse in his

presence.

When the meal was over, the lady declared she was fatigued, and

retired speedily to rest. Louise followed; and, as there was now no

cheerful circle gathered together in the evening to converse over the

events of the day, I was about also to retire very soon; but the baron

stopped me, saying he wished to speak to me, with a sort of dull,

leaden look about his eyes, which he put on when he wanted to assume

an air of despotic rule, and to announce his purpose in such a way as

to admit of no reply.

The clergyman also stayed; and, turning to me, the baron said, "It is

time, my fair cousin, if we may judge by the specimens which you have

given us to-night of your conversational powers, that you should find

yourself a new home."

"I am not only quite ready, my lord," I replied, "but fully determined

to do so as speedily as may be."

"It may be very speedily indeed, then," replied the baron, "for I have

already arranged the whole matter for you. You will be pleased to set

out to-morrow morning for the town of Pau in Bearn; and I will furnish

you with letters to the Protestant clergyman of that place, who will

put you in the proper way so to complete your education in the college

as to become, I trust, a worthy member of our church. Nay, hear me,

hear me to the end. Your maintenance, and the expenses of your studies

till the period of your taking orders, will be borne by myself,

provided your conduct is such as to justify my kindness. And, having

done this, I think I have fulfilled to the utmost the promises which I

was induced to make to your late father."

"Your lordship has informed me before now," I replied, "That it was my

father's wish that I should be a soldier, and pursue the profession

which all my race have followed. You informed me once also that you

had promised him it should be so, and that you would place me in that

course where he had won glory."

"Of course, sir," replied the baron, frowning fiercely upon me, "all

such promises were conditional, as were also his requests. He left

your fate to my discretion, and did not dictate to me how I was to

deal with the boy whom I brought up from charity."

The words were galling enough, but I struggled hard to keep down the

demon of pride--a demon which had endured enough, surely, to quell him

in my heart.

I therefore replied at once, "My father's wishes, my lord, I am

perfectly aware, can be no law to you. To me, however, they would be a

law, even did not my own inclinations second them. It is my

determination, therefore--"

"Hush, hush!" said the good clergyman; "hush, my dear Henry. Do not

speak of your determination; but leave it to your cousin to take into

consideration the motives that you have mentioned."

"Leave him to his own obstinate folly, La Tour," replied my cousin,

turning from me. "I have told him all that I will do. I have made him

what may well be considered a noble offer. I give him till to-morrow

to think of it; and, if he do not accept it, then I will drive him

from my door like an ungrateful hound, and send him forth a beggar to

the fate he deserves."

Thus saying, he turned and abruptly quitted the hall; while I

remained, as may well be conceived, fully determined never to eat

bread again at the expense of such a man. I remained thoughtful and

silent for a moment, while La Tour gazed with interest and anxiety in

my face, and at last asked me, "What do you intend to do, Henry?"

"To keep my resolution, excellent friend," I replied. "You cannot

suppose that such words as I have heard can at all shake my purpose."

"But consider, my dear boy," replied the clergyman, "you are utterly

without means of support. I fear, Henry, that you do not know how

little is to be gained in the barren field of war; and, at all events,

you will be obliged at first to support yourself till you can receive

pay."

"It matters not, my good friend," I replied; "I should lose my own

esteem for ever--my heart would have no strength to struggle with the

world, if I let this man set his foot upon it again."

The clergyman said nothing more to change my purpose, for he saw that

it was unchangeable; but he answered, "At all events, then, Henry,

take what little gold I have. I need it not, my boy; and I always have

the means of support. You will not mind taking it from me."

"I will not take it all," I replied, kissing his hand; "but, to show

you how willingly I can bend my pride to depend upon one that loves

me, I will take twenty gold crowns from you, and that shall be the

fortune with which I go forth into the world. I have, indeed, nearly

treble that sum in my own chamber; but that belongs to a man from whom

I will take nothing, so that you shall give it to him to-morrow after

I am gone."

"Do you go early, then?" demanded the clergyman, looking anxiously

upon me.

"As early as possible," I replied; and he then told me that he would

bring the money to my little room.

Thither I now turned my steps, and the good clergyman soon followed.

He gave me the sum I had agreed to take from his little store, and

pressed upon me more, which I would not accept. He sought also to

persuade me that I had every right to keep the money which the baron

had allowed me; but on that score my mind was made up, and I would

hear no arguments.

A long conversation then ensued, and La Tour added many wise counsels

and noble precepts to many which had gone before. I treasured them in

my mind; and, if I have not always followed them exactly in the strife

of passion and the assault of temptation, at all events, everything

that has been good in my conduct or estimable in my character, I owe,

first, to the sweet influence of her who so tenderly cultivated my

youth, and, next, to the counsels and exhortations of that good man.

It was nearly one o'clock in the morning when he left me, and then I

sat down to consider what should be my next step.

What were the baron's habits now, I knew not; but him I was resolved

to see no more. All the rest of the family, however, were generally up

not long after daybreak; and, if I remained, I knew that there must be

a bitter parting both with Louise and with the boys; most likely, an

angry parting also with the baron; and, perhaps, the pain of seeing

the expression of his childrens' love for me, call down his wrath upon

them. I thought of it all, and determined to suffer alone, as far as

might be.

I made all my preparations in haste; took with me a few jewels and

trinkets, which I inherited from my mother, and those the baroness had

given me; packed up the necessary clothes which I intended to carry

away; destroyed many a memorial of the place and its inhabitants,

which I did not choose to have exposed to the harsh eyes of the baron,

or the impure ones of his new wife; and, only preserving some little

things in the handwriting of poor Louise, I prepared to take my

departure for ever from the dwelling which I had so long inhabited.

As I stood upon the threshold, intending to waken one of the grooms,

whom I had chosen, at the time the baron had last visited the castle,

to attend upon me, having occasion for some one to carry my valise to

the next cabaret, a thousand recollections of the place, sweet, and

happy, and affectionate, crowded upon my heart; a thousand gloomy

images of the future rose up before my eyes; Hope hung down her torch,

as if its light had been extinguished; and memory strove to bind me to

that past from which I was tearing myself away.

I looked round the little room which I had inhabited, and every object

that my eye fell upon acquired an interest that it had never acquired

before. The dreams of childhood, the thoughts of other years, the

figures of some long gone, came back in crowds, and tenanted the

apartment; and my heart would have broken if I had not wept.

My tears were quickly dried, however; and I went to wake the boy, and

tell him of my purpose. I found him in so sound a sleep that I could

hardly wake him; and, after he was roused, he gazed round him stupidly

for a moment, as if he did not well comprehend what I meant. The next

instant, however, he sprang up with alacrity and cast on his clothes.

We went together to bring the valise from my room, and then waiting

till we heard the guard (for we were still in a state of war) going

round to the front gate, we descended quietly by the little staircase,

and passed through the court.

As all the military arrangements in the castle had been, for the last

two years, in my hands alone, the gates were thrown open at my first

word. The men looked surprised, it is true: but they did not presume

to ask any questions, or to make any observations, at least in my

hearing; and, issuing out of the chateau about two in the morning, I

stood upon Blancford Lea, prepared to seek my future fortunes with my

own hand.

There were still some sad feelings in my heart which would not be

driven forth; but, nevertheless, I struggled hard against them, and

the natural hopefulness of youth was beginning to do its part, so far,

at least, that I could find some sources of consolation in the aspect

of the world around me. The moon was just going down, appearing large

and red through a light haze upon the edge of the horizon. The stars

overhead were light, but they were far, far distant, seeming to my

fancy like some of the bright imaginations of early youth, brilliant,

but unattainable. I looked to the eastern sky, however; and, there

upon the very edge of the horizon, was a faint glimmering light, the

first announcement of the distant dawning. There seemed to me to be

hope and promise in that very sight.

"I may be covered with darkness and night," I said to myself, "but the

day will certainly come at length: and, whether it be fair or bad, it

too will pass away."

It is the nature of man to trust in auguries; they have been found in

the flight of birds or in the entrails of the sacrifice. Let me find

promises or threatenings in the various aspects of nature, where the

hand of the Almighty has marked his will; and, in the course of one

train of events, has often pointed out what must be the course of

another.

As I walked along, I did what few young men on their outset in life

think fit to do. I considered deliberately and carefully what was to

be the general tone of my demeanour, what the general plan of my

conduct in the path that lay before me. I considered how I stood

towards the world that I was about to enter; looked at the vulnerable

points in my nature; considered where I was most likely to be

attacked, and how I might best defend myself. I had arrived at an age

when the human intellect is in full strength; I had much acquaintance

with books, and my mind, therefore, was not enfeebled for want of

exercise. I had every power of looking into my own heart, guiding,

guarding, and directing myself, which any other man at the same age

possesses. But where I was deficient was in knowledge of the world and

of my fellow-men; and here I felt that I was utterly ignorant and

without experience.

I had, indeed, had some little dealings with mankind during the last

two or three years; but that had only served to confirm a fact which

books before had taught, me--that, in general, man looks upon himself

but as a human shark, whose great object it must ever be to seize upon

and devour the unwary.

In order, then, at once to conceal and defend my weak point till it

could be remedied by knowledge and observation, was one part of my

determination. But there were other things to be considered; and I

made up my mind as to the general conduct I was to pursue before I

reached the first village inn. To be honest and true, daring and firm,

was, of course, the foundation of all; but, in order to prevent those

with whom I was likely to have dealings from perceiving my ignorance

of the world, I made up my mind to put a guard upon my lips; to affect

a light and jesting tone, in order to conceal deeper feelings; to

assume that perfect indifference to all things which I had already

learned was a natural consequence of that experience which I did not

possess; and, repressing every expression either of surprise,

pleasure, or grief, to be in some degree a stoic externally, and never

to lay open my heart to any persons till I had tried them long and

deeply.

