It was within a few minutes of sunset, as Fernand Wagner, having crossed
the mountains, hastened down that bituminous declivity constituting the
scene of desolation which separated the range of volcano hills from the
delightful plains and verdant groves stretching to the sea-shore.
A shudder passed over his frame as he beheld the solitary tree in which
he had seen the monstrous snake playing and gamboling, on the morning
when he was thrown upon this Mediterranean isle.
"Oh!" he exclaimed aloud, as he sped onward, "what happiness and also
what misery have I known in this clime. But, doomed and fated being that
I am, such is my destiny; and so must I be, here or elsewhere, in
whichever land I may visit, in whatever part of the earth I may abide.
Oh! merciful Heaven, can no prayer, no self-mortification, remove the
ban--the curse--from my devoted head?
"Oh! just Heaven," he exclaimed, stretching forth his arms toward the
sky, and with ineffable anguish depicted on his upturned countenance;
"spare me! Have I not been punished enough! Oh! take away from me this
appalling doom--let me become old, wrinkled, forlorn, and poor once
more,--let me return to my humble cot in the Black Forest, or let me
die. Almighty power! if thou wilt--but spare me--spare me now!
Wretch--wretch that I was to be dazzled by the specious promises, O
Faust! But I am justly punished--thy vengeance, O Heaven, is well
deserved--sinner, sinner that I am!"
Those were the last human sounds he uttered for several hours; for,
scarcely had they escaped his lips, when the horrible change began, and
in a few moments a wild yell rent the air, and a monstrous wolf sprung
from the spot where Wagner had fallen down in such agonizing writhings.
Away--away went the ferocious animal heading toward the sea--careering,
thundering on, as if intent on plunging into the silent depths, and
there ending its course in a watery grave.
But no: death yawns not for the Wehr-Wolf! Scarcely have its feet
touched the verge of the water, when the monster wheels round and
continues its whirlwind way without for an instant relaxing one tittle
of its speed. Away--away, through the fruit-bearing groves, clearing for
itself a path of ruin and havoc,--scattering the gems of the trees, and
breaking down the richly-laden vines; away--away flies the monster,
hideous howls bursting from its foaming mouth. The birds scream and
whistle wildly, as startled from their usual tranquil retreats, they
spread their gay and gaudy plumage, and go with gushing sound through
the evening air. He reaches the bank of a stream, and bounds along its
pleasant margin, trampling to death noble swans which vainly seek to
evade the fury of the rushing monster.
Away--away toward the forest hurries the Wehr-Wolf--impelled, lashed on
by an invincible scourge, and filling the woods with its appalling
yells--while its mouth scatters foam like thick flakes of snow. Hark,
there is an ominous rustling in one of the trees of the forest; and the
monster seems to instinctively know the danger which menaces it. But
still its course is not changed;--it seems not to exercise its own will
in shaping its course. Down the tremendous snake flings itself from the
tree--and in an instant its hideous coils are wound round the foaming,
steaming, palpitating body of the wolf. The air is rent with the yell of
agony that bursts from the throat of the horrified monster as it tumbles
over and over, as if it had run to the length of a tether--for the snake
clings with its tail to the bough from which it has darted down. But the
yielding of the wolf is only momentary; up--up it springs again--and
away,--away it careers, more madly, more desperately, more ferociously,
if possible, than before.
And the snake? Oh! poor, weak and powerless was even that dread reptile
of forty feet in length, when combated with a monster lashed on and also
protected by invisible fiends. For, as the wolf sped on again, the boa
was dragged as if by a thousand horses from its coiling hold upon the
bough--and shaken, lacerated, and affrighted, the hideous reptile
unwound itself from the ferocious animal, and fell powerless on the
grass, where the vermin of the forest attacked it with their greedy maws
ere its pestilential breath had ceased.
Away--away toward the mountains rushes the Wehr-Wolf,--those mountains
which constitute the barrier of safety to protect Nisida from the fangs
of the animal that would mangle her fair form were she to cross its
path. But, ah! he rushes up the acclivity--he clears rugged rock and
jutting crag with wondrous bounds;--just Heaven! will he pass those
heights--will he cross the range of volcanic hills?
Oh! Nisida, who art on the other side of that range, little dreamest
thou of the peril that menaces thee. Joy! joy!--the danger has passed;
the wolf turns aside from a loftier impediment of crag than had yet
appeared in its course: and down--down again toward the groves and
valleys--over the bituminous waste made by the volcano--on, on goes the
monster. Away, away, through the verdant scenes once more, fresh
havoc--fresh desolation--fresh ruin marking his maddening course,--away,
away the Wehr-Wolf speeds.
