GENERAL NICOLAI AGAIN
EARLY the next morning, Freskel opened the door of Grubert's cottage,
and found only Tonie in the kitchen.
"What is it, Freskel?" asked Tonie, who was lighting the fire and
getting things ready for Blonda to prepare the breakfast.
"There is to be a great hunt in the forest, Tonie; some fine people
from the Tzar's city came to Klingengolf yesterday, and they are all
driving down to Carfoos in their Russian troika sledges, and here
they will put on snow shoes, and go on foot into the wood and round
among the hills, to look for beasts to slay; and Freskel will guide
the hunters and find them a bear, and for that Freskel will have
money—silver money!" And the lad's eyes gleamed avariciously.
"And what use hast thou for money?" asked Blonda, who at that moment
entered the kitchen and heard Freskel's words.
"I want it to hoard; to hoard and to look at sometimes, so that I may
hug myself to think how rich Freskel—the poor, foolish Freskel is,"
replied the youth, his whole full of a covetous greed, which gave it a
strangely repulsive appearance.
"Then beware, my lad!" said Grubert's deep voice, for the woodman
too had come downstairs, and now joined the little group. "For hark
ye, Freskel Valden, the devil baits some of his deadliest traps with
silver and gold, and the miser's heart is his very throne. Yes, beware,
Freskel, for thou art in danger."
The lad looked from one to another of his friends with a half-puzzled,
half-cunning look, which they could not understand. Then he was turning
sulkily away, when Grubert said—
"Leave us not, Freskel, until thou hast broken thy fast. Come and share
our meal; there is plenty for all."
So Freskel sat down with them.
And while they were eating, Blonda, suddenly remembering the
disappearance of the linen, and thinking that Freskel might perhaps
throw some light upon her loss, said, "By the bye, Freskel, such a
strange thing has happened to me; I have lost some linen towelling I
had woven. Did any beggar or stranger chance to come in while thou
wert alone here a day or two ago, or didst thou perchance leave the
door open when thine errand here was done? The roll could not have
disappeared by itself, yet gone it most surely is."
Freskel gave no reply for a minute, but he put down the wooden spoon
with which he was eating his barley porridge, and glanced round the
table quickly, furtively.
"No," he said, at last, "Freskel knows nothing; how should a poor fool
like Freskel know?" Then he gulped down his mug of milk, stuffed a
bunch of rye bread into his pocket, and rose abruptly from the table.
"The hunt will be out," he said, "and I must go, for how will the grand
city people find their way without Freskel to guide them?"
And seemingly glad to get away, he opened the door, and sprang across
the threshold, and into the forest, to meet the party who had bespoken
his services as leader.
Grubert and Tonie went out soon after breakfast, but shortly returned,
saying that Philip Bexal had given all the woodmen a holiday on account
of the hunt, so that no felling or carting of timber should disturb the
game, or interfere with the sportsmen, who, he had heard, were some
very grand people from the Court of St. Petersburg.
Thinking, however, that they might be of service in some way, and
wishing, at all events, to see the sport, if they could do so without
going too far from home, the father and son soon set forth again,
asking Blonda to bring their dinner to them, and promising to meet
her, as near one o'clock as possible, at a place known by the name of
the Grey Cave, a deep, rocky hollow in a sort of cliff, at the back
of which a chain of hills, full of boulders and fragments of stone,
skirted the eastern side of the forest.
Blonda had plenty to do all the morning, and by noon she was quite
glad to set her kitchen in order, pack up the dinner in a basket, and
dress herself for going out. It was a cold day, and she was clothed
even more warmly than usual, adding to her accustomed wraps a large,
thick scarlet shawl, which she folded corner-wise and put round her
head, crossing it over her chest, and loosely looping together the ends
behind at the waist.
As she trotted away with her sheep-skin capote, her high over-all
felt boots, her red shawl, her basket on her arm, and a stout stick
in her hand, she looked like a very comfortable, substantial "Little
Red Riding Hood," going forth to see the world, but far too sensible
and experienced to be taken in by any sort of wolf which Finland could
produce.
Blonda did not go into the wood at all, but kept along at the foot of
the range of hills, wending her way in and out among the great blocks
of stone, and avoiding the deep snowdrifts, which her practised eye
easily detected. Arrived at the cave, she set down her basket on a flat
stone, and creeping just within the arch of the cavern, for shelter
from the keen wind, she sat down to rest a bit, for she had been on her
feet all the morning, and now she was a little weary with her walk.
Suddenly she heard in the distance a baying of dogs; then there was
silence, then again the barking quite near, and a minute after, two
great, powerful hounds sprang out of the forest. For one instant they
paused opposite the cave, eying Blonda curiously, their handsome heads
erect, their hair bristling. She rose from her seat on the stone and
made a step towards them; but that moment they put their noses to the
snow once more, seemed to recover the scent, and dashed past her into
the inner recesses of the Grey Cave.
For a minute or two, there was a great noise at the back of the cavern:
eager scratching up of snow, barking and growling, and angry grunts.
By this time Blonda had left the cave, and now stood outside, and
well to the left. It was a good thing that she did so, for all at
once, there was a strange, shuffling, scrambling noise, and out of the
cave there rushed a huge brown bear, followed by the dogs, which were
worrying him, and trying to bite through his shaggy fur. At the same
moment, from among the trees, there stepped a tall, commanding form,
which the little girl recognised at once as that of General Nicolai.
The bear had shuffled by him and was in full retreat, when the young
officer raised his gun and fired. The bullet wounded the beast without
disabling it, and, furious with pain, the animal turned before the
sportsman had time to load again. Shouldering one of the hounds aside
and half stunning the other with a cuff, Bruin rushed back, reared
up on his hind legs, and seizing the gun, bit and crushed it out of
shape with his teeth, while he fixed the claws of one great paw in the
fur-covered shoulder of his assailant.
