RENALDO MEETS WITH A LIVING MONUMENT OF JUSTICE, AND ENCOUNTERS A
PERSONAGE OF SOME NOTE IN THESE MEMOIRS.
As this domestic was very well qualified for making all the proper
dispositions, and adjusting every necessary article on the road, Renaldo
totally abstracted himself from earthly considerations, and mused without
ceasing on that theme which was the constant subject of his
contemplation. He was blind to the objects that surrounded him; he
scarce ever felt the importunities of nature; and had not they been
reinforced by the pressing entreaties of his attendant, he would have
proceeded without refreshment or repose. In this absence of mind did he
traverse a great part of Germany, in his way to the Austrian Netherlands,
and arrived at the fortress of Luxemburg, where he was obliged to tarry a
whole day on account of an accident which had happened to his chaise.
Here he went to view the fortifications; and as he walked along the
ramparts, his ears were saluted with these words: "Heaven bless the noble
Count de Melvil! will not he turn the eyes of compassion on an old
fellow-soldier reduced to misfortune and disgrace?"
Surprised at this address, which was attended with the clanking of
chains, Renaldo lifted up his eyes, and perceived the person who spoke
to be one of two malefactors shackled together, who had been sentenced
for some crime to work as labourers on the fortifications. His face was
so covered with hair, and his whole appearance so disguised by the
squalid habit which he wore, that the Count could not recollect his
features, until he gave him to understand that his name was Ratchcali.
Melvil immediately recognised his fellow-student at Vienna, and his
brother-volunteer upon the Rhine, and expressed equal surprise and
concern at seeing him in such a deplorable situation.
Nothing renders the soul so callous and insensible as the searing brands
of infamy and disgrace. Without betraying the least symptoms of shame or
confusion, "Count," says he, "this is the fate of war, at least of the
war in which I have been engaged, ever since I took leave of the Imperial
army, and retreated with your old companion Fathom. Long life to that
original genius! If he is not unhappily eclipsed by some unfortunate
interposition, before his terrene parts are purified, I foresee that he
will shine a star of the first magnitude in the world of adventure."
At mention of this detested name, Renaldo's heart began to throb with
indignation; yet he suppressed the emotion, and desired to know the
meaning of that splendid encomium which he had bestowed upon his
confederate. "It would be quite unnecessary," replied Ratchcali, "for a
man in my present situation to equivocate or disguise the truth. The
nature of my disgrace is perfectly well known. I am condemned to hard
labour for life; and unless some lucky accident, which I cannot now
foresee, shall intervene, all I can expect is some alleviation of my hard
lot from the generosity of such gentlemen as you, who compassionate the
sufferings of your fellow-creatures. In order to engage your benevolence
the more in my behalf, I shall, if you will give me the hearing,
faithfully inform you of some particulars, which it may import you to
know, concerning my old acquaintance Ferdinand Count Fathom, whose real
character hath perhaps hitherto escaped your notice."
Then he proceeded to give a regular detail of all the strokes of finesse
which he, in conjunction with our adventurer, had practised upon Melvil
and others, during their residence at Vienna, and the campaigns they had
made upon the Rhine. He explained the nature of the robbery which was
supposed to have been done by the Count's valet, together with the manner
of their desertion. He described his separation from Fathom, their
meeting at London, the traffic they carried on in copartnership; and the
misfortune that reduced Ferdinand to the condition in which he was found
by Melvil.
"After having gratified the honest lawyer," said he, "with a share of
the unfortunate Fathom's spoils, and packed up all my own valuable
effects, my new auxiliary Maurice and I posted to Harwich, embarked in
the packet-boat, and next day arrived at Helvoetsluys; from thence we
repaired to the Hague, in order to mingle in the gaieties of the place,
and exercise our talents at play, which is there cultivated with
universal eagerness. But, chancing to meet with an old acquaintance,
whom I did not at all desire to see, I found it convenient to withdraw
softly to Rotterdam; from whence we set out for Antwerp; and, having made
a tour of the Austrian Netherlands, set up our rest at Brussels, and
concerted a plan for laying the Flemings under contribution.