The moon rises to give a stronger and purer light to the dreadful
spectacle, a light stronger and purer than that of night itself, which
is never completely dark in the tropics. Away, away, and still on,
on--outstripping time--running a race with the fleeting moments, till
hours and hours of unrelaxing speed are numbered--thus goes the wolf.
And now he snuffs the morning air: the fresh breeze from the east raises
the foam of the Mediterranean waves, and allays the heat on the body of
the careening, bounding, and almost flying monster.
His howling grows less ferocious--his yells become less terrible; and
now his pace is a trifle more measured,--that relaxation of a whirlwind
speed gradually increasing.
'Tis done; the course is o'er--the race is run;--and the Wehr-Wolf falls
in writhing agonies upon the fresh grass, whence in a few moments rises
Fernand Wagner--a man once more! But as he throws a glance of horror
around on the scene of his night's dread employment, he starts back with
mingled aversion and alarm; for there--with folded arms, eyes terrible
to look upon, and a countenance expressing infernal triumph and bitter
scorn, stood the demon.
"Fiend, what would'st thou with me?" demanded Wagner. "Are not the
sufferings which I have just endured, enough to satisfy thy hatred of
all human beings? are not the horrors of the past night sufficient to
glut even thine insatiate heart?"
"Mortal," said the demon, speaking in his profound and awe-inspiring
tones, "didst thou take all thy miseries which at this moment afflict
thy race, combine all the bitter woes, and crushing sorrows that madden
the brains of men, mix up all the tears and collect all the sobs and
sighs that tell of human agony, then multiply the aggregate by ten
million, million times its sum, and go on multiplying by millions and
millions, till thou wast tired of counting, thou would'st not form even
an idea of that huge amount of human misery which could alone appease
me. For on man do I visit the hate wherewith my own fall has animated
me; powerless on high, where once I was so powerful, I make my kingdom
of earth and hell--and in both my influence is great and is terrible!"
"Yes--yes; too great--too terrible!" exclaimed Wagner. "But why dost
thou persecute me with thy presence? I did not call thee--I did not
invoke thine aid."
"No, but thou requirest it!" said the demon, with a satirical smile.
"Thinkest thou to be enabled to dream away thine existence in this
island, with the warm, impassioned Nisida? No, mortal--no! Already doth
she pine for her own native Italian clime; and she will end by loathing
thee and this land, if she continue to dwell here, and with only thee as
her companion. But it is in thy power to make Nisida forget
Italy--Francisco--Flora--and all the grave interests and dreadful
mysteries which seem to demand her presence in the busy world;--it is in
thy power to render her happy and contented in this island--to attach
her to thee for the remainder of thine existence--to provide her with
the means of preserving her youth and her beauty unimpaired, even as
thine own--to crush forever all those pinings and longings which now
carry her glances wistfully across the sea,--in a word, to bend her mind
to all thy wishes--her soul to all thy purposes! Yes;--it is in thy
power to do all this--and the same decision which shall place that
amount of ineffable happiness within thy reach, will also redeem thee
from the horrible destiny of a Wehr-Wolf--leaving thee thy youth and thy
beauty, and investing thee with a power equal to that enjoyed by thy
late master, Faust."
"And doubtless on the same conditions?" said Wagner, half-ironically,
and half in horror at the mere thought of surrendering his soul to
Satan.
"Art thou blind to the means of promoting thy earthly happiness?"