To execute such a resolution may appear more difficult than to form

it; but there were many things which rendered the enterprise more easy

to me than it would have proved to other men. My natural character was

gay and light, not easily repressed, with a large share of hope, and a

fearlessness of consequences which gave me a great command over my own

actions and over those of others. The pitiful neglect and want of

respect with which my cousin's servants had treated me, as soon as

another heir had appeared in his house, had taught me to assume a tone

of indifferent contempt, when the occasion served, which now stood me

in great stead; and the very feelings of grief and indignation which

were at my heart, by giving me matter to dwell upon in my own bosom,

rendered me more careless of all that passed without.

Such, then, were my resolutions, and my means of accomplishing them,

as far as the government of myself was concerned: but there were many

other things, of course, to be thought of; with whom I was to take

service; how I was to shape my course to join the army; how I was to

obtain the necessary arms and equipments; for, following the

determination I had before made, not to take anything from the castle

but that which absolutely belonged to myself, I had left behind both

the horses which had been given to me for my use, and the arms in

which I had exercised myself since I was a boy, with the exception of

the sword and dagger that I usually wore, and a rich knife, with a

hilt and a sheath of gold, inlaid with jewels, which my father had

brought from the East when warring against the Turks in former days.

On the first point, how I was to join the army, many difficulties

existed. The short peace which had been granted to the Protestants had

now been some months at an end, and the third war of religion had

already began. The principal forces of the Huguenots were assembled in

the neighbourhood of La Rochelle, and a considerable distance remained

to be traversed before I could hope to fall in with the army.

While I was considering all these things, the eastern sky became

somewhat brighter, and the faint pink of the morning air afforded

sufficient light to see all the objects distinctly. I had taken my way

towards Bordeaux, as the first great town where I could hope to obtain

any information, and had walked on rapidly, while the boy, carrying on

his shoulder the valise with which I had charged him, trudged on in

perfect silence by my side, without making the slightest inquiry as to

the end or object of my journey, or where he himself was going.

I had chosen him, indeed, from the rest of the servants, when I was

permitted to select two of them to attend upon me, principally because

he had always shown both respect and attachment towards me, but

scarcely less because there was a degree of similarity between his

fate and my own; his father having been killed at the battle of St.

Denis, and he left an orphan to the care of strangers. He was now a

stout, active youth of about nineteen, somewhat variable it his mood,

occasionally loquacious, but more frequently quite the reverse;

replying with a sharp, quick word, observing keenly all that passed,

and having much shrewd sense under a somewhat dull and boorish

exterior. On the present occasion, however, his taciturnity had been

even more marked than usual. When I had roused him, at first he had

looked at me with some wonder, but he had not said a word since, doing

exactly as I bade him in profound silence.

At the distance of about two miles from the chateau of Blancford, we

reached the first village, which boasted such a thing as an auberge;

and there I had proposed to make the lad put down the valise, and,

getting some one else to carry it forward with me, to give him some

small pieces of money as a parting gift, and send him back. On

entering the village, however, we found that no one was up; and,

though there was written over the door of the inn, "Were lodge

travellers on foot. A dinner six sous. A bed eight sous. Come in and

try!" the closed door belied the hospitable invitation, and I was

somewhat puzzled how to proceed.

"I suppose I must wait till they get up, Andriot," I said. "So you can

put down the valise and return to the castle. I shall find somebody up

presently to carry it on to Bordeaux for me."

"I can carry it on, sir," he said; "they'll be an hour before they're

up, and I don't see why you should get an inn-boy while you've your

own man."

"Alas! my good Andriot," I said, "you can be my own man no longer. I

am too poor a gentleman to afford attendance upon me, and you had

better go back at once, lest any review of the servants should be made

at the chateau, and the baron should be angry at your absence."

"The baron may be angry once," said the lad, "but he'll not be angry

any more than once with me, at least; for we all saw and heard enough

last night to make me very glad when I found you were going. No, no,

sir, I have been your servant for two years, and not the baron's, and

the chateau of Blancford is no more a home for me if you are not

there."

"But think a while, my good Andriot," I replied; "it is utterly

impossible for me either to pay you any wages or to support you. I go

forth with scarcely the means of supporting myself till I reach the

army. I seek fortune there as a common soldier, and may not even

obtain, for aught I know, the means of gaining bread for myself with

my own sword. Me, therefore, you cannot accompany; and you must

remember how many chances there are in these troublous times against

your obtaining any situation at all comparable to that which you may

still hold in the chateau of Blancford."

"I have thought of all that you say, sir," he replied, "as we came

along; for it is always right to think well what one is about, after

one has taken a resolution. I took mine an hour or two ago. When you

first roused me I was half asleep, and didn't understand what you

meant. But then again, as soon as both my eyes were open, I understood

the whole, for I had thought to myself, when I went to bed, that, if

what the baroness' groom had said about the baron and you was true,

you would not stay in the castle much after daylight; so I made up my

mind in a moment, as soon as I found that you were going. As to wages,

I owe you three weeks' service, for you paid me a month in advance

last Monday; then, as for food, I have taken care to have all the

money that you ever gave me in my pocket to the last sous; then,

besides that, I have got three crowns of the sun, and two livres

Tournois, which were brought me by Sampson the squire from my poor

father when he was killed at St. Denis. So you see, sir, I have plenty

to keep me for a year; and as for the rest, if you are going to seek

your fortune, I do not see why I should not go and seek mine with

you."

"Well, then, Andriot," I replied, with a smile which I could not

refrain at his using arguments for following me which were so like the

reasons that existed in my own bosom for my own conduct, "if such be

your resolution, take up the valise and let us go on. What you do is

your voluntary act, and, at any time that you think fit to leave me,

you shall do so; so pray Heaven send you soon a wealthier master, and

one that can reward you for your fidelity."

"I hope to Heaven it may be so, sir," replied the youth; "and I don't

suppose you'll be long before you have some piece of good luck.

Fortune gets tired of troubling a man that cares little about her; and

I have heard old Jansen, the Jew merchant, say that luck changes at

five-and-twenty, at fifty, and at seventy-five, if a man but lives so

long."

Thus saying, he once more lifted the valise; and I then perceived, for

the first time, that he had strapped on it a little packet of his own

goods and chattels, which showed that his resolution had, as he said,

been taken before he quitted the chateau.

On approaching the gates of Bordeaux, it became necessary to determine

to what inn we should go. My meager finances did not permit of my

lodging for even a day at any of the expensive auberges of the Gascon

capitol; and I bethought me that Andriot, born and brought up in that

neighbourhood, was much more likely to be acquainted with the inferior

inns than myself. I therefore consulted him upon the subject, and he

replied at once,

"Oh! sir, go to the little inn kept by Jacques de Cannes, called the

Soleil Levant, at the end of the Rue de Minimes. It is a poor place,

but you will have plenty of Protestant news there, and you will get a

good dinner for a small sum. In the evening, when you have settled

all, we can go on to Carbon Blanc, or, perhaps, to Cubzac."

"We could not have a more auspicious name," I replied, "than the

rising sun, Andriot; and see where the sun is indeed rising, and with

as bright an aspect as one could desire."

Andriot instantly pulled off his cap towards the east with as much

apparent reverence as ever did Persian to the rising orb of day. "Send

us good luck, monseigneur," he said, addressing the sun; and then,

with a gay laugh, full of careless hope and light-hearted

cheerfulness, he followed my steps, and in a quarter of an hour we

were in the town of Bordeaux.

The doors of the Soleil Levant were by this time wide open, and it was

evident, by the joyous welcome given to Andriot, that it was not the

first time that he had set his foot within those walls. I had just

time to tell him that it might be prudent, for the time being, not to

mention my name, when we were surrounded by half a dozen of his old

friends and companions, who led us both into the little hall, where

breakfast was in active preparation for those guests who had passed

the night at the house. Only one of these, however, had as yet

appeared, and he was seated at that one of the two tables the room

contained which was nearest to the window that looked into the street.

He was so placed, however, in the corner of the hall, that he could

see the passengers who went by without being remarked himself; and

though I had passed the windows but a moment before, I had not

perceived that there was anybody in the room.

According to the hint that I had given to Andriot, he merely informed

Jacques de Cannes that I was a gentleman adventurer seeking my fortune

as a soldier, with whom he had taken service, being sick of his late

employ in the chateau de Blancford. This was said after I had taken a

step or two forward towards the table, and just loud enough for me to

hear. The worthy aubergiste answered in the same tone, demanding, with

an expressive nod, "He is one of our people, of course?"

"I should not be with him," replied the lad, "if he were not." And the

aubergiste, rejoining in a somewhat lower tone, "Perhaps I can tell

him where he is likely to find service by-and-by," left us to seek the

basin of soup, which, with half a loaf and a small bottle of very good

wine, was our allotted breakfast.

Seating myself at the same table, while Andriot took his place a

little farther down, I waited patiently for the arrival of my mess,

giving from time to time a glance towards the previous occupant of the

room, who was busily engaged in emptying the contents of his own bowl,

and, apparently, taking very little notice of what was passing around

him. As far as I could see, he was a good-looking man, somewhat below

forty years of age, broad and powerfully made, with hair not red, but

of a light glossy brown, curling round his brow with flowing and

graceful waves. The mustache which he wore upon his upper lip was very

thick and long, but lighter even in colour than his hair. The features

were good, without being strikingly handsome; but when he opened his

mouth, the expression of his whole face was injured by the want of

three of his front teeth. There was a scar or two on other parts of

his countenance, which bespoke the soldier; and one of his hands,

which rested somewhat listlessly on the table while he ate his soup

with the other, was disfigured by a large round scar on the back, and

seemed to have been penetrated either by a spear or a ball. He ate his

bread with his soup, but drank no wine till he had done; he then,

however, nearly filled his cup, and, after having drank it, looked up,

saying, with a slight foreign accent, "Good wine in these parts. Are

you of this country, young gentleman?"

"No," I replied (for I was born on the banks of the Loire); and,

having satisfied myself by speaking the simple truth in one

monosyllable, I took no farther notice till he said. "And yet yours is

a Gascon accent, it seems to me."

"And yours a Scotch one," I replied.

"Well hit, my young falcon," replied the stranger, in a light tone;

"you follow the game true."

