THE SORCERESS OF SAVERNAY.
"I was ten years old, and I lived at Pontcalec, in the midst of woods,
when one day my uncle Crysogon, my father, and I, resolved to have a
rabbit hunt in a warren at five or six miles distance, found, seated on
the heath, a woman reading. So few of our peasants could read that we
were surprised. We stopped and looked at her--I see her now, as though
it were yesterday, though it is nearly twenty years ago. She wore the
dark costume of our Breton women, with the usual white head-dress, and
she was seated on a large tuft of broom in blossom, which she had been
cutting.
"My father was mounted on a beautiful bay horse, with a gold-colored
mane, my uncle on a gray horse, young and ardent, and I rode one of
those little white ponies, which to strength and activity unite the
docility of a sheep.
"The woman looked up from her book at the group before her, and seeing
me firm in my stirrups near my father, who seemed proud of me, she rose
all at once, and approaching me, said--
"'What a pity!'
"'What do you mean?' asked my father.
"'It means that I do not like that white pony,' replied the woman.
"'And why not?'
"'Because he will bring misfortune to your child, Sire de Pontcalec.'
"We Bretons are superstitious, you know; so that even my father, who,
you know, Montlouis, was an enlightened as well as a brave man, stopped,
in spite of my uncle Crysogon, who urged us to proceed, and trembling at
the idea of danger to me, he added--
"'Yet the pony is gentle, my good woman, and Clement rides well for his
age. I have often ridden the little animal in the park, and its paces
are perfect.'
"'I do not know anything of that, Marquis de Guer,' replied the woman,
'but the little white horse will injure your son Clement, I tell you.'
"'And how can you know this?'
"'I see it,' replied she, in a strange voice.
"'When?' asked my father.
"'To-day.'
"My father turned pale, and I was afraid; but my uncle Crysogon, who had
been in the Dutch wars, and had become somewhat hardened by combating
the Huguenots, laughed till he nearly fell from his horse.
"'Parbleu!' said he, 'this good woman certainly is in league with the
rabbits at Savernay. What do you say to it, Clement: would you like to
go home and lose the sport?'
"'Uncle,' I replied, 'I would rather go on with you.'
"'You look pale and odd--are you afraid?'
"'I am not afraid,' said I.
"I lied, for I felt a certain shudder pass through me, which was very
like fear.
"My father has since owned to me, that if it had not been for my uncle's
words, which caused a certain false shame in him, he would have sent me
home or given my horse to one of the servants; but what an example for a
boy of my age, who declared himself to have no fear, and what a subject
for ridicule to my uncle.
"I continued, then, to ride my pony; we reached the warren, and the
chase commenced.
"While it lasted, the pleasures made us forget the prediction; but the
chase over, and having started on our road home--
"'Well, Clement,' said my uncle, 'still on your pony; you are a brave
boy.'
"My father and I both laughed; we were then crossing a plain as flat and
even as this room--no obstacles in the way, nothing that could frighten
a horse, yet at that moment my pony gave a bound which shook me from my
seat, then he reared violently, and threw me off; my uncle laughed, but
my father became as pale as death. I did not move, and my father leaped
from his horse and came to me, and found that my leg was broken.
"To describe my father's grief and the cries of the grooms would be
impossible; but my uncle's despair was indescribable--kneeling by my
side, removing my clothes with a trembling hand, covering me with tears
and caresses, his every word was a fervent prayer. My father was obliged
to console him, but to all his consolations and caresses he answered
not.
"They sent for the first surgeon at Nantes, who pronounced me in great
danger. My uncle begged my mother's pardon all day long; and we remarked
that, during my illness, he had quite changed his mode of life; instead
of drinking and hunting with the officers--instead of going on fishing
expeditions, of which he was so fond--he never left my pillow.
"The fever lasted six weeks, and the illness nearly four months; but I
was saved, and retained no trace of the accident. When I went out for
the first time, my uncle gave me his arm; but when the walk was over,
he took leave of us with tears in his eyes.
"'Where are you going, Crysogon?' asked my father in astonishment.
"'I made a vow,' replied the good man, 'that if our child recovered, I
would turn Carthusian, and I go to fulfill it.'
"This was a new grief. My father and my mother shed tears; I hung on my
uncle's neck, and begged him not to leave us; but the viscount was a man
who never broke a promise or a resolution. Our tears and prayers were
vain.
"'My brother,' said he, 'I did not know that God sometimes deigns to
reveal Himself to man in acts of mystery. I doubted, and deserve to be
punished; besides, I do not wish to lose my salvation in the pleasures
of this life.'