demanded the demon, fixing on Fernand a glance intended to appal and
intimidate, but at which he on whom it was bent quailed not. "Hast thou
not received sufficient experience of the terrific sufferings which
twelve times a year thou art doomed to endure? Knowest thou not on each
occasion thou destroyest human life, where mortal beings are in thy
path--or that thou ravagest the fair scenes which He whose name I dare
not mention has created? and art thou ignorant of the tremendous horror
and loathsome obloquy which attach themselves to the name of a
Wehr-Wolf? See--thou art already wearied of traveling through the
various climes of the earth; thou no longer delightest in cultivating
thine intellect, so marvelously adapted to receive knowledge of all
kinds; and thy power to create whole mines of wealth is exercised no
more. But thou would'st fix thine abode in this island forever, were
Nisida to remain thy companion! Well--and if thou losest her? for
assuredly a vessel will some day touch on these shores--what would'st
thou do then? All lonely, desolate, forlorn, thou would'st curse the day
that gave thee regenerated life--thou would'st seek death--and to thee
death may not come yet for many, many years! Fernand, thou art worse
than mad not to embrace my offers. Consent to become mine--mine
eternally, when thy mortal breath shall leave thy body, and in the
meantime I promise thee power illimitable--happiness such as no human
being ever yet enjoyed----"
"No--no!" exclaimed Wagner. "Rather the destiny of a Wehr-Wolf--rather
the solitude of this island for the remainder of my days--than resign
all chance of salvation! And that mine immortal soul is yet safe, the
very temptations thou offerest with such eloquent persuasion fully
proves! Oh! Heaven, of its infinite mercy, will receive the dreadful
sufferings 'tis mine to endure each month, as an atonement for that hour
of weakness, madness, folly, when dazzled by the words of Faust, and
overwhelmed by a weight of miseries, I accepted a regenerated existence.
Yes, Heaven will forgive me yet: and therefore avaunt, fiend! avaunt!"
And as he uttered these words he made the sign of the cross, and the
demon fled away howling. Wagner turned aside in dismay, and sank upon
the ground as if blasted by the lightning. A deep sleep fell on
Fernand's eyes, and in his dreams he thought he heard a solemn but
rejoicing strain of music filling the air. That divine melody seemed to
speak a language eloquent and intelligible, and to give him hope and
promise of a deliverance from the dreadful destiny which his weakness
and folly had entailed upon him. The music grew fainter and fainter, and
at the moment when it died away altogether a heavenly and radiant being
rose in the midst of a cloud, an angel, clad in white and shining
garments, and with snowy wings closed, and drooping from its shoulders.
Looking benignly upon the sleeping Wagner the angel said in a soft and
liquid tone, "Thrice hast thou resisted the temptations of the enemy of
mankind: once in thy dungeon at Florence, a second time amidst the
defiles of yon mountains, and now on this spot. He will appear to thee
no more, unless thou thyself summon him. Much hast thou already done in
atonement for the crime that endangered thy soul when, withdrawing thy
faith from Heaven, thou didst accept new life on the conditions proposed
to thee by the agent of Satan; but much more must thou yet do, ere that
atonement will be complete!" The form ceased to speak, and gradually
became fainter and fainter, until it disappeared with its glorious halo
altogether.
Then Fernand awoke, and his dream was vividly impressed upon his memory.
Assuming a kneeling posture, he clasped his hands fervently together,
and said aloud, "Merciful Heaven! be the vision one divinely sent, or be
it but the sport of an imagination fevered by a long night of suffering,
I receive it as an emblem and as a sign of hope and promise!"
He arose. The sun was now high in the heaven, and he hastened to the
shore to perform his ablutions. Refreshed in body with the bath which he
took in the Mediterranean, and in mind with the influence of the vision,
he retraced his way toward the mountains. The range was passed in
safety, and he once more set foot on that section of the island where
Nisida was so anxiously awaiting his presence.
The hour at which Fernand Wagner was accustomed to return after his
periodical excursions beyond the mountains, had long passed; for it will
be remembered that he had fallen asleep and slumbered some time, after
his restoration to human shape and his encounter with the demon. Nisida
was already a prey to the wildest alarms, which were not altogether
untainted with selfishness; for the enemy of mankind had led her to
believe that Wagner had within his reach certain means of enabling her
to quit the island, and she trembled lest death might have intervened to
snatch him away, and thus annihilate the hopes which had been so
insidiously infused into her soul. She was also distressed at his
prolonged absence on grounds more creditable to her heart, for she
shuddered at the idea that her handsome Fernand might at that very
moment be writhing in the coils of a horrible snake. Then, arousing
herself, Nisida resolved to attempt the passage of the mountains, and
seek for her lover and rescue him if possible, and if not, to die with
him. But as she drew near the craggy mountains she suddenly beheld the
object of her anxiety approaching her, and in a few minutes they were
locked in each other's arms.
"My Fernand," said Nisida at length, "I feared that some danger had
befallen you, and I was hastening to join you on the other side of these
heights, either to aid you in escaping from the peril, or to share its
consequences with you."
"Beloved Nisida!" exclaimed Wagner, "how welcome to me is this proof of
thy regard, this earnest of thy love."
