hands and that scarlet mouth of thine. For thou must quench the fire
thou hast caused."
The girl was frightened beyond words. By his crooked shape she had
recognized him in the dusky half-light, and the recollection of the
sufferings this misshapen recreant had occasioned her, together with
the repugnant presence of the man himself, drove her almost to madness.
Powerless to utter a sound, she sank down trembling in every limb.
Seeing this, the bold knave began to shake the iron bars of her grate,
and since it was by no means very strong but rather intended only for
the keeping of less vigorous prisoners, it began to yield, and he was
about to tear it out of its staples. But just that instant Dietegen
arrived on the scene. To notice the whole proceeding and to seize the
madman firmly by the shoulder was the work of a flash. The enraged
scribe yelled like one possessed, and was for drawing his poniard. But
Dietegen kept an iron hold on him, grasping his hands and wrestling
with him until the humpback owned himself beaten. Then Dietegen was
uncertain whether to hand the maddened creature over to the authorities
or to let him go. Not knowing the circumstances of the case and
unwilling to cause new complications for Kuengolt, he finally allowed
the scribe to escape, warning him, however, on pain of death, not to
return again to the place. Next Dietegen woke the sexton and induced
him, since autumn with its cool nights was approaching, to afford
shelter to his prisoner henceforth within his own dwelling, in order to
avert repetition of a scene like the one of that night.
Therefore Kuengolt that very night was taken inside, and secured by a
light chain to the foot of the stove. The latter was a trim structure
built of green tiling and showing in raised outlines the biblical story
of the creation of man and his fall from grace. At the four corners of
this stove there stood the four greater prophets upon twisted pillars,
and the whole of it formed a somewhat attractive monument. Against it
and tied to it by her gyves Kuengolt now lay stretched out on a bench
for her couch.
She was glad of having obtained a more sheltered spot, and more still
of having been rescued out of the hands of this evil hunchback, and she
ascribed the whole of Dietegen's efforts to his devoted feelings for
her, and this despite the fact that he had not spoken a syllable to her
through it all and had gone away immediately after the new arrangements
had been effected.
When, however, Kuengolt had thus been installed in a more convenient
place, a new admirer of her charms turned up in the person of a
chaplain whose duties obliged him to attend to a number of small
matters in the church building close by, and to whose obligations it
also belonged to offer ghostly counsel and consolation to the sick or
imprisoned. This young priest came, once Kuengolt was an inmate of the
gravedigger's household, more and more frequently, not only to exorcise
her and to expel from her soul all inclination towards magic, sorcery
and witchcraft, but also to enjoy incidentally her rare feminine charms
and beauty. He strenuously endeavored to dissuade her from using any
more love philtres and similar means forbidden by the canons of the
Church, but in doing so became thoroughly imbued with her physical
attractions.
For of late, that is, since these trials had overtaken her, the maiden
had wonderfully grown in beauty. She had become a more mature, slender
and spiritualized being, albeit pallor had succeeded her former healthy
complexion, and her eyes now shone with a gentle and lovely fire,
encircled with a shadow of sadness.
Save for her being tied to the foot of the warm stove, she was being
treated in every respect like a member of the sexton's family, among
the members of which there were several children, and when the chaplain
came to visit her, he was usually regaled with a tankard of ale or a
flask of drinkable wine, these being supplied by the forester,
Kuengolt's father. But whenever the reverend divine had sufficiently
indulged in his admonishments, had partaken of the refreshment provided
for him, and still remained behind, evidently to enjoy the society of
the charming penitent, there would be some queer goings-on. For the
chaplain would squeeze and caress the pretty hand of his spiritual
daughter, would sigh and groan audibly, and then Kuengolt, comparing
this sniffling priest in her thoughts with the stately and handsome
Dietegen whom she considered in truth her lover, was prone to scoff at
the inconspicuous Levite, but in a good-natured and gentle manner.