"As every one should do," I replied, not a little doubtful of the

character of my worthy companion, and answering no more than was

absolutely necessary. The stranger, however, was not so easily to be

frustrated, and he returned to the charge about my Gascon accent.

"Some birds," he said, "have a rare skill in deceiving their pursuers.

I should not marvel still if Guienne had been your birthplace."

"You could not wish me a better," I answered.

"No, nor a shrewder wit, you think," he said: "however, I give you

good-morning."

And, taking up his hat, which lay beside him, he finished his small

bottle of wine and moved towards the door.

At that moment Jacques de Cannes was coming in with a bowl of soup for

Andriot, and the stranger stopped him for a minute or two, saying

something that we did not hear. The aubergiste replied in the same low

voice, and the stranger, turning away, added aloud, "Not till I have

seen him again, Maître Jacques."

After putting down the pottage for Andriot, the good aubergiste came

up to me, and, bending down his head, he said, "You are seeking

service in arms, I think, seigneur; you could not trust to any one

better than that gentleman who has just gone out. He is an old soldier

and a good one, and as stanch a Protestant as ever lived. But he will

be back here to dinner, and, if you like to talk to him about your

views, he will most likely get you service."

My heart beat at the offer, I must confess; but yet, pursuing my

cautious determinations, I was resolved neither to trust aubergiste

nor stranger too far; and, although I awaited with some impatience for

the return of the latter, I schooled myself during the whole time of

his absence, lest, by too great heat, I should show my own ignorance

and inexperience, and fall into some snare.

About twenty minutes before the hour appointed for dinner, the

stranger again entered the hall, as I was holding one more

consultation with Andriot upon what was the next step to be taken.

Andriot had been greatly smitten with the stranger's appearance, and

he now assured me, with so many asseverations, that good Jacques de

Cannes was one of the most excellent and serviceable men in France,

that it was scarcely possible to doubt that he was well informed of

the fact. Indeed, he added, a moment before the stranger made his

appearance, that the worthy aubergiste stood in the near connexion

with himself of a second cousin. Why he had not told me this at first

I do not know; but it certainly did not in any degree diminish my

confidence in the good landlord, to hear that he was related to one

who had served me well and faithfully for two years.

"Then I may take his word fully as to the stranger's character,

Andriot?" I said; "for I'm sure your cousin would tell me no

falsehood."

The youth was replying eagerly, when the stranger, as I have said,

entered, and, taking off his hat, approached the place where I stood.

I had now a better view of him than before, and saw that he was as

powerful in body as I had been led to think was the case by the mere

sight of his head and shoulders. He was graceful, too, and had the air

of a gentleman, though his clothes were somewhat coarse, and displayed

none of the ordinary colours affected by that rank. The scabbard of

his sword, however, was of velvet, and the weapon was thrown so much

back across his loins, that it was impossible for him to see the hilt.

This was almost a certain sign, at that time, in France, of one who

prided himself upon his birth, though the custom has now greatly

changed, and we wear our swords almost straight upon the thigh.

"I am glad to find you here, young gentleman," he said; "and, if I may

propose such a thing, we will ask Maître Jacques to give us our dinner

in some little room apart, that we may talk over matters which may

interest you to hear."

I thought of my small store of money, and of the additional expense

which I might be led into; but it seemed that this was a lucky chance

which had befallen me, and I determined not to throw it away. I

accordingly assented, and we mounted into a chamber on the second

floor, where a dinner, which, though certainly not equal to those of

the chateau, was by no means bad, was soon set before us, and Maître

Jacques retired to serve his ordinary guests below.

"Well, sir," said the stranger, as soon as we had helped ourselves and

began, "I understand your whole situation as well as if I had heard

it."

"Which you probably have," I replied, in the dry tone that I had

determined to maintain.

"No, upon my honour," replied the other. "I'll tell you how it all

comes about, and you shall say whether I am right or wrong. First,

then, and foremost, I see a gentleman of good manners and deportment,

followed by a servant carrying a valise, very much better dressed than

myself, come into an inn for travellers on foot. I hear he has no

horses with him, and he sits down to eat his soup and drink his wine,

for which he pays three sous altogether, with a lace upon his

pourpoint which cost at the very lowest twenty sous in all. From all

this, one gathers that on some account or another--whether it be a

duel, or whether it be any other cause--this gentleman does not wish

the path he has chosen to be tracked, and perhaps is in some need, by

accidental circumstances, of money or employment. The landlord of the

inn tells me that he is seeking military service, and is on his way,

even now, to join Condé, or the admiral, or Andelot. I therefore

conclude that he is willing to serve against these butchers who have

been massacring the poor Protestants throughout France. There is

nothing very miraculous in all this. Am I not right?"

"In general you are," I replied; "but, let me ask, how is this to

affect my acquaintance with you?"

"Why, I will tell you in a moment," replied the stranger, in the same

frank tone. "I happen at this moment to be engaged in the same cause,

among the soldiers of which you are seeking service. I know that every

man in the monarchy is wanted; and I wish both to give you such

information as may enable you to join the army with all speed, and

urge you to do so without a moment's delay."

"I propose hastening towards Rochelle as fast as possible," I replied.

"Rochelle!" he exclaimed, with a laugh; "Why, my good young friend,

you must have been living in some hermitage, where the news of what is

passing in the world penetrates but rarely. The Protestants are no

longer at Rochelle. Condé and the admiral have advanced, the Lord

knows how far, up the Loire, and Andelot himself has been at blows

with Martigue far beyond Saumur."

My countenance fell as he spoke; for, if my finances had been barely

sufficient to carry me scantily to Rochelle, the far greater journey

that lay between me and the Protestant army rendered it almost

impossible for me to accomplish the undertaking of joining it, except,

indeed, as a mere beggar.

The stranger saw the effect that his words had produced, and demanded,

with a smile, "Why has your brow grown clouded, young gentleman? What

is it that makes you so suddenly gloomy?"

"The army," I replied, conquering all feelings of pride, "is much

farther than I expected, and my worldly wealth is but small."

The stranger looked at me fixedly for a moment, and then said, "You

have served before, have you not? You seem of an age to have seen many

a stout conflict."

I answered in the negative, however, evidently to his surprise; and he

mused for a minute or two without speaking. It appeared to me that my

new acquaintance was considering more what should be his own conduct

than what he should recommend for mine. "Have you not wherewithal to

take you to the army?" he said at length.

"Doubtless I have," I replied, "but not more; and, if I spend what I

have as I go, how am I to get a horse and arms when I arrive?"

"Oh, there is many a man in your case," replied the stranger. "You

must not be nice when you get there; but you will find many a

jockey--if there has been much fighting going on, and our party has

had the advantage--who will be willing enough to supply you with a

horse on the chance of your paying him a good sum for it within a

certain time. It is a thing done every day. These jockeys buy horses

that are taken from the enemy for an old song or a mess of pottage,

and then sell them again, if they can find means, to those who will

pay down. But, if they cannot find such pleasant customers, they

dispose of them to any soldier of fortune who is likely to pay them

well at an after period. As to arms, however, that is a more difficult

matter; and I know not very well what to advise you to do. I see there

is some story about you, if one did but know it; for your dress is not

that of a man who cannot afford to buy himself a steel cap and a

cuirass. Have you nothing that you can sell?" he added: "That Turkish

dagger in your belt; if that be gold, it will furnish you well with

what you want, and you must make your own right hand do the rest."

"I should not like to sell it," I replied, looking down at the dagger;

"this knife is one that my father brought from the East, and was taken

from a Turk killed by his own hand in battle. I should not like to

sell it if I could avoid it."

"I fear, then," replied the stranger, "if you have nothing else to

dispose of, you must even take to the arquebuse, buy no horse, and

serve in the infantry. You will most likely find many a leader who

will be glad to give you arms for your services; though I cannot think

that a man of your figure was made for a _pedescal_. I should think

that your father would rather see you part with the dagger than so

lower yourself."

"My father is dead," I replied; "but, were he living, I think that

what you say is true, and therefore I will part with it; but I would

fain place it in such hands that I may redeem it again, in case of

ever being able to do so."

"There are Jews in the world," the stranger exclaimed, with a laugh;

"there are Jews in the world. Thank Heaven for all things--there are

Jews in the world. They will take it for six months, and lend you as

much money thereon as will serve your purpose. Before that period is

over, it is to be hoped that you will have clipped some of these

gilded troops of the enemy of quite a sufficient portion of their

golden fleece to recover your weapon. After dinner we will go and see

what is the value of the knife. It is a pretty toy, and doubtless of

good steel; for these Turks declare, and I believe it true, that the

waters of Damascus temper iron far better than those either of Toledo

or Milan."

It was joyful news for me to hear that I might thus obtain that which

I most wanted, without absolutely parting with a thing which I prized,

not from its intrinsic value, but from the memories associated with

it, and because I had some recollection of being told, in my earliest

youth, never to give it away. I thanked my new companion, therefore,

warmly and sincerely for the advice he had given.

"We may have more to say to each other hereafter," he answered,

smiling. "I am not, perhaps, any more than yourself, quite what I

seem; and the truth is, I am here recruiting men for a company of

men-at-arms. I must not venture, indeed, to place any one therein who

is not a tried and well-known man; otherwise, to say the truth, from

your height, and look, and manner, I should not have scrupled to

engage with you at once. We may meet again, however, as I have said,

and then the first vacancy you may join us, if you have proved your

manhood well upon the enemy. I am glad to find you come of a fighting

race, however: that is a great thing in a man's favour; for courage

runs in the blood as well as cowardice."

"If it be an inheritance," I replied, "I have every right to it; and

at present it is my only one."

"I cannot say that originally I was much better provided myself,"

replied the stranger. "Good blood, strong limbs, and a heart without

fear, however, have increased my inheritance; and I look upon the

beginning of this war as just a call to the sheep-shearing. I take it

as a matter of course, when I talk of your entering our band, that

your blood is noble, one way or another."

"It is as good as your own," I replied.

"Indeed!" he said, with a somewhat mocking smile. "Then it is of a

somewhat extraordinary quality; for the man who can boast descent from

a long race of kings cannot go beyond mine."

