THE HEADSMAN'S RIGHT
"Rise, Justicer of the Wolfmark!" said Otho, smiling mockingly upon me
like a fiend.
I started up and gazed about bewildered as the coming terrors of the
morning broke upon me.
"'Tis scarcely an hour to sunrise," he continued, "and I warrant the
noble Red Axe will desire to feel the edge of his tool and see that his
assistants are in their places."
The Duke paused as he went out of the door, and looked at me.
"I can promise you a distinguished company at the first public
performance of your honorable office," he said, with a polite gesture.
So soon as he was gone I rose to my feet. Across the broad, black
oaken stool, whereon from boyhood it had been my habit to place my
clothes neatly folded up, I found a suit of new red cloth, plain and
rich, with an inscription upon a strip of vellum laid across the
breast, bearing that these were a gift from the most Illustrious Duke
Otho of the Wolfmark.
Since, after all, my fate was my fate, there was little use in straining
at the gnat. So I set to and did upon me the garmentry of shame. They
were made after the fashion of my father's, cap and hosen and shoon all
of red, with a cloak of red to cover all.
Then I went to the Playmate's room, and before the niche where her little
Prie-Dieu had stood, I kneeled me down and said such a prayer as at the
moment I could compass. But little was needed. For I think God in heaven
Himself was praying for us both that day.
When I went forth into the square, few there were who knew or remembered
me, but all knew my attire. Then indeed it did my heart good to hear the
great unanimous roar of execration which went up from the multitude as I
came out. The soldiers had their work cut out to push a way for me to
the scaffold.
"Butcher him--tear him to pieces--wolf's cub that he is--he that was her
foster-brother to slay our Saint Helena!"
It made me proud to hear them. And as they rushed furiously against the
escort, intent to kill me, we swayed from side to side.
"Down with the Red Axe!" they shouted. "Down with the bloody house of
Gottfried and all that belong to it!"
And I felt inclined to cry "Amen!"
Then, when I had mounted the few steps which led to the platform on which
stood the black headsman's block, I gazed about me in wonder, holding the
Red Axe in my hand. And to my disordered vision I saw the crowd swell and
whirl about me on earth and in the air, bubbling and tossing like a pot
boiling furiously. Then I bethought me of the work I had to do, and
prayed that I might be given strength to do it swiftly and featly, that
the suffering of my love might not be long. Also I thought of the
lecherous evil demons of the Black Riders, and thereat was somewhat
comforted. At the worst I could give my love a better end than that.
Then appeared my Lord Duke Otho. An enclosure had been formed for him by
the palace wall, covered with a red hanging, as though my sweetheart's
death were a gala sight. And when he had come to the front and arranged
his folk, lo! there by his side stood Ysolinde, Princess of
Plassenburg, with her father, Master Gerard. They had a place close by
the Duke, and Otho ofttimes bent over to confer graciously with his
councillor. But Ysolinde looked neither to right nor left, nor yet spoke
to any, keeping her eyes fixed, as it seemed, on the shining blade of
the Red Axe in my hand.
Then, as these fine folk stood waiting and gloating among the festoons
of their balcony, the devil or God (I know which, but I will not say,
lest I be thought a blasphemer) put an intent into my heart. I walked to
the edge of the scaffold, and I looked at the barrier of the enclosure.
They were of the same height, and the distance between them little more
than six feet.
I examined them again, and yet more intently. I saw the steely smile
on Duke Otho's face. Already he was tasting the double sweetness of
his revenge.
"Wait," I said, within my heart, as I also smiled a little, "only wait a
little, Otho, Duke of the Wolfmark. Wait till this bright edge be sullied
with my sweet love's blood. And then--then will I leap upon you, and the
Red Axe shall crash deep into the brain that hatched and fostered this
hellish intent. And by the gentle heart of her who is about to die, so
also will I serve Gerard the lawyer, and Ysolinde, his daughter, for
their treachery against the innocent. Then, amid the flash of steel and
the heady whirl of battle, shall Hugo Gottfried be very content to die!"