"From our appearance we procured admission into the most polite
assemblies, and succeeded to a wonder in all our operations; until our
career was unfortunately checked by the indiscretion of my ally, who,
being detected in the very act of conveying a card, was immediately
introduced to a magistrate. And this minister of justice was so curious,
inquisitive, and clear-sighted, that Count Maurice, finding it impossible
to elude his penetration, was fain to stipulate for his own safety, by
giving up his friend to the cognisance of the law. I was accordingly
apprehended, before I knew the cause of my arrest; and being unhappily
known by some soldiers of the Prince's guard, my character turned out so
little to the approbation of the inquisitors, that all my effects were
confiscated for the benefit of the state, and I was by a formal sentence
condemned to labour on the fortifications all the days of my life; while
Maurice escaped at the expense of five hundred stripes, which he received
in public from the hands of the common executioner.
"Thus have I, without evasion or mental reservation, given a faithful
account of the steps by which I have arrived at this barrier, which is
likely to be the ne plus ultra of my peregrinations, unless the generous
Count de Melvil will deign to interpose his interest in behalf of an old
fellow-soldier, who may yet live to justify his mediation."
Renaldo had no reason to doubt the truth of this story, every
circumstance of which tended to corroborate the intelligence he had
already received touching the character of Fathom, whom he now considered
with a double portion of abhorrence, as the most abandoned miscreant that
nature had ever produced. Though Ratchcali did not possess a much higher
place in his opinion, he favoured him with marks of his bounty, and
exhorted him, if possible, to reform his heart; but he would by no means
promise to interpose his credit in favour of a wretch self-convicted of
such enormous villany and fraud. He could not help moralising upon this
rencontre, which inspired him with great contempt for human nature. And
next day he proceeded on his journey with a heavy heart, ruminating on
the perfidy of mankind, and, between whiles, transported with the
prospect of revenging all his calamities upon the accursed author.
While he was wrapped up in these reveries, his carriage rolled along, and
had already entered a wood between Mons and Tournay, when his dream was
suddenly interrupted by the explosion of several pistols that were fired
among the thickets at a little distance from the road. Roused at this
alarm, he snatched his sword that stood by him, and springing from the
chaise, ran directly towards the spot, being close followed by his valet,
who had alighted and armed himself with a pistol in each hand. About
forty yards from the highway, they arrived in a little glade or opening,
where they saw a single man standing at bay against five banditti, after
having killed one of their companions, and lost his own horse, that lay
dead upon the ground.
Melvil seeing this odds, and immediately guessing their design, rushed
among them without hesitation, and in an instant ran his sword through
the heart of one whose hand was raised to smite the gentleman behind,
while he was engaged with the rest in front. At the same time the valet
disabled another by a shot in the shoulder; so that the number being now
equal on both sides, a furious combat ensued, every man being paired with
an antagonist, and each having recourse to swords, as all their pieces
had been discharged. Renaldo's adversary, finding himself pressed with
equal fury and skill, retreated gradually among the trees, until he
vanished altogether into the thickest of the wood; and his two companions
followed his example with great ease, the valet-de-chambre being hurt in
the leg, and the stranger so much exhausted by the wounds he had received
before Renaldo's interposition, that, when the young gentleman approached
to congratulate him on the defeat of the robbers, he, in advancing to
embrace his deliverer, dropped down motionless on the grass.
The Count, with that warmth of sympathy and benevolence which was natural
to his heart, lifted up the wounded cavalier in his arms, and carried him
to the chaise, in which he was deposited, while the valet-de-chambre
reloaded his pistols, and prepared for a second attack, as they did not
doubt that the banditti would return with a reinforcement. However,
before they reappeared, Renaldo's driver disengaged him from the wood,
and in less than a quarter of an hour they arrived at a village, where
they halted for assistance to the stranger, who, though still alive, had
not recovered the use of his senses.