"Perhaps you mean if traced back to Adam," I replied, not quite liking

his tone.

"No, young gentleman," he answered, very gravely; "I mean, if traced

back for twenty generations. But come, let us go seek this Jew, and

see what he says the knife is worth."

Thus saying, he rose; and, following him through manifold turnings and

windings in the fine old city of Bordeaux, I entered the little alley

that lies just under the Cathedral garden.

"Here lives a Jew," continued my companion, "With whom I have had some

dealings. The nearer the church the farther from God, they say: so

this misbegotten infidel plants himself close against the chief

church."

A few steps farther brought us to a small dark doorway, which

certainly gave no promise of wealth or traffic; and, feeling his way

up the stairs with his hands, my guide led me on to the second floor,

where he knocked hard with his clinched fist against a door.

It was not opened at once to his summons: but a part of one of the

panels, about two spans square, was drawn back, admitting a little

light to the landing-place on which we stood, and through it a dark

countenance with a long beard examined us carefully.

"Ah, it is you, is it, my good seigneur!" cried the Jew, after having

more than once keenly looked on my companion's face. "I will open the

door directly, and let you in."

And, almost as he spoke, bolts and bars were withdrawn, and the door

opening, gave us admission into a room which presented a very strange

scene.

There were only two persons in the chamber; the first of which was the

Jew himself, a man of about fifty years of age, dressed in the long,

flowing black robe usually worn by his people. The top of his head was

quite bald; for though he wore a small black velvet cap upon it, he

uncovered himself on the entrance of my companion, and bowed down

almost to the ground. His hair, however, and beard were jetty black,

without a single gray hair, and his complexion was of that deep

Oriental yellow-brown not uncommon to his nation.

The other person whom the room contained was a girl of about eleven or

twelve years of age, as beautiful a little creature as it is possible

to conceive; having, indeed, some resemblance to the Jew in feature,

but so softened with womanly and with childish beauty, that all

harshness was done away. She was dressed in white, but sat playing on

a pile of many-coloured shawls, winding them fancifully round her,

and, in so doing, throwing her beautiful figure into attitudes the

most graceful that it is possible to conceive.

The interior of the chamber itself, however, had a great many other

objects to attract the eye on every side. It seemed a complete

showroom of rich and valuable things. On a table near the window

appeared piles of different jewels and trinkets; swords,

silver-mounted daggers, and many an implement of modern and ancient

warfare, were scattered around on every side: in other corners lay

rich dresses and magnificent embroidery; in others, piles of carpets

and tapestries, and pieces of silk and velvet. Rich lace of gold and

silver, and many a book, perhaps invaluable in themselves, and

enriched by clasps and mountings of fine filigree-work, were cast

promiscuously together with a thousand articles of high price which I

have now forgotten.

Our business was soon explained to the Jew; and, taking the Turkish

dagger, he looked at it, saying that he would give ten crowns for it,

after he had touched a part of the haft with a touchstone.

"Ten crowns!" exclaimed my Scottish companion. "By Abraham's beard,

Solomon Ahar, thou art more a Jew than the rest of thy tribe. See you

not that the stones are real?"

"Nay?" exclaimed the Jew, with a look of surprise, "is it so?" And,

drawing near to the window, he examined it again by the faint light

that entered the chamber through the manifold tall courts and stacks

of chimneys behind.

"As true as thou art a son of Israel," replied the Scotchman. But, ere

he could say more, the Jew himself exclaimed, "Blessed be Heaven! it

is so indeed. Here are--let me see--six, seven, nine, fourteen fine

stones. Nay, then, I will give the gentleman an hundred crowns an he

choose to leave it with me, as what the people of Lombardy call a

pignus or pledge; and if he will sell it outright, I think I could

venture to go as far as an hundred and fifty or two hundred."

"Which means that it is worth three."

"On my honour, on my conscience!" cried the Jew; and was beginning to

bargain upon the worth of the thing, when I cut short the discourse by

exclaiming, "I have no intention of selling the dagger: it is but for

a temporary need that I want the money, and trust to pay it back full

soon."

"He shall give thee an hundred and fifty for it at least," exclaimed

the Scotchman. "I know how to deal with the tribe of Israel. Look ye,

Master Solomon, the haft of the dagger is worth three hundred crowns

or more. If the youth lives, returns, and claims it, you gain your

interest of fifteen hard per cent. If he gets himself killed, as is a

thousand chances to one, or dies a natural death, or never finds a

crown to spare to pay thee, all of which are very probable, the dagger

is yours at the end of six months or a year, and then you gain double

for the loan."

"I cannot give it," replied the Jew; "I cannot give it. It is too

much. It would be my ruin. How often am I a loser! What taxes have I

not to pay! No, I cannot give it, I will not give it. There is your

dagger, young gentleman."

I hesitated whether I should take the weapon; but the Scotchman gave

me a nod, saying, "Take it, take it; there are more Jews in Bordeaux

than he." And I was taking it back into my hand, when the girl

suddenly left off her sport with the shawls, and, plucking the old man

by the robe; she said. "Give it him, my father; give him the money. He

seems as if he would fain have it. He wants it, and thou dost not."

The Jew still was silent, only putting the child away with his hand,

and saying, when she urged him farther, "Silence, prattler, what is it

to thee?"

The girl, turning away from him, looked up in my face; and I laid my

hand upon her jetty locks, saying, "I thank thee, my pretty maiden. He

will not yield to thee, but thou art kind, however."

"Nay," said the Jew; "I will yield something. You shall have a hundred

and twenty-five."

"No!" said the Scot, turning towards the door; "We shall get a hundred

and fifty for it from Moses Levi."

The Jew hesitated for a moment longer; but when my companion laid his

hand upon the lock of the door as if to go out, he said, "Stay, stay:

thou shalt have it, though I vow it is the full value of the thing."

He carried an inkhorn at his button, and soon wrote down upon two

pieces of vellum a mutual acknowledgment between him and me; the one

was drawn up in his name, acknowledging the receipt of the dagger,

specifying every stone it contained, and promising its restitution on

the payment of the sum of a hundred and fifty crowns, together with

interest at the rate of fifteen per cent. The other was on my part,

acknowledging the receipt of the hundred and fifty crowns, and

promising to return it within the space of twelve months, paying an

interest of fifteen per cent.

As soon as this was concluded, the money was paid down, and the

weapon, with its glittering hilt, surrendered. I still wanted a

leathern bag to carry the money in; but in the store of the Jew all

things were to be found; and, having taken one from a cabinet in the

room, he made me pay about double the value, and thus we departed; I

far richer than I had expected to be for many a year, but feeling yet

a degree of regret and disquietude at having suffered the last gift of

my father to pass out of my own hand, which, for the time, more than

counterbalanced the pleasure of receiving the money, even though it

was to furnish me with the means of pursuing that profession for which

he himself had destined me.

When we had quitted the Jew's house, my companion laughed aloud in his

peculiar clear, merry, careless way.

"These sons of Israel," he said, "These sons of Israel, it needs a

long acquaintance to deal with them wisely: for they always take their

chance of those who traffic with them being fools, in order to cheat

them, if it be possible. The old sinner knew that those were real

jewels in the dagger from the first moment he set eyes on it; but he

hazarded offering a small sum, in case you should not know the fact. I

took my chance the other way, and swore they were real jewels, though

I knew nothing about it; being very sure that, if they were not, he

would not suffer me to deceive him. However, you are now not only

master of enough to arm you from head to heel as a proper man-at-arms,

and to buy you a horse, but to arm half a dozen others lightly to

follow you; and, if you will take my counsel, I think I can set you

off on a plan by which you may gain both fame and fortune, or lose

your life, remember!--for that must always be put at stake. Come to

the inn, however: come to the inn, and we will talk more."

I followed him through the streets meditating on what he had said, and

inclined very strongly to trust him, but feeling that want of

confidence in myself which was produced by a knowledge of my own

inexperience, and which prevented me from being at all sure whether I

was dealing with an honest man or a knave. He had certainly put me in

a way of obtaining money, which I could not have done myself, and he

had, as yet, asked me for no share in the sum thus obtained. There was

a frankness too in his whole demeanour, which produced a strong

impression in his favour; and, though I was still upon my guard, yet I

was well inclined to receive any advice that he might give me under a

favourable view.

"Come, Master Jacques," he said, speaking to the landlord, whom we met

upon the stairs of the inn, "let us have a bottle of your best wine,

for we were interrupted in our draught to go away upon business."

The landlord bowed low at orders which landlords are always willing to

hear; and the stranger led the way to the same room where we had

before sat, humming away the time till the aubergiste returned.

Ensconced at length in that room, with the bottle and glasses before

us, he began, in somewhat of a consequential tone, and with a look of

superior knowledge, to direct my proceedings.

"You have now," he said, "the opportunity of making or marring your

own fortunes. You have but very little experience, I have a great

deal; and, were I placed exactly as you are, I would do as I am going

to tell you to do. I would, in the first place, buy myself arms and

horses here in Bordeaux, where you will get them cheaper than either

at La Rochelle or at Charenton, where they are in more request. I

would arm myself completely at all points with a plain, good suit,

which may be had at a low price, of just as strong materials as if you

paid two or three thousand livres for it. Then buy the armour of a

demi-lance for that stout youth whom I saw with you below. Two horses

may be had for you cheap enough if you can ride well; for there is a

Maquinon, called Pierrot, has got a troop of wild devils from the

Limousin, for which he can find no sale here among the merchants and

citizens, and soft-boned gentry of Bordeaux."

I smiled, replying, "We will ride them if they can be ridden."

"I advise you," he continued, "To do this rather than to furnish

yourself at the army, both because you will find it cheaper, and

because it always looks better, and gives a higher opinion of a man

when he joins his leader fully prepared. Besides, you have a chance of

some little adventure on the road, which may take off the freshness of

your arms, and give you some little reputation. Such things are as

common in these days as they were in the times of the knights-errant.