It would take more than one stroke to dull that which my father had
sharpened. And I lifted up the Red Axe and felt the edge with my thumb.
It was razor keen.
But the action was observed, and taken as a proof of callousness. And
then what a yell of hate surged up around me! I could have taken those
burghers of Thorn to my heart. And I thought if only our Karl would come.
Alas! it was a full day too soon; for I felt sure that these burghers
would proclaim him at the gates, and that the house of Otho and Casimir,
the brood of the Wolf, would, like the shadow of the raven as it flits by
in the sunshine, pass away. For by that time there would be no Otho. They
would find him low enough, with an axe cleft in his head.
So soon as the sun's light tipped the eastern clouds with rose, the Black
Hussars came riding forth. The guards and matchlock men lined the way
from the castle gates. They blew up their matches to be ready. Suddenly
in the midst of the armed throng there appeared a radiant figure coming
down the steps of the castle from the Hall of Judgment.
At the sight the people threw themselves wildly in that direction. The
dark lines of the guard reeled and wavered. There was the sharp click as
the pikes engaged. The shouts of the captains of the matchlock men were
heard. But the trained bands stood fast, and the rush was stayed. Then
came our Helene down towards me, walking delicately, yet proudly erect as
a young tree. She was clad all in white and wore her hair plaited high
upon her head, so that the shape of her neck was clearly seen.
And I who stood there with the axe in my hand seemed to have a thousand
years to think all these things, and even to mark the lace upon her
dress. I saw her come nearer and nearer to me. Yet feeling was dead
within me. I seemed to sleep and wake and sleep again. And when at last I
awoke, there came a strange feeling to me. It was my wedding-day, and my
bride was coming to me, lily pure, clad in whiteness.
Then at the foot of the scaffold there came one forth from the ranks,
a captain of the Duke's guard, and with honor and respect offered
Helene his arm.
She declined it with a proud smile, and all that were near could hear her
clear voice say, "I thank you, sir, but I need no help. I am strong
enough to walk thus far."
And she mounted the steps of the scaffold as though they had been those
of the grand staircase at Plassenburg.
But when she saw me, standing in my habit of red from head to heel, she
seemed a little taken aback. Quickly, however, she came forward and
took me by the hand, looking up at me with the love-light making her
eyes glorious.
"Hugo," she said, "I am glad you are here--glad that I am to die by no
less loving hand. That will be sweeter than to live with any other. And,
indeed, I deserve so much, for I have not known much joy in my life, save
in the old days when I was your Little Playmate."
Then there came a stern voice from the enclosure:
_"Executioner of the Mark, do your duty!"_
It was the voice of Master Gerard.
And then I looked over and saw Gerard von Sturm standing a little in
front, with his daughter's wrist held tightly in his hand as though he
would drag her back. With that a loathing came over me, for I said within
me, "Is the woman so anxious for the blood of the innocent whom she has
hounded to death that she would intrude on the scaffold itself?"
Then I remembered the duty of the Justicers, ere the sentence was carried
out, to recite the crimes of the condemned.
So I cried aloud, even as I had heard my father do.
"The crimes of Helene, Princess of Plassenburg, sole daughter of
Dietrich, lately Prince thereof--guilty of no evil, save that she has
been the savior of this people of Thorn and their deliverer in time of
pestilence!"
The people hushed themselves with astonishment at my words. And then a
cry went up.
"The Red Axe speaks true--she is innocent--innocent!"
But the voice of Gerard von Sturm came again, stern as that of the
recording angel:
"_Executioner of the Wolfmark, do your duty_!"
Scarce knowing what I did, I went on with my formal accusation.
"Helene, Princess of Plassenburg, who is about to die, is also guilty of
loving me, Hugo Gottfried, son of Gottfried Gottfried, and of none other
crime. For this the Duke has decreed that she should die. It is her own
will that she should die by my hand."