In this way it came about that Kuengolt, after displaying all day long
her cheerful and somewhat sportive disposition, would be the declared
favorite of the sexton's household in the evening, the big family table
invariably being pushed over towards her where she perforce sat tied to
the stove. So also it was on New Year's Eve, and the young priest was
one of the company, so that the sexton, his wife and children, together
with the chaplain, were seated near the prisoned girl, all of them
munching walnuts and sweet honey cakes, and Kuengolt having just
laughed at something the priest had said, the latter meanwhile holding
her hand, when Dietegen entered the room. He brought for his patron's
daughter and his own whilom playmate some dainties from home. In coming
he had yielded to the instinctive promptings of his heart, a mingling
of pity, sympathy and affection, an unconscious longing for her
company, and the desire had been strong within him to spend at least an
hour that evening with her, this being the first time in her young life
she had to pass away from home on a night like that.
But when he saw the merry scene and caught sight of the chaplain's
caressing hand, his blood seemed to freeze within him, and he left her
after just a couple of words in explanation of his mission, without any
more ado. In going, perhaps unconsciously, Dietegen muttered as though
to himself: "Forgotten is forgotten!"
Only now Kuengolt suddenly felt the full force and meaning of these
words and of his previous devotion, and her heart seemed to stand
still. Pale and faint she sank down on her bench at the stove, and the
jolly gathering broke up. Even before the midnight bells tolled out the
new year the light in the sexton's window was gone, and the girl was
weeping bitter tears of sorrow.
From that night on she remained almost forgotten by the forester and
his household. Great days were on the way. The Swiss federation was
humming like a beehive with war's alarum. Those events were in the
making which in history are known as the Burgundian War.
When spring had come and the great day of Grandison approached, the
town of Seldwyla, too, like Ruechenstein and many others, sent her
embattled citizens into the field, and it was for the forester as well
as for Dietegen a happy release to be able to leave the disturbed
harmony and comfort of the house and to step into the clear, rugged
atmosphere of war.
With firm tread they both went along with their banner, though perhaps
more silent than most, and joined with the other hurrying detachments
the mighty battle array of the federated Swiss allies, coming most
opportunely to the armed aid of the latter.
Like unto an iron garden stood the long square of the fighting men, and
in its midst waved the standards and pennons of the cantons and towns
there represented. In serried ranks they stood, many thousands of them,
each in his independence and reliability again a world in himself; in
fearlessness and will each could depend on his neighbor, and yet all of
them together, after all, but a throng of fallible human beings.
There was the spendthrift and the light-hearted side by side with the
curmudgeon and the cautious, each awaiting the hour of supreme
sacrifice. The quarrelsome and the peaceable had to stay on with equal
patience. He whose heart was heavy within his bosom was no more
taciturn than the talkative and the braggart. The poor and indigent
stood in equal pride next to the wealthy and domineering. Whole squares
made up of neighbors ordinarily disagreeing were here one single unit.
And envy or jealousy held spear or halberd as manfully and firmly as
did generosity or reconciliation, and unjust as just aimed for the
nonce both of them to fulfil the duty immediately urgent. Whoever had
done with life and meant to sacrifice without regrets the mean remnant
of it, was no more or less than the reckless red-cheeked youth upon
whom his mother had built all her hope and in whom rested the future.
The morose submitted without protest to the silly sallies of the jester
or buffoon, and the latter on his part saw without ridicule the prosaic
conceits of the small-souled philistine.
Next to the banner of Seldwyla was visible that of Ruechenstein, so
that the serried ranks of the inimicable neighbors closely touched each
other, and the forester who was leader of a section of his fellow
citizens and formed the cornerstone of their whole formation, was the
very neighbor of the council scribe of Ruechenstein, who on his part
stood at the tail end of one of the ranks of his townsmen. But at this
hour not one of them all seemed to recall reasons for differences or to
remember the past. Dietegen was among the sharpshooters and "lost
fellows," somewhat outside these regimental formations, and was already
in the very heat of combat when the main body of the Swiss suddenly
began to move and to plunge right into the midst of battle, in order
to administer a stupendous defeat upon one of the most brilliant
warrior-princes and his luxurious and splendid army, and to drive him
to ignominous flight like a fabled king.
