AN ACCIDENT.
To the monotony of a winter which the absence of the gallant cavaliers had
rendered doubly tedious to the ladies of the royal household, succeeded a
balmy spring. The favorite haunt of Eleanora, by the side of a noisy
stream, which escaping from its icy chain among the hills, hurried away
through the ravine, leaping up to clasp the overhanging rock in its wild
embrace, and showering its silver spray upon the weeping boughs that
fringed its bank, was again carpeted with mossy green, and draped with the
bright garniture of May.
The view from this romantic spot commanded upon the right the city of
Burgos, built upon the declivity of a hill, and on the left, a flowery
path leading along the bank of the stream, which it crossed by a
foot-bridge, wound up the cliff till it entered upon extensive plains that
stretched out to the west, and afforded rich pasturage for numerous flocks
which fed upon the luxuriant herbage.
One sunny afternoon, Eleanora, becoming deeply absorbed in her brother's
history of the reign of their father, Ferdinand the Holy, allowed the
maidens, protected by the squires and pages, to climb the prohibited
cliff, which, ever since it had begun to assume its summer garb, had been
a strong temptation to their footsteps. Occupied with her manuscript, she
was unconscious of the lapse of time, but an occasional sound of merry
voices, mingling harmoniously with the pleasant reflections that filled
her mind, inspired her with a feeling of security and peace. It was nearly
sunset when she finished her task, and the chill dews admonished her of
the lateness of the hour; but when she raised her eyes, not a human being
was within call. The sentinel page, presuming upon his mistress'
abstraction, had strolled across the bridge and ascended the hill after
his companions, and the queen began to be alarmed lest the giddy party
should defer their return till darkness had increased the danger of the
mountain path. She gazed in every direction, and listened intently to
every sound. The breeze rustled the branches, and the river gurgled on its
way, but all else was still. Suddenly she perceived on the extremity of
the cliff, the rocks of which sank sheer down to the water's edge, her
maidens hurrying to the rescue of a lamb, that, having strayed from the
care of the shepherd, startled the echoes with its piteous cries. Agnes
was foremost, and as she tripped along unconscious of the abyss which the
pendant foliage concealed from her sight, and clasped the snowy foundling
to her lovely breast, her slight figure bathed in the bright gold of the
western sky seemed the impersonation of the angel of mercy. With a glad
shout of exultation she turned to exhibit her prize, when the treacherous
earth gave way beneath her feet, and with her fleecy burden she was
precipitated into the stream, nearly opposite the spot which the queen,
breathless with alarm, had just reached. Screams of helpless terror rent
the air. The squires ran each in a different direction, hoping to find
some point from which they could descend the cliff, while the poor girl
floated rapidly down the stream, rising and sinking with the swelling
waves. Quick as thought, Eleanora caught up a fallen branch that lay upon
the bank, and extended it for her rescue. The drowning Agnes seized it
with one hand, and the queen, with great exertion, had drawn her almost to
the shore, when the frail support gave way, and the mad waters again
enveloped her form. As she sank, the animal struggled from her grasp and
gained the bank.
"Save her! Oh God in mercy save her!" exclaimed Eleanora, clasping her
hands in agony. At this moment a solitary pedestrian turning an angle in
the path, approached, and attracted by the cry of distress quickened his
pace. "There! there!" exclaimed the queen, pointing with a frantic gesture
to the spot where Agnes had disappeared. Without a word, the stranger
threw his staff and cloak upon the ground, and plunged into the stream.
But the rapacious tide had borne her beyond his reach. On he swam,
buffeting the waves with a strong arm, now searching the depths, and now
scanning the ruffled surface, till finding every effort unavailing, he
paused amid the whirling eddies, as if irresolute to seek the shore or
continue the fruitless search. At this moment a small fair hand gleamed in
the water before him, vainly clasping the idle waves, as if reaching for
the broken reed that had so deceived its hope. He grasped the tiny hand in
his own, raised the sinking form, and, renerved by the joy of success, and
the shouts of those who approached in tumultuous haste, by a few strokes
of his powerful arm gained the shore. Every hand was extended for his
assistance; but the stranger heeded not the proffered aid, and kneeling
upon the velvet turf he pressed the senseless form in his arms, and
regarded the face that lay so fixed and still upon his breast, with a mute
anxiety that held his features almost as rigid as those on which he gazed.
While the balance thus trembles between life and death, every voice is
dumb and every breath suppressed. The queen hangs motionless over her
unconscious favorite, and the attendants stand chilled and paralyzed with
doubt and dread, till a sudden gleam of satisfaction irradiates the
stranger's face, and a faint sigh heaves the bosom of Agnes. "My God, I
thank thee!" exclaims Eleanora, fervently, while every frame dilates with
a full deep inspiration of returning hope. But the stranger, with an
authoritative wave of his hand, repels all attempts to relieve him of his
lovely charge. Gently he disengages the long silken locks that cling
dripping to his arm, tenderly he raises her head to catch the breeze that
fans her pallid cheek, and 'tis not till returning life quivers in the
languid eyelids, that pressing his lips upon her snowy hand, he resigns
her to her royal mistress. At once the maidens crowded around, some
weeping and some laughing under the excess of the same emotion, eager to
assist in the resuscitation of their lovely friend; and the squires and
pages busied themselves in constructing a litter of boughs, upon which
Agnes was conveyed to the palace.
Meanwhile, the innocent cause of the catastrophe crept shivering to the
feet of the queen, who compassionately ordered one of the attendants to
carry it forward; and thus while the shades of evening stretched over the
landscape, the saddened party re-entered the streets of Burgos. In the
general confusion the strange deliverer had disappeared, and no one knew
the direction he had taken; but the ladies had not been so much occupied
with their anxiety, that they had failed to mark his noble figure and
princely bearing; and Eleanora remembered that his face was one of
peculiar beauty, though marked by a scar, conspicuous upon the right
cheek.