THE INTENDANT RICARIK.
One of the persons who entered Father Bonaik's workshop was Ricarik, the
intendant of the abbey, a Frank of a low and vulgar appearance; the
other was Septimine, the slave of the abbey of St. Saturnine, whose
freedom, together with her father's and mother's, Berthoald had a few
days previous sued for and obtained at the hands of Charles Martel.
Since her departure from the abbey of St. Saturnine, the poor child had
become hardly recognizable. Her charming face had thinned and was
pale--so much had she suffered and wept. She followed the intendant
silent and confused.
"Our holy dame, Abbess Meroflede, sends you this slave," said Ricarik to
the old goldsmith, pointing at Septimine, who, ashamed at finding
herself among the young apprentices, did not dare to raise her eyes.
"Meroflede bought her yesterday from the Jew Mordecai.... You are to
teach her to polish jewelry; our holy abbess wishes to keep her near her
for that work. Within a month at the latest, she must be versed in her
work; if not, both she and you shall be punished."
At these words Septimine trembled and took courage to raise her eyes to
the old man, who stepped forward and said to her kindly: "Do not be
afraid, my child; with a little good will on your part, we shall be able
to teach you how to polish jewelry and meet the wishes of our holy
abbess. You shall work there, near me."
For the first time in several days did the features of the young girl
express sentiments other than those of fear and sadness. She timidly
raised her eyes to Bonaik, and, struck by the kindness of his face,
answered him in an accent of profound gratitude: "Oh! Thank you, good
father! Thank you for being kind to me!"
While the apprentices were exchanging in a low voice their views on the
looks of their new shopmate, Ricarik, who carried a little casket under
his arm, said to the old man: "I bring you here the gold and silver with
which to fashion the belt that you know of, and also the Greek vase. Our
dame Meroflede is anxious to have the two articles."
"Ricarik, I told you before that the stuff that you brought me in bits
and in gold and silver sous is not enough. It is all in that iron trunk
whose key you hold. Moreover, in order to make one of those beautiful
belts, similar to those that I saw manufactured in the workshops that
the illustrious Eloi established, about twenty pearls and as many other
precious stones will be needed."
"I have in this purse and this casket all the gold, silver and precious
stones that you will need," saying which, Ricarik emptied out the
contents of a purse upon the old goldsmith's work-bench, and took out of
the casket a sufficient number of gold sous, several twisted lumps also
of gold, that looked as if they had been forcibly wrenched from some
article that they had served as ornament to, and finally a gold
reliquary studded with precious stones. "Have you now enough gold and
stones?"
"I think so; these stones are superb; the reliquary is ornamented with
matchless rubies."
"This reliquary was presented to our holy abbess; it contains a thumb of
St. Loup, of the great St. Loup, and two teeth from his jaw."
"Ricarik, after I shall have detached the rubies and melted the gold of
the reliquary, what am I then to do with the thumb and teeth?"
"The thumb and teeth?"
"The bones of the blessed St. Loup that are inside."
"Do with them what you like ... keep them as relics to prolong your old
age."
"I would then live at least two hundred years."
"What are you examining with so much attention?"
"I am examining the silver sous that you have just brought in. Some of
them do not seem sound."
"Some colonist must have cheated me.... This is the day they pay their
rents and imposts. When these people pay in money you would think they
were having their teeth extracted. It is unfortunately too late now to
discover the cheats who paid with false sous. But you shall come along
with me so that you may examine the pieces that are now to be paid in.
Woe to the thief who should then try to pass false coin upon me! His
skin will boil for it!"
"I shall do as you order.... We shall lock these precious metals and
stones in the iron chest, if you please, until I have time to start to
work on them."
While the Frank was examining the contents of the chest, the old
goldsmith approached his young apprentices and said to them in a low
voice: "Now, lads, so far I have always taken your side against our
masters, palliating or hiding your faults, to spare you the punishments
that you sometimes did deserve."
"That is so, Father Bonaik."
"In return, I demand of you that you treat that poor girl that stands
trembling there, as if she were your own sister. I am to go out with the
intendant, and shall be away, perhaps, for an hour. Promise me that you
will be decorous and reserved in your talk before her."
"Fear not, Father Bonaik; we shall say nothing that a nun may not hear."
"That is not enough; certain nuns can hear everything; promise me you
will say nothing that you would not say before your own mothers."
"We promise you, Father Bonaik."
This whispered conversation took place at the other end of the workshop,
while Ricarik was taking an inventory of the contents of the iron chest.
The old man then returned to Septimine and said to her also in a low
voice: "My child, I shall leave you for a little while; but I have
recommended those lads to treat you as a sister. Be at ease. You will
hear nothing to hurt your ears."
Septimine had hardly thanked the old jeweler with a look of gratitude,
when the intendant closed the chest and said: "Have you heard any news
of that runaway Eleuthere?"
The old goldsmith made a sign to the young slaves, all of whom had
raised their heads at the name of Eleuthere; but catching Father
Bonaik's eyes, all resumed work without answering a word to the
intendant's question, and without even seeming to hear him.
"His disappearance must be a matter of surprise to you, is it not?"
asked Ricarik, letting his penetrating eye wander over the apprentices.
"He must have found a way to escape," said the lad who believed he had
recognized Eleuthere in the cloister. "He long went with the idea of
escaping from the monastery."
"Yes, yes," answered two other apprentices; "Eleuthere told us he would
run away from the monastery."
"And why did you not post me, you dogs?" cried the intendant. "You are
his accomplices."
The lads remained quiet with their eyes down. The Frank proceeded:
"Oh! You kept the secret! Your backs will ring for it under the whip!"
"Ricarik," replied the old goldsmith, "these lads chatter like jays, and
have no more brains than fledgling birds. Eleuthere often said as so
many others have: 'Oh, how I would like to roam over the fields, instead
of being bound to the workshop from morning till evening!' That is what
these lads call secrets. Pardon them. Then, you should remember that our
holy dame Meroflede is impatient for her belt and vase. But if you have
my apprentices whipped, they will spend more time rubbing their sores
than plying the hammer and the file, and our work will make but slow
progress. It would cause a great delay."
"Very well, then; they shall be punished later. All of you will have to
work hard, not by day only, but also by night. By day you will work upon
gold and silver. By night you shall furbish iron. There is a double task
for you."
"What do you mean?"
"There will be a stack of arms brought here this evening--axes, swords,
and lances that I have bought at Nantes."
"Arms!" cried the old man in astonishment. "Arms! Do the Arabs still
threaten the heart of Gaul?"
"Old man, the arms will be brought to you this evening. See to it that
the lances have good points, that the swords are well sharpened, the
axes trenchant. Never you mind the rest. But this is the hour when the
colonists must bring their money taxes. Follow me, in order to ascertain
whether the thieves try to pass false coin upon me. Come, Father
Bonaik!"