"I can never cease to love you, dear Fernand," answered Nisida, turning
her fine large eyes upon his handsome face. "Oh, that I should seek to
quit thee! The thought smites me to the inmost recesses of my heart. And
yet it is to some extent thy fault, for wherefore wilt thou not
accompany me?"
"In the first place, beloved one," replied Wagner, "thou talkest as if a
ship were already in sight, or a boat lay ready to launch from this
shore; secondly, I have before assured thee that I dared not return to
Florence, and that as I cannot therefore be thy companion thither, it
would be better for me to remain on the island, to which, perhaps," he
added in a mournful tone, "you might, after all, never come back!"
"Oh! Fernand, think not so ill of your Nisida!" she cried, throwing one
of her snowy full arms round his neck, and looking earnestly, but yet
tenderly on his countenance. "Never, never shall I know happiness again
until I have revisited Florence. Each day that passes without giving me
a hope to see this aim fulfilled, increases my misery, adds to my
uneasiness, augments my anxiety--so that in a short time my suspense
will become intolerable. It is nearly so already, Fernand--but pity me;
yes--and help me, if you can!"
"Dearest Nisida, willingly would I sacrifice my own inclinations to
forward thine," exclaimed Wagner in a tone of deep sincerity; "but how
is it possible that I can aid thee? I have not wings to affix to thy
fair shoulder, I have not a voice powerful enough to raise echoes on a
shore whence assistance might be sent. Nay, look not so sternly on me,
beloved Nisida, I did not intend to vex thee with idle jestings; but
thou knowest that I cannot aid thee."
"Fernand, you love me not!" exclaimed Nisida, suddenly withdrawing her
arm from its fond position about his neck, and retreating a few paces.
"No; you do not love me as you were wont, or as I love you! You
doubtless have some means of gratifying my ardent longings. A secret
voice whispers within me that if you chose to exert all your powers, you
might render me happy--at least so happy as I could be when separated
from you! I have assured you that naught save the most important
interests would render me thus anxious to return to my native city; and
if you find me thus importunate, you should pity me, not refuse to aid
me."
"Holy Virgin! this is maddening!" cried Wagner. "Nisida--be reasonable;
how can I assist thee? how can I enable thee to cross that sea which
appears to us boundless? And thou accusest me of not loving thee,
Nisida! Oh! this is too cruel!"
"No, it is thou who art cruel!" exclaimed Nisida, in an impassioned
tone. "I know that you are not a being of an ordinary stamp, that your
intellect is as wonderful as your person is godlike,--and that you
possess a mine of knowledge in the extent of which no mortal can equal
thee. Is it strange--is it marvelous, then, that I should implore thee
to exert thy powers--the vast powers of thy glorious intelligence, to
forward my design? Nay, seek not to interrupt me, Fernand, denial is
vain! A secret voice continues to whisper within me that thou art able
to do all I ask; I know not the means to be used--I seek not to know
them; but that thou hast such means within thy reach, is a conviction
firmly impressed upon my mind. Here, then, Fernand, at thy feet, on my
knees, do I implore thee, beseech thee, not to refuse the boon which I,
thy loving wife, crave at the hands of thee, my husband, as if I were a
humble suppliant suing at the footstool of a throned king!"
"Nisida, Nisida!" cried Fernand, painfully excited by this sudden
movement on her part, and endeavoring to rise: "what means so strange a
proceeding? Rise, dearest, rise; it is not to me that you must thus
humble yourself!"
"No; I will not quit this suppliant attitude until you shall have
granted my request--my prayer," said Nisida. "Refuse me not, my Fernand.
Oh! I implore you not to refuse me! Whatever means be within your reach,
exert them on my behalf. A brother's interest, the remembrance of a
solemn vow breathed only to my lamented and much-wronged mother--and the
safeguard of a mystery, the discovery of which by curious and prying
eyes would heap infamy and disgrace upon the family that bears the name
of Riverola--all these reasons render me thus anxious to return to
Italy. And if you keep me here, Fernand, I shall pine away--I shall
perish before your eyes, and you will repent of your harshness when it
is too late. Or else," she added, speaking with wild rapidity, "I shall
be reduced to despair, and in a moment of excitement shall seek death in
those silent waters, or climb yon craggy mountains to fling myself
headlong from their summit."
"Nisida, your menaces are maddening as your supplications to me are vain
and useless!" said Wagner, himself now laboring under a fearful
excitement. "Rise, I implore you, rise, and let us endeavor to converse
more calmly--more rationally."
