After some time the good Rolf returned with slow and soft steps, and
started with surprise at finding the hall deserted. The chamber where he
had been occupied in quieting and soothing the unhappy child was in so
distant a part of the castle that he had heard nothing of the knight’s
hasty departure. The chaplain related to him all that had passed, and
then said, “But, my good Rolf, I much wish to ask you concerning those
strange words with which you seemed to lull poor Sintram to rest.
They sounded like sacred words, and no doubt they are; but I could not
understand them. ‘I believe, and yet I cannot believe.’”
“Reverend sir,” answered Rolf, “I remember that from my earliest years
no history in the Gospels has taken such hold of me as that of the child
possessed with a devil, which the disciples were not able to cast out;
but when our Saviour came down from the mountain where He had been
transfigured, He broke the bonds wherewith the evil spirit had held the
miserable child bound. I always felt as if I must have known and loved
that boy, and been his play-fellow in his happy days; and when I grew
older, then the distress of the father on account of his lunatic son lay
heavy at my heart. It must surely have all been a foreboding of our poor
young Lord Sintram, whom I love as if he were my own child; and now
the words of the weeping father in the Gospel often come into my
mind,--‘Lord, I believe; help Thou my unbelief;’ and something similar
I may very likely have repeated to-day as a chant or a prayer. Reverend
father, when I consider how one dreadful imprecation of the father has
kept its withering hold on the son, all seems dark before me; but, God
be praised! my faith and my hope remain above.”
“Good Rolf,” said the priest, “I cannot clearly understand what you
say about the unhappy Sintram; for I do not know when and how this
affliction came upon him. If no oath or solemn promise bind you to
secrecy, will you make known to me all that is connected with it?”
“Most willingly,” replied Rolf. “I have long desired to have an
opportunity of so doing; but you have been almost always separated
from us. I dare not now leave the sleeping boy any longer alone; and
to-morrow, at the earliest dawn, I must take him to his father. Will you
come with me, dear sir, to our poor Sintram?”
The chaplain at once took up the small lamp which Rolf had brought with
him, and they set off together through the long vaulted passages. In the
small distant chamber they found the poor boy fast asleep. The light of
the lamp fell strangely on his very pale face. The chaplain stood gazing
at him for some time, and at length said: “Certainly from his birth his
features were always sharp and strongly marked, but now they are almost
fearfully so for such a child; and yet no one can help having a kindly
feeling towards him, whether he will or not.”
“Most true, dear sir,” answered Rolf. And it was evident how his whole
heart rejoiced at any word which betokened affection for his beloved
young lord. Thereupon he placed the lamp where its light could not
disturb the boy, and seating himself close by the priest, he began to
speak in the following terms:--“During that Christmas feast of which my
lord was talking to you, he and his followers discoursed much concerning
the German merchants, and the best means of keeping down the increasing
pride and power of the trading-towns. At length Biorn laid his impious
hand on the golden boar’s head, and swore to put to death without mercy
every German trader whom fate, in what way soever, might bring
alive into his power. The gentle Verena turned pale, and would have
interposed--but it was too late, the bloody word was uttered. And
immediately afterwards, as though the great enemy of souls were
determined at once to secure with fresh bonds the vassal thus devoted
to him, a warder came into the hall to announce that two citizens of a
trading-town in Germany, an old man and his son, had been shipwrecked
on this coast, and were now within the gates, asking hospitality of the
lord of the castle. The knight could not refrain from shuddering; but
he thought himself bound by his rash vow and by that accursed heathenish
golden boar. We, his retainers, were commanded to assemble in the
castle-yard, armed with sharp spears, which were to be hurled at the
defenceless strangers at the first signal made to us. For the first,
and I trust the last time in my life, I said ‘No’ to the commands of
my lord; and that I said in a loud voice, and with the heartiest
determination. The Almighty, who alone knows whom He will accept and
whom He will reject, armed me with resolution and strength. And Biorn
might perceive whence the refusal of his faithful old servant arose, and
that it was worthy of respect. He said to me, half in anger and half in
scorn: ‘Go up to my wife’s apartments; her attendants are running to
and fro, perhaps she is ill. Go up, Rolf the Good, I say to thee, and so
women shall be with women.’ I thought to myself, ‘Jeer on, then;’ and I
went silently the way that he had pointed out to me. On the stairs
there met me two strange and right fearful beings, whom I had never seen
before; and I know not how they got into the castle. One of them was a
great tall man, frightfully pallid and thin; the other was a dwarf-like
man, with a most hideous countenance and features. Indeed, when I
collected my thoughts and looked carefully at him, it appeared to me--”
Low moanings and convulsive movements of the boy here interrupted the
narrative. Rolf and his chaplain hastened to his bedside, and perceived
that his countenance wore an expression of fearful agony, and that he
was struggling in vain to open his eyes. The priest made the Sign of
the Cross over him, and immediately peace seemed to be restored, and his
sleep again became quiet: they both returned softly to their seats.