After he was undressed, and laid in a warm bed, a surgeon examined his
body, and found a wound in his neck by a sword, and another in his right
side, occasioned by a pistol-shot; so that his prognostic was very
dubious. Meanwhile, he applied proper dressings to both; and, in half an
hour after this administration, the gentleman gave some tokens of
perception. He looked around him with a wildness of fury in his aspect,
as if he had thought himself in the hands of the robbers by whom he had
been attacked. But, when he saw the assiduity with which the bystanders
exerted themselves in his behalf, one raising his head from the pillow,
while another exhorted him to swallow a little wine which was warmed for
the purpose; when he beheld the sympathising looks of all present, and
heard himself accosted in the most cordial terms by the person whom he
recollected as his deliverer, all the severity vanished from his
countenance; he took Renaldo's hand, and pressed it to his lips; and,
while the tears gushed from his eyes, "Praised be God," said he, "that
virtue and generosity are still to be found among the sons of men."
Everybody in the apartment was affected by this exclamation; and Melvil,
above all the rest, felt such emotions as he could scarcely restrain. He
entreated the gentleman to believe himself in the midst of such friends
as would effectually secure him from all violence and mortification; he
conjured him to compose the perturbation of his spirits, and quiet the
apprehensions of his mind with that reflection; and protested, that he
himself would not quit the house while his attendance should be deemed
necessary for the stranger's cure, or his conversation conducive to his
amusement.
These assurances, considered with the heroic part which the young
Hungarian had already acted in his behalf, inspired the cavalier with
such a sublime idea of Melvil, that he gazed upon him with silent
astonishment, as an angel sent from heaven for his succour; and, in the
transport of his gratitude, could not help exclaiming, "Sure Providence
hath still something in reserve for this unfortunate wretch, in whose
favour such a miracle of courage and generosity hath interposed!"
Being accommodated with proper care and attendance, his constitution in a
little time overcame the fever; and, at the third dressing, the surgeon
declared him out of all danger from his wounds. Then was Renaldo
indulged with opportunities of conversing with the patient, and of
inquiring into the particulars of his fortune and designs in life, with a
view to manifest the inclination he felt to serve him in his future
occasions.
The more this stranger contemplated the character of the Count, the more
his amazement increased, on account of his extraordinary benevolence in
favour of a person whose merit he could not possibly know; he even
expressed his surprise on this subject to Renaldo, who at length told
him, that, although his best offices should always be ready for the
occasions of any gentleman in distress, his particular attachment and
regard to him was improved by an additional consideration. "I am no
stranger," said he, "to the virtues and honour of the gallant Don Diego
de Zelos."
"Heaven and earth!" cried the stranger, starting from his seat with
extreme emotion, "do I then live to hear myself addressed by that
long-lost appellation! my heart glows at the expression! my spirits are
kindled with a flame that thrills through every nerve! Say, young
gentleman, if you are really an inhabitant of earth, by what means are
you acquainted with the unhappy name of Zelos?"
In answer to this eager interrogation, Renaldo gave him to understand,
that in the course of his travels, he had resided a short time at
Seville, where he had frequently seen Don Diego, and often heard his
character mentioned with uncommon esteem and veneration. "Alas!" replied
the Castilian, "that justice is no longer done to the wretched Zelos; his
honours are blasted, and his reputation canker-bitten by the venomous
tooth of slander."
He then proceeded to unfold his misfortunes, as they have already been
explained in the former part of these memoirs; at the recapitulation of
which, the heart of Melvil, being intendered by his own calamities, was
so deeply affected, that he re-echoed the groans of Don Diego, and wept
over his sufferings with the most filial sympathy. When he repeated the
story of that cruel fraud which was practised upon him by the faithless
Fadini, Melvil, whose mind and imagination teemed with the villanies of
Fathom, was immediately struck with the conjecture of his being the
knave; because, indeed, he could not believe that any other person was so
abandoned by principle and humanity as to take such a barbarous advantage
of a gentleman in distress.