"At these words the viscount embraced me again, mounted his horse, and
disappeared. He went to the Carthusian monastery at Morlaix. Two years
afterward, fasts, macerations, and grief had made of this bon vivant,
this joyous companion, this devoted friend, a premature skeleton. At the
end of three years he died, leaving me all his wealth."
"Diable! what a frightful tale," said Du Couedic; "but the old woman
forgot to tell you that breaking your leg would double your fortune."
"Listen," said Pontcalec, more gravely than ever.
"Ah! it is not finished," said Talhouet.
"We are only at the commencement."
"Continue, we are listening."
"You have all heard of the strange death of the Baron de Caradec, have
you not?"
"Our old college friend at Nantes," said Montlouis, "who was found
murdered ten years ago in the forest of Chateaubriant?"
"Yes. Now listen; but remember that this is a secret which till this
moment has been only known to me, and which even now must go no further
than ourselves."
The three Bretons, who were deeply interested, gave the required
promises.
"Well," said Pontcalec, "this college friendship of which Montlouis
speaks had undergone some change between Caradec and myself, on account
of a rivalry. We loved the same woman, and I was loved by her.
"One day I determined to hunt the stag in the forest of Chateaubriant;
my dogs and huntsmen had been sent out the day before, and I was on my
way to the rendezvous, when, on the road before me, I saw an enormous
fagot walking along. This did not surprise me, for our peasants carry
such enormous fagots, that they quite disappear under their load; but
this fagot appeared from behind to move alone. Soon it stopped; an old
woman, turning round, showed her face to me. As I approached, I could
not take my eyes off her, for I recognized the sorceress of Savernay,
who had predicted the misfortune caused by my white pony.
"My first impulse, I confess, was to take another road, and avoid the
prophetess of evil; but she had already seen me, and she seemed to wait
for me with a smile full of malice. I was ten years older than when her
first threat had frightened me. I was ashamed to go back.
"'Good-day, Viscount de Pontcalec,' said she; 'how is the Marquis de
Guer?'
"'Well, good woman; and I shall be quite easy about him, if you will
assure me that nothing will happen to him during my absence.'
"'Ah! ah!' said she laughing; 'you have not forgotten the plains of
Savernay. You have a good memory, viscount; but yet, if I gave you some
advice, you would not follow it any more than the first time. Man is
blind.'
"'And what is your advice?'
"'Not to go hunting to-day.'
"'Why not?'
"'And to return at once to Pontcalec.'
"'I cannot; I have a rendezvous with some friends at Chateaubriant.'
"'So much the worse, viscount, for blood will be spilled.'
"'Mine?'
"'Yours, and another's.'
"'Bah! are you mad?'
"'So said your uncle Crysogon. How is he?'
"'Do you not know that he died seven years ago at Morlaix?'
"'Poor fellow!' said the woman, 'like you, he would not believe: at
length he beheld, but it was too late.'
"I shuddered involuntarily; but a false shame whispered that it would be
cowardly to give way, and that doubtless the fulfillment of the
pretended witch's former prediction had been but a chance.
"'Ah! I see that a former experience has not made you wiser, my fine
fellow,' said she. 'Well, go to Chateaubriant then, since you must have
it so, but at least send back that handsome hunting-knife.'
"'And with what will monsieur cut the stag's foot?' asked the servant
who followed me.
"'With your knife,' said the old woman.
"'That stag is a royal animal,' replied the servant, 'and deserves a
hunting-knife.'
"'Besides,' said I, 'you said my blood would flow. What means that?--I
shall be attacked, and if so, I shall want it to defend myself.'
"'I do not know what it means,' replied the old woman; 'but I do know,
that in your place, my brave gentleman, I would listen to a poor old
woman, and that I would not go to Chateaubriant; or, if I did go, it
would be without my hunting-knife.'
"'Do not listen to the old witch, monsieur,' said the servant, who was
doubtless afraid to take the fatal weapon.
"If I had been alone, I should have returned; but before my servant I
did not like to do so.
"'Thank you, my good, woman,' said I, 'but really I do not see what
reason there is for not going to Chateaubriant. As to my knife, I shall
keep it; if I be attacked, I must have a weapon to defend myself.'
"'Go, then, and defend yourself,' said the old woman, shaking her head;
'we cannot escape our destiny.'
"I heard no more. I urged my horse to a gallop; but, turning a corner, I
saw that the old woman had resumed her route, and I lost sight of her.
"An hour after I was in the forest of Chateaubriant; and I met you,
Montlouis and Talhouet, for you were both of the party."
"It is true," said Talhouet, "and I began to understand."