“You see,” said Rolf, “that it will not do to describe more closely
those two awful beings. Suffice it to say, that they went down into the
court-yard, and that I proceeded to my lady’s apartments. I found the
gentle Verena almost fainting with terror and overwhelming anxiety, and
I hastened to restore her with some of those remedies which I was able
to apply by my skill, through God’s gift and the healing virtues of
herbs and minerals. But scarcely had she recovered her senses, when,
with that calm holy power which, as you know, is hers, she desired me
to conduct her down to the court-yard, saying that she must either put
a stop to the fearful doings of this night, or herself fall a sacrifice.
Our way took us by the little bed of the sleeping Sintram. Alas! hot
tears fell from my eyes to see how evenly his gentle breath then came
and went, and how sweetly he smiled in his peaceful slumbers.”
The old man put his hands to his eyes, and wept bitterly; but soon
he resumed his sad story. “As we approached the lowest window of the
staircase, we could hear distinctly the voice of the elder merchant; and
on looking out, the light of the torches showed me his noble features,
as well as the bright youthful countenance of his son. ‘I take Almighty
God to witness,’ cried he, ‘that I had no evil thought against this
house! But surely I must have fallen unawares amongst heathens; it
cannot be that I am in a Christian knight’s castle; and if you are
indeed heathens, then kill us at once. And thou, my beloved son, be
patient and of good courage; in heaven we shall learn wherefore it could
not be otherwise.’ I thought I could see those two fearful ones amidst
the throng of retainers. The pale one had a huge curved sword in his
hand, the little one held a spear notched in a strange fashion. Verena
tore open the window, and cried in silvery tones through the wild night,
‘My dearest lord and husband, for the sake of your only child, have pity
on those harmless men! Save them from death, and resist the temptation
of the evil spirit.’ The knight answered in his fierce wrath--but I
cannot repeat his words. He staked his child on the desperate cast; he
called Death and the Devil to see that he kept his word:--but hush! the
boy is again moaning. Let me bring the dark tale quickly to a close.
Biorn commanded his followers to strike, casting on them those fierce
looks which have gained him the title of Biorn of the Fiery Eyes; while
at the same time the two frightful strangers bestirred themselves very
busily. Then Verena called out, with piercing anguish, ‘Help, O God, my
Saviour!’ Those two dreadful figures disappeared; and the knight and his
retainers, as if seized with blindness, rushed wildly one against the
other, but without doing injury to themselves, or yet being able to
strike the merchants, who ran so close a risk. They bowed reverently
towards Verena, and with calm thanksgivings departed through the
castle-gates, which at that moment had been burst open by a violent gust
of wind, and now gave a free passage to any who would go forth. The lady
and I were yet standing bewildered on the stairs, when I fancied I
saw the two fearful forms glide close by me, but mist-like and unreal.
Verena called to me: ‘Rolf, did you see a tall pale man, and a little
hideous one with him, pass just now up the staircase?’ I flew after
them; and found, alas, the poor boy in the same state in which you saw
him a few hours ago. Ever since, the attack has come on him regularly at
this time, and he is in all respects fearfully changed. The lady of
the castle did not fail to discern the avenging hand of Heaven in this
calamity; and as the knight, her husband, instead of repenting, ever
became more truly Biorn of the Fiery Eyes, she resolved, in the walls of
a cloister, by unremitting prayer, to obtain mercy in time and eternity
for herself and her unhappy child.”
Rolf was silent; and the chaplain, after some thought, said: “I now
understand why, six years ago, Biorn confessed his guilt to me in
general words, and consented that his wife should take the veil. Some
faint compunction must then have stirred within him, and perhaps may
stir him yet. At any rate it was impossible that so tender a flower as
Verena could remain longer in so rough keeping. But who is there now to
watch over and protect our poor Sintram?”
“The prayer of his mother,” answered Rolf. “Reverend sir, when the
first dawn of day appears, as it does now, and when the morning breeze
whispers through the glancing window, they ever bring to my mind the
soft beaming eyes of my lady, and I again seem to hear the sweet tones
of her voice. The holy Verena is, next to God, our chief aid.”
“And let us add our devout supplications to the Lord,” said the
chaplain; and he and Rolf knelt in silent and earnest prayer by the bed
of the pale sufferer, who began to smile in his dreams.