In the pressure of the hard-fought battle the forester with some of his
gamekeepers had been separated by Burgundian cavalry from his banner
and now fought his way through the latter, but only to encounter on the
other side enemy foot soldiery. In meeting his new foe the doughty
warrior set to work hewing and carving out for himself a roomy corner
of his own, and he had already achieved this task when through this new
opening a belated and spent cannon ball from the hosts of Charles the
Bold came smashing and crushed the broad manly chest of the man, so
that within another moment or two he had found in peace his eternal
rest, and nothing more troubled him.
When Dietegen, sound and hearty, returned from the fight and from
following the fleeing Burgundians, inquiring for his friend and father,
he found his body after but a short search, and he buried him together
with his trusty sword within the mighty roots of a far-spreading oak,
not far from the battlefield on the edge of a grove.
Then he returned home with the remainder of the Swiss hosts, and
because of his intrepidity and the ability shown by him during the
campaign he was by the town authorities made provisional chief
forester, and was given the house that had been his home for so long as
his new abode and to supervise the assistants. With the death of his
dear old patron his household had been dissolved. His savings and
accumulated wealth had vanished during the last few years preceding his
death, owing to careless management, and now Kuengolt had nothing left
in the world save her own self and the care of Dietegen, provided he
was able to give it, for he himself was but poor. She sat day after day
at her stove, leaning her cheeks against its tiles representing, in
four or five groups that recurred around the whole surface, the loss of
Paradise, the creation of Adam and of Eve, the Tree of Knowledge, and
the expulsion at last from their blessed abode. When the girl's face
ached from the rough imprint of these raised images, she shifted it by
turning to the next series, always and always contemplating them, and
between the intervals shedding tears over her lot. But even then she
could sometimes not help laughing outright when her glance traveled to
that scene showing the expulsion from the Garden of Eden. For by reason
of the potter's inadvertence this picture had been so modelled as to
give to Adam instead of a real navel on his abdomen, a round little
button and this protuberance repeating itself twentyfold on the surface
of the stove excited unfailingly her playful humor, though it also
heightened her discomfort when leaning against it.
In the midst of her fit of laughter, however, at this harmless blunder
poor Kuengolt was invariably overcome by the weight of her misery,
which would constrict heart and throat alike, and this conflict of
thought and impressions produced a keen physical pain, so that her eyes
grew wet and her face would look like that of a person wanting to
sneeze yet unable to. So that at last she avoided looking at all at
this particular group.
Meanwhile the great battle of Murten had also been fought, and at the
same time Kuengolt's term of imprisonment was ended. Dietegen had given
instructions for herself and Violande to keep house provisionally at
the forestry lodge. Violande of late had become rather modest, contrite
and well-behaved, for to her feminine sense of pride it had been a
great gratification that the late forester, although he had postponed
the wedding indefinitely and perhaps unduly, yet had wooed her and
proposed marriage. But Dietegen himself did not remain at home. On the
contrary, he drifted back and forth at the various scenes of the great
war that had not yet ended.
And it must be owned that he, too, during all these troublous times,
was not without faults. The rude customs of war, combined with the ever
gnawing grief of what he had lost of his one-time hopes, had molded him
afresh, so that a certain savagery and relentlessness had crept into
the very fibre of his being. He joined that throng of adventurous young
lads who under the name of "The Giddy Life" had started out on their
own behalf to force the town of Geneva to pay out that amount of ransom
which in the peace treaty was specified as its share. Out of Burgundian
booty that had fallen to him he had had luxurious garments fashioned
for himself. Trailing behind the banner of the Wild Boar (token of the
aforementioned wild brotherhood) he wore a magnificent surcoat of
roseate Burgundian damask, and the cross of the Swiss Federation on
chest and back was made of heavy argent stuff and trimmed with seed
pearls. His broad velvet hat was all about covered by a load of waving
ostrich plumes, taken from knightly plunder in camps stormed during the
campaign. Poniard and sword were suspended from costly girdles
ornamented with blood-red rubies or emeralds. And beside a ponderous
musket he carried a long spear which he used to balance himself with
when striding along. His broad shoulders and straight, sinewy body
looked formidable when his hawk eyes peered forth under his beplumed
hat at a cowardly braggart or in order to strike terror in controversy.