Now what I propose for you to do, when you have joined the army, is,

not for you to put yourself in this troop or that, as a simple

man-at-arms--for that is the way to get yourself killed speedily,

without anybody hearing anything of you--but to look about the camp

for any stray vagabonds that may be about; I mean of those whose whole

fortune consists in a steel cap, a breastplate, and a horse, and the

whole sum of whose virtues lies in courage. You will find two or three

young fellows too at every corner, who, like yourself, are seeking

service, fresh in arms, and willing to stick to any leader who will

but gallop them into the cannon's mouth. They are generally younger

than you are, for you have been somewhat late in taking to the trade.

That, however, will only make it the more likely they should follow

you, which is the great thing; for to be the leader of one of these

bands is the sure means of getting on, whereas, to be a follower in

one of them is the readiest way of getting hanged. You have then

nothing to do, you know, but to take up absolutely the trade of

adventurer, attack the enemy everywhere, harass him on every occasion,

cut off his parties, attack every chateau where you think there is a

soldier--in short, run your head against every stone wall that you

meet with. You may chance to knock some of them down; and if you do,

you will gain a reputation which will soon put you at the head of a

better band than that with which you set out. Good old soldiers will

be glad to come to you then, and you may work yourself up to be a

general by steadiness and perseverance."

"There are two things, however," I said, "Which you have forgotten to

mention: first, where I am to get the money to pay these recruits;

for, after I have bought horses, and arms for myself and Andriot,

there will not be much left to pay any one."

"Oh, they will pay themselves, they will pay themselves," he said.

"You may have, indeed, in the first instance, to give one or two of

those vagabonds who have seen service a crown a week, just to make the

beginning of a band; all the others you will take merely upon trial;

and, of course, you must put the Catholics under contributions. If

they will have war, let them have war and pay for it. It is an

undoubted fact, that, since the last peace, they have put to death, in

one town or another, full ten thousand Protestants; and, therefore, we

have a right to make them pay for such sorts of amusement. Then you

will put the prisoners to ransom, you know; and every one that is

taken by your men pays you a share too. You will therefore have plenty

to keep the band up as soon as it is formed. But what was your next

question?"

"Why, simply by whose authority I shall act," I replied; "for, not

being of sufficient authority and rank to levy war on my own account,

I must have some sanction for raising such a band."

"I had thought of that," he replied, "I had thought of that. Such

things are not, indeed, much considered in these wars; and, after all,

I believe you might do it on your own account: ay, and with right, for

your father was a man of good nobility as well as courage; and, though

he never had a crown in his purse to bless himself, might have spread

his own banner according to the ordinances of St. Louis."

"Did you know my father?" I demanded, somewhat surprised: "and, if you

did know him, how have you found out that I am his son?"

"I knew your father but little," replied the other, "though we have

fought side by side together before now; and as to the rest, you

forget that I saw you sign your name before the Jew. However, as it is

better that you should have some authority for what you do, I will

give you a letter to the Prince de Condé, telling him your plans and

purposes, and he will not refuse you a commission under his own hand

at the request of Robert Stuart."

"Robert Stuart!" I exclaimed; "What, he who killed the Constable

Montmorency at the battle of St. Denis?"

"The same man that you mean," replied my companion; "but, for all

that, I did not kill the constable. The world gives me greater credit

than I deserve. It was one of my band who shot him with a pistol. I

took him indeed, for he was down on the ground; and I thought he had

formally surrendered, and believe so still, when up he jumped, and,

with the pummel of his sword, dashed out my three front teeth,

knocking me backward on the ground, for I had dismounted to receive

his sword. One of my fellows, seeing this, called out that he was as

treacherous an enemy as a friend, and shot him on the spot. That is

the exact truth of the story that people tell twenty different ways.

And now, knowing who I am, you will wonder, perhaps, to see me here,

in a little inn, paying a few sous for my dinner. But the truth is, I

came to swell my band a little by any veteran men-at-arms I can find,

and also to meet here some half dozen of my friends from Scotland, who

are about to join me. Now there is a certain report gone abroad,

well-nigh as false as the other, that I was the person who caused that

old meddling fool, the President Minard, to be assassinated. There is

many a one of his friends here in the good town of Bordeaux, so that,

till I am well accompanied, it might not be pleasant to lodge at a

great inn and draw eyes upon me."

It may well be supposed that I now thanked this celebrated leader

gratefully for what he had done and proposed to do in my behalf. But

he replied that the Protestant cause was much at his heart; that he

loved a good soldier and the son of a good soldier, and that what he

had done for me was really nothing.

"Come," he said at length, "let us go and seek for the horses and

arms: bring your boy with you, and I will let my people know where I

am, that, in case the ship arrives, they may come and tell me."

The horses were soon bought, about twenty of them having been brought

out for me to try. For myself, I chose one of the strongest and most

fierce, having soon perceived that he was tractable and good in his

temper, though he was perfectly unbroken. A lighter horse served the

boy's turn; but I left my new friend to bargain with the dealer for

the price of both, and was surprised to find the small sum at which he

contrived to purchase the two. It is true, the dealer knew him, and

imagined that I was a man-at-arms newly engaged to serve under the

Scotch captain.

The arms were procured in a similar manner; and, being now fully

equipped, I returned with Stuart to the inn, telling him my intention

of setting out for the army that very night, in order not to lose any

time in pursuing the course before me.

"That is right," he said, "That is right; I like activity! You and

your man can get to Cubzac to-night. I will write the letter for you

at once; and, if you can pick up another follower or two in your way

to the camp, do not fail to do so; for, the more men you carry with

you, the warmer will be your welcome. Do not arm yourself till you get

to Cubzac, for the good people here might stop you. You must then

shape your course as you hear news of the army; but avoid Angoulême;

for, when I came by some ten days ago, that neighbourhood was somewhat

dangerous for a Protestant."

Of course my thanks were not wanting; and, immediately after our

arrival at the inn, he wrote the letter which he had promised; making

no mention, indeed, of my never having served before, but simply

telling the Prince de Condé, with whom he seemed on terms of great

intimacy, who I was, and that the object I proposed was to raise a

troop of adventurers in order to harass the Catholic armies. He

farther begged him not only to give me a commission to the effect he

proposed, but to point out to me the means of swelling my troop, and

to afford me every assistance in so doing.

When this was finished, and the armour charged upon the servant's

horse, I lost no time in mounting my own; and my new friend shaking me

as heartily by the hand as if we had known each other for years, bade

me adieu, saying that we should soon meet again at the camp. The

landlord of the auberge and his drawers all bowed low as I came away,

for I had paid whatever was asked, and perhaps had been more liberal

to the attendants than some of the frequenters of the inn not poorer

than myself; and, with a heart considerably lightened, I rode away and

quitted the city of Bordeaux.

My first sensations were those of joy and satisfaction at being no

longer dependant upon the bounty of any one, but bent upon my way

through the wide world to win for myself honour and renown, and, as I

trusted, high station and happy competence.

But, even while I was passing the ferry, those sensations began to

change. I thought with some regret of the chateau of Blancford, of

good old La Tour, of the two glad, light-hearted boys, who had been my

companions for many a year, and of the sweet girl, whom I might never

see again. A feeling of solitude came over me, and I do believe that

it is impossible even for him who has the lightest heart, the

brightest hope, and the most enviable situation, to quit the scenes

and the companions of his youth without feeling as if he were left

alone in the whole wide world, and without seeing before his eyes

vague visions of the difficulties, dangers, distresses, and griefs

which await every man who passes forth into active existence.

Such, at least, were my sensations; and, after landing, paying the

ferryman his fare, and ascending the heights on the other side, I

paused to look back over the scene that I was quitting, and a thousand

bright and happy memories, clinging to my heart like children that

would keep a parent from the wars, seemed to hold me to the spot with

a force I could scarcely resist.

I thought of the condition of those that I had left behind; I saw the

peaceful dwelling where I had spent so many years with but few of

earth's discomforts, rendered the abode of contention, and sorrow, and

discomfort; I fancied the grief of the two youths when they found that

I was gone; I beheld the fair face of Louise bathed in tears, as she

remained unprotected and alone, and left to the guidance, the control,

perhaps the tyranny, of a harsh, bad woman. It was all painful; the

thought almost unmanned me, and I would have given worlds to rescue

her from such a painful situation.

I felt that I must call up such images no longer; but still the form

and face of Louise haunted me: and at length, out of the darker and

more gloomy thoughts that filled my brain, came forth a bright and

lustrous hope, a hope on which I dared not let my mind rest; which was

like the night vision of an angel to some lonely anchorite, too

brilliant for the eye to gaze upon firmly, but yet full of joy, and

consolation, and encouragement.

It was the first time that ever such a dream had suggested itself even

to my imagination. It was wild, it was foolish; but yet how sweet was

the idea, that the time might come when, having, by the exertion of

every power of my mind and body, conquered the difficulties which

surrounded me, swept away poverty and dependance, gained fame, and

honour, and emolument, I might be enabled to snatch that sweet girl

from the dark and hateful tyranny which I believed the rule of her

mother's rival must necessarily become, and to repay in some degree,

by kindness, and tenderness, and love for the child, the kindness, and

tenderness, and love which had been shown to me by the mother.

But, almost in the very act of thus dreaming, there came upon me the

memory of all that multitude of obstacles--I might almost say, of

impossibilities--which lay in the way to the fulfilment of such hopes.

But I felt at the same time that, though it was only a fancy, it was a

noble one; that, though it was merely a wild aspiration after that

which could not be, it was a high aspiration; one that might lead me

to great attempts, if not to great deeds; one that would even guard me

against low and debasing pursuits, that would elevate my purposes, and

give object to my energies and exertions. I felt that such an object

was holy and great, and I speak with reverence when I say that it

seemed to me then like the star which led the Magi from the east.

As this image rose upon my mind, it soothed and it strengthened me;

and I could gaze upon the city, with its manifold towers and steeples

reposing calmly in the rich purple light of evening, and upon the

distant sloping grounds beyond, leading away towards Blancford, and on

the wanderings of the bright Garonne, as, rolling down from Langdon,

it swept on by the city towards its meeting with the kindred stream,

and on their joint progress to the ocean: I could gaze, in short, upon

all the natural objects which my eye had been accustomed to behold

from childhood, without that deep feeling of regret on quitting them

which I had experienced the moment before; and, as I turned my horse's

rein to ride on, I murmured,

"I shall see you all again, perhaps, with a lighter heart and a spirit

more at rest."