"Yes--I will rise," said Nisida, now affecting a sullen haughtiness, and
preparing to wield another of the weapons which the demon had placed in
her hand: "I rise, Fernand, because I feel that I was wrong thus to
abase myself--I, who bear the proud name of Riverola;"--and she tossed
her head indignantly. "Well--it seems that you are resolved to keep me
chained to your side on this island. Be it so: but henceforth let there
be no mistrust--no mystery--no secrets between us. If Italy must be
forgotten forever, then this isle shall become our world, and our
thoughts shall travel not beyond its confines. All shall be mutual
confidence--a reciprocal outpouring of our minutest thoughts. On that
condition only will existence _here_ be tolerable to us both. And now as
a proof that thou wilt assent to this proposal--than which nothing can
be more rational--let our new life of mutual confidence date from this
moment. Tell me then, my Fernand," she proceeded, assuming a winning
manner, and throwing as much pathos as possible into her sweetly musical
voice--that voice which gave new and indescribable, charms to the soft
Italian language--"tell me then, my Fernand, wherefore thou quittest me
at certain intervals--why thou invariably seekest on those occasions the
opposite side of the island--and whether thou wilt in future suffer me
to be the companion of those journeys?"
"Thou be my companion--thou, Nisida!" exclaimed Wagner, his whole frame
convulsed with mental agony. "Merciful Heaven! what fiend has prompted
thee thus to speak! Nisida," he said, suddenly exercising a strong
mastery over his emotions, as he seized her hand and pressed it with
spasmodic violence--"Nisida, as thou valuest our happiness seek not to
penetrate into my secret--proffer not that mad request again!"
And dropping her hand he paced the shore with the agitation of reviving
excitement.
"Fernand," said Nisida, approaching him, and once more speaking in a
resolute and even severe tone--"listen to me. When we met upon the
island, an accident of a terrible nature led me to forget my vow of
self-imposed dumbness; and when the excitement occasioned by that
accident had somewhat passed you were in doubt whether you had really
heard my voice or had been deluded by fevered imagination. It would have
been easy for me to simulate dumbness again; and you would have believed
that the bewilderment of the dread scene had misled you. But I chose not
to maintain a secret from thee--and I confess that my long supposed loss
of two glorious faculties was a mere deed of duplicity on my part. At
that time you said that you also had explanations to give; and yet
months and months have passed by, and confidence has not begotten
confidence. Let this mistrust on your part cease. Reveal to me the cause
of these frequent excursions across the mountains; or else the next time
that you set out on one of these mysterious journeys, I shall assuredly
become your companion."
"Now, Nisida," exclaimed Wagner, his heart rent with indescribable
tortures--"it is you who are cruel--you are unjust!"
"No, Fernand--it is you!" cried Nisida, in a thrilling, penetrating
tone, as if of anguish.
"Merciful Heaven! what misery is in store for us both!" said Wagner,
pressing his hand to his burning brow. "Oh! that some ship would appear
to bear thee away--or that my destiny were other than it is!"
And he flung himself upon the sand in a fit of blank despair. Nisida now
trembled at the violence of those emotions which she had raised in the
breast of him whom she loved; and for a minute she reproached herself
for having so implicitly obeyed the counsel of the evil spirit.
Her own feelings were worked up to that pitch of excitement with which
women--even in the strongest-minded, must have its vent in tears; and
she burst into an agony of weeping.
The sound of those sobs was more than the generous-hearted and
affectionate Fernand could bear; and starting from the sand whereon he
had flung himself, he exclaimed, "Nisida, my beloved Nisida, dry those
tears, subdue this frenzied grief! Let us say no more upon these
exciting topics this evening; but I will meditate, I will reflect upon
the morrow, and then I will communicate to thee the result of my
deliberations."
"Oh! there is then hope for me yet!" cried Nisida, joyfully; "and thou
hast the means to grant my wishes, but thou fearest to use them. We will
say no more this evening on subjects calculated to give so little
pleasure; but to-morrow, my Fernand, to-morrow."
And Nisida stopped her own utterance by pressing her lips to those of
Wagner, winding her beauteous arms most lovingly round his neck at the
same time, and pressing him to her bosom.
But that night and the ensuing morn were destined to wring the
heart-cords of the unhappy Fernand: for the influence of the demon,
though unknown and unrecognized, was dominant with Nisida.