Helene came forward and put her hand in mine in token that I spoke
truly, and there fell a great silence across the people. I saw the Lady
Ysolinde straining at her father's hand, like a dog in a leash when the
quarry rises.
Then my love kissed me once, just as though she had been saying
good-night in the Red Tower, simply and sweetly, like a child, and laid
her head down on the block as on the white pillow of her own bed.
"_God do so and more also to them on whose heads is the innocent blood of
my love and my wife_!"
The words burst from me rather than were uttered.
I raised the blade.
But ere the Red Axe could fall there arose a wild scream from the Duke's
enclosure. Some one cried, "Let me go! He has said it! He has said it! I
will not be silent any longer!" It was the Lady Ysolinde, who had broken
away from her father's hand.
"The girl is his wife," she went on. "He has claimed her--according to
the laws of the Wolfmark, that cannot be broken, he has called her his
wife. It is the Executioner's right. One woman he can claim as his
during his term of office--one only, and for his wife. Duke Otho, I call
upon you to allow it! Chancellor Texel, I call upon you to read the law!
I have it here in my hand. Head! Read! _I will save my soul! I will save
my soul_!"
And ere any one could stop her, the Lady Ysolinde, sobbing and laughing
both at once, had overleaped the light barrier, and was thrusting a
parchment with a seal into the hands of the Chancellor Michael Texel.
"She is mad. Let the justice of the realm be done!" cried again the voice
of Master Gerard.
And I think the Duke would have ordered it to be so. But there arose not
only a roar from the people, but, what Otho minded far more, an ominous
murmur among the nobles and gentlemen and from the ranks of men-at-arms.
"The law! The law! Read us the law!"
And even Otho dare not trifle with the will of the free companions of the
Mark. For in all the realm they were now his only supporters. Helene had
risen to her feet, and stood, pale of face but erect, resting, as was her
wont, one hand on my shoulder.
Then Michael Texel read the scroll aloud.
"It is the immemorial privilege of the Hereditary Executioner of the
Mark, being of the family of Gottfried, a privilege not to be abrogated
or alienated, that during the term of office of each, he may claim--not
as a boon, but as a right--the life of one man for a bond-servant, or the
life of one woman for a wife. Thus, by order of the States' Council, to
be the privilege of the Gottfrieds forever, it has been proclaimed!"
As Michael Texel went on, I saw the countenance of the Duke and the
lawyer change. I knew that salvation had come to us like lightning from a
clear sky, and I hastened to demand the right which was mine own.
So soon as he had finished I shouted with all my power:
"I CLAIM HELENE TO BE MY WIFE!"
Then went up such an acclaim from the people as never had been heard in
the ancient city. Even the gentlemen within the enclosure threw their
hats in the air. The soldiers put their helmets on the points of their
spears, and the captains waved their colors as at a victory. The thunder
of the cheering roused the very rooks and jackdaws from the towers of
Thorn and the bastions of the Wolfsberg till they went drifting in a
black cloud clamorously over the city.
Then Helene put her arms about my neck, and, upon the scaffold of death,
before all the people, we plighted our troth.
"The Bishop--the Bishop Peter!" cried the people.
And, leaping upon an officer's horse, a messenger rode post-haste to the
palace, the crowd making way for him. Duke Otho disappeared through a
private door, for the thing was over-strong even for him. He knew his
weakness too well to war with the immemorial privileges of the Wolfmark.
Rulers stronger than he had been broken in doing battle against ancient
rights and amenities. Besides, the nobility were afraid of their own
perquisites if one of so ancient a charter as that of the Hereditary
Justicer were refused.
Then from the palace came the Bishop, with due and decorous attendance of
crosier and solemn procession. And there, amid a turmoil of joy and the
ringing of every bell in the city, we, that had gone out to be together
in death, were joined in the bonds of youth and life.
But the Lady Ysolinde saw not--heard not. For they had carried her out
white and still from the place where she had fallen fainting at the foot
of the scaffold.