The country was well known to me; for, during the last two or three

years, I had made manifold excursions from the chateau in different

directions; and now, leaving the high road somewhat to the right, I

took a bridle-path which conducted me towards my place of rest for the

night more rapidly, though somewhat more roughly, than the ordinary

track.

Advancing somewhat quickly, for my charger was impatient of the

bridle, I passed a man upon a small rugged horse, neither very fat nor

very comely in its appearance, and apparently little able to carry him

and the large package which he bore on the croup behind. When first I

saw him he was trailing a spear along, with one end of the shaft

describing a long zigzag line upon the road; but the sound of a

horse's feet made him turn round rapidly, and his lance was brought

into rest in a moment, in a way that bespoke no slight practice in

charging a sudden enemy.

Whether on an occasion he might charge any one without much

considering if it were an enemy or friend, I did not know at the time;

but such things were very common in those days, though I think the

worthy gentleman was somewhat too badly mounted to attempt the

experiment upon me, even if I had been alone.

We passed, however, in all safety, with a "Good-evening, seigneur," on

the part of our fellow-traveller. I had only time, as I passed by, to

remark that he was a tall, rawboned man, with a countenance which did

not prepossess any one very much in his favour. He was somewhat dirty

in his clothing, and rugged in his person and appearance also; though

there was a roguish twinkle in his eye, which did not escape my

attention, even in the slight glance I obtained.

In a short time after I arrived at Cubzac, and rode straight to the

inn, the hospitable doors of which showed themselves very willing to

give me admission.

When I stood in the courtyard, however, and saw my armour and my

valise unloaded from Andriot's horse, while the aubergiste waited to

conduct me, with every appearance of reverence, towards the hall of

general entertainment, a strange feeling suddenly came over me, from

the recollection that it was not yet four-and-twenty hours since the

arrival of the Baron de Blancford at his own chateau, that all I had

done--the making of a new acquaintance, my dealings with the Jew, the

purchase of horses and of arms, and a hundred little incidents, which

appeared to me like the occupations of a life--had in reality occupied

but a few hours. So it was, however: my whole fate and course of

existence had been changed as by the stroke of a magician's wand,

which had set me free in a moment from the state of indolent

dependance in which I had been forced to remain like one of the

spirits in the old fables, imprisoned motionless in the heart of some

knotted oak, and had sent me forth in a moment to active life and

energetic exertion.

There was something ennobling, elevating, inspiring in the feelings,

very different from the sensations with which I had looked back upon

the scenes I was leaving, from the northern bank of the Garonne. That

all this had been accomplished in so short a space, gave me a

sensation of power and energy; a confidence in myself which I had

before wanted; and in the calm and deliberate step, and thoughtful air

with which I followed the landlord into the auberge, no one, I think,

could have discovered any trace of a mind as inexperienced as that of

a mere boy.

The hall of the inn was a very spacious one; and a long table appeared

in the middle, at the farther end of which I could just see, through

the dim twilight of the evening, some seven or eight persons assembled

round what seemed a hasty supper. One of the servants of the inn,

however, brought in lights almost immediately after I had entered; and

it then became evident that the party had just arrived from some long

journey. There were two or three grave, elderly men of respectable

appearance, apparently tradesmen of some importance, or merchants.

There was a good dame, too, of the same class, with two or three

little girls of seven or eight years old, and one or two women

servants; besides which, there was a youth of eighteen or nineteen,

strong and well made, scarcely tasting his supper, but sitting beside

the rest, and resting thoughtfully, with his head leaning on his hand.

Manifold were the caps and mantles which covered the whole party; and

one would certainly have supposed, from the way in which they were

wrapped up, that we were in the midst of winter rather than in the

warmest time of year. It often happened at that time, however, that

such superabundant garments were adopted for the purpose of

concealment; and I judged, and judged rightly, that these might be a

party of wealthy traders, who, travelling through a disturbed country,

and in dangerous times, chose to be recognised as little as possible,

lest the report of wealth might draw upon them the attention of the

plunderers with whom the country was overrun.

All their eyes had been turned upon me as soon as I entered; the

conversation they were carrying on ceased; and, as if for something to

say, one of the elder men addressed the younger, saying,

"Why do you not eat your supper, Martin? You are not sick, are you?"

"Not sick, uncle, but sorry," replied the lad.

"Pshaw! Thou art a whimsical boy," replied the elder man. "I can tell

thee, however poor a trade thou mayest follow, it is richer than that

of a soldier. Here is this gentleman coming in," he added, raising his

eyes to me as I stood half way up the table. "He looks as if he knew

something of arms, and I dare say will tell thee that to sell silk or

linen, however little one may get, is better than fighting all day,

watching all night, and having hard blows for one's only payment."

I laughed at his description of the soldier's life; and, as he

addressed me first, replied at once, "I cannot think we are so badly

off as that, my good sir. Every one knows his own taste; and, though

certainly fortunes are rarely made by the sword, yet honour is gained,

and glory, and frequently competence; and you must remember there is

not a noble family in the land which does not owe its elevation to the

sword."

"That was in other days, that was in other days," said the elder man.

"But I am right, then, in thinking you a soldier, sir?"

I nodded my head, and was about to reply somewhat more fully, when

Andriot entered the room and whispered a word or two in my ear, which

made me rise and go out, while the landlord busily put down my cover,

and prepared to give me supper.

The intelligence which the lad had brought me was simply that the man

with the spear, whom we had passed on the road, had come into the

inn-yard, and, finding him there, had asked him many questions

concerning me. The good youth had been in one of his loquacious moods,

and had given the interrogator more information than I thought right,

telling him my name, and that I was a gentleman going to join the

army. On this the other had immediately asked to speak with me, and I

accordingly went out at once, in order to put my mind at ease with

regard to the person in whose favour Andriot had shown himself so

communicative.

I found him in the courtyard busy in unloading his beast, and

examining the contents of the package he had thus carried behind him,

which proved to be a considerable store of very miscellaneous pieces

of armour, both offensive and defensive. The cuirass was at that

moment on the top, and, from its condition, left little doubt that one

of its possessors, at least, had seen some service like itself; for

not only did sundry hacks and dents betray the fact of many a close

encounter, but a large round hole appeared to have been perforated,

either by bullet or lance, on the right-hand side, near the armhole;

and the gap was now curiously stopped up by means of a piece of thick

leather, attached by nails driven through the iron and clinched on the

inside.

"Why, my good friend," I said, looking at the cuirass, and without

taking any immediate notice of his message, "that piece of leather

will never keep out anything."

"It will keep out anything I want it to keep out," replied the man,

looking up at me with a laugh.

"And what is that?" I demanded; "What is it you want it to keep out?"

"The wind," he replied; "for when the wind gets in between cold iron

and an empty stomach, a man gets melancholy, and has no appetite for

dry blows. But I know what you mean; that sword, or bullet, or spear

would go through it as easily as a skewer through a cock of the

Indies; but there's not much chance of any other bullet finding out

that place again; and if it did, no great matter, for it would meet

with its fellow here, just lying between the ribs, under my armpit,

and that would stop it from going any farther."

"That is looking upon the matter rationally," I replied; "but now, my

good friend, what is it that you wanted with me?"

"Why, simply this, seigneur," he replied; "finding that you are a

soldier going to join the army, and having heard of your name a great

many years ago as a very brave and gallant gentleman--"

"You must mean my father," I said, interrupting him: "my name you most

likely have never heard."

"Ay, I dare say it was your father, now look at you," he replied, "for

you couldn't be much out of your swaddling-clothes at the time I talk

of. However, I was going to propose, that you, being travelling alone,

or nearly so, and I alone, or what's somewhat worse than alone, having

nothing but a bad beast with me, which trots me five miles an hour,

and thinks itself a miracle--I was going to propose, I say, that we

should join company; for in these days we may fall in with friends and

acquaintances by the way, where we shall find two right hands better

than one. Besides, we may chance to fall in with some booty, and two

dogs will always kill more game than twice one dog."

On the very face of the matter, the proposal was somewhat impudent;

for at least my clothing, my horses, and, I trust, my appearance

altogether, were those of a man of high birth; but when I came to look

my companion over more attentively by the twilight, which did not

improve his appearance, it struck me as more impudent still. He

was a person of about forty-five years of age, lean, long-limbed,

thin-flanked, broad in the shoulders, with as unprepossessing a

countenance as it was possible to imagine, and nothing on earth to

redeem it from a sort of assassin-like expression, except a merry but

somewhat sarcastic glance, which occasionally came into his eyes, or,

rather, into one of them, for it was the right eye only which had any

movement; and I afterward found that the left was made of glass,

though a very good imitation of the other.

What might have been the original shape of his nose I do not know; but

a large cut across the bridge and down one cheek seemed to indicate

that its conformation had been somewhat violently changed into its

present Socratic turn upward.

His long gray hair, thin and ragged, his unwashed face, his untrimmed

beard, all added to the sinister appearance of his countenance, and,

in short, no one could look at him without doing him the same bitter

injustice that I did him at that moment, and thinking him as murderous

and rascally a person as it was possible to set one's eyes on. Besides

all this, his garments were anything but that which one would have

desired in a friend and companion; for his buff jerkin, besides the

rusty stains which had been left upon it after having been worn under

ill-cleaned armour, was soiled and dirty in various other ways, and in

more than one place patched with a piece of gray cloth.

He stood my survey quite quietly; and, indeed, the discrepant gaze of

his two eyes rendered it somewhat difficult to tell whether he was

looking full in my face or across the inn-yard on the other side.

After having remained for about half a minute silent, however, he

brought both eyes into a straight line, demanding, in a significant

tone. "Am not I an ugly dog?"

"Yes," I replied, "you are. But you have made a little mistake, my

good friend; I am not seeking companions, but raising a troop to serve

under my command."