It must have fared badly indeed with General Nicolai had not Blonda
at that moment, seeing his peril, thought of a way to help him. She
suddenly tore off her red shawl, and coming close up behind the bear,
she dexterously threw the soft, clinging folds right over the great
beast's head and face. In the same instant, the dogs attacked him once
more, and poor Bruin, bewildered, blinded, and entangled, rolled over
backwards, madly clawing the air.
Just then loud shouts, cries, and exclamations announced the arrival
on the scene of the rest of the hunting party, who had been led off by
Freskel and their dogs for some distance on a new trail, before they
missed the general. By them, the poor bear was shortly despatched; and
no sooner was he dead, than one of the newly-arrived gentleman, an
elderly man, approached the young officer, and with respectful anxiety
enquired if he were hurt. But, happily, the general's fur coat was
thick, and the cloth of firm, close texture, so that the bear's claws
had not penetrated far.
"So calm thine anxiety, my friend," said the young officer, laughing.
"In no way do I find myself the worse for this encounter, though,
without doubt, I must have been but for my little deliverer. See, there
she stands, my brave little maid with the blue eyes. By my faith, that
was something like presence of mind! Just at the critical moment she
turned the fortunes of the fight in my favour. And now I look closer
at this child," continued the young man, "methinks I have seen those
innocent eyes and flaxen locks before. Is it so, little one?"
"It is even so, sir general," replied Blonda. "I am Blonda, daughter of
Grubert Reuss."
"And when and where did we meet, little Blonda? Tell me that."
"Last summer, sir, in the grotto by the lake, just after Philip Bexal
told you the story of the Isle of Ghosts."
"Ah, yes!" laughed the young man. "I cannot but remember thee now; thou
hast once more chapter and verse for everything, even as thou hadst
then. And said I not that I hoped one day to see thee again, and also
make the acquaintance of thy father and brother, and visit you all in
your home?"
"Yes, sir, you did indeed," replied Blonda; "and there are my father
and brother, sir general; they are standing with Freskel Valden behind
your friends of the hunt."
"Come forward, Grubert Reuss, and thy son too," said the young man,
raising his voice a little. "Here, my good fellows, you have a daughter
and a sister to be proud of. And thou also, thou strange lad, who
shrinkest away out of sight, I would speak with thee," he added,
beckoning to Freskel. "So Freskel Valden is thy name?"
"Yes, I am Freskel," replied the youth.
"Thou, too, art no stranger to me," said the officer; "long ago this
little maid spoke of thee, saying how wise love made thee in many ways.
Thou seest, Blondinka, I have not forgotten thy words. Nay, Freskel,
hang not thy head. If thou think that thou art scarce deserving of all
the kind things our little friend hath spoken of thee, see to it that
at least thou deserve them in the future. And now, Grubert Reuss,"
continued the general, "lead on and show me the way to thy house. Many
things have I seen in this part of my—of Finland, but the inside of a
woodman's cottage is still to me an undiscovered country. And beside, I
would have some further talk with my little friend here."
The elderly gentleman, who seemed to be the next in rank to the
general, now ventured a few words of expostulation, which the young man
did not take very well.
"Pray, who is master here? Tell me!" he said, drawing himself up
haughtily.
"Your im—I beg pardon, general, I forgot; you scarce need to be told
that I am always your servant to command."
"Then please to remember that in future," said the young officer
sternly. "And now thou and the rest of my company return to Carfoos,
unpack the provisions we brought with us, and order the sledges for
Klingengolf. There will be no more sport to-day, and to-morrow we go
in a different direction. I will join you at Carfoos later. My good
friends here will accompany me, and show the way through the forest."
So saying, the young general turned from his own companions, and with
Grubert, Tonie and Blonda walked to the cottage.
Arrived here, he sat by the kitchen stove and warmed himself, and
learning, by some remark of Tonie's, that the family had not yet dined,
he declared himself extremely hungry, and asked permission to join them
in their repast. The dinner basket was accordingly unpacked, and the
food shared among the four hungry people, Blonda adding some barley
coffee and goat's milk as a treat in honour of the special occasion.
The young general ate up his hunch of black bread to the last crumb,
and thanked his host for the most delightful repast he had enjoyed for
long enough.
Then he sat and chatted with the family for some time, asking many
questions and showing a real interest in the replies given. At last,
pulling out his watch, he declared it as time for him to go.
"But first, Grubert Reuss," said he, "I have a very pleasant duty to
perform. In remembrance of thy little daughter's service to me this
day, I ask thee to accept this pocket-book of Russian notes. The banker
at Klingengolf will readily change them for thee into Finnish money.
And as for my little maid with the forget-me-not eyes, let me give
thee, child, something which may be of use to thee some day. I am much
at the Court in St. Petersburg, and have some little influence there.
If ever thou or thine, or any in whom thou mayest be interested, should
be in trouble, apply to me, and I pledge myself to help thee, granting
thee any boon thou dost ask, if it be but in my power."
So saying, the young general wrote a few words on a piece of paper
(which he tore out of a memorandum-book), folded it small, then asked
for a candle, and producing a bit of red wax, he proceeded to seal
the letter, leaving upon the hot wax the impression of his great
signet-ring. Lastly, he addressed it to General Nicolai, Winter Palace,
St. Petersburg, and handing it to Blonda, told her to keep it safely,
as she might want it some day. Then he took a kindly leave of her, and,
accompanied by Grubert and Tonie, he started for Carfoos to join his
party.
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