"And I," said Montlouis.
"But I know nothing of it," said Du Couedic; "so pray continue,
Pontcalec."
"Our dogs started the deer, and we set off in pursuit; but we were not
the only hunters in the forest--at a distance we heard the sound of
another pack, which gradually approached; soon the two crossed, and some
of my dogs by mistake went after the wrong deer. I ran after them to
stop them, which separated me from you. You followed the rest of our
pack; but some one had forestalled me. I heard the howls of my dogs
under the lash of a whip; I redoubled my pace, and found the Baron de
Caradec striking them. I told you there were causes of dislike between
us, which only needed an opportunity to burst out. I asked him why he
struck my dogs. His reply was haughtier than my question. We were
alone--we were both twenty years of age--we were rivals--each was armed.
We drew our knives--threw ourselves one upon the other, and Caradec fell
from his horse, pierced through the body. To tell you what I felt when I
saw him, bleeding and writhing in agony, would be impossible; I spurred
my horse, and darted through the forest like a madman.
"I heard the voices of the hunters, and I arrived, one of the first, but
I remember--do you remember it, Montlouis?--that you asked me why I was
so pale."
"I do," said Montlouis.
"Then I remembered the advice of the sorceress, and reproached myself
bitterly for neglecting it. This solitary and fatal duel seemed to me
like an assassination. Nantes and its environs became insupportable to
me, for every day I heard of the murder of Caradec. It is true that no
one suspected me, but the secret voice of my conscience spoke so loud
that twenty times I was on the point of denouncing myself.
"Then I left Nantes and went to Paris, but not until I had searched for
the sorceress; not knowing either her name or her residence, I could not
find her."
"It is strange," said Talhouet; "and have you ever seen her since?"
"Wait," said Pontcalec, "and listen, for now comes the terrible part.
This winter--or rather last autumn--I say winter, because there was snow
falling, though it was only in November--I was returning from Guer, and
had ordered a halt at Pontcalec-des-Aulnes, after a day during which I
had been shooting snipes in the marshes with two of my tenants. We
arrived, benumbed with cold, at the rendezvous, and found a good fire
and supper awaiting us.
"As I entered, and received the salutations and compliments of my
people, I perceived in the chimney-corner an old woman wrapped in a
large gray-and-black cloak, who appeared to be asleep.
"'Who is that?' I asked of the farmer, and trembling involuntarily.
"'An old beggar, whom I do not know, and she looks like a witch,' said
he; 'but she was perishing with cold, hunger and fatigue. She came
begging; I told her to come in, and gave her a piece of bread, which she
eat while she warmed herself, and now she has gone to sleep.'
"The figure moved slightly in its corner.
"'What has happened to you, Monsieur le Marquis,' asked the farmer's
wife, 'that you are so wet, and that your clothes are splashed with mud
up to the shoulder?'
"'You nearly had to dine without me, my good Martine,' I replied,
'although this repast and this fire were prepared for me.'----"'Truly!'
cried the good woman, alarmed.
"'Ah! monsieur had a narrow escape!' said the farmer.
"'How so, my good lord?'
"'You know your marshes are full of bogs; I ventured without sounding
the ground, and all at once I felt that I was sinking in; so that, had
it not been for my gun, which I held across, enabling your husband to
come and pull me out, I should have been smothered, which is not only a
cruel but a stupid death.'
"'Oh, monsieur,' said the wife, 'pray do not expose yourself in this
way!'
"'Let him alone,' said the sepulchral voice of the figure crouched in
the chimney-corner; 'he will not die thus; I foretell that.'
"And, lowering the hood of her gray cloak, she showed me the face of
that woman who had twice crossed my path with sad prediction.
"I remained motionless and petrified.
"'You recognize me?' she asked, without moving.
"I made a sign of assent, but had not really the courage to reply. All
gathered in a circle round us.
"'No, no,' continued she; 'be easy, Marquis de Guer; you will not die
thus.'
"'How do you know?' I stammered out, with a conviction, however, that
she did know.
"'I cannot tell you, for I do not know myself; but you know well that I
do not make mistakes.'
"'And how shall I die?' asked I, making an effort over myself to ask
this question and to listen to her reply.
"'You will die by the sea. Beware of the water, Marquis de Guer!' she
replied.
"'How?' asked I. 'What do you mean?'
"'I have spoken, and cannot explain further, marquis; but again I say,
_Beware of the water!_'
"All the peasants looked frightened; some muttered prayers, others
crossed themselves; the old woman returned to her corner, buried herself
again in her cloak, and did not speak another syllable.