"Then I am the very man you want," he replied; "for I have experience,

and you have none, that's clear enough; and I do not much care what I

do, whether it be as a leader or follower, so that I do something."

"I don't think you would do much credit to my new troop," I replied,

"unless you troubled the brook a little oftener, and gave the barber a

sous at least once a month."

"Oh, that is easily remedied," said the adventurer; "I have no sous to

spare, but I have ten fingers, baiting one which was hacked off at the

battle of St. Denis, which will do as well for me as any barber in

Christendom; and then, again, though water is not plenty in this hot

weather, yet it is to be had. As to my jerkin, too, a couple of ounces

of chalk, and the worth of a denier of yellow ochre, will put that all

to rights; so that, if you like to have me, I will turn out to-morrow

morning as smart a trooper as you'd wish to see. I cannot get rid of

my face though, so you must make the best of that."

"What religion are you of?" I asked, wishing to ascertain that point

first before I divulged my own.

"I don't know," he replied. "What is yours?"

There was a sort of quaint oddity about the fellow which amused me,

and, I confess, made me think better of him, though I know not why,

and I demanded, without answering his question, "Who have you served

under?"

"Two or three dozen," he answered; "but I have got my character

written down for the benefit of those whom it may concern by a great

many of my different friends, and I have not altered a word of their

certificates, for it is useless for a man to try to change his nature,

and it will come out sooner or later. Who will you have?" he

continued; "here is Martigues on the one side, and Andelot on the

other. Here is Puygaillard, and Lossac, and Stuart, and--"

"Stay, stay," I said; "That will do. Let me see Martigues on the one

side, and Stuart on the other."

"You are a cute bird, after all," he said; "You wont be limed, I see,

to show yourself a Protestant or a Catholic. However, here are the

papers."

And, lifting up the flap of his jerkin, he drew from an inner pocket a

number of dirty pieces of paper, of which he placed in my hands two,

saying, "There they are."

The first I opened was in a strange hand, and it went on as follows:

"This is to signify that Moric Endem is the greatest liar in Europe;

but none the worse for that. He fights like a tiger, and will now and

then obey his orders."

This was signed "Martigues;" and the other, which I instantly

recognised as the same handwriting wherein Stuart had given me a

letter to the Prince de Condé, was much in the same strain.

"I hereby aver," it said, "That Moric Endem is better than he looks.

He will stand by a friend or leader till the last, and has done so

many brave things, that he is a fool for bragging of things that he

never did."

I smiled as I read such accounts of my volunteer, but paused for a

moment to consider whether there was a possibility of my being

deceived. Had I been still is the frame of mind in which I had set out

that morning, I should have lost my opportunity, and rejected the

offer of a man who afterward proved of infinite use to me. But, as I

have said, I had become somewhat more confident in myself by this

time: Stuart's recommendation to increase my numbers as far as

possible had been strong; and therefore I determined to run the risk,

as in case of any malconduct on the part of my new follower, I and

Andriot were at least two to one against him.

"And now, Monsieur Moric Endem," I said, "Which would you rather serve

on, the Catholic or the Protestant side? Answer me fairly, for on the

reply hangs all our proceedings."

"That is not a fair question," he cried, flinging down his cap upon

the ground with some vehemence. "That is not a fair question to a

soldier of fortune. The matter, see you, is balanced pretty evenly, my

young lord. With the Catholics there is pay and but little plunder,

for the Protestants have nothing to lose. With the Protestants there

is no pay but plenty of plunder; for each Catholic, like a fool, comes

with a fortune on his back. I have, indeed, a little hankering one

way--"

"What, then," I said, "do the Protestants give no pay?"

"By St. Geronimo," he cried, slapping his thigh, "You are a Catholic!

But, no," he continued, a moment after, "I remember quite well Cerons

was a Protestant, and so was his cousin the Baron de Blancford. If you

are the young lord, you are a Protestant too."

"Perhaps it may be so," I replied, in a low tone, but with a

significant look.

"Well, then, I am your man," he said, without raising his voice; "for,

to say sooth, I was born and bred a Protestant. But it is full thirty

years since I thought of those things; and, on my honour, I don't well

know what's the difference now. As to the rest, my young master, you

must give me a crown to gild my hand, and you must give me and my

horse something to eat till we get to the army, at all events; for, if

I had not met with you this night, he and I would have shared supper;

that is to say, he would have had the hay and I the water, and

to-morrow we might have been obliged to prove troublesome to any one

we met upon the road. I declare, so help me Heaven, I have not seen a

crown piece for the last two months."

"I am nearly as poor as yourself, Moric," I said; "however, there is a

crown for you, and now you are my follower; but I expect to see a

change in your appearance by to-morrow, and you had better get your

armour on your back, as I intend to do with mine, so that we may be

well prepared for all things."

"You shall see a change, you shall see a change, sir," cried the man;

"and I will help to fill your purse as you have now helped to fill

mine. I will get this crown changed directly into silver and billon,

that it may feel heavy in my purse, and make me think of the days of

old; for I have had many more crowns in my pocket, I dare say, than

you have in yours now. But, however--I don't know how it was--peace

never lasted six months without finding me as poor as ever; the

pockets grew empty, and the crowns went away, some to one slut, some

to another, and the rest, as I have heard Stuart tell of an English

prince, were drowned in butts of Malmsey or Burgundy, as the case

might be. But I will go and polish my armour, and patch my jacket, and

wash my face, and trim my beard, and then I must try and get a new

horse the first time I meet an enemy, though it is to be confessed

that on the back of that brute there are ten chances to one against

me."

While Moric Endem was speaking, the landlord came from the house to

seek me, telling me that my supper was not only ready, but getting

cold; and, leaving my new follower to make the best arrangements he

could, I re-entered the hall of the inn.

I found the party that I had left there concluding their supper, and

they all looked at me as I sat down to mine with a sort of shy and

anxious, but yet not a reserved look, somewhat like that which a dog

puts on when he is willing to be familiar with us, but somewhat afraid

of trusting to our kindness. The two elder men, however, and the elder

lady, entered into conversation with me after a short time, and I saw

evidently that they were endeavouring to probe my character and

feelings. Those, however, were sad days, when no one dared to trust to

his neighbour; and I as little chose to confide my views or purposes

to them, as they chose to put any trust or confidence in me.

The conversation, then, was merely general: I found that one of the

elder merchants had travelled much, and had considerable information,

and he seemed not a little surprised to find that a young soldier

could possess so much general knowledge as I had acquired during my

long period of study.

The younger people, too, began to draw nearer to me; and some little

sportive jests, such as I would have used towards my cousins at

Blancford, appeared completely to win their hearts, so that they were

speedily clinging round me, playing with the tassels of my cloak or my

sword-knot, and taking a thousand little liberties, for which they

were, of course, gravely reproved by their elders.

The young man who had been called Martin, however, sat silent and

thoughtful for a long time, and at length only spoke to ask me some

questions concerning the movements of the armies. The first words on

that subject, however, seemed a signal for the party to break up, his

uncle interrupting him immediately by saying it was time to go to bed;

and the whole then retired, wishing me good-night and a prosperous

journey on the morrow.

Their reserved conduct was not explained till the following morning,

when, on rising early, I saw them setting off from the courtyard, and

the aubergiste, as innkeepers generally do, came instantly to

volunteer every information he possessed regarding the guests who were

just gone.

"Ay, poor people," he said, "silly people they are. I told them they

might trust to you, seigneur, and what a protection it would be to

them to have you with them; for they are a party of rich merchants, as

you might well see, sir, and doubtless have their pockets lined with

many a good gold piece, so that they are afraid of all the bands of

plunderers about, especially at the passages of the rivers."

"What religion are they of?" demanded I, nothing doubting they were

Protestants, as the landlord himself was well known to be of my own

creed.

To my astonishment, however, he answered that they were "poor

misguided Catholics. That is to say," he continued, "they are what

people are beginning to call nowadays, I hear, politics, which means

people that are neither very much one thing nor the other. That eldest

one is the well-known Paris merchant, Martin Vern, who has so much to

do with the Jews and Lombards. I've a great notion he's a Protestant

at heart; though his life, and all his goods, which he loves better

than his life, would be in jeopardy every hour in Paris if he did not

go to mass as regularly as the clock strikes the hour. It seems that

young Martin, the nephew, had his father's promise to be made a

soldier of; but the father died a month or so ago, which brought them

all into this part of the country, and old Martin won't hear of the

boy's taking to the sword. Yet I would stake my life that they are

attacked before they get many miles farther, and then they will find

that young Martin's stout back and strong arm are both shield and

sword for them. I hope, sir, we shall have good news of you at the

army; but you might as well have won a few gold pieces by the way of

conducting three fat merchants safely. With what will you please to

break your fast! It is not well to set out fasting, as they have done,

and it's good twelve miles ere you get to Cavignac."

"I am not going to Cavignac, my good host," I replied, not choosing

exactly to have my route settled for me.

"Ay, then," he answered, "you are going to Guitres, which is farther

still; but in that case you'll have to pass the Saye low down, and I

fear that all the rain which fell last night may have rendered the

ford impassable. Besides all that, however, I heard that Lossac and

his band were lying between St. Aulaye and Contras, and it is even to

be doubted whether he does not keep parties scouring the whole country

up as far as Barbezieux, for he wants to prevent the bands from the

South from joining our great admiral and the Prince de Condé. So you

had better take my advice and keep hard away to the west, though you

do get among the sands, for you are not strong enough to do much

against any of his people, and must e'en have recourse to what we call

fox's strength, by which I mean cunning."

I thanked the aubergiste for his good information, which was, indeed,

not a little important to me; for the armies of the Prince de Condé

and the Duke of Montpensier were so placed that it was difficult for

either to reach its resources, and no less so, for any one wishing to

join the one, to avoid falling into the hands of the other.

The tidings I had received cast me into a momentary fit of musing; and

the aubergiste, seeing the effect his words had produced, and, at the

same time, having a strong desire that I should take my breakfast at

his house, represented to me that, if I would but wait for half an

hour, a courier from Angoulême would pass through Cubzac, and from him

we could extract much information.