He was fond those days of seizing perhaps a shrieking maid by her
braids, glancing a moment at her startled face, and then letting her go
again at a venture.
Dressed up in this gorgeous style he had also, before joining the
companions of The Giddy Life, paid a short call at the forestry lodge
of Seldwyla. He was the very image of a nobly descended, pure-blooded
warrior, so bold and strong, elastic and sure of himself he seemed.
When Kuengolt saw him thus, receiving from him just one short cold
smile in passing, such as stern war had fixed on his features, her eyes
were dazzled. And while subsequently he was in foreign parts she loved
nothing better than to ponder the past and to live over in her thoughts
the happy days of her childhood. And almost at all times her
recollection dwelt upon that hour up on the steep slope where the
Seldwyla ladies had caressed and fondled little Dietegen, clad in
nothing but his poor sinner's shift and just escaped from an
ignominious death; how they had crowned him with wildflowers, and made
him their darling. Then she would hasten up to the summit of that hill,
and would scan the far horizon towards the Southwest where, as people
said, that unconquerable throng of youths, with him amongst them, was
doing deeds of valor.
But in that same mountainous landscape, bifurcated as it was by the
Ruechenstein territorial limits, that ominous scribe, Schafuerli, was
frequently roaming about. This man was still thirsting for revenge
because of the injury done his soul and his reputation alike, as he
deemed; for though he had escaped that time any penalty he was yet
looked upon with disfavor by most of the Ruechenstein citizens on
account of the homicide committed by him. He still lived in hopes,
therefore, of making amends by capturing the "witch" and turning her
over for expiation to the authorities of his home town. When then one
day poor Kuengolt was seated carelessly upon the very boundary line
stone, deep in her meditations, with her feet resting on Ruechenstein
soil, the vengeful hunchback quickly stepped out from some bushes, and
assisted by a municipal guard, took her prisoner and brought her
securely bound to Ruechenstein itself. And there she had to submit a
second time to a penal trial for having with her witchery caused the
death, wholly unatoned according to their notions, of the burgomaster's
son.
In Seldwyla there was, notably in those stirring war times, nobody who
felt at all any obligation to interfere in her behalf, even if there
had been much of a hope for her. Hence the rumor soon spread that
Kuengolt's life would soon pay the forfeit.
And it was Violande, once false and wicked, who now alone began to
bestir herself for the rescue of her young relative. Pity and
repentance moved her to the resolve to go in search of the only human
being from whom prompt aid might be expected. Thus she went off, being
on her errand night and day, ever going in a southwesterly direction,
in order to find that band of overbold adventurers yclept "The Giddy
Life," with Dietegen in their midst, as she knew. And since rumor was
at all times quite busy with that mettlesome brotherhood she soon found
herself in the right neighborhood, and at last came across Dietegen
himself, just as he was throwing dice for money and booty with some of
his hardy companions in a tavern.
Violande at once let him know about the ill-starred excursion of
Kuengolt and about the danger now threatening her on the part of the
Ruechensteiners, and against her own expectation he listened
attentively. But his reply was discouraging.
"I am powerless to do anything in this case," he remarked, rather
coldly. "For this is a matter of law, and since the Seldwyla people
themselves do not choose to intervene, I should not be able to find
even ten trusty comrades-in-arms to follow me and help free the child."
Violande, though, with that special knowledge which she had acquired
from her former experiences, interrupted him.
"There is no need of force in this case," quoth she. "The Ruechenstein
people have from old a law which says that any woman sentenced to death
may be saved by a man and delivered over to him if he is willing and
able to wed her on the spot."
Dietegen gazed at Violande long and in amazement wearing the while his
sneering soldier's smile.
At last he spoke.
"I am then to marry a sort of courtesan," he growled darkly, twirling
his small moustache daintily and putting on an incredulous mien, while
yet at the same time a look of tenderness beamed forth from his eyes.