I agreed to his suggestion; and, soon after the morning meal had been

prepared, I heard the arrival of the courier himself, and learned that

he had passed a small band of horse, whether troops of Lossac or not

he could not tell. They amounted not to more than six or seven

persons, he said, and were apparently moving back towards Cercon.

These tidings having been obtained, I had nothing farther to detain me

at Cubzac; and, paying the host his reckoning, I mounted to my

chamber, clothed myself in my good suit of steel, and, after calling

loudly, but in vain, for Andriot, to make the rest of my goods and

chattels into as small packages as possible, that it might be carried

more easily, I descended to the courtyard to see what had become of my

young attendant and my new follower, the latter of whom I had not seen

during the whole morning.

I found them together, behind some stables at the back of the auberge,

chaffering with a sturdy farmer of the neighbourhood in regard to a

proposed exchange of Master Moric Endem's piece of lean cattle for a

fine, fresh, sturdy, but rather vicious horse belonging to the other.

Moric had offered, it seems, to give his own horse, and all the

remains of the crown which I had given him the day before, together

with another crown that Andriot had lent him, for the more powerful

and befitting charger which had been placed before his eyes. The

farmer, however, stood out for another piece of money, and I was fain

now to come forward and give it, though the price seemed to be

somewhat exorbitant.[1] The horse that Moric already possessed was

anything but fit for the journey; and, as he willingly agreed that I

was to be considered the proprietor of the beast now purchased, it

gave me a greater command over him than I might otherwise have

obtained.

After all this was concluded and the horse in his hands, I gave a

glance towards my new follower's figure, and saw that it certainly was

as much improved as his form and features would admit. The buff jerkin

was now cleared from its rusty stains and spots of dirt, and was

shining in the full freshness of chalk and yellow ochre. It seemed

scarcely dry as yet, indeed; but that circumstance he did not appear

to mind; and the plain steel cap with flying cheek-pieces, into which

he had thrust his head, had been painted with a sort of Indian black

since the night before, so as to look very smart, without offering a

very shining or conspicuous point to the eye of a watchful enemy.

No other piece of armour had yet been put on, I suppose in order to

give the buff jerkin time to dry; but when, after having told him to

hasten his preparations for departure, I came down once more with

Andriot to mount my horse, I found Master Moric armed from head to

foot, with his cuirass also painted black; thus hiding, in a great

measure, the unseemly patch upon his right side.

If I contemplated him with some attention, well pleased with his

neatly-trimmed beard and well-washed face, he did not seem to regard

me less narrowly or with less apparent pleasure, scanning all the

pieces of my arms with an experienced eye, and rubbing his hands

joyfully as he saw how easily they sat upon me. The ease with which I

managed my horse too, though the brute kicked and plunged most

unmercifully on first being mounted, gave him no less satisfaction;

and it was only upon Andriot that he bestowed some counsels and some

reproof in regard to the unsoldierly manner in which he had put on his

morion. When all was completed, we set out from Cubzac, and took our

road onward towards Barbezieux. As we went, Moric treated me with a

large portion of his conversation, amusing by its quaint drollery, but

occasionally tiresome from touches of that rhodomontade whereof he had

been accused. Were his own word to be believed, there was no great

action which had been enacted during the last half century that he had

not either absolutely performed himself or had a very considerable and

important share therein. But he even went beyond that; and when he

began telling a story of any one else, it very often happened that he

entirely forgot, before he came to the end of his tale, the original

hero with whom he set out, dropped the third person, took up the

first, changed the personage spoken of to himself, and performed all

the last acts he had to relate in his own person.

The most ludicrous instance of this kind of transformation took place

while he was giving me an account of the tournament at which King

Henry II. had been killed not many years before, and at which Moric

had been present. He asserted that the fault which occasioned the

death of the king was entirely on the part of Montgomery; but, before

he had finished his tale, he entirely forgot that declaration, got

warm and heated with the subject, was seized with the peculiar sort of

cupidity which induced him so constantly to appropriate the actions of

others, and becoming Montgomery himself, described how he had killed

the King of France, and explained, with the utmost perspicuity and

exactitude, the eager feelings with which he had been animated, and

which prevented him from recollecting in time that it was necessary to

throw away instantly the broken staff of his lance.

I could not help laughing at this absurdity; but he took it all in

good part, laughed himself, and declared that it was every word true,

except that he was the person who did it.

In many other respects, however, his conversation was full of

interest. He was an old veteran soldier, and full of information upon

every practical point, both of military tactics and military habits.

As far as study could render me acquainted with the subject, I was so

already; but I gained more useful information from my new follower in

a few hours, more directions for employing well the science that I had

acquired, than I could have done from the best master of the art in

weeks or months.

From him, too, I learned all the habits and manners of the camp; the

rules, the regulations, the etiquettes, which I had before no notion

of. What could and might be done, what could not be done, he told me;

and I found that, constituted as armies of that period were--low in

discipline, licentious in habits--with a little complaisance to the

great leaders, and the observation of a few insignificant regulations,

the captain of such a party as I proposed to raise might, in fact, do

anything that he liked, and act totally independent of the general

during almost the whole of his campaign, provided he showed himself

daring and fearless, and ready to fight whenever he was called upon.

As we were conversing in this manner while we pursued our onward way,

we came to the high grounds near the little hamlet of Marceau, and,

looking down over the country below, we saw a considerable number of

people riding along, as if in great haste and confusion, upon the bank

of the river, and at some distance to the right another party appeared

upon the edge of the little slope, while the sun, glittering upon

their arms, left no doubt whatever that they were troopers of some

kind.

"Those are surely the poor merchants," I said, "who left Cubzac this

morning."

"Ay," said the old soldier, "They are running away from those worthies

on the hill; some of Lassac's people, I suppose. But the stupid fools

have missed the ford. It is there, a hundred yards to the right, and

they are running away from it. I know it as well as my own buff

jerkin. They will get themselves caught and plundered if they don't

mind."

"Let us go down and help them," I exclaimed. "If you know the ford, we

can reach them before the others, and once having them across, we can

turn and take a blow or two with the pursuers."

"Bravo! bravo, my captain!" cried Moric Endem. "That's the way! That's

the way! It seems as if you had been born and bred to it! Always fight

the enemy when he's not more than two to one! I am with you, my good

captain!"

And, spurring down the hill at full speed, we approached the party of

merchants, who, terrified at seeing another body of troopers on the

opposite side, paused and hesitated, till, taking off my steel cap, I

waved it in the air, calling to them not to be afraid.

It seems that I was instantly recognised, for they stopped, and some

advanced towards me, while, pointing with my hand towards the spot

which Moric had indicated as the ford, I shouted to them to ride in

that way with all speed.

People in a fright, however, never understand anything that is said to

them, and they did not obey my directions till I reached them, so that

by the time we got them to the side of the river, and some of the

horses into the water, the enemy were close upon us. It seemed to me

just like one of the military games which I had been accustomed to

play with the old retainers and my young cousins. With Moric Endem and

Andriot, I turned my horse upon the pursuers; the lad Martin rode up

in a minute to my side; one of his uncles could not resist following;

and, by a sudden and unexpected charge, we drove the enemy back, who

paused for a moment's consideration before they followed us again.

"Now, seigneur," cried Moric, "quick over the stream, for the river is

coming down like fury, and in ten minutes more will be impassable. We

can easily keep the opposite bank when we are over."

I had remarked that the water was up to the girths of the horses'

saddles when the party of merchants passed, and therefore, without

more ado, I gave the necessary order for crossing the stream. We found

that the little river Saye, like some of the others that flow into the

Isle, subject to a sudden increase, had become a complete torrent in

consequence of the rain which had fallen during the night, and was

swelling every moment, coming down in large brown eddies, which nearly

carried our horses off their feet. The two merchants who had remained

with us and Andriot passed first, and I followed, thinking that my

friend Moric was close behind me; but, in charging the Catholics, one

of them had been struck to the ground, slightly wounded, near the bank

of the stream, and Moric's fondness for plunder could not be

restrained. The man-at-arms, indeed, had run away, but the horse had

somehow got his feet entangled with the bridle, and remained very

soberly lying on the ground.

Turning round when I had half crossed the stream, I perceived my

worthy follower busily employed upon the saddle, and shouted to him

that the enemy were upon him. He looked up, however, calculated the

distance nicely, finished the operation of cutting the girths with his

dagger, threw the rich saddle and its caparisons on the crupper of his

own horse, sprang upon his back in a moment, and plunged into the

river, with the spears of the Catholics close at his horse's flanks.

The water had risen some inches since I had passed; his horse was not

quite so tall as mine, and for a few feet had to swim; but Moric Endem

was never at all discomposed by any such little adventure; and,

keeping his spurs close to the horse's sides, brought him to land, not

more than a few yards below the spot where the rest were standing.

The Catholic band pursued him into the water, and one of them seemed

inclined to follow his example in swimming; but Moric was by no means

unprepared; and snatching from the miscellaneous crowd of arms which

surrounded his saddle a long horse-pistol, which fired with a flint

and wheel, he took a deliberate aim at the pursuer's horse and shot

him in the water. Though the wound was mortal, the horse, luckily for

its rider, dashed out of the water before it fell; and Moric, scarcely

staying to mark the effect, proceeded calmly and quietly to examine

the saddle which he had taken, to rip off the gold lace and velvet

which covered it, and to extract from the lining of the bow some

twenty gold pieces, which were there stowed away for security.

Laughing at his prize, he rode up to us, and breaking in upon the

expressions of gratitude which the merchants were pouring upon me, he

pointed to the tops of a thick wood of sapins which were seen it the

distance of about two miles, saying,

"We had better ride on that way; for, if these fellows see us remain

talking here, they will go down to the bridge and pursue us out of

very spite. If we set off quick for the wood, however, they will know

that it is useless, and we shall go on in quiet."

His advice was immediately followed; and, turning round on a little

elevation before we reached the wood, we had the satisfaction of

seeing that the enemy had given up the pursuit, and were slowly

proceeding across the country in another direction.