"Do not say so," put in Violande, "for it is not so."
And bursting into tears she seized Dietegen's hand, and continued: "In
so far as she is to blame it is my own fault. Let me here confess it,
that I wished to separate you and her, for I wanted you two out of the
house in order to marry the father. And that is why I led the child
into all sorts of folly."
"But she ought not to have let you do so," exclaimed Dietegen. "Her
parents indeed came of good stock and deserved respect, but she has
gone astray."
"But I swear to you on my hope of salvation," cried Violande, "it is as
if a cleansing fire had passed over her, and all that once disfigured
her has been removed. She is good and true, and she is so much in love
with you that she long ago would have died if you also had left this
world like her father. Besides, have you quite forgotten what you owe
her? Would you now stand here in front of me, strong and handsome, if
she had not rescued you out of the hangman's coffin? And mind you too
of Kuengolt's kind mother and of her excellent father, who have
educated and loved you like their own son. And are you entitled to be
judge over the failings of a frail woman? Have you yourself never done
wrong? Have you never slain a man in battle when there was no need of
it? Have you never laid in ashes the hut of a defenceless and poor
person during these wars? And even though you have not done any of
these things, have you always shown mercy where you might?"
At this earnest plea Dietegen reddened, and then said: "I will not owe
anything I can pay off, and will leave no debts behind me. If it be as
you say regarding this Ruechenstein legal custom, I will go and help
the child and take her to my heart. May God then help me and her if she
is no longer able to conduct herself properly!"
Then Dietegen gave a sum of money to Violande, who was quite exhausted
from the fatigues of her journey, and who needed rest and nourishment
to strengthen herself for her return home. But he himself, only seizing
his weapons, started off instantly right across the country, and had no
rest or sleep until he discerned the dark towers and walls of
Ruechenstein rising before his eyes.
There they had not delayed matters. They had, after the lapse of a few
days consumed with legal formalities, condemned Kuengolt, who had
meanwhile been confined in an old tower, to death. But inasmuch as her
father had been of blameless life and reputation and had, moreover,
fallen as a hero battling for his country, the sentence was that she
would, as a sign of unusual mercy, be merely beheaded, instead of being
brought from life to death by fire or the wheel, or by some other of
their customary procedures.
Accordingly she was taken to the place of execution, just outside the
great gate of the town, barefooted and clothed in nought but a
delinquent's shift. All adown her back and neck floated her heavy
golden strands of hair. Step for step she went her death path, in the
midst of her tormentors, several times stumbling, but of good heart and
steady courage, since she had quite submitted to her sad fate and had
abandoned all hope of life or happiness.
"Thus luck may turn!" she was saying to herself, with a slight smile,
but just then she was thinking again of Dietegen, and sweet tears
rained down her cheeks. Memory came back to her of how he owed his
vigorous life to her, and, so good and unselfish she had grown in
adversity, she felt glad of it and kindly towards him.
Already she had been placed in the fatal chair and was, in a sense,
thankful of the chance to renew her drooping strength before receiving
the death stroke. For the last time she gazed ahead at the glories of
the land, at the hazy chain of mountains and the darksome woods. Then
the headsman tied up her eyes, and was on the point of cutting off the
wealth of her hair, or as much of it as protruded from under the cloth.
But he held his hand, for Dietegen was there, only a short distance
away, shouting with all his strength and waving his spear and hat to
draw attention. At the same time, though, to insure delay, he tore his
musket from the shoulder and sent a shot over the executioner's head.
Astonished and affrighted both judges and headsman stopped in their
doings, and all around the spectators took firm hold of their weapons.
But Dietegen did not hesitate. In a few bounds he had arrived at the
place, and had climbed to the bloody scaffold, so that under his weight
it nearly broke. Seizing Kuengolt in her chair by the hair and
shoulder, since her hands were already fastened behind, he for a moment
had to recover his breath before being able to speak.
The Ruechensteiners, as soon as assured that there was but a single man
and that no murderous attack was intended, grew attentive and waited
for further developments. When at last he had stated his business, the
judges retired to take counsel.